BELGRADE (AFP) – Serbians headed to the polls on Sunday in elections that will likely see populist President Aleksandar Vucic extend his rule in the Balkan country. The country of around seven million will elect the president, deputies for the 250-seat parliament and cast votes in several municipal contests. The latest opinion polls say Vucic’s center-right Serbian Progressive Party should maintain its control over the parliament, while the president is in pole position for a second term. The conflict in Ukraine has cast a long shadow over a contest that observers had earlier predicted would focus on environmental issues, corruption and rights. Vucic has deftly used the return of war in Europe along with the coronavirus pandemic to his advantage, promising voters continued stability amid uncertain headwinds. “These crises have shaken much stronger economies than ours, but we are completely stable. We are successfully facing the challenges,” the president wrote recently in a widely published op-ed, vowing to raise wages and pensions if elected again. Only a few months ago, the opposition seemed to have momentum.

 

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WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – U.S. President Joe Biden, nicknamed “Sleepy Joe”, has seemingly dozed off once again, this time standing while attending a formal military ceremony for the Navy in Delaware. Biden, who has repeatedly been caught on camera with his eyes closed for moments on various occasions, is recognized by many Americans and others around the world as “Sleepy Joe”. On Saturday, the U.S. president and First Lady Jill Biden were at a ceremony to celebrate the commissioning of the nuclear-powered USS Delaware at the Port of Wilmington when the president was caught on camera once more seemingly sleeping for a couple of seconds. Biden has a long history of snoozing at formal sessions, events and ceremonies. The president has been looking increasingly sleepy, unenergetic and old, media reported. Prior to this, Biden became a social media trend after he seemingly dozed off at an international conference in Scotland. In November, the US president appeared to doze off while listening to a South African speaker emphasizing the importance of fighting global warming at the United Nations COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

 

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BUDAPEST (AFP) – Hungarians flocked to polling stations on Sunday as voters in the Central European country faced a choice: take a chance on a Western-looking coalition of opposition parties, or grant nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban a fourth consecutive term after a campaign dominated by the conflict in Ukraine. Hungary’s six main opposition parties are for the first time fielding a joint list, determined to roll back the “illiberal” revolution Orban’s Fidesz party has pursued during 12 consecutive years in office. Recent polls suggest a tight race but give the right-wing Fidesz a slight lead. Analysts predicted high turnout, and around 40 percent of Hungary’s nearly 7.7 million eligible voters had cast a ballot by 1 pm local time, according to the National Election Office. Orban’s second tenure as prime minister – he also held the position from 1998 to 2002 – has involved repeated confrontations with EU institutions, including over the neutering of the press and judiciary.

 

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CAIRO (AP) – More than 90 people in an overcrowded boat drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, a prominent humanitarian group said, in the latest tragedy involving migrants departing from North Africa to seek a better life in Europe. Doctors Without Borders said late Saturday the migrants were on a vessel that left Libya last week. It was unclear exactly when the boat ran into trouble, said Juan Matias Gil, the group’s head of mission. The group, also known by its French acronym MSF, said an oil tanker rescued four migrants early Saturday in international waters. The survivors reported that they were on the boat along with about 100 other migrants, it said. MSF said the tanker did not respond to its calls not to return the migrants to Libya, where “they will almost certainly face detention, abuse and ill-treatment.” The group urged Italy and Malta to “assign a place of safety for the survivors before it is too late.” It also called for The European Union border protection agency Frontex and other EU agencies to reveal the details of the incident. Migrants regularly attempt to cross the Mediterranean from the North African nation in a desperate attempt to reach European shores. The country has emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty. 

 

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RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Heavy rains caused mudslides that killed at least 14 people in southern coastal cities and the Baixada Fluminense area of Rio de Janeiro state, according to state and local authorities. Rescuers answered 850 calls in the last 24 hours and were able to bring 144 people to safety in the affected regions, state authorities said. Rio de Janeiro has been hit by inclement weather over the past few weeks. Landslides and flooding in February killed some 240 people in the Petropolis area, in the hills above Rio de Janeiro, authorities said on March 23. “We have more than 70 homeless families. We are providing shelters and renting hostels for these people,” Luciano Vidal, the mayor of Paraty, told Reuters. He said mudslides blocked streets and isolated parts of the city, and entire neighborhoods were without electricity in the colonial coastal town that is a tourist attraction. In one day, Paraty received 322 millimeter (12.68 inches) of rain, the rainfall average for six months. At least seven people died there, Vidal said. The civil defense statement only confirmed five deaths in Paraty.

 

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BERLIN (AP) – Negotiations between scientists and governments over a key United Nations climate report were going down to the wire Sunday, as officials from major emerging economies insisted that it should recognize their right to development. The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a UN-backed science body, is meant to show the paths by which the world can stay within the temperature limits agreed in the 2015 Paris accord. The agreement aims to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) this century. But with temperatures already more than 1.1C higher than the pre-industrial baseline, many experts say that’s only possible with drastic cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. The closed-doors meeting was meant to wrap up Friday so that the report could be presented to the public on Monday. But several observers, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the confidential nature of the proceedings, told The Associated Press that the talks were still far from finished with less than 24 hours to go before the publication deadline. One senior climate scientist said about 70% of the text had so far been agreed and there was still hope the negotiations might finish Sunday.