Malaysia goes to polls with some voters queuing up knee-deep in water
The other news of the day: Kim Jong-un appears for the first time with his daughter whose existence was not certain; South Korea’s opposition criticises the first lady for trying to look like an old celebrity; India launches a rocket built by a private start-up; more than 28 million people are at risk of famine in Afghanistan; Russia wants to convince its citizens to adopt deported Ukrainian children.
MALAYSIA
Malaysians are going to the polls today in a general election, but heavy rains are expected in some regions until early afternoon. Social media were flooded with images of voters queuing at polling stations, knee-deep in water. Floods could prevent many from voting. According to some surveys, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is given as a favourite but he is unlikely to get a majority in parliament to govern.
THAILAND
The United States will help Thailand develop nuclear energy to fight climate change, US Vice President Kamala Harris announced this morning at the APEC summit. The reactors to be built are small and reliable, and do not require human action to shut down in case of an emergency.
NORTH KOREA
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un first appeared with his daughter, confirming rumours about her existence. The girl, whose name is thought to be Kim Chu-ae, should be aged 12 to 13. She was by her father’s side during yesterday’s missile test. According to experts, the leader intends to show the world that the country will continue to be under the control of a fourth generation of the Kim family.
SOUTH KOREA
South Korea's First Lady, Kim Keon-hee, has been criticised by the opposition for visiting a young heart patient in a hospital instead of attending a cultural event during the ASEAN summit in Cambodia. According to some, President Yoon Suk-yeol’s wife tried to play Audrey Hepburn when she visited Somalia in 1992. Pictures from the visit show the First Lady staring into the distance in what looks like a very staged manner.
INDIA
The Prarambh mission was successfully completed this morning. It involved the launch of a rocket developed by the start-up Skyroot. The Vikram-S (which honours the father of India’s space programme) flew 80 km before it crashed into the Bay of Bengal. The Indian government has encouraged the private sector to get into the aerospace industry to develop extremely low-cost launches. India's 2014 Mars mission, for example, cost only US$ 74 million.
AFGHANISTAN
In Afghanistan, as winter approaches, “More than 28 million people – two thirds of the entire population – will need humanitarian assistance, up from 18 million people just two years ago,'' said Joyce Msuya, UN assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs. “A staggering 20 million people are already in crisis, or emergency levels of food insecurity.” After the Taliban seized power in August 2021, Afghanistan became one of the countries with the highest number of people at risk of famine.
RUSSIA – UKRAINE
In Russia, a documentary series is touting the forced adoption by Russian families of deported Ukrainian children. The propaganda video is dedicated to children from the Donbass already adopted, claiming that more than 150,000 children have been evacuated to Russia, while Ukrainian sources say the number ranges between 6,000 and 8,000).
IRAN – RUSSIA
The Tehran Chamber of Commerce and Industry has proposed alternative models of trade relations with Russia to avoid secondary sanctions. This would entail, creating a special holding company for exports, buying shares in the ports of Makhachkala or Volgograd, or setting up a consortium with India for gas extraction in the Caspian area.
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12/02/2016 15:14
