World Briefing: November 4, 2024

The incumbent pro-Western president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, has won another term against a Russia-friendly opponent, in a second election runoff. It was a tight race against the backdrop of alleged massive Russian interference and intimidation. However, as in the last round, Sandu was pushed well over the finish line by votes from several diaspora voting stations (there are an estimated 1.2 million Moldovans abroad compared to 2.5 million at home). With nearly 100% of votes counted, Sandu had 55.4% of the vote, according to the Central Electoral Commission, compared to 44.59% for Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor general who was backed by the pro-Russia Party of Socialists. Earlier, the president's national security adviser claimed "massive interference" from Russia in the electoral process that had "high potential to distort the outcome.” There were concerns that a low turnout and voter complacency would hurt Sandy’s chances of re-election and indeed a polling station in central Chișinău we visited at midday had very lite traffic. There were also concerns that the overseas vote could be swayed by voters being allegedly flown into Belarus, Azerbaijan, Turkey and elsewhere to cast votes as part of organized schemes.

Late Sunday night, Maia Sandu told supporters: “Moldova, you are victorious! Today, dear Moldovans, you have given a lesson in democracy, worthy of being written in history books. Today, you have saved Moldova..I have heard your voice – both those who supported me and those who voted for Mr. Stoianoglo. In our choice for a dignified future, no-one lost... we need to stand united."

Donald Trump, who said in Pennsylvania on Sunday that he regrets leaving the White House in 2021, is ending the 2024 campaign the way he began it — dishing out a stew of violent, disparaging rhetoric and repeated warnings that he will not accept defeat if it comes. At a rally in the must-win battleground state, the former president told supporters that he "shouldn’t have left" office after losing the 2020 election; described Democrats as "demonic"; complained about a new poll that shows him no longer leading in Iowa, a state he twice carried; and said he wouldn’t mind if a gunman aiming at him also shot through "the fake news." Trump spent much of his speech pushing unfounded claims of cheating by Democrats in the 2024 election and sowing doubts about its integrity as polls show him and Vice President Kamala Harris deadlocked nationally. He ranted about alleged election interference this year and lamented his departure from office after losing to Joe Biden four years ago. “I shouldn’t have left. I mean, honestly, because we did so, we did so well," Trump said during his rally in Lititz as he claimed the US-Mexico border was more secure under his administration.

Record high air pollution has forced authorities in Pakistan’s Lahore to shut primary schools for a week and issue work-from-home mandates. The city of 14 million residents tops the list of the world’s most polluted cities after recording its highest ever pollution reading of 1900. Citizens have been urged to stay indoors, keep doors and windows shut, and avoid unnecessary travel, she said, adding that hospitals had been given smog counters and construction work had been banned in certain areas. - Al Jazeera

Almost three years since the start of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, the wealthiest Russians still lack nothing. Under the table, the flow of high-end products from neighboring countries has been a constant since then. The latest international customs data point in this direction, where a strong growth — practically vertical — of imports from countries such as Georgia or Kazakhstan is perceived: increases that the consumption dynamics of these countries cannot explain and an important indication of their participation in a triangulation that is enabling the arrival of these select products to Russia, their true final destination. “There is strong circumstantial evidence that Western goods are reaching Russia via the Caucasus and Central Asia. This is reflected in the mirror trade data of the EU and other countries,” notes Benjamin Hilgenstock, a specialist at the German Council on Foreign Relations. “The producers of these goods are not adequately monitoring their distribution networks, nor do they have sufficient incentives to do so,” he replied by email. “Western governments,” wrote Robin Brooks, a researcher at the Brookings Institution, “know what is happening: cracking down [on re-exports] is just a matter of political will.” The EU has banned the export of jewelry and cars worth more than €50,000 to Russia for almost two years. However, alternatives to get them to their destination emerged almost immediately. The first was Turkey, also as a transit country. A route that soon gave way to Belarus, with a government clearly aligned to Moscow. Last summer, the EU tried to close this gap with a new package of sanctions to prevent the obvious evasion by Minsk. It remains to be seen how successful this will be - El Pais

Voters in U.S. 25 states will have the opportunity to elect or reelect an Indigenous candidate to public office this year. At least 170 Native American, Native Hawaiians, and Native Alaskans are on ballots this fall, an all-time high, according to a database collected by the group Advance Native Political Leadership. The group has been tracking Indigenous candidates dating back to 2016, from school boards all the way to the U.S. Congress. Still, organizers and others say more work needs to be done to have representation that is proportional to national population sizes. Advance Native Political Leadership has identified 347 current Native elected officials – less than 0.1% of some 519,000 elected offices nationwide. The organization estimates that number would have to be 17,000 to achieve parity based on the Native proportion of the U.S. population, which is 3%. - NPR

The World Economic Forum has increased the price of admission 10-fold for some guests at its annual meeting in Davos as it tries to grab a greater share of the corporate activity on the sidelines of the elite gathering. The organisation is also expanding the number of passes available and revamping the access they provide. The shake-up, planned for the 2025 meeting in January, was discussed with sponsors at a meeting in Geneva this week, according to people who were there. The WEF offers access passes, or badges, for second-tier attendees in the entourage of the corporate leaders who make up Davos’s official participants. These will rise in price from SFr100 ($115) in previous years to SFr1000 from 2025. The badges provide access to some parts of the WEF meeting but not the main conference centre where world leaders and chief executives can hobnob in between panels on the global economy, inequality and climate change. An elite badge costs SFr27,000 per person. The lower-tier badges will be made available to a wider range of participants than in previous years, including much smaller sponsors, and are designed to lure mid-tier executives with the promise of new opportunities to network with other attendees. “It feels like a cash grab,” said an executive at one large WEF sponsor. person. The lower-tier badges will be made available to a wider range of participants than in previous years, including much smaller sponsors, and are designed to lure mid-tier executives with the promise of new opportunities to network with other attendees. “It feels like a cash grab,” said an executive at one large WEF sponsor. - FT

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