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Pro-EU leader claims Moldova victory despite alleged Russian meddling
Moldova’s pro-EU President Maia Sandu has claimed a second term after a tense election run-off seen as a choice between Europe and Russia.
With most preliminary results counted, Sandu was leading with almost 55% of the vote, and in a late-night speech she promised to be president for all Moldovans.
Her rival Alexandr Stoianoglo, who was backed by the pro-Russian Party of Socialists, had promised a closer relationship with Moscow.
During the vote, the president’s national security adviser said there had been “massive interference” from Russia in Moldova’s electoral process that had “high potential to distort the outcome”.
Russia had already denied meddling in the vote, which came a week after another key Eastern European election in Georgia, whose president said it had been a “Russian special operation”.
Stoianoglo, who was fired as prosecutor general by Sandu, has denied being pro-Kremlin.
As polls closed, both Maia Sandu, 52, and her rival thanked voters, with Stoianoglo speaking in Russian as well as Romanian. Although Romanian is Moldova’s main language, Russian is widely spoken because of its Soviet past.
Voting ended in Moldova at 21:00 (19:00 GMT), with a 54% turnout higher than four years ago, and especially high among expat voters at polling stations abroad.
Stoianoglo took an early lead and won the vote in Moldova itself with more than 51%, according to the preliminary results. Sandu was far ahead in the capital Chisinau, and was completely dominant among expat voters.
As she overtook her challenger late on Sunday night, there was cheering at her campaign headquarters and chants of “victory”.
In a hoarse voice she praised her compatriots for saving Moldova and giving “a lesson in democracy, worthy of being written in history books”.
Then, moving into Russian, she said: “I have heard your voice – both those who supported me and those who voted for Mr. Stoianoglo. In our choice for a dignified future, no-one lost… we need to stand united.”
Maia Sandu’s foreign policy adviser, Olga Rosca, told the BBC she was proud of the result.
Asked whether she was surprised that Stoianoglo had won in Moldova itself, she said the vote in Moldova and abroad should be seen as one and the same: “We never divide people into Moldovans at home and expatriates – we see Moldovans as one family.”
With elections coming next year she said the president had “clearly indicated she has heard the mood for change. On several occasions between the [two presidential] votes she said the fight against corruption must be intensified and justice reform must be accelerated – she’s committed to this work”.
The final result will be declared on Monday.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Sandu, saying “it takes a rare kind of strength to overcome the challenges you’ve faced in this election.
“I’m glad to continue working with you towards a European future for Moldova and its people,” her message on X said.
Casting his ballot, Alexandr Stoianoglo had promised to be an “apolitical president”, and that he had voted for “a Moldova that should develop in harmony with both the West and the East”.
Stoianoglo polled particularly well in rural areas and the south, while Sandu was ahead in the cities and with young voters.
After casting her ballot, Sandu had warned of “thieves” who sought to buy their vote and their country.
Presidential national security adviser Stanislav Secrieru said Russia had organised buses and large charter flights to bring voters to polling stations.
Bomb scares had briefly disrupted voting in Moldova, at UK polling stations in Liverpool and Northampton and at Frankfurt and Kaiserslautern in Germany, he added.
Moldova’s authorities have long warned that a fugitive oligarch called Ilan Shor has spent $39m (£30m) trying to buy the election for Moscow with handouts to 138,000 Moldovans.
Shor, who is based in Moscow, denies wrongdoing but did promise cash payments to anyone prepared to back his call for a “firm No” to the EU.
Commentators and politicians had warned that a Stoianoglo victory could radically change the political landscape in the Danube and Black Sea region, not because he was some kind of “Trojan horse”, but rather because Russia has thrown its weight behind him.
There were queues at polling stations in Moscow, Italy and among voters from a mainly Russian-speaking breakaway region of Transnistria, who had to cross the River Dniester into Moldovan-controlled territory to vote. Transnistria is home to a Russian military base and a huge arms depot.
Moldova’s election commission said it was aware of reports of organised and illegal transports of voters by air and land in Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Turkey, and appealed to the public to report further violations.
Although Sandu had easily won the first round of the vote, several candidates swung behind Stoianoglo, although the third-placed candidate refused to back either of the two.
The first round coincided with a nail-biting referendum on backing a change to the constitution embracing the commitment to join the EU.
In the end the vote passed by a tiny margin in favour, and Maia Sandu said there had been clear evidence of attempts to buy 300,000 votes.
[BBC]
US President Donald Trump’s administration has said it will revoke the temporary legal status of more than half a million migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Those migrants have been warned to leave the country before their permits and deportation shield are cancelled on 24 April, according to a notice posted by the federal government.
The 530,000 migrants were brought into the US under a Biden-era sponsorship process known as CHNV that was designed to open legal migration pathways. Trump suspended the programme once he took office.
It is unclear how many of these migrants have been able to secure another status in the interim that would allow them to stay in the US legally.
The programme was launched under Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022, first covering Venezuelans before it was expanded to other countries.
It allowed the migrants and their immediate family members to fly into the US if they had American sponsors and remain for two years under a temporary immigration status known as parole.
The Biden administration had argued that CHNV would help curb illegal border crossings at the southern US border and allow for better vetting of those entering the country.
The Department of Homeland Security on Friday rebuked the prior administration and said the program had failed in its goals.
The agency’s statement said Biden officials “granted migrants opportunities to compete for American jobs and undercut American workers; forced career civil servants to promote the programs even when fraud was identified; and then blamed Republicans in Congress for the chaos that ensued and the crime that followed”.
However, the 35-page notice in the Federal Register said some of those in the US under CHNV might be allowed to remain on a “case-by-case basis”.
Trump is also considering whether to cancel the temporary legal status of some 240,000 Ukrainians who fled to the US during the conflict with Russia.
CHNV helped a reported 213,000 Haitians enter the US amid deteriorating conditions in the Caribbean country.
More than 120,700 Venezuelans, 110,900 Cubans and over 93,000 Nicaraguans were also allowed into the US under the programme before Trump shut it down.
Last month, DHS announced it would in August end another immigration designation, temporary protected status (TPS), for 500,000 Haitians living in the US.
TPS was granted to nationals of designated countries facing unsafe conditions, such as armed conflict or environmental disasters.
DHS also halted TPS for Venezuelans in the US, although this is facing a legal challenge.
Since taking office in January, Trump’s immigration policies have encountered a number of legal hurdles.
[BBC]
Boxing heavyweight legend George Foreman has died aged 76, according to his family.
Known as Big George in the ring, the American built one of the most remarkable and enduring careers in the sport, winning Olympic gold in 1968 and claiming the world heavyweight title twice, 21 years apart – the second making him the oldest champion in history aged 45.
He lost his first title to Muhammad Ali in their famous Rumble in the Jungle fight in 1974. But Foreman’s professional boxing career boasted an astonishing total of 76 wins including 68 knockouts, almost double that of Ali.
He retired from the sport in 1997 but not before he agreed to put his name to a best-selling grill – a decision that went on to bring him fortunes that dwarfed his boxing earnings.
His family said in a post on Instagram on Friday night: “Our hearts are broken.
“A devout preacher, a devoted husband, a loving father, and a proud grand and great grandfather, he lived a life marked by unwavering faith, humility, and purpose.”
The statement added: “A humanitarian, an Olympian, and two time heavyweight champion of the world, He was deeply respected – a force for good, a man of discipline, conviction, and a protector of his legacy, fighting tirelessly to preserve his good name – for his family.”
Foreman was born in Marshall, Texas, on 10 January 1949, and raised along with six siblings by a single mother in the segregated American South.
He dropped out of school and turned to street robberies before eventually finding his outlet in the ring.
Foreman won the heavyweight gold medal at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, aged 19, before turning pro and winning 37 consecutive matches. He lost only five bouts over his career.
He beat previously undefeated reigning champion Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1973 knocking him down six times in the first two rounds.
His 1974 Rumble in the Jungle against Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, remains one of the most famous boxing matches ever.
Ali, the older man, was the underdog after he was stripped of his crown seven years earlier for refusing to be drafted into the Vietnam War.
Foreman reflected on the legendary fight 50 years later in an October interview with BBC World Service Newshour, explaining that everyone thought he was going to decimate Ali.
“Oh, he’s not going to last one round,” the boxer said experts were predicting at the time.
Foreman told the BBC he typically would get “real nervous” and have “butterflies” before any boxing match, but that night – it was the “most comfortable” he had felt.
But the wily Ali used a tactic that later became known as “rope-a-dope”, which wore out Foreman, causing him to throw out hundreds of punches before Ali unloaded on him in the eighth round and scored a knockout.
After a second professional loss, Foreman retired in 1977 and became an ordained minister at the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Texas, which he founded and built.
He told the BBC his defeat to Ali became the “best thing that ever happened to me” as it ultimately led him to “get my message out” through preaching.
He recalled that his preaching started small, on street corners and with friends, then grew.
“We began meeting informally at various homes in Houston, and before long, the crowds became too large for most houses to accommodate,” Foreman said on his website.
“Eventually, we bought a piece of land and an old, dilapidated building on the north-east side of Houston.”
Foreman came out of retirement in 1987 to raise money for a youth centre he founded. He won 24 matches before losing to Evander Holyfield after 12 rounds in 1991.
In 1994, Foreman knocked out undefeated Michael Moorer to become the oldest ever heavyweight champion at age 45.
He became ad pitchman for his George Foreman Grill, which millions have purchased since it hit the market in 1994, thanks in part to his memorable catchphrase, the “Lean Mean Grilling Machine”.
Foreman was married five times. He has a dozen children, including five sons who are all named George.
He explained on his website that he named them after himself so they “they would always have something in common”.
“I say to them, ‘If one of us goes up, then we all go up together,” he explained. “And if one goes down, we all go down together!'”
[BBC]
It has been reported that two persons riding a motorcycle were killed in a shooting incident that took place around 11.45pm on Friday [21] night , in front of the southern entrance of the Devundara Sri Vishnu Devalaya, on Sinhasana Road.
The unidentified gunmen, who arrived in a van, opened fire using a T-56 assault rifle and 9 mm firearms before fleeing the scene. The police have recovered 39 T-56 bullet casings, two T-56 rounds of live ammunition, a T-56 magazine, three 9 mm bullet casings, and one 9mm live ammunition.
The van suspected to have been used by the shooters was found abandoned and set on fire on a side road about 800 meters from the crime scene.
The two deceased victims have been identified as Tikira Hennedige Yomesh Nadishan and Marakkala Manage Pasidu Tharuka, both residents of Sinhasana Road, Devinuwara.
Trump revoking protections for 530,000 Cubans, Haitians and other migrants
Heavyweight boxing legend George Foreman dies aged 76, says family
Two persons shot dead at Devinuwara
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