[1/2] Founder of Wagner private mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin speaks with servicemen during withdrawal of his forces from Bakhmut, 2023. Press service of “Concord”/Handout via REUTERS
Prigozhin: conflict with Chechens settled
Prigozhin: Kremlin factions endanger the state
Says defence ministry is in chaos
Wagner may go to Belgorod region – Prigozhin
MOSCOW, June 3 (Reuters) – Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday that Kremlin factions were destroying the state by trying to sow discord between him and Chechen fighters.
That row had now been settled but infighting in the Kremlin had opened a Pandora’s Box of rifts, he said.
Prigozhin, a 62-year-old former restauranteur who founded the Wagner mercenary group and is a member of President Vladimir Putin’s wider circle, has gained widespread notoriety during the 15-month war in Ukraine.
His troops have spearheaded battles in the city of Bakhmut and elsewhere, but he has also rowed with the Russian military over tactics, logistical support and other issues.
Prigozhin said a dispute between him and Chechen forces who are also fighting alongside the Russian army in Ukraine had been resolved. But he laid the blame for the discord on unidentified Kremlin factions – which he calls “Kremlin towers”.
Their scheming had got so out of hand that Putin had been forced to scold them at a Security Council meeting, he said.
“Pandora’s Box is already open – we are not the ones who opened it,” Prigozhin said in a message posted by his press service. “Some Kremlin tower decided to play dangerous games.”
“Dangerous games have become commonplace in the Kremlin towers…they are simply destroying the Russian state.”
He did not identify the Kremlin faction but said that it continued its attempts to sow discord, it would have “hell to pay”. The Kremlin did not comment on his remarks.
Putin held a Security Council meeting of Friday about what he said were “interethnic” relations inside the country.
Prigozhin said Chechen remarks made about him sounded like something out of the early 1990s when conflicts gripped Russian cities after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“Clearly the statements made were rather provocative, aimed at hurting me and freaking me out,” Prigozhin said.
Prigozhin also said any battle between Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov‘s Akhmat special forces and Wagner would result in serious bloodshed but there was no doubt who would win.
He also again vented his anger about the current state of the war and the culpability of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
“The ministry of defence is not in a state to do anything at all as it de-facto doesn’t exist – it is in chaos,” Prigozhin said.
The defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Niether Shoigu nor Gerasimov have commented in public about Prigozhin’s comments.
Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Angus MacSwan
As Moscow bureau chief, Guy runs coverage of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Before Moscow, Guy ran Brexit coverage as London bureau chief (2012-2022). On the night of Brexit, his team delivered one of Reuters historic wins – reporting news of Brexit first to the world and the financial markets. Guy graduated from the London School of Economics and started his career as an intern at Bloomberg. He has spent over 14 years covering the former Soviet Union. He speaks fluent Russian.
Contact: +447825218698
TAIPEI, June 3 (Reuters) – China’s military rebuked the United States and Canada for “deliberately provoking risk” after the countries’ navies staged a rare joint sailing through the sensitive Taiwan Strait.
The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and Canada’s HMCS Montreal conducted a “routine” transit of the strait on Saturday “through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law”.
“Chung-Hoon and Montreal’s bilateral transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the commitment of the United States and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” it said in a statement.
The Eastern Theatre Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army said its forces monitored the ships throughout and “handled” the situation in accordance with the law and regulations.
“The countries concerned deliberately create incidents in the Taiwan Strait region, deliberately provoke risks, maliciously undermine regional peace and stability, and send the wrong signal to ‘Taiwan independence’ forces,” it said late Saturday.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said the two ships sailed in a northerly direction through the strait and that it had observed nothing unusual.
While U.S. warships transit the strait around once a month, it is unusual for them to do so with those of other U.S. allies.
The mission took place as the U.S. and Chinese defence chiefs were attending a major regional security summit in Singapore.
At that event, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin rebuked China for refusing to hold military talks, leaving the superpowers deadlocked over Taiwan and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
There was no immediate response to the sailing from China’s military, which routinely denounces them as a U.S. effort to stir up tensions.
The last such publicly revealed U.S.-Canadian mission in the narrow strait took place in September.
China has been ramping up military and political pressure in an attempt to force Taiwan to accept Beijing’s sovereignty claims, which the government in Taipei strongly rejects.
Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by William Mallard and Nick Zieminski
Erdogan begins new five-year term after runoff win
Unorthodox rate cuts had exacerbated cost-of-living crisis
Economy under deep strain, Simsek seen reversing course
ANKARA, June 3 (Reuters) – President Tayyip Erdogan signalled on Saturday his newly-elected government would return to more orthodox economic policies when he named Mehmet Simsek to his cabinet to tackle Turkey’s cost-of-living crisis and other strains.
Simsek’s appointment as treasury and finance minister could set the stage for interest rate hikes in coming months, analysts said – a marked turnaround from Erdogan’s longstanding policy of slashing rates despite soaring inflation.
After winning a runoff election last weekend, Erdogan, 69, who has ruled for more than two decades, began his new five-year term by calling on Turks to set aside differences and focus on the future.
Turkey’s new cabinet also includes Cevdet Yilmaz, another orthodox economic manager, as vice president, and the former head of the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) Hakan Fidan as foreign minister, replacing Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Erdogan’s inauguration ceremony at Ankara’s presidential palace was attended by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other dignitaries and high-level officials.
The apparent U-turn on the economy comes as many analysts say the big emerging market is heading for turmoil given depleted foreign reserves, an expanding state-backed protected deposits scheme, and unchecked inflation expectations.
Simsek, 56, was highly regarded by financial markets when he served as finance minister and deputy prime minister between 2009 and 2018.
Reuters reported earlier this week Erdogan was almost certain to put him in charge of the economy, marking a partial return to more free-market policies after years of increasing state control of forex, credit and debt markets.
QUESTION OF INDEPENDENCE
Analysts said that after past episodes in which Erdogan pivoted to orthodoxy only to quickly return to his rate-cutting ways, much would depend on how much independence Simsek is granted.
“This suggests Erdogan has recognised the eroding trust in his ability to manage Turkey’s economic challenges. But while Simsek’s appointment is likely to delay a crisis, it is unlikely to present long-term fixes to the economy,” said Emre Peker, a director at Eurasia Group covering Turkey.
“Simsek will likely have a strong mandate early in his tenure, but face rapidly increasing political headwinds to implement policies as March 2024 local elections draw near.”
Erdogan’s economic programme since 2021 stresses monetary stimulus and targeted credit to boost economic growth, exports and investments, pressing the central bank into action and badly eroding its independence.
[1/12] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan shakes hands with the new Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek as they are flanked by new Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar during a press conference where the new cabinet was announced, in Ankara, Turkey June 3, 2023. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
As a result, annual inflation hit a 24-year peak beyond 85% last year before easing.
The lira has lost more than 90% of his value in the last decade after a series of crashes, the worst in late 2021. It hit new all-time lows beyond 20 to the dollar after the May 28 vote.
‘WAYS TO RECONCILE’
Turkey’s longest-serving leader, Erdogan won 52.2% support in the runoff, defying polls that predicted economic strains would lead to his defeat.
His new mandate will allow Erdogan to pursue the increasingly authoritarian policies that have polarised the country, a NATO member, but strengthened its position as a regional military power.
At the inauguration ceremony, attended by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Erdogan struck a conciliatory tone.
“We will embrace all 85 million people regardless of their political views … Let’s put aside the resentment of the election period. Let’s look for ways to reconcile,” he said.
“Together, we must look ahead, focus on the future, and try to say new things. We should try to build the future by learning from the mistakes of the past.”
Earlier, reading out the oath of office, Erdogan vowed to protect Turkey’s independence and integrity, to abide by the constitution, and to follow the principles of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the modern secular republic.
Erdogan became prime minister in 2003 after his AK Party won an election in late 2002 following Turkey’s worst economic crisis since the 1970s.
In 2014, he became the country’s first popularly elected president and was elected again in 2018 after securing new executive powers for the presidency in a 2017 referendum.
The May 14 presidential election and May 28 runoff were pivotal given that the opposition had been confident of ousting Erdogan and reversing many of his policies, including proposing sharp interest rate hikes to counter inflation, running at 44% in April.
In his post-election victory speech, Erdogan said inflation was Turkey’s most urgent issue.
Writing and additional reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Frances Kerry, Giles Elgood and Christina Fincher
MOSCOW, June 2 (Reuters) – Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most famous opposition leader, on Friday shared letters showing how he has poked fun at prison authorities for several months with a host of bizarre requests for a kimono, a balalaika, a beetle and even to keep a kangaroo.
The requests were turned down by the maximum security IK-6 penal colony at Melekhovo, about 250 km (115 miles) east of Moscow, according to the Russian documents he posted online.
“When you are in a punishment cell and don’t have much entertainment, you can always amuse yourself by corresponding with the prison administration,” Navalny said.
Navalny is serving combined sentences of 11-1/2 years for fraud and contempt of court on charges that he says were trumped up to silence him.
The letters showed that Navalny asked for an eclectic range of items, including, variously, a bottle of moonshine, a balalaika, a staff, two pouches of cheap tobacco, a kimono and a black belt.
The correspondence also reveals the conditions of the Russian prison system: Navalny asked for a megaphone to be given to a mentally ill convict in a cell opposite so that “he could shout even louder”, and for prison authorities to award the 10th dan in Karate to a prisoner who apparently killed a man with his bare hands.
Both requests were refused. The prison declined comment.
The prison’s replies, written in the stilted administrative Russian of officialdom, complete with serial numbers, acronyms and references to various laws and rules, give a satiric insight into the sometimes absurd world of Russian bureaucracy, a theme writer Nikolai Gogol satirised in the 19th Century.
“The question of awarding eastern martial arts qualifications is not handled by the administration,” the prison wrote back on April 28.
In response to Navalny’s request for a permit to keep a kangaroo, the prison wrote: “The animal identified in your request relates to the double crested-marsupial… Your request is left without satisfaction.”
He asked for a massage chair to be given to an unidentified squad leader, suggesting it might reduce stress. The prison wrote coldly that massage chairs were not provided.
Navalny inquired about the names of the guard dogs.
The prison said it could not give him such information. Navalny said he was told by guards that knowledge of the names of the dogs could allow him to befriend the creatures and then try to escape.
His inquiry about whether he needed a permit to keep a beetle was met with a refusal.
“The insect identified by you in your request belongs to the animal kingdom,” the prison said in a May 3 letter.
Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Philippa Fletcher
As Moscow bureau chief, Guy runs coverage of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Before Moscow, Guy ran Brexit coverage as London bureau chief (2012-2022). On the night of Brexit, his team delivered one of Reuters historic wins – reporting news of Brexit first to the world and the financial markets. Guy graduated from the London School of Economics and started his career as an intern at Bloomberg. He has spent over 14 years covering the former Soviet Union. He speaks fluent Russian.
Contact: +447825218698
Experts say focus on safety has not kept pace with expansion
Government says data shows no major accident for years
NEW DELHI, June 3 (Reuters) – India’s vast rail network is undergoing a $30 billion transformation with gleaming new trains and modern stations but Friday’s deadly train accident shows more attention should be paid to safety, industry analysts said.
At least 288 people were killed in the country’s worst rail accident in over two decades after a passenger train went off the tracks and hit another in the eastern state of Odisha.
State monopoly Indian Railways runs the fourth largest train network in the world. It transports 13 million people every day and moved nearly 1.5 billion tonnes of freight in 2022.
Long considered the lifeline of the world’s most populous country, the 170-year-old system has seen rapid expansion and modernisation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to boost infrastructure and connectivity in the fast-growing economy.
This year, the government made a record 2.4-trillion-rupee ($30 billion) capital outlay for the railways, a 50% increase over the previous fiscal year, to upgrade tracks, ease congestion and add new trains.
A new, semi-high-speed train built in India and called the “Vande Bharat Express”, or “Salute to India Express”, is showcased as evidence of this modernisation, with Modi himself flagging off the first journeys of many of the trains around the country.
But Friday’s crash has come as a jolt to this makeover, experts said.
“The safety record has been improving over the years but there is more work to do,” said Prakash Kumar Sen, head of the department of mechanical engineering at Kirodimal Institute of Technology in central India and lead author of a 2020 study on “Causes of Rail Derailment in India and Corrective Measures”.
“Human error or poor track maintenance are generally to blame in such crashes,” Sen said.
The railways have been introducing more and more trains to cope with soaring demand but the workforce to maintain them has not kept pace, he said.
Workers are not trained adequately or their workload is too high, and they don’t get enough rest, Sen said.
The east coast route on which Friday’s crash occurred, is one of the country’s oldest and busiest, as it also carries much of India’s coal and oil freight, he said.
“These tracks are very old … the load on them is very high, if maintenance is not good, failures will happen,” Sen said.
‘GOOD SAFETY RECORD’
Indian Railways maintains that safety has always been a key focus, and points to its low accident rate over the years.
“This question (on safety) is arising because there has been one incident now. But if you see the data, you will see that there have been no major accidents for years,” a railways ministry spokesperson said.
The number of accidents per million train kilometres, a gauge of safety, had fallen to 0.03 in fiscal 2021-22 from 0.10 in 2013-14, the spokesperson said.
A 1-trillion-rupee, five-year safety fund created in 2017-18 has been extended for another five years from 2022-23, with a further 450 billion rupees of funding, after the first plan led to an “overall improvement in safety indicators”, he added.
“Some malfunction has happened and that the inquiry will reveal,” he said, referring to Friday’s crash. “We will find out why it happened and how it happened.”
Srinand Jha, an independent transport expert and author at the International Railway Journal, said the railways have been working on safety mechanisms such as anti-collision devices and emergency warning systems but have been slow to install them across the network.
“They will always tell you that accidents are at a very manageable level because they talk about them in terms of percentages,” Jha said, adding that in recent years the focus has been more on new trains and modern stations and not as much on tracks, signalling systems and asset management.
“This accident brings out the need to focus more on these aspects,” he said.
[1/2] A Ukrainian military helicopter takes off to carry out a mission, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, during military drills in the north of Ukraine, June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
KYIV, June 3 (Reuters) – Ukraine is ready to launch its long-awaited counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview published on Saturday.
“We strongly believe that we will succeed,” Zelenskiy told the Wall Street Journal.
“I don’t know how long it will take. To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready.”
Kyiv hopes a counteroffensive to reclaim territory will change the dynamics of the war that has raged since Russia invaded its smaller neighbour 15 months ago.
Zelenskiy said last month Ukraine needed to wait for more Western armoured vehicles arrived before launching the counteroffensive. He has been on a diplomatic push to maintain Western support, seeking more military aid and weapons, which is key for Ukraine to succeed in its plans.
Russia holds swaths of Ukrainian territory in the east, south and southeast.
A long spell of dry weather in some parts of Ukraine has driven anticipation that the counteroffensive might be imminent. Over the past several weeks Ukraine has increased it strikes on Russian ammunition depots and logistical routes.
On Saturday Ukraine’s military said in a daily report that Mariinka in the Donetsk region in the east was the focus of fighting. Ukrainian forces repelled all 14 Russian troops’ attacks there, the report said.
Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by William Mallard
MbS sends reminder to US on who calls the shots in region
Mbs a player whom Washington can neither disregard nor disavow
He is forging ties with other powers, reshapes foes relations
He reasserts Saudi place as energy giant in oil-reliant world
May 24 (Reuters) – Once labelled a pariah, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took centre stage as master of ceremonies last week when Arab states readmitted Syria to the Arab League, signaling to Washington who calls the regional shots.
His effusive greeting of President Bashar al-Assad at the Arab summit with kissed cheeks and a warm embrace defied U.S. disapproval at Syria’s return to the fold and capped a turnabout in the prince’s fortunes spurred by geopolitical realities.
The prince, known as MbS, seeks to reassert Saudi Arabia as a regional power by using his place atop an energy giant in an oil-dependent world consumed by the war in Ukraine.
Shunned by Western states after the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by a Saudi hit squad, the prince has now emerged as a player whom Washington can neither disregard nor disavow, but must deal with on a transactional basis.
Skeptical of U.S. promises on Saudi security and tired of its scolding tone, MbS is instead building ties with other global powers and, regardless of Washington’s consternation, remaking his relations with their shared foes.
His blithe confidence on the world stage was not only visible in his reception of Assad. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy came to the Jeddah meeting and MbS offered to mediate between Kyiv and fellow oil producer Moscow.
To be sure Saudi Arabia still depends militarily on the United States, which saved it from possible invasion by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in 1990, monitors Iranian military activity in the Gulf and provides Riyadh with most of its weapons.
Still, with Washington seemingly less engaged in the Middle East and less receptive to Riyadh’s anxieties, MbS is pursuing his own regional policy with less apparent deference to the views of his most powerful ally.
“This is a strong signal to America that ‘we’re reshaping and redrawing our relations without you’,” said Abdulaziz al-Sager, Chairman of the Gulf Research Center, of the summit.
“He is not getting what he wants from the other side,” Sager added, saying Saudi Arabia’s ententes with regional foes were based on Riyadh’s approach to regional security.
DIPLOMATIC OFFENSIVE
MbS’ position strengthened last year when Western economies turned to Saudi Arabia to help tame an oil market destabilized by the war in Ukraine. It created the opportunity for MbS to launch a diplomatic offensive that included high profile summit appearances.
That effort was aided when Washington declared MbS immune from prosecution for Khashoggi’s killing despite his being directly implicated in it by U.S. intelligence.
A visit by U.S. President Joe Biden last July had already demonstrated Riyadh’s returning influence: The American leader left empty handed while the prince enjoyed a public display of U.S. commitment to Saudi security.
The Saudi pivot away from reliance on the United States was meanwhile evident when China mediated this year a settlement between Riyadh and its arch regional foe Iran after years of hostility.
The deal was not made from a position of Saudi strength: Iran’s allies had come out stronger than those of the kingdom in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, and held most of the populated territory in Yemen.
Still, it showed Riyadh was able to cut its losses and work with U.S. rivals and foes to shore up its regional interests such as cooling the Yemen war where Saudi forces have been bogged down since 2015.
Meanwhile the prince has improved ties with Turkey and ended a boycott of Qatar, a neighbour he considered invading in 2017 according to diplomats and Doha officials.
“Over the past three years, the hatchet was buried and relations were repaired,” said Saudi columnist Abdulrahman Al-Rashed in Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
TRANSACTIONAL RELATIONSHIP
A Gulf official said the new, more directly transactional, relationship with the United States had replaced the old oil-for-defence model because of what Riyadh saw as a shakier security umbrella after the Arab revolts of 2011.
A senior State Department official said the relationship is “an important eight-decade one that spans generations, across administrations in our own country and across leaders in Saudi Arabia”.
“We have multiple interests when it comes to our relationship with Saudi Arabia…Our policy and engagement will seek to ensure that our relationship remains sound and able to meet our shared challenges of the future.”
Riyadh thought Washington had abandoned old allies during the revolts and might abandon the Al Saud dynasty too. At the same time it believed the U.S. pursuit of a nuclear deal with Tehran had led Washington to ignore the growing activity around the region of Iranian proxies seen by Riyadh as a threat.
That impression has strengthened. A Saudi source close to the ruling inner circle pointed to what he saw as lax enforcement of sanctions on Iran and a drawdown in Syria, where a small U.S. contingent has denied territory to Iran’s allies.
“I think countries in the region, as a consequence, will do what is best for them,” he said.
Meanwhile, Riyadh was annoyed that the U.S. pulled its support for Saudi operations in Yemen, launched after Washington repeatedly urged the kingdom to take responsibility for its own security.
Without direct American intervention or support for its own military efforts, Riyadh had little choice but to strike a deal with Iran even if that annoyed Washington, the source said.
“This is a consequence of the U.S. action,” he added.
Each side has a list of requests that the other is not willing to grant, the Gulf official said.
However both sides may have little choice but to put aside their grudges.
The kingdom may see the U.S. security umbrella as weakened, but still views it as crucial to Saudi defence. Western states have meanwhile remembered that Riyadh’s influence in a volatile oil market requires them to banish their qualms and deal with its de facto ruler and future king.
Writing by Samia Nakhoul; Editing by Angus McDowall
WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suffered a chaotic start to his 2024 presidential election race on Wednesday when glitches marred an online forum hosted by Twitter owner Elon Musk that was meant to showcase DeSantis’ fitness for the job.
The Twitter broadcast of the hour-long interview , which had been intended as the formal launch for the DeSantis campaign, lost sound for extended stretches and thousands of users were either unable to join or were dropped.
It was an inauspicious start for a campaign predicated on the governor’s executive competence.
“We must end the culture of losing that has infected the Republican Party in recent years,” DeSantis said in the event with Musk once the problems were largely resolved. The hashtag #DeSaster was trending on Twitter.
DeSantis’ entrance in the Republican contest sets up a showdown with his one-time ally, former President Donald Trump, who lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden.
The Florida governor framed himself as a get-it-done executive who stood up to the federal government over COVID policies and who has put an indelibly conservative stamp on his home state.
He defended his efforts in Florida to prohibit the teaching of concepts such as gender identity and systemic racism as protecting young children and pushing back against progressive ideology.
With a rising national profile and what are expected to be deep financial resources, DeSantis, 44, immediately became Trump’s biggest rival for the Republican nomination.
“Government is not about entertainment, not about building a brand,” DeSantis said, taking a veiled swipe at Trump. Notably he never mentioned Trump by name during the event.
Trump, 76, didn’t hesitate to mock DeSantis on his social media platform, Truth Social, over the stumbling start to his campaign.
“My Red Button is bigger, better, stronger, and is working (TRUTH!)” Trump posted, “Yours does not.”
Musk conceded there had been “technical issues because of the sheer scale” of the event, but added that “it’s just really great for the people to hear directly from presidential candidates.”
[1/6] Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks as he announces he is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination in this screen grab from a social media video posted May 24, 2023. Twitter @RonDeSantis/Handout via REUTERS
At one point, the Twitter event drew more than 600,000 listeners. By its conclusion, there were fewer than 300,000.
DeSantis’ campaign spokesman Bryan Griffin said on Twitter that enthusiasm for DeSantis had “literally busted up the internet.”
The campaign raised $1 million in an hour, Griffin said.
TRUMP AHEAD IN POLLS
Polls show Trump with more than a 2-to-1 edge over the Florida governor, who has long been considered a Republican rising star and the herald of a new generation of leaders in the party. Trump, who announced in November, also has a head start in organizing his campaign in key early voting states.
DeSantis’ central argument for his candidacy likely will be that he is the only Republican who can defeat Biden.
“Our president, while he lacks vigor, flounders in the face of our nation’s challenges and he takes cues from the woke mob,” DeSantis said.
Mainstream Republicans will be watching DeSantis carefully to see if he can recover from his missteps on foreign policy, such as his initial reluctance to express support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
In the weeks leading up to his presidential bid, DeSantis toured the country, visiting states such as Iowa and New Hampshire that will hold early nominating contests. He has boasted of his record as Florida’s governor, including his battles with the federal government over pandemic policies.
DeSantis and his advisers were determined to wait to enter the race until the Florida Legislature could hand him a series of policy victories – and lawmakers have done just that.
He signed measures that severely restricted abortions in the state, made it easier for residents to carry concealed weapons, expanded a voucher program to allow students to attend private schools and eliminated funding for diversity programs at public universities, among other things.
DeSantis remains in a pitched battle with Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) over the company’s criticism of laws prohibiting the teaching of gender identity concepts in public schools. The company has filed a federal lawsuit accusing DeSantis of weaponizing state government to punish its operations.
Other declared Republican candidates include Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Tim Scott, a U.S. senator from South Carolina.
[1/3] Members of the University of North Carolina’s diverse student body mingle and make their way across campus as the Supreme Court weighs the issue of race-conscious admissions to colleges, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S., March 28, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/File Photo
WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) – In 1998, the year a voter-approved measure barring the use of race-conscious admissions policies for public colleges and universities in California took effect, the percentage of Black, Hispanic and Native American students admitted at two of the state’s elite public schools plummeted by more than 50%.
Those figures for UCLA and the University of California, Berkeley offer a cautionary tale as administrators at schools around the United States await a Supreme Court decision due by the end of June that is expected to prohibit affirmative action student admissions policies nationwide.
That potential outcome in cases involving Harvard University and the University of North Carolina has brought new urgency to efforts by schools to maintain or increase racial and ethnic diversity in their student populations, according to interviews with senior administrators at a dozen colleges and universities.
“We cannot afford as a nation to regress on our goals to create an educated and equitable society,” said Seth Allen, head of admissions at Pomona College in California. “So it’s incumbent on higher education to figure out how to work collectively together to ensure that we’re not furthering the enrollment gap among different groups of students.”
Many selective U.S. colleges and universities for decades have used some form of affirmative action to boost enrollment of minority students, seeing value in having a diverse student population not only to offer educational opportunity but to bring a range of perspectives onto campuses.
Affirmative action refers to policies that favor people belonging to certain groups considered disadvantaged or subject to discrimination, in areas such as hiring and student admissions.
Schools are exploring numerous options. Administrators said they are drafting strategies to expand their recruitment of diverse applicants, remove application barriers and increase the rate of minority students who accept their admissions offers.
An official at Rice University in Houston said the school will lean on student essay responses to ensure it admits students from diverse backgrounds. The U.S. Air Force Academy will focus on recruiting more students from diverse congressional districts.
The president of Skidmore College in New York said connecting with high school counselors will become “more important than ever” to broaden the school’s applicant pool.
Many schools said they already have waived fees, made standardized testing optional and are looking to improve financial aid offers – steps that could help boost minority enrollment.
All of the administrators said their plans could change to comply with the scope of the Supreme Court’s reasoning in the Harvard and UNC cases. Some acknowledged that whatever steps schools take to circumvent a ban on race-conscious admissions policies might face legal challenges of their own.
“We’re likely to see a whole new generation of lawsuits arise from the new admission standards that will be adopted by colleges and universities,” said Danielle Holley, current dean of Howard University School of Law in Washington and incoming president of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts.
Lawsuits backed by an anti-affirmative action activist accused Harvard and UNC of unlawful discrimination in student admissions either by violating the U.S. Constitution’s promise of equal protection under the law or a federal law barring discrimination based on race and other factors.
UNC was accused of discriminating against white and Asian American applicants. Harvard was accused of bias against Asian American applicants. The schools denied these allegations.
GOING LOCAL
Many of the school administrators said they plan to focus resources on recruitment, a part of the admissions cycle they do not expect the court will restrict.
Admissions officers said they were broadening their outreach to high schools and community-based organizations in neighborhoods with lower incomes and educational attainment – places often populated by racial minorities.
Yvonne Berumen, vice president of admissions at Pitzer College in California, said her team might run essay workshops at high schools in those targeted zip codes – postal regions – in hopes of generating applications.
Chris George, dean of admissions at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, said high school data from national organizations like the College Board, which offers information on neighborhood income and housing stability, will help guide which high schools the college sends representatives to visit and the recruitment events they attend.
Community-based organizations that identify local students who show academic promise and help them apply to college will be crucial partners for identifying and recruiting potential applicants from diverse backgrounds, the administrators said.
“They become extensions of our recruiting and admissions team in many ways, and we’re seeing each year a bigger and bigger percentage of our students come from those community-based organizations,” said Kent Devereaux, president of Goucher College in Maryland.
Administrators at schools located in or near major cities, including Pomona College near Los Angeles and Sarah Lawrence College in New York, said they would hope to draw more students from racially diverse local high schools and take more transfer students from local community colleges.
Colonel Arthur Primas Jr., the U.S. Air Force Academy’s admissions director, said his racially diverse recruiting team will continue to visit schools in U.S. congressional districts with heavy concentrations of minorities and will try to encourage more students to seek nominations to the academy from their local members of Congress.
“The Air Force Academy has had a long tradition of actively recruiting diverse candidates,” Primas said. “But we’re going to have to really be expansive.”
Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Additional reporting by Donna Bryson; Editing by Will Dunham and Colleen Jenkins
Gabriella Borter is a reporter on the U.S. National Affairs team, covering cultural and political issues as well as breaking news. She has won two Front Page Awards from the Newswomen’s Club of New York – in 2020 for her beat reporting on healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2019 for her spot story on the firing of the police officer who killed Eric Garner. The latter was also a Deadline Club Awards finalist. She holds a B.A. in English from Yale University and joined Reuters in 2017.
[1/2] Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong attends the 22nd ASEAN Plus Three Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, November 4, 2019. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa/File Photo
SINGAPORE, May 24 (Reuters) – Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has ordered an investigation into the circumstances around the rental of state-owned homes in an exclusive location to two cabinet ministers following questions from the opposition.
The matter has prompted comment in the wealthy city-state, which has long prided itself on a government free from corruption, with the annual salaries of many cabinet ministers exceeding S$1 million ($755,000) to discourage graft.
Lee said the review by a senior minister, whose results will be made public before lawmakers take up the issue in July, would establish whether “proper process” was followed in the rental of the colonial-era bungalows and if there was wrongdoing.
“This must be done to ensure that this government maintains the highest standards of integrity,” Lee said in a statement.
This month, opposition politician Kenneth Jeyaretnam questioned how the law and home affairs minister, K Shanmugam, and the foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, could afford the market rate for such “pricey” properties.
Shanmugam said accusations of impropriety were “outrageous” and he had nothing to hide. Balakrishnan said he was “very glad” a review was taking place.
Social media posts in Singapore mocked the ministers or expressed outrage over the size of the properties, while others questioned why the government needed time until July to explain the issue.
The expression of disapproval comes as many in Singapore battle rising living costs, amid high inflation and rising prices of homes and cars.
Eight in 10 of Singapore’s 3.6 million citizens live in public housing and just a third of households own cars.
Lawmakers, including three members of the ruling party and the leader of the opposition, have submitted parliamentary questions on whether the ministers acted on privileged information to secure the leases.
The Singapore Land Authority has said the ministers leased bungalows that had been vacant for years and had made bids that were higher than the rent guidance, a price that had not been disclosed to them.
Government graft scandals are rare in Singapore.
A minister was investigated in 1987 but died before the inquiry concluded.
Lee and his father – founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew – both addressed parliament in 1996 to answer accusations, investigated at the time by the prime minister, that the family had bought prime real estate at a discount.
The investigation concluded there was nothing improper about the Lee’s property purchases.
Xinghui leads the Singapore bureau, directing coverage of one of the region’s bellwether economies and Southeast Asia’s main financial hub. This ranges from macroeconomics to monetary policy, property, politics, public health and socioeconomic issues. She also keeps an eye on things that are unique to Singapore, such as how it repealed an anti-gay sex law but goes against global trends by maintaining policies unfavourable to LGBT families. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/even-singapore-lifts-gay-sex-ban-lgbt-families-feel-little-has-changed-2022-11-29/
Xinghui previously covered Asia for the South China Morning Post and has been in journalism for a decade.
Hit finance ministry, president’s office, spy agency and others
Sources believe Beijing was seeking info on debt
NAIROBI, May 24 (Reuters) – Chinese hackers targeted Kenya’s government in a widespread, years-long series of digital intrusions against key ministries and state institutions, according to three sources, cybersecurity research reports and Reuters’ own analysis of technical data related to the hackings.
Two of the sources assessed the hacks to be aimed, at least in part, at gaining information on debt owed to Beijing by the East African nation: Kenya is a strategic link in the Belt and Road Initiative – President Xi Jinping’s plan for a global infrastructure network.
“Further compromises may occur as the requirement for understanding upcoming repayment strategies becomes needed,” a July 2021 research report written by a defence contractor for private clients stated.
China’s foreign ministry said it was “not aware” of any such hacking, while China’s embassy in Britain called the accusations “baseless”, adding that Beijing opposes and combats “cyberattacks and theft in all their forms.”
China’s influence in Africa has grown rapidly over the past two decades. But, like several African nations, Kenya’s finances are being strained by the growing cost of servicing external debt – much of it owed to China.
The hacking campaign demonstrates China’s willingness to leverage its espionage capabilities to monitor and protect economic and strategic interests abroad, two of the sources said.
The hacks constitute a three-year campaign that targeted eight of Kenya’s ministries and government departments, including the presidential office, according to an intelligence analyst in the region. The analyst also shared with Reuters research documents that included the timeline of attacks, the targets, and provided some technical data relating to the compromise of a server used exclusively by Kenya’s main spy agency.
A Kenyan cybersecurity expert described similar hacking activity against the foreign and finance ministries. All three of the sources asked not to be named due to the sensitive nature of their work.
“Your allegation of hacking attempts by Chinese Government entities is not unique,” Kenya’s presidential office said, adding the government had been targeted by “frequent infiltration attempts” from Chinese, American and European hackers.
“As far as we are concerned, none of the attempts were successful,” it said.
It did not provide further details nor respond to follow-up questions.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Britain said China is against “irresponsible moves that use topics like cybersecurity to sow discord in the relations between China and other developing countries”.
“China attaches great importance to Africa’s debt issue and works intensively to help Africa cope with it,” the spokesperson added.
THE HACKS
Between 2000 and 2020, China committed nearly $160 billion in loans to African countries, according to a comprehensive database on Chinese lending hosted by Boston University, much of it for large-scale infrastructure projects.
Kenya used over $9 billion in Chinese loans to fund an aggressive push to build or upgrade railways, ports and highways.
Beijing became the country’s largest bilateral creditor and gained a firm foothold in the most important East African consumer market and a vital logistical hub on Africa’s Indian Ocean coast.
By late 2019, however, when the Kenyan cybersecurity expert told Reuters he was brought in by Kenyan authorities to assess a hack of a government-wide network, Chinese lending was drying up. And Kenya’s financial strains were showing.
The breach reviewed by the Kenyan cybersecurity expert and attributed to China began with a “spearphishing” attack at the end of that same year, when a Kenyan government employee unknowingly downloaded an infected document, allowing hackers to infiltrate the network and access other agencies.
“A lot of documents from the ministry of foreign affairs were stolen and from the finance department as well. The attacks appeared focused on the debt situation,” the Kenyan cybersecurity expert said.
Another source – the intelligence analyst working in the region – said Chinese hackers carried out a far-reaching campaign against Kenya that began in late 2019 and continued until at least 2022.
According to documents provided by the analyst, Chinese cyber spies subjected the office of Kenya’s president, its defence, information, health, land and interior ministries, its counter-terrorism centre and other institutions to persistent and prolonged hacking activity.
The affected government departments did not respond to requests for comment, declined to be interviewed or were unreachable.
By 2021, global economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic had already helped push one major Chinese borrower – Zambia – to default on its external debt. Kenya managed to secure a temporary debt repayment moratorium from China.
In early July 2021, the cybersecurity research reports shared by the intelligence analyst in the region detailed how the hackers secretly accessed an email server used by Kenya’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Reuters was able to confirm that the victim’s IP address belonged to the NIS. The incident was also covered in a report from the private defence contractor reviewed by Reuters.
Reuters could not determine what information was taken during the hacks or conclusively establish the motive for the attacks. But the defence contractor’s report said the NIS breach was possibly aimed at gleaning information on how Kenya planned to manage its debt payments.
“Kenya is currently feeling the pressure of these debt burdens…as many of the projects financed by Chinese loans are not generating enough income to pay for themselves yet,” the report stated.
A Reuters review of internet logs delineating the Chinese digital espionage activity showed that a server controlled by the Chinese hackers also accessed a shared Kenyan government webmail service more recently from December 2022 until February this year.
Chinese officials declined to comment on this recent breach, and the Kenyan authorities did not respond to a question about it.
‘BACKDOOR DIPLOMACY’
The defence contractor, pointing to identical tools and techniques used in other hacking campaigns, identified a Chinese state-linked hacking team as having carried out the attack on Kenya’s intelligence agency.
The group is known as “BackdoorDiplomacy” in the cybersecurity research community, because of its record of trying to further the objectives of Chinese diplomatic strategy.
According to Slovakia-based cybersecurity firm ESET, BackdoorDiplomacy re-uses malicious software against its victims to gain access to their networks, making it possible to track their activities.
Provided by Reuters with the IP address of the NIS hackers, Palo Alto Networks, a U.S. cybersecurity firm that tracks BackdoorDiplomacy’s activities, confirmed that it belongs to the group, adding that its prior analysis shows the group is sponsored by the Chinese state.
Cybersecurity researchers have documented BackdoorDiplomacy hacks targeting governments and institutions in a number of countries in Asia and Europe.
Incursions into the Middle East and Africa appear less common, making the focus and scale of its hacking activities in Kenya particularly noteworthy, the defence contractor’s report said.
“This angle is clearly a priority for the group.”
China’s embassy in Britain rejected any involvement in the Kenya hackings, and did not directly address questions about the government’s relationship with BackdoorDiplomacy.
“China is a main victim of cyber theft and attacks and a staunch defender of cybersecurity,” a spokesperson said.
Reporting by Aaron Ross in Nairobi, James Pearson in London and Christopher Bing in Washington
Additional reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Beijing
Editing by Chris Sanders and Joe Bavier
West & Central Africa correspondent investigating human rights abuses, conflict and corruption as well as regional commodities production, epidemic diseases and the environment, previously based in Kinshasa, Abidjan and Cairo.
Reports on hacks, leaks and digital espionage in Europe. Ten years at Reuters with previous postings in Hanoi as Bureau Chief and Seoul as Korea Correspondent. Author of ‘North Korea Confidential’, a book about daily life in North Korea. Contact: 447927347451
Award-winning reporter covering the intersection between technology and national security with a focus on how the evolving cybersecurity landscape affects government and business.
Kyiv parodies past Kremlin denials of military involvement
Girding for counteroffensive against Russian invasion
LONDON/KYIV, May 24 (Reuters) – A two-day incursion from Ukraine into Russia’s western borderlands could force the Kremlin to divert troops from front lines as Kyiv prepares a major counteroffensive, and deal Moscow a psychological blow, according to military analysts.
Though Kyiv has denied any role, the biggest cross-border raid from Ukraine since Russia invaded 15 months ago was almost certainly coordinated with Ukraine’s armed forces as it prepares to attempt to recapture territory, the experts added.
“The Ukrainians are trying to pull the Russians in different directions to open up gaps. The Russians are forced to send reinforcements,” said Neil Melvin, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
Ukraine says it plans to conduct a major counteroffensive to seize back occupied territory, but Russia has built sprawling fortifications in its neighbour’s east and south in readiness.
The incursion took place far from the epicentre of fighting in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region and around 100 miles (160 km) from the front lines in the northern Kharkiv region.
Reuters Image
“They’ll have to respond to this and put troops there and then have lots of troops all along the border area, even though that may not be the way the Ukrainians are coming,” Melvin said.
Russia’s military said on Tuesday it had routed militants who attacked its western Belgorod region with armoured vehicles the previous day, killing more than 70 “Ukrainian nationalists” and pushing the remainder back into Ukraine.
Kyiv has said the attack was carried out by Russian citizens, casting it as homegrown, internal Russian strife. Two groups operating in Ukraine – the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) and Freedom of Russia Legion – have claimed responsibility.
The groups were set up during Russia’s full-scale invasion and attracted Russian volunteer fighters wanting to fight against their own country alongside Ukraine and topple President Vladimir Putin.
Mark Galeotti, head of the London-based Mayak Intelligence consultancy and author of several books on the Russian military, said the two groups comprised anti-Kremlin Russians ranging from liberals and anarchists to neo-Nazis.
“They’re hoping that in some small way they can contribute to the downfall of the Putin regime. But at the same time, we have to realise that these are not independent forces … They are controlled by Ukrainian military intelligence,” he said.
Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak repeated Kyiv’s position that it had nothing to do with the operation.
The United States says it does not “enable or encourage” Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory, but that it is up to Kyiv to decide how it conducts military operations.
A view shows damaged buildings, after anti-terrorism measures introduced for the reason of a cross-border incursion from Ukraine were lifted, in what was said to be a settlement in the Belgorod region, in this handout image released May 23, 2023. Governor of Russia’s Belgorod Region Vyacheslav Gladkov via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Several similar incursions into Russia have occurred in recent months, and although this week’s was the largest known so far, it is still tiny when compared to frontline battles.
ECHOES OF 2014?
Alexei Baranovsky, a spokesperson for the political wing of the Freedom of Russia Legion, told Reuters in Kyiv that he could not disclose the number of troops involved in the operation, but that the legion had four battalions in total.
Baranovsky denied there had been heavy losses, and he dismissed Russian reports of large casualties as disinformation.
He said the unit was part of Ukraine’s International Legion and therefore part of its armed forces, but denied the incursion was coordinated with Ukrainian authorities.
“These are the first steps in the main objective of overthrowing Putin’s regime through armed force. There are no other alternatives,” he said.
Galeotti said the incursion looked like a Ukrainian battlefield “shaping” operation ahead of Kyiv’s planned counteroffensive.
“… This is really a chance to do two things. One is to rattle the Russians, make them worried about the possibility of risings amongst their own people. But secondly, force the Russians to disperse their troops,” he said.
Melvin noted that the operation also served to boost morale in Ukraine.
Kyiv officials have mimicked the Kremlin’s rhetoric surrounding Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 when it initially denied the troops involved were Russian.
Podolyak blamed the Belgorod incursion on “underground guerrilla groups” comprising Russian citizens and said: “As you know, tanks are sold at any Russian military store.”
The remark appeared to echo Putin’s response in 2014 when asked about the presence of men wearing Russian military uniforms without insignia in Crimea: “You can go to a store and buy any kind of uniform.”
On social media, Ukrainians made reference to what they called the “Belgorod People’s Republic” – a nod to events in eastern Ukraine in 2014, when Russia-backed militias declared “people’s republics” in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Ukrainians also circulated a video of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy delivering his famous “I am here” video address from Kyiv at the beginning of the invasion in February 2022. But instead of the presidential office in Kyiv, the background showed the welcome sign to the city of Belgorod.
Additional reporting by Max Hunder in Kyiv and Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska in Warsaw; editing by Mike Collett-White and Mark Heinrich
DHAKA, May 14 (Reuters) – Storm surges whipped up by a powerful cyclone moving inland from the Bay of Bengal inundated the Myanmar port city of Sittwe on Saturday, but largely spared a densely-populated cluster of refugee camps in low-lying neighbouring Bangladesh.
Some 400,000 people were evacuated in Myanmar and Bangladesh ahead of Cyclone Mocha making landfall, as authorities and aid agencies scrambled to avert heavy casualties from one of the strongest storms to hit the region in recent years.
Vulnerable settlements in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, where more than one million Rohingya refugees live, were left relatively unscathed by the storm that is now gradually weakening.
“Luckily, we could escape the worst of the cyclone,” said Mohammad Shamsud Douza, a Bangladesh government official in charge of refugees. “We are getting some reports of huts damaged but there are no casualties.”
Myanmar appears to have borne the direct impact of Cyclone Mocha, as winds of up to 210 kph (130 mph) ripped away tin roofs and brought down a communications tower.
Parts of Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, were flooded and the ground floors of several buildings were under water, a video posted on social media by a witness in the city showed.
An ethnic militia that controls swathes of Rakhine said a large number of structures in Sittwe and Kyauktaw had been damaged, and schools and monasteries where people had been sheltering were left without roofs.
“The whole northern Rakhine has suffered severe damage,” Arakan Army spokesperson Khine Thu Kha said. “People are in trouble.”
Communication networks in Rakhine had been disrupted after the cyclone made landfall, the U.N. and local media said.
Across Rakhine state and the north west of the country about 6 million people were already in need of humanitarian assistance, while 1.2 million have been displaced, according to the U.N. humanitarian office (OCHA).
[1/4] People move from their homes to take shelter in the nearest cyclone shelter at Shah Porir Dwip during the landfall of cyclone Mocha in Teknaf, Bangladesh. REUTERS/Jibon Ahmed
“For a cyclone to hit an area where there is already such deep humanitarian need is a nightmare scenario, impacting hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people whose coping capacity has been severely eroded by successive crises,” U.N. resident coordinator Ramanathan Balakrishnan said.
Myanmar has been plunged into chaos since a junta seized power two years ago. After a crackdown on protests, a resistance movement is fighting the military on various fronts.
A junta spokesperson did not immediately answer a telephone call from Reuters to seek comment.
FOOD AND SUPPLIES
In Bangladesh, where authorities moved around 300,000 people to safer areas before the storm hit, Rohingya refugees inside densely-populated camps in the Cox’s Bazar in the south east of the country hunkered down inside their ramshackle homes.
“Our shelter, made of bamboo and tarpaulin, offers little protection,” said refugee Mohammed Aziz, 21. “We’re praying to Allah to save us.”
Many of the Rohingya refugees, half-a-million children among them, live in sprawling camps prone to flooding and landslides after having fled a military-led crackdown in Myanmar in 2017.
Hundreds of thousands of the Muslim Rohingya minority remain in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, where many are confined to camps separated from the rest of the population.
“The state government has moved many Rohingya from Sittwe camps to higher grounds area,” Zaw Min Tun, a Rohingya resident in Sittwe said, adding that the evacuation took place without any warning.
“They also didn’t provide any food to them, so people are starving.”
Ahead of the storm, the World Food Programme said it was preparing food and relief supplies that could help more than 400,000 people in Rakhine and surrounding areas for a month.
Reporting by Ruma Paul in DHAKA and Reuters staff; Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
WASHINGTON, May 13 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden said on Saturday that talks with Congress on raising the U.S. government’s debt limit were moving along and more will be known about their progress in the next two days.
“I think they are moving along, hard to tell. We have not reached the crunch point yet,” Biden told reporters at Joint Base Andrews.
“We’ll know more in the next two days,” he said.
Biden is expected to meet with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders early next week to resume negotiations.
The leaders had canceled a planned meeting on Friday to let staff continue discussions.
Aides for Biden and McCarthy have started to discuss ways to limit federal spending as talks on raising the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling to avoid a catastrophic default creep forward, Reuters has reported.
The Treasury Department says it could run out of money by June 1 unless lawmakers lift the nation’s debt ceiling.
Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Eric Beech; Editing by David Gregorio
Challenge ahead for opposition parties to form government
Move Forward comes close to sweep of capital Bangkok
No alliances with dictator-backed parties – Pita
Military parties down, but not out
Too soon to discuss alliances – Pheu Thai
BANGKOK, May 14 (Reuters) – Thailand’s opposition secured a stunning election win on Sunday after trouncing parties allied with the military, setting the stage for a flurry of deal-making over forming a government in a bid to end nearly a decade of conservative, army-backed rule.
The liberal Move Forward party and the populist Pheu Thai Party were far out in front with 99% of votes counted, but it was far from certain either will form the next government, with parliamentary rules written by the military after its 2014 coup skewed in its favour.
To rule, the opposition parties will need to strike deals and muster support from multiple camps, including members of a junta-appointed Senate that has sided with military parties and gets to vote on who becomes prime minister and form the next administration.
Sunday’s election was the latest bout in a long-running battle for power between Pheu Thai, the populist juggernaut of the billionaire Shinawatra family, and a nexus of old money, conservatives and military with influence over key institutions at the heart of two decades of turmoil.
But the staggering performance by Move Forward, riding a wave of support from young voters, will test the resolve of Thailand’s establishment and ruling parties after it came close to a clean sweep of the capital Bangkok on a platform of institutional reform and dismantling monopolies.
Move Forward came top, followed closely by Pheu Thai, the preliminary results showed. According to a Reuters calculation, both were set to win more than triple the number of seats of Palang Pracharat, the political vehicle of the junta, and the army-backed United Thai Nation party.
Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat, a 42-year-old former executive of a ride-hailing app, described the outcome as “sensational” and vowed to stay true to his party’s values when forming a government.
“It will be anti- dictator-backed, military-backed parties, for sure,” he told reporters. “It’s safe to assume that minority government is no longer possible here in Thailand.”
He said he remained open to an alliance with Pheu Thai, but has set his sights set on being prime minister.
“It is now clear the Move Forward Party has received the overwhelming support from the people around the country,” he said on Twitter.
Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics
MAJOR BLOW
[1/15] Move Forward Party leader and prime ministerial candidate, Pita Limjaroenrat, waves to the crowd during the general election in Bangkok, Thailand, May 14, 2023. REUTERS/Jorge Silva
The preliminary results will be a crushing blow for the military and its allies. But with parliamentary rules on their side and influential figures behind them and involved behind the scenes, they could still have a role in government.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a retired general who led the last coup, had campaigned on continuity after nine years in charge, warning a change in government could lead to conflict.
On Sunday, he slipped away quietly from his United Thai Nation party headquarters, where there were few supporters to be seen.
A handful of staff sat beside plates of uneaten food as a giant television screen showed a live speech by Move Forward’s leader.
“I hope the country will be peaceful and prosper,” Prayuth told reporters. “I respect democracy and the election. Thank you.”
Pheu Thai had been expected to win having won most votes in every ballot since 2001, including two landslide victories. Three of its four governments have been ousted from office.
Founded by the polarising self-exiled tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, Pheu Thai remains hugely popular among the working classes and was banking on being swept back to power in a landslide on nostalgia for its populist policies like cheap healthcare, micro-loans and generous farming subsidies.
Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn, 36, has been tipped to follow in the footsteps of her father and of her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra, and become prime minister. Yingluck and Thaksin were both overthrown in coups.
Paetongtarn said she was happy for Move Forward, but it was too soon to discuss alliances.
“The voice of the people is most important,” she said.
Move Forward saw a late-stage rally in opinion polls and was betting on 3.3 million first-time voters getting behind its liberal agenda, including plans to weaken the military’s political role and amend a strict law on royal insults that critics say is used to stifle dissent.
Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, said Move Forward’s surge demonstrated a major shift in Thai politics.
“Pheu Thai fought the wrong war. Pheu Thai fought the populism war that it already won,” he said.
“Move Forward takes the game to the next level with institutional reform. That’s the new battleground in Thai politics.”
Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by William Mallard
May 14 (Reuters) – Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday that two of its military commanders were killed in eastern Ukraine, as Kyiv’s forces renewed efforts to break through Russian defences in the embattled city of Bakhmut.
In a daily briefing, the ministry said that Commander Vyacheslav Makarov of the 4th Motorized Rifle Brigade and Deputy Commander Yevgeny Brovko from a separate unit were killed trying to repel Ukrainian attacks.
It said that Makarov had been leading troops from the front line, and that Brovko “died heroically, suffering multiple shrapnel wounds”. The defence ministry rarely announces the deaths of military command in its daily briefings.
It also said Ukrainian forces waged attacks in the north and south of Bakhmut over the past 24 hours, but that they had not broken through Russian defences. “All attacks by units of Ukraine’s armed forces have been repelled,” it said.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary force which has spearheaded much of the Russian advance on Bakhmut, said his forces had advanced up to 130 metres (400 feet) over the past 24 hours.
Prigozhin, in an audio statement on Telegram, said his forces controlled 28 multi-story buildings in western districts of Bakhmut where Ukrainian troops were still operating.
Ukrainian forces, he said, were holding 20 buildings and a total area of 1.69 square km (0.65 square miles).
Reuters was not able to independently verify Russia’s account.
Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar confirmed on Sunday that Ukrainian forces “continue to move forward in the Bakhmut sector in the suburbs.”
“Our units captured more than ten enemy positions in the north and south of Bakhmut and cleared a large area of forest near Ivanivske. Enemy soldiers from different units were captured,” she said on the Telegram messaging app.
Neither Ukraine nor Russian forces have been able to take full control of the city, despite months of grinding warfare that has inflicted heavy losses on both sides.
Moscow acknowledged on Friday that its forces had fallen back north of Bakhmut amid a surge of Ukrainian attacks, but Kyiv has played down suggestions a huge, long-planned counteroffensive has officially begun.
Neither Erdogan or his challenger pass 50% threshold
Erdogan ahead after 20-year rule
Rivals spar over election count
ISTANBUL, May 14 (Reuters) – Turkey headed for a runoff vote after President Tayyip Erdogan led over his opposition rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Sunday’s election but fell short of an outright majority to extend his 20-year rule of the NATO-member country.
Neither Erdogan nor Kilicdaroglu cleared the 50% threshold needed to avoid a second round, to be held on May 28, in an election seen as a verdict on Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian path.
The presidential vote will decide not only who leads Turkey but also whether it reverts to a more secular, democratic path, how it will handle its severe cost of living crisis, and manage key relations with Russia, the Middle East and the West.
Kilicdaroglu, who said he would prevail in the runoff, urged his supporters to be patient and accused Erdogan’s party of interfering with the counting and reporting of results.
But Erdogan performed better than pre-election polls had predicted, and he appeared in a confident and combative mood as he addressed his supporters.
“We are already ahead of our closest rival by 2.6 million votes. We expect this figure to increase with official results,” Erdogan said.
With almost 97% of ballot boxes counted, Erdogan led with 49.39% of votes and Kilicdaroglu had 44.92%, according to state-owned news agency Anadolu. Turkey’s High Election Board gave Erdogan 49.49% with 91.93% of ballot boxes counted.
Thousands of Erdogan voters converged on the party’s headquarters in Ankara, blasting party songs from loudspeakers and waving flags. Some danced in the street.
“We know it is not exactly a celebration yet but we hope we will soon celebrate his victory. Erdogan is the best leader we had for this country and we love him,” said Yalcin Yildrim, 39, who owns a textile factory.
ERDOGAN HAS EDGE
The results reflected deep polarization in a country at a political crossroads. The vote was set to hand Erdogan’s ruling alliance a majority in parliament, giving him a potential edge heading into the runoff.
Opinion polls before the election had pointed to a very tight race but gave Kilicdaroglu, who heads a six-party alliance, a slight lead. Two polls on Friday showed him above the 50% threshold.
The country of 85 million people – already struggling with soaring inflation – now faces two weeks of uncertainty that could rattle markets, with analysts expecting gyrations in the local currency and stock market.
“The next two weeks will probably be the longest two weeks in Turkey’s history and a lot will happen. I would expect a significant crash in the Istanbul stock exchange and lots of fluctuations in the currency,” said Hakan Akbas, managing director of Strategic Advisory Services, a consultancy.
[1/16] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by his wife Ermine Erdogan, greets supporters at the AK Party headquarters in Ankara, Turkey May 15, 2023. REUTERS/Umit Bektas TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
“Erdogan will have an advantage in a second vote after his alliance did far better than the opposition’s alliance,” he added.
A third nationalist presidential candidate, Sinan Ogan, stood at 5.3% of the vote. He could be a “kingmaker” in the runoff depending on which candidate he endorses, analysts said.
The opposition said Erdogan’s party was delaying full results from emerging by lodging objections, while authorities were publishing results in an order that artificially boosted Erdogan’s tally.
Kilicdaroglu, in an earlier appearance, said that Erdogan’s party was “destroying the will of Turkey” by objecting to the counts of more than 1,000 ballot boxes. “You cannot prevent what will happen with objections. We will never let this become a fait accompli,” he said.
But the mood at the opposition party’s headquarters, where Kilicdaroglu expected victory, was subdued as the votes were counted. His supporters waved flags of Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and beat drums.
KEY PUTIN ALLY
The choice of Turkey’s next president is one of the most consequential political decisions in the country’s 100-year history and will reverberate well beyond Turkey’s borders.
A victory for Erdogan, one of President Vladimir Putin’s most important allies, will likely cheer the Kremlin but unnerve the Biden administration, as well as many European and Middle Eastern leaders who had troubled relations with Erdogan.
Turkey’s longest-serving leader has turned the NATO member and Europe’s second-largest country into a global player, modernised it through megaprojects such as new bridges and airports and built an arms industry sought by foreign states.
But his volatile economic policy of low interest rates, which set off a spiralling cost of living crisis and inflation, left him prey to voters’ anger. His government’s slow response to a devastating earthquake in southeast Turkey that killed 50,000 people earlier this year added to voters’ dismay.
PARLIAMENTARY MAJORITY
Kilicdaroglu has pledged to revive democracy after years of state repression, return to orthodox economic policies, empower institutions that lost autonomy under Erdogan and rebuild frail ties with the West.
Thousands of political prisoners and activists could be released if the opposition prevails.
Critics fear Erdogan will govern ever more autocratically if he wins another term. The 69-year-old president, a veteran of a dozen election victories, says he respects democracy.
In the parliamentary vote, the People’s Alliance of Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted AKP, the nationalist MHP and others fared better than expected and were headed for a majority.
Writing by Alexandra Hudson
Editing by Frances Kerry
[1/3] A view shows an industrial building destroyed, according to Russian-installed officials, by a Ukrainian missile strike in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Luhansk, Russian-controlled… Read more
MOSCOW, May 13 (Reuters) – Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday that Ukrainian aircraft had struck two industrial sites in the Russian-held city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles supplied by Britain.
Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.
Britain on Thursday became the first country to say it had started supplying Kyiv with long-range cruise missiles, which will allow it to hit Russian troops and supply dumps far behind the front lines as it prepares a major counteroffensive.
British Defence Minister Ben Wallace said the missiles could be used within Ukrainian territory, implying that he had received assurances from Kyiv that they would not be used to attack targets inside Russia’s internationally accepted borders.
The Russian ministry said the missiles had hit a plant producing polymers and a meat-processing factory in Luhansk on Friday.
“Storm Shadow air-to-air missiles supplied to the Kyiv regime by Britain were used for the strike, contrary to London’s statements that these weapons would not be used against civilian targets,” the ministry said.
It also said Russia had downed two Ukrainian warplanes – an Su-24 and a MiG-29 – that had launched the missiles.
In its latest bulletin, the ministry also said Russian forces had gained control over another block in the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Moscow has been trying to capture for more than 10 months in an attritional artillery battle.
“The units of the Airborne Forces provided support to the assault units and pinned down the enemy on the flanks,” it said.
The ministry often uses the term “assault units” to denote the Wagner private militia, which has been spearheading the assault on Bakhmut at great cost in casualties.
Erdogan faces tight race against emboldened opposition
Cost-of-living crisis seen as denting his chances
Two-decade transformation of Turkey on the line
ANKARA, May 14 (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has nurtured an image of a robust and invincible leader over his two decades in power, yet he appears vulnerable as the political landscape may be shifting in favour of his opponent in Sunday’s presidential vote.
Erdogan emerged from humble roots to rule for 20 years and redraw Turkey’s domestic, economic, security and foreign policy, rivalling historic leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who founded modern Turkey a century ago.
The son of a sea captain, Erdogan has faced stiff political headwinds ahead of Sunday’s election: he was already facing blame over an economic crisis when a devastating earthquake hit in February. Critics accused his government of a slow response and lax enforcement of building rules, failures they said could have cost lives.
As opinion polls show a tight race, critics have drawn parallels with the circumstances that brought his Islamist-rooted AK Party to power in 2002, in an election also shaped by high inflation and economic turmoil.
Two days before the vote, Erdogan said he came to office through the ballot boxes and if he had to, would leave the same way.
“We will accept as legitimate every result that comes out of the ballots. We expect the same pledge from those opposing us,” he said in a televised interview on Friday.
For his enemies the day of retribution has come.
Under his autocratic rule, he amassed power around an executive presidency, muzzled dissent, jailed critics and opponents and seized control of the media, judiciary and the economy. He crammed most public institutions with loyalists and hollowed critical state organs.
His opponents have vowed to unpick many of the changes he has made to Turkey, which he has sought to shape to his vision of a pious, conservative society and assertive regional player.
The high stakes in Sunday’s presidential and parliamentary election are nothing new for a leader who once served a prison sentence – for reciting a religious poem – and survived an attempted military coup in 2016 when rogue soldiers attacked parliament and killed 250 people.
A veteran of more than a dozen election victories, the 69-year-old Erdogan has taken aim at his critics in typically combative fashion.
He has peppered the run-up with celebrations of industrial milestones, including the launch of Turkey’s first electric car and the inauguration of its first amphibious assault ship, built in Istanbul to carry Turkish-made drones.
Erdogan also flicked the switch on Turkey’s first delivery of natural gas from a Black Sea reserve, promising households free supplies, and inaugurated its first nuclear power station in a ceremony attended virtually by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
His attacks against his main challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, have included accusations without evidence of support from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency since the 1980s in which more than 40,000 people have been killed. Kilicdaroglu has denied the accusations.
As he seeks to shore up his appeal among conservative voters, Erdogan has also spoken against LGBT rights, calling them a “deviant” concept that he would fight.
‘BUILDING TURKEY TOGETHER’
Polls suggest voting could go to a second round later this month – if neither Erdogan nor Kilicdaroglu win more than 50% of the vote – and some show Erdogan trailing. This hints at the depth of a cost-of-living crisis sparked by his unorthodox economic policies.
A drive by authorities to slash interest rates in the face of soaring inflation aimed to boost economic growth, but it crashed the currency in late 2021 and worsened inflation.
The economy was one of Erdogan’s main strengths in the first decade of his rule, when Turkey enjoyed a protracted boom with new roads, hospitals and schools and rising living standards for its 85 million people.
Halime Duman said high prices had put many groceries out of her reach but she remained convinced Erdogan could still fix her problems. “I swear, Erdogan can solve it with a flick of his wrist,” she said at a market in central Istanbul.
The president grew up in a poor district of Istanbul and attended Islamic vocational school, entering politics as a local party youth branch leader. After serving as Istanbul mayor, he stepped onto the national stage as head of the AK Party (AKP), becoming prime minister in 2003.
His AKP tamed Turkey’s military, which had toppled four governments since 1960, and in 2005 began talks to secure a decades-long ambition to join the European Union – a process that later came to a grinding halt.
GREATER CONTROL
Western allies initially saw Erdogan’s Turkey as a vibrant mix of Islam and democracy that could be a model for Middle East states struggling to shake off autocracy and stagnation.
But his drive to wield greater control polarised the country and alarmed international partners. Fervent supporters saw it as just reward for a leader who put Islamic teachings back at the core of public life in a country with a strong secularist tradition, and championed the pious working classes.
Opponents portrayed it as a lurch into authoritarianism by a leader addicted to power.
After the 2016 coup attempt authorities launched a massive crackdown, jailing more than 77,000 people pending trial and dismissing or suspending 150,000 from state jobs. Rights groups say Turkey became the world’s biggest jailer of journalists for a time.
Erdogan’s government said the purge was justified by threats from coup supporters, as well as Islamic State and the PKK.
At home, a sprawling new presidential palace complex on the edge of Ankara became a striking sign of his new powers, while abroad Turkey became increasingly assertive, intervening in Syria, Iraq and Libya and often deploying Turkish-made military drones with decisive force.
Additional reporting by Jonathan Spicer and Ali Kucukgocmen
Writing by Tom Perry
Editing by Jonathan Spicer, Samia Nakhoul and Frances Kerry
May 3 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited the International Criminal Courtin The Hague, which in March issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged deportation of children from Ukraine.
FIGHTING
* Zelenskiy said Ukraine would launch a counteroffensive soon against occupying Russian forces.
* Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia’s Wagner Group mercenary force, said the counteroffensive had already begun and his forces were observing heightened activity along the front.
* Russian shelling killed 23 people in and near the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Wednesday, hitting a hypermarket, a railway station and residential buildings, the regional governor said.
* A drone attackset ablaze product storage facilities at one of the largest oil refineries in southern Russia, but emergency services extinguished the fire just over two hours later, and the plant was working normally, TASS news agency reported.
* Ukrainian air defences said they downed 18 out of 24 kamikaze drones that Russia launched in a pre-dawn attack on Thursday. Kyiv city administration said that all missiles and drones targeting the Ukrainian capital for the third time in four days, were destroyed.
DIPLOMACY/POLITICS
* Zelenskiy will have a meeting at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on Thursday, the court said without giving further detail.
* German police said Zelenskiy would travel to Berlin on May 13, though a security source later said public disclosure of the visit was premature and it was now unclear if it would go ahead.
* Russia said it will keep talking to the United Nations about the future of a deal that allows the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain, but would not do anything to harm its own interests.
* Zelenskiy said Russia did not appear to be interested in extending the agreement beyond May 18.
* Chicago wheat rebounded from a 25-month low to close higher, edging up on doubts about the future of the Black Sea grains corridor, market analysts said.
* A Russian-U.S. joint venture has said it has abandoned plans to build large-capacity gas turbines in Russia under licence from General Electric Co (GE.N)
RECENT IN-DEPTH STORIES
* INSIGHT-Russia digs in as Ukraine prepares to attack
* ANALYSIS-Russia crosses new lines in crackdown on Putin’s enemies
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