Police chief's son arrested for assault on septuagenarian Sikh man in California

Agencies
August 9, 2018

New York, Aug 9: The son of a police chief in a Californian city is among two teenagers arrested and charged with attempted robbery and abuse of a 71-year-old Sikh man on Monday, the second attack on a minority community member in the US state within a week, authorities said.

The investigators are trying to determine if the attack was a hate crime.

Police arrested 18-year-old Tyrone McAllister and a 16-year-old male juvenile yesterday for the attack on Sahib Singh Natt on the side of a road early morning on August 6 in Manteca.

McAllister, the son of Union City Police Chief Darryl McAllister, and the juvenile have been charged with attempted robbery, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon.

The Manteca Police Department said it received numerous tips which assisted in the identification of the suspects.

Investigations Supervisor sergeant Miller said the public assistance in providing information with this case was instrumental in identifying the suspects and helped in making a quick arrest.

Meanwhile, McAllister's father posted a statement on the Facebook page of the Union City Police department saying he is "completely disgusted" to find out that one of the suspects in this "horrific crime" is his son.

He said his son has been "estranged" from his family and home for several months now.

"Words can barely describe how embarrassed, dejected, and hurt my wife, daughters, and I feel right now. Violence and hatred is not what we have taught our children; intolerance for others is not even in our vocabulary, let alone our values," the senior McAllister said in the statement.

He said it is difficult for his family to comprehend how one of his three kids, raised with the same values and character, wandered so far astray.

"In the eyes of the public, no matter the irrelevance to the incident, the fact remains that the father of the perpetrator of this despicable crime is a police chief, period," he said.

Disturbing footage from a surveillance camera shows Natt walking alone on the side of a road early morning on August 6 when two men, wearing hoodies, walking from the opposite direction approach him.

Natt stops on seeing the men and the duo are seen talking to him. Natt then walks past them but they continue to follow and talk with him.

After a brief argument, one of the men, who is wearing a black hoodie, suddenly kicks Natt in the stomach and the elderly man falls down on the road, with his turban coming off.

He tries to get up and defend himself but the man again kicks him in the stomach. Natt falls on the road as the man who attacked him comes close to him and appears to touch his face and spit on him. They then walk away as Natt is lying on the road.

A few seconds later the man in the black hoodie runs back and viciously kicks Natt three times near his head as he lay on the street. He then starts leaving again, pauses, turns around, and then spits at Natt.

The police chief said his "stomach has been churning" from the moment he learned the news of the attack on Natt and that his son was involved.

He also said his son began to lose his way a couple years ago, while he was a juvenile, running away and getting involved in a bad crowd.

"He got into trouble for some theft-related crimes and ended up spending several months in juvenile hall," the senior McAllister said, adding that his son was again arrested for a theft-related incident, and he ended up spending another three months in adult jail as a result.

"Since being released he has been wayward and has not returned to our family home for several months," he said.

The police chief said he and his wife worked with Manteca Police to help them track their son down and arrest him.

"He now faces serious felony charges...My family is shaken to the core," he said.

The attack on Natt is the second on a Sikh man within a week in California.

On July 31, 50-year-old Surjit Malhi was attacked while putting up campaign signs in support of incumbent Republican Congressman Jeff Denham and other local Republican candidates at Stanislaus County.

While beating Malhi, the attackers yelled "Go back to your country!" and spray painted the same message, along with hate symbols, on his truck.

Sikh advocacy group The Sikh Coalition has urged members of the community to remain vigilant and report cases of bias, bigotry and backlash in the wake of the attacks.

"We are deeply troubled by these two attacks and strongly encourage increased vigilance nationwide as we work to support the Central Valley, CA community during this difficult time," Sikh Coalition legal director Amrith Kaur said.

"If you or someone you know has experienced a potential hate crime, please reach out to our team. We have a seasoned team of lawyers who can provide free legal advice and support you through the process to protect your rights," she said.

The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) also condemned the attack on Natt.

"We stand in solidarity with the Sikh community against the bigotry and racism that fuels hate crimes like this one nationwide. These kinds of incidents are becoming increasingly common under the Trump administration and are direct attacks on religious liberty in the US," CAIR-Sacramento Valley's executive director Basim Elkarra said.

In the past, CAIR had stood in solidarity with communities of various faiths and backgrounds that are subject to hate crimes.

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Agencies
June 7,2020

Moscow, Jun 7: OPEC, Russia and allies agreed on Saturday to extend record oil production cuts until the end of July, prolonging a deal that has helped crude prices double in the past two months by withdrawing almost 10% of global supplies from the market.

The group, known as OPEC+, also demanded countries such as Nigeria and Iraq, which exceeded production quotas in May and June, compensate with extra cuts in July to September.

OPEC+ had initially agreed in April that it would cut supply by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) during May-June to prop up prices that collapsed due to the coronavirus crisis. Those cuts were due to taper to 7.7 million bpd from July to December.

“Demand is returning as big oil-consuming economies emerge from pandemic lockdown. But we are not out of the woods yet and challenges ahead remain,” Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told the video conference of OPEC+ ministers.

Benchmark Brent crude climbed to a three-month high on Friday above $42 a barrel, after diving below $20 in April. Prices still remain a third lower than at the end of 2019.

“Prices can be expected to be strong from Monday, keeping their $40 plus levels,” said Bjornar Tonhaugen from Rystad Energy.

Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s de facto leader, and Russia have to perform a balancing act of pushing up oil prices to meet their budget needs while not driving them much above $50 a barrel to avoid encouraging a resurgence of rival U.S. shale production.

It was not immediately clear whether Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait would extend beyond June their additional, voluntary cuts of 1.18 million bpd, which are not part of the deal.

BULGING INVENTORIES

The April deal was agreed under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who wants to avoid U.S. oil industry bankruptcies.

Trump, who previously threatened to pull U.S. troops out of Saudi Arabia if Riyadh did not act, spoke to the Russian and Saudi leaders before Saturday’s talks, saying he was happy with the price recovery.

While oil prices have partially recovered, they are still well below the costs of most U.S. shale producers. Shutdowns, layoffs and cost cutting continue across the United States.

“I applaud OPEC-plus for reaching an important agreement today which comes at a pivotal time as oil demand continues to recover and economies reopen around the world,” U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette wrote on Twitter after the extension.

As global lockdowns ease, oil demand is expected to exceed supply sometime in July but OPEC has yet to clear 1 billion barrels of excess oil inventories accumulated since March.

Rystad’s Tonhaugen said Saturday’s decisions would help OPEC reduce inventories at a rate of 3 million to 4 million bpd in July-August. “The quicker stocks fall, the higher prices will get,” he said.

Nigeria’s petroleum ministry said Abuja backed the idea of compensating for its excessive output in May and June.

Iraq, with one of the worst compliance rates in May, agreed to extra cuts although it was not clear how Baghdad would reach agreement with oil majors on curbing Iraqi output.

Iraq produced 520,000 bpd above its quota in May, while overproduction by Nigeria was 120,000 bpd, Angola’s was 130,000 bpd, Kazakhstan’s was 180,000 bpd and Russia’s was 100,000 bpd, OPEC+ data showed.

OPEC+’s joint ministerial monitoring committee, known as the JMMC, will meet monthly until December to review the market, compliance and recommend levels of cuts. JMMC’s next meeting is scheduled for June 18.

OPEC and OPEC+ will hold their next scheduled meetings on Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

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News Network
March 16,2020

Manila, Mar 16: The Philippines has detected an outbreak of avian flu in a northern province after tests showed presence of the highly infectious H5N6 subtype of the influenza A virus in a quail farm, the country's farm minister said on Monday.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the bird flu virus, the same strain that hit some local poultry farms in 2017, was detected in Jaen municipality in Nueva Ecija province, where about 1,500 quails had died on one farm alone.

A total of 12,000 quails have been destroyed and buried to prevent further infections, Dar said, citing field reports.

"We are on top of the situation," he said. "Surveillance around the 1-km and 7-km radius will be carried out immediately to ensure that the disease has not progressed around the said perimeter."

Animal quarantine checkpoints have also been set up to restrict the movement of all live domestic birds to and from the quarantine area, he said.

"We would like to emphasise that this is a single case affecting one quail farm only," Dar said.

Dr. Arlene Vytiaco, technical spokeswoman for avian flu at the agriculture department, said that while there is a possibility of transmission to humans through excretion and secretion, "the chances are very slim".

"There is also zero mortality rate," she said.

Dar said his department and the local government were jointly conducting an investigation and contact-tracing to determine the source of infection.

To ensure steady domestic supply of poultry, he said the transport of day-old chicks, hatching eggs and chicken meat will be allowed provided the source farms have tested negative for bird flu.

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News Network
May 12,2020

Washington, May 12: The US Federal Bureau of Investigation and cybersecurity experts believe Chinese hackers are trying to steal research on developing a vaccine against coronavirus, two newspapers reported Monday.

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are planning to release a warning about the Chinese hacking as governments and private firms race to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, the Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported.

The hackers are also targeting information and intellectual property on treatments and testing for COVID-19.

US officials alleged that the hackers are linked to the Chinese government, the reports say.

The official warning could come within days.

In Beijing Foreign Affairs ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian rejected the allegation, saying China firmly opposes all cyber attacks.

"We are leading the world in COVID-19 treatment and vaccine research. It is immoral to target China with rumors and slanders in the absence of any evidence," Zhao said.

Asked about the reports, President Donald Trump did not confirm them, but said: "What else is new with China? What else is new? Tell me. I'm not happy with China."

"We're watching it very closely," he added.

A US warning would add to a series of alerts and reports accusing government-backed hackers in Iran, North Korea, Russia and China of malicious activity related to the pandemic, from pumping out false news to targeting workers and scientists.

The New York Times said it could be a prelude to officially-sanctioned counterattacks by US agencies involved in cyber warfare, including the Pentagon's Cyber Command and the National Security Agency.

Last week in a joint message Britain and the United States warned of a rise in cyber attacks against health professionals involved in the coronavirus response by organised criminals "often linked with other state actors."

Britain's National Cyber Security Centre and the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said they had detected large-scale "password spraying" tactics -- hackers trying to access accounts through commonly used passwords -- aimed at healthcare bodies and medical research organisations.

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