MALE: The former Maldives president has vowed sweeping reforms and an end to government corruption after leading his party to a landslide victory just five months since returning from exile.
Mohammed Nasheed, 51, made a dramatic return to the top of the national Parliament, with his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) headed for a two-thirds majority in the 87-member assembly.
Nasheed promised to use his party’s mandate to usher in a new era of stability and democracy in the Indian Ocean archipelago as it emerges from years of strongman rule, political crises and corruption scandals miring the government and judiciary.
“Our foremost duty is to bring peace to the government,” Nasheed told supporters in the capital Male on Sunday.
The comprehensive victory was another rebuke for Nasheed’s arch-rival and autocratic former president Abdulla Yameen, who was dumped in a shock election defeat in September under a cloud of corruption and embezzlement allegations.
Yameen did not run, but his party — the Progressive Party of Maldives — ended with a poor showing and is projected to only secure four seats in the People’s Majlis, or parliament.
Nasheed was barred from running in the election but his former deputy, President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih, emerged triumphant over Yameen.
The former leader declared the days of “Rolex watches and Kohinoor are over,” referring to high-profile scandals in the Maldives where MPs have allegedly been bought with luxury gifts.
“The Parliament you have elected today possesses integrity,” said Nasheed, who won a seat in the People’s Majlis, or Parliament.
“You desired to reform the general well being of the nation... Hopefully we will succeed in fulfilling your wishes.”
Nasheed also vowed to transform the Maldives, a popular honeymoon destination home to 340,000 Sunni Muslims, into a parliamentary democracy.
An executive presidential system was adopted under political reforms in 2008, when the dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom stood down after 30 years in power.
Preliminary results from Saturday’s election showed the MDP winning nearly 60 out of the 87 seats. Some local media projected Nasheed’s party was on track to win up to 68 seats.
Another anti-Yameen party that won seven seats, and several independent candidates, are also expected to throw their support behind the MDP government, political sources said.
As the results trickled in Saturday, and Nasheed’s victory was clearly within grasp, the dogged political veteran declared the Maldives was heading for “a golden yellow dawn.” Yellow is the color of his party.
Election officials estimated the final turnout to be just under 80 percent, down from 89 percent recorded at the September presidential election. The official results could take days.
President Solih, who has promised to investigate corruption allegations against Yameen, thanked voters for delivering “a huge majority” for the MDP.
“While we celebrate, we must also not forget the immense challenges that lie ahead of us,” he said in a statement.
Election commissioner Ahmed Shareef told reporters there had been no complaints of irregularities in the run up to the vote, during balloting or at the count.
The thumping MDP victory caps a remarkable comeback for Nasheed, who until November was a fugitive in exile.
Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years prison in 2015 but left the Maldives a year later, after being granted prison leave for medical treatment in the UK.
The charges were dropped by the Supreme Court after Solih toppled Yameen, with judges saying there was no basis for the charges.
International rights groups had decried the terrorism conviction, imposed while Yameen was in power, as politically motivated and unjustified.
The Maldives was on the verge of being slapped with Western-led sanctions before Solih won the presidential election on a pledge to end corruption in the country, best known for its luxury tourism.
Nasheed has also opposed heavy borrowing from China under Yameen’s administration, accusing the former strongman of mortgaging the island paradise to Beijing for infrastructure projects.
Former Maldives president makes comeback with landslide win
Former Maldives president makes comeback with landslide win
- Nasheed, 51, promises sweeping forms and end to government corruption
Australian murder suspect denies drying deadly mushrooms
- Erin Patterson denies all charges in the trial, which has made headlines worldwide
- She says the beef-and-pastry dish, which she cooked in individually sized portions, was poisoned by accident
Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with murdering her estranged husband’s parents and aunt in July 2023 by spiking a beef Wellington lunch with the mushrooms.
She is also accused of attempting to murder a fourth lunch guest – her husband’s uncle – who survived the dish after a long stay in hospital.
Patterson denies all charges in the trial, which has made headlines worldwide.
She says the beef-and-pastry dish, which she cooked in individually sized portions, was poisoned by accident.
Three months before the lunch, phone records placed Patterson in the Victoria state township of Loch, where a sighting of death cap mushrooms had been posted online, the court heard.
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers alleged that within two hours of finding death cap mushrooms in Loch, Patterson bought a dehydrator to use on the fungi.
Patterson admitted to buying the dehydrator.
But she denied purchasing it to dry the death cap mushrooms or that she went to Loch to find the dangerous fungi.
A month later, phone records placed Patterson in a second town in the area, Outtrim, just days after a sighting of death cap mushrooms had been posted online, the court heard.
Patterson denied she went to the area to find the fungi, but said she may have driven by the area.
Rogers suggested Patterson “blitzed” the death cap mushrooms into a powder in order to hide them in the meal.
“Disagree,” Patterson said.
The court heard Patterson had told people that she served the beef Wellington leftovers to her children a day after the lunch, as her sickened guests lay in hospital.
The accused said she scraped off the mushroom and pastry from the dish because her children were fussy eaters.
The prosecutor asked Patterson why she would feed leftovers to her children, while knowing or suspecting that the same meal had put her guests in hospital.
“I didn’t know or suspect that,” Patterson replied.
The prosecutor accused her of telling a “lie about feeding the leftovers” because it gave her “some distance from a deliberate poisoning.”
Patterson replied: “I don’t see how it could, but I disagree.”
The home cook had also invited her estranged husband Simon to join the family lunch at her secluded home in the Victoria state farm village of Leongatha.
But Simon turned down the invitation saying he felt uncomfortable going, the court heard previously. The pair were long estranged but still legally married.
Simon’s parents Don and Gail, and his aunt Heather Wilkinson, attended the lunch. All three were dead within days.
Heather’s husband Ian fell gravely ill but recovered.
The trial in Morwell, southeast of Melbourne, is expected to last another two weeks.
Former student kills 10 in Austrian high school shooting
- Shooter acted alone and took his own life in the toilet at Dreierschuetzengasse high school in Graz
- Europe has been shaken by attacks at schools and universities in recent years that were not connected to terrorism
GRAZ, Austria: Austria will observe a national day of mourning and a minute’s silence on Wednesday after a former student shot dead 10 people at a high school in an unprecedented case of gun violence that stunned the Alpine country.
The 21-year-old shooter acted alone and took his own life in the toilet at Dreierschuetzengasse high school in Graz, police said.
Investigators found a good-bye letter addressed to the suspect’s parents during a search of his residence, but it included no clues about his motive.
After arriving in Graz, Chancellor Christian Stocker described the shooting as “a national tragedy.”
“This is a dark day,” he told reporters Tuesday as he announced three days of national mourning. A minute’s silence will be observed across the country at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Wednesday.
Nine victims were immediately confirmed and a woman died later in hospital from her wounds, an official said. A 17-year-old French student was among the victims, his father said.
Twelve people suffered serious injuries and police said support was being provided to witnesses and those affected.
According to police, the alleged perpetrator was an Austrian from the Graz region who used two legally owned weapons.
He was a former student at the high school, but never finished his studies there, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told reporters.
Bouquets of flowers and candles were placed in front of the school, which has around 400 students aged between 14 and 18, and nearby businesses closed.
One resident, originally from the United States, whose children attend a nearby elementary school and kindergarten, said she was “shocked” and it was “a lot to take in.”
“In my home country it happens more often as we know, but that it happens here is unheard of,” she said, declining to give her name.
“Graz is a safe city,” said Roman Klug, 55, who said he lived close to the school that he said was “known for its openness and diversity.”
Condolences poured in from across Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that “France extends its deepest sympathy to the victims’ families, the Austrian people and Chancellor Stocker during this difficult time.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said “our thoughts are with our Austrian friends and neighbors” following the “horrific” shooting.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban offered his “deepest condolences.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said “the news from Graz touches my heart,” while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her sympathies to the families of the victims following the “tragic news.”
Attacks in public are rare in Austria, which is home to almost 9.2 million people and ranks among the 10 safest countries in the world, according to the Global Peace Index.
While still less common than in the United States, Europe has been shaken by attacks at schools and universities in recent years that were not connected to terrorism.
In France, a teaching assistant was killed in a knife attack at a school in the eastern town of Nogent on Tuesday.
In January, an 18-year-old man fatally stabbed a high school student and a teacher at a school in northeastern Slovakia.
And in December, a 19-year-old man stabbed a seven-year-old student to death and injured several others at a primary school in Zagreb, Croatia.
In December 2023, an attack by a student at a university in central Prague left 14 people dead and 25 injured.
A few months earlier, a 13-year-old gunned down nine fellow classmates and a security guard at an elementary school in Belgrade.
Pentagon slashes in half its request for Air Force F-35s – media report
- The Air Force now plans to seek $3.5 billion for the F-35 aircraft, and another $531 million for advance procurement of materials for it
The Pentagon is scaling back by half its request to Congress for the US Air Force’s Lockheed Martin F-35 jets, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.
A US Defense Department procurement request document sent to Capitol Hill this week asked for 24 of the planes, down from 48 that were forecast last year, the report said.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Lockheed Martin and the Department of Defense did not respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
The Air Force now plans to seek $3.5 billion for the F-35 aircraft, and another $531 million for advance procurement of materials for it, the report said.
The Pentagon has also requested 12 of the Navy’s carrier version of the F-35, lower than the 17 Congress approved for this fiscal year, while the Marines would also see a reduction of two from this year’s funding, the report added.
In May, Lockheed Martin’s finance chief said the firm expects to be awarded a finalized contract on its F-35 jets, which have been beset by delays related to a technology upgrade.
The defense contractor delivered a total of 110 F-35 fighter jets to the United States and its allies in 2024. Lockheed’s F-35 program accounts for around 30 percent of the company’s revenue.
California governor says ‘democracy is under assault’ by Trump as feds intervene in LA protests
- Gavin Newsom: ‘California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next’
- California governor is head of the heavily Democratic state known as the epicenter of the so-called Trump resistance
LOS ANGELES: Calling President Donald Trump a threat to the American way of life, Governor Gavin Newsom depicted the federal military intervention in Los Angeles as the onset of a much broader effort by Trump to overturn political and cultural norms at the heart of the nation’s democracy.
In a speech Tuesday evening, the potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate said the arrival of National Guard and Marine troops in the city at Trump’s direction was not simply about quelling protests that followed a series of immigration raids by federal authorities. Instead, he said, it was part of a calculated “war” intended to upend the foundations of society and concentrate power in the White House.
“California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next,” a somber Newsom warned, seated before the US and California flags. “Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived.”
As head of the heavily Democratic state known as the epicenter of the so-called Trump resistance, Newsom and the Republican president have long been adversaries. But the governor’s speech delivered in prime time argued that Trump was not just a threat to democracy, but was actively working to break down its guardrails that reach back to the nation’s founding.
″He’s declared a war. A war on culture, on history, on science, on knowledge itself,” Newsom said. “He’s delegitimizing news organizations, and he’s assaulting the First Amendment.”
Newsom added that Trump is attacking law firms and the judicial branch – “the foundations of an orderly and civil society.”
“It’s time for all of us to stand up,” Newsom said, urging any protests to be peaceful. “What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence, to be complicit in this moment. Do not give in to him.”
His speech came the same day that Newsom asked a court to put an emergency stop to the military helping federal immigration agents, with some guardsmen now standing in protective gauntlet around agents as they carried out arrests. The judge chose not to rule immediately, giving the Trump administration several days to continue those activities before a hearing Thursday.
Trump has activated more than 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines over the objections of city and state leaders, though the Marines have not yet been spotted in Los Angeles and Guard troops have had limited engagement with protesters. They were originally deployed to protect federal buildings.
Newsom’s speech capped several days of acidic exchanges between Trump and Newsom, that included the president appearing to endorse Newsom’s arrest if he interfered with federal immigration enforcement. “I think it’s great. Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing,” Trump told reporters.
Over the years, Trump has threatened to intercede in California’s long-running homeless crisis, vowed to withhold federal wildfire aid as political leverage in a dispute over water rights, called on police to shoot people robbing stores and warned residents that “your children are in danger” because of illegal immigration.
Trump relishes insulting the two-term governor and former San Francisco mayor – frequently referring to him as Gov. “New-scum” – and earlier this year faulted the governor for Southern California’s deadly wildfires.
Trump has argued that the city was in danger of being overrun by violent protesters, while Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have called the federal intervention an unneeded – and potentially dangerous – overreaction.
The demonstrations have been mostly concentrated in the city’s downtown hub. Demonstrations have spread to other cities in the state and nationwide, including Dallas and Austin, Texas, Chicago and New York City, where a thousand people rallied and multiple arrests were made.
Trump left open the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act, which authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the US to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations. It’s one of the most extreme emergency powers available to a US president.
“If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We’ll see,” he said from the Oval Office.
Ukraine says Russian strikes hit Kharkiv, killing two
- The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said eight children were wounded in the attack
- Peace talks in Turkiye last week failed to yield a breakthrough toward ending the conflict
KYIV; killed two people and wounded 54 including children early Wednesday, authorities said, as Moscow pushed ahead with its relentless attacks after rejecting an unconditional ceasefire.
“Seventeen strikes by enemy UAVs (drones) were carried out in two districts of the city tonight,” Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said on Telegram, later adding that 37 people were wounded and “several people were rescued from houses engulfed in flames.”
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said eight children were wounded in the attack.
Russia has escalated its bombardments of Ukraine despite US President Donald Trump urging Moscow to end its three-year invasion, with Kyiv launching retaliatory attacks deep inside Russian territory.
After a previous overnight barrage of more than 300 drones and seven missiles on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Kyiv’s Western allies to respond with “concrete action.”
“Action from America, which has the power to force Russia into peace. Action from Europe, which has no alternative but to be strong,” Zelensky wrote on social media.
Peace talks in Turkiye last week failed to yield a breakthrough toward ending the conflict, with Russia rejecting calls for an unconditional ceasefire and demanding Ukraine give up its territory and bid to join NATO.
But the two sides agreed to swap more than 1,000 prisoners of war and hand over the bodies of dead soldiers, swapping groups of captured soldiers on Monday and Tuesday.
Kharkhiv, which lies less than 50 kilometers from the Russian border, has been hit by a surge in large-scale nighttime attacks over the past week.
Wednesday’s strikes left a five-story building on fire in Slobidskyi district, while several houses were hit in Osnovyansky district, Mayor Terekhov said.
He said “there may be people trapped under the rubble.”
The attack came after Russia pummelled the city on Saturday in what Terekhov called “the most powerful attack” on Kharkiv since the start of the war.
Four people were killed and more than 50 wounded as homes and apartment blocks were hit overnight and guided bombs were dropped on the city on Saturday afternoon.
Ukraine is also stepping up its drone attacks on Russia, targeting military production and bases.
On Tuesday, one person was killed and four others wounded in a drone attack that destroyed a convenience store in the Russian region of Belgorod, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Nevertheless, the two sides carried out a second prisoner of war swap on Tuesday.
The deal should see the freeing of all captured soldiers under the age of 25, as well as those who are sick or severely wounded, though neither side has specified the number of soldiers involved.
But Zelensky has said it is “pointless” to hold further talks with the current Russian delegation – who he previously dismissed as “empty heads” – since they could not agree to a ceasefire.
As a condition for halting its invasion, Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede the territories Moscow says it has annexed and forswear joining NATO.
It has also rejected a proposed 30-day unconditional ceasefire sought by Kyiv and the European Union, arguing that this would allow Ukrainian forces to rearm with Western deliveries.
Ukraine is demanding a complete Russian withdrawal of from its territory and security guarantees from the West.
