The American singer has been performing at packed arenas in Sydney and Melbourne as part of her Eras Tour. Now a photographer in Australia has accused her father of assault. An Australian photographer alleged he was assaulted by Taylor Swift's father in Sydney early on Tuesday morning after her final concert in the city, prompting a police investigation. "Police have been told a 71-year-old man allegedly assaulted a 51-year-old man at Neutral Bay Wharf about 2:30 a.m. (1530 UTC Monday), before leaving the location," a New South Wales Police spokesperson told the AFP news agency, without naming either man. "The younger man reported the incident and inquiries are now under way by officers attached to North Shore Police Area Command." Swift's spokesperson responded, accusing two individuals of acting "aggressively" at the time of the alleged incident. "Two individuals were aggressively pushing their way towards Taylor, grabbing at her security personnel, and threatening to throw a female staff member into the water," they said in a statement to Rolling Stone. Swift is currently in the midst of her Eras Tour, which included stadium shows in Sydney and Melbourne. The worldwide tour has so far grossed more than $1 billion (€922 million). What did the accuser say? The alleged victim told the AFP news agency that he had been taking pictures of the US pop star on her "super yacht" in Sydney's famous harbor. The photographer alleged that Swift's entourage used umbrellas to prevent him from taking photos of the singer who was walking down the jetty to a waiting vehicle. After the singer departed, the male photographer alleged that a man confronted him and "punched me in the chops." "I didn't know who he was, but I looked at photos and saw him holding hands with Taylor, and it was her dad," he said. "It was a shock."

Taiwan’s foreign minister says it is documenting its experiences with China’s alleged attempts to interfere in elections next week and will publish its analysis soon after the vote. Taiwan’s government has pointed to military and economic pressure as well as Chinese-subsidised trips to China for local Taiwanese officials, as evidence of Beijing’s alleged interference ahead of the Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary election. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office has called Taiwan’s elections a “purely an internal Chinese matter” and that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is trying to call any kind of interactions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait election interference. “Taiwan is taking measures to counter China’s interference and is documenting its experiences. Analysis will be published soon after the elections in consultation with international experts,” Foreign Minister Joseph Wu wrote in the latest issue of The Economist, without giving details. Taiwan’s presidential and parliamentary elections are taking place against a backdrop of what the island’s government says is a concerted effort by China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, to sway the vote to get electors to vote for candidates Beijing may prefer. China has cast the election as a choice between war and peace, and says Taiwan’s government has been “hyping up” a military threat from China for electoral gain. “Should China succeed in shaping the outcome of voting in Taiwan, it will apply the same tactics to other democracies to promote its preferred international order,” Wu wrote. He urged the international community to pay more attention to China’s efforts to undermine Taiwan’s democracy through influence and disinformation campaigns, as well as hybrid warfare, including cyberattacks. “Our desire is to turn Taiwan’s experience into a positive contribution to the rules-based international order, thereby helping the free world’s fight against authoritarian powers bent on eroding democratic systems,” Wu wrote. “It is our belief that democracy will prevail.” On Thursday, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, in a statement responding to DPP accusations of election interference, said such attacks were the DPP’s “usual trick” in elections to shift the focus of attention away from the party’s own problems. “These dirty and lame tricks are used too much, and they will only make themselves become a laughingstock,” it said. Taiwan’s government rejects China’s sovereignty claims. China has aimed its ire at the DPP’s presidential candidate, current Vice President Lai Ching-te, accusing him of being a dangerous separatist. Lai has repeatedly offered talks with China but been rebuffed. Both the DPP and Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), which traditionally favours close ties with China but denies being pro-Beijing, say only Taiwan’s 23 million people can decide their future. But the KMT also says it strongly opposes Taiwan independence.   Source: The Print

According to the report, in July 2016, Lhakdor intended to board a flight from Kardze to Lhasa. During this journey, Chinese authorities conducted a search of his phone and discovered videos related to Tibet’s independence. Subsequently, he was apprehended on allegations of disseminating information under a controversial new Chinese crime of spreading rumours over the internet. Following his arrest, Lhakdor was taken to a local court situated in Palyul County, where he received a sentence of 11 years in prison. Notably, this sentencing occurred in the presence of his family members, as stated in the report. An anonymous source inside Tibet told TT, “Lhakdor is known to be a frequent traveller and holds a strong sense of patriotism towards his homeland.His family members have only been permitted to visit him on one occasion since his arrest. Presently, there is a lack of clarity regarding his current location and the specific detention centre where he is being held. Despite requests for visitation rights, officials have consistently denied these requests. As per the report, Lhakdor’s family managed to visit him only once during the seven years following his initial arrest. As of now, there is no information on Lhakdor’s location and the state of his health.  Source: Phayul

A rampaging mob set alight several churches and scores of homes on Wednesday in a predominantly Christian area of the Pakistani city of Faisalabad. Officials said the attack, in Jaranwala town, was triggered by a group of Muslim religious extremists who accused a local Christian family of desecrating the Quran. What we know so far Christian leader Akmal Bhatti said the crowd set fire to at least five churches and looted valuables from abandoned houses after clerics made announcements in mosques to incite them. Hundreds of people armed with sticks and rocks stormed churches belonging to various denominations. Provincial police chief Usman Anwar told the online media outlet Dawn that officers cordoned off the area as police tried to negotiate with the crowd. Police also said they were registering cases against those who desecrated the Quran. "Priests and lay people are deeply pained and distressed," said Pakistani bishop Azad Marshall, in the neighboring city of Lahore. "We cry out for justice and action from law enforcement and those who dispense justice," Marshall said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. In response, Pakistan's newly appointed caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar said he was "gutted by the visuals coming out of Jaranwala" and promised "stern action." "All law enforcement has been asked to apprehend culprits and bring them to justice," said the prime minister. "Rest assured that the government of Pakistan stands with our citizenry on equal basis." How is blasphemy dealt with in Pakistan? Blasphemy — where the accused are deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic figures — is punishable by death in Pakistan. While no one has ever been executed for it, there are cases of angry crowds lynching accused individuals. Hundreds are in prison facing blasphemy charges, with judges often postponing trials for fear of retribution if they are deemed too lenient. According to rights groups, accusations of blasphemy are sometimes used as a means of settling scores.

North Korea on Monday accused the United States of trespassing its airspace by flying spy aircrafts and slammed US plans of deploying a nuclear missile submarine close to the Korean peninsula.   Alleging repeated provocation by the US, North Korea warned that, while Pyongyang is exercising restraint, it will shoot down such surveillance flights. In a statement, a spokesperson for the North's Ministry of National Defence said "provocative" military actions conducted by the US "several times" were bringing the Korean peninsula closer to a nuclear conflict. "There is no guarantee that such a shocking accident as the downing of the US Air Force strategic reconnaissance planes will not happen in the East Sea of Korea," the spokesperson added in the statement cited by official news agency KCNA. There was no immediate response from the US military, while South Korea dismissed North's claim of airspace violation as false. It said the US conducts routine reconnaissance flights around the peninsula. Escalation through 'nuclear blackmail' Condemning US plans to deploy strategic nuclear assets around the Korean peninsula, Pyongyang said it is "the most undisguised nuclear blackmail" against North Korea that poses serious threat to peace and security in the region. In April, the US announced its plan to send a US Navy nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine to a South Korean port for the first time since the 1980s. It, however, did not share the timeline for the visit. "Whether the extreme situation, desired by nobody, is created or not on the Korean peninsula depends on the future action of the US, and if any sudden situation happens ... the US will be held totally accountable for it," KCNA said. Pyongyang cited past incidents when it shot down US planes and warned the US will pay for its "frantically staged" air espionage.  

Turkish police say they have arrested scores of people over suspected links to the outlawed PKK militant group. The detentions come just weeks before major elections. Turkish police on Tuesday detained 110 people in an operation targeting people accused of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group, security sources said. The operation extended over 21 provinces but was focused on the Kurdish-majority town of Diyarbakir in the southeast, the sources said. A pro-Kurdish lawmaker said politicians, lawyers, journalists and artists were among those arrested in the raids, which come before presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14. Why is the PKK being targeted? Security sources referred to the raids targeting people with suspected links to the PKK as a "counterterror" operation. The PKK, a militant group that has long fought for increased autonomy for Kurds in Turkey, is designated as a terror group not only by Turkey, but also by the US and the EU, among others. However, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has twice ruled that the group received its EU designation without due process. The Turkish government blames the PKK for nearly 40,000 deaths since the group launched an armed struggle for a Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984. However, both sides have been accused of atrocities since the start of the uprising. Instrumentalizing arrests? Pro-Kurdish lawmaker Tayip Temel of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) claimed that the operation was motivated by fears that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his AK Party could be defeated in the upcoming elections. "On the eve of the election, out of fear of losing power, they have resorted to detention operations again," he wrote on Twitter. He said tens of politicians, including top members of his party, journalists, artists and lawyers were among those detained in Diyarbakir on Tuesday morning. In a statement on its website, the organization Reporters Without Borders says: "As the 2023 election approaches, the Recep Tayyip Erdogan 'hyper-presidency' has stepped up its attacks on journalists in a bid to deflect attention from the country's economic and democratic decline and to shore up its political base." Erdogan and his AK Party have dominated the political landscape in Turkey since 2002.

Hong Kong's national security police arrested a veteran journalist and former contributing writer with the now-shuttered liberal media outlet Stand News, on Monday for alleged sedition, police and local media said.   Local police said in a statement that the national security department of the police force had arrested a 54 year-old male for "conspiracy to publish seditious publications" and had detained him for further investigation.   Court judgments in recent months have enabled authorities to use powers conferred by the new legislation to deploy rarely used colonial era laws covering sedition.   When questioned about Au's arrest, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam told a news conference she would not comment on individual cases, but said press freedom was enshrined in the city's mini-constitution, the Basic Law.   The Hong Kong Journalists' Association expressed "deep concern" and said the arrest risked "further damaging Hong Kong's press freedom."   Au, who was known for his critical columns, is a former Knight Fellow at Stanford University. Au's arrest adds to the number of journalists targeted after the enactment of the security law. Two former senior editors of Stand News had also been charged in December with conspiring to publish and or reproduce seditious publications.   Source:  Voanews

The European Union Delegation in Dhaka on Monday said they expect the authorities will ensure that all incidents involving the deaths of alleged criminal suspects in Bangladesh will be investigated fully in accordance with due processes. “We expect the authorities to ensure that all incidents involving the deaths of alleged criminal suspects are investigated fully and in accordance with due processes,” the EU Delegation said in a statement. Reports UNB. The statement was issued in agreement with the EU Heads of Mission in Bangladesh. The Head of Mission of Norway associates herself with this local EU statement, reads the statement. “Drug abuse and illicit trafficking is a global problem. The high level of casualties and reports of the use of excessive force in the drive against narcotics, however, is reported to have resulted in over 120 deaths since 4 May,” they said. The EU has said Bangladesh has committed to uphold the rule of law and ensure that all law enforcement actions are carried out in accordance with the law and in adherence to international standards and norms, including with appropriate safeguards over the use of force.  The signatories of the statement are Ambassador, Delegation of the European Union Rensje Teerink, Italian Ambassador Italy Mario Palma, German Ambassador Dr Thomas Heinrich Prinz, Dutch Leoni Cuelenaere, British High Commissioner Alison Blake, Danish Ambassador Mikael Hemniti Winther, Spanish Ambassador D Alvaro de Salas Gimanez de Azcarate, Swedish Ambassadorn Charlotta Schlyter, France Ambassador Marie-Annick Bourdin and Norwegian Ambassador Sidsel Bleken. AH

A court has granted remand with different terms for four arrested in connection with attack, vandalism, arson and theft in the residence of Dhaka University (DU) Vice Chancellor (VC). Detective Branch Police produced the arrested Rakib (26), Ali (28), Masud (25) and Siam (20) before the court and sought 7 days remand for each. After the hearing Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Raihanul Islam granted 4 days remand for Rakib, 3 days for Ali and 2 days each for Masud and Siam. They were arrested from Chankharpul area in the capital on Sunday. Two theft mobile phones were recovered from their possession at the moment. They were arrested following a case filed by DU Senior Security Officer SM Kamrul Ahsan on April 10. After primary interrogation it is known that the arrested are not the students of DU. Masud is a student of Alia Madrassa. The rest three are not students. There were 5 cases filed against Rakib in Barishal and Laxmipur. AH

Allegations that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official mobile application was sending personal user data to a third party without their consent caused a furore on social media in India and drew criticism from the leader of the main opposition party on Sunday, reports Reuters. Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party denied the allegations and said the data was being used only for analytics to offer all users the "most contextual content". A security researcher, who has previously highlighted some vulnerabilities in India's national identity card project and who tweets under the pseudonym Elliot Alderson, posted a series of tweets on Saturday stating the app was sending personal user data to a third-party domain that was traced to an American company. The tweets, which come at a time of heightened sensitivity around the alleged misuse of personal data amid the unfolding Facebook-Cambridge Analytica, triggered a stir in India on social media. "Hi! My name is Narendra Modi. I am India's Prime Minister. When you sign up for my official App, I give all your data to my friends in American companies," wrote opposition Congress Party Chief Rahul Gandhi in a Twitter message on Sunday. The BJP quickly responded on Twitter, saying Gandhi was trying to divert attention. The BJP has accused the Congress of engaging Cambridge Analytica in India, a charge the opposition party has denied. Alderson, who initially pointed out that the Narendra Modi app was sharing data with a third party without the consent of users, earlier on Sunday posted a new tweet saying the app had "quietly" updated its privacy policy after his previous tweets. Reuters could not independently verify Alderson's claim. Prime Minister Modi has not commented on the issue. BJP said the app - which has seen about 5 million downloads on the Google Android Play Store - allows users access even in a guest mode that does not require them to grant any permissions. "The permissions required are all ... cause-specific," the BJP tweeted.   FU