KOLKATA/BHUBANESWAR: Hospitals and clinics across India turned away patients except for emergency cases on Saturday as medical professionals started a 24-hour shutdown in protest against the brutal rape and murder of a doctor in the eastern city of Kolkata.
More than one million doctors were expected to join the strike, paralysing medical services across the world’s most populous nation. Hospitals said faculty staff from medical colleges had been pressed into service for emergency cases.
The strike, which began at 6 a.m. (0030 GMT), cut off access to elective medical procedures and out-patient consultations, according to a statement by the Indian Medical Association.
A 31-year old trainee doctor was raped and murdered last week inside a medical college in Kolkata where she worked, triggering nationwide protests among doctors and drawing parallels to the notorious gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi in 2012.
Outside the RG Kar Medical College, where the crime took place, a heavy police presence was seen on Saturday while the hospital premises were deserted, according to the ANI news agency.
Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, which includes Kolkata, has backed the protests across the state, demanding the investigation be fast tracked and the guilty be punished in the strongest way possible.
A large number of private clinics and diagnostic centers remained closed in Kolkata on Saturday.
Dr. Sandip Saha, a private paediatrician in the city, told Reuters that he will not attend to patients except in the case of emergencies.
In Odisha state, patients were queuing up and senior doctors were trying to manage the rush, Dr. Prabhas Ranjan Tripathy, additional medical superintendent of All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the city of Bhubaneswar, told Reuters,
“Resident doctors are on full strike, and because of that, the pressure is mounting on all faculty members, which means senior doctors,” he said.
Patients queued up at hospitals, some unaware that the agitation would not allow them to get medical attention.
“I have spent five hundred rupees on travel to come here. I have paralysis and a burning sensation in my feet, head, and other parts of my body,” a patient at SCB Medical College Hospital at Cuttack in Odisha told a local television channel.
“We were not aware of the strike. What can we do? We have to return home.”
Anger at the failure of tough laws to deter a rising tide of violence against women has fueled protests by doctors and women’s groups.
“Women form the majority of our profession in this country. Time and again, we have asked for safety for them,” IMA President R. V. Asokan told Reuters on Friday.
India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, the agency investigating the rape and murder, has summoned a number of medical students from the RG Kar college to ascertain the circumstances of the crime, according to a police source in Kolkata.
The CBI also questioned the principal of the hospital on Friday, the police source said.
Indian hospitals hit as doctors strike to protest brutal rape of medic
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Indian hospitals hit as doctors strike to protest brutal rape of medic
- Over 1 million doctors expected to join strike, paralysing services in world’s most populous nation
- Hospitals said faculty staff from medical colleges had been pressed into service for emergency cases
Two charged with murder after death of Yemeni teenager in Sheffield hit-and-run
- Victim’s family said teenager had come to UK from Yemen in hope of a better future
LONDON: Two men have been charged with murder after a 16-year-old boy died in an alleged hit-and-run in Sheffield last week, it was reported on Sunday.
Zulkernain Ahmed and Amaan Ahmed have also been charged with three counts of attempted murder following the death of Abdullah Yaser Abdullah Al-Yazidi, South Yorkshire Police said.
Al-Yazidi’s family said the teenager had come to the UK from Yemen three months ago, hoping for a better future. He had been learning English ahead of starting college in September and was described as someone who would “light up their faces with a big smile.”
He was walking along the road in Darnall on Wednesday when he was struck by a grey Audi.
Police believe the car first hit the rider of an electric bike before continuing on and hitting Al-Yazidi. He later died in hospital from his injuries.
An 18-year-old man riding the e-bike was seriously injured but is expected to recover.
The two suspects are due to appear at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
A 46-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman, arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, remain on bail.
Saleh Alsirkal, a relative who runs a shop in Darnall, said Al-Yazidi had dropped in shortly before the collision, after attending a hospital appointment.
“He was a kind boy,” he told the BBC. “He just wanted to look after his family. His dad brought him over to change his life, to get a better future for his son, but this has happened and destroyed everything.”
Local councillor Qais Al-Ahdal said the teen was widely liked and respected in the area.
“We’ve really lost someone who is good in the community,” he said. “Praised by everyone unanimously, he was a really good kid. May God have mercy on his soul,” adding that the Darnall community was united in grief.
54 migrants rescued from Mediterranean oil platform
- On Friday, one of the migrants gave birth to a boy, while another woman had given birth days before
ROME: Over 50 migrants were headed to the Italian island of Lampedusa on Sunday after a charity ship rescued them from an abandoned oil platform in the Mediterranean, where one woman gave birth.
The vessel Astral, operated by the Spain-based NGO Open Arms, rescued the 54 people, the group said in a statement.
The migrants had been trapped on the oil platform for three days after their rubber boat shipwrecked following their departure from Libya on Tuesday, Open Arms said.
On Friday, one of the migrants gave birth to a boy, while another woman had given birth days before.
Two other young children were among the group, Open Arms said.
Later Sunday, the charity said that, following the rescue of those on the oil platform, the Astral came upon another 109 people, including four people in the water.
That group, which included 10 children, had also departed from Libya, it said.
Open Arms said they provided life jackets to the migrants before they were rescued by another charity ship, the Louise Michel, which street artist Banksy sponsors.
The Louise Michel, a former French navy vessel, was transporting the migrants to a safe port in Sicily, Open Arms said.
It is not unusual for migrants crossing the Mediterranean on leaky and overcrowded boats to seek refuge on offshore oil platforms.
As of June 1, some 23,000 migrants had reached Italy by sea this year, according to the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR.
Spanish government raps Colombian assassination attempt
- The Colombian Attorney General’s Office said in a statement that "a minor under 15 years of age was arrested carrying a Glock pistol-type firearm (9mm)," and President Gustavo Petro called for an investigation into who had ordered the attack
MADRID: Spain on Sunday condemned the attempted assassination of a Colombian rightwing opposition senator and candidate in next year's presidential election, saying "violence has no place in our societies."
"Spain conveys its best wishes for a speedy recovery to the victim and all its solidarity to his family and friends, as well as to the Colombian people," the Spanish Foreign Ministry added in a statement.
"The government of Spain strongly condemns the assassination attempt against Colombian senator and presidential pre-candidate Miguel Uribe," the ministry posted on the social media site X.
Colombia's Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said a suspect had been arrested after the shooting and that authorities were investigating whether others were involved.
Sanchez said he had visited the hospital where Uribe was being treated.
The Colombian Attorney General’s Office said in a statement that "a minor under 15 years of age was arrested carrying a Glock pistol-type firearm (9mm)," and President Gustavo Petro called for an investigation into who had ordered the attack.
The 39-year-old senator, a member of the opposition conservative Democratic Center party, was shot during a 2026 presidential campaign event in a public park in the Fontibon neighborhood in the capital, according to a party statement condemning the attack.
The party said in a statement that "armed subjects shot him from behind" and described the attack as serious, but did not disclose further details on Uribe's condition.
Videos on social media showed a man, identified as Uribe, being tended to after the shooting.
He appeared to be bleeding from his head.
Uribe's wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, wrote on her husband's account on X that he was "fighting for his life."
People gathered outside the Santa Fe Foundation hospital where Uribe was being treated, some staged candlelight vigils and prayed, while others carried Colombian flags.
The government is offering some $730,000 as a reward for information in the case.
Colombia's presidency issued a statement saying the government "categorically and forcefully" rejected the violent attack, and called for a thorough investigation into the events.
President Petro sympathized with the senator's family in a message on X: "I don't know how to ease your pain. It is the pain of a mother lost and a homeland."
Petro said in a speech on Saturday night: "For now, there is nothing more than a hypothesis."
He said that failures in security protocols would also be looked into.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the US "condemns in the strongest possible terms the attempted assassination" of Uribe, blaming Petro's "inflammatory rhetoric" for the violence.
Uribe, who is not yet an official presidential candidate for his party, is from a prominent family in Colombia.
His father was a businessman and a union leader.
His mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was kidnapped in 1990 by an armed group under the command of the late cartel leader Pablo Escobar.
She was killed during a rescue operation in 1991.
Colombia has for decades been embroiled in a conflict between leftist rebels, criminal groups descended from right-wing paramilitaries, and the government.
Wagner replaced by Russia’s Africa Corp. in Mali: diplomatic sources
- Mali’s ruling junta, which seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, broke off ties with former colonial power France and pivoted toward Russia for political and military support
- Mali has never officially admitted Wagner’s presence, insisting it only worked with Russian instructors
DAKAR: The Russian paramilitary group Wagner has left Mali and its units there have been taken over by the Moscow-run Africa Corps, diplomatic and security sources told AFP on Sunday.
“Officially, Wagner is no longer present in Mali. But the Africa Corps is stepping up,” one diplomatic source in the Sahel region said.
A Telegram account affiliated with Wagner said: “Mission accomplished. PMC Wagner is going home.”
Mali’s ruling junta, which seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, broke off ties with former colonial power France and pivoted toward Russia for political and military support.
Wagner, Russia’s best-known mercenary group, was disbanded and restructured after its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a mysterious plane crash in August 2023 following a short-lived rebellion against Moscow.
Mali has never officially admitted Wagner’s presence, insisting it only worked with Russian instructors.
Wagner yesterday or Africa Corps today, our point of contact remains the same, it is the central power in Russia, that is to say the Kremlin
Malian security source
France withdrew its 2,400 troops from Mali in 2022 after ties with the junta soured and anti-French sentiment surged among the public.
“The Kremlin remains in control,” the same diplomatic source added.
“Most of the Wagner personnel in Mali, who are originally from Russia, will be reintegrated into Africa Corps and remain in northern regional capitals and Bamako.”
The Africa Corps is another paramilitary group with links to the Kremlin and seen as the successor to the Wagner group. Like Wagner, its mercenaries are active supporting several African governments.
For over three years, Mali had relied on Wagner in its fight against jihadists who have killed thousands across the country.
“Wagner yesterday or Africa Corps today, our point of contact remains the same, it is the central power in Russia, that is to say the Kremlin,” a Malian security source said Sunday.
The paramilitary group’s brutal methods on the ground in Mali have been regularly denounced by human rights groups.
A UN report accused Mali’s army and foreign fighters of executing at least 500 people during a March 2022 anti-jihadist sweep in Moura — a claim denied by the junta.
Western governments believe the foreign fighters were Wagner mercenaries.
Last April, bodies were discovered near a Malian military camp, days after the army and Wagner paramilitaries arrested dozens of civilians, most from the Fulani community.
Wagner’s withdrawal comes amid what the Malian army calls a “resurgence““of jihadist attacks, including two assaults that killed dozens of soldiers and forced troops to abandon a key central base.
A European diplomatic source in the Sahel believes Africa Corps will probably do “much more training of Malian soldiers than Wagner did.”
“Although Wagner claims that its operations and support strengthened the Malian army, Africa Corps will need to continue training and support, especially after the recent wave of attacks against the FAMA (Malian Armed Forces),” said Beverly Ochieng, an analyst at the Washington think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
National Guard troops arrive in Los Angeles on Trump’s orders to quell immigration protests
- In recent days, clashes between between federal immigration authorities and protesters seeking to block them from carrying out deportations erupted in Los Angeles
- Trump has said he is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell the protests
LOS ANGELES: National Guard troops began arriving in Los Angeles early Sunday on orders from President Donald Trump in response to clashes in recent days between federal immigration authorities and protesters seeking to block them from carrying out deportations.
Members of California’s National Guard were seen staging early Sunday at the federal complex in downtown Los Angeles that includes the Metropolitan Detention Center, one of several sites that have seen confrontations involving hundreds of people in last two days.
The troops included members of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, according to a social media post from the Department of Defense that showed dozens of National Guard members with long guns and an armored vehicle.
Trump has said he is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell the protests, which he called “a form of rebellion.”
Early Sunday, the deployment was limited to a small area in downtown Los Angeles. The protests have been relatively small and limited to a downtown section. The rest of the city of 4 million people is largely unaffected.
Their arrival follows clashes near a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles. As protesters sought to block Border Patrol vehicles, with some hurling rocks and chunks of cement, federal agents unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls.
Tensions were high after a series of sweeps by immigration authorities the previous day, as the weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the city climbed past 100. A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement.
On Sunday morning, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the National Guard would “keep peace and allow people to be able to protest but also to keep law and order.”
In a signal of the administration’s aggressive approach, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also threatened to deploy active-duty Marines “if violence continues” in the region.
The move came over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom, marking the first time in decades that a state’s National Guard was activated without a request from its governor, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Newsom, a Democrat, said Trump’s decision to call in the National Guard was “purposefully inflammatory.” He described Hegseth’s threat to deploy Marines on American soil as “deranged behavior.”
Trump’s order came after clashes in Paramount and neighboring Compton, where a car was set on fire. Protests continued into the evening in Paramount, with several hundred demonstrators gathered near a doughnut shop, and authorities holding up barbed wire to keep the crowd back.
Crowds also gathered again outside federal buildings in downtown Los Angeles, including a detention center, where local police declared an unlawful assembly and began to arrest people.
