News in pictures: Trump aide tests COVID positive, Djokovic’s appeal, Sex abuse rocks Denmark, Bulgaria protests, Teach daughters decency to avoid rape: Indian politician

AUSTRALIA’S WAGE SUBSIDIES: The Australian government said on Sunday it will earmark an additional A$1.2 billion ($859 million) in wage subsidies in the 2020/21 budget and that its frameworks assume that there will be a novel coronavirus vaccine next year. In the run up to the October 6 budget, which is set to forecast a record deficit of about A$200 billion, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said a vaccine was a factor in his fiscal considerations. The government plans to roll out a coronavirus vaccine cost-free to citizens, expecting its first batches possibly in January. Earlier on Sunday, the government said the budget would include a wage subsidy aimed at creating up to 100,000 apprenticeships. https://gulfnews.com/world

TRUMP AIDE LUNA TESTS COVID POSITIVE: White House aide Nick Luna, who serves as a personal attendant to President Donald Trump, has tested positive for coronavirus infection, according to people familiar with the matter. Luna's diagnosis emerged a little more than 24 hours after Trump entered the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment of COVID-19 following his own infection. https://gulfnews.com/world

SEX ABUSE SCANDALS ROCK DENMARK: A country generally admired for its high standards of gender equality is now dealing with allegations of systematic sexual harassment at the top of the political establishment. Denmark's parliament has for years allegedly served as a backdrop for misogynistic conduct including everything from rape to sexual intimidation of female interns by male lawmakers. That's according to a list of accusations signed by 322 current and former female politicians and parliament employees. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen says it's now "impossible to contest" that there's a problem, and has hired external lawyers to look into the allegations. That's as she herself faces criticism for appointing a foreign minister who admitted to having had sex with a 15-year-old when he was 34. https://gulfnews.com/world

DJOKOVIC DEMANDS LINE JUDGES BE REPLACED BY TECHNOLOGY: Novak Djokovic, who was famously defaulted at the US Open after he accidentally hit a ball which felled a line judge, demanded that the officials be replaced by machines. In New York, the world number one was disqualified after swiping at a ball in frustration which then smashed into the throat of a lineswoman standing behind him. The incident happened on the showpiece Arthur Ashe Stadium, one of just two courts at the tournament which maintained the tradition of using linesmen and women. On all the others, electronic line calling was used as part of plans to reduce the number of people on the Flushing Meadows site during the coronavirus pandemic. There have been growing calls for a similar system to be introduced at Roland Garros which still relies of officials making rulings with the naked eye. https://gulfnews.com/sport

THOUSANDS MARCH CALLING FOR BULGARIA GOVERNMENT TO QUIT: Thousands of people marched through the Bulgarian capital Sofia calling for the government to quit, the latest in a series of such protests. The protesters, most of them young, gathered in front of the parliament, shouting "Resign!" and "Mafia". "Europe heard us and saw us!" lawyer Nikolay Hadjiguenov, one of the march organisers, told the crowd. On Wednesday, the European Commission expressed its concern over the independence of the judiciary in Bulgaria, the lack of progress in the battle against corruption there and what it said were threats to the independence of its news media. https://gulfnews.com/world

DEADLY STORM HITS FRANCE AND ITALY: People died in Italy and people were missing in France after storms, torrential rain and flash floods battered the border area, washing away roads and houses, cutting off whole villages and triggering landslips, as hundreds of rescuers raced to find stranded survivors. Torrential rain of up to 50 centimetres (20 inches) and high winds crashed into the border area in the latest of a string of strong storms in recent years. Storm Alex barrelled into France's west coast on Thursday bringing powerful winds and rain across the country before moving into Italy, where regions across the north suffered an onslaught throughout Saturday. https://gulfnews.com/world

SOLOMON ISLANDS RECORD FIRST CORONAVIRUS CASE: The Solomon Islands announced they have lost the battle to stay free of the coronavirus, leaving just nine small, remote territories that have not reported a single case. Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare told the Pacific island nation in a televised address that a student who recently arrived from the Philippines on a repatriation flight carrying 96 passengers had returned a positive test. "It pains me to say that we have lost our COVID-19-free status despite our collective effort to prevent the pandemic from entering our country," Sogavare said. He urged the population of 600,000 in the archipelago to remain calm and said contact tracing and other measures to prevent the spread of the virus had been activated and there was no need for a lockdown. https://gulfnews.com/world

POMPEO TO CUT SHORT ASIA VISIT: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will cut short his trip to Asia this week, a department spokeswoman said, visiting Japan but skipping planned stops to South Korea and Mongolia. The US top diplomat will be in Tokyo from Sunday to Tuesday, spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement, where he will meet with foreign ministers of Australia, India and Japan. "Secretary Pompeo expects to be traveling to Asia again in October and will work to reschedule visits on that trip, that is now just a few weeks off," she said. https://gulfnews.com/world/americas

HATHRAS RAPE PROBE: India’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) National Spokesperson Sudhindra Bhadoria has raised questions over the recommendation for CBI investigation of Hathras gang-rape incident by Uttar Pradesh Government and demanded that CBI investigation of the case should be under the supervision of a Supreme Court Judge. "There is anger all across the country against the Hathras rape, subsequently leading to her death and even the body not being given to her parents for cremation. Therefore, people in this country are very angry with the Uttar Pradesh Government, more particularly with the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath," Bhadoria said. https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india

‘RAPE CASES CAN BE STOPPED IF PARENTS TEACH DAUGHTERS TO BEHAVE DECENTLY’: India’s Bharathiya Janata Party member Surendra Singh on Saturday said that rape cases can be "stopped" if parents teach their daughters to behave "decently". “Such incidents can only be stopped by good values, and not by governance or sword. It is every parent's dharma to raise their young daughters in a cultured environment and teach them to behave decently,” said the Ballia MLA when asked to comment on the Hathras gang-rape case. "If it is the government's dharma to provide protection, it is the family's dharma to teach good values to their children. It is only the combination of government and good values that can make the country beautiful," he said (roughly translated from Hindi). The 19-year-old Hathras woman died at Delhi's Safdarjung hospital on September 29, a fortnight after being gang raped. https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india

GIRL, 4, RAPED BY RELATIVE IN INDIA’S UP: A four-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her relative in a village under limits of Khair police station, police said. Shubham Patel, Superintendent of Police (SP), Aligarh Rural said that the girl is admitted to a hospital and her condition is stable. "We have registered a case and will nab the accused soon," he said. https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india

RAHUL GANDHI PROTESTS AGAINST FARM BILLS: India’s former Congress chief and member of parliament Rahul Gandhi will kick start "Kheti Bachao Yatra" in Punjab on Sunday to protest against recently enacted agriculture sector reform laws. A series of mass programmes have been planned that will begin from Punjab and will reach Delhi later. Initially, a three-day programme through rallies and roadshows using tractors has been planned. The Congress has termed these laws as anti-farmer and the party has planned a month-long agitation across the country to reach out to the farming community. The Parliament has recently passed Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020. These have received the assent of President Ram Nath Kovid and have come into effect from September 27. https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india