BERLIN (AP) - Migrant organizations in Germany on Monday urged the government to prepare safeguards against potential threats to migrants and asylum seekers under a possible AfD-led administration in Saxony-Anhalt. In an open letter, the organizations called on Chancellor Friedrich Merz and state premiers to establish legal, administrative and financial protections before any government involving the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) takes office in the eastern state. “In the coming weeks, a party whose state branch has been classified as confirmed right-wing extremist by the domestic intelligence agency could join government for the first time,” the organizations warned.

 

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TOKYO (AP) -Japan and the U.S. launched a major joint military exercise Monday involving approximately 56,000 personnel, with Japan’s new long-range anti-ship missiles participating for the first time. The 11-day Keen Sword 2027 exercise began with an opening ceremony on Japan’s Ishigaki Island and will run through Oct. 29, according to a statement published by DVIDS, an official U.S. military media and information distribution platform. Around 45,000 Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel and 11,000 U.S. troops are taking part, alongside forces from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the Philippines. 

 

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OTTAWA (Reuters) - Voting began Monday in Canada’s western Alberta province in a consequential referendum that could set it on a path toward leaving the country. Elections Alberta said polling stations opened at 0900 AM local time (1500GMT) and will shut at 0800PM (0200GMT Tuesday). Roughly 1.3 million residents have already cast ballots through special voting or advance polling, the agency said. The ballot contains 10 questions. The first nine address immigration and constitutional matters. The last asks whether Alberta should stay in Canada or whether its government should start preparing a second, legally binding vote on separation. It is the first time such a question has appeared on the province’s ballot.

 

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JAKARTA (AFP) - Fires in Indonesia burned through over 1.9 million hectares between January and the end of September this year, a monitor analyzing satellite imagery said on Monday. The figure, an area nearly 12 times larger than London, is a conservative estimate in part because haze has complicated satellite verification, said David Gaveau, founder of deforestation monitoring site Nusantara Atlas. Indonesia’s government has not provided official figures for areas burned since announcing 202,000 hectares had been razed by the end of July.

 

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ATHENS (AFP) - Greek authorities said Monday that 12 migrants had died attempting to cross the Aegean Sea including six whose bodies were found after their boat collided with a police vessel. A baby and four women were among six people who died off the island of Lesbos on Monday following the collision, the coast guard said. The other six dead were on a small boat that capsized off the island of Samos, the coast guard added.