News in Brief (2023-11-29)

Imran denied public trial

LAHORE, Nov 28: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is in jail, was not brought to court for a trial on Monday because the government said there were threats to his life, his lawyer said. The Islamabad High Court had ruled last week that holding Khan's trial inside jail premises on security concerns was illegal, and ordered it restarted in an open court. He has been charged with leaking state secrets, which he has denied. —Reuters

Indonesia opens polls campaign

AKARTA, Nov 28: Candidates opened their campaigns Tuesday for Indonesia's presidential election, which is shaping up as a three-way race between a former special forces general who's lost twice before and two former governors. The three presidential hopefuls have vowed a peaceful race on Monday as concerns rose their rivalry may sharpen religious and ethnic divides in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country. —AP

Storm kills 13 in Russia, Ukraine

MOSCOW, Nov 28: Hurricane force winds, snowfall and flooding that swept parts of southern Russia, Ukraine and Moldova left at least 13 people dead Monday and almost two million without power, authorities said. Dubbed the 'storm of the century' by Russian media, the violent weather has lashed the southern regions of Dagestan, Krasnodar and Rostov, as well as the occupied Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea since Sunday. —AFP