Tokyo: third term for Governor Yuriko Koike

Today's news: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at NATO summit to discuss Pyongyang's threat to Europe; Viktor Orban met with Xi Jinping on a 'peace mission': the Philippines reinforces rice agreements with Vietnam, of which it is the first buyer; Hareetz says the Idf on 7 October ordered the 'Hannibal' directive.

JAPAN

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike won a third consecutive term in the gubernatorial elections held yesterday, securing her position for the next four years. She received more than 2.9 million votes, or 42.8% of the vote, in the election. He successfully steered Japan's most populous city through the Covid-19 pandemic and the delay of the Olympics in 2021.

SOUTH KOREA

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said he will discuss with NATO leaders the threat North Korea poses to Europe by deepening military ties with Russia, warning that Moscow must choose between the two Koreas. Future ties between Seoul and Moscow thus depend on Russia, Yoon said, adding that the decision on arms support for Ukraine will be made on the basis of the military pact between Moscow and Pyongyang.

CHINA - HUNGARY

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, just days after holding talks on a potential peace deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Chinese state media, Orban and Xi met at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing. Orban launched a 'peace mission' after his country took over the rotating EU presidency earlier this month.

PHILIPPINES - VIETNAM

The Philippines wants to increase rice agreements with Vietnam to ensure its food security, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said during a visit to Vietnam. He visited the Vietnamese province of An Giang in the Mekong Delta, one of the country's main rice producing areas. Vietnam is the world's third largest exporter of rice and the Philippines has been its main buyer in recent years.

ISRAEL

On 7 October, the Israeli army issued the Hannibal Directive - a controversial Israeli military policy aimed at preventing the capture of Israeli soldiers by enemy forces even at the cost of killing their own soldiers. This was revealed in aninvestigation by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The newspaper stated that during the Hamas attack, the Israeli army issued an order that not a single vehicle was to return to Gaza.

RUSSIA

In addition to the citizens of Central Asia, the Russian occupation army in Ukraine also fights inhabitants of Nepal, Sri-Lanka, Burundi, Congo and several other 'exotic' countries, whom the Kremlin insists on calling 'volunteers' despite increasing information about their enlistment by force and deception, as told by prisoners of war to Ukrainians.

ARMENIA

Prime Minister Nikol Pašinyan issued a message to the people on the occasion of Armenia's Constitution Day, in which he explained that the current law of the state 'is in deep social and psychological conflict', and the people who are truly sovereign 'after the Velvet Revolution of 2018' are called upon to 'decide on a new text, with new methods'.

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