This roundup summarises the most important news stories around the world in the last month (November 2023).

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Argentinian voters, frustrated with triple-digit inflation and chronic poverty, elected a right-wing libertarian as its new president with 56 per cent of the vote. And in the Netherlands, far-right politician Geert Wilders won the Dutch general election and now seeks to form the next Dutch government.

US-China relations

On the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, United States (US) president Joe Biden and Chinese president Xi Jinping met for the first time in about a year. Although little of substance was achieved, both superpowers agreed to cooperate and avoid a downward spiral in its bilateral relationship.

In China, former premier Li Keqiang died at the age of 68 after suffering a sudden heart attack.

In the US, after three weeks, Republicans of the House of Representatives elected a new speaker. Separately, in economic news, former cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven charges of fraud and conspiracy, for stealing billions of dollars from customers of his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX. Co-working space provider WeWork – once valued at almost US$50 (S$68) billion – filed for bankruptcy.

Israel’s destructive Gaza invasion

The US and president Biden are also embroiled in Israel’s ongoing invasion of Gaza. As part of its expanded ground invasion, the Israeli military advanced deeper into the northern Gaza Strip. It later said it completed the encirclement of Gaza City, effectively dividing Gaza into north and south regions. Tens of thousands of Gazans have been killed and injured. In the past week, a hostage release and ceasefire deal has been made between Israel and Hamas as a major de-escalatory step.

For weeks, tens to hundreds of thousands of protestors flooded cities around the world – including London, Madrid, and New York in the west – calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Political churn and demonstrations

In Bangladesh, over 100,000 protestors demanded for the prime minister to step down. In Iceland, tens of thousands of women – including its prime minister – walked out on their jobs and were encouraged not to do any household chores to demonstrate against gender inequality. And in Ireland, riots and street violence erupted following a knife attack.

In Portugal, the socialist prime minister resigned after eight years, following a police corruption probe into several high-ranking officials.

And in the United Kingdom, prime minister Rishi Sunak reshuffled his cabinet, which included the appointment of former prime minister David Cameron as foreign secretary and the departure of divisive home secretary Suella Braverman. Relatedly, the supreme court struck down the government’s controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.