NEWSMAKERS OF THE WEEK
UNLIKE HARVEY WEINSTEIN OR BILL COSBY, BRETT KAVANAUGH STANDS ACCUSED OF HAVING ASSAULTED HIS VICTIMS AS A GROUP. WHETHER HE IS GUILTY OR INNOCENT IS YET TO BE PROVED. BUT IT BRINGS TO FRONT THE DUAL STANDARDS THAT EXIST IN THE CORRIDORS OF POWER.
BRETT KAVANAUGH
Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination has been delayed as US President Donald Trump ordered a new FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations against his Supreme Court pick late on Friday. After a day- long hearing at which 51- year- old university professor Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of pinning her down and assaulting her at a party in the 1980s, the Senate Judiciary Committee had earlier on Friday approved his nomination in a preliminary vote along party lines.
BILL COSBY
Disgraced television icon Bill Cosby was handcuffed and taken into custody on Tuesday to begin a minimum three- year prison sentence for sexually assaulting a woman at his Philadelphia mansion 14 years ago. The 81- year- old is the first celebrity convicted and sentenced for a sex crime since the fall of H. Weinstein. Many women have accused the TV star of sexual misconduct.
PADMA LAKSHMI
Prominent Indian- American model host, Padma Lakshmi, has alleged that she was raped by her boyfriend at the age of 16. Lakshmi said she wanted to bring out this secret in the wake of allegations of sexual assault on US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Lakshmi, a former wife of author Salman Rushdie, explained in an article in The New York Times that she kept quiet for 32 years as she feared fingers would point at her.
POPE FRANCIS
Pope Francis acknowledged on Tuesday that the sex abuse scandals rocking the Catholic Church were driving people away and said the church must change its ways if it wants to keep future generations. He referred directly to the crisis convulsing his papacy on the fourth and final day of his Baltic pilgrimage.“We know - and you have told us - that many young people do not turn to us for anything because they don’t feel we have anything meaningful to say to them,” he told a gathering of Catholic, Lutheran and Orthodox people.
ABHILASH TOMY
Injured Navy sailor Abhilash Tomy, is recuperating at a remote Indian Ocean island after being rescued from mid- sea early this week. The 39- year- old sailor was injured when his yacht was struck by a storm while he was participating in the Golden Globe Race. He was rescued after being adrift for three days. He said, “The sea was unbelievably rough. Me and my boat were pitched against nature’s might. I survived because of my sailing skills.”