India's top court grants bail to former finance minister

14:40, December 04, 2019

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  Former Japanese Prime Minister Nakasone dies aged 101

  Photo: CGTNTOKYO, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone has died at the age of 101, sources close to the matter said Friday.Nakasone served as Japans prime minister from November 1982 to November 1987.Nakasone, a politician known for his support of expanding Japans defense provisions, passed away at a hospital in Tokyo just after 7:00 a.m. local time Friday, sources here said.Widely regarded as a strong figure in politics, the former Japanese leader, in terms of diplomacy, was also known to have a close, first name-basis relationship with former U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s.During his tenure, he was an advocate for and worked towards the privatization of Japans national railway system and was also a proponent of revising Japans pacifist Constitution.Born in Gunma Prefectures Takasaki City in 1918, Nakasone entered politics in 1947, securing a seat in Japans House of Representatives, or lower house of parliament, and went on to hold his seat for 20 successive elections.

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  Peru’s Keiko Fujimori leaves prison after top court ruling

  Keiko Fujimori, right, is embraced by her husband Mark Vito Villanela after she was released from Santa Mónica womens prison in Lima, Peru, Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. (Photo: AP)Supporters cheered late Friday as once-powerful opposition leader and two-time Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori left the prison where she had been held while being investigated for alleged corruption. Peru’s Constitutional Tribunal approved her release.Smiling broadly, the daughter of jailed ex-President Alberto Fujimori walked out of the women’s prison in the Lima district of Chorrillos and was handed a bouquet of roses by her husband, Mark Villanella, who had been on a hunger strike demanding her release.Keiko Fujimori called her 13-month prison stay the “most painful time of my life, so the first thing I want to do now that I am on the street is thank God for giving me the strength to resist.”She was freed by the Constitutional Tribunal in 4-3 vote earlier this week. The magistrates noted the decision on a habeas corpus request does not constitute a judgment on her guilt or innocence with regards to accusations she accepted money from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Fujimori could still be returned to a cell.Dozens of riot police were present in case of protests by opponents who have called her release another blow for entrenched impunity for the corrupt in the South American country. But most of the people outside the prison were her supporters.“The Constitutional Tribunal has corrected a great damage done to us in a process filled with abuses and arbitrariness,” Fujimori said.The 44-year-old, who was jailed in October 2018, faces a radically different political landscape outside of prison.Her Popular Force party held a majority in congress until September, when President Martín Vizcarra dissolved the legislature in a popular move he described as necessary to uproot corruption. The conservative Popular Force will participate in January legislative elections, but Fu...

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  HK legislator granted honorary doctorate, criticizes ‘flawed’ Western academic freedom

  Junius Ho Kwan-yiu. (Photo: Global Times)Hong Kong lawmaker Junius Ho Kwan-yiu received an honorary doctorate in law at the China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) on Friday in Beijing, after a British university stripped him of one.Ho said he feels deeply honored to be granted the honorary doctorate, which is a very high honor, the lawmaker said in a post published on Chinese Twitter-like Weibo. Dozens of staff and student representatives attended the ceremony, which is one of the countrys top universities listed under project 211 and project 985.As an outspoken pro-establishment legislator, Ho has been targeted by opposition and external forces during months of anti-government protests, which have descended into chaos and violence.Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in Cambridge withdrew Hos honorary law degree in October, claiming he "has caused increasing concern," after a member of the British parliament urged the ARU to withdraw his degree based on an allegation of Ho shaking hands with individuals allegedly related to an attack on a passenger train at Yuen Long in July.Ho said he was completely disappointed as the so-called Western academic standards now serve the entire political spectrum, without even differentiating truth from rumors. Without letting Ho defend his position, the British university withdrew his honorary degree based on one allegation, which shows that the cornerstone of academic freedom and freedom of speech has been completely destroyed, his Weibo post said.Since mid-July, Ho has emerged as a prime target of the increasingly violent protesters for his outspoken and persistent support for the Hong Kong Police Force and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government. He also provided evidence that the months of protests were allegedly plotted by anti-government and some external anti-China forces."Today, CUPL granting me this honor not only affirms my legal work over the...