A court in the financial hub of India sentenced three men, who had been found guilty of gang rapes, to death.

The sentences of death were the first handed down following the government’s increased penalties for sex crimes after the gang rape that killed a young female bus passenger in New Delhi back in December of 2012.

The three men, who were given the death sentences on Friday in Mumbai in western India, had been convicted of the gang rape of a photojournalist in a sawmill compound that had been abandoned. The three were also found guilty of raping another female in the same location in an attack that was unrelated.

In addition, on Friday another court in the southern region of India overturned 24 men’s acquittals that had been involved in a case of a teenager who had been raped for a number of weeks 18 years ago in southern India.

The Kerala High Court handed down a sentence of life to one man and the other 23 were given prison terms of varying years, that ranged from 7 to 11 years.

The girl who had been raped over 18 years ago was raped at least once by more than 40 men in different places over a period of 40 days in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Officials in the court said the woman’s rapists included lawyers, professor, government officials and businessmen.

While the gang rape for multiple days took place in 1996, the men were given acquittals back in 2005. However, the top court in India ordered that a retrial be held last year.

The justice system in India moves at a snail’s pace, but the gang rape in December of 2012 unleashed public outcry and anger across the country over how women are treated and the long epidemic that most often went unspoken of sexual violence.

A strict law against rape and trials that take place faster were amongst the changes that took place in the India legal system.

The woman killed in December of 2012 had been picked up by a bus along with her companion when five men on the bus, who had been drinking while driving around New Delhi, beat her companion and raped and beat her before throwing both from the bus.

A powerful earthquake with an epicenter off the northern coast of Chile was registered with a magnitude of 8.2, which lead to six deaths. The quake prompted officials from Chile to evacuate the northern coast of the country due to fears of a tsunami.

The warning of a tsunami was issued for all of the South America coastline on the Pacific Coast though it was later lowered to a threat of a tsunami and eventually lifted entirely.

Rodrigo Penailillo the interior minister said six people were killed attributing the deaths to people being crushed and suffering heart attacks.

President Michelle Bachelet said early Wednesday that she had declared a state of catastrophe in the nation’s northern section in the regions of Tarapaca, Parinacota and Arica.

The military was traveling to those areas in order to avoid looting.

A wave of approximately six feet came ashore in Iquique a port city according to a deputy interior minister. The city was located 59 miles from the epicenter of the quake.

Chile sent armed forces to the city as well after more than 300 prison inmates were able to flee a prison for women during the chaos that followed the quake.

In the small town of Huara, located between Arica and Iquique, Mayor Carlos Silva said people in that area were prepared for an earthquake since there had been many small shakes. He said they had utilized a very efficient plan for evacuation.

Images on Chilean television were of people walking quickly to evacuate Antofagasta a coastal city. Viewers were advised by newscasters to buy candles and use social media in a responsible way as well as not to use any elevators when evacuating.

Officials were also evacuating people living on Easter Island off the coast, said the National Police of Chile.

Callers into a program on the radio said the earthquake had lasted a long time and had been very strong, causing great chaos in city streets with large sections losing electricity. Some roads in the area had been damaged, said the radio station.

The mayor of Arica in the north said he did not have reports of damage, although he was aware of some homes damaged by the shaking.

This quake followed hundreds of smaller temblors that hit the same area the past couple of weeks, which increased the fears a larger one would hit.

Three people were pronounced dead by authorities following an early morning fire on Friday that destroyed a motel that was two-story tall, said police.

Officials are continuing to search room by room at the Mariner’s Cove Motor Inn. Sources said it was too hard to tell if the amount of fatalities from the fire would increase.

A number of other people suffered injuries due to the blaze, as many had to leap from the motel’s second floor, said police. Other suffered smoke inhalation and burns.

An officer from the Sheriff’s office in Ocean County was injured, but police do not know how severe his injuries are.

Firefighters from three towns – South Wall, Point Pleasant Beach and Point Pleasant – were called in to battle the fire that had been first reported between 4:30 a.m. and 4:45 a.m.

As late as 8:00 a.m. Friday morning there were still more than 50 firefighters on the scene.

The motel did not have concrete walls said one resident of Point Pleasant and therefore it became engulfed very quickly.

One woman at the scene, who did not want to leave her name, told reporters she was hoping to hear news about a friend who lived at the motel.

The manager’s office had been destroyed in the fire and no records have been obtained about residents in the motel.

Dogs able to detect accelerants and cadavers were being brought to the motel early Friday morning. Victims were taken to a squad building for first aid, and the American Red Cross was called to assist.

Authorities said they would hold a news conference before noon. The fire will be investigated jointly by the sheriff’s offices and the county prosecutor. In addition, the Point Pleasant police and the fire marshal from the country will also take part.

Properties that were adjacent to the motel received damage. The motel is open all year. It has been opened since 1985.

The motel, which is L-shaped, is just blocks for the beach, boardwalk and Manasquan Inlet.

Parliament in Crimea has declared its independence formally from Ukraine and has asked to become a part of the Russian Federation.

This follows the controversial referendum from Sunday in which officials said overwhelmingly backed the succession from Ukraine.

The central government in Kiev said it would not recognize Sunday’s results. The EU and U.S. said the vote was not legal and vowed to impose numerous sanctions on Moscow.

The Crimean peninsula since the latter part of February has been under control of forces that are pro-Russia.

The EU will, going forward, have a review of whether it is dependent too much on energy from Russia.

This week the EU challenge is to show unity and resolve. Any obvious divisions would be exploited by Russia. The EU resolve would be delivering on the sanctions that have been warned about.

This crisis has come on the heels of the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych who was pro-Moscow.

His decision rejecting the trade deal that had been long-awaited with the EU in favor of better and closer relations with Moscow, sparked street protests for months, which culminated in clashes that were deadly.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk the interim Prime Minister of Ukraine called the vote on Sunday a circus performance supported by Russian troops that reached 21,000, who with guns are attempting to prove the referendum’s legality.

The vote had been boycotted by many amongst the minority in Crimea, the Tatars and Ukrainians who are only about one third of the peninsula’s population.

At the same time, the government in Kiev formally approved the mobilization of 40,000 reservists.

The National Security and Defense Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy said that the incidents in Crimea were blatant aggression and that mobilization would prevent action of a similar kind in the southeastern part of Ukraine, which has had rallies that were pro-Moscow lately.

On Monday, according to the Crimea parliament vote, the laws of Ukraine no longer are applicable in the region and that all state property of Ukraine is now part of the independent Crimea.