Global Geopolitical Series: Key updates from across the world

Here are some key events to keep a tab on,

• Russia-U.S. - Syria: President Trump suggested over the long weekend that the United States is set to leave Syria very soon leaving others to take care of the situation in Syria.     
   
• Russia-UK-Skripal: The Skripal poisoning case continues to escalate with Russia retaliating against several European and North American countries, which showed solidarity with the United Kingdom by expelling Russia diplomats and closing embassies. Russia retaliated by expelling 159 diplomats and announcing the closure of the U.S. embassy in St. Petersburg.   
   
• Korean Peninsula: Several countries including Japan have been trying to hold a bilateral leaders’ summit with North Koreas ahead of North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un’s bilateral summit with the U.S. President Donald Trump, which is likely to be held sometime in May.  
   
• Turkey - Israel: Turkey and Israel exchanged insults over the recent Gaza incident. Last week, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) deployed live fire and used rubber bullets and tear gas against demonstrators who gathered for the 'Great March of Return' event, calling for the right of Palestinian refugees to return to the territories now occupied by Israel. Over 100 Israeli snipers were on standby and authorized to use live ammunition in case someone attempted to cross into Israeli-occupied territories. At least 17 people were killed during the unrest, and over 1,400 people were injured, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Erdogan, who has been a staunch supporter of Palestine as a separate state with Jerusalem its capital called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ‘a terrorist’, who returned the insult by calling Erdogan, ‘ a butcher’, over his country’s offensive against Kurdish people.