World Map : December (II) 2018

Paris, France was the centre of global commemorations to mark the signing of the armistice by the allied powers and Germany “at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month”, a century ago – in 1918. France was the crucible of much of the conflict, it is also contains the grave of an unknown soldier of the first world war. November 11 is observed as Remembrance Day (also known as Armistice Day) since the end of the World War I to remember members of armed forces who died in the line of duty. The World War I started in 1914 and was fought between the Allied Powers and the Central Powers. The main members of the Allied Powers were France, Russia, and Britain. The United States also fought on the side of the Allies after 1917. The main members of the Central Powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.

Yemen, one of the Arab world's poorest countries, has been devastated by a civil war. The conflict has its roots in the failure of a political transition supposed to bring stability to Yemen following an Arab Spring uprising that forced its longtime authoritarian president out of power. The Houthi movement, which champions Yemen's Zaidi Shia Muslim minority, took advantage by taking control of Northern Province and neighbouring areas. Alarmed by the rise of a group they believed to be backed militarily by regional Shia power Iran, Saudi Arabia and eight other mostly Sunni Arab states began an air campaign aimed at restoring the government. Despite more than three years of inconclusive fighting, several UN-organised efforts to negotiate a peace deal have failed.

Nairobi, Kenya – hosted the first global conference on the sustainable blue economy. It was organised by Kenya with Canada and Japan as co-hosts.India made its presence in the conference highlighting India’s strategic advantages in Blue Economy.The conference builds on the momentum of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 2015 Climate Change Conference in Paris and the UN Ocean Conference 2017 “Call to Action”.

The Kerch strait is the waterway between mainland Russia and Crimea, the peninsula Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. It serves as the gateway into the Sea of Azov, which borders Russia and Ukraine. A bilateral treaty gives both countries the right to patrol the waters. Russia has significantly built up its military presence in the region since 2014.

Katowice, Poland, for the first time,hosted the UN climate summit in December 2018. This year's summit included: 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24), 14th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 14) and the Conference of Signatories to the Paris Agreement (CMA 1).