■ Japan
Koizumi firm on troops
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi insisted yesterday that Japan would send troops to help rebuild Iraq as domestic media reported that ministerial approval could be delayed after the death of two Japanese diplomats there. The troops would be sent "at the right time," Koizumi told a seminar in Tokyo. "Terrorists have been launching attacks indiscriminately and certainly we are fighting against terrorists," he said. "If there are fields in which the Self-Defense Forces [military] can take an active part, Japan must send them." He repeatedly stressed that the international community must not cave in to threats from extremist groups. "If we back down just because it is dangerous or everyone is targeted for attacks or there are no safe places, that will mean we give in to terrorists," he said.
■ India
Exit polls favor BJP
Exit polls of voters in four Indian states have predicted a strong showing by the Hindu nationalist party against its main rival, the Congress party, which had been projected to retain power in three of the states. Some 52 million people cast ballots in the four state elections on Monday. All four -- New Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh -- are governed by Congress, which is in the opposition in the national parliament. Sporadic political violence left five people dead and scores wounded after the voting, but it was a relatively peaceful election for India. Votes will be counted tomorrow. A strong showing by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, could tempt him to call early national elections next year. They're due in October.
■ China
Schroeder continues visit
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder headed to China's southern and western regions yesterday, after talks in Beijing in which both countries reaffirmed their commitment to building closer economic and strategic ties. Boosting trade between one of the world's biggest exporters, Germany, and the world's fastest growing major economy, China, was at the top of the agenda for Schroeder's fifth visit to China. But both sides also discussed ways to strengthen political ties during discussions between the chancellor and President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶). Schroeder indicated he agreed to work toward lifting an EU embargo against arms sales to China, German ZDF public television reported. Schroeder said "the time has come" to lift the embargo, and reportedly told Wen that he would encourage such a measure within the EU.
■ North Korea
Soldier's body returned
UN officials and South Korea's Red Cross returned the body of an apparent North Korean soldier to his homeland yesterday, nearly two months after the dead man was found floating in South Korean waters. UN honor guards handed over the wooden coffin to North Korean officials in a 5-minute ceremony in Panmunjom, the border village inside the Demilitarized Zone, the buffer separating the two Koreas. Several North Korean military officers briefly crossed the border line to inspect the coffin. Northern officials in white uniforms then took it away. The body was found on Oct. 8 near Yeonpyeong Island, about 120km west of Seoul. It was the first time the US-led UN Command and South Korea's Red Cross took part together in such an event.
■ United States
Bush calls Putin
US President George W. Bush conveyed his concern about the "rule of law and the future of democracy" in a telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, the White House said Monday. White House officials indicated that Bush's comments were prompted by the arrest earlier in the fall of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the seizure of his oil company's assets, as well as steps to restrict freedom of the press. An official noted that Bush raised concerns about suppression of human rights in the Russian campaign against the insurgency in Chechnya when he hosted Putin at Camp David in late September.
■ United States
Boy told not to say `gay'
A seven-year-old schoolboy was punished after he told a classmate about his lesbian mother, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) alleged on Monday. Marcus McLaurin was waiting for recess at Ernest Gaullet Elementary School on Nov. 11 when a classmate asked about Marcus' mother and father, the ACLU said in a complaint. Marcus responded he had two mothers because his mother is gay. When the other child asked for an explanation, Marcus told him: "Gay is when a girl likes another girl," according to the complaint. A teacher who heard the remark scolded Marcus, telling him "gay" was a "bad word" and sending him to the principal's office. The following week, Marcus had to come to school early and repeatedly write: "I will never use the word `gay' in school again."
■ United States
Police killing videotaped
A black man died after being clubbed repeatedly by Cincinnati police officers in a videotaped beating that raised new allegations of police brutality against blacks nearly three years after the city was rocked by riots. The mayor said on Monday that the videotape showed the nightstick-wielding officers were defending themselves. The cause of Nathaniel Jones' death on Sunday was under investigation. But preliminary autopsy results showed that the 41-year-old weighed 157kg and had an enlarged heart. His blood contained cocaine and PCP, or ``angel dust,'' both of which can cause bizarre or aggressive behavior, Hamilton County Coroner Carl Parrott said.
■ Venezuela
Chavez criticizes OAS head
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Monday criticized Organization of American States (OAS) chief Cesar Gaviria for contradicting his charges that his opponents committed fraud in an opposition signature drive seeking a referendum on his rule. Speaking to several thousand supporters at a
late night rally, the leftist president repeated an accusation made over the weekend that his foes cheated massively in the four-day signature campaign, which ended on Monday.
■ Nigeria
Rights group angry
The US-based Human Rights Watch accused Nigeria yesterday of torturing and killing several of its critics over the past two years and urged the Commonwealth to address the abuses at a summit later this week. The group said the government had cracked down on dissent in the run-up to a poll in April and had continued repression since then. It said abuses included the torture of people who had been opposed to a visit to Nigeria by US President George Bush in July.
MONEY MATTERS: Xi was to highlight projects such as a new high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest, as Serbia is entirely open to Chinese trade and investment Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday said that “Taiwan is China” as he made a speech welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Belgrade, state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) said. “We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity,” he told a crowd outside the government offices while Xi applauded him. “Yes, Taiwan is China.” Xi landed in Belgrade on Tuesday night on the second leg of his European tour, and was greeted by Vucic and most government ministers. Xi had just completed a two-day trip to France, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as the
With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of US airpower, but the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), not a human pilot, and riding in the front seat was US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the US Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning
INTERNATIONAL PROBE: Australian and US authorities were helping coordinate the investigation of the case, which follows the 2015 murder of Australian surfers in Mexico Three bodies were found in Mexico’s Baja California state, the FBI said on Friday, days after two Australians and an American went missing during a surfing trip in an area hit by cartel violence. Authorities used a pulley system to hoist what appeared to be lifeless bodies covered in mud from a shaft on a cliff high above the Pacific. “We confirm there were three individuals found deceased in Santo Tomas, Baja California,” a statement from the FBI’s office in San Diego, California, said without providing the identities of the victims. Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter
CUSTOMS DUTIES: France’s cognac industry was closely watching the talks, fearing that an anti-dumping investigation opened by China is retaliation for trade tensions French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at one of his beloved childhood haunts in the Pyrenees, seeking to press a message to Beijing not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade. The first day of Xi’s state visit to France, his first to Europe since 2019, saw respectful, but sometimes robust exchanges between the two men during a succession of talks on Monday. Macron, joined initially by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urged Xi not to allow the export of any technology that could be used by Russia in its invasion