Saudi oil refinery attacked by drone, sparking small fire
Riyadh(AP): An oil refinery in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, was attacked by drone, causing a small fire that did not cause injuries or affect supplies, the energy ministry said Friday.
The statement did not specify where the drone strike was launched from. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The kingdom's oil facilities have been a target of Yemen's Houthi rebels in the past. The Iranian-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for a shocking attack in 2019 at the Abqaiq oil processing facility in Eastern Province, which temporarily knocked out half the kingdom's daily production.
The ministry statement, published by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, was released shortly after midnight Friday and said the attack took place around 4:40 a.m. on Thursday.
The ministry said such attacks not only target Saudi Arabia, but also the security and stability of energy supply to the world.
Saudi Arabia has been involved in Yemen's civil war since 2015, fighting against the Houthis who overran the capital of Sanaa and ousted the government there from power. Despite seven years of fighting and war, the Houthis remain in control of Sanaa and much of northern Yemen.
The war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people, both fighters and civilians, and spawned the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Many more have been internally displaced.
Around 13 million Yemenis are headed for starvation due to a protracted civil conflict and a lack of funding for humanitarian aid, the UN food agency has warned.
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Malaysian Indian sentenced to jail and caning for raping Indonesian woman in Singapore
Singapore (PTI): An Indian-origin Malaysian man was sentenced in Singapore to 12 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane for raping a domestic worker outside a train station after tricking her into thinking that he was a police officer.
Sharveen Chetty, 48, pleaded guilty on February 4 to one charge of raping the 35-year-old Indonesian woman in the bushes outside Exit F of a subway, Little India Mass Rapid Transit station, at about 8pm on July 11, 2022.
The victim was with her friends at the time, but Chetty lured her away before he sexually assaulted her, according to a report by The Straits Times on Thursday.
Two other charges – a second rape charge and a charge of impersonating a police officer – were taken into consideration during sentencing on Wednesday.
The witnesses who testified on the first day of the trial included a doctor from Women’s and Children’s Hospital who examined the victim a day after the rapes, and forensic scientists from the Health Sciences Authority.
Chetty had initially contested the charges in a High Court trial that began on February 3. But he changed his mind and pleaded guilty on what would have been the second day of the trial, according to the daily report.
In sentencing, Justice Dedar Singh Gill considered it aggravating that Chetty had targeted the victim because she was a foreigner who might be unfamiliar with the local authorities.
The judge rejected the defence's arguments that the rape was not premeditated.
The judge, however, noted that Chetty had pleaded guilty before the victim and key prosecution witnesses testified, thus sparing her and her friends from going through cross-examination.
The prosecution had sought a sentence of between 11 and 13 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane, noting Chetty’s extensive efforts to disguise himself, and his predatory act of leading the victim away from the rest of the group.
Chetty admitted that he became sexually attracted to the victim.
