SOUTH KOREA
Early voting begins
Early voting in the presidential elections began yesterday, with both main candidates set to cast ballots in a poll triggered by former president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated effort last year to suspend civilian rule. All major polls have placed Lee Jae-myung as the clear frontrunner in the presidential race, with a recent Gallup survey showing 49 percent of respondents viewed him as the best candidate. Trailing behind him is former minister of labor Kim Moon-soo of the ruling People Power Party — Yoon’s former party — at 35 percent. While election day is set for Tuesday next week, those who want to vote early can do so until today, part of an initiative introduced in 2013 to help those unable to cast ballots on polling day or planning to travel.
SLOVAKIA
Top banker convicted
Central bank Governor Peter Kazimir, who is a member of the European Central Bank committee, yesterday was convicted of bribery and fined 200,000 euros (US$225,000). The verdict was issued by Judge Milan Cisarik at the Special Criminal Court in Pezinok. Kazimir’s attorneys argued that he should have been acquitted because of the recent changes in Slovakia’s penal code, which reduced punishment for corruption, and that recently ended a number of corruption cases and trials. Kazimir was not at the court. He said in a statement that he would appeal. His six-year term in office expires on Sunday. Kazimir was accused of paying a bribe of 48,000 euros at the end of 2017 to the head of the country’s tax office in connection with a tax audit of several private companies. At the time, Kazimir was acquiring a luxury villa in an upscale neighborhood of Bratislava, the capital, from the owner of the companies. The case dates to when he was minister of finance in the government of Prime Minister Robert Fico from 2012 to 2019. He was a member of Fico’s Smer, or Direction, party before taking the central bank job.
BRAZIL
Dancing nuns go viral
Two nuns have gone viral after dropping an impromptu beatbox and dance session during a Catholic television program. Sisters Marizele Cassiano and Marisa de Paula, members of the Copiosa Redencao congregation, were talking about a vocational retreat on the Pai Eterno (Eternal Father) TV channel when they brought up a song about being called to the religious life. The duo stood up and launched into a routine complete with singing, beatbox and dance moves. Then the presenter, Deacon Giovani Bastos, joined in, matching De Paula’s moves in a performance that has now been seen by millions on social media in Brazil and abroad. “That moment was very spontaneous, because with Sister Marisa, if you start a beat, she will dance. And I’m used to singing, to beatboxing, so for us it was very simple, spontaneous and at the same time very surprising to see that it went viral even outside Brazil,” Cassiano told reporters. The sisters work with young people who are struggling with drug addiction. They say music has been a powerful tool to help those in need. “Beatboxing, dancing and the songs itself are tools that God uses to reach the hearts of the people we work with. And it works. It’s beautiful to see,” De Paula said. While Cassiano has no Instagram account, Marizele has surpassed 100,000 followers since her beatboxing went viral. The sisters also work as vocation promoters, organizing retreats for women interested in pursuing a religious career.
The Burmese junta has said that detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi is “in good health,” a day after her son said he has received little information about the 80-year-old’s condition and fears she could die without him knowing. In an interview in Tokyo earlier this week, Kim Aris said he had not heard from his mother in years and believes she is being held incommunicado in the capital, Naypyidaw. Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was detained after a 2021 military coup that ousted her elected civilian government and sparked a civil war. She is serving a
‘NO AMNESTY’: Tens of thousands of people joined the rally against a bill that would slash the former president’s prison term; President Lula has said he would veto the bill Tens of thousands of Brazilians on Sunday demonstrated against a bill that advanced in Congress this week that would reduce the time former president Jair Bolsonaro spends behind bars following his sentence of more than 27 years for attempting a coup. Protests took place in the capital, Brasilia, and in other major cities across the nation, including Sao Paulo, Florianopolis, Salvador and Recife. On Copacabana’s boardwalk in Rio de Janeiro, crowds composed of left-wing voters chanted “No amnesty” and “Out with Hugo Motta,” a reference to the speaker of the lower house, which approved the bill on Wednesday last week. It is
‘EAST SHIELD’: State-run Belma said it would produce up to 6 million mines to lay along Poland’s 800km eastern border, and sell excess to nations bordering Russia and Belarus Poland has decided to start producing anti-personnel mines for the first time since the Cold War, and plans to deploy them along its eastern border and might export them to Ukraine, the deputy defense minister said. Joining a broader regional shift that has seen almost all European countries bordering Russia, with the exception of Norway, announce plans to quit the global treaty banning such weapons, Poland wants to use anti-personnel mines to beef up its borders with Belarus and Russia. “We are interested in large quantities as soon as possible,” Deputy Minister of National Defense Pawel Zalewski said. The mines would be part
Cozy knits, sparkly bobbles and Santa hats were all the canine rage on Sunday, as hundreds of sausage dogs and their owners converged on central London for an annual parade and get-together. The dachshunds’ gathering in London’s Hyde Park came after a previous “Sausage Walk” planned for Halloween had to be postponed, because it had become so popular organizers needed to apply for an events licence. “It was going to be too much fun so they canceled it,” laughed Nicky Bailey, the owner of three sausage dogs: Una and her two 19-week-old puppies Ember and Finnegan, wearing matching red coats and silver
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