UZBEKISTAN
Voters back term change
Voters in Uzbekistan have overwhelmingly backed constitutional changes in the Central Asian country that could allow President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to remain in power until 2040, preliminary results released yesterday showed. The elections commission said that about 90 percent of voters backed the reforms, with a turnout of about 85 percent in the former Soviet country where rights groups say the government’s authoritarian tendencies limit space for dissent. Mirziyoyev, 65, became president in 2016. He says the overhaul of the constitution would improve governance and quality of life in the country of 35 million people. The proposed changes would extend presidential terms from five to seven years, allowing him to serve two more terms.
JAPAN
Jack Ma to be a professor
Jack Ma, a cofounder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, is to be a visiting professor at Tokyo College, a research institute run by the prestigious University of Tokyo, the university said yesterday. Ma is to research sustainable agriculture and food production, it said in a statement. Ma, who also heads his own Jack Ma Foundation, a philanthropic organization, will “share his rich experience and pioneering knowledge on entrepreneurship, corporate management and innovation,” with students and faculty, it said. Chinese regulators singled out Alibaba for scrutiny in a recent crackdown on technology and Internet companies. That came after Ma had criticized China’s regulators and financial systems in a speech in Shanghai. Ma’s appointment began yesterday and runs through the end of October, the university said.
PHILIPPINES
China to talk fishing rights
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said China has agreed to discuss fishing rights in the South China Sea, as he pushed for a “direct communication line” with Beijing on maritime differences. China has agreed to “sit down” and talk about Filipinos’ fishing rights in the South China Sea, Marcos said, adding that he has asked the coast guard and Department of Foreign Affairs “to put together ... a map of these fishing grounds” that would be presented to Beijing. Speaking to reporters on board a plane to Washington, Marcos also said a Philippines-China “direct communication line” must be finally adopted, when asked about his thoughts on a recent maritime confrontation between the two countries. “The overall priority is to safeguard our maritime territory,” he said, in remarks issued by his office.
FIJI
Ex-attorney general charged
Former attorney general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has been charged with abuse of office, police said yesterday, in a fresh blow to former prime minister Frank Bainimarama who is due in court next week to face similar allegations. Sayed-Khaiyum faces a single charge relating to a report lodged by the acting supervisor of elections in February, police said in a statement. The former attorney general was to remain in custody overnight before appearing at the Suva Magistrate’s Court today. Sakeo Raikaci, chief of investigations and prosecutions, called for patience in the high-profile case of Sayed-Khaiyum, a key ally of Bainimarama who was voted out of office last year. “The complex nature of the reports determines the course of the investigations which have no pre-determined timeline,” Raikaci said in a statement. Bainimarama, 69, is due in court on Thursday next week, having pleaded not guilty to a charge of abuse of office.
ISRAEL
Teen dies in West Bank raid
Israeli forces fatally shot a Palestinian teenager in a raid yesterday in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has been staging near-nightly raids in West Bank cities, towns and villages in what it says is an attempt to stamp out militancy. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire this year and 19 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis during that time. The Palestinian ministry identified the teen as Jibril al-Laada, 17. It said three others were seriously wounded in the fighting, which took place in the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp near Jericho. The camp has been a frequent target of Israeli raids.
BRAZIL
Lula vows new wage policy
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday pledged to introduce a new policy of real increases in the minimum wage and announced plans to raise the income tax exemption for low-income earners. The remarks, made during a radio and TV broadcast ahead of Workers’ Day, reinforce Lula’s strategy of boosting workers’ disposable income to help spur economic growth. Lula said the government would present a bill to congress to make the annual minimum wage adjustment above inflation a permanent rule. He also said that the income tax exemption would increase gradually through the end of his term in 2026 for workers earning up to 5,000 reais (US$1,002) a month. Currently, workers who earn up to 1,903.98 reais per month do not pay income tax, which has not been updated since 2015. At present, workers earning above 4,664.68 reais per month are already subject to the highest income tax rate.
THAILAND
Paetongtarn gives birth
An opposition frontrunner in the upcoming general elections has given birth two weeks before the polling day, her party confirmed yesterday. The kingdom is entering the final stretch before the May 14 election with reformist groups, including Pheu Thai and Move Forward, surging ahead of establishment parties. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of billionaire former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is one of Pheu Thai’s prime ministerial candidates and has been polling strongly. A near-constant presence on the campaign trail, for the past week she has rallied virtually, appearing by video link at an event on Saturday in Si Sa Ket province. “She gave birth this morning,” Pheu Thai acting spokeswoman Rinthipond Varinvatchararoj said. It is unclear how long Paetongtarn will rest, she said, but Rinthipond was confident that she would be present at the party’s final rally in Bangkok on May 12.
AUSTRALIA
‘MasterChef’ host dies
MasterChef Australia host Jock Zonfrillo has died at the age of 46, his family said in a message yesterday. Zonfrillo, a Scottish-Australian father of four who was a judge on the popular TV cooking competition, was found dead by police in Melbourne in the early hours yesterday. “With completely shattered hearts and without knowing how we can possibly move through life without him, we are devastated to share that Jock passed away,” his family said in a statement on social media. “For those who crossed his path, became his mate, or were lucky enough to be his family, keep this proud Scot in your hearts when you have your next whisky.” No cause of death was given, but Victoria state police said the death was not being treated as suspicious. Police said they were preparing a report for the coroner.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while
China has built a land-based prototype nuclear reactor for a large surface warship, in the clearest sign yet Beijing is advancing toward producing the nation’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, according to a new analysis of satellite imagery and Chinese government documents provided to The Associated Press. There have long been rumors that China is planning to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, but the research by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California is the first to confirm it is working on a nuclear-powered propulsion system for a carrier-sized surface warship. Why is China’s pursuit of nuclear-powered carriers significant? China’s navy is already
‘SIGNS OF ESCALATION’: Russian forces have been aiming to capture Ukraine’s eastern Donbas province and have been capturing new villages as they move toward Pokrovsk Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on Saturday said that Ukraine faced increasing difficulties in its fight against Moscow’s invasion as Russian forces advance and North Korean troops prepare to join the Kremlin’s campaign. Syrskyi, relating comments he made to a top US general, said outnumbered Ukrainian forces faced Russian attacks in key sectors of the more than two-and-a-half-year-old war with Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a nightly address said that Ukraine’s military command was focused on defending around the town of Kurakhove — a target of Russia’s advances along with Pokrovsk, a logistical hub to the north. He decried strikes
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