NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
Ukraine tensions: President Petro Poroshenko on Sunday called on Germany and its allies to boost their naval presence in the Black Sea to deter Russia from further aggression in the region. Poroshenko says Russia has deployed a large number of troops along its border with Ukraine, and he warned that the Kremlin intends to push further inland into Ukraine following last week’s naval clash between their forces in the Black Sea. Russia already has annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. “We need a strong, unified, unambiguous reaction to Russia’s aggressive behavior,” Poroshenko told the German Funke Media Group. On Nov. 25, Russia fired on three Ukrainian naval ships then seized them and their 24 crew members.
Commander dies: Vice Adm. Scott Stearney — the head of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the U.S. Fifth Fleet — was found dead Saturday in his residence in Bahrain. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Bahraini Ministry of Interior are investigating the death, but foul play is not suspected. Rear Adm. Paul Schlise, deputy commander of the Fifth Fleet, has taken over Stearney’s duties. Richardson described Stearney as a decorated naval warrior, a devoted husband and father, and a good friend.
Brexit politics: Britain’s opposition Labor Party ramped up the pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday, saying it will call a no-confidence vote if Parliament rejects her Brexit deal on Dec. 11. May is battling to persuade skeptical lawmakers to back the deal her government and the European Union reached last month. Rejecting it would leave the U.K. facing a messy, economically damaging “no-deal” Brexit on March 29. Labor Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said it’s “inevitable” that Labor will bring a motion of noconfidence in the government if Parliament rejects the Brexit agreement. If May’s government lost a no-confidence vote, it would have two weeks to overturn the result with a new vote by lawmakers. If that failed, Britain would hold a national election.
Pakistan clerics: The detained Islamic clerics who organized rallies across Pakistan following the acquittal of a Christian woman in a blasphemy case will face treason and terrorism charges. Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said Tehreek-eLabbaik party chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi and two other leaders have been booked under treason and terrorism charges. Chaudhry said police arrested Rizvi and more than 3,000 of his supporters who held violent rallies following the Oct. 31 acquittal of Asia Bibi by the Supreme Court. Bibi had been on death row since 2010 on charges of insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. Rizvi and other clerics are accused of inciting supporters and making incendiary remarks against the judiciary and military chief.
Egypt indecency: An actress facing trial on public obscenity charges for wearing a dress revealing her legs says she did not mean to offend anyone. Rania Youssef says she may have misjudged the reaction to the dress, which showed her legs through embroidered gauze. Youssef, due in court Jan. 12, wore the dress Thursday for the closing ceremony of a Cairo film festival. Images of her were widely shared on social media, prompting a group of lawyers to file a complaint that was taken up by the chief prosecutor. It’s the latest instance of ostensibly secular authorities siding with religious conservatives in Muslim-majority Egypt, where the military overthrew an elected Islamist president in 2013.