


Moldova’s pro-EU president appears to have won re-election
With almost all the votes counted, it looks like a blow for Vladmir Putin and his dirty tricks
There were deep sighs of relief in the capitals of western Europe as well as among liberal-minded reformers in Chisinau, Moldova’s capital, when Maia Sandu, the country’s incumbent president, was re-elected on November 3rd. Ms Sandu looks set for another four years in office after a nerve-jangling run-off against an opponent strongly backed by Russia. She had comfortably won the first round on October 20th with 42% of the vote against ten other candidates, but most of the also-rans were pro-Russian. The runner-up, Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former chief prosecutor, who got 26% in the first round, was expected to close the gap. Early returns showed him a whisker ahead. But Ms Sandu eventually clinched victory with 55% of the vote to his 45%. The late count for Moldova’s large diaspora, especially in western Europe, is thought to have tipped the result in her favour.

Hell, horror and heroism in Ukraine’s battlefield hospitals
The gruesome lessons its doctors are learning reveal the nature of war in the 21st century

The power and limits of Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic charm
French affairs of heart and state

The immigrants Europe quietly wants more of
Without foreign farm workers the EU’s berries would go unplucked
Turkey could soon strike a historic peace deal with the Kurds
But many pitfalls lie ahead
Floods in Spain cause death and devastation
The storms resulting from the seasonal “cold drop” are strengthened by global warming
Ukraine is now struggling to cling on, not to win
Russia is slicing through Ukrainian defences in parts of the battlefield