World briefs
Composer Hans Henze dies
Hans Werner Henze, one of Germany’s foremost composers (right) , died yesterday at the age of 86, his publisher Schott Music said.
Born in Guetersloh on July 1, 1926, Henze’s prolific output covered a wide range of works, including more than 40 operas and pieces for the stage, 10 symphonies, concertos, chamber music, oratorios and song.
Henze was openly gay and made his home in Italy, in the Albani hills outside Rome with his partner of more than five decades, Fausto Moroni, whom he met in 1964, but who died in 2007.
‘Strip Savile’s Vatican honour’
The leader of England’s Catholics has asked the Vatican whether the papal knighthood given to disgraced British television star Jimmy Savile can be posthumously removed, a spokesman said yesterday.
Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, wrote a letter last week asking the relevant office to see whether Savile can be stripped of the honour.
Police investigating alleged child sex abuse by the late BBC star have identified around 300 possible victims, making him one of the worst offenders in British history.
Savile, who died on October 29 last year aged 84, also single-handedly raised tens of millions of euros for charity.
EU MEPs cancel Iran visit
A planned visit to Iran by five Euro MPs was called off yesterday after Tehran refused to let them meet with a jailed activist lawyer and a filmmaker, just a day after the two were awarded a prestigious European human rights prize.
“The five MEPs were about to leave for Tehran when delegation chairwoman (Tarja) Cronberg received a phone call from the Iranian Ambassador to the EU, saying they would not be allowed to meet with the two Sakharov Prize winners,” jailed lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and filmmaker Jafar Panahi, a European Parliament source said.
Top opposition leaders held
Russian police detained several opposition leaders, including Alexei Navalny and Sergei Udaltsov, during a protest held in Moscow yesterday against the latest wave of arrests of political activists.
Police claimed the detained activists violated public order after about 200 people gathered around the headquarters of the Federal Security Service with signs protesting poli-tical repression against the opposition, including allegations of torture by one activist.