Hope, Change and Everything In-Between
NEED TO KNOW
Hope, Change and Everything In-Between
UZBEKISTAN
When Uzbeks cast their votes in parliamentary and local elections on Oct. 27, their hopes will be riding high.
Voters will participate in a new electoral system that mixes first-past-the-post-style majority voting, and proportional voting that awards seats to candidates based on how many votes their political parties receive – a recipe for more diverse political representation.
Potentially more importantly, the election could become a mandate for Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s push to integrate the landlocked Central Asian country and former Soviet republic more deeply into the international order – a task that involves many hurdles.
Mirziyoyev wants Uzbekistan to join the World Trade Organization by 2026, for example, to transition his Soviet-style economy from an exporter of raw materials to a manufacturer of value-added durable goods, clothing and food. But less than a third of his country’s laws conform to the organization’s regulations, reported eurasia.net.
Still, the president has aimed to transform the uncompetitive, state-led economy into a “beacon” for global investors.
In that vein, Uzbekistan has already become a destination for medical tourists from neighboring countries seeking quality surgical procedures and other care at cheaper prices.
“I’m not saying we don’t have good doctors in Tajikistan, but I didn’t want to take any risk, especially when my eyesight is at stake,” Ranokhon Burhonova, one of almost 60,000 Tajiks who underwent surgeries recently in Uzbekistan – in her case, cataract removal – said during an interview with Radio Free Europe.
Mirziyoyev has also lowered restrictions to foreign investment and allowed international non-government organizations to operate in the country – in stark contrast to Russia, where President Vladimir Putin often depicts foreign groups, especially human rights advocates, as fronts for espionage or tools for destabilization, according to EU Reporter. Russia made draconian changes to its foreign NGO rules two years ago, Human Rights Watch noted.
An architecturally stunning scientific research institute and arts center in New Tashkent, an expansion of the country’s capital city, is another example of how Uzbekistan is trying to build a more dynamic future, added designboom.
Meanwhile, Uzbek voters want reforms, including more transparency in government and less corruption, more judicial independence, and environmental protections in addition to economic reforms and other investments, the Diplomat wrote. They want loosened restrictions on journalists in a country still deemed authoritarian and “unfree” by Freedom House.
Still, politicians appear to be responding to voters. Some are promising liberal reforms. Others are pledging economic growth or, alternatively, ecologically friendly sustainable growth. Others are appealing to Uzbeks’ national identity.
The test will come after the pro-reform winners of the election enter office, say observers.
They paint a remarkably optimistic picture of the transformation of the country since 2016, when Uzbekistan began trying to shake off its Soviet legacy and the dictatorship that followed. But they caution that much is left to be done, and wonder if the country’s next leaders will have the will – or ability – to continue that transformation.
“One thing is clear – next month’s election marks a historic step for a country still emerging from its post-Soviet legacy, but with its sights firmly set on a more democratic and prosperous future,” wrote International Policy Digest. But even so, “Uzbekistan’s path to becoming a full-fledged democracy remains uncertain. The upcoming elections are expected to provide a clearer picture of how far the country has come,” and where it is going.
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Another One Bites The Dust
PERU
A Peruvian court this week sentenced former President Alejandro Toledo to more than 20 years in prison for corruption, in a case that marked Peru’s first high-profile conviction in relation to a continent-wide scandal involving Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht, the Guardian reported.
Toledo, who served as Peru’s president between 2001 and 2006, was accused of taking $35 million in bribes from Odebrecht in exchange for a contract to build 403 miles of a highway that now connects Peru’s southern coast with Brazil’s Amazon region.
Although that portion of the road cost $507 million, Peru ended up paying $1.25 billion, according to the Associated Press.
In her verdict, Judge Inés Rojas said the former president was responsible for managing public finances and “protecting and ensuring the correct” use of resources, but instead “defrauded the state.”
Prosecutors had relied on the testimony of former Odebrecht executive Jorge Barata and Toledo’s former collaborator Josef Maiman. Barata claimed that the Peruvian leader called him three times after leaving office demanding his payment.
Toledo has denied the charges. He is expected to appeal the verdict.
The conviction is the latest fallout from the Odebrecht scandal, concerning the company that is responsible for some of the most important infrastructure projects in Latin America.
The company – now rebranded as Novonor – admitted in 2016 to having paid bribes to officials across South America to secure state contracts.
Toledo’s case began in 2019 when he was arrested at his home in California and later extradited to Peru in 2022.
Judge Rojas said that Toledo will receive credit for time served – he was jailed in April 2023. He will serve the rest of his sentence in a prison on the outskirts of the capital, Lima, designed specifically for former Peruvian presidents.
The prison is running out of room, noted NPR.
Meanwhile, two other former Peruvian presidents, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Ollanta Humala, are also being investigated in connection with the Odebrecht case.
Tipping the Scales
ZAMBIA
Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema dismissed three of the country’s top judges for alleged judicial misconduct, raising questions about judicial independence and political interference ahead of the 2026 presidential elections, the BBC wrote.
The three judges from the Constitutional Court were already suspended and under investigation for political interference after dismissing Hichilema’s challenge against the election victory of former President Edgar Lungu in 2016.
The judges were also involved in a controversial ruling that allowed Lungu to participate in the 2021 elections, despite having served as Zambia’s president twice, thereby violating term limits.
Even so, Hichilema and Lungu are expected to run against each other for the fourth time in 2026.
The investigation into Justice Annie Sitali, Justice Mungeni Mulenga, and Justice Palan Mulonda by the Judicial Complaints Commission (JCC) over allegations of gross misconduct began after a complaint from a private citizen.
The JCC recommended their suspension, and they later lost a court application for a review of the judicial panel’s decision.
Still, Hichilema’s move to dismiss the judges has been criticized as political.
“My view is that the judges misbehaved spectacularly in the presidential petition in 2016 … (but) this comes across as the president exacting revenge for their judgment which is highly concerning,” Laura Miti, a Zambian social and political commentator, told the BBC.
The process of appointing judges in Zambia is led by the executive branch and many analysts say that leads to the appointment of unqualified or biased judges, and that the system needs to change to improve the quality and independence of the judiciary.
Hug it Out
NEW ZEALAND
A new measure in New Zealand limiting the length of hugs when dropping loved ones off at the airport has ignited debate and outrage across the country, the Washington Post reported.
Last month, the Dunedin airport on New Zealand’s South Island implemented a cap on hugs in the drop-off zone to reduce traffic during peak travel times: A sign put up in the drop-off zone at the airport reads, “Max hug time 3 minutes. For fonder farewells please use the carpark.”
The airport serves the university town of 135,000 people, with fewer than 1 million passengers passing through it annually, a fraction of the tens of millions of people serviced by Chicago’s O’Hare Airport or London Heathrow.
Even so, traffic backs up, say officials.
Dan de Bono, the Dunedin airport’s chief executive, said that warning messages at other airport drop-off zones can include threats of fines or clamping wheels, something Dunedin wanted to avoid, reported the Guardian.
“We’re trying to have fun with it,” he told the newspaper. “It is an airport and those drop-off locations are common locations for farewells.”
But many New Zealanders aren’t amused. Thousands criticized the rule on a Facebook post that went viral, saying that putting a cap on hug time was unreasonable and even inhumane, according to the Guardian.
De Bono added that Dunedin Airport has no plans to strictly enforce the time limit – although he joked about deploying “hug police,” the Post wrote.
Meanwhile, many think that the allotted time, three minutes, is quite generous. At busy airports in the United States, it’s sometimes prohibited to even stop to say goodbye, some on social media noted.
Even so, while De Bono admitted that three minutes is not the world’s most generous hug limit – Nice airport in France allows five minutes – he demonstrated a shorter hug in front of staff and reporters, quoting a study that suggested a 20-second hug is long enough to release oxytocin, the love hormone.
But Michael Banissy, the head of psychological science at the United Kingdom’s University of Bristol, said on Monday that “for some people, time limits might undermine the natural, comforting nature of hugging, potentially preventing individuals from fully experiencing a farewell hug’s emotional and physiological rewards,” reported NBC news.
DISCOVERIES
A Sailor’s Tale
On Oct. 12, Spain celebrated Columbus Day – or Indigenous Peoples Day as it is officially known in the US – marking the anniversary of explorer Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas on Oct. 12, 1492.
And as it did, an old debate over whether Columbus discovered the Americas, where he is buried and even his origins, came back to life.
That’s because of a controversial new study suggesting that he may have actually been a Spaniard with Sephardic Jewish heritage and that his remains are entombed in Spain, according to its results announced during the airing of a program this month, “Colón ADN, su verdadero origen” (Columbus’ DNA, his true origin) on Spain’s public broadcaster, RTVE.
The study involved a team of researchers from the University of Granada using advanced DNA analysis to examine Columbus’ remains in a tomb in Seville Cathedral in southern Spain and those of his son and brother, also interred in the cathedral.
It confirmed that they were a match.
The team’s leader, forensic scientist José Antonio Lorente, announced the results with “absolute reliability” explaining that advanced advancements in DNA technology led to the confirmation. The results were also confirmed by labs in Mexico, the United States, and Italy.
It’s not clear if this finding will put that debate to rest. For years, there has been discussion over which set of remains are actually his – those in Spain or those in the Dominican Republic, for example. There have been persistent doubts because the remains have been moved multiple times, to Latin America and back to Europe, since he died in 1506, Archaeology News reported
Meanwhile, the researchers also say it’s not true that Columbus was actually an Italian Catholic from Genoa, Italy.
Historians have long believed he was from Genoa because of a historical document written by Columbus saying that his estate there would be maintained for his family “because from it I came and in it I was born,” reported Science Alert.
However, some historians have questioned the authenticity of the document.
The research team said that rather than being of Italian heritage, they believe that Columbus was actually born in Spain to parents who were Sephardic Jews – but hid their heritage because of the persecution of Jews in Spain during that period.
Meanwhile, some scientists are questioning the study’s findings. Antonio Alonso, former director of Spain’s National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences, said he isn’t convinced by the new research. “Unfortunately, from a scientific point of view, we can’t really evaluate what was in the documentary because they offered no data from the analysis whatsoever,” reported El País.
El País also reported that a number of renowned researchers dropped out of the study because the DNA from the Seville crypt was too degraded to be able to be accurately analyzed.
For the results to be widely accepted, the findings would need to be further scrutinized by other labs and researchers, according to Science Alert, adding: “For now, the story of Columbus remains one of an Italian sailor who caught the eye of Spanish royalty, who came to be both celebrated and scorned for the mark he inadvertently made on history far from that ‘noble and powerful city by the sea,’ his home of Genoa.”