The party also announced Rs. 1 crore aid to flood-hit Tamil Nadu.
Justice Thakur sworn-in as Chief Justice of India
New Delhi: Justice T.S. Thakur was sworn in on Thursday as the 43rd Chief Justice of India.
President Pranab Mukherjee administered the oath of office.
Thakur succeeded Chief Justice H.L. Dattu who demitted office on December 2.
Chief Justice Thakur will have a tenure of 13 months as he is slated to retire on January 3, 2017.
(IANS)
Cambodia medic jailed over mass HIV infections
Unlicensed medical practitioner sentenced to 25 years in jail for spreading HIV among almost 300 villagers.
![Yem Chrin, right, admitted to routinely reusing syringes but denied intentionally spreading the virus [EPA]](https://i0.wp.com/nasheman.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Yem-Chrin.jpg)
Yem Chrin, right, admitted to routinely reusing syringes but denied intentionally spreading the virus [EPA]
A Cambodian court has convicted an unlicensed medical practitioner of murder and sentenced him to 25 years in prison for spreading HIV among almost 300 villagers.
A spokesman for the court in the northwestern province of Battambang said Yem Chrin, 56, was found guilty on Thursday of torture and cruel behaviour resulting in death, intentionally spreading HIV and practising medicine without a licence.
Ten of the villagers have died since the outbreak began, village officials said.
Authorities detected an epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus, the virus that causes AIDS, on December 9 when they started testing a community in Battambang.
The victims ranged from a two-year-old to elderly in their 80s.
Authorities decided to test villagers after a 74-year-old man tested positive for HIV in November.
The man convinced others in the village who had also visited Yem Chrin to get tested, the court heard.
“The court found Yem Chrin guilty of operating health treatment without license, injecting people with syringes that spread HIV and torturing people to die,” Yich Na Chheavy, a provincial court judge, said in a verdict read to a packed courtroom.
Yem Chrin admitted to routinely reusing syringes but denied intentionally spreading the virus.
He was arrested in December last year and taken into protective custody, with the authorities fearing he might be lynched by residents of Roka village
Police said Yem Chrin was a well-respected doctor who villagers believed had healing powers and who provided cheap treatment for the poor.
US police probe motive of California mass shooter
Two slain suspects identified after 14 people are killed and 17 wounded at staff Christmas party in San Bernardino.
by Al Jazeera
US authorities are investigating the motive behind a shooting spree that left 14 people dead and another 17 wounded at a social services centre hosting a Christmas party in Southern California.
A man and a woman suspected of taking part in Wednesday’s attack in San Bernardino died in a shoot-out with police hours later, authorities said.
The slain suspects were identified by police as Syed Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, were described as a couple.
Jarrod Burguan, San Bernardino police chief, said US-born Farook had attended a holiday banquet for employees of the local public health department, and later returned to open fire on the celebration.
The attackers were dressed in military-style gear and carried assault weapons as they burst into the auditorium where the shooting took place, at the campus of a social-services agency.
The couple were dressed in assault-style clothing and also placed several bombs at various locations, which police detonated. Beyond the 14 dead, the shooting left at least 17 people wounded, including 10 in critical condition.
No details have yet been released on the victims’ identities.
House-to-house search
Police were conducting a house-to-house search in the area where the third suspect was apprehended and completed the search early in the evening, when the “shelter-in-place” warning to residents was lifted, according to police.
“This is the first time we’ve seen it like this, on lockdown,” Hector Guerrero, husband of an employee who works in the facility, told Al Jazeera.
“I don’t think anything like this has happened in the Inland Empire,” he said, referring to the area east of Los Angeles.
Farook’s brother-in-law has said he was stunned to hear of his relative’s involvement in Wednesday’s shooting.
Farhan Khan, who is married to the sister of Syed Farook, made the comments at the Anaheim office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Khan, who said he last spoke to Farook about a week ago, said he had “absolutely no idea why [Farook] would do this. I am shocked myself”.
The latest killings are likely to fuel to an ongoing debate about the definition of “terror attacks” in the US and what role the ethnicity of perpetrators play in media coverage of gun violence.
Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds, reporting from San Bernardino, said: “The nomenclature is very troubling in the US. What defines terrorism? Is it simply someone with a political motive, is it someone who kills a number of people for motives that are unknown? School shootings, work place shootings – these things happen all the time in the US.”
President Barack Obama, who just last week made a plea for tougher gun-control measures after three people were killed at a family-planning centre in Colorado, again urged Congress to take action.
In the Colorado Springs attack, a man killed three people and wounded nine in a shooting rampage at a Planned Parenthood clinic .
In October, an armed man killed nine people at a college in Oregon, and in June, a white attacker killed nine black churchgoers in South Carolina.
‘Pattern of mass shootings’
“The one thing we do know is that we have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world,” Obama told CBS News.
“There are some steps we could take, not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don’t happen as frequently.”
Wednesday’s attack marked the deadliest gun violence in the country since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, in which 27 people, including the shooter, were killed.
So far in 2015, there have been more than 350 shootings in which four or more people have been wounded, according to the crowd-sourced website shootingtracker.com, which keeps a running tally of US gun violence.
Ajinkya Rahane shines but India falter to end Day 1 on 231/7
New Delhi: Ajinkya Rahane stood tall amidst ruins with an unbeaten 89 as the much-vaunted top-order failed yet again with India reaching a shaky 231 for 7 against South Africa on the opening day of fourth and final cricket Test, here today.
Save for Rahane, who came back to form with a top quality unbeaten 89-run innings from 155 balls, and skipper Virat Kohli (44), who looked in good touch, the other specialist batsmen did not make use of a slow but decent enough track for batting after the skipper had won the toss.
Rahane’s innings had nine boundaries and two sixes and he is 11 short of a well-deserved fifth Test hundred.
Giving Rahane company was R Ashwin (6) when play was called off slightly early owing to bad light.
The tormentors for India were spinner Dane Piedt (4/101 in 34 overs), playing his first Test of the series, and pacer Kyle Abott (3/23 in 17 overs), who was economical as well as incisive with his swing bowling as South Africa sent down 84 overs during the day.
Rahane, who scored his first ever half-century on home soil, kept his cool even as wickets tumbled at the other end. For the record, this is only the third half-century by an Indian batsman in the series so far and eighth half-century of Rahane’s Test career.
The total was also the highest by any team in the series so far. There were only two significant partnerships — 70 between Kohli and Rahane for the 4th wicket and 59 for the 7th wicket between Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja (24).
While he played second fiddle to Kohli during their stand, Rahane took charge once Wriddhiman Saha (1) was castled by Abbott’s reverse swing.
Piedt, who came from round the wicket, fired at an angle which was dispatched for maximum over deep mid-wicket. His 50 came off 91 balls when he hit Piedt for a boundary as Jadeja also grew in confidence at the other end.
However, Morne Morkel, coming for his final spell of the day, got Jadeja to flick one as Dean Elgar snapped a smart catch at mid-wicket.
The team’s 200 came in the 74th over when Rahane hit an Imran Tahir half-tracker towards mid-wicket boundary and followed it up with a lofted hit over mid-on.
Skipper Kohli’s promising innings was cut short by a freak dismissal while Rohit Sharma’s indiscreet shot selection compounded the home team’s problems on a Feroz Shah Kotla track which was far better than the ones provided at Mohali and Nagpur.
(Agencies)
Siddaramaiah announces Rs. 5-crore aid to flood-hit Tamil Nadu
Bengaluru: Karnataka on Wednesday announced Rs.5 crore for relief and rescue operations in flood-hit Chennai.
“As a humanitarian gesture, we are also rushing relief materials to Chennai for the people affected by flood waters,” an official told sources after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced in New Delhi the Rs.5-crore aid to Tamil Nadu.
With air, rail and road connectivity to Chennai disrupted, flights, trains and bus services from Bengaluru were cancelled for the next two days.
Though Chennai is about 350 km away to the southeast of Bengaluru, there is heavy movement of people and goods between the two state capitals, with a dozen flights and trains and about 100 buses operating daily.
As the low pressure over the Bay of Bengal continued to batter Chennai, dark clouds and chilly winds gripped Bengaluru since Monday, with forecast of rains and thundershowers this week.
In a related development, prayers and rituals were performed in temples in the city to appease rain gods for sparing Chennai from further rains, as thousands of people, especially the Tamil-speaking community, with relatives reside in both cities.
(Agencies)
Rains, floods kill 269 in Tamil Nadu, 54 in Andhra
New Delhi: The heaviest rains in Tamil Nadu in over a century and floods have claimed 269 lives, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday, describing the situation as “alarming”.
The minister also told the Lok Sabha that 54 people had been killed in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and two in Puducherry.
“There are no two opinions that the situation in Tamil Nadu is alarming. It is not an exaggeration to say that Chennai has turned into an island,” Singh said.
Singh said all highways leading to Chennai were closed for the past two days.
Chennai, he said, had received torrential rains, and the meteorological department has predicted more rains in the next two-three days.
Singh said 30 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and seven columns of the army were engaged in relief and rescue work. The navy had also deployed boats and divers.
He said the central government would provide all necessary assistance sought by the Tamil Nadu government.
Singh said the Tamil Nadu government had demanded Rs.8,480.93 crore for flood destruction and Rs.940 crore had been released as immediate relief.
(Agencies)
India, South Africa gear up for final Test
New Delhi: India aims to be “ruthless” in the final test against South Africa despite having taken a winning 2-0 lead in the four-game series,” captain Virat Kohli said on Wednesday.
“We want to be ruthless and will try to go 3-0 up,” Kohli said ahead of the match starting Thursday in Delhi. “We will not be experimenting just because we have won the series. We want to create a hard-working side with a winning culture. The team is in a good space and we will go all out for a win.”
India won the first test at Mohali by 104 runs, and the third at Nagpur by 124 runs. The second test at Bangalore was a rain-affected draw.
The Nagpur pitch, where South Africa folded for only 79 in the first innings, has been termed “poor” by match referee Jeff Crowe in his report to the International Cricket Council which awaits a reply from the Indian cricket board.
“I think the pitches have been discussed too much. No one talks about the Adelaide test (Australia vs New Zealand day-night game) which ended in two and a half days. People don’t talk about the number of times teams have been bowled out for less than 100 in South Africa but pitches are highlighted in India,” Kohli said.
Kohli, who will lead India for the first time on his home ground, said he was not giving a thought to whether the pitch at the Feroze Shah Kotla Stadium will also help turn as much.
“We’re confident of our abilities whether the game lasts three days or four or five. The pitch being different won’t change our mindset. We’ve come to win,” Kohli said.
South Africa captain Hashim Amla hopes to end the series on a high.
“Since we started this tour by winning the one-day internationals and Twenty20 series we would like to win this match and make it 2-1. We’ve got the England series very close, two weeks after we get back. It’s very important for us to get back to winning ways and cap it off well,” Amla said.
South Africa had won a five-game ODI series 3-2 and a three-game T20 series 2-0.
“It’s been a challenge against good bowlers on difficult tracks. It has been exciting with the games condensed into three days. But as a batsman, you are never settled,” he added.
Amla said pace bowler Dale Steyn would miss a third consecutive test owing to a groin injury he got during the opening test but that the team was not looking to experiment even though the series was already lost.
“It’s important to win and salvage some pride,” said Amla.
(IANS)
JD(S) to announce MLC list soon
Bengaluru: The JD (S) today convened a meeting of the MLAs to discuss the upcoming Legislative Council polls scheduled for December 27.
The JD (S) has 13 representations in the Legislative Council and of these, five MLCs recently retired. The party has not yet taken a final call on whether it should field candidates for all the 25 seats. The party said the decision will be announced soon.
JD (S) said that there are no differences of opinion about the selection of MLCs among members and said all petty differences have been sorted out.
In an aside party supremo and former prime minister blamed the media for distorting the image of the party .
Israeli settlers, forces storm Al-Aqsa mosque
Palestinian men walk past the Dome of the Rock in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on October 23, 2015. (AFP/Ahmad Gharabli)
by Press TV
Israeli settlers, protected by Israeli forces, have once again stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
According to reports on Wednesday, the settlers entered the holy site while escorted by a group of Israeli troops.
The development came after a large number of Israeli military forces arrested at least 23 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank during their overnight raid on a refugee camp.
The Palestinians were detained when more than 1,500 Israeli forces, backed by a helicopter and several snipers, stormed the Shu’afat refugee camp in northeast of the occupied city of al-Quds (Jerusalem), reports said on Wednesday.
According to the reports, Israeli forces blocked entries to the refugee camp, fired tear gas at Palestinians and set off stun grenades. Local residents told the al-Aqsa TV that Israeli forces also prevented ambulances from entering the camp.
The Israeli soldiers were deployed in the refugee camp ahead of the planned demolition of a home of a Palestinian who allegedly carried out an attack against Israeli forces last year.
The home set to be demolished was the residence of Ibrahim al-Akari who, Israel alleges, carried out a car-ramming attack on November 5, 2014, which killed two people, including a border police officer. He was shot dead in the incident.
The reports come as tensions continue between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The wave of unrest, which was triggered by Israel’s imposition in August of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, has left over 100 Palestinians killed. Almost 20 Israelis have also lost their lives in the clashes.
More than 7,000 Palestinians are reportedly behind bars in 17 Israeli prisons and detention centers, many of them without charge or trial.