NEWS OF THE DAY
1 IndiaChina: Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in India on Friday for meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a time of tensions over Beijing’s support for Pakistan in opposing India’s downgrading of Kashmir’s semiautonomy and continuing restrictions on the disputed region. China claims some 35,000 square miles of territory in India’s northeast, while India says China occupies 15,000 square miles of its territory on the Aksai Chin Plateau in the western Himalayas. Officials have met at least 20 times to discuss the competing border claims without making significant progress. The two countries fought a border war in 1962.
2 Ecuador unrest: Antigovernment protesters forced captive police officers to carry a coffin containing the body of an indigenous activist, underlining the anger directed at Ecuador’s government more than week after rises in fuel prices set off nationwide unrest among indigenous groups, unions and others. Thursday’s memorial service for an indigenous man said to have been killed during the clashes happened in the capital of Quito, the focus of protests that have plunged President Lenin Moreno’s government into crisis and laid bare Ecuador’s political and social rifts. Big jumps in the costs of gasoline and diesel after Moreno ended subsidies last week set off the upheaval, but other complaints have come out amid the protests, looting, vandalism, clashes with security forces, the blocking of highways and disruptions of Ecuador’s vital oil industry.
3 Suspected terror attack: A man wielding a large knife who allegedly lunged at shoppers and chased unarmed police in a northwestern England mall was arrested Friday on suspicion of terrorism. Five people were hurt, three of whom needed hospital treatment for stab wounds, and the 41yearold suspect was detained. Police do not believe anyone else was involved in the attack at the Arndale Centre in Manchester. “We do not know the motivation for this terrible attack,” Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said. “It appears random, is certainly brutal and, of course, extremely frightening for anyone who witnessed it.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “shocked by the incident.”
4 Abortion pardons: Rwanda’s president has pardoned and ordered the release of 52 young women who were jailed for having or assisting with abortions. Thursday’s decision follows Rwanda’s revision of its penal code, which previously imposed prison sentences for anyone who had an abortion or helped in terminating a pregnancy. The revised law says abortion is allowed in cases such as rape, forced marriage, incest or instances where the pregnancy poses a health risk. Rwanda’s justice minister says the women will be freed on Saturday. Some activists have criticized the penal code for prohibiting health professionals such as midwives from providing abortions since not everyone can afford to see doctors.
5 Pompei discovery: Archaeologists have unearthed a wellpreserved fresco depicting gladiators in action in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. The new discovery was unveiled Friday. It’s not open to the public yet. The fresco was found on a wall beneath the stairwell of what was probably a tavern frequented by gladiators. It’s the latest discovery in the Pompeii park, which has yielded dozens of discoveries. Pompeii was a onceflourishing city that was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.