Lesbians join Taiwan army mass wedding
TAOYUAN, Taiwan -- Two lesbian couples tied the knot in a mass wedding held by Taiwan's military on Friday in a celebration with their peers.
Taiwan is the only place in Asia to have legalized same-sex marriage, with more than 4,000 such couples marrying since the legislation passed in May 2019. The mass wedding with 188 couples was the first time same-sex couples have been wed and celebrated at a military ceremony.
Both couples viewed their ceremonies with a sense of responsibility toward representing the gay community.
[Gallery not loading above? Click here for more photos » arkansasonline.com/1031taoyuan/]
"We are hoping that more LGBT people in the military can bravely stand up, because our military is very open-minded. In matters of love, everyone will be treated equally," said Chen Ying-hsuan, 27, an army lieutenant who married Li Li-chen, 26.
The ceremony at an army base in the northern city of Taoyuan was brief. The couples took part in a parade and then exchanged rings in front of an audience of family members and their senior officers.
Yumi Meng, 37, and her wife, army Maj. Wang Yi, 36, wiped back tears as they exchanged rings. Meng wore sneakers under her wedding dress, while Wang wore her officer's uniform. Each carried a pride flag throughout the ceremony.
Since same-sex marriage became legal in Taiwan, 4,021 such couples have married, with 69% of them lesbian couples, according to the most recent government data.
Qatar opens criminal case over exams
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Qatar said Friday that it referred officials at its international airport to prosecutors for possible charges after women aboard Qatar Airways flights faced forced vaginal examinations after the discovery of an abandoned newborn.
The statement comes as the Australian government has expressed anger and union workers have threatened not to service Qatar Airways aircraft in Sydney over the Oct. 2 incident. Australia also represents a crucial route for Qatar Airways, the state-owned long-haul carrier based at Hamad International Airport in Doha.
In a statement, Qatar's Government Communication Office described the abandoning of the baby as the "attempted murder" of the child.
"The subsequent procedures taken by the authorities at the airport, including examining a number of female passengers, revealed that standard procedures were violated," the statement said. "Those responsible for these violations and illegal actions have been referred to the Public Prosecution Office."
The statement did not elaborate or identify who had given the order to conduct the exams. It said an investigation by Qatari authorities continued and that Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, the country's prime minister and interior minister, offered his country's "sincerest apology" to the women forced to undergo the exams.
The physical examinations of passengers bound for Sydney and nine other unnamed destinations triggered anger in Australia. The government denounced the searches as inappropriate and beyond circumstances in which the women could give free and informed consent.
Kenya sentences men for aiding attack
NAIROBI, Kenya -- A Kenyan court on Friday sentenced two men to 26 and 11 years in prison for supporting the dayslong 2013 attack on Nairobi's upscale Westgate Mall that left 67 people dead.
Mohamed Ahmed Abdi and Hussein Hassan Mustafah were found guilty earlier this month of charges including conspiracy to commit terrorism by assisting the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group based in neighboring Somalia.
Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi acquitted a third suspect, Liban Omar, who authorities say is a brother of one of the attackers. But his lawyer said Omar was abducted by men believed to be security agents five minutes after his release.
During the sentencing, Andayi said Abdi and Mustafah's participation may be considered subtle "but the end result is devastating." He said he took into account that they already had spent seven years in custody.
Defense lawyer Mbugua Mureithi pleaded for leniency for his client, saying Abdi has accepted the court's findings and was remorseful, though he maintains his innocence.
Mureithi urged a custodial sentence for Abdi, allowing him to report to a police station from time to time, because he was a first offender.
Pupils killed in crash mourned in Nigeria
LAGOS, Nigeria -- Nigeria's president is expressing sadness over a "gruesome vehicle accident" in which 21 people, most of them schoolchildren, were killed.
The accident occurred Wednesday in Awgu, Enugu state, when a truck lost control and hit a school bus conveying 61 children. A teacher also was among the dead.
The children were with the Presentation Nursery and Primary School, which is run by the Catholic diocese of Awgu.
President Muhammadu Buhari asked vehicle owners to ensure roadworthiness, "as initial reports attributed the accident to brake failure by the truck involved."
Serious accidents with high death tolls are common in Nigeria because of poorly maintained vehicles, reckless driving and bad roads.
