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.

“In some election campaigns you get the impression that it’s perhaps about this or that topic, but that in the end it perhaps doesn’t really matter who governs Germany” – ANGELA MERKEL, SECOND-LONGEST

SERVING CHANCELLOR IN GERMAN HISTORY

GERMAN ELECTIONS: CENTRELEFT CLAIM VICTORY OVER MERKEL’S PARTY

UN CHIEF WARNS CHINA AND U.S. TO AVOID COLD WAR

The center-left Social Democrats have won the biggest share of the vote in Germany’s national election, beating outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centerright Union bloc in a closely fought race. Election officials said that a count of all 299 constituencies showed the Social Democrats won 25.9% of the vote, ahead of 24.1% for the Union bloc. The environmentalist Greens came third with 14.8% followed by the pro-business Free Democrats with 11.5%. The two parties have already signaled that they are willing to discuss forging a three-way alliance with either of their two bigger rivals to form a government. The far-right Alternative for Germany came fourth in vote with 10.3%, while the Left party took 4.9%. Photo: Reuters

STRONG EARTHQUAKE HITS GREEK ISLAND OF CRETE

A strong, prolonged earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of at least 5.8 struck the Greek island of Crete, killing one person and injuring 20, while damaging homes and churches and causing rock slides near the country’s fourth-largest city. The quake sent people fleeing into the streets in the city of Heraklion, and schools were evacuated. “The earthquake was strong and was long in duration,” Heraklion mayor Vassilis Lambrinos told private Antenna television. Hospital officials said 20 people had been treated for injuries, ten of them receiving first aid.

Warning of a potential new Cold War, the head of the United Nations implored China and the United States to repair their “completely dysfunctional” relationship before problems between the two large and deeply influential countries spill over even further into the rest of the planet. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to The Associated Press this weekend ahead of this week’s annual United Nations gathering of world leaders — a convening blemished by COVID, climate concerns and contentiousness across the planet. Guterres said the world’s two major economic powers should be cooperating on climate and negotiating more robustly on trade and technology even given persisting political fissures about human rights, economics, online security and sovereignty in the South China Sea. Source: AP