9 killed in shooting near LA after Lunar New Year festival
Monterey Park (US) (AP): Nine people were killed in a mass shooting late Saturday in a city east of Los Angeles following a Lunar New Year celebration that attracted thousands, police said.
Sgt. Bob Boese of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said the shooting was reported at 10:22 p.m. and occurred at a business on Garvey Ave. in Monterey Park. The shooter is a male, Boese said early Sunday.
Officials provided no information for several hours after dozens of police officers had responded to reports of the shooting.
Monterey Park is a city of about 60,000 people with a large Asian population that's about 16 kilometers from downtown Los Angeles.
Seung Won Choi, who owns the Clam House seafood barbecue restaurant across the street from where the shooting happened, told the Los Angles Times that three people rushed into his business and told him to lock the door.
The people also told Choi that there was a shooter with a machine gun who had multiple rounds of ammunition on him so he could reload. Choi said he believes the shooting took place at a dance club.
Saturday was the start of the two-day festival, which is one of the largest Lunar New Year events in Southern California.
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Waqf Bill anti-secular, will snatch rights of Muslims: Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday described the Waqf (Amendment) Bill as “anti-secular”, claiming that it would snatch the rights of Muslims.
Banerjee, speaking in the assembly, also said the Centre did not consult with states over the matter.
“The bill is anti-federal and anti-secular; it is a deliberate attempt to malign a particular section. It will snatch the rights of Muslims... The Centre did not consult with us on the Waqf Bill,” she said.
The chief minister added that “if any religion was attacked”, she would wholeheartedly condemn it.
Opposition parties have stridently criticised the amendments proposed by the bill in the existing Waqf Act, alleging that they violate the religious rights of Muslims.
The ruling BJP has asserted that the amendments will bring transparency in the functioning of the Waqf boards and make them accountable.
A parliamentary committee has been constituted to scrutinise the contentious bill.
