NEWS IN BRIEF

US offers $5m reward for capture of alleged Russian hacker

Xinhua, Washington

US Department of Justice (DoJ) Thursday announced a reward of 5 million US dollars for the capture of a Russian hacker who had allegedly stolen 70 million dollars from US bank accounts. The hacker, a 32-year-old Russian national named Maksim Yakubets, “allegedly has engaged in a decade-long cyber crime spree that deployed two of the most damaging pieces of financial malware ever used and resulted in tens of millions of dollars of losses to victims worldwide,” US assistant attorney general Brian Benczkowski said in a press briefing.

 

Angela Merkel visits Auschwitz for 1st time

AFP, Oswiecim, Poland

Germany’s Angela Merkel crossed the gates of the former Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Poland on Friday for the first time in her 14 years as chancellor, promising to battle a new wave of anti-Semitism. Merkel is only the third chancellor ever to visit the Nazi German camp where a million Jews were killed between 1940 and 1945 and which has come to symbolise the Holocaust as a whole.

 

Blind man executed

in US for killing

ex-girlfriend

AFP, Washington

A blind man was executed by the US state of Tennessee on Thursday for burning his ex-girlfriend to death. Lee Hall, who was previously known as Leroy Hall, chose to be executed by electrocution rather than lethal injection, a choice that Tennessee has offered to those condemned to death before 1999. He was pronounced dead at 7:26 pm local time (01:26 GMT), according to a statement from the Tennessee Department of Correction. Hall, 52, was sentenced to death after he was convicted of setting a car on fire with his former girlfriend inside in 1991.

 

India’s Muslims split in response to Hindu temple verdict

AP, New Delhi

India’s largest Muslim political groups are divided over how to respond to a Supreme Court ruling that favors Hindus’ right to a disputed site 27 years after Hindu nationalist mobs tore down a 16th century mosque, an event that unleashed torrents of religious-motivated violence. The sharp split illustrates growing unease among India’s Muslims, who are struggling to find a political voice as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government gives overt support to once-taboo Hindu nationalist causes. “We are pushed against the wall,” said Irfan Aziz, a political science student at Jamia Millia Islamia university in New Delhi. “No one speaks about us, not even our own.” The dispute over the site of the Babri Masjid mosque in the town of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state has lasted centuries.

 

NEWS IN BRIEF

US offers $5m reward for capture of alleged Russian hacker Xinhua, Washington US Department of Justice (DoJ) Thursday announced a reward of 5 million US dollars for the capture of a Russian hacker who had allegedly stolen 70 million dollars from US bank accounts. The hacker, a 32-year-old Russian national named Maksim Yakubets, allegedly has engaged in a decade-long cyber crime spree that deployed two of the most damaging pieces of financial malware ever used and resulted in tens of millions of dollars of losses to victims worldwide, US assistant attorney general Brian Benczkowski said in a press briefing. Angela Merkel visits Auschwitz for 1st time AFP, Oswiecim, Poland Germanys Angela Merkel crossed the gates of the former Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Poland on Friday for the first time in her 14 years as chancellor, promising to battle a new wave of anti-Semitism. Merkel is only the third chancellor ever to visit the Nazi German camp where a million Jews were killed between 1940 and 1945 and which has come to symbolise the Holocaust as a whole. Blind man executed in US for killing ex-girlfriend AFP, Washington A blind man was executed by the US state of Tennessee on Thursday for burning his ex-girlfriend to death. Lee Hall, who was previously known as Leroy Hall, chose to be executed by electrocution rather than lethal injection, a choice that Tennessee has offered to those condemned to death before 1999. He was pronounced dead at 7:26 pm local time (01:26 GMT), according to a statement from the Tennessee Department of Correction. Hall, 52, was sentenced to death after he was convicted of setting a car on fire with his former girlfriend inside in 1991. Indias Muslims split in response to Hindu temple verdict AP, New Delhi Indias largest Muslim political groups are divided over how to respond to a Supreme Court ruling that favors Hindus right to a disputed site 27 years after Hindu nationalist mobs tore down a 16th century mosque, an event that unleashed torrents of religious-motivated violence. The sharp split illustrates growing unease among Indias Muslims, who are struggling to find a political voice as Prime Minister Narendra Modis government gives overt support to once-taboo Hindu nationalist causes. We are pushed against the wall, said Irfan Aziz, a political science student at Jamia Millia Islamia university in New Delhi. No one speaks about us, not even our own. The dispute over the site of the Babri Masjid mosque in the town of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state has lasted centuries.