India probing wealthy Russian politician’s fall to death at hotel

 Billionaire Pavel Antov’s death came two days after another member of his party was found dead at the same hotel in Odisha state.

Indian police are investigating the sudden death of a wealthy Russian politician who reportedly criticised Moscow’s war in Ukraine as well as the unexpected death of one of his travelling companions, authorities said.

The body of Pavel Antov, 65, was found on Saturday in a pool of blood outside his lodgings at a luxury hotel in India’s eastern state of Odisha, where he was on holiday with three other Russian nationals.

The sausage tycoon died two days after another member of the travel party, Vladimir Bidenov, was found unconscious after suffering an apparent heart attack at the same hotel and could not be revived.

Police on Tuesday said they were reviewing security camera footage, questioning hotel staff and waiting on autopsy reports but, so far, there was no sign of foul play.

“All possible angles as regards to the deaths of two Russian nationals are being verified,” regional police chief Rajesh Pandit told the AFP news agency.

Bidenov’s death had likely been caused by binge drinking and a possible drug overdose, he said.

“So far, it seems that Antov accidentally fell from the hotel terrace,” he said.

“He was probably disturbed by the death of his friend and went to the hotel terrace and likely fell to his death from there,” the police chief said.

The officer said Antov and his friends had arrived in Odisha this month and visited several locations before arriving at their hotel in the southern district of Rayagada at the start of last week.

Two local travel agents accompanying the party have also been questioned along with the other two Russian members of the group.

Odisha police said in a statement the police chief “has ordered CID (Criminal Investigation Department) to take over the inquiry” into the two deaths.

Antov was a politician in Vladimir, a city 150km (90 miles) east of Moscow, where his meat-processing company is located.

Antov’s death was announced in Russia by the deputy head of the Vladimir Legislative Assembly, Vyacheslav Kartukhin, on Telegram.

“As a result of tragic circumstances, our colleague, a successful entrepreneur, and philanthropist Pavel Genrihovich Antov, passed away,” his post said. “On behalf of the deputies of the United Russia faction, I express my deep condolences to the family and friends.”

Antov had been a member of the regional parliament since 2018 and represented President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.

Before entering politics, he founded the Vladimirskiy Standard company. In 2019, he was ranked the richest of all parliamentarians and senior officials in the country by the Russian edition of Forbes magazine.

In June, Russian media published a WhatsApp message attributed to Antov that called a Kremlin missile bombardment of Ukraine “terrorism”.

Antov used the Russian social media network VK to deny writing the message, insisting he supported Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

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In South Africa, ransom kidnappings are on the rise

 Experts say the phenomenon is relatively new in South Africa but has been experiencing explosive growth since 2016.

From an eight-year-old girl snatched on her way to school to a wealthy businessman who was abducted and murdered, South Africa is experiencing a surge in kidnappings for money.

During the festive season, police have been warning parents to be vigilant around beaches and shopping malls – potential hotspots for child abduction.

“They should take extra care of their children,” said Robert Netshiunda, a police spokesman in the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal.

“Children go missing and a crime of kidnapping is a reality,” he told the AFP news agency.

South Africa has long had a reputation for violent crime and is often described as one of the most dangerous countries in the world outside a war zone. But kidnapping for ransom or extortion “is comparatively new”, noted Jean-Pierre Smith, a Cape Town municipal security councillor.

The phenomenon started to rise in 2016 and is now experiencing explosive growth, according to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC), a non-profit organisation.

Police recorded more than 4,000 cases between July and September, a twofold increase in the same period last year.

The number of kidnappings today is “the highest ever in the history of South Africa,” anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee told AFP.

“It has become an established and lucrative criminal practice,” GI-TOC said in a report in September.

Last month, the country was stunned when eight-year-old Abirah Dekhta was kidnapped on her way to school near Cape Town by five gunmen in two cars.

Missing-person posters showed her wearing a pink dress and matching headscarf. She was freed during a spectacular police raid following a tip-off.

Dekhta had been held in a shack in the impoverished township of Khayelitsha, one of the largest in the country, guarded by seven men, police said. Her captors recently appeared in court, seeking bail.

Most cases of kidnapping in South Africa are a side-effect of carjacking, robberies and rapes but crime experts say an increasing number of victims are now being singled out directly.

In one of the most high-profile cases, four sons of a South African businessman, aged between six and 15 years, were kidnapped in a Hollywood-movie manner while on their way to school.

In such cases, ransom demands can run into the millions of rand (tens of thousands of dollars).

Kidnappers sometimes brazenly demand that the ransom be paid into “foreign bank accounts via Bitcoin or via money exchanges in Dubai,” said Abramjee.

But in other cases, the victim is simply killed after his bank account has been emptied.

One such death was Kevin Soal, a businessman in his late 60s with a passion for horse racing. His luxury car was found abandoned in a township on the outskirts of Pretoria days later.

Soal’s body was discovered afterwards in a nearby area with gun wounds police investigators reportedly say were consistent with targeted killing. Large amounts of money had been withdrawn from his account, said a police source.

Police and private detectives are investigating the case.

On November 23, at a press conference where he unveiled the country’s dismal crime figures for 2022, Police Minister Bheki Cele singled out kidnapping as a priority for the forces.

Sporting a fedora hat almost echoing the fashion style of 1920s US crimebuster Eliot Ness, Cele ordered his force to “deal decisively with these most feared crimes”.

Analysts say kidnappings have been fuelled by locals working with foreign crime groups suspected to be operating from Mozambique and Pakistan and other countries.

Indian business people, Pakistani, Somali and Ethiopians are among those increasingly becoming victims of such campaigns, according to Abramjee.

A Somali businessman was recently snatched from a Johannesburg hotel lobby, he said.

Muslim families of Indian origin, who are rumoured to hold large funds abroad, are especially at risk, said a police source.

Police last year set up a special unit and officials recently said they were “closing in on several syndicates” responsible for kidnapping for ransom cases.

SOURCE: AFP

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Calabar carnival: 14 killed at annual bikers’ event

 At least 14 people have been killed and 24 others injured after a vehicle ploughed into crowds watching bikers at a popular carnival in Nigeria’s southern port city of Calabar.

Eyewitnesses said that a speeding driver lost control of the car.

Pictures shared online in the immediate aftermath of the incident show bodies strewn across the street.

The month-long annual carnival, which features several events, has become a big draw since it was launched in 2004.

Dubbed Africa’s biggest street party, it attracts local and foreign tourists throughout December.

Tuesday’s incident took place during the popular bikers’ parade on one of the major carnival routes which had been closed to vehicle traffic.

The event features riders, including celebrities, from across the country, some adorned in colourful costumes, performing stunts.

The police said a drunk driver – who has been arrested – had lost control of the car and ploughed into the crowd.

Cross River State Governor Prof Ben Ayade cancelled the rest of the bikers’ parade and called for an immediate investigation.

Other events planned for the rest of the carnival – which is set to end on New Year’s Eve with a fireworks display – have not been cancelled.

By Faith Oshoko

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US winter storm death toll rises as bad weather drags on

 A powerful winter storm that slammed North America has claimed more lives in the US state of New York, local officials say.

At least 34 people have died in Erie County, which includes the city of Buffalo, county executive Mark Poloncarz said on Wednesday.

Authorities are still trying to identify three of the victims.

The storm that swept across the US over the holiday weekend has killed at least 60 people in eight states.

There have now been more fatalities in Erie County in the last few days than during the infamous Buffalo blizzard of 1977. Twenty-nine people died in that storm, according to the National Weather Service.

“It’s a horrible storm with too many deaths,” Mr Poloncarz said during a press conference on Wednesday morning.

But conditions in some of the hardest-hit regions in the US – including New York – are starting to improve.

In Erie County, fewer than 1,000 households are now without power, and 95% of residents should have power restored by the end of the day, Mr Poloncarz said.

The city of Buffalo – which got more than four feet (1.2m) of snow – has made progress clearing roads, county officials said. At least 65% of city streets have at least one lane available for passage, though a driving ban remains in effect due to dangerous conditions, Mr Poloncarz said.

The local Buffalo Niagara International Airport reopened at 11:00 local time (16:00 GMT) after closing last Friday, though nearly all scheduled departing flights for the day were cancelled or delayed, according to the airport’s website.

Buffalo’s rail service is running again on a limited schedule.

The US National Guard is going door-to-door in neighbourhoods in the county that lost power to conduct wellness checks as officials are “fearful” that some living alone may have perished during the storm, Mr Poloncarz said.

With temperatures rising and snow beginning to melt, the county is now preparing for the possibility of flooding, the county executive said.

Elsewhere in the US and Canada, residents are still dealing with the effects of the deadly winter storm as well as new dangerous weather systems, which have caused several fatalities.

States in the western US and the Rocky Mountains region have experienced heavy winds and rain as a result of an “atmospheric river”, a long narrow channel of moisture in the atmosphere that can cause heavy precipitation.

A surge of heavy rain or mountain snow is expected on the west and the US south on Thursday and could continue through the end of the week, according to the Weather Prediction Center.

The system on Tuesday began flooding the western states of Washington and Oregon, where five people died in car crashes as a result of felled trees from the storm, Oregon State Police told local media outlets.

In one instance, Oregon State Police said the severe weather caused a large tree to fall onto the roof of a car on Highway 26 in Clatsop County on Tuesday, killing the 19-year-old driver Justin Nolasco Pedraza and two passengers – a four-year-old child and 41-year-old Bonifacio Olvera Nolasco. First responders found all three dead at the scene.

More than 70,000 customers were without power in Washington and Oregon as of Wednesday afternoon, according to outage tracker PowerOutage.us.

The storm is expected to “linger into the upcoming weekend”, the Weather Prediction Center said.

Some areas could get up to six inches (15 cm) of rainfall.

The Washington state capital of Olympia saw a record high tide of 18.4 feet (5.6 metres), which brought marine life into the city’s streets, according to officials.

A local journalist shared videos on Twitter of jellyfish in flooded city streets and of a local resident who was trying to rescue the animals.

Heavy snow is also forecast for the mountainous regions of Sierra Nevada, Cascades and the Rockies as moist air flows eastward, the Weather Prediction Center said.

Some Canadian residents, meanwhile, are still battling power cuts as a result of the storm, including about 19,000 customers in the province of Quebec, public utility provider Hydro-Québec said on Wednesday.

In Ontario, more than 10,000 customers were still without power, according to power supplier Hydro One.

By Madeline Halpert

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Pope Francis Says Predecessor Benedict Is Very ill

 Pope Francis has said former Pope Benedict XVI is very ill and he has asked pilgrims at the Vatican to pray for him.

Benedict, 95, became the first leader of the Catholic Church to stand down in 600 years in 2013, citing advanced age.
At the end of the Pope’s final audience of the year, he asked people to “pray a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict”.

The Vatican then said the ex-Pope’s health had worsened in recent hours.

“The situation at the moment remains under control, constantly followed by doctors,” said spokesman Matteo Bruni.
Pope Francis was addressing a general audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall when he looked up from a piece of paper and spoke about Benedict’s declining health.

He then went to visit him at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, where Benedict has lived since he stepped down.
Earlier this month Francis revealed he frequently visited his predecessor.

Speaking of Benedict as a “saint” and a man of high spiritual life, he said the former pope was lucid and had a good sense of humour.

“He speaks softly but follows your conversation,” he told Spanish newspaper ABC.

Benedict XVI was 85 when in February 2013 he surprised Catholics around the world with his decision to step down, less than eight years after he had been elected Pope as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

Not since Gregory XII stepped down in 1415 had a pope resigned.

Source: BBC

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Russia Bans Oil Sales To Countries Using Price Cap

 Russia has banned oil sales to countries and companies that comply with a price cap agreed by Western nations earlier this month.

The price cap – which was agreed by the G7 group of nations, Australia and the EU – came into force on 5 December.

The cap prohibits countries from paying more than $60 (€56; £50) per barrel of Russian oil.

Russia has now said its oil and oil products will not be sold to anyone imposing the price cap.

The presidential decree said the ban would take effect for five months from 1 February until 1 July.

The decree also said Russian President Vladimir Putin could give “special permission” to supply to countries that fall under the ban.

The G7 group of major economies first put forward the idea of a price cap in September in order to stop Moscow from using oil revenue to finance the war in Ukraine.

Although Western demand for Russian oil fell after the invasion, Russian revenue remained high due to a price spike and demand elsewhere, including from India and China.

An EU-wide ban on Russian crude oil imported by sea is already in place, alongside similar pledges from the UK, the US, and others.

The price cap aims to reduce Russian oil revenue further. It stops any Russian crude sold for more than $60 from being shipped using G7 and EU tankers, insurance companies and credit institutions.

Many major global shipping and insurance companies are based within the G7.

But earlier this month, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky called the price cap a “weak” idea that was not “serious” enough to damage the Russian economy.

Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Tuesday that Russia’s budget deficit could be wider than the planned 2% of GDP in 2023 – with the oil price cap squeezing export income.

Oil is currently trading at around $80 a barrel – well down from the peaks of above $120, seen in March and June.

Source: BBC

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Covid in China: US imposes Covid testing for visitors from China

 The US has become the latest country to impose mandatory Covid tests on visitors from China, after it announced it would reopen its borders next week.

Tighter measures have also been brought in by Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan and India.

After almost three years of restrictions, China will let people travel more easily from 8 January.

At the same time, the country is facing a surge in Covid cases, leading to wariness among some countries.

However, Beijing said coronavirus rules should be brought in on a “scientific” basis, and accused some countries and media of “hyping up” the situation.

On Monday and Tuesday, China announced it would ease its restrictions on travel to and from the country.

From 8 January, quarantine for travellers entering China will end, and passport applications for Chinese citizens will resume, authorities said.

Travel sites reported a spike in traffic following the announcements – and some countries revised their travel rules.

The US said that from 5 January all passengers travelling from China, Hong Kong and Macau would need a negative Covid test to enter the country in order to “slow the spread” of the virus.

A US department of health statement said air passengers would need to take a Covid test no more than two days before departure. It added that those who tested positive more than 10 days before the flight could provide documentation of recovery from Covid instead of a negative test result.

The measures applied to people flying via a third country and to passengers taking connecting flights through the US to other destinations, it said.

It said it would “continue to monitor the situation” and adjust its approach “as necessary”.

It also accused China of failing to provide “adequate and transparent” Covid data, which it said was “critical” for monitoring infection surges “effectively” as well as decreasing the chances of new variants emerging.

The true toll of daily cases and deaths in China is unknown because officials have stopped releasing the data. Reports say hospitals are overwhelmed and elderly people are dying.

But earlier on Wednesday, Wang Wenbin, China’s foreign minister spokesman, accused Western countries and media of “hyping up” and “distorting China’s Covid policy adjustments”.

He said China believed all countries’ Covid responses should be “science-based and proportionate”, and should “not affect normal people-to-people exchange”.

Mr Wang called for “joint efforts to ensure safe cross-border travel, maintain stability of global industrial supply chains and promote economic recovery and growth”.

The European Commission said its health security committee will convene on Thursday to discuss “possible measures for a coordinated EU approach” to China’s Covid situation.

But EU member state Italy – once the global epicentre of the virus after it spread from China in late 2019 and 2020 – has already imposed restrictions on people arriving from China.

It said it was bringing in mandatory Covid testing for all passengers coming from China.

Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said this was “essential to ensure the surveillance and identification” of any new variants of the virus, and to “protect the Italian population”.

Before his announcement, flights arriving in Milan were already testing passengers flying from China.

On one flight, which landed at the city’s Malpensa Airport on 26 December, 52% of passengers were found to be positive for Covid, la Repubblica reports.

Other countries had already imposed some restrictions on travellers coming from China:

• In Japan, from Friday all travellers from China and those who visited it within seven days will be tested for Covid upon arrival, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said. Those who test positive will be required to quarantine for seven days if they have symptoms, or five days if asymptomatic. The number of flights to and from China will also be restricted
• In India, people travelling from China and four other Asian countries must produce a negative Covid test before arriving. Passengers will be put in quarantine if they have symptoms or test positive
• Taiwansays people arriving on flights from China, as well as by boat at two islands, will have to take Covid tests on arrival from 1 January to 31 January. Those who test positive will be able to isolate at home, Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Centre said
• Malaysia has also put additional tracking and surveillance measures in place.

The UK said it was monitoring the situation closely, but was not considering new restrictions for Chinese travellers.

In Belgium, the mayor of tourist hub Bruges called for Chinese visitors to face Covid tests or mandatory vaccine requirements.

China’s loosening of travel measures – the last part of the country’s controversial zero-Covid policy – follows weeks of unrest which saw people take to the streets in rare protests against President Xi Jinping and his government.

By Alys Davies

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