International

New lawmaker Saria Hino took her seat yesterday as one of a record number of women in Japan’s parliament, but while campaigning ahead of the recent election, a voter asked her: “Who’s looking after your children?”The mother-of-four was among 73 women elected to the 465-seat house of representatives in October’s vote — the most ever, but still a small minority at 16% .Having won in central Japan’s Aichi region, the 36-year-old is on a mission to “deliver a message from the front lines” of those raising children or caring for the elderly.“The responsibility for children’s growth should not lie solely on their parents’ shoulders,” said Hino, who was elected to the opposition Democratic Party for the People.“I want to develop policies based on the overwhelming amount of information I have — personally — of what’s going on” at preschools and nursing homes, she told AFP.Japan has the world’s second-oldest population after Monaco and its birth rate has been stubbornly low for decades.There are a range of factors why women are choosing to have fewer children, including rising living costs and expectations that working mothers should still shoulder the domestic burden, child raising and caring for relatives.Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who won a parliamentary vote yesterday to keep his job, has called the dearth of new babies a “quiet emergency” and has pledged to promote measures such as flexible working hours.His predecessor Fumio Kishida also sounded the alarm on the looming demographic crisis, expanding parental leave policies and financial aid for families.While the number of preschools is rising in Japan, workforce shortages mean difficult working conditions for nursery teachers, Hino said.“Similarly, a recent government decision to lower funding for elderly care facilities is worsening caregivers’ already tough work environments” she said, warning that they risk closure.Women leaders are rare in politics but also in business in Japan, which ranked 118th of 146 in the 2024 World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report.Veteran female lawmakers, such as former ministers Seiko Noda and Seiko Hashimoto, have highlighted the difficulties of being a mother and an MP in a parliament where debates often run on until nearly midnight.Women made up just a quarter of candidates in the election and can still openly face sexist jibes.Former deputy prime minister Taro Aso this year called then-foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa a “rising star” but also described her as an “aunty” who was “not that beautiful”.And one in four female electoral candidates said they faced sexual harassment during their campaigns, according to a 2021 cabinet office survey reported by local media.Sachiko Inokuchi, a 68-year-old doctor elected in a Tokyo district, said her opposition Japan Innovation Party has set up a babysitting service for lawmakers to help improve the gender imbalance.She wants to strengthen support for mothers in Japan, as “I don’t want to pass on the unwanted effects of a rapidly ageing society with fewer children”.Ishiba’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition party lost their majority for the first time since 2009 in the October 27 election.One LDP lawmaker who won a seat was Jun Mukoyama, who faced the same question on the campaign trail over who was looking after her child — “a question a male candidate wouldn’t be asked,” the 40-year-old told AFP.She spent 13 years at a trading house but quit in her early 30s when she moved to the United States for her husband’s work, while the couple was having fertility treatment.“At that time, I thought, ‘if I can never have a child, I want to make a society that is great for children’,” and decided to become a politician, she said.She was attracted to the LDP’s “pragmatic security policy and proven capability of running the government”.But she felt the party “lacked diversity” in its policy-making, something she wanted to help change. Mukoyama said her priority as a lawmaker was revitalising Japan’s depressed, depopulated rural communities.But, like Hino and Inokuchi, she also wants to ensure the voices of people “facing the difficulties of juggling work and family” are heard.

Japanese lawmakers voted for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to stay on as leader yesterday, after his scandal-tarnished coalition lost its parliamentary majority in a lower house election last month.Ishiba, who called the snap poll after taking office on October 1, must now run a fragile minority government as protectionist Donald Trump returns to office in main ally the United States, tension rises with rivals China and North Korea, and domestic pressure mounts to rein in the cost of living.His Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner Komeito won the biggest bloc of seats in the election but lost the majority held since 2012, leaving him beholden to small opposition parties to pass his policy agenda.“In light of the very challenging election, we must transform into a national party that serves the people, that empathises with the peoples’ struggles, their misery, and their joy,” Ishiba said at a press conference after parliament voted to keep him in his job.Underlining his party’s fragility, however, yesterday’s vote, broadcast on television, went to a run-off for the first time in 30 years, with no candidate able to muster majority support in the first round.Ishiba prevailed in that run-off, garnering 221 votes, well clear of the head of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party and ex-PM Yoshihiko Noda, but still short of a majority in the 465-seat lower house.Japan will hold elections next year for the less powerful upper house, where the ruling coalition’s slim majority could also be at risk if Ishiba cannot revive public trust roiled by a scandal over unrecorded donations to lawmakers.His imminent challenge is compiling a supplementary budget for the fiscal year through March, under pressure from voters and opposition parties to raise spending on welfare and take steps to offset rising prices.For approval he needs the backing of at least one opposition party, which is most likely to be the Democratic Party for the People (DPP) headed by Yuichiro Tamaki. He has held co-operation talks with Ishiba, but DPP lawmakers did not vote for Ishiba to stay on as prime minister.Tamaki is also in a precarious position after admitting yesterday to an extra-marital affair revealed in a tabloid magazine.With his premiership confirmed, Ishiba appointed three new cabinet ministers, one each for transport, justice and agriculture, two of whom replace LDP lawmakers who lost their seats in the lower house election.Ishiba now has to prepare for a slate of international engagements, including a summit of the Group of 20 big economies in Brazil on November 18 and 19.He is also trying to arrange a stopover in the United States on the way to or from that gathering to meet Trump. The Japanese leader spoke to the president-elect for the first time on Thursday in a “friendly” five-minute conversation during which he congratulated him on his election victory.Some Japanese officials nonetheless fear Trump might again hit Tokyo with protectionist trade measures and revive demands for it to pay more for the cost of stationing US forces there.These issues were largely smoothed over in Trump’s first term, from 2017-2021, by the close ties between the president and Japan’s then-premier, Shinzo Abe - a bond Ishiba seems keen to re-establish.Trump “said many things on Ukraine, Gaza and alliances during the election, but it is difficult to predict what his policies will be until he assumes office,” Ishiba said. “Our focus will be on proposing solutions that mutually benefit both nations.”

One person was killed and 16 others were injured in a shooting at Tuskegee University in the US State of Alabama.A 25-year-old man was arrested and charged with possession of a machine gun, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said in a news release. He was leaving the area of the shooting with "a handgun with a machine gun conversion device." The agency did not say if he was the suspect in the shooting.The university said law enforcement "have secured the scene" and the Alabama Bureau of Investigations is investigating.The shooting is among at least 454 mass shootings reported so far this year in the United States.A shooting at Albany State University Oct. 19 left one dead and injured multiple others. It happened the same day three people were killed and eight others were injured when shots were fired in Mississippi. It also follows an Oct. 12 shooting near Tennessee State University in Nashville.

US President-elect Donald Trump announced that Tom Homan will be in charge of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the incoming administration, describing him as "border czar"."I am pleased to announce that the Former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration," Trump posted on his social network Truth Social late on Sunday.Homan will be "in charge of our nation's borders ('The Border Czar'), including, but not limited to, the Southern Border, the Northern Border, all Maritime, and Aviation Security," Trump added."Ive known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders," he wrote, adding that Homan will be in charge of deporting illegal immigrants.Trump also announced the appointment of Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik as US ambassador to the United Nations."I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as US Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter," Trump said.

Donald Trump won the state of Arizona in this week’s US presidential election, US TV networks projected, completing the Republican’s sweep of all seven swing states.After four days of counting in the southwest state with a large Hispanic population, CNN and NBC projected Trump had obtained its 11 electoral votes as he defeated Vice-President Kamala Harris.Outgoing President Joe Biden scored a narrow but crucial victory in Arizona in 2020 that condemned Trump to defeat after his first term in office.The scale and strength of Trump’s comeback, which also saw the real estate tycoon win the popular vote by a margin of around four million votes, has sent shockwaves through the defeated Democratic Party.The Republicans have already regained control of the Senate and look well set to retain a majority in the House of Representatives thanks to support from white working class voters and a large share of Hispanics.CNN has called Republican victories for 213 seats in the House, with 218 needed for a majority in the lower chamber.The networks’ figures show Democrats on 205 seats, although senior party figures are still hoping they can pull off a slim victory that would significantly curtail Trump’s powers.NBC sees the Republicans with 212 seats so far, and 204 for the Democrats.The other six swing states won by Trump in the presidential race are Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada and Georgia.The latest good news for Trump came as the White House said Biden would meet with the president-elect at the White House on Wednesday.Trump — who never conceded his 2020 loss — sealed a remarkable comeback to the presidency in the November 5 vote, cementing what is set to be more than a decade of US politics dominated by his hardline right-wing stance.This type of meeting between the outgoing and incoming presidents was considered customary, but Trump did not invite Biden for one after making unsubstantiated election fraud claims that culminated in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.Trump also broke with precedent by skipping Biden’s inauguration, but the White House has said the Democratic president will attend the upcoming ceremony.Biden’s meeting with Trump will take place in the Oval Office, the White House said Saturday, with the clock ticking down to the ex-president’s return to power.Trump, the 78-year-old ex-reality TV star, won wider margins than before, despite a criminal conviction, two impeachments while in office and warnings from his former chief of staff that he is a fascist.Exit polls showed that voters’ top concerns remained the economy and inflation that spiked under Biden in the wake of the Covid pandemic. The 81-year-old president, who dropped out of the White House race in July over concerns about his age, health and mental acuity, called Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him on the election win.Democrats have been pointing fingers over who is to blame for Harris’ decisive loss after she replaced Biden at the top of the ticket roughly 100 days before the election.Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took aim at Biden, telling The New York Times that “had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race.”As the Democrats weigh what went wrong, Trump has begun to assemble his second administration by naming campaign manager Susie Wiles to serve as his White House chief of staff.She is the first woman to be named to the high-profile role and the Republican’s first appointment to his incoming administration.Trump on Saturday ruled out re-appointing two senior figures from his first administration, secretary of state Mike Pompeo and UN ambassador Nikki Haley.Abrasive former ambassador to Germany Ric Grenell is seen as a frontrunner for the secretary of state position, as is Florida Senator Marco Rubio who called Trump a “con artist” and the “most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency” in 2016.The other frontrunners for a place in the Trump 2.0 administration reflect the significant changes it is likely to implement.Robert F Kennedy Jr, a leading figure in the anti-vaccine movement for whom Trump has pledged a “big role” in health care, told NBC News on Wednesday that “I’m not going to take away anybody’s vaccines.”The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, could also be in line for a job auditing government waste after the right-wing SpaceX, Tesla and X boss enthusiastically backed Trump.

Russia and Ukraine both launched record drone attacks on each other overnight, as the Kremlin said it saw “positive signals” from US president-elect Donald Trump over his desire to strike a deal to end the conflict.Trump’s election to the White House has the potential to upend the almost three-year conflict and has thrown into question Washington’s multi-billion dollar support for Kyiv, crucial to its defence.Russia fired 145 drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said — more than in any single night-time attack of the conflict so far.“Last night, Russia launched a record 145 Shaheds and other strike drones against Ukraine,” Zelensky said on social media, urging Kyiv’s Western allies to do more to help Ukraine’s defence.Russia also said it had downed 34 Ukrainian attack drones targeting Moscow yesterday, the largest attempted attack on the capital since the start of the offensive in 2022.While having publicly claimed to be backing Kamala Harris in the US election, the Kremlin is widely believed to have actually wanted to see Trump return to the White House, welcoming his scepticism over American aid to Ukraine and his chaotic leadership style.“The signals are positive. Trump during his election campaign talked about how he perceives everything through deals, that he can make a deal that can lead to peace,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with state media published yesterday.“At least he’s talking about peace, and not about confrontation. He isn’t talking about his wish to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia — that distinguishes him from the current administration,” Peskov added.But he warned about Trump’s unpredictability, and said time would tell whether his victory could bring about an end to the Ukraine conflict.“What will happen next, it’s hard to say,” Peskov said, adding that Trump was “less predictable” than Harris and Biden.“It’s also less predictable to what extent he will stick to the statements that he made on the campaign trail,” Peskov added.Trump has not said how he intends to strike a peace deal or what terms he is proposing.Russia’s president Putin has demanded Ukraine withdraw from swathes of its eastern and southern territory as a precondition to peace talks.Following Trump’s election, Zelensky warned there should be “no concessions” to Putin, saying ceding land or giving in to any of his other hardline demands would only embolden the Kremlin and lead to more aggression.Zelensky has also previously warned that without US aid Kyiv would lose the conflict.Talk of a US-brokered deal comes with Russia advancing on the battlefield.Moscow’s troops made their largest territorial gains in October since March 2022, according to AFP analysis of data from the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).Moscow’s defence ministry claimed yesterday to have captured another village in Ukraine’s east.Kyiv’s attempted drone strike on Moscow was its largest attack on the Russian capital of the conflict, with Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov calling it “massive”.

Mauritius voted yesterday in a close-fought parliamentary election focused on economic and political stability in one of Africa’s most prosperous democracies.The vote in the Indian Ocean archipelago came on the heels of a historic agreement last month that saw Britain cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius following a long-running dispute.But incumbent Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth’s hopes of an easy re-election on the back of the deal were dealt a blow when secretly recorded phone calls of politicians, diplomats and journalists began to be leaked online last month.Seeking to keep a lid on the explosive scandal, the authorities announced a social media ban until after the election, before making an embarrassing climbdown in the face of opposition and media outrage.The move nevertheless added to concerns that Mauritius’s much-vaunted democracy and civil liberties were being gradually eroded.The battle for control of the 70-seat National Assembly played out between two main blocs — Jugnauth’s Militant Socialist Movement and its allies, which currently enjoy a majority, and the Alliance of Change led by former prime minister Navin Ramgoolam. Both camps said they were confident of victory, promising voters they would act to reduce poverty and the cost of living. One hour before polls closed at 6pm (1400 GMT), turnout was 70%, according to the electoral commission, without giving a comparison with the 2019 vote.Results are expected today. Police had been stationed in polling stations across the country to ensure the security of the vote, while observers from regional groupings including the African Union monitored the process. Ramgoolam had warned shortly after polls opened about the risk of fraud, while later saying that voting went off largely without incident. “We are heading towards a big victory tomorrow. The people are waiting for this liberation,” the 77-year-old told reporters.Jugnauth, 62, issued a similar declaration.“We are confident of winning because the people appreciate our record,” he said, accusing the opposition of trying to hinder the smooth running of the vote.

Twenty years after burying him, Egyptian architect Ahmed el-Meligui was forced to exhume his grandfather’s remains from a historic Cairo cemetery that is being partially razed to accommodate the growing mega-city.“Death itself is a tragedy. Here, you are reliving that tragedy all over again,” said the 43-year-old, who had 23 other relatives also removed from their family tomb, located in a sprawling cemetery known as the City of the Dead in Old Cairo.Since 2020, thousands of graves have been demolished at the Unesco-listed World Heritage site, one of the oldest necropolises in the Muslim world.It is the latest piece of Cairo’s history to be torn apart as authorities aggressively remake parts of the city, a longtime cultural beacon of the Arab world.The Egyptian government says the cemetery’s destruction is necessary to build new roads and bridges that they hope will improve traffic in the congested, densely populated capital, home to around 22mn people. But it is a painful ordeal for families like Meligui’s, whose 105-year-old family tomb, built in traditional Islamic style with grand wooden doors and a spacious courtyard, is slated for demolition.“The most heartbreaking moment was when I found the shroud of my grandfather, who raised me, torn and tattered. The bones fell down and I had to gather them up from the ground,” said the father of three, holding a photo of his maternal grandparents and their four children taken more than 50 years ago. Speaking from his luxury home in west Cairo, Meligui said he had the remains transported in a hearse to be reinterred at a new cemetery in Fayoum province, around 100 kilometres away.The Egyptian government has offered alternative burial sites outside Cairo to families, but these cemeteries are smaller and more remote, according to several people whose families have tombs there.An official at Egypt’s planning ministry told AFP the government “understands the grief of citizens” but said the process is ultimately for “the public interest”. A massive concrete bridge now cuts through the cemetery, connecting Cairo’s eastern district of Mokattam with the central and western part of the capital — cutting the previous hour-long commute in half.“The whole area has changed dramatically,” said Meligui, who owns a construction company.Not far from his family’s burial ground, the Khayalah cemetery was completely razed in April 2020 and replaced with a bustling new multi-lane highway.Mokhtar, a 63-year-old jewellery maker who asked to use a pseudonym to speak freely, said he felt “indescribable pain” when exhuming his family members, including his sister, just five months after her burial. “Imagine digging up your family’s graves with your own hands and gathering their bones into bags,” he said.Mokhtar, who used to visit the cemetery monthly, arranged for new shrouds and a hearse to rebury his maternal family’s remains in a government-provided lot.“I moved my sister as she was, the body was completely intact with... blood,” he said.Mokhtar said the new fast road that cuts through his family’s tomb is not worth the price. “Easier or not. My loss cannot be replaced,” he said. The destruction of Cairo’s cemeteries has taken a toll not only on the deceased and their families but also the thousands of people who have made the sacred grounds their home.Since the 1980s, thousands of Egyptians have been living in cemeteries due to a severe housing crisis in the country of 107mn.One such resident is Sayyed al-Arabi, 71, who has lived and guarded a cemetery in Old Cairo for decades.His one-room home, where his three children were born, is now surrounded by piles of rubble from demolished tombs. Outside, a bulldozer levels the unpaved ground, puddled with water.“They told us they would remove the bodies and demolish the cemetery,” he said, a television hanging on the wall next to two dilapidated beds and a rusty fan.In the spacious courtyard of the cemetery built in 1925, Arabi’s granddaughters played under the watchful eyes of their mother as she washed clothes.“The owners of the graves will receive a replacement, but what about me? Where should I go?”

An Indian soldier was killed in Kashmir yesterday, the army said, as troops battled gunmen in the latest violence in the region.The army said an operation had been mounted “based on specific intelligence” about the presence of militants in remote southern Kishtwar where gunmen last week shot dead two village defence guards.The village defence guards are a force tasked with fighting off militant attacks.The gunmen were from “the same group” behind the killing of the guards, the army said in a post on X.On Saturday evening the army reported killing a militant in a separate gunfight.Police said another two gunfights were taking place in the Himalayan region yesterday with fighting reported in both the Zabarwan and Baramulla areas.Last week, an attacker hurled a grenade at a busy market in the main city of Srinagar, wounding 12 people. Attacks since October have included gunmen launching an ambush on an army convoy, as well as firing on a construction camp, killing seven people.

Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) has partnered with Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) to implement the 'Emergency Food Support for Flood Victims in the Republic of Niger' project.The initiative involved the distribution of food assistance, including 3,600 food baskets and 750 tons of livestock feed, to support animal husbandry in six affected regions. The aid aimed to improve food security for over 6,600 families impacted by the floods.Each family received a comprehensive food basket containing 120 kg of essential items such as millet, rice, sugar, and cooking oil, while families that suffered livestock losses due to the floods were provided with 250 kg of feed.This assistance was part of a wider response to the disaster, as recent floods claimed the lives of 373 individuals, resulted in the loss of 24,955 livestock, destroyed 136,273 homes and 710 water sources, and affected 174,438 families comprising 1,296,618 people.This collaboration reflects Qatar's commitment to acting swiftly and effectively to support communities impacted by natural disasters. It also highlights the importance of partnerships in delivering urgent humanitarian aid, thereby enhancing efforts to meet the needs of those affected.Through this partnership, the QFFD aims to provide essential support to improve the living conditions of beneficiaries, demonstrating the values of humanity and solidarity as a key part of Qatar's vision to promote sustainable development.

Microsoft announced that Windows Mail, Calendar, and People apps will no longer be supported after December 31."Support for Windows Mail, Calendar, and People will end on December 31, 2024," the Microsoft Support website explains."We're currently in the process of moving existing users to the new Outlook for Windows. After December 31, 2024, users will no longer be able to send and receive email using Windows Mail and Calendar. Any local emails, calendar events, and contacts stored in Mail, Calendar, and People will remain exportable," it added.For the past six months, Microsoft has been showing pop-ups in the Mail and Calendar apps, urging everyone to switch to the new web-based Outlook for Windows 11.

US fighter jets carried out a series of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen late Saturday evening, according to a US defense official, targeting numerous weapons storage facilities.The facilities housed advanced conventional weapons used to target ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the CNN quoted the official as saying.The US used fighter jets to carry out the attack, he added.The United States formed a multinational coalition in December 2023 to "protect maritime navigation in the Red Sea" after the Houthi announced attacks on ships linked to the Israeli entity in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza. Houthi's operations were later expanded to target vessels associated with the United States and the United Kingdom following strikes by those countries against Houthi sites in Yemen.

US President-elect Donald Trump has ruled out two of his former Cabinet members - former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley - from joining his new administration."I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation," Trump said in a post on Truth Social."I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our country."Trump is meeting with potential candidates to serve in his administration before his Jan. 20 inauguration as president.Analysts believe that Trump's decision reflects fundamental changes in his team, which indicate he may adopt a different approach in his new term.

Germany marked 35 years since the Berlin Wall fell with festivities on Saturday under the theme “Preserve Freedom!”, against the sombre backdrop of war in Gaza and Ukraine, and fears that democracy is under attack around the world.The liberal ideals of 1989 “are not something we can take for granted”, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday, just days after his governing coalition collapsed.“A look at our history and at the world around us shows this,” added Scholz, whose three-party alliance imploded the day Donald Trump was re-elected US president, plunging Germany into political turmoil and towards new elections.November 9, 1989, is celebrated as the day East Germany opened the borders to the West after months of peaceful mass protests, paving the way for German reunification and the collapse of Soviet Communism.That “joyful day” underlines the sombre fact “that freedom and democracy have never been a given”, Berlin mayor Kai Wegner told a commemoration service at the Berlin Wall Memorial yesterday.One Berliner who remembers the momentous events, retiree Jutta Krueger, 75, said it was “a shame” Germany’s political crisis had erupted just before the anniversary weekend.“But we should still really celebrate the fall of the Wall,” she said, hailing it as the moment East Germans could travel and “freedom had arrived throughout Germany”.Bernhard Hodtke, 93, lived in East Berlin and recalled crossing into the other side with a colleague the next day.“We went down Friedrichstrasse”, a central avenue formerly divided by the wall, “and pinched our arms”.Yesterday’s event at the Berlin Wall Memorial, which was attended by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, honoured the at least 140 people killed trying to flee the Russian-backed German Democratic Republic (GDR) during the Cold War.In the evening, a “freedom party” with a music and light show was to be held at Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate, on the former path of the concrete barrier that had cut the city in two since 1961.Today, Russian protest punk band Pussy Riot is to perform outside the former headquarters of the Stasi, former East Germany’s feared secret police.Pro-democracy activists from around the world have been invited for the commemorations — including Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad.Talks, performances and an open-air art exhibition will mark what culture minister Claudia Roth called “one of the most joyous moments in world history”.Replica placards from the 1989 protests are on display along 4km (2.5 miles) of the Wall’s route.Among the art installations will be thousands of images created by citizens on the theme of “freedom”, to drive home the enduring relevance of the historical event.Berlin’s top cultural official, Joe Chialo, said the theme was crucial “at a time when we are confronted by rising populism, disinformation and social division”.Axel Klausmeier, head of the Berlin Wall foundation, said the values of the 1989 protests were “the power-bank for the defence of our democracy, which today is being gnawed at from the left and the right”.The fall of the Berlin Wall — symbol of the Cold War and the division between an Eastern and a Western Bloc — contributed to the collapse of Communism in eastern Europe and the reunification of Germany a year later.The 155km “wall of shame” was erected around West Berlin in 1961 to end an exodus of citizens from the Western Bloc enclave in Communist East Germany.Most East Germans are grateful the GDR regime ended but many still have unhappy memories of the perceived arrogance of West Germans, and resentment lingers about a remaining gap in incomes and pensions.These sentiments have been cited to explain strong support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in eastern Germany, and for the Russia-friendly, anti-capitalist BSW.Strong gains for both at three state elections in the east in September highlighted enduring political divisions between eastern and western Germany, more than three decades after reunification.

Firefighters grappling with a blaze that has destroyed at least 130 homes in California said Friday they had made progress in their fight as a turn in the weather offered a break.Hurricane-strength winds this week fuelled an explosion in the Mountain Fire near Camarillo, outside Los Angeles, which grew rapidly to over 20,000 acres.Thousands of people in the path of the inferno were forced to flee, some with only minutes to gather possessions and pets as unpredictable flames leapt from home to home.Robin Wallace told AFP the home she grew up in was destroyed minutes after everyone fled.“We were expecting we’d be able to go back and get some things. But of course, that didn’t work out.“It was completely gone by the afternoon. It went very quickly.”Linda Fefferman said she knew she had to go when she smelled smoke. “I’m trying to load the car with animals and important papers, my oxygen concentrator, and when it got too smoky for me, I knew I had to get out,” she told a local broadcaster.A neighbour with a chainsaw helped remove a fallen tree that was blocking her path. “I went down to the Goodwill parking lot, watched the smoke, you know, probably our own house burning.“Nothing is left. It’s gone,” she said. “It’s all gone.” Fefferman said she thought 14 or 15 houses on her street had been destroyed by the flames.Authorities said on Thursday that initial inspections revealed at least 132 homes had been lost, with 88 more damaged.The area is home to around 30,000 people, with approximately 10,000 having been told to evacuate. The blaze erupted Wednesday morning and spread rapidly, fanned by fierce seasonal Santa Ana winds from California’s desert interior.Gusts up to 80 miles an hour pushed smoke and flames sideways, with terrifying footage showing fire engulfing brush, orchards and properties. Those winds dropped Friday, with meteorologists saying they did not expect them to return for at least a few days.That was welcome news for firefighters, some of whom had been on the frontlines for 36 hours straight. The change in weather meant fire crews were able to make progress in their fight, said Nick Cleary of the Ventura County Fire Department, with 14 percent of the perimeter of the blaze contained.“Today on the fire, we had a very successful day,” he told reporters, with a mild onshore breeze bringing some much-needed humidity.More than 2,400 personnel, as well as engines, bulldozers and aircraft were involved in the fight.

The United Nations has reported that devastating floods in South Sudan have impacted around 1.4 million people, displacing more than 379,000 individuals across the country.The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that the floods have affected 1.4 million people in 43 counties, including the Abyei region, with mounting concerns over the spread of malaria in flood-hit areas.OCHA highlighted South Sudan's acute vulnerability to climate change, noting that the country is experiencing its most severe flooding in decades, particularly in its northern regions. The humanitarian office warned that rising malaria cases in multiple states are straining an already fragile healthcare system, further exacerbating the crisis for flood-affected communities.

Mozambique’s opposition yesterday promised fresh protests, as rights groups said at least 30 people had been killed in three weeks of demonstrations over contested election results.The southern African nation has been rocked by violence since the Frelimo party was announced winner of the October 9 elections with more than 70% of votes. The party has been in power for almost 50 years.Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, who won 20% of the vote according to the election authority, claims the vote was rigged. In social media posts, he has called his supporters onto the streets in protest.In the biggest demonstration yet, thousands of opposition supporters marched through Maputo on Thursday.Security forces fired tear gas and deployed dogs to disperse the crowds, as some protesters threw rocks and set up barricades using burning tyres and bins.The city’s largest hospital, Maputo Central Hospital, registered three deaths from Thursday’s violence, spokesperson Dino Lopes told reporters.It also treated 66 people for injuries, Lopes said yesterday, adding that four of them were in a serious condition. The police did not immediately confirm this toll.Burnt vehicles littered the streets yesterday and stone barricades were still in place in some areas, but markets and stores had reopened. Human Rights Watch did not have a toll for Thursday’s protests but said it had counted at least 30 dead between October 19 and November 6 across the country. This includes two opposition figures shot dead on October 19.Mozambique’s Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD) said at least 34 were killed, according to its tally.“What began as a call for electoral justice has transformed into a brutal display of state repression, with the number of confirmed deaths now at 34,” it said in a post on X. A police officer has also been killed, Defence Minister Cristovao Chume told reporters Tuesday, warning that the army could intervene “to protect the interests of the state”.It appeared the protesters intended to “change the democratically established power”, he said.President Filipe Nyusi is expected to step down at the end of a two-term limit in January and hand over to the party’s Daniel Chapo.The Constitutional Council, which has to confirm the election results around two weeks before then, has asked for clarification about a possible discrepancy in voter numbers.Election observers, including from the European Union, have noted irregularities in the poll.PROTESTS ‘TO CONTINUE’Mondlane, a 50-year-old former radio presenter, is in hiding and told AFP in an interview Wednesday that he could not reveal his whereabouts other than to say he was not in Africa.“I feel that there is a revolutionary atmosphere... that shows that we are on the verge of a unique historical and political transition in the country,” he said.His Podemos party, which has demanded a recount, said Friday it would not let up the pressure.Its calls for demonstrations are to demand “electoral truth”, Podemos president Albino Forquilha told reporters. “We will continue on the streets until we have an answer. We are putting fair pressure and we do not want violence,” he said. Forquilha said Podemos data showed “inconsistencies in the number of voters and the number of registered voters”.The unrest in Mozambique has been linked to disturbances at one of its busiest border posts with South Africa, Lebombo, where there were reports of vehicles being torched.South African authorities shut the crossing on Tuesday but reopened it yesterday to allow the movement of people, South Africa’s Border Management Authority said.About 300 trucks were queueing to enter Mozambique, the Southern African Association of Freight Forwarders said.Police in Eswatini, which also borders Mozambique, meanwhile reported that scores of Mozambicans had entered the country at one border post apparently to avoid the turmoil.“Currently there are close to a hundred, which are kept at the Siteki police station but the number has been growing from Wednesday,” said communications officer Senior Superintendent Phindile Vilakati.

Botswana swore in new president Duma Boko yesterday, cementing a whirlwind change of government after his landslide election victory last week kicked out the party in power for nearly 60 years.Boko, 54, took the oath in front of several thousand people in the national stadium just nine days after his Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) crushed the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) at the ballot box.“For nearly three score years, our democracy remained unbroken, unproven and untested. On the 30th of October this year, together, we tested this democracy,” Boko said in a speech afterwards.“It is with pride and perhaps even a tinge of relief that I can proudly say we have passed this test with flying colours,” he said to cheers from the crowd.“Together, we usher in a new political dawn.”Boko’s left-leaning UDC won 36 seats in parliament compared to just four for the conservative BDP, in a stunning reversal for the party that had ruled diamond-rich Botswana since its independence from Britain in 1966.Former president Mokgweetsi Masisi, who conceded defeat two days after the vote as his party’s colossal defeat became clear, was in the audience alongside leaders of other southern African countries including Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.Although the crowd booed Masisi, the new president praised his predecessor’s “statesmanship”. “Please give him some love,” Boko told the stadium.“Botswana has set the example of a true democracy at work for the whole world to see and emulate. For that singular act, the former president will remain inscribed prominently in our hearts.”Young voters made up about a third of the more than 1mn people registered to vote in the arid and sparsely populated country.Many said they wanted change after nearly six decades of BDP rule, with main concerns being unemployment, the disparity between rich and poor and the economy, which has been hit by plummeting diamond sales, the mainstay of Botswana’s revenues.Masisi’s government was also accused of mismanagement, nepotism and corruption.Voter turnout was 80% in a country of 2.6mn people which is proud of the democratic system it installed at independence.“You, my fellow Batswana, are the true architects of this day,” Boko said.Dressed in a blue shirt and black tie — the colours of the Botswana flag — he started the event by circling the stadium in a vehicle, flanked by galloping white horses, and waving to the cheering crowd that filled the venue. “For me, the attendance of Batswana from all walks of life demonstrates how united we are and committed to nation-building,” said Wabuya Keobonye, 88, a taxi driver who was present.“Young people, we are the leaders of today, not tomorrow, and we demonstrated that through our participation in the vote,” said Ipotseng Negroes, 35, a farmer attending the inauguration.“The power of Batswana is loud and clear, and what we want is change.”JOBS AND HOMESThe UDC ran on an ambitious campaign that pledged to create up to 500,000 jobs and build 100,000 houses in five years, cut water and electricity tariffs, and introduce health insurance for every citizen.Boko has said a priority will be to stabilise relations with partners in the diamond industry, while diversifying the economy away from its dependence on the international diamond market.Among the foreign guests at his inauguration was Zimbabwe opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, who said the regime change in Botswana fuelled “hopes for freedom” for his own country, where the Zanu-PF party has ruled since independence in 1980.Chamisa in August 2023 lost an election he described as fraudulent to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was also present at Boko’s inauguration.Botswana is “heralding an era of newness, an era of transformation, an era of effective transition” for the continent and region, Chamisa told the state broadcaster BTV.

Elon Musk’s dream of transporting humans to Mars will become a bigger national priority under the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump, sources said, signalling big changes for Nasa’s moon program and a boost for Musk’s SpaceX.Nasa’s Artemis programme, which aims to use SpaceX’s Starship rocket to put humans on the moon as a proving ground for later Mars missions, is expected to focus more on the Red Planet under Trump and target uncrewed missions there this decade, according to four people familiar with Trump’s burgeoning space policy agenda. Targeting Mars with spacecraft built for astronauts is not only more ambitious than focusing on the moon, but is also fraught with risk and potentially more expensive. Musk, who danced onstage at a Trump rally wearing an “Occupy Mars” T-shirt in October, spent $119mn on Trump’s White House bid and has successfully elevated space policy at an unusual time in a presidential transition. In September, weeks after Musk endorsed Trump, the latter told reporters that the moon was a “launching pad” for his ultimate goal to reach Mars.“At a minimum, we’re going to get a more realistic Mars plan, you’ll see Mars being set as an objective,” said Doug Loverro, a space industry consultant who once led Nasa’s human exploration unit under Trump, who served as US president from 2017-2021.SpaceX, Musk and the Trump campaign did not immediately return requests for comment. A Nasa spokeswoman said it “wouldn’t be appropriate to speculate on any changes with the new administration.” Plans could still change, the sources added, as the Trump transition team takes shape in the coming weeks.Trump launched the Artemis program in 2019 during his first term and it was one of the few initiatives maintained under the administration of President Joe Biden. Trump space advisers want to revamp a program they will argue has languished in their absence, the sources said. Musk, who also owns electric-vehicle maker Tesla and brain-chip startup Neuralink, has made slashing government regulation and trimming down bureaucracy another core basis of his Trump support.For space, the sources said, Musk’s deregulation desires are likely to trigger changes at the Federal Aviation Administration’s commercial space office, whose oversight of private rocket launches has frustrated Musk for slowing down SpaceX’s Starship development.The FAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nasa under Trump, the sources said, is likely to favour fixed-price space contracts that shift greater responsibility onto private companies and scale back over-budget programs that have strained the Artemis budget.That could spell trouble for the only rocket Nasa owns, the Space Launch System rocket (SLS), whose roughly $24bn development since 2011 has been led by Boeing and Northrop Grumman. Cancelling the program, some say, would be difficult since it would cost thousands of jobs and leave the US even more dependent on SpaceX. Boeing and Northrop did not immediately return a request for comment.Musk, whose predictions have sometimes proven overly ambitious, said in September that SpaceX will land Starship on Mars in 2026 and a crewed mission will follow in four years’ time. Trump has said at campaign rallies that he has discussed these ideas with Musk. Many industry experts see this timeline as improbable.“Is it possible for Elon to put a Starship on the surface of Mars in a one-way mission by the end of Trump’s term? Absolutely, he certainly could do that,” said Scott Pace, the top space policy official during Trump’s first term.“Is that a manned mission on Mars? No,” Pace added. “You have to walk before you run.”* Musk wants to send humans to Mars in a matter of years* Trump echoed Musk’s goal after billionaire’s endorsement* Mars missions fraught with costs, risks, experts say

US President-elect Donald Trump yesterday made his first cabinet appointment after his decisive election win, while signalling his intent to ditch the outgoing administration’s policies by talking to Vladimir Putin. Trump’s campaign manager Susie Wiles will serve as his White House chief of staff, the first woman to be named to the high-profile role and the Republican’s first appointment to his incoming administration.Trump’s crushing defeat of Democrat Kamala Harris is already shaking up US and world politics, just two days after Election Day and two-and-a-half months before he returns to the White House.Putin, the Russian president, hailed Trump as “courageous” for the way he handled himself following an assassination attempt at a rally in July, and said he was “ready” to hold discussions with him. Billionaire Trump later told NBC News that he had not talked to Putin, the authoritarian leader whom he has repeatedly praised over the years, since his victory but “I think we’ll speak.”It marked a seismic shift from the icy silence that has existed between Biden and Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and underscored Trump’s criticism of US support for Kyiv. The president-elect has previously said he would push through a peace deal in that conflict - but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who spoke to Trump on Wednesday, said calls for a ceasefire were “dangerous”.Chinese President Xi Jinping had earlier joined the list of foreign leaders congratulating Trump, who was criticised by Harris during the election campaign for being too friendly with autocrats.Trump doubled down on his plans for mass deportations of undocumented migrants, telling NBC he had “no choice” and that there could be “no price tag” that was too much.As Trump began to work at his Florida resort on his transition team, Biden pledged a peaceful and “orderly” transfer of power.Biden, 81, urged Americans in a solemn televised address to “bring down the temperature”, in stark contrast to Trump’s refusal to accept his 2020 election defeat.The Democrat has invited Trump for talks at the White House. But Biden’s spokeswoman said Trump’s team had not yet signed key documents allowing the legal transition process to start. In his speech from the Rose Garden of the White House, Biden called for unity while urging Democrats not to lose hope, saying: “Remember, a defeat does not mean we are defeated.”Yet finger-pointing has already erupted in the party over Biden’s initial decision to run for a second term despite his age, before dropping out at the last minute in July and handing the reins to Harris, his vice-president. Trump won or was leading all seven battleground states, including Nevada, which was the latest to be called for the former president by the networks.The White House denied Biden had any regrets. “He believed it was the right decision to make at that time,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. Trump’s election in the face of a criminal conviction for fraud, two impeachments and the fact that he is the oldest-ever elected president at 78 reflected voters’ desire for change from the Biden years.Voter concerns over the economy and migration drove Trump’s victory. Trump’s first cabinet pick Wiles enjoys wide support within his team and was notably called on stage during his victory speech on Wednesday morning. “Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again,” Trump said of the steely 67-year-old Florida native.The other frontrunners for a place in the Trump 2.0 administration reflect the disruptive shape it is likely to take. Robert F Kennedy Jr, a leading figure in the anti-vaccine movement for whom Trump has pledged a “big role” in health care, told NBC News on Wednesday that “I’m not going to take away anybody’s vaccines.”But the former independent candidate reiterated that the Trump administration would recommend removing fluoride - a mineral US authorities say aids dental and skeletal health - from public water supplies. The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, could also be in line for a job auditing government waste after the right-wing SpaceX, Tesla and X boss enthusiastically backed Trump.Trump is expected to wield the axe on many of Biden’s signature policies. He returns to the White House as a climate change denier, poised to take apart Biden’s green policies with his pledge to “drill, baby, drill” for oil.He may find it hard to dismantle some of Biden’s investment legislation, which pumps money into many Congressional districts where members would be loath to see it go.