19-month jail for Maldivian ex-strongman

A Maldives court has sentenced former strongman Maumoon Abdul Gayoom accused of plotting to overthrow the government to 19 months in prison for failing to cooperate with the police investigation.Gayoom, 80, who ruled the Island state in Indian ocean from 1978 to 2008, is the second former president to be jailed under President Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s rule.

He was arrested in February on charges of attempting to overthrow the government of Yameen, his half-brother. A court sentenced him to one year, seven months and six days in prison for failing to hand over his mobile phone to investigators. The country’s chief justice, Abdulla Saeed, who was arrested with Gayoom, was also given the same sentence for the same offence.  Saeed was previously given a similar jail sentence for allegedly influencing lower court decisions.

Woman sues NASA over piece of moon

A woman has sued NASA to make sure that the US space agency doesn’t take back a piece of moon gifted to her by Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the lunar surface. Laura Cicco from Cincinnati has filed a lawsuit, stating that the vial of moon dust she has was a gift from Armstrong, who was a friend of her father. Cicco’s father Tom Murray was a pilot with the US army.

Dubai hotel sacks Indian-origin chef over anti-Islam tweet

A popular Indian restaurant in Dubai has fired its head chef, Indian-origin celebrity chef Atul Kochhar, following his “anti-Islam tweet”. Michelin-star chef Atul Kochhar of the Rang Mahal restaurant at the JW Marriot Marquis hotel received flak after taking a dig at actress Priyanka Chopra for her tweet over a “Quantico” episode that portrayed Hindu nationalists as terrorists.  Kochhar’s anti-Islam tweet created a furore on social media, with twitterati calling for his sacking. In Kochhar’s now deleted tweet, the chef responded to Chopra’s mea culpa, writing: “It’s sad to see that you have not respected the sentiments of Hindus who have been terrorised by Islam over 2,000 years. Shame on you.”

937 immigrants make it to Italy with a dead body of a woman and a teenage boy

An Italian coast guard ship carrying more than 900 Libyan migrants docked in Sicily just barely after the Rome government rejected entry to a boatload of others. The vessel Diciotti had picked up migrants off the coast of Libya and was allowed at Sicily because it was an Italian ship on a government mission.  At least 937 migrants made it to Sicily, along with the bodies of a woman and a teenage boy who died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea. More than 200 on board were minors.

Earlier, Italian and Maltese officials denied entry for the Aquarius, a ship carrying more than 600 Libyan migrants. Spain finally granted the boat permission to dock in Valencia.The Aquarius remains at sea south of Sicily, and will land in Valencia around Saturday, Doctors Without Borders has said.