Most strokes could be prevented, according to new guidelines aimed at helping people and their doctors do just that. 

Stroke was the fourth-leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than half a million Americans have a stroke every year. But up to 80% of strokes may be preventable with better nutrition, exercise and identification of risk factors. 

The first new guidelines on stroke prevention in 10 years from the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, include recommendations for people and doctors that reflect a better understanding of who gets strokes and why, along with new drugs that can help reduce risk. 

The good news is that the best way to reduce your risk for stroke is also the best way to reduce your risk for a whole host of health problems — eat a healthy diet, move your body and don’t smoke. The bad news is that it’s not always so easy to sustain. 

Dr. Sean Duke, a stroke doctor at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, blames the forces in society that keep people sedentary and eating poorly, like cell phones and cheap, unhealthy food. “Our world is stacked against us,” he said. 

Here’s what to know about stroke and the new guidelines: 

What is a stroke? 

A stroke happens when blood flow to part of the brain is blocked or if a blood vessel in the brain bursts. That deprives the brain of oxygen which can cause brain damage that can lead to difficulty thinking, talking and walking, or even death. 

How eating healthy can reduce your risk for stroke 

Eating healthy can help control several factors that increase your risk for stroke, including high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and obesity, according to the heart association. 

The group recommends foods in the so-called Mediterranean diet such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and olive oil, which can help keep cholesterol levels down. It suggests limiting red meat and other sources of saturated fat. Instead, get your protein from beans, nuts, poultry, fish and seafood. 

Limit highly processed foods and foods and drinks with a lot of added sugar. This can also reduce your calorie intake, which helps keep weight in check. 

Moving your body can help prevent strokes 

Getting up and walking around for at least 10 minutes a day can “drastically” reduce your risk, said Dr. Cheryl Bushnell, a neurologist at Wake Forest University School of Medicine who was part of the group that came up with the new guidelines. Among the many benefits: Regular exercise can help reduce blood pressure, a major risk factor for stroke. 

Of course, more is better: The heart association recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic or 75 minutes of vigorous activity — or some combination — per week. How you do it doesn’t matter so much, experts said: Go to the gym, take a walk or run in your neighborhood or use treadmills or stepper machines at home. 

New tools to reduce obesity, a risk factor for stroke 

Diet and exercise can help control weight, another important risk factor for strokes. But a new class of drugs that can drastically reduce weight have been approved by regulators, providing new tools to reduce stroke risk since guidelines were last updated. 

The guidelines now recommend that doctors consider prescribing these drugs, including those sold under the brand names Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound, to people with obesity or diabetes. 

But while those drugs can help, people still need to eat well and get exercise, cautions Dr. Fadi Nahab, a stroke expert at Emory University Hospital. 

Guidelines help identify people who might be at higher risk 

The new guidelines for the first time recommend doctors screen patients for other factors that could increase stroke risk, including sex and gender and non-medical factors such as economic stability, access to health care, discrimination and racism. For example, the risk for having a first stroke is nearly twice as high for Black adults in the U.S. as it is for white adults, according to the CDC. 

“If somebody doesn’t have insurance or they can’t get to a doctor’s office because of transportation issues or they can’t get off work to get health care … these are all things that can impact the ability to prevent stroke,” Bushnell said. 

Doctors may be able to point to resources for low-cost health care or food, and can give ideas about how to be active without breaking the bank for a gym membership. 

The guidelines also now recommend doctors should screen for conditions that could increase a woman’s risk for stroke, such as high blood pressure during pregnancy or early menopause. 

How do I know if I’m having a stroke and what do I do? 

Three of the most common stroke symptoms include face weakness, arm weakness and difficulty speaking. And time is important, because brain damage can happen quickly and damage can be limited if a stroke is treated quickly. Stroke experts have coined an acronym to help you remember: FAST. F for face, A for arm, S for speech, and T for time. If you think you or a loved one could be having a stroke, call 911 right away. 
…

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Defense Department will appeal a military judge’s ruling that plea agreements struck by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks, and two of his co-defendants are valid, a defense official said Saturday.

The ruling this past week voided Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s order to throw out the deals and concluded that the plea agreements were valid. The judge granted the three motions to enter guilty pleas and said he would schedule them for a future date to be determined by the military commission.

The department will also seek a postponement of any hearing on the pleas, according to the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss legal matters and spoke on condition of anonymity. Rear Admiral Aaron Rugh, the chief prosecutor, sent a letter Friday to the families of 9/11 victims informing them of the decision.

The ruling by the judge, Air Force Colonel Matthew McCall, allowed the three 9/11 defendants to enter guilty pleas in the U.S. military courtroom at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and would spare them the risk of the death penalty. The pleas by Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi would be a key step toward closing out the long-running and legally troubled government prosecution in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Government prosecutors had negotiated the deals with defense lawyers under government auspices, and the top official for the military commission at Guantanamo had approved the agreements. But the deals were immediately slammed by Republican lawmakers and others when they were made public this summer.

Within days, Austin issued an order saying he was nullifying them. He said plea bargains in possible death penalty cases tied to one of the gravest crimes ever carried out on U.S. soil were a momentous step that should only be decided by the defense secretary.

The judge had ruled that Austin lacked the legal authority to toss out the plea deals.

The agreements, and Austin’s attempt to reverse them, have made for one of the most fraught episodes in a U.S. prosecution marked by delays and legal difficulties. That includes years of ongoing pretrial hearings to determine the admissibility of statements by the defendants, given their torture in CIA custody.

While families of some of the victims and others are adamant that the 9/11 prosecutions continue until trial and possible death sentences, legal experts say it is not clear that could ever happen. If the 9/11 cases ever clear the hurdles of trial, verdicts and sentencings, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit would likely hear many of the issues in the course of any death penalty appeals.

The issues include the CIA destruction of videos of interrogations, whether Austin’s plea deal reversal constituted unlawful interference and whether the torture of the men tainted subsequent interrogations by “clean teams” of FBI agents that did not involve violence.
…

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY — A 31-year-old American tourist was killed while on vacation in Hungary’s capital, and the suspect, a 37-year-old Irish man, has been arrested, Hungarian police said Saturday.

The victim, Mackenzie Michalski of Portland, Oregon, was reported missing on November 5 after she was last seen at a nightclub in central Budapest. Police launched a missing person investigation and reviewed security footage from local nightclubs, on which they observed Michalski with a man later identified as the suspect in several of the clubs the night of her disappearance.

Police detained the man, an Irish citizen, on the evening of November 7. Investigators said that Michalski and the suspect met at a nightclub and danced before leaving for the man’s rented apartment. The man killed Michalski while they were engaged in an “intimate encounter,” police said.

The suspect, whom police identified by the initials L.T.M., later confessed to the killing but said it was an accident, police said, adding that he attempted to cover up his crime by cleaning the apartment and hiding Michalski’s body in a wardrobe before purchasing a suitcase and placing her body inside.

He then rented a car and drove to Lake Balaton, around 150 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Budapest, where he disposed of the body in a wooden area outside the town of Szigliget.

Video released by police showed the suspect guiding authorities to the location where he had left the body. Police said the suspect had made internet searches before being apprehended on how to dispose of a body, police procedures in missing person cases, whether pigs really eat dead bodies and the presence of wild boars in the Lake Balaton area.

He also made an internet search inquiring on the competence of Budapest police.

Michalski’s parents are currently in Budapest, police told The Associated Press.

According to a post by an administrator of a Facebook group called “Find Mackenzie Michalski,” which was created on November 7, Michalski, who went by “Kenzie,” was a nurse practitioner who “will forever be remembered as a beautiful and compassionate young woman.”
…

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA — Huldah Momanyi Hiltsley made history November 5 by becoming the first Kenyan-born immigrant elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives. She describes her victory as a testament to resilience, determination and the realization of the American dream.

Standing in the State Capitol for the first time on the morning of her orientation, Hiltsley told VOA she was overwhelmed with emotions and eager to start her journey as an elected official.

“I am super excited,” Hiltsley said. “Today is orientation day for new legislators, and to be standing in this Capitol as an African immigrant woman is a tremendous honor. I’m just overexcited right now.”

She said this milestone did not come easily. Her path to the Minnesota State Capitol was marked by struggles, including a fight against an immigration system that nearly led to her family’s deportation. She credits much of her success to the community support and the intervention of the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, whose advocacy she said ultimately secured her family’s green cards and, later, citizenship.

“Getting to this moment honestly is just a testament to the struggles that my family has gone through to be in this country,” she said.

There has been a media frenzy surrounding Hiltsley’s victory, and it has captured the attention of Kenyan media, with celebrations taking place in her hometown, Nyamboyo village, which is eight hours from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. Despite the attention, Hiltsley said she remains humble.

“I’m that little girl from that little village somewhere in the middle of Kenya, and now I’m in the spotlight of this media frenzy. And so, I’m still trying to really appreciate the magnitude of the moment,” she said.

Hiltsley said she has a desire to inspire others, particularly young girls in Kenya and the United States.

“It is still surreal,” she said, adding that “if I can make it to this point, I can be a role model to somebody to remind them that it is possible that our wildest dreams are possible. And that would be something that I would look back and say, wow, I’ve made a difference in somebody’s life.”

Her legislative priorities

Looking ahead, Hiltsley said she is committed to championing issues that matter to her constituents in Minnesota’s Legislative District 38A. Her priorities include community-centered public safety policies, affordable housing options, workers’ rights and support for small businesses — many of which are run by African immigrants.

“The resources are out here,” she said, promising to empower her community.

“It is my job to go back to my community and tell them, hey, there are resources here. This is how this system works. Let’s work together to mobilize and make sure that we are also taking a piece of the pie,” she said.

As the first Kenyan American woman in Minnesota’s Legislature, Hiltsley said she recognizes the weight and responsibility of her position.

She described it as “an honor that I don’t take lightly.”

“I don’t want to be the last,” she, adding that she hopes “this moment right here is a testimony that you can come to this country, work hard, take care of business, know your craft, stick to it, be consistent and get to where you want to.”

Her message to those who have yet to succeed in their political campaigns is clear: Perseverance is key.

“Be consistent. Keep going. There’s enough space in this Legislature for more people of color, especially immigrants, because that’s the voice that is missing,” Hiltsley said.

Changing political scene

Hiltsley shared her thoughts on the changing political landscape in Washington, particularly with the coming administration under President-elect Donald Trump. While acknowledging the challenges, she said she will stay focused on serving her constituents in Minnesota, regardless of politics.

“We are here to serve the people, and it doesn’t matter if you are Democrat or Republican,” she said. “We are here as legislators to serve the people of Minnesota.”

Hiltsley also shared her heartfelt message to fellow Kenyans who have been celebrating her historic achievement.

“This is a historical moment, and I’m honored to be a Kenyan American,” she said. “Let’s continue celebrating this victory, but after that, we have work to do.”

She said her eyes are set on not just her role in Minnesota, but also finding ways to collaborate with Kenya’s leaders to address issues facing the country, including corruption and a lack of strong leadership.

“Kenya has unlimited potential,” she said. “It’s up to our leaders to do right by the people.”

Hiltsley will officially take her seat in the Minnesota State House of Representatives and be sworn in on January 7. Representatives are elected to serve two-year terms.

This story originated in VOA’s Swahili Service. Salem Solomon contributed to the report from Washington.
…

NEW YORK — Beleaguered aviation giant Boeing is set to confront another hurdle next week when it faces a civil trial over the March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people.

The trial, scheduled for federal court in Chicago, originally included six plaintiffs, but “all but one” have settled, a person close to the litigation told AFP this week.

Barring an accord, the case will be Boeing’s first civil trial over the MAX crashes.

A settlement, which would need court approval, is still possible, even after the proceedings start.

But the source told AFP the case is expected to go to trial, a view held by a second legal source.

Plaintiffs in the case are relatives of Indian-born Manisha Nukavarapu, who was in her second year of medical school, specializing in endocrinology at East Tennessee State University.

Nukavarapu, who was single and without children, boarded a 737 MAX on March 10, 2019, in Addis Ababa in a flight bound for Nairobi to visit her sister, who had just given birth, according to a complaint.

But the jet, which had been delivered in November 2018, crashed just six minutes after taking off, killing everyone on board.

More trials expected

Relatives of 155 victims were deposed by the court between April 2019 and March 2021 in cases of wrongful death due to negligence, according to legal filings.

“As of today, there are 30 cases pending on behalf of 29 decedents,” a third legal source told AFP on October 22.

The cases have been split into groups, with the next trial scheduled for April 2025 unless all the suits are settled.

Boeing has “accepted responsibility for the MAX crashes publicly and in civil litigation because the design of the MCAS … contributed to these events,” an attorney for Boeing said at an October 11 court hearing.

The MCAS was a flight stabilizing system that malfunctioned in the Ethiopian Airlines crash and in the October 2018 Lion Air crash in Indonesia, which killed 189 people.

The MAX entered commercial service in May 2017. The worldwide fleet was grounded for 20 months following the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

According to Boeing, more than 90% of the cases stemming from the crashes have been settled. The company has not disclosed the overall financial hit from these cases.

“Boeing has paid billions of dollars to the crash families and their lawyers in connection with civil litigation,” a Boeing attorney said at the October 11 hearing, which took place in Texas and involves a Department of Justice criminal case over the MAX.

Dozens of plaintiffs have been deposed in civil litigation over the Lion Air crash, with 46 represented by Seattle law firm Herrmann.

The Texas litigation concerns a new deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice after the DOJ concluded Boeing flouted a $2.5 billion January 2021 criminal settlement over fraud charges related to the MAX certification.

In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to fraud as part of the latest DPA, but the accord has yet to be accepted by a federal judge.
…

BERLIN — Like many other young women living in communist East Germany, Solveig Leo thought nothing about juggling work and motherhood. The mother of two was able to preside over a large state-owned farm in the northeastern village of Banzkow because child care was widely available.

Contrast that with Claudia Huth, a mother of five, who grew up in capitalist West Germany. Huth quit her job as a bank clerk when she was pregnant with her first child and led a life as a traditional housewife in the village of Egelsbach, in Hesse, raising the kids and tending to her husband, who worked as a chemist.

Leo and Huth fulfilled roles that in many ways were typical for women in the vastly different political systems that governed Germany during its decades of division following the country’s defeat in World War II in 1945.

As Germany celebrates the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 — and the country’s reunification less than a year later on October 3, 1990 — many in Germany are reflecting on how women’s lives that diverged so starkly under communism and capitalism have become much more similar again — although some differences remain even today.

“In West Germany, women — not all, but many — had to fight for their right to have a career,” said Clara Marz, the curator of an exhibition about women in divided Germany for the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Germany.

Women in East Germany, meanwhile, often had jobs — though that was something that “they had been ordered from above to do,” she said.

Built in 1961, the Wall stood for 28 years at the front line of the Cold War between the Americans and the Soviets. It was built by the communist regime to cut off East Germans from the supposed ideological contamination of the West and to stem the tide of people fleeing East Germany.

Today only a few stretches of the 156.4-kilometer (97.2-mile) barrier around the capitalist exclave of West Berlin remain, mostly as a tourist attraction.

“All the heavy industry was in the West; there was nothing here,” Leo, who is now 81 years old, said during a recent interview looking back at her life as a woman under communism. “East Germany had to pay war reparations to the Soviet Union. Women needed to work our own way out of that misery.”

By contrast, Leo said, women in the West didn’t need to work because they were “spoiled by the Marshall Plan” — the United States’ reconstruction plan that poured billions of dollars into West Germany and other European countries after the war.

In capitalist West Germany, the economy recovered so quickly after the total devastation of WWII that people soon started talking of a Wirtschaftswunder, or “economic miracle,” that brought them affluence and stability less than 10 years after the war.

That economic success, however, indirectly hampered women’s quest for equal rights. Most West German women stayed at home and were expected to take care of their household while their husbands worked.

Religion, too, played a much bigger role than in atheist East Germany, confining women to traditional roles as caregivers of the family.

Mothers who tried to break out of these conventions and took on jobs were infamously decried as Rabenmutter, or uncaring moms who put work over family.

Not all West German women perceived their traditional roles as restrictive.

“I always had this idea to be with my children, because I loved being with them,” said Huth, now 69. “It never really occurred to me to go to work.”

More than three decades after Germany’s unification, a new generation of women is barely aware of the different lives their mothers and grandmothers led depending on which part of the country they lived in. For most, combining work and motherhood has also become the normal way of life.

Hannah Fiedler, an 18-year-old high school graduate from Berlin, said the fact that her family lived in East Germany during the decades of the country’s division has no impact on her life today.

“East or West — it’s not even a topic in our family anymore,” she said, as she sat on a bench near a thin, cobblestone path in the capital’s Mitte neighborhood, which marks the former course of the Berlin Wall.

She also said that growing up, she had not experienced any disadvantages because she’s female.

“I’m white and privileged — for good or worse — I don’t expect any problems when I enter the working world in the future,” she said.

Some small differences between the formerly divided parts of Germany linger. In the former East, 74% of women work, compared with 71.5% in the West, according to a 2023 study by the Hans-Bockler-Stiftung foundation.

Child care is also still more available in the former East than in the West.

In 2018, 57% of children under the age of 3 were looked after in a child care facility in the eastern state of Saxony. That compares with 27% in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia and 44% in Hamburg and Bremen, according to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office.

Germany trails some other European countries when it comes to gender equality.

About 31.4% lawmakers in Germany’s national parliament are female, compared with 41% in Belgium’s parliament, 43.6% in Denmark, 45% in Norway and 45.6% in Sweden.

Nonetheless, Leo, the 81-year-old farmer from former East Germany, is optimistic that eventually women all over the country will have the same opportunities.

“I can’t imagine that there are any women who don’t like to be independent,” she said.
…

BERLIN — Germany marks 35 years since the Berlin Wall fell with festivities beginning Saturday under the theme “Preserve Freedom!” as Russia’s war rages in Ukraine and many fear democracy is under attack.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz — whose governing coalition dramatically collapsed this week — said in a message to the nation that the liberal ideals of 1989 “are not something we can take for granted.”

“A look at our history and at the world around us shows this,” said Scholz, whose three-party ruling alliance imploded on the day Donald Trump was elected president in the United States, plunging Germany into political turmoil and toward new elections.

November 9, 1989, is celebrated as the day East Germany’s dictatorship opened the borders to the West after months of peaceful mass protests, paving the way for German reunification and the collapse of Soviet communism.

One Berliner who remembers those momentous events, retiree Jutta Krueger, 75, said about the political crisis hitting just ahead of the anniversary weekend: “It’s a shame that it’s coinciding like this now.”

“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.”

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will kick off events on Saturday at the Berlin Wall Memorial, honoring the at least 140 people killed trying to flee the Moscow-backed German Democratic Republic during the Cold War.

In the evening, a “freedom party” with a music and light show will be held at Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate, on the former path of the concrete barrier that had cut the city in two beginning in 1961.

On Sunday, the Russian protest punk band Pussy Riot will perform in front of 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 — among them Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad.

Talks, performances and a large-scale open-air art exhibition will also mark what Culture Minister Claudia Roth called “one of the most joyous moments in world history.”

Replica placards from the 1989 protests will be on display along 4 kilometers of the wall’s route, past the historic Reichstag building and the famous Checkpoint Charlie.

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.

Populism and division

Berlin’s top cultural affairs 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 “are the power-bank for the defense of our democracy, which today is being gnawed at from the left and the right.”

Most East Germans are grateful the East German regime ended, but many also 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 the strong support for the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in eastern Germany, as well as for the Russia-friendly and anti-capitalist BSW.

Strong gains for both at three state elections in the east in September highlighted the enduring political divisions between eastern and western Germany over three decades since reunification.

While the troubled government led by Scholz’s Social Democrats and the opposition CDU strongly supports Ukraine’s defense against Russia, the antiestablishment AfD and BSW oppose it.

The AfD, which rails against immigration, was embarrassed this week when several of its members were arrested as suspected members of a racist paramilitary group that had practiced urban warfare drills.

On the eve of the anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s fall, government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann recalled that the weekend will also mark another, far darker chapter in German history.

During the Nazis’ Kristallnacht or Night of Broken Glass pogrom of November 9-10, 1938, at least 90 Jews were murdered, countless properties destroyed, and 1,400 synagogues torched in Germany and Austria.

Hoffmann said, “It is very important for our society to remember the victims … and learn the correct lessons from those events for our conduct today.”
…

The violence against fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam has some Israelis worried that it isn’t safe for their sports teams and fans to travel to games abroad. Many Palestinians want them banned entirely over Israel’s conduct of the war with Hamas.

Dutch authorities say Israeli fans were assaulted after a football game in Amsterdam by hordes of young people apparently riled up by calls on social media to target Jewish people. Five people were treated at hospitals and dozens were arrested after the Thursday night attacks, which were condemned as antisemitic by authorities in Amsterdam, Israel and across Europe.

Israel’s football teams play domestic games at home despite the Israel-Hamas war. But European football body UEFA has ruled that the war with Hamas means Israel cannot host international games.

Supporters of the Palestinian campaign to ban Israel from international competition have criticized world football body FIFA for not matching its 2022 decision to suspend Russian national teams from competitions days after the invasion of Ukraine. UEFA also removed Russian teams.

Sports and war

Israeli teams have been playing their home games in Hungary, Serbia and Cyprus. Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has close ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and has long promoted Hungary as the safest European country for Jews. He has banned Palestinian solidarity protests, arguing they are a safety threat.

Israel’s national team has been playing all of its home matches in the men’s Nations League this season in Bozsik Arena in Budapest.

Maccabi Tel Aviv — the only Israeli men’s team to qualify for European club football competitions this season — has been playing its home games in Szombathely, Hungary, and Belgrade, Serbia.

A question about away games, too

Belgium declined to stage a men’s Nations League game against Israel in September. That game was played in Hungary instead, with no fans in the stadium. Other away games have been carried out without incident but the violence in Amsterdam could change things, and not just for soccer.

Israel’s National Security Council urged Israelis not to attend a match Friday with Maccabi’s basketball team in Bologna, Italy, to avoid “externalizing Israeli/Jewish identification marks as much as possible.” Italian police said security was increased for the game, both for fans and for the Maccabi team.

Even before the Amsterdam attacks, UEFA announced that the Maccabi football team’s next away match in the Europa League, which was scheduled to take place in Istanbul on November 28 against Besiktas, would be moved to a neutral venue “following a decision by the Turkish authorities.”

The Israeli national team’s next away game in men’s football is in the Nations League on Thursday, against France at the Stade de France outside Paris. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said Friday that the game would go ahead after police assured him they could keep fans safe.

Assaf Nachum, a spokesperson for Israel’s Beitar football club, said Israeli football fans will “need to see a lot of actions of security and police around where we are going to stay” in Paris.

“I imagine it will be harder to convince Israeli fans to come, especially because this happened in Amsterdam,” he said.

Threats, jeers and protests when Israelis compete

Israeli athletes competed in the Paris Olympics under heavy security. There were no major security incidents, but some Israeli athletes said they received threats.

The Israeli team was met by jeers in stadiums during the country’s national anthem, and athletes arrived under heavy police escort, including riot police vans.

Anti-Israel protests have occurred at sports events around Europe this year, including at Maccabi football’s away games against the teams Steaua Bucharest of Romania and Braga of Portugal. Both teams were fined 10,000 euros ($10,800) each on charges of behavior unfit for sports after fans waved Palestinian flags.

In September, a group of about 50 Italy fans in black turned their backs in apparent protest during Israel’s national anthem before a Nations League match in Budapest.

In May, a women’s European Championship qualifier between Scotland and Israel in Glasgow was delayed after a pro-Palestinian protester chained himself to the goalpost. The protester made it onto the field even though the game was being played without spectators over concerns about disruptive protests over Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

Palestinians want to ban Israel from international football

Israel’s neighbors in the Middle East play in Asian competitions. Israel did too until the 1970s, when it was expelled from the Asian Football Confederation after several Arab and Muslim nations refused to play against it. Israel was invited to European qualifying for the 1982 World Cup and has been a member of UEFA since 1994.

The Palestinian football federation has sent multiple requests to FIFA for Israel to be suspended from international soccer competitions. In its motion, the federation noted “international law violations committed by the Israeli occupation in Palestine, particularly in Gaza” and cited FIFA statutory commitments on human rights and against discrimination. It also said its football infrastructure — including its signature Al-Yarmuk stadium — has been destroyed or damaged. FIFA stopped short of suspending Israel in October but asked for a disciplinary investigation of possible discrimination by Israeli officials.

The Palestinian football federation also has consistently asked FIFA for more than a decade to take action against the Israeli football body for incorporating teams from West Bank settlements in its leagues.

Could Israel be banned like Russia?

Russia is a pariah in European football. Its teams were banned by FIFA ahead of the 2022 World Cup qualifying playoffs because of chaos that could ensue if opponents refused to play Russia. FIFA said the consequences for the World Cup “would be irreparable and chaotic” had Russia advanced to the tournament in Qatar.

No European federation has refused to play the national or clubs teams of Israel, which has been a member of UEFA for 30 years.

Israel’s men’s team will be in the draw for European qualifying groups for the 2026 World Cup, which is made on December 13 in Zurich. The next World Cup is co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Ukraine’s national and club teams have not played international games on its own territory since the Russian military invasion in February 2022. 
…

berlin — Like many other young women living in communist East Germany, Solveig Leo thought nothing about juggling work and motherhood. The mother of two was able to preside over a large state-owned farm in the northeastern village of Banzkow because childcare was widely available. 

Contrast that with Claudia Huth, a mother of five, who grew up in capitalist West Germany. Huth quit her job as a bank clerk when she was pregnant with her first child and led a life as a traditional housewife in the village of Egelsbach in Hesse, raising the kids and tending to her husband, who worked as a chemist. 

Both Leo and Huth fulfilled roles that in many ways were typical for women in the vastly different political systems that governed Germany during its decades of division following the country’s defeat in World War II in 1945. 

As Germany celebrates the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989 — and the country’s reunification less than a year later on Oct. 3, 1990 — many in Germany are reflecting on how women’s lives that have diverged so starkly under communism and capitalism have become much more similar again — though some differences remain even today. 

“In West Germany, women — not all, but many — had to fight for their right to have a career,” said Clara Marz, the curator of an exhibition about women in divided Germany for the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Germany. 

Women in East Germany, meanwhile, often had jobs — though that was something that “they had been ordered from above to do,” she added. 

Front line of Cold War

Built in 1961, the Wall stood for 28 years at the front line of the Cold War between the Americans and the Soviets. It was built by the communist regime to cut off East Germans from the supposed ideological contamination of the West and to stem the tide of people fleeing East Germany. 

Today only a few stretches of the 156.4-kilometer (97.2-mile) barrier around the capitalist exclave of West Berlin remain, mostly as a tourist attraction. 

“All the heavy industry was in the west, there was nothing here,” Leo, who is now 81 years old, said during a recent interview looking back at her life as a woman under communism. “East Germany had to pay war reparations to the Soviet Union. Women needed to work our own way out of that misery.” 

By contrast, Leo said, women in the West didn’t need to work because they were “spoiled by the Marshall Plan” — the United States’ generous reconstruction plan that poured billions of dollars into West Germany and other European countries after the war. 

In capitalist West Germany, the economy recovered so quickly after the total devastation of WWII that people soon started talking of a Wirtschaftswunder, or “economic miracle,” that brought them affluence and stability less than 10 years after the war. 

That economic success, however, indirectly hampered women’s quest for equal rights. Most West German women stayed at home and were expected to take care of their household while their husbands worked. Religion, too, played a much bigger role than in atheist East Germany, confining women to traditional roles as caregivers of the family. 

Mothers who tried to break out of these conventions and took on jobs were infamously decried as Rabenmütter, or uncaring moms who put work over family. 

Not all West German women perceived their traditional roles as restrictive. 

“I always had this idea to be with my children, because I loved being with them,” said Huth, now 69. “It never really occurred to me to go to work.” 

A new generation

More than three decades after Germany’s unification, a new generation of women is barely aware of the different lives their mothers and grandmothers led depending on which part of the country they lived in. For most, combining work and motherhood also has become the normal way of life. 

Hannah Fiedler, an 18-year-old high school graduate from Berlin, said the fact that her family lived in East Germany during the decades of the country’s division has no impact on her life today. 

“East or West — it’s not even a topic in our family anymore,” she said, as she sat on a bench near a thin, cobble-stoned path in the capital’s Mitte neighborhood, which marks the former course of the Berlin Wall in the then-divided city. 

She also said that growing up, she had not experienced any disadvantages because she’s female. 

“I’m white and privileged — for good or worse — I don’t expect any problems when I enter the working world in the future,” she said. 

Some small differences between the formerly divided parts of Germany linger. In the former East, 74% of women are working, compared to 71.5% in the West, according to a 2023 study by the Hans-Böckler-Stiftung foundation. 

Childcare is also still more available in the former East than in the West. 

In 2018, 57% of children under the age of 3 were looked after in a childcare facility in the eastern state of Saxony. That compares with 27% in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia and 44% in Hamburg and Bremen, according to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office. 

Germany as a whole trails behind some other European countries when it comes to gender equality. 

Only 31.4% lawmakers in Germany’s national parliament are female, compared to 41% in Belgium’s parliament, 43.6% in Denmark, 45% in Norway and 45.6% in Sweden. 

Nonetheless, Leo, the 81-year-old farmer from former East Germany, is optimistic that eventually women all over the country will have the same opportunities. 

“I can’t imagine that there are any women who don’t like to be independent,” she said. 
…

DALLAS — A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” is on the auction block nearly two decades after a thief stole the iconic shoes, convinced they were adorned with real jewels.

Online bidding has started and will continue through December 7, Heritage Auctions in Dallas announced in a news release Monday.

The auction company received the sequin-and-bead-bedazzled slippers from Michael Shaw, the memorabilia collector who originally owned the footwear at the heart of the beloved 1939 musical. Shaw had loaned the shoes in 2005 to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

That summer, someone smashed through a display case and stole the slippers. Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018.

Now the museum is among those vying for the slippers, which were one of several pairs Garland wore during the filming. Only four remain.

Grand Rapids raised money for the slippers at its annual Judy Garland festival. The funds will supplement the $100,000 set aside this year by Minnesota lawmakers to purchase the slippers.

The man who stole the slippers, Terry Jon Martin, was 76 when he was sentenced in January to time served because of his poor health. He admitting to using a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and display case in what his attorney said was an attempt to pull off “one last score” after an old associate with connections to the mob told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value.

The auction of movie memorabilia includes other items from “The Wizard of Oz,” such as a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West and the screen door from Dorothy’s Kansas home.
…

ROME — The Pompeii archaeological park plans to limit visitor numbers to 20,000 a day and introduce personalized tickets starting next week in a bid to cope with over-tourism and protect the world heritage site, officials said Friday.

The move comes after what authorities called a record summer that saw more than 4 million people visiting the world-famous remains of the ancient Roman city, buried under ash and rock following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.

The park’s director Gabriel Zuchtriegel said visitors to the main archaeological site now exceed an average of 15,000 to 20,000 every day, and the new daily cap will prevent the numbers from surging further.

“We are working on a series of projects to lift the human pressure on the site, which could pose risks both for visitors and the heritage (that is) so unique and fragile,” Zuchtriegel said.

Starting November 15 tickets to access the park will be personalized to include the full names of visitors. A maximum of 20,000 tickets will be released each day, with different time slots during the peak summer season.

The park’s management is also trying to attract more tourists to visit other ancient sites connected to Pompeii by a free shuttle bus under the “Greater Pompeii” project, including Stabia, Torre Annunziata and Boscoreale sites.

“The measures to manage flows and safety and the personalization of the visits are part of this strategy,” Zuchtriegel said.

“We are aiming for slow, sustainable, pleasant and non-mass tourism and above all widespread throughout the territory around the UNESCO site, which is full of cultural jewels to discover,” he added. 
…

The United States will send a small number of contractors to Ukraine to help it maintain and repair the U.S.-provided weapons and air defense systems it is using against Russia’s invasion, a defense official said Friday.

The official said the contractors “will be far from the front lines and they will not be fighting Russian forces.”

Ukraine needs the contractors to repair and maintain equipment, such as F-16s and Patriot air defense systems, that requires “specific technical expertise to maintain,” the official said.

The decision to send the contractors was made “after careful risk assessment,” the official said.

On Wednesday, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to congratulate him on his election victory, Trump had Elon Musk join the call. The billionaire businessman was a contributor to Trump’s presidential campaign.

A Ukrainian official told The Associated Press that Zelenskyy thanked Musk for helping Ukraine gain access to the Starlink satellite internet platform. Other media outlets reported that Trump told Zelenskyy that he would support Ukraine, and that Musk said he would continue to supply Starlink.

Musk was on the phone for only part of the conversation.

Overnight attacks

Ukrainian officials said Friday morning that Russia attacked the regions of Odesa, Kharkiv and Kyiv overnight into Friday with drones, missiles and aerial bombs, damaging residential buildings and infrastructure and killing at least one person and injuring at least 25.

Regional officials in Kharkiv say a Russian guided aerial bomb struck a 12-story residential building in the early hours Friday. They said the bomb struck the first three floors. A search was underway for anyone trapped in the rubble.

In Odesa, police and emergency service officials told the French news agency Agence France-Presse that a Russian drone struck several residential buildings, sparking fires in some. They said a 46-year-old man was killed when his car was struck by shrapnel, and at least nine others were injured.

The Odesa officials reported shrapnel from the attacks also ruptured fuel lines, causing several fires.

On the social media platform X, President Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces shot down four missiles and about 60 drones launched by Russia against Ukraine overnight Thursday.

“Each time Russia attempts to destroy our lives, it is crucial to respond collectively and decisively at the international level to reduce and block the potential for terror,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Ukraine needs strength to achieve this. This is the only way to achieve a just peace and to ending the killing of our people,” he said.

He called for more air defenses, and long-range capabilities, weapons packages, and sanctions against Russia.

Zelenskyy took that message Thursday to the European Political Community Summit in Budapest, where he met with European leaders and reportedly reached new defense agreements to strengthen Ukrainian forces, along with agreements on positive steps toward reinforcing air defenses before winter.

But while most European leaders signaled continued support for Ukraine’s war effort, there were indications that Trump’s victory in the U.S. elections this week could change that picture.

In a radio interview Friday, the host of that summit, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has close ties to both Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, said U.S. support for Ukraine will end with the election of Trump and that Europe needs to re-think its approach to the war.

“The Americans will quit this war,” Orban told Hungarian state radio and indicated he felt Europe must follow suit.

“Europe cannot finance this war alone, there are some who still want it, who still want to continue sending enormous amounts of money into this lost war, but the number of those who remain silent, though they were loud before, and those who cautiously voice that we should adjust to the new situation, is growing,” Orban said.

The Hungarian leader made the comments ahead of the European Union summit Friday in Budapest. Before that meeting, outgoing European Council President Charles Michel told reporters Europe wants to strengthen ties with the United States and continue strengthening Ukraine.

“We have to support Ukraine because if we do not support Ukraine, this is the wrong signal that we send to Putin but also to some other authoritarian regimes across the world,” Michel said.

Trump has criticized the level of U.S. support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, and before the election he promised to end the conflict before even taking office, without explaining how.

Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. 
…

Washington — Indonesia’s newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto set off for China on Friday for his first international trip as president. 

“From Beijing I will fly directly to Washington, D.C., on the invitation of the U.S. president,” said Prabowo upon departing Jakarta. Indonesians often refer to public figures by their first names.

His tour aims to “cultivate good relations with all parties,” Prabowo said. He has stated his ambition to raise Indonesia’s international profile and made early foreign policy moves, including a surprise decision to join Southeast Asia’s largest economy to the BRICS bloc. 

BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, comprises a growing group of emerging economies and is seen as a counterweight to the West. In October, the group added Indonesia as one of its 13 new “partner countries.” 

The move is a shift away from the position taken by Prabowo’s predecessor, Joko Widodo, who took in massive amounts of infrastructure investments from Beijing but remained mostly nonaligned geopolitically.   

Prabowo’s visit comes during a transitional period at the White House, ahead of the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump in January. The White House has not formally announced the visit; however, Jakarta said Prabowo is scheduled to meet U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House early next week. 

Indonesian diplomatic sources who spoke under condition of anonymity told VOA that Prabowo has requested a meeting with Trump. The Trump team has not responded to VOA’s query on whether it will be granted.   

New period of US-Indonesia ties 

Starting in January, both countries will be under the helm of leaders who were democratically elected but have employed authoritarian rhetoric, at a time when Washington is focused on its rivalry with the authoritarian regime in China under Xi Jinping. 

Like Trump, Prabowo made a historical political comeback under unlikely circumstances. He secured a landslide victory after two failed attempts, 26 years after his father-in-law, President Suharto, was ousted from power. This, despite Prabowo admitting he was ordered by Suharto in 1998 to abduct activists protesting the regime.  

Washington was aware of Prabowo’s involvement, and the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations denied Prabowo entry to the U.S., citing human rights concerns. The Trump administration lifted the visa ban and then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper invited then-Defense Minister Prabowo to Washington in 2020.    

With Trump in the White House, analysts say, Jakarta could see more opportunities to expand ties with Washington if Prabowo makes inroads through the right people for the right incentives, given Trump’s history of relying more on personal connections than institutional relationships.   

Personal connections 

Jakarta’s point person for Washington under the first Trump administration was Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, a businessman and retired four-star army general who then served as coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment.    

Luhut developed close ties with Adam Boehler, head of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and a former college roommate of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. In 2020, Boehler dangled the promise of a $2 billion investment into Indonesia’s planned sovereign wealth fund.

The plan fell through because the price, recognition of Israel under the Trump administration’s Abraham Accords, was too high for Jakarta, according to an interview Boehler gave to Bloomberg at the end of 2020.   

In Prabowo’s administration, Luhut holds the position of head of the National Economic Council and special adviser on investment affairs. But in a Cabinet of more than 100 officials, his influence has diminished. 

“The deck is being shuffled right now, and we don’t know yet where the cards will land,” said Yeremia Lalisang, assistant professor of international relations at the University of Indonesia. What’s clear, Lalisang told VOA, is that the “pragmatic” Prabowo will be delighted to be welcomed by Trump after being treated as a “human rights criminal” by previous U.S. administrations. 

One possibility to bolster ties under Trump would be for Prabowo to capitalize on the connection between billionaires among Trump’s inner circle. This would include Trump’s wealthiest backer, Elon Musk, and Hary Tanoesoedibjo, an Indonesian tycoon who has partnered with the Trump family on several real estate projects in Indonesia. Both were at Trump’s residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Tuesday night, celebrating his election victory. 

Tanoesoedibjo, who commonly goes by his initials H.T., would not confirm whether he is facilitating a Trump-Prabowo meeting next week. However, he said, Trump’s victory would bring “positive hope for Indonesia.” 

“Trump’s favorable understanding of Indonesia should be maximalized for the economic benefit of both countries, especially Indonesia’s economic interests,” H.T. told VOA.  

Investing in nickel 

Under Jokowi’s administration, Jakarta courted Musk, head of SpaceX and Tesla, to invest in two key areas: satellites and electric vehicle batteries. Earlier this year, Musk launched SpaceX’s satellite internet service, Starlink, in Bali and Maluku.   

With the Earth’s largest reserves of nickel, Indonesia is eager to develop its EV battery industry, and Prabowo is expected to continue his predecessor’s yearslong effort to lure Tesla to invest. 

The Biden administration has put aside tens of billions of dollars in tax credits to spur the U.S. EV industry, under the Inflation Reduction Act, its signature climate and energy legislation. To qualify for the credit, 40% of the minerals used for battery production for EVs sold in the U.S. must be extracted or processed domestically or in one of its free-trade partners.   

Jakarta has been pushing for a limited free-trade agreement that will allow it to benefit from IRA tax credits. However, its nickel industry is backed by investment from Chinese companies and besieged by environmental concerns, limiting its access to the U.S. market. 

“You might see some of this calculus change during the course of the Trump administration,” said Andreyka Natalegawa, associate fellow for the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Trump has vowed to loosen environmental restrictions. 

U.S.-Indonesia cooperation on nickel is “out there as an objective,” said Ann Marie Murphy, senior research scholar at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University. “If it fails to come to fruition, I think that could be disappointing to both sides,” she told VOA. 

However, Trump, who has made high tariffs on China a central theme of his campaign, will be looking closely at the tariffs’ impact on the EV industry. He has vowed to roll back tax credits available to EV buyers in the U.S.   

He will also be watching bilateral trade deficits. In 2017, his administration placed Indonesia on a watchlist of countries that have a large trade surplus, threatening Jakarta with unspecified consequences if trade was not brought into balance.    

“There’s lots of question marks here that we still need to wait and see to get answers,” Natalegawa told VOA. 

Yuni Salim contributed to this report.
…

Washington/Istanbul — Local authorities in Turkey’s metropolitan Istanbul province banned a screening of the LGBTQI-themed movie “Queer” on Thursday because of concerns that it would endanger public peace and security.

The screening of “Queer,” a film directed by Italian director Luca Guadagnino and starring Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey, was scheduled to open a film festival in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district on Thursday. The festival was organized by Mubi, an international streaming platform and film production and distribution company.

Mubi canceled the entire festival, noting “This ban not only targets a single film but also undermines the very essence and purpose of the festival.”

In a statement shared on X, Mubi announced that the Kadikoy District Governor’s Office had notified them of the ban hours before the festival was set to begin.

“The decision states that the film is prohibited on the grounds that it contains provocative content that could endanger public peace, with the ban being imposed for security reasons,” Mubi wrote.

“We believe this ban is a direct restriction on art and freedom of expression,” Mubi added.

The Kadikoy District Governor’s Office has not made a public statement on the ban and has not responded to VOA’s inquiry at the time of this story’s publication.

Rising anti-LGBTQI+ rhetoric

The Turkish government has toughened rhetoric against its LGBTQI+ community in recent years, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly calling its members “perverts” or “deviants.”

Authorities have banned pride marches throughout the country since 2015, citing security concerns. At least 15 people were detained in Istanbul in June for taking part in a pride rally.

Yıldız Tar, editor in chief of the LGBTQI news portal KaosGL, does not find the ban surprising considering the government’s anti-LGBTQI stance.

“The reason for the ban on ‘Queer’ is of course that it is a film about LGBTI+ people. When you try to organize any LGBTI+-themed event in Turkey since 2015, you already encounter such bans,” Tar told VOA.

Tar noted that the Kadikoy District Governor’s Office banned the screening of another movie, “Pride,” as part of Pride Month events in June 2023.

The Istanbul festival, which was scheduled to take place November 7 to 10, included a variety of film screenings, talks and performances. According to Mubi, tickets for the festival had sold out days in advance.

Tar views Mubi’s decision to cancel the festival after the ban as “an important and valuable message” and argues that the platform’s decision should be exemplary.

“If LGBTI+ themed films are being censored so openly at this point, then festivals and the world of culture and arts need to raise a very strong voice against this censorship,” Tar said.

Academic and film critic Yeşim Burul also sees the district governor’s ban as censorship.

“We are talking about unacceptable censorship here. It is truly absurd that a district governorship would make such decisions to prevent a film from reaching the audience,” Burul told VOA.

“We, as adults, can decide which film we can and cannot watch. Such festivals are already organized for those over the age of 18, and tickets are sold that way,” Burul added.

The 2024 film “Queer,” with a screenplay adapted from William S. Burroughs’ 1985 novel, tells the story of an American expatriate living in Mexico City in the 1950s who establishes an intimate connection with a younger man.

In October, Mubi acquired distribution rights for the film in multiple territories, including Turkey, India, the United Kingdom, Germany and Latin America.

Reactions

Several rights groups and organizations reacted to the ban on the screening.

According to the LGBTI+ Rights Commission of the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association, the ban is “a continuation of criminalizing LGBTI+ individuals.”

In a post on X, the rights group argued that the ban violates not only domestic law but also the “protection from discrimination” principle of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Turkey is a signatory.

The Actors’ Union of Turkey called the ban “clearly an application of censorship.”

“The duty of art and artists is to broaden the horizons of societies and offer them new perspectives while telling their own stories,” the union said in a statement published on X. The union also reminded that the law on freedom of expression protects artistic activities in Turkey.
…

With her appointment as chief of staff to President-elect Donald Trump, Susie Wiles moves from a largely behind-the-scenes role of campaign co-chair to one of the most prominent positions in a new White House administration.

The 67-year-old will become the first woman to serve in the post for any U.S. president when she assumes the role as the president’s closest adviser in January.

In announcing his decision Thursday, Trump said Wiles is “tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected.” It was his first appointment since winning Tuesday’s election against Vice President Kamala Harris.

“It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud,” Trump said in his statement.

Wiles largely avoided the spotlight during her time as co-chair of Trump’s successful election campaign and was credited — along with co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita — with bringing some discipline to Trump’s free-wheeling, off-script campaign style.

She didn’t speak during Trump’s victory celebration early Wednesday morning when he called her to the podium, and she refused to take the microphone.

Wiles rarely gives televised interviews and tends to avoid the spotlight, a contrast with LaCivita, who is known for being outspoken.

For someone of her stature, she is not well-known in political circles. During his victory speech, Trump referred to Wiles as the “ice maiden.”

She is one of Trump’s most trusted advisers. During a rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, earlier this month, he said: “She’s incredible. Incredible.”

Top Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio told Politico in April, “There is nobody, I think, that has the wealth of information that she does. Nobody in our orbit. Nobody.”

While Wiles is a somewhat enigmatic figure, she has a long career of working behind the scenes in U.S. politics.

Shortly after she graduated from the University of Maryland in 1979, she went to work for New York Congressman Jack Kemp and joined Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign in 1980.

She eventually moved to Florida where she advised the campaigns of two Florida mayors and helped then-businessman Rick Scott transition to politics in his successful 2010 campaign for governor.

She managed Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr.’s presidential bid in 2012, and managed Florida for Trump’s 2016 campaign. She joined Ron DeSantis’ race for governor in 2018, but she parted ways with him after a falling out in 2019.

Wiles made a rare appearance on social media shortly before DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race in January. “Bye, bye,” she wrote.

She went on to run Trump’s primary campaign against DeSantis, which Trump easily won.

Wiles is the only campaign manager to survive an entire Trump campaign and is known for her ability to tamp down his mercurial, sometimes volatile behavior.

In one anecdote reported by The Associated Press, during a campaign speech in Pennsylvania when Trump strayed off his talking points and quipped about not minding if members of the media were shot, she came out and silently stared at him until he got back on track.

That ability should serve her well in her new role. In his last four years in office, Trump went through four chiefs of staff, a record for modern presidents.

Some information in this report was provided by The Associated Press.
…

amsterdam — Amsterdam banned demonstrations for three days from Friday after overnight attacks on Israeli soccer supporters by what the mayor called “antisemitic hit-and-run squads,” and Israel sent planes to the Netherlands to fly fans home. 

Mayor Femke Halsema said Maccabi Tel Aviv fans had been “attacked, abused and pelted with fireworks” around the city, and that riot police intervened to protect them and escort them to hotels. At least five people were treated in a hospital.  

Videos on social media showed riot police in action, with some attackers shouting anti-Israeli slurs. Footage also showed Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters chanting anti-Arab slogans before Thursday evening’s match. 

“We saw a lot of demonstrations, a lot of people running. It was really, really terrifying,” said Joni Pogrebetsy, an Israeli soccer fan in Amsterdam for the match. 

Antisemitic incidents have surged in the Netherlands since Israel launched its assault on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza after the attacks on Israel by Hamas militants in October last year, with many Jewish organizations and schools reporting threats and hate mail. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government sent planes to the Netherlands to bring fans home, while Foreign Minister Gideon Saar flew to Amsterdam for impromptu meetings with the Dutch government and far-right leader Geert Wilders. 

Amsterdam banned demonstrations through the weekend and gave police emergency stop-and-search powers in response to the unrest, which exposed deep anger over the Gaza-Israel conflict. 

More than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed and millions displaced in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza, according to health officials there. The offensive was launched after Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostage in the initial cross-border attack, according to Israel. Hamas has been designated a terror group by the U.S., U.K., EU and others.   

In Washington, U.S. President Biden condemned the attacks as “despicable” and said they “echo dark moments in history when Jews were persecuted.” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was shocked by the violence in Amsterdam, a U.N. spokesperson said. 

Security tightened 

Mayor Halsema said police had been taken by surprise after security services failed to flag the match against Ajax Amsterdam, traditionally identified as a Jewish club, as high-risk. 

“Antisemitic hit-and-run squads” had managed to evade a force of around 200 officers, she said. 

Security was tightened in the city, where a service was planned at a Jewish monument on Saturday to remember Kristallnacht, the Nazi pogrom against Jews across Germany on Nov. 9-10, 1938. 

A video verified by Reuters showed a group of men running near Amsterdam central station, chasing and assaulting other men as police sirens sounded. 

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he was “horrified by the anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli citizens” and had assured Netanyahu by phone that “the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted.” 

Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke with Dutch King Willem-Alexander, who he said had “expressed deep horror and shock.” 

Herzog quoted the king as saying the Netherlands had failed its Jewish community during World War II — under Nazi occupation and persecution — and again on Thursday night. 

Anti-Muslim politician Wilders, head of the largest party in the government, said he was “ashamed that this can happen in the Netherlands.” In a post on X, he blamed “criminal Muslims” and said they should be deported. 

Police said there had been incidents before the game, for which 3,000 Maccabi supporters traveled to Amsterdam. 

Israel says violence recalls European pogroms 

The Israeli Embassy in The Hague said mobs had chanted anti-Israel slogans and shared videos of their violence on social media, “kicking, beating, even running over Israeli citizens.” 

“On the eve of Kristallnacht — when Jews in Nazi Germany faced brutal attacks — it is horrifying to witness antisemitic violence on the streets of Europe once again,” it said. 

Police said 62 suspects had been detained after the game as pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to reach the Johan Cruyff Arena, even though the city had forbidden a protest there. Ten remained in custody on Friday.  

They said fans had left the stadium without incident after the Europa League match, which Ajax won 5-0, but that clashes erupted overnight in the city center. 

Herzog was among senior Israeli politicians who said the violence recalled the attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen last year as well as attacks on European Jews in the pogroms of previous centuries. 

“We see with horror this morning, the shocking images and videos that since October 7th, we had hoped never to see again: an anti-Semitic pogrom currently taking place against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam,” he wrote on X. 

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said that the mass killing by Israeli forces in Gaza and lack of international intervention to stop it “is likely to lead to such spontaneous repercussions.” 

“This emphasizes that stopping the genocide in Gaza is an essential part of respecting and protecting human rights, as well as ensuring regional and global security and peace,” he told Reuters. 

The Gaza war has led to protests in support of both sides across Europe and the United States, and both Jews and Arabs have been attacked. 
…

Southern California firefighters made progress against a wildfire that has destroyed 132 structures, mostly homes. The fierce wind gusts that fanned the flames began easing Friday, allowing some people to return to sort through the charred remains of their homes. 

Maryanne Belote returned to her hillside neighborhood in Camarillo, a city northwest of Los Angeles, after making a harrowing escape with her cat, dog and horses as the blaze raged in the area. The only thing standing was a rock wall she built. 

“If I hadn’t gotten the horses, I would have been devastated, but I have my family and I have my animals so, I’m OK. I will rebuild,” she said, standing outside the remains of her home of 50 years. 

The Mountain Fire started Wednesday morning in Ventura County and had grown to about 83 square kilometers. It was 7% contained Friday morning. 

About 10,000 people remained under evacuation orders Friday morning as the fire continued to threaten about 3,500 structures in suburban neighborhoods, ranches and agricultural areas around Camarillo in Ventura County. 

At least 88 structures were damaged in addition to the 132 destroyed. Officials did not specify whether they had fire, water or smoke damage. 

The cause of the fire has not been determined.

Ten people suffered smoke inhalation or other non-life-threatening injuries, Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said. 

Crews working in steep terrain with support from water-dropping helicopters were focusing on protecting homes on hillsides along the fire’s northeast edge near the city of Santa Paula, home to more than 30,000 people, county fire officials said. 

Officials in several Southern California counties urged residents to watch for fast-spreading blazes, power outages and downed trees during the latest round of notorious Santa Ana winds. 

Santa Anas are dry, warm and gusty northeast winds that blow from the interior of Southern California toward the coast and offshore, moving in the opposite direction of the normal onshore flow that carries moist air from the Pacific. They typically occur during the fall months and continue through winter and into early spring. 

Red flag warnings, indicating conditions for high fire danger, expired Friday morning when winds began diminishing. 

Governor Gavin Newsom has proclaimed a state of emergency in Ventura County. 

An air quality alert for harmful fine particle pollution was in effect from Friday morning until Saturday afternoon due to smoke from the wildfires. 

Across the country in New Jersey, firefighters were stretched thin Friday with at least four wildfires burning in the state, stretching from the Pinelands in the central and western parts of the state to the New York City suburbs. 

The latest fire broke out along the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Englewood Cliffs in Bergen County, across the Hudson River from New York. 

It was smaller than the three others burning in New Jersey, each of which had burned less than a square mile as of late Thursday. 

Those fires, in Jackson, Glassboro and Evesham, were between 50% and 80% contained Friday. 

New Jersey has not received measurable precipitation in over a month, the weather service said, setting a record.
…

The U.S. military says it is investigating what caused an army drone to crash in southern Somalia this week.

The military’s Africa Command, known as AFRICOM, confirmed the incident in a post Friday on social media platform X.

“A U.S. Army operated MQ-1C crashed in southern Somalia at approximately 12:40 PM local on Nov. 5,” AFRICOM said. “An investigation is ongoing, although the crash does not appear to be the result of any attempt to shoot down the aircraft.” 

AFRICOM said it will release more information as it becomes available.

AFRICOM did not disclose the exact location of the crash, but a Somali official said he was told a drone crashed in an area controlled by the al-Shabab militant group.

Mohamed Ibrahim Barre, the governor of Lower Shabelle, told the VOA Horn of Africa Service that the drone crashed north of Farsoley village, in Lower Shabelle, about 85 kilometers west of Mogadishu. Barre said he did not know who the drone belongs to.

The U.S. military has conducted surveillance and airstrikes against al-Shabab for years in support of successive Somali administrations.

In addition, the U.S. also trains an elite Somali commando unit known as Danab, or lightning. Earlier this year, U.S. and Somalia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the construction of up to five military bases for the Danab Brigade, in a project valued at over $100 million.

This story originated in VOA’s Horn of Africa Service.
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With former President Donald Trump returning to the White House, Ukrainians are bracing for potential shifts in U.S. policy that could reshape its fight for survival against Russian aggression. Trump’s agenda could take a sharp turn from the Biden administration’s unwavering support, raising fears that vital U.S. aid might be at risk. Myroslava Gongadze reports from Europe. Camera: Vladyslav Smilianets
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BEIJING/HONG KONG — After Donald Trump first stormed the White House eight years ago, rattled Chinese leaders responded to his tariffs and fiery rhetoric with force, resulting in a trade war that plunged ties between the globe’s largest economies to multiyear lows.

This time around, Beijing has been preparing for Trump’s return by deepening ties with allies, boosting self-reliance in tech, and setting aside money to prop up the economy that is now more vulnerable to fresh tariffs already threatened by Trump.

While some retaliation to those moves might be unavoidable, China will focus on exploiting rifts between the U.S. and its allies, experts say, and aim to lower the temperature to help strike an early deal to cushion the blow from trade friction.

Zhao Minghao, international relations expert at Shanghai’s Fudan University said China probably wouldn’t replay the playbook from the first Trump presidency when Beijing had a very strong reaction to Trump’s moves on tariffs.

He pointed out Chinese President Xi Jinping’s message to Trump from Thursday, in which Xi called for “cooperation” and not “confrontation,” emphasizing “stable, sound and sustainable” relations between the two superpowers.

“Trump is not a stranger to Beijing at this time,” Zhao told Reuters. “Beijing would respond in a measured way and make efforts to communicate with the Trump team.”

While Chinese tech giants are now far less reliant on U.S. imports, the economy — hit by a massive property crisis and saddled with unsustainable debt — is in a weaker position than in 2016, struggling to eke out 5% growth compared to 6.7% then.

To make things worse, Trump has pledged to end China’s most-favored-nation trading status and slap tariffs on Chinese imports in excess of 60% – much higher than those imposed during his first term.

Fudan’s Zhao said Beijing has this scenario gamed out but expects tariffs to come in below the level pledged on the campaign trail because “that would significantly push up the inflation in the U.S.”

Still, that threat alone has unnerved producers in the world’s largest exporter because China sells goods worth more than $400 billion a year to the U.S. and hundreds of billions more in parts for products Americans buy elsewhere.

Li Mingjiang, a scholar at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said that as a result, the Chinese economy might require even more stimulus than the $1.4 trillion expected on Friday.

“It’ll be a very serious blow to China’s international trade that will affect jobs and government revenues,” said Li. “China will probably have to come up with a much bigger stimulus package domestically.”

Charm offensive

To boost global trade, China has been on a diplomatic blitz, shoring up alliances, mending fences with foes, and continuing difficult talks with the European Union, even after the bloc imposed stiff tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

Last month China ended a four-year military stand-off with India on their disputed border; in August, it resolved a two-year spat with Japan over the discharge of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant; and Premier Li Qiang in June visited Australia — the first such trip in seven years.

Also last month, both Xi and Li attended separate summits of BRICS — which now accounts for 35% of the global economy — and the 10-state Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as China deepens ties with the Global South.

“The first Trump administration did not show a lot of interest in robust engagement in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, which provided the Chinese a lot of latitude to operate in these markets largely uncontested,” said Eric Olander, editor-in-chief of the China-Global South Project.

In Europe, trade tensions with China could be counterbalanced by worries over Trump’s potentially reduced role in the Ukraine war and his economic policies, creating an opening for Beijing, say some experts.

“China will carry on reaching out to Europeans, the British, the Australians and even the Japanese, not only to try to drive a wedge between the U.S. and the countries of the north,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, an expert at Hong Kong’s Baptist University.

“But also as part of its mission to rebalance its foreign trade in favor of the Global South,” he said.

Tech punchline

During the first trade war, Trump banned high-tech exports to China and sanctioned companies including China’s largest chipmaker SMIC, prompting its tech sector to become domestic-focused and self-sufficient.

Winston Ma, a former managing director for the China Investment Corporation (CIC), China’s sovereign wealth fund, said a major trigger for this shift was Trump’s ban on the sale of components to Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE in 2018.

That was “really scary from a China perspective, so they began to prepare. It was the start of that sort of defensive thinking,” added Ma.

Soon after, Xi urged the nation to boost self-reliance in science and tech, pushing China to build-up crucial industries including AI and space.

The result: Eight years ago, China had only four government procurement projects worth over $1.4 million, replacing foreign hardware and software with domestic alternatives. That number has exploded to 169 such projects this year, data show.

Despite these strides, chipmakers “definitely feel the tightening — these Chinese companies couldn’t supply to global clients and can’t have access to the latest chips,” said Ma.

Nazak Nikakhtar, a Commerce Department official under Trump who knows his advisers, said she expected Trump to be “much more aggressive about export control policies towards China.”

She anticipated “a significant expansion of the entity list,” that restricts exports to those on it to capture affiliates and business partners of listed companies.

Ma, the ex-CIC executive, said the restrictions will have an impact for some time as the U.S. expands the sanctions regime to overseas suppliers.

“I think the punchline is that the coming years are the most critical for this U.S.-China tech rivalry.”
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KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight, killing one civilian and wounding more than 30 people in the center, south, and northeast, Ukrainian officials said Friday.

The Russian forces launched 92 drones and five missiles at 12 Ukrainian regions, the Ukrainian air force said.

Sixty-two drones and four missiles were downed, it said, and 26 drones were “lost,” most likely meaning they had been thwarted electronically.

The Interior Ministry said one person had been killed in the Odesa region, where civilian infrastructure and homes were damaged and nine people were injured.

Four people were wounded in a drone attack on the Kyiv region and at least six private houses and several cars were damaged, it said.

Russia also pounded the city of Kharkiv in the northeast with guided bombs, wounding at least 25 people, said regional governor Oleh Syniehubov.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a fresh appeal to Kyiv’s partners to help strengthen its air defenses.

“Air defense, long-range capabilities, weapons packages, sanctions against the aggressor — this is the answer that is needed, not only in words, but also in actions,” he said on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia has intensified its air attacks on Ukrainian cities and towns, sending swarms of drones almost every night.

Ukrainian officials say Russia is trying to stretch Ukraine’s air defenses and demoralize the civilian population as the war nears the 1,000-day mark and Moscow’s troops advance in the east.

Russia launched more than 2,000 attack drones at civilian and military targets in October, Ukraine’s military said.  
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RAMAT TRUMP, Golan Heights — Israeli residents of “Trump Heights” are welcoming the election of their namesake, hoping Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency will breathe new life into this tiny, remote settlement in the central Golan Heights.

During his first term, Trump became the first and only foreign leader to recognize Israel’s control of the Golan, which it seized from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel thanked him by rebranding this outpost after him.

But a large-scale influx of new residents never materialized after that 2019 ceremony, and just a couple dozen families live in Trump Heights, or “Ramat Trump” in Hebrew. Job opportunities are limited, and Israel’s more-than-yearlong war against Hezbollah militants in nearby Lebanon has added to the sense of isolation.

Trump’s election has inspired hope in the community that it will attract more members and also more funding for security improvements.

“Maybe it can raise more awareness and maybe some support to help here and help our kids here,” said Yarden Freimann, Trump Heights’ community manager.

Ori Kallner, head of the Golan’s regional council, showed off dozens of plots of land, replete with new asphalt roads, lampposts and utility lines, that residents have prepared for future housing developments.

“President Trump’s return to the White House definitely puts the town in the headlines,” he said.

Hanging on while war rages nearby

Kallner stood next to a metal statue of an eagle and a menorah, symbolizing the United States and Israel, as Israeli warplanes flew overhead. Two explosions from rockets fired from Lebanon punched the hills nearby, and just across the border in Lebanon, plumes of smoke rose into the air from Israeli airstrikes.

An enormous sign with the settlement’s name in Hebrew and English gleamed in the sun, while two large sunbaked metal flags of Israel and the United States were faded almost beyond recognition.

Surrounded by ashen ruins of villages fled by Syrians in the 1967 war, the town is perched above the Hula Valley, where Israel has amassed tanks, artillery and troops for its fight in Lebanon. Most towns in the valley have been evacuated. Trump Heights sends its kids to a makeshift daycare in a nearby settlement after the government shuttered all schools in the region in the wake of the October 1 invasion of Lebanon.

“We find ourselves hanging by our fingernails to be in our own community, not be evacuated, and on the other hand, we cannot work, we cannot send our kids to any kind of an education system,” said Freimann.

Trump Heights is only about 12 kilometers from Lebanon and Syria. Alerts for incoming fire gives residents about 30 seconds’ head start to get to a bomb shelter.

Trump broke with other leaders on the Golan Heights

Israel annexed the Golan, a strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel, in 1981 in a move that is not internationally recognized.

That changed in March 2019 when Trump, without notice, tweeted that the U.S. would “fully recognize” Israel’s control of the territory. His announcement drew widespread condemnation from the international community, which considers the Golan to be occupied Syrian territory and Israel’s settlements to be illegal. The Biden administration left the decision intact, but the U.S. remains the lone country to recognize the Israeli annexation.

Kallner said he hopes Trump will now persuade European countries to recognize Israeli sovereignty there.

According to Israeli figures, the Golan is home to about 50,000 people — roughly half of them Jewish Israelis and the other half Arab Druze, many of whom still consider themselves Syrians under occupation.

Israel has encouraged and promoted settlements in the Golan, and the Druze residents operate farms and a tourism and restaurant sector popular with Israelis. But the area has struggled to develop because of its remoteness, several hours from Israel’s economic center in Tel Aviv.

That economic hardship has only worsened during the war as the hospitality sector cratered. On July 28, a rocket killed 12 Druze children on a soccer field in the city of Majdal Shams, about 20 kilometers away. Israel invaded Lebanon months later.

In June 2019, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led an inauguration ceremony for Trump Heights. The U.S. ambassador at the time, David Friedman, noted that the ceremony came days after Trump’s birthday and said: “I can’t think of a more appropriate and a more beautiful birthday present.”

As president, Trump was close with Netanyahu

The Golan recognition was among a series of diplomatic gifts that Trump delivered to Israel during his first term. They included recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the American embassy to the contested city, and a series of diplomatic agreements with Arab countries known as the Abraham Accords.

He has vowed to bring peace to the tumultuous region during his second term, but has not said how.

Netanyahu enjoyed a close relationship with Trump during his first term but ran afoul of the former president when he congratulated Joe Biden on his 2020 victory. The Israeli prime minister announced Tuesday that he was one of the first foreign leaders to call the president-elect and congratulate him on his victory. An official in his office, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal communications, said aides were upbeat and giddy.

“Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback!” the Israeli leader said in a statement. “Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.”

At Trump Heights, Kallner was optimistic too: “The Golan community is strong and resilient, and people that want to come and live here are from the same material. I believe we will overcome these challenging times and won’t stop growing.”
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