Foreign News

South Korea’s impeached president gets pay rise

Published

1 year ago

2025/01/13

Priyan

Yoon has been suspended from presidential duties since he was impeached by parliament, but remains in office [BBC]

South Korea’s suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol will receive his annual pay rise despite his impeachment for briefly placing the country under martial law, the government has said.

Yoon’s salary will increase by 3% to 262.6 million won ($179,000; £147,000), in line with the standard for government officials.

Since his impeachment in December, Yoon has resisted attempts to investigate and arrest him for alleged insurrection and abuse of power, placing the country deeper in political turmoil.

While suspended from his duties, Yoon remains in office until South Korea’s constitutional court upholds his impeachment.

Yoon cited threats from “anti-state forces” and North Korea to justify his martial law declaration. However, it soon became clear that his move had been spurred not by external threats but by his own domestic political troubles.

News of Yoon’s salary increase has drawn criticism among South Koreans, some of whom say they cannot believe he is still getting paid – let alone getting a increment – while he is suspended.

Some on social media pointed out that the Yoon’s 3% salary rise is nearly double the increase in the country’s minimum wage.

“Minimum wage increased by 1.7% while Yoon gets 3% for what?” reads a post on X which has received thousands of likes.

Earlier this month, Yoon’s security blocked investigators from reaching him at the presidential residence. The stalemate saw an initial arrest warrant expire at midnight on 7 January, but a local court extended it.

Investigators are preparing for another attempt to arrest Yoon and have requested assistance from the police.

On Monday, authorities said any attempt to arrest Yoon would make sure to avoid “any casualties or bloodshed”. They also warned that security staff and lawmakers could be arrested if they obstruct the arrest.

Yoon’s lawyers said assigning police officers and investigators to arrest the president was “a betrayal of the public”. They have claimed that the arrest warrant was “illegal”.

They also demanded that personnel on the arrest team not wear a mask to “prevent rioters from breaking into a national secret site and impersonating police officers”.

In the capital Seoul, thousands have joined large-scale protests, both in support of and against Yoon.

While his critics want to see the disgraced president impeached and arrested over his martial law attempt, Yoon supporters see his short-lived martial law order as justified to protect the South Korea’s democracy.

Han Duck-soo, who became acting president after Yoon’s impeachment but has since been impeached by parliament himself, will also see his annual salary increase by 3% to 204 million won ($138,000; £114,000).

For comparison, the US president is paid $400,000 (£329,000) and the UK Prime Minister’s salary is around £172,000 ($209,000).

[BBC]

All News Advertisement

Foreign News

Portugal elects Socialist Party’s Seguro as president in landslide

Published

18 hours ago

2026/02/9

Priyan

Presidential candidate Antonio Jose Seguro, of the centre-left Socialist Party, waves to the crowd during a campaign rally ahead of the February 8 presidential election, in Lisbon, on February 5, 2026 [Aljazeera]

Antonio Jose Seguro of the centre-left Socialist Party has secured a landslide victory and a five-year term as Portugal’s president in a run-off vote, beating his far-right, anti-establishment rival, Andre Ventura, according to partial results.

With 95 percent of votes counted, 63-year-old Seguro has garnered 66 percent. Ventura trailed at 34 percent, still likely to secure a much stronger result than the 22.8 percent his anti-immigration Chega party achieved in last year’s general election. Ballots in large cities such as Lisbon and Porto are counted towards the end.

Two exit polls have placed Seguro in the 67-73 percent range, and Ventura at 27-33 percent.

A succession of storms in recent days has failed to deter voters, with turnout at about the same level as in the first round on January 18, even though three municipal councils in southern and central Portugal had to postpone voting by a week due to floods. The postponement affected some 37,000 registered voters, or about 0.3 percent of the total, and is unlikely to influence the overall result.

Portugal’s presidency is a largely ceremonial role, but it holds some key powers, including the ability to dissolve parliament under certain circumstances.

Ventura, 43, who had trailed Seguro in opinion polls, had argued that the government’s response to the fierce gales and floods was “useless” and called for the entire election to be postponed.

However, the authorities rejected the demand.

Seguro, during his last campaign rally on Friday, accused Ventura of “doing everything to keep the Portuguese from turning out to vote”.

Despite his loss on Sunday, Ventura, a charismatic former television sports commentator, can now boast increased support, reflecting the growing influence of the far right in Portugal and much of Europe. He is also the first extreme-right candidate to make it through to a run-off vote in Portugal.

Meanwhile, Seguro has cast himself as the candidate of a “modern and moderate” left, who can actively mediate to avert political crises and defend democratic values. He received backing from prominent conservatives after the first round amid concerns over what many see as Ventura’s populist, hardline tendencies.

But Prime Minister Luis Montenegro – whose minority centre-right government has to rely on support from either the Socialists or the far right to get legislation through parliament – declined to endorse either candidate in the second round.

While the role is largely ceremonial, the head of state has the power to dissolve parliament and call early elections.

The new president will succeed outgoing conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in early March.

[Aljazeera]

Foreign News

Washington Post chief executive steps down after mass lay-offs

Published

2 days ago

2026/02/8

Priyan

Will Lewis speaks to the staff and employees of the Washington Post in Washington, DC on November 06, 2023. [Cricinfo]

The chief executive of the Washington Post is stepping down, the newspaper has announced, days after overseeing mass lay-offs.

William Lewis said it was the right time to leave, saying in a message to staff that was shared online that “difficult decisions” had been made to ensure the paper’s future.

On Wednesday the newspaper announced it was cutting a third of its workforce, dramatically scaling back its coverage of sport and international news.

The decision was condemned by many journalists and prompted criticism of the Post’s billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos. Executive editor Matt Murray said the cuts would bring “stability”.

Jeff D’Onofrio, who joined as chief financial officer of the newspaper last year, will serve as acting publisher and CEO, the Post said as it announced Lewis’s departure.

A former Dow Jones chief executive and publisher of the Wall Street Journal, Lewis was appointed to the role at the Washington Post in 2023.

He has faced criticism from subscribers and employees as he tried to reverse financial losses at the daily.

Hundreds protested in front of the paper’s headquarters in Washington DC on Thursday after the mass lay offs, which included the paper’s entire Middle East staff and its Kyiv-based Ukraine correspondent.

Marty Baron, the Post’s executive editor until 2021, said the cuts ranked “among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organisations”.

The departure of Lewis marks the latest upheaval for the leading US newspaper, which has seen a series of staff cuts and controversial editorial decisions in recent years.

Reuters Jeff Bezos speaks in front of a microphone — *Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, acquired the Washington Post in 2013. [BBC]*

Shortly before the 2024 US presidential election, Bezos, the founder of Amazon, broke with decades of tradition by deciding the newspaper would not endorse a presidential candidate.

The newspaper had endorsed a candidate in most presidential elections since the 1970s – all of whom had been Democrats.

The move caused widespread criticism and led to the loss of tens of thousands of subscribers.

Meanwhile, the opinion editor resigned in February last year when Bezos decided to focus the paper’s comment section on “personal liberties and free markets”.

Bezos, who acquired the newspaper in 2013, said pieces opposing those views would not be published.

***[BBC]***

Foreign News

King Charles to host Nigeria’s first UK state visit in 37 years

Published

2 days ago

2026/02/8

Priyan

King Charles (left) will host Nigerian President Bola Tinubu (right) in March [BBC]

King Charles III and Queen Camilla will host Nigeria’s president in the country’s first state visit to the UK in 37 years, Buckingham Palace has announced.

Bola Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu have accepted an invitation to be guests of the King at Windsor Castle from 18 to 19 March.

State visits are considered a form of soft-power diplomacy, using the pomp of royal hospitality to strengthen relations with important international partners.

The last Nigerian state visit to the UK took place in 1989, when military ruler Gen Ibrahim Babangida travelled to meet the late Queen Elizabeth II for a four-day trip.

Although this will be Tinubu’s first formal state visit to the UK, he has already met the King since taking office following Nigeria’s disputed election in 2023.

Tinubu and his wife were received at Buckingham Palace in September 2024 and also held a bilateral meeting with the King on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai.

But a state visit allows for ceremonial pageantry aimed at elevating the occasion and demonstrating the importance with which the UK views those visiting.

The visit comes at a time of improving diplomatic and economic links between the UK and Nigeria – with trade between the two worth more than £8bn in the year to October, government figures show. This makes the African nation one of the UK’s most important partners in the continent.

In 2024, the two countries signed a new trade and investment partnership designed to expand opportunities for business.

The agenda for the March visit has not been disclosed, nor details of the events planned for it – but state visits typically include carriage processions and a state banquet, and usually coincide with visiting leaders having political meetings.