General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - May 2017

May 2017

Feb 16, 2019

Brexit Defeat in Parliament

The British government dismissed as a "hiccup" its latest parliamentary defeat over Brexit, saying that it would keep trying to renegotiate its EU divorce deal just six weeks before exit day.
Senior Minister Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the House of Commons, conceded that the setback might affect the ongoing talks with the EU.
As per May, the one problem with last night's vote is that it allows the EU to continue with this pretence that they don't know what we want. And they do know what we want.

Emergency to Build Border Wall

President Donald Trump formally declared a national emergency at the border to access billions of dollars to build a border wall that Congress refused to give him, transforming a highly charged policy dispute into a fundamental confrontation over separation of powers.
Mr. Trump said that he was signing the declaration to protect the country from the flow of drugs, criminals and illegal immigrants coming across the southwestern border from Mexico, which he characterised as a profound threat to national security.
The declaration will enable Mr. Trump to divert $3.6 billion budgeted for military construction projects to the border wall.

U.S. May Extend Tariff Deadline

Trade talks between the U.S. and China held this week in Beijing led to "progress" between the two sides, the White House said that the dialogue would continue in Washington next week.
Both sides will continue working on all outstanding issues in advance of the March 1, 2019, deadline for an increase in the 10% tariff on certain imported Chinese goods.

Feb 15, 2019

Resolution to End U.S. Support for Yemen War

The House of Representatives passed a resolution to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
The resolution, introduced by Representative Ro Khanna of California, passed 248 to 177, with 18 Republicans and 230 Democrats supporting it.
The resolution calls for the U.S. to withdraw any troops that affect the Yemen war within a period of 30 days.
It grants an exemption to forces fighting al-Qaeda and its associates. The Resolution also formalises and mandates the Department of Defense policy of halting aircraft refuelling.
The war has left some 50,000 dead, according to an independent estimate, millions displaced, and spawned a famine.

Deal to Seek to End Trade War

U.S. and Chinese negotiators kicked off two days of high-level talks that President Donald Trump said could decide whether he escalates the bruising tariff battle between the world's two biggest economies.
Mr. Trump indicated this week he was open to extending a trade truce beyond March 1 depending on progress in Beijing. He is considering pushing the deadline back an additional 60 days.
In December, he postponed plans to sharply hike tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports to allow more time for negotiation.

Call for Brexit Delay

Forty-three former British Ambassadors and High Commissioners have added their voice to calls for the government to delay Brexit and consider holding a new referendum on whether to remain in the EU.
Signatories include former Ambassadors to Germany, France, the U.S., Canada, Japan and Russia, who joined forces to appeal to the government to not leave the EU without "clarity about our final destination", pointing to their "clear understanding" as former diplomats of "what contributes to Britain's influence in the world".
Pressure has been mounting on the government to consider delaying Brexit, as politicians in the U.K. struggle to reach consensus on a withdrawal strategy that would be acceptable to Brussels and other EU nations.

Feb 14, 2019

Britain Denies Plotting Last-minute Brexit Vote

The British government denied that it was secretly plotting to force MPs into a last-minute choice on Brexit between a rejigged deal and a lengthy delay.
As per ITV television, Prime Minister Theresa May's chief Brexit negotiator Olly Robbins was overheard saying the EU would probably let Britain extend its March 29 departure date.
Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay denied that the reported comments reflected official government policy.

Snap Polls Likely in Spain

Spain's Parliament rejected a draft 2019 budget after Catalan separatists turned their back on the government, pushing the country close to an early national election amid an increasingly fragmented political landscape.
Sources in the government and the Socialist party of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told that he would call a snap election if the draft was rejected, with April 14 or April 28 the most likely dates.
The euro zone's fourth-largest economy, Spain emerged in 2013 from a deep economic slump but has been plagued since by growing political volatility, driven by deep divisions over Catalonia's independence drive and emergence of several new parties.
Sanchez left Parliament straight after losing the budget vote, while opposition parties urged him to call elections immediately.

Thai EC Moves to Dissolve Raksa Chart Party

The Thai Election Commission asked the constitutional court to dissolve the Raksa Chart Party, which last week proposed Princess Ubolratana as its candidate for Prime Minister, a potential blow to the political aspirations of the kingdom's powerful Shinawatra clan.
The nation is to hold election on March 24.

Feb 13, 2019

Australia to Allow Medical Evacuation

The Australian Parliament narrowly passed legislation that would let some asylum seekers being held on remote Pacific islands come to Australia for medical treatment, a blow to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who had strongly opposed the measure.
Under Australia's offshore detention policy, asylum seekers who try to reach the country by boat are barred from ever settling there.
About 1,000 migrants intercepted at sea have spent years on the tiny island nation of Nauru or on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, under conditions that visiting experts have described as dire.
The detention policy has been condemned by the United Nations and various human rights groups, and Australians who oppose it celebrated the 75 to 74 vote in the House of Representatives and the 36 to 34 vote in the Senate.

A Tentative Border Deal

House and Senate negotiators reached an agreement in principle to avert another government shutdown at the end of the week.
President Trump said that he was not happy with the deal, although he did not signal whether he would sign it or veto it.
The deal would provide $1.375 billion for physical barriers at the southern border with Mexico, far lower than the $5.7 billion Mr. Trump had demanded. And it would allow for 55 miles of new fencing, a fraction of the 200-mile steel-and-concrete wall the president had envisioned.
The deal appeared to be a win for Democrats, who were able to weave in a reduction of the number of migrants and undocumented immigrants who can be held in detention centers.

Taliban Forms Team for Peace Talks

The Taliban announced a 14-member team to meet American negotiators in February in Doha, including five former Guantanamo Bay inmates and a high-profile militant behind bars in Afghanistan.
U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has undertaken extensive recent peace talks with the Taliban about ending the 17-year war in Afghanistan, with another round expected in late February.
The expanded negotiating team unveiled by the insurgents includes Anas Haqqani, who was captured in 2014 and whose older brother is deputy Taliban leader and head of the Haqqani network.
The Taliban has long demanded that Anas be released, saying that he is a student. Afghan authorities accuse him of a being a high-level player in the Haqqani network.

Feb 12, 2019

No-deal Brexit Could Cost Jobs

As per a study, British departure from the European Union (EU) without a deal could put 6,00,000 jobs around the world at risk, with Germany hit the hardest.
Researchers at the IWH institute in Halle, eastern Germany, examined what would happen if U.K. imports from the remaining EU fell 25% after Brexit.
They reckoned that some 1,03,000 jobs would be under threat in Europe's largest economy Germany and 50,000 in France.

Moon Hails Breakthrough in Peace Talks

According to President Moon Jae-in, the agreement for a second summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un is a remarkable breakthrough for peace negotiations on the Korean peninsula, but he acknowledged that doubts remained over denuclearisation.
The U.S. President and North Korean leader are due to meet in Hanoi from February 27 to 28.

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