Indian police detain 40 activists protesting tree felling for new metro
Indian police detained 40 protesters demanding that the Mumbai Metro Rail Corp Ltd (MMRCL) not cut some 2,700 trees to build a train parking shed for an upcoming subway line, a spokesman for the Mumbai police said on Saturday.
Iraqi authorities lift Baghdad curfew; death toll rises to 72 in days of unrest
Iraqi authorities lifted a days-long curfew in Baghdad on Saturday that anti-government protesters had defied, as the toll from four days of violent unrest rose to 72 killed and hundreds injured.
Iran frees Australian couple imprisoned for three months on spying charges
An Australian couple who spent more than three months in a prison in Tehran has been freed, Australia’s foreign minister said on Saturday, and an Iranian news agency later reported that an Iranian student was released from detention in Australia.
Erdogan says Turkey plans military operation east of Euphrates in Syria
President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Turkey will carry out an air and ground military operation east of the Euphrates River in Syria, his most direct indication of an incursion since Ankara and Washington decided to establish a “safe zone”.
Greek PM asks U.S.’s Pompeo for help to calm offshore tensions with Turkey
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged the United States on Saturday to use its influence to defuse tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, where Cyprus and Turkey are locked in a dispute over offshore rights.
Hundreds return to Hong Kong streets as metro, shops shut after violence
Hong Kong’s metro system stayed shut on Saturday, paralyzing transport in the Asian financial hub, and malls and shops closed early after a night of chaos in which police shot a teenage boy and protesters torched businesses and metro stations.
Hong Kong’s Lam says ‘extreme violence’ justified use of emergency powers
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Saturday “extreme violence” in the Asian financial hub had justified her decision to invoke emergency powers for the first time in half a century, following a night of violent protests.
EU rejects UK’s request for weekend talks as Johnson insists on no Brexit delay
The European Union has rejected a British request to hold Brexit talks this weekend, British media reported, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated his commitment to leaving the bloc on Oct. 31 despite the possibility of not reaching an exit deal.
Hong Kong’s Lam says ‘extreme violence’ justified use of emergency powers
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Saturday “extreme violence” in the Asian financial hub had justified her decision to invoke emergency powers for the first time in half a century, following a night of violent protests.
Grenade attack in Kashmir injures 10 amid India clampdown
A grenade attack on Saturday in Kashmir’s southern city of Anantnag injured 10 people, including a traffic policeman and a journalist, police said on Twitter, blaming “terrorists”.
