World

Swiss voters appeared set Sunday to narrowly accept the government’s divisive pension reform plan, which would raise the retirement age for women, while snubbing a push to ban factory farming.

Shortly after polling stations closed at noon (1000 GMT), the gfs.bern polling institute projected that Swiss had voted to reform their pension system for the first time in more than a quarter of a century. 

Bern has long argued the need to “stabilise” the country’s old-age security system, under pressure as life expectancy rises and the giant baby-boomer generation reaches retirement age.

The government has seen its attempts to introduce similar pension reform plans thwarted in the polls twice before, in 2004 and 2017, but gfs.bern projected that separate votes on different aspects of the reform had both passed.

Early results indicated that 51 percent of voters had opted for the most controversial part of the reform, involving hiking women’s retirement age by one year, gfs.bern said an hour after polls closed.

A separate vote on boosting funding for the reform through a sales tax hike was meanwhile on track to pass with 56-percent support, the pollster said.

If those numbers are confirmed, women will need to work until the age of 65, the same age as the current retirement age for men, before receiving a full pension. 

– Gender pension gap –

Parliament approved the key measures, which include a sales tax hike, last year, but left-leaning parties and unions decry the reform “on the backs of women” and pushed the issue to a referendum under Switzerland’s direct democratic system.

While backers of the reform argued that men and women retiring at the same age is not unreasonable, the plan sparked significant pushback, especially from women.

This result “is painful for the left and the unions, but especially for the people it will affect,” Socialist Party parliamentarian Samuel Bendahan told the RTS public broadcaster.

Opponents argued that women face significant discrimination and a broad gender pay-gap in Switzerland, meaning they receive far smaller pensions than men.

They argued it was unfair to increase their retirement age without first addressing those issues.

In 2020, women in Switzerland on average received pensions nearly 35 percent smaller than men, according to the Swiss economy ministry.

Polls ahead of Sunday’s vote revealed deep divisions between the sexes, one Tamedia poll showing 70 percent of men questioned in favour and 58 percent of women opposed.

Early results Sunday were not broken down in terms of gender, but did show a divide between different regions, with the German-speaking part of the country clearly in favour of the reform and the French-speaking part opposed.

Initial results from Geneva for instance showed more than 62 percent of voters had voted against the plan, the RTS public broadcaster reported. 

– Factory farming ban rejected –

While the pension reform plans appeared set to pass, gfs.bern projected that another hotly debated issue on Sunday’s ballot, a proposed ban on intensive livestock farming, would not pass.

Early results showed that a full 63 percent of voters had rejected the popular initiative by animal rights and welfare organisations, gfs.bern said. 

The backers of the initiative had wanted to make protecting the dignity of animals like cattle, chickens or pigs a constitutional requirement, and impose stricter minimum requirements for animal-friendly housing and care, access to outdoors and slaughtering practices.

The proposal, which essentially amounted to outlawing factory farming, would also have extended to imports of animals and animal products.

The government and parliament opposed the initiative, insisting that Switzerland already has among the world’s strictest animal welfare laws, and warning that tightening the rules further would significantly hike prices.

Bern had also cautioned that the import clause could impact relations with Switzerland’s trading partners.

Backers of the initiative said Sunday that while they would have liked to see their proposal pass, they were pleased the campaign had raised awareness about the issue.

“For us, it is in any case a victory,” Vera Weber, head of the Franz Weber Foundation, told RTS, pointing out that “all of Switzerland has discussed the problems linked to intensive livestock farming and our meat consumption.” 

Super Typhoon Noru slammed into the Philippines Sunday, battering the heavily populated main island of Luzon with strong winds and heavy rain that have forced hundreds of people to flee their homes.

The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometres (121 miles) an hour as it charged towards the archipelago nation after an unprecedented “explosive intensification”, the state weather forecaster said. 

Noru, the strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year, made landfall in Burdeos municipality on the Polillo islands, part of Quezon province, at 5:30 pm (0930 GMT). 

“We ask residents living in danger zones to adhere to calls for evacuation whenever necessary,” Philippine National Police chief General Rodolfo Azurin said.

The Philippines is regularly ravaged by storms, with scientists warning they are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer because of climate change.

“The winds were fierce this morning,” said Ernesto Portillo, 30, who works as a cook in the coastal municipality of Infanta in Quezon.

“We’re a bit worried… We secured our belongings and bought a few groceries so we have food just in case.”

Videos posted on social media and verified by AFP showed trees being buffeted by strong winds in Infanta and on the Polillo islands.

The meteorology agency said the storm’s wind speeds had increased by 90 kilometres per hour in 24 hours. 

“Typhoons are like engines — you need a fuel and an exhaust to function,” said weather forecaster Robb Gile.

“In the case of Karding, it has a good fuel because it has plenty of warm waters along its track and then there is a good exhaust in the upper level of the atmosphere — so it’s a good recipe for explosive intensification,” he added, using the local name for the storm.

The storm hit about 100 kilometres northeast of Manila. Emergency personnel braced for the possibility of strong winds and heavy rain battering the capital, home to more than 13 million people. 

Forced evacuations have started in some “high risk” areas of the metropolis, officials said.

“NCR is prepared. We are just waiting and hoping it will not hit us,” said Romulo Cabantac, regional director for the civil defence office, referring to the National Capital Region. 

– Calm before the storm –

Noru comes nine months after another super typhoon devastated swathes of the country, killing more than 400 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

Ahead of the latest storm, residents in several municipalities in Quezon were evacuated from their homes, according to the provincial disaster office.

In the neighbouring province of Aurora, residents of Dingalan municipality were forced to seek shelter.

“People living near the coast have been told to evacuate. We live away from the coast so we’re staying put so far. We’re more worried about the water from the mountains,” said Rhea Tan, 54, a restaurant manager in Dingalan.

Tan said residents were securing the roofs of their houses and boats were being taken to higher ground while the weather was still calm.

“We’re even more anxious if the weather is very calm, because that’s the usual indicator of a strong typhoon before it hits land,” Tan added.

Noru is expected to weaken to a typhoon as it sweeps across central Luzon, before entering the South China Sea on Monday and heading towards Vietnam.

The weather bureau has warned of dangerous storm surges more than three metres high along the coast of Aurora and Quezon, including the Polillo islands, along with widespread flooding and landslides as the storm dumps heavy rain.

It could topple coconut and mango trees, and cause “severe losses” to rice and corn crops in the heavily agricultural region, while inundating villages.

The coast guard reported more than 2,500 people had been left stranded by ferry cancellations as vessels took shelter ahead of the storm.

Dozens of flights in and out of Manila were also cancelled.

School classes and non-essential government services have been suspended for Monday. 

The Philippines — ranked among the most vulnerable nations to the impacts of climate change — is hit by an average of 20 storms every year.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday his country was determined to never again rely on a single energy supplier and touted “progress” in gas projects while visiting the United Arab Emirates.

The German leader is touring the Gulf in the hope of sealing new energy deals to replace Russian supplies and mitigate the energy crisis resulting from Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We have made progress on a whole series of projects here in terms of the production and purchase of diesel and gas,” Scholz told reporters in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi.

“The fact that we are dependent on one supplier and also dependent on its decisions will certainly not happen to us again,” he added.

“With the investments that we are now making in Germany, and that will become reality bit by bit next year, we will indeed have an infrastructure for gas imports for Germany, such that we are no longer directly dependent on the specific supplier at the other end of the pipeline, as we are with a pipeline connection.”

On Saturday, Scholz met in Jeddah with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and later Sunday he was due to fly to gas-rich Qatar to hold talks with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. 

His trip to Qatar comes one day after France’s TotalEnergies signed a new $1.5 billion deal to help expand Doha’s natural gas production.

Scholz said such projects were “important”. 

“We have to ensure that the production of liquefied gas in the world is advanced to such an extent that the high demand that exists can be met — without having to fall back on the production capacities in Russia that have been used so far,” he said.

In Abu Dhabi, Scholz toured an environmental project at a mangrove park with the UAE’s climate change minister Mariam Almheiri.

Almheiri said discussions on Sunday would, in addition to energy security, cover “climate action and economic growth”.

“The UAE believes all three pillars must go hand and hand. We cannot look at one or two of these pillars separately,” she said. 

She also reiterated Abu Dhabi’s insistence on “a just transition” away from fossil fuels.

Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have been leading critics of what they describe as “unrealistic” transition models they say have contributed to the current energy crunch.

Parts of eastern Canada were waking up to damage from powerful storm Fiona on Sunday, as meteorologists said the worst weather had passed.

The storm tore into Nova Scotia and Newfoundland on Saturday, cutting power to thousands and washing houses into the sea as it brought fierce winds and rains “like nothing we’ve ever seen,” police said.

Two women were swept into the ocean in Newfoundland, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. One was rescued, and investigators were looking into the second case.

Mayor Brian Button of Channel-Port aux Basques, on the southwestern tip of Newfoundland, said in a Facebook video Saturday night that at least 20 homes had been destroyed and the community looked like a “total warzone.”

“We’ve got destruction everywhere.” 

A boil water order was in effect, Button said, encouraging residents in need to take shelter at a local elementary school. 

As of late Saturday afternoon, nearly 500,000 homes were without power across the region as the storm hammered a wide area, felling countless trees and ripping roofs from buildings.

“The power lines are down everywhere,” Erica Fleck, assistant chief of Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency, told CBC. “It’s not safe to be on the roads.”

Although downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, Fiona still packed hurricane-force winds of 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour as it first barreled into Canada after earlier battering the Caribbean, according to meteorologists.

By early Sunday, the storm’s maximum sustained winds had slowed to 50 mph, according to the Canadian Hurricane Centre (CHC), with the government forecasting “strong winds” over northern Newfoundland, southeastern Labrador and southeastern Quebec.

“These winds will diminish later today,” the CHC said.

– Nova Scotia hard hit –

The storm first made landfall in Nova Scotia province around 3 am (0600 GMT), according to the CHC. 

By Saturday night, 294,000 households were still without electricity in the province, Nova Scotia Power reported, though repairs had started on some lines.

The utility’s president said outages could last for days.

In New Brunswick, more than 25,000 were still without power while 82,000 customers were without electricity on Prince Edward Island.

“Trees have come down on homes, trees have come down on cars, there’s buildings that have collapsed,” Fire Chief Lloyd MacIntosh in the Nova Scotia town of North Sydney told CBC.

Police in Charlottetown, the capital of Prince Edward Island, posted images of tangles of downed power lines and roofs punctured by felled trees.

“It’s incredible,” said Charlottetown mayor Philip Brown on Radio-Canada TV. “It’s stronger than Hurricane Juan in 2003.”

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said in a statement that “it will take time for Nova Scotia to recover. I just ask everyone for their patience.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who canceled his trip to Japan for former prime minister Shinzo Abe’s funeral so that he can travel to the affected regions, told Canadians that the “government is standing ready to support provinces with any necessary resources.”

“We’re thinking first and foremost of the people who’ve had a terrifying past 12 hours,” Trudeau said during a press conference Saturday, adding that the country’s military would aid in the recovery effort.

Canada had issued severe weather warnings for swaths of its eastern coast, advising people to lay in supplies for at least 72 hours.

Rainfall of up to 7.5 inches (192 millimeters) was recorded in Nova Scotia, the CHC said, with waves of up to 40 feet (12 meters) hitting Nova Scotia and western Newfoundland.

The CHC said early Sunday the storm had passed Nova Scotia and moved inland to southeastern Quebec, predicting it would continue to weaken as it tracks across southeastern Labrador and over the Labrador Sea.

– Puerto Rico struggling –

Fiona killed at least four people in Puerto Rico earlier this week, according to US media, while two deaths were reported in the Dominican Republic and one in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe. 

President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Puerto Rico, a US territory that is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria five years ago.

The storm had skirted Bermuda on Friday. No fatalities or major damage were reported.

As the Caribbean licked its wounds, Cuba, Jamaica and Florida were bracing Sunday for the arrival of tropical storm Ian, which is expected to gain power in coming days to reach “at or near major hurricane strength,” the NHC said.

In anticipation of the storm, NASA called off the scheduled Tuesday launch of its historic uncrewed mission to the Moon, and Biden approved a state of emergency in Florida.

burs/sw/bbk/caw/ssy/mca/qan

A super typhoon charged towards the Philippines Sunday and was on track to slam into the heavily populated main island of Luzon, forcing the evacuations of vulnerable communities on the coast and in Manila, authorities said.

Super Typhoon Noru was packing maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometres (121 miles) an hour after an unprecedented “explosive intensification”, the state weather forecaster said. 

The storm, the strongest to hit the Philippines this year, is expected to continue strengthening as it makes landfall around 80 kilometres northeast of the sprawling capital Manila in the afternoon or evening.

“We ask residents living in danger zones to adhere to calls for evacuation whenever necessary,” Philippine National Police chief General Rodolfo Azurin said.

The Philippines is regularly ravaged by storms, with scientists warning they are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer because of climate change.

“The winds were fierce this morning,” said Ernesto Portillo, 30, who works as a cook in the coastal municipality of Infanta in Quezon province where the typhoon could make landfall. 

“We’re a bit worried… We secured our belongings and bought a few groceries so we have food just in case.”

Weather forecaster Robb Gile said Noru’s rapid intensification as it neared land was “unprecedented”. The meteorology agency said its wind speeds had increased by 90 kilometres per hour in 24 hours. 

“Typhoons are like engines — you need a fuel and an exhaust to function,” said Gile.

“In the case of Karding, it has a good fuel because it has plenty of warm waters along its track and then there is a good exhaust in the upper level of the atmosphere — so it’s a good recipe for explosive intensification,” he said, using the local name for the storm.

In Manila, emergency personnel braced for the possibility of strong winds and heavy rain battering the city of more than 13 million people. 

Forced evacuations have started in some “high risk” areas of the metropolis, officials said.

“NCR is prepared. We are just waiting and hoping it will not hit us,” said Romulo Cabantac, regional director for the civil defence office, referring to the National Capital Region. 

– Calm before the storm –

Noru comes nine months after another super typhoon devastated swathes of the country, killing more than 400 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

Ahead of the latest storm, residents in several municipalities in Quezon province were evacuated from their homes, according to the provincial disaster office.

In the neighbouring province of Aurora, residents of Dingalan municipality were forced to seek shelter. 

“People living near the coast have been told to evacuate. We live away from the coast so we’re staying put so far. We’re more worried about the water from the mountains,” said Rhea Tan, 54, a restaurant manager in Dingalan.

Tan said residents were securing the roofs of their houses and boats were being taken to higher ground while the weather was still calm.

“We’re even more anxious if the weather is very calm, because that’s the usual indicator of a strong typhoon before it hits land,” Tan added.

Noru could have wind speeds of up to 205 kilometres per hour when it makes landfall, the weather bureau said. 

It is expected to weaken to a typhoon as it sweeps across central Luzon, before entering the South China Sea on Monday and heading towards Vietnam.

The weather bureau has warned of dangerous storm surges more than three metres high along the coast of Aurora and Quezon, including the Polillo islands, along with widespread flooding and landslides as the storm dumps heavy rain.

It could topple coconut and mango trees, and cause “severe losses” to rice and corn crops in the heavily agricultural region, while inundating villages.

The coast guard reported more than 2,500 people had been left stranded by ferry cancellations as vessels took shelter ahead of the storm. Dozens of flights in and out of Manila were also cancelled.

School classes and non-essential government services have been suspended for Monday. 

The Philippines — ranked among the most vulnerable nations to the impacts of climate change — is hit by an average of 20 storms every year.

Just a handful of kilometres from the frontline, a shattered village school in the southern Mykolaiv region is a stark sign of the war damage inflicted by Russia on Ukrainian education.

Small desks are topped with a layer of rubble and dust, while the front of the building, facing enemy lines, has been gutted from repeated shelling. 

At the back, a collapsed roof and wall expose the school gymnasium to the elements. Charred car wrecks squat beside the battered, abandoned playground.

The Russian army has passed through the village twice since the war began and left the school intact both times, Sergiy, head of the village municipality, told AFP.

But once Ukrainian troops took up position there “the Russians realised their mistake and bombed everything,” the 51-year-old said by telephone from Mykolaiv city where he now lives.

In the heavily-shelled village most roofs have now been blown off.

Only 25 residents still live there out of a population of some 1,700, he said.

By day, the streets are deserted — the silence broken only by the nearby roar of artillery. 

Ukraine launched a counter-offensive three weeks ago, but its results are still difficult to assess in the region.

On Thursday, the village received a missile strike that gouged a five-metre-deep crater in a vacant plot — a “Russian gift”, according to Lieutenant Andriy Grushelsky.

“The bomb must have weighed at least a ton. Thank God, it fell 20 metres from our camp, otherwise I wouldn’t be talking to you today,” he told AFP.

But the “quite beautiful” village school was less fortunate, he said.

According to UNESCO, citing Ukrainian Ministry of Education figures, almost 300 schools have been destroyed since the invasion began, and over 2,550 damaged.

Sergiy fondly remembers the building where 190 children studied from kindergarten to high-school. 

His wife ran its computer lab, while his eldest child was a graduate, and his youngest a pupil — until Russia invaded seven months ago.

“We invested so much time and effort to make the school the best it could be. The classes were magnificent. Even our canteen was better than elsewhere,” he said.

– ‘Our children’s future’ –

Inside what’s left of the premises, letters painted beside drawings on remnants of a classroom wall look down on upturned broken furniture and books thrown across the floor. 

“The Russians deliberately targeted the school. I hate them,” said Sergiy.

UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay has regularly called for “the cessation of attacks against places of education, teachers and students”. 

But on the ground, schools often cannot provide enough shelter, or are in disputed territory, or parents are too afraid to send their children there. 

Amid all the fighting, Ukraine authorities say that some 40 percent of Ukrainian pupils have only started back for their school year online.

In a nearby village also visited by AFP on Saturday, a mortar shell exploded in front of a pretty brick schoolhouse, blowing out most of the windows. 

“My soul is wrenched from my body when I see this destruction,” said Alla Kovalenko, parent of a former pupil.

A photo on Kovalenko’s phone shows her son waltzing his girlfriend at a school-leaving ceremony last year.

Now the staircase where it took place is covered in scars from bomb shrapnel. 

“If I could, I would take the Russian soldiers and I would cut them millimetre by millimetre,” she said bitterly.

“They not only deprive us of our schools, but also of our children’s future.”