35 h. ago Uganda election: Bobi Wine under house arrest amid violence claims, Museveni nears 5th term

Uganda’s opposition said its leader Bobi Wine was under house arrest on Friday, after an election that also saw a member of parliament accuse security forces of killing 10 people at his home. President Yoweri Museveni, 81, is seeking to extend his 40-year rule of the east African country and has been accused of “brutal repression” of the opposition. Uganda’s Electoral Commission said on Friday that Museveni was on 75.4 per cent to Wine’s 20.7 with close to 60 per cent of votes counted. Final...

Events

49 h. ago Venezuela’s Machado says she ‘presented’ her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday even as he has questioned her credibility to take over her country after the US ousted leader Nicolas Maduro. The Nobel Institute has said Machado could not give her prize to Trump, an honour that he has coveted. Even if it the gesture proves to be purely symbolic, it was extraordinary given that Trump has effectively sidelined Machado, who has...

Politics

64 h. ago Singapore’s PM Lawrence Wong removes Pritam Singh as Leader of the Opposition

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has stripped the Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh of his role as the city state’s first Leader of the Opposition following Singh’s conviction for lying under oath to a parliamentary committee. Singh assumed the official role in 2020 following the general election where his party secured a record 10 elected seats in parliament. Then prime minister Lee Hsien Loong announced during a press conference that Singh would be provided with staff and...

Politics

3 d. ago Singapore’s Pritam Singh debate: MPs trade barbs over bid to remove opposition leader

Singapore’s parliamentarians on Wednesday debated Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh’s suitability as Leader of the Opposition following his court conviction for lying to a committee, with his opponents questioning his integrity and leadership, while supporters suggested there was a political agenda against him. The discussion, which is ongoing and has extended into the evening, centred on Leader of the House Indranee Rajah’s motion calling on parliament to consider that Singh’s “conviction and...

Politics

3 d. ago Singapore’s MPs vote to remove Pritam Singh as opposition leader

Singapore’s parliamentarians on Wednesday voted Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh unsuitable as Leader of the Opposition following his court conviction for lying to a committee, with his opponents questioning his integrity and leadership, while supporters suggested there was a political agenda against him. The heated discussion in Singapore’s typically sterile parliament, which saw WP MPs repeatedly calling points of order, centred on Leader of the House Indranee Rajah’s motion calling on...

Politics

3 d. ago Singapore’s parliament backs motion deeming Pritam Singh unfit to be opposition leader

Singapore’s parliamentarians on Wednesday voted Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh unsuitable as Leader of the Opposition following his court conviction for lying to a committee, with his opponents questioning his integrity and leadership, while supporters suggested there was a political agenda against him. The heated discussion in Singapore’s typically sterile parliament, which saw WP MPs repeatedly calling points of order, centred on Leader of the House Indranee Rajah’s motion calling on...

Politics

5 d. ago Trump sets meeting with Machado as Venezuela frees more prisoners

Washington announced Monday that Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado will meet US President Donald Trump this week as pressure grew on the interim leadership in Caracas to speed up the release of political prisoners. Machado has been sidelined by Washington since US forces seized long-term authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro on January 3 and the Trump administration announced it would be “running” Venezuela. Disregarding Machado and her understudy Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, Trump...

Events

6 d. ago Nobel panel rejects Machado’s idea to give her Peace Prize to Trump

The Norwegian Nobel Institute said the Nobel Peace Prize cannot be transferred, shared, or revoked, following remarks by Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado suggesting she might give her 2025 award to US President Donald Trump. In a statement, the institute said the decision to award a Nobel Prize is final and permanent, citing the statutes of the Nobel Foundation, which do not allow appeals. The organisation also noted that committees awarding the prizes do not comment on the...

Politics

8 d. ago Could Singapore remove Pritam Singh as Leader of the Opposition?

In an unprecedented move in Singapore, Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh could be stripped of his title as Leader of Opposition and lose his privileges when Singapore’s parliamentarians debate his suitability for the role next week, legal experts say. Singh was the first to be appointed to the official role in 2020 by then prime minister Lee Hsien Loong after the general election that year, when the WP won a record 10 out of 93 seats. On Friday, Leader of the House Indranee Rajah tabled a...

Politics

8 d. ago Singapore parliament to debate motion on Pritam Singh’s role as opposition chief

Singapore’s leader of the House, Indranee Rajah, has filed a parliamentary motion on the conduct of Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh and his suitability to continue as the leader of the opposition. The office of the leader of the House said on Friday that the motion will be raised at a sitting on or after Tuesday. Among other points, the motion asks for parliament to consider that Singh’s conviction and conduct render him unsuitable to continue as the leader of the opposition. The full...

Politics

2 w. ago Workers’ Party in Singapore rules on Pritam Singh, disciplinary panel to be formed

The top decision-making body of the Workers’ Party (WP) in Singapore has directed that a disciplinary panel be formed to determine if party chief Pritam Singh has contravened the WP’s constitution, following his recent court conviction for lying to a parliamentary committee. In a media statement on Saturday, the WP said its central executive committee (CEC) met on Friday to discuss matters arising from Singh’s conviction after the High Court dismissed his appeal against it on December 4. Party...

Politics

2 w. ago Opposition Leader Sussan Ley comments on China’s added 55 per cent tariff on beef imports that exceed quotas, which could affect Australia.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley comments on China’s added 55 per cent tariff on beef imports that exceed quotas, which could affect Australia.  facebook.com

Politics

2 w. ago Singapore’s Pritam Singh faces leadership test as Workers’ Party seeks special meeting

Singapore’s Workers’ Party (WP) on Sunday said that its party cadres have requested a special conference to be held and that the party’s top decision-making body – the Central Executive Committee (CEC) – will be “following up on the request”. WP’s statement comes after party secretary general Pritam Singh’s conviction for lying to a parliamentary committee, with the matter set to be discussed in parliament on January 12 next year. More than 20 cadres have signed a letter calling for the special...

Politics

4 w. ago Taiwan’s opposition lawmakers vow to impeach leader William Lai

Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) announced on Friday they would try to impeach the island’s leader, William Lai Ching-te, according to reports from Taiwanese media. Fu Kun-chi, the convenor of the KMT caucus in Taiwan’s parliament, accused Lai of undermining constitutional norms and behaving in an authoritarian manner. “Lai must step down and Taiwan must not allow the emergence of figures like Yuan Shikai or Cao Kun,” Fu said, according to...

Politics