CZECH REPUBLIC
Babis wins, faces hurdle
Billionaire Andrej Babis hit his first obstacle to forming a new Cabinet after dominating Saturday’s parliamentary elections, with potential coalition partners rejecting joining him in government as long as he is facing criminal fraud charges. Babis, who promised to run the state like a business, fight Muslim immigration and oppose deeper integration with the EU, saw his ANO party won 29.6 percent of ballots, followed by the euro-skeptic Civic Democrats with 11.3 percent, and the anti-establishment Pirates and the anti-Muslim SPD. A month before the vote, he was charged with fraud. He has rejected the allegations, but his current coalition partners, the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats, rejected joining him in power as long as the case remains open.
PHILIPPINES
Possible final firefight
Troops were locked in an intense urban firefight yesterday with the last remnants of a militant Muslim alliance, as the army sought to declare an end to the country’s biggest internal security crisis in years. An estimated 30 people, including militants and some of their family members, were battling to hold a fortified, two-story building next to Marawi’s Lake Lanao, and appeared ready to fight to the death, according to the deputy commander of the operation. Soldiers were using loudspeakers to urge them to surrender.
ITALY
Regional referendums held
Voters in the wealthy northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto yesterday headed to the polls to decide if they want to seek greater autonomy from Rome. While the twin referendums are non-binding, a resounding “yes” vote would give the presidents of the regions more leverage in negotiations for a greater share of tax revenue and to grab responsibility from Rome. They also want more powers in areas such as security, migration, education and the environment. Lombard President Roberto Maroni said he would be happy with a 34 percent turnout among the region’s 7.5 million voters, equal to the national turnout in a 2001 constitutional referendum. The Veneto autonomy drive dies if voter turnout is below 50 percent plus one of the region’s 3.5 million voters.
RUSSIA
Navalny released from jail
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny yesterday walked free after a 20-day jail term for organizing protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Navalny was released in a secret location in Moscow early yesterday to evade media attention. “Hi. I’m out,” he wrote on Instagram, posting a picture of himself on a street. A photographer working for his team later posted photographs of him meeting colleagues at the office of his anti-corruption foundation.
UNITED STATES
Hot cans of Spam for sale
Cans of Spam have become a common item that are being stolen from Honolulu stores and then sold on the streets for quick cash, according to authorities. Ra Long, who owns a convenience store in the city, said shoplifters have typically targeted alcohol in the past, but recently more cans of Spam have gone missing, Hawaii News Now reported. “I mean you try to keep an eye on it, but if they run, you just can’t leave the counter and chase them,” Long said. “So you just got to take the hit.” Kimo Carvalho, a spokesman for the Institute for Human Services, said people are stealing Spam because it is easy to sell. “It’s quick cash for quick drug money.” Hawaiians eat millions of cans of Spam a year.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of