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INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - October 2014

Oct 2014

Mar 21, 2021

Bill Nelson Nominated to Lead NASA

President Joe Biden has nominated his longtime colleague, former Senator Bill Nelson (D–FL), to lead NASA, the administration announced today. If confirmed, Nelson will be tasked with leading the country back to the Moon, while also developing an ambitious project to recover the rock samples drilled by the Perseverance rover on Mars.
Nelson has a long history with the agency. He first entered national politics as a representative for the district that is home to Florida's space coast and flew as a civilian on the space shuttle in 1986. As a senator, he was a lead author of the law that created NASA's new Moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), which yesterday saw the first successful test of its engines.

Tanzania Swears in First Female President

Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn in as Tanzania's first female President after her predecessor, John Magufuli, died suddenly.
Hassan, a soft-spoken ruling party stalwart from the island of Zanzibar, will finish Magufuli's second five-year term, set to run until 2025.
She becomes the only other current serving female head of state in Africa alongside Ethiopia's Sahle-Work Zewde, whose role is mainly ceremonial, whereas the president in Tanzania is also head of government.
Hassan was little known outside Tanzania until she appeared on state television on Wednesday night to announce that Magufuli, absent from public view for three weeks, had died from a heart condition.

World Happiness Report

India has been ranked 139 out of 149 countries in the list of UN World Happiness Report 2021, which is topped by Finland.
The World Happiness Report 2021, issued by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, focuses on the effects of COVID-19 and how people all over the world have fared.
It ranks the world's 149 countries on "how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be".
Finland has been ranked as the happiest country in the world. The Nordic nation is followed by Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Norway.
The happiness study ranks the countries of the world on the basis of questions from the Gallup World Poll. The results are then correlated with other factors, including GDP and social security.

Mar 20, 2021

Turkey Leaves Istanbul Convention

Turkey has left the Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe treaty intended to prevent violence and domestic abuse against women, according to a decree published on Saturday in the Official Gazette.
The discussion on the treaty, signed by 45 countries and the European Union in 2011 in Istanbul, divided the ruling AK Parti and the country last year as conservatives argue it is undermining traditional values and family structure.
Protesters took to the streets across the country to demonstrate that the pact should be bolstered by legislative changes and need to be implemented strictly.

Fourth Straight Election Win for Mark Rutte's Conservatives

The process of forming a new Dutch governing coalition began, a day after Prime Minister Mark Rutte's conservative party powered to a fourth consecutive victory in a vote held during a nationwide lockdown and dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The feat put Rutte in position to lead coalition talks, most likely with another big winner — the centrist, pro-European D66 party led by former diplomat Sigrid Kaag, who danced on a table Wednesday night when an exit poll showed her party capturing one of its biggest-ever victories.
However, those two parties will likely need at least two more partners to form a majority coalition. According to the national news agency ANP, based on 88% of votes counted, Rutte's party, known by its Dutch acronym VVD, won 35 of the 150 seats in the lower house of parliament while D66 garnered 24.

Mar 19, 2021

US Senate Confirms Becerra as Head of Biden's Ambitious Health Agenda

The Senate confirmed California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as President Joe Biden's health secretary, filling a key position in the administration's coronavirus response and its ambitious push to lower drug costs, expand insurance coverage, and eliminate racial disparities in medical care.
The 50-49 vote makes the 63-year-old Becerra the first Latino to head the Department of Health and Human Services.
The USD 1.4 trillion agency encompasses health insurance programs, drug safety and approvals, advanced medical research, substance abuse treatment, and the welfare of children, including hundreds of Central American migrants arriving daily at the US-Mexico border.
Becerra has been California's attorney general since 2017. He sued the Trump administration 124 times on a range of policy issues, earning the ire of conservatives. Before that he represented a Los Angeles-area district in the US House for 24 years.

North Korea to Sever Diplomatic Ties with Malaysia

North Korea said that it would sever diplomatic relations with Malaysia after a court there ruled that a North Korean man could be extradited to the United States to face money-laundering charges.
North Korea's Foreign Affairs Ministry also warned Washington would "pay a price". Malaysia's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The North Korean statement did not name its citizen, but in early March, Malaysia's top court ruled that a North Korean man, Mun Chol Myong, could be extradited.
Mun had been arrested in 2019 after the United States accused him of laundering funds through front companies and issuing fraudulent documents to support illicit shipments to North Korea. He fought the extradition request, arguing that it was politically motivated.

Mar 18, 2021

Russia Recalls Envoy after Biden Remarks about Putin

Russia has recalled its Washington ambassador for talks to prevent the "irreversible deterioration" of relations with the US.
The Russian government said that Anatoly Antonov had been called back to Moscow as US ties had reached a "blind alley".
The move came after President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin would "pay the price" for alleged election meddling.
In an interview, Mr Biden confirmed he thought that the Russian President was "a killer".
Mr. Biden had been commenting on an American intelligence report that suggested Mr. Putin had authorised an interference campaign in last November's presidential election in the US.
The report accused Russia of trying to sway the election in favour of former Republican President Donald Trump, who was defeated by Mr. Biden.

US Facing Biggest Migrant Surge in 20 Years

The United States is facing the biggest surge of migrants at its southwestern border in 20 years, the Homeland Security Secretary said as the Biden administration races to handle an influx of children trying to cross the US-Mexico border alone.
According to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the number of attempted border crossings by people from Central America and Mexico has steadily increased since April 2020 and most single adults and families are being turned away.

French Parliament Votes to Include Climate Change Clause in Constitution

The Lower House of the French parliament, the National Assembly, voted in favor of amending the country's Constitution with provisions that include climate and biodiversity protection.
The 391-47 vote on the climate bill marks the first step towards a referendum on the constitutional amendment.
According to Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti, this bill is a "real chance that will go to the referendum promised by the President.
In December, French President Emmanuel Macron had announced his intention to hold a nationwide referendum on constitutional amendments related to the fight against climate change.
The amendments are set to add notions of biodiversity, the environment and the fight against global warming to the basic law's Article 1.

Mar 17, 2021

Prime Minister Modi holds virtual summit with Finland counterpart Sanna Marin

PM Modi on March 16, 2021, held a summit in a virtual mode with the Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin.
During the summit, both the leaders covered the entire spectrum of the bilateral relationship between India and Finland. They also exchanged views on global and regional issues of mutual interest.
According to Prime Minister's Office, the summit will provide a blueprint for the diversification and future expansion of the Partnership between India and Finland.
The official release added that both the countries enjoy warm and friendly relations with each other that are solely based on the shared values of freedom, democracy, and rules-based international order.

Putin Tried to Help Trump Against Biden in 2020 US Elections: Report

Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized influence operations to help Donald Trump in last November's presidential election, according to a declassified intelligence assessment that found broad efforts by the Kremlin and Iran to shape the outcome of the race but ultimately no evidence that any foreign actor changed votes or otherwise disrupted the voting process.
The report released from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence represents the most detailed assessment of the array of foreign threats to the 2020 election. These included efforts by Iran to undermine confidence in the vote and harm Trump's re-election prospects as well as Moscow operations that relied on Trump's allies to smear Joe Biden, the eventual winner.

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