Indian-American on Trump's list of Supreme Court nominees
Washington, June 28 : Amul Thapar, an Indian-American appeals court judge from the US state of Kentucky is on President Donald Trump's short list of potential nominees to replace Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced his retirement a day before.
The first South Asian to be named to a lifetime federal judgeship, Thapar is one of three minorities on Trump's list of 25 names, which was put together in consultation with conservative legal scholars, the US media reported.
The others are Federico Moreno, a federal district judge in South Florida, who is Hispanic, and Robert Young, a retired Michigan Supreme Court judge, who is African-American.
Thapar, 49, currently sits on the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals and is a favourite of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Courier-Journal reported.
He was previously floated as a possible pick to replace associate Justice of the Supreme Court Antonin Scalia but he and others on the list of potential nominees were passed over for now Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Kennedy, who provided key votes for same sex-marriage, abortion access and affirmative action, announced his retirement on Wednesday. The development has reopened the door for Thapar's consideration.
McConnell has praised Thapar in the past. "He is a well-qualified jurist, and a man of high integrity," McConnell said in a statement last year following a Senate committee's approval of Thapar serving on the appeals court. The 6th Circuit covers Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.
Thapar is likely near the top of McConnell's list, if not at the top, said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond. "You certainly can't rule him out. He has to be considered a contender," Tobias said.
Prior to his confirmation to the 6th Circuit, Thapar served as a US district court judge and US attorney in the Eastern District of Kentucky. He also served as an assistant US attorney in Ohio and Washington.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Eight persons killed 17 injured in knife attack in China
Beijing, Nov 16: Eight persons were killed and 17 injured in a knife attack at a vocational school in east China's Jiangsu Province on Saturday, local police officials said.
The attack took place at around 6:30 pm at the Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology in Yixing City.
The 21-year-old suspect, surnamed Xu, was caught at the scene and he confessed to his crime, according to a statement released by the public security bureau of Yixing, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the police, Xu, a graduate of the school this year, returned to the school to vent his anger for not receiving his graduation certificate due to failing exams and for dissatisfaction with his internship pay.
Rescue efforts are underway and police are further investigating the case, the report said.
This is the second attack on civilians this week.
On November 12, thirty-five people were killed and 43 injured when a man ploughed his car into a crowd of people at a sports centre in Zhuhai city.
Police who detained a man called Fan said his actions stemmed from his dissatisfaction with the property division outcome of his divorce.
Expressing concern over the incident, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged all-out efforts to treat the injured.
Car ramming incidents, besides knife attacks on civilians, have been taking place periodically in China in recent months. The incidents are routinely blamed on disgruntled elements by security officials.
