INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 2016

INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 2016

• Emergency declared in five states of US as huge blizzard hit east coast
  A huge blizzard has begun to hit the US east coast, the massive blizzard bringing more than 61cm of snow has thrown life out of gear. More than 50 million people across more than a dozen states have been warned to stay at home as it moves north. Eight people have been killed; six states have declared state of emergency.
  
  The nation's capital, Washington, could lie under a record 76cm of snow by the time the storm passes on 24th January. The US federal government closed down at noon on 22nd January.
  
• In Nepal Madhesis reject changes to Constitution
  Nepal’s agitating Madhesis on 24th January rejected the constitutional amendments passed by the Parliament as “incomplete” for failing to address concerns over redrawing of borders. This has dimmed hopes of an early end to the political imbroglio and blockade of trade points with India.
  
  Though the constitution amendment bill endorsed by the Parliament on 23rd January was positive to some extent, it does not address the demands raised by Madhesi parties in their entirety, said by Madhesi leaders.
  
  The Madhesi leaders listed the positive provisions in the amendment as those dealing with proportionate representation, inclusiveness, and allocation of Parliament seats on the basis of population. They said it would have been better if the agitating parties were taken into confidence before endorsing the two amendment bills. The amendments were endorsed by a two-third majority on Saturday. The Madhesis in Nepal are largely of Indian origin.
  
• Libyan Parliament Rejects UN-Backed Unity Government
  Libya's internationally recognised parliament on 25th January rejected a UN-sponsored unity government with rival authorities based in Tripoli, dealing a blow to months of efforts aimed at bridging a political divide that has undermined the fight against Islamic militants.
  
  House of Representatives member Abu Bakr Beira said 89 out of 104 members who attended session rejected the Cabinet formed by the UN-sponsored unity presidential council. He said the council would be dissolved if it failed to meet a 10-day deadline to form a new, smaller Cabinet. Another parliamentarian earlier said 90 out of 140 lawmakers rejected the deal.
  
  The parliament endorsed the political agreement underpinning the new government, but objected to an article that would dismiss Gen. Khalifa Hifter, a divisive figure who was appointed military chief by the internationally-recognized government.
  
  That left the fate of the peace deal uncertain, as the UN has said repeatedly that there will be no changes. The voting caps months of negotiations between supporters of the deal from Libya's two rival parliaments.
  
  The international community has been pushing the rivals to unite against the rising threat of Islamic militants, including an increasingly powerful Islamic State affiliate that has seized the central city of Sirte and launched attacks across the country.
  
  Libya has fallen into chaos since the 2011 toppling and killing of longtime dictator, Moammar Gadhafi. Since 2014, an internationally recognized government has convened in the far east of the vast, oil-rich country. An Islamist-dominated parliament backed by various militias sits in the capital.
  
  Hifter, who served as army chief under Gadhafi before defecting, rose to new prominence after declaring a coup against the Tripoli-based government in 2014 and launching "Operation Dignity," a military campaign against Islamic militants in the east. He describes all Islamists as terrorists, including those in Tripoli.
  
• Britain to spend USD 700 million to fight malaria
  Britain will spend 700 million US Dollar per year for the next five years to try and end deaths caused by malaria. Chancellor George Osborne announced on 25th January that the spending will be funded from the country's overseas aid budget and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will also contribute around 200 million USD per year to the package.
  
  Across the globe over a billion people are infected with malaria and it is a cause of both untold misery and lost economic potential. Osborne said some of the money would be spent in Britain to advance the science being used to combat the disease.
  
  The Gates Foundation first annual contribution will support research and development and regional efforts to eliminate the disease. The Gates Foundation was launched in 2000 by Bill Gates and wife Melinda to fight disease and poverty around the world.
  
• Obama: Pakistan must dismantle terror networks
   US President Barack Obama in an interview to news agency PTI gave credit to PM Narendra Modi for reaching out to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif after the Pathankot attack. He described the terror attack on the Indian Air Force base as another example of the inexcusable terrorism that India has endured for too long.
  
  In a strong message to Pakistan, he said that, Pakistan can and must take more effective action against terrorist groups operating from its soil. He further asserted that there must be zero tolerance for safe havens, and terrorists must be brought to justice.
  
  He also voiced his belief that Indo-US relationship can be one of the defining partnerships of the century. Meanwhile Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said India has given fresh leads relating to the Pathankot terror attack and Pakistan is verifying the facts to bring the perpetrators to justice.
  
  India gave "specific and actionable information" to Pakistan soon after the Pathankot attack reportedly carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists on the intervening night of January 1st and 2nd that killed seven Indian soldiers.
  
• IS may carry out large scale 'Mumbai-style' attacks in Europe again: Report
  More than two months after suicide bombers and gunmen killed 130 people in Paris, Europe's top police agency warned that IS extremists will continue to try to carry out large scale attacks throughout the continent.
  
  In a new report released on 25th January, Europol said there is every reason to expect that IS or a group with similar ideology will undertake a terrorist attack somewhere in Europe again, particularly in France, intended to cause mass casualties among the civilian population.
  
  The agency said that a lack of credible intelligence makes the next attack unpredictable. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the report did not go significantly beyond previous warnings and was not intended to sow fear but, to look lucidly at reality.
  
  Europol concluded that IS is preparing more terrorist attacks, including copycats of the November 2008 attack in Mumbai, where coordinated bombings and shootings by multiple teams of assailants killed 164 people.
  
  On 24th January, IS released a video celebrating the nine militants who carried out the November 13th attacks in Paris.
  
• UN appeals for USD 393 million humanitarian aid to Afghanistan
  The UN launched an appeal on 27th January for USD 393 million humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to help millions of vulnerable people this year. The 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan for Afghanistan targets millions of vulnerable people in need of essentials like food, shelter, health care, nutrition, safe water and other necessities
  
  One of the world's poorest countries Afghanistan regularly suffers natural disasters like earthquakes that cause large scale displacement of people. In a statement issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, it said between January and November last year more than 300,000 Afghans fled their homes due to conflict.
  
• Over 8 mn children in conflict zones to get access to education in 2016: Unicef
  UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says more than 8 million children living in conflict and crisis torn areas, will have an access to education in 2016, more than half of them are children from Syria. For implementation of the goal, UNICEF is seeking 2.8 billion dollars that the Fund expects to collect this year. At the moment, about 24 million children across the whole world attend school. Nearly 24 million of the 109.2 million children of primary and lower secondary school age living in conflict zones are missing out on their education, according to the UN data.
  
• US, China to work together to end N. Korea nuclear program
  United States and China have agreed to work together to ensure that North Korea ends its nuclear weapons program, but high level talks in Beijing indicated the two sides disagree on whether and what sort of sanctions to use against Pyongyang following its underground nuclear test three weeks ago. US Secretary of State John Kerry, meeting with China's Foreign Minister in Beijing, stressed the North Korean issue is a high priority for Washington.
  
  Kerry and Wang Yi met for more than five hours on 27th January, much longer than scheduled. Wang said China supports a new UN resolution opposing Pyongyang’s nuclear program, and will discuss possible sanctions. However, he added, any international action against the North should not provoke new tensions. After his firm talk about North Korea and sanctions, Kerry met later with President Xi Jinping, who spoke warmly about his visit to the United States last year.
  
• WHO unit to focus on achieving universal health coverage
  The World Health Organization (WHO) on 29th January announced setting up of a dedicated unit that will focus on achieving universal health coverage (UHC), which is target 3.8 of sustainable development goals (SDGs). The goals within SDGs emphasise the need to achieve UHC by ensuring financial risk protection and improving access to essential health care services for those marginalised. So far, the quality of services has been neglected within the UHC dialogue. WHO believes that there has been a lack of centre of gravity for quality. It is with this in mind that a unit is being formed to address UHC & quality
  
  This special unit will focus on three key aspects: alignment of country engagements and global framework, health service resilience, and quality and lastly establishing partnerships to reach these goals. The aspect of health service resilience, will focus on learning from experiences in recovery in Ebola-affected countries — especially by establishing linkages between UHC, post shock recovery
  
  This year, the prestigious award (in medicine) was conferred upon Professor Morton Mower from the United States for invention of the Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator, a device that helps monitor heart rate and rhythm, and deliver electrical current when abnormality is detected.
  
  Sir Michael Marmot of the U.K. won the award in public health for his evidence-based evaluation of the role of Social Determinants of Health, a concept adopted by the British government and the WHO to eliminate health inequities.
  
• UN hosted Syria peace talks begin in Geneva
  The United Nations hosted peace talks to end the Civil War in Syria opened in Geneva on 29th January. UN envoy Staffan de Mistura met the Syrian government's delegation. Key Syrian opposition group has said, it will join the talks. The Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee had earlier, said it would only join, if Syrian government forces ended their air strikes and blockades.
  
  US Secretary of State John Kerry has welcomed the decision by the main Syrian opposition coalition to take part in the talks. He said, the United States expects that both sides in these negotiations will participate in good faith and achieve early, measurable progress in the days ahead.
  
  The so-called proximity talks are expected to last for six months, with delegations sitting in separate rooms and UN officials shuttling between them. More than 2 lakh 50,000 people have died and 11 million have fled their homes in almost five years of war in Syria.
  
• In Syria, Islamic State terrorists group abducts at least 400 civilians in Deir al-Zour city
  The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights say the Islamic State (IS) group has abducted at least 400 civilians, including women and children, after capturing new territory in an assault on Syria's eastern city of Deir al-Zour.
  
  After their attack on Deir al-Zour, IS abducted civilians from the residents of the Balighia suburb it captured and adjacent areas in the northwest of the city. Those abducted, all of whom are Sunnis, include women, children and family members of pro-regime fighters.
  
  They were transported to areas under IS control in the west of Deir al-Zour province and to the border with the Raqqa province to the northwest. The IS attack on Deir al-Zour yesterday killed at least 85 civilians and 50 regime forces. According to the Observatory, sporadic fighting between IS and regime forces continued today in the northwest of the city.
  
• U.S. lifts sanctions on Iran
  The U.S. on 16th January removed a wide range of sanctions against Iran after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Tehran had met its commitments to roll back its nuclear programme, under an agreement with China, France, Russia, the U.K., the U.S. and Germany on July 14 last year.
  
  Minutes after Secretary of State John Kerry, after a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, announced in Vienna that the deal had come into force; a White House official described the development as “historic.”
  
  However, the removal of restrictions on its oil, petrochemicals, banking, natural gas and port sectors will hugely benefit Iran and allow it to re-enter the global market. Iran will be able to access the huge amount of cash it has accumulated overseas from restricted oil sales during the sanctions. Most of this money is sitting in China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey.
  
• UN food agency says 14 million face hunger in southern Africa
  About 14 million people face hunger in Southern Africa because of a drought that has been exacerbated by an El Nino weather pattern, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on 18th January. The worst-affected country is Malawi, where 2.8 million people, 16 percent of the population, are expected to go hungry, followed by the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar where almost 1.9 million are at risk, WFP said in a statement. In Zimbabwe, 1.5 million people, more than 10 percent of the population, face hunger, WFP said.
  
  The drought has hit much of the region including the maize belt in South Africa; the continent’s most advanced economy and the top producer of the staple grain.
  
  South Africa faces its worst drought in decades after 2015 was the driest calendar year since records began in 1904. Expectations of a dire crop this season could force the country to import up to 6 million tonnes of maize, over half of its consumption needs.
  
  Maize prices in South Africa hit record highs on 19th January, with the March contract for the white variety scaling a new peak of 5,106 rand (304 dollar) a tone. In countries such as Malawi, much of the maize crop is produced by small-scale farmers, often just to feed their own families. The vast majority are utterly dependent on rainfall as they cannot afford irrigation systems.
  
  The drought has been worsened by an exceptionally strong El Nino weather pattern, a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific that occurs every few years with ripple effects around the globe, scientists say.
  
  El Nino events typically bring drier conditions to Southern Africa and wetter ones to East Africa. The dry, hot conditions are expected to persist until the start of the southern hemisphere autumn in April or May.
  
• Global crude oil prices dip below 28 dollars a barrel for 1st time in 12 years
  Global crude oil prices dropped below 28 dollars a barrel for the first time in 12 years, after the lifting of international sanctions on Iran paved the way for increased supply, amid a global glut. Brent crude oil futures dropped to 27.67 dollars a barrel--its lowest since late 2003. U.S. crude slipped to 28.36 dollars a barrel--also a 2003 low.
  
• French President declares state of economic emergency
  French President Francois Hollande has declared a state of economic and social emergency to redefine France's economic and social model. In an annual speech to business leaders in Paris, he unveiled a 2-billion-euro plan to revive hiring and catch up with the fast-moving world economy.
  
  He said, the proposed measures are relatively modest, and they would not put into question the 35-hour workweek. With his country, under a state of emergency since terror attacks in November, Mr Hollande did not seek to assume any new emergency powers over the economy.
  
  The French President laid out plans for training half a million jobless workers, greater use of apprenticeships, and aid for companies that hire young workers. Hollande's Socialist government has struggled to boost long-stagnant French growth or reduce chronic unemployment, which has been around 10 per cent for years.
  
• English must for British Muslim women
  In a controversial move aimed at fostering greater integration of Muslim women in UK, British Prime Minister David Cameron has said that some migrants in Britain who cannot pass an English test within 2-1/2 years of arriving may not be allowed to stay
  
  British Prime Minister David Cameron said that there were 190,000 British Muslim women who spoke little or no English and Britain needed to take on the "backward attitudes" of some men whom he said exerted damaging control over their wives, sisters and daughters.
  
  The British government will invest 20 million pounds in English classes for women in isolated communities.
  
• 3,500 slaves held by Islamic State in Iraq: UN
  An estimated 3,500 people, mainly women and children, are believed to be held as slaves in Iraq by Islamic State militants who impose a harsh rule marked by gruesome public executions, the United Nations said on 19th January.
  
  The militant group, which also controls large parts of neighbouring Syria, has committed widespread abuses that may “in some instances, amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and possibly genocide,” the report said.
  
  The report detailed executions by shooting, beheading, bulldozing, burning alive and throwing people off the top of buildings.
  
  It said the U.N. had information about the murder of child soldiers and had verified reports suggesting between 800 and 900 children in Mosul had been abducted for military and religious training.
  
  Nearly 19,000 civilians were killed in war-torn Iraq with a staggering total of over 55,000 casualties since 2014, said a new UN report released on 19th January.
  
  At least 18,802 civilians have been killed and another 36,245 wounded between January 1, 2014 and October 31, 2015, stated the report jointly compiled by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
  
  Of the total number of casualties, at least 3,855 civilians were killed and 7,056 wounded between May 1 and October 31 last year — the period covered by the report.
  
  The UN has confirmed reports of unlawful killings and abductions by the Iraqi Security Forces and associated forces of the government, including militia and tribal forces (Shia, Sunni and others), popular mobilisation units, and Peshmerga (pro-government Kurdish forces). The devastating civil war in Iraq that began in 2014 has internally displaced at least 3.2 million people.
  
• India must increase women participation in labour force: ILO
  India needs to increase women’s participation in labour markets, build on its experience of its flagship employment scheme and provide social housing for the working poor to tackle unemployment, the ILO said on 20th January as it warned of a grim global unemployment situation. According to report….
  • Decreased labour force participation of women in India is a big problem. It is very important to promote their participation, their involvement in the Indian economy
  • The second is to continue to build on the experience of Rural Employment Guarantee (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme or MGNREGS).
  • In a beginning-of-the-year report on global employment trends in 2015 that also projected trends for 2016, the ILO said unemployment the world over rose last year and downturns in key emerging economies presented a grim outlook, with the situation expected to worsen further over the next two years.
  • India’s unemployment rate remained at 3.5 per cent in 2014 and 2015 but will decrease slightly to 3.4 per cent in 2016 and 2017, according to the ILO findings.
  • However, the number of people seeking jobs will increase to 17.6 million people in 2017 from 17.5 million people in both 2015 and 2016.
  • The global unemployment figure for 2015 stands at a staggering 197.1 million — an addition of 27 million people than the pre-crisis level of 2007 — and is forecast to increase further by about 2.3 million in 2016 to reach a total of 199.4 million unemployed people in the world. It will go up again by 1.1 million people in 2017.
  • The increase in the number of job seekers in 2015 came mainly from the emerging and developing economies.
  
  
• In deadly attack on Pakistani college, extremists take new aim at students
  More than a year after a bloody Taliban rampage at a military-run school in Peshawar, terrorists killed 21 people in a near-identical attack on a state-run university in nearby Charsadda district on 20th January. A splinter group of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed credit for the sickening violence at the Bacha Khan University in the Palosa area, 15 kilometres southeast of the main Charsadda Bazaar, though the fugitive leadership of the umbrella group denied involvement.
  
  Four terrorists, armed with sub-machine guns, pistols and hand grenades, launched the attack around 8:45 when the campus was enveloped in thick morning fog.
  
• Japan lifts nuclear sanctions on Iran
  Japan on 22nd January lifted sanctions on Iran, falling in line with major world powers. This follows the United Nations atomic energy agency confirming that Tehran has fully taken steps to curb its disputed nuclear programme. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga made the announcement in this regard. Tokyo imported around 10% of Iran’s oil before introducing sanctions against Tehran. After the sanctions, this share fell to 5% and then reduced even further.
  
• Sri Lanka tops South Asia in human development
  Sri Lanka has maintained its high ranking in human development. But the country’s performance in terms of average annual human development index (HDI) growth rate during 1990-2014 was lower than many other South Asian countries.
  
  These findings are among the highlights of the Global Human Development Report (HDR) 2015 released by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on 21st January.
  
  Sri Lanka has been placed at the 73rd rank with an HDI value of 0.757. In the previous year’s report, it occupied the 74th place. Since the end of the civil war in 2009, the country’s rank went up by five. The report, which studied a total of 188 countries and territories, has determined the HDI values by assessing long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development—a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living.
  
  According to the document, the region of South Asia includes Iran too, apart from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Maldives.
  
  While Iran is ahead of Sri Lanka, standing at 69th rank, the Maldives is ranked 104th. India and Bhutan fall under the category of medium human development countries and Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan come under the group of low human development countries.
  
  India is placed at 130th rank and Pakistan, 147th. As for the growth rate during 1990-2014, South Asia’s figure was 1.38, the highest among all regions.
  
  The UNDP took 1990 into account as it was from that year that the series of global HDI reports began. In the context of Sri Lanka, too, the year was significant as the Eelam War resumed in June 1990 after the withdrawal of the Indian Peacekeeping Force three months earlier.
  
• South Korea tops list of the world's most innovative economies
  In the world of ideas, South Korea is king. Germany, Sweden, Japan and Switzerland rounded out the top five in the 2016 Bloomberg Innovation Index, which scored economies using factors including research and development spending and concentration of high-tech public companies.
  
  South Korea notched top scores worldwide for manufacturing value-added as well as for tertiary efficiency - a measure that includes enrollment in higher education and the concentration of science and engineering graduates. While the country's No. 39 ranking for productivity might pass for mediocre, it was second for R&D intensity, high-tech density and patent activity and ranked sixth for researcher concentration.
  
  While the top spot is befitting for a country that puts a lot of money toward developing new technologies and produces its fair share of the world's engineers, the conversation in South Korea has been more about how the economy can get the bang for its buck in innovation, according to Marcus Noland, director of studies at the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics, with a focus on North and South Korea.
  
  South Koreans also are aware of institutional factors that might be limiting how much they take advantage of innovative behavior
  
  South Korea's almost six-point edge on No. 2 Germany - and outpacing of neighbors Japan (No. 4) and China (No. 21) - also might understate the degree of economic competition felt among those in the Asian nation.
  
  Many of the same risks gripping countries outside of South Korea - sluggish growth, rising inequality, fewer full-time jobs - have made policy makers and consumers alike in even the world's most innovative area "anxious" about the economy.
  
• Mexico launches Chapo's US extradition process
  Mexican authorities formally launched on 10th January the process to extradite drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman to the US, two days after he was recaptured. The attorney general's office said in a statement that Interpol Mexico agents went to Guzman's prison near Mexico City to execute two arrest warrants, launching the proceedings.
  
  Judges will now have to issue a ruling and handed it over to the foreign ministry, which has to give the green light to any extradition. The extradition bid marks a reversal from President Enrique Pena Nieto's refusal to send Guzman across the border prior to his July escape from a maximum-security prison. Mexico received two US extradition requests last year on a slew of charges, including drug trafficking and homicide. Guzman is wanted in a half-dozen US states. His attorney has vowed to challenge the extradition.
  
• Earthquake in Indonesia: tsunami alert issued
  Heavy tremors were reported from parts of Indonesia and its offshore islands on 11th January. Earthquake measuring 6.9 magnitude on the Richter scale struck the Molucca islands, as per reports released by United States Department of Geological Survey (USGC). Molucca islands are situated 321 kilometers off the coast of Indonesia.
  
  The earthquake is epicentered near 233 km southeast of Sarangani, Philippines. The tremors were first reported at 12:38 AM (January 12), according to the local time.
  
  Large-scale impact of the quake is also felt in the neighbouring Talaud islands. Loss of property is expected. As of now, casualties have not been reported. But climate experts predict disastrous consequences to an extent since the quake originated only 102 km beneath the sea-surface. USGC has also issued a tsunami alert.
  
  In the past month, a 5.9 magnitude struck Indonesia, near the Jakarta islands. The natural disaster occurred on December 25. This is the first major tremor reported from the region in 2016
  
• U.N. appeals for $500 million to get Syrian children in school
  United Nations education envoy Gordon Brown appealed on 12th January for $500 million to allow half the two million Syrian children who are refugees in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan to go to school and offer their families an alternative to fleeing to Europe. The former British prime minister said the aim was then to get all two million refugee children in school in 2017.
  
  Brown said that while some 400,000 Syrian children have made their way to Europe and other countries to escape Syria's five-year civil war, there are still some two million refugee children in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. He said they were also at risk of child labour and rates of child marriage were also increasing.
  
  Brown said that using a "double-shift" system, some 207,000 Syrian children were now being taught in schools in Lebanon in the afternoon and evenings after Lebanese children had completed their classes earlier in the day. The aim was to have some 400,000 Syrian children in Lebanon in school this year, along with 400,000 Syrian children in Turkey in school - up from 200,000 - and 200,000 Syrian children in Jordan - up from 130,000 - he said.
  
• U.S. House backs broader North Korea sanctions, after nuclear test
  The U.S. House of Representatives voted nearly unanimously on 12th January to pass legislation that would broaden sanctions over North Korea's nuclear program, days after Pyongyang announced it had tested a powerful nuclear device.
  
  The measure passed by 418-2, with overwhelming support from Republicans and Democrats, and Senate leaders said they expected to consider a similar bill shortly.
  
  The House bill had been introduced in early 2015, but was not brought up for a vote until after Pyongyang announced last Wednesday it tested a hydrogen bomb. U.S. officials have said they believe it was a nuclear blast, but not a more powerful hydrogen bomb. The vast majority of North Korea's business dealings are with its ally China. To become law, the legislation must be passed by the U.S. Senate and signed by President Barack Obama.
  
• Pakistan takes action: Jaish Chief Masood Azhar detained
  Consistent pressure from India to act against the mastermind of the Pathankot attack has begun to yield results. Acting tough, Pakistan on 13th January detained Jaish-E-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar.
  
  This is the biggest step taken by Pakistan so far in the Pathankot attack. The move by Pakistan came after Pak PM Nawaz Sharif held a review meeting with several officials. Several offices of the JeM..have also been shut down.
  
  Reports also suggest that Pakistan is even mulling sending its special investigation team to Pathankot. These reports came just two days before the scheduled Indo-Pak talks.
  
  India has made it clear the future of Indo-Pak talks will depend on concrete action by Pakistan. India believes terrorists linked to Jaish e Mohammad were behind the Pathankot attack. Army Chief General Dalbir Singh said, the army is fully prepared to face any situation.
  
• US troops in South Korea put on highest alert after North Korea's Hydrogen bomb test
  United States has placed all troops stationed in South Korea on highest alert following claims by Pyongyang of having tested a hydrogen bomb in the first week of January. There are currently some 28,500 US troops stationed in the southern half of the Korean peninsula in a defence posture should the north cross the Demilitarized Zone.
  
  Despite its doubts, the US launched a show of strength against Pyongyang. The Pentagon flew a B-52 long range bomber over the peninsula, escorted by a pair of South Korean F-15 fighters. Pyongyang condemned that action as pushing the situation to the brink of war.
  
  As tensions increase, North Korea claimed to have arrested a naturalized American citizen on charges of spying for Seoul.
  
  Allowed to conduct an interview with CNN, 62-year old Kim Dong-chul claims he was tasked with taking photos of military secrets and scandalous scenes in North Korea. US State Department has neither confirmed nor denied Kim’s citizenship. Next month, the United States and South Korea will conduct annual joint training exercises.
  
• WHO declares end to Ebola epidemic
  The World Health Organisation declared an end to the deadliest Ebola outbreak ever on 14th January after no new cases emerged in Liberia, though health officials warn that it will be several more months before the world is considered free of the disease that claimed more than 11,300 lives over two years.
  
  The success comes after a harrowing toll: nearly 23,000 children lost at least one parent or caregiver. Some 17,000 survivors are trying to resume their lives though many battle mysterious, lingering side effects. Studies continue to uncover new information about how long Ebola can last in bodily fluids.
  
  Liberia, which along with Sierra Leone and Guinea was an epicentre of the latest outbreak, was first declared free of the disease last May, but new cases emerged two times forcing officials there to restart the clock.
  
• China launches AIIB development bank as power balance shifts
  Chinese President Xi Jinping launched a new international development bank seen as a rival to the US-led World Bank at a lavish ceremony on 16th January, as Beijing seeks to change the unwritten rules of global development finance.
  
  Despite opposition from Washington, US allies including Australia, Britain, German, Italy, the Philippines and South Korea have agreed to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in recognition of China's growing economic clout.
  
  In order for Asia to continue being the most dynamic region for global growth, it needs to invest in infrastructure and connectivity, Premier Li Keqiang said, during the afternoon session of the opening ceremony. The AIIB is expected to lend $10-15 billion a year for the first five or six years and will start operations in the second quarter of 2016.
  
  Even so, no specific infrastructure projects would be announced "for the time being", AIIB President Jin Liqun told Reuters on the sidelines of the launch.
  
  A successful AIIB that sets itself apart from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be a diplomatic triumph for China, which opposes a global financial order it says is dominated by the United States and does not adequately represent developing nations.
  
  The AIIB will require projects to be legally transparent and protect social and environmental interests, but it will not force borrowers to adopt the kind of free-market practices favoured by the IMF
  
  By not insisting on some free market economic policies recommended by the World Bank, the AIIB is likely to avoid the criticism levelled against its rivals, which some say impose unreasonable demands on borrowers. It could also help Beijing stamp its mark on a bank regarded by some in the government as a political as much as an economic project.
  
  China has an initial subscription of $29.78 billion in authorised capital stock in the AIIB, out of a total of $100 billion. It invested another $50 million on 16th January.
  
• Russia named US as threat in new security strategy
  A new appraisal names the United States as one of the threats to Russia's national security for the first time, a sign of how relations with the West have deteriorated in recent years.
  
  The document, About the Strategy of National Security of Russian Federation, was signed by President Vladimir Putin on New Year's Eve. It replaces a 2009 version, endorsed by then-President Dmitry Medvedev, the current prime minister, which mentioned neither the United States nor NATO.
  
  It says Russia has managed to heighten its role in solving global problems and international conflicts. That heightened role has caused a reaction by the West, it says.
  
  Since then, the West has accused Russia of aiding insurgents in eastern Ukraine. Moscow denies actively assisting the rebels. The United States and the European Union have since imposed wide-ranging sanctions against Russian individuals and companies.
  
  Russia has reacted by restricting food and other goods from the EU. The document says that the United States and the EU have supported an "anti-constitutional coup d'etat in Ukraine", which led to a deep divide in Ukrainian society and a military conflict.
  
  It also names the expansion of NATO as a threat to Russia's national security and said that the United States has expanded its network of military-biological laboratories in neighbouring to Russia countries.
  
  The document, which serves as a basis for planning strategy related to national security by different state bodies, does not mention Syria. On Sept. 30, Russia began air strikes against anti-government rebels opposed to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a Russian ally.
  
• China to establish first Counter-terrorism College
  China is considering establishing its first counter-terrorism college, days after passing its controversial first counter-terrorism law. The college, to be established in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, will offer counter-terrorism courses to undergraduate and postgraduate students. China Radio International said, it will also have doctoral students to foster highly specialized expertise in the counter-terrorism field.
  
• Syria chemical arms probe found signs of sarin gas exposure - U.N
  A fact-finding mission of the global anti-chemical weapons watchdog has found indications that some people in Syria were exposed to deadly sarin gas, or a compound like it, according to a report the United Nations released on 4th January.
  
  The findings come in the latest monthly report on Syria from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) chief Ahmet Uzumcu. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attached it in a Dec. 29 letter to the 15-nation Security Council.
  
  Uzumcu's report said his agency's fact-finding mission in Syria was looking into charges by the Syrian government that chemical weapons were used in 11 instances. The report did not specify when the alleged toxic gas attacks occurred.
  
  The Syrian government has long accused opposition fighters, who have been seeking for nearly five years to oust the country's president, of using chemical weapons. Western-backed rebels in Syria have repeatedly denied using chemical weapons. Western officials say it is unlikely rebels would have the capability to deploy sarin gas.
  
  Uzumcu said the source of the sarin or sarin-like compound was unclear, adding that the OPCW fact-finding mission "did not come across evidence that would shed more light on the specific nature or source of the exposure."
  
  Syria agreed in September 2013 to destroy its entire chemical weapons program under a deal negotiated with the United States and Russia after hundreds of people were killed in a sarin gas attack in the outskirts of the capital, Damascus.
  
• North Korea conducts hydrogen bomb test
  According to the North Korean news agency, on 6th January, North Korea has conducted its first hydrogen bomb test, a move that could potentially seriously escalate tensions in the Korean peninsula
  
  An earthquake has been reported in North Korea, the epicenter of which happens to be very close to Punggye-ri nuclear test site leading to speculations of fresh nuclear test by North Korea. The US geological survey has put the magnitude of tremors at 5.1 on richter scale.
  
  It is to be noted that North Korea has conducted nuclear tests at the same site in 2006, 2009 and 2013. North Korea remains under United Nations sanctions for its missile tests.
  
  The latest test takes Pyongyang dangerously close to possessing a whole range of nuclear weapons in its stockpile.
  
• UNSC to pursue new curbs against North Korea
  The UN Security Council on 7th January warned that it will impose new sanctions against North Korea after it carried out hydrogen bomb test with the world body strongly condemning Pyongyang's action as a "clear threat" to international peace and security. The 15-nation Security Council, including China, held urgent consultations here to address the "serious" situation arising from the nuclear test conducted by North Korea.
  
• Iran decides to ban all products from Saudi Arabia
  Iran has decided to ban all products from Saudi Arabia after the two countries severed diplomatic relations. Riyadh executed top Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on 2nd January, inciting a response in Tehran, where the Saudi embassy was stormed by protesters. On Monday, Saudi Arabia formerly severed diplomatic ties with Iran.
  
  Somalia..: Somalia Foreign Ministry has announced that it is severing diplomatic relations with Iran. The ministry added that it has informed the charge d'affaire that all Iranian diplomats and Embassy staff had 72 hours to leave the country.
  
  According to the statement, this step was taken after careful consideration and in response to Iran’s continuous interference in Somalia’s internal affairs. The announcement comes amid a deepening diplomatic row in the Middle East.
  
• World's most-wanted drug lord re-captured, returned to same jail he fled
  In addition to the daily Joaquin Guzman, the world's most-wanted drug trafficker, was recaptured by Mexican authorities on 8th January, six months after he humiliated the government by breaking out of jail for a second time. He returned to the same maximum-security facility he escaped from in July.
  
  Guzman, known as "El Chapo" and labelled the world's most powerful drug trafficker by the US Treasury Department, was nabbed early 8th January after authorities tracked him to a home in northern Mexico and then chased him through sewage tunnels. He had been on the lam since escaping from a central Mexico prison through an almost mile-long custom-made tunnel equipped with lighting, ventilation and a motorcycle on rails.
  
  Since Guzman's escape, Pena Nieto has come under increased scrutiny for his security record, robbing momentum from sweeping legal changes he pushed through to bolster competition in the nation's energy and telecommunications sectors. The capture in Guzman's home state of Sinaloa lessens a major embarrassment for the president, who had said that allowing Guzman, the alleged head of the Sinaloa Cartel, to break out of jail a second time would be "unforgivable." Drug violence has claimed more than 70,000 lives in Mexico since 2006 and more than 20,000 have gone missing.
  
  Guzman has been a thorn in the side of Mexico's government for more than two decades. He was first caught in Guatemala in 1993 and extradited to Mexico. He escaped from a high-security prison in Jalisco state in 2001.
  
• Asia's largest underground railway station opens in Shenzen
  Asia's largest underground railway station, covering a total area of 147,000 square metres, opened in China's southern Shenzhen city. The Futian High-speed Railway Station in downtown Shenzhen, Guangdong Province covers a total area of 147,000 square meters, or about the size of 21 football fields. Its three underground floors have seating for 3,000 passengers, according to Guangzhou Railway Corporation, which operates the station.
  
  With the opening of the new station, travel time between Guangzhou and Hong Kong will be slashed to half an hour. The travel time between Guangzhou and Hong Kong takes about two hours by ordinary train. Residents in Shenzhen, which is adjacent to Hong Kong, can reach Hong Kong in 15 minutes.
  
• Over 1 million reach Europe by sea in 2015: UN
  Over one million migrants and refugees crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in 2015, nearly half of them Syrians, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on 30th December. The milestone marks an almost five-fold increase over 2014 figures, when UNHCR recorded 219,000 arrivals via the perilous sea crossing. The massive movement of people this year in Europe, most of them seeking refuge from conflict, has exposed deep divisions among EU leaders on how to deal with the influx.
  
  In total, 1,000,573 made their way across the Mediterranean since January 1, while 3,735 people who attempted the journey died or went missing, the UN agency said. Greece was by far the top landing spot with 844,176 arrivals, followed by Italy, a distant second with 152,700 migrants landing on its shores.
  
  In June, more than 50,000 people crossed the sea, a number that shot up to over 150,000 by September, culminating in a record 218,000 crossings in October. After Syrians, Afghans were the second largest group at 21 percent of arrivals this year, followed by Iraqis at eight percent and Eritreans at four. Other migrants originated in Pakistan, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Gambia and Mali, but in relatively small numbers.
  
  The UN has warned that there may be no let up in sea crossings next year, especially if efforts to end the conflict in Syria continue to falter.
  
• Majority of world’s migrant workers are engaged in the services sector: ILO
  Migrant workers account for 72.7 per cent of the 206.6 million working age migrant population in the world (above 15 years), with highest number (about 71 per cent) of them engaged in the services sector, says a recent study by the International Labour Organisation.
  
  The bulk of migrant workers in the world in 2013 were engaged in services, 106.8 million out of a total of 150.3 million, amounting to 71.1 per cent. Industry, including manufacturing and construction, accounted for 26.7 million (17.8 per cent) and agriculture for 16.7 million (11.1 per cent), says ILO Global Estimates of Migrant Workers. The services sector includes travel, hospitality, housekeeping, nursing, domestic work, among others.
  
  Migrants (above 15 years) form 3.9 per cent of the total global population, but the proportion of migrant workers is higher (4.4 per cent) among all workers, the report adds.
  
  Also, while most migrant workers are male – 83.7 million – and engaged in industry and agriculture, a majority of the 66.6 million women migrant workers were engaged in vulnerable jobs, such as domestic work.
  
  Almost every sixth domestic worker in the world was an international migrant in 2013, says the report, adding that high-income countries accounted for close to 80 per cent or 9.1 million of the estimated 11.5 million migrant domestic workers globally in 2013, with 73.4 per cent of these being women, against 26.6 per cent men.
  
  Two broad regions – Northern America, and Northern, Southern and Western Europe – accounted for almost half (48.5 per cent) of the total migrant workers.
  
  With geo-political crises and climate change threatening to increase the number of migrants across regions in the coming years, the ILO has called for making “fair” migration policies a central element of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
  
• Saudi Arabia executes 47 prisoners, including Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr
  Saudi Arabia says it has executed 47 prisoners on 2nd January, including Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. The cleric's name was among a list of the 47 carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
  
  It cited the Interior Ministry for the information. Saudi state television also reported the executions. Al-Nimr was a central figure in Shiite protests that erupted in 2011 with respect to the Arab Spring.
  
  Most of those executed were involved in a series of attacks carried out by al Qaeda from 2003-06, Interior Ministry said in a statement. Sheikh Nimr was a vocal supporter of the mass anti-government protests that erupted in Eastern Province in 2011, where a Shia majority has long complained of marginalisation. His arrest two years ago during which he was shot, triggered days of unrest. Sheikh Nimr's death sentence was confirmed in October. Iran has warned that executing Nimr would cost Saudi Arabia dearly.
  
  Saudi Arabia carried out at least 157 executions in 2015, with beheadings reaching their highest level in the kingdom in two decades, according to several advocacy groups that monitor the death penalty worldwide.