Kobe Bryant's widow awarded $16m leaked crash photos payout
Kobe Bryant's widow has been awarded $16m (£13.6m) in damages over leaked graphic photos of the helicopter crash that killed the US basketball star and his daughter in 2020, BBC reported.
Vanessa Bryant, 40, said she had panic attacks after learning images taken by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and firefighters had been shared.
A federal jury now said the county must pay Mrs Bryant for emotional distress.
Co-plaintiff Christopher Chester will be paid $15m.
Mrs Bryant's husband Kobe Bryant, 41, daughter Gianna, 13, and six family friends died when their helicopter crashed in California in January 2020. Mr Chester lost his wife Sarah and daughter Payton in the crash. A report by the Los Angeles Times claiming county employees took photos at the crash site and shared them with others has enraged the victims' families.
Last November, the county agreed to pay $2.5m (£2.1m) over the emotional distress caused to two families who lost relatives in the crash - but Mrs Bryant refused to settle.
Her federal lawsuit was made alongside Chris Chester, who lost his wife Sarah and daughter Payton in the crash.
Sobbing on the witness stand last week, Mrs Bryant recalled being at home with her other children when she read the LA Times story.
"I bolted out of the house and I ran to the side of the house so the girls couldn't see me. I wanted to run… down the block and just scream," she said.
Mrs Bryant said she had felt "blindsided, devastated, hurt and betrayed" by news of the leak and "[lives] in fear every day of... having these images pop up" on social media, according to BBC.
"I don't ever want to see these photographs," she said. "I want to remember my husband and my daughter the way they were."
Jurors at the trial heard how sheriff's deputies and firefighters took gruesome cell phone photos at the accident site and showed them to others, including at a bar and a gala event.
These employees "poured salt in an open wound and rubbed it in" with their actions, Mrs Bryant's lawyer Luis Li said during opening statements last week.
A lawyer for the county unsuccessfully argued that "site photography is essential" and that the photos had not been posted anywhere publicly.
Bryant, a five-time NBA champion, played for the LA Lakers throughout his career and is considered one of the greatest players in the game's history, BBC reported.
British-Belgian pilot, 17, becomes youngest to fly around the world solo
A teenage pilot has become the youngest person to fly solo around the world in a small aircraft, BBC reported.
Mack Rutherford, 17, landed at Sofia in Bulgaria, after a five-month journey across 52 countries.
Along the way, Mack, who was born to British parents but has grown up in Belgium, encountered sandstorms in Sudan and spent the night on an uninhabited Pacific island.
His elder sister Zara is the youngest woman to fly solo around the world.
She completed her own journey in January this year and disclosed that she had "given him advice on the route" as she travelled to Sofia to greet Mack as he returned to the starting point of his trip. The previous record holder for flying solo was British pilot Travis Ludlow, who was 18 years and 150 days old when he completed his journey last year.
After completing the feat, Mack encouraged others to "follow your dreams, no matter how old you are".
"Work hard and move forward to achieve your goals", he added.
The trip took him through Europe, Asia, Africa, the US, across two oceans, with his plane touching down in the UK at Wick in Scotland and departing from London's Biggin Hill Airport earlier this week.
Mack, who comes from a family of aviators, set off from the Bulgarian capital on 23 March, with the arduous journey seeing the extreme heat in Dubai and unexpected airport closures in India, according to BBC.
The young aviator also said he had slept in a shed beside a runway on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean after a "hairy moment" passing through through rain and low cloud.
In an earlier interview with CNN while he was part of the way through his journey, Mack described some of the beautiful places he was able to fly past, from wildlife in national parks in Kenya to the New York City skyline.
Asked what his plans for the future were, Mack said: "I'm going to keep flying. I'm thinking of something like the air force, but I'm nowhere 100% sure on anything.
"After I finish this I've just got to focus on school and try and catch up as much as I can."
As a result of his efforts, he has broken two Guinness World Records - becoming the youngest person to fly around the world solo, as well as the youngest to circumnavigate the globe in a microlight plane.
The teenager flew a Shark - a high-performance ultralight aircraft which can hit a cruising speed of around 186mph (300km/h).
His sister Zara said that she was "constantly" trying to keep in touch and assist her brother while he was in the air.
"I gave him advice on the route, on the flight, so that I could be useful to him."
Mack has previously said he wanted to be a pilot since the age of three and he achieved the feat in September 2020 when he qualified for his licence aged 15.
His father Sam Rutherford is a professional ferry pilot, while his mother Beatrice is a private pilot, BBC reported.
And Mack's website explains that aviation goes back five generations in his family - describing his great-great-grandmother as being "amongst the first South African women to learn to fly".
Mack holds both British and Belgium nationality and has lived most of his life in Belgium.
He is currently being educated at the private Sherborne School in Dorset, whose website has been following his progress around the world. It also carries Mack's personal statement, in which he says "you don't need to be an adult to do incredible things".
Editorial: Heed conflict victims
The task of concluding the transitional justice component of the peace process is more complex than our top politicians would have us believe. They reckon war-era human rights issues can be settled through political consensus and lucrative reparations for conflict victims. But Nepal’s recent history has time and again proven this approach wrong. Consider the functioning of the transitional justice mechanisms in the past seven years. Despite an agreement among major parties there has hardly been any progress on providing justice to conflict victims, except for the completion of preliminary investigations in a handful of cases. In a fresh bid, the five-party coalition government has tabled an amendment bill to Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act 2014. But, as in the past, the ruling parties have failed to take conflict victims, the international community and the rights bodies into confidence. Despite some progressive provisions in the bill, stakeholders have raised concerns over some provisions that allow for granting of amnesty even in grave human rights violations. A few days ago, representatives of the United Nations and some powerful countries had met CPN (Maoist Center) Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal to flag their concerns over the new bill. Undue interference of the international community is undesired but their concerns also cannot be brushed aside, given the universal jurisdiction of human rights. It is up to Nepal’s political parties to settle war-era cases through domestic mechanisms in line with the Comprehensive Peace Accord signed in 2006. Whether we accept it or not, the international community is also a stakeholder in this process. The approach taken by Law Minister Govinda Prasad Sharma (Koirala) is thus under a question mark. He prepared the bill on the basis of consultation with top leaders of major parties but bypassed the transitional justice mechanisms and conflict victims. If the bill is passed in a hurry without addressing the concerns of all stakeholders, it might create more problems than it will help solve. Attempts to settle the war-era cases forcefully with majority support in parliament could backfire. Yes, transitional justice in Nepal has needlessly dragged on. But that should not be the reason to hurry things along without broad consultations with key stakeholders.
Ukraine war: Russia railway station strike kills 22, injures dozens
A Russian rocket strike on a Ukrainian train station has killed 22 people, Ukraine says, on the day marking six months since Moscow's invasion began, BBC reported.
It says five of the victims of the attack in the eastern town of Chaplyne burnt to death in a vehicle. An 11-year-old boy also was killed.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the strike in the middle of a UN Security Council meeting. He said about 50 people were injured.
Russia has so far made no comment.
It has repeatedly denied targeting civilian infrastructure.
Mr Zelensky said he learned of the strike on Chaplyne, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, as he was preparing to speak to the Security Council, adding: "This is how Russia prepared for the UN Security council meeting".
"Four passenger carriages are on fire now... the number of fatalities could increase," he said.
Ukraine has spent Wednesday marking its annual independence day and Mr Zelensky had previously said Russia might do something "cruel" to disrupt the celebrations.
Earlier he accused Moscow's forces of turning the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant into a "war zone" that endangered the plant and the people of Europe and put the world "on the brink of radiation catastrophe".
The UN Secretary General told the same meeting that the "senseless war" could push millions of people into extreme poverty, both in Ukraine and beyond.
Around the world, there were gatherings of supporters in the streets to mark Ukraine's independence today. World leaders also rallied to support the embattled nation to mark the occasion.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared in Kyiv on an unannounced trip to show his country's support, announcing £54m ($63.5m) in new military aid - a figure dwarfed by an announcement from US President Joe Biden of an extra $3bn (£2.5bn), according to BBC.
Messages of support arrived from across the globe: from Australia, Germany, Finland, Poland, Turkey and more. In the Vatican, Pope Francis called for "concrete steps" to end the war and avert the risk of a nuclear disaster at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant - Europe's largest.
But in the streets of Kyiv, it was relatively quiet.
Ukraine had banned large gatherings and events over fears that Russia could target such civilian gatherings. It followed a warning from the US for any of its citizens to leave ahead of the anniversary.
Some gathered anyway on Khreshchatyk Street to look at the array of captured Russian tanks and armoured vehicles put on display instead of the usual Ukrainian parade.
Between his political speeches, President Zelensky and his wife also attended a memorial ceremony for the fallen soldiers and civilians of the war, laying yellow and blue flowers at Kyiv's Memory Wall of Fallen Defenders.
Despite the losses, the Ukrainian leader had started the day with a defiant national address, vowing to retake the whole of Ukraine, "without any concessions or compromises".
"We don't know these words - they were destroyed by missiles on 24 February," he said.
"The enemy thought we would greet them with flowers and champagne, but received wreaths and Molotov cocktails instead.
In Russia, meanwhile, the day marking half a year since the start of the invasion passed quietly, BBC reported.
The BBC's Will Vernon in Moscow says there has been almost no mention of the six months of Russia's "special military operation" on television or from officials - possibly a sign that authorities do not want to emphasise the drawn-out campaign.
Russia had initially promised a short, decisive campaign - but Ukrainian resistance quickly pushed Russian forces away from the capital, and months later Russia redeployed its forces to concentrate on the eastern breakaway provinces where it already enjoyed support. In recent weeks, the front lines have hardly moved.
A Russian rocket strike on a Ukrainian train station has killed 22 people, Ukraine says, on the day marking six months since Moscow's invasion began, BBC reported.
It says five of the victims of the attack in the eastern town of Chaplyne burnt to death in a vehicle. An 11-year-old boy also was killed.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the strike in the middle of a UN Security Council meeting. He said about 50 people were injured.
Russia has so far made no comment.
It has repeatedly denied targeting civilian infrastructure.
Impeachment Recommendation Committee decides to summon suspended CJ Rana for questioning on August 31
The Impeachment Recommendation Committee of the House of Representatives has decided to summon suspended Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana for questioning on August 31. Senior member of the committee Ram Bahadur Bista said that the committee has decided to summon the suspended chief justice to float his opinion on the issue of impeachment. Lawmakers of the ruling coalition parties on February 13, 2022 had registered the impeachment motion against Rana. As many as 195 lawmakers of the three parties had registered the impeachment motion against Rana. Then then whip Pushpa Bhusal of the Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Center) Chief Whip Dev Prasad Gurung and CPN (Unified Socialist) Chief Whip Jeevaram Shrestha had proposed the motion. The Parliament on March 6 had formed the Impeachment Recommendation Committee to probe the charges leveled in the impeachment motion against the suspended chief justice. Ekwal Miya, Kalayani Kumari Khadka, Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, Pramod Sah, Min Bahadur Bishwokarma, Yasodha Gurung Subedi, Ram Bahadur Bista, Rekha Sharma, Lal Babu Pandit, Bishnu Prasad Paudel and Shiva Maya Tumbahangphe are the members of the committee. Ram Bahadur Bista is the senior member of the committee.
Nepal logs 487 new Covid-19 cases, one death on Wednesday
Nepal reported 487 new Covid-19 cases and one death on Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 1, 806 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 242 returned positive. Likewise, 2, 371 people underwent antigen tests, of which 245 were tested positive. The Ministry said that 168 infected people recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours. As of today, there are 4, 298 active cases in the country.
House panel directs government to make Kurtha-Jayanagar train service effective
The Development and Technology Committee of the House of Representatives has directed the government to make Kurtha-Jayanagar train service effective. Saying that many problems have arisen as the concerned authorities have failed to give proper attention for the operation of the 35 km train service, the House Committee on Wednesday directed the government to make the service effective. Committee Chairperson Kalyani Khadka said that the panel has directed the government to hire required manpower, establish a workshop and a fuel center to improve the train service. Similarly, the committee has directed the government to start the works of establishing necessary electric infrastructures on the railways, giving priority for the operation of electric trains.
