Reuters
The head of the Central Intelligence Agency said on Sunday that Russia and others are trying to undermine elections in the United States, the next major one being in November when Republicans will try to keep control of Congress. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in the
A day after he was released from prison, Eswaran Selvarajoo molested a woman near West Mall Shopping Centre.
At the State Courts on Monday (8 January), the 35-year-old was jailed 12 weeks and four days after he pleaded guilty to one charge of using criminal force to outrage a woman’s modesty and one charge of theft in dwelling.
The court heard that at about 5pm on 25 October last year, Eswaran rushed up behind the 44-year-old victim, who was walking towards West Mall Shopping Centre, and touched her right buttock. The woman cannot be named due to a gag order.
Outraged, the woman confronted Eswaran but he remained silent and continued to walk towards her.
As Eswaran approached the woman, she started backing away from him and nearly lost her balance when she tripped. She also hit Eswaran on his arms as he continued to walk towards her.
Eswaran then told her she was beautiful. Angered, she hit him again.
Noticing that he reeked of alcohol, she rushed into West Mall Shopping Centre. She lodged a police report on 4 November last year.
Eswaran committed the offence a day after he was released from jail for assaulting a public servant and threatening a public officer.
On 8 November last year, Eswaran also stole two cans of beer from an NTUC FairPrice outlet at Bukit Batok East Avenue 3.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Chee Ee Ling sought a total jail term of 12 weeks and four days; four weeks for molest, eight weeks for theft and four days for breaching his remission order.
DPP Chee said that by committing an offence the day after his release from jail, Eswaran had failed to show that he had rehabilitated himself.
Eswaran’s actions instilled fear in his victim, and despite being confronted by her, he continued to approach and infringe on her personal space despite her protests, said DPP Chee.
She also noted how Eswaran – whose previous convictions include possession of obscene films, carrying an offensive weapon in public and using criminal force on a public servant – had committed another offence after molesting the woman.
Eswaran, who was unrepresented, apologised in court for what he had done, saying that he was drunk when he committed the offence.
District Judge Sandra Looi backdated his sentence to 13 November 2017, which is when he was remanded.
For using criminal force to outrage a person’s modesty, he could have been jailed up to two years, fined, caned or have been given any combination of the punishments. For committing theft in dwelling, he could have been jailed up to seven years and fined.
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Throughout this 2017 NFL season, television ratings have declined and fans, TV pundits, and reporters have speculated as to the biggest cause. On social media, many people railed that players protesting during the national anthem led outraged Americans to boycott.
A new survey from SurveyMonkey and Ozy Media, shared first with Yahoo Finance, finds that 33% of NFL fans boycotted the league this year—but not entirely because they were outraged by the player protests. Nearly equal proportions boycotted in support of Colin Kaepernick or the protests as boycotted in support of President Trump, who vocally opposed the protests.
The survey, conducted from Dec. 8—11 of 2017, polled a national sample of 1,726 adults ages 18 and up. It found that 1,233 of those people identifed as football fans.
The survey then asked the football fans: “Did you purposely stop watching or attending NFL games this season for any reason?” 33% of respondents said yes.
That group, which the survey labeled as “boycotting,” was asked why, and was given multiple options. Note: Respondents were allowed to select multiple answers; they were not asked which was the biggest factor, just which factors contributed.
They answered as follows: 32% said they stopped watching or attending NFL games “in support of Donald Trump”; 22% said “in solidarity with players kneeling”; 13% said “no interest in the teams playing”; 12% said “in support of Colin Kaepernick”; and 11% said “news about traumatic brain injuries among players.” Another 8% said “games are boring.” 46% chose “some other reason.”
The results also show an interesting difference between male and female respondents: more men said they turned away from the NFL in support of Trump (35% to 25%), while more women said they did it in support of the players kneeling (30% to 17%) or in support of Kaepernick (17% to 10%).
Eric Reid (L) and Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers kneel during the national anthem on Sept. 1, 2016 (Getty/Michael Zagaris) More
At a rally in Alabama in September, Trump declared NFL team owners should cut NFL players who kneel during the national anthem: “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!'” He also took personal credit for the NFL ratings decline (“NFL ratings are down massively… The number one reason happens to be that they like watching what’s happening with yours truly”) and urged fans to walk out of NFL games if players protest during the anthem (“If you see it, even if it’s one player, leave the stadium. I guarantee things will stop”).
Muhammad Shahdam Junabi was walking along Bayfront Avenue when he spotted what he thought was a group of Malay people. When they failed to reciprocate his greeting, he made a comment that angered three men in the group, who then assaulted him.
Tan Chun Ming, 24, who was one of the three co-accused who set upon Shahdam, pleaded guilty in the State Courts on Monday (8 January) to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt to Shahdam by punching and kicking the victim’s face and body.
The court heard that Shahdam, 25, was heading towards the floating platform at Marina Bay at about 2am on 16 February last year to meet some friends.
As he was about to cross the road towards the floating platform, Shahdam saw a group of people walking past him. Tan, Mohamed Nazrin Mohamed Bari and Muhammad Nurshahid Ahmad were part of the group.
Shahdam said to the group “Peace be upon you” in Arabic but they did not respond to his greeting. He then commented, “This one confirmed not Islam, just don’t mess with the wrong person and take care you guys, goodbye,” in Malay.
Angered by the comment, Nazrin, Tan and Nurshahid confronted Shahdam. Tan started the assault by first punching Shahdam in the stomach. Nazrin then punched Shahdam in the face and pulled him to the ground. The group then continued punching and kicking him.
The trio’s friends intervened and told Nazrin and Tan to stop attacking Shahdam. Nurshahid pulled Shahdam up and told him to leave. Shahdam then made a comment that angered Nurshahid, and Nurshahid punched him in the mouth.
The attackers and their group left the scene, after which Shahdam called the police to report the assault.
Shahdam later sought medical attention on the same day at the Singapore General Hospital. He suffered a fractured nasal bone, a minor head injury and a laceration of the lip, and was given seven days of medical leave.
For his role in the assault, Deputy Public Prosecutor Quek Jing Feng sought a jail term of at least 10 weeks for Tan, citing his culpability and the harm caused. DPP Quek pointed out that Tan started the assault and continued to kick and punch vulnerable parts of the victim.
District Judge Sandra Looi agreed with the prosecution’s assessment.
Tan could have faced a jail term of up to two years, a fine of $5,000 or both. Nazrin was jailed 14 weeks for his role in the assault while Nurshahid will be dealt with at a later date.
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