GLOBAL DIARY
“This is not only a peace between leaders, it’s a peace between peoples—Israelis, Emiratis and Bahrainis are already embracing one another.” – BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL
SERBIA, KOSOVO AGREE TO NORMALIZE ECONOMIC TIES Under US brokerage, leaders from Serbia and Kosovo signed a deal to normalize economic ties in what Donald Trump has praised as a “truly historic” move. Serbia also agreed to relocate its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Serbian President Aleksander Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti signed the pact in the White House — voicing optimism about the deal, but while noting that differences remain. Although US President Trump praised the deal as a “truly historic day,” Serbia made clear during the talks that it would not go so far as to recognize Kosovo as a fully-fledged state. Both Serbia and Kosovo also agreed to halt talks on normalizing political ties for a year to allow the economic agreement to roll out.
YOSHIHIDE SUGA REPLACED SHINZO ABE AS JAPAN’S PRIME MINISTER Yoshihide Suga has been formally elected as Japan’s new prime minister after a vote in parliament. He replaces outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who resigned for health reasons.
64 WORLD LEADERS BACK PLAN TO SAVE EARTH BY 2050 Leaders from 64 countries have signed a 10-point Pledge For Nature, outlining steps to combat climate change by helping the world ‘live in harmony with nature’ by 2050. Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and Boris Johnson are among the figure heads who signed the document stating the world is in a ‘state of planetary emergency’ requiring ‘urgent and immediate global action’. The measures include a pledge to re-double efforts to slow down deforestation, eliminate unregulated and unsustainable fishing practices and stop plastic being dumped into the ocean by 2050.
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October
Suga, who was formerly the chief Cabinet secretary and Abe’s right-hand man, received 377 votes from party lawmakers and regional representatives out of a total of 534. He beat two contenders to the top post — former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. They received a combined 157 votes.
