Sheinbaum makes history as Mexico's first female president and other overnight reports
It happened while you were sleeping. Here's what global agencies reported during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.
- Claudia Sheinbaum has been formally sworn in as President of Mexico, becoming the first woman to hold this position in over 200 years of the republic's history. She announced the strengthening of women's rights and assured that Mexico would remain a safe place for foreign investments. The 62-year-old Sheinbaum hails from the left-wing Morena party and is an ally of the outgoing President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who concluded his six-year term with a high public approval rating of 68%, partly due to the expansion of social programmes.
- According to Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, the death toll from Hurricane Helena could reach up to 600. As of the latest media reports on Tuesday, authorities confirmed the deaths of 160 people. "It looks like there could be as many as 600 lost lives. We know there are 600 who are either lost or unaccounted for," Sherwood-Randall declared. Entire communities are underwater in the western part of North Carolina, and at least 57 people have died in Buncombe County.
- Combat air force units equipped with anti-aircraft missiles have been deployed in Latgale, near the border with Belarus and Russia. A special radar for detecting drones has also been installed, Defence Minister Andris Spruds reported on Tuesday evening. Authorities have strengthened the air defence of the eastern border after an incident involving an armed Russian drone that flew into Latvian airspace from Belarus and crashed several kilometres from the border in early September.