International and Bilateral Issues: 26th & 25th Nov

Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar has said on Thursday a plot to assassinate her and senior members of her Cabinet has been uncovered, and it was “an evil, devious act of treason”.
“However, I did anticipate their extreme displeasure. The state of emergency [is] a major impact on crime reduction,” said Ms. Bissessar, noting since it was imposed in August 7,269 people had been arrested, 463 for gang related activities.
She said: “I am not surprised that such elements would make good on threats to carry out reprisals. After all we have disrupted their illegal business.”

After actors Amitabh Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra, Aamir Khan will be the latest celebrity face of Unicef in India.
The 46-year-old actor will be appointed the national ambassador of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund

India on Thursday inked an agreement with the Eurasian Group (EAG), a group that enforces anti-money-laundering standards in the region.
Indian delegation at the 15th plenary meeting of the EAG on combating money laundering and financing of terrorism being held at Xiamen in China.
India also offered assistance to member nations in enhancing their technical skill for establishing better financial systems, capital market monitoring and surveillance through sophisticated IT tools.

Even as long-running talks on the proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline continue, China has taken a major step towards securing access to the Central Asian nation's vast gas reserves.
Turkmenistan has agreed to increase its planned supply of natural gas to China
Turkmenistan, which has the world's fourth largest gas reserves
The two countries also agreed in a joint statement to “properly implement” the development of natural gas blocks along the Amu Darya river

While the Internet's democratisation of communication has empowered the ordinary citizen to engage with those quite distant to them in the real world, this compression of cyber-distance has raised the thorny of question of whether groups such as the Taliban have the right to freely post anti-West messages.
The latest controversy surrounding this issue has fixed the spotlight on the United States government's efforts to pressure microblog site Twitter to cancel the accounts of pro-Taliban tweeters.
At the heart of the issue is a deeply troubling question for U.S. foreign policy itself — the fact that there has been flip-flopping on the question of whether the Taliban is the enemy or a partner in the future Afghan state.
State Department has not listed the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation
So long as the Taliban is not an FTO, they are reported to have argued, the microblog posts are in no way a violation the Twitter's terms of service.

Street protests and violence continue to rock Yemen despite President Ali Abdullah Saleh committing to a deal that will end his 33-year rule.
Under the deal signed in Riyadh, Vice-President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi will head a national unity government to steer the political transition after Mr. Saleh demits office. Presidential elections are to be held within 90 days. Till then Mr. Saleh will hold the title of honorary President.