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Digest year-ender for international stories for month of January, 2019

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Press Trust of India New Delhi

Jan 1: Washington: US President Donald Trump signed into law a legislation Monday aimed at enhancing America's leadership in the Indo-Pacific region, strengthening multifaced ties with India and calling out Chinese actions that "undermine" the rules-based international system.

Jan 2: Beijing: China is building the first of four "most advanced" naval warships for its "all-weather ally" Pakistan as part of a major bilateral arms deal to ensure among other things "balance of power" in the strategic Indian Ocean, state media reported.

Jan 3: Washington: The US would pull out its troops from Syria slowly over a period of time and will protect its Kurdish allies, President Donald Trump has said, summing up the situation in the war-torn country as "sand and death".

 

Jan 4: Dhaka:The Jatiya Party, a key partner in the Awami League-led Grand Alliance of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Friday decided to occupy the opposition benches in Parliament after the main opposition BNP rejected the results of Sunday's general election in which the party was routed. PTI MAH

Jan 5: Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered the army to enhance its combat readiness to make sure it is always ready for a battle, saying risks and challenges are on the rise as the world is facing a period of major changes never seen in a century, state media reported Saturday.

Jan 6: Washington: President Donald Trump confirmed Sunday that the US military has killed one of the architects of the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole that left 17 American servicemen dead.

Jan 7: Beijing: China and the US on Monday held their first face-to-face negotiations here to ease a bitter trade war between the world's two largest economies amid growing concerns about China's slowing economy and its impact on American businesses.

Jan 8: Beijing: Vikram Misri Tuesday assumed charge as India's new ambassador to China and met top Chinese officials to discussed Sino-India ties, at a time when the two Asian giants are trying to boost their bilateral ties.

Jan 9: Beijing: The extended US-China talks to resolve the trade war between the world's two largest economies concluded here on a positive note Wednesday with a senior American official describing the dialogue as "good one" for the US.

Jan 10: Washington: US President Donald Trump on Thursday cancelled his trip to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos in Switzerland due to the ongoing partial shutdown of the government over his demand for the funding of a US-Mexico border wall.

Jan 11: Lahore: Pakistan's jailed former premier Nawaz Sharif's health condition has deteriorated, his daughter claimed on Friday and alleged that authorities are not letting his cardiologists examine him in the jail here.

Jan 12: Washington: US President Donald Trump on Saturday alleged that some top FBI officials who were either fired or forced to leave by his administration, conspired against him by opening an investigation over whether he was acting on Russia's behalf after he sacked the agency's then director, James Comey, in 2017.

Jan 13: Samarkand (Uzbekistan): India on Sunday said it was committed to the economic reconstruction of Afghanistan and to promote an inclusive "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled" peace and reconciliation process in the war-torn country.

Jan 14: Washington: US President Donald Trump on Monday said it's good to have relationship with countries like Russia, China, Japan and India as he expressed hope to reach a trade deal with Beijing.

Jan 15: Geneva: Russia remains "in material breach" of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the US said Tuesday, raising the prospect that Washington will follow through on threats to ditch the agreement over alleged violations by Moscow.

Jan 16: London: In a humiliating defeat for embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May, her divisive divorce deal with the European Union was overwhelmingly rejected by MPs, triggering a no-confidence motion against her government.

Jan 17: Washington: While it is too soon to gauge the economic damage from the US government shutdown, the longer it continues the worse it will be, the International Monetary Fund warned Thursday.

Jan 18: Washington: The US and North Korea began highly anticipated talks Friday aimed at resuming stalled efforts to end the North's nuclear weapons program by arranging a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Jan 19: Johannesburg: The US military on Saturday said it had carried out its deadliest airstrike in Somalia in months, killing 52 al-Shabab extremists after a "large group" mounted an attack on Somali forces.

Jan 22: Jerusalem: Israel said it carried out a successful test Tuesday with the United States of ballistic missile interceptors jointly developed by the allies, in the face of growing tensions with Iran.

Jan 23: Davos: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday said countries like India and China have begun affecting the world economy much more today and that needs to be taken into account for having a relook at the global trade and financial systems.

Jan 25: Washington: US President Donald Trump has announced a deal with the Democrats to temporarily open the government for three weeks till mid-February, ending the longest-ever partial shutdown and enabling over 800,000 federal workers to resume their job.

Jan 27: Jolo (Philippines): At least 18 people were killed Sunday when a double bomb attack hit a Catholic church on a southern Philippine island that is a stronghold of Islamist militants, the military said, days after voters backed expanded Muslim self-rule in the region.

Jan 29: Islamabad/Karachi: Heavily armed suicide bombers attacked the Deputy Inspector General's office in Pakistan's restive southwestern Balochistan province Tuesday, killing nine people, including eight policemen.

Jan 30: Washington: President Donald Trump on Wednesday called US intelligence chiefs "extremely passive and naive" and advised them to go back to school after they contradicted him on threats posed by Iran, North Korea and ISIS during congressional testimony.

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First Published: Dec 31 2019 | 2:30 PM IST

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