Greece has welcomed an announcement by the Macedonian prime minister that his country is willing to change its name, in a sign that one of the world’s most vexing disputes could soon be solved. Athens described Zoran Zaev’s readiness to add a geographical qualifier as “a positive step” that would dispel fears over its adjacent region of Macedonia. Among the new names being considered are Upper Macedonia, New Macedonia, Northern Macedonia and Macedonia (Skopje), according to well-placed diplomats.

“This is an important development,” said the Greek foreign ministry in a statement released shortly after Zaev said the Balkan state would also rename its airport and national motorway. “We hope that it marks the start of a new chapter in the relations between our two countries and peoples.” Compromise is unpopular in sections of Greek society. On Wednesday, the Greek Orthodox church held an extraordinary meeting of its governing synod to discuss the name issue. Clerics were among the hundreds of thousands of people who protested in Athens on Sunday over the prospect of a solution that would include the word Macedonia. The region of Macedonia, formerly part of the Ottoman empire, spreads across Greece, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia. Athens has objected to its northern neighbour’s use of the name since it proclaimed independence in 1991.(theguardian)…[+]

The wedding of Japan’s Princess Mako will be postponed for two years because of insufficient preparations as the imperial palace denied speculation the decision was related to tabloid criticism of her fiance’s family background.Mako and her college classmate Kei Komuro, a commoner, announced their engagement last September and were to wed in November.

In announcing the delay, the Imperial Household Agency cited “a series of important ceremonies next year,” apparently meaning the planned handover of the Chrysanthemum Throne. No new dates for the wedding or its preceding rituals were given. Mako is Emperor Akihito’s oldest grandchild. The 84-year-old emperor is to abdicate on 30 April, 2019, with Crown Prince Naruhito taking the throne the next day.

The surprise delay less than a month before a planned ceremony in March to formalize the couple’s engagement left many people puzzled. Agency official Takaharu Kachi told reporters the decision was not related to tabloid reports about disputes between Komuro’s mother and her former partner over money she borrowed to cover her son’s tuition and never repaid, Japanese media reported.(theguardian)…[+]

Kenyan authorities have deported a senior opposition figure in the latest move of a wide-ranging crackdown on political opponents and an intensifying confrontation with the judiciary. Miguna Miguna, who had been held in police custody in defiance of a court order demanding his release, was put on a flight to Canada via Europe at about 10pm on Tuesday.

“The illegitimate, despotic regime … forcefully placed me on a late night KLM flight from Nairobi to Amsterdam in flagrant violation of my constitutional rights, five court orders and common decency,” Miguna said in a statement on Wednesday. The lawyer was arrested last week in a dawn raid on his home in Nairobi after participating in a mock swearing-in ceremony for opposition leader Raila Odinga that was attended by thousands of people.

Government lawyers called the ceremony an act of treason. Three TV networks were closed down after broadcasting it, of which two have reopened. Fourteen opposition members have had their passports suspended. Judges had ordered the authorities to free Miguna, but instead he was presented in court in a small town 60km (37 miles) from the capital on Tuesday, to be charged with “being present and consenting to the administration of an oath to commit a capital offence”.(theguardian)…[+]