General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - May 2017

May 2017

Nov 26, 2018

Re-Opening of San Ysidro Port

US authorities re-opened the San Ysidro port of entry into Mexico after briefly closing it following an attempt by hundreds of migrants to breach a fence. First pedestrian access was resumed, followed by vehicle traffic.

The San Ysidro crossing point is one of the busiest between the two countries.

Allow Migrants Only if Court Clears

U.S. President Donald Trump has said that migrants at the southern border will not be allowed into America until a court approves their claims individually.

Mr. Trump's comments came in the wake of a caravan of people, mostly from three Latin American countries El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, inching closer to the U.S.-Mexico border with the intention of illegally entering America, a trend that has been going on for the past several decades.

EU Leaders Back Brexit Deal

A year and a half of negotiations on the terms of Britain's withdrawal from the EU came to an end formally, as leaders of the 27 EU nations agreed to the terms of the controversial agreement at a summit in Brussels.

The approval comes after Britain and Spain reached agreement on the status of Gibraltar, removing a last-minute dispute that threatened to jeopardise the deal. However, it is far from the end of the battle for Britain's Conservative government, which faces stiff opposition within its own ranks and from other political parties, who could vote down the deal as it passes through the parliamentary approval process.

Nov 25, 2018

Bahrain Votes for New Parliament

Polls opened in Bahrain to elect a new Parliament, but absent from the ballot was the country's Shiite-dominated Opposition, whose prominent figures are serving prison sentences. Up for grabs are 40 seats in the lower house of Parliament and 30 municipal council seats.

Goodbye to UN Migration Agreement

The Austrian government decided to withdraw from the new migration pact of the United Nations. The U.S., Hungary, the Czech Republic and most recently Australia and Poland, had done the same, and it is not a coincidence that politics in most of these countries is dominated by right-wing leaders.

The UN's Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migrations is aiming to make migration all over the world safer. "We view some points of the migration pact as very critical, such as the mixing up of seeking protection with labour migration," said Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. The Chancellor also said Austria's "sovereign migration policy" is endangered by the pact. Since Mr. Kurz's government, consisting of his Conservative Party and the far-right Freedom Party, came to power a year ago, several controversial policies have been adapted.

Nov 24, 2018

US and China Trade War

According to Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Commerce, China hopes U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese premier Xi Jinping will find a solution to the continuing trade war when they meet at the G20 summit next week.

Rajapaksa Challenged in Court

As many as 122 Sri Lankan lawmakers challenged former President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the court of appeal, asking on whose authority he occupied the office of the Prime Minister, after being voted out in the legislature.

The case is likely to be heard early next week.

The MPs, who filed the Quo Warranto petition challenging Mr. Rajapaksa, his purported Cabinet and government, earlier disputed his controversial appointment as Prime Minister in the legislature.

Mr. Rajapaksa had been voted out in the 225-member House in two no-confidence motions last week, which his supporters have rejected, citing "breach of parliamentary procedure".

Nov 23, 2018

EU and UK Agree on Draft Brexit Plan

The European Union and Britain agreed a draft declaration on their post-Brexit relations that sets out an ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership.

The two sides have also agreed a draft deal extending the transition period by one or two years beyond the end of 2020, a final sticking point of the divorce deal.

China Rejects US Hacking Report

China rejected a U.S. government report that accuses Beijing of stepping up efforts to steal technology ahead of a meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

The Commerce Ministry dismissed the U.S. Trade Representative's report as new unwarranted accusations and said that Washington was wrecking economic relations.

Nov 22, 2018

EU to Scale up Ties with India

The European Union has unveiled a sweeping new vision to significantly scale up ties with India, including closer coordination to forge a multilateral rules-based world order and enhanced military-to-military relations and joint exercises.

The strategy will build on the partnership forged by the two sides in 2004, and recommends the EU should consider negotiating a Strategic Partnership Agreement to update the 1994 EU-India Cooperation Agreement.

EU envoy Tomasz Kozlowski said that India is on top of our priorities in terms of external agenda. The EU is ready for a leap forward in ties and is proposing to reinforce the EU-India strategic partnership.

Security Aid to Pakistan Suspended

The US has suspended $1.66 billion in security assistance to Pakistan after President Donald Trump's directive. This comes days after Trump said that Pakistan does not "do a damn thing" for the US, alleging that its government had helped al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Abbottabad.

Interpol's New President

The Interpol elected Kim Jong Yang of South Korea as its next president.

Kim, who had been serving as acting president, was elected for a two-year term at the body's annual congress in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

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