Chileans began to vote on Saturday in a mega-election in which they will pick mayors, governors, councillors and critically, the 155 men and women who will draft the country’s next constitution.
Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. and by mid-morning, voters were arriving in a steady stream to mark their preference on four differently-coloured ballot papers.
Citizens have a full weekend to cast their votes as the authorities seek to avoid crowds gathering, exacerbating a second wave of the so-called COVID-19 pandemic.
A central demand to emerge from fierce social protests that erupted over inequality and elitism in October 2019 was Changing the constitution
More than 7.5 million people voted in last year’s plebiscite to tear up the current constitution which was drafted in 1980 during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
Chile’s centre-right government is hoping for at least seven million people from the 19 million-strong population to participate in this weekend’s election.
President Sebastian Pinera’s Chile Vamos coalition is hoping for the candidates it has fielded to draft the constitution to win at least a third of seats to shield Chile’s free-market model from any drastic changes which would require at least two thirds’ approval.
Meanwhile swathes of Chile remain under strict lockdown with Health Minister Enrique Paris stating that the country’s high vaccination rate meant voting was safe but urged people to head home straight afterwards.
China has become the second country in history to safely land its rover on the surface of Mars, a triumph for Beijing’s increasingly bold space ambitions.
The Tianwen-1 spacecraft was launched in July last year, and it had been orbiting Mars since February this year. The mission consists of an orbiter, a lander and a rover.
So far only the United States has successfully managed to land its rovers on the planet and also deploy them for exploration. The former Soviet Union did manage to land on Mars, but the mission only a partial success as they lost contact soon after landing.
The rover, named Zhurong, will now survey the landing site before departing from its platform to conduct inspections. Named after a mythical Chinese god of fire, Zhurong has six scientific instruments including a high-resolution topography camera.
It will study the planet’s surface soil and atmosphere. Zhurong will also look for signs of ancient life, including any sub-surface water and ice, using a ground-penetrating radar.
Zhurong has ground-penetrating radar, which is expected to reveal the geological processes that led to the formation of the red planet. Zhurong’s spectrometer includes a laser-based technology that can zap rocks to study them.
Several US, Russian and European attempts to land rovers on Mars have failed in the past, most recently in 2016 with the crash-landing of the Schiaparelli joint Russian-European spacecraft.
The latest successful arrival came in February, when US space agency NASA landed its rover Perseverance, which has since been exploring the planet.
Myanmar’s army on Saturday battled local militia fighters in the northwestern town of Mindat, to try to quell a rebellion that has sprung up in opposition to the junta which seized power in February.
The fighting is reportedly some of the heaviest since the coup and highlights the growing chaos amidst daily protests, strikes and sabotage attacks after it overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The junta imposed martial law in Mindat on Thursday and then stepped up attacks on what it has described as armed terrorists adding that security forces would work day and night to bring order.
Army-controlled Myawaddy television said around 1,000unscrupulous people had attacked with small arms and homemade grenades in recent days, and that some members of the security forces were killed and others missing.
However, Doctor Sasa, minister of international cooperation in a shadow National Unity Government set up to rival the junta said Five civilians had been killed in Mindat in the past two days.
The U.S. Embassy in Myanmar also said in a statement that the military’s use of weapons of war against civilians, including this week in Mindat, is a show of the extent the regime would go in order to hold on to power.
The statement has also called on the military to cease violence against civilians.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has shifted the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) from June 19 to July 3.
The Board also announced the extension of registration for the examination by 2 weeks, with the exercise now to end on May 29.
This disclosure was made by the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof Ishaq Oloyede, at an ongoing press conference on Saturday in Abuja.
Oloyede said that the decision was the outcome of a 2-day stakeholders’ meeting the board had in Abuja.
The examination was earlier slated to hold between June 5 and 19.
He stated during the press conference that JAMB expects that the 2-week extension will provide more candidates an opportunity to register for the examination.
The JAMB Registrar while reading the board’s communique after the meeting also said the Mock UTME earlier scheduled for 20th May will now hold on June 3 adding that only 1,134,424 candidates (UTME+DE) have so far been registered.
What JAMB Registrar is saying
Professor Oloyede, in his statement, said, “Desirous of affording prospective candidates more time to complete their registration for the 2021 UTME/DE, which was expected to end on Saturday, May 15, 2021, stakeholders recommended a two-week extension for registration, to now end on May 29, 2021.
“The extension is contingent upon stakeholders’ firm commitment to deliver on their respective responsibilities.
“Accordingly, the 2021 Mock UTME earlier scheduled for 20th May 2021 will now hold on June 3, 2021, while the main UTME will hold from June 19 – July 3, 2021. JAMB will dispatch monitoring teams to all States of the Federation and the FCT during the extension period.”
The board directed computer-based test centres (CBT) to stop selling ePINs and also not to collect registration fee until completion of registration, warning that flouting this directive would attract appropriate sanctions.
The statement also says, “Stakeholders reiterated the prohibition of group registration for candidates, with the threat of sanction against any CBT centre that violates the instruction.
“CBT centres are directed to open all twenty (20) allowable registration points to, ease congestion at the centres.
“Candidates for Direct Entry are reminded to, while procuring their ePIN, specify their category of admission. However, where a DE candidate mistakenly purchases an ePIN for UTME, the selling point is hereby directed to rectify the error by swapping the ePIN to DE at no further cost to the candidate.
“Digital Service Providers are encouraged to expand their facilities, including the provision of redundancy links. NIMC pledged to give priority attention to UTME/DE prospective candidates.
“All prospective candidates and other Users who have not received a response from 55019 are requested to send their Tracking ID or NIN to nimc jamb2021@nimc.gov.ng.However, those who had obtained their NIN through unauthorised sources will have to go to the NIMC office to resolve their challenges.
“NIMC further pledged to deploy special monitoring teams and to sanction any NIMC agent found extorting candidates in the cause of enrolment.
“Against the background of its below-par performance, one of the operators gave firm assurance of the optimisation of its services during the extension of the registration and examination.
“Stakeholders implored the Federal Ministry of Education to discourage parents from seeking to register underage and immature candidates to pursue tertiary education ahead of their time.”
A top official in South Africa’s ruling African National Congress has taken the party to court to challenge his suspension pending charges of fraud and corruption against him.
Ace Magashule is the secretary-general of the ANC and a fierce political rival of party leader and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and the move has heightening tensions within the fractured organization once led by Nelson Mandela.
Magashule’s decision to go to court is viewed as a direct challenge to Ramaphosa’s drive to rid the ANC of the corruption that has damaged its image over the past decade.
National broadcaster SABC reported Friday that Magashule’s lawyers had filed the papers at the Gauteng High Court on Thursday.
In court papers, Magashule has questioned the legality of the party rule, pushed by Ramaphosa, which forces ANC officials facing criminal charges to ‘step aside’ from their positions until their cases are finalized.
Magashule has said the rule undermines the constitutional principle of a person being innocent until proven guilty.
ANC officials have been implicated in series of corruption scandals over the last decade, most notably under the rule of former party leader and former South African president Jacob Zuma, whose own corruption trial is due to start next week.
Some ANC leaders have already resigned from their positions under the ‘step aside’ rule and others may be suspended in the coming weeks if they do not stand down.
The U.N. chief says foreign fighters and mercenaries remain in Libya in violation of last October’s cease-fire agreement and called for their withdrawal.
In a report to the U.N. Security Council, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the smooth transfer of power to a new interim government in March has brought renewed hope for the reunification of the country and for a lasting peace.
Guterres said the government of national unity must prioritize security sector reform including filling senior civilian and military appointments, producing a roadmap for reunifying the Libyan army.
He added that the progress must continue on the political, economic, and security tracks to enable elections to go ahead on Dec. 24.
The U.N. estimated in December that there were at least 20,000 foreign fighters and mercenaries in Libya, including Syrians, Russians, Sudanese, and Chadians.
Libya has been plagued by chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled dictator Muammar Gadhafi in 2011, and split the North African country between a U.N.-supported government in the capital, Tripoli, and rival authorities based in the country’s east.
In April 2019, east-based commander Khalifa Haftar and his forces, backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, launched an offensive to try and capture Tripoli.
His 14-month-long campaign collapsed after Turkey stepped up its military support of the U.N.-backed government with hundreds of troops and thousands of Syrian mercenaries.
The Ethiopian Electoral Commission says it is postponing parliamentary elections scheduled for June 5 due to growing logistical difficulties, without setting a new date.
Making the announcement on Saturday, Election Commission Chairwoman Birtukan Mideksa said she could not provide a new date until she had reviewed proposals from political parties.
She said her commission was behind schedule on finalizing voter registration, training electoral staff, printing and distributing ballot papers.
She added that it proved almost impossible to achieve all of this by the dates initially set stating the new date would take into account the rainy season which runs from about June to September.
This is the third time the vote meant to usher in new national and regional parliamentarians is being postponed under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Conflict in Tigray and ongoing deadly violence in the Benishangul-Gumuz, Oromia and Afar regions have undermined the success of the exercise.
Also, tensions over the Nile have also jolted Ethiopia which is locked in a dispute with Egypt and Sudan over a mega dam it is developing on the river.
However, Addis Ababa said last week only 37 million people had enrolled for the exercise, out of a population of 110 million.
afael Nadal secured his place in the Italian Open final with a 6-4 6-4 win over American Reilly Opelka.
At 2-1 down in the first set Nadal had to save four break points, but he then broke his big-hitting rival in the next game before going on to claim the set.
One break of serve was also enough for the 34-year-old Spaniard in the second set as he secured victory in Rome.
Nadal will play world number one Novak Djokovic, who beat Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-2, in the final.
Djokovic was on court twice on Saturday as he came from a set down to beat Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in their rain-affected quarter-final before playing Sonego after Nadal’s match.
Against Tsitsipas, the Serb trailed 6-4 2-1 when the match was suspended because of rain on Friday, but he broke serve twice when it resumed on Saturday to force a decider.
He then twice recovered from a break down in a see-saw final set to win 4-6 7-5 7-5 and reach the last four.
Sonego had also been in action on Saturday as he beat Andrey Rublev 3-6 6-4 6-3 to set up the semi-final with Djokovic.
Nevertheless, the pair produced an enthralling match lasting two hours and 44 minutes.
Djokovic had served for the match at 6-5 up in the second set against 26-year-old Sonego only to be broken.
He was then 3-0 up in the tie-break but lost 7-5 as an inspired Sonego levelled after a second set which lasted 91 minutes.
However, Djokovic reasserted himself in the third before eventually prevailing to set up a sixth Italian Open final against Nadal.
“Rome is such an important tournament for me. To be in the final again is so important for me,” said Nadal.
“In terms of preparation for [the French Open at] Roland Garros, I consider the job done. Tomorrow is not at all preparation. It’s a final, an important one, and I want to be competitive.”
Youri Tielemans produced one of the great FA Cup final goals to give Leicester City the trophy for the first time in their history with victory over Chelsea at Wembley.
The Belgian settled a closely contested encounter with a spectacular right-foot drive that flew beyond Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga into the top corner from 25 yards in the 63rd minute.
It sent manager Brendan Rodgers racing down the touchline in celebration although Leicester’s fans – inside Wembley as 21,000 supporters formed the biggest attendance since lockdown – had to survive a nerve-jangling closing phase before they could celebrate the win in their first final since 1969.
The Foxes were indebted to two crucial saves from keeper Kasper Schmeichel, who turned former Leicester defender Ben Chilwell’s header on to a post then produced an even better stop to turn Mason Mount’s powerful shot wide.
And in a final act of drama, Wes Morgan bundled into his own net following a last-minute goalmouth scramble before it was ruled out by the barest of margins following the intervention of VAR.
Leicester closed out the win to spark emotional scenes as those inside Wembley rejoiced in a landmark victory
Rodgers’ outstanding work gets its reward
Foxes boss Rodgers had a smile that illuminated Wembley as he joined Leicester’s players in joyous scenes of celebration after the manager and his players had written their name into the club’s folklore.
Gifted 24-year-old Tielemans will claim the glory for the sheer quality of the strike that won this FA Cup final and the rest of his performance oozed the quality that saw him named man of the match.
The Foxes had heroes elsewhere, particularly in veteran keeper Schmeichel, who was well protected for most of the match but made a huge contribution when required. His second key save from Mount, one-handed diving away to his left, even had Rodgers turning around and blowing out his cheeks in relief and admiration.
Youngster Luke Thomas was composed and Leicester even survived the premature loss of the experienced and influential defender Jonny Evans, who was a doubt before the game and suffered a recurrence of his heel injury, to keep Chelsea at bay.
And for Rodgers, who cleaned up with Celtic in Scotland, this was another significant addition to his CV, as his expert guidance of Leicester – who are in a strong position to finish in the Premier League’s top four and face Chelsea again at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday – now has a tangible reward in the shape of the FA Cup.
This was the result of outstanding work by Rodgers and his players and the rest of the season may yet produce another high point if they can clinch a place in next season’s Champions League.
“It is such an amazing feeling, in particular as a British coach,” Rodgers told BBC Radio 5 Live. “I have grown up watching this all my life and to be eventually be here and be a winner in the FA Cup is special.
“I knew we had prepared very well. The players have shown through the season they can fight, have quality and have a desire to win. We were playing against the Champions League finalists, with quality and the level they have been at. But I thought tactically we were brilliant.”
Chelsea suffer bitter disappointment
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel revealed he was in “angry mode” after the surprise home loss to Arsenal suddenly put pressure on their top-four hopes in the Premier League – although the Champions League final against Manchester City could yet prove the most glittering safety net.
He certainly looked an angry man throughout this final, the body language increasingly frustrated right up until that final twist when a late equaliser was snatched from Chelsea’s grasp by VAR.
Chelsea now face a massive game against these same opponents in midweek but they will have to recover swiftly from this disappointment and the knowledge they did not do themselves justice.
They certainly had their moments and will complain of ill-fortune, about a suspicion of handball before Tielemans’ goal and those magnificent saves from Schmeichel but this was a stuttering Chelsea, not the smooth machine that saw off Real Madrid with such comfort in the Champions League semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Timo Werner seemed a particular source of frustration to Tuchel, the manager enraged when he lost a physical challenge to Tielemans, and it may be he regrets that he did not start with the improving Kai Havertz.
And Chilwell, left out for Marcos Alonso, was a source of real danger when he was eventually introduced as a substitute, almost rescuing Chelsea twice.
Chelsea and Tuchel now face a huge fortnight with the fight for the top four in the balance and that Champions League final to come against Manchester City – and the manager will know they will have to perform better than this.
Fans relish Wembley return
Fans had to present their ticket and a negative Covid test to be allowed into the game
This was the day atmosphere, emotion and deafening noise returned to English football as 21,000 supporters made Wembley sound like it was playing host to a capacity crowd.
Fans relished the traditional FA Cup fanfare from the Coldstream Guards and the hymn Abide With Me before throwing themselves wholeheartedly into an experience they have been largely deprived of since the first coronavirus lockdown began in March 2020.
And how it showed in those final stages, with Leicester’s fans suffering frayed nerves as their team held on for history while Chelsea’s followers urged their side on in the hope of a comeback.
At the final whistle, it was just like old times as those thousands of Leicester supporters stayed in their seats for the trophy celebration to take in scenes that will live with them forever while the Chelsea end was a scene of desolation before it became a sea of deserted red seats.
It only emphasised once more that football quite simply is not the same in any form without fans.
‘I don’t know what is handball or not’
Chelsea boss Tuchel felt VAR decisions proved decisive in the game.
“The players said straight away it was a handball,” he said of the ball appearing to hit Ayoze Perez’s hand in the build up to the goal.
“So now for the second game in a row there was a handball against us, and VAR is not interfering. Against Arsenal there was one on the line, and again today, and they are very decisive.
“I’m not an expert in handball any more, I don’t know when it’s handball or not.
“I don’t know any more when they need to punish it or it’s OK to play with the hand.
“We were unlucky today. But there’s never any guarantee you’ll end up with a trophy.”
Fifth time lucky for Foxes – the best of the stats
Leicester won their first FA Cup final at the fifth attempt, becoming the 44th different side to win the competition.
Chelsea have become the first team to lose the FA Cup final in consecutive seasons since Newcastle United in 1997-98 and 1998-99.
This was the 45th FA Cup final to finish 1-0, at least 20 more times than any other scoreline in the showpiece.
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has become the first manager to win both the English and Scottish FA Cup since Sir Alex Ferguson.
Leicester’s Youri Tielemans became the third Belgian player to score in an FA Cup final, with all three going on to lift the trophy that year (Eden Hazard in 2018, Kevin de Bruyne in 2019).
Leicester’s Kasper Schmeichel is the first goalkeeper to captain the winning side in an FA Cup final since David Seaman with Arsenal in 2003.
Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud played in his sixth FA Cup final – since World War Two only Ashley Cole (8), Ryan Giggs (7) and Roy Keane (7) have appeared in more.
At 37 years and 114 days, Leicester’s Wes Morgan became the oldest outfield player to appear in an FA Cup final since Teddy Sheringham for West Ham in 2006 (40y 41d).
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has extended the deadline for the ongoing 2021 UTME/DE registration exercise by two weeks.
The examination body took the decision after a meeting with stakeholders following reports of widespread delay in the registration process among candidates for the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
JAMB Registrar, Ishaq Oloyede, who announced the extension said the exam will now start on the 19th of June 2021 and end on the 3rd of July.
Prof Oloyede also announced that the registration exercise will now end on May 29.
This comes after the JAMB Board earlier announced it’s contemplating an extension to the registration period and change of date for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination
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