Dave Sharma wins Australian Senate seat
Melbourne, Nov 27: Dave Sharma, who became the first Indian-origin lawmaker in Australia’s Parliament in 2019, will return to politics after his victory in the New South Wales Liberal Senate race. Sharma, 47, will replace ex-foreign minister Marise Payne, who has retired from the Senate, the Australian Associated Press reported. Sharma, who represented the Sydney seat of Wentworth until his defeat at the 2022 election, beat former New South Wales (NSW) minister Andrew Constance, a frontrunner backed by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. In a vote by the New South Wales Liberal Party members, Sharma defeated Constance 251-206 in the final ballot on Sunday, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. Sharma, who served as Australia’s ambassador to Israel from 2013 to 2017, was backed by the moderates within the party. Asserting that taking over from former Senator Payne was a privilege, Sharma said, “I would like to thank the party members for the opportunity to hold the Albanese government to account in the Senate over its many missteps and wrong decisions, and to fight for the many households across New South Wales (NSW) struggling to deal with Labor’s cost-of-living crisis.” (PTI)
Cops nab suspect in shooting of three Palestinians
Vermont (US), Nov 27: Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting of three young men of Palestinian descent who were attending a Thanksgiving holiday gathering near the University of Vermont campus on Saturday evening. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Jason J. Eaton, 48, while conducting a search of the shooting area in Burlington at 3:38 p.m. on Sunday, the Burlington Police Department said in a statement. Authorities collected evidence during a search of Eaton’s apartment in a building in front of the shooting location. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, police said. The attack that injured the three men around 6:25 p.m. on Saturday may have been a hate crime, authorities previously said. (AP)
Imran Khan sent to 14-day judicial remand
Islamabad, Nov 27: A Pakistani accountability court on Monday sent Imran Khan on a 14-day judicial remand in a corruption case, rejecting the request of the country’s anti-graft body for extending the jailed former prime minister’s physical remand. Judge Muhammad Bashir of the Islamabad Accountability Court presided over the hearing of the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case held at the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, where Khan is currently jailed, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. The 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chief has been incarcerated in the high-security jail in Rawalpindi since September 26 in various cases. Khan, the primary accused and his wife Bushra Bibi, 49, were present during the hearing held at the high-security jail. Khan’s sisters, Aleema Khanum and Noreen Khanum, were also present during the hearing, the report said. Judge Bashir rejected the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) request for extending the former premier’s physical remand in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case. (PTI)