Israeli Blue and White party's leaders vowed on Monday (October 21) to form "a liberal unity government" after incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to present a new one.
Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid of the Blue and White
Party make a joint a statement in Tel Aviv on February 21, 2019. (Photo:
JNS.org)
"Blue and White is determined to form a liberal unity
government led by Benny Gantz," the centrist party said in a statement,
referring to a governing coalition without religious parties.
"The time for spins has
passed. Now it's time for actions," said the centrist party, which won the
largest number of seats in the September 17 elections.
On Monday night, Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed President Reuven Rivlin that he was
returning the mandate to form a government, two days before his deadline to
present a new governing coalition.
Meanwhile, a statement
released by Rivlin's office said the President now intends to task Gantz with
forming a new government.
Gantz's party won 33 seats in
the 120-seat parliament in the do-over elections on September 17, against the
32 seats of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud.
The tight results have
brought the country to a political deadlock, with speculation on a third round
of elections in less than a year if Gantz also fails.
Source: NDO
The Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the world’s leading developed and emerging economies (G20) recently held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil emphasised the need to reform global governance institutions, especially the United Nations Security Council. The meeting is also an opportunity for G20 to find solutions to a series of hot issues facing the world, such as poverty, climate change, and conflict.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers on December 30 issued a statement on maintaining and promoting stability in the maritime sphere in Southeast Asia.
The world economy has overcome a challenging year, but has proven more resilient than expected. The Financial Times (UK) commented that 2023 was a positive year for the world economy as the economic surprise index collated by Citigroup shew that actual data have underwhelmed economists’ predictions for much of the past months. These economic trends are the basis for optimism about the world economy in 2024.
Laos has announced the theme and logo for its the Chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2024.
Vietnam was elected a Vice President of the 42nd session of the UNESCO’s General Conference, representing the Asia-Pacific, on November 8.
Since the "blockbuster" ChatGPT was launched a year ago, the prospects for the development of artificial intelligence (AI), as well as concerns about the risks from this technology, have become hot topics in the technology world.