WORLD PANORAMA : Nov 16, 2019
1. WORSENING HONG KONG PROTESTS
•Hong Kong marked escalation in violence with intensive street battles, violent clashes at universities and flash bombs lunchtime protests.
•Unrest began with a citywide strike on Monday.
-Much of city's transport was suspended.
- Many railways stations were closed in response to the on- going protests.
- Many universities and schools closed because of the broken out unrest. Action and protests were registered on the university grounds at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
•Police died tear gas and rubber bullets as the protestors fired and threw petrol bombs.
•Some violent events that took place in Hong Kong:-
- An activist being shot at close range by the police. - A man dying after being hit on the head and - A pro- government supporter doused with petrol & set on fire by the protestors. - Last week 22 year old student died after falling from building during a police
operation.
•Xi Jinping issued a strong warning to the protestors.
•China issued its firm support for Hong Kong's police and also hit out US and Britain for denouncing Hong Kong police's action.
•China called it purely internal affair and said no foreign government, organization or institution has right to interfere.
•City is experiencing six months of protests which was sparked by a controversial EXTRADITION BILL which is morphed into a wider word DEMOCRACY.
•These protestors have pushed Hong Kong into an Economic Crisis and the city officially fell into Recession last month.
2. BOLIVIA POLITICAL CRISIS
•President Evo Morales resigned amid the turmoil following his disputed re- election last month. He resigned after nearly 14 years in power. The Senate president also resigned.
2 •He took political asylum in Mexico. Then Deputy head of the Senate Jeanine declares herself as interim president until new elections held.
•There was violence again after supporters of Morales launched a campaign to reinstate him to power.
•On Thursday Bolivia's interim government & Morales party struck a deal to pursue new elections.
•The chief of the armed forces General Williams Kaliman urged Morales to step down in the interests of Peace and Stability.
•Morales resignation met with mixed reactions from world leaders:-
- Donald Trump described it as a significant moment for democracy in the Western
Hemisphere. - Cuban and Venezuelan leaders condemned the events as a coup. - Spain also expressed its concern over the role of Bolivia's army.
3. ISRAEL- GAZA VIOLENCE
•Israelis and Arabs have been fighting over Gaza off and on for decades. The Gaza strip has been under a joint Israeli Egyptian blockade for more than a decade where freedom of movement for people and the flow of goods and services is also hampered.
•Violence triggered when Israel killed Baha Abu al-Ata, a militant leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad group(PIJ).
•The group then fired close to 400 rockets at Israel, causing Israel to strike back with air strikes.
•34 Palestinians were killed in the exchange of fire. Israel saying that 25 of the Palestinian fatalities were militants.
•Palestinians have been gathering near the perimeter fence to participate in the Great March of Return, a series of weekly protests that began in March 2018 calling for an 12- year old land and air siege.
•A ceasefire was announced broken with the help of United Nations and Egypt as the fair upraised affair offer new all- out conflict.
•Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the end of Israel's operation in Gaza on Friday.
4. DEADLY AUSTRALIA BUSHFIRES.
•Australia is released from a deadly bushfires in the worst drought in the decades.
•Four people have died in Blazes and about 1 million hectares of farmland in burnt in New South Wales alone .
3 •155 fires are still burning in Queensland and New South Wales
•Fires are fueled by extremely dry conditions after 3 years of drought.
•Health authorities in Sydney urged people with respiratory issues to stay indoors.
•Wildlife in the area have been badly affected.
• Experts say that the droughts and the fire are the most urgent symptoms of Australia’s climate crisis
• Officials confirm that 2018 and 2017 were Australia’s 3rd and 4th hottest years on records respectively. Australia’s climate has warmed by just over 1° since 1910. There has been declined of around 11% in April to October rainfall in south east of Australia since late 1990s.
5. ARCTIC BLAST: U.S. TEMPERATURE PLUMMET TO RECORD LOWS.
• An arctic mass has brought record breaking low temperatures to several places in the US.
•The Arctic blast which begin in Siberia has brought heavy snow and ice to many areas.
• 4 traffic deaths have been linked to the bad weather and more than 1000 flights have been cancelled. Some schools have also been closed.
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration estimates 30% of the continental US is covered by snow.
6. WH0 PREQUALIFIES FIRST EVER EBOLA VACCINE.
• The WHO on Tuesday said it took prequalified Ebola vaccine for the first time.
• This vaccine is made by the US laboratory.
• WHO hailed it as a critical step towards US licensing access and roll out in countries most at risk of outbreaks.
• This is the fastest vaccine Prequalification (means that the vaccine meets WHO standards for Quality, Safety and Efficacy) process ever considered conducted by the WHO.
7. ITALY HIT BY POWERFUL RAIN STORMS, FLOODING IN VENICE
• Venice’s Mayor called the city ‘A disaster zone’ after the second highest tide ever recorded swept through it.
• It was the worst flooding in the Italian city. In more than 50 years only once since the records began in 1923, as the water crept even higher reaching 1.94 meter in 1996.
4 •A flood barrier was designed in 1984 to protect the Venice from the kind of tides that hit the city on Tuesday.
•But the multi-billion Euro project known as ‘Mose’ has been blocked by corruption scandals and is still not operated.
8. KABUL CAR BOMBING
•12 people were killed in a car bombing in Kabul on Wednesday.
• It was the first major attack on Afghanistan capital after about a month of relative calm.
• The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Afghanistan confirm that the targeted because belong to Canadian security company.
• There was no immediate claim of the responsibility for the Rush Hour attack, came a day after the Afghanistan government agreed to Prisoner exchange with the Taliban insurgents in the hope of reviving the peace talks. Taliban and Islamic state are active in the capital and have previously claimed attacks in Kabul.
• Blast came one day after Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani announced that Kabul released three high ranking Taliban prisoners with western hostages who were kidnapped by the insurgents in 2016.
• Taliban prisoners include:-
-Anas Haqqani (seized in 2014) and whose elder brother is the deputy Taliban leader and head of Haqqani network group considered to be deadliest fraction of Afghanistan Taliban.
- Australian and American professor who were seized in August 2016 from American University of Afghanistan in Kabul.
• Afghanistan Presidential elections have been delayed for the second time citing technical faults.