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Hurricane Matthew Hits, El Caribe Front Page

"Seven killed in Dominican Republic and Haiti as rainfall continues" writes the Dominican Republic's daily El Caribe on its Wednesday front page as Hurricane Matthew — the most powerful Caribbean hurricane in years — devastated parts of the two countries that coexist on the same island.

With winds up to 230 km/h (145 mph), torrential rainfall and mudslides, the newspaper reports that the hurricane "displaced 22,745 people, affected 447 homes and isolated 32 isolated" in the Dominican Republic alone. But though El Caribe states that the hurricane killed at least seven people, the death toll remains uncertain at the moment, with sources reporting two deaths and others up to 11 casualties.

In neighboring Haiti, emergency efforts are struggling to reach some areas, as the storm blocked several roads and knocked down a bridge that linked the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince to the southern part of the country.

The United Nations has called Hurricane Matthew the "largest humanitarian event" that Haiti, one of the world's poorest countries, has had to face since a massive earthquake hit in 2010.

After making landfall in Cuba, the weakening hurricane is now moving towards the Bahamas. Later in the week, the storm is expected to sweep through the U.S. states of Florida, South and North Carolina, where warnings have been issued and the first evacuations have been ordered.

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Geopolitics

U.S., France, Israel: How Three Model Democracies Are Coming Unglued

France, Israel, United States: these three democracies all face their own distinct problems. But these problems are revealing disturbing cracks in society that pose a real danger to hard-earned progress that won't be easily regained.

Image of a crowd of protestors holding Israeli flags and a woman speaking into a megaphone

Israeli anti-government protesters take to the streets in Tel-Aviv, after Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defence Minister Yoav Galant.

Dominique Moïsi

"I'd rather be a Russian than a Democrat," reads the t-shirt of a Republican Party supporter in the U.S.

"We need to bring the French economy to its knees," announces the leader of the French union Confédération Générale du Travail.

"Let's end the power of the Supreme Court filled with leftist and pro-Palestinian Ashkenazis," say Israeli government cabinet ministers pushing extreme judicial reforms

The United States, France, Israel: three countries, three continents, three situations that have nothing to do with each other. But each country appears to be on the edge of a nervous breakdown of what seemed like solid democracies.

How can we explain these political excesses, irrational proclamations, even suicidal tendencies?

The answer seems simple: in the United States, in France, in Israel — far from an exhaustive list — democracy is facing the challenge of society's ever-greater polarization. We can manage the competition of ideas and opposing interests. But how to respond to rage, even hatred, borne of a sense of injustice and humiliation?

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