Indian fishermen, apprehended in Sri Lanka for allegedly poaching in its territorial waters, have been provided consular assistance by the Consulate General of India in Jaffna, the Indian High Commission said. The high commission said it was in touch with the Sri Lankan Government to facilitate the early release of the detained fishermen. “High Commission @CGJaffna were provided Consular Access to Indian fishermen who are apprehended in Sri Lanka and extended all possible support to them. They were given daily use items and offered legal and other forms of assistance,” it said in a tweet.
Hindu girls tortured; found dead in Pak police officer's room
Two Hindu girls were found dead in the house of a police officer of ASI, in Pakistan. Reportedly the two girls were tortured before being hanged in his house. Shocking images that are a clear indication of how minorities are treated in Pakistan have scarred the nation. The saddest part is that the news comes from the house of the person whose duty is to protect people irrespective of their religion. Two days back temples and chambers were demolished and set on fire, yet no one from the administration of Pakistan tried to stop these actions. Cries of justice from minorities have pierced through the nation but Pakistan seems to have fallen deaf.
Pakistan hikes petrol price
Amid accusations by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) that the Imran Khan-led government cannot control inflation, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has increased the prices of petrol by Pakistani Rupees 2.31 per litre. Petrol will now be available for Rs 106 per litre while diesel will be sold for Rs 110.24 per litre. Meanwhile, the new price of kerosene oil is Rs 73.65 per litre and light diesel oil will be available for Rs 71.81, Geo News reported. While speaking in Larkana on the occasion of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's 13th death anniversary, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz targeted Imran Khan and said that while people are "killing themselves out of hunger and desperation due to inflation" he said, 'What can I do, I have no magic button'."
Gunmen kill Afghan radio journalist
An Afghan radio journalist was shot dead in a car ambush in the province of Ghor, officials said, the fifth media worker to be killed in two months. Besmullah Adel Aimaq, editor-in-chief of Voice of Ghor radio, was killed en route to Firoz Koh city, the capital of Ghor, said Aref Aber, the governor’s spokesman. In recent months, other prominent Afghans have been ambushed by gunmen or killed in bomb attacks. No group has yet claimed responsibility for Aimaq’s murder. The Afghan Journalists Safety Committee, a group working for the security of journalists in the violence-wracked nation, confirmed the incident. It comes weeks after the December 12 killing of journalist Rahmatullah Nekzad, who was shot dead with a silenced pistol in the restive Ghazni. The Taliban had denied responsibility.
Japan to consider new Covid-19 emergency declaration
Japan will consider issuing a new emergency declaration after governors in the capital region urged action to tackle a record surge in Covid-19 cases, the head of the nation's pandemic response said.
The government needs to consult with health experts before deciding on a new declaration, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said after a meeting with Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and leaders from three neighbouring prefectures. "The national government and the three governors shared the view that the situation in the Tokyo area is getting more severe such that an emergency declaration may be necessary," Nishimura said. As an interim measure, restaurants and karaoke parlors in the Tokyo area would be asked to close at 8 pm, while businesses that serve alcohol should close at 7 pm, he said. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has resisted calls to reinstate a national state of emergency, which the government had introduced in April during an earlier wave of the pandemic.
China jails 10 HK activists over attempt to flee
China sentenced 10 Hong Kong activists who made a dramatic attempt to flee by boat to up to three years in prison, defying calls for their release from the US and others. Tang Kai-yin was sentenced to three years while Quinn Moon was jailed for two years over their roles in organising an illegal border crossing, the court in Shenzhen said. Eight others who participated in the attempt to flee to Taiwan in August were handed terms of seven months, the court said. Two minors who also made the trip were sent back to Hong Kong without charge.
Republican-led Senate rejects Trump's veto
President Donald Trump suffered a stinging rebuke in the US Senate last week when fellow Republicans joined Democrats to override a presidential veto for the first time in his tenure, pushing through a defense policy bill he opposed just weeks before he leaves office. Meeting in a rare New Year's Day session, senators voted 81-13 to secure the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto. Eight previous Trump vetoes had been upheld and until last week's vote, he had been on track to be the first president since Lyndon Johnson with none overridden. The Senate also ended for now a push by Democrats to increase Covid-19 financial relief checks from $600 to $2,000, a change sought by Trump. The effort was blocked by Republicans. Republican lawmakers have largely stood by the president during his turbulent White House term.
Russia tells Navalny to return or face jail
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was given a last minute ultimatum by his home country Russia: Fly back home at once or face jail. Navalny - a leading opponent of President Vladimir Putin - collapsed on a plane in August and was airlifted to Germany for treatment soon after. Western nations allege he was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent. Russia said it has seen no evidence he was poisoned and denied any involvement in the incident. Russia's Federal Prison Service - or FSIN - accused Navalny of violating the terms of a suspended sentence he is still serving from 2014. They also said he had evaded the supervision of Russia's criminal inspection authority. It used an article from British medical publication The Lancet about Navalny's treatment. It said he had been discharged from hospital in Berlin on September 20th and that all symptoms of what it called his illness had vanished by mid-October. Navalny is serving out a suspended three-and-a-half-year prison term over a theft case, a conviction he says was politically-motivated.
America’s ‘most prolific’ serial killer dies at 80
Convicted murderer Samuel Little, who confessed to strangling 93 people and was considered by the FBI to be the most prolific serial killer in US history, died last week. He was 80. Little had been serving three consecutive sentences of life without parole for the killing of three women during the late 1980s, murders to which he was linked through DNA that matched samples found at the crime scenes. According to the FBI, Little ultimately admitted to killing 93 people by strangulation between 1970 and 2005.The FBI said investigators have since verified 50 of those confessions, with many more pending confirmation, making him the deadliest US serial killer on record.
Talk show host Larry King in hospital with Covid-19
Legendary talk show host Larry King has been hospitalised with Covid-19, multiple US media outlets reported. The 87-year-old former CNN interviewer has been at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre for over a week, the reports said. Representatives for King have not publicly commented on his hospitalisation, and details of his condition are unclear. “Larry has fought so many health issues in the last few years and he is fighting this one hard too, he’s a champ,” a source told CNN. News of King’s hospitalisation came as emergency officials in California said hospitals were treating an unprecedented number of Covid-19 patients. California has reported 2,356,724 confirmed cases and 26,550 deaths, the Los Angeles Times reported. King, who has Type 2 diabetes, has confronted a series of medical issues, including several heart attacks and quintuple bypass surgery in 1987, CNN reported. In 2017, King revealed he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and successfully underwent surgery. He also underwent a procedure in 2019 to address angina.
Covid-19 dominates annual list of banished words
Even as vaccines are being rolled out to battle coronavirus, wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula say they want to kick any trace of it from the English language. “Covid-19” and “social distancing” are thrown in with “we’re all in this together,” “in an abundance of caution” and “in these uncertain times” on the school’s light-hearted list of banned words and phrases for 2021. Out of more than 1,450 nominations sent to the school, about 250 words and terms suggested for banishment due to overuse, misuse or uselessness had something to do with the virus. Seven of the 10 selected are connected to the virus, with “Covid-19” leading the way. “Unprecedented,” which was banished back in 2002, has been restored to list. “To be sure, Covid-19 is unprecedented in wreaking havoc and destroying lives,” Banished Words List committee members said in a release.
Israel could become 1st nation to vaccinate all its citizens
Israel could well become the first country to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, health officials said, with over 10% (1 million) of the population already having received the first of two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine by the 12th day of a vaccination programme, which began on December 20. The rapid pace and scope of the programme has far outstripped the rest of the world, according to international vaccination data. Israel, with a population of 9 million, is followed by the tiny Gulf nation of Bahrain, which has vaccinated some 3.4% of its population of 1.5 million people. Less than 1% of the population of the US has been vaccinated, and in many European nations only tiny fractions of the population have got the vaccine.
Canadian politician hides Caribbean holiday, resigns
The finance minister for Canada’s most populous province resigned after going on a Caribbean vacation during the pandemic and seemingly trying to hide the fact by sending social media posts showing him in a sweater before a fireplace. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he had accepted Rod Phillipss resignation hours after Phillips returned home from a more than two-week stay on the island of St Barts despite government guidelines urging people to avoid nonessential travel. “Travelling over the holidays was the wrong decision, and I once again offer my unreserved apology,” Phillips said in a statement confirming his resignation. In a video posted on Twitter on Christmas Eve, the sweater-wearing finance minister was shown drinking eggnog beside a fireplace with a gingerbread house and a little Christmas tree.
