Here is a summary of the most important events that unfolded last month, and which may affect economic, financial, and geopolitical issues in the months ahead:
North America
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Newly elected US President Joe Biden has already made big moves in his first weeks in office. On inauguration day, Biden signed 17 executive orders addressing a range of challenges
from Covid-19 to student debt to rejoining international agreements,
including the Paris Climate Agreement. He has signed dozens more
executive orders since his first day in office, many of which have
reversed some of former President Donald Trump’s policies. Last month,
Biden also announced his proposal for a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus
package and pledged to have 100 million people vaccinated in his first
100 days in office, a figure which since then has been upgraded to 150
million vaccinated persons.
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With only days left in office, former US President Donald Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives.
Democrats were joined by ten Republicans to impeach Trump for inciting
the insurrection of the US Capitol building on January 6th. This is the
first time in American history that a president has been impeached twice
by the House of Representatives. However, it seems unlikely he will be
convicted in a Senate trial.
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January 6th, 2021 will forever be remembered as a dark and tragic day in US history. A
pro-Trump mob attacked the US Capitol building, pushing past police in
an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory
of the 2020 presidential election. Despite the traumatic events,
Congress reconvened later that evening to formally certify Joe Biden as
the next US President. Many blame former President Donald Trump for
inciting his supporters to violence.
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US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to extend the New START treaty for five years.
The treaty, which is the last remaining nuclear arms control agreement
between the US and Russia, limits the size of the two countries’
strategic nuclear arsenals. While this was a positive step for
US-Russian relations, there remains several issues of tension between
Biden and Putin, namely the hacking of US private and government
agencies and the poisoning of Russian opposition activist Alexei
Navalny.
Europe
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Last week, vaccine-producer
AstraZeneca told the European Union (EU) it would have to send the bloc
75 million fewer doses than originally agreed upon,
outraging EU leaders who are already struggling to ensure a smooth
vaccine rollout. AstraZeneca claims the contract it has signed with the
EU does not bind it to the original delivery schedule but only commits
it to make a “best effort” to do so. After emergency talks failed to
bring about a resolution, the EU placed an export ban on the vaccine.
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Last week, protesters stormed the streets of several of Netherland’s cities,
including Amsterdam and Rotterdam. People defied the country’s curfew
in protest of the lockdowns, vandalized buildings and threw fireworks in
the streets. Dozens of people have been arrested as a result.
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In Russia, tens of thousands of protesters have rallied in the last two weekends in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny
who was detained by Russian police upon his return to the country.
Navalny had spent several months in Germany recovering from being
poisoned allegedly by individuals connected to President Putin’s
government. Russian police arrested more than 5,000 protesters and human
rights groups have reported incidents of excessive force by police,
including beatings. The US and European Union have condemned the
crackdown, calling for the release of Navalny and the protesters.
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Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s has resigned in a split over the country’s Covid-19 response.
The political crisis began just a few weeks ago when former Prime
Minister Matteo Renzi pulled his small liberal Italia Viva party out of
Conte’s centrist coalition government. Renzi said they would only return
if Conte would accept their list of demands. Conte was unable to win a
majority vote in the Senate’s vote of confidence, leading him to resign.
The parties are primarily divided over Covid-19 spending.
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Germany’s governing party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), chose Armin Laschet to be its next leader.
Laschet, who is currently the prime minister of the German state of
North Rhine-Westphalia, is a centrist political figure and is very
likely to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor later this year when
elections will be held.
Asia and the Pacific
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For more than two months, the Indian government has been embattled with tens of thousands of farmers over agricultural reforms.
Last week, demonstrations turned violent after farmers stormed the
historic Red Fort and clashed with police on India’s Republic Day. The
farmers’ union, the group that has been negotiating with government
officials over the last several weeks, say they were not responsible for
the violence which it says was caused by a minority of protesters. The
government says the new laws will give freedom to farmers to sell their
produce outside regulated markets, but the farmers say the legislation
does not guarantee the acquisition of farm produce at the minimum
support price, as previously provided by the government, leaving farmers
at the mercy of private buyers.
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Myanmar’s
military has staged a coup, seizing power after detaining the de factor
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other elected leaders.
A top army commander has now claimed leadership and the military has
declared a year-long state of emergency. The military’s grievances go
back to November’s general election where the military-backed party, the
USDP, performed poorly. Aung San Suu Kyi is urging her supporters to
protest against the coup which has received international
condemnation.
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China flew more than a dozen war planes through the Taiwan Strait
a couple of weeks ago, in an obvious display of aggression towards
Taiwan, which China says is part of its sovereign territory. The US
government has urged China to stop pressuring Taiwan, but it is clear
China will not back down even as it calls for a reset in relations with
the US as the Biden administration enters leadership.
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Mongolian Prime Minister Khurelsukh Ukhnaa has resigned following protests
in the capital of Ulaanbaatar against the government’s handling of the
pandemic. Protests sprang up after a video of mother being hastily
discharged from a maternity hospital because she tested positive for
Covid-19 went viral. On his way out, Ukhnaa accused President Battulga
Khaltmaa, from the rival Democratic Party, of orchestrating the
protests.
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In another military parade, North Korea showed off its newest weapon,
a new submarine-launch missile. Shortly before the parade North Korean
leader Kim Jong-un promised to bolster the country’s nuclear arsenal.
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Chinese and Indian troops clashed at the Himalayan border yet again amid stalled talks between the two countries.
India and China have been in a standoff at the border since June when a
clash at the border resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers.
High-ranking military officials from both sides met for their ninth
round of talks shortly after the scuffle.
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