Moldovan riot police regained control of the president’s office and parliament early yesterday after they were ransacked by protesters who say parliamentary elections were rigged.
A reporter saw about 100 riot police surround the buildings, which had been stormed a day earlier by protesters who set fire to furniture and hurled computers out of the windows.
More than 50 people were injured.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Police arrested 193 people, including eight minors, on charges of “hooliganism and robbery” following the protests against the ruling Communist Party’s victory in weekend elections, Interior Ministry Spokeswoman Ala Meleca said.
Authorities yesterday cleared streets littered with smashed computers and furniture from the parliament building. They swept up burnt documents and shards of glass. Every window on the first six floors of the 11-story parliament building had been smashed.
Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin yesterday accused Romania of being behind the protests and declared its ambassador to Moldova, Filip Teodorescu, persona non grata, Russian language news agency Newsmoldova said.
Romania’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment.
Moldova was part of Romania until 1940.
On Tuesday the president blamed pro-European opposition parties in his country for the violence, calling them “fascists [who] want to destroy democracy and independence in Moldova.”
Voronin’s Communist Party, which has been in power since 2001, won about 50 percent of the vote in Sunday elections.
The violence started on Tuesday after at least 10,000 mostly young protesters gathered outside parliament, demanding new elections.
The demonstrations continued yesterday.
International observers said Moldova’s election was fair, but Chisinau Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca, deputy leader of the opposition Liberal Party, said many people voted more than once.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
RSS