Skip to main content

French teen fined in Singapore 'straw licking' case

A French teenager was fined in Singapore on Thursday after pleading guilty to a public nuisance charge for a straw-licking stunt that landed him in hot water in the city state. Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 19, was handed a Sg$600 ($465) fine after admitting to posting to social media a video of himself putting a straw he had licked back into the dispenser on an orange juice vending machine. The clip went viral on Instagram shortly after the incident on March 12, triggering a backlash that led to his arrest in Singapore, which is known for its strict enforcement of public order and hygiene rules. Handing down the sentence, Judge Kelly Ho said given Maximilien's "age and nature of the offence", alternatives like probation or a community-based sentence would not be imposed. Prosecutors agreed to the defence's proposal for a fine, saying the offence was at the "lower end" of its seriousness and while hygiene was compromised, no member of the public u...
Post a Comment

India's top court orders no coercive action against youth protesters and release of minors, media reports say

India's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the release of under-18s arrested during the youth protests over exam leaks and said authorities must ensure surveillance footage is preserved after petitioners alleged police brutality against demonstrators. Indian media reports said Chief Justice Surya Kant also directed authorities to preserve the digital and personal data of people who participated in the demonstrations and barred any coercive action against them. The reports said Kant took interim steps in response to petitions filed by student protesters and activists seeking action against police and paramilitary forces for what they said was the use of excess force and pellet guns during the weeks-long demonstrations in the national capital and other cities. He called for the preservation of all footage, including from drones, body cameras, and CCTV footage, and directed authorities to ensure protesters' data was not made public. Government mulls tougher punishment for paper leaks India’s government proposed longer jail terms and heftier fines for examination paper leaks, seeking to restore confidence after the protests. Under the proposed legal change submitted to parliament, the maximum prison term for those involved in paper leaks would be doubled to 10 years, while fines could exceed $1 million and court proceedings would be fast-tracked. Read: Modi's strongman image dented as he caves to 'Cockroaches' The proposed amendments reaffirm “this government’s deep commitment to safeguard the welfare of the students and the youth of this country”, senior minister Jitendra Singh told the lower house of the parliament. The changes seek to make the legislation “more stringent and to ensure speedy justice”, Singh said, “so that the credibility of all these exams gets enhanced and gets reinstated”. The parliament reconvened last week for its monsoon session, with the first few days repeatedly disrupted by opposition lawmakers seeking accountability over a police crackdown on the student-led protests. Police officers injured, solicitor general says "Whoever has committed excess ... atrocities on innocent people, the law will take care of them. For that, there needs to be a completely independent and fair investigation," Kant said, according to legal website Live Law, one of several outlets reporting the ruling. "A probe is meaningless if no responsibility is fixed," he said, before ordering the interim steps. The government has defended police action during the protests as lawful crowd control. The Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, was cited by media reports as having said in court that while the matter of students being attacked could not be taken lightly, about 250 police officers were also injured, adding that the government had no objection to an investigation into the matter. The protests, triggered by the leak of question papers for a national medical college entrance exam, ended on Saturday after the education minister resigned and the government agreed to the protesters' demands for exam reforms, withdrawal of police cases, and compensation for families of students who died by suicide after the leaks. Baton charges used against protesters Tensions erupted between protesters and security forces in several parts of the country during the demonstrations, including in New Delhi, where people attempting to march on parliament were met with tear gas and baton charges. Indian authorities have also suspended a policeman in an eastern state for firing rounds in the air from an assault rifle to disperse student protesters over the weekend. Read More: Cockroach movement and securitisation in India Reuters reported on Monday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government was facing a challenge from activists over the use of AI-powered surveillance at the protests, after demonstrators posted pictures on social media of a mobile police surveillance van equipped with cameras on a telescopic mast, providing a 360-degree view of the gathering. The self-named Cockroach Janta Party, which spearheaded the movement, said on Monday that "hundreds" of students had been arrested in various states, in violation of the government's commitment. Reuters was not able to independently verify the claim.

from Latest World News, International News | Breaking World News https://ift.tt/uGWYfJz
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

At least 32 miners dead after bridge fails at cobalt site in southeast DR Congo

A bridge collapsed at a cobalt mine in southeast Democratic Republic of Congo killing at least 32 wildcat miners, a regional government official said Sunday. The bridge came down Saturday onto a flooded zone at the mine in Lualaba province, Roy Kaumba Mayonde, the provincial interior minister, told reporters. He said 32 bodies had been recovered and more were being searched for. The DRC produces more than 70 percent of the world supply of cobalt, which is essential for batteries used in electric cars, many laptop computers and mobile phones. More than 200,000 people are estimated to be working in giant illegal cobalt mines in the giant central African country. Local authorities said the bridge collapsed at the Kalando mine, about 42 kilometres (26 miles) southeast of the Lualaba provincial capital, Kolwezi. "Despite a formal ban on access to the site because of the heavy rain and the risk of a landslide, wildcat miners forced their way into the quarry," said Mayonde. He said ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Indian devotees splurge on jets, gold idols as Hindu temple opens

The private jet parking lots at airports near the Indian city of Ayodhya are full and the shops have run out of gold-plated idols, as wealthy devotees prepare for the invite-only opening ceremony of one of Hinduism's holiest temples. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani are among the 8,000 or so attendees at Monday's inauguration event for the Ram Temple, which devotees believe is built on the birthplace of Lord Ram, a sacred Hindu deity. The construction of the temple, which began after the Supreme Court awarded the site to Hindus in 2019 more than two decades after a Hindu mob razed a mosque there, triggering deadly riots, fulfils a key campaign promise of Modi and his Hindu nationalist party. Read BJP-promised temple transforms Ayodhya: Muslims, locals feel neglected The opening ceremony, organised by the trust that built the temple, comes months before a national election which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is widely expected to w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Arab countries, Pakistan likely to observe Eid on same day

The International Astronomy Centre confirmed on Wednesday that the crescent moon of Shawwal will be impossible to sight on Saturday, March 29, across all regions of the Arab and Islamic world. This is due to the moon setting before the sun, with the conjunction occurring after sunset. As a result, observing the crescent moon, whether by the naked eye, telescopes, or other means, will be unfeasible on March 29. For countries requiring an actual sighting to mark the start of Shawwal, Ramadan will likely extend to 30 days, with Eid Al Fitr falling on Monday, March 31. However, in some regions where the conjunction occurs before sunset, allowing the moon to set after sunset, some countries may choose to declare Eid on Sunday, March 30, following traditional moon-sighting practices. Notably, a partial solar eclipse will be visible at noon on Saturday in parts of the western Arab world, including Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. This event serves as definitive proof that the cresce...
Post a Comment
Read more