Briefly

IRAN

Khamenei urges 'high participation' in vote

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Tuesday for "high participation" in Friday's presidential election to replace Ebrahim Raisi, who died last month in a helicopter crash. "We emphasize the importance of high participation (in the election) because it is the pride of the Islamic republic," Khamenei, 85, said in a televised speech. "In every election where the turnout was low, the enemies of the Islamic republic have denounced us." Voters have the choice between six candidates, who were selected by the Guardian Council from 80 hopefuls.

ARGENTINA

Technical recession and job losses hit economy

Argentina has entered a technical recession in the first quarter, official data showed on Monday, and job losses mounted amid a tough austerity drive by President Javier Milei who is prioritizing restoring fiscal order. The country's GDP shrank 2.6 percent in the first quarter of the year versus the final quarter of last year, the second consecutive quarter-on-quarter contraction, the usual definition of a recession. The official INDEC statistics agency also released jobs data, which showed the jobless rate rising to 7.7 percent in the first quarter, up from 5.7 percent at the end of last year. That meant some 300,000 newly unemployed people since the previous quarter.

NASA

Spacewalk called off after suit water leak

NASA canceled a spacewalk at the International Space Station on Monday after water leaked from an astronaut's spacesuit. Astronauts Tracy Dyson and Mike Barratt opened the hatch to the station's airlock when Dyson reported water leaking from her spacesuit's cooling system. The astronauts had not floated outside yet and the duo were not in danger, NASA said. Earlier this month, a spacewalk was postponed after another astronaut experienced "spacesuit discomfort".

Agencies Via Xinhua