Ghani backs suicide bomb fatwa

AFP, Kabul

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani yesterday condemned Monday's suicide bomb attack outside a peace tent gathering of Muslim clerics in Kabul and backed their fatwa against suicide attacks, saying they violated the tenets of Islam. The bomb killed 14 people, including seven clerics.

Harvey Weinstein set to plead not guilty AFP, New York

Fallen movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was expected to plead not guilty yesterday to rape and sexual assault charges in New York, opening a legal battle for the #MeToo movement that dreams of seeing him behind bars. The 66-year-old Weinstein was charged with rape and another sex crime in New York late last month, nearly eight months after his career imploded in a blaze of accusations of sexual misconduct.

11 killed, 25 trapped in China mine blast

AFP, Beijing

Eleven people were killed and nine injured yesterday in an explosion at an iron-ore mine in northeast China's Liaoning province, state media reported. Twenty-five people are trapped in the mine run by China National Coal Group Co, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Cartoonist jailed for insulting Erdogan AFP, Istanbul

Turkish police have jailed one of the country's most prominent cartoonists to serve out a 14 month sentence first handed down last year on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish media reported on Tuesday. Nuri Kurtcebe, 69, was detained and sent to prison Monday. Kurtcebe was sentenced to a one year, two months and 15 days jail term for several caricatures he drew in 2015.