COMELEC all set for May 12 mid-term elections
Towns of Bangued and Pilar in the province of Abra are placed under the red category or serious threat to security during the election period.
Zamboanga Sibugay has undergone final testing and all automated counting machines in the town of Alicia have been sealed to ensure May 12 elections will proceed.
An impeachment complaint against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been filed. The Duterte Youth Partylist according to reports will endorse the complaint.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines has confirmed that three Chinese vessels have made aggressive and dangerous moves near Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal. SBS Filipino
09/05/2025 08:02 📢 Where to Catch SBS Filipino 📲 Catch up episodes and stories – Visit or stream on , , , and
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ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
Starbucks South Korea bans use of presidential candidate names for orders
South Korean Starbucks outlets have banned customers from using the names of the country's presidential candidates — or the disgraced ex-president — for their orders. Voters will head to the polls on June 3 following the impeachment of former president Yoon Suk Yeol for briefly declaring martial law in December. Starbucks in South Korea runs a "Call My Name" service, which allows customers to select a nickname which they input via the Starbucks app for baristas to announce when orders are complete. Customers will not be able to use the names of all seven presidential candidates, including frontrunner Lee Jae-myung from the opposition Democratic Party, and main conservative rival Kim Moon-soo, until after the vote, the company said. The feature is a "unique Starbucks service designed to build a sense of connection between store staff and customers", the company said in a statement. The company is also banning customers from using the name of Mr Yoon, who was stripped of office and is facing an ongoing criminal trial on insurrection grounds. Starbucks said it had taken the action based on past experience of customers misusing the Call My Name feature during previous elections. The BBC reported customers had been entering phrases for their drink orders such as "arrest Yoon Suk Yeol" or "Lee Jae-myung is a spy" as their nicknames. There are more than 2,000 Starbucks outlets in South Korea. Only the United States and China are home to more Starbucks venues, according to Korean news agency Yonhap. South Korea's upcoming election comes as experts flag growing concerns over increasing political polarisation and division. Naver, which is the country's most popular search engine, said it would closely monitor comments and notify news outlets of suspicious activity. "We decided to run these services to provide more accurate and fairer information during the election campaign," the company said, as quoted by the Korea Times. Mr Yoon's declaration of martial law — which he claimed was necessary to break legislative gridlock and "root out" pro-North Korea "anti-state" forces — garnered support from extreme religious figures and right-wing YouTubers. Pro-Yoon rallies turned violent in January when extremist supporters angered by the court's approval of his formal arrest warrant stormed a Seoul courthouse. Two of them were handed jail terms this month. Mr Yoon's conservative People Power Party has not yet expelled him, and its official candidate, Kim Moon-soo, has drawn public attention as the only cabinet member who refused to bow in apology for failing to prevent Mr Yoon's attempted suspension of civilian rule. The Democratic Party's Lee is currently facing multiple criminal trials, and since no South Korean president has ever taken office while under indictment, this has fuelled widespread legal and political uncertainty. ABC/AFP
ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
Guy Barnett will hand down his first state budget amid challenging times for his party
It's not the ideal setting for Treasurer Guy Barnett's first state budget. After watching the Liberals lose all their Tasmanian Lower House seats at this month's federal election, new EMRS polling released on Monday showed the state Liberal Party slumping below Labor in the polls for the first time since 2009. The government's woes were further compounded on Saturday night, with a poor showing at the Legislative Council elections. The Liberals look set to lose one of their four Upper House seats, with election experts forecasting independent Casey Hiscutt is on track to defeat Liberal Stephen Parry in Montgomery and claim the seat his mother Leonie held for the Liberals since 2013. The Liberals also fell flat in Nelson, where candidate Marcus Vermey has failed to win a single booth off independent Meg Webb, including in the traditional Liberal heartland of Sandy Bay. Ms Webb has so far attracted a whopping 52 per cent of the primary vote, with Mr Vermey well back on 34.1 per cent. Political analyst Kevin Bonham says the result shows the issues with the party's brand aren't confined to the federal election, like frontbencher Felix Ellis tried to suggest this week. "There just seems to be no appetite for voters to elect more government members to the Legislative Council," he said. "Voters want the government to be scrutinised." But Dr Bonham says there's no shame in the Liberals, represented by former senator Stephen Parry, losing the seat of Montgomery. Mr Hiscutt leads Mr Parry by 2.47 per cent on primary votes, with Dr Bonham projecting him to extend that lead when preferences are counted on Thursday. "They [the Liberals] won that seat in 2013 and that was a time when the Liberal brand was soaring high and there was massive resentment to the Labor-Green coalition government in that area of the state. "So it was a smart move for Leonie Hiscutt to run as a Liberal even though previous Hiscutts had been independents. "But at the moment it was not a smart move — if Casey Hiscutt had run as Liberal, someone would have come out and out flanked him as an independent, so he's done the clever thing here." Casey Hiscutt's great uncles Desmond and Hugh Hiscutt were previously members of the Legislative Council in the 1980s and 1990s. Whatever the reason, the Liberals' likely defeat in Montgomery makes things even tougher for the government. The six major party MLCs are outnumbered by eight independents and Green Cassy O'Connor. The Liberals, with just three MLCs — ministers Nick Duigan, Kerry Vincent and Jo Palmer — need the support of five other MLCs to pass legislation. That means either five crossbenchers, or Labor and three independents. It makes it harder for a government already frustrated by the Upper House not passing some of its legislation, like its push to allow certain development applications to bypass local councils. The government will need to display some great negotiation skills to get controversial plans, like its special legislation allowing the Macquarie Point stadium to be built, through the Upper House. Getting three independents to join the Labor Party in supporting the stadium won't be an easy task. The government already had its hands full getting two of Tania Rattray, Bec Thomas, Dean Harriss and Ruth Forrest to support the legislation. Now it'll also have to woo Mr Hiscutt, who says he supports the stadium but wants to scrutinise the legislation before guaranteeing he'll vote for it. The recent blows for the Liberal Party make Mr Barnett's first budget even more important. It needs some good PR to get the public back onside. But that's not an easy task when the state is on track to reach almost $10 billion of debt by 2027-28, and doesn't yet have a concrete date to return to surplus. None of that makes it easy to deliver the kind of big funding injections that put smiles on the faces of Tasmanians. At a press conference on Sunday announcing another year of record health expenditure, Mr Barnett said the budget would contain a "very clear pathway to surplus", but refused to answer whether the document would forecast one being achieved in the next four years. And, crucially, he refused to rule out making some calls that will stir up public opposition, like accelerating public sector spending cuts, or unveiling plans to sell state-owned companies. Here's a snippet from the press conference: Journalist: When will we see [economist] Saul Eslake's report into government business enterprises? Mr Barnett: I'll have more to say about that later this week Journalist: So is that your budget day surprise, you're selling assets? Mr Barnett: Let's be very clear in terms of the budget. We're very focused on building a better Tasmania now and for the future, investing in the things that matter for Tasmanians like health; today is an excellent example of that, we've got record funding in health. I'm very excited and looking forward to budget day and I'll have more to say on Thursday. Journalist : So how many assets are you going to sell? Mr Barnett: I'm looking forward to budget day on Thursday. The press conference seemed to point to a budget that could contain some tough love, right at a time when the government needs an easy sell the most. No pressure, Mr Barnett. And it all comes at a time when the government's task of getting the public back onside is set to get even tougher, with its draft stadium legislation set to go out for public consultation in the next week. After EMRS polling showed the Liberals losing the most support in the state's north and north-west, being seen to be ramming through a project that polling says is deeply unpopular there will be pretty tough to sell to the public. And that could make the task of convincing Tasmanians to elect them to a fifth straight term in office at the 2028 state election that little bit tougher than it's already looking.
The Age
2 days ago
- The Age
'Australia news LIVE: Ley mulls Coalition front bench overhaul; Bradfield in the balance as amid informal vote surge; 3500 make insurance claims after wild weather
Latest posts Latest posts 6.58am Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds of prisoners By Christopher Harris Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds more prisoners on Sunday, the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the more than three years of war. Hours earlier, the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions came under a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens. Ukrainian officials described it as the largest aerial assault since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia's Defense Ministry said each side exchanged 303 soldiers, following the release of 307 combatants and civilians each on Saturday, and 390 on Friday — the biggest total swap of the war. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Sunday's exchange, saying on X that '303 Ukrainian defenders are home.' He noted that the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the 'Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.' Nataliya Borovyk, the sister of released Ukrainian soldier Ihor Ulesov, was overwhelmed when she learned of her brother's return. 'My uncle had to calm me down and put me in a taxi so I could get here,' she told The Associated Press. 'A moment like that stays with you forever.' Borovyk said the family had been waiting anxiously for news, and that she had hoped her brother might be released in the first part of the exchange on Friday. 'We were worried about all the guys. He wasn't there on Friday, but I was here — I at least greeted them, I stood there until the very end and waited, (hoping) maybe he would appear after all.' In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month — the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks — Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each. The exchange has been the only tangible outcome from the talks. AP.
