Indonesia has posthumously awarded former President Suharto the title of National Hero, despite his 32-year rule being marked by authoritarianism, mass killings, and corruption allegations. The decision was made by President Prabowo Subianto Suharto’s former son-in-law and current head of state during a ceremony at the presidential palace in Jakarta.
Suharto, who died in 2008, ruled from 1967 to 1998 after toppling Indonesia’s founding leader Sukarno. His era brought economic growth but ended amid the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis and violent nationwide protests that forced his resignation.
Why It Matters
The move has reignited debates over Indonesia’s reckoning with its authoritarian past and fears of historical revisionism. Critics say honoring Suharto risks legitimizing his repressive legacy and signals a troubling return to military-dominated politics under President Prabowo, himself accused of past human rights abuses.
Pro-democracy activists: Condemned the decision as an attempt to whitewash history. Protesters gathered in Jakarta, saying it disregards victims of Suharto’s rule.
Victims’ families: Groups like Aksi Kamisan continue weekly vigils demanding justice for disappearances and killings during the Suharto era.
Government officials: Defended the award, with Culture Minister Fadli Zon claiming Suharto met all requirements and his alleged role in the 1965–66 mass killings “was never proven.”
Political analysts: Warn that the move may embolden Prabowo’s administration to expand military influence and soften public memory of Suharto’s crimes.
What’s Next
The decision is likely to deepen Indonesia’s polarization over how to remember its turbulent past. Civil society groups are expected to intensify calls for accountability for Suharto-era abuses, while Prabowo’s government may continue framing his legacy as one of “stability and development.”
Democracy advocates fear the recognition could pave the way for further rehabilitation of authoritarian figures in Indonesia’s political landscape.
Yoon Suk Yeol ordered drone flights over North Korea to create pretext for martial law, prosecutors allege.
Published On 10 Nov 202510 Nov 2025
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South Korea’s special prosecutor has indicted former President Yoon Suk Yeol on new charges related to his short-lived imposition of martial law last year, including aiding an enemy state.
Prosecutors opened a special investigation earlier this year to examine whether Yoon ordered drone flights over North Korea to provoke Pyongyang and strengthen his effort to declare martial law.
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Prosecutor Park Ji-young told reporters on Monday that the special counsel team had charged Yoon with “benefitting the enemy in general” as well as abuse of power.
Yoon and others “conspired to create conditions that would allow the declaration of emergency martial law, thereby increasing the risk of inter-Korean armed confrontation and harming public military interests”, Park said.
Park added that compelling evidence had been found in a memo written by Yoon’s former counter-intelligence commander in October last year, which pushed to “create an unstable situation or seize an arising opportunity”.
The memo said the military should target places “that must make them [North Korea] lose face so that a response is inevitable, such as Pyongyang” or the major coastal city of Wonsan, Park said.
Yoon was removed from office by the Constitutional Court in April and is on trial for insurrection and other charges stemming from his failed martial law declaration.
If found guilty, he could be sentenced to death.
Yoon has said consistently he never intended to impose military rule but declared martial law to sound the alarm about wrongdoing by opposition parties and to protect democracy from “antistate” elements.
Seoul and Pyongyang have remained technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Senate takes the first step toward ending the 40-day shutdown, advancing a funding bill after weeks of gridlock.
Published On 10 Nov 202510 Nov 2025
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Senators in the United States have voted to move forward with a stopgap funding package aimed at ending the longest government shutdown in the country’s history.
In a procedural vote on Sunday, some eight Democrats broke rank and voted in favour of advancing the Republican measure that will keep the government reopen into January 30.
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The bipartisan deal would also fund some parts of the government, including food aid and the legislative branch, for the next year.
But it does not guarantee an extension of healthcare subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Instead, it promises a vote on the issue by December.
The subsidies have been a Democratic priority during the funding battle.
Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said the procedural vote passed with 60 in favour and 40 against.
“Now, this is what is called a cloture, a procedure by which the Senate agrees to continue the debate about the legislation and begin introducing and passing the bills aimed at ending the shutdown,” Hanna said.
“The important thing about the cloture vote is that once it is passed, at that 60 percent majority, every subsequent vote is by a simple majority. So it would appear to be plain sailing in the Senate to pass this bill and the continuing resolution to refund the government and ending the closure,” he added.
If the Senate eventually passes the amended bill, the package still must be approved by the House of Representatives and sent to President Donald Trump for his signature, a process that could take several days.
The Democratic senators who voted in favour of advancing the bill include Dick Durbin of Illinois, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Tim Kaine of Virginia.
Angus King of Maine, an independent who causes with the Democrats, also voted in favour of the measure.
Democrats, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada, also voted yes.
Here are the key events from day 1,355 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Published On 10 Nov 202510 Nov 2025
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Here is how things stand on Monday, November 10:
Fighting
The Russian Ministry of Defence said its forces captured the Ukrainian settlement of Rybne in the southeastern Zaporizhia region.
Fighting also continues in and around the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine. The rate of Russian advances in the strategic city “remains temporarily decreased” as Moscow’s forces slow ground activity “to extend logistics and bring up reinforcements to southern Pokrovsk”, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, DC-based think tank.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, repair crews were racing to restore power to thousands of people after Russian drone attacks on Saturday targeted energy infrastructure across the country.
Ukraine’s central Poltava area, as well as the northeastern regions of Kharkiv and Sumy, were the hardest-hit, with 100,000 customers in Kharkiv alone without electricity, water and heating, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine Oleksii Kuleba said on Sunday.
Russia faced its own power outages after Ukraine struck back with drone and missile attacks, cutting power and heating to thousands of households in the Russian cities of Belgorod and Voronezh.
Politics and diplomacy
In an interview with Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said that ending Moscow’s war on Ukraine is “impossible” without “fully taking into account Russia’s legitimate interests and addressing its root causes”.
Lavrov added that discussions with the US were under way, but “not as rapidly as we would prefer”, noting that he was ready to meet face-to-face with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu travelled to Egypt for meetings with top officials, including President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Russia’s state TASS news agency reported, with plans to discuss “military and military-technical cooperation”.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told reporters that the United States agreed to provide a “financial shield” to Hungary in the event of economic or budgetary pressures, though he did not explain further. The comments came after Hungary announced it had secured a one-year waiver from US sanctions on Russian oil and gas.
Sanctions
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv and its European partners were preparing a 20th package of sanctions on Russia.
Ukraine will propose “including Russian legal entities and individuals that are still profiteering from energy resources”. The package is expected to be signed within a month, the president added.
Zelenskyy also signed new Ukrainian sanctions against eight Russian individuals, including an FSB agent accused of “information sabotage” and financier Kirill Dmitriev, who runs Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and is President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy on international economic and investment cooperation.
Another set of new sanctions will target five Russian businesses, including publishing houses engaged in “justifying aggression” and “spreading Russian propaganda worldwide”, Zelenskyy’s office said.
Regional security
In Belgium, three drones were detected above the Doel nuclear power plant on Sunday evening, according to the Reuters news agency, the latest in a series of drone sightings that have prompted the temporary closure of two major airports over the past week.
The United Kingdom said it plans to provide equipment and personnel to Belgium in light of the incidents. Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton told the BBC broadcaster that while the source of the drones was not yet known, Russia has been involved in a pattern of “hybrid warfare” in recent years.
Between deadlines, school runs and the constant “what’s for dinner?” chat, even the best relationships can start running on autopilot.
It doesn’t mean the spark has gone or that you’ve stopped loving your partner, but rather that life has got in the way.
Writer Nell Frizzell knows this all too well – after 10 years with her partner and two young children, she admits she doesn’t have as much time or energy for her husband as she once did.
“I know we’re told to focus on quality time, physical touch and gaze into each other’s eyes lovingly but actually I am shouting at my husband to turn the eggs off.”
Frizzell says she’s at a “crunch point” in her life.
Her time, body and attention are being pulled in every direction – she’s raising children, caring for elderly parents, running the home and working all at the same time.
“And within all of that, where do you have the time to look into someone’s eyes and say you’re wonderful?” she asks.
Bring other people in
But Frizzell has discovered something that helps keep her relationship connection alive – something she calls a “third energy”.
Not in the bedroom, she laughs, but at the dinner table.
“If we go away, we go with another family and if we go out to dinner, I love having friends there,” she explains.
It’s a surprisingly simple idea – but Frizzell says having dinner with another couple, friends or family really does work as the presence of other people naturally changes the dynamic.
She says sometimes a so-called date night “where you’re sat across the table with the person you live with and trying to come up with something new to say” can be intense, so another person can help provide a new conversation starter or a fresh perspective.
Frizzell says: “I find him incredibly attractive when we’re with people we don’t see all the time as they ask him questions I wouldn’t think to ask or tell him things I wouldn’t tell him.”
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Psychotherapist Susanna Abse says a little space and variety can be vital to a successful relationship.
“Couples can end up moving around each other but avoiding real contact,” she says.
Truly noticing your partner can make a big difference.
“Instead of coming downstairs in the morning and getting on with millions of chores, see what state your partner is in.”
Abse recommends asking them questions like how they are feeling or what their day looks like as “curiosity is key”.
Clinical psychologist Dr Amani Milligan says spending quality time together is also important.
That doesn’t mean a grand gesture and Dr Milligan says it can be as simple as taking a random Thursday off work together or setting rules like no phones before bed so you can catch up on each other’s days.
Relationships can come with endless distractions from emails and notifications on your phone to endless piles of laundry or dishes that need sorting.
Abse says electronic devices can make couples more distant.
“Protest if your partner is on their phone all the time and set some rules you can both agree to.”
Schedule sex
It’s near impossible to talk about keeping love alive without mentioning physical intimacy and Frizzell swears by scheduling it.
“It might feel administrative to say ‘this is when we’ll have sex’ but with small children, it’s absolutely key and it’s something to look forward to.”
Abse agrees with that practical approach and says if you’re not having sex “you have to recognise the risk in that” if you’re both not happy with the arrangement as “affairs often arise from unsatisfied needs”.
When we’re time poor or have a lot on, sex can be one of the first things to go but Abse says you should try to “allow yourself to be persuadable”.
“You don’t get into bed feeling very sexual but maybe with your partner’s attention that might change.”
Focusing more on each other and seeing her partner anew has improved Frizzell’s relationship.
The final lesson she has learnt is that it’s important to keep a little mystery from each other.
“Close the toilet door and have a bit of separation – by all means have a joint project but that shouldn’t be going to the loo,” she laughs.
During the past several years, war scenarios and analyses issuing from Washington have hewed to a familiar but deceptively reassuring image of the future: one of an “absoluteness of reliance on technological superiority, precision initial strikes, and the illusion of a ‘quick victory’ as some sort of magic solution to crises like a Chinese attack on Taiwan.” This is arguably decisive and reassuring on the surface but is, on closer and realistic examination, a dangerous fantasy rather than a practical operational scenario. Not only is it wholly incompatible with the military, industrial, and political situation in which the United States currently finds itself, but it also conceals the danger of involving the world in a nuclear escalation and a prolonged conflict, which the United States cannot afford.
In reality, U.S. military strategists are faced with an insoluble dilemma: Insisting on the “quick victory” doctrine raises the chances of a preemptive nuclear response from Beijing to certainty. If they start preparing for a long, grinding war, the more important question becomes: Is the U.S., in terms of industry, military capability, and political will, even capable of it? The realistic answer is no—at least not on the scale that many American decision-makers imagine.
Most Pentagon war plans, accordingly, emphasize cyberattacks and long-range strikes against China’s command structures, communication hubs, logistical networks, and missile bases. Ideally, this would leave China paralyzed within days, with a collapsed will to fight. In the real world, this can backfire: hitting essential Chinese systems, the leadership in Beijing—operating under unprecedented isolation and pressure—might revert to “escalation vertically,” that is, the early use of nuclear weapons to sustain their deterrent.
China’s nuclear arsenal, though still smaller than that of the US, is growing rapidly. By 2040, estimates suggest, China could possess some 600 operational warheads, compared with the United States’s stockpile of about 3,700. This growing disparity could be driving Beijing toward a more perilous posture—one in which it resorts to using nuclear weapons before that option disappears. Most Chinese missile systems are dual-use, meaning they can be equipped with either conventional or nuclear warheads. A U.S. strike against DF-21 or DF-26 launchers might thus be viewed as an attack on the survivability of China’s nuclear deterrent and could invite a nuclear response.
This is far from theoretical. Recent Pentagon war games have set off alarms. In many of the simulations, U.S. anti-ship missile stocks are depleted in just days; long-range munitions, in two weeks. Even scenarios in which Taiwan, supported by the U.S. and Japan, resists Chinese aggression depict victories at a devastating cost: dozens of ships sunk, hundreds of aircraft destroyed, and thousands of U.S. casualties—numbers that the American public and policymakers could scarcely accept.
For a global power, effective strategy must correspond with the country’s real industrial, financial, and societal capacity. In recent decades, the U.S. has drastically reduced its military production capabilities while increasing dependence on foreign supply chains. The war in Ukraine has given a glimpse of how even modest arms support for allies can deplete critical stockpiles quickly. Imagine the strain should the U.S. fight a full-scale war with the world’s second-largest economy thousands of miles from its shores.
The problem goes far beyond military planning and munitions shortages. Domestically, the U.S. does not have political and social consensus with regard to defending Taiwan. In contrast with the Cold War era, when the Soviet threat unified the American public, today Americans feel much less that their vital interests in East Asia are at stake. In such a context, how could the public accept tens of thousands of casualties and astronomical costs to defend a small island? It is during any protracted conflict that national will plays as important a role as weapons and technology. Without political unity, industrial capacity, and societal tolerance, technological superiority means nothing. Washington will continue to remain enmeshed in the same fantasy that has brought empires low: that technology and military power can somehow substitute for strategic judgment.
A way out of this deadlock is quite evident, but the political will is lacking. Firstly, the U.S. should recognize that technological superiority does not necessarily translate into strategic dominance. Secondly, if it is serious about defending Taiwan, it needs to start rebuilding industrial capacity now, expand munitions production lines, and level with its people about what war would really look and feel like. Thirdly, diplomacy and sustainable deterrence must be reinstated—not through threats or arms races, but through dialogue, crisis management, and reduction of the risk of miscalculation between Washington and Beijing.
If the U.S. keeps on fantasizing about a quick and cost-free victory, then it will not only face defeat on the battlefield but also push the world to the brink of a nuclear catastrophe. The ability to engage in war depends not only on the number of missiles and ships but also on political wisdom, economic capability, and a clear-eyed view of reality—three things the U.S. plainly lacks in its confrontation with China. It is time for Washington to wake up from its comforting illusions of power and face reality in terms of true strength—before it is too late.
People fleeing el-Fasher for Al Dabbah tell Al Jazeera many died on the way from wounds or lack of food.
A Sudanese medical organisation has accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of engaging in a “desperate attempt” to conceal evidence of mass killings in Darfur by burning bodies or burying them in mass graves.
The Sudan Doctors Network said on Sunday that paramilitaries are collecting “hundreds of bodies” from the streets of el-Fasher, in Sudan’s western Darfur region, after their bloody takeover of the city on October 26, saying the group’s crimes could not be “erased through concealment or burning”.
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“What happened in el-Fasher is not an isolated incident but rather another chapter in a full-fledged genocide carried out by the RSF, blatantly violating all international and religious norms that prohibit the mutilation of corpses and guarantee the dead the right to a dignified burial,” it said in a statement.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that 82,000 of el-Fasher’s total population of 260,000 fled after the RSF seized the last Sudanese military stronghold in the region, amid reports of mass killings, rape, and torture. Many residents are believed to still be trapped.
Reporting from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan said many people fleeing el-Fasher for Al Dabbah in the north died on the road, “because they had no food or water, or because they sustained injuries as a result of gunfire”.
Morgan said that escapees told Al Jazeera they learned of the deaths of relatives from social media videos of their killings posted by RSF fighters. Several videos depicting extreme acts of violence have emerged in the public domain since the group overran the city.
Targeted ethnic killings
With the “communications blackout” in the city, many did not know what happened to their family members.
“They believe if their relatives are still alive inside el-Fasher, then they may not be so for long because of a lack of food and water… or because the RSF has been targeting people based on their ethnicities,” Morgan reported.
The RSF, which has been fighting the Sudanese army for control of Sudan since April 2023, traces its origins to the predominantly Arab, government-backed militia known as the “Janjaweed”, which has been accused of genocide in Darfur two decades ago.
Between 2003 and 2008, an estimated 300,000 people were killed, and nearly 2.7 million were displaced in campaigns of ethnic violence.
Sylvain Penicaud of Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, who spoke to civilians who fled el-Fasher for the town of Tawila, said many of those fleeing said they were “targeted because of the colour of their skin”.
“For me, the most terrifying part was [civilians] being hunted down while they were running for their lives; being attacked simply for being Black,” Penicaud said.
The Zaghawa, the dominant ethnic group in el-Fasher, has been fighting alongside the army since late 2023.
The group, which initially remained neutral when the war began, aligned with the military after the RSF carried out massacres against the Masalit tribe in West Darfur’s capital, el-Geneina, killing up to 15,000 people.
Hassan Osman, a university student from el-Fasher, said residents with darker skin, especially Zaghawa civilians, were subjected to “racial insults, humiliation, degradation and physical and psychological violence” as they fled.
“If your skin is light, they might let you go,” he said. “It’s purely ethnic.”
Trump promises to defend Hungary’s finances amid Orban-EU tensions and to sign $600m gas deal, says Hungarian leader.
Published On 9 Nov 20259 Nov 2025
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Hungary has struck a deal for what Prime Minister Viktor Orban called a “financial shield” to safeguard its economy from potential attacks following talks with US President Donald Trump.
Orban, a longtime ally of Trump and one of Europe’s most outspoken nationalist leaders, met the US president at the White House on Friday to seek relief from sanctions on Russian oil and gas. Following the meeting, he announced that Hungary had secured a one-year exemption from those measures.
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“I have also made an agreement with the US president on a financial shield,” Orban said in a video posted by the Hungarian outlet index.hu on Sunday. “Should there be any external attacks against Hungary or its financial system, the Americans gave their word that in such a case, they would defend Hungary’s financial stability.”
A White House official said the deal also included contracts worth roughly $600m for Hungary to buy US liquefied natural gas. Orban gave no details of how the “shield” would work, but claimed it would ensure Hungary would face “no financing problems”.
“That Hungary or its currency could be attacked, or that the Hungarian budget could be put in a difficult situation, or that the Hungarian economy could be suffocated from the financing side, this should be forgotten,” he said.
The move comes as Orban faces economic stagnation and strained relations with the European Union, which has frozen billions of euros in funding over what Brussels calls Hungary’s democratic backsliding. Critics accuse Orban of using his ties with Washington to sidestep EU pressure and secure new financial lifelines.
Orban said on Friday that Hungary also received an exemption from US sanctions on Russian energy after a meeting with Trump.
Hungary’s economy has struggled since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but its currency, the forint, has shown some recovery this year, supported by high interest rates.
Trump, meanwhile, has extended his support to another far-right leader, Argentina’s Javier Milei, pledging to strengthen the country’s collapsing economy through a $20bn currency swap deal with Argentina’s central bank. Trump said he would also buy Argentinian pesos to “help a great philosophy take over a great country”.
Milei, who has made more than a dozen trips to the US since taking office in December 2023, including to attend Trump’s second inauguration, is battling inflation, debt, and dwindling reserves. Argentinian bond prices plunged in late September as the central bank scrambled to stabilise the peso.
Davie’s exit caps a week of attacks on Britain’s public broadcaster, with Trump’s press secretary describing BBC as ‘100 percent fake news’.
The director-general of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has resigned after a row over the editing of a speech made by US President Donald Trump on the day of the 2021 attack on the United States Capitol.
Sunday’s joint resignations of Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness capped a turbulent week of accusations that the broadcaster edited a speech Trump made on January 6, 2021, to make it appear as if he encouraged the riots that followed his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
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Davie said he took “ultimate responsibility” for mistakes made, saying that quitting his role at the helm of the public broadcaster after five years was “entirely my decision”.
“I have been reflecting on the very intense personal and professional demands of managing this role over many years in these febrile times, combined with the fact that I want to give a successor time to help shape the charter plans they will be delivering,” he said.
A documentary by flagship programme Panorama aired a week before last year’s US election, splicing together clips of Trump’s speech uttered at different points.
The edit made it seem as if Trump said: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you, and we fight. We fight like hell.”
Critics said it was misleading as it cut out a section where Trump said he wanted supporters to demonstrate peacefully.
‘Buck stops with me’
Turness said the controversy about the Trump documentary “has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC – an institution that I love”.
“As the CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, the buck stops with me,” she added.
Earlier on Sunday, UK Culture, Media and Sport Minister Lisa Nandy called the allegations “incredibly serious”, saying there is a “systemic bias in the way that difficult issues are reported at the BBC”.
Reporting from London, Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands noted that the BBC has always been in a difficult position.
“It is pilloried by the right, who perceive it to be a hotbed of liberal bias. It’s pilloried by the left, who think that it kowtows to the establishment and pumps out government lines when it comes to things like Gaza, particularly, not holding the powerful to account as it should do as a broadcaster.”
Accusations of anti-Israel bias
The controversy, whipped up by UK right-wing media, reached the other side of the Atlantic with Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt describing the BBC as “100 percent fake news” and a “propaganda machine” on Friday.
The story broke on Tuesday when The Daily Telegraph cited a memo complied by Michael Prescott, a former member of the BBC’s editorial standards committee, which raised concerns over the Trump edit, as well as criticising perceived anti-Israel bias in the BBC’s Arabic service.
On Saturday, the newspaper reported right-wing lawmaker Priti Patel, of the Conservative Party, demanded the UK Foreign Office review its funding of BBC Arabic through its grant for the BBC World Service, alleging “pro-Hamas and anti-Israel bias”.
The broadcaster has also been accused of giving Israel favourable coverage in its reporting of the war on Gaza, coming under criticism from its own staff.
Davie’s resignation was celebrated by Nigel Farage, leader of the populist hard-right Reform UK party, which is soaring in opinion polls.
“This is the BBC’s last chance. If they don’t get this right there will be vast numbers of people refusing to pay the licence fee,” Farage said on X.
BBC director general Tim Davie and his head of news, Deborah Turness, have resigned.
The BBC had come under fire over a Panorama documentary that was accused of misleadingly editing a speech by Donald Trump to make it look like he was urging people to attack the US Capitol.
Tim Davie was appointed director general of the BBC in September 2020. He is in charge of overseeing the corporation’s services and was its editorial, operational and creative leader.
He was not a new figure to the BBC; prior to becoming director general, he had been chief executive of BBC Studios for seven years.
Before joining the BBC, Davie worked for organisations such as Procter and Gamble, and PepsiCo.
Deborah Turness had been the CEO of BBC News since 2022, overseeing BBC News and current affairs programmes
In her role, she had responsibility for a team of around 6,000 people, broadcasting to almost half a billion people across the world in more than 40 languages.
She was previously CEO of ITN and was president of NBC News from 2013.
Why have they resigned?
Their departures come after controversy over a Panorama documentary called Trump: A Second Chance?, which was broadcast last year.
In her statement, Turness said: “The ongoing controversy around the Panorama on President Trump has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC – an institution that I love.
“As the CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, the buck stops with me – and I took the decision to offer my resignation to the director general last night.”
She added: “While mistakes have been made, I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong.”
Davie did not mention the Panorama documentary in his statement, although said: “While not being the only reason, the current debate around BBC News has understandably contributed to my decision.
“Overall the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as director general I have to take ultimate responsibility.”
The memo came from Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the broadcaster’s editorial standards committee. He left the role in June.
The memo suggested that the one-hour Panorama documentary had edited parts of Trump’s speech together so he appeared to explicitly encourage the Capitol Hill riots of January 2021.
In his speech in Washington DC on 6 January 2021, Trump said: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”
However, in the Panorama edit he was shown saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”
The two sections of the speech that were edited together were more than 50 minutes apart.
The “fight like hell” comment was taken from a section where Trump discussed how “corrupt” US elections were. In total, he used the words “fight” or “fighting” 20 times in the speech.
According to the Telegraph, the document said Panorama’s “distortion of the day’s events” would leave viewers asking: “Why should the BBC be trusted, and where will this all end?”
When the issue was raised with managers, the memo continued, they “refused to accept there had been a breach of standards”.
The BBC has come under scrutiny over a number of other different issues in recent weeks.
The Telegraph also reported that Mr Prescott raised concerns about a lack of action to address “systemic problems” of anti-Israel bias in the coverage of the Gaza war by the BBC Arabic news service.
The report also said Mr Prescott had raised concerns about the BBC’s coverage around trans issues.
And on Thursday, the BBC upheld 20 impartiality complaints over the way presenter Martine Croxall earlier this year altered a script she was reading live on the BBC News Channel, which referred to “pregnant people”.
Why did Davie resign now?
Tim Davie has weathered many scandals and crises during his five years at the helm of the BBC – including the Gary Lineker furore, Bob Vylan at Glastonbury, the Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone documentary, and the transgressions of a string of high-profile presenters.
Davie was nicknamed “Teflon Tim” by some in the media because nothing seemed to stick.
He had tried to ride out the latest controversy, too, but it has gathered steam and the BBC was expected to issue an apology tomorrow over the Panorama documentary.
This comes at a sensitive time for the BBC, with the government set to review the corporation’s Royal Charter – which essentially gives it the right to exist – before the current term expires in 2027.
In his statement, Davie said: “You will ask why now, why this moment?”
He said he was “BBC through and through”, and cares deeply about the corporation and wants it to succeed.
“That is why I want to create the best conditions and space for a new DG to come in and positively shape the next Royal Charter. I hope that as we move forward, a sensible, calm and rational public conversation can take place about the next chapter of the BBC.”
He added: “This timing allows a new DG to help shape the next Charter. I believe we are in a strong position to deliver growth.”
How will the BBC choose Davie’s replacement?
The director general is appointed by the BBC Board, which is responsible for ensuring it delivers the corporation’s mission and public purposes.
The BBC Board is led by chair Samir Shah and he is one of 10 non-executive members, plus four executive members, including the director general.
When Davie was appointed in 2020, the process for choosing who would get the role was led by the BBC Board’s nominations committee.
The director general’s appointment is made under the terms of the BBC’s Charter.
Davie’s successor will be the 18th director general in the BBC’s 103-year history.
Names who have been rumoured as potential contenders in the running include Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s recently-departed chief content officer who was in charge of all programming except news, overseeing hits including The Traitors, The Wheel and Happy Valley.
Other names include Jay Hunt, one of the most experienced executives in British TV, and James Harding, the BBC’s head of news from 2013 to 2018, who has experience dealing with difficult journalistic matters.
As typhoon Tino (Kalmaegi, internationally) left over 200 Filipinos dead while affecting nearly 2 million people, President Marcos Jr declared “a state of national calamity.”
After the super typhoon Uwan (Fung-Wong) will add to the devastation, mass protests against huge flood control corruption are expected in the country.
In 2022, the Marcos Jr government pledged it would build on the legacy of the Duterte years and make Filipinos more prosperous and more secure. Critics claim both objectives have failed.
Billions of dollars lost to corruption
On July 27, Senator Panfilo Lacson warned that half of the 2 trillion pesos ($17 billion) allocated to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for flood control projects may have been lost to corruption in the past 15 years.
And yet, almost in parallel, President Marcos Jr stated his administration had implemented over 5,500 flood control projects and announced new plans amounting to more than $10 billion over the next 13 years.
Ever since then, Manila’s political class has been swept by allegations on corruption, mismanagement, and irregularities in government-funded flood management projects. In August, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee launched a high-profile investigation into the irregularities, focusing on the “ghost” projects, license renting schemes and contractor monopolies.
Corruption has long been pervasive in Philippine politics, economy and society. In the Corruption Perception Index, the country has consistently scored among the worst in the region. Even in peacetime, it is at par with the civil war-torn Sierra Leone and oil-cursed Angola.
In the era of former President Duterte, corruption fight was spotlighted. Now it thrives again. According to surveys, 81% of Filipinos believe corruption has worsened since martial law was declared 53 years ago. It is compounding misguided economic policies.
Rising trade deficits, slowing investment
In the Duterte era, exports were led by electronics, with significant growth in tourism and business process outsourcing. Those times are now gone.
In the Duterte era, the effort was to attract multinationals, particularly Chinese firms, to serve as anchor companies that would foster Philippine suppliers. But due to the government’s geopolitics, Chinese – and increasingly Western – multinationals see too much economic and geopolitical risk in the country. And so, the investments that could have come to the Philippines have gone to Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand in the region.
In Southeast Asia, Chinese tourism has played a vital role in the post-pandemic recovery. Before the pandemic, Chinese tourists accounted for 40-60% of the regional total.
Subsequently, regional recovery was fueled by Chinese tourism. The only exception? The Philippines.
In 2019, Chinese tourist arrivals in the country soared to over 1.7 million. As of September 2025, the Philippines has reported less than 204,000 Chinese arrivals for the year, a figure that is far, far below the government target. The country was banking on a 2-million visitors from China.
The sharp decline is attributed to geopolitical tensions, the suspension of the e-visa program, even safety concerns.
Even if the 2025 total would climb closer to 300,000, that would be just 15-20% of the 2019 level. It’s a catastrophic missed opportunity.
Sources: Trade deficits: Author, Philippine Statistics Authority; Tourism: Author, National Statistical Coordination Board Philippines; Exchange rate: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
BPO outsourcing at risk
Digital economy is a major component of the GDP. But in the absence of domestic ICT anchor firms, the sector is at the mercy of Western offshoring. And that spells huge trouble at a time, when the West prioritizes trade wars, as evidenced by Manila’s costly losses in US tariff wars.
Meanwhile, geopolitics has alienated investments by Chinese ICT giants, which could have catalyzed ICT ecosystems in the country.
And there’s worse ahead. The Philippine outsourcing sector is a $30 billion industry that accounts for 7% of the Philippines’ GDP and commands 15% of the global market. Yet, one-third of its jobs in the Philippines are at risk from artificial intelligence (AI), with those in the BPO sector most vulnerable. Sadly, college-educated, young, urban, female, and well-paid workers in the services sector will be most exposed.
In addition to AI, US protectionist initiatives could perfect the jobs devastation in the Philippine outsourcing industry. Introduced in July, the bipartisan “Keep Call Centers in America Act” proposes to penalize US companies that offshore a significant portion of their call center jobs. The recent Halting International Relocation of Employment Act (HIRE Act) aims to curb outsourcing by imposing a 25% excise tax on payments to foreign workers.
If these realities kick in, US vulture capitalists can be expected to target and short the Philippines, which could compound challenges, as in the past.
Economic growth, missed opportunities
In early 2024, US news agency Bloomberg asked President Marcos Jr whether the Philippines could achieve an 8% growth rate. “Why not?” the president replied. “Yes, I think it is, I think it is doable.”
Yet, at the time, GDP year-on-year growth decelerated to barely 5.2%.
Have things got better? No.
In 2025, the government’s target was reduced to 5.5-6.5%. Just weeks ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded the Philippine growth projection to 5.4% this year. More recently, economic growth slowed to just 4.0% in the third quarter – the slowest since early 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic caused a contraction.
Unsurprisingly, critics claim the incumbent economic policies have failed. Here’s a thought experiment about the extent of that failure. During the Duterte era, Philippine GDP increased from $329 billion to $404 billion, despite the pandemic plunge. On the back of that performance, IMF expected Philippine GDP to climb close to $640 billion by 2028.
Current IMF estimates suggest that by 2028, Philippine GDP would be less than $560 billion. So, the government is set to underperform by $80 billion.
That’s the cost of missed opportunities – although the final cost could prove higher.
The military has not gone into details about the sort of equipment or number of personnel that will be sent.
Published On 9 Nov 20259 Nov 2025
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The United Kingdom is sending military equipment and personnel to Belgium after a spate of disruptive drone sightings forced the temporary closures of two major airports.
Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton told the BBC network on Sunday that the military had agreed to “deploy our people, our equipment to Belgium to help them” after a request from Belgian authorities.
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“We don’t know – and the Belgians don’t yet know – the source of those drones, but we will help them by providing our kit and capability, which has already started to deploy to help Belgium,” said Knighton, who did not give details about what sort of equipment would be sent or how many personnel.
In the past week, both Belgium’s main international airport at Brussels and one of Europe’s biggest cargo airports at Liege were forced to close temporarily because of drone incursions. That came after a series of unidentified drone flights near a United States military base in Belgium where nuclear weapons are stored.
Drone sightings also forced the temporary closures of airports in other countries, including Sweden, on Thursday. The Belgian government held an emergency meeting to address the drone sightings.
Knighton said it was not known yet who was behind the drone sightings but noted Russia has been involved in a pattern of “hybrid warfare” in recent years.
Russia has been blamed in some cases, but Belgium has not said who has been operating the drones. Russia has denied any connection with the incidents, and there has been no evidence to directly link the drones to Russia.
Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken said he believed some incidents were part of “a spying operation” that could not have been done by amateurs.
Drone incidents have also caused major disruptions across Europe in recent months amid deepening concerns that Russia’s war in Ukraine might spill across Europe’s borders. Since September, drones have been spotted near civilian airports and military facilities in countries including Denmark, Germany and Norway.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called the incursions “hybrid warfare”. While she did not hold Russia responsible for the incidents, she said it was clear Russia’s aim was to “sow division” in Europe.
Belgium is home to the headquarters of NATO and the European Union as well as Europe’s biggest financial clearinghouse, holding tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets. Many EU countries want to use those assets as collateral to provide loans to Ukraine, but Belgium has so far resisted.
On Monday, Egyptians will head to the polls in the first of a two-phase process aimed at electing a new House of Representatives. Expatriates already voted on November 7 and 8.
Egypt has taken an increasingly proactive role regionally as of late, joining Qatar as a key negotiator for the ceasefire in Gaza. The country has also deployed Foreign Ministry representatives to Lebanon in recent weeks.
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The elections for the House come on the back of last year’s Senate elections and are expected to be the final elections in President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s third term.
So why is this significant? Read on, and find out.
(Al Jazeera)
What is happening?
Monday will see the start of voting for the 596-member House of Representatives.
Of those seats, 284 are individual seats, while another 284 are filled via a closed party list system. Twenty-eight more members are appointed by presidential decree. A quarter of the seats must be held by women.
There are 70 counting committees, and voting will be conducted across 5,606 polling stations, according to Egyptian media. Fourteen governorates vote in the first phase and 13 vote in the second.
Results for the voting may not be fully known before the end of December.
Phase one includes the governorates of Alexandria, Assiut, Aswan, Beheira, Beni Suef, Fayoum, Giza, Luxor, Matrouh, Minya, New Valley, Qena, Red Sea, and Sohag.
Phase two includes Cairo, Daqahlia, Damietta, Gharbia, Ismailia, Kafr El-Sheikh, Menoufia, North Sinai, Port Said, Qalyubia, Sharqia, South Sinai, and Suez.
Phase one results will be announced on November 18.
If phase one requires run-offs, voting will be held internationally over the first two days of December and then in Egypt on December 3 and 4, with results announced on December 11.
Phase-two voting for Egyptians abroad will take place on November 21 and 22. Voting inside Egypt will take place on November 24 and 25, with results announced on December 2.
In case of phase-two run-offs, voting will take place on December 15 and 16 abroad and 17 and 18 inside Egypt, with the final results announced on December 25.
(Al Jazeera)
Who is running?
First, voting has to be broken down by “party-list constituencies” and individual candidates. Each group is competing for 284 seats.
The party-list constituencies in Egypt divide the country into four areas. Cairo and the Central and Southern Delta has 102 seats. North, Central, and South Upper Egypt has 102 seats. The Eastern Delta and Western Delta have 40 seats apiece.
Then, individual candidates are running for another 284 across 143 constituencies.
The electoral lists are closed, meaning that parties must be approved to run.
The current lists include 12 political parties plus the Coordination Committee of Parties’ Youth Leaders and Politicians, who will compete for the 284 party-list seats. The National List for Egypt, the Generation List, the Popular List, Your Voice for Egypt List, and the Egypt Call List are seen as some of the bigger parties running.
How did expat voting go?
Ahram Online reported that it went smoothly.
A total 139 electoral committees were set up in 117 countries. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also set up 24-hour operation rooms in every mission to coordinate with the National Elections Authority in Cairo.
The round two vote is still set to take place in late November.
How long will House members serve?
Members of the House of Representatives serve five-year terms.
The current House was elected in late 2020 for a five-year term that expires in January 2026.
(Al Jazeera)
Why is this vote important?
President el-Sisi is in his third and, constitutionally, final term. In 2019, the Parliament of Egypt changed the constitution to allow him to serve until 2030, and there’s a widely held belief that Parliament could once again amend the constitution, allowing el-Sisi to extend his mandate.
In recent years, el-Sisi has worked to reshape Egypt by liberalising the economy, but many Egyptians are struggling with a rising cost of living and will likely be heading to the polls with the economy in mind.
Other important issues expressed by Egyptians include health and medical care, and a new rental law that threatens to evict millions living in rent-controlled properties.
Analysts say these elections could play a significant role in the country’s future, especially after the end of el-Sisi’s term.
“[T]he 2025 parliament will serve as both a legal and political instrument through which the Egyptian authorities channel key post-2030 decisions,” Halem Henish, a legal associate at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, wrote in October. “The composition of that parliament will directly reflect the Egyptian authorities’ intentions for the future.”
The BBC’s Jonathan Head says the Philippines is braced for an “absolutely massive storm”
Typhoon Fung-wong has made landfall in the Philippines, where more than 900,000 people have been evacuated and two people have died.
The stormwasupgraded to a super typhoon before landfall, with sustained winds of around 185 km/h (115mph) and gusts of 230km/h (143mph).
The eye of the storm hit Aurora province in Luzon – the Philippines’s most populous island – at 21:10 local time (13:10 GMT). The country’s meteorological service warned of destructive winds and “high-risk of life-threatening and damaging storm surge” as the typhoon moves north-westerly across Luzon.
Fung-wong – known locally as Uwan – comes days after an earlier storm, Kalmaegi, left devastation and nearly 200 people dead.
Eastern parts of the Philippines had already begun experiencing heavy rains and winds on Saturday evening, a weather official said.
Residents in Catanduanes, an island in the east of the Bicol region, as well as in other low-lying and coastal areas, had been urged to move to higher ground by Sunday morning.
The storm passed near the eastern Bicol region on Sunday morning, before making its way past the Polillo Islands on Sunday afternoon.
The civil defence office reported that one person drowned and firefighters recovered the body of a woman trapped under debris in Catbalogan City.
The civil aviation regulator has closed several airports, and almost 300 flights have been cancelled.
Fung-wong was expected to weaken after making landfall, but is likely to remain a typhoon as it travels over Luzon.
More than 200mm of rain is forecast for parts of Luzon, with even 100-200mm in the Metro Manilla area. This is expected to cause severe flooding and landslides.
CHARISM SAYAT/AFP via Getty Image
A landslide-hit residential area in Guinobatan town, Albay province, south of Manila
In the Aurora region, in eastern Luzon, BBC News spoke to Hagunoy, 21, who works at one of the dozen hotels which line the coast in Sabang.
He said police had repeatedly visited in recent days to ensure all guests were evacuated ahead of the storm. The hotels were all deserted on Sunday morning.
While the tide had risen sharply, Hagunoy said he would stay as long as he could to guard the property, before riding his motorbike home to safety.
Staff had secured the gates and tied windows shut with rope to try to stop the glass from shattering in the wind.
EPA/Shutterstock
The Filipino Coast Guard undertook evacuations ahead of the typhoon in Quezon province
In central Aurora, more than 200 people arrived at a shelter in a sports centre. Many parents have brought young children, too young to remember Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,000 people when it struck the Philippines in 2013.
“We felt very worried because of the strength of the typhoon, and we have young children to think of,” Jessa Zurbano told the BBC.
Another evacuee Patry Azul said: “Our house is made of wood and flimsy materials. We live close to the sea so we didn’t feel safe.”
Fung-wong has also forced the suspension of rescue operations following the passage of Kalmaegi, one of the strongest typhoons this year.
Heavy rainfall sent torrents of mud down hillsides and into residential areas. Some poorer neighbourhoods were obliterated by the fast-moving flash floods.
At least 204 people are now known to have died in the Philippines as a result of the earlier storm, while more than 100 are still missing.
Five people also died in Vietnam, where strong winds uprooted trees, tore off roofs, and smashed large windows.
Families gathered at this shelter in a sports centre in central Aurora in eastern Luzon
The Filipino government declared a state of calamity across the country after Typhoon Kalmaegi and in preparation for the coming storm.
It has given government agencies more power to access emergency funds and fast-track deliveries of essential goods and services.
For some Filipinos, the devastation wrought by Kalmaegi has left them even more anxious about the storm to come.
“We decided to evacuate because the recent typhoon brought floods in our area, and now I just want to keep my family safe,” Norlito Dugan told the AFP news agency.
He is among those who have taken shelter in a church in the city of Sorsogon in Luzon.
Another resident, Maxine Dugan said: “I’m here because the waves near my house are now huge.”
The Philippines – located near the area where Pacific Ocean tropical weather systems form – is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to cyclones.
About 20 tropical cyclones form in that region every year, half of which affect the country directly.
Climate change is not thought to increase the number of hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones worldwide.
However, warmer oceans coupled with a warmer atmosphere – fuelled by climate change – have the potential to make those that do form even more intense. That can potentially lead to higher wind speeds, heavier rainfall, and a greater risk of coastal flooding.
China announced exemptions to export controls on Nexperia chips for civilian applications, aiming to alleviate supply shortages for the automotive industry.
This decision signals Beijing’s intent to ease pressures from export restrictions imposed after the Dutch government took control of Nexperia, a key producer of chips for automotive electrical systems, which is owned by the Chinese company Wingtech.
Although the Chinese commerce ministry did not define “civilian use,” it follows reports from German and Japanese firms indicating a resumption of deliveries of Nexperia’s chips produced in China. However, tensions between China and the Netherlands, and the broader EU, are expected to persist until disputes over Nexperia’s ownership are resolved.
The Dutch government intervened on September 30, citing concerns over Wingtech’s plans to relocate production from Europe to China, which it perceived as a threat to economic security. In retaliation, China halted exports of finished chips but announced an acceptance of exemption applications following a summit between U.S. and Chinese leaders.
The ministry emphasized its commitment to protecting global chip supply chains while urging the EU to assist in persuading the Netherlands to reverse its decision regarding Nexperia.
After deadly protests and a youth uprising, Kenya’s president defends his record on democracy, rights, and reform.
Kenyan President William Ruto talks to Al Jazeera about the nationwide protests that left dozens dead, accusations of police brutality and enforced disappearances, and whether he’s betrayed the “hustler” generation that helped elect him. He also addresses Kenya’s economic challenges, its leadership role in Haiti, and regional accusations of interference in Sudan’s war. As scrutiny grows at home, Ruto insists Kenya’s democracy remains intact, and his promise of transformation, unbroken.
Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinian villagers, activists, and journalists, including Reuters reporter Raneen Sawafta, near Nablus. The assault is the latest in a surge of settler violence across the occupied West Bank during the olive harvesting season, with over 760 attacks recorded in October.
Conflict Analysis Resource Center Director, Jorge Restrepo, says the US must change its domestic strategy on drugs, after President Donald Trump put sanctions on Colombia’s president.
Lisa Nandy: ‘We didn’t meet the highest standards – that is on me’
The culture secretary has apologised for breaking rules by failing to declare she had received donations from the man she picked to run England’s new football regulator.
On Thursday, the commissioner for public appointments published a report which found that David Kogan had made two separate donations of £1,450 to Lisa Nandy, when she was running to be Labour leader in 2020.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Nandy said: “We didn’t meet the highest standards – that is on me.”
The Conservatives have said Nandy’s actions were “a serious breach of public trust” and called for a further investigation into Sir Keir Starmer, who also received donations from Mr Kogan.
In a statement, Mr Kogan has said: “As the commissioner states, my suitability for the role has never been in question, and at no point was I aware of any deviation from best practice.”
Mr Kogan, a sports rights executive, was initially longlisted for the football regulator role under the previous Conservative government.
Nandy became involved in the process after Labour won the 2024 general election and she took on the role of culture secretary.
In April, she announced that Mr Kogan would be her preferred pick to fill the £130,000-a-year role.
However, a month later she removed herself from the appointment process after Mr Kogan revealed to a parliamentary committee that he had donated “very small sums” to Nandy in 2020.
In his report, commissioner for public appointments Sir William Shawcross said Nandy had “unknowingly” breached the code and should have checked if Mr Kogan had given her money before choosing him as her preferred candidate.
The contributions were part of total donations worth £33,410 to Labour and the party’s candidates in the five years prior to his appointment, the commissioner said.
Mr Kogan’s donations to Nandy were below declaration thresholds set by the Electoral Commission and by Parliament.
Asked why she had not declared the donation during the appointments process, Lisa Nandy told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg she had not known about the money at the time it was given.
She said that during her leadership campaign she had been “out on the road” doing hustings and interviews.
“I wasn’t involved in fundraising for the campaign, and as soon as I found out I declared it and recused myself and I complied fully with the process.”
She insisted Labour was different from the Conservatives saying: “When we make mistakes – and we will make mistakes, we are human beings- we put ourselves through independent processes, we respect the outcome and we take the consequences.”
In his report, Sir William said: “It need not be true that the donations actually influenced the secretary of state’s decision-making – only that the risk of this perception should have been mitigated by declaration of this financial interest.”
He found the Department for Culture, Media and Sport had breached the rules by failing to declare Mr Kogan’s previous donations to Labour when he was named as the government’s preferred choice for the job.
The department also breached the rules by not discussing the donations to Nandy when Mr Kogan was interviewed for the job, Sir William found.
After the report was published, Nandy wrote a letter to the prime minister saying: “I deeply regret this error. I appreciate the perception it could create.”
In his reply, Sir Keir Starmer wrote: “I know you to be a person of integrity and on the basis of your letter, it is clear you have acted in good faith.”
In May 2024, Mr Kogan donated £2,500 to the prime minister’s local Labour branch of Holborn and St Pancras.
The Conservatives have asked the government’s ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus to investigate whether Sir Keir’s role in Mr Kogan’s appointment broke ministerial rules on transparency.
Downing Street said Sir William Shawcross had already carried out an extensive review and “found no breaches aside from those set out in the report”.
The football regulator role was set up following a fan-led review into the management of football clubs.
The regulator has been tasked with improving the financial sustainability of clubs and safeguarding “the heritage of English football”.
Taiwan’s Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim emphasized the island’s growing international support and resolve following her recent diplomatic trip to Europe, addressing the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China’s annual summit in Brussels.
This trip is significant due to its rarity for a high-ranking official, as it risks backlash from Beijing. Despite China’s claims of Taiwan as its territory and refusal to engage with President Lai Ching-te, Hsiao asserted Taiwan’s right to participate in global affairs and highlighted the increasing number of allies willing to support Taiwan.
She expressed confidence in Taiwan’s democracy and commitment to maintaining good relations with like-minded nations. Former President Tsai Ing-wen also recognized the importance of Hsiao’s visit, reiterating Taiwan’s role as a reliable partner in the international community and its solidarity with Europe.
