In brief: Lawmakers elect female president
Lawmakers elected India’s first female president, officials announced Saturday, in a vote seen as a step forward for the millions of Indian women and girls who face bitter discrimination in everyday life.
The position is largely ceremonial. But observers said the selection of Pratibha Patil, 72, in a vote by the national parliament and state politicians will widen the role of women in the country’s often male-dominated political scene.
“This is a victory of the principles which the Indian people uphold,” said Patil, wearing her signature oversize glasses and a red and gold celebratory sari. As she waved a V-for-victory sign on television, marigolds and colored powders were tossed at her feet.
Patil had been expected to win because of her support from the governing Congress party, and her deep political ties and friendship with Sonia Gandhi, leader of the party and the powerful Gandhi dynasty.
Over four decades, Patil has held various political offices. A trained lawyer, she most recently served as the first female governor of the northern state of Rajasthan.
Knippa, Texas
Storms bring more flooding
Storms dumped more than a foot of rain on parts of Texas on Saturday, stranding more than 170 passengers on an Amtrak train for hours and forcing rescue crews elsewhere to pull at least 50 people to safety.
Water covering the tracks in Knippa, about 75 miles west of San Antonio, stopped a westbound Amtrak train carrying 176 passengers around 9 a.m. CDT. Buses were expected to arrive Saturday night to take passengers to El Paso, where they would board another train.
No serious injuries were reported in the state’s latest round of flooding, which closed many roads and forced evacuations.
In southern Guadalupe County overnight, a possible tornado damaged four businesses and at least one house.
Parts of northern Uvalde and Medina counties got as much as 17 inches of rain between 10 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday, said Pat McDonald, a National Weather Service forecaster.
Seco Creek overflowed, inundating the town of D’Hanis near San Antonio. Many businesses were flooded with 3 to 4 feet of water.
Marseille, France
Police say kiss damaged painting
A woman has been arrested on suspicion of kissing a painting by American artist Cy Twombly and smudging the bone-white canvas with her lipstick, French judicial officials said Saturday.
Police said they arrested the woman after she kissed the work on Thursday. She is to be tried in a court in the southern city of Avignon on Aug. 16 for “damage to a work of art,” judicial officials said.
The painting, which is worth an estimated $2 million, was on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Avignon. It is part of an exhibition slated to run at the museum through Sept. 30.