Indian-origin trainee teacher dies after attack in New Zealand

November 4, 2013

GravityMelbourne, Nov 4: A 25-year-old Indian-origin trainee teacher in New Zealand died today after being punched outside a fast food outlet in central Auckland.

Tarun Asthana, who was on life support in hospital since he was assaulted on Saturday morning, died in Auckland City Hospital today, police said.

He was surrounded by family and friends at the time of his death, local media reported quoting police officials.

Asthana was returning from a night of clubbing with friends when he was punched.

The offender had allegedly approached Asthana after a woman got upset when he complimented her on her dress.

Asthana was knocked to the ground by a single punch and lost consciousness after his head struck the pavement outside a McDonald's in downtown Queen St, the reports said.

He was rushed to hospital and placed on life support. He, however, succumbed to his injuries.

Detective Senior Sergeant Peter Florence yesterday said the attacker had been in McDonald's with several other men and women and the group had left straight after the attack.

Police yesterday arrested 27-year-old Grenville MacFarland and charged him with assaulting Asthana. He was produced today in the Auckland District Court. His charge has not yet been updated to reflect Asthana's death.

MacFarland has been remanded on bail until November 15.

Inquiries were continuing and police were seeking any information from anyone who was in the area at the time and witnessed the assault.

Sam Matthews, a friend of Asthana, said he was the "most nice, peaceful guy out".

Asthana was training to become a primary school teacher at the University of Auckland. He worked in hospitality part-time.

His former employer at The Falls Restaurant, where he served front of house, said Asthana was a "kind, loyal, fun- loving guy. He was always respectful and nice to be around."

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News Network
June 12,2020

Jun 12: The global number of COVID-19 cases has increased to over 7.5 million, while the death toll was nearing 421,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

As of Friday morning, the overall number of cases stood at 7,500,777, while the deaths increased to 420,993, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.

The US continues with the world's highest number of confirmed cases and deaths at 2,022,488 and 113,803, respectively, according to the CSSE.

In terms of cases, Brazil comes in the second place with 802,828 infections.

This was followed by Russia (501,800), the UK (292,860), India (286,605), Spain (242,707), Italy (236,142), Peru (214,788), France (192,493), Germany (186,691), Iran (180,156), Turkey (174,023), Chile (154,092), Mexico (133,974), Pakistan (125,933) and Saudi Arabia (116,021), the CSSE figures showed.

Regarding fatalities, the UK continues in the second position after the US with 41,364 COVID-19 deaths, which also accounts for the highest number of fatalities in Europe.

The other countries with over 10,000 deaths are Brazil (40,919), Italy (34,167), France (29,349), Spain (27,136) and Mexico (15,944).

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News Network
May 1,2020

Washington, May 1: The United States on Thursday recorded 29,625 new coronavirus cases, and 2,035 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The total number of coronavirus cases has reached 1,069,534 and the death toll stands at 63,001, CNN reported.

The novel coronavirus has infected more than 3.2 million people and killed at least 233,000 globally, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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News Network
July 23,2020

Minneapolis, Jul 23: The former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd was charged Wednesday with multiple felony counts of tax evasion.

Derek Chauvin and his wife, Kellie May Chauvin, were each charged in Washington County with six counts of filing false or fraudulent tax returns for the tax years 2014 through 2019 and three counts of failing to file tax returns for 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Floyd, a Black man who was handcuffed, died May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes as Floyd pleaded for air.

Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter. He and three other officers who were at the scene were fired.

Chauvin is in custody on the charges in the Floyd case. Kellie Chauvin, who filed for divorce after Floyd's death, is not in custody.

Online court records didn't list attorneys for either in the tax evasion case, and calls to Kellie Chauvin did not go through.

Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said the investigation into the Chauvins was started in June by the Minnesota Department of Revenue and Oakdale Police Department.

Authorities allege in the criminal complaints that the Chauvins failed to file income tax returns and pay state income taxes, and that they underreported and underpaid taxes on income they earned from various jobs each year.

The complaints allege that they also failed to pay proper sales tax on a $100,000 BMW purchased in Minnesota in 2018.

Prosecutors say the Chauvins bought the car in Minnetonka but registered it in Florida, where they paid lower sales taxes.

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