India police detains 600 workers

CHENNAI: Indian police on Tuesday said it has detained around 600 Samsung Electronics workers and union members for organizing a street protest, as a strike at the South Korean firm’s home appliances plant in Tamil Nadu state entered its fourth week. More than 1,000 workers have disrupted operations and protested in a makeshift tent close to the factory near the city of Chennai since Sept 9. They have demanded higher wages and union recognition at the plant, which accounts for roughly a third of Samsung’s annual Indian revenue of $12 billion. — Reuters

Pope Francis to open Vatican summit

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis will open a month-long summit of global Catholic leaders on Wednesday but it is likely to defer any decision on divisive issues such as women’s ordination and blessings for same-sex couples until next year. The gathering, which includes cardinals, bishops and lay people from more than 110 countries, will vote on a final text in late October that may suggest doctrinal changes. But most of the hottest issues have been assigned to study groups that will make final reports to Francis, who is 87, only next June. The assembly, known as a synod, drew fierce criticism from conservative critics of Francis last year. — Reuters

Chinese woman arrested in Germany

BERLIN: A Chinese woman has been arrested in the German city of Leipzig on suspicion of foreign agent activities and passing on information regarding arms deliveries, the prosecutor general said in a statement on Tuesday. The suspect, named only as Yaqi X, is accused of passing on information obtained while working for a logistics company at Leipzig/Halle airport to a member of the Chinese secret service, who is being prosecuted separately, the statement said. The second Chinese national, named as Jian G, was working as an aide to Maximilian Krah, a member of the European Parliament for the far-right Alternative for Germany, when he was arrested this year on suspicion of “especially severe” espionage on behalf of Beijing. — Reuters

Tunisia presidential candidate jailed

TUNIS: Tunisian politician Ayachi Zammel, a candidate in the north African country’s October 6 presidential election, has been jailed for 12 years, his lawyer said on Tuesday. “The court in Tunis sentenced Ayachi Zammel to 12 years in prison in four cases” related to voter endorsements, lawyer Abdessater Messoudi told AFP. Messoudi said Zammel “remains a candidate in the election” on Sunday. — AFP

Rwandan ex-doctor on trial in France

KIGALI: A former doctor went on trial in Paris on Tuesday accused of genocide in Rwanda, the latest suspect to face justice in France three decades after the massacre of the African country’s Tutsi population by the Hutu majority. Eugene Rwamucyo, 65, is accused of aiding his country’s then authorities to disseminate anti-Tutsi propaganda and of participating in mass murder in an attempt to destroy evidence of genocide. The former doctor, who practiced medicine in France and Belgium after leaving his country, has been charged with genocide, complicity in genocide, crimes against humanity, complicity in crimes against humanity and conspiring to prepare those crimes. — AFP