WEEKLY NEWS and ANALYSIS from 3Rd to 8Th SEP, 2015
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rd th WEEKLY NEWS AND ANALYSIS FROM 3 TO 8 SEP, 2015 INTERNATIONAL NEWS China’s missiles set to challenge U.S. China appears set to signal to the United States that it is now ready with a credible military deterrent by demonstrating its DF-21D missiles, widely seen as an aircraft carrier killer, at the grand parade at Tiananmen Square, marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. The DF-21D is a unique ballistic missile with an anti-ship role. The weapon first acquires a ballistic trajectory and then reenters the atmosphere, attacking its target at a 10 times the speed-of-sound, defeating most known anti-ship defences. Analysts say the missile has been specifically designed to counter the US advantage in aircraft carriers, and is therefore a strategic weapon because of its potential role in shifting the balance of military power in the Pacific. With a range of 1,500 km the DF-21D’s lethality is enhanced on account of its manoeuvrable warhead, making it ideal for attacking U.S. aircraft carriers east of Taiwan. Duowei News, a U.S.-based Chinese outlet has earlier pointed out that the DF-31B—an easy to handle solid fueled missile would be one of the star attractions of the parade. This weapon, which is mobile, and therefore more survivable to a strike, has an 11,200 kilometer range, capable of covering the entire United States. 'Mediterranean turning into graveyard of migrants’ Turkey's President Recep Erdogan said that migrants were dying while attempting to sneak into Europe because the latter would not accept them legally. "The Mediterranean is turning into a graveyard of migrants," Erdogan told the select top global business leaders at the G-20 meeting. Turkey's state-owned Anadolu news agency said apart from three-year-old Aylan, whose picture lying face down on a beach has sparked an international outrage, at least 12 more refugees fleeing the war in Syria, including two young boys, had drowned while trying to reach the Greek island of Kos from Bodrum. The mass migration in Europe has already surpassed the levels of World War-II with migrants flee unending wars: of President Assad's retaliation against rebels in Syria, of IS expanding its bloodied footprints in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The refugee influx began four years ago, but has turned deathly in recent weeks with increasing European resistance, evident from long queues at the gates of Hungary, Greece, Macedonia and other central-east European countries. The numbers are staggering. Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon have taken in four million refugees since 2011 when the flow started. Turkey says it has spent $6.5 billion on refugees with its "open door" policy. Now, as these countries are saturated and governments begin to put Syrians in refugee camps, the latter are turning to Europe in greater numbers, lured by claims of "human traffickers" promising automatic refugee status and welfare in prosperous Europe, just across the sea. Unscrupulous people milking misery to make millions are pushing migrants in rubber dinghies towards Europe. These boats are capsizing, turning into floating coffins, like that of toddler Kurdi. The anger is palpable across the Turkey establishment. The country alone has taken two million refugees compared to 200,000 by Europe over four years. And now, as Erdogan said sarcastically, 28 countries are discussing how to distribute 28,000 refugees among themselves. European is witnessing a rise of far xenophobic rightwing groups, instigating fears of locals and outsiders who take up their jobs. Certainly thrown in is the scare of race and religion: Muslims coming to Christian Europe. The rise of the rightwing seems to have forced mainstream European political parties to adopt their agenda to check them, be it Greece, France, Hungary, even Germany. An official said that Slovakia could not take in Syrians because it does not have mosques for prayers. General estimate suggest the crisis may not abate any time soon. The desperate, fleeced by traffickers, men, women and children would continue to take rubber boats across the seas to reach Europe. And if Europe doesn't open up, they may continue to face death by water. Obama, Saudi King smoothen frayed ties Hosting Saudi Arabia’s new monarch for the first time, President Barack Obama said that the U.S. shares King Salman’s desire for an inclusive government in Yemen that can relieve that Arab country’s humanitarian crisis. Since March, the U.S. has been supporting a Saudi-led intervention against Yemen’s Iran-aided Shia rebels. Their talks also addressed the Iran nuclear deal, a source of lingering tension in the U.S.-Saudi relationship. Beyond Yemen, Saudi Arabia wants the U.S. to increase support for Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic State and seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad’s government after four-and-a-half years of civil war. Saudis also want assurances that the Iran deal comes with a broader effort to counter Iran’s destabilising activities in the region. Weekly News and Analysis Byju’s Classes-9873643487 1 2015 CA_003,004,005,006,007,008 Billionaire to buy island for refugees Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has offered to buy an island off Greece or Italy and develop it to help hundreds of thousands of people fleeing from Syria and other conflicts. The telecoms tycoon first announced the initiative on Twitter. “Greece or Italy sell me an island, I’ll call its independence and host the migrants and provide jobs for them building their new country,” he wrote. G20 vows to boost fragile growth, nudges China on currency G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs pledged to act decisively to shore up stuttering global growth and to refrain from unsettling currency moves after China's controversial devaluation. The economic supremos from the world’s top 20 economies said in a communique after their two-day meeting in the Turkish capital Ankara that global growth was falling short of expectations, despite strengthening activity in some economies. Their statement did not refer specifically to China but contained a clear pledge not to resort to competitive currency devaluations to give an unfair advantage to domestic exports. “Global growth falls short of our expectations. We have pledged to take decisive action to keep the economic recovery on track and we are confident the global economic recovery will gain speed,” the statement said. The group vowed to “carefully calibrate and clearly communicate our actions... to minimise negative spillovers, mitigate uncertainty and promote transparency” as key global economies search for robust growth. The meeting came after financial markets worldwide were rattled by China’s clouding growth prospects, drastic loss in value of the stock market and its sudden devaluation in August of the yuan. In a signal to China to tread carefully in its foreign exchange policies, the G20 vowed to “refrain from competitive devaluations and resist all forms of protectionism.” “We reiterate our commitment to move toward more market- determined exchange rate systems and exchange rate flexibility... and avoid persistent exchange rate misalignments,” it said. U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew pressed his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the meeting to improve communication of economic policy and refrain from competitive devaluations. Lew also noted that it was important for China to signal that it will allow market pressures to drive the yuan “up as well as down.” Why the Syrian refugee crisis has become so bad? The Syrian war has been going on for four years, but only in 2015 has Europe woken up to the flow of refugees. So why now? It is hard to find definitive reasons, but conversations with Syrians across the migration trail and a survey of recently available data suggest a mixture of reasons. First, the war is not getting any better. That has the dual effect of prompting more Syrians to leave their country and causing Syrians in exile in Turkey to give up hope of returning home. Second, Turkey is not a country for people to stay in the long-term. It has been more receptive than most, taking in about 2 million Syrian refugees. But Syrians don’t have the right to work there legally, so it is not a place to settle. Also, the recent electoral setbacks for the AKP party, perceived as being most in favour of helping Syrian refugees, has made many Syrians nervous about Turkey’s political future. Third, U.N. bodies working with millions of refugees in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon are complaining that they are running out of money, making camp conditions harsher and life more untenable for Syrians who live on their own but still depend on U.N. subsidies. The UNHCR reports that its appeals for cash are underfunded. The rich world has given to UNHCR funds almost 40 per cent short of what it needs. And these figures are just for the Syria region. In Eastern Europe, a conduit for thousands of refugees seeking respite in Europe, the finances are even more damning. A UNHCR request for £14 million to deal with the specific problems of conduit countries like Italy, Hungary and Bosnia has only reached 9 per cent of the target. A fourth point is that people have finally saved up enough money. It is expensive to pay for your family to cross to Greece and then work your way up through Europe. Depending on how many smugglers you use, every individual might spend about $3,000 to get to Germany. Fifth, there is now a known route. People have long trekked through the Balkans to the EU, but Syrians did not use to be among them.