AUSTRALIA
Women win appeal
A group of women strip-searched after boarding a Qatar Airways flight in Doha won a court victory yesterday that paves the way for them to sue the airline. Qatari authorities pulled women off 10 planes in Doha in 2020 and forced them to take invasive gynecological exams. Authorities were hunting for the mother of a newborn found abandoned in an airport bathroom. Five women caught up in the ordeal lodged legal action against Qatar Airways, saying that they were assaulted and falsely imprisoned. The Federal Court last year ruled they could not directly sue the airline, but that decision was reversed on appeal yesterday, with three Federal Court judges saying that the case should be heard at trial. The government cited the incident as a reason to block Qatar Airways from operating more flights into the country.
Photo: Reuters
SOUTH KOREA
K-pop agency raided
Police yesterday raided offices at the headquarters of K-pop agency HYBE, Yonhap news agency reported. The country’s financial regulator has referred HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk to prosecutors to investigate his activities during the company’s stock market listing, local media reported. HYBE manages the global K-pop boy band BTS.
INDIA
Bogus embassy probed
Police have arrested a man accused of running a bogus embassy from a rented residential building near the capital, New Delhi, and recovered vehicles with fake diplomatic plates. The suspect impersonated an ambassador and allegedly duped people for money by promising overseas employment, said senior police officer Sushil Ghule of Uttar Pradesh’s special task force. Harshvardhan Jain, 47, claimed to have acted as an adviser or ambassador to entities such as “Seborga” or “Westarctica,” police said. Police recovered multiple doctored photographs showing Jain with world leaders, and fake seals of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and nearly three dozen countries, Ghule said. Jain was also suspected of illegal money laundering through shell companies abroad, he said. He is also facing charges of forgery, impersonation and possessing fake documents. Police recovered four vehicles bearing fake diplomatic plates, and nearly 4.5 million Indian rupees (US$52,095) and other foreign currencies in cash from Jain’s rented premises, which were adorned with international flags of several nations. Jain or his lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment.
CYPRUS
Blaze kills two
Police yesterday found two bodies inside a burned-out vehicle after a massive wildfire scorched 100km2 of forested hillsides, destroyed numerous homes and forced the evacuation of a dozen villages on the southern side of the island nation’s Troodos mountain range. Police initially reported late on Wednesday that Civil Defense personnel found the charred body of a single individual inside the vehicle on a main road connecting fire-hit hillside villages. However, a second body was discovered early yesterday morning and police said identification efforts were ongoing. Fire Service spokesman Andreas Kettis told the Cyprus news agency that there were no active fronts, but fire crews were still battling numerous flare-ups. The fire forced the evacuation of 14 villages along a 14km stretch of mountainous terrain.
Trinidad and Tobago declared a new state of emergency on Friday after authorities accused a criminal network operating in prisons across the country of plotting to kill key government officials and attack public institutions. It is the second state of emergency to be declared in the twin-island republic in a matter of months. In December last year, authorities took similar action, citing concerns about gang violence. That state of emergency lasted until mid-April. Police said that smuggled cellphones enabled those involved in the plot to exchange encrypted messages. Months of intelligence gathering led investigators to believe the targets included senior police officers,
FOREST SITE: A rescue helicopter spotted the burning fuselage of the plane in a forested area, with rescue personnel saying they saw no evidence of survivors A passenger plane carrying nearly 50 people crashed yesterday in a remote spot in Russia’s far eastern region of Amur, with no immediate signs of survivors, authorities said. The aircraft, a twin-propeller Antonov-24 operated by Angara Airlines, was headed to the town of Tynda from the city of Blagoveshchensk when it disappeared from radar at about 1pm. A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage of the plane on a forested mountain slope about 16km from Tynda. Videos published by Russian investigators showed what appeared to be columns of smoke billowing from the wreckage of the plane in a dense, forested area. Rescuers in
A disillusioned Japanese electorate feeling the economic pinch goes to the polls today, as a right-wing party promoting a “Japanese first” agenda gains popularity, with fears over foreigners becoming a major election issue. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the Sanseito Party has widened its appeal ahead of today’s upper house vote — railing against immigration and dragging rhetoric that was once confined to Japan’s political fringes into the mainstream. Polls show the party might only secure 10 to 15 of the 125 seats up for grabs, but it is
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is to meet US President Donald Trump this week, hoping Manila’s status as a key Asian ally would secure a more favorable trade deal before the deadline on Friday next week. Marcos would be the first Southeast Asian leader to meet Trump in his second term. Trump has already struck trade deals with two of Manila’s regional partners, Vietnam and Indonesia, driving tough bargains in trade talks even with close allies that Washington needs to keep onside in its strategic rivalry with China. “I expect our discussions to focus on security and defense, of course, but also
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