World News: 19 January 2023

Jacinda Ardern to step down as New Zealand prime minister
Ardern became the world's youngest female leader in 2017 at the age of 37. Her last day in the office will be Feb. 7.
The last six years have been busy for Ardern, managing disasters and tragedies that propelled her to global superstardom, Miller said. From the COVID-19 pandemic and a volcanic eruption to the terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, he said Ardern has become much more well known than any New Zealand prime minister in the past.

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Russia to 'weaponise' migration to EU with increased flights into Kaliningrad
Moscow opened the Kaliningrad airport to foreign airlines as part of the ‘Open Skies’ policy in October 2022 and recently announced that it will increase the number of flights from North Africa and the Middle East.
The small Russian enclave, located between Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic Sea coast, is hardly a top tourist destination leading the ICMPD to predict that this will likely result in an increase of migrants attempting to enter the EU from a different route to the usual Mediterranean entry points.

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French strike nationwide to say 'non' to Macron's pension reform
French workers went on strike and joined marches across the country on Thursday, halting trains and cutting electricity production in a nationwide day of protest against government plans to raise the retirement age by two years to 64.
The stoppages are a major test for President Emmanuel Macron, who says his pension reform plan, which opinion polls show is hugely unpopular, is vital to ensure the system does not go bust.

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South Korea, Iran summon each other's envoys as spat over Yoon remarks deepens
“The security of our brother nation is our security,” Yoon said. “The enemy of the UAE, its most-threatening nation, is Iran, and our enemy is North Korea.”
Yoon’s remarks triggered an irritated response from Iran’s Foreign Ministry, which said it was investigating Yoon’s “interfering statements.” South Korea’s government insists Yoon was trying to encourage the South Korean troops in the UAE and didn’t intend to comment on Iran’s foreign relations, urging against an “unnecessary overinterpretation” of his comments.

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New ice core analysis shows sharp Greenland warming spike
Until now Greenland ice cores – a glimpse into long-running temperatures before thermometers – had not shown much of a clear signal of global warming on the remotest north central part of the island, at least compared with the rest of the world.
But the ice cores also had not been updated since 1995. Newly analysed cores, drilled in 2011, show a dramatic rise in temperature in the previous 15 years, according to a study in the journal Nature.

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South Africa to stage joint naval drills with Russia, China in February
South Africa, which has always refused to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, announced Thursday the organization in February of joint maneuvers with the Russian and Chinese navies off its coast.
These maneuvers will involve more than 350 South African military personnel "from several services and divisions" alongside "their Russian and Chinese counterparts with the aim of sharing skills and operational knowledge," the statement further said.

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