World Vignettes

No sex for teens

WASHINGTON: A US court has ruled that teenagers do not possess the right to have sex, even if it happens to be a consensual one. The California court of appeals on Friday upheld a juvenile court ruling, in a case involving consensual sex between a 17-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, that the boy had committed statutory rape with a minor. The boy’s lawyers argued unsuccessfully that the statutory rape law was intended to protect minor girls against adults and that there was no law against teenagers having consensual sex among themselves. The ruling of the court of appeals was unanimous.

Dalai shuns politics

TOKYO: The Dalai Lama, the supreme spiritual leader of the Tibetans, scrupulously avoided any reference to China during his ten-day trip to Japan, concentrating on matters of religion. At a press conference here on Friday, a Tibetan source asked journalists to restrict their questions only to matters of religion to avoid saying anything critical againstthe new Chinese administration. An Indian correspondent who asked the Tibetan spiritual leader whether he had any information about the Tibetan boy Gedhun Choekyi Nyima he had anointed as the 11th Panchen Lama, was told “no information.”.

Paparazzi trial

PARIS: Evidence from a motorcyclist claiming to have been first on the scene of the car crash in which Diana, Princess of Wales was killed on August 31, appears to clear the paparazzi of blame, a French newspaper report said on Friday. Eric Patel told magistrate Herve Stephen on February 2 that he was “first to arrive” at the crash scene, before the press photographers who were subsequently charged in connection with the accident. Patel said he had raised the alarm and alerted the police who refused to believe him. In February, investigators expressed “deep reservation” about Patel’s evidence. According to La Voik Du Nord newspaper, Patel’s lawyer Anoine Deguines “once again explained” the facts to Stephen who “recently receivedconfirmation of the statement” made by Patel whose evidence was not judged to be “plausible”. `

Repairs on Mir

MOSCOW: Two cosmonauts aboard the Russian Mir space station began a six-hour spacewalk on Saturday to carry out repair work on the ageing craft. Talgat Masabayev and Nikolai Bdarin will attempt to replace an engine on Mir’s Kvant module which helps the space station maintain its position.The existing motor, which was installed in 1992, stopped working five days ago owing to lack of fuel. It will be the third spacewalk this month, following successful repairs to a solar panel damaged in June .