Tokyo—Japan’s centre-left Prime Minister Yukio
Hatoyama stressed in his first policy address to
parliament Monday that he wants a relationship
of equals with the United States. Hatoyama, who
took power last month, was speaking ahead of US
President Barack Obama’s visit to Tokyo on
November 12-13 and amid a worsening row about
where to relocate a major US base on Okinawa
island.
Helmand—The first British Forces Radio Station
in Afghanistan has gone on air in Helmand
Province to serve as a tool of information,
exchange of messages and entertainment for the
soldiers deployed in the far flung and
inhospitable areas of Afghanistan. More than
9,000 troops fighting in Afghanistan’s southern
province’s war zone were greeted with the upbeat
sounds of The Boo Radleys’ Wake Up Boo! - a
track selected by British soldiers around the
world to be the first broadcast from the new
British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS)
station at Camp Bastion.
Harare—Zimbabwe’s leaders were set to meet
Monday in their first direct talks since Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai suspended
power-sharing ties with President Robert Mugabe
10 days ago, a spokesman said.
Kuwait—Kuwait’s parliament begins a new term on
Tuesday with no end in sight to simmering
political tensions that have for years stalled
key development projects in the oil-rich Gulf
state. Ahead of the new term, the government has
taken the initiative by submitting a five-year
development plan, the first since 1985, and a
scheme to splash out a massive 63 billion
dollars on mega projects over the next four
years.
CURSED as they are with bad leadership, the sad
saga of the Palestinian people fluctuates
between tragedy and farce. As if contending with
a crushing occupation, embargoes, closures and
the complete physical separation of the West
Bank and Gaza were not enough, over the past
couple of years, they have also seen the two
parties supposedly representing them descend
into petty and bloody factionalism.
