Briefly

UZBEKISTAN

Incumbent president secures second term

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has been reelected for a second five-year term, winning 80.1 percent of the vote in Sunday's poll, Central Election Commission Chairman Zayniddin Nizamkhodjaev said on Monday. Mirziyoyev's widely expected victory will allow him to deepen his largely successful reform campaign and likely lead to Uzbekistan opening up further to foreign trade and investment－while retaining a relatively centralized political system.

MIDDLE EAST

Palestine condemns settlement plan

Palestine on Sunday condemned Israel for issuing tenders to construct 1,355 new housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that "putting tenders to build more than 1,355 settlement units is an official Israeli persistence to keep constructing settlements in the Palestinian territories". The statement added that the ongoing settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem "is a blatant disregard for the international and the United States' positions which reject settlements". Israeli authorities are also expected to discuss proposals for another 3,000 homes. A US State Department spokesman said on Friday such steps may raise tensions and hurt efforts to reach a peace deal.

RUSSIA

US move on visa policy slammed

Russia on Sunday condemned a decision by the United States to add Russians seeking US visas to a list of "homeless nationals" who can apply for visas in third countries. The move means that Russians will have to apply for US visas in Warsaw instead of their home country, after the US embassy stopped processing most visa applications in May due to Moscow's ban on employing embassy staff in Russia. The US State Department lists "homeless "applicants from countries in which the US has no consular representation, or where consular staff cannot issue visas due to the political or security situation. Russia became the 10th nation on the list, following countries such as Cuba, Eritrea and Iran.

ECUADOR

Volcano avalanche kills at least 4 climbers

An avalanche on a snowcapped Ecuadorian volcano on Sunday killed at least four climbers and injured a fifth, officials said. The avalanche struck a group of about a dozen mountaineers when they were on the dormant Chimborazo volcano at an altitude of 6,100 meters, said the ECU911 security service. It did not identify the climbers or their nationalities, but the peak attracts both Ecuadorians and foreigners. Located in the central Andean region, Chimborazo is Ecuador's highest peak. The volcano, which rises 6,263 meters above sea level, is covered in snow and glaciers all year round.

INDIA

Facebook 'failing' to contain hate speech

Facebook was well aware that hate speech was spreading on its site in India, which could exacerbate ethnic violence, but did not deploy resources to curb the phenomenon, reported US media citing internal documents. The so-called Facebook Papers, leaked by a whistleblower, have already revealed the impact of Facebook－as well as of WhatsApp and Instagram, both of which it owns－on the deep polarization of politics in the United States and on the mental health of some teenagers. Last weekend, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post among others, focused on Facebook's presence in India, the biggest market for the US company and its messaging service WhatsApp in terms of users.

Xinhua - Agencies