A roundup of today's other world news in brief
Malawi gay couple ‘have case to answer’
BLANTYRE– A Malawi gay couple facing charges of buggery and indecency after getting engaged late last year have a case to answer, a court ruled yesterday.
Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga have twice been refused bail and are held in a maximum security prison following their arrest in a case viewed as a test case for gay rights in the conservative African nation.
"In the balance of probability the State has established a prima-faciecase against the two," magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa Usiwa said. – (Reuters)
David Cameron and wife expecting baby
LONDON– Conservative leader David Cameron and his wife Samantha are expecting a baby, a spokeswoman for his party said yesterday.
The baby is due in September, four months after the expected date of a general election which Mr Cameron’s centre-right party is the favourite to win.
In February last year, Mr Cameron’s son Ivan died aged six. He had cerebral palsy and severe epilepsy and needed constant care.
The couple have two other children, Nancy (6) and Arthur (4). – (Reuters)
Elephant trade ban reaffirmed
DOHA– A UN wildlife conference has rejected proposals by Tanzania and Zambia to relax a trade ban on elephants to allow a one-off sale of ivory stockpiles.
The 175-nation meeting yesterday voted down calls by the two nations, which say elephant numbers are rising and are a danger to people in rural areas, to ease trade restrictions to permit a sale of 112 tonnes of ivory. – (Reuters)
Grandson of Wagner dies
BERLIN– Wolfgang Wagner, a grandson of German composer Richard Wagner who carried the torch of the family's musical legacy, has died aged 90.
For 57 years since 1951, he directed the annual Bayreuth Festival in the southern state of Bavaria.
He was born in 1919 in Bayreuth, the third child of Siegfried and Winifred Wagner. – (Reuters)
Ex-Iranian leader’s grandson arrested
TEHRAN– A grandson of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been arrested for taking part in post-election protests last year.
Hassan Lahouti was detained by security police on Sunday at Tehran airport after arriving on a flight from abroad, Fars news agency said yesterday.
His grandfather is still a powerful player in the ruling establishment.
A source close to the family told Fars that Mr Lahouti, believed to be in his 20s, left the country last year days after the vote in which Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected. – (Reuters)