MANGALURU: A 23-year-old man was allegedly assaulted for travelling on a bus with a woman from another religion in Mangaluru — the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka.
Mangaluru Police has detained around eight people involved in the crime.
Those detained are suspected to belong to a saffron fringe outfit.
The incident was reported on Thursday at around 9.30pm when the man and the woman — belonging to different religions — were travelling from Mangaluru city to Bengaluru in a private bus.
They boarded the private bus near the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation bus stand.
When the bus reached Pumpwell, a group of people who arrived in a car, stopped the bus saying that they knew the woman, city police commissioner N Shashi Kumar told reporters on Friday.
As soon as the bus stopped, the woman first alighted.
She told the police that the man was her classmate and she was travelling to Bengaluru to explore jobs in the field of digital marketing for which she sought the help of her friend who was familiar with Bengaluru.
The moment the man got down from the bus, he was assaulted by about four youths.
The police said the man has sustained a three-four centimetre deep cut injury near the waist after he was pierced with a sharp weapon.
He was rushed to a private hospital and is out of danger.
The woman too was beaten up by the group, when she tried to prevent the attack.
A case has been registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Section 307 (attempt to murder) at the Kankanady Town police station.
Four teams — led by deputy superintendent of police, (law and order) Hariram Shankar and assistant commissioner of police (south sub-division) Ranjit Kumar Bandaru — are investigating the case.
“Several people have been detained and the accused have been identified,” Shashi Kumar said.
He added, “We are in the process of identifying those who encouraged the group to commit the crime by sharing information. We are also looking for people who may have captured the scene on their mobile phones and will examine CCTV footage.”
It is suspected that the man and the woman were being watched for the past few days.
Karnataka: Man assaulted for travelling with woman of different religion in Mangaluru
Liberia: EU and U.S. Ambassadors Applaud Arcelormittal – AllAfrica.com
Ambassadors of two European countries and America have lauded Arcelor Mittal Liberia for its investment in the country. A press release issued this week said.
“The United States ambassador to Liberia, the Head of the European Union Delegation in Liberia, and the French Ambassador recently visited ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML) to learn about the existing operations, discuss the Company’s plans for the future and review its readiness to recommence construction,” the statement said.
U.S. Ambassador Michael A. McCarthy, E.U. Ambassador Laurent Delahousse, and French Ambassador Michaël Roux toured the AML mine, rail and port operations and visited the Vocational Training Center (VTC) in Yekepa. The guests also held a meeting with AML’s senior management headed by Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Scott Lowe.
Briefing the Ambassadors, CEO Lowe said it was a great honor to have them visit AML and reaffirmed the company’s strong commitment to Liberia.
CEO sets out the vision for the future
The CEO, said the company has exciting expansion plans for the future in Liberia that will benefit all stakeholders, adding AML is strategically aligned to and supporting the Government’s Pro-poor Agenda and working closely with Government representatives.
The statement said, CEO Lowe told the diplomats that AML was planning to make a bold step into the future with the resumption of its expansion project known as Phase II at an additional cost of approximately $800m, taking AML’s total investment in Liberia to over $2.5Bn. The AML expansion will triple production from 5mtpa of direct shipment ore (DSO) to 15mtpa of high-value concentrate product with plans for further growth in the future.
Mr Lowe added that the project represents major economic and social benefits for the government and people of Liberia in jobs, revenue, and social development.
The current model of operations will be transformed with the introduction of expanded mining, state-of-the-art processing technology, and upgrades to rail and port infrastructure. Importantly, the project will also involve developing the skills of Liberians and expanding the life of the mine for up to thirty years.
Lowe said: “ArcelorMittal Liberia has been in Liberia since 2006, and we are in this for the long haul. We intend to be a part of Liberia’s long term future, delivering growth for the benefit of the country, community, employees, and shareholders.”
Ambassadors provide feedback
U.S. Ambassador McCarthy described the ArcelorMittal Liberia investment as a “hope for the future of Liberia” and encouraged the company and staff to continue the good work.
He said the AML VTC is exactly what Liberia needs, noting that the company has put the future in the people’s hands, and they [the youth] need to take it from there.
The French Ambassador Michaël Roux shared similar views about the impact of AML’s business and also highlighted the role of TVET in Liberia’s economic development.
Head of E.U. Delegation in Liberia Ambassador Delahousse spoke of the importance of Public-Private partnership, and hoped that other companies in Liberia or from abroad will come, invest, create jobs and give a future to all young Liberians.
The recent visit of the three diplomats followed earlier high-level visits by other members of the diplomatic corps and most recently, H.E. President George M. Weah to the AML Concession, something CEO Scott Lowe said is an indication of the strong partnership between AML, the government, the international community and people of Liberia.
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EU urges Lebanon to form government quickly
… , April 2 (KUNA) — The European Union on Friday urged Lebanese leaders … the interest of Lebanon. The EU urges the Lebanese leadership, once … the necessary reforms,” said EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and …
EU agrees to mediate in Cuba-U.S. relations: media
HAVANA, April 1 (Xinhua) — The European Union (EU) has agreed to mediate in Cuba-U.S. relations, the Cuban News Agency (ACN) reported Thursday.
EU High Representative Josep Borrell on Wednesday accepted the request made by the Group of Friendship and Solidarity with the People of Cuba in the European Parliament “to mediate before the U.S. government in order to remove Cuba from the unilateral list of countries that encourage terrorism,” the ACN reported.
In a letter written by Borrell to members of the European Parliament, which was made public Wednesday on Twitter, the high representative said, “in our contacts with the new U.S. administration, we will address this issue and call on the U.S. to lift this designation.”
In response, Ana Mari Machado, deputy president of Cuba’s National Assembly of People’s Power, tweeted Wednesday that the assembly appreciated the EU’s decision.
“Cuba does not sponsor nor promote terrorism. We support peace, solidarity and collaboration between peoples,” she said.
Cuba should have never been included in the list, Cuba’s ambassador to China Carlos Miguel Pereira said Thursday on Twitter, adding that “Cuba only sponsors and promotes solidarity and peace, not terrorism.”
“The European Union clearly states its constructive commitment to Cuba,” Carlos Alzugaray, senior university professor and Cuba’s former ambassador to the EU, told Xinhua.
“It has also an economic dimension: the European Union protects its economic interests in Cuba, which are threatened by (former U.S. Secretary of State Mike) Pompeo’s unilateral action,” he added.
Cuba was first designated by the United States as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1982, and was removed from the list in 2015 under the administration of then U.S. President Barack Obama as the two countries re-established diplomatic ties.
However, on Jan. 11, 2020, just a few days before then U.S. President Donald Trump left office, Pompeo announced that the United States had restored Cuba to the list.
In early March, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in a daily briefing that the United States is committed to reviewing Trump administration’s designation. But she also said, “a Cuba policy shift is not currently among President (Joe) Biden’s top priorities.”
Use COVID-19 recovery to make inclusion ‘a reality’, UN chief says on World Day
Use COVID-19 recovery to make inclusion ‘a reality’, UN chief says on World Day.
“The crisis has created new obstacles and challenges. But efforts to reignite the global economy offer an opportunity to reimagine the workplace to make diversity, inclusion and equity a reality”, Secretary-General António Guterres said.
“Recovery is also a chance to rethink our systems of education and training to ensure that persons with autism are afforded opportunities for realizing their potential”, he added.
Breaking ‘old habits’ crucial
Mr. Guterres also emphasized that breaking old habits will be crucial. For persons with autism, he added, access to decent work on an equal basis requires creating an enabling environment, along with reasonable accommodations.
“To truly leave no one behind in pursuit of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, we must realize the rights of all persons with disabilities, including persons with autism, ensuring their full participation in social, cultural and economic life”, he said.
“Let us work together with all persons with disabilities and their representative organizations to find innovative solutions to recover better and build a better world for all.”
Inequalities worsened by COVID-19
According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), one in 160 children has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD begins in childhood and tends to persist into adolescence and adulthood.
Intervention during early childhood is important to promote the optimal development and well-being of persons with an ASD, WHO added, emphasizing the importance of monitoring of child development as part of routine maternal and child health care.
While some individuals with ASD are able to live independently, others have severe disabilities and require life-long care and support. Persons with an ASD are also often subject to stigma and discrimination, including unjust deprivation of health care, education, protection under law, and opportunities to engage and participate in their communities.
The World Day
The World Autism Awareness Day, to be commemorated annually on 2 April, was established in December 2007 by the UN General Assembly, which affirmed that “ensuring and promoting the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all persons with disabilities is critical to achieving internationally agreed development goals”.
The General Assembly also highlighted the importance of early diagnosis and appropriate research and interventions for the growth and development of the individual, and called for efforts to raise awareness throughout society, including at the family level, regarding children with autism.
LOOK: 5 blockbuster movies about faith and religion
It’s tough to find movies that’s free of sex and violence. We also want to see movies that would build our faith in God and honor Him at the same time.
So get the popcorn ready and watch these flicks that would inspire and uplift your spirits.
Here are the five biggest films with Christian themes and religious undertones based on ticket sales. Enjoy!
The Passion of the Christ – (2004)
Box-office: US$612 million
Depicts the final twelve hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, on the day of his crucifixion in Jerusalem. (imdb.com)
War Room – (2015)
Box-office: US$74 million
A seemingly perfect family looks to fix their problems with the help of Miss Clara, an older, wiser woman. (imdb.com)
Miracles From Heaven – (2016)
Box-office: US$74 million
An inspiring movie about a little girl relieved of an incurable illness.
Heaven is for Real – (2014)
Box-office: US$101.3 million
A small-town father must find the courage and conviction to share his son’s extraordinary, life-changing experience with the world. (imdb.com)
I Can Only Imagine – (2018)
Box-office: US$86 million
The inspiring and unknown true story behind MercyMe’s beloved, chart topping song that brings ultimate hope to so many is a gripping reminder of the power of true forgiveness.
NDG Book Review: ‘Comeback Season’ highlights an unlikely friendship
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
Your teeth got a good workout.
Yep, as a kid, you wanted those certain hard-to-find, favorite-player baseball cards but you didn’t want to be wasteful. Because you’d do anything to get the cards, you spent your change, hoped you’d be lucky, and you chewed a lot of gum. In the new book “Comeback Season” by Cam Perron (with Nick Chiles), though, the best things don’t come in a pack.
It all started with coins.
When Cam Perron was a little boy, his grandfather introduced him to coin collecting by taking young Perron to a local Massachusetts flea market, where the boy learned that collectible things had stories behind them. That got him fired up about antiques, comic books, baseball cards, and music memorabilia.
At about the time he entered middle school, Red Sox fever hit his hometown just outside Boston and he talked his mom into indulging his love of Red Sox memorabilia. One day, the collector in Perron took notice of baseball cards for Negro League players, and his curiosity led him to research the stories behind the League; individual players caught his fancy and, with the eagerness of the 12-year-old he was, the white boy from Boston picked up the phone and called to talk with Black players that were many decades older than he.
Astoundingly, Perron became friends with those men, and he began making a name for himself among Negro League players for finding information they thought was lost forever – information that brought recognition, reconnection and, for some of baseball’s most talented, financial refuge.
“Comeback Season” is a good book that speaks to the heart of every former little boy with a fist full of baseball cards and an eye on a good deal. Hobbyists will completely understand what author Cam Perron says about the “hunt” and why it’s almost the best part of collecting, and his tales of accumulation will thrill anyone who’s relished the nail-biting anticipation of finding that one thing in a surprise place.
The big appeal of this book, though, starts when Perron quiets himself and lets Negro Leaguers talk. Readers who come to this book to learn about Black baseball players in the Jim Crow era are treated to remembrances from these men, in their own words, and their stories and their heartfelt appreciation just can’t be missed. Perron includes a brief-but-helpful history of Negro League ball early-on but really, look for the players’ personal tales.
This book reads faster than a one-two-three inning and, aside from a couple of very minor profanities, it’s safe for a teen baseball fan. So find “Comeback Season,” play ball, and you’ll show a lot of teeth.
YouTube Intensifies Attack on Religion, Removes ANOTHER Faith-Based Channel
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YouTube removed yet another faith-based channel as the platform continues its relentless assault on religious liberty.
YouTube has a long history in deplatforming channels with dissenting opinions, and Christian media organization theDove alleges that it is the latest victim in the platform’s crusade. “On March 22, 2021 the Dove was permanently banned from YouTube,” theDove’s website stated. “Over 15,000 interviews and segments have been posted to YouTube and the Dove has experienced millions of views. In today’s cancel culture YouTube has deleted every video.”
YouTube spokesperson Ivy Choi told Free Speech America that “In accordance with our long standing three-strikes system, we terminated the channel theDove for repeatedly violating our COVID-19 misinformation and presidential election integrity policies.”
It appears as though theDove plans to fight back. “We are dealing with two fairly significant law firms, one in Washington D.C. and one in California, to see if there’s any recourse we may have to retrieve our 15,000 videos,” Perry Atkinson, the organization’s CEO and president, told NewsWatch 12. “We are looking into three other platforms as to whether or not we can re-establish a way to distribute our videos.”
TheDove’s removal was not the first time that YouTube targeted a conservative, or even a faith-based organization. The platform recently removed LifeSiteNews’ channel, and even censored Senate testimony from doctors on COVID-19. YouTube additionally censored a Newsmax interview with former President Donald Trump.
Unfortunately, Google’s massive video-sharing platform does not appear to be slowing down its censorious campaign anytime soon. TheDove was not the first religious organization censored by YouTube, and it likely won’t be the last.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact YouTube at 650-253-0000 and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
EU Confidential #194: EU faces Beijing backlash — European astronauts in conversation
We explore the rapidly rising tensions between China and Europe and ask where the relationship between the two sides is heading. And we reach for the stars as we hear from two European astronauts — and get the lowdown on the search for the next generation of European space explorers.
POLITICO’s Andrew Gray, Rym Momtaz, Matthew Karnitschnig and Stuart Lau get you up to speed on recent rows between China and the European Union — alongside the United States and others — after the EU imposed sanctions on Chinese officials accused of running internment camps for hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs in the region of Xinjiang. Beijing hit back hard, with sanctions of its own on high-level EU officials, members of the European Parliament and others. Is Europe set to team up with the United States in taking a harder line against China? And what will be the consequences if it does?
Then we boldly go where EU Confidential has never gone before: into space, through conversations with European astronauts Thomas Pesquet and Samantha Cristoforetti. They give POLITICO’s Joshua Posaner a flavor of what life is like in the International Space Station and how they’re preparing for upcoming missions. We also shed light on Europe’s capabilities in space and reveal what the European Space Agency sees as the right stuff in its search for new astronauts.
UK steps in with 11th-hour extra £250m to stay in EU research scheme
The government has stepped in at the 11th hour with an additional £250m in funding to help pay for the UK’s association with Horizon Europe, the European Union’s funding programme for research and innovation.
Universities welcomed the move as “a significant affirmation of the government’s belief in research” which would avert the immediate threat to UK science.
A statement from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, announcing the additional funding, said: “This investment reinforces the government’s commitment to putting research and development at the heart of plans to build back better from the pandemic.
“It will support vital and pioneering research while enabling the UK’s brilliant scientists, researchers and businesses to access and benefit from the world’s largest collaborative research programme, Horizon Europe – worth about €95bn (£80bn) over the next decade.”
The UK retained participation in Horizon Europe as part of its trade deal with the EU, but university leaders feared the government would not contribute the cost of taking part and would instead seek to fund it from existing research budgets. The cost of participation was previously part of the UK’s EU membership fees.
University leaders warned such a move would amount to an effective cut in excess of £1bn, equivalent to cutting more than 18,000 full-time academic research posts and weakening the UK’s appeal as a destination for talented researchers and private and foreign investment.
Welcoming the additional funding, Prof Julia Buckingham, president of Universities UK which represents university leaders, said: “We are very pleased that the government has averted threats to UK science and research by allocating additional funding to support the UK’s association to Horizon Europe and welcome their commitment to increase investment in R&D to 2.4% of GDP by 2027.
“Given current pressures on public finances, this is a significant affirmation of the government’s belief in research, recognising the pivotal role it plays in the UK’s current and future prosperity, and ensuring UK universities will remain at the forefront of efforts to address the most pressing global challenges.”
Dr Tim Bradshaw, CEO of the Russell Group of universities, said: “Providing additional funding for Horizon Europe to protect core R&D budgets is a good move by government and underlines its determination to establish Britain as a global science superpower.
“Scientists and researchers have been a vital part in the emergency response to Covid-19 and this continued investment in UK science will pay dividends as we work to deliver our joint ambitions for the country – high-value jobs and growth and a greener, healthier economy.”
