(Current Affairs) International Events | February: 2017

International Events

Another terrorist attack in Turkey

  • Two Indians died in a New Year’s eve terror strike at a night club in Istanbul, Turkey, that claimed 39 lives. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made the announcement on Twitter.
  • The Rizvis are well-known businessmen in Mumbai with interests in real estate, education and entertainment. Turkish police launched a massive manhunt for the gunman who went on the rampage at the nightclub.
  • The assailant shot dead a policeman and a civilian at the club entrance and then turned his gun on partygoers.

Sectarian violence in Myanmar

  • Myanmar said it has detained several police officers over a video shot by a fellow police- man that shows them beating Rohingya civilians, a rare admission of abuse against the Muslim minority.
  • Tens of thousands of people from the persecuted ethnic group — loathed by many of Myanmar’s Buddhist majority — have fled a military operation in Rakhine State, launched after attacks on police posts in October.
  • The refugees’ stories have raised global alarm and galvanised protests against Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been accused of not doing enough to help the Rohingya.
  • The footage shows police hitting a young boy around the head as he walks to where dozens of villagers are lined up in rows seated on the ground, hands behind their heads.

US President elect says North Korea would not develop nuclear missile

  • U.S. President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter again to promise North Korea would not develop a nuclear missile capable of reaching U.S. territory.
  • His comments come a day after the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced that his country is in the “final stages” of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
  • Reacting to Mr. Trump’s comments, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said, it could be interpreted as a “clear warning” to the North.

Bill backing key changes in the H1-B visa re-introduced in the U.S. Congress

  • A bill backing key changes in the H1-B programme that allows skilled workers from countries like India to fill high-tech jobs in the U.S. has been re-introduced in the U.S. Congress.
  • The ‘Protect and Grow American Jobs Act’ makes important changes to the eligibility requirements for H1-B Visa exemptions was re-introduced on Wednesday by Republican Darrell Issa and Scott Peters — both from California.
  • The Bill, among other things, increases the minimum salary of H-1B visa to $1,00,000 per annum and eliminate the Masters Degree exemption.
  • The legislation, they argued, will help crack down on abuse and ensure that these jobs remain available for the best and brightest talent from around the world.
  • The Bill comes after a number of companies — Disney, SoCal Edison and others — have come under fire for abusing the H1-B visa programme to replace American workers with foreign workers.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is set to visit the U.S.

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May is set to visit the U.S. and meet President-elect Donald Trump shortly after his inauguration this spring.
  • The visit — coming just months after her less-than-successful visit to India — will test the appetite of the world’s largest economies for a post-Brexit Britain.
  • The enduring partnership between the two countries — famously described many decades ago by Winston Churchill as a “special relationship” — has gone through peaks and troughs.
  • The Obama administration prioritised relations with other European nations such as Germany, describing Chancellor Angela Merkel last year as his “closest international partner” over the past eight years.
  • Attempts to forge a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) also reflected the U.S.’s eagerness to broaden its relations with Europe beyond Britain.
  • However, with the future of TTIP looking decidedly dim even before the U.S. election and the election of Mr. Trump, 2017 will throw up new opportunities — and challenges — for the relationship.
  • The May administration has been eager to distance itself from the stance of former Prime Minister David Cameron, who was less-than-complimentary about the then-presidential candidate.
  • Britain has already made a number of concessions to the U.S. when it comes to foreign policy: while Britain supported last year’s UN resolution condemning Israel’s expansion of settlements in occupied territories.
  • While Britain is eager to position itself as open to building trade relationship outside the EU, Mr. Trump has adopted a protectionist tone on many issues.

Pakistan to wind up its special military courts

  • Pakistan was to wind up its special military courts, two years after they were set up for a speedy trial of hardcore militants following a Taliban attack on an Army school that killed nearly 150 children.
  • The courts were established through an amendment in the Constitution after the attack in Peshawar on December 16, 2014.
  • There was no formal statement either from the government or the military announcing the end of the extraordinary powers for trial of civilians by the military.
  • However, the insertion of a ‘sunset clause’ in the amendment ensures that the courts will be wound up.
  • They handled 275 cases during two years and sentenced 161 to death, whereas another 116 were given varying jail terms, mostly life sentences. Twelve convicts have been executed.

Next US Ambassador to India could be Ashley Tellis

  • Ashley Tellis, a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, could be named the next U.S. Ambassador to India.
  • Mr. Tellis was not available for a response, but had last week declined to comment on speculations about him joining the administration.
  • Mr. Trump has said that Ambassadors who are political appointees will not be given a grace period after he takes over as President on January 20th. The current U.S. Ambassador to India, Richard Verma, is a political appointee.
  • Mumbai-born Tellis was a key figure in negotiations for the India-U.S. nuclear deal and is a proponent of stronger ties between the two countries, particularly in the area of defence cooperation.
  • He has served in the U.S. embassy in Delhi as an adviser to the Ambassador. He has also been on the National Security Council.
  • Mr. Tellis has good relations with both the Democrats and the Republicans and, if selected, could easily be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Chinese submarine has docked at a port in Malaysia for first time

  • For the first time, a Chinese submarine has docked at a port in Malaysia, signalling deepening military ties between the two countries, which are already partners in the development of the Beijing-led Maritime Silk Road.
  • The four-day stopover of the submarine from January 3 at the port of Kota Kinabalu is being seen as a trigger for elevated tensions in the South China Sea (SCS). The Malaysian port has a naval base facing the SCS.
  • Analysts say docking of Chinese submarine signals the emergence of special ties between Beijing and Kuala Lumpur.
  • The visit of the submarine is adding a prominent military dimension to China’s ties with Malaysia which is fast emerging as Beijing’s top partner, close to the Strait of Malacca, along the Maritime Silk Road (MSR).
  • The MSR is part of the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — a massive connectivity undertaking on land and sea, which covers 65 countries.
  • The Malacca industrial park is part of the giant Malacca Gateway Project that China and Malaysia signed last year. It also includes the establishment of the strategically vital deep water port in the Strait of Malacca in Malaysia.

US is worried about range of Pak missiles

  • The U.S. is increasingly worried over the rising range and variety of Pakistan’s missile capability and that the recent decision of the Obama administration to impose trade restrictions on seven Pakistan entities came out of this concern.
  • The official announcement of the decision did not detail the reasons, but said there was “reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable facts”, that these entities “have been involved in actions contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States”.
  • All the entities are linked to Pakistan’s missile programme. With the addition of these seven, there are 47 Pakistani entities that are under strict watch of U.S. agencies.
  • What has triggered the alarm bells in Washington is Shaheen-III, which has a range of 2,750 km.
  • Pakistan has officially explained its longest-range missile to date, tested for the first time in 2015, as a capability to strike the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the farthest Indian territory from its shores.
  • But the missile also has Israel in its range, along with several European countries — something that the U.S. strategic community finds unnerving.
  • The incoming administration will continue with the existing U.S. policies towards India, Pakistan and Asia in general, Defence Secretary-designate indicated during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Forces Committee.

France is hosting more than 70 countries at a West Asia peace summit

  • In a message to Israel and Trump administration, dozens of countries are expected this weekend to reiterate their opposition to Israeli settlements and call for the establishment of a Palestinian state as “the only way” to ensure peace in the region.
  • France is hosting more than 70 countries at a West Asia peace summit, in what will be a final chance for the Obama administration to lay out its positions for the region.
  • According to a draft statement obtained by The Associated Press, the conference will urge Israel and the Palestinians “to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution”.
  • It also will affirm that the international community “will not recognise” changes to Israel’s pre-1967 lines without agreement by both sides.
  • The draft says that participants will affirm “that a negotiated solution with two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, is the only way to achieve enduring peace”.
  • Israel has settled some 600,000 of its citizens in the West Bank and east Jerusalem occupied territories claimed by the Palestinians for a future independent State. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 war.
  • The summit comes on the heels of a U.N. Security Council resolution last month that condemned the settlements as illegal. The resolution passed 14—0 after the U.S. declined to use its traditional veto power and instead abstained.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out a return to the 1967 lines, and many members of his nationalist coalition oppose Palestinian independence and support expanded settlements.
  • Mr. Netanyahu has rejected the U.N. resolution and accuses the Obama administration of conspiring behind Israel’s back. Israel has refused to participate in the French conference.
  • The Palestinians, who also are not invited to this weekend’s conference, have welcomed the French initiative. In recent years, they have campaigned for the international community to assume a greater role in resolving the conflict.

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