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Foreign Affairs Updates - Dated 27th September 2021
- German elections: The Social Democratic Party (SPD) became Germany’s largest party after its victory in September's federal elections. The margin was slight—less than two percentage points more than the Christian Democrat coalition (CDU/CSU) according to the latest tally—reflecting a fragmented electorate. Just 25.7 percent of voters chose the SPD, making a coalition government inevitable. The CDU/CSU, in its first contest without Angela Merkel as the chancellor candidate, suffered its worst election in the post-World War II period, with just 24.1 percent of votes. The sense of change was underlined by the SPD victory in Merkel’s home constituency. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) fared worse than in 2017 but is by no means a spent force. The party won 10.3 percent of votes (down from 12.6 percent in 2017) and remains the second-largest party in the former East Germany. The far-left Die Linke almost lost out completely, winning only 4.9 percent of the vote. The party’s three outright constituency wins gave it a lifeline, allowing it to circumvent the 5 percent threshold usually needed to take seats in the Bundestag. With both the SPD and Christian Democrats aiming to form a government, it puts the Green Party and the centrist (but fiscally conservative) FDP in prime position to extract concessions.
- Turkey going for more S-400: The U.S. State Department threatened further sanctions against Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested Ankara would soon purchase more S-400 missile systems from Russia. A U.S. State Department official said on Sunday that “any significant new Russian arms purchases“ would risk running afoul of the 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) which gives the U.S. government powers to sanction those who buy Russian weaponry. The United States already imposed sanctions on four employees of Turkey’s Defense Industry Directorate in December 2020 in retaliation for Turkey’s initial S-400 purchase.
- Serbia-Kosovo struggles: Serbian fighter jets flew close to the border with Kosovo on Sunday in the latest escalation of tensions between the two governments in recent days. The most recent round of unrest has been sparked by Kosovo’s ban on Serbian vehicle license plates in its territory, a move that Serbia has enforced on Kosovar plates (the vehicles are allowed, but drivers must use temporary plates when driving across the border). Offices belonging to Kosovo’s Interior Ministry were set alight in the north of the country recently, while grenades were thrown into another government building. Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti has accused Serbia of inciting ethnic Serbs living in the area to carry out the attacks. “Serbia is using Kosovo citizens to provoke a serious international conflict,” Kurti said.
- Taliban in a pickle: A senior Taliban commander warned the group’s military rank-and-file fighters to clean up their act as the group’s foot soldiers celebrate in newly captured Kabul. The new Defense Minister Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob, chastised his recruits in a recent audio message, warning that their exploits, which have ranged from sightseeing to speeding, “are damaging our status,” and were too close to the behaviour of the “warlords and gangsters of the puppet regime.” Clearly, the Taliban are now learning that running the country is not 'as easy' as running an insurgency.
- Indian Maoists weakened considerably: Maoists now influence just 41 districts in India compared to the 96 districts in 10 States in 2010. Of these districts, 25 account for 85% of Left-Wing Extremism in India. These numbers were provided by the Home Ministry to the leaders and representatives of various States at a meeting chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah. Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren accused the Home Ministry of reducing the number of Left-Wing Extremism-influenced districts in his State in order to avoid paying them what they were owed for infrastructure-related projects. He also objected to the bill of Rs. 10,000 crore that was raised against Jharkhand for reimbursement of the amount incurred on the deployment of Central Armed Police Force personnel. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik said a study should be conducted to find out how many children from Left Wing Extremism-affected areas clear national-level exams.
- China's clampdown on video game: China imposed regulations on gaming and live-streaming in its newly published 10-year national guidelines on children’s development, a move that could translate to higher compliance costs for the country’s online entertainment giants such as Tencent Holdings and ByteDance. The guidelines, published by the State Council (the nation’s cabinet), said operators who provide online services, including games, live streaming, audio and video streaming, as well as social networks should limit the time and money minors spend online. Operators are banned from letting teenagers under 16 sign up as live-streamers. The rules said that the country aims to implement a unified electronic identity authentication system across the country to manage how minors play games. Actions will also be taken to better classify games, review content, limit game time and protect children’s personal information and privacy. Beijing has been tightening its grip on the country’s booming digital economy, and in August 2021, authorities issued a new rule to limit game time for players aged under 18 to between 8pm and 9pm only on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and statutory holidays, marking the country’s most stringent measure yet to tackle gaming addiction among young people.
- EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain the three key challenges before COP-26. (2) The extreme weather events will become more probable with every additional rise in average global temperature. Why? Explain. (3) What is the UN's role in global climate change mitigation? Explain.
#Taliban #China #Serbia #Germany #Turkey #Maoism
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