Singapore opposition lawmaker quits as political scandals mount

By Philip J. Heijmans

central and southern Greece by the end of the week.

Three large wildfires burned outside Athens for a second day. Thousands of people evacuated from coastal areas south of the capital returned to their homes Tuesday when a fire finally receded after they spent the night on beaches, hotels and public facilities.

Most of Spain is under alert for high to extreme heat with forecasts calling for peak temperatures of 43 °C (109 F) in areas along the Ebro River in the northeast and on the island of Mallorca. Spain is also dealing with a prolonged drought that has increased concerns about the risk of wildfires.

Some 400 firefighters assisted by nine water-dumping aircraft labored to extinguish a wildfire that burned for a fourth consecutive day on La Palma in Spain’s Canary Islands. Authorities said a perimeter was established around the blaze but it remained active.

In Switzerland, some 150 firefighters, police, troops and other emergency teams backed by helicopters fanned out Tuesday to fight a wildfire that engulfed a mountainside in the southwestern Wallis region, evacuating residents of four villages and hamlets in the area.

In a report Monday, the World Meteorological Organization said a committee of experts has verified the accuracy of Europe’s all-time heat record: the 48.8-degree Celsius (119 °8F) temperature reached on August 11, 2021, in Sicily. A full report has not yet been published.

The previous verified record of 48 degrees Celsius (118.4 degrees Fahrenheit) was set in Athens on July 10, 1977.

Keaten reported from Geneva. Associated Press writers Dana Beltaji in London; Derek Gatopoulos in Athens; Joseph Wilson in Barcelona; Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus; Trisha Thomas and Frances D’Emilio in Rome contributed.

SINGAPORE’S main opposition party announced that lawmaker Leon Perera resigned following an affair with a colleague just days after two ruling party members of parliament stepped down over a similar inappropriate relationship.

Perera sent a letter to parliament today tendering his resignation, Pritam Singh, the opposition leader and Secretary-General of the Workers’ Party, told reporters on Wednesday. WP member Nicole Seah also quit, Singh added.

“Leon’s conduct in not being truthful when asked by the party leadership about the allegations fell short of the standards expected of Workers’ Party MPs,” Singh said. “This is unacceptable.”

The relationship came to light in local media reports just hours before Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced on Monday that parliament speaker Tan Chuan-Jin and a ruling party lawmaker resigned from their posts after having an inappropriate relationship of their own.

The resignations are the latest in a series of scandals to send shockwaves through Singapore, including a graft probe involving a cabinet minister.

The ruling People’s Action Party has been in power since Singapore’s independence in 1965 and has long touted its corruption-free image, even as neighboring countries frequently battle the graft that undercuts their appeal to foreign investors. The city-state will hold a presidential election in the next few months, and a general vote is due by 2025. Bloomberg News

Panama ex-President Martinelli sentenced to 10 years in prison for money laundering

By Kathia Martínez The Associated Press

PANAMA CITY—Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli was sentenced Tuesday to more than 10 years in prison for money laundering.

Martinelli, 71, had been trying to mount a political comeback in next year’s general elections, but a judge sentenced him to 128 months in prison in a case that revolved around the purchase of a media company.

Martinelli’s lawyers said they would appeal, arguing again that the media company was purchased with the president’s own legally obtained funds. Martinelli is the first former president convicted of a crime in Panama.

The supermarket magnate who governed Panama from 2009 to 2014 was elected by his party last month as its presidential candidate for the May 5 election.

Since the verdict and sentence can be appealed, for the time being Martinelli can continue his campaign for the presidency.

But once the conviction is upheld, his bid for a comeback would be over.

The case, known locally as “New Business,” dates back to 2017 and concerns the 2010 purchase of a publishing company that owns national newspapers.

Prosecutors said companies that had won lucrative government contracts during Martinelli’s presidency funneled money to a front company that was then used to purchase the publisher. The transactions involved a complex series of foreign money transfers totally $43 million. The front company collecting the money was called “New Business.” In closing statements at trial in June, prosecutor Emeldo Márquez had requested the maximum sentence for Martinelli, which would have been 12 years. The judge also fined Martinelli $19 million.

Four others were also convicted alongside Martinelli and sentenced from 60 to 96 months in prison. Ten others were acquitted. Martinelli had denied wrongdoing and maintained that he was the victim of a political persecution.

Martinelli was a populist who oversaw a period of massive infrastructure projects in the country, including construction of the capital’s first metro line.