The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) annual summit was set to open in Riyadh on Sunday, with regional unity imperilled by a bitter row between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which is mired in a diplomatic crisis over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The one-day annual gathering of leaders from the six member states is expected to focus on security issues, including the Yemen war and Iran’s regional activities, and may touch on oil politics and a protracted boycott of Qatar by some neighbours.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and non-GCC member Egypt cut diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar in June 2017 over allegations of supporting terrorism.
India and China will resume their joint military drills after a one-year gap on Tuesday in the southwest Chinese city of Chengdu to improve capabilities in fighting terrorism and promote mutual understanding. The opening ceremony of the drills will be held on December 11. Each side will send 100 troops to take part in the 7th India and China joint military exercises – ‘Hand in Hand’ – which will focus on counter-terrorism operations. The exercises will be held after a gap of one year as both the sides were locked in a 73-day standoff in Doklam in the Sikkim sector of the border in 2017.
When it comes to the top 10 cities for economic growth, India is set to dominate over the next two decades, according to Oxford Economics. Surat, a diamond processing and trading center in the western state of Gujarat, will see the fastest expansion through 2035. While economic output in many of those Indian cities will remain rather small in comparison to the world’s biggest metropolises, aggregated gross domestic product of all Asian cities will exceed that of all North American and European urban centers combined in 2027. By 2035, it will be 17 percent higher, with the largest contribution coming from Chinese cities.
Little will change at the top of the list of the world’s biggest cities between now and 2035. New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles and London will defend their spots as Shanghai and Beijing — each boasting more than 20 million people — surpass Paris and Chicago. Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Southern China will also make the top 10, crowding out Hong Kong.
The fastest-growing African city is the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam, while the top spot in Europe is held by the Armenian capital of Yerevan, according to the report. San Jose — a proxy for Silicon Valley — will be best performer in North America.
Fulfilling a long-standing public demand for a second airport in Malabar region of Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Union Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu on Sunday jointly inaugurated the Kannur International Airport. With this, Kerala became the only state in the country to have four international airports. Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram are the other three cities with an international airport.
Mexico’s Vanessa Ponce de Leon won the coveted Miss World 2018 crown at a grand event held in the Chinese city, Sanya. Thailand’s Nicolene Pichapa Limsnukan was declared the runner-up.
Former Miss World Manushi Chillar (India) presented the crown to the new winner during the pageant in which 118 contestants participated. India’s Anukreethy Vas failed to make a mark at the pageant as she could not even make it to the top 30.
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