Briefly

POLAND

Voting underway for new president

Poles were voting on Sunday in a presidential election at a time of heightened security concerns stemming from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and growing worry that the United States' commitment to Europe's security could be weakening under President Donald Trump. The top two front-runners are Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, a liberal allied with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and Karol Nawrocki, a conservative historian with no prior political experience who is supported by the nationalist Law and Justice party. Recent opinion polls show Trzaskowski with about 30 percent support and Nawrocki in the mid-20s. A second round between the two is widely expected to take place on June 1.

JAPAN

Support for Ishiba falls to record low

Support for Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has hit a record low, with nearly nine out of every 10 voters dissatisfied with the government's response to soaring price of rice, Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday. Support for Ishiba's government was at 27.4 percent, down from 32.6 percent a month ago, a Kyodo poll showed, boding ill for his ruling Liberal Democratic Party and junior coalition partner Komeito in an upper house election slated for July. The poll showed 87.1 percent of respondents found government measures addressing rising rice prices insufficient. Retail rice prices are about double what they were a year ago after extreme heat hit crops and a tourism boom added to demand, though the government in March started releasing stockpiled rice into the market.

Agencies Via Xinhua