Five arrested over human sacrifice at Indian temple - CNA

GUWAHATI, India: Indian police have arrested five men accused of conducting a human sacrifice, nearly four years after the discovery of the victim's headless body at a Hindu temple left officers baffled.

Shanti Shaw, 64, was killed and decapitated with a machete in 2019 after visiting the temple in Guwahati, a city in India's remote northeast.

Police made no headway in the case until Shaw's body was finally identified in January, sparking a renewed investigation that tracked down several culprits, with others still at large.

"The five planned the killing of the woman," Guwahati police commissioner Diganta Barah told reporters late on Tuesday (Apr 4). "A total of 12 people took part."

Barah said the alleged ringleader, Pradeep Pathak, 52, had orchestrated the killing as part of a religious rite to mark the anniversary of his brother's death.

"The accused apparently believed that the sacrifice would appease the soul of the deceased," he added.

Pathak and four others were taken into custody between Mar 25 and Apr 1, with police still hunting for their remaining seven accomplices.

India's National Crime Records Bureau lodged 103 cases of human sacrifice in the country between 2014 and 2021.

Ritual killings are usually conducted to appease deities and are more common in tribal and remote areas, where belief in witchcraft and the occult is widespread.

Last year two men were arrested for allegedly killing a six-year-old boy in the capital New Delhi.

The culprits, both construction workers, told police they murdered the child as an offering to the Hindu god Shiva to get rich.

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2023-04-05 09:18:42Z
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Former US president Trump pleads not guilty to 34 criminal charges in New York - The Straits Times

Taken together, the charges carry a maximum sentence of more than 100 years in prison under New York law but an actual prison sentence if he is convicted at a trial would almost certainly be far less than that.

While falsifying business records in New York on its own is a misdemeanour punishable by no more than one year in prison, it is elevated to a felony punishable by up to four years in prison when done to advance or conceal another crime.

The Manhattan grand jury convened by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg that indicted Trump heard evidence about a US$130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the waning days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Ms Daniels has said she was paid to keep silent about a sexual encounter she had with Trump at a Lake Tahoe hotel in 2006.

Trump’s former personal lawyer, Mr Michael Cohen, has said he coordinated with Trump on payments to Ms Daniels and to a second woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump has denied having had sexual relationships with either woman, but has acknowledged reimbursing Mr Cohen.

Mr Bragg, a Democrat, was due to give a news conference later on Tuesday.

Trump earlier held his fist in the air in a gesture to reporters as he departed his New York residence at Trump Tower in a motorcade bound for the courthouse. He exhibited little emotion when he waved to a crowd assembled outside the courthouse.

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2023-04-04 21:45:54Z
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Finland joins NATO in historic shift sparked by Russia's war - CNA

SWEDEN SOON?

Finland's arrival nevertheless remains a bittersweet moment for the alliance as the hope had been for Sweden to come on board at the same time.

Helsinki's first act as a new member was to back Stockholm's bid.

Budapest and Ankara remain the holdouts after belatedly agreeing to wave through Helsinki's bid.

Sweden has upset Hungary's leader Viktor Orban - one of Putin's closest allies in Europe - by expressing alarm over the rule of law in Hungary.

It has also angered Türkiye by refusing to extradite dozens of suspects that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan links to a failed 2016 coup attempt and the decades-long Kurdish independence struggle.

The United States and other NATO members led the calls for Sweden to join as soon as Finland's flag was fluttering in the cold Brussels breeze.

"Sweden is also a strong and capable partner that is ready to join NATO," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

"We encourage Túrkiye and Hungary to ratify the accession protocols for Sweden without delay."

Ukraine is also pushing for eventual NATO membership, but Western diplomats say that still remains a distant prospect.

"There is no better strategic solution to ensuring strategic security in the Euro-Atlantic region than the membership of Ukraine in the alliance," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

Stoltenberg said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was invited to NATO's Vilnius summit in July.

The focus for the alliance remains on bolstering Kyiv's capacities to win the war, while moving it towards NATO membership only over the longer term.

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2023-04-04 19:07:10Z
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Finland becomes 31st NATO member as Russia warns of 'countermeasures' - CNA

POWERFUL MILITARY

Invaded by its giant neighbour, the Soviet Union, in 1939, Finland - which has a 1,300km border with Russia - stayed out of NATO throughout the Cold War.

Now its membership brings a potent military into the alliance with a wartime strength of 280,000 and one of Europe's largest artillery arsenals.

Its strategic location bolsters NATO's defences on a border running from the vulnerable Baltic states to the increasingly competitive Arctic.

Senior NATO military commander Admiral Rob Bauer told AFP that Finland had so far not requested its new allies station troops on its soil.

NATO officials say the war in Ukraine has sapped Moscow's forces, but the alliance is monitoring how Russia responds to gauge its future steps.

Awkward allies Turkey and Hungary, for different reasons of their own, delayed Finland's bid to come under the NATO umbrella - and Stockholm's progress remains blocked.

But last week, the Turkish parliament voted to clear Finland's final hurdle.

Completing the ratification in well under a year still makes this the fastest membership process in the alliance's recent history.

NATO was created as a counterweight to the Soviet Union at the onset of the Cold War era that began immediately after the Allies defeated Nazi Germany.

SWEDEN SOON?

Finland's arrival nevertheless remains a bittersweet moment for the alliance as the hope had been for Sweden to come on board at the same time.

Budapest and Ankara remain the holdouts after belatedly agreeing to wave through Helsinki's bid.

Sweden has upset Hungary's leader Viktor Orban - one of Putin's closest allies in Europe - by expressing alarm over the rule of law in Hungary.

It has also angered Turkey by refusing to extradite dozens of suspects that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan links to a failed 2016 coup attempt and a decades-long Kurdish independence struggle.

NATO diplomats hope Erdogan will become more amenable if he weathers elections next month and that Sweden will join before a NATO summit in Vilnius this July.

Ukraine is also pushing for eventual NATO membership, but Western diplomats say that still remains a distant prospect.

"There is no better strategic solution to ensuring strategic security in the Euro Atlantic region than the membership of Ukraine in the alliance," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

NATO members in the meantime insist they are focused on providing Ukraine with the weaponry and support it needs to win the war with Russia.

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2023-04-04 10:57:00Z
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Trump is heading to court. Here's what to expect - CNA

Former President Donald Trump is set to appear in a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday (Apr 4) on charges related to falsifying business records in a hush-money investigation, the first president ever to be charged with a crime.

Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly assailed the investigation, has called the indictment “political persecution” and predicted it would damage Democrats in 2024. Trump's lawyers have said the former president “did not commit any crime. We will vigorously fight this political prosecution in court”.

Here's what to expect:

WHAT'S THE PLAN?

Trump flew into New York from his Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday and is expected to leave Trump Tower on Tuesday and make the nearly four-mile drive to the Manhattan criminal courthouse, where he is scheduled to face a judge for his arraignment at 2.15pm (Wednesday, 2.15am, Singapore time).

WILL THERE BE A “PERP WALK”?

No. So-called perp walks happen when a criminal suspect is taken in handcuffs out of a police precinct and then driven to the courthouse. But Trump won't be going to a police precinct. He's arranged a surrender with the district attorney's office and will head straight to the court, skipping a police station entirely. It's very unlikely anyone will get a glimpse of him going into court, unless he wants to be seen. That's because there are underground entrances, side doors and tunnels in and around the Manhattan courthouse.

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2023-04-04 04:39:00Z
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Japan to scrap COVID-19 tests on arrival for China travellers - CNA

TOKYO: Japan will stop testing travellers arriving from mainland China for the coronavirus, the government said Monday (Apr 3), ending a COVID-19 policy previously slammed as "discriminatory" by Beijing.

From Wednesday, arrivals from China will have to show proof of vaccination or a negative result obtained before departure - "just the same as all the other travellers and returnees", a government statement said.

The decision brings to an end a spat over COVID-19 border measures which began in January.

Then, more than a dozen countries imposed new travel rules as infections surged in China, which had just relaxed its strict zero-COVID policies.

In a tit-for-tat move, China suspended issuing short-term visas to Japanese citizens, with the Chinese foreign ministry hitting out against "discriminatory practices".

It resumed issuing visas to Japanese citizens in late January, but Japan kept its testing-on-arrival requirement for China.

Chinese tourists made up around a third of all visitors to Japan before the pandemic.

Last week, Britain also said travellers flying in from China would no longer need proof of a negative test from Apr 5.

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2023-04-03 11:00:41Z
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Ukraine's Zelenskyy: Situation 'especially hot' in Bakhmut - CNA

Prigozhin, in an audio message posted on his press service's Telegram account, said: "From a legal point of view, Bakhmut has been taken. The enemy is concentrated in the western parts."

A senior Ukrainian official had earlier described the situation around the town as "tense", with the military command carefully considering every move.

Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces were continuing to defend their positions, with Russian forces paying scant attention to their losses as they mounted attacks.

"The situation in Bakhmut remains tense," Maliar said on Telegram.

"But every military decision and every step is weighed carefully ... We respond to the prevailing situation appropriately, taking into account all circumstances, tasks and the principle of military feasibility."

Zelenskyy and military commanders agreed last month to maintain the defence of Bakhmut amid public debate over whether it was best to remain or adopt other defensive positions.

CLASHES IN CITY CENTRE

Prominent Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said fighting had engulfed the city centre. Ukrainian forces had repelled 25 enemy attacks, but Russian forces had captured the AZOM metal plant, which Ukrainian troops had defended for days.

"The enemy is attacking the city centre from the north, the east and the south and is trying to take the city under its full control," Zhdanov, who has close ties to the Ukrainian military, said in a video shown on YouTube.

"In some places, we have been successful and in some places we have even staged counter-attacks. But the enemy on occasion registers some success in view of the number of its forces and the number of its daily attacks."

Another military analyst, Yuri Butusov, said Ukraine was hampered by a lack of defensive planning, particularly near Avdiivka, a second town under attack in Donetsk region.

"We still lack planning in terms of building stationary, well-considered, well-defended defensive positions," Butusov said in a weekend interview with Ukrainian NV Radio. "This is the nature of the crisis near Avdiivka and in other areas of the front. The enemy is knocking out one position after another. And there is no rear position."

In his video address, Zelenskyy also said that two people had died in a Russian mortar attack near the town of Konotop in the northern region of Sumy.

He noted earlier reports that Russian shelling had killed six people in the city of Kostyantynivka in Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. Eleven people were injured.

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2023-04-02 21:27:00Z
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