News in Brief- (15-10-2018)

Indian minister Akbar denies
sexual misconduct
NEW DELHI, Oct 14: Indian Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar has released a statement denying sexual misconduct allegations against him and threatening legal action on the matter, Indian media reports. The allegations of sexual harassment against him are 'false and fabricated', said Akbar, making no comment on calls for his resignation. "Why has this storm risen a few months before a general election? Is there an agenda? You be the judge. These false, baseless and wild allegations have caused irreparable damage to my reputation and goodwill. — NDTV
Spain says three migrants
dead, 17 missing at sea
THESSALONIKI, Oct 14: Spain's maritime rescue service says it has recovered the bodies of three migrants but feared that another 17 were missing in the Mediterranean Sea. The service says that its rescue craft found the bodies in water near a sinking boat it intercepted east of the Strait of Gibraltar. Rescuers saved 36 men of sub-Saharan origins from the boat and said the rescued migrants told them another 17 men who had traveled with them were missing. — AP
Maldives risks sanctions as
toppled Yameen fights back
COLOMBO, Oct 14: The Supreme Court of the Maldives is to decide Sunday on President Abdulla Yameen's petition to overturn his defeat in last month's election, a move that could bring international sanctions. The tiny Indian Ocean archipelago, which straddles the main east-west international shipping lanes, has seen political tensions escalate as Yameen jailed or exiled all his main opponents during his five-year rule. After initially conceding defeat in the September 23 presidential election, Yameen mounted a challenge on Thursday asking the Supreme Court to annul the results and call a fresh vote. — AFP
UK Labour will not vote
for 'blind Brexit'
LONDON, Oct 14: Britain's main opposition Labour Party will not vote for a Brexit deal that offers little more than a "bridge to nowhere", its foreign policy spokeswoman said on Sunday, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May. "I think they (the government) are going to come along and give us ... a ridiculous binary choice," Emily Thornberry told the BBC's Andrew Marr show. "Frankly if she (May) comes back with something which is just a fudge that she's cooked up with Brussels and it doesn't meet our tests, we are not going to vote for it ... We're not stupid, we're not voting for something that is essentially a bridge to nowhere." — Reuters