Three Indian-origin men in New Zealand have been sentenced for the attempted murder of an Auckland-based Sikh radio host who was vocal against the ideology of Khalistan. The attack occurred on December 23, 2020, when Harnek Singh was ambushed by a group of religious extremists in his driveway. He suffered over 40 stab wounds and required more than 350 stitches and multiple surgeries to recover. Sarvjeet Sidhu, who pleaded guilty was sentenced to nine-and-a-half years’ imprisonment. Sukhpreet Singh, 44, was found guilty of being an accessory to murder bid and was sentenced to six months of home detention. The 48-year-old lead defendant, who was not present when the attack occurred, was convicted of orchestrating the murder and has been given 13 and a half years of jail term.
Ramaswamy’s top aide joins Trump campaign
A top political advisor has left Republican presidential aspirant Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign to join party rival and former President Donald Trump. Brian Swensen formally resigned from his role as national political director for the Ramaswamy campaign over the weekend. He is expected to be working on the campaign’s political operation in the early-voting states, specifically in Nevada. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Ramaswamy campaign, thanked Swensen for his work with the campaign and wished him well in the future. Swensen’s departure comes weeks after Brandon Goodyear, the Ramaswamy team’s videographer, stepped away from the campaign earlier this month.
Blast during mass kills 4 in Manila
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr condemned a deadly bombing on Sunday, blaming “foreign terrorists”, as police and the military strengthened security in the country’s south and around the capital, Manila. At least four people were killed and 50 injured after a bomb exploded during a morning Catholic Mass in a university gymnasium in Marawi, a city in the south of the nation besieged by Islamist militants for five months in 2017. There were “strong indications of a foreign element” in the bombing, defence secretary Gilberto Teodoro said, refusing to elaborate so as not to compromise probe. Fragments of a 16-mm mortar were recovered.
Singapore, Zurich are world's most expensive cities
Singapore and Zurich tied for the world's most expensive city this year, followed by Geneva, New York and Hong Kong, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said as it cautioned that the global cost-of-living crisis was not yet over. On average, prices have risen by 7.4 per cent year-on-year in local currency terms for over 200 commonly used goods and services, a drop from the record 8.1 per cent increase last year but still "significantly higher than the trend in 2017-2021," it said in a report. Singapore regained the top of the rankings for the ninth time in the past 11 years due to high price levels across several categories.
French govt bans smoking at beaches, near schools
The French government said it would ban smoking on all the country’s beaches, in public parks and forests and near schools. “From now on, no-smoking areas will be the norm,” health minister Aurelien Rousseau said. He said there were already 7,200 tobacco-free areas in France but they had been mostly designated by local authorities, not the central government. Taxes on cigarettes will be hiked, Rousseau also said, with a pack of 20, currently at around €11, rising to €12 by 2025 and €13 the following year. The government was also planning to ban so-called “puffs”, single-use disposable e-cigarettes that are particularly popular among young people. The government aims to create “the first tobacco-free generation by 2032”, as President Emmanuel Macron had promised, Rousseau said.