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Showing posts from May 29, 2022

Minutes After Biden's Gun Violence Speech, Another Shooting In America

At 7:48 p.m., President  Joe Biden  wrapped up his speech on  gun violence  in America, exhorting  Congress  to pass gun control laws. “For God’s sake, how much more carnage are we willing to accept? How many more innocent American lives must be taken before we say ‘enough’? Enough,” he said. Just three minutes later, 911 calls started coming in in Ames, Iowa. There was another shooting. Story County Sheriff’s Capt. Nicholas Lennie said  three people were killed  in a parking lot outside Ames’ Cornerstone Church on Thursday night, including one who was believed to be the shooter. According to the Des Moines Register, the 911 calls came in as a “program was going on at church. The church hosts a regular Thursday evening event for its youth ministry, the Salt Company.” Biden’s 15-minute speech comes after recent mass shootings have shaken the nation and renewed calls for Congress to finally do something on gun control. Over the Memorial Day weekend,  Biden went to Uvalde, Texas , where 2

'Gun violence doesn’t end when the shooting stops': Uvalde forever changed after tragic shooting

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UVALDE, Texas — In the heart of this tiny Texas city, 21 maroon balloons bob over 21 white crosses adorned with the  names of the dead . Last week,  a lone gunman  walked into an elementary school  and shot dead 19 students and two of their teachers before being killed by law enforcement. The 90-minute attack leaves behind a trail of grief and unanswered questions. Crosses were erected at a memorial site in Uvalde, Texas, on May 26, days after a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. While authorities are still investigating the shooter's motives, the  May 24  shooting will forever alter residents and the city, once best known as the birthplace of actor Matthew McConaughey. The name Uvalde will follow survivors for the rest of their lives. They're the new Parkland, the new Columbine, the new Newtown, the new Aurora, the new Buffalo. And the changes are already underway. After the  custom caskets are buried  and the therapy dogs have left town, the recriminations and criticism

'Biased views, vote bank politics': India slams US report on attack on minorities

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India has slammed a US report that claimed that attacks on minority communities in India occurred throughout 2021. India Today Web Desk India has accused the US of 'vote bank politics in international relations' after a US State Department report alleged attacks on minority communities in India occurred throughout 2021. Reacting sharply to the US report, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "We have noted the release of US State Department 2021 report on International Religious Freedom and ill-informed comments by senior US officials. It is unfortunate that vote bank politics is being practiced in international relations." "We would urge that assessment based on motivated inputs and biased views be avoided," Bagchi added. On June 2, the US claimed that attacks on minorities, including killings, assaults, and intimidation, occurred throughout 2021 in India. "Attacks on members of religious minority communities, including k

Migrant Kashmiri Pandit employees leave Valley amid spate of targeted killings

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Accuse govt of forcing employees to migrate en masse Members of Awami Awaz Party stage a protest over the recent attacks on civilians in Srinagar. PTI Our Correspondent Samaan Lateef Srinagar, June 3 The transit camps of migrant Kashmiri Pandits looked deserted on Friday as hundreds of fear-stricken employees escaped to Jammu in the dead of night on Thursday amidst a fresh spate of targeted civilian killings in Kashmir. The Pandits accused the government of forcing the employees to migrate en masse. “I, along with my family, left on Thursday night as no one is safe there,” said Ashwani Sadhu, an engineer, who, along with nearly 400 employees, was putting up at Sheikhpora transit camp in Budgam. More than 80 per cent of employees at the Sheikpora camp left for Jammu, said Ashwini Pandita, an engineer at the PWD, Buildings and Roads. "Only those stayed back who had to sort the issues of their schoolchildren. We are in touch with the school administrations to get approval for online

Three people dead after shooting in Iowa church parking lot: Domestic Terrorism

  (Reuters) -A man shot and killed two women in the parking lot of a church in Iowa state on Thursday and then turned the gun on himself, police said, adding three more dead to the toll in a series of recent shootings that have rocked the United States. The Iowa shooting took place shortly after President Joe Biden delivered a major address on gun violence in the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo, New York; Uvalde, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, in recent weeks. Meanwhile another shooting on Thursday wounded two people attending a burial at cemetery in Racine, Wisconsin. The Iowa shooting took place outside Cornerstone Church, a fundamentalist Christian church east of the city of Ames, while a church program was on inside, said Nicholas Lennie, chief deputy of the Story County Sheriff's Office. When deputies arrived on scene they found all three dead, Lennie said, adding that he could not provide identities nor disclose what the relationship between them may have been. "This appe

Brick Kiln Worker From Bihar Becomes Latest Victim Of Targeted Killings Of Hindus In Kashmir

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A 17-year-old  migrant labourer  was shot dead and another was injured in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam on Thursday evening as targetted attacks on Hindus and non-locals continue in the valley. Dilkhush Kumar from Bihar, who was employed at a brick kiln in Chadoora village in Budgam district was shot dead while his colleague, Rajan, a resident of Punjab was critically injured after terrorists indiscriminately opened fire at them. BCCL The duo received critical gunshot injuries and were immediately shifted to the hospital where Dilkhush succumbed.  The condition of the other injured is stated to be stable. Hindu bank employee from Rajasthan shot dead  The attack came hours after  Vijay Kumar, a bank manager from Rajasthan , was shot dead in Kulgam. The Resistance Front, a shadow outfit of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group, claimed responsibility for the attack. BCCL The same outfit was behind a series of  targeted attacks on non-Kashmiris in the valley , last year. Kumar's fa

The Kashmir Killings: Jihadis Continue To Murder Innocent Civilians; Bihar Migrant 9th Victim Since May 1

  Kashmiri Pandits threatened of mass migration and demanded temporary relocation for two to three years till the situation in the valley returns to normal A Bihar migrant labourer was shot dead by terrorists, while another was injured in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam on Thursday night, hours after a bank manager was killed in a brazen attack in Kulgam district. Police said the labourers, identified as Dilkush Kumar and Guri, were injured in the attack. Guri was discharged from the hospital, while Kumar was shifted to SMHS hospital in Srinagar where he succumbed. Police have cordoned off the area and a search has been launched to nab the terrorists involved in the incident, which took place at around 9.10 pm. The murder comes a day after the mortal remains of a Hindu teacher killed by terrorists in Kulgam district were cremated on Wednesday even as Pandits protested against the killings and demanded temporary relocation. Rajni Bala (36), who belonged to Jammu’s Samba district but was post

4 killed in Oklahoma hospital shooting

  Oklahoma (US), June 2 A gunman carrying a rifle and a handgun killed four persons on Wednesday at a Tulsa, Oklahoma, medical building on a hospital campus, the police said, the latest in a series of deadly mass shootings across the country in recent weeks. Tulsa Police Department Deputy Chief Eric Dalgleish confirmed the number of victims at Francis Hospital’s Natalie Building and said the shooter also was dead, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Assailant dead Shooting took place at the Natalie Building of Francis Hospital in Tulsa Assailant apparently died of self-inflicted gunshot His identity is yet to be ascertained Police believe the victims included employees and patients both The police said they were trying to determine the suspect's identity, who they estimated was aged between 35 and 40. It was unclear what prompted the deadly assault in Tulsa, Dalgleish said. Natalie Building contains doctors’ offices including an orthopaedic centre, Dalgleish said, addin

No let-up in protests by Kashmiri Pandits trying to relocate from Kashmir Valley

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  Kashmiri Pandit employees hold sit-ins and protests within the premises of their transit camps in the Valley. SRINAGAR J&K targeted killings Kashmiri Pandits shout slogans as they block a road in Srinagar on May 31, 2022 during a protest against the killing of a schoolteacher. | Photo Credit: The Hindu There was no let-up in protests by Kashmiri Pandit employees, working in the Kashmir valley, on Thursday, as their bid to leave the transit colonies for Jammu was foiled by the administration. Meanwhile, the Lieutenant Governor’s administration has passed orders to post Pandit teachers in safer locations in the Valley. Kashmiri Pandit employees — with over 4,000 of them living in different colonies in Anantnag, Kulgam, Budgam, Ganderbal, Baramulla and Kupwara — held sit-ins and protests within the premises of their transit camps in the Valley. Also Read Official sources said there were bids by a few employees to leave their flats for Jammu in protest, but were stopped. “As part of

Hindu Bank manager killed in targeted attack in Kashmir; CCTV shows chilling visuals before shooting

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  A Hindu bank employee has been shot dead by terrorists in the Kulgam district of south Kashmir. Now, CCTV visuals showed the moment when the incident took place. India Today Web Desk Screenshot of the CCTV visual which showed the terrorist shooting at the bank manager. After a bank manager from Rajasthan was shot dead in Kulgam on Thursday, CCTV visuals showed the exact moment of the incident. The visuals showed the terrorist first peeping through the door and then returning again to kill the man. Terrorists fired upon the man, identified as Vijay Kumar, who works at the Ellaquai Dehati Bank at Are, Mohan Pora, in Kulgam district in South Kashmir. He was shot right outside his office. Kumar, who hailed from Hanumangarh in Rajasthan, was taken to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The incident occurred barely 13 km away from Shopian where a  bomb blast injured three soldiers  on Thursday morning. Source:  https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/cctv-visuals-hindu-bank-manage

Ex-rebels in Muslim Mindanao stake future on recruitment to national police force

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As the muezzin’s call to prayer echoed at dawn in a remote village in this southern Philippine city, former separatist rebel Rashid Kanton was preparing recently for an examination that could change his life.   The 35-year-old ex-member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front hoped to pass the exam to be considered eligible and among the first batch of former MILF insurgents recruited into the ranks of their former enemy, the Philippine National Police.  “I want to become a policeman to protect the people and catch the bad guys,” he told BenarNews. “And now we have the peace agreement, we want what was promised to us. We can be part of the police if we pass the examination.” But the odds are against Kanton, who has only finished high school. He has spent nearly all of his life as a member of the front, which was the country’s largest rebel force until it signed a peace deal with Manila in 2014 to end its decades-long separatist insurgency in the south. Now, the former guerrilla force cont

The Somad Affair and Singapore’s Battle Against Religious Extremism

Singapore’s racial and religious fault lines are sharp, reflecting its status as an ethnic Chinese majority state located in what is perceived as a Malay Southeast Asian world. In this context, the deportation this month of Abdul Somad Batubara, a radical Indonesian Muslim preacher, once again demonstrates the nation’s intolerance for any kind of extremism, regardless of its origin. Who is Abdul Somad Batubara? A North Sumatran from Asahan, and Batak by ethnicity, Somad, 45, is a well-known preacher who also teaches at the Sultan Syarif Kasim Islamic University in Riau. The internet and social media made him a celebrity, a leading digital preacher, through his literalist interpretations of how Islam should be practiced in Indonesia and abroad. Extremely charismatic with strong oratory skills, his ability to gain traction with his followers stem from his simplistic, yet extreme views on day-to-day aspects of Muslim lives, especially in the context of the rising Islamization of Indonesia