Inmate dies in altercation
Washington, March 7: A 50-year-old inmate died Saturday following an altercation with a fellow prisoner at a high-security federal prison in Kentucky, officials said. Brian Bennett died after the fight at USP McCreary, a federal penitentiary in Pine Knot, Kentucky, the federal Bureau of Prisons said. Bennett had been in custody at the prison since January and was serving a 10-year sentence for distribution of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm as a felon. The agency provided few details about the circumstances surrounding Bennett’s death. Officials said staff members at the prison were called to respond to an altercation between inmates around 1 pm Saturday and secured the area. Bennett was critically injured during the incident and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. (AP)
Pak Navy suffers casualties
Islamabad, March 7: At least two Pakistan Navy officials were killed one other was injured in a targeted attack on their vehicle by unidentified gunmen in the coastal district of Gwadar’s Ganz area. As per officials, the Pakistan Navy officials were on their way to Ganz from Jiwani when “unidentified attackers opened fire on their vehicle with automatic weapons”. “One sailor of Pakistan Navy and a barber were martyred and another Navy man suffered injuries,” a security official reported. Security forces rushed to the scene, cordoning off the area. “The bodies were sent to their home towns and the injured was later shifted to Karachi,” the official said. (IANS)
US Senate passes $1.9tn relief bill
Washington, March 7: The evenly split US Senate has narrowly passed a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill after a marathon overnight session, with lawmakers voting along party lines. After a session that lasted more than 24 hours, the upper chamber on Saturday approved the bill, called the ‘American Rescue Plan’, by a vote of 50 to 49, with Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, missing the vote, reports Xinhua news agency. The so-called “vote-a-rama”, a long series of amendments votes, initially began on Friday morning, and was delayed for hours as Democrats struggled to convince Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia, a moderate, to support their provision on unemployment benefits. After a lengthy negotiation, Manchin and Senate Democrats finally reached a deal, allowing the “vote-a-rama” to resume shortly before midnight. (IANS)
