Flagship

Anti-Islam populist wins Dutch poll

Geert Wilders, an anti-Islam populist, won the Netherlands’ parliamentary election. His Freedom party did not win a majority, though, so will have to form a coalition. Wilders has pledged to hold a binding referendum on Dutch membership in the European Union, promised to halt all aid to Ukraine, and said he will withdraw the Netherlands from global climate pacts. But his views on immigration are what he is best known for, and why he is labeled anti-Islamic: In addition to wanting to slash migration levels, Wilders has called for a ban on the Quran and for mosques to be closed. Even if the Dutch stay in the EU, “a Wilders-led government … will still be a nightmare for Brussels,” Politico noted.

Israel-Hamas deal delayed

The Israel-Hamas hostage-for-prisoner swap and ceasefire was delayed shortly before it was due to come into force. Officials said the postponement was down to last-minute details, but the holdup underscored the tenuousness of the agreement. Israel said its forces “continued to fight,” and its prime minister emphasized that any truce would be temporary. “I want to be clear: the war continues,” Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday. Yet having accepted a pause in fighting, Israel will face growing pressure to agree to a full ceasefire, and any prolonging of the war will not change the need for a lasting political solution, Reporters Without Borders President Pierre Haski noted on the broadcaster France Inter. “What happens after? This is the most difficult question.”

Malaria vaccines for Cameroon

Cameroon received its first shipment of a malaria vaccine as part of accelerating efforts to combat the disease across Africa. The country is the first in the continent to receive the GSK-manufactured Mosquirix vaccine after pilot programs elsewhere in Africa, with inoculations due to begin as early as next month. Other countries in the region will receive their own consignments soon. Malaria remains one of the world’s deadliest diseases, claiming more than 600,000 lives annually — most of them children, and mostly in Africa. “This could be a real gamechanger,” the head of the U.N.’s children’s agency said.

US raises Sikh plot with India

The U.S. voiced concerns to India that New Delhi was involved in a thwarted plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist on American soil. The issue, first reported by the Financial Times, was raised by the U.S. president during talks with India’s prime minister in September, and came after Canada accused Indian officials of being linked to the killing of another Sikh separatist in Vancouver in June. U.S. officials have reportedly filed a case against people involved in the alleged plot, but it has not yet been unsealed. The accusations complicate the U.S.’s deepening relationship with India, which Washington increasingly sees as a regional bulwark in its rivalry with China.

NKorea launch ups tensions

North Korea’s apparently successful launch of a spy satellite sharply increased tensions in the region, with South Korea scrapping a no-fly zone along the two countries’ border and Pyongyang declaring an end to a 2018 deal to cease hostilities. The launch was condemned by South Korea, Japan, and the U.S., while analysts told Nikkei that Russia appeared to have helped North Korea on key launch-related issues. Despite the growing worries, some experts noted that a lone satellite did not materially change Pyongyang’s capabilities and could, counterintuitively, promote stability: “Given that North Korea has nuclear weapons,” one expert told The Economist, “I would prefer it to have better eyes and ears than the opposite.”

Beijing signals real-estate support

China signaled renewed support for the ailing property sector. Officials are readying a list of 50 real-estate developers that will be eligible for financial support, and directed lenders to increase funding to them to ward off the threat of default. China’s property sector is burdened with huge levels of debt, which analysts fear threatens financial stability and economic growth, while cities nationwide are saddled with millions of unfinished homes. Some experts remained skeptical that Beijing could fully address the problem, which “shows no sign of abating despite the government’s rollout of a seemingly endless series of supportive but as yet ineffective measures,” the Chinese business-focused outlet Caixin lamented in a recent cover story.

Uruguay targets China trade

China and Uruguay agreed to increase trade and investment, highlighting divisions within Mercosur, South America’s biggest trading bloc. The move is part of a years-long push by China to secure its supply of food and commodities, a rising share of which come from South America. Meanwhile Uruguay’s president had staked his economic legacy on building closer trade ties to Beijing despite opposition from the other members of Mercosur, which sought a broader regional agreement with China. The latest deal also underscores South America’s increased dependency on the Chinese market: China alone accounted for almost a third of Uruguay’s exports.

Colombia’s flailing ‘total peace’ plans

Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s plans for “total peace” are collapsing as crime and violence surge across the country. In his first year in government, kidnappings have risen by more than 80%, while extortion is up almost 30%. Analysts believe that Petro’s plans to reach a deal with all of the country’s militias — which have dominated swaths of Colombia for decades — emboldened the groups to expand their territory in order to win greater concessions from the government. Meanwhile record migration has turned people-smuggling into a lucrative business for the armed groups. Soaring crime has eroded public trust in the peace plan: Only 37% of Colombians think the peace talks should continue.

Wildfires bring wolves back

Wolves returned to Southern California for the first time in 150 years after wildfires changed the landscape. Drought and high temperatures created perfect conditions for the fires in recent years: Millions of acres have burnt and hundreds of people have died. But as wildfires killed the trees, sunlight reached the forest floor and allowed plants to grow, attracting deer and other prey species, while also removing their cover, making them easier to hunt. As a result, wolves — which once roamed the entire continent, but now cling on in isolated pockets in a few Western states, including a small population in Northern California — have moved south. Some can be found near Los Angeles, according to Scientific American.

Stones go back on tour

The Rolling Stones announced a North America tour for 2024, months after releasing Hackney Diamonds. Despite celebrating their 60th anniversary last year, the band remains as popular as ever: Hackney Diamonds — the Stones’ first album release since 2016 — topped the U.K. charts this year, the 14th time they have achieved the feat, behind only The Beatles’ 16. The tour will also be the first since the passing of longtime drummer Charlie Watts in 2021. The remaining members are embracing their age, however: The tour will be sponsored by the American Association of Retired Persons.

• Philippine and U.S. forces conclude three days of joint maritime patrols in waters near Taiwan and the South China Sea.
• Canada hosts European Union leaders for the 19th Canada-EU Leaders’ Summit.
• Unnatural Death, the latest crime thriller by Patricia Cornwell, is published.

The price that a bottle of Macallan 1926 fetched at auction. It’s a “new record for any bottle of spirit or wine sold at auction,” according to Sotheby’s. The whisky spent 60 years in a dark European oak cask: Only 40 bottles were made from the cask when it was opened in 1986, one of which set the previous price record when it sold for $1.9 million in 2019. Sotheby’s head of whisky tasted “a tiny drop” of the liquid, made in Moray, northern Scotland, and said it was “not a whisky to take lightly. It’s a rich, rich dram, but it is incredible.”

Nigerian superstar Burna Boy was named the best Afrobeats artist by Billboard. “This is dedicated to Africa and every artist coming out of Africa now,” said the 32-year-old singer-songwriter, who also won his first Grammy this year, when accepting his award. Billboard is the latest platform to add an Afrobeats chart, the BBC noted, in a nod to the genre’s surging global popularity. Fellow Nigerian and Afrobeats artist Rema, 23, was also honored with a silver medal for his record-breaking hit Calm Down with Selena Gomez.

• For people who worry about AI destroying the world, “the last few days have been confusing and alarming,” Tom Chivers wrote.
• Renewable energy companies are lobbying U.S. financial regulators over proposed rules they fear would hammer their businesses and slow the rollout of green power.
• Eight weeks out from the first presidential primary contest, Donald Trump is doing only what he has to, while three far-behind rivals are trying everything.