A 35-year old Indian woman, who was five months pregnant, was founded murdered in her apartment and her husband was found dead in an apparent suicide in the Hudson River, authorities said. Garima Kothari was found unresponsive with trauma to her upper body on April 26 by police officers, the Hudson County prosecutor’s office said. Following an autopsy, Kothari’s death was ruled homicide. She suffered multiple injuries in her upper body. The medical examiner determined that Kothari was approximately five months pregnant. Kothari’s husband Man Mohan Mall, 37, was found dead in the Hudson River in Jersey City. Police officers was responding to a report of the possible suicide attempt in the Hudson River. They found an unresponsive Mall in the river. Mall was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause and manner of Mall’s death is still pending with the medical examiner. According to a report, Kothari was a talented chef and Mall was an alumnus of the India Institute of Technology (IIT), who had come to the US to pursue his master’s degree at the Columbia University. The couple owned an Indian restaurant ‘Nukkad’.
Three more Indians in UAE lose jobs over ‘Islamophobia’
Three more Indians in UAE lost their jobs and facing action from local authorities for their coronavirus-related “Islamophobic” utterances. Indian missions in the region have warned in the past few weeks against inflammatory posts on social media, citing PM Modi’s tweet that Covid-19 doesn’t recognise any religion, caste, creed or border. These developments, however, have not come in the way of India’s cooperation with UAE in dealing with the virus. While India sent a team of medical professionals to UAE on Saturday to help the country in its fight against the virus, the Gulf nation too despatched seven tonnes of medical supplies to India. India is currently also working with the UAE government to implement its plan for evacuation of Indian nationals from the country. More than 50,000 people had registered for evacuation with the Indian consulate in Dubai alone until Friday. One of the main reasons for strong India-UAE ties has been the huge expatriate Indian population in UAE, according to UAE authorities.
Daniel Pearl's parents move Pak SC
The parents of slain American journalist Daniel Pearl filed an appeal to Pakistan's Supreme Court seeking reversal of the Sindh High Court (SCH) verdict that overturned convictions of four men in their son's abduction and murder case. The deceased journalist's father tweeted details of the petition along with an emotional video message, according to Voice of America. "We are standing up for justice for not only our son, Daniel Pearl, but for all of our dear friends in Pakistan, so they can know a society free of violence and terror, and raising their children in peace and harmony," Pearl's father, Judea Pearl, was quoted as saying. Last month, the Sindh government had challenged its provincial high court's order in the Pakistan Supreme Court, wherein British-born al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and three others were acquitted in US journalist Daniel Pearl's kidnapping and murder case. Back in 2002, the 38-year-old journalist of The Wall Street Journal's South Asia bureau was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan investigating a story of terror groups' links to Al Qaeda.
Coronavirus cases in Pak rises to 21,501; death toll 486
Pakistan's coronavirus cases have climbed to 21,501 while the death toll from the pandemic has reached 486, the health ministry said. According to the Ministry of National Health Services, 3,425 people have recovered from the contagion while 129 were still in critical condition. The ministry said that Punjab has reported 5,827, Sindh 5,291, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 2,160, Balochistan 915, Gilgit-Baltistan 330, Islamabad 297 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 65 cases. So far 165,911 tests have been conducted, including 8,530 on April 28. Meanwhile, an important Hindu member of the Sindh provincial Assembly Rana Hameer Singh became the latest politician to test positive for the coronavirus, a day after Sindh Governor Imran Ismail said he had contracted the disease. Singh belongs to Tharparkar district bordering India's Rajasthan state. He was elected in the 2018 general elections from the platform of the Pakistan Peoples Party. Sindh has banned all religious gatherings during the holy month of Ramzan in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Journalist held for criticising Nepal’s ex-PM
Dipak Pathak, Nepali journalist and part of Radio Nepal, was reportedly arrested in Kathmandu for criticising Nepal’s former prime minister Pushpa Kumar Dahal on social media. According to a report in The Wire, Pathak was arrested from his home by the cybercrime unit of the Kathmandu police. Nabind Aryal, SSP with the Cyber Bureau of Nepal reportedly confirmed his arrest, adding that he was arrested under the Electronic Transaction Act. “We have received complaints against him. We have, therefore, arrested him with the permission of the court. Further investigation is on,” he said. In a Facebook post from 10 April, Pathak had reportedly compared the former PM, called Prachanda locally, with American tech giant Bill Gates, by labelling the former ‘Kill Gates’ and accused Dahal of making money “in the name of revolution”.
Covid-19 cases in Nepal rise to 82
Health authorities in Nepal registered two new coronavirus cases in Rautahat district, which took the nation-wide tally of Covid-19 positive cases to 82 on Tuesday. "A total of 83 samples were sent to Kathmandu for test out of which two samples tested positive at National Public Health Laboratory," Mahesh Shah, Chief at District Health Office Rautahat said. "One of the new patient aged 25 recently returned from Kolkata, India, and was in quarantine for two weeks and then sent home. He was screened by the medical team from the Janakpur Provincial Health Team using Rapid Diagnostic Kit (RDT) which then resulted negative. We are tracing him right now," Shah added. As per the official, the second new case of the infection was reported in a person currently in quarantine at Dewahi. On February 25, Nepal reported the first case of SARS-CoV-2 in entire South Asia in a student who returned from China.
Fire kills 38 in South Korea
At least 38 people were killed last week when one of South Korea’s worst fires in years broke out at a construction site near the capital, officials said. They said the death toll could rise because more people could be trapped inside the warehouse that was under construction in Icheon, just south of Seoul. The blaze erupted early in the afternoon and hundreds of firefighters took several hours to put it out. Images from the scene showed several firetrucks and more than a dozen ambulances surrounding the badly damaged structure, which was completely blackened on one side. Eight construction workers were being treated for serious injuries at nearby hospitals, while two others were slightly hurt. Officials said about 30 workers managed to escape but at least one was unaccounted for. Officials were investigating the cause of the fire, which was possibly triggered by an explosion while workers were working on an underground level at the site.
Bodies trekkers, guides recovered in Nepal
Rescuers recovered the bodies of the last of four South Korean trekkers and their Nepali guide who died in an avalanche in January in Nepal’s mountains, officials said. Two bodies were dug up, one South Korean and one Nepali, but bad weather stopped helicopters from reaching the site, said Nepalese army official Maj. Gen. Gokul Bhandari. The other bodies were recovered last month. The team of four South Koreans and three guides died on the popular Annapurna Circuit Trekking route. Rescuers had spent weeks searching for them, but continuing avalanches and thick layers of snow hampered the operation. The warm spring weather melted the snow, exposing the bodies on the trial.
Installation of sanitising walkthrough halted
After reports of its ineffectiveness, the Punjab government in Pakistan ordered to halt installation of sanitising walkthrough gates at the entrances of public offices. The coronavirus experts advisory group (CEAG) said that the investment on disinfectant gates was unnecessary and no scientific finding backed that these devices helped curb the spread of coronavirus. Following this advice, the Punjab government has immediately barred the institutions from installing disinfectant gates in public offices and other public spots. Punjab currently tops the list of infected patients in the country with over 4,000 cases. The notification issued by the Punjab Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department stated that the usefulness of the disinfectant tunnels and walkthrough gates has not gathered any kind of scientific support.
Ex-Syrian officer on trial for crime against humanity
Germany began landmark trial of former high-ranking Syrian regime officers accused of overseeing the torture of thousands of prisoners. Colonel Anwar Raslan, charged by German prosecutors with the crime against humanity, worked for Syria's intelligence services until he defected from the regime at the end of 2012, just over a year after the start of the country's uprising-turned-civil war. Raslan and a former junior officer, Eyad A were arrested under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which gives a national court jurisdiction over grave crimes against international law, even when they were not committed on the country's territory. Attempts to set up an international tribunal have been hampered by Russian and Chinese vetoes at the United Nations Security Council. Syrian officials have repeatedly denied the allegations, insisting they target terrorists and not peaceful protesters. Raslan has been in Germany since 2014 and Eyad since 2018, according to the court statement. Raslan allegedly oversaw the torture of at least 4,000 prisoners between April 29, 2011 and September 7, 2012, according to a court statement. At least 58 of the prisoners died.
Trump announces strong action against China
US President Donald Trump said his country will be taking strong action against China, alleging that Beijing did not disclose the threat of coronavirus and did little to contain the pandemic. 'We're coming up with a very distinct recommendation. But we're not happy with it,' Trump said of potential economic consequences against China. 'There's nothing positive about what happened in China having to do with this subject. Nothing positive at all,' the president continued while speaking to reporters during an Oval Office meeting. The president said the World Health Organization was acting like it worked for China, and said he would be issuing a 'recommendation' on how to deal with WHO and China.
China accuses Canberra of playing dirty politics
The pandemic now has threatens to affect the diplomatic and political ties between the Australia and China. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his proposed inquiry into how the coronavirus developed and spread would not be targeted at China but was needed given Covid-19 had killed more than 200,000 people and shut down much of the global economy. Chinese state media has fiercely rounded on Morrison, with Australian studies scholar Chen Hong writing in the Global Times tabloid that Australia was "spearheading" a "malicious campaign to frame and incriminate China".
Pandemic may lead to 7 mn unintended pregnancy
Coronavirus pandemic could lead 7 million women with unintended pregnancy unable to use modern contraceptives, according to data released by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and partners. "The pandemic is deepening inequalities, and millions more women and girls now risk losing the ability to plan their families and protect their bodies and their health," UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem said. Globally, around 450 million women across 114 low and middle-income countries use contraceptives, the study said. The pandemic is also expected to cause significant delays in programs to end female genital mutilation and child marriage, resulting in an estimated two million more cases of FGM over the next decade than would otherwise have occurred. These delayed programs, on top of growing economic hardships globally, could result in an estimated 13 million more child marriages over 10 years.
Biden denies sexual assault allegation
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden categorically denied allegations from a former Senate staffer that he sexually assaulted her in the early 1990s, saying “this never happened”. His first public remarks on the allegation by former staffer Tara Reade come at a critical moment for the presumptive Democratic nominee as he tries to relieve mounting pressure after weeks of leaving denials to his campaign. “I’m saying unequivocally, it never, never happened,” Biden said in an interview. Biden said he will ask the National Archives to determine whether there is any record of such a complaint being filed, but he said repeatedly that he doesn’t believe such a record exists. “The former staffer has said she filed a complaint back in 1993. But she does not have a record of this alleged complaint. There is only one place a complaint of this kind could be - National Archives.” Republicans worried about President Donald Trump’s increasingly precarious political standing are seizing on the allegation to portray Democrats as hypocrites who only defend women who allege wrongdoing against conservatives. They are digging in despite the fact that it could renew attention on the multiple sexual assault claims lodged against Trump.
