Pakistani website apologises for advertising fake Halloween parade
A Pakistan-based company has issued an apology for a “mistake” that led thousands of Dubliners to line up on the streets, eagerly awaiting a Halloween parade that never happened.
Scores of decked-out people packed O’Connell Street in Dublin city centre on Thursday, as the enthusiastic crowd arrived to watch the parade.
The crowd also left a huge gap in the middle of the road for the giant Halloween puppets from Macnas, one of Ireland’s best-known theatre groups, to pass through, despite the absence of police barricades or any police presence.
The event was first advertised on a website called myspirithalloween.com, promoting a parade to be held from 7pm to 9pm, and the interest it generated led the news to rank on Google.
But parade-goers were instead spooked by the no-show of the procession after police informed them that no such event was happening, leading many to suspect that thousands had been scammed.
Nazir Ali, the man behind the website, explained that the incident occurred due to “human error” when a team member copied last year’s event notice and pasted it into this year’s calendar.
“It was our mistake and we should have double checked it to make sure it was happening. But newspapers are reporting that we posted it intentionally and this is very, very wrong,” Mr Ali told the Irish Times.
“We are highly embarrassed and highly depressed, and very sorry.”
The site, which he said was based in Pakistan, featured in the top Google results in the days leading up to 31 October and the posting on the parade was also shared widely on multiple social media platforms.
Irish filmmaker Bertie Brosnan described the scene at the street where he was filming for 40 minutes, saying: “From Parnell Square West – both sides of the street – people were packed five to 10 deep, lined up all the way down around the corner as far as the spire.
“Thousands were there. The Luas [tramline] was completely blocked on both lines.”
As the people unsuspecting of the mistake continued to swell on the streets, the Gardaí (local police) was forced to put out a message for those waiting on O’Connell Street to “disperse safely”.
A spokesperson said: “Please be advised that contrary to information being circulated online, no Halloween parade is scheduled to take place in Dublin city centre this evening or tonight.
“All those gathered on O’Connell Street in expectation of such a parade are asked to disperse safely.”
Peter Farrelly who shot video from his window of the crowds gathering at O’Connell Street told The Independent: “It was funny. We are still smiling now. It took about an hour from the start time for people
“The Gardaí were trying to clear the street. It was also the festival of Divali last night so a lot of people were out on the street as well.”
The event will not be investigated as “no criminal offences were disclosed”, a Gardaí spokesperson said.
“An Garda Síochána advises that members of the public always verify any information online regarding upcoming events from trusted and reputable sources.
“Public information on major events including traffic management, transport and public safety advice is often available on the Garda website, Dublin City Council website and from other relevant stakeholders,” they added.
Rohit Bal: Tributes pour in as iconic Indian fashion designer dies
India’s fashion industry is in mourning following the death of iconic fashion designer Rohit Bal, who passed away on Friday after a prolonged illness.
Bal was pronounced dead on Friday after cardiac complications.
Known affectionately as “Gudda” in the industry, he was remembered by his fans as a “creative genius” and “visionary whose designs defied time”. He was 63.
Bal, who once described himself as “not a commercial designer, but an artist”, made a surprise final grand appearance two weeks ago at Lakme Fashion Week. He walked the ramp after unveiling his much-anticipated collection, Kaaynaat: A Bloom in the Universe.
He not only walked the ramp but exuded high spirits, shaking a leg with showstopper Ananya Pandey.
Bal earned admiration in both Hollywood and Bollywood, designing for celebrities like Uma Thurman, Pamela Anderson, Naomi Campbell, and Cindy Crawford.
“I am shattered. He was in such high spirits at his last show. He was looking forward to the future. He was ecstatic as he watched his creations walk down the ramp,” said Sunil Sethi, chairman of the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI).
Born in Srinagar, Kashmir, in 1961, Bal attended Woodlands House School and Burn Hall School before moving to Delhi. He graduated from St Stephen’s College with an honours degree in history, later joining his family’s export business. He gained fame in the 90s with his eponymous label, with his first independent collection celebrating Kashmiri heritage.
In 1996, Time magazine named him India’s “Master of fabric and fantasy,” and in 2001 he was awarded Designer of the Year at the Kingfisher Fashion Achievement Awards.
In his career spanning three decades, Bal became known for his intricate craftsmanship with the use of lotus and peacock motifs and use of rich fabrics like velvet and brocade. His work drew inspiration from Indian grandeur and royalty.
In his own words, Bal describes himself as a designer who “combines the right mix of history, folklore, village craft, and dying arts to create imaginative and innovative masterpieces for catwalks and fashion talks”.
Shefalee Vasudev, editor in chief of The Voice of Fashion, said: “He was flamboyant in architecture, glamourous in personality, and formidable in creative openness.
“Bal’s multi-metered Anarkalis, lehenga-cholis, and sherwanis .competed in prettiness with the motifs he used lotuses, roses, peacocks and nature’s bounty.”
Journalist Vir Sanghvi said: “Gone too soon. A king among designers. A prince among men. He had been famous for over three decades. But he never stopped being a regular guy, always ready with a laugh, always a friend first & a creative genius second. The world is a poorer place without him.”
Actress Sonam Kapoor penned a note for him, saying: “Dear gudda, I hear about your passing on my way to celebrate Diwali in your gorgeous creation that you generously lent to me for the second time. I’ve been blessed to have known you and worn you and walked for you multiple times. I hope you are at peace. Always your biggest fan.”
Producer Karan Johar described him as a “pioneer and a bonafide legend” and said he was awestruck by his last collection. He said he was a “stunning artist, craftsmen, fashion legend”.
“I told myself that I wanted to wear his latest collection on Diwali.. and requested for some of his stunning pieces … unknowingly last night I wore him and clicked some images and got into my car and then read the heartbreaking news of his passing…”
He was among the few Indian celebrities who were openly identified as gay. He once said in a TV interview that he understood the pressures that kept people in the closet.
“I wish there were more prominent people who were open about such things,” he added. “Personally, I don’t give a flying f**k what people think about me. If anyone wants to judge me, judge me for what I am and what I have achieved and not for whom I am sleeping with.”
His mortal remains were brought back to his Delhi residence, where he will be laid to rest on Saturday among friends and family members.
In recent years Bal avoided the spotlight due to his health struggles. He was reportedly suffering from a heart ailment since last year.
World’s largest captive crocodile Cassius dies in Australia
Cassius, the world’s largest saltwater crocodile in captivity, has died. The 18ft Australian crocodile, who lived on Green Island in the Great Barrier Reef, was thought to be more than 110 years old.
Cassius was titled the world’s largest crocodile in captivity in 2011 by the Guinness World Records.
Marineland Melanesia Crocodile Habitat announced “beloved mate” Cassius’s death on Saturday.
“It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of our beloved mate Cassius,” a spokesperson said.
“He was more than just a crocodile he was a cherished member of our family and brought joy and companionship to his best mate George for over 37 years.”
It said that Cassius’s condition declined since 15 October.
The crocodile weighed more than a ton and was believed to be between 30 and 80 years old when he was caught in the 1980s.
“He was very old and believed to be living beyond the years of a wild croc,” they added.
“Cassius will be deeply missed, but our love and memories of him will remain in our hearts forever.”
Toody Scott, who was personally responsible for Cassius’s care, described him as a “sweetheart”.
“He had these big eyes that you’d look into and you could look into his soul,” he told AAP.
In an interview in 2011 with the Guinness World Records website he said the crocodile had a gentle nature.
“His eyes are so big and dreamy you could get lost in them forever,” he said.
“He has a gentle nature unlike most but we have to remind ourselves he can be cunning as a croc and the best way to win his heart is through his stomach. After all we are in ‘croc country’ and it’s always best to stay ‘crocwise’.”
It is estimated that Cassius was born in 1903; he was transferred to the zoo in 1987 on a truck from the Finniss river, south of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia.
The croc had a missing snout and a portion of tail missing which Mr Scott said were common injuries among crocs due to territorial disputes with other crocodiles during his time in the wild.
However, the missing snout and tail were never factored into his record-breaking length and he was never remeasured after 2011.
Cassius’s title was briefly taken away by the Philippines’ Lolong crocodile who measured 20ft 3in after it was captured in Agusan del Sur, Mindanao in the same year.
But he reclaimed the title in 2013 after Lolong died.
South Korea imposes sanctions on North Koreans after missile test
South Korea has imposed sanctions on North Korean officials following Pyongyang’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch amid concerns about the North receiving weapons technology from Russia.
South Korea’s foreign ministry on Friday said the government has imposed sanctions on 11 North Korean individuals and four entities in retaliation against Pyongyang’s first missile launch in almost a year.
Pyongyang confirmed the launch monitored by leader Kim Jong-un on Thursday after its neighbours detected the firing of a suspected new, more agile weapon capable of targeting mainland US.
The North on Friday claimed the missile that higher than any previous missile launched by the Kim government was Hwasong-19.
The launch was seen as a bid to grab American attention ahead of next week’s presidential election amid mounting Western criticism against the North allegedly sending thousands of soldiers to Russia to fight Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
The North’s state news agency KCNA lauded the launch as “the world’s strongest strategic missile”.
A spokesperson for South Korea’s unification ministry said the launch could have been for several purposes, including demonstrating military technology, pressuring Washington, and diverting attention from the North’s deployment of troops to Moscow.
North Korean foreign minister Choe Son Hui, during her Moscow visit, accused Washington and Seoul of plotting a nuclear strike against her country.
She did not provide evidence to back her assertion, but spoke of regular consultations between Washington and Seoul at which she alleged such plotting took place.
Ms Choe said the situation on the Korean Peninsula could become “explosive” any moment as she told her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that Pyongyang needed to strengthen its nuclear arsenal.
She said the North needed to perfect its readiness to deliver a retaliatory nuclear strike if necessary.
North Korea was sanctioned by the UN security council in 2006 and the measures were steadily strengthened to halt its development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
The West believes by sending troops to Russia, the North could be rewarded with technology that could advance the threat posed by Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile programme.
Thursday’s launch drew swift condemnation from Washington and its allies in South Korea, Japan and Europe, as well as the United Nations secretary-general.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the “test fire is an appropriate military action that fully meets the purpose of informing the rivals”.
He added: “I affirm that the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] will never change its line of bolstering up its nuclear forces.”
South Korea said it was the longest ballistic missile test by the North with a flight time of 87 minutes. The missile took off on a sharply lofted trajectory from near Pyongyang and splashed down about 200km west of Japan’s Okushiri island, off Hokkaido.
Japan said the missile climbed high into the atmosphere and flew a distance of 1,000km, reportedly setting new records of the country’s missile capabilities.
The test was conducted just as the US said that North Korea had sent over 10,000 soldiers to Russia to be deployed on the frontline.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Thursday claimed that about 8,000 of the Korean soldiers are positioned in Kursk, the border region where Russian forces have been fighting off a Ukrainian incursion since August.
South Korea and allies have urged the North to withdraw its forces from Russia.
“The missile continues to underwrite the growing credibility of North Korea’s strategic deterrent capabilities,” Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the Associated Press.
He added that Mr Kim appeared specifically interested in communicating that message to the US.
Canada says India using cyber tech to target ‘dissidents abroad’
A Canadian spy agency has accused India of conducting threatening cyber activity against the North American nation and its citizens as the fallout from the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader continues to worsen bilateral relations.
The Communications Security Establishment said India is using technology to track and spy on activists and dissidents “living abroad”.
“As Canada and India potentially may have some tensions, it is possible that we may see India want to flex those cyber threat actions against Canadians,” Caroline Xavier, head of the agency, said on Wednesday.
Ms Xavier said New Delhi is stepping up cyberattacks against Canadian government networks.
Her agency has previously described India as an emerging cyber threat to the country.
The statement comes a day after deputy foreign minister David Morrison reiterated that the Indian home minister Amit Shah sanctioned a wave a violence targeting Sikh separatists across the North American country.
Mr Shah, prime minister Narendra Modi’s chief lieutenant, was identified as the “senior official in India” who “authorised the intelligence-gathering missions and attacks on Sikh separatists” in Canada, The Washington Post reported earlier this month based on information supplied by a Canadian source.
Mr Morrison confirmed on Tuesday that he is the source.
“The journalist called me and asked me if it was that person. I confirmed it was that person,” Mr Morrison told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.
Relations between India and Canada have gone into a tailspin since Ottawa accused the Indian high commissioner and other top diplomats of being directly involved in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Nijjar, 45, a Sikh activist, was shot dead by masked gunmen in Surrey outside Vancouver in June 2023. He was a face of the Khalistan movement, which seeks to carve out an independent Sikh homeland in western India.
New Delhi had long accused Nijjar, a Canadian citizen born in India, of being involved in terrorism, an allegation he denied.
Canadian police have since charged four Indian nationals living in the North American country with Nijjar’s killing. They are all awaiting trial.
India has denied the Canadian allegations as “preposterous”. It reacted furiously when Ottawa first made the allegation last year by briefly suspending visas for Canadians.
Bilateral ties hit a nadir when Canada expelled six Indian diplomats earlier this month, accusing them of involvement in the killing. New Delhi, in a tit-for-tat move, expelled six Canadian diplomats.
This month, prime minister Justin Trudeau and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police went public with allegations that Indian diplomats were targeting Sikh separatists in the country by sharing information about them with New Delhi.
Top Indian officials, in turn, were giving the information to organised crime groups to extort, intimidate and even murder Canadian Sikh activists, they said.
India is the top source for temporary foreign workers and international students moving to Canada but a backlog of applications has built up since Mr Trudeau’s allegations last year.
Attackers set fire to headquarters of party that backed Hasina
Attackers set fire to the headquarters of a Bangladesh party that supported the country’s ousted leader Sheikh Hasina on Thursday night, media reports said. There was no information if anyone was injured.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on the Jatiya Party offices in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka. TV stations and other media said the attackers stormed the party headquarters in Dhaka’s Bijoy Nagar area, clashing with party members who were there and eventually setting the premises on fire.
The extend of the damage was not immediately known. Firefighters rushed to the scene, according to Rashed bin Khaled, an official of the Fire Service and Civil Defense. Bin Khaled, who spoke to The Associated Press by phone, had no other details.
The party is Bangladesh’s third largest and was founded by former military dictator H.M. Ershad in the 1980s.
As the attack was underway, a prominent leader of a student protest movement that led to Hasina’s ouster in August said the Jatiya Party should be “destroyed” for its support of her government.
Hasnat Abdullah, the student leader, claimed in a Facebook post that the Jatiya party was “a national betrayer.”
Abdullah is from the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, which spearheaded the July protests. He also urged students to gather at the Dhaka University and march toward the Jatiya Party headquarters.
Mujibul Haque Chunnu, the party’s secretary general, blamed the students for the attack. “People are watching what they are doing with us,” he said. “It is live in social media … they are doing it publicly, openly.”
Hasina’s Bangladesh Awami League party ruled the country for 15 years, since 2009. Her critics said the Jatiya Party had acted to give Hasina’s rule a veneer or democracy as other major political parties did not take part in the elections.
Hasina fled the country to India on 5 August, after the student-led demonstration morphed into an anti-government protest movement. Hundreds of students, security officials and others were killed during the turmoil.
Later, hundreds more, including Hasina’s supporters, were killed in revenge attacks or in mob violence across the South Asian nation. She now faces arrest warrants for the killings in July and August.
Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi Nobel laurate, took over as head of an interim government backed by the student group and the country’s influential military in August.
However, his administration has struggled to restore order.
Teenager cleared of killing British woman in Australia
A man has been cleared of murdering a British woman who was stabbed to death during a break-in at her home in Australia.
Emma Lovell, 41, was killed in North Lakes, Queensland, on Boxing Day in 2022 while fending off two intruders.
The mother died of a single stab wound to her heart and another man, who cannot be named because he was under 18 at the time of the attack, was jailed for 14 years in May after pleading guilty to her murder.
A second man, who was 17 at the time of the attack and also cannot be named, appeared at Brisbane’s Supreme Court last week.
Justice Michael Copley, who heard the case without a jury, found the man not guilty of murder on Thursday, as well as a malicious act with intent and unlawful wounding.
He found the defendant guilty of burglary and assault.
“I am not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the accused was a party to this murder,” the judge said.
Mrs Lovell had emigrated to Australia from Suffolk in 2011 with her husband Lee, who survived the attack, and their two daughters.
In his sentencing remarks in the original trial, Justice Tom Sullivan said Mrs Lovell was described as “an energetic and beloved mother, wife, daughter, and sister”.
The court heard the couple had attempted to fend off the intruders after they were woken by their dogs barking at about 11.30pm.
Mr Lovell was injured during a “physical struggle directly outside the front door” which then moved to the front lawn, where his wife was fatally stabbed.
Although the defendant was found guilty of burglary, he was cleared of the circumstance of aggravation of being armed with an offensive weapon.
The prosecution argued that the accused “had knowledge at the time of the commission of all of the offences that his co-offender was in possession of a knife”, according to the judgment.
But Justice Copley said he could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant knew his co-offender, “H”, was armed with a knife.
The judge also found he could not be sure to the criminal standard that the man was “a party to this murder”, nor that he was a party to unlawfully wounding Mr Lovell or committing a malicious act with intent.
The defendant was convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company after the judge was satisfied that he was present on the lawn when “H” assaulted Mr Lovell “for the purpose of physically participating, if necessary, in the assault”.
Almost entire herd of elephants killed in India – and nobody knows why
Ten elephants of a herd of 13 died over three days in a tiger reserve in central India, leaving authorities puzzled as to the reason.
The tuskers in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh state began dying on Tuesday.
A park guard spotted several elephants in visible distress about 2km from their regular camp and alerted his superiors, who sent out veterinary teams immediately.
The vets found four elephants had died. They provided medical attention to the rest of the herd, but four more died Wednesday night, and another pair on Thursday.
Authorities said they were awaiting postmortem reports to understand the cause of the mass death.
The three surviving members of the herd were under observation, NDTV reported.
Teams from the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests had landed in Bandhavgarh to conduct an independent inquiry. They were expected to file a preliminary report in the next 10 days.
The investigation would seek to find out if the mass death was accidental or intentional.
“There is an investigation into whether this was a case of poisoning,” an unnamed official told the Indian Express. “There are some signs but we can only say for sure when the postmortem report comes in.”
PK Verma, deputy director of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, pointed at a local crop, a grain called Kodo, which might pose a risk to elephants under certain conditions.
“While we are examining various leads, there’s a possibility that Kodo, which can be toxic to elephants, may have contributed,” he explained.
In the wake of the deaths, park authorities destroyed Kodo crops in the area as a precaution, ploughing and burning the standing grain.
A team of veterinarians was conducting a separate investigation.
“There is now a large team of doctors who are looking into the case. We are mainly treating them for toxic infection. The medicines are registered intravenously. Several villagers have been questioned on the use of pesticides in the kodo millet plants. The villagers have claimed that the act was not intentional. The investigation is underway,” a wildlife official was quoted as saying by the Express.
“The experts have informed us that there have been past instances of elephants dying due to ingesting kodo millets and there have also been cases of successful treatment.”
The investigating teams, involving over 100 forest officials accompanied by a dog squad, were conducting checks of nearby water sources, examining the herd’s movement patterns, and assessing crops within a 5km radius of where the tuskers were found. They were collecting soil samples and plant exhibits from the vicinity as well.
The investigation though was getting hampered by the presence of a larger and more aggressive herd of elephants as well as three tigers in the area.
Bandhavgarh’s elephant population flourished in recent years, even attracting migrating tuskers from neighbouring Chhattisgarh state. Known for its ideal habitat, the reserve’s reputation as a sanctuary for elephants now stands overshadowed by the tragedy, raising concerns about wildlife management and protection protocols in the area.