Donald Trump starts his pre-presidential period with quick-fire decisions about key global issues. His pick for UN ambassador‚ Elise Stefanik (known for her tough stance on campus anti-semitism) shows a clear shift in US-UN relations; sheʼs been quite open about wanting to re-think Americas UN funding
After winning the election just last week Trump had three phone talks with Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran-related issues. The president-electʼs position on the Israel-Hamas conflict seems mixed – he backs Netanyahuʼs total victory idea but also thinks the fighting needs to stop: Qatar has now put its peace-talks work on hold
The Washington Post wrote about Trumpʼs chat with Vladimir Putin (which the Kremlin says didnt happen) while the situation in Ukraine gets more complex. Trump says he can fix everything in 24 hours but his teamʼs ideas include:
- Making Ukraine give up some land
- Stopping Ukraine from joining NATO
- Using aid as a bargaining tool
In Asia Shigeru Ishiba now leads Japan with a minority government – first time in about 15 years that his party doesnt have full control. Over in Germany Olaf Scholz must deal with a confidence vote before x-mas which might lead to new elections next spring
The climate-change meeting (COP29) in Baku started with money-talks as its main focus. Trumps win makes some people worry about future US climate actions. Meanwhile Cuba got hit by two earth-quakes right after dealing with a big hurricane – leading to black-outs and street protests
In a lighter note Mexico City saw 1000-plus mariachi players make history: they beat the old record from 11 years back in Guadalajara (which had 700 musicians)