JAPAN
Abe reshuffles Cabinet
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday reshuffled his Cabinet, retaining key diplomatic and economic posts as the nation tackles tough trade talks with the US. The reshuffle, Abe’s fourth since taking office in 2012, kept Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono, Minister of Finance Taro Aso, Minister of State for Economic Revitalization Toshimitsu Motegi and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko — core members of his government who have worked on tough negotiations on trade and other issues with their US counterparts. For minister of defense, Abe appointed Takeshi Iwaya, a ruling party national security expert who is expected to follow the ongoing policy seeking a greater military role. Abe renewed more than half of the 19 Cabinet members and added some of his confidants to help his push for a constitutional revision, although hurdles remain high.
ITALY
Helpful mayor arrested
The mayor of a small town in Calabria who has become a symbol for welcoming migrants has been placed under house arrest for allegedly aiding illegal immigration. Financial police arrested Riace Mayor Domenico Lucano early yesterday as part of an investigation that news agency ANSA reported was spurred by the allocation of government funds for refugees and asylum seekers. Sky TG24 reported that accusations include organizing marriages of convenience so immigrants could remain legally. Lucano gained fame for welcoming migrants, hundreds of whom have settled in the small town of fewer than 2,000 inhabitants.
PHILIPPINES
Mayor, two others killed
Gunmen have killed a town mayor and two other people, and wounded the vice mayor in the latest brazen attack on local officials, police said yesterday. Alexander Buquing, mayor of Sudipen in La Union province, his driver and a police officer were killed on Monday night. A senator called for an investigation on the killings of several mayors. The vice mayor, who is also Buquing’s wife, was not hit, but was injured in the attack that occurred while the group was heading home. National police spokesman Chief Superintendent Benigno Durana said investigators were trying to determine the motive and identify the attackers.
PAKISTAN
Court clears assets sales
A court has ruled to allow Punjab’s provincial government to auction off assets of former minister of finance Ishaq Dar, who is hiding from the law and has failed to answer repeated court summons. Dar faces charges of concealing financial assets at home and abroad. He has been reportedly staying in London for more than a year. Judge Mohammed Bashir of the anti-graft tribunal yesterday ruled that the Punjab government can keep in its possession all Dar’s seized assets. The Supreme Court last year ruled that Dar possessed more than 830 million rupees (US$6.73 million) in assets, far more than his declared sources of income.
TURKEY
Laundering suspects nabbed
Anadolu Agency reported that prosecutors yesterday issued detention warrants against 417 people suspected of illegally transferring 2.5 billion Turkish lira (US$414.49 million) to thousands of bank accounts abroad. It said that 216 money-laundering suspects were detained in raids conducted in about 40 provinces. The suspects had received commissions for transferring money to 28,088 banks accounts abroad, most of which belonged to Iranians based in the US, it said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing