Weinstein, Spacey, others in spotlight for sexual misconduct

This file photo taken on February 23, 2016 shows actor Kevin Spacey arriving for the season 4 premiere screening of the Netflix show "House of Cards" in Washington, DC. (AFP)
Updated 04 November 2017
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Weinstein, Spacey, others in spotlight for sexual misconduct

WASHINGTON: Accusations of sexual assault by movie producer Harvey Weinstein have opened the floodgates to a torrent of new allegations against powerful entertainment figures, and revived scrutiny of industry players previously accused of misconduct.
Here are the most prominent cases:

Dozens of women — 93 by one count — have accused the Oscar-winning producer Weinstein of offenses ranging from sexual harassment to rape dating back to the 1980s.
Weinstein, 65, and his brother Bob founded their movie production company Miramax in the 1970s and went on to produce a number of hit films including “Sex, Lies and Videotape,” “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love.”
The New York Times published the initial allegations of sexual misconduct against Weinstein on October 5 and The New Yorker followed up with additional accounts five days later.
Among the actresses who have stepped forward with accusations against Weinstein are stars such as Ashley Judd, Daryl Hannah, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie.
No criminal prosecutions have yet been launched against Weinstein but the authorities in New York, London and Los Angeles are reportedly looking into potential actions.
Weinstein was fired by Miramax and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
His publicist has issued a statement saying “any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.”

Cosby, the multiple Grammy- and Emmy-winning comedian, has been accused by dozens of women of drugging and raping them, with some accusations dating back to the 1960s.
Cosby, 80, made his name as a stand-up comedian before going on to appear in the hit television show “I Spy.”
In the 1980s, he appeared in the popular TV comedy “The Cosby Show,” which was seen as ground-breaking for its portrayal of a middle class African-American family.
Accusations of sexual assault against Cosby began to surface in 2014 and around 60 women have since come forward with allegations against him.
Only one criminal case has come to trial, however, because the statute of limitations for prosecution has run out on most of the others.
In that case, Andrea Constand accused Cosby of sexually assaulting her in January 2004 in his home in Cheltenham, a suburb of Philadelphia, Cosby’s hometown.
She said he gave her pills that left her semi-conscious then made sexual advances — a story not unlike those recounted by many of the other accusers.
The case ended in a mistrial in June but Cosby is to appear back in court in April 2018.

The director of “Bugsy” and other films has been accused of sexually harassing dozens of women, many of whom he would approach on the street and offer movie roles.
Thirty-eight women told the Los Angeles Times of awkward or humiliating encounters with Toback, including times when he rubbed his crotch against them or masturbated.
Since the report, dozens of other women have come forward with stories of similar behavior by the 72-year-old Toback, whose film credits also include “The Pick-up Artist” and “Two Girls and a Guy.”
Toback denied the allegations to the Times and claimed that because of poor health it was “biologically impossible” for him for the past 22 years to have committed the acts of which he is being accused.
Police in New York and Los Angeles said they were investigating multiple complaints against Toback following publication of the Los Angeles Times story.
The newspaper said that after its report it had received emails and phone calls from more than 200 additional women with stories about Toback.

Actresses Natasha Henstridge and Olivia Munn and four other women told the Los Angeles Times they had been the victims of sexual misconduct or harassment by Ratner, director of “Rush Hour” and “X-Men: The Last Stand.”
Ratner, 48, rejected the accusations and filed a defamation suit against a woman who separately made allegations against him in a Facebook post.
Henstridge told the Times she was a 19-year-old fashion model in New York in the early 1990s when Ratner, then a music video director in his early 20s, forced her to perform oral sex.
Henstridge said she was inspired to come forward by the women who reported sexual misconduct by Weinstein and Toback.
Munn, who has appeared in the HBO show “The Newsroom” and the movie “Magic Mike,” told the Times that Ratner had masturbated in front of her when she was an aspiring actress on the set of the movie “After the Sunset.”
Four other women also recounted stories to the newspaper about Ratner being sexually inappropriate or intimidating.
Ratner, through his attorney, Martin Singer, rejected the accounts.
“I have represented Mr. Ratner for two decades, and no woman has ever made a claim against him for sexual misconduct or sexual harassment,” Singer said.

“Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey, a two-time Oscar winner, of making sexual advances toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 years old.
Since then, several other people have come forward with stories of sexual misconduct or harassment involving the 58-year-old actor.
They included eight people working on “House of Cards,” who told CNN that the set of the hit Netflix series became a “toxic” environment because of Spacey’s alleged behavior.
Netflix has suspended production of the show.
Following the accusation by Rapp, now 46, Spacey said he did not remember the encounter but that if he did behave as described he apologizes for “deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.”
Spacey, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for “Usual Suspects” and one for Best Actor for “American Beauty,” also revealed he was gay.
British police have meanwhile opened an investigation into an allegation of sexual assault from a man in 2008, when Spacey was artistic director at the Old Vic theater.

One of the longest-running sexual assault cases in Hollywood involves the French-Polish director Polanski, who pleaded guilty in the United States in 1977 to statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl.
Polanski, whose films include “The Pianist” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” fled for France before sentencing and has been a fugitive from the US justice system ever since, despite repeated attempts to have him extradited.
Last month, Swiss prosecutors confirmed they were investigating new rape allegations against Polanski made by a woman who said he assaulted her at a resort in the Swiss Alps in 1972.
The new claims, which the 84-year-old Polanski has denied through his lawyer, bring to at least four the number of women who have publicly accused him of sexual assault.


Abkhazia leader says ready to resign if protesters vacate parliament

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Abkhazia leader says ready to resign if protesters vacate parliament

Rare protests have erupted in recent days in the republic, nestled between the Caucasus mountains and the Black Sea, over an economic deal with Moscow
“I am ready to call elections, to resign.. and stand in elections. Let the people say who they will support,” the leader of the separatist republic Aslan Bzhania said

MOSCOW: The president of the Moscow-backed breakaway Georgian republic of Abkhazia announced Saturday that he is ready to resign after protesters stormed the regional parliament, opposing an investment deal with Russia.
Rare protests have erupted in recent days in the republic, nestled between the Caucasus mountains and the Black Sea, over an economic deal with Moscow.
Abkhazia is recognized by most of the world as Georgian territory, but has been under de-facto Russian control since a brief 2008 war between Moscow and Tbilisi.
“I am ready to call elections, to resign.. and stand in elections. Let the people say who they will support,” the leader of the separatist republic Aslan Bzhania said.
He said his condition was that the protesters who entered parliament and a presidential administration building next door should vacate the premises.
“Those who took over the presidential administration should leave,” he said.
The tiny territory, known for its natural beauty, has been thrown into turmoil over concerns that a proposed investment deal with Moscow could see apartment complexes mushroom in the region.
Protesters have been blocking roads in the main city of Sukhumi for several days this week.
Russia on Friday advised its citizens not to travel to Abkhazia, a traditional holiday destination for Russians.

Dutch government survives dispute over Amsterdam violence

Updated 14 min 12 sec ago
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Dutch government survives dispute over Amsterdam violence

  • Junior Finance Minister Nora Achahbar unexpectedly quit the cabinet on Friday to protest claims by some politicians that Dutch youths of Moroccan descent attacked Israeli fans
  • “We have reached the conclusion that we want to remain, as a cabinet for all people in the Netherlands,” Schoof said

AMSTERDAM: Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof saved his governing coalition on Friday despite threats of an exodus by cabinet members over the right-wing government’s response to violence against Israeli soccer fans last week.
Junior Finance Minister Nora Achahbar unexpectedly quit the cabinet on Friday to protest claims by some politicians that Dutch youths of Moroccan descent attacked Israeli fans in Amsterdam around the Nov. 7 match between Dutch side Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Her resignation triggered a crisis cabinet meeting at which four ministers from her centrist NSC party also threatened to quit. If they had, the coalition would have lost its majority in parliament.
“We have reached the conclusion that we want to remain, as a cabinet for all people in the Netherlands,” Schoof said at a news conference late on Friday in The Hague.
Last week’s violence was roundly condemned by Israeli and Dutch politicians, with Amsterdam’s mayor saying “antisemitic hit-and-run squads” had attacked Israeli fans.
The city’s police department has said Maccabi fans were chased and beaten by gangs on scooters. Police also said the Israeli fans attacked a taxi and burned a Palestinian flag.
Achahbar, a former judge and public prosecutor who was born in Morocco, felt comments by several political figures were hurtful and possibly racist, De Volkskrant daily reported.
“Polarization in the recent weeks has had such an effect on me that I no longer can, nor wish to fulfil my position in this cabinet,” Achahbar said in a statement.
Schoof, a former civil servant who does not have a party affiliation, denied any ministers in the cabinet are racist. Details of the cabinet discussion were not disclosed.
The coalition is led by the anti-Muslim populist party PVV of Geert Wilders, which came top in a general election a year ago. The government was installed in July after months of tense negotiations.
Wilders, who is not a cabinet member, has repeatedly said Dutch youth of Moroccan descent were the main attackers of the Israeli fans, although police have not specified the backgrounds of suspects.
Schoof said on Monday the incidents showed that some youth in the Netherlands with immigrant backgrounds did not share “Dutch core values.”


North Korea troops in Ukraine war ‘extremely significant’ for east Asia security: Japan minister

Updated 42 min 50 sec ago
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North Korea troops in Ukraine war ‘extremely significant’ for east Asia security: Japan minister

  • “We are seriously concerned over this development, and strongly condemn it,” said Tokyo’s foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya

KYIV: Japan’s foreign minister warned Saturday that North Korean troops entering the Ukraine conflict would have an “extremely significant” effect on east Asian security, with Pyongyang reportedly deploying troops to Russia’s border Kursk region.
“This will not only deepen the severity of the Ukraine situation, but also have extremely significant implications for east Asia’s security situation,” Tokyo’s foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya said while on a visit to Kyiv, pledging further support. “We are seriously concerned over this development, and strongly condemn it.”


Iran ‘categorically’ denies envoy’s meeting with Musk

Updated 16 November 2024
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Iran ‘categorically’ denies envoy’s meeting with Musk

TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman on Saturday “categorically” denied The New York Times report on Tehran’s ambassador to the United Nations meeting with US tech billionaire Elon Musk, state media reported.
In an interview with state news agency IRNA, spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei was reported as “categorically denying such a meeting” and expressing “surprise at the coverage of the American media in this regard.”
The Times reported on Friday that Musk, who is a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump, met earlier this week with Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani.
It cited anonymous Iranian sources describing the encounter as “positive.”
Iranian newspapers, particularly those aligned with the reformist party that supports President Masoud Pezeshkian, largely described the meeting in positive terms before Baghaei’s statement.
In the weeks leading up to Trump’s re-election, Iranian officials have signalled a willingness to resolve issues with the West.
Iran and the United Stated cut diplomatic ties shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.
Since then, both countries have communicated through the Swiss embassy in Tehran and the Sultanate of Oman.


Indian private university opens first international campus in Dubai

Updated 16 November 2024
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Indian private university opens first international campus in Dubai

  • Indian FM inaugurated the Dubai campus of Symbiosis International University on Thursday
  • Under national education policy, New Delhi wants to internationalize Indian education system

New Delhi: A private Indian university has opened its first international campus in Dubai this week, marking a growing education cooperation between New Delhi and Abu Dhabi. 

Symbiosis International University is a private higher education institution based in the western Indian city of Pune with at least five other campuses operating across the country, offering undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate-level programs. 

It is considered one of the top private business schools in the South Asian country, ranking 13th in management in the Indian Ministry of Education’s National Institutional Ranking Framework. 

SIU’s Dubai campus, which will offer management, technology and media and communications courses, was officially inaugurated on Thursday by Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, the UAE minister of tolerance and coexistence. 

“I am sure that this campus will foster greater collaboration and research linkages between scholars of India and UAE, for mutual prosperity and global good,” Jaishankar said during the ceremony. 

“(The) ceremony is not just an inauguration of a new campus; it is a celebration of the growing educational cooperation between our two countries. Right now, Indian curriculum and learning is being imparted through more than 100 International Indian Schools in UAE, benefitting more than 300,000 students.”

Under India’s National Education Policy 2020, New Delhi aims to internationalize the Indian education system, including by establishing campuses abroad. 

Another top Indian school, the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, began its first undergraduate courses in September, after starting its teaching program in January with a master’s course in energy transition and sustainability. 

Initially launched in September with more than 100 students, the SIU Dubai Campus is the first Indian university in Dubai to start operations with full accreditation and licensing from the UAE’s top education authorities, including the Ministry of Education. 

“A university setting up a campus abroad is not just a bold step, but a concrete commitment to the goal of globalizing India. They certainly render an educational service, but even more, connect us to the world by strengthening our living bridges,” Jaishankar added as he addressed the students. 

Dr. Vidya Yeravdekar, pro-chancellor of Symbiosis International University, said that the school’s establishment in Dubai was in line with the UAE’s education goals. 

“Internationalization is central to the UAE’s educational vision,” Yeravdekar said on Friday. 

“By opening our campus in Dubai, we are creating a gateway for students from around the world to engage in a truly global academic experience, where they can benefit from international faculty, real-world industry collaborations, and a curriculum that meets the needs of a changing world.”