GLOBAL DIARY
“Voters have spoken very clearly. They strengthened three parties-the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Free Democrats-so this is the visible mandate the citizens of this country have given: these three parties should lead the next government” – OLAF SCHOLZ, CURRENT CANDIDATE FOR CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY
CELEBRATIONS ERUPT IN NORWAY AS COVID RESTRICTIONS END The Norwegian government announced that most of the remaining coronavirus restrictions would be scrapped and that life in the nation of 5.3 million would return to normal. The announcement by outgoing Prime Minister Erna Solberg to drop coronavirus restrictions took many Norwegians by surprise and led to celebrations in the capital, Oslo, and elsewhere in the country. “It has been 561 days since we introduced the toughest measures in Norway in peacetime,” Solberg said at a news conference. “Now the time has come to return to a normal daily life.”
ISRAELI PM DENOUNCES IRAN, IGNORES PALESTINIANS IN UN SPEECH Israel’s new prime minister Naftali Bennett appealed to the international community to stand together against Iran, accusing Tehran of marching toward the development of a nuclear weapon and threatening to act alone
if the world does not take action. In his maiden speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli’s PM made no mention of Israel’s decades-long conflict with the Palestinians and instead sought to portray Iran as a menace to global security. “Iran’s nuclear program has hit a watershed moment, and so has our tolerance,” he said. “Words do not stop centrifuges from spinning.”
TWO WOMEN, POLITICAL OPPOSITES, VYING IN RACE FOR JAPAN PM The inclusion of two women among the four candidates vying to become the next prime minister seems like a big step forward for Japan’s notoriously sexist politics. But their fate is in the hands of a conservative, mostly male governing party — and the leading female candidate has been criticized by observers for her rightwing gender policies. Sanae Takaichi and Seiko Noda are the first women in 13 years seeking the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in an election Wednesday. The winner is certain to become the next prime minister because of a parliamentary majority held by the LDP and its coalition partner. While both are LDP members, they are political opposites in many ways. The ultraconservative Takaichi advocates a kind of paternalistic nationalism and a stronger military, while the liberal-leaning, pacifist Noda supports women’s advancement and sexual diversity.
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October
