FINLAND
Nobel winner Ahtisaari dies
Nobel peace laureate Martti Ahtisaari, who served as president from 1994 to 2000, yesterday died at the age of 86, the president’s office said in a statement. Ahtisaari was celebrated around the world for brokering peace in conflict zones in Kosovo, Indonesia and Northern Ireland. Known by diplomats for his willingness to engage with all parties and ability to wait patiently for the right moment for a compromise, Ahtisaari refused to accept that wars and conflicts were inevitable. “Peace is a question of will. All conflicts can be settled, and there are no excuses for allowing them to become eternal,” Ahtisaari said when he accepted the Nobel award in 2008.
MALAYSIA
Anwar backs Hamas
The nation does not agree with Western pressure to condemn Palestinian militant group Hamas, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said yesterday. Western and European countries have repeatedly asked Malaysia to condemn Hamas in meetings, Anwar said, without providing details. “I said that we, as a policy, have a relationship with Hamas from before and this will continue,” Anwar told parliament. “As such, we don’t agree with their pressuring attitude, as Hamas too won in Gaza freely through elections and Gazans chose them to lead.” The Muslim-majority nation does not have diplomatic ties with Israel.
KOREAS
Lavrov to visit N Korea
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs is to visit North Korea tomorrow and on Thursday, Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency and the Russian foreign ministry said yesterday. Lavrov’s visit comes a month after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited Russia during which he and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed military cooperation, including over North Korea’s satellite program and the war in Ukraine. The nuclear envoys of South Korea and the US yesterday held talks in Jakarta and warned against any illegal military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, Seoul’s foreign ministry said. The envoys also pledged “stern responses” if the North launches a spy satellite this month as it had announced, after two failed attempts.
INDONESIA
Election petitions rejected
The Constitutional Court yesterday rejected several petitions seeking to change eligibility rules for presidential and vice presidential candidates, complicating a widely anticipated bid by the incumbent leader’s son to run on an election ticket on Feb. 14 next year. The rulings came amid growing criticism of what sources say are efforts by outgoing President Joko Widodo to build a political dynasty and retain influence long after leaving office. Chief Justice Anwar Usman, who is Widodo’s brother-in-law and leads a panel of nine judges, rejected petitions to lower the minimum age to 35 from 40 and to allow anyone with civil service experience to run for president and vice president. The judges said determining the age limit was up to lawmakers and that the petition had no “reasoning according to law.”
UNITED STATES
Suzanne Somers dies at 76
Suzanne Somers, the effervescent blonde actor known for playing Chrissy Snow on the TV show Three’s Company, as well as her business endeavors, has died. Somers, 76, had breast cancer for more than 23 years and died on Sunday morning, her family said in a statement provided by her longtime publicist R. Couri Hay. Her husband, Alan Hamel, her son Bruce and other immediate family were with her.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
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