NewsTrackers

An Indian spiritual guru who claims to have millions of followers worldwide has been found guilty of rape. A court in the northern city of Jodhpur ruled that Asaram Bapu raped a 16-year-old girl in 2013 at his ashram there. He is likely to appeal against the verdict in a higher court. The guru, who is 77, has 400 ashrams around the world where he teaches meditation and yoga. He is also on trial in another rape case in Gujarat state. Jodhpur is on high alert because of concerns there could be violence from the guru's supporters. The court is expected to announce his sentence later in the day. Utsav Bains, the victim's lawyer, told NDTV that he was expecting the court to give Asaram a life sentence. "But nothing can compensate for the trauma that the victim and the family have gone through," he said. The security measures come after  followers of another guru, Gurmeet Ram Rahim, ran amok after he was found guilty of rape last year . The resulting violen...

Suspected herdsmen have killed 15 people in an early morning attack on a Catholic Church in Benue State, officials told PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday. The attack occurred in Ayar-Mbalom, a community in Gwer East Local Government Area. Terver Akase, a spokesperson to Governor Samuel Ortom, told PREMIUM TIMES the attackers also burnt 50 houses and sacked the entire community. The name of the church is St. Ignatius’ Catholic Church. The murdered Catholic priests are Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha, both reverend fathers. Fatai Owoseni, the Benue police commissioner, and Moses Yamu, the command’s spokesperson, did not immediately return PREMIUM TIMES requests for comments about the killings Tuesday morning. The attack comes barely four days after the murder of 10 persons by herdsmen in Guma Local Government Area, which has been one of the major scenes of carnage by suspects herdsmen since January 1. It also comes barely a few days after Nigerian soldiers stormed Naka town in Gwer Wes...

             In less than 72 hours past, one name took on the image of a coin that always has two sides to it. In this case, the name, Salah invokes opposing emotions in people. Salah the good gives people joy, especially in the sporting world of football. Mohamed Salah, 25, plays for Liverpool football club and was named the PFA Player of The Year a few days ago. Mohamed Salah: Liverpool Forward Voted PFA Player Of The Year 2017 – 18 Not just the fans of Liverpool, the team he plays for in the English Premier League, but most football enthusiasts all over the world are filled with joy with Salah’s skills on the field of play. On the other hand, Salah the evil sent more than a hundred innocent people to their early graves in the 2015 Paris terror attack and consequently brought sorrow and tears to numerous relatives of the victims. Salah Abdeslam, 28 years old, was convicted a few days ago of the heinous crime and was sentenced to 20 ye...

Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving suspect from the 2015 Paris attacks, has been jailed for 20 years in Belgium over a gunfight that led to his arrest. Abdeslam, 28, and co-defendant Sofien Ayari were both convicted of terror-related charges of attempted murder. Ayari, 24, was also given a 20-year sentence. Both fired on officers who raided a flat in Brussels in 2016. Abdeslam is being held in a jail in France and is due to face trial there over the Paris attacks themselves. He had refused to answer questions from the judge in the trial in Brussels, and eventually refused to attend the hearings. Neither he nor Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian national, was in court as the verdict was read out on Monday. Both received the maximum 20-year term requested by prosecutors. The judge, Marie France Keutgen, said that "there can be no doubt" about the two men's involvement with "radicalism". She added: "Their intention is clear from the nature of the ...

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have left hospital after the arrival of their third child, a boy. The couple's second son, who was born at 11:01 BST, weighing 8lb 7oz, is fifth in line to the throne. Prince George and Princess Charlotte had visited their brother at the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, London. Leaving the hospital Prince William said the couple were very happy, before holding up three fingers and joking he had "thrice the worry now". "We didn't keep you waiting too long this time," he added. When someone asked him whether the couple had decided on a name, he said: "You'll find out soon enough." Formal notice Minutes earlier, Prince William and Catherine had come out of the hospital briefly to greet the crowds with their new son. They then returned inside to put their newborn son in his car seat before driving away towards their home Kensington Palace. The duchess wore a red Jenny Packham dress with ...

Australian police say they will review how a 12-year-old boy travelled alone to Bali after he had a row with his parents and used their credit card. The boy, from Sydney, booked flights and accommodation online after his parents decided to cancel a holiday to the Indonesian island,  the family told the local Nine Network. He flew to Bali via Perth, presenting only his passport and school ID. Australian authorities said the boy was found in Bali on 17 March. The Australian Federal Police confirmed he had been reported missing nine days earlier after leaving home and failing to turn up to school. They did not say how many days he was in Bali. He had used a self-service check-in terminal in Sydney to board a flight to Perth and then a connection to Bali, the Nine Network reported. The boy, identified only by a pseudonym, said he was questioned once by airline officials in Perth. "They just asked for my student ID and passport to prove that I am over 12 and that I am...

A team of US doctors has successfully carried out the world's first total transplant of a penis and scrotum. Surgeons at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, performed the operation on a soldier who had been wounded by a bomb in Afghanistan. They used a penis, scrotum and partial abdominal wall transplanted from a deceased donor. They say the soldier should be able to regain sexual function, which is impossible with penis reconstructions. The team of 11 surgeons performed the transplant over 14 hours on 26 March. It is the first surgery on a combat veteran injured on duty and the first to transplant a complete section of tissue including the scrotum and surrounding abdominal area. Doctors said the donor testicles were not transplanted, due to ethical considerations. "While extremity amputations are visible and resultant disability obvious," said Dr WP Andrew Lee, head of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Johns Hopkins University, during a...