Indian student succumbs to injuries sustained during shooting rampage in Canada
Toronto (PTI): A 28-year-old Indian student has succumbed to the injuries sustained during a shooting rampage in Canada's Ontario province that also claimed two other lives, including that of a police constable, police said.
Satwinder Singh, who was injured in the shooting last Monday in Milton, died at the Hamilton General Hospital with his family and friends by his side, the Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) said in a statement on Saturday.
Singh was an international student from India who was working part-time at MK Auto Repairs at the time of the shooting, the statement said on Saturday.
"The HRPS would like to express heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the victim, and the communities impacted by this horrible tragedy," it said.
Monday's shooting resulted in the deaths of Toronto Police Constable Andrew Hong, 48, and Shakeel Ashraf, 38, a mechanic who owned MK Auto Repairs.
The gunman was identified as 40-year-old Sean Petrie. He was later shot dead by police in Hamilton.
At the Oakville home of a relative, Singh's grieving father was surrounded by relatives and friends after giving staff at the Hamilton General Hospital permission to pull his son off life support Saturday afternoon, said Sarabjot Kaur, a cousin who grew up with Singh told Toronto Star newspaper.
The father, who had not seen his son since before the pandemic, had just arrived earlier from Dubai, where he works as a truck driver, Kaur said.
Tanner had previously confirmed that Petrie had worked briefly at MK Auto Repairs.
According to an online GoFundMe page honouring Singh, the former international student had been on life support and had been declared brain-dead.
He is described in the post as a loving son, brother and grandson who will be missed daily. He had a passion for reading and writing poetry.
Singh, who obtained an MBA in marketing in India, was a student at Conestoga College. He had been working part-time at MK Collision Centre in Milton.
The violence erupted in Mississauga shortly after 2 pm, when Constable Hong, who was in the city for a training session and on his lunch break at a Tim Hortons, was shot and killed at close range.
Investigators believe the killing was unprovoked and that the suspect was on the lookout for an officer, The Globe and Mail newspaper reported.
As of Sunday afternoon, the GoFundMe had raised more than 35,000 dollars to help support Singh's family and return his body to India.
He will leave us with a dent in our hearts for a lifetime, the post said. It is a tough time for our family, and we need prayers from all of you.
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US vetoes Palestinian bid to gain statehood at the United Nations
United Nations, Apr 19: The US has vetoed a resolution in the UN Security Council on the latest Palestinian bid to be granted full membership of the United Nations, an outcome lauded by Israel but criticised by Palestine as “unfair, immoral, and unjustified".
The 15-nation Council voted on a draft resolution Thursday that would have recommended to the 193-member UN General Assembly “that the State of Palestine be admitted to membership in the United Nations.”
The resolution got 12 votes in its favour, with Switzerland and the UK abstaining and the US casting its veto.
To be adopted, the draft resolution required at least nine Council members voting in its favour, with no vetoes by any of its five permanent members - China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Palestinian attempts for recognition as a full member state began in 2011. Palestine is currently a non-member observer state, a status that was granted in November 2012 by the UN General Assembly.
This status allows Palestine to participate in proceedings of the world body but it cannot vote on resolutions. The only other non-member Observer State at the UN is the Holy See, representing the Vatican.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz praised the US for vetoing what he called a “shameful proposal.”
“The proposal to recognise a Palestinian state, more than 6 months after the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and after the sexual crimes and other atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists was a reward for terrorism”, Katz wrote on X, after the US veto.
US Ambassador Robert Wood, Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs, said in the explanation of the vote at the Security Council meeting on Palestinian membership that Washington continues to strongly support a two-state solution.
“It remains the US view that the most expeditious path toward statehood for the Palestinian people is through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority with the support of the United States and other partners,” he said.
“This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgement that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties.”
Wood said there are “unresolved questions” as to whether Palestine meets the criteria to be considered a State.
“We have long called on the Palestinian Authority to undertake necessary reforms to help establish the attributes of readiness for statehood and note that Hamas - a terrorist organisation - is currently exerting power and influence in Gaza, an integral part of the state envisioned in this resolution,” he said, adding that “For these reasons, the United States voted “no” on this Security Council resolution.”
Wood noted that since the October 7 attacks last year against Israel by Hamas, US President Joe Biden has been clear that sustainable peace in the region can only be achieved through a two-state solution, with Israel’s security guaranteed.
"There is no other path that guarantees Israel’s security and future as a democratic Jewish state. There is no other path that guarantees Palestinians can live in peace and with dignity in a state of their own. And there is no other path that leads to regional integration between Israel and all its Arab neighbours, including Saudi Arabia,” he said.
The Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, sharply criticised the US veto, saying that it was “unfair, immoral, and unjustified, and defies the will of the international community, which strongly supports the State of Palestine obtaining full membership in the United Nations.”
Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, said that “our right to self-determination has never once been subject to bargaining or negotiation.
“Our right to self-determination is a natural right, a historic right, a legal right. A right to live in our homeland Palestine as an independent state that is free and that is sovereign. Our right to self-determination is inalienable...,” he said.
Getting emotional and choking up as he made the remarks, Mansour said that a majority of the Council members “have risen to the level of this historic moment” and have stood “on the side of justice, freedom and hope.”
He asserted that Palestine’s admission as a full member of the UN is an “investment in peace.”
On April 2, 2024, Palestine again sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres requesting that its application for full UN membership be considered again.
For a State to be granted full UN membership, its application must be approved both by the Security Council and the General Assembly, where a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting is required for the State to be admitted as a full member.
Earlier in the day, Guterres, in his remarks to a Council meeting on the Middle East, warned that the region is on a “knife edge”.
“Recent escalations make it even more important to support good-faith efforts to find lasting peace between Israel and a fully independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian state,” Guterres said.
“Failure to make progress towards a two-state solution will only increase volatility and risk for hundreds of millions of people across the region, who will continue to live under the constant threat of violence,” he said.
The UN, citing the Ministry of Health in Gaza, said that between October 7 last year and April 17, at least 33,899 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 76,664 Palestinians injured. Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on October 7.
As of April 17, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
