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Far-right José Antonio Kast favored to win as Chile votes in presidential runoff

Chileans will head to the polls on Sunday for a presidential runoff in which the favourite is a Donald Trump-inspired candidate who has pledged to build a wall along the country’s borders to keep migrants out. José Antonio Kast, 59, an ultra-conservative former congressman who has built his campaign on a promise to expel tens of thousands of undocumented migrants, faces Jeannette Jara, 51, a former labour minister under the current centre-left president, Gabriel Boric, 39. Jara finished the first round ahead, with 26.9% to 23.9%, but while she was the unified candidate of a leftwing coalition, rightwing contenders, including Kast, together took more than half of the votes. For that reason, and given recent polling, Kast – the son of a Nazi party member, an admirer of the dictator Augusto Pinochet and a staunch Catholic known for his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage – is widely expected to rule Chile for the next four years. One novelty in this election, however, has led analysts to urge caution in calling his victory: for the first time in more than a decade, voting is once again compulsory. In past elections, about a third of the country’s 15 million voters did not usually take part. “These 5 million people are more distrustful of politics,” said Claudia Heiss, a political scientist at the Universidad de Chile, who argued that in November’s first round, this “new” electorate was attracted by rightwing populist promises and voted against the ruling coalition. But Heiss says this voting bloc’s behaviour in the runoff remains unpredictable: another candidate, economist Franco Parisi, 58, appeared to benefit from their backing. Parisi, who was running for a third time, still presented himself as an “outsider” and secured a surprising third place with 20% of the vote. “Parisi appealed to an audience of young men who generally had no political engagement,” said Rossana Castiglioni, a political science professor at the Universidad Diego Portales. Now, she said, it is difficult to know where Parisi’s votes will go, since, unlike the other defeated rightwing candidates, he did not endorse Kast in the runoff. Instead, he stuck to his campaign slogan of “neither fascist nor communist”, and many of his voters may end up spoiling their ballots as a form of protest. Still, “if we trust the polls, everything indicates that Kast should be the winner”, said Castiglioni. Heiss said that Kast has benefited from a wave of public “paranoia” on security and migration. Chile’s immigrant population has doubled in the past decade, fuelled by about 700,000 Venezuelans forced to leave their country amid its economic collapse. “There is a fear linked to the emergence of new forms of crime that weren’t common here – such as contract killings, kidnappings and extortion – linked to the arrival of foreign organised crime groups, but they are not the bulk of migrants coming to Chile,” said Heiss. “Heightened fear has created fertile ground for penal populism and iron-fist policies,” she added. In a presidential debate, Kast twice claimed that “1.2 million people are murdered each year in Chile”, a completely unrealistic figure. Despite an increase in recent years, the country actually registers about 1,200 homicides a year, still making it one of the safest in Latin America. Like many rightwing leaders across the region, Kast describes himself as an admirer of El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele, who has imprisoned at least 2% of his country’s adult population as part of a controversial crackdown on gangs. “Every Chilean voting today, if Bukele were on the ballot, would choose Bukele,” he said in another debate. Jara has also presented her own version of an “iron fist” policy, saying security is her “top priority” and promising to build five new prisons and expel immigrants convicted of drug trafficking. While Jara says she wants to register the roughly 330,000 undocumented migrants through biometric identification, Kast has given them an ultimatum to leave before the next president takes office on 11 March or be expelled “with only the clothes on their backs”. Migrants are a central focus of his platform, which includes a Trump-inspired plan to build detention centres and 5-metre-high walls, electric fences and 3-metre-deep trenches as well as an increased military presence along the border, particularly in the north, on the frontier with Peru and Bolivia. Despite Kast’s clear praise and references to Trump, the US president has not expressed support for his Chilean follower, unlike in other Latin American elections this year – including Argentina and Honduras, where analysts and local politicians criticised Trump for outright interference. Even without any sign of support from his political lodestar, Kast has continued to revere Trump and his actions. Asked in the debate whether he would support a US ground intervention in Venezuela, the ultra-conservative responded positively, using the motto of Chile’s national coat of arms: “By reason or by force.”

US wargames played out scenarios for Maduro’s fall. None of them ended well for Venezuela

Nicolás Maduro is chased out of office by a massive popular revolt but the Venezuelan military takes to the streets, turning its guns on the civilians who have brought him down. A palace coup sends Venezuela’s authoritarian leader into exile, sparking a bloody power struggle between members of his disintegrating regime. Maduro or a key ally is assassinated by a US “decapitation” strike but – as foreign soldiers commandeer Caracas and key airports and ports – leftwing insurgents tighten their grip on the country’s mineral-rich hinterlands and regime loyalists launch guerrilla-style attacks on oil refineries and pipelines. These three scenarios were all contemplated six years ago during US government “war games” designed to predict what a post-Maduro Venezuela might look like if the South American dictator was overthrown by an uprising, a palace revolution or a foreign attack. None of them ended well. “You’d have prolonged chaos … with no clear way out,” said Douglas Farah, a Latin America expert whose national security consulting firm was part of those 2019 strategising efforts. In all three of the discussion-based simulations, the upheaval triggered a fresh exodus of refugees across Venezuela’s borders with Colombia and Brazil, as citizens fled skirmishes between rival rebel groups or foreign occupiers and loyalist troops. “Everyone wrestling with this issue [is] sort of hoping that you could wave a magic wand and have a new government [in Venezuela],” said Farah. “I think the reason it hasn’t happened is because people sat down and thought: ‘Wait a minute. What the hell are we getting ourselves into?’” The Venezuelan politicians battling to end Maduro’s 12-year rule reject claims that his downfall would inevitably thrust their country into a maelstrom of bloodshed and retribution. María Corina Machado – the Nobel laureate and leader of the political movement widely believed to have beaten Maduro in last year’s presidential election – called claims Maduro’s exit could plunge Venezuela into violence similar to Syria’s civil war “utterly unfounded”. “Venezuela is a country with a long democratic culture and a society that is set on recovering that democracy,” she told the Guardian in Oslo on Friday after slipping out of her country to receive the peace prize. Miguel Pizarro, another opposition leader, dismissed the suggestion Venezuela was doomed to become a South American version of Iraq, Libya or Haiti if Maduro was toppled. “The truth is that Venezuelans took their decision [in last year’s election] … it was Venezuela’s greatest ever social consensus.” Allies of Donald Trump – who has spent recent months ratcheting up the pressure on Maduro with a massive military deployment, deadly strikes on boats in the Caribbean and the seizure of an oil tanker – also play down the dangers of a possible US intervention. But many experts and South American diplomats are sceptical things will go so smoothly – irrespective of how Maduro’s deposition comes about. “If there’s a popular uprising, the military is probably gonna be very defensive, very violent and reactionary to the protests on the street. [You’ll have] a lot of people dead,” warned Farah, who thought, in that scenario, it was possible Colombian guerrillas, including the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissident members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) might enter the fray on the side of Venezuela’s nominally leftwing regime. A coup had the potential to produce “a huge vacuum of power” with rival armed actors battling to fill Maduro’s shoes. “You might have four different folks saying: ‘OK, now I’m in charge,’” Farah said. If foreign troops were deployed, they would probably be able to take control of big cities and infrastructure such as ports and airports. But they faced the possibility of asymmetric attacks from government loyalists or Colombian rebels and a protracted battle to regain control of gold mining regions already under the influence of the ELN. “[Defeating them is] a long-term proposition that would require a lot of money, a lot troops and probably some casualties,” Farah said. Whatever happened, Farah feared post-Maduro Venezuela was likely to suffer “a huge mess that would last a while”. “None of this [is] going to be resolved in three weeks. You’re talking years.” Farah is not the only observer who frets that sudden political change could have dire consequences for the oil-rich South American country. Last week the chief foreign policy adviser to Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, warned upheaval in Venezuela could transform the region into a Vietnam-style “war zone”. Juan González, the White House’s top Latin America official under Joe Biden, also said he feared the potential for violent retaliation. “I have this recurring dream about Venezuela … of Maduro getting dragged through the streets like Benito Mussolini,” González said of the Italian dictator who was captured while trying to flee to Switzerland in 1945 and shot by a firing squad. “You just never know what the trigger is … [Muammar] Gaddafi was very much in power until he wasn’t,” González added of Libya’s former leader, who also met a grisly end after being captured by his enemies. González hoped a negotiated solution could still be found despite the escalating tensions. “Negotiations are long and hard fought and require compromise. But history shows us that they’re the most effective way to actually promote a transition,” he said, warning that toppling Maduro didn’t necessarily mean the situation would improve. “It could actually get worse,” he said, pondering what might happen if a regime hardliner such as interior minister Diosdado Cabello, who runs Venezuela’s repressive security forces, succeeded Maduro. Farah thought a temporary power-sharing deal might be one way to avoid the “massive fracturing” of Venezuela between rival factions. But for that to happen, difficult choices would have to be made, possibly including letting “massive human rights violators” off the hook and giving Maduro safe passage out of the country and some form of immunity for alleged crimes against humanity. An indication that the opposition might accept some such compromises came last week when the Washington Post reported that Machado’s opposition believed only a “‘limited’ purge of top Maduro officials would be necessary” once he was gone. But many of the alternatives were even uglier. If the security situation spiralled out of control post-Maduro, Farah feared Washington’s temptation might be to engage mercenary groups and private military contractors, rather than put US boots on the ground. “[That] gets you closer to an Iraqi-type scenario, where you have multiple non-state groups doing multiple things on the ground that no one has control over,” Farah warned. “If things go south, that’s one of the options they will look at,” he predicted, “and that would be very damaging”. Additional reporting by Camille Rodríguez Montilla in Oslo

‘Outright evil:’ anguish and anger over South Africans tricked into fighting for Russia

Mary hasn’t heard from her son since 27 August, when he told her he was worried he was being sent to the frontlines of Russia’s war with Ukraine. Since then she has been ill with worry. “I’m honestly really sick,” she said, exhaustion in her voice. “I get anxiety attacks, I’m in and out of hospital, palpitations. It’s just a whole lot. Headaches, I’m dizzy all the time. It’s not easy for me.” Her son was part of a group of 17 South African and two Botswanan men who, according to multiple lawsuits, were tricked into fighting for Russia by a daughter of the former South African president Jacob Zuma. Claims about Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla’s involvement began to be aired in the media last month after the South African government said it was trying to help citizens stranded in Ukraine. Then, in a bombshell intervention on 22 November, another of Zuma’s daughters, Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube, filed a police report alleging that Zuma-Sambudla and two others had deceptively recruited the men The accusation sent shock waves through South Africa, where the wider scandal has shone a light on the dire economic situation facing many of its young people. More than 40% of under-35s are not in work or education. The men are thought to remain trapped in a war they did not sign up for, while their relatives thousands of miles away fear for their lives. Mary, whose name has been changed to protect her and her son’s identities, said she and her son were introduced to Zuma-Sambudla through a relative when her son was still a child. She said that Zuma-Sambudla contacted the family in June with what she presented as an exciting opportunity in Russia. Some of the men were allegedly told they would be trained as bodyguards for the uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party, led by Jacob Zuma. Others were allegedly told they could enrol on a personal development programme, after which they could attend a Russian university and even get Russian citizenship. Mary and her son were initially wary, before agreeing. “I remember asking for contracts for the school where they were going to do the course and it was just so rushed,” Mary said. “Like: ‘They need to go, they need to go urgently.’” Zuma-Sambudla, 43, has long been a fierce defender of her father, who has at least 20 children. President from 2009 to 2018, Zuma retains considerable political influence in South Africa, forming the MK party in December 2023, which won 14.6% of the vote in national elections in May last year. The African National Congress, to which Zuma originally belonged, has been close to Russia since the Soviet Union supported its fight against apartheid. Since the end of white minority rule, Zuma has been at the forefront of pushing South Africa to maintain close relationships with countries often in conflict with the US, such as Russia, Venezuela and Iran. Under his leadership, in 2010 South Africa joined the non-western nations Brics bloc founded by Brazil, Russia, India and China. In 2014, Zuma was treated in Russia after claiming he had been poisoned by one of his wives, which she denies. He also tried to push through a nuclear power plant deal with Moscow. Zuma-Sambudla has also frequently declared her support of Russia. On 22 February 2022, the day of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she posted on X: “We Love You Both LOUDLY And UNAPOLOGETICALLY So … I’ll Drink To That,” with a photo of her father and Putin toasting. She is on trial on charges of terrorism and inciting violence in posts on X during deadly riots that broke out in 2021 when her father was jailed for contempt of court. She denies the charges. Mary said her son met the rest of the group on 8 July at OR Tambo international airport on the outskirts of Johannesburg, from where they flew to Moscow via Dubai. Screenshots from the “JHB-Russia Team” and “MK/Russia Mission” WhatsApp groups dated in July and August were shared with the Guardian by Chris Hattingh, the defence spokesperson for the Democratic Alliance, the second largest party in South Africa’s coalition government. The MP, who has also filed criminal charges against Zuma-Sambudla, said he received them from relatives of the men. The messages corroborated Mary’s account. A member of the group replied to a message from the Guardian confirming that he and an unspecified number of others were currently in eastern Ukraine, without providing further details. Another confirmed he was in Ukraine and said he was “ok”, but declined to answer further questions. On 13 August, the men started demanding answers from Zuma-Sambudla and two others who have been accused of recruiting the group, Siphokazi Xuma and Blessing Khoza, saying they were being split up. One said: “Mr Khoza, stop misleading people and the leadership. We are with the Wagner group, in Ukraine, Donetsk Republic. We are not in Russia.” On 27 August, Mary’s son called her to say he was being forced to sign a contract in Russian that he did not understand. The Guardian has seen a document that appears to be a contract for another member of the South African and Botswanan group with the 95482 military unit. The 95482 unit has been involved in the war since its outset, mostly fighting in eastern Ukraine. There have been persistent accounts of internal breakdown, infighting and bullying within the unit. Social media posts and messages from relatives suggest it has taken significant casualties, with families frequently appealing online for information about missing soldiers. On 6 November, the office of South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, said it had received distress calls from the men and was working to bring them home, adding that recruiting for or assisting foreign militaries (without the government’s permission) was illegal in South Africa. Ramaphosa and Zuma have long been bitter political foes. Ramaphosa led the ousting of Zuma as president in 2018; Zuma founded the MK party only once his efforts to unseat Ramaphosa from within the ANC had failed. Initially, the group numbered 20 South Africans, but three were allowed to return home. On 16 November, Zuma-Sambudla held a call with a number of families of the remaining men, but she did not provide answers to questions about where their children were. On 22 November, Zuma-Mncube filed the police report that alleged her half-sister Zuma-Sambudla, Xuma and Khoza had lured the South African men – eight of them her family members – “under false pretences” and “handed [them] to a Russian mercenary group”. Zuma-Sambudla then filed her own affidavit claiming she had been deceived by Khoza into recruiting for what she had believed was a legitimate paramilitary training course that she herself had attended. “I would not, under any circumstances, knowingly expose my own family or any other person to harm,” she said in excerpts from her statement published by local media. She resigned as an MK MP. Khoza, who has a Russian phone number, did not reply to requests for comment. Xuma could not be reached for comment. Vincent Magwenya, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, said he had “no update” on the government’s efforts to bring the South African men safely home. An official at Botswana’s foreign ministry did not reply to requests for comment. The Russian embassy in South Africa did not reply to a request for comment. More than 1,400 citizens from three dozen African countries are fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, Kyiv’s foreign minister said last month, urging countries to warn their citizens about recruitment. On 1 December, in a case that police are treating separately, five South Africans including a national radio DJ appeared in court on charges relating to recruitment and fighting for Russia in its war with Ukraine Meanwhile, Mary continues to be worried sick about her son and bewildered and angry about Zuma-Sambudla’s alleged role. “For Duduzile to actually take a child … I think that is outright evil,” she said. “[In the messages] she keeps assuring them that they’re not going to war and she lets them down like that. I mean, who does that?”

‘Like a mini Louvre’: two generations of Rothschilds fight over treasure trove of artworks

After three generations of genteel discretion bordering on secrecy, the international banking family the Rothschilds has been riven by rival claims to a vast collection of masterpieces that are part of the family’s multibillion-euro fortune. The battle now playing out in the courts and media has pitched the 93-year-old senior baroness, Nadine de Rothschild – widow of Edmond de Rothschild, the late scion of the French-Swiss branch of the family – against her daughter-in-law, Ariane de Rothschild, the current baroness. The lawsuits centre on the family’s extensive collection of furniture, priceless historic objects and paintings held at the baronial domain, the Chateau de Pregny in Switzerland, which one visitor described as a “mini Louvre”. The Rothschild family maintains a code of silence over the exact contents of the chateau overlooking Lake Geneva – where photographers and nosy visitors are banned – but they reportedly include treasures including Louis XVI furniture and works by Goya, Rembrandt, Fragonard, El Greco and Boucher. Nadine claims that her husband, who died in 1997, bequeathed her a substantial part of this collection, which she wants to put in a new museum in Geneva, dedicated to displaying the collection of the Edmond and Nadine de Rothschild Foundation she has created. Ariane – who was married to Edmond and Nadine’s only child, Benjamin, who died in 2021 – insists the collection must remain intact and in the chateau. In court documents, Ariane, 60, has accused the elder baroness of being influenced by her advisers, drawing a parallel with the late L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt. In 2011, Bettencourt’s daughter sought to have her declared of unsound mind after she lavished an estimated €1bn in gifts on a young photographer friend. Speaking from her home in the Swiss countryside, Nadine, who used to appear regularly on television chatshows talking about manners and etiquette, told the Guardian: “I knew Liliane and I can tell you she was absolutely not a woman you could make do anything she didn’t want. And neither am I under anyone’s influence. You can tell from my voice and answers that it would be hard to influence me. “I am the last Rothschild baroness of my generation. All the others have died. To end my life with a major legal battle like this of course upsets me. “In the beginning I opened my arms to my daughter-in-law; there are photos of us together, I was generous in my personal gifts to her.” The senior baroness has known harder times. Born Nadine Lhopitalier, she grew up in a communist-supporting family and left home at 14. Two years later, she was sewing poppers on Peugeot sunroofs and working as an artists’ model. Later, she took the stage name Nadine Tallier and played in music halls and small film roles. In the early 1960s, she met Edmond de Rothschild. She later recalled their first meeting, saying: “He looked at my ring and he said, ‘It’s lovely, but unfortunately the diamond is fake.’” The couple married in 1963. From then on, all the jewels were real. As the wife of the wealthiest member of the banking family, Nadine oversaw the running of their 14 properties, where, over several decades, they received the beau monde – including the Kennedys, Audrey Hepburn, Maria Callas, Princess Diana, Romy Schneider and Greta Garbo. Nadine admits that she was an absent mother to Benjamin, who was brought up by nannies. He claimed she treated him as “an heir” and not a son. She insists she welcomed his wife, Ariane, into the family in 1999 and moved out of the 1,126sq metre Chateau de Pregny into a pavilion in the 18-hectare (44-acre) grounds, leaving the family home to the young couple, who had four daughters. Nadine says that relations between the two baronesses became “irreparable” after Benjamin’s death. She has since left the estate and lives “comfortably” in the countryside outside Geneva. Today, both sides have won legal battles, but the family war rages on. Ariane lost her attempt to ban Nadine from using Edmond’s name for her foundation; Nadine has lost any legal right to enter the château. A third lawsuit over ownership of the artworks and other items is dragging on. A source close to the family said Ariane and her daughters would not discuss the falling out. “Out of respect for all parties involved, the family is not commenting on this matter, which it is dealing with with the utmost restraint,” the source said in a statement. “The family is fully committed to its family activities, working daily to preserve and pass on its heritage.” Nadine is less restrained. “I inherited from my husband many objects that are in the Chateau de Pregny, but it has been impossible to recover them since my son’s death. That is why, sadly, I have been forced to take legal action.” Representatives for Ariane have argued that Nadine made no claim on the works of art until after Benjamin’s death and this being the case, she no longer has a valid claim to them – a question at the heart of the current ongoing legal case. “We are talking about major objects, classified historic objects that belong in a museum,” Nadine says. “I hardly see the younger generation [of Rothschilds] wanting to be burdened with such things, but in any case my granddaughters will inherit from me. “I haven’t lost hope that my granddaughters will understand that this battle is between their mother and grandmother and not against them. My only hope is that one day they will appreciate that I am doing this for the honour of the family.”

Ukraine war briefing: US envoy to meet Zelenskyy, Europe leaders in Berlin

Donald Trump’s special envoy will meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders in Berlin this weekend, the White House said, as Washington presses for a plan to end the war. Germany said earlier on Saturday that it would host US and Ukrainian delegations over the weekend for talks on a ceasefire, before a summit involving European leaders and Zelenskyy in Berlin on Monday. Zelenskyy also confirmed that he will personally meet with Donald Trump’s Steve Witkoff in the series of meetings: “Most importantly, I will be meeting with envoys of President Trump, and there will also be meetings with our European partners, with many leaders, concerning the foundation of peace – a political agreement to end the war,” Zelenskyy said in an address to the nation late on Saturday. Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov reaffirmed Friday that Moscow will give its blessing to a ceasefire only after Ukraine’s forces have withdrawn from parts of the Donetsk region that they still control. Ushakov told the business daily Kommersant that Russian police and national guard troops would stay in parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas even if they become a demilitarised zone under a prospective peace plan – a demand likely to be rejected by Ukraine. Russia attacked five Ukrainian regions overnight, targeting the country’s energy and port infrastructure, according to Zelenskyy, who said the attacks involved more than 450 drones and 30 missiles. With temperatures hovering around freezing, Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said more than a million people were without electricity. An attack on Odesa caused grain silos to catch fire at the coastal city’s port, Ukrainian deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister Oleksiy Kuleba said. Two people were wounded in attacks on the wider region, according to regional head Oleh Kiper. Germany has said it will send a group of soldiers to Poland to help with a project to fortify the country’s eastern border as worries mount about the threat from Russia. Poland, a strong supporter of Ukraine in its fight against Moscow, announced plans in May last year to bolster a long stretch of its border that includes Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. The main task of the German soldiers in Poland will be “engineering activities,” a spokesperson for the defence ministry in Berlin said late Friday. About 480 people were evacuated Saturday from a train traveling between the Polish city of Przemysl and Kyiv after police received a call concerning a threat on the train, Karolina Kowalik, a spokesperson for the Przemysl police, said. Nobody was hurt and she didn’t elaborate on the threat. Polish authorities are on high alert since multiple attempts to disrupt trains on the line linking Warsaw to the Ukrainian border, including the use of explosives in November, with Polish authorities saying they have evidence Russia was behind it. Ukraine’s navy accused Russia of deliberately attacking a civilian Turkish vessel carrying sunflower oil to Egypt with a drone on Saturday, a day after Moscow hit two Ukrainian ports: “Russia delivered a targeted strike using a drone against the Turkish vessel ‘VIVA’, which was en route to Egypt carrying sunflower oil,” Ukraine’s navy said on social media. None of the 11 crew were wounded and the ship was able to continue its journey, it added. Ukraine received 114 prisoners released by Belarus on Saturday, Kyiv’s PoW coordination centre said. The centre’s statement said that the released captives would receive medical attention, and those Belarusian citizens who so wished would subsequently be transported to Poland or Lithuania.

Special delivery: how a Royal Mail postbox ended up in Antarctica

It might be traditional to write to Father Christmas with a gift list, but when Kirsten Shaw wanted a new postbox for staff at the UK’s Rothera Research Station in Antarctica, she wrote to the king. The request has resulted in a special delivery for Shaw – a station support assistant who, among myriad other tasks, runs the British Antarctic Territory post office at the station. “I love post, I love postboxes and stamps, so I just really wanted to get a proper Royal Mail one for the station,” said Shaw, who was awarded the Fuchs Medal in 2022 for her contributions to the Antarctic community. Known as a “lamp” postbox, the smallest type of postbox, the bright red receptacle with its King Charles III cipher is something of an upgrade on its predecessor. “It was something you could probably buy off Amazon – something you might put outside your own front door – and then somebody at some point had painted quite badly the Elizabeth II royal cipher,” said Shaw. From the stoic, determined note the explorer Ernest Shackleton wrote to his wife as he prepared for a winter on the continent in 1908, to the last missives of Captain Scott – never sent – as he faced death in a tent on the Ross ice shelf in 1912, letters are part of the rich history of human discovery and endurance in Antarctica. The new box will be a collection point for the postcards and letters sent north to family and friends by staff at the research station, and will eventually be housed in the discovery building – a new scientific support and operations hub. “Sending and receiving mail is a vital connection for staff working in one of the most remote places on Earth – especially at Christmas, when messages from loved ones mean so much,” said David Gold, director of external affairs and policy at Royal Mail. “This new postbox will help keep that tradition alive and ensure the magic of mail even reaches the Antarctic.” However, as Shaw notes, the postal service in and out of Antarctica is “slightly limited”, with only three or four collections a year going north. “Essentially any post going north from here needs to go through the Falkland Islands,” she said. That means it is either taken on board the RSS Sir David Attenborough, or via British Antarctic Survey aircraft. “We had a ship call a couple of weeks back, so we had post that went north on that, and then the next one will be 22 January – a flight leaves and that’s going to the Falklands,” Shaw said, adding that because the most recent ship did not come via the Falklands, it did not bring any post. But while slow and infrequent, there are benefits. “The stamps are cheaper,” said Shaw, noting it costs just 87p to send a letter to the UK from Antarctica. Shaw added there is also an informal system to send post out to field parties. “Although our internet communications are much better now, even with the deeper field parties, it’s still just really nice being able to get an actual handwritten tangible piece of paper from somebody, and that takes all forms,” Shaw said. “I managed to get a letter attached to a fuel drum, which was airdropped into the middle of Antarctica.” Shaw is among the staff who will be at the Rothera Research Station over the festive period. “We often have special Christmas movie nights, and on Christmas Eve this year, actually, I am organising the eighth annual Rothera quidditch match,” she said. But with no postal deliveries yet this season, Shaw has had to think ahead. “My partner sent me down [to Antarctica] with some presents and things. So I’ve got some presents to open on Christmas Day, which is really nice.”

Belarus releases 123 prisoners including opposition leaders after US lifts sanctions

The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has freed 123 prisoners, including Nobel peace prize winner Ales Bialiatski and leading opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava, after the US lifted sanctions on Belarusian potash, a key export. The announcement came after two days of talks with an envoy of the US president, Donald Trump, the latest diplomatic push since the Trump administration started talks with the autocratic leader. The prisoner release on Saturday, the largest since talks began, is part of a larger rapprochement the Lukashenko regime has been attempting with the west. A close ally of Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, Minsk is largely isolated from European and other western states due to its poor human rights record and brutal crackdown on popular protests. The gradual detente is part of what US officials told Reuters was an attempt to pull him from Putin’s sphere of influence, an initiative about which Belarusian opposition has expressed doubts. The announcement of the release, which included top opposition figures and human rights campaigners, was met with fanfare. Bialiatski, who co-won the 2022 Nobel peace prize, is a human rights champion who advocated on behalf of political prisoners before being jailed himself in July 2021. Also released were Kalesnikava,one of a trio of women who led 2020 protests against Lukashenko, as well as Viktar Babaryka, arrested in 2020 while trying to run in opposition to Lukashenko in a presidential election. The health of many of the prisoners has reportedly declined during their time in detention, as a result of what human rights groups say was mistreatment by the authorities. Kalesnikava’s sister, Tatsiana Khomich, said that her sister was grateful to the US for its role in facilitating her release. “She told me she is very happy to be freed, that she is thankful to the USA and Trump for their efforts in leading the process, and to all countries involved,” Khomich told Reuters. Relatives of the prisoners gathered outside the US embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, where it is expected some of them will be taken from Belarus. Ukrainian authorities said that 114 civilians, including Ukrainian and Belarusian citizens, were transferred to Ukraine. Trump’s Belarus envoy, John Coale, told reporters in Minsk that the US would be lifting sanctions on potash, “as per the instructions of president Trump”. The US and EU placed sanctions on Belarus after the government cracked down on popular protests following a contested election in 2020, which included the mass detention and torture of political opponents. More sanctions were imposed in 2022 after Belarus allowed Russia to use its territory for its invasion of Ukraine. Belarusian opposition figures thanked Trump for his efforts and said that the prisoner release was evidence of the effectiveness of the sanctions regime on the autocratic government. They called for EU sanctions to stay in place, which exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said were critical to “enabling democratic transition and ensuring accountability”. Lukashenko has denied holding political prisoners, instead saying the people in his prisons were “bandits” and opponents of the state. Belarusian human rights group Viasna, which is banned in the country, said 1,227 political prisoners remain in jail. Coale, in statements published by Belarus’s state media, said that Lukashenko could help assist in negotiations with Putin. The Trump administration has been engaged in mediation efforts between Russia and Ukraine in an effort to reach an end to the war in Ukraine. “Your president has a long history with president Putin and has the ability to advise him. This is very useful in this situation. They are longtime friends and have the necessary level of relationship to discuss such issues,” Coale said, according to state news agency Belta.

Thailand denies Trump ceasefire claim as clashes with Cambodia continue at border

Thailand’s caretaker prime minister has denied the existence of a ceasefire with Cambodia, despite Donald Trump announcing that both countries had agreed to halt fighting. As heavy clashes continued along the border between the two countries, Anutin Charnvirakul said on Saturday that Thailand had not agreed to a ceasefire with Cambodia and that its forces would continue fighting. Cambodia announced it had suspended all border crossings with Thailand. Thai forces carried out strikes, including with fighter jets, while Cambodia fired rocket barrages along the border area on Saturday. The Thai army announced that at least two civilians had been seriously injured by Cambodian fire while running to a bunker. The latest round of fighting was triggered by a clash on 7 December that wounded two Thai soldiers and appeared to violate an earlier ceasefire promoted by Trump that ended similar fighting in July. More than two dozen people have reportedly been killed over the past week while more than half a million have been displaced on both sides of the border. The Thai military said that 15 of its soldiers had died, and estimated that 165 Cambodian military personnel had been killed. Cambodia did not announce any military losses, but said at least 11 civilians had been killed and more than six dozen wounded. Trump’s ceasefire announcement on Friday was met with a tepid reaction by leaders from both countries. Thailand’s foreign minister, Sihasak Phuangketkeow, said Trump’s remarks did not reflect “an accurate understanding of the situation”. “We regret and we’re disappointed that some of the points made by President Trump have bearing upon the feeling of the Thai people, Thailand, because we consider ourselves – we are proud, in fact – to be the oldest treaty ally of the United States in the region,” he said. Cambodia has not commented on Trump’s announcement. Trump announced the agreement to restart the July ceasefire in a social media post after calls with Anutin and the Cambodian prime minister, Hun Manet. “They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday. But neither the Thai nor the Cambodian leaders referenced the agreement in statements issued after the call, and Anutin said there was no ceasefire and that peace would depend on Cambodia ending its attacks first. When asked about Trump’s claim, Thailand’s foreign ministry referred reporters to his statement. In a statement on Saturday on Facebook, Manet did not mention the ceasefire, but instead referred to the call with Trump and said Cambodia continued to seek a peaceful resolution in line with an earlier agreement signed in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, in October. Manet also said he had advised the US and Malaysia to use their intelligence gathering capabilities to “verify which side fired first” in the latest round of fighting. Anutin said Thai forces had retaliated against Cambodian military targets. “Thailand will continue to perform military actions until we feel no more harm and threats to our land and people,” he said in a Facebook post. The original ceasefire in July was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through after pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalised in more detail at the October regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended. The Malaysian prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, urged both countries to once again cease hostilities on Saturday. Cambodia’s prime minister endorsed the Malaysian proposal, which included having Malaysia and the US monitor the ceasefire. Anutin, however, denied that Thailand had even entered into negotiations over the plan. Despite the deal, the two countries carried on a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued. The roots of the Thai-Cambodian border conflict lie in a history of enmity over competing territorial claims. These claims largely stem from a 1907 map created while Cambodia was under French colonial rule, which Thailand maintains is inaccurate. Tensions were aggravated by a 1962 international court of justice ruling that awarded sovereignty to Cambodia, which still riles many Thais. Thailand has used jet fighters to carry out airstrikes on what it says are military targets. Cambodia has deployed BM-21 rocket launchers with a range of 30-40km (19-25 miles). The rockets are imprecise have a wide area of impact, with most landing in areas that have already been evacuated. According to data collected by public broadcaster ThaiPBS, at least six of the Thai soldiers killed were hit by rocket shrapnel. The Thai army’s north-eastern regional command said on Thursday that some residential areas and homes near the border had been damaged by BM-21 rockets. It also said it had destroyed a tall crane on a hilltop held by Cambodia where the ancient Preah Vihear temple is located, because it allegedly held electronic and optical devices used for military command and control purposes. A Thai warship also shelled the south-western Cambodian province of Koh Kong on Saturday.