15 arrested, 8 cops suspended after woman beaten and paraded naked in Bihar
Patna, Aug 21 : A day after a woman was thrashed and paraded naked by a mob in Bihar's Bihiya town in Bhojpur district, the state police arrested 15 suspects and suspended eight of their own men, but denied that it was a case of mob lynching.
The Opposition demanded resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the collapse of law and order and imposition of the President's rule in the state.
The National Commission for Women has taken cognizance of the incident and directed the Bihar police chief to submit a report.
S.K. Singhal, Additional Director General (police headquarters), said 15 persons have been arrested on the basis of video footage of the incident. "More arrest will follow," he added.
"It was not a case of mob lynching at all. The police have been investigating it. None of the culprits would be spared," Singhal said.
The ADG said the incident took place after the body of a youth was found on railway track in Bihiya town in Bhojpur district, about 90 km from Patna, on Monday.
Bhojpur superintendent of police Avakash Kumar has suspended the eight police officials, including two police station officers, on charge of negligence of duty.
"The youth was strangled to death as per the post-mortem report," he said.
The local police said soon after the body of 19-year-old Bimlesh, who had been reported missing since Sunday, was found on the railway track on Monday morning, a mob from his village first staged a protest and then attacked a few people living in the adjoining red light area.
Some people blamed a Dalit woman of a nearby red light locality for the death, police sources said.
They said the mob rushed to her house and dragged her to the street. She was beaten up and paraded naked, they said.
A police team that reached the spot hours later was attacked by the mob. The police had to open fire to save the woman. Later she was admitted to a local hospital, police sources said.
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Trump launches new effort to reopen Strait of Hormuz
Dubai (AP): US forces on Monday launched an effort to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds have been stuck since the Iran war began.
Two American-flagged merchant ships have “successfully transited” through the critical waterway, the US military said. Separately, the US military denied Iran's claims that it struck an American Navy vessel southeast of the strait.
Iran handed over its latest proposal for negotiations with the US to mediators in Pakistan, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Friday. Trump subsequently said he's “not satisfied” with it, but did not elaborate on the proposal's apparent shortcomings. The shaky ceasefire between the US and Iran has lasted for three weeks.
Here's the latest:
European leaders see Trump's troop drawdown from Germany as new proof they must go it alone
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European leaders on Monday said President Trump's snap decision to pull thousands of US troops out of Germany came as a surprise but is a fresh sign that Europe must take care of its own security.
The Pentagon announced last week that it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, but Trump told reporters Saturday that “we're going to cut way down. And we're cutting a lot further than 5,000.”
He offered no reason for the move, which blindsided NATO, but his decision came amid an escalating dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the US-Israeli war on Iran, and Trump's anger over European allies' reluctance to get involved in the conflict in the Middle East.
Wall Street hesitates and oil prices climb with uncertainty about the Strait of Hormuz
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The US stock market is holding tentatively near its record heights Monday, while oil prices climb with uncertainty about when oil tankers can resume crossing the Strait of Hormuz and restore the world's flow of crude. Dueling claims about a possible Iranian strike on a U.S. Navy vessel in the strait heightened the tensions.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 216 points, or 0.4 per cent, as of 9:35 am Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1 per cent.
The action was stronger in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 2 per cent to USD 110.37 and briefly topped USD 114 during the morning. Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to its war with the United States has kept oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf and away from customers worldwide. That in turn has sent the price of Brent soaring from roughly USD 70 per barrel before the war.
Iran stands firm on its grip of the strait
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The disruption of the waterway has squeezed countries in Europe and Asia that depend on Persian Gulf oil and gas, raising prices far beyond the region.
Trump has promised to bring down gas prices as he faces midterm elections this year.
The US has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran for transit of the strait. It has enacted a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, telling 49 commercial ships to turn back, U.S. Central Command said Sunday. The blockade has deprived Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.
US officials have expressed hope the blockade forces Iran back to the negotiation table.
US claims progress in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, saying two merchant ships have transited
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The US military said Monday that two American-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz and Navy guided-missile destroyers in the Persian Gulf were helping to restore shipping traffic. It separately denied Iran's claims to have struck an American Navy vessel.
The announcement came a day after US President Donald Trump announced a new initiative to help guide ships through the critical waterway for global energy. Iran has effectively closed the strait since the US and Israel started the war Feb 28, rattling the global economy.
The US-led Joint Maritime Information Center has advised ships to cross the strait in Oman's waters, saying it set up an “enhanced security area.” U.S. Central Command didn't say when the Navy ships arrived or when the merchant vessels departed.
It was unclear whether shipping companies, and their insurers, will feel comfortable taking the risk given that Iran has fired on ships in the waterway and vowed to keep doing so.
