NORWAY
Nobel lifts Russia ban
Ambassadors from Russia and Belarus have been invited again to Stockholm’s Nobel Prize banquet this year after being left out last year because of the Ukraine invasion, the Nobel Foundation said on Thursday. Jimmie Akesson, the leader of the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, was also invited to the event for the first time. The foundation said that ambassadors from all countries that are diplomatically represented in Sweden and Norway would be invited to the prize award ceremonies in December. It said it sought to include even those who did not share the values of the Nobel Prize to promote dialogue and understanding. Akesson said he would not attend. “Unfortunately I’m busy that day,” he wrote on Facebook.
UNITED STATES
US, China officials meet
US and Chinese military officials met at a defense chiefs conference in Fiji last month, in a rare direct engagement between the armed forces of the two superpowers. US Admiral John Aquilino, who leads the US Indo-Pacific Command, held a meeting with a senior Chinese official at the event held from Aug. 14 to 16, the Pentagon said. Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesman Wu Qian (吳謙) told reporters in Beijing on Thursday that General Xu Qiling (徐起零), deputy joint chief of staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, met US representatives there. Neither side gave further details on the discussions.
GEORGIA
President under fire over EU
The ruling Georgian Dream party yesterday said that it would begin impeachment proceedings against the president due to her visits to the EU, which were made against the will of the government, news agency Interpress reported. President Salome Zourabichvili had “flagrantly violated” the country’s constitution, Interpress cited Georgian Dream party leader Irakli Kobakhidze as saying, adding that the party would begin impeachment proceedings. Kobakhidze said the impeachment is unlikely to succeed, as Georgian Dream, which has a simple majority in parliament, would need the support of the opposition for it to pass. Zourabichvili, a former French diplomat of Georgian descent, was elected to the nation’s mostly ceremonial presidency in 2018 with Georgian Dream’s backing. She has since broken with the party, which she has repeatedly accused of being pro-Russian and insufficiently committed to the nation joining the EU and NATO.
SRI LANKA
Piano-playing cop fired
The nation’s police force yesterday said it had sacked an officer who had entertained protesters with an impromptu piano performance after they stormed the presidential compound last year. Constable R. M. D. Dayaratne was deployed to help protect the colonial-era residence on the day it was taken over by protesters who forced then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country. Instead, he sat at a grand piano in the compound and played a song to the crowd streaming through its rooms. “Dayaratne was on social media playing the piano while the building was being vandalized,” a senior officer said on condition of anonymity. “He was our Nero,” the officer added, referring to the ancient Roman emperor said to have played the fiddle while the city burned in a weeklong fire. Police authorities concluded that the constable had breached discipline after a lengthy investigation.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
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