General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - June 2018

Jun 2018

May 14, 2019

CTBTO Invites India

The executive secretary of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), Lassina Zerbo, has invited India to be an observer in the CTBT.
He said that he is not asking India to ratify [the treaty], he knows that is not possible now, but he thinks giving India the opportunity to join as an observer could be a good starting point.
Being an observer would give India access to data from the IMS, a network which when complete will consist of 337 facilities (321 monitoring stations and 16 radionuclide labs) located in 89 countries.
This system can detect even small nuclear explosions using seismology, hydroacoustics, infrasound and radionuclide technology.

British Citizens to Vote for EU Parliament

Just under three years since the Brexit referendum that irrevocably changed British politics, another election is set to take place later in May that could fundamentally impact the political landscape again.
In the third week of May, British citizens and European and Commonwealth citizens resident in the U.K. will vote to select 73 candidates for the European Parliament, who will take up their seats in July for a five-year term.

May 13, 2019

Hodeidah Pullout

The UN said that a Yemeni rebel withdrawal from key Red Sea ports was proceeding as planned, after the government accused insurgents of faking the pullout.
The port of Hodeidah serves as a lifeline for millions in the country.
Yemen's government had earlier accused rebels of a policy of deception after they announced the withdrawal in a long-delayed move agreed under a ceasefire deal in 2018.
But the UN said that it had teams monitoring the Hodeidah, Saleef and Ras Issa ports, later reported that the pullout had gone in accordance with established plans.

May 12, 2019

May Will Clarify Plan for Resignation

As per the leader of backbench lawmakers in her governing Conservative Party, British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to set out her departure plans within days.
Graham Brady said that he expected Ms. May to provide clarity on her exit timetable at a meeting with him later in May.

May 11, 2019

Remains of Nazi Victims to be Buried in Berlin

More than seven decades after the end of World War II, the remains of political prisoners executed by the Nazis and dissected for research will be given a proper burial in Berlin.
The microscopic remains, 300 tissue samples each a hundredth of a millimetre thin and around one by one centimetre large, were uncovered by the descendants of the late Hermann Stieve, an anatomist who worked on the bodies of Third Reich opponents.
Such small tissue samples are usually not deemed worthy of burial.
But this is a special story, because they came from people who were actively denied graves so that their relatives would not know where they are buried.

May 10, 2019

Panel Holds Barr in Contempt

The House Judiciary Committee voted to recommend that the House hold Attorney General William P. Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over Robert Mueller's unredacted report, hours after President Donald Trump asserted executive privilege to shield the full report and underlying evidence from Congress.
The committee's 24-16 contempt vote, taken after hours of debate over the future of American democracy, was the first official House action to punish a government official in the stand-off over the Mueller report.

China Will Not Capitulate to U.S. Pressure

China rejected U.S. accusations of backtracking in trade talks and warned that it would not capitulate to any pressure as the two sides headed into make-or-break negotiations.
The United States has raised the stakes with plans to increase tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods from 10% to 25%, prompting Beijing to vow to hit back with necessary countermeasures.

Singapore Passes Fake News Law

Singapore's parliament passed an anti-fake news bill that has been criticised by rights groups, journalists and tech firms over fears it could be used to clamp down on freedom of speech.
The law will require online media platforms to carry corrections or remove content the government considers to be false, with penalties for perpetrators running as high as prison terms of up to 10 years or fines up to S$1 million ($735,000).
The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation passed the bill with 72 members voting in favour. All nine opposition lawmakers voted against it, local media reported.
Three nominated members of parliament, who are appointed directly by the president and not affiliated to political parties, all abstained.

Ruling ANC Takes Comfortable Lead

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) held a comfortable lead with more than half the votes counted from South Africa's presidential and parliamentary election, but it received much lower support than in the last ballot five years ago.
Opposition parties made widespread allegations of corruption against the ruling ANC party a major part of their campaigns ahead of the vote and voter apathy also appears to have affected turnout, which fell to 65% from 74% in 2014.
According to results announced by the Electoral Commission, the ANC, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, won 57% of the votes with 60% of the polling districts counted.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) received 22% of the vote so far, the most of any Opposition party.

US Seizes North Korean Ship

The United States has for the first time seized a North Korean cargo ship it accused of illicit coal shipments in violation of US and United Nations sanctions.
The ship, known as the "Wise Honest," was first detained by Indonesia in April 2018.
Under an unusual US civil forfeiture action, the vessel is now in the possession of the United States and is currently approaching US territorial waters heading toward American Samoa.

Bolsonaro Relaxes Brazil's Gun Laws

Truckers, lawyers and politicians are among millions of Brazilians eligible to carry loaded weapons in public under President Jair Bolsonaro's decree relaxing gun laws.
As per the order, people from a wide range of professions, including hunters, farmers and even certain journalists, are now allowed to carry guns.

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