General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - February 2016

Feb 2016

Sep 29, 2021

Singapore's Population Sees Biggest Fall in 70 Years

As per official data, the total population in Singapore has shrunk by 4.1% to 5.45 million in June 2021, indicating the sharpest fall since the government began collecting such data in 1950.
For the second consecutive year the city-state saw its population shrink and the third time it witnessed negative growth since 1950, according to an official annual population report.

Iceland Misses Out on Europe's First Female-majority Parliament

Iceland's claim of electing Europe's first female-majority legislature was retracted due to a miscalculation after the centrist ruling coalition added to its majority.
While initial data showed that some 33 of 63 seats in Iceland's parliament, the Althingi, were won by women in the ballot, it later emerged that a handful of votes had been miscounted, affecting the distribution of so-called "compensatory" seats. This means there will be 33 men and 30 women in parliament.
The change doesn't affect the overall distribution of seats showing Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir's bloc, which unites three parties from left to right, boosted its representation by two to a combined 37.

Three Polish Regions Scrap Anti-LGBT Resolutions

Three Polish regions voted to scrap resolutions that declared them free of "LGBT ideology".
It comes after the European Commission threatened to pull funding.
The resolutions were first passed in 2019, with local authorities viewing campaigns for gay rights as an attack on traditional, Catholic values.
Almost 100 other regions passed similar anti-LGBT resolutions that year, drawing ire from the EU, which said that it violated discrimination laws.
The European Commission later urged five large regions to scrap them. If they were kept in place, the commission threatened to block up to €126m ($147m) in funding for their local governments.
In response, Podkarpackie, Lubelskie and Malopolskie cancelled their declarations, following the lead of another region, Swietokrzyskie, which did so last week.

Sep 28, 2021

UAE Picks New Finance Environment Ministers

United Arab Emirates Prime Minister and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced ministerial changes.
Sheikh Mohammed's son and the current deputy ruler of Dubai, was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister. Mohammed bin Hadi Al Husseini replaced long-serving Obaid Humaid Al Tayer as the Emirates' minister of state for finance, while Maryam Al Muhairi became the minister of climate change and environment.

Afghanistan, Myanmar Will Not Address UN General Assembly

Afghanistan and Myanmar did not address the UN General Assembly's high-level General Debate.
According to the latest list of speakers for the last day of the high-level General Debate of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, Afghanistan and Myanmar were not listed as speakers to address the session.
Afghanistan representative inscribed on the list for the debate was H E Mr Ghulam M. Isaczai.

Sep 27, 2021

Centre-left Wins against Merkel's Party

According to preliminary results, Germany's centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) have narrowly won the country's federal elections, beating the party of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The SPD secured 25.7% of the vote, while the ruling conservative bloc gained 24.1%.
The Greens achieved the best result in their party's history, coming in third with 14.8% of the ballot.
SDP leader Olaf Scholz earlier said his party had a clear mandate to rule, as his party started to edge into the lead.
Exit polls predicted a dead heat, but this election has been unpredictable from the start, and the result was never going to be the end of the story. For one thing, the outgoing chancellor is going nowhere until the coalition is formed - and that may have to wait until Christmas.
The successor's task is to lead Europe's foremost economy over the next four years, with climate change at the top of voters' agenda.

Sep 26, 2021

N. Korea Rejects South Korea's Calls for End-of-war Declaration

North Korea rebuffed South Korea's push for a declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War as a way to restore peace, saying that such a step could be used as a "smokescreen covering up the U.S. hostile policy" against the North.
In a speech at the U.N. General Assembly earlier this week, South Korean President Moon Jae-in reiterated his calls for the end-of-the-war declaration that he said could help achieve denuclearisation and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Ri Thae Song dismissed Mr. Moon's call as premature so long as U.S. policies were unchanged.

Biden Administration Implores Iran to Return to Nuke Talks without Delay

The Biden administration is imploring Iran to quickly return to talks on its nuclear programme after a three-month hiatus caused by its government transition, warning that the window for negotiations may soon close.
A senior administration official said that U.S. patience is wearing thin and that further delays while Iran continues to expand its atomic capabilities could lead Washington and its partners to conclude a return to the landmark 2015 nuclear deal is no longer worthwhile.
In discussions with representatives from the remaining parties to the deal Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union the official said that all of them had agreed on the importance of resuming the talks as soon as possible.

US Special Envoy to Haiti Resigns

The Biden administration's special envoy to Haiti has resigned, protesting inhumane large-scale expulsions of Haitian migrants to their homeland wracked by civil strife and natural disaster.
Daniel Foote was appointed to the position in July, following the assassination of Haiti's President. Even before the migrant expulsions from the small Texas border town of Del Rio, the career diplomat was known to be deeply frustrated with what he considered a lack of urgency in Washington and a glacial pace on efforts to improve conditions in Haiti.

Sep 25, 2021

Russia, China, Pakistan Agree to Maintain Contacts with Taliban

Special representatives of Pakistan, Russia and China agreed with the Taliban to maintain contacts at the recent consultations in Kabul.
An agreement was reached to maintain constructive contacts in the interests of Afghanistan's peace and prosperity, and regional stability and development.
The Taliban emphasized their special focus on promoting relations with Russia, China and Pakistan.
This comes as the 76th UN General Assembly (UNGA) began the high-level week started on September 21.
The United States and all other major countries around the world are taking a wait and watch approach with regard to recognising the Taliban.

Taiwan Seeks Entry into Key Trade Pact

Taiwan has applied to join a major trans-Pacific trade deal, days after China said that it also wanted to become a member of the agreement.
Signed by 11 Asia-Pacific countries in 2018, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is the region's biggest free-trade pact and accounts for around 13.5 percent of the global economy.
Most of (the CPTPP's) member countries are Taiwan's key trade partners, accounting for over 24 per cent of Taiwan's international trade.
Taiwan can't be left out in the world and has to integrate into the regional economy.

Share on

TCY Analytics (View Subscription Plans)

Subscribe to GK Updates

I want to receive

GK Tags

August GK, July GK, June GK, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, SPORTS, NATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, PERSONS IN NEWS, DAYS AND EVENTS, AWARDS AND HONOURS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES, GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION, ART AND CULTURE, BOOKS AND AUTHORS, TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY AWARENESS, ART AND CULTURE, LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Start Discussion

On any topic

Take Tests

Compiled from GK updates

Login

Sign Up

Forgot Password

Download TCY App

Unlock All Services And Enjoy The Premium Benefits

US$ 10

US$ 13

US$ 15

US$ 17

US$ 19

US$ 20

US$ 21

US$ 22

US$ 23

US$ 24

US$ 25

US$ 26