Forces arrive to help after riots
Forces from New Zealand and Australia arrived Saturday in Tonga to help restore order after riots killed at least eight people and ravaged most of the capital’s business district.
Sixty troops and 10 police flew in from New Zealand to secure the Pacific island nation’s only international airport after foreign airlines refused to use it because of a lack of security, said Tongan Defense Services spokesman Maj. Veehala, who, like many Tongans, uses a single name.
An additional 50 troops and 35 police from Australia, including forensic experts to identify the bodies of those who died in fires during the riots, arrived later Saturday.
The troops will secure infrastructure including the airport, power stations, broadcasting systems and key government buildings.
Tokyo
Superjumbo lands in latest test flight
The Airbus A380 landed in Japan today as part of a final series of test flights intended to lead to the superjumbo’s air-worthiness certification by the end of the year.
The plane, which is on an Asian tour and flew from Hong Kong, arrived safely in Narita International Airport near Tokyo, airport spokesman Masaharu Watanabe said.
The final four flights in the test schedule, ending Nov. 30, are designed to put the 555-seater A380 through 150 hours of flights under the kind of operating conditions it will experience with airlines. Today’s arrival is part of the second of the four trips.
The company has said the superjumbo is on track for certification by mid-December.
Airbus has received orders for 166 superjumbo jets. Singapore Airlines will be the first carrier to fly the superjumbo after it receives its first plane in October next year – a year later than originally planned. Subsequent deliveries have suffered longer delays, averaging two years.
Kinshasa, Congo
Losing candidate sues over results
The former rebel who lost Congo’s presidential election filed a lawsuit Saturday claiming he was cheated of millions of votes – a potential sign he won’t resort to violence and plunge the sprawling central African country back into chaos.
Jean-Pierre Bemba had vowed to “use all legal avenues to ensure the will of the people is respected,” indicating he would not enlist the hundreds of fighters he has in the capital. The pledge was seen as crucial for Congo’s fledgling democracy.
A few dozen Bemba supporters ran through the streets of Congo’s capital on Saturday and chanted in front of the Supreme Court, “Bemba is our president.” There were no reports of violence.
Bemba, who ruled his own private fiefdom in northern Congo during the 1998-2002 civil war and became one of four vice presidents in a transitional government, won an overwhelming support in Kinshasa and western Congo but only 42 percent of the overall vote, according to the Independent Electoral Commission. President Joseph Kabila won 58 percent.