NEWS OF THE DAY
1 Banksy mural: Street artist Banksy has taken on the refugee crisis in a new mural at a migrant camp in France. The elusive graffiti artist has depicted the late Apple guru Steve Jobs — whose biological father was from Syria — carrying a garbage bag and an early model of the Macintosh computer. The artist best known for his subversive street art has never disclosed his identity. His publicist confirmed Saturday that the work found at the encampment in Calais is genuine. Jobs was adopted. His biographer, Walter Isaacson, has described Jobs’ biological father, Abdulfattah Jandali, as a graduate student who came from a prominent family and studied in the United States.
2 Refugee crisis: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has reinforced her opposition to setting a limit to the number of refugees the country can take in. The chancellor said in an interview published Saturday that although she wants to reduce the number of refugees, she doesn’t agree with demands within her Christian Democratic Union party to set a limit for the number of asylum seekers entering the country. Almost one million asylum seekers have entered Germany so far this year.
3 Poland protest: Tens of thousands of Poles marched in Warsaw and other cities Saturday to protest the role the country’s president and its new conservative government have had in increasing political discord. Demonstrators argue that President Andrzej Duda and the new government are breaking the constitution with the steps they are taking concerning the appointment of judges to the Constitutional Tribunal, the nation’s top law arbiter. An estimated 50,000 marchers turned out in Warsaw.
4 Yemen cease-fire: Yemen’s internationally recognized government and Shiite rebels who control the capital Sanaa agreed Saturday to start a weeklong cease-fire on the eve of direct talks in Geneva. President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi will order his commanders to halt all fire five minutes before midnight on Monday, said officials in Hadi’s office. “We have agreed to the cease-fire to lift the suffering of our people and to deliver humanitarian assistance to them,” Mohammed Abdel Salam, the spokesman of the Shiite rebels known as Houthis, said Saturday at a news conference in Sanaa.
5 Russia rally: Russian police on Saturday detained dozens of opposition activists who tried to hold a demonstration in Moscow on Constitution Day. The liberal opposition Yabloko party had planned to distribute a pamphlet outlining the rights guaranteed under the Russian Constitution and how it believes they are systematically being violated. News reports said police detained 33 people, including Yabloko leader Sergei Mitrokhin. Mitrokhin posted a photograph on Twitter of himself and 10 other activists in the police station, with one of them holding a sign reading: “Respect our Constitution.”
6 India development: Japan and India signed agreements Saturday that could pave the way for Tokyo to supply New Delhi with military aircraft and high-speed trains, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised to support India’s efforts to become an economic powerhouse. The two countries also laid the groundwork for Japan to help India further develop its nuclear power, with a final deal to be signed after technical details are finalized. Abe described the agreements, signed during his weekend visit to New Delhi, as a new era of cooperation between the two countries.
7 Taliban battle: The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan released a report Saturday documenting human rights abuses in the northern city of Kunduz during the three days when it was overrun by the Taliban and the subsequent two-week government counter-offensive to retake the city. The report documents 289 deaths and 559 civilian injuries that occurred between Sept. 28 and Oct. 13. During the counter-offensive, at least 30 people were killed on Oct. 3 in an accidental air strike by the international military coalition on a hospital run by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders. On Saturday, Doctors Without Borders announced an increased death toll of 42 people killed in the hospital attack. An Afghan investigation concluded that weak leadership and misuse of resources were the main reasons Kunduz fell to the Taliban.