INDIA
Court allows film’s release
The Supreme Court yesterday rejected a legal attempt to block the global release of a Bollywood film that has sparked violent protests, warning against prejudging the controversial historical epic. Caste-based groups have been staging violent demonstrations against Padmavati amid rumors that it depicts a romance between a Hindu queen and a Muslim ruler. The epic was scheduled for release in the nation on Friday, but delayed indefinitely after the board of censors refused to certify it. A number of officials, including state leaders from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party, had vowed to ban screenings of the film in their jurisdictions unless controversial sections were removed. The leader of a caste-related group also offered 50 million rupees (US$769,000) to anyone who “beheaded” lead actress Deepika Padukone or director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
THAILAND
Police arrest 16 protesters
Police have arrested 16 people who were protesting against the construction of a coal-fired power plant, drawing criticism of the military government from rights activists and environmentalists. The planned power plant in the southern province of Songkhla will consist of two 1,000-megawatt units and is part of a power development plan to 2036, but activists object to its expected environmental and health impact on communities in the area. The 16 protesters were arrested on Monday as they traveled from Thepa District, the site of the plant, to the provincial capital to present a petition to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who was due in the city yesterday for a meeting. “This incident shows the true face of Thailand’s military dictators, who have committed a long list of abuses and repressions since the May 2014 coup,” said Sunai Phasuk, Thailand researcher for US-based group Human Rights Watch.
INDIA
Six Britons freed from jail
Six Britons who were among 35 crew on a US-operated anti-piracy ship serving jail terms for illegal weapons possession yesterday left prison after their court acquittal. The six were collected from prison by British embassy officials and were seen being driven away. A high court on Monday overturned five-year jail terms passed on the six Britons, three Ukrainians, 14 Estonians and 12 Indians in January last year. “Officials from Estonian embassy are still inside the prison. Once the process is completed, 14 Estonians and three Ukrainians will also be released,” Chennai deputy inspector general of prisons Murugesan said.
GERMANY
Liberal mayor stabbed
The mayor of a small town known for his liberal migrant policy was stabbed in the neck at a snack stand on Monday evening and seriously hurt. A man who witnessed the attack in the town of Altena told German television that a man, probably under the influence of alcohol, stabbed the mayor in the neck with a 30cm-long knife while shouting criticism of his asylum policy. “The security authorities believe that there was a political motive to this attack,” North Rhine-Westphalia Premier Armin Laschet said. The attacker was arrested and state prosecutors in Hagen are investigating attempted murder, media reported. No one was immediately available at the prosecutors. The 57-year old mayor, Andreas Hollstein, who has written a book about his fight against the far-right, was badly hurt, but was treated in hospital and has said he is back home with his family.
ARGENTINA
Sub reported short-circuit
In their last message, the crew of a missing submarine reported an electrical short-circuit caused by seawater which had started a fire, A24 television channel reported on Monday. The ARA San Juan on Nov. 15 reported that seawater had entered the ventilation system, causing a battery on the diesel-electric vessel to short-circuit and start a fire, according to the text of the message. Authorities are still searching for the sub.
UNITED STATES
Conyers accused of touching
A former deputy chief of staff for US Representative John Conyers says the veteran lawmaker made unwanted sexual advances toward her, including inappropriate touching. Deanna Maher, who ran a Michigan office for him from 1997 to 2005, told the Detroit News that there were three instances of inappropriate conduct. She says the first was in 1997 during an event with the Congressional Black Caucus, when she rejected his offer to share a hotel room and have sex. The others involved unwanted touching in a car in 1998 and unwanted touching of her legs under her dress in 1999. Conyers’ attorney Arnold Reed questioned why Maher continued to work for him after the alleged incidents. Maher says she needed a job at age 57 and feared no one would hire her.
UNITED STATES
Appointee leaves State
A senior official overseeing a reorganization of the Department of State that has been criticized by current and former diplomats has stepped down after less than four months on the job, officials said on Monday. Maliz Beams, a former financial industry executive who was named department counselor on Aug. 17, is “stepping away” to return to Boston, a department spokesman said on condition of anonymity. Christine Ciccone, the department’s deputy chief of staff, will take over the agency’s “redesign,” he added. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has been criticized by current and former diplomats and members of Congress for his management of the agency, where may top posts have not been filled nearly 10 months into his tenure and there has been an exodus of senior diplomats.
UNITED STATES
NYC dancing ban repealed
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday signed into law the repeal of a 91-year-old piece of legislation that had technically banned dancing in thousands of bars, clubs and restaurants in the city. The city council voted overwhelmingly on Oct. 31 to axe the law, which took effect in 1926 during Prohibition and which campaigners decried as racist, saying it was used initially to crack down on Harlem’s jazz clubs, where blacks and whites mixed. “It’s 2017 and this law just didn’t make sense. Nightlife is part of the New York melting pot that brings people together,” De Blasio said. “We want to be a city where people can work hard, and enjoy their city’s nightlife without arcane bans on dancing.” The city will still require security guards and surveillance cameras for many of the dance venues.
UNITED STATES
Reprieve for Indonesians
Dozens of Indonesians fighting deportation on Monday won another reprieve when District Court Judge Patti Saris in Boston ruled that a federal court has the authority to take up their case. She rejected the government’s argument that the court does not have jurisdiction in the matter and that immigration officials should be allowed to immediately deport the 50 or so Christians. Their attorney called the judge’s decision “enormously significant.”
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
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