News in Brief -(21-09-2019)

Indian police arrest ruling party ex-minister over alleged rape

LUCKNOW, Sept 20: A former government minister and senior member of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was arrested on Friday in connection with rape and sexual harassment allegations made by a law student, police and his lawyer said. Swami Chinmayanand, who previously served as India's minister of state for internal affairs, has been charged under a section of the Indian penal code that covers sex crimes by a person in authority, his lawyer, Pooja Singh, told the news agency. — Reuters

Twitter closes thousands of fake news accounts worldwide

WASHINGTON, Sept 20: Twitter said Friday it has closed down thousands of accounts across the world for spreading fake news as well as pro-government propaganda, including in places like the United Arab Emirates, China and Spain. Accounts coming from China seeking to sow discord among protesters in Hong Kong were closed down, as were accounts amplifying a pro-Saudi message coming from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates directed at Qatar and Yemen, Twitter said. Fake news accounts were also suspended in Spain and Ecuador. — AFP

Kremlin says Venezuela's Maduro due in Moscow soon for talks

MOSCOW, Sept 20: The Kremlin said on Friday that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was due in Moscow soon for talks. Russia has been one of Maduro's biggest backers in the face of what it has described as unacceptable US efforts to undermine him, providing loans and help for Venezuela's military and oil industry. — Reuters

Thousands protest in Algiers despite tight security

ALGIERS, Sept 20: Thousands of protesters took to the streets of the Algerian capital on Friday in defiance of a heavy security presence to demand the ouster of the country's army chief. Demonstrators gathered near the capital's main post office square, the epicentre of Algeria's protest movement that forced longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to step down in April, this time calling for the ouster of General Ahmed Gaid Salah. "The people want the fall of Gaid Salah," the strongman in post-Bouteflika Algeria, they chanted. — AFP