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Belgium Appoints Two Women of Moroccan Origin in New Govt

Belgium new government includes to women of Moroccan descent (AFP)
Belgium new government includes to women of Moroccan descent (AFP)
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Belgium Appoints Two Women of Moroccan Origin in New Govt

Belgium new government includes to women of Moroccan descent (AFP)
Belgium new government includes to women of Moroccan descent (AFP)

Two women of Moroccan descent, Zakia Khattabi, and Meryame Kitir were appointed on Thursday in the new Belgian federal government of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

Khattabi was named minister in charge of the environment and sustainable development while Meryame Kitir was appointed minister of cooperation and urban development.

Born in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode to Moroccan parents from Tetouan, Khattabi received a BA in social work from l’Université Libre de Bruxelles.

As a co-chairwoman of the Belgian Greens party, she was elected as an MP in 2009 to 2014 when she joined the federal parliament.

The Belgian-Moroccan politician served as the president of the Ecolo party, a Francophone party based on green politics, from 2015 until September 2019.

The second minister, Kitiri, is born to parents from the south-eastern city of Ouarzazate.

She started her professional career with Ford in Genk in 1999 as a worker before becoming a socialist union leader.

She is a member of the Socialist Union Party and was elected to the Maasmechelen municipal council in 2006 and became a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives in 2007.

The politician was re-elected to the House of Representatives in 2014 and in 2019 she served as the leader of her political group until her appointment as a federal minister.

The appointment of both politicians of Moroccan origin to the Belgian government is a first in the European country’s political history.

De Croo’s government, which took the oath Thursday before King Philippe, also includes the new Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration (CD&V), Sammy Mahdi, who was born in 1988 to an Iraqi father and a Flemish mother.

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Four Injured, Including Three Children in Russian Attack on Odesa, Ukraine Says

This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on December 25, 2025, shows damaged building on fire following an alleged air attack in Odesa region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout /Ukrainian Emergency Service / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on December 25, 2025, shows damaged building on fire following an alleged air attack in Odesa region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout /Ukrainian Emergency Service / AFP)
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Four Injured, Including Three Children in Russian Attack on Odesa, Ukraine Says

This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on December 25, 2025, shows damaged building on fire following an alleged air attack in Odesa region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout /Ukrainian Emergency Service / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on December 25, 2025, shows damaged building on fire following an alleged air attack in Odesa region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout /Ukrainian Emergency Service / AFP)

Russia launched an overnight drone attack on ​Ukraine’s Odesa region, damaging residential buildings and infrastructure and injuring four people, including three children, regional authorities said on Wednesday.

Odesa, a major Black Sea port, has been repeatedly targeted by Russian missiles and ‌drones during nearly ‌four years of ‌war, with ⁠strikes ​frequently ‌hitting energy, transport and port infrastructure as well as residential areas.

"Strike drones attacked residential, logistics and energy infrastructure in our region," Oleh Kiper, governor of the Odesa region, said on the ⁠Telegram messaging app.

In Odesa city, which is ‌the administrative center of ‍the broader Odesa ‍region, four people were injured, including ‍a seven-month-old infant, two other children, and a 42-year-old man, Serhiy Lisak, the head of Odesa's military administration, said on Telegram.

He ​said that drone debris and direct hits damaged facades and windows ⁠of several high-rise apartment buildings.

Lisak posted images showing smoke billowing from a multi-storey apartment building at night, with flames visible in several windows and what appears to be a firefighter’s water jet aimed at the facade.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from ‌Russia about the attacks on Odesa.

World

Leftist Mamdani to Take Over as New York Mayor Under Trump Shadow

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, center, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., appear on stage during a rally, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, in New York. (AP)
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, center, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., appear on stage during a rally, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, in New York. (AP)
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Leftist Mamdani to Take Over as New York Mayor Under Trump Shadow

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, center, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., appear on stage during a rally, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, in New York. (AP)
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, center, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., appear on stage during a rally, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, in New York. (AP)

Zohran Mamdani, young upstart of the US left, was readying Wednesday to take over as New York mayor for a term sure to see him cross swords with President Donald Trump.

After the clocks strike midnight, bringing in 2026, Mamdani will take his oath of office at an abandoned subway stop, taking the helm of the United States' largest city. He will be New York's first Muslim mayor.

His office says the understated venue for the oath-taking reflects his commitment to working people, after the 34-year-old Democrat campaigned on promises to address the soaring cost of living.

But it remains to be seen if Mamdani -- virtually unknown a year ago -- can deliver on his ambitious agenda, which envisions rent freezes, universal childcare and free public buses.

Once an election is over, "symbolism only goes so far with voters. Results begin to matter a whole lot more," New York University lecturer John Kane said.

What Trump does could be a decisive factor.

The Republican, himself a New Yorker, has repeatedly criticized Mamdani, but the pair held surprisingly cordial talks at the White House in November.

Lincoln Mitchell, a political analyst and professor at Columbia University, said that meeting "couldn't have gone better from Mamdani's perspective."

But he warned their relationship could quickly sour.

One flashpoint might be immigration raids as Trump wages an expanding crackdown on migrants across the United States.

Mamdani has vowed to protect immigrant communities.

Before the November vote, the president also threatened to slash federal funding for New York if it picked Mamdani, whom he called a "communist lunatic."

The mayor-elect has said he believes Trump is a fascist.

- Block party -

Mamdani's private swearing-in at midnight to start his four-year term will be performed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted Trump for fraud.

A larger, ceremonial inauguration is scheduled for Thursday with speeches from left-wing allies Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Around 4,000 ticketed guests are expected to attend the event outside City Hall.

Mamdani's team has also organized a block party that it says will enable tens of thousands of New Yorkers to watch the ceremony at streetside viewing areas along Broadway.

The new job comes with a change of address for Mamdani as he swaps his rent-controlled apartment in the borough of Queens for the luxurious mayor's residence in Manhattan.

Some had wondered if he would move to the official mansion given his campaigning on affordability issues. Mamdani said he is doing so mainly for security reasons.

Born in Uganda to a family of Indian origin, Mamdani moved to New York at age seven and enjoyed an elite upbringing with only a relatively brief stint in politics, becoming a member of the New York State Assembly before being elected mayor.

Compensating for his inexperience, he is surrounding himself with seasoned aides recruited from past mayors' offices and former US president Joe Biden's administration.

Mamdani has also opened dialogue with business leaders, some of whom predicted a massive exodus of wealthy New Yorkers if he won. Real estate leaders have debunked those claims.

World

Thailand Releases 18 Cambodian Prisoners of War as Part of Ceasefire Agreement

This handout photo taken and released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP) on December 31, 2025 shows Cambodian soldiers, who had been captured by Thai soldiers in July, being escorting by Cambodian soldiers after their release, as they walk at a checkpoint along the border with Thailand in Cambodia's Pailin province. (Ja Dina / Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP) / AFP)
This handout photo taken and released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP) on December 31, 2025 shows Cambodian soldiers, who had been captured by Thai soldiers in July, being escorting by Cambodian soldiers after their release, as they walk at a checkpoint along the border with Thailand in Cambodia's Pailin province. (Ja Dina / Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP) / AFP)
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Thailand Releases 18 Cambodian Prisoners of War as Part of Ceasefire Agreement

This handout photo taken and released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP) on December 31, 2025 shows Cambodian soldiers, who had been captured by Thai soldiers in July, being escorting by Cambodian soldiers after their release, as they walk at a checkpoint along the border with Thailand in Cambodia's Pailin province. (Ja Dina / Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP) / AFP)
This handout photo taken and released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP) on December 31, 2025 shows Cambodian soldiers, who had been captured by Thai soldiers in July, being escorting by Cambodian soldiers after their release, as they walk at a checkpoint along the border with Thailand in Cambodia's Pailin province. (Ja Dina / Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP) / AFP)

Thailand on Wednesday released 18 Cambodian prisoners of war held for five months, fulfilling the terms of a ceasefire agreement the two countries signed to end bitter fighting along their border.

The release was stipulated in the ceasefire agreement signed Saturday by the defense ministers of the two countries at the same border checkpoint between Thailand’s Chanthaburi province and Cambodia's Pailin province where the soldiers were released.

“The repatriation of the 18 Cambodian soldiers was undertaken as a demonstration of goodwill and confidence-building, as well as in adherence to international humanitarian principles,” Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Cambodia’s Defense Ministry said the release “creates an environment conducive to peace, stability, and the full normalization of relations for the benefit of both nations and their people in the near future.”

The soldiers’ release removes a major impediment toward that goal after two rounds of destructive combat over competing territorial claims.

Thailand had insisted it was allowed to hold the men under provisions of the Geneva Conventions governing the rules of war, which said they could be detained until the end of hostilities. The prisoners were allowed visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross and other rights covered under international humanitarian law, Thai authorities said.

Their continued detention was used effectively by Cambodia’s government to rally nationalist sentiment in the conflict against Thailand.

Wednesday’s statement from Cambodia’s defense ministry said the government “has remained steadfast in the promise made to the families of the 18 soldiers and the Cambodian people: that no soldier would be left behind.”

Video distributed by Cambodia's Information Ministry showed crowds along the road from the border checkpoint to the city of Pailin cheering and waving small flags as a bus carrying the freed men drove by in a motorcade. They were expected to be flown Wednesday to the capital Phnom Penh.

The ceasefire agreement said the soldiers would be freed if the end of combat was sustained for 72 hours after it came into effect at noon on Saturday. The 72 hours passed on Tuesday, but Thai authorities said they needed to evaluate the situation, claiming that 250 Cambodian drones had been active along the border.

The two countries had given differing accounts of the circumstances of the men’s capture, which took place on the same day the initial ceasefire came into effect at the end of July.

Cambodian officials say their soldiers approached the Thai position with friendly intentions to offer post-fighting greetings, while Thai officials said the Cambodians appeared to have hostile intent and entered what Thailand considers its territory and subsequently were taken prisoner.

There were originally 20 Cambodia soldiers taken captive, but two were repatriated within days for what were said to be medical reasons.

The original July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from US President Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.

Despite those deals, the countries carried on a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued, escalating in early December to widespread heavy fighting.

Thailand lost 26 soldiers and one civilian as a direct result of the combat since Dec. 7, according to officials. Thailand also reported 44 civilian deaths.