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.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
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