Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (October 19, 2022) for CSS, PMS

Table of Contents

6. Russian army accepts situation `tense` for its troops in Ukraine

• The Russian military said on October 18, 2022 that the situation for its troops on the ground in Ukraine was `tense` in the face of a Ukrainian counter-offensive, after several major setbacks in the east and south.
• `The situation in the area of the special military operation can be described as tense. The enemy is not abandoning its attempts to attack Russian troop positions,` Gen Sergey Surovikin, who has been in charge of operations in Ukraine for the past 10 days, told state television Rossiya 24.
• Ukrainian forces mounted a counter-offensive in the south towards the end of the summer and have been pushing closer and closer to the city of Kherson, which is occupied by Moscow

7. German cybersecurity chief sacked over Russia ties

• Germany`s cybersecurity chief was sacked on October 18, 2022 after a TV satire show accused him of having ties to Russian intelligence services, with the country on high alert over potential sabotage activities by Moscow.
• Arne Schoenbohm, head of the Federal Cyber Security Authority (BSI), had been at the centre of intense speculation since the popular show accused him in early October of contacts with Russia.
• He has now been relieved of his duties `with immediate effect`, an interior ministry spokesman said on Tuesday, citing `the allegations revealed and widely discussed in the media` as one of the reasons behind the move

8. Sweden gets 26-year-old climate minister of Iranian origin

• Sweden`s new government named on October 18, 2022 a 26-year-old as climate minister, the youngest person to lead a ministry in the home nation of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg.
• The nomination was among the cabinet members presented by newly elected prime minister Ulf Kristersson, who leads a rightwing coalition that is shored up by the far right Sweden Democrats.
• Romina Pourmokhtari, 26, was until now head of the Liberal party`s youth wing, and has not been known to have climate as her political profile. The young minister has in the past been an outspoken critic of Kristersson`s move to closer align his party with the Sweden Democrats (SD)

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9. 500 US military personnel `work for foreign govts`

• Fifteen retired US generals and admirals have worked as paid consultants for the Saudi Defence Ministry since 2016, The Washington Post reported on October 18, 2022.
• They are among more than 500 retired US military personnel including scores of generals and admirals who have taken lucrative jobs with foreign governments since 2015.
• Most of their employers `are known for human rights abuses and political repression,` the report added.
• Saudi Arabia`s paid US advisers have included retired Marine Gen

10. Australia reverses recognition of Jerusalem as Israel`s capital

• Australia on Tuesday said it would no longer recognise west Jerusalem as Israel`s capital, a policy reversal that prompted a curt rebuke from the Jewish state but was cheered by Palestinians.
• Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the city`s status should be decided by Israeli Palestinian peace talks, unwinding a contentious decision by the previous conservative government.
• In 2018, Australia`s then prime minister Scott Morrison followed US president Donald Trump`s lead in unilaterally recognising west Jerusalem as the Israeli capital