Villagers in Myanmar have accused the junta troops of burning hundreds of homes in the country's northwest region. A woman from Bin village, a site of recent clashes, said that troops had arrived on Monday.&nbsp;

"They shelled artillery and fired guns before coming in," she said. On the condition of anonymity, she further revealed that the troops burnt around 200 houses, including hers.

"We could not bring anything with us. We took some warm clothes only, and then we just ran away," she added.&nbsp;

As per reports by local media, hundreds of homes have been destroyed in several villages.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-completes-a-year-of-return-of-military-rule-449615">Also read |&nbsp;Myanmar completes a year of return of military rule</a>

Myanmar's military toppled the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1 last year and seized control of the country which has already seen years of military rule in previous decades.

The military coup in Myanmar was followed by countrywide pro-democracy protests and unrest. The protests were brutally put down by the military regime.&nbsp;

On February 1 this year, people in Myanmar marked one year of the military coup with what were called 'silent strikes' with streets in the cities nearly deserted.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

Villagers in Myanmar have accused the junta troops of burning hundreds of homes in the country's northwest region. A woman from Bin village, a site of recent clashes, said that troops had arrived on Monday.

Villagers in Myanmar have accused the junta troops of burning hundreds of homes in the country's northwest region. A woman from Bin village, a site of recent clashes, said that troops had arrived on Monday. "They shelled artillery and fired guns before coming in," she said. On the condition of anonymity, she further revealed that the troops burnt around 200 houses, including hers. "We could not bring anything with us. We took some warm clothes only, and then we just ran away," she added. As per reports by local media, hundreds of homes have been destroyed in several villages. Also read | Myanmar completes a year of return of military rule Myanmar's military toppled the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1 last year and seized control of the country which has already seen years of military rule in previous decades. The military coup in Myanmar was followed by countrywide pro-democracy protests and unrest. The protests were brutally put down by the military regime. On February 1 this year, people in Myanmar marked one year of the military coup with what were called 'silent strikes' with streets in the cities nearly deserted. (With inputs from agencies)

Myanmar junta accused of burning hundreds of homes

A ‘creepy’ doorbell ringer in the UK has been giving sleepless nights to some residents.&nbsp;The mystery man has the habit of creating nuisance between 2 am and 4 am. A manhunt has also started to nab the culprit.&nbsp;

A couple in Stroud, Gloucestershire, seems to have been targetted by the doorbell ringer, as per SWNS report.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/uk-pm-boris-johnson-opens-inquiry-into-claims-by-mp-that-she-got-fired-for-being-muslim-447104" hreflang="en">UK PM Boris Johnson opens inquiry into claims by MP that she got fired for being Muslim</a>

The nuisance is generally created on Thursday mornings.&nbsp;He seems to have struck a particular house for at least thrice a month. It has not been revealed whether other homes have also been targetted by the culprit. &nbsp;

A photo of the culprit has been released by the police. It was retrieved from CCTV footage.&nbsp;In it, the person can be seen wearing glasses and baseball cap.&nbsp;Till date, he remains unidentified. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/uk-is-done-with-the-worst-of-covid-but-possible-bumps-on-road-expert-warns-446982" hreflang="en">UK is done with the worst of Covid but 'possible bumps on road,' expert warns</a>

In this case, a police community support officer (PCSO) asked for help from locals to nab the culprit by coming forward with any information they had. &nbsp;

“This is causing a lot of alarm and distress to the victim. If you recognise this person please contact us on 101,” the officer added. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

A ‘creepy’ doorbell ringer in the UK has been giving sleepless nights to some residents. The mystery man has the habit of creating nuisance between 2 am and 4 am.

A ‘creepy’ doorbell ringer in the UK has been giving sleepless nights to some residents. The mystery man has the habit of creating nuisance between 2 am and 4 am. A manhunt has also started to nab the culprit. A couple in Stroud, Gloucestershire, seems to have been targetted by the doorbell ringer, as per SWNS report. Also Read: UK PM Boris Johnson opens inquiry into claims by MP that she got fired for being Muslim The nuisance is generally created on Thursday mornings. He seems to have struck a particular house for at least thrice a month. It has not been revealed whether other homes have also been targetted by the culprit. A photo of the culprit has been released by the police. It was retrieved from CCTV footage. In it, the person can be seen wearing glasses and baseball cap. Till date, he remains unidentified. Also Read: UK is done with the worst of Covid but 'possible bumps on road,' expert warns In this case, a police community support officer (PCSO) asked for help from locals to nab the culprit by coming forward with any information they had. “This is causing a lot of alarm and distress to the victim. If you recognise this person please contact us on 101,” the officer added. (With inputs from agencies)

‘Creepy’ doorbell ringer creates ruckus in UK. Find out how

If the average person were to hollow out a tree branch, turn it into a light fixture and hang it over a dining room table, it would look like the work of a Cub Scout. But in Constantin Boym’s weekend home in New York state’s Hudson Valley, the branch is perfection. Not too crusty, not too knobby, so artless as to be almost invisible.

Boym, chair of the industrial design department at Pratt Institute in New York and co-principal with his wife, Laurene Leon Boym, of design company Boym Partners, is very good at making things and has recently had lots of opportunities.

Sequestered with his family for 18 months in their 1955 cabin in Esopus, New York, he embarked on a long busman’s holiday. Inside, he designed a second bedroom for the couple’s 24-year-old son, Rob, and a mudroom where the refrigerator and laundry appliances could live.

Outside, he introduced to the property’s 8 acres a fire pit, a “village” of acquired birdhouses in various architectural styles, a tomato garden, a pavilion with a faux deer trophy that he assembled from found wood (part of a series Boym calls “Upstate Safari”) and a metal sculpture on the site of a recently cleared glass-and-metal scrap pile, made from detritus found there (“I think something from a baby carriage,” he said).

Laurene Boym, who has recently taken to making ironic drawings of controversial consumer products like Land O’Lakes butter and Sun-Maid raisins, received a new studio extending from a woodshed.

The couple renamed their augmented property Boym Park.

For people fortunate enough to own a country home during a pandemic, the relief of having a refuge is often tempered by the stresses of making it work. Stuffing a weekend house with a full complement of family members puts a strain on more than the septic system. And with the shortage of available contractors and the scarcity and expense of building supplies, it hasn’t been easy to renovate one’s problems away.

Which gives designers like the Boyms an advantage: Subjected to the same pandemic conditions as the rest of us, they are equipped to make scrappy home improvements that help maintain their sanity. They can act as their own general contractors, nudging the results they want from builders, electricians and plumbers, or they can do the jobs themselves, without making them look DIY.

It pays to be hands-on and off-the-shelf (or out-of-the-forest). Constantin Boym estimated the cost of the art studio, built with hired help, at $20,000. Yet choosing humble materials like $27 worth of pressure-treated lumber for an outdoor bench that will last a half-century is not just a matter of thrift, he said, but a commentary on consumption. He quoted Russian constructivist artist Vladimir Tatlin’s support of “not the old, not the new, but the necessary.”

Boym found it necessary that the bench hang around long enough to merge with a tree trunk, fitting into a notch carved into the seat. It was also necessary that another bench be built from logs embedded with oyster mushroom spores that will erupt over much of the piece. A third bench, up the slope, includes a cocktail or beer bar.

If he had his way, Boym, who was born in Russia, would also have included Soviet-style statues — a worker or “a girl with an oar” — but they are not so easy to find, he said.

Twenty-five miles northeast of Esopus, in the Columbia County hamlet of Elizaville, New York, Peter Matthiessen Wheelwright was finding it necessary to finish his second novel. An emeritus architecture professor at Parsons School of Design in New York, he had been working on the book for six years and had hit a dry patch when the pandemic struck. Wheelwright bolted with his wife, Eliza, for their little gambrel-roofed house on 200 acres. They had bought the property, a former marijuana farm, in 1986, after it was seized by authorities.

“I wanted a place to really get out and howl at the moon,” he said. But with children and grandchildren swarming in less than 2,000 square feet, there was no quiet place to write.

“As an architect, I’ve never really had a chance to do a little free-standing thing for myself,” he said, making it doubly rewarding to design a tiny studio with a sleeping loft. Construction began with the first COVID-19 stirrings, so he was able to secure most of the materials and labor before they were swamped by demand. The building is heated with a Danish wood-burning stove and has hot and cold water supplied by an office water cooler mounted over a sink that drains into a downspout. There is also a composting toilet and an elevated deck pierced by a fire cherry tree.

The job wrapped up in six months, a labor of love but not economy. “It’s the famous triad that good architects will explain to their clients,” he said. “You want it fast, you want it cheap, you want it well done. Pick two.”

Wheelwright wanted it fast and with high-quality windows and doors, an angled ceiling and bead-board paneling instead of Sheetrock. He estimated the cost at $150,000 to $160,000.

Eight months later, his book was done. “The Door-Man,” a multigenerational saga that centers on the fossil discoveries of real-life 20th-century paleontologist Winifred Goldring, is due out Feb. 1 from Fomite Press.

A bit south, in the Dutchess County town of Rhinebeck, New York, Calvin Tsao and Zack McKown were also galloping to complete a small outbuilding on a large, rural parcel. The New York-based architects, along with their domestic partner and financial manager, David Poma, had been occupying a renovated gatehouse on 82 acres of protected land as their weekend home, but its 800 square feet left no room for hobbies, much less work. Limited by covenant to 600 square feet for the new structure, they laid out three small studios side by side, connected by a pair of bathrooms, one with a toilet, the other with a shower.

“We wanted to use every bit of space,” Tsao said. “I always thought that corridors were pointless.” The trio of rooms can also be reached from a common screened porch at the end.

The building looks out to an apple orchard and is painted a color based on tree bark samples collected by the architects and mixed by Benjamin Moore. “Six hundred square feet for a studio is not meant to be a razzmatazz design statement,” Tsao said. It is meant to blend in with the flora.

The building nevertheless had a razzmatazz price — $350,000 — despite the use of engineered flooring, supplies from the local lumberyard and hardware store, and only a slight indulgence in Heath tiles for the bathrooms. “The cost of construction is just skyrocketing,” Tsao said.

A bit of the budget was shaved when they needed a column for the breezeway. “We just bought a tree trunk for, like, $12,” he said.

Started before the pandemic, the house was finished in May 2020, becoming a remote office, where the partners work on projects like rebuilding the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan.

The rural setting has rubbed off on them in profound ways; they are reclaiming oversight of the apple orchard, which had been outsourced to a local farmer, and turning it organic. “We want to spend more time here to truly understand what agrarian life and culture is about,” Tsao said.

Architecture is among the most restless of professions, with its far-flung client meetings and site visits. For an architect, to be locked down in a well-appointed studio is likely to feel unnatural. To be locked down in one’s home could easily shade into torture.

“I was working in about 15 square feet in my bedroom, and trying to coordinate showers and changing clothes and making the bed,” Ryan Mullenix, a partner at Seattle architecture firm NBBJ, recalled about the period in which he was under one roof with his wife and three remote-schooled children. What emerged out of desperation (plus an architect-build-it-thyself urge) was a 70-square-foot free-standing office in his backyard in suburban Bellevue, Washington.

The co-lead of NBBJ’s corporate design practice, Mullenix was like a scientist dosing himself with his own serum. His advice for clients trying to adapt workplaces for the future, he said, is to “test it — don’t try to make it perfect the first time out.” His little office is a model of minimalism just waiting to be tweaked.

Begun in June 2020, the project took a year to complete, with materials costing about $10,000. Mullenix did the work himself in his leisure hours, aided sometimes by friends and a professional electrician. He made dozens of trips to Home Depot and sanctioned only two custom moments in the form of a pair of sliding-glass doors for views and cross-ventilation. And, OK, the floor has radiant heat.

Two hours west of Seattle, at the tip of the Toandos Peninsula, Kristen Becker has spent her pandemic weekends learning to use a chain saw, drive a tractor and demolish a carport. This knowledge has all been in the service of renovating an old house that she and her husband, Saul Becker, bought three years ago after learning that it had once belonged to Saul Becker’s grandfather, who gambled it away in a drunken poker game. The couple, partners in Seattle-based architecture and design company Mutuus Studio, paid $139,000 for the dilapidated three-story building, which had been abandoned for a decade. Gradually, they fixed it up as a weekend retreat and design laboratory.

Aiming for a cabin vibe, the couple created a sleeping loft for their two children that was “open to the kitchen, to voices and evening conversations, to the sound of the fire crackling,” Kristen Becker said. On the lower level, they furnished a game room with a free pool table they were offered unexpectedly one night, and dismantled and carted home. (Kristen Becker was in heels.)

As for the experimental part, “I’ve been suspending metal lampshades in the canal and growing barnacles on them as part of making fixtures for the house,” said Saul Becker, who trained as an artist and designs lighting for the company. His laminated linen and canvas panels, reminiscent of fine-art paintings and proletarian drop cloths (he has experience with both), were used on lamps and kitchen cabinet fronts. The crushed shells of oysters pulled out of the bay nearby became countertop material.

Kristen Becker calls the vintage finds she likes to collect and restore “puppies.” She described the house as “a very large puppy.”

“It’s going to be endless, a lifetime project,” she said. “Check back next year.”

If the average person were to hollow out a tree branch, turn it into a light fixture and hang it over a dining room table, it would look like the work of a Cub Scout.

If the average person were to hollow out a tree branch, turn it into a light fixture and hang it over a dining room table, it would look like the work of a Cub Scout. But in Constantin Boym’s weekend home in New York state’s Hudson Valley, the branch is perfection. Not too crusty, not too knobby, so artless as to be almost invisible. Boym, chair of the industrial design department at Pratt Institute in New York and co-principal with his wife, Laurene Leon Boym, of design company Boym Partners, is very good at making things and has recently had lots of opportunities. Sequestered with his family for 18 months in their 1955 cabin in Esopus, New York, he embarked on a long busman’s holiday. Inside, he designed a second bedroom for the couple’s 24-year-old son, Rob, and a mudroom where the refrigerator and laundry appliances could live. Outside, he introduced to the property’s 8 acres a fire pit, a “village” of acquired birdhouses in various architectural styles, a tomato garden, a pavilion with a faux deer trophy that he assembled from found wood (part of a series Boym calls “Upstate Safari”) and a metal sculpture on the site of a recently cleared glass-and-metal scrap pile, made from detritus found there (“I think something from a baby carriage,” he said). Laurene Boym, who has recently taken to making ironic drawings of controversial consumer products like Land O’Lakes butter and Sun-Maid raisins, received a new studio extending from a woodshed. The couple renamed their augmented property Boym Park. For people fortunate enough to own a country home during a pandemic, the relief of having a refuge is often tempered by the stresses of making it work. Stuffing a weekend house with a full complement of family members puts a strain on more than the septic system. And with the shortage of available contractors and the scarcity and expense of building supplies, it hasn’t been easy to renovate one’s problems away. Which gives designers like the Boyms an advantage: Subjected to the same pandemic conditions as the rest of us, they are equipped to make scrappy home improvements that help maintain their sanity. They can act as their own general contractors, nudging the results they want from builders, electricians and plumbers, or they can do the jobs themselves, without making them look DIY. It pays to be hands-on and off-the-shelf (or out-of-the-forest). Constantin Boym estimated the cost of the art studio, built with hired help, at $20,000. Yet choosing humble materials like $27 worth of pressure-treated lumber for an outdoor bench that will last a half-century is not just a matter of thrift, he said, but a commentary on consumption. He quoted Russian constructivist artist Vladimir Tatlin’s support of “not the old, not the new, but the necessary.” Boym found it necessary that the bench hang around long enough to merge with a tree trunk, fitting into a notch carved into the seat. It was also necessary that another bench be built from logs embedded with oyster mushroom spores that will erupt over much of the piece. A third bench, up the slope, includes a cocktail or beer bar. If he had his way, Boym, who was born in Russia, would also have included Soviet-style statues — a worker or “a girl with an oar” — but they are not so easy to find, he said. Twenty-five miles northeast of Esopus, in the Columbia County hamlet of Elizaville, New York, Peter Matthiessen Wheelwright was finding it necessary to finish his second novel. An emeritus architecture professor at Parsons School of Design in New York, he had been working on the book for six years and had hit a dry patch when the pandemic struck. Wheelwright bolted with his wife, Eliza, for their little gambrel-roofed house on 200 acres. They had bought the property, a former marijuana farm, in 1986, after it was seized by authorities. “I wanted a place to really get out and howl at the moon,” he said. But with children and grandchildren swarming in less than 2,000 square feet, there was no quiet place to write. “As an architect, I’ve never really had a chance to do a little free-standing thing for myself,” he said, making it doubly rewarding to design a tiny studio with a sleeping loft. Construction began with the first COVID-19 stirrings, so he was able to secure most of the materials and labor before they were swamped by demand. The building is heated with a Danish wood-burning stove and has hot and cold water supplied by an office water cooler mounted over a sink that drains into a downspout. There is also a composting toilet and an elevated deck pierced by a fire cherry tree. The job wrapped up in six months, a labor of love but not economy. “It’s the famous triad that good architects will explain to their clients,” he said. “You want it fast, you want it cheap, you want it well done. Pick two.” Wheelwright wanted it fast and with high-quality windows and doors, an angled ceiling and bead-board paneling instead of Sheetrock. He estimated the cost at $150,000 to $160,000. Eight months later, his book was done. “The Door-Man,” a multigenerational saga that centers on the fossil discoveries of real-life 20th-century paleontologist Winifred Goldring, is due out Feb. 1 from Fomite Press. A bit south, in the Dutchess County town of Rhinebeck, New York, Calvin Tsao and Zack McKown were also galloping to complete a small outbuilding on a large, rural parcel. The New York-based architects, along with their domestic partner and financial manager, David Poma, had been occupying a renovated gatehouse on 82 acres of protected land as their weekend home, but its 800 square feet left no room for hobbies, much less work. Limited by covenant to 600 square feet for the new structure, they laid out three small studios side by side, connected by a pair of bathrooms, one with a toilet, the other with a shower. “We wanted to use every bit of space,” Tsao said. “I always thought that corridors were pointless.” The trio of rooms can also be reached from a common screened porch at the end. The building looks out to an apple orchard and is painted a color based on tree bark samples collected by the architects and mixed by Benjamin Moore. “Six hundred square feet for a studio is not meant to be a razzmatazz design statement,” Tsao said. It is meant to blend in with the flora. The building nevertheless had a razzmatazz price — $350,000 — despite the use of engineered flooring, supplies from the local lumberyard and hardware store, and only a slight indulgence in Heath tiles for the bathrooms. “The cost of construction is just skyrocketing,” Tsao said. A bit of the budget was shaved when they needed a column for the breezeway. “We just bought a tree trunk for, like, $12,” he said. Started before the pandemic, the house was finished in May 2020, becoming a remote office, where the partners work on projects like rebuilding the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. The rural setting has rubbed off on them in profound ways; they are reclaiming oversight of the apple orchard, which had been outsourced to a local farmer, and turning it organic. “We want to spend more time here to truly understand what agrarian life and culture is about,” Tsao said. Architecture is among the most restless of professions, with its far-flung client meetings and site visits. For an architect, to be locked down in a well-appointed studio is likely to feel unnatural. To be locked down in one’s home could easily shade into torture. “I was working in about 15 square feet in my bedroom, and trying to coordinate showers and changing clothes and making the bed,” Ryan Mullenix, a partner at Seattle architecture firm NBBJ, recalled about the period in which he was under one roof with his wife and three remote-schooled children. What emerged out of desperation (plus an architect-build-it-thyself urge) was a 70-square-foot free-standing office in his backyard in suburban Bellevue, Washington. The co-lead of NBBJ’s corporate design practice, Mullenix was like a scientist dosing himself with his own serum. His advice for clients trying to adapt workplaces for the future, he said, is to “test it — don’t try to make it perfect the first time out.” His little office is a model of minimalism just waiting to be tweaked. Begun in June 2020, the project took a year to complete, with materials costing about $10,000. Mullenix did the work himself in his leisure hours, aided sometimes by friends and a professional electrician. He made dozens of trips to Home Depot and sanctioned only two custom moments in the form of a pair of sliding-glass doors for views and cross-ventilation. And, OK, the floor has radiant heat. Two hours west of Seattle, at the tip of the Toandos Peninsula, Kristen Becker has spent her pandemic weekends learning to use a chain saw, drive a tractor and demolish a carport. This knowledge has all been in the service of renovating an old house that she and her husband, Saul Becker, bought three years ago after learning that it had once belonged to Saul Becker’s grandfather, who gambled it away in a drunken poker game. The couple, partners in Seattle-based architecture and design company Mutuus Studio, paid $139,000 for the dilapidated three-story building, which had been abandoned for a decade. Gradually, they fixed it up as a weekend retreat and design laboratory. Aiming for a cabin vibe, the couple created a sleeping loft for their two children that was “open to the kitchen, to voices and evening conversations, to the sound of the fire crackling,” Kristen Becker said. On the lower level, they furnished a game room with a free pool table they were offered unexpectedly one night, and dismantled and carted home. (Kristen Becker was in heels.) As for the experimental part, “I’ve been suspending metal lampshades in the canal and growing barnacles on them as part of making fixtures for the house,” said Saul Becker, who trained as an artist and designs lighting for the company. His laminated linen and canvas panels, reminiscent of fine-art paintings and proletarian drop cloths (he has experience with both), were used on lamps and kitchen cabinet fronts. The crushed shells of oysters pulled out of the bay nearby became countertop material. Kristen Becker calls the vintage finds she likes to collect and restore “puppies.” She described the house as “a very large puppy.” “It’s going to be endless, a lifetime project,” she said. “Check back next year.”

What designers have been doing at home during the pandemic

In a horrifying incident, a US man was found dead at his home surrounded by snakes. The 49-year-old man who lived in Charles County in Maryland was surrounded by at least 125 snakes, including the highly venomous cobras and black mambas. Pythons were are also found on the site. The unnamed man was pronounced dead at the scene.&nbsp;

The largest snake was a 14-foot Burmese python.

As per the police, they received a call from the man's neighbour. The neighbour had decided to check up on him after he did not see him for an entire day. When he reached his house, he saw the man lying unconscious on the floor.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/watch-what-an-idea-uk-officials-rescue-stranded-dog-by-tying-sausage-to-drone-446714">Also read |&nbsp;Watch: What an idea! UK officials rescue stranded dog by tying sausage to drone</a>

Charles County Animal Control is trying to rescue all the reptiles found at the scene. A spokeswoman for the centre told BBC, "All of the snakes were placed with out-of-state organisations with the proper authority, permits and/or licenses."

She further added that some of the animals would be adopted privately by approved handlers.

The cause of death has not yet been determined. However, as per the police, there is no evidence of "foul play".&nbsp;

Also, a post-mortem examination will be held.

(With inputs from agencies)

In a horrifying incident, a US man was found dead at his home surrounded by snakes. The 49-year-old man who lived in Charles County in Maryland was surrounded by at least 125 snakes, including the highly venomous cobras and black mambas.

In a horrifying incident, a US man was found dead at his home surrounded by snakes. The 49-year-old man who lived in Charles County in Maryland was surrounded by at least 125 snakes, including the highly venomous cobras and black mambas. Pythons were are also found on the site. The unnamed man was pronounced dead at the scene. The largest snake was a 14-foot Burmese python. As per the police, they received a call from the man's neighbour. The neighbour had decided to check up on him after he did not see him for an entire day. When he reached his house, he saw the man lying unconscious on the floor. Also read | Watch: What an idea! UK officials rescue stranded dog by tying sausage to drone Charles County Animal Control is trying to rescue all the reptiles found at the scene. A spokeswoman for the centre told BBC, "All of the snakes were placed with out-of-state organisations with the proper authority, permits and/or licenses." She further added that some of the animals would be adopted privately by approved handlers. The cause of death has not yet been determined. However, as per the police, there is no evidence of "foul play". Also, a post-mortem examination will be held. (With inputs from agencies)

US: 49-year-old man found dead at home surrounded by 125 snakes

In a strange incident, homeowners in Montgomery County, Maryland, accidentally burned their while trying to get rid of snake infestation in the basement. The 10,000 square feet house came down in smoke after the owners used coals in an attempt to get rid of the snakes.

Pete Piringer, chief spokesperson for the Montgomery County fire and rescue service explained that coals were used as the heat source for the smoke. However, unfortunately, they were placed way too&nbsp;close to combustible materials. This is what caused the fire.

Nearly 75 firefighters were called to bring down the massive fire which caused damage worth more than $1 million. As per public records, the house was recently purchased for $1.8 million.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/here-are-a-few-magnificent-images-from-the-last-solar-eclipse-of-2021-434269">Also read |&nbsp;Here are a few magnificent images from the last solar eclipse of 2021</a>

Pete took to his Twitter handle and shared images of the burned house. In the images, the house can be seen engulfed by flames.&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Update (11/23 10p) 21000blk Big Woods Rd, Dickerson/Poolesville, <a href="https://twitter.com/mcfrs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mcfrs</a> Media Hotline Update 240.777.2442 - no injuries, Cause-undetermined/under investigation, &gt;$1M loss, ~75FFs responded, it was dark &amp; cold (~ 25°) <a href="https://t.co/6PwIkbRAkf">https://t.co/6PwIkbRAkf</a> <a href="https://t.co/jWlB1HPdKt">pic.twitter.com/jWlB1HPdKt</a>
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) <a href="https://twitter.com/mcfrsPIO/status/1463526891135156229?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
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<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
ICYMI (~10p Tuesday evening 11/23) 21050 Big Woods Rd, Dickerson, house fire, no injuries, damage/loss &gt;$1M, ~75FFs including mutual aid from Frederick, MD &amp; Loudoun, VA Counties responded <a href="https://t.co/3CBFjRs7ZG">https://t.co/3CBFjRs7ZG</a> <a href="https://t.co/VkuH9bwvLz">pic.twitter.com/VkuH9bwvLz</a>
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) <a href="https://twitter.com/mcfrsPIO/status/1463480763765166082?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2021</a></blockquote>
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No one was injured in the fire as at the time of the fire the home was empty. It was noticed by a neighbour who then called 911.

Pete while speaking to CNN said that snakes have been a major issue for this owner and even the previous tenant.&nbsp;

CNN quoted Pete as saying, "There were no fire hydrants in the area. Which isn't a problem because we're used to it, but we had to shuttle in water tankers."

The incident has been deemed as an accident as there has been no evidence or intention found of starting the fire.

(With inputs from agencies)

In a strange incident, homeowners in Montgomery County, Maryland, accidentally burned their while trying to get rid of snake infestation in the basement. The 10,000 square feet house came down in smoke after the owners used coals in an attempt to get rid of the snakes.

In a strange incident, homeowners in Montgomery County, Maryland, accidentally burned their while trying to get rid of snake infestation in the basement. The 10,000 square feet house came down in smoke after the owners used coals in an attempt to get rid of the snakes. Pete Piringer, chief spokesperson for the Montgomery County fire and rescue service explained that coals were used as the heat source for the smoke. However, unfortunately, they were placed way too close to combustible materials. This is what caused the fire. Nearly 75 firefighters were called to bring down the massive fire which caused damage worth more than $1 million. As per public records, the house was recently purchased for $1.8 million. Also read | Here are a few magnificent images from the last solar eclipse of 2021 Pete took to his Twitter handle and shared images of the burned house. In the images, the house can be seen engulfed by flames. Update (11/23 10p) 21000blk Big Woods Rd, Dickerson/Poolesville, @mcfrs Media Hotline Update 240.777.2442 - no injuries, Cause-undetermined/under investigation, >$1M loss, ~75FFs responded, it was dark & cold (~ 25°) https://t.co/6PwIkbRAkf pic.twitter.com/jWlB1HPdKt — Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) November 24, 2021 × ICYMI (~10p Tuesday evening 11/23) 21050 Big Woods Rd, Dickerson, house fire, no injuries, damage/loss >$1M, ~75FFs including mutual aid from Frederick, MD & Loudoun, VA Counties responded https://t.co/3CBFjRs7ZG pic.twitter.com/VkuH9bwvLz — Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) November 24, 2021 × No one was injured in the fire as at the time of the fire the home was empty. It was noticed by a neighbour who then called 911. Pete while speaking to CNN said that snakes have been a major issue for this owner and even the previous tenant. CNN quoted Pete as saying, "There were no fire hydrants in the area. Which isn't a problem because we're used to it, but we had to shuttle in water tankers." The incident has been deemed as an accident as there has been no evidence or intention found of starting the fire. (With inputs from agencies)

Trying to get rid of snakes, owners accidentally burned down their home

Iraq’s prime minister survived a drone strike on his home early Sunday, Iraqi officials said, raising fears of wider instability after disputed results in Iraq’s parliamentary elections.

“I am fine, praise be to God, among my people, and I call for calm and restraint from everyone, for the sake of Iraq,” the prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, wrote on Twitter after the predawn attack. In a video appealing for peace, he appeared with his wrist wrapped in what seemed to be a white gauze bandage.

A senior official in the Iraqi Interior Ministry, Maj. Gen. Saad Maan, said on state television that the prime minister’s house in the fortified Green Zone had been targeted by three armed drones.

Iraq’s president, Barham Salih, described the attack as a prelude to a coup, tweeting that “we cannot accept that Iraq will be dragged into chaos and a coup against its constitutional system.”

On Friday, tensions over results of the October&nbsp;10 parliamentary elections came to a head after a clash outside the Green Zone the site of the executed leader Saddam Hussein’s former palace grounds&nbsp; where the US Embassy and many other Western diplomatic missions are. Iraqi security forces used tear gas and live ammunition on militia members protesting the election results after the protesters tried to breach the heavily fortified zone’s barriers.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/iraqi-pm-says-have-identified-perpetrators-of-drone-assassination-attempt-427565">Also read |&nbsp;Iraqi PM says have identified perpetrators of drone assassination attempt</a>

Leaders of Iranian-backed militias&nbsp;to which most of the protesters belong&nbsp;have blamed al-Kadhimi, Iraq’s former intelligence chief, for the use of force that killed at least one person.

Asaib Ahl al-Haq, one of the most powerful Iranian-backed militias, identified the person killed as Abdul Latif al-Khuwayldi, one of its brigade deputy commanders. The Iraqi Health Ministry said that more than 120 other people at the demonstration had been wounded, most of them security forces trying to hold back the protesters.

Iraq’s election commission has yet to announce final results for the nationwide elections held almost a month ago as it wades through fraud accusations. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has emerged as the biggest winner, at the expense of Iranian-backed parties that lost seats. Al-Sadr, whose fighters battled American forces during the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, is viewed as an Iraqi nationalist with an uneasy relationship with Iran.

Political analysts believe those gains were mostly because of a more sophisticated strategy by the Sadrist organization, taking advantage of a new electoral system, which has an increased number of electoral districts. The United Nations, which had observers at the polls, praised the process. The political wings of the militia groups that lost seats claim they were defrauded.

One of al-Kadhimi’s main goals has been to rein in Iranian-backed militias. After 2014, when many were created to fight the Islamic State group, some of the biggest militias have been integrated into Iraq’s official security forces. Those militia forces, though, only nominally answer to the Iraqi government and some are blamed for continuing attacks on US&nbsp;interests.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack Sunday on the prime minister’s residence.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/act-of-terrorism-says-us-after-iraq-prime-minister-escapes-drone-attack-427472">Also read | Act of terrorism, says US after Iraq Prime Minister escapes drone attack</a>

Most analysts saw the attack as a warning to al-Kadhimi and his allies rather than as an assassination attempt. The prime minister has remained in power by balancing Iraqi relations between Iran and the United States, and he is seeking another term.

“What we’ve seen in the past is the use of violence, not necessarily to assassinate, but to warn that, ‘We’re here,’ ” said Renad Mansour, head of the Iraq Initiative at the think tank Chatham House. “I think this would also be a warning perhaps gone wrong because you can gain a bit more popularity and sympathy as the prime minister who survived an assassination attempt.”

The attack, though, significantly complicates efforts to form a government. Such efforts rely on forging alliances among parties, some of them with armed wings, to form the biggest bloc in Parliament.

A US State Department spokesperson, Ned Price, called the strike Sunday an “apparent act of terrorism” that was “directed at the heart of the Iraqi state.”

Although al-Kadhimi said that both he and those who work with him were fine, the Iraqi military command said that several guards were being treated for injuries.

Photographs released on state media of damage to the house showed cracked concrete steps, doors apparently blown off their hinges and what looked like shrapnel holes in the back of a parked vehicle.

Al-Sadr, whose movement has won the highest number of seats of any political bloc in Parliament, described the attack as an attempt to return the country to the control of “nonstate forces to make Iraq live under riots, violence and terrorism.”

Iranian-backed groups that have previously threatened al-Kadhimi condemned the drone strikes.

Asaib Ahl al-Haq, the militia group, which was among those that lost seats in the parliamentary elections, called the strikes an attempt to divert attention from the deadly clash outside the Green Zone on Friday and blamed foreign intelligence agencies.

A spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, expressed relief that the Iraqi prime minister had not been hurt in the attack. In a statement, Khatibzadeh blamed the strikes on an unspecified foreign plot.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/iraqi-prime-minister-escapes-assassination-attempt-after-explosive-laden-drone-targets-his-house-427315">Also read |&nbsp;Iraqi Prime Minister escapes assassination attempt after explosive-laden drone targets his house</a>

Abu Ali al-Askari, the nom de guerre of one of the leaders of Kitaib Hezbollah, a main Iranian-backed militia, accused al-Kadhimi of playing the role of a victim and said that no one in Iraq considered the Iraqi leader’s home worth losing a drone over.

“If there is anyone who wants to harm this Facebook creature there are many ways that are less costly and more guaranteed to achieve this,” he said in a posting on his Telegram channel.

While the attack has raised fears of growing instability amid Iraq’s political turmoil, the country’s citizens seemed to generally shrug it off. Later Sunday morning, the start of the Iraqi workweek, Baghdad streets were full of the normal rush-hour traffic jams.

Near one of the entrances to the Green Zone, food vendors placed spatchcocked chickens to cook over charcoal grills on crowded sidewalks. Inside a butcher shop, a green parrot perched on a pole greeted customers by chirping out “meenoo” — “who is that” in the Iraqi dialect of Arabic.

“We are used to these incidents,” said Ali al-Hussayni, 50, the shop owner, about the attack on al-Kadhimi. “I am not saying people are not scared at all, but we have seen far worse than this.”

Iraq’s prime minister survived a drone strike on his home early Sunday, Iraqi officials said, raising fears of wider instability after disputed results in Iraq’s parliamentary elections.

Iraq’s prime minister survived a drone strike on his home early Sunday, Iraqi officials said, raising fears of wider instability after disputed results in Iraq’s parliamentary elections. “I am fine, praise be to God, among my people, and I call for calm and restraint from everyone, for the sake of Iraq,” the prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, wrote on Twitter after the predawn attack. In a video appealing for peace, he appeared with his wrist wrapped in what seemed to be a white gauze bandage. A senior official in the Iraqi Interior Ministry, Maj. Gen. Saad Maan, said on state television that the prime minister’s house in the fortified Green Zone had been targeted by three armed drones. Iraq’s president, Barham Salih, described the attack as a prelude to a coup, tweeting that “we cannot accept that Iraq will be dragged into chaos and a coup against its constitutional system.” On Friday, tensions over results of the October 10 parliamentary elections came to a head after a clash outside the Green Zone the site of the executed leader Saddam Hussein’s former palace grounds where the US Embassy and many other Western diplomatic missions are. Iraqi security forces used tear gas and live ammunition on militia members protesting the election results after the protesters tried to breach the heavily fortified zone’s barriers. Also read | Iraqi PM says have identified perpetrators of drone assassination attempt Leaders of Iranian-backed militias to which most of the protesters belong have blamed al-Kadhimi, Iraq’s former intelligence chief, for the use of force that killed at least one person. Asaib Ahl al-Haq, one of the most powerful Iranian-backed militias, identified the person killed as Abdul Latif al-Khuwayldi, one of its brigade deputy commanders. The Iraqi Health Ministry said that more than 120 other people at the demonstration had been wounded, most of them security forces trying to hold back the protesters. Iraq’s election commission has yet to announce final results for the nationwide elections held almost a month ago as it wades through fraud accusations. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has emerged as the biggest winner, at the expense of Iranian-backed parties that lost seats. Al-Sadr, whose fighters battled American forces during the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, is viewed as an Iraqi nationalist with an uneasy relationship with Iran. Political analysts believe those gains were mostly because of a more sophisticated strategy by the Sadrist organization, taking advantage of a new electoral system, which has an increased number of electoral districts. The United Nations, which had observers at the polls, praised the process. The political wings of the militia groups that lost seats claim they were defrauded. One of al-Kadhimi’s main goals has been to rein in Iranian-backed militias. After 2014, when many were created to fight the Islamic State group, some of the biggest militias have been integrated into Iraq’s official security forces. Those militia forces, though, only nominally answer to the Iraqi government and some are blamed for continuing attacks on US interests. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack Sunday on the prime minister’s residence. Also read | Act of terrorism, says US after Iraq Prime Minister escapes drone attack Most analysts saw the attack as a warning to al-Kadhimi and his allies rather than as an assassination attempt. The prime minister has remained in power by balancing Iraqi relations between Iran and the United States, and he is seeking another term. “What we’ve seen in the past is the use of violence, not necessarily to assassinate, but to warn that, ‘We’re here,’ ” said Renad Mansour, head of the Iraq Initiative at the think tank Chatham House. “I think this would also be a warning perhaps gone wrong because you can gain a bit more popularity and sympathy as the prime minister who survived an assassination attempt.” The attack, though, significantly complicates efforts to form a government. Such efforts rely on forging alliances among parties, some of them with armed wings, to form the biggest bloc in Parliament. A US State Department spokesperson, Ned Price, called the strike Sunday an “apparent act of terrorism” that was “directed at the heart of the Iraqi state.” Although al-Kadhimi said that both he and those who work with him were fine, the Iraqi military command said that several guards were being treated for injuries. Photographs released on state media of damage to the house showed cracked concrete steps, doors apparently blown off their hinges and what looked like shrapnel holes in the back of a parked vehicle. Al-Sadr, whose movement has won the highest number of seats of any political bloc in Parliament, described the attack as an attempt to return the country to the control of “nonstate forces to make Iraq live under riots, violence and terrorism.” Iranian-backed groups that have previously threatened al-Kadhimi condemned the drone strikes. Asaib Ahl al-Haq, the militia group, which was among those that lost seats in the parliamentary elections, called the strikes an attempt to divert attention from the deadly clash outside the Green Zone on Friday and blamed foreign intelligence agencies. A spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, expressed relief that the Iraqi prime minister had not been hurt in the attack. In a statement, Khatibzadeh blamed the strikes on an unspecified foreign plot. Also read | Iraqi Prime Minister escapes assassination attempt after explosive-laden drone targets his house Abu Ali al-Askari, the nom de guerre of one of the leaders of Kitaib Hezbollah, a main Iranian-backed militia, accused al-Kadhimi of playing the role of a victim and said that no one in Iraq considered the Iraqi leader’s home worth losing a drone over. “If there is anyone who wants to harm this Facebook creature there are many ways that are less costly and more guaranteed to achieve this,” he said in a posting on his Telegram channel. While the attack has raised fears of growing instability amid Iraq’s political turmoil, the country’s citizens seemed to generally shrug it off. Later Sunday morning, the start of the Iraqi workweek, Baghdad streets were full of the normal rush-hour traffic jams. Near one of the entrances to the Green Zone, food vendors placed spatchcocked chickens to cook over charcoal grills on crowded sidewalks. Inside a butcher shop, a green parrot perched on a pole greeted customers by chirping out “meenoo” — “who is that” in the Iraqi dialect of Arabic. “We are used to these incidents,” said Ali al-Hussayni, 50, the shop owner, about the attack on al-Kadhimi. “I am not saying people are not scared at all, but we have seen far worse than this.”

Fears of wider instability in Iraq after attack on Prime Minister’s home

In a hearty welcome, US Marines, who were deployed in Afghanistan, could be seen getting flanked by family and friends on their arrival at the home base on Sunday. &nbsp;

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These Marines belonged to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines Regiment. Nine Marines from their battalion had lost their lives while defending the Kabul airport in a suicide bomb attack, which killed at least 13 US service members and scores of Afghans on August 26. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/progressives-stand-firm-on-priorities-as-infrastructure-debate-continues-418182" hreflang="en">Progressives stand firm on priorities as infrastructure debate continues</a>

Although the media personnel were not given access to the returning service members or their families by the Marine Corps, some briefly spoke on their return. &nbsp;

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In order to protect the airport in the war-torn country, these Marines and other security personnel from the US carried out several operations. They screened people, maintained security, checked baggage and finally, evacuated thousands of people in just a few days. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/blinken-faces-an-awkward-visit-to-paris-his-second-home-418147" hreflang="en">Blinken faces an awkward visit to Paris, his ‘second home’</a>

Not just this, they also cared for several Afghan newborns while carrying out their duties. &nbsp; &nbsp;

It was one of the most chaotic US airlifts. In it, eventually 124,000 people were evacuated out of the country. It included US citizens, Afghans, who aided the US war effort and their families. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

In a hearty welcome, US Marines, who were deployed in Afghanistan, could be seen getting flanked by family and friends on their arrival at the home base on Sunday.

In a hearty welcome, US Marines, who were deployed in Afghanistan, could be seen getting flanked by family and friends on their arrival at the home base on Sunday. These Marines belonged to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines Regiment. Nine Marines from their battalion had lost their lives while defending the Kabul airport in a suicide bomb attack, which killed at least 13 US service members and scores of Afghans on August 26. Also Read: Progressives stand firm on priorities as infrastructure debate continues Although the media personnel were not given access to the returning service members or their families by the Marine Corps, some briefly spoke on their return. In order to protect the airport in the war-torn country, these Marines and other security personnel from the US carried out several operations. They screened people, maintained security, checked baggage and finally, evacuated thousands of people in just a few days. Also Read: Blinken faces an awkward visit to Paris, his ‘second home’ Not just this, they also cared for several Afghan newborns while carrying out their duties. It was one of the most chaotic US airlifts. In it, eventually 124,000 people were evacuated out of the country. It included US citizens, Afghans, who aided the US war effort and their families. (With inputs from agencies)

US Marines deployed in Afghanistan finally return home

If reports are to be believed, the Ministry of Finance has asked its male officials and employees to resume their duties from Saturday. But the female employees have been ordered to stay at home 'until proper work environment is provided’. &nbsp;

If the employees do not resume duties, they will be marked as absent and may be fired too. &nbsp; &nbsp;

Watch:&nbsp;Kabul residents react on 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks

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According to the data, there are around 400,000 govt employees, out of which there are 120,000 women, mostly working in the education sector. Around 5,000 Afghan women are also working in the security sector. &nbsp;

Meanwhile, the Taliban raised its flag on the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul on Saturday. The development comes as the groups strengthens its grip on the country after it took over its control last month. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/taliban-raise-flag-on-afghan-presidential-palace-as-us-marks-911-anniversary-412376" hreflang="en">Taliban raise flag on Afghan presidential palace as US marks 9/11 anniversary</a>

Afghanistan’s capital city, Kabul, has been also put on high alert as the threat of a possible terror attack looms over the city. The city has been facing the danger of a possible attack from ISIS-K militants. &nbsp;

This threat has come a little after sources had warned authorities against a possible truck suicide attack in a protest that took place on Thursday. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

If reports are to be believed, the Ministry of Finance has asked its male officials and employees to resume their duties from Saturday. But the female employees have been ordered to stay at home 'until proper work environment is provided’.

If reports are to be believed, the Ministry of Finance has asked its male officials and employees to resume their duties from Saturday. But the female employees have been ordered to stay at home 'until proper work environment is provided’. If the employees do not resume duties, they will be marked as absent and may be fired too. Watch: Kabul residents react on 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks × According to the data, there are around 400,000 govt employees, out of which there are 120,000 women, mostly working in the education sector. Around 5,000 Afghan women are also working in the security sector. Meanwhile, the Taliban raised its flag on the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul on Saturday. The development comes as the groups strengthens its grip on the country after it took over its control last month. Also Read: Taliban raise flag on Afghan presidential palace as US marks 9/11 anniversary Afghanistan’s capital city, Kabul, has been also put on high alert as the threat of a possible terror attack looms over the city. The city has been facing the danger of a possible attack from ISIS-K militants. This threat has come a little after sources had warned authorities against a possible truck suicide attack in a protest that took place on Thursday. (With inputs from agencies)

Taliban’s finance ministry tells female staff to stay at home: Report  

A three-year-old boy, who spent three nights lost in rugged Australian woodland, was back at home from hospital on Tuesday. &nbsp;&nbsp;

His family and rescuers had a sigh of relief with the happy ending to a desperately difficult search. The child, whose name is Anthony 'AJ' Elfalak, has autism and is non-verbal. AJ has a few scratches and bruises from the ordeal.

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A three-year-old child missing on a rural property in the Hunter region since Friday has been located following a large-scale search.<a href="https://t.co/VrlVwL4sYW">https://t.co/VrlVwL4sYW</a> <a href="https://t.co/byOXFCiD1j">pic.twitter.com/byOXFCiD1j</a>
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He was taken to hospital for observation after he was found on Monday. He was spotted sitting in a shallow creek and drinking water with cupped hands on his family's remote rural property near the village of Putty, north of Sydney.

Watch:&nbsp;Lion population rises in South Africa

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On Monday night, his mother Kelly Elfalak brought him home to sleep in his own bed. She also thanked the hundreds of emergency services officers and volunteers, who had scoured the steep terrain surrounding the house after AJ vanished on Friday morning. &nbsp;

The mother told reporters, "I can't explain it, I'm so blessed. I'm so happy that he is here. He's with us, he's safe and well and healthy, that's all that matters." &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/new-filtering-method-promises-safer-drinking-water-improved-industrial-production-411452" hreflang="en">New filtering method promises safer drinking water, improved industrial production</a>

According to relatives, AJ spent Tuesday sleeping, eating and playing with toys. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Jonathan Smith, a pilot of the police helicopter that spotted AJ, described his reaction as 'absolute joy’. &nbsp;

"We were all emotional and I said to the boys ... If that doesn't make you happy, nothing will," Smith said, while referring to the crew.

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

A three-year-old boy, who spent three nights lost in rugged Australian woodland, was back at home from hospital on Tuesday. His family and rescuers had a sigh of relief with the happy ending to a desperately difficult search.

A three-year-old boy, who spent three nights lost in rugged Australian woodland, was back at home from hospital on Tuesday. His family and rescuers had a sigh of relief with the happy ending to a desperately difficult search. The child, whose name is Anthony 'AJ' Elfalak, has autism and is non-verbal. AJ has a few scratches and bruises from the ordeal. A three-year-old child missing on a rural property in the Hunter region since Friday has been located following a large-scale search.https://t.co/VrlVwL4sYW pic.twitter.com/byOXFCiD1j — NSW Police Force (@nswpolice) September 6, 2021 × He was taken to hospital for observation after he was found on Monday. He was spotted sitting in a shallow creek and drinking water with cupped hands on his family's remote rural property near the village of Putty, north of Sydney. Watch: Lion population rises in South Africa × On Monday night, his mother Kelly Elfalak brought him home to sleep in his own bed. She also thanked the hundreds of emergency services officers and volunteers, who had scoured the steep terrain surrounding the house after AJ vanished on Friday morning. The mother told reporters, "I can't explain it, I'm so blessed. I'm so happy that he is here. He's with us, he's safe and well and healthy, that's all that matters." Also Read: New filtering method promises safer drinking water, improved industrial production According to relatives, AJ spent Tuesday sleeping, eating and playing with toys. Jonathan Smith, a pilot of the police helicopter that spotted AJ, described his reaction as 'absolute joy’. "We were all emotional and I said to the boys ... If that doesn't make you happy, nothing will," Smith said, while referring to the crew. (With inputs from agencies)

After getting lost in woods for 3 days, Australian toddler now back at home  

After a time span of 17 months, China’s herd of wandering elephants appears to finally be heading home.

According to reports, the 14 Asian elephants of various sizes and ages were guided across the Yuanjiang river in Yunnan on Sunday night.

Also, a path was being made for them to return to the nature reserve in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture.

On Sunday night, the herd was spotted in Yuanjiang County, which is approximately 200km from the reserve.

The highlights of the elephants' trip included the birth of a calf in Pu’er in November and&nbsp;causing more than 6.8m yuan ($1.07m) in damage, according to estimates by state broadcaster CGTN.

After leaving their nature reserve last year, the herd has travelled for over 500 kilometres across the Yunnan province in China.

They roamed around free through villages and large towns, alike.&nbsp;

Although this herd seems to be on a never-ending epic journey, a lone elephant, who broke away from the herd a month ago, was captured and returned to the home reserve recently, a CNN report said.&nbsp;

This elephant has travelled more than 190 kilometers on its own. It survived on food provided by local authorities and sometimes, foraging into villages.&nbsp;

As the 1.8-tonne male had lingered near populated areas and posed a risk to public safety, the authorities tranquilised and sent it to the reserve.&nbsp;

According to the Yunnan government, there were no external injuries on the elephant, who walked into the rainforest and took a dip in the river after being released.&nbsp;

After a time span of 17 months, China’s herd of wandering elephants appears to finally be heading home. According to reports, the 14 Asian elephants of various sizes and ages were guided across the Yuanjiang river in Yunnan on Sunday night.

After a time span of 17 months, China’s herd of wandering elephants appears to finally be heading home. According to reports, the 14 Asian elephants of various sizes and ages were guided across the Yuanjiang river in Yunnan on Sunday night. Also, a path was being made for them to return to the nature reserve in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. On Sunday night, the herd was spotted in Yuanjiang County, which is approximately 200km from the reserve. The highlights of the elephants' trip included the birth of a calf in Pu’er in November and causing more than 6.8m yuan ($1.07m) in damage, according to estimates by state broadcaster CGTN. After leaving their nature reserve last year, the herd has travelled for over 500 kilometres across the Yunnan province in China. They roamed around free through villages and large towns, alike. Although this herd seems to be on a never-ending epic journey, a lone elephant, who broke away from the herd a month ago, was captured and returned to the home reserve recently, a CNN report said. This elephant has travelled more than 190 kilometers on its own. It survived on food provided by local authorities and sometimes, foraging into villages. As the 1.8-tonne male had lingered near populated areas and posed a risk to public safety, the authorities tranquilised and sent it to the reserve. According to the Yunnan government, there were no external injuries on the elephant, who walked into the rainforest and took a dip in the river after being released.

China’s herd of wandering elephants finally on their way back home

BWF World Tour 2022 finals will mark the end of Badminton season this year. In the ongoing tournament at the Nimibutr Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, four semi finalists in all five categories are determined. While India’s HS Prannoy failed to reach the last four despite famous win over Olympic medalist Viktor Axelsen, the Danish shuttler will aim to grab the last title of 2022. Here in this piece, we will find out all the details about the semi finalists across all categories alongside the streaming details.

<h2>HS Prannoy ends 2022 with stunning win over Viktor Axelsen</h2>

In a match that lasted for over 50 minutes saw Indian shuttler HS Prannoy delivering a memorable performance against his old rival Viktor Axelsen. The Olympic medalist and World Champion, Viktor took the first set home 21-14. Prannoy, who had also defeated Axelsen at Indonesia Masters Round of 16 in November 2021, made a stunning comeback in the second set, winning it 21-17. With one set to go, Prannoy looked upbeat and punched above his weight all over again.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/not-kohli-chopra-or-dhoni-surprising-name-becomes-most-searched-indian-sportsperson-on-google-in-2022-541621">Not Kohli, Chopra or Dhoni: Surprising name becomes 'Most searched Indian sportsperson on Google in 2022'</a>

Though winning the third and deciding set 21-18 saw him clinch a famous victory over Viktor on Friday, Prannoy still failed to reach last four. Despite at least winning one game in each of his three matches at this event, Prannoy stood last on the Group-A, and as a result, couldn’t make it to the semis.

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🚨 BREAKING 🚨<a href="https://twitter.com/PRANNOYHSPRI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PRANNOYHSPRI</a> too good for <a href="https://twitter.com/ViktorAxelsen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ViktorAxelsen</a>! 
 
But the 🇩🇰 still through to the semis!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BWFWorldTourFinals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BWFWorldTourFinals</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bangkok2022?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bangkok2022</a> <a href="https://t.co/AkxQBig8DT">pic.twitter.com/AkxQBig8DT</a>
— BWF (@bwfmedia) <a href="https://twitter.com/bwfmedia/status/1601159246594572290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Here is everything you need to know about the semi finals of BWF World Tour 2022 –

<h2>Where are BWF World Tour 2022 semi finals taking place?</h2>

The BWF World Tour 2022 semi finals will take place on Saturday, December 10th at the Nimibutr Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

<h2>Who are the semi finalists across all five categories in BWF World Tour 2022?</h2>

The semi-finalists across all five categories (Men’s, Women’s, Men’s doubles, Women’s doubles and Mixed doubles) have been determined and you can have a look at them in the tweet given below.

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Here are your semifinalist! Who are you tipping to lift the 🏆<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BWFWorldTourFinals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BWFWorldTourFinals</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bangkok2022?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bangkok2022</a> <a href="https://t.co/JXckVBOMqG">pic.twitter.com/JXckVBOMqG</a>
— BWF (@bwfmedia) <a href="https://twitter.com/bwfmedia/status/1601213288087715840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<h2>How can we watch the semi finals of BWF World Tour 2022? - Live Streaming</h2>

For all the viewers in India they can enjoy the live coverage of the semi finals of the BWF World Tour 2022 on Sports 18 channel on TV and on Voot and JioCinema app online.

BWF World Tour 2022 finals will mark the end of Badminton season this year. In the ongoing tournament at the Nimibutr Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, four semi finalists in all five categories are determined.

BWF World Tour 2022 finals will mark the end of Badminton season this year. In the ongoing tournament at the Nimibutr Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, four semi finalists in all five categories are determined. While India’s HS Prannoy failed to reach the last four despite famous win over Olympic medalist Viktor Axelsen, the Danish shuttler will aim to grab the last title of 2022. Here in this piece, we will find out all the details about the semi finalists across all categories alongside the streaming details. HS Prannoy ends 2022 with stunning win over Viktor Axelsen In a match that lasted for over 50 minutes saw Indian shuttler HS Prannoy delivering a memorable performance against his old rival Viktor Axelsen. The Olympic medalist and World Champion, Viktor took the first set home 21-14. Prannoy, who had also defeated Axelsen at Indonesia Masters Round of 16 in November 2021, made a stunning comeback in the second set, winning it 21-17. With one set to go, Prannoy looked upbeat and punched above his weight all over again. ALSO READ: Not Kohli, Chopra or Dhoni: Surprising name becomes 'Most searched Indian sportsperson on Google in 2022' Though winning the third and deciding set 21-18 saw him clinch a famous victory over Viktor on Friday, Prannoy still failed to reach last four. Despite at least winning one game in each of his three matches at this event, Prannoy stood last on the Group-A, and as a result, couldn’t make it to the semis. 🚨 BREAKING 🚨@PRANNOYHSPRI too good for @ViktorAxelsen! But the 🇩🇰 still through to the semis!#BWFWorldTourFinals #Bangkok2022 pic.twitter.com/AkxQBig8DT — BWF (@bwfmedia) December 9, 2022 × Here is everything you need to know about the semi finals of BWF World Tour 2022 – Where are BWF World Tour 2022 semi finals taking place? The BWF World Tour 2022 semi finals will take place on Saturday, December 10th at the Nimibutr Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. Who are the semi finalists across all five categories in BWF World Tour 2022? The semi-finalists across all five categories (Men’s, Women’s, Men’s doubles, Women’s doubles and Mixed doubles) have been determined and you can have a look at them in the tweet given below. Here are your semifinalist! Who are you tipping to lift the 🏆#BWFWorldTourFinals #Bangkok2022 pic.twitter.com/JXckVBOMqG — BWF (@bwfmedia) December 9, 2022 × How can we watch the semi finals of BWF World Tour 2022? - Live Streaming For all the viewers in India they can enjoy the live coverage of the semi finals of the BWF World Tour 2022 on Sports 18 channel on TV and on Voot and JioCinema app online.

Floods in Sudan damage thousands of homes

A new study has revealed that an area of the Arctic Ocean, which is critical for the survival of polar bears is becoming vulnerable to climate change. Deemed as the "last ice area", the area has suffered record melting last summer, says the new study.

A new study has revealed that an area of the Arctic Ocean, which is critical for the survival of polar bears is becoming vulnerable to climate change. Deemed as the "last ice area", the area has suffered record melting last summer, says the new study. As per the researchers, high winds allied to a changing climate were behind the unexpected decline. Also Read | As US & Canada experience heatwave, UN confirms record heat in Antarctica Axel Schweiger, from the University of Washington and lead author of this latest study, was quoted by BBC saying, "Sea ice circulates through the Arctic, it has a particular pattern, and it naturally ends up piling up against Greenland and the northern Canadian coast". He added, "In climate models, when you spin them forward over the coming century, that area has the tendency to have ice survive in the summer the longes". The area is considered to be an important last refuge for Arctic marine mammals. This includes polar bears, ice-dependent seals and walruses. The team of researchers have been using a combination of satellite imagery and sea ice models to understand what happened in the region. By August 2020, the images showed a record low of just 50 per cent ice concentration. The researchers have concluded that 'unusually strong winds' moved much of the sea ice out of the area. However, this was enhanced by a thinning trend, related to warming. As per the researchers, the record melt was 80 per cent due to weather-related factors such as the winds. Around 20 per cent was from thinning related to climate change.

Home for polar bears is vulnerable to warming, says study

A new season -- whether summer or winter -- always brings new vibes, new colours, and gives you an opportunity to redo your surroundings as per your mood. 
 
Here are some ways to make your home refreshing and summer-ready by Raghunandan Saraf, CEO and Founder, Saraf Furniture. 
 
Colourful outdoor setting: 
 
We love summer sundowners, particularly when the gathering moves outside. Pick a comfortable open air seating set that encourages discussion and lingering. Some bright outside cushions and throws for are an absolute necessity. You can also spice up the setting with hint of string/ fairy lights. Consider string lights as mood, rather than task lighting for magical space. 
 
Turn your porch into a lounge for summer evenings: 
 
On the off chance that your house is lacking in space, transform your porch where you can simply unwind. With the correct furnishings and embellishments, your patio can give your little home an additional eating space. Giving your front entryway a coloured makeover adds additional style to your yard and a point of interest for your new outdoor space. 
 
Amp up the bar station: 
 
Summers call out for cool-refreshing drinks. Especially when the temperature heats up, one tends to find solace in the cool drinks. For the season, fresh and fruity summer cocktails deserve a dedicated station. You could always turn that little empty corner, or an otherwise unused area in your house as a make-shift bar station. As one says, `every party house needs a fantastic, spilling-over bar`. 
 
Re-arrange Furniture: 
 
The manner in which you utilise your home in the winters versus summers is most likely to be different. Winters mean more evenings cozied up with the TV or having individuals over for occasion parties, so the furniture mirrors that. In the summer, children are bound to play computer games or read in their rooms. Moving your furniture around prepares your home for a comfy summer. Beanbags by the shelves encourage reading and lounge chairs outdoors helps you keep an eye on the kids while they play. 
 
Add summer scents into your House: 
 
Probably the most ideal approach to freshen up your home for the mid-year is getting summer fragrances. Regardless of whether you love the solace of a candle or you incline toward scented oils, summer aromas can light up your state of mind. Search for brilliant, clean aromas like lemon and orange. Or then again, in case you`re a flower person, pick spring-prepared scents like lilac or rose. 
 
Assuming spring is a period for recharging, summer is a period for basically enjoying your hard-work. By preparing your home, you can shake out the dust and laziness of colder climate and love your space in a bright, new, vaporous way. 
 
 
&nbsp;

A new season -- whether summer or winter -- always brings new vibes, new colours, and gives you an opportunity to redo your surroundings as per your mood. Here are some ways to make your home refreshing and summer-ready by Raghunandan Saraf, CEO and Founder, Saraf Furniture.

A new season -- whether summer or winter -- always brings new vibes, new colours, and gives you an opportunity to redo your surroundings as per your mood. Here are some ways to make your home refreshing and summer-ready by Raghunandan Saraf, CEO and Founder, Saraf Furniture. Colourful outdoor setting: We love summer sundowners, particularly when the gathering moves outside. Pick a comfortable open air seating set that encourages discussion and lingering. Some bright outside cushions and throws for are an absolute necessity. You can also spice up the setting with hint of string/ fairy lights. Consider string lights as mood, rather than task lighting for magical space. Turn your porch into a lounge for summer evenings: On the off chance that your house is lacking in space, transform your porch where you can simply unwind. With the correct furnishings and embellishments, your patio can give your little home an additional eating space. Giving your front entryway a coloured makeover adds additional style to your yard and a point of interest for your new outdoor space. Amp up the bar station: Summers call out for cool-refreshing drinks. Especially when the temperature heats up, one tends to find solace in the cool drinks. For the season, fresh and fruity summer cocktails deserve a dedicated station. You could always turn that little empty corner, or an otherwise unused area in your house as a make-shift bar station. As one says, `every party house needs a fantastic, spilling-over bar`. Re-arrange Furniture: The manner in which you utilise your home in the winters versus summers is most likely to be different. Winters mean more evenings cozied up with the TV or having individuals over for occasion parties, so the furniture mirrors that. In the summer, children are bound to play computer games or read in their rooms. Moving your furniture around prepares your home for a comfy summer. Beanbags by the shelves encourage reading and lounge chairs outdoors helps you keep an eye on the kids while they play. Add summer scents into your House: Probably the most ideal approach to freshen up your home for the mid-year is getting summer fragrances. Regardless of whether you love the solace of a candle or you incline toward scented oils, summer aromas can light up your state of mind. Search for brilliant, clean aromas like lemon and orange. Or then again, in case you`re a flower person, pick spring-prepared scents like lilac or rose. Assuming spring is a period for recharging, summer is a period for basically enjoying your hard-work. By preparing your home, you can shake out the dust and laziness of colder climate and love your space in a bright, new, vaporous way.

Home decor tips for approaching summer season

Swiss violinist, Debora Vonwiller, performed on Wednesday (May 6) in front of the residents of a Retirement Homes Foundation in Zurich, bringing at least one of them to tears. The care home's residents are all over 65 years old and have hardly left their apartments for weeks.

Swiss violinist plays music for elderly during coronavirus lockdown

With growing number of Coronavirus cases, employees across the world have been asked to adopt 'work from home' model. Here are eight tips that will make you stay on top of your game while you work from home making it easy yet productive.

8 Tips to Make Work from Home Easy and Productive

An American pastor held for two years in Turkey on terror-related charges arrived home in the United States on Saturday and sat down with US President Donald Trump, who signaled an easing in the diplomatic crisis sparked by the case.

Andrew Brunson -- who has become a cause celebre for Trump's conservative Christian base -- received a hero's welcome at the White House shortly after his arrival at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.

Brunson thanked Trump and his administration, saying "you really fought for us" and later kneeled to pray for the president, his hand on Trump's shoulder.

Trump repeatedly thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his help on the case, which caused not only a serious diplomatic row between the NATO allies but led to a crash in the lira, exposing Turkey's economic fragility.

"It's not an easy situation for Turkey either. They had a lot of difficult situations going on and I do want to thank President Erdogan for making this possible," Trump said.

On Friday, a Turkish court in the western port city of Aliaga convicted Brunson on charges of espionage and aiding terror groups. It sentenced him to three years, one month and 15 days in jail -- but released him based on time served and good behavior.

Erdogan has said the court's decision was "taken independently."

Both Trump and Erdogan have denied reports that the two sides reached a secret deal for the 50-year-old Brunson to be released in exchange for the US easing "economic pressure" on Ankara.

"There was absolutely no deal made," Trump told reporters on Saturday. "We don't pay ransom" for hostages.

But as he tweeted earlier, "There was, however, great appreciation on behalf of the United States, which will lead to good, perhaps great, relations between the United States &amp; Turkey!"

Erdogan later responded: "I hope that the United States and Turkey continue cooperation in a manner that befits two allies."

Trump continued to celebrate Brunson's liberation into the night. "Big day! Pastor Andrew Brunson, who could have spent 35 years in a Turkish prison, was returned safely home to his family today," he tweeted.

'I am an innocent man' 
Brunson is an evangelical Presbyterian clergyman who lived in Turkey for nearly half his life, initially moving there in 1993 as part of a missionary program.

He was first detained in October 2016 and faced up to 35 years in jail. Prosecutors then demanded a sentence of up to 10 years. The pastor steadfastly insisted he was not guilty.

"I am an innocent man. I love Jesus. I love Turkey," he said in his final defense.

When the verdict was read out, Brunson wept and hugged his wife Norine.

After gathering his belongings, Brunson was driven to the airport in the Turkish city of Izmir, where he boarded a US military plane for Germany.&nbsp;

Upon arrival there for a refueling stop, he kissed an American flag presented to him by Richard Grenell, the US ambassador in Berlin.

'Navigate through a minefield' 
While the strain in US-Turkish relations eased with Brunson's release, problems remain.&nbsp;

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Turkey to "quickly release" other Americans in detention.

He said Washington would "continue to work hard to bring home all American hostages and those wrongfully imprisoned and detained."

NASA scientist Serkan Golge, a dual US-Turkish national, was jailed for seven and a half years in February on terror charges, a term reduced to five years last month.

And two Turkish employees of US diplomatic missions remain in jail. One of them, former Adana consulate staffer Hamza Ulucay, was denied release on Friday.

Anthony Skinner, director for Middle East and North Africa at the Verisk Maplecroft consultancy, said that the US and Turkey had plenty of disagreements beyond Brunson.

"The clamp has now been removed, which opens the way for bilateral negotiations to address other sources of disagreement, but Washington and Ankara still have to navigate through a minefield," Skinner said.

He pointed to Turkey's order for Russian S-400 missile defense systems, which has riled its Western allies, as well as Ankara's determination to do business with Iran in defiance of US sanctions.

Turkey is bracing for potential fines from US authorities over sanctions-busting by Turkish lender Halkbank, whose deputy director general has been jailed in the United States.&nbsp;

Brunson's release comes at a sensitive time for the Turkish leadership, which is under global scrutiny over how it handles the case of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared at Riyadh's consulate in Istanbul last week.

Both Erdogan and Trump have pressed Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Khashoggi.&nbsp;

Now that the Brunson issue has been resolved to Washington's satisfaction, it could help the two sides coordinate their Saudi policy more closely.

An American pastor held for two years in Turkey on terror-related charges arrived home in the United States on Saturday and sat down with US President Donald Trump, who signaled an easing in the diplomatic crisis sparked by the case.

An American pastor held for two years in Turkey on terror-related charges arrived home in the United States on Saturday and sat down with US President Donald Trump, who signaled an easing in the diplomatic crisis sparked by the case. Andrew Brunson -- who has become a cause celebre for Trump's conservative Christian base -- received a hero's welcome at the White House shortly after his arrival at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington. Brunson thanked Trump and his administration, saying "you really fought for us" and later kneeled to pray for the president, his hand on Trump's shoulder. Trump repeatedly thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his help on the case, which caused not only a serious diplomatic row between the NATO allies but led to a crash in the lira, exposing Turkey's economic fragility. "It's not an easy situation for Turkey either. They had a lot of difficult situations going on and I do want to thank President Erdogan for making this possible," Trump said. On Friday, a Turkish court in the western port city of Aliaga convicted Brunson on charges of espionage and aiding terror groups. It sentenced him to three years, one month and 15 days in jail -- but released him based on time served and good behavior. Erdogan has said the court's decision was "taken independently." Both Trump and Erdogan have denied reports that the two sides reached a secret deal for the 50-year-old Brunson to be released in exchange for the US easing "economic pressure" on Ankara. "There was absolutely no deal made," Trump told reporters on Saturday. "We don't pay ransom" for hostages. But as he tweeted earlier, "There was, however, great appreciation on behalf of the United States, which will lead to good, perhaps great, relations between the United States & Turkey!" Erdogan later responded: "I hope that the United States and Turkey continue cooperation in a manner that befits two allies." Trump continued to celebrate Brunson's liberation into the night. "Big day! Pastor Andrew Brunson, who could have spent 35 years in a Turkish prison, was returned safely home to his family today," he tweeted. 'I am an innocent man' Brunson is an evangelical Presbyterian clergyman who lived in Turkey for nearly half his life, initially moving there in 1993 as part of a missionary program. He was first detained in October 2016 and faced up to 35 years in jail. Prosecutors then demanded a sentence of up to 10 years. The pastor steadfastly insisted he was not guilty. "I am an innocent man. I love Jesus. I love Turkey," he said in his final defense. When the verdict was read out, Brunson wept and hugged his wife Norine. After gathering his belongings, Brunson was driven to the airport in the Turkish city of Izmir, where he boarded a US military plane for Germany. Upon arrival there for a refueling stop, he kissed an American flag presented to him by Richard Grenell, the US ambassador in Berlin. 'Navigate through a minefield' While the strain in US-Turkish relations eased with Brunson's release, problems remain. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Turkey to "quickly release" other Americans in detention. He said Washington would "continue to work hard to bring home all American hostages and those wrongfully imprisoned and detained." NASA scientist Serkan Golge, a dual US-Turkish national, was jailed for seven and a half years in February on terror charges, a term reduced to five years last month. And two Turkish employees of US diplomatic missions remain in jail. One of them, former Adana consulate staffer Hamza Ulucay, was denied release on Friday. Anthony Skinner, director for Middle East and North Africa at the Verisk Maplecroft consultancy, said that the US and Turkey had plenty of disagreements beyond Brunson. "The clamp has now been removed, which opens the way for bilateral negotiations to address other sources of disagreement, but Washington and Ankara still have to navigate through a minefield," Skinner said. He pointed to Turkey's order for Russian S-400 missile defense systems, which has riled its Western allies, as well as Ankara's determination to do business with Iran in defiance of US sanctions. Turkey is bracing for potential fines from US authorities over sanctions-busting by Turkish lender Halkbank, whose deputy director general has been jailed in the United States. Brunson's release comes at a sensitive time for the Turkish leadership, which is under global scrutiny over how it handles the case of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared at Riyadh's consulate in Istanbul last week. Both Erdogan and Trump have pressed Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Khashoggi. Now that the Brunson issue has been resolved to Washington's satisfaction, it could help the two sides coordinate their Saudi policy more closely.

Freed US pastor home from Turkey, meets Trump at White House

Protesters hurled tomatoes and eggs on Saturday at the home of Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar for saying that Rajputs and Yadavs consume more liquor than others.

Youths, some of them wearing red caps, mobbed the minister's official residence in Hazratganj area this afternoon, raising slogans and damaging his nameplate. Reacting to the minister's remarks, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, "It is people who use intoxicants, not any caste."

Rajbhar had made the controversial remarks in Varanasi on Friday while arguing against drinking.

While calling for a ban on alcohol in the state, Uttar Pradesh Minister and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar said that people belonging to Rajput and Yadav caste consume more liquor than others.He further said that drinking alcohol is the"ancestral business" of both the castes.

Rajbhar, who heads the backward classes welfare portfolio in the UP Cabinet, is a leader of BJP ally, Suheldev Bharatiya Party.

He has courted controversy earlier with his criticism of the performance of the Yogi Adityanath government in the state.

In another controversial on drinking, he had said, "If someone offers you liquor, consume it but vote as per you discretion." Police said nobody has been detained yet over the protests at the minister's home.

"We are probing the matter," an officer said.

Rajbhar had made the controversial remarks in Varanasi on Friday while arguing against drinking.

Protesters hurled tomatoes and eggs on Saturday at the home of Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar for saying that Rajputs and Yadavs consume more liquor than others. Youths, some of them wearing red caps, mobbed the minister's official residence in Hazratganj area this afternoon, raising slogans and damaging his nameplate. Reacting to the minister's remarks, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, "It is people who use intoxicants, not any caste." Rajbhar had made the controversial remarks in Varanasi on Friday while arguing against drinking. While calling for a ban on alcohol in the state, Uttar Pradesh Minister and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar said that people belonging to Rajput and Yadav caste consume more liquor than others.He further said that drinking alcohol is the"ancestral business" of both the castes. Rajbhar, who heads the backward classes welfare portfolio in the UP Cabinet, is a leader of BJP ally, Suheldev Bharatiya Party. He has courted controversy earlier with his criticism of the performance of the Yogi Adityanath government in the state. In another controversial on drinking, he had said, "If someone offers you liquor, consume it but vote as per you discretion." Police said nobody has been detained yet over the protests at the minister's home. "We are probing the matter," an officer said.

Protest at UP minister's home for saying 'Rajputs and Yadavs consume more liquor than others'

Unidentified gunmen opened fire at the residence of Pakistan's Supreme Court judge Ijaz ul Ahsan here in two separate incidents only hours apart, media reports said today.

Justice Ahsan was part of a five-member apex court bench that heard the high-profile Panamagate case last year that led to the disqualification of the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

A statement by the apex court said that the unidentified gunmen opened fire at Justice Ahsan's Model Town residence first late last night and then again early this morning.

No casualties were reported in the attacks, Dawn reported.

Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar visited the residence of the Justice Ahsan, and called the Punjab inspector general to probe the incidents. The chief justice is said to be overseeing the situation himself, the paper said.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ordered immediate arrests of the attackers. He also asked the Punjab inspector general (IG) to submit a report on the incident.

Security personnel, including Rangers, have been deployed outside the residence of the judge.

"This is a highly condemnable incident. We are trying our best to arrest the attackers and a thorough investigation is underway," Punjab government spokesman Malik Ahmad Khan was quoted as saying.

He said that additional security has been provided to the Supreme Court judge.

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) condemned the firing incidents and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.

Pakistan People's Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari termed the attacks alarming and called for a judicial probe.

Pakistan Tehrek-e-Insaaf chief Imran Khan "strongly condemned" the incidents and claimed that they were "tactics to pressurise senior judiciary".

Justice Ahsan was appointed as the monitoring judge to supervise and monitor the implementation of the Panamagate case verdict and oversee the ongoing proceedings by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and accountability courts against the Sharif family members and Ishaq Dar.

He was also part of the three-member bench hearing 17 petitions against the controversial Elections Act 2017. The bench had ruled that an individual disqualified under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution cannot serve as head of a political party, leading to Sharif losing his position as the party chief.&nbsp

Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan was part of a five-member apex court bench that heard the high-profile Panamagate case last year that led to the disqualification of the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif

Unidentified gunmen opened fire at the residence of Pakistan's Supreme Court judge Ijaz ul Ahsan here in two separate incidents only hours apart, media reports said today. Justice Ahsan was part of a five-member apex court bench that heard the high-profile Panamagate case last year that led to the disqualification of the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif. A statement by the apex court said that the unidentified gunmen opened fire at Justice Ahsan's Model Town residence first late last night and then again early this morning. No casualties were reported in the attacks, Dawn reported. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar visited the residence of the Justice Ahsan, and called the Punjab inspector general to probe the incidents. The chief justice is said to be overseeing the situation himself, the paper said. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ordered immediate arrests of the attackers. He also asked the Punjab inspector general (IG) to submit a report on the incident. Security personnel, including Rangers, have been deployed outside the residence of the judge. "This is a highly condemnable incident. We are trying our best to arrest the attackers and a thorough investigation is underway," Punjab government spokesman Malik Ahmad Khan was quoted as saying. He said that additional security has been provided to the Supreme Court judge. The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) condemned the firing incidents and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits. Pakistan People's Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari termed the attacks alarming and called for a judicial probe. Pakistan Tehrek-e-Insaaf chief Imran Khan "strongly condemned" the incidents and claimed that they were "tactics to pressurise senior judiciary". Justice Ahsan was appointed as the monitoring judge to supervise and monitor the implementation of the Panamagate case verdict and oversee the ongoing proceedings by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and accountability courts against the Sharif family members and Ishaq Dar. He was also part of the three-member bench hearing 17 petitions against the controversial Elections Act 2017. The bench had ruled that an individual disqualified under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution cannot serve as head of a political party, leading to Sharif losing his position as the party chief.

Pakistan: Gunmen open fire at home of Supreme Court judge

Six crew members of a Pakistani government helicopter which crash-landed in Afghanistan&#39;s volatile east have been released, an official said today, after they were taken hostage by the Afghan Taliban. 
 
The crew &quot;was released in an inter-tribe exchange on the Pakistan-Afghan border (and) arrived in Islamabad today,&quot; foreign ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said in a statement. 
 
He did not specify who had been holding the crew hostage nor what kind of exchange had secured their release. 
 
All six people - five Pakistanis and a Russian navigator - are &quot;safe and in good health,&quot; he said, adding that the helicopter belonged to the Punjab provincial government. 
 
A senior Pakistani official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the crew&#39;s safe return. 
 
After the August 4 crash, local authorities in Afghanistan said that the six-person crew had been taken hostage by the Afghan Taliban. 
 
Militants set the Mi-17 transport helicopter on fire and took the crew to a Taliban-controlled area after it made an emergency landing in Logar province. 
 
The crew included retired Pakistani military officers and a Russian navigator, Pakistan&#39;s Dawn newspaper reported at the time. 
 
Pakistan had sought permission to fly a helicopter - being sent to Russia for overhauling - over Afghan air space. 
 
Pakistani army chief general Raheel Sharif said he had spoken to Afghanistan&#39;s President Ashraf Ghani after the crash in a bid to secure the crew&#39;s release. 
 
&quot;President Ashraf Ghani assured all possible assistance in this regard,&quot; he posted on Twitter. 
 
Kabul has long accused Pakistan of supporting the Taliban and continuing to nurture sanctuaries on its soil in the hope of maintaining influence in Afghanistan. 
 
Analysts said it was not clear how the Pakistan government had secured the crew&#39;s safe release. 
 
&quot;Our government is tight-lipped while the army also did not say anything about the role of the Afghan government,&quot; security analyst Hasan Askari told AFP. 
 
The Afghan Taliban have not commented on the conditions of the release. 
 
&quot;One thing is however, very clear - that Afghan Taliban certainly do not want to deteriorate their ties with Pakistan,&quot; Askari said. 
 
Askari questioned why the MI-17 was being send to Russia for repairs through Afghan airspace. 
 
&quot;It appeared to be kind of a mysterious exercise,&quot; he added. 
 
Pakistan&#39;s army uses Russian-made MI-17 helicopters, several of which have crashed in recent years. 
 
In February, an army officer was killed when a military helicopter crashed in northern Pakistan on a routine night training mission. 
 
Last August, 12 people were killed when a helicopter belonging to the army crashed in northwest Pakistan. 
 
And seven people - including two foreign ambassadors - died in May last year when an MI-17 army helicopter crashed at a holiday resort in the hills of Gilgit. 
 
(AFP)

Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman did not specify who had been holding the crew hostage nor what kind of exchange secured their release

Six crew members of a Pakistani government helicopter which crash-landed in Afghanistan's volatile east have been released, an official said today, after they were taken hostage by the Afghan Taliban. The crew "was released in an inter-tribe exchange on the Pakistan-Afghan border (and) arrived in Islamabad today," foreign ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said in a statement. He did not specify who had been holding the crew hostage nor what kind of exchange had secured their release. All six people - five Pakistanis and a Russian navigator - are "safe and in good health," he said, adding that the helicopter belonged to the Punjab provincial government. A senior Pakistani official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the crew's safe return. After the August 4 crash, local authorities in Afghanistan said that the six-person crew had been taken hostage by the Afghan Taliban. Militants set the Mi-17 transport helicopter on fire and took the crew to a Taliban-controlled area after it made an emergency landing in Logar province. The crew included retired Pakistani military officers and a Russian navigator, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported at the time. Pakistan had sought permission to fly a helicopter - being sent to Russia for overhauling - over Afghan air space. Pakistani army chief general Raheel Sharif said he had spoken to Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani after the crash in a bid to secure the crew's release. "President Ashraf Ghani assured all possible assistance in this regard," he posted on Twitter. Kabul has long accused Pakistan of supporting the Taliban and continuing to nurture sanctuaries on its soil in the hope of maintaining influence in Afghanistan. Analysts said it was not clear how the Pakistan government had secured the crew's safe release. "Our government is tight-lipped while the army also did not say anything about the role of the Afghan government," security analyst Hasan Askari told AFP. The Afghan Taliban have not commented on the conditions of the release. "One thing is however, very clear - that Afghan Taliban certainly do not want to deteriorate their ties with Pakistan," Askari said. Askari questioned why the MI-17 was being send to Russia for repairs through Afghan airspace. "It appeared to be kind of a mysterious exercise," he added. Pakistan's army uses Russian-made MI-17 helicopters, several of which have crashed in recent years. In February, an army officer was killed when a military helicopter crashed in northern Pakistan on a routine night training mission. Last August, 12 people were killed when a helicopter belonging to the army crashed in northwest Pakistan. And seven people - including two foreign ambassadors - died in May last year when an MI-17 army helicopter crashed at a holiday resort in the hills of Gilgit. (AFP)

More than a week after chopper crash, Afghan Taliban free Pakistan crew

An Indian court today sentenced a Bollywood director to seven years in jail for raping an American research scholar last year, the victim&#39;s lawyer said. 
 
Mahmood Farooqui, best known for co-directing the popular 2010 satire Peepli Live on farmer suicides, was convicted on Saturday after a fast-track court in New Delhi found him guilty of the March 2015 attack. 
 
The victim, then aged 35, had travelled to India to seek Farooqui&#39;s assistance with her research when the assault took place at his home in an upscale area of the capital.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;The court sentenced him to seven years (of imprisonment), which is the minimum jail term for this offence,&quot; the victim&#39;s lawyer, Vrinda Grover, told AFP. 
 
Grover, who had argued for the maximum term of life imprisonment, said the court had also imposed a 50,000 Rupee ($747) fine. 
 
Farooqui, who pleaded not guilty, was taken into custody at the weekend. 
 
The woman returned to the US shortly after the incident but came back to report the matter to police. 
 
&quot;Peepli Live&quot;, which explores the divide between urban and rural India, was produced by Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan. 
 
Farooqui co-directed it with his wife, Anusha Rizwi. 
 
India introduced tough laws against sex offenders in the wake of the fatal gang-rape of a Delhi student in the capital in December 2012 that sparked mass street protests. 
 
But high levels of sexual violence against women continue. 
 
(AFP)

The victim had travelled to India to seek Mahmood Farooqui's assistance with her research when he assaulted her at his home

An Indian court today sentenced a Bollywood director to seven years in jail for raping an American research scholar last year, the victim's lawyer said. Mahmood Farooqui, best known for co-directing the popular 2010 satire Peepli Live on farmer suicides, was convicted on Saturday after a fast-track court in New Delhi found him guilty of the March 2015 attack. The victim, then aged 35, had travelled to India to seek Farooqui's assistance with her research when the assault took place at his home in an upscale area of the capital. "The court sentenced him to seven years (of imprisonment), which is the minimum jail term for this offence," the victim's lawyer, Vrinda Grover, told AFP. Grover, who had argued for the maximum term of life imprisonment, said the court had also imposed a 50,000 Rupee ($747) fine. Farooqui, who pleaded not guilty, was taken into custody at the weekend. The woman returned to the US shortly after the incident but came back to report the matter to police. "Peepli Live", which explores the divide between urban and rural India, was produced by Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan. Farooqui co-directed it with his wife, Anusha Rizwi. India introduced tough laws against sex offenders in the wake of the fatal gang-rape of a Delhi student in the capital in December 2012 that sparked mass street protests. But high levels of sexual violence against women continue. (AFP)

India court jails 'Peepli Live' director for 7 years over rape

Lewis Hamilton extended his lead in the Formula One drivers championship to 19 points after winning the German Grand Prix with ease today, with Mercedes teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg only fourth. 
 
Rosberg surrendered his lead from pole to the Briton, who stormed away to claim his sixth win in seven races and strengthen his grip in the title chase. 
 
Second was Daniel Ricciardo, with Max Verstappen, his Red Bull teammate, third. 
 
Reigning world champion Hamilton took full advantage of a poor start by Rosberg, who also received a five second pit-stop penalty for an over-aggressive passing move, to deliver a flawless drive. 
 
&ldquo;Get in there, Lewis,&rdquo; said his team engineer over the radio. &ldquo;Great work, mate, a beautiful start and fantastically managed.&rdquo; 
 
The Briton responded: &ldquo;As always, thanks to you all, brilliant pit stops and now have a well-deserved summer break.&rdquo; 
 
For Rosberg, who was seeking to repeat his 2014 triumph, it ended up as a day of disappointment on home soil. 
 
The home fans at Hockenheim had another German to cheer as four-time champion Sebastian Vettel finished fifth ahead of his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen and compatriot Nico Hulkenberg, who was seventh on home turf for Force India. 
 
Briton Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion, finished eighth ahead of Finn Valtteri Bottas of Williams and Mexican Sergio Perez of Force India. 
 
&quot;What a race,&quot; Hamilton, who started second on the grid, told the crowd from the podium. &quot;Big thank you to the team, who did an amazing job. &quot;I didn&#39;t make any mistakes. Yesterday was not perfect, but you learn from those things.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

It ended up as a day of disappointment for Nico Rosberg, who was seeking to repeat his 2014 triumph on home soil

Lewis Hamilton extended his lead in the Formula One drivers championship to 19 points after winning the German Grand Prix with ease today, with Mercedes teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg only fourth. Rosberg surrendered his lead from pole to the Briton, who stormed away to claim his sixth win in seven races and strengthen his grip in the title chase. Second was Daniel Ricciardo, with Max Verstappen, his Red Bull teammate, third. Reigning world champion Hamilton took full advantage of a poor start by Rosberg, who also received a five second pit-stop penalty for an over-aggressive passing move, to deliver a flawless drive. “Get in there, Lewis,” said his team engineer over the radio. “Great work, mate, a beautiful start and fantastically managed.” The Briton responded: “As always, thanks to you all, brilliant pit stops and now have a well-deserved summer break.” For Rosberg, who was seeking to repeat his 2014 triumph, it ended up as a day of disappointment on home soil. The home fans at Hockenheim had another German to cheer as four-time champion Sebastian Vettel finished fifth ahead of his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen and compatriot Nico Hulkenberg, who was seventh on home turf for Force India. Briton Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion, finished eighth ahead of Finn Valtteri Bottas of Williams and Mexican Sergio Perez of Force India. "What a race," Hamilton, who started second on the grid, told the crowd from the podium. "Big thank you to the team, who did an amazing job. "I didn't make any mistakes. Yesterday was not perfect, but you learn from those things." (AFP)

Lewis Hamilton wins German Grand Prix

Moroccan police have crushed an escape attempt by inmates at a juvenile detention centre in Casablanca, resulting in nine detainees being injured, the prison service said on Friday. 
 
&quot;The Ain Sebaa rehabilitation centre was the scene of rioting&quot; by prisoners on Thursday night, the General Directorate of Prisons and Re-integration said. 
 
Detainees at the centre in the Northeast of Morocco&#39;s biggest city set fire to beds in a bid to attract staff, attack them and try to escape, it said.&nbsp;The prisoners tried and failed to break into a weapons store, but managed to get out of the main building and set alight a prison bus, it said.&nbsp;They attacked and lightly wounded several staff. Police then intervened to put down the riot. 
 
An AFP photographer on the scene saw fire and smoke coming from the centre, which was surrounded by security forces.&nbsp;Videos posted online appeared to show a large explosion at the centre and a burning bus, with the sound of gunshots and police sirens. Local news websites said witnesses had heard the sound of gunfire coming from the facility. 
 
The prison service said nine detainees were hurt in the incident, although it was not clear whether from smoke inhalation or during clashes with the police. 
 
The prison service said it would open an enquiry to determine who was behind the incident. Moroccan prisons are chronically overcrowded, housing some 65,000 detainees in facilities with a capacity of just 30,000, according to the Ministry of Justice.&nbsp; 
 
(AFP)

The prisoners tried and failed to break into a weapons store, but managed to get out of the main building and set alight a prison bus

Moroccan police have crushed an escape attempt by inmates at a juvenile detention centre in Casablanca, resulting in nine detainees being injured, the prison service said on Friday. "The Ain Sebaa rehabilitation centre was the scene of rioting" by prisoners on Thursday night, the General Directorate of Prisons and Re-integration said. Detainees at the centre in the Northeast of Morocco's biggest city set fire to beds in a bid to attract staff, attack them and try to escape, it said. The prisoners tried and failed to break into a weapons store, but managed to get out of the main building and set alight a prison bus, it said. They attacked and lightly wounded several staff. Police then intervened to put down the riot. An AFP photographer on the scene saw fire and smoke coming from the centre, which was surrounded by security forces. Videos posted online appeared to show a large explosion at the centre and a burning bus, with the sound of gunshots and police sirens. Local news websites said witnesses had heard the sound of gunfire coming from the facility. The prison service said nine detainees were hurt in the incident, although it was not clear whether from smoke inhalation or during clashes with the police. The prison service said it would open an enquiry to determine who was behind the incident. Moroccan prisons are chronically overcrowded, housing some 65,000 detainees in facilities with a capacity of just 30,000, according to the Ministry of Justice. (AFP)

Mass jail-break attempt in Casablanca juvenile home leads to riot

Like any other refugee, Kasim Isse Dhuhulow came to India looking for a better life. He&#39;d lost his parents in the civil war that broke out in Somalia after the overthrow of the military regime of President Siad Barre in 1991, his sister was separated from him &ndash; he doesn&#39;t know where she is any longer but he says he would like to go back to look for her &ndash; and his grandfather thought he would be better educated in India.&nbsp; 
 
He didn&#39;t find that better life, mostly because of the racism people of African origin face in India.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;We are dubbed as kaalus (blacks, a derogatory term in India) and gorillas,&rdquo; says Kassim.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;Racial discrimination is very prevalent, especially when it comes to African refugees. People from Africa complain about racial abuse from their neighbours, their employers, and their fellow students,&rdquo; says Mazher Hussain, executive director of the Hyderabad-based Confederation of Voluntary Associations (COVA), an NGO that works towards building a &ldquo;harmonious and just society &nbsp;through sensitisation of all sections of people&rdquo;.&nbsp; 
 
Abdul Hussain, 28 (he asked that we not use his real name) says he was attacked in Delhi when he was nineteen. A group of young boys approached him and a friend, asking for drugs. When they said they didn&#39;t have any, the boys began to beat them. Ever since then Abdul says he has been hesitant to speak with strangers. And that he now lives in the south Indian city of Chennai where he feels safer than he did in Delhi.&nbsp; 
 
The Somalis &ndash; alongwith the Rohingyas of Myanmar &ndash; are generally thought of as the worst off of the refugees in India. This is because of the &nbsp;protracted conflict back home, the resultant malnutrition, and the near complete absence of medical care.&nbsp; 
 
Most of them &ndash; the United Nations High Commission for Refugees says there are 600 Somali refugees in India &ndash; live in the southern city of Hyderabad. With the large Muslim population there, they say they feel more at home and that at least the racism isn&#39;t as bad as in places like Delhi.&nbsp; 
 
Memories of home, obviously, are strong. &nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;I dream of dying in Somalia, buried in a Muslim graveyard that echoes with prayers in Somali, my language, but I fear that I&rsquo;ll have to die here in India. Alone,&rdquo; says Kassim.&nbsp; 
 
He seems older than his 36 years &ndash; his hair is greying, his face wrinkled &ndash; and when he speaks, a surprisingly strong south Indian accent emanates.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;I was very young when I came to India (he came in 2003). I have started to forget my mother tongue but I know basic Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam&rdquo;, he says, naming three of the four major south Indian languages.&nbsp; 
 
Kassim writes a blog on the lives of Somalis in India and he calls himself Mr Blackgold. &ldquo;Black people are like gold.&rdquo; For a living, he translates for African patients admitted to Indian hospitals.&nbsp; 
 
According to Mazher, most Somalis in India are single men in the 20 to 30 age group; they come to the country on student visas and then stay on as refugees.&nbsp; 
 
He says the younger Somalis are well educated &ndash; a lot of them come to study engineering and computer science &ndash; and that they come to India thinking they will find good jobs here. But because nobody will employ them &ndash; you would be hard pressed to find an African man employed in an Indian office even today &ndash; they finally have to make do with odd jobs like the translating Kassim does.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;It took months to get a refugee card from the UNHCR and years to get into an educational institution. I however managed to sail through but the insensitivity here traumatised me. People here are not aware of our situation,&rdquo; says Kassim. 
 
&ldquo;It is easy for the Bangladeshis and Afghans to find work but people hesitate to employ us just because we look different,&rdquo; says Abdul. He adds, &ldquo;Access to education is very limited. Most struggle due to financial constraints. Their (the Somalis) English is not good and in India to get a job in any organisation you should be proficient in English. The lack of a work permit deprives them of jobs in formal organisations.&rdquo; &nbsp; 
 
 
 
No Refugee Policy in India 
 
India is not a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention, nor to its 1967 protocol. This is surprising for it hosts a significant number of refugees and therefore the country, or at least the refugees who find themselves in it, are in desperate need of a refugee policy.&nbsp; 
 
Also, should India wish to be a global player it will have to take on global responsibilities. &nbsp;Estimates suggest for example that there are currently only 40 refugees from Syria in India.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;Laws like the Foreigners Act (which govern refugees in India in the absence of a refugee policy) continue to impose unreasonable restrictions on the rights of refugees to freedom of movement and association. The ad hoc nature of refugee policy in India and the absence of a robust domestic legal framework has led to uncertainty and arbitrariness in the treatment of asylum-seekers and refugees,&rdquo; says Shailesh Rai, senior law and policy adviser at Amnesty International India. &nbsp; 
 
But policy or no policy, India will have to put a lot more work into being a more hospitable place for the Somalis. And that might not be something that Kasim would like to wait around for. He says that with things improving in Somalia since 2012 when a new internationally-backed government was installed, he would like to go back.&nbsp; 
 
As for Abdul, he is now trying to get to the United States &ndash; and dreaming of a new, new life in a foreign land.

Because of the protracted conflict back home, the resultant malnutrition, and the near complete absence of medical care, displaced people from the African country are generally regarded as the ones most in need of help

Like any other refugee, Kasim Isse Dhuhulow came to India looking for a better life. He'd lost his parents in the civil war that broke out in Somalia after the overthrow of the military regime of President Siad Barre in 1991, his sister was separated from him – he doesn't know where she is any longer but he says he would like to go back to look for her – and his grandfather thought he would be better educated in India. He didn't find that better life, mostly because of the racism people of African origin face in India. “We are dubbed as kaalus (blacks, a derogatory term in India) and gorillas,” says Kassim. “Racial discrimination is very prevalent, especially when it comes to African refugees. People from Africa complain about racial abuse from their neighbours, their employers, and their fellow students,” says Mazher Hussain, executive director of the Hyderabad-based Confederation of Voluntary Associations (COVA), an NGO that works towards building a “harmonious and just society through sensitisation of all sections of people”. Abdul Hussain, 28 (he asked that we not use his real name) says he was attacked in Delhi when he was nineteen. A group of young boys approached him and a friend, asking for drugs. When they said they didn't have any, the boys began to beat them. Ever since then Abdul says he has been hesitant to speak with strangers. And that he now lives in the south Indian city of Chennai where he feels safer than he did in Delhi. The Somalis – alongwith the Rohingyas of Myanmar – are generally thought of as the worst off of the refugees in India. This is because of the protracted conflict back home, the resultant malnutrition, and the near complete absence of medical care. Most of them – the United Nations High Commission for Refugees says there are 600 Somali refugees in India – live in the southern city of Hyderabad. With the large Muslim population there, they say they feel more at home and that at least the racism isn't as bad as in places like Delhi. Memories of home, obviously, are strong. “I dream of dying in Somalia, buried in a Muslim graveyard that echoes with prayers in Somali, my language, but I fear that I’ll have to die here in India. Alone,” says Kassim. He seems older than his 36 years – his hair is greying, his face wrinkled – and when he speaks, a surprisingly strong south Indian accent emanates. “I was very young when I came to India (he came in 2003). I have started to forget my mother tongue but I know basic Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam”, he says, naming three of the four major south Indian languages. Kassim writes a blog on the lives of Somalis in India and he calls himself Mr Blackgold. “Black people are like gold.” For a living, he translates for African patients admitted to Indian hospitals. According to Mazher, most Somalis in India are single men in the 20 to 30 age group; they come to the country on student visas and then stay on as refugees. He says the younger Somalis are well educated – a lot of them come to study engineering and computer science – and that they come to India thinking they will find good jobs here. But because nobody will employ them – you would be hard pressed to find an African man employed in an Indian office even today – they finally have to make do with odd jobs like the translating Kassim does. “It took months to get a refugee card from the UNHCR and years to get into an educational institution. I however managed to sail through but the insensitivity here traumatised me. People here are not aware of our situation,” says Kassim. “It is easy for the Bangladeshis and Afghans to find work but people hesitate to employ us just because we look different,” says Abdul. He adds, “Access to education is very limited. Most struggle due to financial constraints. Their (the Somalis) English is not good and in India to get a job in any organisation you should be proficient in English. The lack of a work permit deprives them of jobs in formal organisations.” No Refugee Policy in India India is not a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention, nor to its 1967 protocol. This is surprising for it hosts a significant number of refugees and therefore the country, or at least the refugees who find themselves in it, are in desperate need of a refugee policy. Also, should India wish to be a global player it will have to take on global responsibilities. Estimates suggest for example that there are currently only 40 refugees from Syria in India. “Laws like the Foreigners Act (which govern refugees in India in the absence of a refugee policy) continue to impose unreasonable restrictions on the rights of refugees to freedom of movement and association. The ad hoc nature of refugee policy in India and the absence of a robust domestic legal framework has led to uncertainty and arbitrariness in the treatment of asylum-seekers and refugees,” says Shailesh Rai, senior law and policy adviser at Amnesty International India. But policy or no policy, India will have to put a lot more work into being a more hospitable place for the Somalis. And that might not be something that Kasim would like to wait around for. He says that with things improving in Somalia since 2012 when a new internationally-backed government was installed, he would like to go back. As for Abdul, he is now trying to get to the United States – and dreaming of a new, new life in a foreign land.

Somali refugees in India: The worst of the worst off

Actor Michael Jace, best known for his role as a policeman on the TV drama &quot;The Shield,&quot; was convicted by a jury on Tuesday of second-degree murder for fatally shooting his wife in 2014 in front of the couple&#39;s two children at their Los Angeles home. 
 
Jace, 53, faces a sentence of 40 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on June 10. 
 
The actor was upset that his wife, April Jace, wanted a divorce when he shot her once in the back and twice more in the legs on May 19, 2014, the Los Angeles County District Attorney`s Office said in a statement. 
 
He then called authorities and reported that he had shot his wife, prosecutors said. The couple`s sons, ages 8 and 5 at the time, watched the killing in the family`s South Los Angeles home, prosecutors said. She was 40 years old when she was slain. 
 
Prosecutors had asked jurors to find Jace guilty of first-degree murder, which involves premeditation, Los Angeles County District Attorney`s Office spokesman Greg Risling said. But the jury in Los Angeles Superior Court instead found Jace guilty of second-degree murder, an intentional killing that was not premeditated.&nbsp; 
 
Jace`s attorneys acknowledged in court that he shot his wife.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Our entire goal was to show this was not a case of premeditation, and we achieved that goal,&quot; Jace`s attorney, Jamon Hicks, said in an email. &quot;This was a very smart and intelligent jury who deliberated and considered the evidence. They were not just moved by emotion but by the evidence.&quot; 
 
The jury of six women and six men began deliberations late on Friday and resumed on Tuesday morning, spending two hours considering the case before reaching the verdict, prosecutors said.&nbsp; 
 
The jury found Jace used a handgun in the crime, a special circumstance that increases his minimum prison time by 25 years beyond the minimum term for second-degree murder, Risling said. 
 
Jace is best known for portraying police officer Julien Lowe, a religious Christian conflicted about his homosexuality, on the FX cable drama &quot;The Shield&quot; that ran from 2002 to 2008. 
 
Aside from &quot;The Shield,&quot; Jace had small parts in the films &quot;Forrest Gump,&quot; &quot;Boogie Nights&quot; and &quot;Planet of the Apes&quot; as well as various supporting roles on television in the past two decades. He filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection in 2011.

Actor Michael Jace, best known for his role as a policeman on the TV drama "The Shield," was convicted by a jury on Tuesday of second-degree murder for fatally shooting his wife in 2014 in front of the couple`s two children at their Los Angeles home.

Actor Michael Jace, best known for his role as a policeman on the TV drama "The Shield," was convicted by a jury on Tuesday of second-degree murder for fatally shooting his wife in 2014 in front of the couple's two children at their Los Angeles home. Jace, 53, faces a sentence of 40 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on June 10. The actor was upset that his wife, April Jace, wanted a divorce when he shot her once in the back and twice more in the legs on May 19, 2014, the Los Angeles County District Attorney`s Office said in a statement. He then called authorities and reported that he had shot his wife, prosecutors said. The couple`s sons, ages 8 and 5 at the time, watched the killing in the family`s South Los Angeles home, prosecutors said. She was 40 years old when she was slain. Prosecutors had asked jurors to find Jace guilty of first-degree murder, which involves premeditation, Los Angeles County District Attorney`s Office spokesman Greg Risling said. But the jury in Los Angeles Superior Court instead found Jace guilty of second-degree murder, an intentional killing that was not premeditated. Jace`s attorneys acknowledged in court that he shot his wife. "Our entire goal was to show this was not a case of premeditation, and we achieved that goal," Jace`s attorney, Jamon Hicks, said in an email. "This was a very smart and intelligent jury who deliberated and considered the evidence. They were not just moved by emotion but by the evidence." The jury of six women and six men began deliberations late on Friday and resumed on Tuesday morning, spending two hours considering the case before reaching the verdict, prosecutors said. The jury found Jace used a handgun in the crime, a special circumstance that increases his minimum prison time by 25 years beyond the minimum term for second-degree murder, Risling said. Jace is best known for portraying police officer Julien Lowe, a religious Christian conflicted about his homosexuality, on the FX cable drama "The Shield" that ran from 2002 to 2008. Aside from "The Shield," Jace had small parts in the films "Forrest Gump," "Boogie Nights" and "Planet of the Apes" as well as various supporting roles on television in the past two decades. He filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection in 2011.

Actor Michael Jace of TV''s ''The Shield'' convicted of murdering wife

Thousands of evacuees who fled a massive wildfire in the Canadian oil hub of Fort McMurray are set to return home today, though concerns ranging from contaminated drinking water to insurance claims linger as the city seeks to rebuild.

More than 80,000 residents were ordered to leave when the wildfire surged into the area four weeks ago, and officials expect the remote northern Alberta city to absorb roughly 14,000 to 15,000 residents as a re-entry plan spanning two weeks gets underway today.

The blaze was a devastating blow to a community already reeling from a two-year slump in global crude prices. It shuttered more than a million barrels per day of crude production, though some facilities had started to resume operations.

&quot;We are not going to stay, we&#39;ll go back and maybe remove some items,&quot; said Brenda Waterman, her face anxious over the unknown extent of fire damage to her home and chemical containments. &quot;I&#39;ve never experienced anything like this before, it&#39;s like a dream.&quot;

John Smith, 77, and his wife, Joyce, were bracing for heavy traffic on the main highway leading into the city, as well as what may lie ahead.

&quot;We didn&#39;t even have time to empty the garbage,&quot; he said. &quot;I&#39;m going in first with a flashlight and wearing a mask, and one of us will open the doors and windows and flush the house out.&quot;

Authorities have assembled extra police and emergency officials, and are urging travelers to remain patient and orderly as they grapple with traffic-snarled roads and hobbled infrastructure.

Grocery stores and pharmacies among other local businesses were poised to re-open with reduced stocks, and power and gas has been restored to a majority of structures in the areas awaiting returnees.

About 10 percent of the city&#39;s homes were destroyed by the blaze, which has blackened more than 580,000 hectares (2,239 square miles).

Even so, some 2,000 residents who had expected to return this week were ordered to hold off because of the risks posed by debris and contaminants including &quot;caustic&quot; ash.&nbsp;

Authorities have also issued a boil-water advisory and advised returnees to carry with them at least two weeks&#39; worth of food, water and prescription medication. Deteriorating air quality could force officials to suddenly change re-entry change plans.

Other challenges include limited medical services and labyrinthine insurance claims, as well as wildlife that has been scavenging the desolate neighborhoods for food.&nbsp;

&quot;It won&#39;t really hit you until you walk into it,&quot; said Adam Tucker, a 50-year-old oil sands worker, as he prepared to drive home.

Evacuees who fled the massive wildfire in the Canadian oil hub of Fort McMurray begin to return home, but worry about water contamination and insurance claims

Thousands of evacuees who fled a massive wildfire in the Canadian oil hub of Fort McMurray are set to return home today, though concerns ranging from contaminated drinking water to insurance claims linger as the city seeks to rebuild. More than 80,000 residents were ordered to leave when the wildfire surged into the area four weeks ago, and officials expect the remote northern Alberta city to absorb roughly 14,000 to 15,000 residents as a re-entry plan spanning two weeks gets underway today. The blaze was a devastating blow to a community already reeling from a two-year slump in global crude prices. It shuttered more than a million barrels per day of crude production, though some facilities had started to resume operations. "We are not going to stay, we'll go back and maybe remove some items," said Brenda Waterman, her face anxious over the unknown extent of fire damage to her home and chemical containments. "I've never experienced anything like this before, it's like a dream." John Smith, 77, and his wife, Joyce, were bracing for heavy traffic on the main highway leading into the city, as well as what may lie ahead. "We didn't even have time to empty the garbage," he said. "I'm going in first with a flashlight and wearing a mask, and one of us will open the doors and windows and flush the house out." Authorities have assembled extra police and emergency officials, and are urging travelers to remain patient and orderly as they grapple with traffic-snarled roads and hobbled infrastructure. Grocery stores and pharmacies among other local businesses were poised to re-open with reduced stocks, and power and gas has been restored to a majority of structures in the areas awaiting returnees. About 10 percent of the city's homes were destroyed by the blaze, which has blackened more than 580,000 hectares (2,239 square miles). Even so, some 2,000 residents who had expected to return this week were ordered to hold off because of the risks posed by debris and contaminants including "caustic" ash. Authorities have also issued a boil-water advisory and advised returnees to carry with them at least two weeks' worth of food, water and prescription medication. Deteriorating air quality could force officials to suddenly change re-entry change plans. Other challenges include limited medical services and labyrinthine insurance claims, as well as wildlife that has been scavenging the desolate neighborhoods for food. "It won't really hit you until you walk into it," said Adam Tucker, a 50-year-old oil sands worker, as he prepared to drive home.

Trepidation lingers as Canada wildfire evacuees begin to return home

Actor Mark Salling, who had a supporting role as a high school athlete-turned-singer in the TV series &quot;Glee,&quot; was indicted on Friday on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography, officials said.

The 33-year-old Salling agreed to turn himself in on June 3 to face the charges filed in federal court in Los Angeles, the U.S. Attorney&#39;s Office for the region said in a statement.

Representatives for Salling, a Los Angeles resident, and his attorney, did not immediately return calls.

The federal charges against the Texas-born Salling for receipt and possession of child pornography stem from his arrest by Los Angeles police and federal agents on Dec. 29, 2015. He was released on bail of $20,000 and was initially expected to be charged in Los Angeles County court.

But after investigators realized the &quot;scope of the collection&quot; of child porn they had uncovered, the case was handed over to federal prosecutors, the U.S. Attorney&#39;s Office said.

&quot;The traditional stereotype about the kinds of people who commit child sexual exploitation crimes simply doesn&#39;t dovetail with reality,&quot; Joseph Macias, a special agent in charge for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement on the filing of the charges.

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<h5>In the meantime, the charges against the actor center on a still image and three videos of child pornography depicting young girls, the statement said. The two charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.</h5>
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Macias added that child pornography suspects can be of &quot;all ages and from all walks of life.&quot;

Salling&#39;s arrest came after investigators received a tip that he was in possession of child porn, Los Angeles police said in a statement at the time.

A laptop, a hard drive and a mobile flash drive from Salling&#39;s home contained thousands of images and videos of child pornography, and investigators continue to review the material, federal prosecutors said.

In the meantime, the charges against the actor center on a still image and three videos of child pornography depicting young girls, the statement said. The two charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. 
 
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Mark Salling, best known for his role in the musical comedy series Glee, was indicted on child pornography charges <a href="https://t.co/cy6IUFUkQy">https://t.co/cy6IUFUkQy</a>
&mdash; Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/rapplerdotcom/status/736397144672854016">May 28, 2016</a></blockquote>

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Salling on the Fox television show &quot;Glee,&quot; which ran from 2009 to 2015, played Puck, a bully and a football player who shows a softer side when he joins the glee club at his high school.

Before that show, Salling had a number of smaller roles, including a part in 1996 horror film &quot;Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering.&quot;

A laptop, a hard drive and a mobile flash drive from actor's home contained thousands of images and videos of child pornography

Actor Mark Salling, who had a supporting role as a high school athlete-turned-singer in the TV series "Glee," was indicted on Friday on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography, officials said. The 33-year-old Salling agreed to turn himself in on June 3 to face the charges filed in federal court in Los Angeles, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the region said in a statement. Representatives for Salling, a Los Angeles resident, and his attorney, did not immediately return calls. The federal charges against the Texas-born Salling for receipt and possession of child pornography stem from his arrest by Los Angeles police and federal agents on Dec. 29, 2015. He was released on bail of $20,000 and was initially expected to be charged in Los Angeles County court. But after investigators realized the "scope of the collection" of child porn they had uncovered, the case was handed over to federal prosecutors, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. "The traditional stereotype about the kinds of people who commit child sexual exploitation crimes simply doesn't dovetail with reality," Joseph Macias, a special agent in charge for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement on the filing of the charges. In the meantime, the charges against the actor center on a still image and three videos of child pornography depicting young girls, the statement said. The two charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Macias added that child pornography suspects can be of "all ages and from all walks of life." Salling's arrest came after investigators received a tip that he was in possession of child porn, Los Angeles police said in a statement at the time. A laptop, a hard drive and a mobile flash drive from Salling's home contained thousands of images and videos of child pornography, and investigators continue to review the material, federal prosecutors said. In the meantime, the charges against the actor center on a still image and three videos of child pornography depicting young girls, the statement said. The two charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Mark Salling, best known for his role in the musical comedy series Glee, was indicted on child pornography charges https://t.co/cy6IUFUkQy — Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) May 28, 2016 Salling on the Fox television show "Glee," which ran from 2009 to 2015, played Puck, a bully and a football player who shows a softer side when he joins the glee club at his high school. Before that show, Salling had a number of smaller roles, including a part in 1996 horror film "Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering."

`Glee` actor Mark Salling indicted for child porn

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