About 1,000 people, many with Pakistani roots and wearing traditional Muslim dress, converged on an Islamic center in Stafford to honor Sabika Sheikh, whose body was brought by hearse to the somber service from Santa Fe, the nearby small rural town where a student murdered 10 people including eight students.

Among the mourners was the late teen’s first cousin who lives in the United States. She said Sheikh’s relatives are completely devastated.

“The family back home, we are in touch with them. They’re crying every moment. Her mother is in denial right now,” Shaheera al-Basid, a graduate student in the US capital Washington, told AFP at the funeral service.

“It’s a shock we need our entire life to recover from,” the 26-year-old added.

Men lined up in rows offered traditional mourning prayers as Sheikh’s coffin, draped in the green and white flag of Pakistan, was brought into a small, cramped sanctuary.

Sheikh had been due to return home in mere weeks, in time for Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

‘Shock’

“It’s a shock, it’s so sad,” said realtor Ike Samad, 67, who was born in Pakistan but has lived here most of his adult life and raised his children as Americans.

“I came here just like her, as a student,” he recalled. “God forbid that could have happened to me when I was here. As a parent, it is just devastating.”

Samad also addressed the painful irony that a young woman from a country that many Americans associated with the war on terror in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington was killed in a country that millions around the world see as a bastion of freedom.

The attacks were a “tragedy, and tragedy sometimes teaches you life,” he said. “But it also revisits, and in this case very close to here.”

Several Pakistani-American youths also attended the funeral service, including Danyal Zakaria of nearby Sugar Land, Texas.

The 17-year-old said it was “truly mind-blowing” that an exchange student his age could be cut down in cold blood at a US school.

“This nation is known to be safe,” he said. “If America is not safe, then where is?”

    The newly ennobled Duke and Duchess of Sussex staged a huge party after the ceremony on Saturday at Windsor Castle, where they were greeted by around 100,000 people lining the streets and watched by millions around the world.

The beaming couple were seen driving to the evening bash in a vintage Jaguar, Meghan having changed from her sweeping Givenchy wedding gown into a sleek Stella McCartney halterneck dress, with Harry switching his military frockcoat for black tie.

On the bride’s finger was a large aquamarine ring, which belonged to Harry’s beloved late mother, Diana.

Details of the bash, hosted by Harry’s father Prince Charles in a house on the castle grounds for 200 close friends and family, were a top secret although fireworks were seen over Windsor late in the evening.

Some of the celebrities who attended the earlier service, including George Clooney and tennis star Serena Williams, were also spotted heading in.

The wedding was like no other the royal family has ever staged, a mix of the pageantry that Britain does so well, with celebrity razzmatazz and African-American culture.

In a ceremony filled with laughs and not a few tears, the couple held hands, and the prince was visibly emotional as he greeted his bride at the altar saying: “You look amazing.”

A gospel choir sang “Stand By Me” and US pastor Michael Curry delivered a passionate, lengthy address about the power of love, referencing slavery.

Meghan, a mixed-race television actress, also made her mark by walking up the aisle partly on her own, and giving a speech at the evening reception.

“Kisstory: Harry & Meg’s historic change for monarchy,” headlined The Sun on Sunday, with a photograph of the couple kissing on the steps of St George’s Chapel.

“If ever there was a wedding to symbolise modern, multi-cultural, multi-racial Britain, yesterday’s was it,” the Sunday Mirror wrote in an editorial.

“Disney could not have come up with a better princess,” said the Sunday Telegraph, while The Mail on Sunday simply said: “Harry ever after!”

– Back to work –

After staying at Windsor overnight, Harry and Meghan were due to return to their home at Kensington Palace in London at some point on Sunday afternoon.

They will not be taking a honeymoon immediately, as they are due to attend a charity garden party for Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.

Meghan and Charles have reportedly forged a strong bond, and he stepped in to escort her to the altar at the wedding after her own father pulled out following a media furore and subsequent heart surgery.

Charles also invited Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland, the only member of the Markle family to attend the wedding, for tea before the big day and chatted to her in the church.

Windsor was transformed into a sea of Union Jack flags for the wedding, with the world’s media mixing with thousands of well-wishers, many of whom camped out for days.

“Thank you to everyone who came to Windsor and those who followed from around the UK, the Commonwealth, and the world,” the royal family tweeted.

As a member of the monarchy, Meghan now has her own section of the royal.uk website, which highlights her charity work — and plays down her acting career.

The section “About the Duchess of Sussex” notes her activism from an early age, as well as her work with UN Women, One Young World and World Vision, with only a passing reference to “filming in Toronto”.

The biography section offers a few more details about Meghan’s near 15-year career as an actress, including in hit US television series “Suits”, shot in Toronto.

It also references her lifestyle blog, The Tig — which, like her acting, she has given up to join the House of Windsor.//AFP

An investigation has been launched into Friday’s crash of the nearly 40-year-old Boeing 737-200 leased to the national carrier Cubana de Aviacion by a Mexican company.

Three women pulled alive from the mangled wreckage and in hospital in critical condition were the only survivors. One of them was conscious and asked for something to drink, the hospital treating them said.

The Boeing crashed shortly after taking off from Havana, coming down in a field near the airport and sending a thick column of acrid smoke into the air.

The circumstances echoed those of Cubana de Aviacion’s worst air disaster nearly 30 years ago, in September 1989, when an Ilyushin 62 plane crashed on takeoff from Havana as it was headed to Italy. That disaster killed all 126 people on the plane, mainly Italian tourists, as well as around 45 people on the ground.

In Friday’s crash, the plane was on a domestic flight from Havana to the eastern city of Holguin. Most of the 104 passengers were Cuban, with five foreigners, including two Argentines, among them.

The plane was almost completely destroyed in the crash and subsequent fire. What appeared to be one of the aircraft’s wings was wedged among scorched tree trunks, but almost nothing remained of the main fuselage.

Cuba’s Transport Minister Adel Yzquierdo told reporters one of the plane’s two black boxes had been recovered in “good condition,” and the other was likely to be found within hours. Their data will be key to determining what happened.

Among the dead were 99 Cubans, six Mexican crewmembers, and five foreign tourists: two from Western Sahara, a Mexican tourist and an Argentine couple. A previous toll counted three survivors out of 110 passengers.

– Condolences –

Built in 1979, the plane was leased from a small Mexican company, Global Air, also known as Aerolineas Damojh.

Mexico said it was sending two civil aviation specialists to help in the investigation.

Boeing said a “technical team stands ready to assist” and it offered condolences to friends and relatives of the victims.

The mourning period was set to last until midnight on Sunday (0400 GMT Monday), the Communist Party leader and former president Raul Castro said. Flags were flown at half-mast throughout the country.

Diaz-Canel, who succeeded Castro as the communist island’s leader only last month, appeared aghast as he surveyed the recovery efforts, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and surrounded by officials.

He visited the capital’s morgue where the bodies were taken for identification, and met relatives who were being put up in a city hotel. He also visited the three survivors in hospital.

Castro sent his condolences to families bereaved in the “catastrophic accident,” a statement read, as Russian President Vladimir Putin and a string of Latin American leaders also expressed sympathy.

Pope Francis asked the church in Cuba to convey condolences to families “who mourn the unexpected disappearance of loved ones.”

– Anguish in Mexico –

The plane took off from Havana at 12:08 pm (1608 GMT) Friday heading for Holguin, 670 kilometers (415 miles) to the east.

At the capital’s morgue, Ignacio Ramirez, 46, told of how he lost his 22-year-old cousin, Carlos Santos, in the crash.

“He had come to Havana to get a girlfriend who had arrived from Mexico, and was returning to Holguin,” he said.

Santos’s mother, who lives in the US, was traveling to Cuba to give a DNA sample to confirm her son’s identity.

In Mexico City, anguished relatives and colleagues of the crew gathered outside the company’s offices demanding information — some of them hugging and crying.

“I was friends with the captain, with the co-pilot, with the head flight attendant,” said a former Global Air employee, 44-year-old Ana Marlene Covarrubias.

“When I heard the news on the phone, I thought it was one of those jokes people play,” she told AFP.

Global Air had the necessary permits to lease it, and had passed inspections in November last year, according to the company. The crashed aircraft was one of its fleet of three Boeing 737s.

A Mexican pilot who used to work for Global Air between 2005 and 2013, Marco Aurelio Hernandez, told the Mexican newspaper Milenio that he had previously flown the doomed plane.

Hernandez said he had lodged a complaint at the time about what he regarded as sub-standard maintenance on Global Air’s aircraft.

A Global Air spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that Hernandez had worked at the company but declined to comment on his allegations.

Prior to Friday’s crash, Cuba’s most recent air accident was in April 2017, in which eight military personnel died when a Russian-made AN-26 transport aircraft went down in western Cuba.//AFP

Recent photos circulating on China’s social media platforms purportedly of the 55-year-old Beijing-born action star have fuelled speculation that Li is in poor health.

The photo allegedly showed Lee, who became a Singapore citizen in 2009, with an unidentified man assisting him while visiting a temple in Tibet.

On Weibo, many Chinese netizens were taken aback by the frail appearance of the actor, and expressed hopes for his health to improve.

However, Li has yet to confirm or respond to speculations regarding the recent photos.< /p> In 2010, the actor was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, which reportedly caused his weight to fluctuate. His doctor advised him against exercising, and some of the symptoms from the illness included muscle weakness and sleeping problems.

Years later, in a 2016 interview with The Straits Times, Li said that media reports of his health were greatly exaggerated.

He added that he had recovered from hyperthyroidism, and added: “There is nothing to worry about my health.”

However, the South China Morning Post reported on Saturday (May 19) that Li said last year that even though he has been taking medication to keep his overactive thyroid in check, the condition “kept coming back”.

Recently, Li appeared in a 20-minute short film called Gong Shou Dao, or the Art of Attack and Defence, with Alibaba founder and martial arts fan Jack Ma. Fellow martial arts specialists Donnie Yen, Wu Jing and Thailand’s Tony Jaa also made cameo appearances.

Last month, it was reported that Li was in final talks to take on the role of the emperor of China in Disney’s upcoming live-action version of Mulan, together with Chinese star Gong Li.

Usually, nasi beriani sold in restaurants is cooked in large pots, but a chef, T. Gunaseelan, 26, from Sungai Nibong near here, cooked the fluffy and fragrant beriani in bamboo tubes.

“People are so excited to see the beriani inside bamboo tubes because it’s something different. The bamboo will give a natural taste to the beriani. I started with catering business first, then I decided to open a small stall,” he told Bernama here.

“My stall is open daily except on Wednesdays, from 11am to 3pm, but during this month of Ramadan, the operating hours will be extended until 7pm,” he said.

Gunaseelan said the bamboo beriani received overwhelming response from customers.

“At first I only used 50 bamboo tubes, then I have to add 50 more tubes because of the overwhelming response. For the month of Ramadan I have to add another 50 tubes,” he said.

There is chicken beriani for RM11 per set and mutton beriani for RM13 per set, he added. – Bernama

    The comments by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sparked a firestorm at home and in India.

Sharif approached what is seen as a red line in the country by touching on criticism of Pakistan’s armed forces, especially their alleged use of proxies in India.

RSF said distribution of the country’s leading English-language newspaper had been restricted in much of the country.

“The interview, which reportedly displeased the Pakistani military, appeared in the 12 May issue and the blocking began on 15 May. According to RSF’s information, distribution is being disrupted in most of Baluchistan province, in many cities in Sindh province and in all military cantonments,” said a statement issued Friday.

The Press Council of Pakistan had notified Dawn’s editor that the newspaper breached the ethical code by publishing content that “may bring into contempt Pakistan or its people or tends to undermine its sovereignty or integrity as an independent country”, the watchdog said.

“The unwarranted blocking of the distribution of one of the main independent newspapers has yet again shown that the military are determined to maintain their grip on access to news and information in Pakistan,” RSF said.

“It is clear that the military high command does not want to allow a democratic debate in the months preceding a general election. We call on the authorities to stop interfering in the dissemination of independent media and to restore distribution of Dawn throughout Pakistan.”

The 2008 Mumbai attacks killed 166 people. Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba stands accused of masterminding them.

India has long said there is evidence that “official agencies” in Pakistan were involved but Islamabad denies the charge.

Since being ousted by the Supreme Court last July, Sharif and his supporters have repeatedly suggested they are the victims of a conspiracy driven by the military and the courts.

According to RSF, last month the military was said to have given unofficial instructions to cable TV operators to stop carrying the Geo TV network’s channels, including Geo News, in most of the country. One reason was the airtime that it had dedicated to Sharif.//AFP

The Chinese archaeologist credited with discovering the emblematic ancient Terracotta Warriors, Zhao Kangmin, has died aged 82, state media said.

Zhao was the first archaeologist to identify fragments of terracotta found by local farmers digging a well in 1974 as relics dating back to the Qin dynasty and the first to excavate the site.

The 8,000-man clay army, crafted around 250 BC for the tomb of China’s first emperor Qin Shihuang, is a UNESCO world heritage site, a major tourist draw and a symbol of ancient Chinese artistic and military sophistication.

Zhao’s death on May 16 was reported by the state-run People’s Daily late Friday.

When the farmers first stumbled upon the tomb in Xian, capital of the northern province of Shaanxi, they alerted Zhao — then a curator at a local museum — to their discovery.

“I went to the site with another officer… Because we were so excited, we rode on our bicycles so fast it felt as if we were flying,” the archaeologist wrote in an article published in 2014 on the website of the Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses.

“The commune supervisor told us that heads and partial torsos of six to seven terracotta figures had been found by men digging a well. Someone had taken one of the heads home and stuck it in a granary to chase away rats,” Zhao wrote.

Zhao ordered the farmers to collect the broken terracotta pieces and pile them on to three trucks, which he took to his small museum. He began to reconstruct the statues from these fragments, some as small as a fingernail, according the article.

“It was the tail end of the Cultural Revolution. But some factions were still against restoring old things. So we decided to keep it a secret,” he wrote.

But an article on Zhao’s work by a reporter from state-run Xinhua news agency soon roused the interest of authorities in Beijing and a larger team of archaeologists was sent to excavate the site alongside him.

China’s State Council later recognised Zhao as the discoverer of the painstakingly carved battalion of terracotta soldiers, archers, and charioteers, each with unique facial features, costumes, weapons and even hairstyles.

The group of farmers petitioned the Chinese government for recognition of their discovery and compensation in 2004, according to media reports, but it is not clear whether their claims were upheld.

The lurid earlier affair centred on allegations that Malaysian officials took huge kickbacks in the 2002 purchase of Scorpene submarines from France when Najib was defence minister.

The sensational saga transfixed Malaysia for years until the authoritarian former regime used its leverage to eventually bury it, though whispers persist that Najib, 64, and his wife Rosmah Mansor were deeply involved.

But Najib was trounced in a stunning May 9 election and Malaysia’s new government has vowed to investigate not only current allegations that Najib stole billions from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, but also lift the lid on other unresolved scandals under the graft-plagued former government.

“We are very encouraged by the quick moves so far on (1MDB) and that the government is taking previous corruption seriously,” said Cynthia Gabriel, who heads the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4), a Malaysian NGO.

“In this regard, scandals like Scorpene cannot be ignored. Pressure is building and its going to get more interesting.”

Najib’s immediate concern is allegations that he, his family, and cronies pillaged billions from 1MDB. He is barred from leaving Malaysia and police have seized large amounts of cash, jewels and luxury items from his home and other sites.

Alleged cover-up

But 1MDB pales in many ways to the Scorpene affair, which has sex, submarines, assassins on the run, and an unfortunate Mongolian model and translator.

It centres on allegations that French submarine maker DCNS paid “commissions” of more than 114 million euros ($134 million) to a shell company linked to Abdul Razak Baginda, a close Najib associate who brokered the $1.1 billion submarine deal.

Najib’s opponents said the payments were kickbacks.

Abdul Razak’s Mongolian mistress Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was said to have demanded a payoff for working as a translator in negotiations, was shot dead, her body blown up with military-grade plastic explosives near Kuala Lumpur in 2006.

Allegations that Najib and Rosmah were involved in the killing — carried out by two government bodyguards — were steadfastly denied by Najib. He also was forced to publicly deny having had an affair with Altantuya.

The case sank off the radar after a Malaysian court in 2008 cleared Abdul Razak of abetting the murder, sparking allegations of a huge cover-up to protect Najib, promoted to deputy prime minister by then.

But a key figure now looms as a potential game-changer.

Sirul Azhar Umar was convicted along with another police bodyguard in the killing, but he has said they were patsies for “important people” who ordered the murder, and has previously threatened to tell all.

Before he could be jailed, Sirul somehow managed to flee in 2015 to Australia, where he is believed to be in custody.

Calls for new trial

Leading Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim, released from jail last week in the wake of the election and who is expected to eventually become prime minister, told AFP on Thursday that Sirul and his accomplice Azilah Hadri should be granted fresh trials.

“At that time, the judiciary was compromised,” Anwar, 70, said in an interview.

“I don’t know to what extent Najib was involved or not, but he’s certainly implicated in some way,” he added.

He noted that all traces of Altantuya entering Malaysia before her murder were eliminated, saying that “had to be a higher-up decision”.

Also looming is a slow-moving effort in French courts that could reveal more.

French judicial sources last year told AFP that investigators there had indicted two former top French executives linked to the Scorpene deal, as well as Abdul Razak.

Following Malaysia’s election, C4 publicly called for an immediate investigation of Najib and others over the submarines and Altantuya’s murder, calling the affair “one of the (previous) government’s greatest robberies”.

Gabriel admits that the sheer backlog of scandals under the former government, including dodgy land deals, looting of timber resources, and numerous suspicious deaths of government critics while in police custody, could delay justice for Altantuya.

Powerful vested interests also remain, including former establishment figures now aligned with the new government.

“It might be tricky. But if they truly are now behind the rule of law, no stone should be unturned,” she said.

Dredging up the truth in the Scorpene case can be risky.

In 2008, a private investigator deeply involved in the affair, P. Balasubramaniam, implicated several government officials, including Najib, in the murder. He quickly recanted, later saying he had been threatened, and fled to India.

He returned in 2013 vowing to tell all in the scandal, just as Najib was facing crucial elections, but died two weeks later.

Authorities blamed a sudden heart attack.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel said an investigation was under way into Friday’s crash of the nearly 40-year-old Boeing 737, leased to the national carrier Cubana de Aviacion by a Mexican company.

Three women pulled alive from the mangled wreckage are the only known survivors.

The Boeing crashed shortly after taking off from Jose Marti airport, coming down in a field near the airport and sending a thick column of acrid smoke into the air.

The mourning period is to last from 6:00 am (1000 GMT) Saturday to midnight on Sunday, the Communist Party leader and former president Raul Castro said. Flags are to be flown at half-mast throughout the country.

The plane was on an internal flight from Havana to the eastern city of Holguin. Most of the passengers were Cuban, with five foreigners, including two Argentines, among them.

The plane — carrying 104 passengers — was almost completely destroyed in the crash and subsequent fire. Firefighters raced to the scene put out the blaze along with a fleet of ambulances to assist any survivors.

What appeared to be one of the wings of the plane was wedged among scorched tree trunks, but the main fuselage was almost entirely destroyed.

Built in 1979, the plane was leased from a small Mexican company, Global Air, also known as Aerolineas Damoj.

Mexico said it was sending two civil aviation specialists to help in the investigation. The six crew members were Mexican nationals.

A press conference is scheduled for 1900 GMT.

The 58-year-old Diaz-Canel, who succeeded Castro as the communist island’s leader only last month, appeared aghast as he surveyed the recovery efforts, wearing a short-sleeved green shirt and surrounded by officials.

Castro sent condolences to families of the victims of the “catastrophic accident,” a statement read, as Russian President Vladimir Putin and a string of Latin American leaders also expressed sympathy.

‘The explosion shook everything’

The plane took off from Havana at 12:08 pm (1608 GMT) Friday heading for Holguin, 670 kilometers (415 miles) to the east.

From the supermarket where he works near the airport, Jose Luis, 49, said he could see the plane taking off before it banked and plunged to the ground.

“I saw it taking off. All of a sudden, it made a turn, and went down. We were all amazed,” he said.

Yasniel Diaz, a 21-year-old musician, said the pilot appeared to attempt an emergency landing, but crashed instead.

“The explosion shook everything,” he said.

“I started running, I was so afraid.”

Images from Cuban television showed rescue workers at the scene removing what appeared to be a survivor on a stretcher as rain began to fall.

Anguished relatives

Global Air said the plane was flying with a crew of six Mexicans — the pilot, co-pilot, three flight attendants and a maintenance technician.

In Mexico City, anguished relatives and colleagues of the crew gathered outside the company’s offices demanding information — some of them hugging and crying.

“I was friends with the captain, with the co-pilot, with the head flight attendant,” said a former Global Air employee, 44-year-old Ana Marlene Covarrubias.

“When I heard the news on the phone, I thought it was one of those jokes people play,” she told AFP.

The Mexican communications and transportation ministry said the plane was built in 1979. Global Air had the necessary permits to lease it, and had passed inspections in November last year, it said.

The company, formed in 1990, had a fleet of three planes, all Boeing 737s.

Prior to Friday’s crash, Cuba’s most recent air accident occurred in April 2017, when eight military personnel died when a Russian-made AN-26 transport aircraft went down in western Cuba.

The country’s last major airline disaster was in November 2010 when a Cuban Aerocaribbean jet crashed on a flight from Santiago de Cuba to Havana, killing all 68 people on board, including 28 foreigners.

Several bombers of various types — including the long-range, nuclear strike capable H-6K — carried out landing and take off drills at an unidentified island airfield after carrying out simulated strike training on targets at sea, the Chinese airforce said in a statement Friday.

Wang Mingliang, a defense expert cited in the statement, said the takeoff and landing exercises on islands in the South China Sea will help the air force “strengthen its combat capability to deal with martime security threats”.

The move comes weeks after US network CNBC reported that China had installed anti-ship and air-to-air defences on outposts in the Spratly Islands that are also claimed by Vietnam and the Philippines, citing sources close to US intelligence.

Washington warned that Beijing would face unspecified “consequences” over its militarisation of the South China Sea, and said it had raised the issue with China.

“I believe this is the first time a bomber has landed in the #SouthChinaSea,” Bonnieh Glaser, a China expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, tweeted.

In an analysis published on its website, CSIS said the location of the runway was believed to be Woody Island, China’s largest base in the Paracel Islands, which is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

The South China Sea issue has been brewing for years, with China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam making competing claims in waters with vital global shipping routes and what are believed to be significant oil and natural gas deposits.

China has engaged in years of land-reclamation efforts on reefs it controls in the region and built both civilian and military facilities in the contested area.

Chinese military facilities include air bases, radar and communications systems, naval facilities and defensive weaponry including landing strips able to accommodate military planes.