Taiwanese gather for gay-pride parade
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Tens of thousands of people gathered in Taiwan's capital on Saturday for the city's annual gay-pride parade, ahead of referendums next month that will determine whether same-sex marriages will be recognized on the island.
In a first for Asia, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in May 2017, punctuating a yearslong campaign by advocates for gay rights in one of the continent's most liberal democracies. Authorities were given two years to either enact or amend relevant laws; if they fail to do so, then same-sex couples can have their marriages recognized by submitting written documents.
But little progress has been made toward implementing the court's ruling. Meanwhile, campaigners on both sides of the issue have organized referendums that will take place alongside Nov. 24 local elections.
Organizers estimated that 130,000 people took part in Saturday's parade in Taipei, the biggest annual gay-pride march in Asia.
Hindu site set ablaze over court ruling
NEW DELHI -- Protesters on Saturday set fire to a Hindu religious center in southern India for supporting a Supreme Court decision allowing women of menstruating age at one of the world's largest Hindu pilgrimage sites.
Swami Sandeepananda Giri, who runs the center in Kerala state, said some vehicles were also burned by the attackers.
Giri blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu Nationalist party for the attack. The party demands that the state government, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), appeal the court's decision.
The state government said it arrested about 2,000 people for blocking the entry of women ages 10-50 when the temple opened for prayers for five days. However, courts have freed about 1,500 on bail.
Several groups have filed petitions with the Supreme Court to seek a review of the ruling. They say the celibacy of the temple's presiding deity, Lord Ayyappa, is protected by India's constitution and that women of all ages can worship at other Hindu temples. Some Hindu figures consider menstruating women to be impure.
The entry of women between the ages of 10 and 50 to the centuries-old temple was banned informally for many years, and then by law in 1972. In 1991, the Kerala High Court confirmed the ban, which held until it was struck down by the Supreme Court last month.
ISIS regains ground in eastern Syria
BEIRUT -- The Islamic State killed at least 40 U.S.-backed Syrian fighters, captured several alive and regained areas lost earlier this month in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border, a war monitor and an agency linked to the militant group said Saturday.
Members of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have been on the offensive since early September under the cover of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition, trying to capture the last pocket held by the Islamic State in Syria.
Friday's fighting, which lasted until the early hours of Saturday, began when the Islamic State, taking advantage of a sandstorm, launched a counteroffensive against Syrian Democratic Forces positions east of the Euphrates river in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, activists said.
Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the Islamic State had killed more than 60 Syrian Democratic Forces fighters, wounded others and captured at least 20 since Friday.
The Observatory and the Deir Ezzor 24 activist collective said Islamic State fighters captured the village of Sousa, which they had lost control of last week.
The Islamic State-linked Aamaq news agency said more than 40 Syrian Democratic Forces fighters were killed. The news agency posted a video of six gunmen captured alive.
Protesters denounce Rome's decline
ROME -- Thousands of Romans gathered in front of City Hall on Saturday morning to protest the state of the Italian capital, where garbage is piled high on pothole-filled streets that have become a hazard for cars but a haven for wild boars, and where public buses have caught on fire.
Protesters said they were particularly upset with Virginia Raggi, who in 2016 became the ancient city's first female mayor with much fanfare, but has since become an object of derision for her failure to halt the city's decline.
"I'm 66 years old, and I've never seen a dirtier, more disorganized city," said Franco Montini, one of the protesters.
In the city, garbage pickup is erratic at best. Last week, an escalator collapsed in a subway station, injuring many Russian soccer fans. Public buses have caught fire, and some neighborhoods have even seen wild boars picking through the trash and sidestepping potholes.
The rally was organized by a group of concerned city residents who used Facebook and word-of-mouth to spread the news. Protesters on Saturday swapped stories about the daily inconveniences of living in Rome, which many described as "a disaster."
Laura Tolino, 55, said it was "hard to find anyone who admits they voted" for Raggi.
A Section on 10/28/2018