NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 _ Belarus protests: Western nations denounced arbitrary arrests and other forms of repression in Belarus during a review of its record at the U. N.’ s top human rights body on Monday, with the U. S. ambassador calling on authorities there to halt a “brutal crackdown.” The comments came during a Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council, in which every country in the world has its rights record scrutinized. The review happened to fall a day after thousands of protesters in Minsk swarmed the streets to demand the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko — the 13th straight Sunday marked by demonstrations against his rule. Lukashenko won his sixth term in an Aug. 9 election that is widely seen as rigged.
2 _ Depp lawsuit: Johnny Depp lost his libel case Monday against the Sun tabloid newspaper for labeling him a “wife beater,” as a British judge pointed to several episodes that he said showed the actor’s exwife had feared for her life. Justice Andrew Nicol said the defendants had proved that what they published was “substantially true” during a trial in London that included lurid — and irreconcilable — accounts from Depp and Amber Heard in which each accused the other of abuse. Depp sued News Group Newspapers, publisher of the Sun, and the newspaper’s executive editor over an April 2018 article that accused him of assaulting fellow actor Heard.
3 _ Tanzania tensions: Opposition leaders said Monday that police have arrested key colleagues and charged them with “terrorismrelated offenses” and sealed off areas where a peaceful protest was to begin over last week’s election that they call too flawed to stand. Emmanuel Mvula, campaign manager with the ACT Wazalendo party, said there was a “heavy deployment of security forces” in the commercial hub of Dar es Salaam, where the two main opposition parties planned to march. The ACT Wazalendo and CHADEMA opposition parties have accused Tanzania’s ruling party of a “butchering of democracy” after President John Magufuli was declared the landslide winner of a second term.
4 Major storm: Hurricane Eta strengthened Monday into a potentially catastrophic major hurricane as it headed for Central America, where forecasters warned of widespread flooding and landslides across a vulnerable region. The U. S. National Hurricane Center said the Category 4 hurricane is likely to strengthen further before slamming ashore by early Tuesday in Nicaragua, where it could bring rains measured in feet rather than inches. Forecasters said central and northern Nicaragua into much of Honduras could get up to 25 inches of rain, with 35 inches in isolated areas. Heavy rains also were likely in eastern Guatemala, southern Belize and Jamaica. Nicaragua’s navy evacuated families from outer islands to the mainland. Eta is the 28th named Atlantic storm this season, tying the 2005 record for named storms.
5 _ Snowden citizenship: Former U. S. security contractor Edward Snowden said Monday that he and his wife intend to apply for Russian citizenship without renouncing their U. S. citizenship. Snowden, a former contractor with the U. S. National Security Agency, has been living in Russia since 2013 to escape prosecution in the U. S. after leaking classified documents detailing government surveillance programs. He was granted permanent residency last month, his Russian lawyer said. Snowden’s wife, Lindsay Mills, an American who has been living with him in Russia, announced last week that the couple are expecting a child. According to Snowden’s lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, the child, a boy, will be born in December and will have Russian citizenship.