VIENNA: Austria deported an Afghan national back to his home country on Tuesday for the first time since the Taliban seized power there four years ago, and the conservative-led coalition government in Vienna said that more would follow soon.

The government has made fighting illegal immigration a top priority, apparently seeking to erode support for the far-right Freedom Party, or FPO, by focusing on one of its core issues.

The three-party ruling coalition of centrist parties took office in March after the FPO won a parliamentary election but failed to form a governing alliance. The FPO has maintained its lead in opinion polls.

“This morning, a man convicted of serious crimes was deported to Kabul — the first deportation to Afghanistan since 2021,” Chancellor Christian Stocker of the conservative Austrian People’s Party wrote on X.

“Austria is thus sending a clear message: zero tolerance for anyone who has forfeited their right to remain by committing criminal offences,” he added.

In July, Austria became the first European Union country to deport a Syrian back to their home country since the civil war there broke out, despite objections by human rights groups that it was too soon to know if it was safe to do so.

Austria has been saying for months that it hopes to resume deportations to Afghanistan despite similar objections.

Amnesty International said in a statement that Afghanistan remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

“Anyone who deports people to a state that commits crimes against its own people is deliberately denying protection and breaking the law,” it said, adding: “This betrayal of human rights must be stopped immediately!”

Syria and Afghanistan are the top countries of origin of asylum-seekers in Austria. The government has said that initially those deported will primarily be criminal offenders.

“The Interior Ministry under Gerhard Karner is preparing further deportations,” Stocker said.

The deportation comes just a day after the European Union said that it has “initiated exploratory contacts” with the Taliban regime to boost deportations of failed asylum seekers.

A majority of EU nations had urged Brussels to reach out to Kabul to boost expulsions.

In a letter initiated by Belgium, 20 EU member states urged the European Commission to take action to enable both voluntary and forced returns of Afghans with no right to stay.

• Takaichi becomes Japan’s first female prime minister.
• Takaichi’s election marks a shift to the right in Japan.
• Equity markets optimistic about Takaichi’s economic policies. 

Hardline conservative Sanae Takaichi was elected Japan’s first female prime minister on Tuesday, shattering the political glass ceiling and setting the country up for a decisive turn to the right.

An acolyte of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and an admirer of Britain’s Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi is expected to return to Abe-style government stimulus as she attempts to jumpstart an economy saddled with slow growth and rising prices. 

While her victory marks a pivotal moment for a country where men still hold overwhelming sway, she named just two women to her cabinet, far fewer than what she had promised.

Takaichi is also likely to usher in a sharp move to the right on issues such as immigration and defence, making her the latest leader in tune with the broader rightward shift in global politics. 

She received 237 votes in the election in parliament’s 465-seat lower house on Tuesday and then won a similar vote in the less powerful upper house.

Her victory was secured after her Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan for most of its postwar history, agreed on Monday to form a coalition with the right-wing Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin.

Together, the parties are two seats short of a majority in the lower house. That means Takaichi’s success will depend on her winning the cooperation of more opposition lawmakers, said Tadashi Mori, a professor of politics at Aichi Gakuin University.

“The two parties do not command a majority in either chamber, and to ensure a stable government and gain control of key parliamentary committees, they will need to secure more than half the seats,” he said.

Previous coalition broke up after quarter-century

Takaichi takes over when Japanese politics appears more fractured than at almost any other time in recent memory, thanks in part to the rise of the smaller, hard-right Sanseito Party, which has siphoned voters away from the LDP.

“Since former Prime Minister Abe passed away, we’ve felt that both national politics and the LDP itself have drifted leftward,” Sanseito head Sohei Komiya told broadcaster NHK, adding he hoped Takaichi would steer national politics back to the middle.

“While we won’t hesitate to oppose her when necessary, we intend to maintain a friendly working relationship,” he said.

The LDP’s former coalition partner, the more moderate Komeito, broke up their 26-year-old alliance this month after the LDP chose the right-wing Takaichi as its new leader.

No ‘Nordic’ cabinet after all

Takaichi named just two women to her cabinet: fellow Abe disciple, Satsuki Katayama, became the country’s first female finance minister, while Kimi Onoda became economic security minister.

In her leadership campaign, she promised to boost the number of women in the cabinet to match socially progressive Nordic countries. The percentage of female ministers in Nordic governments ranges from Denmark’s 36% to Finland’s 61%. Under Takaichi, women will make up 16% of Japan’s cabinet, including her.

“Only two female ministers, no surprise,” said Yoko Otsuka a professor of welfare policy and gender studies at Ritsumeikan University. “A female prime minister might slightly improve Japan’s Global Gender Gap Index ranking, but the reality barely changes.”

Takaichi trade moves stocks higher

Takaichi’s endorsement of Abe-style fiscal stimulus has prompted a so-called “Takaichi trade” in the stock market, sending the Nikkei share average to record highs, the most recent on Tuesday. But it has also caused investor unease about the government’s ability to pay for more spending in a country where the debt load far outweighs annual output. Both the yen and bond prices have weakened as a result.

Any attempt to revive Abenomics could also run into trouble because the policy was devised to fight deflation, not higher prices, said Aichi Gakuin’s Mori.

Some analysts say Ishin, which has advocated for budget cuts, could restrain some of Takaichi’s spending ambitions.

Takaichi has said defence and national security would be core pillars of any administration she led. She pledged to raise defence spending, deepen cooperation with the United States and other security partners. US President Donald Trump may visit as early as her first week in office.

A frequent visitor to the Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo that some Asian neighbours view as a symbol of wartime aggression, Takaichi has also called for a revision of Japan’s postwar pacifist constitution to recognise the existence of the nation’s military forces.

Rising political star Shinjiro Koizumi will serve as defence minister while veteran lawmaker Toshimitsu Motegi will be foreign minister.

Takaichi will be sworn in as Japan’s 104th prime minister on Tuesday evening to succeed the incumbent Shigeru Ishiba, who last month announced his resignation to take responsibility for election losses.

Demolition crews were tearing down part of the White House’s storied East Wing on Monday to begin building President Donald Trump’s ballroom, a project he had said would not interfere with the existing landmark.

Large construction equipment was seen picking apart the facade of the building, a part of the White House complex that has housed the first lady’s offices, a theater, and a visitor’s entrance that welcomes foreign dignitaries.

The ballroom project is expected to cost upwards of $250 million, which Trump said in July would be paid by himself and donors.

“It will be beautiful,” Trump said at the time. “It won’t interfere with the current building. It won’t be — it will be near it, but not touching it. And pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of. It’s my favorite.”Wh

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Monday about the demolition to the current East Wing building.

Trump announced on Monday that ground had been broken on the project after images of the demolition began circulating in news reports.

“Right behind us, we’re building a ballroom,” Trump told visiting college baseball athletes from Louisiana State University in the nearby White House residence’s East Room. “I didn’t know I’d be standing here right now ’cause right on the other side you have a lot of construction going on, which you might hear periodically.”

Future parties are set to start with cocktails in the East Room before guests are beckoned into what Trump has said will be the “finest” ballroom in the country, with views of the Washington Monument and room for 999 people.

“Completely separate from the White House itself, the East Wing is being fully modernized as part of this process, and will be more beautiful than ever when it is complete!” he said later on Truth Social.

Trump, who was a real estate developer before launching his political career, has made extensive cosmetic changes to the White House, hand-picking gold ornamentation for the Oval Office and redoing the Rose Garden in the style of his golf clubs. He has also taken an interest in the capital city of Washington and surrounding area, proposing an Arc de Triomphe-style monument to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026.

The current East Wing was erected in 1942, during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration and amid World War Two, over a bunker built for the president’s use in case of emergency.

But the complex sometimes strains to hold the number of employees, visitors and guests of the president who wish to attend its events. Several White House state dinners, for instance, have been hosted in a tent erected on the South Lawn.