General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - March 2018

Mar 2018

Jun 22, 2021

Pashinyan's Party Wins Armenian Parliamentary Election

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's party won 53.9 per cent of the vote in snap parliamentary polls called in an effort to defuse a political crisis after a war with Azerbaijan.
An alliance led by his rival, ex-leader Robert Kocharyan, came second with 21 percent, according to the results based on ballots from 100 per cent of precincts counted.
A winning party or bloc needs to obtain at least 50 per cent of seats plus one and can be assigned additional seats in order to form a government.

Iran's President-elect Backs Nuclear Talks

President-elect Ebrahim Raisi backed talks between Iran and six world powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal but flatly rejected meeting US President Joe Biden, even if Washington removed all sanctions.
In his first news conference since he was elected, the hardline cleric said that his foreign policy priority would be improving ties with Iran's Gulf Arab neighbours, while calling on Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia to immediately halt its intervention in Yemen.
Raisi, a strident critic of the West, will take over from pragmatist Hassan Rouhani in August.

Sweden's PM Loses Confidence Vote

Stefan Lofven, Sweden's Social Democratic Prime Minister since 2014, lost a no-confidence vote, making him the first Swedish government leader ever to lose such a motion.
The vote was initiated by the small Left Party, an ally of the minority government that is not in the two-party center-left coalition.
It is unclear what will happen next in Sweden. Lofven wanted to wait the outcome of no-confidence vote and then think through what is best for Sweden. The Prime Minister has two options: calling a snap election or become the head of a caretaker government.

Taiwan to Maintain Hong Kong Consulate

Taiwan said that it will continue operating its de facto consulate in Hong Kong in spite of visa difficulties for its staffers while also providing consular services online.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong has been unable to get new visas for its staff after the Hong Kong government in 2018 began requiring that Taiwanese personnel at the office sign a statement accepting the one-China principle, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said. The office currently has just one staffer left in Hong Kong whose visa is due to expire next month.
The one-China principle holds that Taiwan is part of China and the Communist government in Beijing is China's sole legitimate government. Taiwan has refused to sign the statement.

Jun 21, 2021

Swedish PM Set to Lose Confidence Vote

Stefan Lofven was set to become the first Swedish Prime Minister to lose a no-confidence vote, after failing in a last-ditch effort to secure majority support in parliament for proposed rent reforms.
The vote was called last week by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, after the Left Party, which Lofven relies on to pass legislation, withdrew its support over his plan to liberalise Sweden's rigid rent control system. Lofven's centrist Social Democrats have led a fragile minority government since poll in 2018, striking a deal on a broad reform programme with two centre-right parties. In one of many concessions to the Liberals and the Centre Party, he agreed to submit a proposal to parliament to abolish collective bargaining for rents for newly built apartments.

Ebrahim Raisi Wins Iran Presidency

Ebrahim Raisi Iran's hard-line judiciary chief won the country's presidential election in a landslide victory, propelling the supreme leader's protege into Tehran's highest civilian position in a vote that appeared to see the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic's history.
Former Central Bank chief Abdolnasser Hemmati, a moderate viewed as a stand-in for outgoing President Hassan Rouhani in the election, came in third with 2.4 million votes. Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi was last with just under 1 million.

Jun 20, 2021

Boris Johnson's Party Loses Blue Wall Seat

In a surprising result, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party was defeated in a special election for a seat that it has held for decades.
The Liberal Democrats, which was in a coalition government with the Conservatives between 2010 and 2015 before seeing its electoral fortunes wane dramatically, won the election in Chesham and Amersham, 57 km northwest of London.
Sarah Green, the Liberal Democrat candidate, picked up around 57 per cent of the vote and won a seat the Conservatives have held since it was created in 1974.

Jun 19, 2021

Antonio Guterres Re-elected as UN Secretary General for Five Years

UN General Assembly appointed Antonio Guterres as the UN Secretary General for a second term beginning January 1, 2022, days after the powerful Security Council had unanimously recommended his name to the 193-member body for re-election.
President of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly Volkan Bozkir announced that Guterres has been appointed by acclamation Secretary General of the United Nations for the second term of office beginning on January 1, 2022 and ending on December 31, 2026.
Bozkir then administered the oath of office to 72-year-old Guterres at the podium of the UN General Assembly hall.

Jun 18, 2021

Canada's First Judge of Colour in Supreme Court

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made history by nominating the first judge of colour to sit on the country's Supreme Court, which has only ever had white justices in its 146-year existence.
Mahmud Jamal, who has been a judge on Ontario's court of appeal since 2019, trained as a lawyer and appeared before the Supreme Court in 35 appeals addressing a range of civil, constitutional, criminal and regulatory issues.
Jamal will replace Justice Rosalie Abella, who is due to retire from the nine-person court in July.

Botswana Unearths World's Third Largest Diamond

According to a joint venture between Anglo-American's De Beers and the government, a 1,098-carat diamond, believed to be the third largest gem-quality stone ever to be mined, has been discovered in Botswana.
The stone was presented to President Mokgweetsi Masisi by Debswana Diamond Company's acting managing director Lynette Armstrong. It is the third largest in the world, behind the 3,106 carat Cullinan stone recovered in South Africa in 1905 and the 1,109 carat Lesedi La Rona unearthed by Lucara Diamonds in Botswana in 2015.
This is the largest diamond to be recovered by Debswana in its history of over 50 years in operation.

Iran Votes in Presidential Poll Tipped in Hardliner's Favour

Iran began voting in a presidential election tipped in the favour of a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, fuelling public apathy and sparking calls for a boycott in the Islamic Republic.
State-linked opinion polling and analysts put hard-line judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi as the dominant front-runner in a field of just four candidates.
Former Central Bank chief, Abdolnasser Hemmati, is running as the race's moderate candidate but hasn't inspired the same support as outgoing President Hassan Rouhani, who is term limited from seeking the office again.

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