Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's allies held the top spots as unofficial results of a mid-term Senate election trickled in on Monday, signalling broad public backing for the leader nearly three years into his term.
Early results suggested Duterte-backed candidates would take most of the 12 Senate seats available, with just one from the opposition slate on the fringes.
A Senate majority would lessen the chance of censure moves and lower house investigations against Mr Duterte's government and make it easier to pass controversial legislation, such as restoring capital punishment and changing the constitution to introduce federalism, and possibly extend term limits.
The ballot was billed as a referendum on the president, with the focus on his bid to boost his influence over an upper house that is vital to him for delivering on his reform agenda.
The Senate is just as crucial to his opponents, having traditionally been a check on state power and a bulwark against the kind of political dominance that Mr Duterte enjoys.
Overall, Monday's nationwide ballot will decide 18,000 posts, among them more than 200 mayors and governors, half of the 24-seat Senate, and 245 spots in a lower house expected to again be stacked with Duterte loyalists.
However, late into the night, hours after voting ended, only a small fraction of the tally was available due to problems transmitting results. Official results are expected in four to six days.
The midterms come at a time when Mr Duterte, a 74-year-old former mayor of Davao city, is seemingly untouchable. Last year's spiralling inflation is now under control and recent polls showed his Senate candidates scoring highly, and his own public approval rating at 81 per cent.
"It's not the right environment for the opposition. The opposition could have targeted other candidates instead of making the campaign against President Duterte," said political analyst Dindo Manhit.
"That's a hard battle. That would've been challenging."
Police reported several minor shootings and bombings in some areas on polling day, and said vote-buying was widespread, with more than 200 arrests.
Technology was a problem, with hundreds of instances of electronic voting machines malfunctioning and trouble with the election commission's internet servers.
Mr Duterte's popularity has helped to insulate him from criticism over his deadly war on drugs, his misogynistic jokes and insults of the Roman Catholic church followed by the majority of Filipinos, and his indifference towards China's rapid militarisation in the South China Sea.
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Men’s singles
Group A: Son Wan-ho (Kor), Lee Chong Wei (Mas), Ng Long Angus (HK), Chen Long (Chn)
Group B: Kidambi Srikanth (Ind), Shi Yugi (Chn), Chou Tien Chen (Tpe), Viktor Axelsen (Den)
Women’s Singles
Group A: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn), Pusarla Sindhu (Ind), Sayaka Sato (Jpn), He Bingjiao (Chn)
Group B: Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe), Sung Hi-hyun (Kor), Ratchanok Intanon (Tha), Chen Yufei (Chn)
Profile of Udrive
Date started: March 2016
Founder: Hasib Khan
Based: Dubai
Employees: 40
Amount raised (to date): $3.25m – $750,000 seed funding in 2017 and a Seed round of $2.5m last year. Raised $1.3m from Eureeca investors in January 2021 as part of a Series A round with a $5m target.
'The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey'
Rating: 3/5
Directors: Ramin Bahrani, Debbie Allen, Hanelle Culpepper, Guillermo Navarro
Writers: Walter Mosley
Stars: Samuel L Jackson, Dominique Fishback, Walton Goggins
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 0
Manchester City 2
Bernardo Silva 54', Sane 66'
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Brief scoreline:
Burnley 3
Barnes 63', 70', Berg Gudmundsson 75'
Southampton 3
Man of the match
Ashley Barnes (Burnley)
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
A Bad Moms Christmas
Dir: John Lucas and Scott Moore
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Susan Sarandon, Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines
Two stars
THE LOWDOWN
Photograph
Rating: 4/5
Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies
Director: Ritesh Batra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Indika
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If you go
The flights
The closest international airport for those travelling from the UAE is Denver, Colorado. British Airways (www.ba.com) flies from the UAE via London from Dh3,700 return, including taxes. From there, transfers can be arranged to the ranch or it’s a seven-hour drive. Alternatively, take an internal flight to the counties of Cody, Casper, or Billings
The stay
Red Reflet offers a series of packages, with prices varying depending on season. All meals and activities are included, with prices starting from US$2,218 (Dh7,150) per person for a minimum stay of three nights, including taxes. For more information, visit red-reflet-ranch.net.
South Africa's T20 squad
Duminy (c), Behardien, Dala, De Villiers, Hendricks, Jonker, Klaasen (wkt), Miller, Morris, Paterson, Phangiso, Phehlukwayo, Shamsi, Smuts.
Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
Sonchiriya
Director: Abhishek Chaubey
Producer: RSVP Movies, Azure Entertainment
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Manoj Bajpayee, Ashutosh Rana, Bhumi Pednekar, Ranvir Shorey
Rating: 3/5
