Ukraine's presidential election

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Zelensky winning 72.7% of votes, Poroshenko scoring 27.3% in Sunday’s runoff presidential election in Ukraine - nationwide exit poll.

More:
http://tass.com/world/1054826

© Anna Marchenko/TASS

Actor Vladimir Zelensky is challenging incumbent President Pyotr Poroshenko for a shot at the highest political office in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian presidential race has been set up into two stages – the first round on March 31 and the runoff on April 21.

Now, the Ukrainian public will await the results of the runoff to see who will lead Ukraine in the coming years.

20:05:21

Candidate from the Servant of the People party, showman Vladimir Zelensky is winning 73.2% of votes in Sunday’s runoff presidential elections in Ukraine, according to the National Exit Poll released after the closure of polling stations.

Incumbent President Pyotr Poroshenko is scoring 25.3% of votes.

20:03:29

Zelensky's team is preparing lawsuits on “mudflows” against the candidate and his family members. This was announced by the staff lawyer, Vadim Galaichuk.

19:43:56

Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said that he had voted on Sunday for "free, strong and fair Ukraine."

18:22:26

Over 1,000 violations during the voting in Sunday’s runoff presidential elections in Ukraine have been reported to the police, Artyom Shevchenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian interior ministry, said.  "Most of such reports came from the Dnepropetrovsk region, Kiev and the Donetsk region. The smallest number of violations were reported from the Khmelnitskaya, Trans-Carpathian and Ivano-Frankovsk regions," he said

According to Shevchenko, 13 criminal cases have been opened over these reports, most of them linked with illegal canvassing, taking photos, spoiling ballot papers and vote buying.

17:19:37

The only polling station in Ukraine that did not open in time, the one in the Donetsk region, has finally opened its doors to voters hours after the official launch of voting, head of the Ukrainian Central Elections Commission Tatiana Slipachuk reported.

Chief of Ukraine’s National Police Sergei Knyazev said earlier that only one out of 30,000 polling stations across Ukraine has stayed closed. A criminal case was initiated. According to earlier reports, the station stayed closed because members of the commission had not taken an oath.

17:17:06

The Ukrainian police have received 281 complaints about violations committed during the presidential election runoff, the interior minister’s adviser, Zoran Shkiryak, told a news briefing.

The police "have received 281 complaints and messages concerning violations committed during the presidential election runoff," he said adding that illegal electioneering, photographing of ballot papers and voter bribery were the most frequent offences.

"The situation is under control," he added. Ten criminal have been opened. The rate of violations is the lowest in western Ukraine, and the highest, in the Dnepropetrovsk Region, Kiev and Donetsk.

16:03:36

The highest voter turnout in Ukraine’s runoff presidential polls on Sunday is reported from the country’s central and southeastern regions, as follows from an analysis of the data from the Ukrainian Central Election Commission conducted by TASS.

Thus, as of 15:00 local time, the highest voter turnout was reported from the Dnepropetrovsk region (50.91%), Zaporozhye region (50.8%), and Poltava region (50.37%).

The lowest voter turnout is reported from the Trans-Carpathian region (29.64%), Ivano-Frankovsk and Chernovtsy regions - 37 and 34.93% respectively.

15:56:13

Zelensky may be fined up to 850 hryvnias ($ 31) for displaying a completed ballot, the press service of the National Police of Ukraine said.

15:43:39

Lugansk People's Republic police press service claims that Kiev forces its military to vote for Pyotr Poroshenko. 

15:31:30

Kiev police came to Vladimir Zelensky's HQ to fine the presidential hopeful for demonstrating a filled ballot. 

15:12:55

Voter turnout (at 3 p.m. local time) in Ukraine’s runoff election stands at 47.87%, says the Electoral Commission. 

14:49:05

The number of violations during the runoff election in Ukraine climbed to 562, the Interior Ministry says.

READ ALSO

Police report over 500 violations during Ukraine presidential election

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14:19:24

Mikhail Groysman, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, has cast his ballot in the election. He noted that the Ukrainians were choosing their future. 

14:09:04

The voter turnout in Ukraine’s runoff presidential election reached 18.13%, says the Electoral Commission. 

13:39:34

Ukraine's former president Leonid Kuchma said he pitied the man who would lead his country after the presidential election as that man would inherit the war in Donbass and the threat of default. 

More:
http://tass.com/world/1054768

4 मिलियन वर्षों के दौरान मनुष्य का चेहरा विकसित हुआ

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चेहरे की संरचना में 14 व्यक्तिगत हड्डियां शामिल हैं, जिसमें पाचन, श्वसन और दृश्य प्रणालियों के कुछ हिस्से शामिल हैं। मानव का चेहरा अन्य जीवों से अलग-अलग होता है।

मानव चेहरे की उत्पत्ति और विकास को समझने की कोशिश में, वैज्ञानिकों ने पिछले छह मिलियन वर्षों के अर्ध-मानव या ह्यूमस समूह में विलुप्त प्रजातियों के चेहरों का विश्लेषण करने की मांग की।

हाल की परिकल्पनाएं नए जीवाश्मों के रूप में उभरती हैं, जो पहले के शोध प्रयासों का खंडन या समर्थन करती हैं, जिससे ऐसी धारणाएं असंभव हो जाती हैं।

अमेरिका, यूनाइटेड किंगडम, जर्मनी और स्पेन के विश्वविद्यालयों के बीच अंतर्राष्ट्रीय अनुसंधान सहयोग में, शोधकर्ताओं की एक टीम चार मिलियन साल पहले मानव विकास के इतिहास का एक नया खाता तैयार करने में सक्षम रही है।

आहार के विकास को दर्शाते हुए अप्रैल को जर्नल नेचर एंड डेवलपमेंट में प्रकाशित नवीनतम उपन्यास का तर्क है कि मानव चेहरे की नई उपस्थिति जैव रासायनिक, शारीरिक और सामाजिक प्रभावों के संयोजन का उत्पाद है।

ऐसा कहा जाता है कि कम से कम 4.5 मिलियन वर्ष पहले, दो पैरों पर चलने वाले प्राणी का कंकाल अच्छी तरह से बना हो सकता है, और हमारे पूर्वज दो पैरों पर खड़े होने में सक्षम थे और सीधे चलने लगे, इस प्रकार कार्यात्मक ज्यामिति उन पैरों को स्थानांतरित करने के लिए विकसित हुई।

खोपड़ी और दांतों का विकास चर के लिए समृद्ध जानकारी का खजाना प्रदान करता है जिसे समय के साथ पता लगाया जा सकता है।

उदाहरण के लिए, मस्तिष्क की वृद्धि के चरण और श्वसन आवश्यकताओं के अनुकूलन मानव चेहरे की संरचना को बदलने का एक महत्वपूर्ण हिस्सा हैं।

लेकिन जो अधिक महत्वपूर्ण है वह यह है कि जबड़े, दांत और चेहरे में बदलाव केवल पोषण के पैटर्न और भोजन के प्रकार में बदलाव के लिए एक प्रतिक्रिया है। दूसरे शब्दों में, हमारा चेहरा वास्तव में जो हम खाते हैं उसके अनुकूल होने के लिए विकसित हुआ है।

आहार ने चेहरे के आकार में विकासवादी परिवर्तनों की व्याख्या करने में एक प्रमुख भूमिका निभाई। प्रारंभिक मानव पूर्वजों ने कठोर शाकाहारी खाद्य पदार्थ खाए जो कि जबड़े की मांसपेशियों और बड़े चबाने वाली गम को चबाने के लिए आवश्यक थे। उनके चेहरे एक ही समय में व्यापक और गहरे थे जैसे चेहरे की मांसपेशियां दिखाई देती थीं।

जैसे-जैसे वातावरण सूखने की स्थिति में बदलता है, विशेष रूप से पिछले दो सहस्राब्दियों में, प्रारंभिक होमो प्रजाति ने भोजन तैयार करने और मांस चॉपिंग में विभिन्न साधनों का उपयोग किया है, एक ऐसा विकास जो नए भोजन स्रोत को पूरा करने के लिए जबड़े और दांतों में बदलाव के साथ किया गया है।

आहार ने चेहरे के आकार में परिवर्तन में एक प्रमुख भूमिका निभाई। मानव पूर्वजों ने कठोर खाद्य पदार्थ खाए जो कि जबड़े की बड़ी मांसपेशियों की आवश्यकता होती है और बड़ी सुन्नी उन्हें चबाने के लिए पीसती है  (अनातोलिया)

सामाजिक और भावनात्मक संचार की आवश्यकतामनुष्य के चेहरे में परिवर्तन विशुद्ध रूप से यांत्रिक कारकों का परिणाम नहीं हो सकता है। इन सबसे ऊपर, मानव चेहरा संचार, सामाजिक संपर्क और भावनाओं की अभिव्यक्ति में महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका निभाता है।

इस प्रकार, सामाजिक संदर्भ इनमें से कुछ परिवर्तनों के मुख्य कारणों में से एक हो सकता है। जिस तरह हमारे पूर्ववर्तियों ने कई पर्यावरणीय चुनौतियों का सामना किया है, वे भी सांस्कृतिक और सामाजिक कारकों से प्रभावित हुए हैं। समय के साथ, विविध चेहरे के भाव बनाने की क्षमता ने आपस में अशाब्दिक संचार को बढ़ावा दिया है।

शोधकर्ताओं ने प्रमुख भौं के आकार पर भी चर्चा की, जो कि सभी खोजी गई होमो प्रजाति की एक विशिष्ट विशेषता है। अपने नए उपन्यास में, शोधकर्ता उस समय होमो द्वारा अनुभव की गई परिस्थितियों के एक सामाजिक कार्य के रूप में प्रभुत्व और आक्रामकता से संबंधित व्यवहारों का श्रेय देते हैं।

मानव समाज के विकास के साथ, ऐसी क्रूर विशेषताएं, जैसे कि अन्य विशेषताएं, जैसे कि लापरवाह दांत, मानव जाति के विकास के मार्ग के साथ नए सामाजिक संदर्भों में कम आक्रामक और अधिक सहकारी बनने के लिए खो गई हैं।

अंत में, उपन्यास ने निष्कर्ष निकाला कि यह चेहरा जिसे आप दर्पण में देखते हैं, एक  विकास का उत्पाद है जो लाखों वर्षों तक चलता है 

Israeli election may have dimmed hopes for 2-state solution

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JERUSALEM (AP) — Is the two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dead?

After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coasted to another victory in this month’s Israeli election, it sure seems that way.

On the campaign trail, Netanyahu ruled out Palestinian statehood and for the first time, pledged to begin annexing Jewish settlements in the West Bank. His expected coalition partners, a collection of religious and nationalist parties, also reject Palestinian independence.

Even his chief rivals, led by a trio of respected former military chiefs and a charismatic former TV anchorman, barely mentioned the Palestinian issue on the campaign trail and presented a vision of “separation” that falls far short of Palestinian territorial demands.

The two Jewish parties that dared to talk openly about peace with the Palestinians captured just 10 seats in the 120-seat parliament, and opinion polls indicate dwindling support for a two-state solution among Jewish Israelis.

“The majority of the people in the state of Israel no longer see a two-state solution as an option,” said Oded Revivi, the chief foreign envoy for the Yesha settler council, himself an opponent of Palestinian independence. “If we are looking for peace in this region, we will have to look for a different plan from the two-state solution.”

For the past 25 years, the international community has supported the establishment of a Palestinian state on the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip — lands captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war — as the best way to ensure peace in the region.

The logic is clear. With the number of Arabs living on lands controlled by Israel roughly equal to Jews, and the Arab population growing faster, two-state proponents say a partition of the land is the only way to guarantee Israel’s future as a democracy with a strong Jewish majority. The alternative, they say, is either a binational state in which a democratic Israel loses its Jewish character or an apartheid-like entity in which Jews have more rights than Arabs.

After decades of fruitless negotiations, each side blames the other for failure.

Israel says the Palestinians have rejected generous peace offers and promoted violence and incitement. The Palestinians say the Israeli offers have not been serious and point to Israel’s ever-expanding settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, now home to nearly 700,000 Israelis.

The ground further shifted after the Hamas militant group took over the Gaza Strip in 2007 and left the Palestinians divided between two governments, with one side — Hamas — opposed to peace with Israel. This ongoing rift is a major obstacle to negotiations with Israel, and has also left many Palestinians disillusioned with their leaders.

Since taking office a decade ago, Netanyahu has largely ignored the Palestinian issue, managing the conflict without offering a solution for how two peoples will live together in the future.

After clashing with the international community for most of that time, he has found a welcome friend in President Donald Trump, whose Mideast team has shown no indication of supporting Palestinian independence.

Tamar Hermann, an expert on Israeli public opinion at the Israel Democracy Institute, said the election results do not necessarily mean that Israelis have given up on peace. Instead, she said the issue just isn’t on people’s minds.

“Most Israelis would say the status quo is preferable to all other options, because Israelis do not pay any price for it,” she said. “They don’t feel the outcome of the occupation. ... Why change it?”

While the two-state prospects seem dim, its proponents still cling to the belief that the sides will ultimately come around, simply because there is no better choice.

“Either Israel decides to be an apartheid state with a minority that is governing a majority of Palestinians, or Israel has to realize that there is no other solution but two states,” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh told The Associated Press. “Unfortunately the Israeli prime minister is politically blind about these two facts.”

Shtayyeh noted the two-state solution continues to enjoy wide international backing. Peace, he insisted, is just a matter of “will” by Israel’s leaders.

Dan Shapiro, who served as President Barack Obama’s ambassador to Israel, said the two-state solution “is certainly getting harder” after the Israeli election but is not dead.

Getting there would require leadership changes on both sides, he said, pointing to the historic peace agreement between Israel and Egypt 40 years ago, reached by two leaders who were sworn enemies just two years earlier.

“We know what’s possible when the right leadership is in place,” he said. “So that puts us supporters of it in a mode of trying to keep it alive and viable for the future.”

That may be a tall task as the Israeli election results appear to reflect a deeper shift in public opinion.

According to the Israel Democracy Institute, which conducts monthly surveys of public opinion, support for the two-state solution among Jewish Israelis has plummeted from 69% in 2008, the year before Netanyahu took office, to 47% last year. Just 32% of Israelis between the ages of 18-34 supported a two-state solution in 2018. The institute typically surveys 600 people, with a margin of error of just over 4 percentage points.

Attitudes are changing on the Palestinian side as well. Khalil Shikaki, a prominent Palestinian pollster, said 31% of Palestinians seek a single binational state with full equality, a slight increase from a decade ago. His poll surveyed 1,200 people and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Although there was no breakdown by age group, Shikaki said the young are “clinging less to the two-state solution because they lost faith in the Palestinian Authority’s ability to provide a democratic state” and because the expanding settlements have created a new reality on the ground.

Amr Marouf, a 27-year-old restaurant manager in the city of Ramallah, said he maintains his official residence in a village located in the 60% of the West Bank that Israel controls, just in case Israel annexes the territory. That way, he believes, he can gain Israeli citizenship.

“I think the one state solution is the only viable solution,” he said. “We can be in Israel and ask for equal rights. Otherwise, we will live under military occupation forever.”

Netanyahu is expected to form his new coalition government by the end of May, and he will come under heavy pressure from his partners to keep his promise to annex Israel’s West Bank settlements.

Such a step could extinguish any hopes of establishing a viable Palestinian state, particularly if the U.S. supports it. American officials, who have repeatedly sided with Israel, have said nothing against Netanyahu’s plan.

There is also the Trump administration’s long-delayed peace plan, which officials have signaled could finally be released this summer. U.S. officials have said little about the plan, but have indicated it will go heavy on economic assistance to the Palestinians while falling far short of an independent state along the 1967 lines.

Shtayyeh said such a plan would be a nonstarter.

“This is a financial blackmail, which we reject,” he said

Bombs kill more than 200 in Sri Lankan churches, hotels on Easter Sunday

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COLOMBO (Reuters) - Over 200 people were killed and at least 450 injured in bomb blasts that ripped through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, the first major attack on the Indian Ocean island since the end of a civil war 10 years ago.

Seven people were arrested and three police officers were killed during a security forces raid on a house in the Sri Lankan capital several hours after the rash of attacks, some of which officials said were suicide bombs.

The government declared a curfew in Colombo and blocked access to social media and messaging sites, including Facebook and WhatsApp. It was unclear when the curfew would be lifted.

“Altogether, we have information of 207 dead from all hospitals. According to the information as of now we have 450 injured people admitted to hospitals,” police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera told reporters.

Three churches in various parts of the country and four hotels in Colombo were hit. At least 27 of the dead were foreigners, including people from Turkey, China, India and Holland, officials and media reports said.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks in a country which was at war for decades with Tamil separatists until 2009, a time when bomb blasts in the capital were common.

Local Christian groups have said they faced increasing intimidation from some extremist Buddhist monks in recent years. Last year, there were clashes between the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community and minority Muslims, with some hardline Buddhist groups accusing Muslims of forcing people to convert to Islam.

Dozens were killed in one of the blasts at St. Sebastian’s Gothic-style Catholic church in Katuwapitiya, north of Colombo. Gunasekera said the police suspected a suicide attack there. Pictures from the site showed bodies on the ground, blood on the church pews and a destroyed roof.

Local media reported 25 people were also killed in an attack on an evangelical church in Batticaloa in Eastern Province.

Crime scene officials inspect the site of a bomb blast inside a church in Negombo, Sri Lanka April 21, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer

MILITARY DEPLOYED

The hotels hit in Colombo were the Shangri-La, the Kingsbury, the Cinnamon Grand and the Tropical Inn near the national zoo. There was no word on casualties in the hotels, but a witness told local TV he saw some body parts, including a severed head, lying on the ground beside the Tropical Inn.

The first six explosions were all reported within a short period in the morning just as church services were starting.

One of the explosions was at St. Anthony’s Shrine, a Catholic church in Kochcikade, Colombo, a tourist landmark.

The explosion at the Tropical Inn happened later and there was an eighth explosion at a house in Colombo. Police and media said that three officers were killed and seven people detained during a raid on this location.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe called a national security council meeting at his home for later in the day.

“I strongly condemn the cowardly attacks on our people today. I call upon all Sri Lankans during this tragic time to remain united and strong,” he said in a Tweet.

“Please avoid propagating unverified reports and speculation. The government is taking immediate steps to contain this situation.”

President Maithripala Sirisena said he had ordered the police special task force and military to investigate who was behind the attacks and their agenda.

The military was deployed, a military spokesman said, and security stepped up at Colombo’s international airport.

ATTACKS ON CHRISTIANS

Last year, there were 86 verified incidents of discrimination, threats and violence against Christians, according to the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL), which represents more than 200 churches and other Christian organisations.

This year, the NCEASL recorded 26 such incidents, including one in which Buddhist monks allegedly attempted to disrupt a Sunday worship service, with the last one reported on March 25.

Slideshow (18 Images)

Out of Sri Lanka’s total population of around 22 million, 70 percent are Buddhist, 12.6 percent Hindu, 9.7 percent Muslim and 7.6 percent Christian, according to the country’s 2012 census.

In its 2018 report on Sri Lanka’s human rights, the U.S. State Department noted that some Christian groups and churches reported they had been pressured to end worship meetings after authorities classified them as “unauthorised gatherings”.

The report also said Buddhist monks regularly tried to close down Christian and Muslim places of worship, citing unidentified sources.

The heads of major governments condemned the attacks.

U.S. President Donald Trump said America offered “heartfelt condolences” to the Sri Lankan people and stood ready to help, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there was “no place for such barbarism in our region”, and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the bombings were “an assault on all of humanity”.

Pope Francis, addressing tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square to hear his Easter Sunday message: “I wish to express my affectionate closeness to the Christian community, hit while it was gathered in prayer, and to all the victims of such cruel violence.”

Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Day after his death on the cross.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand, where a gunman shot 50 people dead in two mosques last month, said in a statement: “Collectively we must find the will and the answers to end such violence.”

Relation with India, China important for prosperous Bangladesh: Dr Gowher

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DHAKA, April 20, 2019 (BSS) – International Affairs Adviser to the Prime
Minister Dr Gowher Rizvi today said Bangladesh’s relation with India and
China is really important for making the country a prosperous one.

“Bangladesh is extremely fortunate to find countries like China and India
as its neighbor. Our relation with these two countries is really important
for making a prosperous Bangladesh,” he said while addressing the launching
ceremony of a magazine “The Belt and Road” at Dhaka University here.

The Centre for East Asia Foundation (CEAF), a non-profit and non-political
independent study circle, has launched the first Chinese Magazine in the
history of Bangladesh, “The Belt and Road” exclusively covering the
highlights of the great vision of “The Belt and Road Initiative” at a
function at the auditorium of DU Institute of Modern Languages, said a CEAF
press release here.

Dr Gowher also said bilateral relationship with China is already trusted
and it is destined.

Charge d’Affaires at the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka Chen Wei addressed the
function as the distinguished guest while former Ambassador Muhammad Azizul
Haque and Prof Dr Delwar Hossain of DU International Relations Department
addressed the launching programme as special guests.

Former ambassador Selina Mohsin chaired and moderated the programme.

Along with the publication, a website dedicated to “The Belt and Road
Initiative’ was also launched. The publication will have Bengali and English
section to cater to wider audience.

CEAF Executive Director Nasim Mahmmud said in his welcome address that the
traditional friendship between China and Bangladesh by land across the
Himalayas and along the silk routes date back to over 2000 years.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed by China in 2013, is a novel
initiative for the world with many positive spillovers in terms of trade,
social and cultural integration for over 4 billion people. The initiative
aims to strengthen infrastructure, trade and investment links between China
and more than 65 other countries.

The Centre for East Asia Foundation have decided to highlight and
popularize the great vision of China, “The Belt and Road Initiative”, among
policy makers and stakeholders as well as general populace of Bangladesh.

The speakers at the launching programme made remarks that Bangladesh is a
proud member of this majestic initiative and it can play a significant role
for the advancement of the epic project.

There have been large-scale investments in Bangladesh on infrastructure
development that were catalyzed by the historic visit of the Chinese
President Xi Jinping to Bangladesh in October, 2016, where he committed to
provide $40billion as investment and aids for Bangladesh.

The programme was also attended by many diplomats, academies, former
military and civil bureaucrats, ambassadors and members from different print
and electronic media.

Blazes, tear gas mark yellow vest rally in Paris

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PARIS (AP) — The Latest on the yellow vest protests in France (all times local): 3 p.m. A car, motorbikes and multiple barricades are ablaze in eastern Paris as a yellow vest protest has degenerated into scattered violence.


April 20, 2019

Paris firefighters are battling multiple small but impressive fires Saturday around the Place de la Republique. The smell of tear gas mixed with black smoke choking the air. Associated Press reporters saw a car and motorbikes on fire and multiple volleys of tear gas and dispersion grenades, as riot police worked to control the crowd. Several protesters also set flares.

French television showed images of volunteer medics treating a yellow-vested protester lying on the ground. While that neighborhood was tense, overall Saturday's yellow vest actions have been peaceful. Many protesters are frustrated that the international effort to help fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral has eclipsed the five-month-old yellow vest movement against wealth inequality.

2 p.m.

Protesters have set small fires and police have fired tear gas on the sidelines of yellow vest demonstrations in the French capital.

The Paris police headquarters said authorities detained 126 people by early afternoon and carried out spot checks of more than 11,000 people trying to enter the capital for Saturday's protests.

Police fired tear gas amid tensions at a march of several thousand people from France's Finance Ministry toward the Place de la Republique plaza in eastern Paris. Barricades were set ablaze at one spot, and branches set on fire elsewhere. Firefighters quickly responded to extinguish the flames.

The march was one of several actions around Paris and other French cities Saturday.

The protesters are angry at high taxes and economic injustice, and are largely peaceful. Some are also frustrated that the effort to save fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral is eclipsing the yellow vest movement's demands.

10:15 a.m.

French yellow vest protesters are marching anew to remind the government that rebuilding the fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral isn't the only problem the nation needs to solve.

Multiple protest events are planned around Paris and other cities Saturday for the 23rd weekend of the yellow vest movement against wealth inequality and President Emmanuel Macron's leadership.

One group wants to march on the presidential palace despite bigger-than-usual police presence. Another is aimed at showing yellow vest mourning over the Notre Dame blaze while also keeping up pressure on Macron.

Many protesters were deeply saddened by the fire at a national monument. But many are angry at the $1 billion in Notre Dame donations that poured in from tycoons while their own demands remain largely unmet and they struggle to make ends meet.

3 candidates vie for North Macedonia presidency

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SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — Three candidates are vying for the presidency in North Macedonia, where voters go to the polls on Sunday for the first round of elections. The post is largely ceremonial, but the election is seen as a key test of the government following deep polarization after the country changed its name to end a decades-old dispute with neighboring Greece over use of the term "Macedonia."



April 20, 2019

Here is a look at the three candidates, all of whom are university professors:

Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, 63 — The first woman to run for president since the country declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. Known for her love of yoga and rock-and-roll, Siljanovska, a constitutional law professor, first emerged as a non-partisan candidate promoted by her university. Her nomination is now supported by the main conservative opposition VMRO-DPMNE party.

Siljanovska campaigned under the slogan "Justice for Macedonia, fatherland calls." She has been a vocal opponent of the deal with Greece that changed the country's name to North Macedonia in return for Athens dropping its objections to the country joining NATO.

Siljanovska served as minister without portfolio in 1992-1994 in the first government after independence and participated in writing the country's first constitution.

Stevo Pendarovski, 56 — A former national security adviser for two previous presidents and until recently national coordinator for NATO, this is Pendarovski's second bid for the presidency after being defeated by outgoing President Gjorge Ivanov in 2014.

Pendarovski is running as the joint candidate for both the governing social democrats and the junior governing coalition partner, the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration party. His candidacy is also supported by 29 smaller political parties.

He is a strong defender of the name deal with Greece, arguing that it paved the way for the country to nearly finalize its NATO accession and led to hopes EU membership talks will begin in June.

His slogan "Forward Together" reflects his main campaign platform of unity, and he has made NATO and EU membership a key strategic goal, saying they will bring more foreign investment, will create jobs and higher wages and prevent young people leaving the country.

Blerim Reka, 58 — A soft-spoken international law professor who headed the country's diplomatic mission to the EU from 2006-2010, the ethnic Albanian candidate was nominated by two small ethnic Albanian opposition parties, BESA and the Alliance of Albanians.

Reka chose "Reka for the Republic" as his campaign slogan, saying the concept of a "republic for all" is the most suitable for a multiethnic state. He has campaigned mainly in the larger ethnic Albanian communities. He advocates Northern Macedonia strengthen its multiethnic and multicultural characteristics, but insists the country must reform its "corrupt" administration and establish rule of law and an independent judiciary.

Reka also supports the name deal with Greece, saying the agreement ended a long-standing dispute and opened the doors for the country to join NATO and the EU.

No ethnic Albanian presidential candidate has ever made it to the second round of elections in the past. But the ethnic minority's votes, which make up about a quarter of the country's 2.1 million people, have proved crucial to the election of the president in the runoffs.

Ukraine quiet ahead of presidential election

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KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A comedian who plays the role of Ukraine's president on television is set to take on the job for real, pushing out the man who currently holds the office, according to public opinion surveys ahead of Sunday's election.


April 20, 2019

Saturday was a so-called "day of quiet," on which electioneering is forbidden, a respite from a campaign of heated statements and unexpected moments. Dismayed by endemic corruption, a struggling economy and a five-year fight against Russia-backed insurgents in the country's east, Ukrainian voters appear poised to strongly rebuke incumbent Petro Poroshenko and replace him with Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Despite never having held political office, Zelenskiy could get more than twice as many votes as Poroshenko, polls suggest.

Since Zelenskiy and Poroshenko advanced to Sunday's runoff in the first round three weeks ago, the campaign has been marked by showy jockeying for dominance, including a dispute over holding a debate that left Poroshenko standing next to an empty lectern bearing his opponent's name and Zelenskiy's challenge for both of the candidates to undergo drug testing.

Zelenskiy has run his campaign mostly on social media and has eschewed media interviews; Poroshenko has called him a "virtual candidate." Poroshenko in turn was criticized for a video linked to his campaign that showed Zelenskiy being run over by a truck.

The two finally held an actual debate on Friday evening, just hours before campaigning was to end. They harshly criticized each other and engaged in the melodrama of both kneeling to ask forgiveness of those who lost relatives in the eastern fighting.

Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old comic actor, is best known for his TV portrayal of a schoolteacher who becomes Ukrainian president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral. The name of the show, "Servant of the People," became the name of his party when he announced his candidacy in January.

Like his TV character, the real-life Zelenskiy has focused his campaign strongly on corruption. Although criticized as having a vague platform, Zelenskiy has made specific proposals, including removing immunity for the president, parliament members and judges, and a lifetime ban on holding public office for anyone convicted of corruption. He also calls for a tax amnesty under which someone holding hidden assets would declare them, be taxed at 5% and face no other measures.

He supports Ukraine's eventual membership in NATO, but only if the country were to approve this in a referendum. Zelenskiy has proposed that direct talks with Russia are necessary to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where fighting with Russia-backed separatist rebels has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014. The Kremlin denies involvement there and says it is an internal matter. Zelenskiy says Russia-annexed Crimea must be returned to Ukraine and compensation paid.

Zelenskiy's image has been shadowed by his admission that he had commercial interests in Russia through a holding company, and by persistent speculation about links with oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi, who owns the television station that airs "Servant of the People."

A Ukrainian court this week ruled that the nationalization of a bank once owned by Kolomoyskyi was illegal, leading to new concern about Zelenskiy's possible ties to him. Poroshenko, who entered politics after establishing a lucrative candy-making company, came to power with a pragmatic image in 2014 after mass protests drove the previous, Russia-friendly president to leave the country.

Five years later, critics denounce him for having done little to combat Ukraine's endemic corruption. The war with Russia-backed separatists in the east grinds on with no clear strategy for ending it. And while his economic reforms may have pleased international lenders, they've left millions of Ukrainians wondering if they can find the money to pay their utility bills.

After his weak performance in the election's first round, in which Zelenskiy got nearly twice as many votes, Poroshenko said he had taken voters' criticism to heart. He has since made some strong moves, including the long-awaited creation of an anti-corruption court. He also ordered the dismissal of the governor of the corruption-plagued Odessa region, and fired the deputy head of foreign intelligence who reportedly has vast real estate holdings in Russia.

Poroshenko, 53, has positioned himself as a leader who will stand up to Russia. He has scored some significant goals for Ukraine's national identity and its desire to move out of Russia's influence. He signed an association agreement with the European Union — which predecessor Viktor Yanukovych turned away from, setting off the 2014 protests. Ukrainians now can travel visa-free to the European Union, a significant perk. He has also pushed relentlessly for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be recognized as self-standing rather than just a branch of the Russian church.

Egypt votes on referendum extending el-Sissi's rule to 2030

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CAIRO (AP) — Egyptians voted Saturday on constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030 and broaden the military's role — changes blasted by critics as another major step toward authoritarian rule.



April 20, 2019

The referendum came amid an unprecedented crackdown on dissent in recent years. El-Sissi's government has arrested thousands of people, most of them Islamists but also prominent secular activists, and rolled back freedoms won in a 2011 pro-democracy uprising.

Polls opened at 9 a.m. (0700 GMT). Voting will stretch over a period of three days to allow maximum turnout. Outside a polling center near the Giza Pyramids, around two dozen people, mostly elderly women, lined up waiting to cast their votes. Heavy police and army security was reported at polling stations throughout the capital city.

Haja Khadija, a 63-year-old housewife, said she came for the "security and stability" of the country. "We love el-Sissi. He did lots of things. He raised our pensions." Casting his ballot on Saturday, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly urged voters to turn out in high numbers. He said that voting will reflect "the atmosphere of stability and democracy that we are witnessing now."

State-run TV said el-Sissi voted in Cairo's Heliopolis district, near the presidential palace. El-Sissi, who has repeatedly said he won't stay in office any longer than the people want him to, hasn't commented on the amendments.

Opposition voices have largely been shut out amid the rush to hold the referendum. Pro-government media have led a campaign for weeks calling a "Yes" vote a patriotic duty. Since early April, the Egyptian capital has been awash with large posters and banners encouraging people to vote in favor of the changes. Most of the posters were apparently funded by pro-government parties, businessmen and lawmakers.

Parliament, packed with el-Sissi supporters, overwhelmingly approved the amendments on Tuesday, with only 22 no votes and one abstention from 554 lawmakers in attendance. The national electoral commission announced the following day that voting would begin on Saturday.

The proposed changes are seen by critics as another step toward authoritarianism. The referendum comes eight years after a pro-democracy uprising ended autocrat Hosni Mubarak's three-decade rule, and nearly six years after el-Sissi led a popular military overthrow of the country's first freely elected but divisive Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi.

Two international advocacy groups — Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists — on Saturday urged the Egyptian government to withdraw the amendments. "Egypt's autocracy is shifting into overdrive to re-establish the 'President-for-Life' model, beloved by dictators in the region and despised by their citizens," said Michael Page, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "But it's a model that recent experience in Egypt and neighboring countries has demonstrated is not built to last."

The Civil Democratic Movement, a coalition of liberal and left-leaning parties, urged people to participate in the referendum by voting "No." The coalition said it used social media to spread its message, noting that it was banned from hanging banners in the streets to call on voters to reject the amendments.

The amendments extend a president's term in office from four to six years and allow for a maximum of two terms. But they also include an article specific to el-Sissi that extends his current second four-year term to six years and allows him to run for another six-year term in 2024 — potentially extending his rule until 2030.

Novelist Omar Knawy voted "No" in the referendum. He said he is opposes most of the changes, especially those that would enable el-Sissi to stay in power beyond his current second four-year term. He also opposes articles that declare the military the "guardian and protector" of the Egyptian state, democracy and the constitution.

"The article related to the military gives it the right to interfere (in politics) at any time, and I am against such article," he told The Associated Press. El-Sissi was elected president in 2014, and re-elected last year after all potentially serious challengers were either jailed or pressured to exit the race.

The amendments also allow the president to appoint top judges and bypass judiciary oversight in vetting draft legislation, while also granting military courts wider jurisdiction in trying civilians. In the last three years, over 15,000 civilians, including children, have been referred to military prosecution in Egypt, according to Human Rights Watch.

The amendments also introduce one or more vice presidents, revive the senate and enshrine a 25% quota for women in parliament's lower, legislative chamber. All three had been dropped from Egypt's constitution after the 2011 revolution.