Comment on Image of Asia: Prayers for ailing Thai king

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Emotional farewells are a common sight at airports, but travelers leaving the New Zealand city of Dunedin will have to be quick. A new three-minute time limit on goodbye hugs in the airport’s drop-off area is intended to prevent lingering cuddles from causing traffic jams. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “Max hug time three minutes,” warn signs outside the terminal, adding that those seeking “fonder farewells” should head to the airport’s parking lot instead. The cuddle cap was imposed in September to “keep things moving smoothly” in the redesigned passenger drop-off area outside the airport, CEO Dan De Bono told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday on his 11th visit to the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The U. S. hopes to revive cease-fire efforts after the killing of top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, but so far all the warring parties appear to be digging in. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Israel is still at war with Hamas more than a year after the militant group’s Oct.

With an “Armenia wassup!” and rakish shimmy, Floridian pop sensation Jason Derulo opened the 2024 World Congress on Innovation & Technology (WCIT) in Yerevan on Oct. 4. “The biggest party in the world is right here in Armenia tonight!” Derulo told revelers in the capital’s Republic Square, before launching into his global hit “Dirty Talk” flanked by leather-clad, twerking dancers. It was perhaps a curious way to welcome some 3,000 delegates from 80 countries to bat around technology topics under the banner, “The Power of Mind: AI Beyond Limits, Within Ethics.” Panels included discussions on aerospace design, social media optimization, and cybersecurity.

President Vladimir Putin will play host to Russia’s biggest gathering of world leaders since the invasion of Ukraine and use the BRICS summit to show the U. S. and its allies that he’s no pariah. With Russian troops advancing in eastern Ukraine and evidence of growing war fatigue among some of Kyiv’s allies, the Kremlin is seizing its opportunity to cast Putin as standing up to the West in attempting to reshape the global order.

LIMA, Peru — Peru’s former President Alejandro Toledo on Monday was sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison in a case involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which became synonymous with corruption across Latin America, where it paid millions of dollars in bribes to government officials and others. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Authorities accused Toledo of accepting $35 million in bribes from Odebrecht in exchange for allowing the construction of a highway in the South American country.

SAYLORSBURG, Pa. — Fethullah Gülen, a reclusive U. S.-based Islamic cleric who inspired a global social movement while facing accusations he masterminded a failed 2016 coup in his native Turkey, has died. Abdullah Bozkurt, the former editor of the Gulen-linked Today’s Zaman newspaper, who is now in exile in Sweden, said Monday that he spoke to Gulen’s nephew, Kemal Gulen, who confirmed the death.