From Wimbledon to another attack by cow vigilantes, top stories for today
A look at what’s going on in the world right now.
Muslim man beaten up by cow vigilantes for ‘carrying beef’ in Maharashtra is a BJP leader
When self-styled cow protectors thrashed a Muslim man on allegations of possessing beef at Jalalkheda town in Maharashtra on Wednesday afternoon, they were probably unaware that their target was affiliated to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The man – 36-year-old Katol resident Salim Ismail Shah – was hospitalised after the incident. Nagpur police have arrested four men for the assault, the latest in a series of violent incidents involving cow vigilante groups. Shah claims to be the general secretary of the BJP’s Katol taluka minority cell.
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‘A hundred Pakistani soldiers must die’: Kin of two jawans killed in LoC firing cry for vengeance
A pall of gloom descended on the suburban countryside of Jammu after the news of two soldier deaths on the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara’s Keran sector broke early on Thursday. At Burn village in Kotbhalwal area, lance naik Ranjit Singh’s wife – Neha Devi – sought nothing short of vengeance. “I am proud of my husband,” she cried, near-hysteric in her grief. “He died for the country but I want justice… I want revenge for my husband’s killing.” His mother, Veena Devi, expressed a similar sentiment. “Mere iklaute bachche ki jagah unke 100 nikalne chahiye. Mujhe insaaf chahiye (I want 100 Pakistani soldiers killed for the death of my only son. I want justice,” she screamed. “I want nothing from this government, only a bullet for myself. My family has been ruined.”
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Cold, quiet and tense: Last village before Doklam lives in fear of India-China row
The hamlet at an altitude of 13,900 feet some 68 kilometres east of Gangtok betrays little sign of the tension brewing in its neighbourhood. As tensions ratchet up on the international border, residents of Kuppup – a hamlet of 200-odd tin-roofed huts – have decided to stay tight-lipped. “There is enough trouble nearby. We don’t need more trouble,” says a 54-year-old housewife. Local officials have also told the villagers not to speak out of turn, particularly to any outsider adventurous enough to undertake the seven-kilometer arduous trek to Kuppup from the Nathula border pass.
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Macron effect? Donald Trump hints US could change position on Paris climate deal
US President Donald Trump suggested on Thursday he could change his position on the Paris climate accord, in remarks after talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. “Something could happen,” he said at a joint news conference with Macron, six weeks after announcing that the United States would abandon the 2015 pact. “Something could happen with respect to the Paris accords lets see what happens, but we will talk about that over the coming period of time and if it happens that will be wonderful and if it doesn’t that’ll be OK too,” he told reporters in Paris.
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‘No enemies’: The life-long advocacy of Liu Xiaobo, China’s Nobel Prize-winning dissident
During a hunger strike days before the Chinese army crushed the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement on June 4, 1989, the man who would become China’s best known dissident, Liu Xiaobo, declared: “We have no enemies.” When being tried in 2009 on charges of inciting subversion of state power for helping write Charter 08 - a pro-democracy manifesto calling for an end to one-party rule - Liu reaffirmed: “I have no enemies and no hatred.” He was sentenced to 11 years in prison that same year, drawing protests from the United States, many European governments and rights groups, which condemned the stiff sentence and called for his early release.
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China bears responsibility for Liu Xiaobo’s death: Nobel committee
The Chinese government bears a heavy responsibility for the death of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, the leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the prize, said on Thursday. “We find it deeply disturbing that Liu Xiaobo was not transferred to a facility where he could receive adequate medical treatment before he became terminally ill,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen. “The Chinese Government bears a heavy responsibility for his premature death,” she told Reuters.
India snubs China on Kashmir mediation offer, says no third-party required
India on Thursday snubbed China’s offer to mediate to resolve the Kashmir issue, saying New Delhi was willing to hold negotiations with Islamabad. The external affairs ministry maintained that cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir was at the “heart” of the matter as it threatened peace and stability in the region. The ministry’s strong reaction to Beijing came a day after its foreign ministry put out China’s offer to play a “constructive role” in improving the Indo-Pak ties, especially after the increased hostility along the Line of Control (LoC).
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TCS to wind up Lucknow operations, company says no job loss
Information technology major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has decided to close its operations in Lucknow and shift to Noida after 33 years in Uttar Pradesh’s capital city. The company will shift most of its projects to Noida, close to the national capital, by this December. At least 2,000 employees, of whom 50% are women, are likely to be affected by the change. Employees said the team leaders informed them on Wednesday about the company wrapping up operations at the Lucknow centre. They were reportedly asked to accept transfers or look for jobs elsewhere. But the company said it would ensure the employees are accommodated in Noida or its centres across India.
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Damage caused was ‘unprecedented’: Death toll reaches 80 in Northeast floods
As many as 80 people have lost their lives in the floods that have hit 58 districts in the Northeast, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Thursday. Singh, who reviewed the flood situation in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur with officials of these states here, said the damage caused by the rains was “unprecedented”. A total of 58 districts have been affected due to floods and landslides in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur where around 80 lives have been lost, he said.
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Didn’t force Rahul Dravid, Zaheer Khan on Ravi Shastri: CAC
After the appointment of Zaheer Khan and Rahul Dravid as consultants with the Indian team created a storm in the media, the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) members have taken exception to the fact that their decision to appoint the cricketers has been spoken of as exceeding their brief. The CAC members, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, have written separate letters to Vinod Rai, the head of the Committee of Administrators. One of them wrote: “There have been suggestions that the CAC has exceeded its ambit in going with Mr Khan and Mr Dravid, and these two legends of Indian cricket have been foisted on the head coach. It has both pained and disappointed us therefore to see the light in which the CAC has been portrayed in various sections of the media.”
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Wimbledon: Venus Williams beats Johanna Konta, sets up final vs Garbine Muguruza
Five-time champion Venus Williams rolled back the years to reach her first Wimbledon final since 2009 with a clinically executed 6-4, 6-2 victory over British hope Johanna Konta on Thursday. Konta was looking to become the first woman on home soil to reach the Wimbledon final since Virginia Wade in 1977, but she was picked off at crucial times by the 37-year-old Williams, who will face Garbine Muguruza in Saturday’s final.
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