Gay rights rule change sets up cultural battle in conservative India
When R. Balaji, a 30-year-old gay man from India’s IT hub Bengaluru, comes up for white-collar job interviews, recruiters are initially enthusiastic.
After spy’s scepticism, Germany says will probe Chemnitz events
Germany will continue to investigate events in Chemnitz following a fatal stabbing, the interior minister said on Friday after the domestic intelligence chief suggested a video showing violence in the eastern city could be “targeted misinformation”.
Far-right frontrunner in Brazil presidential election stabbed
The far-right candidate in the Brazilian presidential election, who is the current frontrunner, was stabbed while campaigning on Friday, throwing the election into chaos just weeks before the vote.
Power returning to Hokkaido, but quake exposes flaws of Japan grid
After an earthquake knocked out power to 5.3 million people this week, Hokkaido Electric expects to restore service to most of them by the end of Friday, but experts say the island-wide outage highlights fundamental flaws in Japan’s power grid.
Turkey appoints ambassador to Netherlands in effort to normalize ties
Turkey and the Netherlands on Friday appointed ambassadors to each other, as part of an agreement to normalize their relations, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said.
Uneasy truce may not last long in embattled Libyan capital
Residents of Tripoli emerging from their homes to take advantage of a ceasefire between armed groups noticed one thing straight away. The militias had not withdrawn their heavy weapons from strategic locations in the Libyan capital.
Russian fury over pension age hike clouds Moscow mayoral election
Polls show President Vladimir Putin’s former chief-of-staff will comfortably be re-elected Moscow’s mayor on Sunday, but public anger over planned increases to the nationwide pension age means many voters may stay away, tarnishing his win.
German spy chief at odds with Merkel over hounding of migrants in Chemnitz
Germany’s domestic spy chief expressed scepticism on Friday that migrants had been hounded in Chemnitz after the fatal stabbing of a German man, undermining Chancellor Angela Merkel who has said images from the eastern city “very clearly” showed hate.
Iran, Russia, Turkey to decide fate of Syria’s Idlib, air strikes hit rebel areas
The presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey – the main outside players in Syria’s long war – were meeting in Tehran on Friday to discuss the fate of the rebel-held province of Idlib as rival factions there prepared for what could be the conflict’s last g…
Air strikes hit Idlib on day of Syria summit in Tehran – monitor
Air strikes hit parts of Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province on Friday, a war monitor said, the same day as the presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey will meet in Tehran to discuss what to do about the enclave.
