Namibia has elected Vice-President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as its first female president following a disputed election.

Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, would become the first woman to rule the southern African country governed by the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) since independence in 1990.

The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) announced that she won with over 57 percent of ballots cast.

Panduleni Itula, candidate for the main opposition Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), polled second with 25.5 percent of the votes.

The presidential election was extended twice because of logistical and technical challenges which led to a shortage of ballot papers and long queues.

Some voters gave up on the first day of voting after waiting for up to 12 hours.

The IPC said the extension of voting was a deliberate attempt to frustrate voters, adding that it would not accept the results of the poll.

Itula said there was a “multitude of irregularities”, adding that “the IPC shall not recognise the outcome of that election”.

He added that the IPC would “fight to nullify the elections through the processes that are established within our electoral process”.

An organisation of southern African human rights lawyers serving as election monitors said the delays at polling units were intentional and widespread.

The electoral authority admitted to failures in the conduct of the election, including a shortage of ballot papers and the overheating of electronic tablets used to register voters.

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol, on Tuesday, declared emergency martial law, accusing the opposition of being “anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime” amid parliamentary wrangling over a budget bill.

“To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements plundering people’s freedom and happiness, I hereby declare emergency martial law,” Yoon said in a live televised address to the nation.

“With no regard for the livelihoods of the people, the opposition party has paralysed governance solely for the sake of impeachments, special investigations, and shielding their leader from justice,” he added.

The surprise move comes as Yoon’s People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party continue to bicker over next year’s budget bill. Opposition MPs last week approved a significantly downsized budget plan through a parliamentary committee.

The opposition has slashed approximately 4.1 trillion won ($2.8 billion) from Yoon’s proposed 677 trillion won budget plan, cutting the government’s reserve fund and activity budgets for Yoon’s office, the prosecution, police and the state audit agency.

“Our National Assembly has become a haven for criminals, a den of legislative dictatorship that seeks to paralyse the judicial and administrative systems and overturn our liberal democratic order,” Yoon said.

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Yoon, a former prosecutor, accused opposition lawmakers of cutting “all key budgets essential to the nation’s core functions, such as combatting drug crimes and maintaining public security… turning the country into a drug haven and a state of public safety chaos.”

The president went on to label the opposition, which holds a majority in the 300-member parliament, as “anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime”.

Yoon described the imposition of martial law as “inevitable to guarantee the continuity of a liberal South Korea,” adding that it would not impact the country’s foreign policy.

“I will restore the country to normalcy by getting rid of anti-state forces as soon as possible,” he said, without elaborating further other than the martial law in place.

He described the current situation as South Korea “on the verge of collapse, with the National Assembly acting as a monster intent on bringing down liberal democracy”.

With martial law imposed, all military units in the South, which remains technically at war with the nuclear-armed North, have been ordered to strengthen their emergency alert and readiness postures, Yonhap news agency reported.

The entrance to the National Assembly has been sealed, and MPs have been barred from entering the building, according to Yonhap.

The imposition of emergency martial law comes as Yoon’s approval rating dropped to 19 percent in the latest Gallup poll last week, with many expressing dissatisfaction over his handling of the economy and controversies involving his wife, Kim Keon Hee.

Belgium has passed a landmark law granting sex workers the same rights to maternity pay, pensions, and employment protections as other workers.

On Sunday, the country’s lawmakers signed into law that ensures sex workers are treated as employees, entitling them to benefits such as maternity leave, pension contributions, and legal safeguards against exploitation.

The decision is a result of months of protests in 2022, prompted by the lack of state support for sex workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The historic change aims to offer sex workers greater legal recognition and workplace protections, marking a first for any country worldwide.

The law also extends significant protections to sex workers, guaranteeing the right to refuse sexual partners, specific acts, or to stop an act at any time.

In addition, employers of sex workers must meet rigorous standards, including having a business address in Belgium, maintaining a good character, and ensuring premises are equipped with panic buttons, clean linen, showers, and condoms.

The Belgian Union of Sex Workers said the law is “a huge step forward, ending legal discrimination against sex workers”.

Sophie, a sex worker in Belgium, told the BBC that the new law is an “opportunity for us to exist as people”.

Erin Kilbride, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the law should be emulated by every country in the world.

“This is radical, and it’s the best step we have seen anywhere in the world so far. We need every country to be moving in that direction.”