Beijing, Jun 15: China is locking now ten more neighbourhoods in Beijing to try and contain the spread of a new coronavirus outbreak linked to a food market, authorities announced Monday.
City official Li Junjie said at a press conference that fresh cases had been found in a second wholesale market in northwestern Haidian district, and as a result, the market and nearby schools would be closed, and people living in ten communities around it placed under lockdown.
Washington, Jun 24: An Indian restaurant in the Sante Fe City of New Mexico, owned by a Sikh, was broken into and vandalised with hate messages scrawled on its walls, a media report said Tuesday.
The damage caused to India Palace restaurant is estimated to be worth USD 100,000, local Santa Fe Reporter said adding that the vandalisation is being investigated by local police and the FBI.
Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) has condemned the incident.
"This kind of hate and violence is unacceptable and swift action must be taken to ensure the safety and security of all Americans," said Kiran Kaur Gill SALDEF executive director.
According to the local daily, tables were overturned, glassware was smashed into piles on the floor, wine racks were emptied, a statue of a goddess was beheaded and computers were stolen.
The vandals also turned over and destroyed food warmers while the front desk area was devastated, plates smashed and the kitchen rendered completely unusable, it said.
"I walked into the kitchen, I saw everything and I was like, hold on, what? What is going on here?" owner Baljit Singh told Santa Fe Reporter. "White power," "Trump 2020," "go home," and far worse were spray-painted on walls, doors, counters and any other available surface.
"Some phrases contained threats of violence and derogatory racial slurs," the daily said.
"Santa Fe is a peaceful town, and the Sikh community has lived here, beautifully integrated, since the 60s," said SALDEF board member Simran Singh, who lives minutes away from the restaurant.
"Tensions have flared recently with the reinvigoration of the Black Lives Matter movement and the removal of statues associated with Spanish colonisers of this area, who committed a number of atrocities," he said.
"Nevertheless, we are seeing an outpouring of love and support around the city and in my experience, our neighbors love and appreciate us, as we love and appreciate them," he added.
SALDEF said that it has seen an unprecedented rise in hate crimes including the April 29 incident wherein a Sikh American Lakhwant Singh was brutally attacked by a man identified as Eric Breeman in Lakewood, Colorado.
Lakhwant Singh was told to "go back to your country," while being attacked. No formal hate crime charges have been brought against the attacker.
Minneapolis, Jun 2: An official autopsy released Monday ruled that George Floyd, the African-American man whose death at police hands set off unrest across the United States, died in a homicide involving "neck compression".
George, 46, died of "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression," and the manner of death was "homicide," the Hennepin County Medical Examiner in Minneapolis said in a statement.
Floyd's other significant health conditions were listed as "arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease; fentanyl intoxication; recent methamphetamine use."
The statement added that the "manner of death is not a legal determination of culpability or intent."
It emphasized that under Minnesota state law "the Medical Examiner is a neutral and independent office and is separate and distinct from any prosecutorial authority or law enforcement agency."
San Francisco, Mar 14: Microsoft on friday announced that co-founder Bill Gates has left its board of directors to devote more time to philanthropy.
The 64-year-old stopped being involved in day-to-day operations at the firm more than a decade ago, turning his attention to the foundation he launched with his wife, Melinda.
Gates served as chairman of Microsoft's board of directors until early in 2014 and has now stepped away entirely, according to the Redmond-based technology giant.
“It's been a tremendous honor and privilege to have worked with and learned from Bill over the years,” Microsoft chief executive and company veteran Satya Nadella said in a release.
Nadella said Microsoft would continue to benefit from Gates' “technical passion and advice” in his continuing role as a technical advisor.
“I am grateful for Bill's friendship and look forward to continuing to work alongside him,” he added.
Gates left his CEO position in 2000, handing the company reins to Steve Ballmer to devote more time to his charitable foundation.
He gave up the role of chairman at the same time Nadella became Microsoft's third CEO in 2014.
Regularly listed among the world's richest people, William H. Gates was a geeky-looking young man when he and Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft in 1975.
Gates went on to turn his attention from software to fighting disease and other humanitarian challenges with his wife, under the auspices of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
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