She's a media mogul, she has a doctorate in political science and she learned to sing opera in secret because her father -- Kazakhstan's president -- disapproved. \nNow, Dariga Nazarbayeva has formed a new political party, setting off speculation she is grooming herself for what could be the second dynastic succession in the countries that emerged from the disintegration of the Soviet Union. \nIt has already happened in Azerbaijan, and what unfolds in Kazakhstan, a resource-rich giant four times bigger than France, could influence the succession in its four smaller Central Asian neighbors. \nNazarbayeva's party -- Asar, or All Together -- was due to hold its first party congress yesterday in Almaty. She claims it will win half the seats in parliament in fall elections. On Tuesday, before getting a single member into parliament, Asar announced it had formed its own parliamentary faction with 10 sympathetic independents. \nNazarbayeva has said she won't seek a parliamentary seat herself and denies her party is a launch pad for her to succeed her father, Nursultan Nazarbayev. \n"I'm not seeking office in the top echelons of so-called big politics," she said in a statement announcing the party's founding in October. \nAlikhan Baimenov, co-chairman of the opposition Ak Zhol party, doesn't see a "high probability" of the 40-year-old Nazarbayeva becoming president. \n"She's just only entered the political stage," he said. "We shall see." \nPetr Svoik, head of another opposition party, Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, says, "It will take more calculation and complicated maneuvering," because Kazakhstan has a multiparty system and experienced politicians. \nBut he believes the Nazarbayevs are "definitely" preparing a family succession. \nSuch speculation is growing in the region as its longtime leaders get older and increasingly resistant to democratization. Most are former communist bosses who have clung to power through controversial constitutional changes or questionable votes. \nTalk of dynasties was fueled when Azerbaijan, a Caucasus state with close ties to Central Asia, elected President Geidar Aliev's son as his successor in October. \nIn Uzbekistan, rumors of dynastic politics are so rife that officials had to deny the president's daughter had married the foreign minister to keep the presidency in the family. In Kyrgyzstan, rumor has it that the country is actually run by the president's wife, and that she wants his job. \nAll this gossip and speculation, if nothing else, is testimony to the secretive, clannish politics in these states, whose efforts toward democratization are young and who are struggling for credibility. \nNazarbayev, 63, came to power in 1989 as the country's communist leader. Since the 1991 Soviet collapse, he has twice been elected president and also extended his term in a referendum. \nHe has no known health problems and enjoys the support of many Kazakhs who credit him for successful market reforms. He is eligible to run for another seven-year term in 2006. \nBut the opposition has grown more active and Nazarbayev has begun to show signs of jitteriness, jailing two opposition leaders and cracking down on opposition media. \nSergei Duvanov, an opposition activist, said Nazarbayeva needs her new Asar party to make her political name and be ready to take power. \n"Aliev's example has shown that one needs a backup, who can take over when it's needed," he said. \nThe party's programs get generous coverage. The president's daughter heads Khabar, Kazakhstan's biggest media group, and in 10 years has turned a mediocre state TV channel into the country's most influential. She is an advocate for media freedom as leader of the Congress of Journalists of Kazakhstan. \nHer party calls itself centrist and favors strong presidential rule under a democratic system. Colleagues praise her organizational skills and recruiting of competent people to further her goals. \nNazarbayeva studied history and political science at Moscow State University. She speaks Kazakh, Russian, English and Italian. \nTrained for years as a mezzo-soprano, she gave her first solo concert at Almaty's National Opera House in 2001, performing pieces by Liszt, Offenbach and others. Profits from the concert went to World War II veterans.
Two-year-old Xu Haoyang (徐灝洋) has likely just months to live — but the only medicine that can help his rare genetic condition is not found anywhere in China and closed borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic mean that he cannot travel for treatment. Instead, his desperate father, Xu Wei (徐偉), has created a home laboratory to create a remedy for the boy himself. “I didn’t really have time to think about whether to do it or not. It had to be done,” the 30-year-old said from his DIY lab in an apartment building in southwestern Kunming. Haoyang has Menkes syndrome, a genetic disorder
WIDE REOPENING DISCOURAGED: A study from Peking University has suggested that lifting restrictions in the style of the US, UK and others would be catastrophic China would face a “colossal outbreak” on a scale beyond anything any other country has yet seen if it were to reopen in a similar manner to the US. That is a prediction based on statistical modeling by researchers at Beijing’s Peking University. A switch from China’s current COVID-19 elimination strategy to a US-style approach with few restrictions would lead to as many as 637,155 infections per day, according to the study, which was published by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday. That would be the largest daily figure reported by any country since the start of the
BURNING, LOOTING: The demonstrators called for Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to step down over failure to deliver infrastructure, among other complaints Solomon Islands police yesterday fired tear gas in the capital, Honiara, as crowds of protesters set fire to buildings, including a police station, and looted shops in an eruption of anger at the government, Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reported. The protest was led by people from the Pacific nation’s largest island, Malaita Province, about 120km from the capital. They were demanding that Solomon Island Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare step down over failure to deliver promised infrastructure among other complaints, RNZ said. The protest began peacefully, but most schools and businesses in Honiara were closed by the afternoon as crowds tried to enter the
MOBS, TEAR GAS: Anti-government protests deteriorated and led to looting and arson, as the Pacific nation’s PM said he regretted a return to the country’s ‘dark days’ Rioters torched buildings in the Solomon Islands’ capital of Honiara yesterday, targeting the city’s Chinatown district in a second day of anti-government protests. Eyewitnesses and local media reported that crowds had defied a government lockdown to take to the streets. Live images showed several buildings engulfed in flames and plumes of thick black smoke billowing high above the capital. It followed widespread disorder on Wednesday, when demonstrators attempted to storm parliament and depose Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. Businesses operated by Honiara’s Chinese community were looted and burned, prompting Beijing’s embassy to express “serious concerns” to the Solomons’ government. The embassy “made representations
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