(Study Notes) Current Affairs: International Issues: 16 - 23 Jan 2010 By Dialogue India

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(Study Notes) Current Affairs: International Issues: 16 - 23 Jan 2010 By Dialogue India

CAG Weekly
(Current Affairs & GK)
By Om Prakash (goldy sir)

International

Yemen problem

• After Afghanistan and Pakistan, Yemen has emerged as a hub of the spread of global jihad
• A combination of several factors has bracketed Yemen with the list of countries from where the al-Qaeda brand of terrorism, with its distinct ideology and operational style, is radiating to several parts of the globe.
• Overnight Yemen became the target of intense media coverage and hotspot of international investigations after the failed attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian, to blow up an American airliner bound for Detroit on Christmas day. The youth had apparently spent time with Islamist radicals in Yemen, before embarking on his mission, with explosives sewn in his underwear.
• The al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a group based in Yemen, later claimed responsibility for the failed attack. The AQAP drew attention in January 2009 when its Saudi Arabian and Yemeni branches merged into a single powerful unit.
• Yemen, which grabbed international attention in 2000 with the bombing of the United States Navy ship, Cole, maintained a relatively low profile in subsequent years, despite its President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, joining the so-called war against terror as a U.S. ally following the 9/11 attacks.
• In fact, the Yemeni government’s focus shifted inward during those years, as it battled a fierce Shia insurgency in the north and a separatist movement in the south.
• Al-Qaeda’s regrouping in Yemen, threatening the neighbouring Gulf countries, the Horn of Africa and the U.S., can be traced to a daring prison break on February 3, 2006. That day 23 suspected al-Qaeda members escaped from a Yemeni prison, probably with the help of prison guards. Only a few were recaptured or killed. Among the escapees was Nasser al-Wuhayshi, who at one time was Osama bin Laden’s personal assistant in Afghanistan. Wuhayshi subsequently emerged as a prominent leader.
• Another bigwig who apparently supports the AQAP but may not necessarily be its member is the American-born Anwar al-Awlaki. He apparently played spiritual mentor to Nidal Hasan, U.S. Army Major who, by all accounts, killed 13 people during a bizarre shooting spree at Fort Hood, a military facility in Texas.
• In Yemen, as in the case of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas, the al-Qaeda appears to have infiltrated some prominent tribes whose leaderships take positions that largely define rival political alignments. This became apparent in the case of Awlaki for, he is well protected by Yemen’s influential Awlaki tribe, which, in all probability, extends political patronage to the al-Qaeda. It is, therefore, not surprising that the al-Qaeda has been working towards building alliances with major tribes in several provinces, including Marib, which has oil; Hadramawt, the area to which Osama bin Laden’s ancestors belonged; Shabwah; and Abyan, which is closer to the the Gulf of Aden.
• Two other factors appear to have deepened al-Qaeda’s influence in Yemen. First, the substantial migration from Somalia, where a significant section of the population has been exposed to the radical Salafi Islamic tradition.
• Secondly, Yemeni migrants returning from Saudi Arabia, where they were influenced by jihadi ideology.
• Extensive poverty, water shortages and political corruption are the other factors that appear persuading people to concur with extremist ideology and behaviour.

After the failed Christmas day bombing plot, President Saleh is under extreme international pressure to show results in the offensive on the al-Qaeda. However, that would not by any measure be an easy task.The political circumstances are such that the President is bound to remain distracted.

• For instance, Mr. Saleh has to pay attention to the northern Sadaa mountains, bordering Saudi Arabia, where the Shia Zaydi community has for years been battling government forces and recently came under attack from the Saudi Arabian Air Force.
• Neither can Mr. Saleh neglect the Southern Mobility Movement, a secessionist campaign led by the former Vice-President, Ali Salim al-Bid. Recently, the AQAP committed its support to the southern secessionist movement. Consequently, apart from confronting the al-Qaeda, the Yemeni forces are engaged in an unsustainable combat on two separate fronts.
• The President may be reluctant to launch a straightforward offensive on the al-Qaeda. In the past, Mr. Saleh relied on political Islamists for support, especially during the 1994 civil war. Credible reports also suggest that jihadi groups have taken on the Zaydis in the northern campaign. Besides, Mr. Saleh has to take into account the consequences of a heavy offensive on the al-Qaeda on the loyalty of his troops, some of whom are bound to be jihadi sympathisers.

Because of their unique geographic location — close to international shipping routes and piracy-infested waters — all oil-rich Gulf countries fear the forces of destabilisation emerging from Yemen. Apart from Saudi Arabia, from where Bahrain and Kuwait is accessible, Yemen shares a border with Oman, the gateway to the United Arab Emirates.Consequently, the entire Gulf region is making serious demands on the Yemeni government to rein in the AQAP.

U.S. designates AQAP as terrorist organisation

• The U.S. has designated al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) as a terrorist organisation and called upon the United Nations to follow suit under the Resolution 1267.
• The U.S. has also named its two top leaders, Nasir al-Wahishi and Said al-Shihri, for being involved in terrorist activities.
• Besides prohibiting material support to AQAP, this step will enable the U.S. to introduce immigration-related restrictions and stem the flow of finances.

Britain halts Yemen flights

• Britain’s government is suspending direct flights between the U.K. and Yemen over security concerns following the failed Detroit airliner attack.

US senate Election

• His party suffered a serious setback in a Senate seat election in Massachusetts, a defeat that might scuttle his defining project of reforming the healthcare system.
• A relatively unknown Republican state legislator, Scott Brown, defeated the Democratic candidate, state attorney-general Martha Coakley, to snatch the seat occupied by Edward Kennedy for nearly half a century until his death in August 2009.
• This loss puts an end to the 60-seat majority the Democrats enjoyed in the Senate, essential for avoiding filibusters by the Republican opposition.

Republicans snatch Senate seat

• In a major upset, Republican Scott Brown captured the U.S. Senate seat held by liberal champion Edward M. Kennedy for nearly a half century, leaving President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul in doubt and marring the end of his first year in office.
• Mr. Brown will become the 41st Republican in the 100-member Senate, which could allow the Republicans to block the President’s health care legislation and the rest of Mr. Obama’s agenda. Democrats needed Ms. Coakley to win for a 60th vote to thwart Republican procedural manoeuvres to block votes on legislation.

Ukraine polls

• Five years after the Orange Revolution inspired hopes for broad economic and political reforms, the presidential election took place.
• The former Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovich, captured an early lead in Ukraine’s presidential election, which looks set to bring a crushing defeat for incumbent President Viktor Yushchenko.
• Two exit polls sited by Russian news agencies gave Mr. Yanukovich between 36 to 40 per cent of the votes, with Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko coming in second with 21 to 24 per cent, and ex-Governor of the National Bank Sergei Tigipko trailing them with 10 to 15 per cent. These results, if confirmed, mean that a runoff will have to be held on February 7.
• Meanwhile, Mr. Yanukovich has already taken revenge on his archrival, Mr. Yushchenko, who was swept into power five years ago by the West-orchestrated “orange revolution,” which overturned Mr. Yanukovich’s election victory.

UAE meet discusses Afghanistan

• Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan, Pakistan and host United Arab Emirates (UAE) along with representatives of 40 countries, the European Union and the United Nations mission in Afghanistan, held a major brainstorming session in Abu Dhabi.
• The special envoy of the United States to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke also participated in the deliberations.
• The meet took place ahead of a major international conference, scheduled in London at the month-end. That will be followed by a high-level meeting in Kabul in April.
• More than 40 countries discussed Afghanistan and Pakistan at Abu Dhabi. Satinder K. Lambah, special envoy in the Prime Minister’s office, represented India during the daylong brainstorming session.

Afghan trade pact under fire

• A transit trade agreement in the works between Afghanistan and Pakistan is generating heat and dust here that it will allow India overland transit rights to Kabul via Wagah.
• A group of 16 members of the National Assembly have submitted an adjournment motion to the Speaker, asking for a discussion on the issue in the House.
• The Afghan Transit Trade Agreement, as it is known, is being worked out by diplomats in Kabul and Islamabad to give landlocked Afghanistan rights to export and import goods overland through Pakistan.
• The U.S. has been strongly pushing the agreement as a measure to give a leg-up to the Afghan economy.U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton oversaw the signing of the memorandum of understanding to hammer out the agreement by the Pakistan and Afghanistan foreign ministers in May 2009.
• Ever since the MoU was signed, there have been loud noises in Pakistan that under U.S. patronage, the main beneficiary of this agreement would be India, and that it should be resisted tooth and nail until all problems between the two countries were resolved.
• At a time when India-Pakistan relations have sunk to this decade’s all-time low, granting India a trade corridor to Afghanistan and beyond is seen here as unthinkable, especially when New Delhi has doggedly refused to re-engage with Islamabad after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.
• It has been argued that the access that India desires can be given only after the Kashmir issue is settled.
• The motion demands that Pakistan clarify its stand on the agreement. It says the agreement is aimed at subverting and destabilising Pakistan by giving India transit right through Wagah. Allowing Indian trucks in Pakistan would not just pose a danger to Pakistan’s security, it would also be a threat to the local transportation industry, the motion states.

Google threatens to quit China

• The Internet search-engine giant Google has indicated that it may close down its operations in China following a string of reported cyber attacks on its services.
• Its decision follows months of confrontation with Chinese authorities over censorship issues.
• Google faced “highly sophisticated” cyber attacks in mid-December that reportedly originated from China. The attacks resulted in the theft of intellectual property, and targeted the accounts of several Chinese human rights activists, Google’s Chief Legal Officer David Drummond.
• He said Google was “no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn,” its Chinese-language search-engine.Google launched a Chinese-language search engine in 2006, after agreeing to censor any information regarded as sensitive by the Chinese government.
• The government restricts access to a number of politically-sensitive websites, such as those discussing the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, the banned Falun Gong movement or Tibet.
• Google has in the past faced criticism from Internet-freedom watchdogs and human rights groups for its self- censorship, as the company sought to establish a presence in China’s fast-growing Internet market.
• With 338 million Internet users, China has the world’s biggest Internet population.

For China’s Netizens, Google’s exit raises hard questions

• “It’s not Google that’s withdrawing from China. It’s China that’s withdrawing from the world.”
• In the hours after web giant Google unexpectedly announced it would stop censoring its search-engine in China, this was one of the most widely circulated comments on China’s blogs, posted by a blogger on Twitter.

Bid to smooth tensions

• Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak travelled to Turkey to try to smooth over recent tensions that have further frayed the traditionally strong ties between the two countries.
• The visit came after a difficult week between Israel and its strongest Muslim ally: Turkey had threatened to recall its ambassador after Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, sought to humiliate him over a Turkish television show that angered the Israelis. During the visit, Mr. Barak called Mr. Ayalon’s behaviour “a mistake,” and both countries sought publicly to put the episode behind them.

Hong Kong approves $8.6-billion rail link to China

• A controversial $8.6-billion plan to link Hong Kong to China’s national high-speed rail network won approval from local lawmakers, leading to scuffles between police and protester opposed to the project.
• The measure to build the railroad plus accompanying road and infrastructure to connect Hong Kong to the mainland system passed the Chinese territory’s legislature 31-21, according to the government.
• The project has run into heavy opposition and triggered protests in recent weeks because of concerns it will displace many residents and cause major traffic congestion and other environmental problems.

Mehmet Ali Agca released

• The Turk who shot at Pope John Paul II in 1981 was released from prison after more than 29 years behind bars and proclaimed that he was a messenger of God and that the world would end in this century.
• He shot at Pope Paul on May 13, 1981, as he rode in an open car in St. Peter's Square. The pontiff was hit in the abdomen, left hand and right arm, but the bullets missed vital organs.

Erich Segal, writer and classics scholar, dead

• The American writer Erich Segal, who died of a heart attack aged 72 at his London home, will be best, and most misleadingly, remembered as the author of Love Story (1970).
• The success he earned from his first novel and its Hollywood film adaptation would be accolade enough for most authors. But while it made him rich, the skewed fame that it brought him shouldered aside a litany of other accomplishments: as classics scholar and teacher, literary critic and sports commentator, essayist and scriptwriter, historian and practitioner of comedy.

Gunman kills eight people in Virginia

• A gunman went on a shooting spree in a Virginia county near here killing eight people. He fired at a helicopter before surrendering to police.

Choices before the Afghan conference

• An international conference in London on January 28 will focus on the eight-year-old war in Afghanistan.
• Some 70 delegations, including from India, may attend the conference, co-chaired by the Secretaries-General of the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
• Mr. Brown said the aim of the conference would be to deliver “a new compact between Afghanistan and the international community.”

Italy (Rosarno) riots

• The official figures show there are 1,600 agricultural workers in Rosarno, Italy, all but 36 of them Italians.
• The reality, exposed by the raw and violent riots last week, was far different: some 1,200 foreigners, most of them Africans, earned about $30 a day under the table picking oranges and clementines.
• In a broad sense, the worst immigrant rioting ever seen in Italy — shocking not only because of the anger of migrants but also for the attacks on them by townspeople — cuts to the heart of the nation’s difficult evolution from a place of emigrants to one of immigrants.

Russian plan to counter Patriots

• Russia will strengthen defences on its Western borders in response to U.S. plans to deploy Patriot missiles in Poland.
• The Russian Baltic Fleet will get additional surface, underwater and air power, including Corvette-class warships armed with long-range high precision cruise missiles.
• A day earlier Poland announced that a U.S. Patriot missile battery would be deployed in Morag, a small town in northeastern Poland less than 70 km from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
• The spat over Patriot missiles in Poland may complicate Russian-American talks on nuclear arms reductions. U.S. National Security Adviser James Jones and Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen arrived in Moscow to try and wrap up a replacement to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).

Russia to be first to build nuclear-powered spacecraft

• Russia will endeavour to become the world’s first nation to build a nuclear-powered spacecraft for interplanetary flights.
• The draft design of the spacecraft is slated to be ready by 2012, while the actual model is expected to be developed by 2018. The total cost of the project is estimated at about $600 million.

Miep Gies, Anne Frank’s friend, dead

• Miep Gies, who has died aged 100.
• at great personal risk, preserved the diary of Anne Frank for posterity in 1944 after the girl and her family were caught in hiding by Germans.
• Without Miep, the family’s two years in hiding would have been impossible.She was the last human link with the concealed but intense life in the secret building on the Prinsengracht canal, now known as the Anne Frank House, which attracts 500,000 visitors a year.
• Her memoir, Anne Frank Remembered (1982), gives a unique glimpse of Anne’s intentness as a writer.

U.S. to protect Pakistan’s nuclear facilities

• Alarmed by a slew of terror attacks on sensitive military installations in Pakistan, the U.S. is putting in place “a crack unit” of its elite troops to seal off that country’s nuclear weapons and ensure they do not fall into the hands of militants, a media report claimed.
• The U.S. army is training the crack unit so that it could seal off and snatch back Pakistani nuclear weapons in the event of militants, “possibly from inside the country’s security apparatus,” getting their hands on a nuclear device or materials that could make one, The Sunday Times reported.

Chavez raises minimum wage by 25%

• CARACAS (th capital of venzuala)
• President Hugo Chavez announced a 25-per cent increase in Venezuela’s minimum wage to try to blunt the effects of soaring inflation, and defended his handling of an energy crisis and other domestic problems.

Trimaran -U.S. Navy's new high-speed warship.

Courtesy:- Dialogue India and Career Plus

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