General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - May 2019

May 2019

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.

Jun 05, 2019

N. Korea's Nuclear Envoy is Alive

North Korea's nuclear envoy, who, a South Korean newspaper claimed had been executed, is alive but in custody and under investigation for his role in a failed summit with the US.
There has been a series of conflicting reports over the past five days about shake-ups in the North's team that steered negotiations with the US after a failed summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in Hanoi in February 2019.
Kim Hyok Chol, who led North Korea's working-level talks in the run-up to the Hanoi summit.

Trade Deal with U.K. Possible

U.S. President Donald Trump promised a phenomenal post-Brexit trade deal with Britain as he met outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May to boost their frayed alliance against a backdrop of political turmoil.
The supporters of Brexit believe that a new trade agreement with the United States is crucial to Britain's success outside the EU.

Jun 04, 2019

Rouhani Rules Out Talks

Iran's President ruled out negotiations with Washington until it acts normal, after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the U.S. is ready to talk to Tehran without preconditions.
Hassan Rouhani said that the party that has left the negotiating table, the party that has trampled the pact must return to a normal behaviour. If the enemy truly realises that the path it took was wrong, that will be the day to sit at the negotiation table and fix any issue.
Mr. Rouhani insisted that Iran would not be bullied into talks with the United States.

Muslim Ministers Step Down in Sri Lanka

Nine Muslim Ministers in Sri Lanka, including four of Cabinet rank, resigned, taking a collective stand against the community being demonised since the Easter Sunday terror attacks.
As per Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauff Hakeem, the move will give the authorities space and time to probe allegations linking Muslim politicians to the terror suspects.
Rauff Hakeem added that either they should apprehend and punish any of us found guilty, or they must vindicate us. We hope they will look into this in a month and bring some closure to this.
The survival of the government will depend on the manner in which it handles the probe and deals with hate speech, racial violence and impunity.

Russia Now Requires Tinder's User Data

Russia's communications regulator says that Tinder is now required to provide user data to Russian intelligence agencies.
The Russian Communications Oversight Agency published a new list of online services operating in Russia that are required to provide user data on demand to Russian authorities, including the FSB security agency.
Russia adopted a flurry of legislation in recent years meant to tighten control over online activity.
The regulator said that Tinder had shared with them information about the company and that it is now on the list of online apps and websites that are expected to cooperate with the FSB.
Russian authorities in 2018 issued an order to ban messaging app Telegram after it refused to provide the user data as required by the Russian law.

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