Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko appeared on state television for the first time in a week on Tuesday, but he looked tired and pale and the footage did little to dispel persistent rumors that he is in ill health following protests over his disputed re-election.
The authoritarian leader faced further pressure with the news that Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom said it would demand that Belarus triple its payments for gas deliveries. Such a move could cripple the country's Soviet-style command economy.
Lukashenko, who was shown on state television at a meeting with his foreign minister, rejected Western criticism of the March 19 poll.
"We won't yield to anyone. We have our own policy," he said in a measured voice.
The tone was in sharp contrast to the usual fiercely energetic demeanor of Lukashenko, who is noted for making hours-long speeches.
The president had not been seen on television news broadcasts since March 28, when he thanked the special services for dispersing demonstrators.
The opposition in this tightly controlled former Soviet republic claims Lukashenko disappeared from public view because of health problems after the unprecedented street protests by thousands of people over his election to a third term.
Hundreds of opposition protesters remain in jail after the breakup of a protest tent camp in a central Minsk square and a violent clash between demonstrators and riot police.
"Lukashenko has had a nervous breakdown, depression and heart problems," said Sergei Kalyakin, head of opposition presidential candidate Alexander Milinkevich's election headquarters.
ROCKY RELATIONS: The figures on residents come as Chinese tourist numbers drop following Beijing’s warnings to avoid traveling to Japan The number of Chinese residents in Japan has continued to rise, even as ties between the two countries have become increasingly fractious, data released on Friday showed. As of the end of December last year, the number of Chinese residents had increased by 6.5 percent from the previous year to 930,428. Chinese people accounted for 22.6 percent of all foreign residents in Japan, making them by far the largest group, Japanese Ministry of Justice data showed. Beijing has criticized Tokyo in increasingly strident terms since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last year suggested that a military conflict around Taiwan could
Japan is to downgrade its description of ties with China from “one of its most important” in an annual diplomatic report, according to a draft reviewed by Reuters, as relations with Beijing worsen. This year’s Diplomatic Bluebook, which Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government is expected to approve next month, would instead describe China as an important neighbor and the relationship as “strategic” and “mutually beneficial.” The draft cites a series of confrontations with Beijing over the past year, including export controls on rare earths, radar lock-ons targeting Japanese military aircraft and increased pressure around Taiwan. The shift in tone underscores a deterioration
A retired US colonel behind a privately financed rocket launch site in the Dominican Republic sees the project as a response to China’s dominance of the space race in Latin America. Florida-based Launch on Demand is slated to begin building a US$600 million facility in a remote region near the border with Haiti late this year. The project is designed to meet surging demand for the heavy-lift rockets needed to put clusters of satellites into orbit. It is also an answer to China’s growing presence in the region, said CEO Burton Catledge, a former commander of the US Air Force’s 45th Operations
Germany is considering Australia’s Ghost Bat robot fighter as it looks to select a combat drone to modernize its air force, German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius said yesterday. Germany has said it wants to field hundreds of uncrewed fighter jets by 2029, and would make a decision soon as it considers a range of German, European and US projects developing so-called “collaborative combat aircraft.” Australia has said it will integrate the Ghost Bat, jointly developed by Boeing Australia and the Royal Australian Air Force, into its military after a successful weapons test last year. After inspecting the Ghost Bat in Queensland yesterday,
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