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.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
RSS