VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A polling station at an auto repair shop prepares for the snap elections, in Lisbon, Portugal, January 29, 2022. REUTERS - 

Portuguese election organisers were taking extra safety precautions on Saturday (Jan 29) after the government decided to allow voters who are infected with the coronavirus to leave isolation and cast ballots in person along with everyone else.

With around a tenth of Portugal's 10 million-strong population now thought to be isolating due to COVID-19, the government decided last week to lift restrictions for Sunday's vote.

In a press conference on Saturday, the electoral commission said "all conditions have been met for the vote to take place in absolute safety".

Like many European countries, Portugal is experiencing record-setting infections, although widespread vaccination has kept deaths and hospitalisations lower than in earlier waves.

Authorities have asked those with COVID to vote between 6:00 and 7:00 pm, but the time recommendation is not mandatory. There will be no designated areas for infected voters.

Staff setting up a polling station at an auto repair shop in the Lisbon parish of Santo Antonio were placing stickers on the floor on Saturday to encourage social distancing. Voters will receive a face mask before they enter.

Parish President Vasco Morgado said he was concerned some non-infected voters might be afraid to show up.

"The people working at the polling station are also putting themselves at risk for the sake of democracy," he said.

Sofia Mantua, 27, is taking all precautions to vote on Sunday, including taking her own pen. It would have been better if those infected voted on a different day, she said.

"It's always hard to manage... I think it should have been planned (ahead of time) because we knew we were still in a pandemic," Mantua said.

The election is wide open as the ruling Socialists continue to lose their lead in opinion polls to the main opposition party, the centre-right Social Democrats//CNA

The team of eight Australian experts landed in the capital Honiara (Photo: AFP/Mavis PODOKOLO) - 

Australia flew a small team of emergency medical specialists to Honiara on Saturday (Jan 29) after the Solomon Islands requested help in battling a worsening outbreak of COVID-19.

Australian officials said the team of eight experts landed in the capital alongside a shipment of more than 37,000 vaccine doses.

"The multi-disciplinary team includes specialists in emergency medicine, infectious disease control, logistics and occupational therapy," the foreign affairs department said in a statement.

"The Australian government is committed to standing with the people of Solomon Islands as they respond to and recover from COVID-19."

Until last week, the nation of 700,000 had recorded no deaths and just 31 infections but on Friday confirmed cases climbed to nearly 900 with five deaths.

Actual numbers are likely much higher due to limited testing capacity.

A lockdown in the capital, which began Tuesday and was due to end Saturday evening, has been extended until Sunday morning as authorities struggle to contain the virus with vaccination rates low.

Under the orders, residents must stay at home unless they have been granted an exemption as an essential services worker.

According to World Health Organization data from Jan 22, just over 270,000 vaccine doses had been administered in the Solomons.

The Australian team is the latest form of aid sent by Canberra after the arrival of medical supplies, including oxygen concentrators and protective equipment.

It is Australia's second intervention in the Solomons in recent months after troops and police were deployed late last year in the wake of riots over Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's rule//CNA

Healthcare workers in Russia. (Photo: AFP/Alexander NEMENOV) - 

Russia reported more than 100,000 daily coronavirus cases for the first time on Saturday (Jan 29) as the country weathers a surge of infections driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant.

A government COVID-19 portal registered 113,122 new cases over 24 hours, nearly double the number of daily infections just a week ago.

The number of cases across Russia continues to rise sharply, with Omicron accounting for the majority of cases.

Following a strict but brief national lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic, Russia has held back on curbs hoping instead to protect its struggling economy.

But with four vaccines widely available for months, Russians remain reluctant to get jabbed with just under half of the population fully vaccinated.

Russia's government figures have reported 330,111 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic - the highest death toll in Europe.

However, those figures are contradicted by statistics agency Rosstat, which counts COVID-19 deaths under a broader definition and says the overall death toll is close to double the official number.

On Friday, Rosstat said that Russia's population declined by more than a million people last year, a historic drop not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union//CNA

Italian President Sergio Mattarella has served a tumultuous seven-year term but is a unifying figure (Photo: Quirinale Press Office/AFP) - 

Italy's warring parties were set on Saturday (Jan 29) to beg outgoing President Sergio Mattarella to stay for another term, fearing political chaos due to a possible failure to elect his successor.

The 80-year old, who has repeatedly ruled out serving again - won nearly 400 votes at the seventh ballot, and the parties in the governing coalition said they had struck a deal to elect him at the next round.

Mattarella will need to get 505 or more votes at the eighth ballot, which starts at 4.30pm (11.30pm, Singapore Time).

Italy's presidency is largely ceremonial, but the head of state wields serious power during political crises, from dissolving parliament to picking new prime ministers and denying mandates to fragile coalitions.

Prime Minister Mario Draghi, a former European Central Bank chief brought in to lead the government almost a year ago, had been touted for months as the most eligible head of state.

But some parties have insisted he is too precious a resource to lose as prime minister and many experts have pointed to the popular and trusty Mattarella as the best choice after a string of failed ballots.

"Let's ask Mattarella to stay, so the team stays the same, with Draghi at Palazzo Chigi," said Matteo Salvini, head of the far-right League party, referring to the prime minister's office.

Salvini has found himself in a tight corner after proposing a candidate Friday that flopped.

Billionaire Silvio Berlusconi, who took a failed shot at the presidency himself, also said his party would vote for Mattarella to serve another term.

"We know we are asking him to make a big sacrifice, but we also know we can ask him in the country's interest," Berlusconi said, adding that Mattarella was the only unifying name on the table.

It would not be the first time: In 2013 president Giorgio Napolitano was elected to stay on, in an attempt to resolve the political stalemate left by an inconclusive general election.

But Mattarella, who has made it clear he does not want the job, may take some convincing.

Draghi was reported by Italian media Saturday to have spent some time with him, pleading the country's case.

Mattarella has already served a tumultuous seven-year term, where he has sought to be a unifying figure through five different governments and the devastation of coronavirus.

The Sicilian, who was a little-known constitutional court judge when he was elected head of state by parliament in 2015, has been appreciated by parties across the political spectrum.

Former prime minister Matteo Renzi said to his "great joy" the parties had a deal to elect Mattarella.

The centre-left Democratic Party (PD) also appeared ready, with senator Andrea Marcucci tweeting: "This afternoon we will re-elect a great president. #Mattarella".

Should Mattarella agree to stay - even if just for a year to get the country through to the 2023 general election - it would leave Draghi free to forge ahead with Italy's post-pandemic recovery.

Debt-laden Italy's economy has begun to revive, but is banking on almost €200 billion (US$222 billion) in EU funds to cement the trend.

The money from Brussels is dependent on a tight timetable of reforms.

International investors have been watching the election closely, amid fears that timetable may go to pot.

"An extension of Mattarella's mandate would be ideal for the financial markets," Guido Cozzi, professor of macroeconomics at the University of St Gallen, told AFP.

"Mario Draghi would remain in charge of the government ... (and) the EU funding flows and planned investments would be guaranteed one for a delicate second year," he said//CNA