JOHANNESBURG: A South African court on Tuesday ruled that former president Jacob Zuma can stand in looming general elections, overturning a decision by electoral authorities to bar him over a contempt conviction.
In a surprise verdict, the electoral court ruled in favor of the 81-year-old who is fronting uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a new opposition party that has become a potential upsetter in the May 29 election.
“The decision of the Electoral Commission... is set aside,” the court wrote in a ruling seen by AFP.
It did not provide an explanation of how the verdict was reached.
South Africa’s general elections are expected to be the most competitive since the advent of democracy in 1994 and Zuma’s presence in the campaign could prove a key factor.
Banking on his popularity, MK is expected to cut into the vote share of the embattled ruling African National Congress (ANC) — the ex-president’s former political home.
This could precipitate the ANC toward seeing its vote share drop below 50 percent for the first time since 1994.
Short of a parliamentary majority, it would be forced to seek coalition partners to remain in power.
MK hailed the ruling as a “triumph” over what it said were ANC-led efforts to marginalize it.
“This victory extends beyond President Zuma and the MK Party as it symbolizes a victory for every South African who believes in fairness, democracy, and the inviolable right to elect leaders of their choice, free from undue interference,” it said.
“President Zuma will be on the ballot paper,” the ex-leader’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, said on social media, posting a photo of her smiling father.
The electoral commission said it had taken note of the decision but asked the reasons for it be made public.
“Naturally the commission is taking legal advice...and will chart a way forward based on such advice,” it said.
The body had excluded Zuma from the race, saying the constitution barred anyone convicted sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment.
Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in jail in June 2021 after refusing to testify to a panel probing financial corruption and cronyism during his presidency.
His lawyers argued the sentence did not disqualify him as it followed civil rather than criminal proceedings and it had been shortened by a remission.
Zuma was freed on medical parole just two months into his jail term.
“If the masses want me to be president, what’s going to stop them?” an upbeat Zuma told supporters, after Monday’s hearing. “Allow me to go and finish what I started.”
The ANC is struggling in the polls amid a weak economy and allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
Some opinion polls put MK at above 10 percent nationwide, a share that would make it the third or fourth political force behind the ANC and the liberal Democratic Alliance.
The party is projected to make a particularly strong showing in the battleground region of KwaZulu-Natal — Zuma’s home province.
It largely relies on the considerable political clout wielded by Zuma, who despite scandals and graft allegations is still popular, particularly among the country’s more than 10 million Zulus.
Tensions between the ANC and MK have run high in recent months.
The ANC has unsuccessfully tried to have the new party disqualified and has taken it to court to stop it from using the MK name, alleging intellectual property theft.
Last week a MK leader appeared in court accused of inciting violence for saying that massive riots would erupt if the MK was not allowed to run.
More than 350 people were killed in 2021 in protests, riots and looting sparked by the jailing of Zuma, who has long been bitter about the way he was forced out of office under a cloud of corruption allegations.
South Africans will be voting for a new parliament, which in turn will elect the president.
The electoral commission is expected to publish the final candidate list on Wednesday.
South Africa’s ex-president Zuma wins court bid to run in May election
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South Africa’s ex-president Zuma wins court bid to run in May election
- South Africa’s general elections are expected to be the most competitive since the advent of democracy in 1994 and Zuma’s presence in the campaign could prove a key factor
US citizens in Qatar told to ‘shelter in place’ as Iran mulls reprisals
- Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said warnings by foreign embassies ‘do not necessarily reflect the existence of specific or credible threats’
DOHA: The United States embassy in Qatar advised Americans there to “shelter in place” Monday, with other Western embassies echoing the warning after Tehran threatened to retaliate for US strikes on its nuclear sites.
Qatar, which lies 190 kilometers (120 miles) south of Iran across the Gulf, is home to the US’s largest military base in the region, Al-Udeid.
“Out of an abundance of caution we recommend American citizens shelter in place until further notice,” the US embassy said on its website.
Britain and Canada later cited the US security alert in their own recommendations to nationals.
Iran’s armed forces threatened on Monday to inflict “serious, unpredictable consequences” on the US after its heavy strikes on three nuclear sites.
In Bahrain, a close neighbor of Qatar that hosts the US Fifth Fleet, the American embassy “temporarily shifted a portion of its employees to local telework,” it said on X.
Bahraini authorities had already told most government employees to work from home until further notice, citing “regional circumstances.”
Following the US warning in Doha, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said warnings by foreign embassies “do not necessarily reflect the existence of specific or credible threats.”
“We would like to reassure the public that the security situation in the state remains stable,” he wrote on X. “Qatar continues to exert intensive diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region.”
On Sunday, the US State Department advised Americans worldwide to “exercise increased caution” because of the war between Israel and Iran.
After Israel’s first strikes on Iran on June 13, the US embassy in Qatar had told its staff and other Americans to “exercise increased caution” and “limit non-essential travel to Al Udeid Air Base.”
Bangladesh probe into Hasina-era abuses warns ‘impunity’ remains
- The Commission of Inquiry into Enforced Disappearances is probing abuses during the rule of Hasina, whose government was accused of widespread human rights abuses
DHAKA: A Bangladesh government-appointed commission investigating hundreds of disappearances by the security forces under ousted premier Sheikh Hasina on Monday warned that the same “culture of impunity” continues.
The Commission of Inquiry into Enforced Disappearances is probing abuses during the rule of Hasina, whose government was accused of widespread human rights abuses.
That includes the extrajudicial killing of hundreds of political opponents and the unlawful abduction and disappearance of hundreds more.
The commission was established by interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, 84, who is facing intense political pressure as parties jostle for power ahead of elections expected early next year.
Bangladesh has a long history of military coups and the army retains a powerful role.
“Enforced disappearances in Bangladesh were not isolated acts of wrongdoing, but the result of a politicized institutional machinery that condoned, normalized, and often rewarded such crimes,” the commission said, in a section of a report released by the interim government on Monday.
“Alarmingly, this culture of impunity continues even after the regime change on August 5, 2024.”
The commission has verified more than 250 cases of enforced disappearances spanning the 15 years that Hasina’s Awami League was in power.
Commission chief Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury said earlier this month that responsibility lay with individual officers, who were “involved in conducting enforced disappearances,” but not the armed forces as an institution.
Earlier this month, a joint statement by rights groups — including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch — called on the security forces to “fully cooperate with the commission by guaranteeing unfettered and ongoing access to all detention centers... and providing free access to records regarding those seized or detained.”
Hasina,77, remains in self-imposed exile in India, where she fled after she was ousted last year.
She has defied orders to return to Dhaka to face charges amounting to crimes against humanity. Her trial in absentia continues.
Greenpeace joins protests against gala Bezos wedding in Venice
- Some locals see the celebration as the latest sign of the brash commodification of a beautiful but fragile city that has long been overrun with tourism while steadily depopulating
VENICE: Global environmental lobby Greenpeace added its voice on Monday to protests against this week’s celebrity wedding in Venice between American tech billionaire Jeff Bezos and journalist Laura Sanchez.
The event, expected to attract some 200 guests including US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as scores of stars from film, fashion and business, has been dubbed “the wedding of the century.”
But some locals see the celebration as the latest sign of the brash commodification of a beautiful but fragile city that has long been overrun with tourism while steadily depopulating.
Activists from Greenpeace Italy and UK group “Everyone hates Elon” (Musk) unfolded a giant banner in central St. Mark’s Square with a picture of Bezos laughing and a sign reading: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax.”
Local police arrived to talk to activists and check their identification documents, before they rolled up their banner.
“The problem is not the wedding, the problem is the system. We think that one big billionaire can’t rent a city for his pleasure,” Simona Abbate, one of the protesters, told Reuters.
Mayor Luigi Brugnaro and regional governor Luca Zaia have defended the wedding, arguing that it will bring an economic windfall to local businesses, including the motor boats and gondolas that operate its myriad canals.
Zaia said the celebrations were expected to cost 20-30 million euros ($23-$34 million).
Bezos will also make sizable charity donations, including a million euros for Corila, an academic consortium that studies Venice’s lagoon ecosystem, Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper and the ANSA news agency reported on Sunday.
Earlier this month, anti-Bezos banners were hung from St. Mark’s bell tower and from the famed Rialto bridge, while locals threatened peaceful blockades against the event, saying Venice needed public services and housing, not VIPs and over-tourism.
The exact dates and locations of the glitzy nuptials are being kept confidential, but celebrations are expected to play out over three days, most likely around June 26-28.
Beijing issues weather warning for hottest days of year
- An orange heat warning — the second-highest in a three-tier system — was issued on Monday as officials encouraged people to limit outdoor activity and drink more fluids to avoid heatstroke
BEIJING: Beijing residents sought shade and cooled off in canals on Monday as authorities issued the second-highest heat warning for the Chinese capital on one of its hottest days of the year so far.
China has endured a string of extreme summers in recent years, with heatwaves baking northern regions even as parts of the south have seen catastrophic rain and flooding.
Authorities in the city of 22 million people urged the public to take precautions, with temperatures expected to peak at around 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday.
“It’s been really hot lately, especially in the past few days,” intern Li Weijun told AFP on Monday afternoon.
The 22-year-old said he had stopped wearing formal clothes to work and delayed his daily exercise until after 10:00 p.m. to stay safe.
“I think it’s related to climate change, and maybe also to the damage done to nature,” he said.
An orange heat warning — the second-highest in a three-tier system — was issued on Monday as officials encouraged people to limit outdoor activity and drink more fluids to avoid heatstroke.
Construction workers should “shorten the amount of time consecutively spent at labor,” while elderly, sick or weakened individuals ought to “avoid excessive exertion,” according to the guidelines.
Zhang Chen, 28, said she carried an umbrella outdoors to prevent sunburn.
“I used to ride a bike, but once it gets this hot, I basically stop doing that,” the IT worker told AFP.
Despite the beating sun, legions of delivery drivers zipped through downtown areas at noon to bring sustenance to Beijing’s office workers.
A few lazed on the backs of their scooters in a shady spot, while elsewhere, people cooled off with ice creams or by taking a dip in the city’s canals.
Beijing is still a few degrees short of breaking its record for the hottest-ever June day, set at 41.1C in 2023.
Human greenhouse gas emissions are driving climate change that causes longer, more frequent and more intense heatwaves.
China is the world’s largest producer of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas, though it has pledged to bring its emissions to a peak by the end of this decade and to net zero by 2060.
The country has also emerged as a global leader in renewable energy in recent years as it seeks to pivot its massive economy away from highly polluting coal consumption.
In a shady spot near an office building, 42-year-old Lucy Lu spent her lunch break with friends, kicking a shuttlecock through the air — a traditional Chinese game known as “jianzi.”
“I was born and raised in Beijing, and summer here has always been like this,” she said.
“But I do think when the temperature goes over 40C, there should be some time off or work-from-home options to reduce the risk of heatstroke.”
UK police ban Palestine Action protest outside parliament
- The pro-Palestinian organization is among groups that have regularly targeted defense firms and other companies in Britain linked to Israel since the start of the conflict in Gaza
LONDON: British police have banned campaign group Palestine Action from protesting outside parliament on Monday, a rare move that comes after two of its members broke into a military base last week and as the government considers banning the organization.
The group said in response that it had changed the location of its protest on Monday to Trafalgar Square, which lies just outside the police exclusion zone.
The pro-Palestinian organization is among groups that have regularly targeted defense firms and other companies in Britain linked to Israel since the start of the conflict in Gaza.
British media have reported that the government is considering proscribing, or effectively banning, Palestine Action, as a terrorist organization, putting it on a par with Al-Qaeda or Daesh.
London’s Metropolitan Police said late on Sunday that it would impose an exclusion zone for a protest planned by Palestine Action outside the Houses of Parliament — a popular location for protests in support of a range of causes.
“The right to protest is essential and we will always defend it, but actions in support of such a group go beyond what most would see as legitimate protest,” Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said.
“We have laid out to Government the operational basis on which to consider proscribing this group.”
Palestine Action’s members are alleged to have caused millions of pounds of criminal damage, assaulted a police officer with a sledgehammer and, in the incident last week, damaged two military aircraft, Rowley added.
