NEW ZEALAND
Coalition to take ‘two weeks’
New Zealand First Party leader Winston Peters said that talks to form a new government can be concluded within two weeks. “I certainly think that we will have it resolved before the next two weeks, most definitely,” Peters told NBR, a business news firm, according to an audio recording posted on its Web site yesterday. Official election results released last week showed the National Party and its ally the ACT Party failed to secure a majority in parliament between them, and now need support from Peters.
ITALY
Sick child given citizenship
An eight-month-old British girl was granted Italian citizenship on Monday after a court in Britain upheld rulings authorizing the withdrawal of life support. Indi Gregory’s family hopes that Rome’s decision would help their fight to allow her to be transferred to Italy. A judge last week ruled that the child could not be moved to Italy. The Vatican’s pediatric hospital, Bambino Gesu, in Rome has offered to care for Gregory and the government said that it would pay for any treatment “that is deemed necessary.” The Cabinet met on Monday to grant the child citizenship. “They say there isn’t much hope for little Indi, but until the very end, I’ll do what I can to defend her life,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on Facebook. “And to defend the right of her mamma and papa to do all that they can for her.” Gregory has a metabolic disorder known as mitochondrial disease, which means her cells are not able to produce enough energy to operate properly.
UNITED STATES
Reporter’s citations dropped
Officials in a suburban Chicago community on Monday dropped municipal citations against a local news reporter for what they said were persistent contacts with city officials seeking comment on fall flooding. The reversal occurred days after officials in Calumet City mailed several citations to Hank Sanders, a Daily Southtown reporter, the Chicago Tribune reported. The tickets from the city of 35,000 had alleged “interference/hampering of city employees” by Sanders. The Southtown on Oct. 20 published a report by Sanders that said consultants had informed Calumet officials that the city’s stormwater facilities were in poor condition before heavy rain in September caused flooding. Tribune executive editor Mitch Pugh said that the newspaper is “glad that cooler heads prevailed and Calumet City officials understood the error of their ways and dismissed these charges.”
UNITED KINGDOM
Protesters target painting
Two climate change protesters were arrested on Monday after they smashed a protective glass panel covering a Diego Velazquez oil painting at London’s National Gallery, police said on Monday. The two members of the group Just Stop Oil targeted Velazquez’s The Toilet of Venus, also known as The Rokeby Venus, with small hammers. Photographs showed the protective glass panel punctured with several holes. Just Stop Oil said the action was to demand that the government immediately halt all licensing for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK. The group said that the two targeted Velazquez’s 17th-century oil painting because it was previously slashed as part of the suffragette movement calling for women’s rights in 1914. Just Stop Oil said the protesters hammered the glass panel, then told people at the gallery: “Women did not get the vote by voting. It is time for deeds, not words.”
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,
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
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
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