Cops investigate brutal rape, murder of teenagers in India
NEW DELHI, Jan 15: Indian police said Monday they were investigating the gang rape and murder of two teenage girls whose mutilated bodies were found just hours apart in a state bordering New Delhi. The brutality of the crimes in Haryana, a deeply conservative state in northern India, has created shockwaves even in a region with a grim record of violence against women. Police are pursuing a group of men suspected of raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl from Kurukshetra district whose badly disfigured body was found dumped in a stream on Friday. — AFP
Pope's LatAm visit begins
SANTIAGO, Jan 15: Pope Francis arrives in Santiago on Monday at the beginning of a testing weeklong visit to Chile and Peru that aims to boost a flagging local Church hit by child sex abuse scandals. The pope is scheduled to arrive in Santiago at 8:10 pm (2310 GMT) on his first visit to Chile since becoming pope, and his sixth to Latin America. — AFP
Madagascar cyclone death toll hits 51
ANTANANARIVO, Jan 15: The cyclone that slammed into Madagascar earlier this month has claimed 51 lives, with 54,000 people displaced by flooding, heavy rain and high winds, authorities said. Tropical cyclone Ava made landfall on January 5, lashing the eastern part of the African island for 24 hours, with many rivers overflowing, roads cut off and bridges submerged. — AFP
Al-Qaeda forcing civilians to hand over children: HRW
NAIROBI, Jan 15: Somalia's Al-Qaeda linked Shabaab insurgents are increasingly threatening civilians to force them to hand over young children for "indoctrination and military training", Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Monday. The rights watchdog said an aggressive campaign to recruit children had begun in mid-2017, with the jihadists taking reprisals against communities who refuse to cooperate. Hundreds of children have fled their homes to avoid this fate, often alone, it said in a statement. — AFP
Qatar denies intercepting UAE passenger plane
DOHA, Jan 15: Qatar denied on Monday that it had intercepted a UAE passenger plane headed to neighbouring Bahrain, shortly after the United Arab Emirates accused Qatari fighter jets of intercepting a flight. "The state of Qatar announces that the claims of Qatari fighter planes intercepting a UAE civil aircraft (are) completely false," foreign ministry spokeswoman Lulwa al-Khater said on Twitter. — AFP
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
