IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Ukraine

Presidential election kicks off on Sunday

Voting for the presidential election in Ukraine kicked off on Sunday with a record number of 39 candidates competing for the presidency. About 29,900 polling stations were located across the country. According to various opinion polls, incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, opposition politician Yulia Tymoshenko and actor Volodymyr Zelensky are so far the front-runners in the race. Poroshenko said the ongoing presidential elections are well-organized. "Today I am sure that the elections have been organized well and the will of the citizens will be preserved," Poroshenko told reporters at a polling station in Kiev.

Afghanistan

Flash floods kill at least 35 people

Flash floods caused by heavy rains have killed at least 35 people in Afghanistan, washing away houses and cutting off access to remote villages across parts of the country, officials said on Saturday. Heavy flooding that started early Friday killed at least 12 people in the northern province of Faryab and 10 people in the western province of Herat, said Hashmat Bahaduri, a spokesman for Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority. Eight people were killed in Badghis province in the west and five in Balkh province in the north, he said, adding that more than 3,000 houses had been destroyed.

Australia

Social media CEOs face jail under new laws

Social media executives could face up to three years' imprisonment for failing to remove "abhorrent" material from their platform under new laws being introduced by the Australian government. The government will introduce the new legislation on Monday. Alternatively, a platform could be fined up to 10 percent of its global annual turnover. The new laws are the centerpiece of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's crackdown on social media in the wake of the Christchurch, New Zealand, terror attacks. Video from the attacks was livestreamed on Facebook and shared on Twitter and YouTube.

Xinhua - AFP

(China Daily 04/01/2019 page12)