Sudan-Israel relations agreed, Donald Trump announces

Sudan became the third Arab nation in recent weeks to normalise relations with Israel, days after the US removed it from its State Sponsor of Terrorism list, of which the North African country was a part for over 27 years.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2020

Key-Points

President Donald Trump said he would be removing Sudan from the terrorism list, which effectively kept the impoverished nation off the global financial system since 1993.

The US Secretary of State (the minister primarily in charge of foreign relations) has been given powers to designate countries that “have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism” as “State Sponsors of Terrorism”.

The US can place four categories of sanctions on countries part of the list– restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance; a ban on defence exports and sales; certain controls over exports of dual use items; and miscellaneous financial and other restrictions.

Sanctions can also be placed on countries and persons that engage in certain trade with designated countries.

After Sudan’s delisting, three countries remain with the designation: Syria (listed in 1979), Iran (1984) and North Korea (2017).