Digest year-ender for international stories for month of November, 2018

Digest year-ender for international stories for month of November, 2018

Press Trust of India

Nov 1: London/New Delhi: Hundreds of employees at Google offices around the world, including in India, Thursday staged an unprecedented series of walkouts in protest at the company's treatment of women and lenient treatment of senior executives accused of sexual misconduct.

Nov 2: Washington: A US-based editor of a leading media house has accused former Union minister M J Akbar of raping her in India 23 years ago, saying the "brilliant journalist" used his position as the editor-in-chief of a newspaper to prey on her, an allegation denied by his lawyer. Nov 3: Tehran: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saturday that President Donald Trump has "disgraced" US prestige and would be the ultimate loser from renewing sanctions on the Islamic republic.

Nov 4: Beijing: China on Sunday said it supported Pakistan's "quest for peace through dialogue" to settle the outstanding disputes with India and backed Islamabad's engagement with the Nuclear Suppliers group (NSG).

Nov 5: Tehran: Iran greeted the re-imposition of US sanctions on Monday with air defence drills and a statement from President Hassan Rouhani that the nation faces a "war situation," raising Mideast tensions as America's maximalist approach to the Islamic Republic takes hold.

Nov 6: Washington: Tens of thousands of Americans began voting in the midterm elections in the US on Tuesday after a divisive campaign for the crucial polls, whose outcome would determine the next two years of Donald Trump's presidency.

Nov 7: Washington: The United States has exempted India from imposition of certain sanctions for the development of the strategically-located Chabahar Port in Iran, along with the construction of the railway line connecting it with Afghanistan, a State Department spokesperson said.

Nov 8: Dhaka: Bangladesh will hold its general election on December 23 and for the first time will use electronic voting machines on a limited scale, the electoral body announced on Thursday, amid an impasse between the government and the main opposition alliance over the timing of the polls.

Nov 9: Colombo: Sri Lanka's political crisis deepened Friday as President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved Parliament and announced snap polls on January 5 after it became evident that he did not have enough support in the House for Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was appointed by him under controversial circumstances.

Nov 10: Seoul: The North and South Korean militaries completed withdrawing troops and firearms from 22 front-line guard posts on Saturday as they continue to implement a wide-ranging agreement reached in September to reduce tensions across the world's most fortified border, a South Korean Defence Ministry official said.

Nov 11: Paris: World leaders gathered in the driving rain in Paris on Sunday to mark 100 years since the end of World War I, with host Emmanuel Macron warning against nationalism at a time of growing strain between Europe and Donald Trump's America.

Nov 12: Los Angeles: Marvel legend Stan Lee, who revolutionized pop culture as the co-creator of iconic superheroes like Spider-Man and The Hulk who now dominate the world's movie screens, has died. He was 95 years old.

Nov 13: Washington: CNN Tuesday said it has filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump and several of his top aides, seeking the immediate restoration of the network's correspondent Jim Acosta's press pass to the White House which was suspended following a testy exchange with the US president.

Nov 14: Colombo: Sri Lanka's Parliament on Wednesday passed a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa who was installed by President Maithripala Sirisena in a controversial move, a day after the Supreme Court overturned the presidential decree to dissolve the House and hold snap polls on January 5.

Nov 15: London: Embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday faced a possible "coup" after Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, Indian-origin minister Shailesh Vara and two other ministers resigned from her divided Cabinet over UK's "half-baked" divorce deal with the EU even as she defended the draft despite a barrage of criticism.

Nov 16: London: British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday soldiered on by appointing replacements for the ministerial posts vacated by some of her rebelling MPs over their Brexit concerns regarding a controversial European Union (EU) withdrawal agreement.

Nov 17: Paradise (US): President Donald Trump arrived in Northern California on Saturday to see firsthand the grief and devastation from the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century amid confusion over how many people remain unaccounted for.

Nov 18: Washington: President Donald Trump on Sunday defended his administration's decision to stop hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Pakistan, saying the country does not do "a damn thing" for the US and its government had helped Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city.

Nov 19: Yokohama: Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn is under arrest in Japan over allegations of financial misconduct and faces being fired this week, the firm said Monday, in a stunning fall from grace for one of the world's best-known businessmen.

Nov 20: Washington: President Donald Trump Tuesday signalled that the US will not take strong action against Saudi Arabia or its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the brutal murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi and intends to remain steadfast partner of Riyadh in the interests of his country, Israel and all other partners in the region.

Nov 21: Hanoi: India and Vietnam have decided to step up defence cooperation and oil exploration to boost their bilateral ties as they reaffirmed the importance of freedom of navigation, over-flight and unimpeded economic activities in the South China Sea, amid China flexing its muscles in the Indo-Pacific region.

Nov 22: London: British Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday said that a "good" post-Brexit deal with the EU was "within grasp" and she was determined to deliver it, as the European Commission confirmed an in-principle agreement over trade, security and other issues after Britain leaves the economic bloc.

Nov 23: Islamabad: Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has confirmed the death sentences of 11 hardcore terrorists, who were involved in heinous offences, the army announced on a day when the country witnessed two major terror attacks that killed nearly 40 people.

Nov 24: Beijing: In a significant step, India and China on Saturday resolved to "intensify" their efforts to achieve a "fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable" solution to the vexed boundary question at an early date as the special representatives of the two countries held "constructive and forward-looking" talks over the issue.

Nov 25: Islamabad: Pakistan on Sunday welcomed India's decision to send its two Union ministers to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor next week, terming it a "positive response".

Nov 26: London: British Prime Minister Theresa May faced parliamentary fury on Monday as she set off on the tricky task of convincing mutinous lawmakers to back her divorce deal with the EU.

Nov 27: Beijing: Jack Ma, founder of Chinese tech giant Alibaba, is among the world's richest people but he has now emerged as a member of another club: China's 89-million-strong Communist Party.

Nov 28: Kartarpur: Pitching for the normalisation of Indo-Pak ties, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday said his government, the army and all political parties in the country are on the same page to improve ties with India and asserted that all issues, including Kashmir, can be resolved with "strength and will" of leadership of the two countries.

Nov 29: Washington: US President Donald Trump on Thursday scrapped a planned meeting at the G-20 summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over Moscow's detention of a group of Ukrainian sailors.

Nov 30: Buenos Aires: G20 leaders opened annual talks on Friday stalked by the deepest divisions since their first summit 10 years ago, with US President Donald Trump under fire for destroying the group's past consensus on trade and climate change.

(Source PTI)