Push to accelerate Ukraine diplomacy. High-level talks in Ukraine and Turkey are expected to encourage progress in the slow-moving diplomatic effort to end the war in Ukraine. Trump dispatched multiple senior army officials to Kyiv, the Wall Street Journal reported, while Zelenskyy was due to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara. The talks come after Russian attacks overnight killed at least twenty-five people in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil and after Spain pledged nearly $1 billion in military and energy aid to Ukraine yesterday.
Jamaica’s post-hurricane costs. The damage from Hurricane Melissa left Jamaica with some $10 billion in bills, cabinet minister Matthew Samuda told Reuters. The country only had $500 million in reserves stockpiled for climate disasters. Samuda said that the country is seeking aid that will not saddle it with an overwhelming debt burden.
Japan-China tensions. Senior diplomats from both countries met yesterday in an attempt to diffuse tensions sparked by Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s comment last month that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a Japanese military response. Many Chinese travelers cancelled flights to Japan in recent days, while Japan warned its citizens in China to increase safety precautions.
Syria’s trial over sectarian violence. Trials began in Aleppo yesterday for people accused of killing civilians during a spate of deadly violence in March, when clashes between government forces and loyalists of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad escalated into sectarian violence. Around 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed. The incidents posed a challenge to the legitimacy of Syria’s interim government.
China-Netherlands deescalation. The Dutch government suspended its takeover of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia following talks with Chinese authorities, the Dutch economy minister announced today. The September takeover came after Washington put the company on a trade blacklist that would have placed higher export controls on Nexperia and prompted China to suspend exports of the company’s finished products, a scenario that risked slowdowns at auto factories around the world.
Deportation deal with Eswatini. The United States paid the African country $5.1 million to accept deportees from third countries, Eswatini’s finance minister confirmed to Reuters yesterday. Human rights lawyers in the country have sued the government, claiming the deal, the details of which remain undisclosed, is unconstitutional. The United States has sent at least fifteen immigrants to Eswatini.
Energy company suit in Mozambique. The nonprofit European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights accused French energy company TotalEnergies of complicity in war crimes allegedly committed by state security forces in Mozambique, filing a criminal complaint in France. The alleged incidents occurred when Total evacuated its staff from Mozambique but continued paying the government for security services. Total has denied the allegations.
Appeal on fossil fuels. More than eighty countries so far have endorsed a call for the COP30 climate talks to produce a road map to phase down fossil fuels. The details of potential plans would vary by country. It remains unclear whether there is enough support for the proposal to make it into the official summit agreement.
