AUSTRALIA
Women win appeal
A group of women strip-searched after boarding a Qatar Airways flight in Doha won a court victory yesterday that paves the way for them to sue the airline. Qatari authorities pulled women off 10 planes in Doha in 2020 and forced them to take invasive gynecological exams. Authorities were hunting for the mother of a newborn found abandoned in an airport bathroom. Five women caught up in the ordeal lodged legal action against Qatar Airways, saying that they were assaulted and falsely imprisoned. The Federal Court last year ruled they could not directly sue the airline, but that decision was reversed on appeal yesterday, with three Federal Court judges saying that the case should be heard at trial. The government cited the incident as a reason to block Qatar Airways from operating more flights into the country.
Photo: Reuters
SOUTH KOREA
K-pop agency raided
Police yesterday raided offices at the headquarters of K-pop agency HYBE, Yonhap news agency reported. The country’s financial regulator has referred HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk to prosecutors to investigate his activities during the company’s stock market listing, local media reported. HYBE manages the global K-pop boy band BTS.
INDIA
Bogus embassy probed
Police have arrested a man accused of running a bogus embassy from a rented residential building near the capital, New Delhi, and recovered vehicles with fake diplomatic plates. The suspect impersonated an ambassador and allegedly duped people for money by promising overseas employment, said senior police officer Sushil Ghule of Uttar Pradesh’s special task force. Harshvardhan Jain, 47, claimed to have acted as an adviser or ambassador to entities such as “Seborga” or “Westarctica,” police said. Police recovered multiple doctored photographs showing Jain with world leaders, and fake seals of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and nearly three dozen countries, Ghule said. Jain was also suspected of illegal money laundering through shell companies abroad, he said. He is also facing charges of forgery, impersonation and possessing fake documents. Police recovered four vehicles bearing fake diplomatic plates, and nearly 4.5 million Indian rupees (US$52,095) and other foreign currencies in cash from Jain’s rented premises, which were adorned with international flags of several nations. Jain or his lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment.
CYPRUS
Blaze kills two
Police yesterday found two bodies inside a burned-out vehicle after a massive wildfire scorched 100km2 of forested hillsides, destroyed numerous homes and forced the evacuation of a dozen villages on the southern side of the island nation’s Troodos mountain range. Police initially reported late on Wednesday that Civil Defense personnel found the charred body of a single individual inside the vehicle on a main road connecting fire-hit hillside villages. However, a second body was discovered early yesterday morning and police said identification efforts were ongoing. Fire Service spokesman Andreas Kettis told the Cyprus news agency that there were no active fronts, but fire crews were still battling numerous flare-ups. The fire forced the evacuation of 14 villages along a 14km stretch of mountainous terrain.