SINGAPORE
Lee to step down on May 15
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) is to relinquish his office on May 15 and hand the post to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), his office said yesterday. Lee, 72, is to formally advise the president to appoint Wong, who is currently deputy prime minister and finance minister, to succeed him, his office said in a brief statement. Wong, who has the unanimous support of People’s Action Party (PAP) lawmakers, is to be sworn in at the national palace later the same day, it said. Lee has served as prime minister and head of the PAP since August 2004. He announced in November last year that he would retire this year and has already named Wong as his designated successor.
PHILIPPINES
Marcos limits US access
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday said the US would not be given access to more Philippine military bases. “The answer to that is no. The Philippines has no plan to open or to establish more EDCA [Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement] bases,” Marcos said in response to a question at a forum with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines. Manila last year announced the locations of four more military bases it is allowing the US military to use on top of the five agreed on under the 2014 EDCA. The deal allows US troops to rotate through and store defense equipment and supplies. The four additional bases include sites near the disputed South China Sea and another not far from Taiwan.
UNITED STATES
Girl killed in shooting
Eleven people standing outside a family gathering on Saturday night were shot, including a young girl who was killed in what Chicago police believe was gang-related violence on the city’s South Side. Four victims were children, police said on Sunday. An eight-year-old girl was fatally shot, while a one-year-old boy and an eight-year-old boy were each shot multiple times and listed in critical condition. A nine-year-old boy also was injured with a graze wound to his finger and hospitalized. The department’s Sunday statement updated the number of shooting victims to 11 from eight and gave new ages for the victims. As of Sunday, no one was in custody. “This was not a random act of violence. It was likely gang-related,” Department Deputy Chief Don Jerome told reporters. “The offenders’ actions, make no mistake, are horrific and unacceptable in our city.”
AUSTRALIA
Magpie, dog reunited
Authorities yesterday issued a license allowing a magpie called Molly to reunite with a pet dog, after sparking public outrage by keeping the unlikely friends apart. A Queensland couple’s pictures of the bird cozying up with their Staffordshire bull terrier Peggy drew an audience of hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram. However, the Gold Coast couple, who took the magpie in as a nestling in 2020, had to surrender the bird more than six weeks ago to the Queensland Department of Environment, Science and Innovation. Under state law, magpies and other protected wildlife can only be cared for by people with a license to show they have the needed skills. The couple’s Instagram page was deluged with outraged reactions to the separation, and an online petition titled “Don’t Break Their 4-Year Bond” garnered more than 150,000 signatures. The department said it has issued a “specialized license” to the couple after they agreed to undergo wildlife carer training and make no commercial gain from the bird or its image. The bird was returned home, it said.
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
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