Indian politician shot dead

MUMBAI: A senior politician in India’s financial capital Mumbai was shot dead on Saturday, weeks ahead of key state elections, with police probing the role of a notorious crime gang. Baba Siddique, 66, a local lawmaker and former minister in Maharashtra state, was shot multiple times in the chest outside his son’s office in Mumbai, Indian media reported. Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, from the same party as Siddique, said he was “shocked” by the “cowardly attack”. The Hindustan Times newspaper reported that two suspected attackers had been arrested, and police were searching for another. – AFP

Comoros to hold elections on Jan 12

MORONI: Comoros will hold elections to its 33-seat parliament on Jan 12, according to a decree published on Saturday, although opposition parties have said they will boycott the poll. The Indian Ocean archipelago, with a population of about 800,000, last had parliamentary polls in January 2020. In January incumbent President Azali Assoumani was re-elected for another five-year term, but the opposition rejected the results, alleging instances of ballot stuffing and of voting being ended before the official closing time. The government denied the claims. — Reuters

S African former minister Tito dies

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s former finance and labour minister and first black central bank governor Tito Mboweni has died aged 65 following a brief illness, the presidency said late on Saturday. Mboweni was an anti-apartheid activist as a student who later became democratic South Africa’s first labour minister from 1994 to 1999 under former President Nelson Mandela. He then served as governor of the South African Reserve Bank for a decade from 1999, and later as finance minister from 2018 to 2021 under President Cyril Ramaphosa. “His role in shaping our democratic future particularly during the dying days of apartheid, cannot be overstated,” said his party, the African National Congress, describing him as a trusted voice in the economic debates that framed the transition to democracy. -- Reuters

One dies as Russian plane crashes

MOSCOW: One person was killed in a crash landing of Russia’s Antonov-3 passenger and cargo aircraft in the Yakutia region of Siberia, the regional branch of the emergency ministry said on Sunday. Three crew and two passengers were on board, the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app. Preliminary information indicates a loss of engine thrust forced the emergency landing, the East Siberia prosecutor’s office said on Telegram. Photos posted by the emergency ministry showed a small white and red plane sitting among broken birch and other trees, with parts of its fuselage torn out and fragments of its wings around. – Reuters

Japan PM plans to visit US

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba intends to consider visiting the United States to meet the president-elect before the inauguration in January next year, the Yomiuri newspaper said on Sunday. “As the prime minister of Japan, an ally of the US, it is necessary for me to have a relationship (with President-elect) before officially taking office in January next year,” the Yomiuri quoted him as saying in its interview held on Saturday. The premier also said he “won’t deny the possibility” of visiting the US before or after his planned visits to South America in the middle of next month, the Yomiuri said. — Reuters