Saudi Arabia to put detained women activists on trial
AFP, Riyadh:
Saudi women activists detained last year in a sweeping crackdown on campaigners will be put on trial, state media said Friday.
“The public prosecution would like to announce that it has concluded its investigation and prepared the indictment list against the defendants… and will refer the case to the relevant court,” the Saudi Press Agency said.
Russian Nobel physics winner Alferov dies at 88
AFP, Moscow
Russian scientist Zhores Alferov, who won the Nobel physics prize for his work in semi-conductor and laser technologies, has died, agencies said on Saturday. He was 88.
When Alferov took the prize in 2000, he was the first Russian to win a Nobel since Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was given the peace award in 1990.
Mexico closes 5 migrant
holding centres
AP, Mexico City
Mexico’s government says it has closed migrant holding centers in five parts of the country because they did not meet the minimum conditions required for shelters.
The National Migrant Institute said in a statement Friday it had closed centers in the cities of Reynosa, Nogales, Tuxpan, Morelia and Acapulco.
2 more Australian minister quit politics
AFP, Sydney
Australia’s defence minister and his deputy both announced they were quitting politics on Saturday, bringing to five the number of cabinet members retiring as Prime Minister Scott Morrison heads into a fraught election.
Defence Minister Christopher Pyne, the most moderate remaining member of Morrison’s conservative coalition government, said he was stepping down at the next election, due by mid-May, to begin a business career.
Brazil’s President to visit US, Chile, Israel
AFP, Brasilia
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will pay his first official visits to the United States, Chile and Israel this month, in a clear sign of the alliances the far-right leader wants to shore up, official sources said Friday.
The former Army captain, who took office on January 1, will be in the United States on March 18-22 and in Chile on March 23, said Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo, quoted by state-owned Agencia Brasil.
