A 41-year-old Indian-origin man has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison after pleading guilty to possessing false identity documents and operating an unlicensed money transfer business that led to $1.5 million in losses to victims. Vimalkumar Trivedi of Plainfield, Indiana, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison, a statement said. According to court documents, from April 2017 through April 2021, Trivedi defrauded multiple victims, including some elderly individuals, into sending cash to various locations through courier services. “Trivedi and his co-conspirators in the US and India masqueraded as federal law enforcement agents and told the victims that their Social Security numbers had been found in connection with criminal activity. The criminals stated that the victims would be arrested if they did not immediately withdraw large sums of cash and mail it to fictitious individuals,” it said.
Death toll from mudslide in China rises to 21
The death toll from a mudslide in China’s northwestern city of Xian has risen to 21, with six people still missing, the city’s emergency management authority said on Sunday, as China grapples with unusually high summer rainfall. State-owned China Central Television (CCTV) had earlier reported that mudslide left a total of 18 people dead or missing, with two confirmed casualties. A video released by the official Xinhua news agency showed broken trees and rubble piling up along muddy roads in a village, with houses and infrastructure damaged or destroyed. The mudslide destroyed two houses and cut power to 900 households, the authority said in a statement on its WeChat account
Global Covid cases up 80%
The number of new Covid-19 cases reported worldwide rose by 80% in the last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, days after designating a new “variant of interest.” The WHO declared in May that Covid is no longer a global health emergency, but has warned that the virus will continue to circulate and mutate, causing occasional spikes in infections, hospitalisations and deaths. In its weekly update, the UN agency said nations reported nearly 1.5 million new cases from July 10 to August 6, an 80% increase compared to the previous 28 days. However, the number of deaths fell by 57% to 2,500. The WHO said the reported number of cases and deaths don’t reflect the true numbers, as countries carry out far less testing and monitoring now.
47 weapons seized from US judge who shot wife dead
A Southern California judge accused of killing his wife texted his court clerk and bailiff admitting to the killing, prosecutors said as they charged him with murder and weapon possession. The judge, Jeffrey Ferguson, 72, of Orange County Superior Court, was arrested after police found his wife, Sheryl Ferguson, 65, dead from a gunshot wound inside the couple’s home. Prosecutors charged Ferguson with murder, personal discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury and death. Prosecutors also said 47 weapons, including the pistol, and more than 26,000 rounds of ammunition were found in a search of the home after the shooting.
Man suspected of threatening Biden shot dead
An armed Utah man accused of making threats against President Biden was shot and killed by FBI agents hours before the president was expected to land in the state, authorities said. Special agents were trying to serve a warrant on the home of Craig Deleeuw Robertson in Provo, when the shooting happened, the FBI said. Robertson was armed at the time of the shooting, according to two law enforcement sources. Robertson posted online that he had heard Biden was coming to Utah and he was planning to dig out a camouflage suit and “clean the dust off the m24 sniper rifle”, according to court documents. In another post, he refered to himself as a “MAGA Trumper”, a reference to ex-President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
Iraq media barred from using terms homosexuality, gender
Iraq’s official media regulator ordered all media and social media companies operating in the Arab state not to use the term “homosexuality” and instead to say “sexual deviance,” a government spokesperson said. The Iraqi Communications and Media Commission (CMC) document said that the use of the term “gender” was also banned. It prohibited all phone and internet companies licensed by it from using the terms in any of their mobile applications. A government official later said that the decision still required final approval . A government spokesperson said a penalty for violating the rule had not yet been set but could include a fine.
Kuwait, Lebanon ban ‘Barbie’ film
Barbie” is set to open across West Asia, but moves by Kuwait and Lebanon to ban the film over its themes on gender and sexuality have raised questions over how widely it will be released. Kuwait announced its ban, saying the film promotes “ideas and beliefs that are alien to the Kuwaiti society and public order”, without elaborating. In Lebanon, culture minister Mohammad Mortada said the film was found to “contradict values of faith and morality” and “promote homosexuality and sexual transformation”. In some parts of the Arab world, members of the LGBTQ+ community have been arrested and sentenced to prison.
Emmys awards postponed
The Emmy Awards have been postponed by almost four months, organisers said, as crippling strikes by Hollywood’s actors and writers drag on with no resolution in sight. Television’s equivalent of the Oscars had been due to take place this September, but will now be held in mid-January next year, broadcaster Fox and the Television Academy wrote in a statement.The last time the Emmys were delayed was in 2001, when it was postponed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
Ecuador presidential candidate shot dead
An Ecuadorian presidential candidate known for speaking up against cartels and corruption was shot and killed at a political rally in the capital, amid a startling wave of gang-driven violence in the South American country. President Guillermo Lasso confirmed the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio and suggested organised crime was behind his slaying, less than two weeks before the August 20 presidential election. Ecuador’s attorney general’s office said that one suspect died in custody from wounds sustained in a firefight after the killing, and police detained six suspects following raids in Quito.