Serb police fight gay-pride opponents
BELGRADE, Serbia -- Police in Serbia briefly clashed with far-right supporters who tried to prevent a gay pride parade attended by the country's openly gay prime minister on Sunday.
Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and her partner joined several hundred activists in the annual march through downtown Belgrade. The center of the capital was sealed off by police during the event.
Hours before the march, around 150 far-right supporters gathered in protest. Some held Orthodox Christian banners and crosses and sang religious songs, and some were dressed as Orthodox monks.
At least five protesters were taken away by police after they refused to move from the route of the march that ended without any major incident.
Brnabic is the first openly gay prime minister in the traditionally conservative Balkan state.
"Today we are sending a message of tolerance which has to be preserved in Serbia," Brnabic said. "I think we are heading in the right direction."
Brnabic, however, is not very popular among many in the gay community in the capital because they say she has done little to promote their rights since she came to power in 2017.
A banner reading "Prime minister, how is it living with all those privileges?" greeted her as she joined the march.
The first pride parade in Belgrade was organized in 2001, and participants were attacked by hooligans and ultranationalist groups. Since 2014, the marches have occurred without major incidents.
Syria grants amnesty, cuts sentences
DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syrian President Bashar Assad issued a decree Sunday granting amnesty and reducing sentences for all crimes committed before Sept. 14, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said.
Similar amnesties have been issued on several occasions -- most recently last year -- since Syria's crisis began in March 2011.
According to Sunday's pardon, life-long terms would replace death sentences. A 20-year sentence at hard labor would replace a life-long sentence at hard labor, and a 20-year sentence would replace life-long sentences.
Prisoners with incurable diseases including cancer would be freed, it said.
The decree stipulated granting a general amnesty for military deserters who turn themselves in within 3 months for those inside the country, and 6 months for those outside the country.
Also Sunday, Assad received Russia's Special Envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev and its Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin, a day before a meeting in Turkey that will include the leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran. Syria will be the main focus of the talks.
Today's meeting in the Turkish capital of Ankara will discuss the situation in the northwestern province of Idlib that has been under attack by government forces since April 30. A truce has been holding despite some violations since the end of August.
Boat capsizes in India; toll at least 12
HYDERABAD, India -- A sightseeing boat capsized on a swollen river in southern India on Sunday, killing 12 people and leaving 25 others missing, an official said.
Andra Pradesh state's home minister, Mekathoti Sucharita, said there were 61 people -- 50 passengers and 11 crew members, all of them Indian nationals -- on board the boat when it capsized on the Godavari River.
A search operation was underway to try to find the missing people.
Twenty-four people had been rescued as of Sunday night, Sucharita said.
The accident occurred near Kachuluru village in East Godavari district, 236 miles east of the state's capital, Hyderabad. The boat was heading from Singanapalli to Papikondalu, a famous tourist spot.
Sucharita said tour boats had been barred from operating on the route after the recent flooding of the river, and it was not clear how the boat that capsized had managed to take out the tourists.
Turkey receives Russian missile tech
ISTANBUL -- Turkey's defense ministry says Russia has completed delivery of components for a second battery of the S-400 surface-to-air missile defense system to an airbase in the Turkish capital.
In a statement Sunday, the ministry said it plans to activate the system in April.
Turkey continued with the purchase of the Russian-made system despite strong objections from its NATO ally, the United States.
Washington says the missiles are incompatible with the NATO system and pose a threat to the U.S.-led F-35 stealth fighter jet program. It suspended Turkey's participation in the F-35 program and has also threatened sanctions against Ankara.
Russia delivered first S-400 battery to Murted Air Base in Ankara in July. Shipments resumed in late August.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 09/16/2019