An Australian teenager has been arrested and spent the night in a Balinese jail after being suspected of possessing drugs.
Jamie Murphy, 18, from Perth, was arrested at 1am (local time) after a nightclub security guard found a small bag of white powder in his bum bag.
Police suspect the illegal substance is cocaine. Blood and urine samples have been taken from Murphy to be tested for prior drug use. The white powder will also be tested to establish what it is. Under Indonesian law Murphy can be held without charge for three days before he is formally named as a suspect. A suspect can be charged with trying to obtain drugs even if the substance found to have been bought proves to be a harmless fake. In Indonesia, possessing just 1 gram of cocaine or heroin carries a sentence of up to 12 years.
The 18-year-old’s friends have visited him and his parents were expected to arrive in Bali later today.
Underage rape bill withdrawn in Turkey
A bill that allows men to have sex with underage girls if they are married has been withdrawn amid protests across Turkey. Hours before the bill was due before a final vote in parliament, it was withdrawn by Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
Critics argued the bill would allow statutory rape and encourage the practice of marrying off juveniles under religious sanction. UN agencies believe the bill would make it even more difficult for Turkey to combat the issues of child marriages and child sexual abuse. The Opposition party had opposed the bill. It is reported that over the past decade approximately 438,000 under-age girls have been married.
Nato condemns Russia’s missile move
NATO has condemned Russia for deploying anti-shipping missiles to its base in Kaliningrad on Monday. NATO says the deployment is an act of “aggressive military posturing”. The move creates tension as Kaliningrad is a Russian military post close to Lithuania and Poland.
The deployment of anti-shipping missiles is seen as intended to discourage NATO from accessing its member countries in the event of a crisis. A US state department spokesman said the move was “destabilising to European security”. The Russian Defence Ministry responded saying “all recent threats to European security” were a result of US military policy.
Syrians receive aid on Jordan border
Aid will be reinstated to roughly 85,000 Syrian refugees sheltering on Jordan’s border after a four-month stoppage. Food, hygiene packs, winter clothes, and bedding will be delivered by the UN to the desert area, the first delivery since August.
The refugees, predominantly women, and children live in two scarcely resourced makeshift camps. “The resumption of assistance comes at the start of the coldest period of the year, when temperatures can drop dangerously low,” the UN said. – Compiled from web sources by Alicia Camilleri, Nikolina Matijevic, Sinead Fogarty and Samantha Besgrove
Screen grab from 9 News Perth Youtube video.
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Enthusiastic reporter-to-be, who has a love for anything and everything. Follow her on Twitter: @AliciaCam98; and Facebook: Alicia Camilleri
