Acquittal in India's 2006 Nithari killings highlights 'failures' in justice system

The deadly fire at Hong Kong's Tai Po residential estate is dominating the press there. Dozens of people have been killed, and hundreds are still missing in Hong Kong's worst fire on record, in which flames engulfed seven of eight towers. The images are quite spectacular and splashed all over the local press, like the Hong Kong version of Chinese government newspaper China Daily. It also headlines on President Xi Jinping calling for full coordination and support in stopping the blaze and assisting local authorities. Like China Daily, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post also has its masthead in black, in deference to the victims of this fire. The daily focuses on the speculation behind the causes of the blaze: alleged irresponsible smoking of workers in the extensive renovations of the housing estate, as well as flammable scaffolding. The New York Times, meanwhile, looks at comparisons to the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London, which killed 72 people. It was the subject of multiple investigations due to the flammable exterior cladding on the building which helped spread the flames. The New York Times interviews Jonathan Barnett, managing director of a fire engineering firm. He notes that the Hong Kong towers were cloaked in bamboo scaffolding during renovations. Bamboo is lightweight and easy to transport but also highly flammable. He speculates that this could have played the same role as the cladding in the Grenfell Tower fire. He also notes another big challenge for rescue efforts. Like Grenfell, the high-rise nature of the towers means that getting water up to the higher levels is a challenge. The way is to do it from inside, which obviously puts firefighters' lives at great risk.

Turning to India, the acquittal of a man found guilty of heinous rapes and murders of multiple women and children has sparked outrage in the country. The story is covered over six pages in India Today, the most widely read weekly magazine in India. Surinder Koli walked free earlier this month after two decades in prison for the Nithari killings in 2006. In a grisly case, the skeletal remains of several women and children were found in a drain behind a villa in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. There was evidence of necrophilia and dismemberment. Koli and his employer Moninder Singh Pander were sentenced to death, but served life sentences. Pander was freed two years ago and now, after claiming to be the victim of botched investigations, Koli also walked free this month. The magazine calls it a "shameful acquittal" that highlights criminal failures in the justice system. India Today also notes several other overturnings of convictions. This year, 12 men walked free after being acquitted of their role in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts. The magazine notes one unmistakable theme: that the real perpetrators of crimes remain unidentified, not because they evade the law but because the system fails to catch them. One of the reasons for this: botched investigations. Forensic evidence is "routinely trampled, contaminated or ignored at crime scenes," the magazine says.

Elsewhere, the Hollywood franchise "Rush Hour" will be getting a new instalment thanks to Donald Trump. As Rolling Stone notes, it has been 18 years since the last "Rush Hour film", "Rush Hour 3". The buddy cop franchise starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker was a global hit, particularly in China, but a fourth film has stalled since director Brett Ratner's career collapsed in 2017 over sexual misconduct allegations. Since "under a Trump administration no one is truly ever cancelled", Ratner appears to have bought Trump's good graces by producing an upcoming feature documentary about Melania Trump. In turn, Trump pressured Paramount studios into reviving the "Rush Hour" franchise. "Rush Hour 4" has reportedly been green lit in what Rolling Stone calls "one of the strangest imaginable uses of presidential power."

Finally, for something more out of this world, we leave you with a gorgeous picture of a planetary nebula captured by the Gemini South telescope in Chile. They are not planets at all, but glowing shells of gas ejected by dying stars, Gizmodo explains. While they are usually circular in shape, this one looks like a gorgeous orange-hued butterfly!

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