US woman found in Maharashtra forest tells police she had chained herself to tree
Mumbai, Aug 5: The 50-year-old American woman found tied to a tree with an iron chain in a forest in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district has now told police she had shackled herself and no one else was involved in the incident, an official said on Monday.
The official cited the woman's mental health conditions for her act of self-harm.
The woman, said to be battling with mental health issues, appeared emaciated when a shepherd heard her cries in the forest where she was found tied to a tree with an iron chain on July 27 and alerted the local police, an incident that had caused an uproar and attracted wide media attention. She was rescued by the police and taken to hospital.
The Sindhudurg police recorded the woman's statement on Saturday (Aug 3) during which she said she brought three locks and iron chains and used one of the locks and chains to tie herself to a tree in a forest near Sonurli village in the coastal district, around 460km from Mumbai, the official said.
The police had recovered a pair of keys used to lock the iron chain a few metres away from the spot where she was found. It was still unclear for how many days she was tied to the tree, he said.
In the statement, the American woman also told the police she does not have a husband, the official said.
During investigation, the police came to know her mother resides in the US, but so far nobody from the family has contacted them, he said.
Meanwhile, the woman was brought to Regional Mental Hospital in Ratnagiri where she is being treated at the psychiatric department, he said.
Sometimes the woman experiences hallucinations and during one such moment she must have said that her former husband had tied her to the tree, said the official.
After the American woman was rescued, the police had recovered a note from her bag in which she had mentioned that her "former husband" had tied her to the tree. Based on the note, the police had registered an attempt to murder case against her former husband without naming him and launched a search for him.
The police had recovered a photocopy of her US passport and an Aadhaar card with a Tamil Nadu address. A copy of her expired visa was also found in her possession.
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US warns shipping firms they could face sanctions over paying Iranian tolls in Strait of Hormuz
Dubai (AP): The United States is warning shipping companies that they could face sanctions for making payments to Iran to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The alert posted Friday by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control adds another layer of pressure in the standoff between the US and Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
About a fifth of the world's trade in oil and natural gas typically passes through the strait at the mouth of the Persian Gulf in peacetime.
Iran effectively closed the strait to normal traffic by attacking and threatening to attack ships after the US and Israel launched a war on Feb. 28. It later began offering some ships safe passage by detouring them through alternate routes closer to its shoreline, charging fees at times for the service.
That "tollbooth” effort is the focus of the US sanctions warning.
The payment demands could include transfers not only in cash but also “digital assets, offsets, informal swaps, or other in-kind payments,” including chartibale donations and payments at Iranian embassies, OFAC said.
“OFAC is issuing this alert to warn US and non-US persons about the sanctions risks of making these payments to, or soliciting guarantees from, the Iranian regime for safe passage. These risks exist regardless of payment method,” it said.
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The US responded to Iran's closure of the strait with a naval blockade of its own on April 13, preventing any Iranian tankers from leaving and depriving Iran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.
The US Central Command said 45 commercial ships have been told to turn around since the blockade began.
Trump rejects Iranian proposal
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The warning came as US President Donald Trump swiftly rejected Iran's latest proposal to end the war between the countries.
“They want to make a deal, I'm not satisfied with it, so we'll see what happens,” Trump said Friday at the White House. He didn't elaborate on what he saw as its shortcomings but expressed frustration with the Iranian leadership.
“It's a very disjointed leadership,” Trump said. “They all want to make a deal, but they're all messed up.”
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Iran handed over its plan to mediators in Pakistan on Thursday night.
The shaky three-week ceasefire between the US and Iran appears to be holding, though both countries have traded accusations of violations. The standoff is increasingly putting pressure on the global economy, driving up prices and leading to shortages of fuel and other products tied to the oil industry.
Negotiations continued by phone after Trump called off his envoys' trip to Pakistan last week, the president said. Trump this week floated a new plan to reopen the critical passageway used by America's Gulf allies to export their oil and gas.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has briefed many of his regional counterparts on the country's initiatives to end the ear, according to his social media. He also held talks Friday with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who is in contact with the EU's Gulf partners.
China's UN envoy urges Iran to lift restrictions
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Fu Cong, the Chinese ambassdor to the United Nations, said Friday that maintaining the ceasefire is “the most urgent issue" as well as bringing together the sides to resume good faith negotiations “to make sure that the ground is laid for reopening of Hormuz.”
Foreign Minister Wang Yi “has been on the phone almost constantly” with representatives from all sides, Fu said, adding that China supports Pakistan's efforts to mediate between the parties.
Fu stressed the root cause of the tremendous suffering in Iran and neighboring countries and the growing turmoil in the global economy, especially in developing countries, “is the illegitimate war by the US and Israel.
