Wednesday, May 31, 2017 – 11:55
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Indian court suspends government's ban on trade of cattle for slaughter
An Indian court suspended on Tuesday a government ban on the trade of cattle for slaughter, a lawyer involved in the case said, giving some relief to Muslim-dominated beef and leather industries that employ millions of poor workers.
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court suspended for four weeks the order that prohibited animal markets from trading cattle, including buffalo, for slaughter, lawyer S. Selvagomathy told Reuters.
The suspension by the court in southern India was effective countrywide, said Selvagomathy, who petitioned the court.
Government officials were not immediately available for comment.
In a setback for meat and leather industries dominated by Muslims, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had decreed that animal markets could only trade cattle for agricultural purposes, such as plowing and dairy production.
The ban threatens $4 billion (S$55.4 billion) in annual beef exports and millions of jobs.
“I filed the petition because I thought the ban undermined basic rights such as the right to profession,” Selvagomathy said by telephone from southern India.
Abdul Faheem Qureshi, head of the Muslim All India Jamiatul Quresh Action Committee that supports meat sellers, welcomed the decision by the court in southern India and said his organisation would seek a suspension from India’s highest court.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017 – 10:48
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Drugs row led to woman's hacking, suspect told her sister
One of the four suspects wanted for allegedly killing a woman and chopping her body into two pieces has reportedly confessed to her sister that she had accidentally killed the victim during a fight about narcotics.
The body parts of Warisara Klinjui, 22, were found in two buckets buried in a forest area in Khon Kaen province on May 25.
Police believe the killers had cut the victim’s body at the waist to fit it into the buckets.
Prapasiri Somsri, the sister of Priyanuch Nonwangchai who is wanted on charges of murder and hiding a body, told police in Khon Kaen province yesterday that Priyanuch had telephoned her on Monday and had asked for more time to surrender.
During the call, Priyanuch claimed that the victim had betrayed her about drugs so she and three other suspects had lured the victim to meet them.
Prapasiri quoted her sister as saying that initially she intended to only beat up the victim to teach her a lesson but the victim fought back and threatened that one of them had to die. So she strangled the victim and accidentally caused her death.
According to Priyanuch, three others suspects; Wasin Namprom, 22, Kawita Rachada, 26, and Jidarat, 21, whose surname was not known, were also present at the scene of the crime. Arrest warrants have also been issued for them. Wasin was arrested yesterday in Laos while Kawita and Jidarat remain at large.
The sister, accompanied by her parents, spoke to the media after a meeting with police in Khon Kaen. She admitted that Priyanuch had a long history of drug use.
The suspect’s parents told reporters that Priyanuch was the youngest of five children.
They said they never thought that their daughter would be so cruel.
Meanwhile, Thai and Lao police detained Wasin, 22, at a guesthouse in Vientiane near Lao National University, about 20 kilometres from the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge that links Nong Khai province with the Lao capital.
A police source quoted Wasin as saying that Priyanuch suspected Warisara had become an informant who had tipped police off to arrest her on a drug-related charge.
Therefore, she allegedly kidnapped the victim and took her away in a rented Honda CRV vehicle driven by Wasin.
Police quoted Wasin as saying that along the way, Priyanuch had allegedly put a plastic bag on Warisara’s head and assaulted her.
According to Wasin, the victim challenged Priyanuch, saying if she survived she would return to take revenge. An angry Priyanuch allegedly assaulted her until she died in the car, police quoted Wasin as revealing.
On Priyanuch’s orders, Wasin allegedly drove the car to a field in Khao Suan Kwang to dump the body. They bought a saw at a construction shop and Priyanuch allegedly sawed the body.
Wasin claimed that he was just a driver and was not involved with the killing and sawing.
Forensic officials meanwhile collected evidence from the CRV that was suspected to be the vehicle used in the murder.
A provincial police chief, Pol Colonel Pongrit Kongsirisombat, said police had seized the vehicle allegedly used in the crime after examining security camera footage.
Police then traced the vehicle to a car rental company and found that one of the female suspects, who was a frequent customer, had rented the car on May 23 and returned it on the same day.
They found fingerprints, a lot of cement, blood stains on the mats and on the spare wheel at the back of the car. When they lifted the floor mats, they found two T-shirts.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017 – 10:07
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Kudos to Farrer Park Hospital nurses and doctors for rushing to rescue driver who suffered stroke
Nurses and doctors from Farrer Park Hospital (FPH) have won the praise of netizens after a story was posted on Facebook of how they rescued a driver who had suffered a stroke on May 23.
Staff Nurse (SN) Steve Mocsoy had noticed the car had hit the railings along the road near the hospital after he ended his shift and saw a lady trying to revive the driver.
He instinctively knew that the man needed medical assistance and called back to FPH to activate Code Pink.
According to the hospital, Code Pink is a Standard Operating Protocol to activate hospital personnel to assist in such medical emergencies.
Within five minutes, emergency staff rushed down to the scene with their equipment.
“I knew that the SCDF ambulance would take some time to arrive, but the man needed immediate medical attention,” said SN Steve.
“Activating Code Pink would allow the driver to receive immediate medical care as we were just beside FPH, and time is of the essence.”
The post described what happened in quick succession after the Code Pink was activated:
“Having run several Code Pink exercise a year, everyone worked in seamless co-ordination.
“ICU Head Nurse Badli checked the patient’s status.
“There was no trauma or bleeding but he was pale and his breathing was unsteady.
“As Badli started to attend to the patient, he instructed SN Steve to call SCDF.
“The patient was stuck in the driver’s seat as the door on that side was sealed shut against the railing.
“Gently they lowered the patient’s seat to put him in a more comfortable position.
“‘I would have preferred to raise his legs but we did not want to move him as we have yet to determine what injuries he may have sustained.’ Badli said.
“Dr Wong Ju Ming and Dr Clarence Liang were also on the scene, and together with Senior Staff Nurse (SSN) Wong Hui Ling, SN Carla Molina and SN Kwan Xiu Xian, ensured the patient airway was clear, a branula was set and an ECG was hooked up to monitor his heart rate.
“Dr Wong added, “Our thoughts were solely on stabilizing the driver until the SCDF arrive. As he was foaming and vomiting, we had to ensure that his airway is clear so that he could breathe.””
“While they were attending to the patient, SCDF had arrived.
“Seeing that there were medical experts on hand attending to the patient, they focused their attention on extracting the patient from his car.
“Once the patient was extracted and secured, our team did a handover to ensure all relevant information regarding the incident as well as the treatment process was well documented.
“Through a courtesy call, we understand that the patient had suffered a stroke while driving.
“It was fortunate that he was already slowing down at the junction and thus a major collision was avoided.
“Nevertheless, our thoughts and well wishes are with the gentleman and his family, and may he recover well.”
Wednesday, May 31, 2017 – 10:20
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Pipe bomb found near MRT station in Bangkok
Police are yet to determine whether a pipe bomb found near the MRT’s Thailand Cultural Centre station yesterday was linked to three recent bomb blasts in the capital.
“If they are related, we will treat them as one case,” national police Commissioner Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda said yesterday.
The three recent blasts in Bangkok involved the use of pipe bombs.
The first blew up in front of the Government Lottery Office on April 5 and the second in front of the National Theatre on May 15. They were minor explosions that did not cause much damage.
The third pipe bomb, at the Phramongkutklao Hospital on May 22, left 25 people injured.
Chakthip said the area where the pipe bomb was found yesterday – in wasteland in Bangkok’s Huai Khwang district – was now cordoned off for related officials to gather evidence.
On Tuesday afternoon, a motorcycle taxi driver who went to fish in the area, alerted authorities when he noticed a steel pipe with some attached wires.
Police and an explosive ordnance disposal team arrived in the area at about 2pm and after examining the pipe for more than an hour left without giving any details.
A source said the pipe, about eight inches long and four inches wide, contained a detonator and wires.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a cleaner of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration said he saw two suspects around the area where the pipe bomb was found.
“They came to the spot on a motorcycle. When the bike stopped, the man riding pillion got off and walked up to the spot where the pipe bomb was found. After about five minutes, he returned and both men sped away on their motorcycle,” he said.
Chakthip said police were looking into the role of the two suspects.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017 – 09:58
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China launches crackdown on illegal cosmetic surgery
Chinese authorities have launched a year-long crackdown on practitioners of unregistered cosmetic surgery, the official China Daily said on Wednesday.
The new campaign, launched by the country’s health ministry in conjunction with internet, drug safety and industry regulators, will also focus on illegal advertising and the unauthorized production and supply of drugs and appliances used in cosmetic surgery, the paper said.
The report said there are tens of thousands of cosmetic surgery practitioners in China, but fewer than 3,000 are registered with the authorities.
It said unlicensed facilities are responsible for more than 60 per cent of serious medical complications arising from cosmetic procedures, with some patients known to have gone blind as a result of improperly administered injections.
In a document published last weekend on its website, China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission said “lawless elements” had been involved in the illegal manufacture and use of cosmetic drugs like collagen and botulinum. It said it would establish a blacklist and punish firms involved in illegal practices.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017 – 10:01
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Olivia Newton-John reveals new cancer 25 years later
NEW YORK – Singing great Olivia Newton-John revealed Tuesday a return of breast cancer, 25 years after her first successful battle made her an advocate for fighting the disease.
The British-born star said she was obliged to postpone a tour of the United States and Canada following her new diagnosis.
The 68-year-old said she will undergo a short course of radiation, as well as natural therapies, upon the advice of specialists at a cancer research centre named after her in her adopted home of Melbourne, Australia.
The singer “is confident she will be back later in the year, better than ever, to celebrate her shows,” said a statement by her management.
Newton-John has been a chart-topper since the 1970s with songs that stretch into pop, folk and country but she became best-known for starring in the 1978 musical comedy “Grease” alongside John Travolta.
Newton-John was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, forcing her to halt her schedule.
The experience had a major impact on Newton-John who became an advocate for research into cancer and for early detection.
She has dedicated a series of albums and concerts to cancer and other charities and raised funds to build the health centre in Melbourne.
Newton-John had earlier postponed the first half of a North American tour complaining of back pain.
After consulting doctors, she learned that the pain was connected with breast cancer which had spread to the sacrum bone of her back.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017 – 09:48
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Ariana Grande to return to Manchester for star-studded benefit gig
MANCHESTER: US pop star Ariana Grande (pic) announced Tuesday she would return to Manchester to headline a star-studded benefit concert for the victims of the deadly attack on her show last week.
Justin Bieber, Coldplay, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Pharrell Williams, Usher and Take That will join her for Sunday’s concert in memory of the 22 people who died, seven of them children.
“Our response to this violence must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder and to live more kindly and generously than we did before,” Grande said.
The 23-year-old said she was “broken” and suspended her world tour after the bomb went off near an exit of the Manchester Arena venue at the finale of her show on May 22.
Fans who attended that show will be offered free tickets to the benefit concert at the Old Trafford cricket ground, which has a 50,000 capacity for concerts, with the rest sold to raise money for the affected families.
Grande is a favourite of pre-teens and as well as the children killed, a number of the victims were parents who came to pick up their daughters.
A lot of unease
Manchester-born Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher made his solo debut on Tuesday with a sell-out concert in aid of the bombing victims.
Like Grande’s, it raised money for the “We Love Manchester Emergency Fund” set up by the local council and the British Red Cross, to help the grieving families and victims.
Ahead of the show starting, 25-year-old Marnie Taylor said she hoped Gallagher would boost everyone’s mood.
“Kind of bring back the gig spirit of what gigs are supposed to be, they’re supposed to be safe, they’re supposed to be somewhere where people can escape,” she told AFP outside the O2 Ritz venue.
Gallagher said it was important to move forward in the wake of the terror attack.
“We need to enjoy life… We’ll be trying to lift people. Otherwise the poor kids who died at the gig have died in vain,” he told the Manchester Evening News.
As life in Britain’s third-largest city resumed a semblance of normality, the train station next to the attack site reopened earlier on Tuesday.
“There’s still a weird feeling, you know, armed police, a lot of unease,” said 59-year-old David Keys as he got off a train at Manchester Victoria.
Troops were deployed at key public sites last week as Britain’s national terror threat was raised to maximum, and police hunted suspected accomplices of bomber Salman Abedi.
The 22-year-old, who was born in Manchester to Libyan parents, was killed in the attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State group.
Photos: Explosions at Ariana Grande concert in Manchester
Britain’s threat level was reduced back from “critical” to “severe” on Saturday, and the army has been stood down.
Police on Tuesday released three men who had been arrested as part of the terror probe, while 11 people remain in custody in Britain.
Abedi’s brother Hashem and father Ramadan have also been arrested in Libya, where authorities say the two brothers were both IS jihadists.
Search for a suitcase
Questions are growing over whether intelligence services missed any vital clues, after a report in the Mail on Sunday that US authorities had previously warned Britain’s MI5 intelligence service about Abedi.
British police revealed Tuesday that Abedi had appeared in police records over theft, receiving stolen goods and assault in 2012 but was never flagged up for any radical views.
“He was known to the police for some relatively minor matters,” Manchester police chief Ian Hopkins told BBC radio, adding: “I am not privy to what the security service did or didn’t know about the individual at this time.”
Abedi reportedly fought in the Libyan conflict to topple former dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Police released a security camera image of Abedi carrying a large blue suitcase, appealing for any information about where he might have been.
“We are just trying to make sure we capture everything that he has discarded so we can then see what the significance is,” police chief Hopkins said.
“Has it (the suitcase) got DNA on it of people that may have helped him? Has it material he may have used?”
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Wednesday, May 31, 2017 – 09:49
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North Korea warns of 'bigger gift package' for US after latest test
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test of a new ballistic missile controlled by a precision guidance system and ordered the development of more powerful strategic weapons, the North’s official KCNA news agency reported on Tuesday.
The missile launched on Monday was equipped with an advanced automated pre-launch sequence compared with previous versions of the “Hwasong” rockets, North Korea’s name for its Scud-class missiles, KCNA said. That indicated the North had launched a modified Scud-class missile, as South Korea’s military has said.
The North’s test launch of a short-range ballistic missile landed in the sea off its east coast and was the latest in a fast-paced series of missile tests defying international pressure and threats of more sanctions.
Kim said the reclusive state would develop more powerful weapons in multiple phases in accordance with its timetable to defend North Korea against the United States.
“He expressed the conviction that it would make a greater leap forward in this spirit to send a bigger ‘gift package’ to the Yankees” in retaliation for American military provocation, KCNA quoted Kim as saying.
South Korea said it had conducted a joint drill with a US supersonic B-1B Lancer bomber on Monday. North Korea’s state media earlier accused the United States of staging a drill to practise dropping nuclear bombs on the Korean peninsula.
The US Navy said its aircraft carrier strike group, led by the USS Carl Vinson, also planned a drill with another US nuclear carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, in waters near the Korean peninsula.
A US Navy spokesman in South Korea did not give specific timing for the strike group’s planned drill. North Korea calls such drills a preparation for war.
Monday’s launch followed two successful tests of medium-to-long-range missiles in as many weeks by the North, which has been conducting such tests at an unprecedented pace in an effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the mainland United States.
Such launches, and two nuclear tests since January 2016, have been conducted in defiance of US pressure, UN resolutions and the threat of more sanctions.
They also pose one of the greatest security challenges for US President Donald Trump, who portrayed the latest missile test as an affront to China.
“North Korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbour, China, by shooting off yet another ballistic missile … but China is trying hard!” Trump said on Twitter.
Precision guidance
Japan has also urged China to play a bigger role in restraining North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s top national security adviser, Shotaro Yachi, met China’s top diplomat, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, for five hours of talks near Tokyo on Monday after the North’s latest test.
Yachi told Yang that North Korea’s actions had reached a new level of provocation.
“Japan and China need to work together to strongly urge North Korea to avoid further provocative actions and obey things like United Nations resolutions,” Yachi was quoted as telling Yang in a statement by Japan’s foreign ministry.
A statement from China’s foreign ministry after the meeting made no mention of North Korea.
North Korea has claimed major advances with its rapid series of launches, claims that outside experts and officials believe may be at least partially true but are difficult to verify independently.
A South Korean military official said the North fired one missile on Monday, clarifying an earlier assessment that there may have been more than one launch.
The test was aimed at verifying a new type of precision guidance system and the reliability of a new mobile launch vehicle under different operational conditions, KCNA said.
However, South Korea’s military and experts questioned the claim because the North had technical constraints, such as a lack of satellites, to operate a terminal-stage missile guidance system properly.
“Whenever news of our valuable victory is broadcast recently, the Yankees would be very much worried about it and the gangsters of the south Korean puppet army would be dispirited more and more,” KCNA cited leader Kim as saying.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017 – 09:43
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