Death toll from super typhoon rai is climbing, Philippine officials say
The death toll from a powerful typhoon that struck the Philippines last week is continuing to rise as rescuers reach more devastated areas, with more than 140 people now believed to have been killed, officials said Sunday. About half of the 142 deaths reported so far from Super Typhoon Rai were in the island province of Bohol in the central Visayas region, a tourist destination known for its diving spots and coral reefs. The governor of Bohol, Arthur Yap, said that as of noon Sunday, the typhoon was believed to have killed 72 people in the province, a toll based on field reports from community leaders.
Senators test positive for the coronavirus
Two Democratic senators, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey, announced separately Sunday that they had tested positive with a breakthrough case of the coronavirus. Both senators disclosed their cases Sunday, and said they were experiencing mild symptoms after being vaccinated and receiving a booster shot. Warren said she received the positive result Sunday, while Booker said his result came back after he began experiencing symptoms Saturday. News of the cases came a day after the Senate left Washington for the year and before a planned address by President Joe Biden on Tuesday about the omicron variant.
Millions sign petition to reduce 110-year sentence for trucker in deadly crash
Days after a Colorado judge sentenced a truck driver to 110 years in prison for his role in a 2019 crash that killed four people, an online petition seeking for the sentence to be reduced has been signed by over 4 million people. In April 2019, Rogel Aguilera-Mederos was driving in Lakewood, Colorado, and crashed into several cars. In October, a jury found him guilty of 27 counts. On Dec. 13, a district court judge sentenced Aguilera-Mederos, now 26, to 110 years in prison, citing state law that required sentences for each count to be served consecutively.
Chinese tennis player denies sexual abuse claim, raising more questions
Peng Shuai, the Chinese tennis star whose account of sexual coercion by a former Communist Party leader ignited weeks of tensions and galvanized calls for boycotts of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, has reversed her assertion that she had been sexually assaulted by the official. Peng made the comments in an interview that was published Sunday by a Singaporean newspaper. But the retraction appeared unlikely to extinguish concerns about her well-being and suspicions that she had been the target of well-honed pressure techniques and a propaganda campaign by Chinese officials.
Two lynchings reported at Sikh temples in India
Two people were lynched over the weekend in the northern Indian state of Punjab after they attempted to carry out acts of sacrilege inside Sikh temples, including one at the religion’s holiest site, authorities said. Similar episodes of sacrilege have been reported in recent weeks across Punjab. The first mob attack took place Saturday when a man stepped inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for Sikhs, in Amritsar. On Sunday, another man was beaten to death after devotees said they found him disrespecting the Sikh flag by tearing it apart in the Gurdwara Sahib temple in Kapurthala, another district of Punjab.
By wire sources
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