NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Sarkozy trial: A landmark trial involving allegations of corruption and influencepeddling by former French President Nicolas Sarkozy will begin in earnest Monday, after a Paris court rejected an appeal for a delay by an ailing codefendant. After the codefendant, 73yearold magistrate Gilbert Azibert, was examined at his home, the judges ruled Thursday that he was fit to appear in person in court. It’s the first time the 65yearold Sarkozy is facing trial, though the conservative politician is the target of multiple investigations. In the current case, Sarkozy is accused of having tried to illegally obtain information from Azibert about a campaign finance investigation in 2014. Sarkozy, Azibert and Sarkozy’s former lawyer, Thierry Herzog, face prison sentences of up to 10 years and a maximum fine of 1 $1.2 million. They deny any wrongdoing.
2 Kashmir conflict: Rebels in Indiancontrolled Kashmir killed two soldiers in an attack Thursday in the disputed region’s main city, the Indian army said. Col. Rajesh Kalia, an Indian army spokesman, said militants sprayed bullets at an army patrol on the outskirts of Srinagar city. Rebel groups have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989. None of the groups immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Both India and Pakistan claim the divided territory of Kashmir in its entirety. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict. The attack comes during neardaily fighting between Pakistani and Indian soldiers along the militarized frontier that divides Kashmir between the two nucleararmed rivals.
3 Minister arrested: Indonesia’s anticorruption commission formally named the country’s fisheries minister as a suspect in taking bribes related to exports of lobster larvae, and alleged he used the money on a luxury shopping spree during a visit to the U.S. Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Edhy Prabowo was arrested upon arrival at Jakarta’s international airport Wednesday from a working visit to the U.S., the deputy chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission, Nurul Ghufron, told Kompas TV. Prabowo faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment if found guilty. Prabowo apologized, saying, “I will be responsible for what I have done. ”Indonesia ranks 85th out of 180 nations in the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index compiled by Transparency International.
4 Migrant quotas: Four European Union countries that hundreds of thousands of unauthorized migrants have entered over the past five years have expressed concern that new proposals to revamp the EU’s asylum system will continue to leave them to cope with the challenge alone. Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain said in a joint paper that mandatory quotas for sharing out people who qualify for refugee status among the 27 EU countries must be pursued. Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, among others, reject such a move. The standoff could further delay the longawaited asylum reform plans. The entry in 2015 of more than 1 million migrants, mostly people fleeing conflict in Syria, sounded the death knell for the EU’s asylum system, and sparked a political crisis that continues even though entries have dropped to a trickle. The row over who should take responsibility for migrant arrivals and how much other EU countries should assist has helped fuel public support for farright parties across the bloc. Populist governments in Hungary and Poland have challenged migrant quotas at Europe’s top court.
5 Space trash: The European Space Agency says it is signing a $102 million contract with a Swiss startup company to bring a large piece of orbital trash back to Earth. The agency said Thursday that the deal with Lausannebased ClearSpace SA will lead to the “first active debris removal mission” in 2025, in which a custommade spacecraft will capture and bring down part of a rocket once used to deliver a satellite into orbit. Experts have long warned that hundreds of thousands of pieces of space debris circling the planet — including an astronaut’s lost mirror — pose a threat to functioning satellites and even the International Space Station.
6 Leader reelected: President Roch Marc Christian Kabore will serve another five years as Burkina Faso’s president, according to results announced Thursday. Kabore won with nearly 58% of the vote, beating 12 opponents. The elections were held amid violence linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State that has killed more than 2,000 people this year and displaced more than 1 million.