A 21-year-old Indian American food delivery driver has been arrested for sexually assaulting a minor girl after forcefully getting into her motel room in California, police said. Identifying Sandeep as the “primary suspect”, the San Jose police said that the incident occurred on October 21 at 1000 Alameda, in the city. The girl was staying with her mother in the motel and had ordered a pizza. The mother was not in the room at the time of the incident. Investigations by the SJPD Sexual Assault Investigations Unit revealed that Sandeep forced his way into the motel room and sexually assaulted the female juvenile.
El Salvador slaps tax on travellers from India
People travelling on passports from India or any one of more than 50 African nations will have to pay an additional tax of $1,130 from Oct 23, El Salvador’s port authority said. The money raised will be used to improve the nation’s main international airport, the authority added. Many migrants from Africa and elsewhere make it to the US via Central America. Airlines will be required to notify Salvadoran authorities daily of passengers who come from a list of 57 countries in Africa, and India.
Pak court junks Imran bail plea in cipher case
In a major blow to Imran Khan, a top Pakistani court rejected petitions by the jailed former PM seeking post-arrest bail and the quashing of the FIR in the cipher case for allegedly leaking state secrets. Khan had approached the Islamabad high court with pleas for bail in the case as well as against the FIR which was registered by the federal investigation agency in August. The written verdict issued by the court declared both petitions as “without merit” and were “accordingly dismissed”, Dawn reported. “It is clarified that any observations, made here in above, are tentative in nature and shall not prejudice learned trial court during the trial,” the judgment emphasised.
Suspect in US shooting that killed 18 found dead
A US Army reservist accused of spraying a bowling alley and bar with gunfire in Lewiston, Maine, killing 18 people, was found dead after a 48-hour manhunt, restoring calm to communities unnerved by the bloodshed but leaving many questions unanswered. The body of Robert R Card, 40, was discovered in a wooded area within the neighbouring town of Lisbon Falls, near where police found his abandoned getaway vehicle shortly after the shooting spree, police said. A total of 18 people perished and 13 others were wounded earlier, when the gunman opened fire with a rifle inside the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley.
Mike Pence drops out of US presidential race
Former US vice president Mike Pence ended his cash-strapped presidential campaign, after struggling for months to convince Republicans voters he was the best alternative to the man he once served with unswerving loyalty, Donald Trump. Pence’s surprise announcement at the Republican Jewish Coalition donor conference in Las Vegas made him the first big-name candidate to drop out. Trump is the runaway front runner in the race. “Traveling over the country over the past six months, I came here to say it’s become clear to me: This is not my time. So after much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign,” Pence told the audience.
Kremlin laughs off Putin ‘ill and body double’ rumours
The Kremlin denied a report that President Vladimir Putin was ill, and laughed off persistent rumours that he used body doubles to cover for him in public appearances. “Everything is fine with him, this is absolutely another fake,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked about an unsourced report by a Russian Telegram channel, picked up by some Western media, that the president had suffered a cardiac arrest. The spokesman laughed in response to a further question about body doubles, and denied that Putin had any. “This belongs to the category of absurd information hoaxes that a whole series of media discuss with enviable tenacity. This evokes nothing but a smile,” Peskov said.
Trump fined $10,000 for gag order violation
Donald Trump was called to the witness stand and then fined $10,000 after a judge concluded that the former president had violated a limited gag order in his civil fraud trial. It was the second time in less than a week that Trump was penalised for his out-of-court comments. Before imposing the latest fine, Judge Arthur Engoron summoned Trump from the defense table to testify about his comment to reporters hours earlier about “a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside” the judge. Trump and his lawyers said that comment was about witness Michael Cohen, a former Trump law, and not about the clerk. Trump told the judge that his remark about partisans was aimed at “you and Cohen.” But Trump did not conceal his frustration with the clerk.
Johnson elected as new speaker of US House
Republican Congressman from Louisiana Mike Johnson has been elected as the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, bringing an end to three weeks of uncertainty in US politics. The position of Speaker of the House of Representatives is one of the most powerful political chairs in the country and is third in the line of succession after the US President.
Biden warns China over SCS row
President Joe Biden warned China that the US would be forced to intervene if Beijing attacks Philippine vessels in the South China Sea, after two separate collisions in the disputed waterway over the weekend. “I want to be very clear: The US’ defence commitment to the Philippines is ironclad,” Biden said. “Any attack on the Filipino aircraft, vessels, or armed forces will invoke our Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines.”
Off-duty pilot tries to shut airline’s engine midair
An off-duty pilot riding in the extra seat in the cockpit of a Horizon Air passenger jet tried to shut down the engines in midflight and had to be subdued by the crew, a pilot flying the plane told air traffic controllers. Authorities in Oregon identified the man as Joseph David Emerson, 44. He was being held on 83 counts each of attempted murder and reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft. The San Francisco-bound flight was diverted to Portland, Oregon, where Emerson was taken into custody. Seattle-based Alaska Airlines, which owns Horizon, said the captain and co-pilot “quickly responded, engine power was not lost and the crew secured the aircraft without incident.”