Kyrgyzstan
Government resigns
The government resigned yesterday after the president’s party quit the ruling coalition, sparking fears the nation could plunge into instability. President Almazbek Atambayev’s Social Democratic Party left the four-party ruling coalition on Monday after its other members did not back constitutional reforms. A statement issued by the presidency said that Atambayev had signed a decree on the “resignation of the government of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan” that went into immediate effect. Atambayev is expected to call for the creation of a new coalition by the end of the week and later approve a new Cabinet.
JAPAN
Sick princess misses school
A granddaughter of Emperor Akihito is not feeling well and has missed school for a month. Palace officials yesterday said that 14-year-old Princess Aiko has been staying home since Sept. 26, after complaining of stomach problems and dizziness attributed to fatigue from studying for exams and practicing for an athletic event at her junior high school. Aiko is the only child of Crown Prince Naruhito, next in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne, and his wife, Masako. Officials say Nobutake Odano, the grand master at Naruhito’s palace, on Tuesday told reporters that Aiko is recovering, but needs more time before returning to school. A palace hospital health check earlier this month found no major problem.
AUSTRALIA
Police question pope’s aide
The Vatican’s finance chief, Cardinal George Pell, has been interviewed by Australian police in Rome over sexual assault claims, authorities said yesterday, but no charges have been laid. It follows explosive allegations against Pell, the nation’s most senior Catholic cleric, aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corp in July, which he strongly denied. Victoria state police said in a statement that three officers “travelled to Rome last week where Cardinal George Pell voluntarily participated in an interview regarding allegations of sexual assault.” It added that “further investigations are continuing.” Pell has denied the allegations and suggested there was a conspiracy against him.
CHINA
Pollution tampering arrests
Police have arrested officials in charge of environmental protection in Xian after they were accused of tampering with air quality monitoring data, local media said on Tuesday. “Staff members interfered with the monitoring station a number of times, blocking the equipment with a cotton thread, which disrupted the collection of data,” the Huashang Bao newspaper said. The “abnormal” readings alerted the national body for environmental protection, resulting in the opening of a police investigation, the newspaper said. A number of suspects have been arrested, including the head of the monitoring station, his deputy and the director of the environmental protection bureau in Changan District, it said.
MONTENEGRO
PM stepping down: party
Veteran leader Milo Djukanovic will not continue as prime minister in the next government, according to his party, which topped recent parliamentary polls. The Democratic Party of Socialists late on Tuesday said the party’s management had decided to propose Djukanovic’s deputy and former national security chief, Dusko Markovic, as candidate for prime minister. A party committee was expected to approve the decision later yesterday.
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