News / News Bulletin

NYPD charge man with murder of Imam, Assistant

Tuesday, 16 August 2016 5:54 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 16 August 2016 5:54 AM ]

Hundreds of area Muslims attend a mass prayer for Imam Maulama Akonjee and his assistant, Thara Uddin, who died in a fatal shooting outside of the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque on August 13 in the Queens borough of New York. ©AFP

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

A man is charged with murder in the killing of an Imam and his associate near a mosque in New York. This, after police recovered a revolver at Oscar Morel’s home. Thousands denounced the killing as a hate crime at Imam Maulana Akonjee’s funeral.
A nighttime curfew has been imposed in the US city of Milwaukee after two consecutive nights of violent protests there. The violence erupted over the fatal police shooting of a 23 year old African-American. Police claim Sylville Smith was armed with a gun when he was shot.
Iraqi Kurdish forces have pushed Daesh Takfiri terrorists out of a dozen villages near the flashpoint city of Mosul over the past couple of days. They have also secured a strategic river crossing point which has helped them tighten their grip further on Mosul.
Palestinian traders and merchants have held a protest rally in the besieged Gaza Strip, condemning Israel for cancelling travel permits and restricting Gazans to enter West Bank or other countries for trade. Tel Aviv has, however, cited security reasons for the mass cancellation of the visas.
Israel has announced plans to grab more Palestinian land in a village near the town of Bethlehem in order to build some 2500 settler units there. Palestinian officials have strongly reacted to the decision, warning that it would split the occupied territory in two.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has held talks with his Venezuelan counterpart, Delcy Eloina Rodriguez Gomez. During the meeting in the Iranian capital Tehran, the two sides expressed their willingness to further strengthen economic and political ties.
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has rejected Germany’s call for a ceasefire longer than the current three hours daily to allow humanitarian aid into the Syrian city of Aleppo. Lavrov says terrorists fighting against the Syrian government have used the ceasefires to regroup and rearm themselves.
Fresh clashes and gun battles across Indian-controlled Kashmir have left 9 people dead. The victims include a 16 year old protester, a police commander and 7 pro-independence fighters. Fresh violence broke out across the disputed Himalayan region as India was celebrating its 70th Independence anniversary.