GLOBAL DIARY

FREEDOM

“Our objective has been reached: a victory that will enable us to take the country back to freedom” – ROBERT GLOB, PRESIDENT OF SLOVENIAN

FREEDOM PARTY

NEW MANDATE FOR MACRON

French President Emmanuel Macron, who defeated Marine Le Pen in the second round of the presidential election, will secure a parliamentary majority in the June elections, according to a public opinion poll by Harris Interactive. The poll indicates that Macron’s camp would win between 326 and 366 seats, making a majority in the National Assembly which has 577 seats, if it manages to form a center-right alliance with smaller parties and conservative Republicans, reports Reuters. The far-right camp would be set to win between 117 and 147 seats according to this research, while left-wing parties together would win from 73 to 93 seats.

MUSK ACQUIRES TWITTER FOR $44 BILLION

Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, giving the world’s richest person command of a highly influential social media site that serves as a platform for political leaders, a sounding board for experts across industries and an information hub for millions of everyday users.The acquisition followed weeks of evangelizing on the necessity of “free speech,” as the Tesla CEO seized on Twitter’s role as the “de facto town square” and took umbrage with content moderation efforts he views as an escalation toward censorship. He said he sees Twitter as essential to the functioning of democracy and said the economics are not a concern. Musk has said he supports letting people change what their tweets say, a proposal that has stirred a heated debate among academics, journalists and other heavy users of the platform.

CHINESE CINNAMON TEA OFFERED AT OVER $184,000 P/KG

A fine dining restaurant in Hong Kong is selling a rare variety of Chinese cinnamon tea for approximately $184,615 per kilogram. Glassbelly Tea Lab, an upscale tea pairing restaurant located in Hong Kong, specializes in oolong rock teas, which are considered to be among the most expensive varieties of teas in the world. One brew of this tea can be bought at Glassbelly for approximately $3,577, while one kilogram costs approximately $184,615. For comparison, a 150-200 ml pot of tea would generally be made with around five grams of tea leaves. The founder of Glassbelly, Wing Yeung, explained that it is difficult to get authentic tea due to selling techniques that are “stuck like it was 1,000 years” involving “hushed business talks and secret deals.”

ANGER

“An answer must be found to the anger and disagreements that led many of our compatriots to vote for the extreme right” – EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT

VUČIĆ AND DONFRID MET IN BELGRADE

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, met with the Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Asia, Karen Donfried, with whom he discussed bilateral relations, European integration of Serbia, dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, as well as other current geopolitical issues. Vučić pointed out that preserving stability in the region is of key interest for Serbia, and that in that sense, the improvement of good-neighborly and mutually beneficial cooperation is a fundamental and unchanging starting point of the overall foreign policy of our country. US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Asia Karen Donfried pointed out that the United States strongly advocates that the entire Western Balkans region join the European Union, and reiterates that this is one of the priorities of American foreign policy towards the region.

EARTHQUAKE IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

An earthquake of 5.6 magnitude at a depth of 5 km occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 22 April. The earthquake hit 42 km southeast of the city of Mostar close to the southern town of Stolac. The Civil Protection authorities reported that one person died, at least two others injured and hundreds of people were fleeing their homes at the moment of the earthquake. According to the initial assessment, around 350 damaged buildings and houses are reported. As of 25 April, significant material damage at the southern part of the country (Ljubinje and Capljina). Several aftershocks with magnitude 2.7- 4.8 have been registered.

ROBERT GOLOB’S FREEDOM MOVEMENT WON SLOVENIA ELECTION

Political newcomer liberal Robert Golob has defeated Slovenia’s three-time prime minister, populist conservative Janez Janša, in elections in a country split by bitter political divisions over the rule of law. Golob’s Freedom Movement (GS), which he launched only in January, has built on anger with Janša’s regime in the former Yugoslav state. In the country of around two million people, GS stood at 34.5% of the vote compared with 23.6% for Janša’s Slovenian Democratic party.

GIANT SCULPTURE MADE FROM 350 TREES

When Britain marks Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne in June, a striking tree-shaped sculpture will stand outside Buckingham Palace, at the very center of the celebrations. Designed by Heatherwick Studio, the 21-meter “Tree of Trees” will feature 350 indigenous British trees attached to a giant steel frame, reflecting The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) initiative that invited Britons to “plant a tree for the Jubilee” between October 2021 and March 2022. More than a million trees were planted during these months, according to the QGC website.