General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - June 2018

Jun 2018

Feb 08, 2021

Joe Biden Refuses to Lift Sanctions to Get Iran Back to Negotiate Nuclear Deal

US President Joe Biden said that he will not lift sanctions on Iran to re-engage Tehran in negotiations over the 2015 nuclear deal.
Biden indicated that he would only lift sanctions if Iran stops enriching uranium beyond the limits of the nuclear deal.
Earlier in the day, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a speech reiterated that the US itself must lift sanctions and come back in compliance with the nuclear deal.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Biden's new administration does not have much time for taking positive steps towards re-joining the JCPOA.
The JCPOA was signed in 2015 by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union, stipulating the removal of international sanctions from Tehran in exchange for it scaling down its nuclear program.

Pope Francis Appoints First Woman Under-Secretary with Right to Vote in Synod of Bishops

For the first time, Pope Francis has appointed a female Under-Secretary with a right to vote in Synod of Bishops.
French Sister Nathalie Becquart is the first woman to be appointed to the position and will have voting rights in the synod.
French Sister Nathalie Becquart will now be able to make key decisions in the Catholic Church.
As per Cardinal Mario Grech, who heads the Synod, a door has been opened for the possibility of more women being able to vote.

UN Yemen Envoy Makes First Visit to Iran to Push for Peace

The United Nations special envoy for Yemen arrived at his first visit to Iran for talks on the grinding war in the Arab world's poorest country.
Martin Griffiths was set to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and other officials during his two-day visit. The sessions are part of a broader effort to negotiate a political solution to the nearly six-year conflict pitting Iran-allied Houthi rebels against Yemeni government forces supported by a Saudi-led military coalition.
The trip comes just days after President Joe Biden announced that the US will end its support, including some arms sales, of the Saudi-led coalition's war against the Houthis. The long-awaited move refocused a spotlight on the world's worst humanitarian crisis and was welcomed by many Yemeni's and aid groups that hope the policy change might add to momentum for peace talks.

Chinese Firm Wins Contract for Sri Lanka Wind and Solar Energy Projects

A Chinese company has won a contract to set up hybrid wind and solar energy projects on three Sri Lankan islands off the northern Jaffna peninsula 45 km from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu.
The US $12 million project was awarded to Sinosar-Etechwin, and will be implemented as a joint venture with the state-owned Ceylon Electricity Board as part of the Sri Lankan government's Supporting Electricity Supply Reliability Improvement Project.
Etechwin is a subsidiary of the Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Goldwind.
Asian Development Bank will fund the project, which will come up on Delft, Nainativu and Analativu, three islands in the Palk Strait off Jaffna peninsula. Delft, the largest of the three islands, is the closest to Rameswaram, which lies to the island's south-west.

Sudan Prime Minister Dissolves Cabinet

Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok dissolved the cabinet.
In a statement, the prime minister's office said that the ministers would remain in office until the new ones take office and full handover done.
Sudan has been under a transitional council since 2019 when former President Omar al-Bashir was ousted.
The country is moving towards democratic rule after the removal of al-Bashir who had been president for nearly 30 years.

Biden Administration Moves to Reverse Trump's Migration Agreements with 3 Nations

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that President Joe Biden's administration has begun the process to terminate migration agreements from former President Donald Trump's administration with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
As per reports, the US signed agreements with Guatemala in July 2019 and with El Salvador and Honduras in September 2019 that would have limited the ability of some asylum seekers from those countries to claim asylum in the US and would instead have had them seek protection in their countries of origin.
Blinken mentioned that transfers under the US-Guatemala Asylum Cooperative Agreement had been paused since mid-March 2020 due to COVID-19, and the Agreements with El Salvador and Honduras were never implemented.

Feb 07, 2021

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Set to Make History at WTO

Having survived the murky waters of politics in Nigeria, where her mother was kidnapped to send her a message, and rising to number two at the World Bank, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala should have no trouble dealing with international trade negotiators in her new job at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
She will be the first woman and the first African to occupy the position.
Despite recently taking out US citizenship, she revels in being Nigerian and is fiercely patriotic - flaunting her African identity in her African-print tailored outfits.
The Harvard-educated development economist is seen as a down-to-earth, hard worker, who told BBC HardTalk in July that what the WTO needed was a shake-up.
During her 25 years at the World Bank, she is credited with spearheading several initiatives to assist low-income countries, in particular raising nearly $50bn in 2010 from donors for the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's fund for the poorest countries.

Yemen Government Willing to Work with Biden

As per Yemen's Foreign Minister, his government will work with President Joe Biden's administration to end the war in the Arab world's poorest country. Still, Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak insisted the country's Houthi rebels and their Iranian backers remain the main obstacle to peace - an apparent defense of Saudi military involvement in Yemen.
Biden announced the U.S. was ending support for the grinding Saudi-led war in Yemen. The five-year conflict has killed some 130,000 people, including over 13,000 civilians, and resulted in the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Yemen's war began in September 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and began a march south to seize the entire country. Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates and other countries, entered the war alongside Yemen's internationally recognized government in March 2015.

Libya Crisis: Vote to Unite Splintered Nation

A Libyan interim unity government has been chosen to replace the war-torn country's rival administrations and oversee elections in December.
Delegates at a UN-led forum voted for a three-member presidential council and a prime minister at the end of five days of talks in Geneva.
It is a key step in a peace process that builds on last year's ceasefire.
Libya has been in chaos since long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi was deposed and killed in 2011 by Nato-backed forces.
The turmoil in the North African nation, which has one of the continent's biggest reserves of oil and gas, has had repercussions for the whole region with Gaddafi's looted arsenal fuelling a variety of militants and groups.
It has also allowed the country to become a key trafficking point for migrants seeking to reach Europe across the Mediterranean.

Feb 06, 2021

Russia Expels EU Diplomats over Navalny Protests

Moscow said that it was expelling diplomats from Poland, Germany and Sweden for participating in unsanctioned demonstrations last month in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
The move comes hours after the European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell met Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow and described the bloc's ties with Russia as at a "low point" over Navalny's jailing.
Borrell "strongly condemned" the action, while Sweden branded it "completely unfounded".
The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that an unspecified number of diplomats from the three EU countries took part in "illegal demonstrations" on January 23 and had been declared persona non grata.

Denmark to Build 'First Energy Island' in North Sea

A project to build a giant island providing enough energy for three million households has been given the green light by Denmark's politicians.
The world's first energy island will be as big as 18 football pitches (120,000sq m), but there are hopes to make it three times that size.
It will serve as a hub for 200 giant offshore wind turbines.
It is the biggest construction project in Danish history, costing an estimated 210bn kroner (£24bn; €28bn: $34bn).
Situated 80km (50 miles) out to sea, the artificial island would be at least half-owned by the state but partly by the private sector.
It will not just supply electricity for Danes but for other, neighbouring countries' electricity grids too. Although those countries have not yet been detailed, Prof Jacob Ostergaard of the Technical University of Denmark told the BBC that the UK could benefit, as well as Germany or the Netherlands. Green hydrogen would also be provided for use in shipping, aviation, industry and heavy transport.
Under Denmark's Climate Act, the country has committed to an ambitious 70% reduction in 1990 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and to becoming CO2 neutral by 2050. Last December it announced it was ending all new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea.

Feb 05, 2021

Joe Biden Halts Trump-ordered US Troops Withdrawal from Germany

President Joe Biden has formally stopped the planned withdrawal of US troops from Germany that was ordered last year by the Trump administration but had never actually begun.
Speaking at the State Department, Biden said that the troop pull out would be halted until Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin does a review of America's troops presence around the globe. Austin, he said, will ensure that "our military footprint is appropriately aligned with our foreign policy and national security priorities".
Last year, then-President Donald Trump announced that he was going to pull out about 9,500 of the roughly 34,500 US troops that are stationed in Germany. The US has several major military facilities in the country, including Ramstein Air Base, the headquarters for US European Command and US Africa Command, and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the largest American hospital outside the United States.

Japan's Kirin to Terminate Myanmar Beer Alliance after Military Coup

Japanese drinks giant Kirin Holdings said that it was scrapping its beer alliance with a top Myanmar conglomerate whose owners have been identified by the United Nations as members of the military, which overthrew the elected government this week.
Kirin has been under pressure to reassess the tie-up with Myanmar Economic Holdings Public Company (MEHL) due to the local partner's military connections.
The Myanmar military overthrew the elected government of leader Aung San Suu Kyi, handing power to its top general and declaring a one-year state of emergency, sparking widespread international condemnation.
The military had earlier been accused of genocide and other war crimes against the Rohingya minority after hundreds of thousands fled an offensive in 2017. Myanmar denies genocide.

Feb 04, 2021

US Nominates Hong Kong's Pro-democracy Movement for Nobel Peace Prize

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has nominated Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, to honour the demonstrators' struggle against the Beijing imposed Draconian national security law.
This move by the lawmakers would surely anger Beijing, which has repeatedly received condemnation from the West for its imposition and undermining the region's sovereignty.
"We are nominating a movement that has peacefully advocated for and maintained human rights and democracy in Hong Kong since 1997 and continues to fight against the erosion of these rights," Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican, Representative James McGovern, a Democrat, and seven other lawmakers, wrote to Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Nobel Peace Prize committee as quoted by South China Morning Post.

NATO Welcomes Extension of 'New START' by Russia and the US

NATO welcomes the extension of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) and values its contribution to international stability.
NATO welcomes and fully supports the agreement between the United States and the Russian Federation to extend the New START Treaty for five years. NATO Allies believe the New START Treaty contributes to international stability, and Allies again express their strong support for its continued implementation and for early and active dialogue on ways to improve strategic stability.
NATO's allies are determined to uphold existing arms control and non-proliferation agreements and support further negotiations on these issues.

Canada Designates Proud Boys as a Terrorist Entity

The Canadian government designated the Proud Boys group as a terrorist entity, noting they played a pivotal role in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
The Proud Boys have faced increased scrutiny after seizing on the former Trump administration's policies and the group was a major agitator during earlier protests and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. The Proud Boys is a far-right, male chauvinist extremist group known for engaging in violent clashes at political rallies. Canada is the first country to designate them as a terrorist entity.
During a September presidential debate, Donald Trump had urged the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by" when asked to condemn them by a moderator.
Senior officials speaking on a technical briefing said authorities had been monitoring and collecting evidence about the Proud Boys before the Capitol Hill insurrection, but confirmed that the event provided information that helped with the decision to list the organization.

Share on

TCY Analytics (View Subscription Plans)

Subscribe to GK Updates

I want to receive

GK Tags

September GK, August GK, July 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