BERMUDA
Voters reject gay marriage
A strong majority of voters have opposed same-sex marriage in a non-binding referendum in the British island territory. Results showed large majorities voting against same-sex marriage and civil unions in separate questions, but the referendum was invalidated because turnout was below 50 percent, officials said on Friday. Prime Minister Michael Dunkley said his government was evaluating the results of Thursday’s vote, in which 69 percent opposed same-sex marriage and 63 percent rejected civil unions. He said the results mean those supporting same-sex marriage in Bermuda will likely go to court to challenge the ban on its recognition. “This has been and will continue to be a highly sensitive matter,” he said. “Despite our differences, we must progress forward. And my hope is that as we move forward as a country, we move ahead with greater tolerance, understanding and respect and appreciation for one another?” Dunkley’s government scheduled the non-binding referendum after it considered legalizing same-sex marriage in May last year, amid strong opposition in the Atlantic Ocean island territory.
MEXICO
Police agents gunned down
Three federal police agents were gunned down in the violence-torn southwestern state of Guerrero on Friday as they ate in a market, according to a security official. The three agents, dressed in civilian clothes, were surprised a group of armed men in the city of Chilapa, a federal police agent said. Federal police are one of the main security forces, next to the military, fighting drug gangs. Chilapa is close to Ayotzinapa college, the school of 43 Mexican students who were apparently massacred in 2014.
UNITED STATES
Transgender troop ban lifted
The Pentagon is set to lift its ban on transgender troops within the coming weeks, media reported on Friday. The move would be another major milestone for the country’s vast military, which up until five years ago still banned gay troops from openly discussing their sexuality under a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. USA Today said the transgender announcement is expected on Friday next week and the plan would require each branch of the military to phase in the new policy over a 12-month period. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook declined to confirm reports, but said a decision was due “soon.” Currently, Pentagon rules allow transgender troops to be discharged from the military. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter last year ordered all military roles — including combat positions — to be opened to women. Representative Steny Hoyer welcomed the news. “The reversal of the ban is a major step forward in the effort to secure the full rights and equality of LGBT people in our country, and it will strengthen our military by ensuring that talented, dedicated candidates are not turned away or discouraged from serving because of their gender identity,” he said in a statement. The country’s military has about 1.3 million service members.
UNITED STATES
Tanker runs aground
A nearly 183m chemical tanker ran aground on an Alaska island in the Bering Sea. The coast guard said there were no signs of pollution or injury to the 24-member crew after it hit Nunivak Island on Friday morning. The ship is carrying 53.75 million liters of various fuel products. Coast guard Petty Officer Kelly Parker said they are investigating why the Champion Ebony, sailing under a Norwegian flag, ran aground.
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