Diplomat’s arrest in N.Y. sparks U.S.-India furor
NEW DELHI – The arrest and alleged strip search of an Indian diplomat in New York City escalated into a major diplomatic furor Tuesday as India’s national security adviser called the woman’s treatment “despicable and barbaric.”
Devyani Khobragade, India’s deputy consul general in New York, is accused of submitting false documents to obtain a work visa for her Manhattan housekeeper. Indian officials said she was arrested and handcuffed Thursday as she dropped off her daughter at school, and was kept in a cell with drug addicts before posting $250,000 bail.
A senior Indian official confirmed reports that she also was strip-searched, which has been portrayed in India as the most offensive and troubling part of the arrest. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
India was ready to retaliate against American diplomats in India by threatening to downgrade privileges and demanding information about how much they pay their Indian household staff, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
Merkel wins new term as German chancellor
BERLIN – Angela Merkel has won over Germans once again.
The 59-year-old, no-drama leader has weathered turbulent economic times, firmly establishing Germany as Europe’s financial taskmaster while preserving its welfare comforts and status as a reluctant world power.
Since entering politics in her mid-30s after a career as a physicist, Merkel has earned a reputation as an effective operator on the international stage, warming ties with the U.S. that had been frayed by German opposition to the Iraq war and brokering compromises among fractious European Union leaders.
She has already achieved a number of political firsts: the first German chancellor from the former communist east and the first woman to lead the country.
Merkel was sworn in Tuesday for a third term as German chancellor at the head of a “grand coalition” of her conservative Union bloc and the center-left Social Democrats, traditional rivals who together have a huge parliamentary majority.
Associated Press
