VATICAN
Pope in stable condition
Pope Francis rested well overnight and is in a stable condition as he fights double pneumonia in hospital for the 18th day, the Vatican said yesterday. The 88-year-old pontiff no longer requires the use of mechanical ventilation to breathe and has been without a fever, it said in an earlier update on Sunday evening. However, the statement said that doctors were keeping the pope’s prognosis as “guarded” due to the complexity of his condition, meaning he is not out of danger. A full medical update on the pope’s condition was expected last night. Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14 with severe respiratory problems that swiftly degenerated into double pneumonia.
JAPAN
Tokyo skips nuclear meeting
The nation is not attending a UN conference on the treaty banning nuclear weapons, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said in Tokyo yesterday, noting that US nuclear deterrence is crucial to the country’s security and that its participation would send the “wrong message.” Hayashi said that national security is the primary reason it would not participate as an observer at the conference, which started yesterday in New York. “Under the severe security environment, nuclear deterrence is indispensable to defend the people’s lives and assets, as well as Japan’s sovereignty and peace,” he told reporters. The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was approved in 2017 and went into force in 2021 following a decades-long campaign aimed at preventing a repeat of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
PAKISTAN
Clash with Afghan forces
Pakistani and Afghan forces traded fire overnight at a key northwestern border crossing that has been closed for more than a week over a dispute between the two neighbors, officials said yesterday. No casualties were reported on either side of the Torkham crossing, which has been shut for 11 days due to Islamabad disputing Kabul’s construction of a new border post there. A Pakistani official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said that Taliban security forces opened fire unprovoked in the early hours yesterday, targeting Pakistan’s border post with automatic weapons. Pakistani personnel returned fire, the official said. There was no immediate comment on the exchange from the government in Kabul. Thousands of trucks and vehicles are stranded on both sides of the crossing, leaving people stuck in harsh winter conditions.
THAILAND
Gambling rules to be eased
The nation is dropping a requirement that locals must prove they have at least 50 million baht (US$1.5 million) in the bank for six consecutive months to be allowed to gamble in casinos, which the government plans to legalize. Ministry of Finance data found only 10,000 such accounts would have met the minimum criteria, Deputy Minister of Finance Julapun Amornvivat said yesterday. “Such restrictions would push those wanting to gamble to do so in neighboring countries or engage in illegal gambling activities,” Julapun said. The change represents a significant easing of previous rules, which were drafted amid concerns about the potential for problem gambling as the nation becomes the latest player in the global gaming industry. However, the government will keep a rule that locals must pay 5,000 baht to be able to enter legalized casinos, Julapun said.
TURNAROUND: The Liberal Party had trailed the Conservatives by a wide margin, but that was before Trump threatened to make Canada the US’ 51st state Canada’s ruling Liberals, who a few weeks ago looked certain to lose an election this year, are mounting a major comeback amid the threat of US tariffs and are tied with their rival Conservatives, according to three new polls. An Ipsos survey released late on Tuesday showed that the left-leaning Liberals have 38 percent public support and the official opposition center-right Conservatives have 36 percent. The Liberals have overturned a 26-point deficit in six weeks, and run advertisements comparing the Conservative leader to Trump. The Conservative strategy had long been to attack unpopular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but last month he
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
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