Cambodian opposition regroups in municipal elections

Today's headlines: an 80-year-old Singaporean climbed the highest peak in the Philippines; Belarus introduces the crime of 'doing nothing'; Oxfam calls for an extension of the truce in Yemen; Indonesia refuses to send its workers to Malaysia; Shanghai reopens and Beijing admits more patrols around Taiwan.

CAMBODIA

In the run-up to the municipal elections on 5 June, the opposition has re-emerged in Cambodia, where Prime Minister Hun Sen has ruled authoritatively for almost forty years. Son Chhay, a long-time politician and deputy secretary of the Candlelight Party, has organised a small gathering of opponents on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh, but is unlikely to achieve a victory against the ruling party.

SINGAPORE - PHILIPPINES

An 80-year-old Singaporean has become the oldest person to have climbed the highest peak in the Philippines: on 19 May, after two days of climbing, Peter Chong reached the summit of Mount Apo almost 3,000 metres above sea level without any problems. A former Singapore Airlines executive, he has always maintained a very active lifestyle and lives in the Philippines with his wife.

INDONESIA - MALAYSIA

An Indonesian labour agency cancelled the recruitment process of some migrant workers who were supposed to go to Malaysia to work on palm oil plantations. The sector, which depends on foreign labour, is short of 100,000 workers. Malaysia relies heavily on migrants from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal but some of its companies have been accused of using 'forced labour'.

SOUTH KOREA

There are seven very young candidates in the local elections in South Korea after the minimum age for city council members was lowered from 25 to 18. Most of them are from small parties, while the country's two main parties are trying to win the loyalty of young people: the new president Yoon Suk-yeol was voted in March by 58% of men in their twenties, while the liberal Lee Jae-myung obtained the same percentage among women.

CHINA - TAIWAN

On the day of the reopening of Shanghai, Beijing admits to conducting patrols around Taiwan in response to 'collusion' between Washington and Taipei. In the past week, Joe Biden's statements signalled a shift away from the traditional 'US strategic ambiguity'. On Monday, Taiwan reported the largest Chinese air raid since the beginning of the year.

YEMEN

Oxfam called for a two-month extension of the ceasefire between the warring parties in Yemen that is due to expire at midnight today. The ceasefire signed in early April was essential in bringing aid to the population and brought "a long overdue sense of hope that the cycle of violence and suffering can be broken," said Ferran Puig, director of the humanitarian organisation,

RUSSIA

The Avtotor factory, which in the Russian Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad used to complete Kia and Hyundai cars, has reduced production by more than five times due to sanctions, and in order to maintain jobs has offered workers as an alternative to picking strawberries in the surrounding forests.

BELARUS

In Belarus, the 'crime of unemployment' or 'nihilence' (tunejadstvo) typical of Soviet times has been reintroduced, with special verification commissions that will remain active until the end of the year. The aim is to counter the practice of working or studying abroad without permission from the state, which will impose heavy additional taxes on these 'slackers'.