AUSTRALIA
Caesars mixed up
They came, they saw, and they squandered a year of lessons on Roman history. Schools yesterday were investigating how a curriculum blunder ended with pupils mistakenly studying Augustus instead of Julius Caesar. The high-school students only realized that they had brushed up on the wrong Roman ruler when they crossed the Rubicon to sit down for their final-year exams. Queensland State Minister for Education John-Paul Langbroek said that the mishap was anything but ancient history for at least 140 traumatized students across nine schools. “For all of us, as parents or students who have been through situations like this, it would have been extremely traumatic,” he told reporters. “And I want to reassure those students, and their parents, and the teachers affected, that we’ll be making every investigation into how this happened.” Queensland students last year were taught about Augustus Caesar, the adopted son of Julius and the first emperor of Rome, but the curriculum changed this year to focus on Julius Caesar instead — although it appeared not every school got the memo. Langbroek said that education officials were looking at ways to ensure the fiasco did not ruin the students’ grades.
Photo: AP
JAPAN
Defense spending confirmed
Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi yesterday confirmed plans to achieve the country’s target of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense two years early, after the move was announced by the prime minister last week. “We will take measures to achieve the level of 2 percent of GDP during this fiscal year, earlier than” the original plan, Koizumi told US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in Tokyo. “In light of the situation where missile capabilities have been significantly enhanced in the area surrounding Japan, I believe it is important to relentlessly enforce missile defense capabilities,” Koizumi said. Hegseth said that the two nations’ alliance was “critical to deterring Chinese military aggression.” He added: “To respond to regional contingencies and keep our country safe, shoulder to shoulder with Japan, we look forward to continuing to strengthen our alliance.”
Photo: AFP
SOUTH KOREA
Trump given crown
US President Donald Trump might be facing protests at home calling for “no kings” in the US, but in Gyeongju, officials had the perfect gift for him — a replica golden crown. Trump yesterday met with President Lee Jae-myung and capping a lavish welcome ceremony, Trump was presented with a replica of a crown worn by the kings of Silla, the dynasty that ruled most of the Korean Peninsula from 57 BC to 935 AD. The gift was a replica of “the largest and most extravagant of the existing gold crowns” from the Silla period, Trump was told. It represented “the divine connection between heavenly and earthly leadership.” Seoul’s presidential office said the crown symbolizes “peace, coexistence and shared prosperity on the peninsula — values that mirror the Silla Dynasty’s long era of stability.” The US leader was also presented with the Grand Order of Mugunghwa — the country’s highest decoration. The medal had a laurel leaf design that symbolizes prosperity and it was given “in anticipation of the peace and prosperity you will bring to the Korean Peninsula,” Trump was told. “It’s a great honor,” the US president said. “I’d like to wear it right now.”
Photo: AFP
OUTRAGE: The former strongman was accused of corruption and responsibility for the killings of hundreds of thousands of political opponents during his time in office Indonesia yesterday awarded the title of national hero to late president Suharto, provoking outrage from rights groups who said the move was an attempt to whitewash decades of human rights abuses and corruption that took place during his 32 years in power. Suharto was a US ally during the Cold War who presided over decades of authoritarian rule, during which up to 1 million political opponents were killed, until he was toppled by protests in 1998. He was one of 10 people recognized by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in a televised ceremony held at the presidential palace in Jakarta to mark National
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
LANDMARK: After first meeting Trump in Riyadh in May, al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House today would be the first by a Syrian leader since the country’s independence Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in the US on Saturday for a landmark official visit, his country’s state news agency SANA reported, a day after Washington removed him from a terrorism blacklist. Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted long-time former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad late last year, is due to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House today. It is the first such visit by a Syrian president since the country’s independence in 1946, according to analysts. The interim leader met Trump for the first time in Riyadh during the US president’s regional tour in May. US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack earlier
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