Tokyo, Oct.22.– Japan's new Emperor Naruhito on Tuesday completed his ascension to the ancient Chrysanthemum throne in a solemn, ritual-bound ceremony performed before hundreds of dignitaries in the Imperial Palace.
"I hereby declare my enthronement at home and abroad," Naruhito said from inside an elaborately adorned structure housing his throne, with his wife Empress Masako alongside him standing before her own throne.
Beirut, Oct.25.– Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri agreed yesterday a 
package of reforms with government partners to ease an economic crisis that has sparked protests aimed at ousting a ruling elite they see as riddled with corruption and cronyism.
Officials told Reuters the agreement was reached as hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded the streets in the biggest show of dissent against the establishment in decades. A sea of people, some waving Lebanese flags, crammed roads for the fourth day, calling for revolution in protests that resembled the 2011 Arab revolts that toppled four presidents.
Last year the Czech authorities broke up a Russian spy network operating in the 
country, the head of the BIS counter-intelligence service, Michal Koudelka, told MPs on Monday.
Prague, Oct.22.– The FSB spy ring – financed directly by Moscow and the Russian Embassy – was uncovered by BIS and the Czech Republic’s national organised crime unit. I discussed the revelation with former Czech Military Intelligence chief Andor Šándor.
“Let me start by saying two things: Russia is not a military threat to this country or Europe, but it is a security threat to our country and to Europe.
“If we accept the fact that for the Russians NATO is the biggest threat, we shouldn’t be surprised by Russia’s activities in various NATO countries – and in particular those that are not considered to be strong allies, because of the public support [for NATO] and things like that.
“I’ve been saying for a long time that Russian spying activities are really big and that they are trying to make NATO less cohesive, less effective."
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“If you’ve got a good case, show it,” Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said.Washington DC, Oct. 24.– Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) advertised a news conference Thursday to announce a resolution condemning the House impeachment inquiry, as partisan rancor continued to escalate over the Ukraine scandal.
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the de facto leader on 
impeachment, already has faced an ethics complaint and a failed bid by Republicans to censure him for how he’s conducted the inquiry thus far.
“These committees have turned the machinery of government into one big political machine,” declared Tom Anderson, director of the government integrity project at the National Legal and Policy Center.
More than 80,000 Venezuelans cross the Colombian border each day looking for food and medicine.Washington DC, Oct.24.– As the Trump administration has turned the screws on Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, it has had a staunch and eager ally in neighboring Colombia.
The South American nation has its own troubles (guerrillas, political assassinations, soaring coca production, and a stumbling peace deal), but it has good reason to worry about Venezuela.
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