'No amateur': Identity politics, media crackdown help propel Erdogan to victory
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defeated opposition challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Sunday’s Turkish presidential election runoff – a victory analysts ascribe to Erdogan’s focus on identity issues and use of the government’s resources, as well as Kilicdaroglu’s tepid leadership of a precarious coalition.
The first round was a shock to many Western observers who thought they might finally see the back of Erdogan. But after the Turkish president came within a whisker of re-election in that ballot, his second-round victory surprised no one. He defeated opposition challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu with 52.1 percent of the vote.
“I will be here until I’m in the grave,” Erdogan said as he addressed jubilant supporters from an open-top bus in Istanbul.
These polls belied the Western cliché that elections are about “the economy, stupid”. Along with his much-criticised response to February’s devastating earthquakes, Turkey’s economic woes looked like a big weakness for Erdogan at the outset of the campaign.
Ugandan president signs anti-LGBTQ+ law with death penalty for same-sex acts
Global outcry over Museveni’s assent to draconian new anti-gay law, condemned as a ‘permission slip for hate and dehumanisation’
Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, has signed into law the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ+ bill, which allows the death penalty for homosexual acts. The move immediately drew widespread international outrage as well as condemnation from many Ugandans.
Early on Monday, the speaker of the Ugandan parliament, Anita Annet Among, released a statement on social media confirming Museveni had assented to the law first passed by MPs in March. It imposes the death penalty or life imprisonment for certain same-sex acts, up to 20 years in prison for “recruitment, promotion and funding” of same-sex “activities”, and anyone convicted of “attempted aggravated homosexuality” faces a 14-year sentence.
Lukashenko health rumours swirl amid claim he was hospitalised after meeting Putin
Lukashenko administration has been releasing pictures, videos and interviews to try and dispel health rumours
Rumours are again circulating about the health of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, less than a week after he insisted he was “not going to die” on state TV.
Valery Tsepkalo, a 2020 Belarusian presidential candidate and opposition leader, claimed in a Telegram post at the weekend that the 68-year-old Mr Lukashenko was in hospital in Moscow in “critical condition” following a meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Speculation about the Belarusian leader’s health began earlier this month after he appeared at Victory Day celebrations in Moscow’s Red Square on 9 May with a bandage on his right hand and looked unsteady on his feet. He missed the lunch hosted by Mr Putin.
Japan's PM Kishida ditches son as aide after party scandal
Japan's prime minister hired his own son as his executive secretary late last year. Now he's forcing him to resign, after photos appeared of the of the 32-year-old partying in the official residence.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Monday that his son, Shotaro Kishida, would resign as his aide.
This follows the publication of photos of the 32-year-old and other relatives and friends holding a party at the prime minister's official residence, including some images of people posing at the podium where Kishida gives his press conferences.
Japanese investigative publication Bunshun, which has a reputation for being critical of the ruling party, published the images last week.
Shanghai records its highest May temperature in more than 100 year
The Chinese city of Shanghai recorded its highest May temperature in more than 100 years on Monday, hitting a record 36.1 degrees Celsius (nearly 97 degrees Fahrenheit).
The previous record of 35.7 degrees Celsius (96.3 degrees Fahrenheit) was first recorded in May 1876 and has been reached just three other times since including 1903, 1915 and 2018, state media reported.
It is unknown when the city began keeping temperature records.
Monday’s record-breaking heat wave for May was recorded in the city’s Xuhui district, state media CCTV reported, citing the Shanghai Meteorological Department.
Earlier Monday, the Shanghai Meteorological Department issued its first high temperature alert of the year as temperatures in the city surpassed 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) for three consecutive days.
Ukraine war: General Kyrylo Budanov promises revenge after latest Kyiv attack
The head of Ukraine's military intelligence has warned of a swift response to a series of Russian daytime missile strikes on Kyiv.
General Kyrylo Budanov said Monday's attacks failed to intimidate people in the capital who just got on with life.
All the missiles were shot down, officials said, and there were no reports of casualties.
However flaming debris from the intercepted missiles landed in residential areas in central Kyiv.
Monday's attack followed two nights of heavy drone strikes, the latest in some 16 air attacks on the Ukrainian capital this month.
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