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21 April 2019 
 

A comedian who plays the president on television has turned art into a real life in a landslide election against the incumbent in conflict-torn Ukraine, according to exit polls.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, 41, had 73 per cent of the vote against 26 per cent for Petro Poroshenko, 53, who was elected after protests toppled a pro-Russian leader in 2014.
The story is remarkably similar to the hit show Servant of the People, where a teacher played by Mr Zelenskiy is elected president on the strength of a viral video rant.
A lack of reform since the 2014 revolution has fuelled support for the outsider promising to fight corruption and leave after one term. Mr Zelenskiy easily won the first round of voting albeit without a majority.
But his superficial campaign of comedy shows and social media videos has offered little insight on how the political neophyte will achieve this with a parliament mostly allegiant to Mr Poroshenko.
“Thank you to all Ukrainians, wherever you are located. I promise I will never let you down,” Mr Zelenskiy told journalists and supporters after the vote. 
“To all citizens of post-Soviet countries: Look at us. Everything is possible,” he added.
Mr Poroshenko congratulated his opponent on victory shortly after the polls closed, saying the election had been fair and shown Ukraine to be an “independent European country”.

The candidate previously betrayed his inexperience when he posed with his filled-in ballot on Sunday, a violation of election laws that earned him a police citation.
Now the poorest country in Europe, Ukraine and its 42 million people stand at the forefront of tensions between Russia and the West, fighting a low-level conflict with Moscow-backed separatists that continues to claim lives.
Mr Zelenskiy has said he would meet Vladimir Putin and involve the UK and United States in new talks to solve the conflict, but also promised not to lift the economic blockade on the separatist-held areas.
An advisor to the Kremlin told The Telegraph that a plan reported last week to give Russian passports to residents of these breakaway republics was meant as a test for the incoming Ukrainian leader.
Before casting his ballot, Mr Poroshenko went to a service at St Michael's monastery in Kiev, highlighting his success in obtaining recognition for a new Ukrainian Orthodox church independent of Russia.

Ukraine is now the only country besides Israel with a Jewish president and prime minister, as both Mr Zelenskiy and Volodymyr Groysman have Jewish heritage.
Sunday's vote ended a dirty campaign that culminated in a venomous debate at Kiev's 70,000-seat Olympic stadium on Friday evening. Mr Poroshenko has been accused of “black PR” against his opponent following a video showing Mr Zelenskiy being hit by a lorry.

A format where the candidates asked questions of each other quickly devolved into recriminations touching on the scandals in which both have been embroiled.
Returning to central motifs of his campaign, Mr Poroshenko said Mr Zelenskiy was unprepared to stand up to Vladimir Putin and suggested he was a puppet of self-exiled oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, owner of the channel that broadcasts his shows.
Mr Zelenskiy pointed out that the president was the owner of a candy-making empire that until 2017 had a factory in Russia, accusing him of enriching his friends while in power. He repeatedly threatened to put Mr Poroshenko on trial.
The president dismissed Mr Zelenskiy's allegations as “rubbish”.
The spectre of Mr Kolomoisky will continue to loom over Mr Zelenskiy as president, however.
Just days before the vote, a court ruled that the oligarch's PrivatBank was illegally nationalised after a $5.5 billion hole was found in its accounts. Any move to hand the bank back is sure to be opposed by the international monetary fund, a vital creditor for Ukraine.
A Femen activist staged a topless protest outside a Kiev polling station on Sunday, warning that a Zelenskiy presidency end up being a “funny mistake”.
Mr Poroshenko said in his conciliatory remarks that he would not leave politics but rather continue to fight for reform.

He and former PM Yulia Tymoshenko may be planning “to take their revenge during the parliamentary elections” in October, analyst Volodymyr Fesenko told The Telegraph.
The prime minister's position could become even more important if lawmakers attempt long-discussed reforms to strip some powers from the president.
Russia's troll factory was also accused of buying Ukrainians' Facebook accounts to spread disinformation before the vote.
Last week, the authorities arrested seven men in what they said was a Russian plot to assassinate Ukrainian officials. One of the men injured himself when a car bomb he was setting in Kiev exploded in his face.

Source:New Now.

The security agency in Sudan has granted freedom to all political detainees, following the ouster of Omar al-Bashir, President of the country, from office.
Al-Bashir, who has been President of Sudan since mastering a coup d'etat in 1989, stepped down on Wednesday.
A brief statement by the National Security and Intelligence Service announced the freedom for political detainees but did not expressly indicate when the release would take place.
Nevertheless, this will be welcome news to tens of thousands of Sudanese who are celebrating al-Bashir's outster on the streets of Khartoum.
Washington Post, though, quoted Sudanese activists behind months-long protests against al-Bashir as saying hundreds who were detained over the demonstrations have already been freed.
The activists spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Two senior Sudanese officials said the Army forced al-Bashir to step down but the circumstances of the apparent ouster remain unclear.

Source:News Now.

Sudan’s military ousted President Omar al-Bashir on Thursday, the defense minister announced, ending a 30-year authoritarian rule in the face of mass street protests that have swept the country.

Defense Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf said that Mr. al-Bashir had been taken into custody and that the government had been dissolved, and there would be a two-year transition period.

Mr. al-Bashir, 75, who has long been regarded as a pariah in the West and is wanted by the International Criminal Court on genocide charges in connection with atrocities in Darfur, has ruled Sudan longer than any leader since the country gained independence in 1956.

The state news report, accompanied by patriotic music, was made as protesters demanding Mr. al-Bashir’s ouster gathered outside the military’s headquarters in Khartoum, the capital.

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The electoral body in a statement yesterday by its National Commissioner and Chairman Voter Education and Publicity, Mr. Festus Okoye, said the official notice for both elections would be issued on August 1, 2019, while political parties that intend to sponsor candidates are to hold their primaries for the nomination of such candidates from 2nd to 29th August 2019.

He said: “The commission at its meeting held today (yesterday) approved the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the Governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa States, which will hold in both states on Saturday 2nd November 2019. “Campaigns by Political Parties in public shall commence on 2nd August 2019 and end on 1st October 2019. “The parties sponsoring candidates are required to submit the list of their agents not later than 2nd October 2019.”

Okoye explained that the stated timelines are in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), stressing that all stakeholders are urged to take cognizance of and adhere strictly to them. He revealed that details of the timetable and schedule of activities for the election are on the commission’s website.

Meanwhile, the commission after its meeting yesterday approved a proposal to conduct an extensive review and debriefing on the 2019 general election in line with its existing practice.
The national commissioner said that this was intended to evaluate the commission’s performance of the key activities of the general election, with a view to addressing identified challenges and strengthening operational and institutional capacities to conduct free, fair, credible and peaceful elections.

He explained that the review would focus on the planning, organisation, conduct and coordination of the general elections, particularly on Logistics, Procurement and Deployment of personnel and materials; Continuous Voter Registration and Collection of permanent voter’s cards; Legal environment of the elections, particularly the legal challenges experienced over nomination of candidates and conduct of elections.

Okoye said the review would also focus on processes of party registration, party primaries and nomination of candidates; quality of ad-hoc staff; relationship between the commission and diverse stakeholders, including political parties, security agencies, civil society organizations, the media and development partners; and quality of inclusivity of the elections, particularly regarding persons with disability, IDPs and gender balance.

He noted that the two sets of activities are envisaged in the reviews as follows: Internal reviews involving National Commissioners, Resident Electoral Commissioners, Electoral Officers, Collation and Returning Officers, as well as other key staff of the commission; Review meetings with key stakeholders such as political parties, civil society organizations, security agencies, the media and development partners.

Okoye revealed that these reviews and debriefing would take place between May and June 2019.
He added that the commission has commenced work on a comprehensive report of the 2019 general election and has mandated its Electoral Institute to undertake detailed researches into various aspects of the elections. The national commissioner said it is the commission hopes that the outcomes of these reviews and studies would feed into further electoral reforms and its preparations for handling future elections.

Source:News Now.

*Trump Administration 🇺🇸 Nealy Doubles H-2B Guest Visa Program, Which Brings Many 🇲🇽 Mexican Workers*

As President Trump threatened to shut down the US-Mexico border in recent days, his Department of Homeland Security nearly doubled the number of temporary guest worker visas available this summer.

DHS and the Labor Department plan to grant an additional 30,000 H-2B visas this summer on top of the 33,000 H-2B visas they had planned to give out, the agencies confirmed.

The H-2B visa is for foreign workers to come to the United States and work for several months at a company such as a landscaper, amusement park or hotel. About 80% of these visas went to people from Mexico and Central America last year, government data show.

Trump says there is a national emergency at the southern border because too many people are trying to come to the United States. On Friday, he implored migrants to turn around and go home. We can’t take you anymore,” Trump said Friday while standing at the border in California. “Our country is full.”

But his administration is giving a different message to some short-term workers. With the additional visas, the Trump administration is on track to grant 96,000 H-2B visas this fiscal year, the most since 2007, when George W. Bush was president.