POLAND
PiS party loses majority
The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party won most votes in Sunday’s national election, but fell short of a majority, final official results showed yesterday, confirming that the liberal, pro-EU opposition is on track to form the next government. The official results gave PiS, a nationalist, socially conservative party, 35.38 percent of the vote, while the liberal Civic Coalition was in second place with 30.70 percent. The center-right Third Way took third place with 14.4 percent and the New Left had 8.61 percent of the vote. The far-right Confederation had 7.16 percent of the vote, the results showed. The Civic Coalition, New Left and Third Way have said they are ready to form a coalition government and that they would start talks once the official results are published.
NEW ZEALAND
Hipkins to stay party leader
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins is to remain at the helm for now, despite a heavy election defeat. The now caretaker prime minister said that any decisions about party leadership would need to wait until the final composition of the caucus was confirmed once overseas and special votes are counted on Nov. 3. “I’m certainly still the leader of the Labour Party,” Hipkins told reporters yesterday in Wellington. “I’ve still got a bit of fight left in me. I am absolutely committed to supporting Labour into opposition.” Labour secured just 27 percent of the vote based on preliminary results from Saturday’s election, giving it 34 seats — down from 65.
UNITED STATES
Ma ticket price soars
Cellist Yo-yo Ma’s (馬友友) upcoming concert in Hong Kong is in such high demand that scalpers are charging more than US$2,200 for a ticket, similar to the resale value of those for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. On US-based tickets resale platform Viagogo, entry to Ma’s performance on Nov. 8 costs as much as US$2,206 — almost nine times the highest price of a ticket sold by the concert organizer. Swift’s show a day later in Buenos Aires, Argentina, fetches as much as US$2,288 for a ticket on the same Web site. Ma is to perform with Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra music director Jaap van Sweden at the Concert Hall of the Hong Kong Cultural Center, which has about 2,000 seats. The 90-minute concert is to open with Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3 and close with Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien.
THAILAND
Tycoon to be freed early
A Thai tycoon convicted of poaching wildlife in a national park was yesterday to be released from prison more than a year early, the corrections department said, one of more than 100 prisoners freed for good behavior. Construction magnate Premchai Karnasuta was arrested in February 2018 when park officials found guns and animal carcasses, including a kalij pheasant, a red muntjac and the pelt of a black leopard, at his campsite. He lost his final appeal in December 2021 against three poaching-related criminal charges and was sentenced to three years and two months, in a long-running case that drew public outrage over the elite’s perceived impunity. The department yesterday agreed to release 113 prisoners — including Premchai — and reduce the sentences of 484 others who had displayed good behavior while in jail. The department said Premchai would not be required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet on his ankle because he has recently had surgery on his right foot related to diabetes.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS