Macron vows to enshrine rights to abortion in Constitution
Paris, Oct 29:President Emmanuel Macron promised on Sunday to enshrine a woman’s right to an abortion in the French Constitution by next year. The president said on X, formerly Twitter, that a bill making this possible would be presented to his Cabinet by the end of this year so that “in 2024, the freedom of women to have an abortion will be irreversible”. Abortion in France was decriminalised under a 1975 law, but there is nothing in the constitution that would guarantee abortion rights. It was the rollback of abortion rights in the United States after the US Supreme Court overturned a 50-year-old ruling last year and stripped women’s constitutional protections for abortion that propelled France on a path toward unconditionally guaranteeing such rights. (AP)
Kazakhstan mine fire death toll rises to 42
London, Oct 29: The death toll from a fire at a coal mine in Kazakhstan rose to 42 on Sunday, with four people still missing, the press service of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said. It added that rescue operations were being “hampered by the presence of destroyed mining equipment, as well as rubble in some places.” The fire broke out on Saturday at the Kostenko mine, which is owned by Luxembourg-based steel giant ArcelorMittal and located in Kazakhstan’s Karaganda region. ArcelorMittal said the blaze was believed to have been caused by a blast of methane gas, and that some 252 people were working at the mine at the time of the fire. It is the latest in a string of workplace deaths at sites operated by ArcelorMittal Temirtau, the local unit of ArcelorMittal that operates the country’s largest steel plants and several coal and ore mines. In August, four miners were killed after a fire erupted at the same mine, while five people died following a methane leak at another site in November 2022. Following the latest fire, Kazakhstan announced the nationalization of ArcelorMittal Temirtau. (AP)
Arrest Biden’s ‘fake’ adviser: B’desh min
Dhaka, Oct 29: Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen on Sunday demanded immediate arrest of an alleged ‘fake’ advisor to US President Joe Biden. “The fake advisor to the US President, as claimed by the BNP, should be arrested immediately. Whosoever promotes violence must be arrested. I will talk to the officials of the relevant department in this matter,” Momen told reporters. He also said that anyone advocating violence in the country should be immediately arrested, regardless of their nationality or political affiliation. On Saturday, Mian Zahidul Islam Arefy, who introduced himself as an advisor to the US President during a press briefing of the opposition BNP, sparked a controversy even as the US Embassy in Dhaka refused to recognise Arefy. “This gentleman does not speak for the US government. He is a private individual,” said an Embassy spokesperson in Dhaka. Reportedly, Arefy assured BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami of support from Biden to ensure regime change in Bangladesh, which is set to go to the polls early next year. (IANS)