In the days leading up to Taiwan’s 26 July 2025 nationwide referendum – widely dubbed the “Great Recall”, several tropical systems were active in the western Pacific, most notably Typhoon Fung-wong or Francisco, and typhoon or the tropical storm Co-May (Strong M, 2025). Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration tracked Fung-wong as it passed north of the island around 24-25 July 2025, bringing periods of heavy rain and gusty winds, particularly to northern and north

The General Election in the Kingdom of Tonga was held 20 November 2025. The election was conducted under constitutional electoral statutes that govern the Fale Alea (Legislative Assembly – the Parliament of Tonga) elections. Tonga is a constitutional monarchy with two levels of government, local and national(CLGF, 2017). The cabinet is responsible for overall administration of government at both levels.

On 25 October 2025, Cote D’Ivoire held a presidential election to elect the head of state for a five-year term. According to official provisional results, incumbent President Alassane Ouattara secured a fourth term by receiving about 89.8 per cent of the vote (Chibelushi and Naadi 2025).

In late January 2026, Japan was hit by heavy snowfall and cold temperatures, resulting in nearly 300 recorded injuries and the deaths of 30 people between 20 January and 3 February. Most of these were due to snow-related accidents, including while people were trying to remove snow from around their homes. While Japan is accustomed to heavy snowfall, this winter’s conditions were particularly severe. In the city of Aomori, accumulated snowfall reached the highest level recorded since 1986, and snow depth of more than double the seasonal average at about 175 cm.

In the weeks leading up to the 2026 election, Portugal was hit by a series of deadly storms that raged across the Iberian Peninsula, including Storm Leonardo, which hit just a couple of days before election day. The storms brought heavy rain, strong winds and rising river levels, causing the destruction of homes, businesses and equipment, fallen trees and structures, landslides, road closures, the closing of schools and transport services, and power and water cutoffs.