■AUSTRALIA
Rudd accused of cowardice
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was on Saturday accused of kowtowing to China over his decision not to meet the Dalai Lama when the exiled Tibetan leader visits in December. Rudd braved Beijing’s displeasure and met the Dalai Lama in 2007 when he was leader of the opposition Labor Party but has kept him at bay since taking office after the November 2007 election. Greens member of parliament Sarah Hanson-Young accused Rudd of cowardice. “Mr Rudd needs to be firm and strong enough to have a meeting with the Dalai Lama,” she said. “The only understanding of this decision is his reluctance to upset the Chinese government.” Former prime minister John Howard met the Dalai Lama when he was the nation’s leader. Rudd, then opposition leader, initially refused but relented when Howard set up an appointment with him.
■INDIA
Cabin crew duke it out
Air India said yesterday it was investigating allegations of a mid-air brawl in which pilots and cabin crew were reported to have exchanged blows in front of startled passengers. The Times of India reported that crew members threw punches and hurled abuse at each other on the flight from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Delhi after a female attendant accused the pilots of sexually harassing her. The fight spilled out into the galley of the plane as about 100 passengers looked on, the paper said under the headline “Pilots, crew slug it out at 30,000 feet.” The cockpit of the Airbus A-320 was left unmanned at one point and one of the pilots threatened to divert the plane to Pakistan, the Times said. The 24-year-old female crew member and a co-pilot both suffered bruises on Saturday and police registered a case against the pilots for “outraging the modesty of a woman.”
■ITALY
Protesters want free media
Tens of thousands of protesters thronged to a historic square in one of Europe’s largest capitals on Saturday to defend press freedom amid concerns of growing government interference in how the news is reported in the country. “Free information, not on a leash,” Franco Siddi, secretary general of the Italian Press Federation, told a keyed up crowd that organizers estimated to be at least 300,000 strong. Police officials said the number was closer to 60,000. The group planned the event “after a crescendo of episodes” that suggested that the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was trying to exert pressure on the national news media, Siddi said later backstage. On Friday, Berlusconi dismissed the protest as “a real farce.” Speaking at a political convention, he said: “Freedom is far greater in Italy than any other Western country,” ANSA reported. For years accusations of conflict of interest have dogged Berlusconi, who owns the country’s leading private TV networks and a publishing empire. His government also oversees the state broadcaster RAI. In recent months, he has become increasingly impatient with the European news media and, in particular, those outlets that have riveted people with accounts of a number of racy scandals involving the 73-year-old prime minister and a clutch of young women.
■UNITED STATES
‘Anarchist’ plan foiled
A self-described New York City anarchist has been accused of tweeting the location of police officers to protesters trying to evade them during the G20 economic summit in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania State Police arrested Elliot Madison alleging he used Twitter to direct the movement of protesters and inform them about law enforcement actions at last month’s summit. The New York Post reported on Saturday. Court papers filed by Madison’s attorney said FBI agents executed a search warrant at the 41-year-old’s Queens home on Thursday. They seized computers, political writings and anarchist literature. Madison faces charges including hindering prosecution.
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