At least 18 others were injured in the clashes that broke out Saturday in the eastern state that has been on edge since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched an aggressive campaign to win parliamentary seats last year.

“Three of the dead were BJP workers while the other was a (regional) Trinamool party supporter,” a police official told AFP.

Local BJP leader Mukul Roy tweeted that three BJP workers were shot dead and a Trinamool minister said one of his party members was killed in the fight.

    Violence peaked across the state during the general election in April-May and has continued even after results were announced, giving a massive nationwide victory to the BJP.

Both the BJP and Trinamool, led by the firebrand Modi critic Mamata Banerjee, accuse each other of killings, intimidation and corruption.

Sandeshkhali, the site of the latest gun battle, remained tense on Sunday with more than 100 police personnel standing guard in the area, witnesses told AFP.

The BJP, which has traditionally held sway in the Hindi-speaking belt in the north, has been trying hard to pick up support in West Bengal where Banerjee’s party has dominated for close to a decade.

It won 18 seats in the general election in West Bengal, up from the two that it managed in 2014, en route to its nationwide win. Trinamool won 22 while centre-left opposition party Congress picked up two of the total 42 seats in the state.

Modi’s party won a huge 303 seats in the national parliament, increasing its previous tally of 282 seats in 2014.

– Fight over flags –

The clashes in Sandeshkhali broke out over the hoisting of BJP flags and the putting up of posters, said the BJP’s general secretary in the state, Sayantan Basu.

“They tried to throw away our party flags and posters and when we protested, our workers were shot from point blank range,” Basu was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India (PTI).

Local minister Jyotipriyo Mullick who belongs to the Trinamool party said one of their supporters was “hacked and shot dead by BJP workers”.

State elections in West Bengal are scheduled to be held in 2021 with the BJP expected to give a tough fight again.

The state has witnessed some of the most violent feuds between rival parties.

Last month, a BJP supporter was shot dead in state capital Kolkata and a car belonging to a Trinamool member was pelted with rocks. In February, a Trinamool lawmaker was shot dead.

And last year, a BJP worker was killed and his body was hanged from a tree.

Modi has called the killings “shameful and anti-democratic”.

Political killings are rife across India. While National Crime Bureau data said there were more than 100 political murders in 2016, experts say the figure was likely much higher.

Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states are the worst for political murders, the government data shows.

A video of the bear roaring through the window went viral on Facebook and WhatsApp on Thursday (June 6), with many questioning why the bear was there in the first place.

According to a resident, Jay, the cub’s roars were loud and shocked many residents, who then gathered around the unit to investigate the commotion.

“One of my neighbours called the authorities and they arrived pretty quickly. Some of the officers even thought that it was a prank,” said Jay when contacted.

According to Jay, the tenant of the unit said that she had found the cub injured, and that was why she took it home. How she managed to get the cub into the apartment remains unclear.

The sun bear is a protected species under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997.

According to sun bear conservationist Dr Wong Siew Te, the sun bear found in the condominium is a cub barely a few months old.

“This incident shows how bad the exotic pet keeping trade is in the country, especially Peninsular Malaysia,” he said.

He said many exotic animals like slow loris, gibbons, and sun bears continued to be sold illegally online, and this incident highlights the seriousness of the exotic pet trade.

“In Peninsular Malaysia, we have lost two rhino species, the leatherback turtle is extinct, and the tiger is at the brink of extinction… these are good examples of the need to do something serious,” he added.

Senior conservationists have recently said that attention should be given to the conservation of the sun bear – among other endangered species – whose numbers have dwindled over the years due to poaching and wildlife conflict.

When contacted, Perhilitan director-general Datuk Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim informed The Star that the bear is currently in the department’s custody.

“We transported the bear to our headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. It is being examined by the department’s veterinarian for any injuries or sickness,” he said, adding that the bear is about six months old.

Abdul Kadir said the department is investigating the case.

He added that the tenant did not produce any legal documents to keep the animal when authorities took it from the condo on Thursday night.

Bernama meanwhile reported that the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia (Perhilitan) arrested a female singer suspected of keeping a sun bear at her condominium unit in Desa Pandan here on Friday (June 7).

The 27-year-old woman was arrested at 8pm at her home after Perhilitan officers conducted a raid following a public tip-off.

Selfie verification, part of its facial recognition technology, was instrumental in helping police investigate the murder of one of its riders in May.

In an announcement via its app, Grab informed users that all passengers would be required to submit a selfie by July 12.

It said the selfie is a mandatory one-time identity verification and will be used to verify a passenger’s identity for future rides.

“We have introduced passenger verification via selfie as part of our efforts to build a safer platform for you and our driver-partners.

“The selfie is for identity verification, safety and may be used to assist the authorities when required,” Grab said on its website.

To avoid fake identities, Grab may ask passengers to submit another selfie to verify their identity when needed.

Grab also assured passengers that their identity and personal information are secure and will not be shared with its drivers and merchants.

The selfie feature is part of Grab’s facial recognition technology that was first announced together with Transport Minister Anthony Loke in April.

According to Grab, this technology has already helped the authorities arrest two suspects in the recent robbery and murder of Grab driver Mohd Hanafiee Jaafar in Tuaran, Sabah.

Grab said during the investigation, it provided information to the police, including a photo of the suspect, and the necessary information from its passenger selfie verification feature built into its app.

However, the selfie verification cannot serve as an alternative to the Transport Ministry’s e-hailing regulations requiring passengers to submit a photo of their identity card or passport when registering for an account with any e-hailing platform.

The need to register not only drivers but also passengers is part of the Transport Ministry’s regulation that will be enforced in July.

According to the Land Public Transport Agency’s (APAD) E-hailing Service Guidelines, Section 5.2 states that both drivers and passengers must provide their full name, a copy of their identify card or passport, and their phone number.

APAD director-general Azlan Shah Parames Albakri said the regulator also encourages companies to follow in Grab’s footsteps in using technology as additional control requirements since IC photos may be old or outdated.

“The collection of IC information is for the security and safety of passengers and drivers. We have cases where drivers were murdered, cases where passengers were raped.

“We also have cases where drivers were raped. So we need such data to protect both parties,” he said.

On privacy concerns, Azlan Shah said companies have to comply with the Personal Data Protection Act.

He estimates that there are around 275,000 e-hailing users in Malaysia.

Other e-hailing companies said they have already been using selfies and photos of ICs for verification before the regulation was announced.

Women-only e-hailing app Carriage for Her said it has been using ICs in its verification process since it launched in September 2018 to avoid the likelihood of male impersonators.

Its chief executive officer Nick Smith said the company does not collect selfies as these are not sufficient to verify a person’s gender.

“Riders and drivers can upload their selfies in the app for both sides to identify each other during pickup, but all account registrations are verified by their IC or passport,” he added.

E-hailing company Mula said it has been collecting selfies and IC copies to verify female passengers using its women-only Mula Pink feature, but will soon make this verification process mandatory for all passengers.

He allegedly assaulted Brenda Kong Shin Ying by grabbing her arms, pushing her against a table and slapping her left cheek several times in a South Bridge Road office here on April 17, 2018.

Seow, 46, is also accused of using criminal force on two other women and harassing one of them.

He is said to have intentionally poked Rachel Kang Pei Shan’s forehead with his finger and pushed Serene Tan Tzuu Yen to the ground that day.

Court documents did not state Seow’s relationship with these three women. However, he had stated on social media that Kong is his niece.

Seow is a shareholder at Samuel Seow Law Corporation and director of more than 10 firms, including talent agency Beam Artistes.

He first made headlines last year after an audio recording, purportedly between him and a woman, was uploaded online and went viral.

A police report was also made in which a woman accused Seow of grabbing and pushing her, among other things.

But she withdrew the report in May, 2018, and he withdrew his complaint to the police at the same time.

In a press conference that month, Seow said the matter was a family dispute, and that he had acted in his capacity as an uncle and not as an employer.

He had written on Facebook: “People can say what they want without any care for the truth. There are some very irresponsible and despicable people out there who will take some perverse delight in causing this.

“I am sorry to my family and friends for the worry this will cause. I am OK. Those who know me will know the truth.”

However, two videos of a dispute between Seow and a woman in an office were posted online this year and they also went viral.

He made a police report and on April 26, released a statement hitting out at the people whom he said were “constantly and conscientiously” seeking to cause damage to him.

Seow is represented by lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam and his case has been adjourned to July 5.

If convicted of assault, he can be jailed for up to two years and fined up to $5,000.

Since the wrongly reported story about 17-year-old Noa Pothoven went viral, the Levenseindekliniek (End-of-life clinic) in The Hague said it had received at least 25 foreign requests for help.

Pothoven — who published a book about her mental struggles following a childhood rape — was in fact not euthanised, but died on Sunday after refusing to eat and drink, her family and the government have said.

Steven Pleiter, the Levenseindekliniek managing director said it “was not aiming for euthanasia tourist traffic” to the Netherlands.

“That’s absolutely not what we are aiming for and why we were set up,” he told AFP in an interview.

“A person cannot just come to the Netherlands to be euthanised. It’s not like you arrive on Monday and you will have a euthanasia on Friday.”

The Netherlands is one of a handful of countries where euthanasia is legal and by law all inhabitants older than 12 are entitled to ask for it — but have to first fulfil a strict set of criteria.

– ‘End their lives in a decent manner’ –

Pleiter said the Levenseindekliniek was not involved in Pothoven’s death, but declined to comment on Pothoven’s claim in a newspaper interview in December that she had approached it to seek euthanasia or assisted suicide, but had been turned down because she was too young.

“I feel very sorry for Noa Pothoven, who found that she could not live any longer and could not have the help that she was looking for and that she had to end her life,” Pleiter said.

“Noa decided to end her life by stopping to eat and drink. The Levenseindekliniek was not involved in providing euthanasia to Noa,” he said.

“But that’s exactly what drives us to help as many people as we can. We try to help people end their lives in a decent manner,” he said.

Under Dutch laws legalising euthanasia in 2002, children up to 16 need the permission of their parents and guardians, while parents must be involved in the process for children aged 16 and 17. From 18, any Dutch citizen may ask for assisted suicide.

In all cases, the patient must have “unbearable and endless suffering” and adhere to a strict set of conditions as set out by Dutch law.

However, the false reports about Pothoven sparked an international reaction — with even Pope Francis tweeting on the subject of euthanasia and assisted suicide — and turned the spotlight on the Levenseindekliniek.

“Usually we get one or two requests per week from abroad about euthanasia,” the Levenseindekliniek spokeswoman Elke Swart told AFP. “Yesterday (Thursday) there were 25.”

– ‘Complex process’ –

Opening its doors in 2012 and based out of a stately home in a leafy street, the Levenseindekliniek is the only Dutch institution that deals with euthanasia.

It says it does not carry out euthanasia from its premises, but instead relies on a network of 140 doctors and nurses around the Netherlands who are qualified and willing to carry it out.

Reaching the eventual decision to be euthanised “a complex process” involving exhaustive interviews with a potential patient and a physician, scanning of medical records and making sure the process complies to Dutch law.

“In some situations that’s three interviews, in other situations that’s 10 or 15,” said Pleiter.

Over the past seven years, the Levenseindekliniek has received between 12,000 to 13,000 requests for euthanasia, of which around 3,500 have been granted.

It has never euthanised any children, the youngest being a patient of 18 who complied with the strict Dutch regulations on euthanasia.

“It is very rare. It is very seldom that a younger person is euthanised,” Pleiter said.

“Providing euthanasia to a younger person doesn’t feel right. It’s very hard to get there and it’s a mental conflict,” he said.

CMAC director-general Heng Ratana told The Post on Thursday that the organisation will showcase the dogs’ capabilities and contribution to society and their cooperation with deminers at CMAC’s head office in Phnom Penh.

He said mine detection dogs helped hasten CMAC’s work and reduce the difficulties faced by the human task force in searching for mines. CMAC mine agents use metal detection devices, Ratana said, which is a slow process and has many drawbacks.

“The dogs help us tremendously. They make the process faster and have significantly contributed to our mine clearance operations. They make a very important contribution to society,” he said.

Ratana said CMAC has 132 dogs, 70 of which currently help with mine clearance operations. The remaining dogs are in training at CMAC’s office in Kampong Chhnang province. He said CMAC has bred over 100 dogs in the last three years.

“Our mine detection dogs have been sent to mine clearing operations in Israel, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and countries in eastern Europe,” Ratana said.

He said metal detection equipment only provides a signal when metal is detected, but the dogs can sniff out the odour of explosives and other chemicals leaking from mines and they can also find mines with little or no metal content.

Furthermore, Ratana said, they can work in situations where large amounts of metal debris prevent the use of standard metal detectors.

CMAC secretariat chief Prak Somathy said dogs that had died were of old age or suffered illnesses and not during missions in the search for mines.

For example, an eight-year-old dog named Dia died from breast cancer on May 25 after four years of service. However, last year she delivered 10 puppies, which will be trained to detect unexploded ordnance (UXO).

CMAC director-general Ratana said: “We regret losing Dia because she was very smart.

“In general, mine detection dogs serve for only eight years. When they are born, we train them for two- to two-and-a-half years before introducing them into mine clearance operations. After six years of fieldwork, we retire them,” he said.

Somathy told The Post on Thursday that when a dog dies, CMAC arranges funerals for them just as for people, and their carcasses are buried at the Landmine Museum in Siem Reap or at CMAC offices in Kampong Chhnang province.

He said CMAC currently has 12 female dogs, with each one able to give birth to about 10 puppies. Once the puppies are a week old, CMAC officers start to train them, Somathy said.

Since 1992, CMAC and some 10 other organisations have cleared landmines and other UXO from 1,823sq km (704sqm) and liberated some 4,320 families from the threat posed by landmines.

Countries to have donated aid to clear landmines included Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, the EU, Germany, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, the US and the UK.

CMAC said from January 1 to April 4, 44 people were disabled or killed by landmines in Cambodia, with victims hailing from Battambang, Oddar Meanchey, Ratanakkiri, Tbong Khmum and other provinces.

Najila Trindade Mendes de Souza has accused the football megastar of raping her in a Paris hotel in May, a charge which he denies.

Trindade arrived at the Sao Paulo police station at midday, her face covered by a black jacket as she was escorted by officers through a media scrum outside.

She emerged after six hours of testimony, which the UOL website said was videotaped in a room with three female police officers present.

Trindade was carried out of the police station in her lawyer’s arms, and did not speak to journalists.

Her dramatic appearance came a day after Neymar went to a Rio de Janeiro police station — sitting in a wheelchair after injuring his ankle in Wednesday’s pre-Copa America friendly against Qatar.

He gave a statement in an investigation into his publication of intimate WhatsApp messages and photos of Trindade on social media without her consent.

Neymar told police that an assistant and a technician were responsible for sharing the messages and photos, TV Globo reported.

In the latest twist in the drama dominating headlines and conversations in Brazil, previously unseen WhatsApp messages allegedly between the pair were broadcast Thursday by TV Globo and Record.

These exchanges — dated May 16, a day after Trindade said she was raped — featured a photo of Trindade’s buttocks covered with bruises. Neymar wrote: “For these marks you are also guilty, ha ha ha, you asked for more.”

Trindade replied: “You are mad, I asked you to stop and you even apologized!”

In extracts of an interview with SBT TV network aired shortly before Wednesday’s game, Trindade described suffering “aggression together with rape” at the hands of the player.

Neymar lasted 20 minutes in the game before spraining his right ankle that has sidelined him from the tournament and put his playing future with Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil in doubt.

More than 60 percent of Brazilians believe Neymar is innocent, according to a poll of 2,071 Brazilians this week.

Only 14 percent think he is guilty, Parana Pesquisas said Friday.

Colman, 45, was awarded the CBE by the sovereign to mark her 93rd birthday, which is officially celebrated in Britain on the second Saturday in June.

Colman headed a list of stars — and everyday heroes — made commanders (CBE), officers (OBE) or regular members (MBE) of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, the main order of chivalry.

“I’m totally thrilled, delighted and humbled to be in the company of these incredible people, most of whom have been nowhere near as visible as I have, but should be — and hopefully now will be,” she said.

Colman won this year’s best actress Academy Award for her role as Queen Anne in “The Favourite” and will next portray Queen Elizabeth in season three of “The Crown”.

Of playing the two, she said: “I find the harder is Queen Elizabeth because everyone knows what she looks like, everyone knows what she sounds like,” she said.

“I am loving trying to play her.”

– Gong for Grylls –

TV adventurer Bear Grylls, who also leads the Scouts in Britain, was made an OBE for his services to young people.

Author Lee Child, whose action hero Jack Reacher has been played on screen by Tom Cruise, received the CBE, as did fellow novelist Joanna Trollope.

Sarah Waters, famed for her raunchy novels featuring lesbian protagonists, including “Tipping The Velvet”, was made an OBE.

In the world of music, singers Elvis Costello and Feargal Sharkey were both given the OBE, accepting establishment endorsements far from their punk roots.

Songwriter Mitch Murray received the CBE.

He penned UK number one hits including “How Do You Do It?”, “I Like It” and “The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde”, along with US number ones “I’m Telling You Now” and “The Night Chicago Died”.

In sport, there were CBEs for former Manchester United chief executive David Gill and Philip Brook, the outgoing chairman of the All England Club which hosts the Wimbledon tennis championships.

Tony Allcock, the 17-times world bowls champion, received the OBE.

Scotland cricket captain Kyle Coetzer, former marathon world record holder Steve Jones, and the reigning Women’s British Open golf champion Georgia Hall were given the MBE.

– Snack supremo knighted –

Boyd Tunnock, 86, who in 1956 invented Scotland’s cherished Tunnock’s Teacake chocolate-coated marshmallow and biscuit snack, was knighted.

“I’ll just have to make sure I live long enough to get used to it,” the new Sir Boyd said.

Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the Confederation of British Industry main business lobby group, was made a dame — the female equivalent of a knighthood.

Comedian and presenter Griff Rhys Jones received an OBE.

The British honours system rewards individuals’ bravery, service or achievement in their field.

Nimco Ali and Doctor Leyla Hussein, who were both victims of female genital mutilation as children, were given OBEs for their efforts in combating the practice.

Seven Holocaust survivors received the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to Holocaust education.

Some 1,073 people were on the birthday honours list, 75 percent of whom were rewarded for outstanding work in their local communities.

The oldest recipient was John Haymen, 100, while the youngest was 17-year-old Richard Collins. They both received the BEM for community services.

Sirisena highlighted his determination to clamp down on illegal logging and increase the amount of territory devoted to forests at an environmental conference.

“I have instructed officials to ban the import of chainsaw machines and blades from next week,” Sirisena told the conference on Thursday, his office said.

Four months ago, Sirisena compelled all users to register chainsaws with police and 82,000 units were recorded within three weeks.

The president, who is also environment minister, did not say if he will totally ban machines already in use, but that carpenters and loggers will have five years to shut timber mills and find alternate employment.

He said there has been rapid deforestation in recent years, but gave no figures. Sirisena said however the new measures were aimed at raising the country’s forest cover to 32 percent of its land within a decade from 28 percent now.

Sirisena’s term ends in January 2020, but he has indicated he will seek re-election.

Pompeo will travel to the Thai capital for the July 29-August 3 ministerial meeting of the ASEAN bloc and will lead talks on the Lower Mekong Initiative, said Mark Clark, a US official in charge of the region.

The initiative was launched 10 years ago by then secretary of state Hillary Clinton as a way to promote coordination and economic growth in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam — several of which have increasingly close ties with China.

“When ministers and our secretary meet in Bangkok in early August, we will highlight what we have achieved over the past decade and recommit to our joint efforts supporting the people of the Mekong,” Clark told a conference on the Mekong River region at the Meridian International Center in Washington.

    Clark, an acting deputy assistant secretary of state, voiced concern that China has tried to “steadily salami-slice its way to control” in the region.

He accused China of pressuring countries to join its massive Belt and Road initiative, although he said the United States was not trying to force countries to pick sides.

“What we do champion, however, is the right of countries to have choices to think carefully before they march off on what looks like a tempting road to easy financing but which might become a one-way route to overdependency,” he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has made the Belt and Road Initiative a signature policy as he pitches massive investment in maritime, road and rail projects to reinvent the ancient Silk road and connect Asia with Europe and Africa.

While the United States remains the world’s largest economy and a pre-eminent trading partner, Washington is offering nothing remotely comparable in scope as countries consider offers of government-backed Chinese investment.

Clark said that Pompeo would also work to better coordinate US efforts in the Mekong region with allies Australia, Japan and South Korea.