Nov 27(Jowhar)-Madaxweynaha Soomaaliya Xasan Sheekh Maxamuud ayaa khadka taleefanka kula hadlay Mr. Massad Boulos, oo ah la-taliyaha sare ee arrimaha Afrika ee dowladda Maraykanka.
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UNIFIL: Israeli Forces Involved in Grenade Attack on Lebanon Peacekeepers
Under the Drone’s Shadow: Peacekeepers Caught Between Fire in Southern Lebanon
There is a particular hush that hangs over southern Lebanon at dawn — a quiet that feels like the moment before an argument breaks out at a family meal. In Kfar Kila, a village framed by low hills and olive groves, that hush was shattered this week by the mechanical stutter of a drone and the thunderous report of a tank round. What unfolded was not a headline about warring factions so much as a fragile, dangerous exchange centered on those who are supposed to keep the peace.
United Nations peacekeepers patrolling near Kfar Kila reported that an Israeli drone came so close it altered the heartbeat of the patrol. According to the UN mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the remotely piloted aircraft “aggressively” overflew the team, was later fired upon by those peacekeepers, and — UNIFIL says — dropped a grenade near the patrol. The mission added that peacekeepers used defensive measures to neutralize the drone. The Israeli military, for its part, said a drone had been downed and that its forces dropped a grenade toward the site where the unmanned aerial vehicle had fallen.
The scene on the ground
“We heard it like a bee that got too close to the lamp,” said Amal, a shopkeeper in nearby Naqoura. “Everyone looked up. You think these things are small until they come too near and then you feel very small.”
No UNIFIL personnel were reported injured in the incident. Still, the event strained an already taut arrangement that followed last year’s ceasefire deal — an agreement that, on paper, was supposed to keep uniformed conflict from spilling into villages and olive groves.
Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, posted on social media that the drone was conducting routine intelligence work and that UNIFIL forces had deliberately fired at it. “An initial inquiry suggests UNIFIL forces stationed nearby deliberately fired at the drone and downed it,” he said. He added that after the drone fell, Israeli forces dropped an explosive device toward the area where the UAV went down, asserting that Israeli troops did not fire at peacekeepers.
What UNIFIL is and what it does
UNIFIL — the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon — has been a presence along this volatile border for decades, initially established in 1978 and significantly reinforced after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. Its mandate, renewed by the UN Security Council regularly, is clear: help restore peace and security, support the Lebanese state in extending its authority in the south, and facilitate humanitarian access.
Today, UNIFIL comprises contingents from numerous countries across several continents; their uniforms and languages are a visual reminder of the international community’s stake in a small but volatile strip of land. There are more than 300 Irish Defence Forces serving in the mission, their positions farther south around Bint Jbeil and Maroun El Ras. Ireland confirmed this week that no Irish soldiers were involved in the Kfar Kila incident and that its personnel remain engaged in UNIFIL tasks.
Why this matters
The ceasefire agreement that eased large-scale hostilities last year came with specific stipulations: Israeli forces were to pull back from most of southern Lebanon; Hezbollah fighters were to withdraw north of the Litani River; and only Lebanese army units and UNIFIL were to operate in the south. Yet, on the ground, those boundaries are porous. Israel has retained troops at five border positions it deems strategic, and aerial and artillery strikes have continued in pockets.
“Our peacekeepers are not a buffer to be tested,” said a UNIFIL spokesperson. “Their safety is not a bargaining chip.” That sense of vulnerability is sharpened by the introduction of new battlefield technologies. Drones, easily launched and frequently flown, have become both tools of surveillance and triggers for confrontation.
Casualties and the creeping risk of escalation
On the same day as the drone incident, Israeli strikes elsewhere in Lebanon reportedly killed three people — a civilian in Naqoura, another in Nabi Sheet in the Baalbek region, and a Syrian national in al-Hafir. The Lebanese Ministry of Health confirmed the deaths and injuries, underscoring that, despite a ceasefire, violence continues to ripple through communities.
Local residents say they live with a strange normalcy: market vendors, school teachers and farmers carry on, but every so often an explosion or the wail of sirens pulls people like ripples in a pond. “We harvest our olives and then check the news,” said a farmer near Maroun El Ras. “It’s the rhythm now.”
Competing narratives
The Israeli military frames its actions as necessary intelligence and self-defense against threats along its northern border. Hezbollah and its allies see Israeli presence and strikes as provocations that undermine the ceasefire. The Lebanese government — caught between US pressure and domestic politics — has talked about the idea of disarming Hezbollah, a deeply fraught and politically explosive proposal that the movement and its allies firmly oppose.
This tangle of accusations and denials raises a difficult question: who ensures the safety of those who are neither combatant nor defender but which international law still recognizes as neutral peacekeepers? UNIFIL’s role is not to take sides, yet neutrality does not guarantee immunity from danger.
Wider implications: drones, peacekeeping and fragile truces
We are watching an uneasy experiment unfold at the intersection of modern warfare and multilateral diplomacy. Drones — relatively inexpensive, technologically advanced and weaponizable — have added a new vector of risk to peacekeeping zones around the world. Peacekeepers, once largely defined by boots on the ground and armored personnel carriers, now find themselves contending with threats from the sky.
What does this mean for the future of missions like UNIFIL? For one, rules of engagement must adapt. For another, international diplomacy needs to reckon with how quickly localized incidents can spiral into broader confrontations. A drone that strays too close to a patrol or a grenade dropped in a field can spark a chain reaction that ignites broader conflict.
Questions for reflection
Are international peacekeeping frameworks keeping pace with the technological changes of modern conflict?
How much responsibility should regional powers bear in preventing their security concerns from endangering bystanders and multilateral forces?
And finally, what are the moral and political costs of keeping peacekeepers in harm’s way without clearer protections and firmer political commitments?
On the ground, a fragile hope
For now, life in southern Lebanon carries on under a fragile veil. Tea is poured, groceries are bagged, children go to school. Yet every now and then a hum in the sky or the distant rumble of a tank reminds people that peace here is not a steady achievement but a daily act of will.
“We want to live — like everyone else,” said a teacher in Bint Jbeil, voice low. “Not as headlines, not as chess pieces. Just to be able to teach our children without counting the drones overhead.”
That simple wish — safety for ordinary life — is, in many ways, what UNIFIL and actors on all sides say they are trying to protect. The challenge is to ensure that in protecting those ideals, the very people tasked with safeguarding them are not the ones who pay the price.
US Navy Helicopter and Fighter Jet Plunge into South China Sea
Two Crashes, One Carrier: A Quiet Hour in the South China Sea Turns Unnerving
The sky over the South China Sea is often described as a blue stage for geopolitical theater — container ships carving invisible routes, fishing boats drifting like punctuation marks, and above it all, the erratic choreography of military aircraft. Yesterday, that choreography faltered.
Within the space of an hour, a US Navy Sea Hawk helicopter and an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet crashed into the sea while conducting routine operations from the same aircraft carrier. The carrier was not publicly identified by the Navy, but the incidents were tied to the carrier group that launched them. In terse, public-facing messages, officials sought to reassure: everyone on board was accounted for and in stable condition, and inquiries were underway into what went wrong.
A tense hour, measured in minutes
Imagine deck crews moving with the practiced precision of a machine, catapults and arresting wires humming, lights blinking like a city’s heartbeat. Flight operations aboard a U.S. carrier are a study in precision under pressure — dozens of takeoffs and landings can occur in a single day. Then, two separate aircraft plunge into the ocean within an hour. It’s not just a technical problem; it’s a human one.
“We heard the call over the deck net: ‘Mayday, Mayday,'” said a sailor who asked to remain anonymous. “Your stomach drops. Everything pauses. Then the training kicks in — life rafts, medics, search teams. There’s no room for panic, only action.”
The US Pacific Fleet posted on the platform X that “All personnel involved are safe and in stable condition,” adding that the cause of both incidents was under investigation. President Donald Trump, traveling in Asia at the time, told reporters aboard Air Force One that the crashes were unusual and speculated — without citing evidence — that “bad fuel” could be to blame. “What caused them will likely soon be known,” he said.
An unexpected offer from Beijing
In a development that underscored the unpredictability of great-power relations, China’s foreign ministry offered humanitarian assistance following the crashes. Spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters that Beijing stood ready to lend help in rescue and recovery if asked.
The offer — striking in its directness given longstanding tensions in these waters — prompted a quick exchange of statements across diplomatic channels. “Humanitarian gestures are not just about helping a handful of people,” reflected Dr. Li Hua, a Beijing-based scholar of maritime affairs. “They are also opportunities to remind the world that cooperation can coexist with competition.”
Voices from the deck and the waves
There are faces, not just facts, at the center of this story. The pilot of the Super Hornet survived, as did the crew of the Sea Hawk. Relief among family members and shipmates was palpable, even amid the bewilderment about why two aircraft operating from the same carrier would end up in the same stretch of ocean within an hour.
“My nephew called, voice shaking,” said Maria Torres, who lives near a naval base where some families of sailors gather when their loved ones deploy. “You pray and you wait for facts. You want answers. You want them safe.”
Naval aviation veterans told me that crashes are rare but never unthinkable — the product of high-tempo operations, harsh marine weather, and split-second mechanical realities. “There are a thousand reasons something could go wrong,” said retired Commander Samuel Reed, now a maritime safety consultant. “From bird strikes to engine anomalies to simple human error. That’s why investigations are painstaking: they peel away assumptions and follow evidence.”
What investigators will watch for
In the coming days and weeks, investigators will examine flight data recorders, maintenance logs, fuel samples, and the human factors that govern split-second decisions. They’ll interview pilots, deck crew, and maintenance personnel. They’ll analyze weather and sea conditions. And they’ll run simulations to reconstruct the final moments of each aircraft’s flight.
“We look for patterns,” said an aviation safety investigator who asked not to be identified because the probe is active. “Two crashes near each other could be coincidental, or they could point to a systemic problem: maintenance procedures, spare parts, even training gaps.”
Why this matters beyond the carriers
On the surface, this is a military mishap story. Peel back one layer, and it ties into bigger currents: how the United States projects power across contested seas; how rapid deployments during diplomatic missions carry operational risk; and how even seemingly routine incidents can complicate fragile diplomatic moments.
President Trump is on an Asia visit that includes engagements in Tokyo and an upcoming summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Any disturbance involving U.S. military assets in a geopolitically sensitive area like the South China Sea adds a new variable to those talks. Military-to-military channels, already strained by broader mistrust, often become vital for deconfliction and rescue coordination.
“Safety at sea is a shared interest,” said Linh Pham, a maritime security analyst based in Southeast Asia. “Whether it’s a rescue or a carrier deck mishap, there’s room to build narrow cooperation—if both sides choose it.”
Local color and human texture
The South China Sea is a mosaic of small fishing craft, oil rigs, and distant islands — a living seascape threaded with human stories. Fishermen who ply these waters are used to the flash of aircraft overhead. “When a plane goes down, you see it first with your eyes,” said an older fisherman who spends months at sea. “We help if we can. We carry blankets, food, radios. The sea takes, but people try to give back.”
On shore, families gathered in living rooms and at naval base gates, phones pressed to ears searching for updates. The combination of technology and anxiety — live-streamed briefings, terse official statements, an anxious wait for concrete answers — made the hours feel longer.
Questions we’re left with
What does this mean for the broader choreography of U.S.-China relations in the region? Will this incident prompt renewed safety protocols for carrier operations? How do we balance the demands of high-tempo military readiness with the human need for safety?
These are not merely technical queries. They touch on values: how nations treat the people who stand on the forward edge of policy; how rivalry can coexist with humanitarian gestures; and how transparency can build—or erode—trust.
“Accidents remind us of our fragility,” said Commander Reed. “They also remind us why systems of care — search and rescue, cross-border offers of help, rigorous investigations — matter in the first place.”
Looking forward
Investigators will do their work. Families will wait for full answers. Policymakers will weigh the diplomatic fallout alongside routine defense planning. For the rest of us, the incident is a small, sharp story about risk and resilience on a global stage: about lives tethered to mechanical wings, about crews that train to move as one, and about a sea that can swallow mistakes — or demand cooperation to right them.
What would you want to know if someone you loved was on that carrier? How should nations balance the spectacle of power with the deep responsibility of keeping people alive? The South China Sea offered no simple answers yesterday, only the urgent reminder that behind every headline there are human faces and hands doing the impossible work of staying afloat.
Please leave a comment below — stories like this gain depth when we hear the voices of people who live closest to the sea and to the machines that fly above it.
Ra’iisul wasaare Xamze oo xilkii ka qaaday Wasiirka Shaqada iyo Arrimaha bulshada
Nov 27(Jowhar)- Ra’iisul Wasaaraha Xukuumadda Jamhuuriyadda Federaalka Soomaaliya, Mudane Xamsa Cabdi Barre, ayaa magacaabay Wasiirka Shaqada iyo Arrimaha Bulshada Xukuumadda Federaalka Soomaaliya.
African Solar Company Sun King to Open First African Manufacturing Facility in Kenya, with Nigeria to Follow
[Nairobi, Kenya/Abuja, Nigeria] Sun King, the world’s leading off-grid solar company, is establishing its first large-scale manufacturing operations in Africa, marking a major investment in local production and industrial growth.
Trump Touches Down in Japan Ahead of Crucial China Talks
From Osaka to Busan: A Diplomatic Marathon with High Stakes and Human Moments
When the presidential aircraft sliced through the late-afternoon sky and descended toward Tokyo, there was more than jet fuel in the air. There was anticipation, choreography and the unmistakable pulse of geopolitics — a feeling that what happens over the next seven days could reset markets, alliances and perhaps even the arc of a trade war that has rattled factories from Guangdong to Detroit.
Donald Trump’s latest Asian swing reads like a diplomatic short story: a red‑carpet arrival in Kuala Lumpur, an escort by Malaysian F‑18s, a quick refueling and a handshake in a Doha tarmac, then on to Japan for meetings with an emperor and a new prime minister — all while the world watches whether a summit with China’s Xi Jinping will finally pull the two largest economies back from the brink.
A meeting of old friends and new faces
Tokyo was at once ceremonial and pragmatic. The emperor’s gardens shimmered under autumn light as palace aides prepared for the evening audience; next day, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi — viewed by many observers as a political heir to the late Shinzo Abe — sat down to talk alliance, security and continuity.
“Our alliance is not a relic; it is our shared future,” Takaichi told reporters in a brief hallway exchange. “Strengthening security ties with the United States is my cabinet’s top diplomatic priority.”
Trump, not one to bury emotion in protocol, was effusive. “I’ve heard tremendous things about Prime Minister Takaichi,” he said, praising the continuity of ties he once cultivated with Abe. “We’ve got a special relationship.”
At a small izakaya near the Imperial Palace, a server named Haruka folded sake cups and watched the news feeds. “People worry about tariffs and prices,” she said. “But they also like the idea of stability. When leaders meet, business feels a little lighter.”
Stopovers, side deals, and theatre
The trip’s opening acts in Kuala Lumpur and beyond mixed substance with spectacle. Delegations inked agreements on minerals and trade with Southeast Asian partners; ceasefire endorsements were co‑signed on the fringes of the ASEAN summit. Trump spent a brief but highly visible moment on Malaysian soil — his arrival punctuated by fighter-jet escorts and his signature wave along the tarmac — and everyone from diplomats to hawkers felt the resulting ripple.
“It was surreal,” said a stall owner near Bukit Bintang who sells noodle soups. “We’re used to seeing leaders on TV, but having them here — even for a day — brings cameras, business, and people who don’t usually come out.”
There were also quieter, consequential talks: a minerals deal in Kuala Lumpur, a handshake with Brazil’s president that suggested a thaw in months of frosty ties, and a brief stop where Trump and Qatari officials conferred on the fragile truce in Gaza. The diplomatic equivalent of a relay race had begun, and each baton pass mattered.
The China question: rare earths, soybeans and an impending tariff cliff
But the grand prize — the reason global markets leaned in — was China. The world’s eyes are fixed on whether U.S.-China negotiators can hammer out a truce before punitive tariffs set for the autumn take effect. In recent months, diplomats and trade officials from both capitals have been quietly negotiating lines of agreement on sensitive issues such as rare earth supplies and agricultural exports.
“Rare earths are not an abstract subject,” said Dr. Mei Chen, an East Asia supply‑chain analyst in Singapore. “They’re in your phone, your electric vehicle, your satellite. China’s sway in this market — it still controls a sizable share of processing capacity — gives Beijing leverage that Washington cannot ignore.”
Officials on both sides spoke cautiously optimistic in briefings: a “preliminary consensus” was reported by one Chinese trade official, while a senior U.S. treasury figure said additional 100% tariffs scheduled for the fall had, for the moment, been averted. Markets responded; regional bourses nudged higher as investors priced in the chance of a détente.
“If they reach a durable agreement, it’s good for supply chains, for companies, and for consumers who’ve been feeling the pinch from tariffs,” said Marcus Villanueva, a portfolio manager in Hong Kong. “But beware: too much optimism too early is a classic market pitfall.”
On the Korean Peninsula: echoes of the DMZ and a possibility that keeps diplomats awake
After Tokyo the tour moves to the Korean peninsula, where the agenda shifts from economics to security. President Trump signaled willingness to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — a prospect that would be their first face‑to‑face encounter since 2019, when a surprise meeting at the Demilitarised Zone captured global headlines.
“We’re open to dialogue,” Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One. “I would love to speak with Chairman Kim.”
In Seoul, the comments sparked a flurry. A government official, speaking on background, called the possibility “meaningful but contingent,” noting that Pyongyang has linked further engagement to the removal of U.S. demands for full denuclearization — a demand that Washington still insists on publicly.
On Busan’s waterfront, where delegations will gather for the APEC summit, a dockworker named Ji‑ho paused from mending a net to reflect. “There’s always talk here about reunification,” he said. “But we also live with the practical: ferries, trade, families. A meeting between leaders can be a symbol, but the work afterward is what changes lives.”
Why this tour matters beyond the headlines
Why should a reader in Lagos, São Paulo, or Nairobi care about a week of diplomacy in Asia? Because the threads tied here run through everyday life globally. Tariffs and rare-earth embargos affect the price of smartphones and electric cars. A shift in alliance strategy changes military postures that, in turn, affect shipping lanes, energy security and the calculus of regional powers. When the two largest economies quarrel, the cost is paid by manufacturers, farmers, and consumers worldwide.
Ask yourself: how much of your morning routine depends on stable trade routes and predictable markets? The answer might be more than you think.
Broader themes in play
There are larger forces nudging the story along: the reconfiguration of global supply chains after COVID, the rise of technological competition that makes rare minerals strategic assets, and a renewed emphasis on regionalism as nations hedge between superpowers. Domestic politics also complicate diplomacy — leaders must balance electoral pressures, coalition partners and public sentiment while negotiating with foreign capitals.
“Foreign policy can’t be divorced from domestic politics,” explained Professor Alicia Moreno, a political economist at a university in Madrid. “That’s why these summits often feel like theater: they must satisfy international counterparts and domestic audiences at the same time.”
Final act: hope, caution, and the human element
As the plane takes off for Busan and the cameras flash one last time in Tokyo, the story is unfinished. Agreements may be reached. Markets may exhale. Or negotiations could fray. But amid policy briefs and press conferences it’s the human moments that linger: a server wiping down a counter, a dockworker watching a summit unfold on a neighbor’s TV, a timid handshake between two leaders who once traded barbs.
Diplomacy is, at its best, a messy, hopeful craft. It asks leaders to step into rooms where nothing is guaranteed and try to build a better, steadier future. Will this tour produce that steadiness? Only time will tell — but for now, the world watches, hopeful and wary, as history takes the stage once again.
Cabdi rashiid Janan iyo Gudoomiyaha gobolka Gedo oo looga yeeray magaalada Muqdisho
Nov 27(Jowhar)-Taliyaha Nabad Sugidda Gobolka Gedo, Cabdirashiid Cabdi Nuur, ayaa maanta usoo ambabaxay magaalada Muqdisho, halkaas oo uu kula kulmi doono masuuliyiin sare oo ka tirsan dowladda Federaalka Soomaaliya.
Argentina’s Milei pledges sweeping reforms after election victory
A night that felt like a pivot
On a humid Buenos Aires evening, a crowd spilled out from a narrow plaza into the city’s arteries — laughter braided with the crack of champagne corks, the tinny echo of pop music, and a sudden chorus of voices that seemed to believe the country was, at last, turning a corner.
They waved flags with a new logo. They hugged strangers. Some wept. Others danced in shoes that had marched through decades of political promises. It was the kind of celebration that makes a place feel younger; a civic exhale after months of anxiety about jobs, prices and the peso’s wild swings.
The math that remade Congress
Behind the noise was a simple set of numbers: La Libertad Avanza (LLA), the relatively small, fiercely free-market party led by President Javier Milei, captured roughly 40.8% of the votes for Congress — a result that translated into a dramatic climb in parliamentary power.
LLA now claims 101 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, up from 37, and 20 seats in the Senate, up from six. The centre-left Peronist movement, a force for much of Argentina’s modern history, trailed at about 31.6%.
Turnout was 67.9% — the lowest in a national vote in four decades — a statistic that punctures the triumphalism. For many analysts, the headline was not only the victory but the thinness of citizen engagement: millions stayed away from the ballot boxes, weary of politics or suspicious of both the promises and the costs.
What voters said, and why it matters
“I’m here because I want something to change,” said Lucia, a 42-year-old teacher who stood by a kiosk selling newspapers and pastelitos. “Not perfect, not immediately — but different. We’ve had the same families in power for too long.”
Nearby, Omar, a 58-year-old mechanic, smiled with the sort of resignation that has become common in conversations about governance. “I didn’t vote for the party— I voted to get rid of what was there before. Sometimes that’s all you can do when you’re out of hope,” he said.
These sentiments — a mixture of hope, impatience and grievance — echo across many countries where voters have chosen outsiders or shock politicians as antidotes to entrenched systems. Argentina’s result thus becomes a lens on a global pattern: when institutions feel unresponsive, voters sometimes opt for radical change, betting disruption will heal chronic dysfunction.
The reform drive: fast, fierce, and costly
Since taking office in December 2023, Milei has pursued an agenda of deep deregulation and austerity: tens of thousands of public sector jobs eliminated, public works frozen, and cuts to spending on health, education and pensions. Supporters call it cleansing; critics call it cruelty.
The economic arithmetic is stark. These policies were followed by a reduction in inflation — described by government figures as a two-thirds decline compared with the feverish months before — a rare victory in a nation long hobbled by runaway prices. But growth, consumption and manufacturing have faltered, and millions were pushed deeper into poverty in the immediate aftermath.
A currency under siege
Markets have been volatile. Last month, investors began selling the peso en masse, spooked by concerns about policy consistency and political support for the president. The sell-off prompted an extraordinary intervention: the United States, led by a sympathetic president in Washington, pledged an unprecedented financial package — roughly $40 billion — and the U.S. Treasury reportedly stepped in multiple times to buy pesos and stabilize the market.
Domestically, Economy Minister Luis Caputo has defended the currency band mechanism the government put in place and insisted there would be no abrupt depreciation after the vote. “Monday is just another day,” he said in a briefing, emphasizing continuity. But continuity and credibility are not the same thing when confidence has frayed.
Scenes from a divided country
In provincial Argentina, the map told a more complicated story. Buenos Aires province — long a Peronist bastion — moved from a narrow Peronist victory in local elections to a virtual toss-up nationally, an outcome that underscored how volatile political loyalties have become.
“It’s not that we love what he’s doing,” said Marta, a 69-year-old pensioner clutching a folded ballot. “It’s that we want the old people out. Whoever those old people are.” Her comment captures a truth many voters expressed: a desire to punish the status quo, not necessarily to endorse every plank of the new administration’s platform.
Voices from the experts
“This result gives Milei legislative space to push tougher reforms,” said an economist at the Universidad de Buenos Aires who asked for anonymity to speak frankly. “But policy space is not the same as political capital. The social costs are real and will test his political durability.”
A Latin America analyst in Santiago added: “This is part of a larger regional cadence: voters have cycled through populist and anti-establishment movements when traditional parties fail to deliver. Argentina’s crisis is intensified by its currency and debt history, which makes the stakes higher for the world’s investors and for Argentine households.”
Beyond the ballot: what’s at stake
Argentina’s midterms are more than a domestic chapter; they are a test case for how a country can take radical reform without shattering social cohesion. Will fewer state employees and tighter budgets eventually stabilize public finances and restore growth? Or will austerity deepen inequality and political fragmentation?
There are no easy answers. The $40 billion in international backing buys time, but not trust. A more reformist Congress may ease legislative gridlock, yet it risks polarizing a nation where political wounds run deep. And the low turnout raises a question that should prick the conscience of every democracy: when people stop voting, what fills the quiet?
Quick facts
- LLA vote share: ~40.8%
- Peronist vote share: ~31.6%
- Turnout: 67.9% (lowest in ~40 years)
- Deputies won by LLA: 101 (up from 37)
- Senate seats won by LLA: 20 (up from 6)
- Reported international support package: ~$40 billion
Questions to sit with
As the confetti settles, ask yourself: what does political renewal look like in a nation with long-standing economic fragility? Is the willingness to endure short-term pain for long-term reform a hope rooted in evidence or a leap of faith?
And for readers outside Argentina — how do these dynamics reflect back on your own politics? When institutions falter, how patient should citizens be with reformers promising radical fixes?
On the road ahead
The mood in Buenos Aires will swing between elation and anxiety in the months to come. For supporters, this victory is fuel for a bold program; for opponents, it is a call to regroup. For the millions who stayed home, it may be a stern reminder that political outcomes do not always mirror private wishes.
Either way, Argentina’s midterm vote has refocused attention: on how you balance markets with social protection, on how outside money can shape domestic choices, and on whether politics can mend the social fabric frayed by chronic economic hardship. The story is far from over — and it will be watched not just in South America, but by anyone concerned with the fragile alchemy of democracy, markets and human dignity.
Deni, Madoobe iyo Madasha Samata-bixinta oo ergo kala metelaya shir ka yeelanaya xaaladda dalka
Nov 27(Jowhar)-Golaha Mustaqbalka Soomaaliya oo ah madal mucaarid oo dhawaan lagu asaasay magaalada Nairobi ayaa yeelanaysa shirkii ugu horreeyay kaddib marka la dhammaystiro qaab dhismeedka Golaha.
Hurricane Melissa gains strength as it slowly approaches Jamaica’s coast
A slow, furious storm: Melissa’s march through the Caribbean
There are moments when weather stops being a headline and becomes a household sound — the river in the street, the low rumble of wind like an animal circling the house, the radio repeating caution in a voice that has grown hoarse. Hurricane Melissa is one of those moments. What began as a distant swirl over warm Atlantic waters hardened into a Category 4 monster, its outer bands already delivering deadly rain and landslides across the island of Hispaniola and threatening to strike Jamaica with full force.
Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center recorded sustained winds near 225 km/h as Melissa intensified, and warned that the storm could dump between 38 and 76 centimetres of rain over parts of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica. It was, at the time, roughly 190 km southeast of Kingston and about 450 km southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba — a massive system crawling toward populated coasts with the leisurely menace of something that refuses to hurry.
Lives overturned, landscapes erased
In Haiti, where fragile slopes meet precarious housing, the storm’s first kisses were cruel. Authorities confirmed three deaths linked to sudden landslides and flood-swollen rivers. In the Dominican Republic — where mountains and river valleys share intimate borders with communities — a 79-year-old man was swept away, and a 13-year-old boy has been reported missing.
“It felt like the house wanted to lift me out,” said Marisol, 66, a homemaker who left her neighbourhood on the southern plains as rivers rose. “My refrigerator floated like a little boat. We carried what we could and left the rest. You don’t feel brave; you feel very small.” She paused, listening to the rain. “You pray the walls hold.”
These are not statistics on a map. They are kitchen tables split by water, shoes piled in the yards of people who will not know whether the next rainy season will bring more or less. They are a reminder that vulnerability is uneven — shaped by wealth, terrain, and the old, unromantic geography of who can afford a sturdy roof.
Communities bracing — and fleeing
In Kingston, the mood was urgent. Prime Minister Andrew Holness urged people living in flood-prone areas to evacuate and not treat warnings as mere suggestions. “If your street flooded last season, don’t wait to see if this time will be different,” he told reporters. Officials closed Norman Manley International Airport and all seaports, a hard decision in an island economy that depends on tourism and trade.
At a makeshift shelter in a parish hall, volunteers handed out blankets and bowls of rice stew. “We set up beds, charged phones, listened,” said Carol Bennett, a shelter coordinator. “People here are proud, but when the water comes they come in together. You always see the same faces — fishermen, market women, teachers. The community is what will get us through the next 72 hours.”
Emergency alerts and red zones
Authorities in the Dominican Republic put nine out of 31 provinces on red alert, citing the imminent possibility of flash floods, rising rivers and landslides. Emergency services ran continuous checks on evacuation routes, and social services teams tried to reach remote hamlets where muddy lanes become impassable after an hour of downpour.
“Our priority is saving lives and moving people out of harm’s way,” said Jorge Alvarez, director of an emergency operations centre. “We know the places that flood first. We know the people who need help. It becomes a question of how fast we can act when a storm refuses to be fast.”
The costs of a slow-moving hurricane
There is a particular cruelty to a storm that crawls. Rapid intensification — the NHC noted that Melissa was expected to strengthen further even as it fluctuated in intensity — means destructive winds and prolonged rain. That combination drives two of the most lethal hazards in the region: storm surge and landslide. A seawall in Kingston already splashed and creaked under heavy rollers; further surge could overtop defences that have been patched and rebuilt over recent years.
For scholars of climate and weather, Melissa is part of an unsettling trend. Warmer sea-surface temperatures feed hurricanes’ engines, and a slower forward speed increases rainfall totals in localized areas. Scientists don’t point to a single storm and say ‘this is climate change,’ but the pattern of intense storms and prolonged rainfall is consistent with what many models predict. As climatologist Dr. Laila Chen put it: “We’re seeing a climate that amplifies extremes — storms that are stronger, slower, and wetter. That’s not distant theory; it’s the math of our daily news.”
What it means for the wider region
Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic season, which officially runs from June through November. The season already has offered surprises: earlier this year, Hurricane Beryl surged into Jamaica in July, an unusually early major hurricane that left at least four people dead. A string of such events strains disaster response systems and strains communities who are still rebuilding from the last blow.
Jamaica’s economy, which leans heavily on tourism and agriculture, faces immediate impacts when transport hubs, ports and airports close. Slips in sugarcane and coffee harvests, delays in shipping, and interruption of daily markets ripple through households. “When the ports shut, it’s not just the cruise ships,” noted economist Tanya Reid. “It’s fuel, it’s food imports, it’s the small exporters who sell fruit and flowers. A few days of closure can become a week of lost income.”
Practical steps — and human resilience
There are practical steps people can take now: confirm evacuation routes, keep water and medications ready, move valuables to higher ground, and stay tuned to verified official sources. But there is also the human instinct that statistics can’t measure: stories of neighbours carrying the elderly up staircases, of fishermen pulling boats inland, of students handing out flashlights to share news in creaky, candlelit rooms.
- Know your evacuation zone and nearest shelter.
- Store at least 72 hours of water and essential medicines.
- Secure loose outdoor objects and move furniture upstairs if possible.
- Keep battery power for radios and have cash on hand.
Looking beyond the storm
When the rain finally eases and the wind drops, the immediate work will be to clear roads, assess the damage, and help families rebuild. But there is a longer conversation ahead: investment in resilient infrastructure, improved hill-slope management in places prone to landslides, and more robust early-warning systems that reach remote communities in time.
“We will clean up, yes,” said Rosa Mendoza, a schoolteacher in a highland town, “but when I look at the younger kids, I think of the next generation. Are we teaching them to live with these storms, or helping them change the conditions that make each storm a tragedy? We need both.”
What can you do right now?
If you have family or friends in the path of Melissa, reach out to them, share reliable updates, and offer support. If you’re farther away, consider donating to verified humanitarian organizations that work year-round in disaster-prone areas — it’s often the local NGOs and community groups who arrive first and stay longest.
And if you live near coasts or river valleys yourself: ask yourself hard questions. How prepared is your neighbourhood? How easy would it be for you and your neighbours to get to higher ground? Hurricanes don’t respect borders, but the choices communities and governments make in their aftermath do shape who recovers and who remains at risk.
For now, the Caribbean waits and watches, radios tuned to the NHC and the crackle of local stations. Families brace their doors, volunteers stack sandbags, and a region long accustomed to storms steels itself for what Melissa will leave behind. The numbers — 225 km/h winds, 38–76 cm of rain, 13 named storms so far — tell part of the story. The rest lives in the hands of the people who will clear the mud and lift the roofs, again and again.
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