(Current Affairs)International Events | May : 2017

International Events

UAE hardened military into Africa and elsewhere in the Middle East

  • The United Arab Emirates is better known for its skyscrapers and pampered luxuries, but its small size belies a quiet expansion of its battle—hardened military into Africa and elsewhere in the Middle East.
  • The seven-state federation ranks as one of Washington’s most prominent Arab allies in the fight against the Islamic State group, hosting some 5,000 American military personnel, fighter jets and drones.
  • But the practice gunfire echoing through the deserts near bases outside of Dubai and recent military demonstrations in the capital of Abu Dhabi show a country increasingly willing to flex its own muscle amid its suspicions about Iran.
  • Already, the UAE has landed expeditionary forces in Afghanistan and Yemen. Its new overseas bases on the African continent show this country.
  • The UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, only became a country in 1971. It had been a British protectorate for decades and several of the emirates had their own security forces.
  • The forces merged together into a national military force that took part in the 1991 U.S.-led Gulf War that expelled Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait.
  • The UAE sent troops to Kosovo as part of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission there starting in 1999, giving its forces valuable experience.
  • Following the September 11, 2001, attacks, it deployed special forces troops in Afghanistan to support the U.S.-led war against the Taliban. Today, the UAE hosts Western forces at its military bases, including American and French troops.

China bans some muslim names in western China

  • The Chinese government, further tightening its grip on Muslims in western China, has prohibited parents from choosing names like “Muhammad,” “Arafat” and “Jihad” for their children.
  • The ban, introduced this month, as part of an effort to “curb religious fervour” in the western region of Xinjiang, home to more than 10 million Uighurs.
  • The government considers Xinjiang a hotbed of Islamic extremism, violence and separatist thought. But many Uighurs say the government’s strict limits on worship and speech are responsible for tensions in the region.
  • The list of names, a copy of which was provided to The New York Times by Uighur activists, is titled, “List of Banned Ethnic Minority Names.” It bans more than two dozen names, including “Mujahid” and “Medina.”
  • Rights advocates said the ban showed the lengths to which the government would go to limit the civil liberties of Uighurs in the name of fighting terrorism.

Madhesis declared that they would participate in the upcoming elections

  • Marking a major shift in strategy, agitators from Nepal’s plains declared that they would participate in the upcoming elections if Kathmandu addresses “some” of the concerns about constitutional amendments.
  • This was discussed in a meeting between the Madhesi leaders and the government of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, even as five political parties from Nepal’s plains united to form a single platform.
  • The new shift is a significant development in view of the earlier Madhesi position on boycotting the three-tier elections to be held in Nepal.
  • The discussion between two sides that began is likely to continue. There are unconfirmed reports that a high-level special envoy from New Delhi has also reached Kathmandu to assist the negotiations.
  • The unification of the political parties took place a few days after Nepal’s Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat said that the Madhesi parties are unprepared to face the electorate.

Tougher requirements to gain citizenship of Australia

  • Canberra unveiled plans to put “Australian values” at the heart of tougher requirements to gain citizenship, days after scrapping a visa programme for temporary foreign workers.
  • The moves came against a background of growing populist pressure and a resurgence of the anti-immigration One Nation party led by Pauline Hanson.
  • These fundamental values are what make us Australian. Our citizenship process should reflect that.
  • The new requirements include competent English, belief in gender equality and a four-year qualification period.
  • Candidates for citizenship will be required to be permanent residents for four years against the current one-year period. They will also need to demonstrate a job record and how they have integrated into the local community.
  • The current “civics” test for would-be Australians would be expanded to include issues such as domestic violence, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said.
  • Some 1,14,109 people sat the Australian citizenship test in 2014-15, with 1,12,474 passing it, according to the latest immigration figures.

China wants India’s participation in the Belt and Road connectivity initiative

  • China reinforced its call for India’s participation in the Belt and Road connectivity initiative, telling that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), on which India has its reservations, was not linked to the Kashmir issue.
  • India has objected to the CPEC as it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. But Mr. Wang said that China’s stance on CPEC projects “had no relationship with the [Kashmir] dispute”.
  • Mr. Wang pointed out that China had even earlier taken up projects, like the Karakoram highway, in the area. They, however, did not have any bearing on China’s position on Kashmir.
  • “I want to mention that the CPEC is economic, and for the purpose of serving economic cooperation and development. It has no direct link with political or border disputes.”
  • Referring to the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor — one of the major economic corridors China is planning in its neighbourhood — Mr. Wang said that the four countries are ready to advance it within the framework of Belt and Road.

Mother of all bombs did huge damage to the IS

  • Afghan authorities reported a jump in fatalities from the American military’s largest non-nuclear bomb, declaring some 90 Islamic State fighters dead, as U.S.-led ground forces advanced on their mountain hideouts.
  • Dubbed the ‘Mother Of All Bombs’, the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast was unleashed in combat for the first time, hitting IS positions in a remote area of eastern Nangarhar province.
  • The bomb smashed the terrorist organisation’s hideouts, a tunnel-and-cave complex that had been mined against conventional ground attacks, engulfing the remote area in a huge mushroom cloud and towering flames.
  • Mr. Shinwari said American and Afghan ground forces were slowly advancing on the mountainous area blanketed with landmines, but there were still some pockets of resistance from insurgents.
  • Security experts say IS had built their hideouts close to civilian homes, but the government said thousands of local families had already fled the area in recent months of fighting.

US President changes his stand on NATO

  • The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the military alliance of the U.S., Canada, 25 European countries and Turkey, is the “the bulwark of international peace and security”, President Donald Trump said.
  • “I said it’s obsolete. Now it’s no longer obsolete,” Mr. Trump said, overturning a campaign position that drew intense criticism from Democrats and Republicans.
  • Mr. Trump has also reversed his positions on China, Syria and Russia in recent days, aligning his thinking closer to U.S. orthodoxy.
  • The President’s supporters point out that because of his tough stance, partner countries have committed more spending and the alliance is reorienting itself towards fighting the Islamic State.
  • NATO has been involved in the war on terror for long, however. The only time the alliance has invoked its principle that an attack on one is an attack on all was after the September 11, 2001 terror attack on the U.S. NATO has recently started training Iraqi troops to combat the IS.
  • Member countries have also expressed willingness to increase defence spending. Only five of the 28 members now meet the target of 2% of GDP on defence expenditure.

Changed approach by US towards Syria throws many challenges

  • President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Syria has upended assumptions about U.S. military involvement in the Middle East, angering adversaries and raising hopes among allies.
  • The swift decision, by a President who had previously shown no interest in entering conflicts like Syria’s, set Mr. Trump apart from his predecessor’s far more cautious approach to the war.
  • The missile strikes on a Syrian airfield inflicted only minor damage and are unlikely to change the dynamics of a complex conflict that rages on local, regional and global levels.
  • On the ground, it pits an array of rebel groups against the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Supporting the rebels are nations such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey, who oppose Mr. Assad and his ally, Iran.
  • The war has also entangled Russia and the United States, and sent shock waves through Europe, which streams of Syrian refugees have fled to.
  • Russia and Iran, who back the Syrian government, have responded angrily to the strikes, while allies who criticised President Barack Obama’s cautious approach have welcomed the change.
  • Some allies renewed their calls for a leadership change in Damascus, although officials in the Trump administration did not portray the strikes as the start of a broader campaign.
  • In Turkey, which has long backed Syrian rebels in their effort to topple Assad, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a rally that he supported the attack but wanted further action.
  • He called for the establishment of “safe zones” inside Syria, an idea considered but ultimately rejected by the Mr. Obama administration.
  • In Israel, which has kept its distance from the war raging across its northern border, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes sent a clear message against the spread of chemical weapons.

United states targeted a Syrian airbase

  • The U.S. targeted a Syrian airbase controlled by the country’s beleaguered President Bashar al-Assad, making a dramatic turnaround in American policy.
  • Former President Barack Obama had turned back from military intervention against the Assad regime in 2013 and President Donald Trump has been opposed to U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war.
  • A chemical attack on the rebel town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed 80 people earlier in the week changed his mind, Mr. Trump said.
  • Damascus and its ally Moscow furiously condemned the American air strike on a Syrian airbase that marked the first direct U.S. assault on President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
  • Mr. Assad’s office called the strike “foolish and irresponsible”. Moscow announced a series of retaliatory steps, including plans to strengthen Syrian air defences.
  • At a Security Council emergency session, Russia branded the air strikes a “flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression” against Syria.
  • UN envoy Staffan de Mistura announced the UN-backed ceasefire taskforce on Syria that is co-chaired by Moscow and Washington would meet at Russia's request.

First meeting between Trump and Xi

  • President Donald Trump’s first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping could be the beginning of a reorientation of bilateral ties.
  • North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast. The missile flew about 60 km from its launch site at Sinpo, a port city on the east coast, South Korea said. Sinpo is home to a North submarine base.
  • The Secretary of State had said last month that military options to neutralise North Korea’s nuclear capability were on the table.
  • Mr. Trump has repeatedly blamed China for not taking effective measures to rein in Pyongyang. “North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been ‘playing’ the United States for years. China has done little to help,” the President tweeted last month.
  • China has tightened sanctions on North Korea in recent months but it has not touched the oil supply to it. “China has its own North Korea policy, independent of what the U.S. might want.”
  • The One-China policy and trade will be the other two issues that could dominate the talks between the two leaders. Mr. Gupta said there would be a number of disquieting undercurrents in America’s Taiwan policy from China’s point of view”.
  • Trade and economic issues could also lead to what Mr. Trump has described as “difficult” talks with Mr. Xi.
  • But on this, the U.S. President will be more thoughtful and planned, compared to the urgency he is showing about the North Korean threat.

Saint Petersburg metro station probed as act of terror

  • An unexploded device was found at a second Saint Petersburg metro station after a blast in the underground that killed 10 people and injured dozens, local news agencies cited Russia’s anti-terrorism committee as saying.
  • The national anti-terrorism committee (NAK) said in a statement carried by Russian agencies that such a device was “found and neutralised in a timely fashion” at the Vosstaniya Square station.
  • The St. Petersburg subway immediately shut down all of its stations and the national anti-terrorism body said security measures would be tightened at all key transport facilities across Russia.
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin was in St. Petersburg for talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. He went ahead with the talks after appearing on Russian television to speak about the attack.
  • No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. But Russia’s Investigative Committee said it was probing a suspected “act of terror”.
  • “Despite the fact that a criminal case under article 205 of the Criminal Code (act of terror) has been opened, the investigation intends on verifying all other possible versions of this incident,” the committee said in a statement.
  • Russia’s public transportation systems have been targeted in the past. In 2013, Russia was hit by twin suicide strikes that claimed 34 lives.
  • Russia has intervened militarily to bolster Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in September 2015, turning the tables on the battlefield just as rebel forces were strengthening their hold on key areas.
  • Russian bombardments helped the regime retake rebel areas in the east of the northern city of Aleppo after four years of fighting.
  • More than 310,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict broke out in March 2011 with protests against Mr. Assad’s rule.

Decision on Myitsone dam to come soon

  • A government-appointed commission is to soon make a recommendation on the fate of the $3.6 billion, China-financed Myitsone Dam in Myanmar.
  • The decision is a daunting test for Aung San Suu Kyi, who risks angering China, the region’s economic powerhouse, if she cancels the project, or the public if she lets it go forward.
  • Analysts say the commission’s report would provide her the political cover to kill an unpopular white elephant that she inherited from Myanmar’s former military government.
  • But getting out of the deal would be difficult. If her government cancels the project outright, it could have to repay some $800 million that the state-owned Chinese developer says it has already spent on the project.
  • If Myanmar offers China other dam projects in return, a compromise her govt has floated, they are likely to impinge on disputed ethnic areas where they could threaten the peace talks she has championed since her political party came to power last year.
  • The Myitsone Dam is among the largest of many Chinese-financed energy and mining projects approved by the military junta that ruled Myanmar until 2011.
  • It is especially contentious because it would be the first dam to cross the Irrawaddy River, the mythic cradle of civilisation for Myanmar’s ethnic Burman majority.
  • Dam would provide Myanmar much-needed cash and electricity, critics said it would cause irreparable harm to the river, destroy fish stocks downstream and displace thousands of villagers.
  • But perhaps the most incendiary objection was that under the deal struck by the ruling generals, 90% of the dam’s electricity could go to China.
  • In 2011, the military-backed transitional government yielded to public pressure and suspended the project, the decision coming as a shock to Chinese officials and businessmen.
  • The Myitsone was meant to be the first and largest of seven dams planned by the Chinese developer.
  • It would generate more power than the entire country produces now, according to some estimates, but would still not cure the country’s chronic energy shortages.

India is among the 16 target countries in a review of trade ties by US

  • India is among the 16 target countries in a review of trade ties that President Donald Trump was scheduled to order.
  • The President would also sign a second order to strictly enforce anti-dumping and countervailing duties, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said.
  • A “country-by-country, product-by-product” report will be prepared in 90 days that would form the basis of further measures that the Trump administration would take to reduce the country’s trade deficit.
  • The report will identify “every form of trade abuse and every non-reciprocal practice that now contributes to the U.S. trade deficit,” Mr. Ross said.
  • India is the ninth biggest trading partner of the U.S. and had a trade surplus of around $26 billion with the U.S in goods trade alone last year. Of its top 20 trading partners, the U.S. has a surplus with only five.
  • With China, the U.S. had a deficit of $347 billion in 2016. The review will be to assess whether deficit is being caused by cheating, specific trade agreements, lax enforcement or World Trade Organization rules.
  • Mr. Navarro has been a long time critic of China, but on Thursday, he insisted the presidential executive orders were not exclusive to China and was not linked to the scheduled visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping next week.
  • The 20-page long chapter on India lists a range of trade restrictions by India such as an existing ban on animal-tested cosmetics and restrictions on dairy products and alcohol.
  • It also accuses India of being opaque in its non-tariff regulations, and lists export subsidy programmes in several sectors as a matter of concern.

Brexit will present opportunities as well as challenges for India

  • Brexit will present opportunities as well as challenges for India, and its bilateral relationship with Britain, Indian High Commissioner to the U.K. Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha said.
  • While Britain is unable to negotiate free trade deals with other nations in the EU until its exit is concluded in March 2019.
  • The country has made clear its eagerness to forge international trade accords, and is hopeful that it would be able to establish a free trade agreement with India.
  • Announcing the triggering of Brexit earlier this week, Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain was not protectionist and wanted to be a truly global trading nation.
  • However, hopes of a deal with India have encountered a mixed reaction: while India was the first non-EU country that Ms. May visited as PM, there are also concerns that immigration policy could stand in the way, among other things.
  • Among the specific issues highlighted by Mr. Sinha and others in the past is the position of those in the services sector, as well as students, whose numbers from India have been declining dramatically in recent years.

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