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by Cat BARTON / Kang Jin-kyu SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Koreans are voting Wednesday in a tightly fought presidential election with the deciding votes set to be cast by young people, whose top concerns are economic inequality and unemployment — not recent sabre-rattling from the nuclear-armed North. Official figures showed high turnout of about 65 percent by 2 pm (0500 GMT), after record early voting, following a campaign dominated by mud-slinging between the […]
by Joseph Schmid PARIS, France (AFP) — France’s top constitutional authority published Monday the list of the 12 candidates registered to stand in the presidential election that begins on April 10. All the main candidates managed to muster the 500 endorsements from elected French officials needed to confirm registration by the Constitutional Council. Polls show that President Emmanuel Macron, elected in 2017, is the overwhelming favorite to come out on top in the second round […]
by Philippe RATER The UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution that “demands” Russia “immediately” withdraw from Ukraine, in a powerful rebuke of Moscow’s invasion by a vast majority of the world’s nations. After more than two days of extraordinary debate, which saw the Ukrainian ambassador accuse Russia of genocide, 141 out of 193 United Nations member states voted for the non-binding resolution. “The world is rejecting Russia’s lies,” US President Joe Biden […]
by Nina LARSON Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – The Swiss voted on Sunday to tighten their notoriously lax tobacco laws by banning virtually all advertising of the hazardous products. Nearly 57 percent of voters and 16 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons backed the near-total tobacco advertising ban, final results showed. “We are extremely happy. The people understood that health is more important than economic interests,” Stefanie De Borba of the Swiss League against Cancer, told […]
Voting kicked off in Japan’s general election on Sunday with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hoping to win over a pandemic-fatigued public with spending promises as his long-ruling conservatives seek a fresh start. Kishida became leader of the Liberal Democratic Party a month ago after Yoshihide Suga resigned just a year into the job, partly due to public discontent over his response to the Covid-19 crisis. Following a record wave of infections that pushed the Tokyo […]
The Czech Republic was plunged into uncertainty on Sunday as President Milos Zeman was rushed to hospital a day after his ally, populist billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis, narrowly lost an election. The president, who plays a critical role in nominating any future prime minister, was taken to hospital by ambulance shortly after meeting Babis and appeared to be unconscious upon arrival, with someone seen holding up his head. His doctor said he was in […]
by Sonia Logre and Gildas Le Roux Agence France-Presse ROME, Italy (AFP) – The people of Rome voted on Sunday to elect a new mayor who will have the daunting task of tackling poor public transport and disastrous rubbish management in the Italian capital, dubbed one of the dirtiest cities in the world. Across the country from the Eternal City to Milan, Naples and Bologna, voting kicked off late on Monday for municipal elections being […]
by Michelle FITZPATRICK FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — Germany braced for a period of political unpredictability Monday after the Social Democrats narrowly won a general election but faced a rival claim to power from outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative camp. Preliminary official results showed that the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) narrowly won the vote at 25.7 percent, while Merkel’s centre-right CDU-CSU bloc sunk to a historic low of 24.1 percent. The Green party placed third at […]
by Deborah COLE Agence France-Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – With growing fears about global warming, deadly floods linked to climate change and a new political landscape as Angela Merkel leaves the stage, it should have been the German Greens’ year. After launching their campaign for Sunday’s general election in the spring with a youthful, energetic candidate in Annalena Baerbock, the sky seemed to be the limit — perhaps even taking the chancellery. But although Germany […]
by Deborah COLE Agence France-Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – Tens of thousands of climate activists including Greta Thunberg are due to descend on German cities Friday ahead of the weekend general election to crank up the pressure on the candidates to succeed Angela Merkel. As Germany’s top parties hold final rallies ahead of Sunday’s vote, the Fridays for Future youth marches will make the case that the political class has let down the younger generation. […]
by Yann SCHREIBER with Pauline CURTET in Garmisch-Partenkirchen Agence France-Presse MONCHENGLADBACH, Germany (AFP) – Dressed in a rainbow-coloured unicorn costume, Kathrin Henneberger once camped on a beech tree, trying to save a forest from destruction. Come Monday, she hopes to be one of Germany’s newly elected MPs. The 34-year-old counts among one of Germany’s most prominent climate militants standing in Sunday’s general elections for a seat in parliament. After years of occupying coal mines or […]
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals were returned to power Monday in a hotly contested election against the rookie Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, according to TV projections. But with polling stations likely to still be reporting results into the morning, it was not yet clear if the Liberals had gained enough seats to form a majority in parliament that would allow Trudeau to pass his agenda without opposition support. © Agence […]
