Singapore's ruling party extends monopoly with decisive election win
Singapore's People's Action Party won its 14th successive election on Saturday to extend its unbroken six-decade rule, delivering a strong mandate to its new premier as the city-state braces for economic turbulence from a global trade war, Reuters reported.
The PAP, which has ruled since before Singapore's 1965 independence, won 87 of the 97 parliamentary seats up for grabs, with victories by huge margins in many of the 33 constituencies as the opposition failed to extend gains in previous contests.
The election was a bellwether of the popularity of the PAP amid some signs of disenchantment with its tight grip on power in the Asian financial hub, whose six million people have known no other kind of government.
Though the PAP has consistently won about 90% of seats, its share of the popular vote is closely watched as a measure of the strength of its mandate, with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong eager to leave a mark on his first election in charge after one of the PAP's worst performances on record last time, according to Reuters.
Zelenskyy says won’t play Putin’s ‘games’ with short truce
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Vladimir Putin of “playing games” after the Russian leader proposed a three-day unilateral ceasefire to coincide with Moscow’s Victory Day commemorations, Aljazeera reported.
“This is more of a theatrical performance on his part. Because in two or three days, it is impossible to develop a plan for the next steps to end the war,” Zelenskyy told a small group of journalists on Friday, in remarks embargoed until Saturday.
Russia announced a 72-hour halt in hostilities beginning May 8, but has so far rejected an unconditional 30-day ceasefire pushed by Ukraine and the United States, which is trying to broker an end to the three-year war.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine would not be “playing games to create a pleasant atmosphere to allow for Putin’s exit from isolation on May 9” when some foreign leaders are due in Moscow for Russia’s World War II commemorations, according to Aljazeera.
Dozens of Palestinians starved to death under Israel’s blockade of Gaza
At least 57 Palestinians have starved to death in Gaza as Israel’s punishing blockade of food, water, and other critical aid to the besieged enclave stretches into its third month amid relentless bombardment, Aljazeera reported.
Gaza’s Government Media Office said on Saturday that most of the victims were children, as well as the sick and elderly, condemning the “continued use of food by the Israeli occupation as a weapon of war” and urging the international community to exert pressure on Israel to reopen the borders and allow in aid.
Gaza has been under total Israeli blockadesince March 2, video obtained by Al Jazeera Arabic showing large numbers of trucks carrying vital supplies piling up on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Saturday, the queue extending south beyond the city of Arish, located approximately 45 kilometres (28 miles) from Rafah border crossing.
Al Jazeera’s team identified one of the latest victims on Saturday, a baby girl called Janan Saleh al-Sakafi, who died of malnutrition and dehydration in the Rantisi Hospital, west of Gaza City. More than 9,000 children have been admitted to hospital for treatment for acute malnutrition since the start of the year, according to the United Nations, according to Aljazeera.
Pro-Kurdish MP and key peace negotiator Onder dies at 62
Sirri Sureyya Onder, a prominent pro-Kurdish party lawmaker and key figure in Turkey's tentative process to end the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party's (PKK) insurgency, died on Saturday at age 62, his party said, Reuters reported.
Onder, the deputy parliament speaker, was among MPs from the DEM Party who recently met jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and held talks last week with President Tayyip Erdogan in a bid to end a decades-old conflict that has killed tens of thousands.
He was taken to hospital around two weeks ago after suffering a heart attack and aortic rupture, according to the hospital where he was being treated in Istanbul. After his heartbeat recovered, he underwent some 12 hours of surgery.
Onder then spent 18 days in intensive care but died due to multiple organ failure on Saturday, the Istanbul hospital said.
Known for his wit, poetry, and warm public presence, Onder was also an accomplished director and screenwriter of works that blended political storytelling with social critique, according to Reuters.
