7 dead in US college shooting
Los Angeles, May 24
Seven persons were killed and seven others wounded in a mass shooting at a college town in southern California, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said today.

Bangkok, May 24
Thailand's military junta today dismissed the country's Senate as it intensified its post-coup crackdown and summoned 35 more people after detaining former premier Yingluck Shinawatra and top leaders of the ousted government for up to a week.

"The Senate is dismissed. Responsibility for any laws needing the approval of Parliament or Senate will instead be assumed by the leader of the (junta)," said an announcement on national television by National Peace and Order Maintaining Council (NPOMC) spokesman Colonel Winthai Suwaree.

The move came two days after Army Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha staged a bloodless coup. The scrapping of the 150-member Senate has abolished the last democratic institution in the country.

Earlier, the military had suspended the Constitution and dissolved the lower house of Parliament on Thursday.

Addressing the media for the first time after the elected government was deposed, the military said it would detain former premier Yingluck Shinawatra and top leaders of the ousted government as well as some protest leaders for up to a week to give them "time to think" over a political compromise.

It declined to specify where the detainees were held but said they were safe.

Mogadishu, May 24
Somalia's Al Shabaab rebels launched a brazen attack on the national parliament today, setting off a car bomb and storming the building with suicide commandos, leaving at least 10 dead, police and witnesses said.

Security sources said the "complex attack", involving bombs and gunmen with suicide vests, was finally brought to an end after more than four hours by Somali security forces and African Union troops.

No overall death toll was immediately given but a police official and government source said 10 persons, including several attackers, were confirmed dead.

Local media reports said as many as 20 persons may have been killed, including eight attackers.

Witnesses said Shabaab militants, the Al-Qaida-linked group fighting to overthrow Somalia's internationally-backed but fragile government, stormed into the complex in central Mogadishu while scores of MPs were meeting inside.

A huge car bomb went off outside the gates of the parliament shortly before midday, and a string of smaller blasts followed by intense gunfire were heard coming from inside.

A spokesman for Shabaab confirmed the group was responsible. "The so-called Somali parliament is a military zone. Our fighters are there to carry out a holy operation," Shabaab's military spokesman, Abdulaziz Abu Musab, told AFP by telephone.

Officials said at least two MPs were hurt and taken to hospital. "I was shocked when I heard the blasts and a gunbattle. I had to run for my life," a female Somali MP said after escaping the battle.

Recent Shabaab attacks have targeted key areas of government, or the security forces, in an apparent bid to discredit claims by the authorities that they are winning the war against the Islamist fighters. — AFP 

Los Angeles, May 24
Seven persons were killed and seven others wounded in a mass shooting at a college town in southern California, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said today.

Brown said at a pre-dawn press conference that the shooting in the town of Isla Vista, near the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara, "appears to be a mass murder situation." The police said the gunman was among the dead.

The suspect, driving a black BMW, opened fire on pedestrians from his vehicle at several locations in the town last night, is among those killed.

The police received their first emergency calls about the shooting around 9.30 pm local time yesterday. Twice, the shooter exchanged gunfire with the police from his car, and fled both times. He then crashed into a parked vehicle. When police approached him they "determined that the suspect ... was dead of an apparent gunshot wound to the head," Brown said. — AFP 

Kiev, May 24
Ukraine was counting down today to a presidential election seen as crucial to its very survival after months of turmoil that has driven the country to the brink of civil war.

Tomorrow's vote comes with tensions running high after a bloody upsurge in fighting in the east, where pro-Russian separatists are fighting against central government rule.

Campaigning is banned on the eve of the vote, but Kiev's interim leaders are planning to attend prayers for peace in the capital's main cathedral.

In what could be a significant move in Ukraine's bitter confrontation with its former masters in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared yesterday that he would respect the outcome of the vote.

Putin has in the past given only grudging backing to what Kiev and the West hope will restore stability after months of crisis sparked by the toppling of Ukraine's pro-Kremlin president in February which later saw Russia annex Crimea.

"We understand that the people of Ukraine want their country to emerge from this crisis," Putin said at an economic forum in Saint Petersburg.

"We will treat their choice with respect. We are today working with those people who control the government and after the election we will of course work with the newly elected authorities." — AFP

New York, May 24
A Sikh rights group has challenged the dismissal of the 1984 rights violation case against the Congress before an appeals court, saying the case “concerns” the US and it has “institutional standing” to seek judgment on behalf of the Sikh community.

The case filed by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) was dismissed by Judge Robert Sweet of US District Court last month on the grounds that the group failed to show sufficient “touch and concern” to the United States.

Sweet had, however, ruled that “a corporate defendant can be liable under the Alien Torts Statute (ATS), assuming that the statute’s ‘touch and concern’ requirements are adequately alleged”.

The SFJ said the case sufficiently “touches and concerns” the US and it has “institutional standing” to seek “declaratory judgment” on the November 1984 violence against the Sikh community. — PTI

St Petersburg, May 24
Russian President Vladimir Putin today said his country was looking forward to working closely with newly elected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and promised to work for strengthening bilateral ties in economic, military and technical cooperation.

"Our relations are above political parties. We are friendly with the Indian people. We want to have good relations with India, Putin told a select group of journalists from the international media. — PTI