General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - March 2018

Mar 2018

Mar 07, 2020

Trump Replaces White House Chief of Staff

US President Donald Trump replaced his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, whose departure had long been rumoured.
North Carolina lawmaker Mark Meadows would take over the job.
Mr. Trump said that Mr. Mulvaney would become US special envoy to Northern Ireland.
Mr. Mulvaney was perceived to have implicated the President in last year's impeachment inquiry in an off-the-cuff remark at the White House podium.

Brazil Recalls All Diplomats, Foreign Service Officials from Venezuela

Brazil recalled its entire corps of diplomats and Foreign Service officials from Venezuela while ordering the government of Nicolas Maduro to pull out its representatives in Brazil, further hardening ties between the two.
Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro had already branded the government of radical leftist Maduro a dictatorship and he, in return, has called Bolsonaro a fascist.

Mar 06, 2020

Russia and Turkey Declare Syria Ceasefire

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said that they have reached agreements that could end fighting in northwestern Syria.
They said that a ceasefire will come into force in Idlib at midnight. Putin also voiced hope that the deal would end civilian suffering and help contain a humanitarian crisis.
The two countries' Foreign Ministers said that the agreement involves a cease-fire that must be enforced starting at midnight along the existing battle lines.
The deal also envisages setting up a 12km-wide security corridor along the M4 highway. The corridor will be jointly patrolled by Russian and Turkish troops, starting March 15.

TIME Magazine Names 100 Powerful Women who Defined the Last Century

Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and freedom fighter Amrit Kaur were named by the TIME magazine among world's 100 powerful women who defined the last century in a new project that "spotlights influential women who were often overshadowed."
TIME named Kaur as 'Women of the Year' for 1947 and Gandhi for 1976 in special covers recreated by the publication.
Daughter of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Gandhi was "as ruthless as she was charismatic," the profile said, adding that by 1975, as a result of economic instability, Gandhi's government was "swamped by an avalanche of street protests, and after her election was deemed invalid, she declared an emergency."
Kaur's profile said that the young princess returned to India in 1918 after studying at Oxford and soon became fascinated by Mahatma Gandhi's teachings. Born into the royal family of Kapurthala, Rajkumari Kaur "decided her life's mission was to help India break free from its colonial ties and oppressive societal norms."
She tackled social issues, pushing for women's education and the right to vote and to divorce, and speaking out against child marriage.
After India got independence in 1947, Kaur became the first woman to join the Cabinet, serving as Health Minister for 10 years. In that position, she founded the Indian Council for Child Welfare; helped establish the country's top hospital and medical college; and campaigned to prevent malaria, likely saving hundreds of thousands of lives.

Singapore's Daren Tang New Director General of Geneva-based WIPO

Singapore's intellectual property chief is poised to head the global intellectual property office, after becoming the first Singaporean to be nominated to helm a United Nations agency.
Mr. Daren Tang received the nomination to become the next director-general of the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which shapes global rules for intellectual property and oversees patents.
He was selected by the agency's 83-member coordination committee from a slate which originally comprised 10 candidates. In the final round of voting, he garnered 55 votes against China's candidate, lawyer Wang Binying, who received 28 votes.
The nomination of Mr. Tang, who is chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), will have to be confirmed by the WIPO general assembly when it convenes on May 7 and 8, 2020.
WIPO's general assembly has the final say, and has never rejected a committee nominee since the agency was created in 1967.

Netanyahu Falls Short of Majority

The final results from Israel's election have confirmed that PM Benjamin Netanyahu has fallen short of a majority with his hardline allies. The results signal further political deadlock. Monday's election was the country's third in less than a year. Previous elections in April and September 2019 also ended in deadlocks. Exit polls had indicated that Netanyahu's Likud Party, along with his religious and nationalist allies, had captured 60 seats, putting them on the cusp of a 61-seat majority.

Mar 05, 2020

World's First Nation to Make All Public Transport Free

In order to reduce traffic pressure on the road, Luxembourg, the 7th smallest country in Europe, made public transport free from February 29, 2020. It became the first country in the world to do so.
However, this free public transport system does not include 1st -class travel tickets on trains and certain night bus services. Commuters can still pay for first class, at a cost of 660 euros a year.
Earlier, all the standard-class journeys on public transport in the country caused an annual pass worth 440 euros ($485).
The move will benefit people with low incomes or the minimum wage, tourists from neighbouring countries like Germany, Belgium and France.
Luxembourg has more than 600,000 inhabitants, and 214,000 cross-border laborers traveling to this country for work every day, which causes heavy traffic jams.

Ukraine Prime Minister Ousted

Ukrainian lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to accept the resignation of the nation's Prime Minister after a six-month tenure in which his performance came under severe criticism from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The President's Servant of the People party dominates the Ukrainian parliament and took the lead in relieving Oleksiy Honcharuk of his post. Forty lawmakers abstained from the vote but the message of the 353-0 tally was clear.
Lawmakers later approved Deputy Prime Minister Denys Shmygal to be the new Prime Minister.
Addressing lawmakers before the resignation vote, Zelenskiy said Honcharuk, 35, failed to halt an industrial slump or meet tax collection targets.

Michael Bloomberg Ends US Presidential Campaign

After spending millions on his own campaign, Michael Bloomberg is dropping out of the 2020 presidential race.
Bloomberg said that three months ago, he entered the race for president to defeat Donald Trump and now he is leaving the race for the same reason.
Mr. Bloomberg, a former mayor of New York City, spent at least $409m (£313m) of his own money in the race to become the Democratic Party's nominee.
Now he supports former Vice-President Joe Biden.

IMF Announces $50 bn Fund for Affected Countries

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) proposed up to $50 billion in emergency financing for countries affected by the novel coronavirus as the Fund said that it would cut its economic growth forecast for this year due to the outbreak.
Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF chief, announced the plan as she warned that more "adverse" scenarios about the spread of the epidemic around the world, and their impact on the global economy, were starting to materialise.
Georgieva announced the $50 billion financing, including $10 billion at zero interest for the poorest nations. Countries can draw on that money if they need it.

Mar 04, 2020

Personnel Cap on Chinese Media Entities in US

Trump administration imposed limits on the number of Chinese nationals allowed to work in five Chinese state media entities in the United States.
The announcement was made by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said that Washington hopes that the action will spur Beijing to adopt a more fair and reciprocal approach to the US.
This comes in the backdrop of China's decision last month to expel three Wall Street Journal reporters over a headline on a coronavirus opinion piece which read: "China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia."

China Takes over Presidency of UN Security Council

China assumed the Presidency of the United Nations Security Council for March 2020. While taking on the role, China vowed to advance solidarity and cooperation among the members.
China's permanent representative to the UN, Zhang Jun said that his country attaches great importance to the work during its presidency and will act responsibly and constructively.
Zhang Jun further said that China will make an effort to boost cooperation among all parties to ensure that the UNSC fulfils its crucial role and responsibility to maintain international peace and security.
The presidency of the UN Security Council is rotated among its members every month according to the English alphabetical order. Vietnam held the Presidency in January 2020, followed by Belgium in February 2020. After China, the Presidency of the UNSC will go to Dominican Republic in April 2020.

OZ News Agency AAP to Close

The national news agency Australian Associated Press (AAP) will close in late June, its 85 years in business vanquished by a decline in subscribers and free distribution of news content on digital platforms. AAP was started in 1935 by newspaper publisher Keith Murdoch, father of News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch. Australian media organisations face mounting financial pressure, with global digital giants Google and Facebook taking a growing chunk of advertising revenue.

Mar 03, 2020

Britain, EU Begin Post-Brexit Trade Talks

British trade negotiators begin a marathon of talks in Brussels aimed at forging a new post-Brexit relationship with the EU. The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his UK counterpart David Frost will lead the talks, which would be held over several weekly rounds in Brussels and London. The negotiations start just over a month since UK left the EU, and are meant to wrap up by the end of this year - an exceedingly tight time frame that few see as feasible for anything but a barebones accord.

Iraq's PM-Designate Withdraws From Post, Prolonging Deadlock

Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Allawi withdrew his candidacy for the post, accusing political parties of obstructing him, deepening a domestic crisis and threatening an unprecedented power vacuum.
His move came hours after parliament failed for the second time in a week to approve his cabinet amid political infighting in the oil producer, where mass protests and deadlock between lawmakers are delaying Iraq's recovery from years of war.
Allawi's appointment was meant to ease a crisis as the Shi'ite-led country faces a mass protest movement that broke out in October and brought down Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.
Iraq could end up without a Prime Minister in the meantime if Abdul Mahdi, who stayed on in a caretaker capacity, also quits.
Salih appointed Allawi after squabbling lawmakers from rival parties failed for two months to decide on a successor to Abdul Mahdi, who resigned in November during mass unrest. Allawi had one month to form a government that was meant to organise early elections.

Libya Conflict: Stressed Ghassan Salame Resigns as UN Envoy

The UN's special envoy for Libya resigned saying his efforts to bring peace in the North African country was damaging his health.
Talks between the UN-backed government based in the capital, Tripoli, and fighters loyal to renegade Gen Khalifa Haftar have floundered.
Libya has been torn by conflict since the 2011 uprising which ousted long-time strongman Muammar Gaddafi.
Last week Mr. Salame brought representatives of the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Haftar-led Libyan National Army (LNA), the two warring sides, to Geneva for peace talks, but the representatives suspended their involvement.

Saudi Arabia Starts Issuance of Permanent Premium Residency Permit to Foreigners

As Saudi Arabia officially started the issuance of Permanent Premium Residency Permit to Foreigners, Indian investor Yosuffali M A, Chairman of the Lulu group became one of the first to be given the permanent residency permit by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Premium Residency, informally known as Saudi Green Card, is a residence permit in Saudi Arabia that grants expatriates the right to live, work and own business and property in the Kingdom without need for a sponsor.
The introduction of the Premium Residency comes as a part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 reform plan, which was announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to boost the Saudi economy.

Erdogan Hopes to Broker Idlib Truce in Moscow

Turkey's President said that he hopes to broker a cease-fire later this week in Moscow when he meets with his Russian counterpart, after growing alarm over direct clashes between Turkish troops and Russian-backed Syrian forces in northern Syria.
The fighting in Syria's Idlib province, the last rebel-held area in the country, has sparked one of the war's worst humanitarian crises.
Turkey has sent thousands of troops into the area supporting the opposition fighters held up there, but hasn't been able to stop the government offensive.
Russia tipped the nine-year civil war in Syrian President Bashar Assad's favour after it joined the conflict on his side in September 2015.

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