General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - August 2018

Aug 2018

Jun 10, 2019

Parliament Warns Sirisena

Sri Lanka's Parliament warned President Maithripala Sirisena not to scuttle an investigation into security lapses before the Easter suicide bombings.
The warning came after Mr. Sirisena said that he would not cooperate with the parliamentary probe and would not allow defence or police officials to testify before the committee.
Mr. Sirisena called an emergency Cabinet meeting to oppose the legislature's investigation into the attacks.

Iran and Europe Economic Ties

Iran said that Europe was in no position to criticise Tehran for its military capabilities and it called on European leaders to normalise trade ties with the Islamic Republic despite US sanctions, or face consequences.
President Donald Trump, in 2018, withdrew the United States from world powers' 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sweeping sanctions.
The west European signatories to the deal - France, Britain and Germany - share the same concerns as the United States over Iran's ballistic missile development and regional activities.
However, they have defended the nuclear accord as the best way to limit Iran's enrichment of uranium, a potential pathway to nuclear weapons, and a basis for future negotiations on a broader palette of security and other longstanding disputes.

Venezuela to Close Canada Consulates

Venezuela is temporarily closing its consulates in three Canadian cities and will leave open only its embassy in Ottawa.
In a statement posted online, the Venezuelan foreign ministry said the decision to close its consulates in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal is a response to Canada's decision to shut down its embassy in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, amid worsening diplomatic tensions.

EU Willing To Re-open Brexit Deal

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, a contender to replace Theresa May as Prime Minister said that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had indicated that the European Union (EU) was willing to renegotiate the Brexit divorce deal.
Mr. Hunt spoke with Ms. Merkel at D-Day commemorations and was convinced that changing Ms. May's agreement was possible.

Jun 09, 2019

US and Mexico Hammer Out Deal

US President Donald Trump announced that he has indefinitely suspended the move to impose escalating tariffs on all imports from Mexico after the latter agreed to take strong measures to prevent migrants from travelling through its area towards the border with the US.

Nepali Journalists Protest against Media Council Bill

Nepali journalists demanded immediate withdrawal of a Media Council Bill that aims to curtail press freedom.
Nepal has proposed the new Media Bill aimed at imposing a hefty fine of up to Rs. 1 million on media outlets found guilty of damaging anyone's reputation.

Jun 08, 2019

Sirisena Wanted to Scrap Parliamentary Probe

President Maithripala Sirisena conveyed to the Speaker earlier in June that the ongoing probe into the Easter attacks by a parliamentary panel could hinder court proceedings in the criminal investigations of the bombings.
However, the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), which was informed of the President's note, told the Speaker that sittings would continue.
In a letter to the Speaker, PSC members said that the Parliament is the sole judge of its powers and privileges, and had exclusive jurisdiction over its own proceedings.

Russia and China Present Common Economic Front

China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin hit back at U.S. global economic dominance as they took the stage together at Russia's showcase business forum.
With China embroiled in a trade war with Washington and Russia under Western sanctions, Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin lashed out at inequalities in the global economic system and vowed to pursue closer ties between their countries.

Pakacts against Militants

The Pakistani government appears to have taken some action over the last month (May) against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed and his brother-in-law Abdul Rahman Makki, and restrained the activities of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, in an apparent bid to placate the international community ahead of a crucial Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting in June.
FATF, a multilateral watchdog that monitors terror funding, will meet in Orlando, Florida on June 20-21, when Pakistan's progress on a 27-point action plan is likely to be discussed, though a decision on whether it remains in the grey list or is downgraded into a black list is expected only by October when a 15- month deadline for Islamabad ends and the FATF meets for its plenary in Paris.

May Quits as Tory Leader

British Prime Minister Theresa May stepped down as leader of her Conservative Party, formally triggering the race for a successor who will try where she failed to deliver Brexit.
Ms. May will remain Prime Minister until a new leader is chosen, likely in late July, but will make no further moves on Britain's tortuous departure from the European Union.
Brexit is still scheduled for October 31 but while the contenders thrash it out over the leadership, the project remains stalled, with the only divorce plan agreed with Brussels rejected in Parliament.

Ethiopian Leader in Sudan

Ethiopia's Prime Minister was in Khartoum to meet the chief of Sudan's ruling military council in a bid to ease the political crisis that has followed the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir.
Abiy planned to meet members of both the ruling Transitional Military Council headed by Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the opposition.
The Ethiopian initiative follows the worst bloodshed in Sudan since Bashir was ousted by the military after four months of protests against his repressive three-decade rule.

Jun 07, 2019

China Issues first 5G Licenses

China issues 5G commercial licenses to four top state-owned companies, marking the first step towards adopting a technology that's set to revolutionise the country's digital economy amid an escalating trade war with the US.
China's ministry of industry and information technology (MIIT) handed out the licenses to three- telecom giants- China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, and China Broadcasting Networking Corporation, the largest cable company in the country.
As of now, South Korea is said to be the only country to have adopted the new technology on a large scale.
The 5G technology will be able to transmit the data at least 10 times faster than the 4G systems.

Maas Visiting Iran to Save Faltering N-Deal

Germany's foreign minister is travelling to Iran to discuss the faltering nuclear accord between Tehran and leading world powers.
Maas plans to meet his Iranian counterpart Mohamed Javad Zarif to discuss Tehran's role in the restive region and the 2015 nuclear accord.
Heiko Maas' visit to Iran will be part of a broader trip to West Asia, with stops in Jordan and the UAE.

Jun 06, 2019

North Korea Urges US to Resume Talks

Four months into the stalled denuclearisation talks between the United States and North Korea following the failed Hanoi summit, Pyongyang has once again urged Washington to reflect upon the correct strategic choice to resume talks before its patience wears down.
A spokesperson for North Korea's foreign ministry urged the US to drop its current way of calculation to keep alive the agreement they reached during their first summit in June 2018.
The US should duly look back on the past one year and cogitate about which will be a correct strategic choice before it is too late.

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