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US must reckon with gun violence, race issues: Obama

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Washington: As a shocked America mourned the killing of nine people in a historic black church, President Barack Obama said the US must eventually reckon with all too frequent mass shootings and gun violence.

“Now is a time for mourning and healing,” said the country’s first African-American President in a White House statement shortly after the capture of the white man who attacked the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston South Carolina.

“But let’s be clear. At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence doesn’t happen in other advanced countries. it doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency,” he said.

According to a CBS count, it was the 14th time that Obama was speaking after a mass shooting. It was another example, he said, of innocent people being killed because someone who “wanted to inflict harm” had “no trouble getting their hands on a gun.”

“The fact this took place in a black church raises questions about a dark part of our history,” Obama said.

The suspect, Dylann Storm Roof, 21, who joined a prayer meeting inside the church and spent nearly an hour there Wednesday night before killing six women and three men, including the pastor, was captured without resistance Thursday after an all-night manhunt.

According to a law enforcement source cited by CBS, an eyewitness told authorities that Roof stood up in the church and said he was there to shoot black people and then made some derogatory remarks.

During a court appearance Thursday afternoon in North Carolina, Roof waived extradition. He also waived his right to counsel, meaning he will either represent himself or hire his own lawyer.

Obama, who later flew to Los Angeles spoke to South Carolina’s Indian-American Governor Nikki Haley, and senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott from Air Force One and offered sincere condolences on behalf of himself and the First Lady

He also pledged to make available any federal resources that can support South Carolina in the aftermath of last night’s tragedy.

“We all woke up today and the heart and soul of South Carolina was broken,” said an emotional Haley at a press conference announcing Roof’s arrest “And so we have some grieving to do, and we’ve got some pain we have to go through.

“Parents are having to explain to the their kids that they have to go to church and feel safe and that’s not something that we ever thought we’d would have to deal with,” she said.

“Having said that, we are a strong and faithful state,” Haley said. “We love our state, we love our county, and most importantly we love each other.”

Charleston County Coroner Rae Wooten said autopsies would be conducted over the next several days and did not have specific information on how many times the victims were shot or the locations of their injuries.

Roof had a criminal record. State court records show a pending felony drug case and a past misdemeanor trespassing charge. He also displayed the flags of defeated white-ruled regimes: a Confederate flag was on his license plate, according to an official.

A photo on his Facebook page shows him wearing a jacket with stitched-on flag patches from Rhodesia and apartheid-era South Africa.

The shooting evoked painful memories of other attacks. Black churches were bombed in the 1960s when they served as organizing hubs for the civil rights movement and burned by arson across the South in the 1990s. Others survived shooting sprees.

Calling the events in South Carolina “heartbreaking and deeply tragic,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch also told reporters Thursday that the Justice Department is opening a hate crime investigation into the Charleston shooting.

Several presidential candidates have been in and out of South Carolina, an early-voting state recently.

Republican Jeb Bush cancelled his planned visit to Charleston Thursday.

Democrat Hillary Clinton, who was attending a fundraiser Wednesday at a home less than a mile from the church just hours before the shooting, called the news “heartbreaking.”

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Foodman Vishal Singh Honored for Hunger Free World Mission in Bangkok

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Lucknow: Vishal Singh, a renowned social worker from Lucknow, also known as Foodman, has once again made India proud. He was honored by the Happy Hands Gloves Cooperative Limited Company in Korathai, Thailand, for his work with the Hunger Free World Mission.

The Hunger Free World Mission’s meeting was held in Korathai, Thailand, under Vishal Singh’s leadership. Representatives from several countries, including Mr. Raja Dwivedi (Managing Director of Happy Hands Gloves Limited), Thailand Coordinator Mr. Raja Mishra, and member Mr. Varun Singh, attended the event.

Under Vishal Singh’s leadership, the attendees took a pledge to work together toward creating a hunger-free world.

Speaking on the occasion, Vishal Singh explained that the main goal of the Hunger Free World Mission is social participation. He said the mission is not just about feeding people but also about meeting other basic needs of those who are struggling. The mission focuses on helping families of terminally ill patients in hospitals by providing food and shelter. It also works to fulfill essential needs like education, jobs, and care for the elderly.

For the last 16 years, the Vijay Sri Foundation has been providing free services, benefiting thousands of people. Vishal Singh highlighted that the mission aims to gain global recognition like other organizations such as WHO, WWF, and Red Cross, which work for social causes.

During this meeting, Vishal Singh was appointed as the Chairman of the Hunger Free World Mission by representatives from various countries. They also discussed holding regular meetings in different countries to push the mission forward.

Business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has also supported this humanitarian mission, vowing to promote the idea of “Seva Parmo Dharma” (Service is the highest duty) worldwide. Vishal Singh praised him, stating that people like Dr .Abhishek Verma inspire others to work for the betterment of society.

Recently, Romania’s Ambassador, Mr . Daniela Sezonov Ţane, invited Vishal Singh to the Romanian Embassy in Delhi, where they discussed the mission in detail. Impressed by his humanitarian work, she honored Vishal Singh and invited him to Romania to take the mission forward .

Food man Vishal Singh has been serving the people of India for the past 16 years. Through the Vijay Sri Foundation, he provides free meals to cancer patients & their families ,shelter, and education for women & children along with running free old-age homes in Lucknow.

In addition to his humanitarian work, Vishal Singh also addresses issues like crime and corruption through his role as Chairman of Seva Path Media and Managing Director of Vijay Sri Foundation.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vishal Singh and his team worked tirelessly to provide food and help to the needy, including starving children, elderly citizens, and pregnant women. Despite contracting the virus himself, he continued to assist others after his recovery. He even created a life-saving oxygen regulator using household items, which was praised by doctors both in India and abroad.

In his address at the meeting, Vishal Singh spoke about his mission to create a hunger-free world. He pointed out that India’s large population, along with issues like unemployment and poverty, has caused the country to fall on the Hunger Index. He urged people to contribute just one handful of grains daily to help create a hunger-free world.

He concluded by saying that through social participation, we can empower the people around us, meet their basic needs, and work together to build a stronger, more prosperous, and developed society.

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