The selection of Sadakazu Tanigaki to be president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Japan on Monday will do little to help the short-term fortunes of the beleaguered party.
The international tug-of-war over Roman Polanski escalated yesterday as France and Poland urged Switzerland to free the 76-year-old director on bail and pressed US officials all the way up to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the case.
Sadakazu Tanigaki, former finance minister in the cabinet of then Prime Minister of Junichiro Koizumi between 2003 and 2006, was elected president of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Monday.
Afghanistan's political and social turmoil has been aggravated by different intentions of the participating nations that constitute the coalition forces.
China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) held a reception in Beijing Monday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.
China has rejected Russian media reports which said the Far East Russian city of Vladivostok would lease part of it to China.