Fri, Jan 16, 2015 page7

• World News Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  IRAN

  US reporter faces trial

  The Washington Post’s correspondent in Iran — imprisoned since July for unspecified reasons — has been formally charged and is to be tried in a Revolutionary Court, the nation’s official Islamic Republic News Agency said on Wednesday. It did not describe the charges or say when the trial was to begin. The announcement essentially confirmed what the family of the correspondent, Jason Rezaian, a US citizen of Iranian descent from California, had said more than a month ago. The official news agency quoted Tehran’s chief prosecutor as saying that Rezaian “has been charged and his case has been forwarded to the Revolutionary Court,” which typically handles security or religious cases.

  UNITED STATES

  Shakeup hits Secret Service

  The US Secret Service’s interim director has demoted four of the agency’s senior executives as part of a management shakeup after a series of scandals, the agency said on Wednesday. The decision was made in response to a recent US Department of Homeland Security report that outlined the Secret Service’s shortcomings, Interim Director Joseph Clancy said. He said he also based the personnel moves on his own assessments since he took over the agency in October last year. Some of the executives are expected to remain at the Secret Service, an agency official said, adding that all are eligible for retirement. They were identified as Paul Morrissey, the assistant director for the Office of Investigations; Dale Pupillo, the assistant director for protective operations; Mark Copanazzi, the assistant director for technology; and Jane Murphy, the assistant director for government and public affairs.

  UNITED STATES

  Murdoch stirs ‘tweetstorm’

  Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch on Wednesday sought to backtrack from a Twitter storm stemming from his comments about Muslims following last week’s Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris. Murdoch drew fire for tweeting on Friday last week: “Maybe most Moslems peaceful, but until they recognize and destroy their growing jihadist cancer they must be held responsible.” Criticism was led by Los Angeles-based comic Aziz Ansari, who wrote: “Are you responsible for the evil shit all Christians do or just the insane amount of evil you yourself contribute to?” Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling weighed in, tweeting: “I was born Christian. If that makes Rupert Murdoch my responsibility, I’ll auto-excommunicate.”

  RUSSIA

  Killer ex-officer gets life

  A retired Russian policeman was jailed for life on Wednesday for raping and murdering 22 women between 1994 and 2000. Mikhail Popkov — a police officer at the time of most of the murders — raped and stabbed the women late at night in the Siberian city of Angarsk after offering to give them lifts in his police car, investigators said. “Investigators managed to gather evidence implicating Popkov in 22 murders and two attempted murders of women,” the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation said in a statement after his sentencing. His victims included a teacher and a shop assistant, Russian media outlets reported. Popkov described himself as a “cleaner,” purging the city of prostitutes, Rossiya 1 television reported. “By calling himself a cleaner, he was trying to justify himself,” prosecutor Olga Muzykova told Rossiya 1. “He was an ordinary serial killer.” Popkov is to serve his sentence in a prison colony for former law enforcement officers.

  SPAIN

  Catalonia sets Sept. 27 vote

  Catalonia will hold an election for its regional parliament on Sept. 27, a vote the main parties want to use as a proxy for a referendum on independence opposed by Madrid. The date, announced at a news conference by the head of the northeastern regional government Artur Mas on Wednesday, is a few months before the nation’s general election and reignites the deeply divisive issue of Catalonia’s status within or without Spain. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has taken a hard line on secessionist ambitions in the region, which accounts for one fifth of the nation’s economic output. The vote will not include a joint list of candidates from the two main parties in favor of independence — Mas’ Convergencia (Convergence) and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (the Republican Left of Catalonia). “We will run with different [candidate] lists, but with a common national road map,” Mas said.

  INDIA

  Writer quits after protests

  An acclaimed Tamil-language novelist from the south has announced he is quitting following protests by right-wing Hindu and caste groups over his book. The decision by Perumal Murugan has caused public outrage, with many viewing it as a blow to freedom of expression. The novelist posted on Facebook: “Writer Perumal Murugan is dead. He will continue to live as a teacher.” Hindu nationalist groups have held street protests in the town where he lives following his 2010 novel about a childless couple and the woman’s attempt to have a child following a local tradition of consensual sex with a stranger. He said he was recalling all his books and promised to compensate publishers and booksellers for any losses.

  SOUTH KOREA

  Ban on Japan reporter stays

  A Japanese journalist on trial for allegedly defaming South Korean President Park Geun-hye yesterday said that a ban on his leaving the country had been extended by another three months. The case has strained relations between Seoul and Tokyo, which condemned the extension as a “grave humanitarian issue” and said it would issue a formal protest. “I was told by my lawyers that the ban on my leaving the country had been renewed for three more months,” Tatsuya Kato said. The travel ban on the former Seoul bureau chief of Japan’s conservative Sankei Shimbun has been in force since August last year. Kato is charged with criminal libel punishable by up to seven years in jail. The charge stems from an August article he wrote about Park’s whereabouts on the day the Sewol ferry sank in April last year with the loss of about 300 lives. His next hearing is scheduled for Monday.

  CHINA

  Pilgrimage probe launched

  Authorities are investigating 32 officials from Xinjiang for graft linked to pilgrimages by Muslims to Mecca, the English-language China Daily said yesterday. China’s Uighur Muslims can usually only make pilgrimages to Mecca on government-organized trips. The China Daily said 14,000 such pilgrimages were organized last year, though some of the people who went to Mecca were “unqualified.” It did not explain what that meant. The officials included Kizilsu’s former director of pilgrimage affairs, the head of the public security bureau and the mayor of the its most populous city, Artux. Human rights groups say Uighurs trying to go abroad are fleeing persecution under harsh government policies and they criticize China for restricting the issuance of passports and curtailing Uighurs’ foreign travel which some say fuels graft.
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