Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts toward achieving peace and international cooperation, particularly with neighboring Eritrea, the prize committee announced today.
 
Abiy has sought dramatic reforms in his country since taking office in April 2018, including a landmark peace deal with Eritrea to end a decades-old conflict. He is the first person from Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, the Oromo, to lead the country (CNN), and while in office he has released political prisoners and journalists, as well as helped broker negotiations (FT) in Sudan and between Eritrea and Djibouti. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said that, while ethnic violence has continued to flare (NYT) in Ethiopia, Abiy’s efforts “deserve recognition and need encouragement” now.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump is set to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He today before concluding a fresh round of trade negotiations (Politico) between the two countries. Trump said yesterday’s talks went “very well.”
 
In Foreign Affairs, Weijian Shan writes that everyone loses in the U.S.-China trade war.

Japan: The country’s top court upheld a ruling that local governments must pay more than $13 million in damages (AFP) to the families of dozens of children killed in the 2011 tsunami.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet at a seaside resort (Hindu) outside of Chennai, India. Trade, border issues, and multilateral cooperation are expected to dominate their discussions.
 
Kyrgyzstan: Former President Almazbek Atambayev refused to appear (RFE/RL) at the start of his corruption trial today. Atambayev was arrested in August after initially refusing to be taken into custody.

The oil tanker was around sixty miles from the Saudi port city of Jeddah when it sustained two explosions (Al Jazeera), the National Iranian Oil Company said. State media initially described the incident as a suspected missile attack (NYT).
 
Iran: Women attended a soccer game (NYT) for the first time in almost forty years after a ban on their attendance was lifted for international matches.

The country’s transitional government appointed Neemat Abdullah (VOA) chief justice of its Supreme Court. She is the first woman to hold the position.
 
CFR’s Michelle Gavin looks at Sudan’s fragile transition.

The man who attacked a synagogue (DW) in the country’s east on Wednesday, the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, said he was motivated by anti-Semitic and extreme right-wing beliefs, according to the federal prosecutor’s office.
 
Romania: The government of Viorica Dancila, the country’s fourth prime minister in three years, collapsed after losing a confidence vote (BBC).

Seven candidates in the country’s local and regional elections have been killed and more than sixty others have been attacked or threatened since campaigning began in late June, according to a report by Al Jazeera. The elections are set for October 27.
 
Ecuador: Protesters in Quito have released ten police officers they took hostage (BBC) amid demonstrations against an end to fuel subsidies. At least four people have died and more than six hundred detained in the recent unrest, the interior minister said.

Hundreds of mostly Central American migrants protested on bridges (VOA) between Matamoros, Mexico, and the United States yesterday, calling for quicker processing of asylum claims. The bridges were temporarily closed amid the protests but have since been reopened.
 
In Foreign Affairs, Nanjala Nyabola discusses the collapse of the asylum process in the United States and around the world.