NEWSROOM
Mexico elects first female president, in weekend of wins for female leaders
Mexico has elected Claudia Sheinbaum as its first woman president, with more than 58% of the vote. Runner-up Xóchitl Gálvez conceded defeat after months of near-certainty that one of these two women would win. Sheinbaum takes the reins from her mentor Andrés Manuel López Obrador and is also the country’s first Jewish president. Iceland has chosen Halla Tómasdóttir to be its second female president, beating former Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir by 35% to 25%. Iceland was famously the first country to democratically elect a woman to premiership, and when final votes are tallied, Claudia Sheinbaum could potentially win by the largest proportion in Mexico’s history.
Banks fined for climate inaction
The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced plans to sue major banks for failing to hit deadlines for assessing their exposure to climate risks. The ECB has for years threatened sanctions for lenders who fail to comply with its standards. Four banks (who have not been made public) stand to face the harshest censure, with the potential to lose up to 5% of their daily revenue until the risk assessments are completed. Affected banks are currently accruing such fines, but a Bloomberg source claims that these may be reduced.
“Gamechanger” cancer jab to be rolled out to UK patients
A world-first scheme to fast-track cancer patients to personalized vaccines has officially begun in Birmingham. Patients who meet eligibility criteria and agree to tests have now been enrolled into the NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad, with the scheme set to open in 30 sites across the country, the UK health service has announced. These first trials focus on colorectal, skin, lung, bladder, pancreatic and kidney cancer, although hopes are that more will be added. Last month, Radical Realist reported on world-first trial for a first custom-built mRNA vaccine for melanoma skin cancer.
Brazilian flood survivors become largest climate displacement in history
Floods in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil, have displaced 581,000 people, with more expected. This is the largest climate-forced migration event in history, as the state of 11 million experiences the highest rainfall on record. As concerns over repeated flooding grow, officials are now considering permanently evacuating entire neighbourhoods – four “provisional cities” are now being built, and an extra 5,000 homes being constructed elsewhere. As rain continues to fall, it is unclear how many people will lose their homes in a region that has been devastated by floods for the past two years.
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