NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
➊ Ivory Coast: The nation’s electoral commission says President Alassane Ouattara has overwhelmingly won a third term in office after his two main opponents boycotted the election. In a sign of mounting tensions over the vote, both opponents said their homes had come under gunfire overnight. There have been widespread fears that postelection violence could erupt in Ivory Coast, where more than 3,000 people were killed a decade ago following a disputed vote. The opposition coalition says more than 30 people have already died in violence linked to the Saturday election. Critics say Ouattara and his allies had shaped the race long before election day — 40 of the 44 potential candidates were disqualified from running, including former Prime Minister Guillaume Soro and ex-President Laurent Gbagbo.
➋ Abortion protests: Poland’s rightwing government is delaying the publication and implementation of a high court ruling that tightens the abortion law and that has triggered almost two weeks of nationwide protests. A government official said Tuesday that the leaders are taking time to debate the contested ruling and find a solution. The constitutional court ruled Oct. 22 that aborting fetuses with congenital defects violates the Constitution, in effect further tightening what was already one of Europe’s most restrictive abortion laws. It would leave only abortions in cases of risk to the woman’s life or crime — meaning rape or incest — allowed under Polish law. Unpublished, the new law has no legal power.
➌ Runaway train: A salvage operation got under way Tuesday to lift a runaway metro train off a sculpture of a whale’s tail, where it landed after plowing through the end of an elevated section of rails. The train was left precariously balanced on the whale’s tail sculpture 33 feet above the ground Monday, after plunging off the end of a metro line in Spijkenisse, a town on the southern edge of Rotterdam, Netherlands. The train was empty at the time and the driver escaped unhurt, thanks to the whale tail’s unlikely catch. On Tuesday, two large yellow cranes lifted the train off the sculpture.
➍ Uganda politics: Ugandan police on Tuesday again arrested Bobi Wine, a popular singer and opposition presidential hopeful, shortly after he was successfully certified as a candidate in next year’s election. Wine, who is bidding to unseat Uganda’s longtime leader, was dragged from his car by police. The local NBS Television reported that the singer, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, was put into a police van amid violent scuffles between police and his supporters. He was returned to his house later Tuesday on the outskirts of Kampala, the capital. Authorities frequently accuse Wine of planning rallies that could disrupt public order, which he denies. Critics say the nation’s president, Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, increasingly depends on the armed forces to assert his authority.
➎ Press crackdown: Hong Kong police arrested a prizewinning journalist Tuesday whose work had exposed the authorities’ delayed response to a mob attack on antigovernment protesters last year, intensifying concerns about a crackdown on press freedom in the semiautonomous Chinese city. The journalist, Choy Yukling, who also goes by the name Bao Choy, is a producer for Radio Television Hong Kong, a public broadcaster. Hong Kong’s traditionally freewheeling news outlets have met with increased difficulties in recent years, including a loss of advertising from companies afraid to anger China and reporters arrested and attacked with pepper spray while covering protests. Foreign news outlets in the city have also faced obstacles, including difficulty renewing visas for journalists.