INTERNATIONAL AUGUST 2014

INTERNATIONAL AUGUST 2014

• Thai coup leader endorsed by king
  Thailand's king has endorsed coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha as prime minister, a few days after he was elected by his own hand-picked parliament, paving the way for the formation of an interim government. Approval from King Bhumibol Adulyadej on 25th August is a formality, and the formation of an interim government will follow in the coming weeks, although power will remain firmly in the military government's hands.
  
  Back ground
  Prayuth led a May 22 coup, which the military said was necessary to avoid further bloodshed, after months of turbulence pitting protesters, including the urban elite and southern Thais, against supporters of ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
  
  Prayuth, who is due to retire as army chief in September, moved quickly to silence dissent and deployed troops to quell protests in the weeks after the coup. The military government, formally known as the National Council for Peace and Order, has tried to project a positive story and has pointed to modest improvements in the economy and consumer confidence since the takeover.
  
  Events of 2013-14
  • In 2013–14 in Thailand the political crisis was in chaos and a period of political instability in Thailand
  • Anti-government protests took place between November 2013 and May 2014, organised by the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), a political pressure group set up and led by former Democrat Party MP Suthep Thaugsuban.
  • The protests eventually resulted in the removal of the then incumbent Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, a coup d'état and the establishment of a military junta.
  • Protesters viewed Thaksin as highly corrupt and damaging to Thailand's democracy
  • Other issues, such as the royal succession, a rural-urban or north-south divide, social inequality, over-centralised bureaucracy, royal and military influence in politics and middle-class status have also been seen as factors behind the crisis by analysts and commentators.
  • On 8 December 2013, all 153 opposition Democrat Party MPs resigned and Yingluck dissolved the House of Representatives, calling a snap general election for 2 February.
  • Voting was disrupted in areas of Bangkok and Southern Thailand by PDRC protesters blocking entry to polling stations, leading to an annulment of the result by the Constitutional Court.
  • Yingluck and 9 ministers were removed from office by the Constitutional Court on 7 May 2014 over the controversial transfer of a senior security officer in 2011.
  
  
• Islamic state in Northern Nigeria
  Militant group Boko Haram has said that it has set up an Islamic state in the towns and villages it has seized in north-eastern Nigeria.
  
  Nigeria's army has rejected the claim as "empty". Thousands of people have been killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria, since 2009 when Boko Haram began its insurgency. Gwoza, which had 265,000 residents in the last census, is the biggest town under Boko Haram control.
  
  About Boko Haram
  • Founded in 2002
  • Initially focused on opposing Western education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
  • Launched military operations in 2009 to create an Islamic state
  • Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria - but also attacks on police and UN headquarters in capital, Abuja
  • Some three million people affected
  • Declared terrorist group by US in 2013
  
  
• Gaza ceasefire deal reached
  Hamas declared an indefinite ceasefire in Gaza on 26th August. Talks were conducted in Cairo, through Egyptian mediators, who had produced a truce with Israel. An agreement has been reached between the two sides
  
  The reports of a possible breakthrough came after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt joined Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority leader, to urge both sides to agree an immediate and indefinite ceasefire to pave the way for a long-term deal.
  
  Earlier, Israel took its military assault on Gaza to the territory's urban middle classes, bombing two high-rise apartment blocks on 26th August. The strikes obliterated the 15-storey Basha Towers in Gaza City and badly damaged the Italian Complex, housing shops and offices. Prior warning was given and no-one was killed, but 40 people were wounded. In Gaza, 2,137 Palestinians have been killed, including 536 children under the age of 18.
  
  What is a Cease fire?
  A ceasefire (or truce) is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be declared as part of a formal treaty, but they have also been called as part of an informal understanding between opposing forces. An armistice is a formal agreement to end fighting.
  
• Putin meets Ukraine president
  The presidents of Russia and Ukraine sat down for talks on 26th August, meeting face-to-face for the first time since June on the fighting that has engulfed Ukraine's separatist east. Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Petro Poroshenko were joined by the presidents of Belarus and Kazakhstan and three senior officials from the European Union in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.
  
  The meeting came as Ukraine said its forces had captured 10 Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine and the shelling spread to a new front in the far southeast. Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of supporting and arming the rebels, which Russia denies daily.
  
  Under pressure to seek a negotiated settlement and not a military victory, the Ukrainian president said the purpose of his visit was to start the process of searching for a political compromise and promised that the interests of Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine would be taken into account.
  
  Putin devoted most of his opening remarks to trade, arguing that Ukraine's decision to sign an association agreement with the EU would lead to huge losses for Russia, which would then be forced to protect its economy. Russia had been counting on Ukraine joining a rival economic union that it is forming with Belarus and Kazakhstan. Ukraine is set to ratify the EU association agreement in September. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko urged both sides to "discard political ambitions and not to seek political dividend."
  
• Ukraine dissolves parliament, sets elections for October
  Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko dissolved Parliament and set early elections for October 26. The dissolution of parliament fulfilled one of Poroshenko’s campaign promises in the May presidential election. Surveys have shown 80 per cent of Ukrainians in support of early elections.
  
• Disasters caused $41 billion losses in first half of 2014: Swiss firm
  Worldwide insured losses from disasters totaled about $21 billion in the first half of 2014, down from $25 billion in the comparable period last year and lower than the 10-year average for first-half losses of $27 billion, according to a report by Swiss Re Ltd. released on 27th August. Economic losses from disasters in the first half of 2014 were $41 billion
  
  According to the report…
  • $19 billion of the overall insured losses in the first half of 2014 came from natural catastrophe events, compared with $21 billion in the first six months of 2013.
  • The most costly insured disaster in the first half of 2014 was an event with severe thunderstorms and hail in the United States in May that caused insured losses of $2.6 billion.
  • Windstorm Ela, which hit parts of Belgium, France and Germany in June, resulted in insured losses of $2.5 billion, according to the study, while a snowstorm in Japan in February also resulted in insured losses of $2.5 billion.
  • Snowstorms and prolonged cold temperatures in the eastern and southern United States in January caused $1.7 billion in insured losses, while thunderstorms and tornadoes in the United States in May caused insured losses of $1.1 billion.
  
  
• Libya’s interim government resigned
  Abdullah al-Thani has stepped down as Libya’s prime minister in a move to end the power struggle in the country. The cabinet said it was resigning to enable the elected parliament to choose a new, inclusive government.
  
  In its resignation statement the Thani government said it hoped parliament, which it described as “the only legitimate authority in the country”, would form a new government “representing all Libyan people... and capable of re-establishing security and building a lawful state”. That will also be the wish of the international community which has become increasingly concerned at the chaotic situation in Libya
  
  Back ground
  The 2014 Libyan conflict is an ongoing civil war, mainly between Islamist forces and their opponents. At the beginning of 2014, Libya was governed by the General National Congress (GNC). Islamists had controlled the assembly since having Nouri Abusahmain elected president of the GNC in June 2013. He was accused by the opposition of having abused his powers to suppress debates and inquiries. The GNC voted to enforce sharia law in December 2013[18] and failed to stand down at the end of its electoral mandate in January 2014, unilaterally extending its power. On 14 February 2014, General Khalifa Haftar ordered the GNC to dissolve and called for the formation of a caretaker government committee to oversee new elections. The GNC ignored his demands.
  
  The conflict began two months later, on 16 May 2014, when forces loyal to General Haftar launched a large scale air and ground offensive codenamed Operation Dignity against Islamist armed groups in Benghazi. Two days later, Haftar's forces tried to dissolve the General National Congress (GNC) in Tripoli. The conflict prevented the GNC from blocking new elections on 25 June 2014. These elections appointed the Council of Deputies to replace the GNC. In these elections, Islamists suffered an overwhelming electoral defeat. The conflict escalated on 13 July when Islamists, reacting to the landslide electoral defeat of Islamist politicians, launched Operation Libya Dawn to seize Tripoli International Airport, finally capturing it on 23 August after forty-one days of fighting.
  
  On 25 August, former members of the GNC who were not re-elected in 2014 reconvened and voted that they would replace the newly elected Council of Deputies.
  
• Thai junta chief appointed as Prime Minister by hand-picked house
  Thailand's coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha was appointed prime minister on 21st August. The army seized power on May 22 in a bloodless coup following six months of sometimes deadly street protests that contributed to the ousting of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, whose populist government was opposed by the Bangkok royalist establishment.
  
  Although Prayuth's appointment paves the way for an interim government to be set up in the coming weeks, power will remain firmly in the junta's hands. The general has said he plans to press ahead with a year of political reforms before a new election that he said will take place by late 2015.
  
  Prayuth will retire as army chief in September but will stay on as head of the junta, formally known as the National Council for Peace and Order. His appointment will need to be endorsed by Thailand's king.
  
  Back ground:
  On 22 May 2014, the Royal Thai Armed Forces, led by General Prayuth Chan-ocha, Commander of the Royal Thai Army(RTA), launched a coup d’etat against the caretaker government of Thailand, following six months of political crisis. The military established a junta called National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to govern the nation.
  
  After dissolving the government and the Senate, the NCPO vested the executive and legislative powers in its leader and ordered the judicial branch to operate under its directives. In addition, it partially repealed the 2007 constitution, declared martial law and curfew nationwide, banned political gatherings, arrested and detained politicians and anti-coup activists, imposed internet censorship and took control of the media. Detainees who had fled to Europe and sought asylums there said they were physically tortured and sexually abused by the military during detention.
  
  The NCPO issued an interim constitution granting itself amnesty and sweeping power. The NCPO also established a military dominated national legislature which later unanimously voted General Prayuth as a new prime minister of the country
  
  In the 2011 general election, Yingluck Shinawatra and the Pheu Thai Party (PTP) obtained a landslide victory and formed the government with Yingluck as prime minister. Anti-government protests, led by former Democrat Party secretary general Suthep Thaugsuban, began in November 2013. Suthep later formed the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) for the purpose of demanding the establishment of an unelected "people's council" to supervise a "political reform". Pro-government groups, including the Red Shirts, held mass rallies in response. Violence occasionally occurred, resulting in a number of deaths and injuries.
  
  In December 2013, Yingluck dissolved the House of Representatives and scheduled a general election for 2 February 2014. Disrupted by the anti-government protesters, the election was not completed on that day. The Constitutional Court then nullified the election on 21 March 2014.On 7 May 2014, the Constitutional Court unanimously removed Yingluck and nine other senior ministers from office over the controversial transfer of a top security officer in 2011.The remaining ministers selected Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan to replace Yingluck as caretaker prime minister as protests continued
  
  Response of other countries:
  Australia, the United States and the European Union downgraded diplomatic ties with Thailand after the coup and western diplomats Reuters spoke to said the appointment amounted to little more than a public relations exercise.
  
• Indonesia court upholds Widodo Presidential poll victory
  Indonesia's highest court unanimously upheld last month's presidential election result on 21st August, paving the way for Joko Widodo to take over as the next leader of the world's third largest democracy. The Constitutional Court rejected a last-ditch attempt by losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto to overturn the result that he believed was tainted by widespread cheating. The verdict cannot be appealed.
  
• Syrian civil war toll tops 191,000: UN
  The death toll from three years of Syria's civil war has risen to more than 191,000 people, the United Nations reported on 22nd August. The figure, covering the period from March 2011 to April 2014, is the first issued by the U.N.'s human rights office since July 2013, when it documented more than 100,000 killed. Men comprised 85 percent of the victims, women more than 9 percent, while the sex was unknown in the remaining cases. The records show at least 8,800 child victims, although the age of most victims is unknown. The figures are based on information from the Syrian Center for Statistics and Research, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the Violations Documentation Center, the Syrian government and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
  
  Why civil war in Syria
  At present the President of Syria is Assad. He is being supported by Russia, and opposition leaders are being supported by US led countries The Syrian uprising started as a reaction to the Arab Spring, a series of anti-government protests across the Arab world inspired by the fall of the Tunisian regime in early 2011. But at the root of the conflict was anger over unemployment, decades of dictatorship, corruption and state violence under of the Middle East’s most repressive regimes.
  
  Syria’s geographical position at the heart of the Levant and its fiercely independent foreign policy make it a pivotal country in the eastern part of the Arab world. A close ally of Iran and Russia, Syria has been in conflict with Israel since the creation of the Jewish state in 1948, and has sponsored various Palestinian resistance groups. Part of Syria’s territory, the Golan Heights, is under Israeli occupation. Syria is also a religiously mixed society and the increasingly sectarian nature of violence in some areas of the country has contributed to the wider Sunni-Shiite tension in the Middle East. International community fears that the conflict could spill over the border to affect the neighboring Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Jordan, creating a regional disaster. For these reasons, global powers such as the US, European Union and Russia all play a role in the Syrian civil war.
  
• UNHRC launched massive aid operation for Iraqis fleeing violence
  The UN refugee agency said on 19th August it was poised to mount a massive aid operation for 500,000 Iraqis driven from their homes by jihadist rebels. The jihadists, who have declared a "caliphate" in a region straddling the Iraq-Syria border, have after two months of violence brought Iraq to the brink of breakup. To date, the United Nations estimates that 1.2 million Iraqis have been displaced by fighting this year. Among the initial supplies are 3,000 tents, 200,000 plastic sheets, 18,500 kitchen sets and 16,500 jerry cans. Edwards said that a key goal was to help those who lack shelter or housing.
  
• Erodogan, from PM to President
  Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan swept to a landslide victory in Turkey's first direct presidential election. The country's election board announced Mr. Erdogan had won according to preliminary results, obtaining enough votes to avoid a runoff. With 99% of the ballots counted, the premier had secured 52%, far ahead of his nearest opponent Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, a diplomat with a low profile in domestic politics who garnered 38% of the vote
  
• Indian on Sri Lanka probe panel
  The Sri Lankan government has invited an Indian activist to a panel advising its Presidential Commission on missing persons. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to expand the panel of international experts.
  
  The Sri Lankan government has roped in Avdhash Kaushal of Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), a Dehradun-based NGO. Confirming that he received a call from President Rajapaksa’s office in this connection
  
  In July, President Mahinda Rajapaksa expanded the mandate of the Commission — originally set up to look into complaints of enforced disappearances — directing it to probe the roles of Sri Lankan army and the rebel Tigers during the civil war. The move surprised many, for it seemed like a shift from the Sri Lankan government’s earlier claim that its army was engaged in a completely “humanitarian operation”.
  
  The developments come in the wake of a U.N. probe into Sri Lanka’s rights record, following a resolution at the Human Rights Council in March. The Sri Lankan government, which declared that it would not cooperate in the process, initiated its own mechanism to probe allegations of war crimes.
  
  U.N. Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay has said the U.N. could conduct an effective investigation into reports of war crimes in Sri Lanka without visiting the country. Citing Syria and North Korea as examples where, despite no access, investigations were carried out, Ms. Pillay said.
  
• Ukraine passes bill to open gas pipelines to EU, US firms
  Ukraine's parliament approved a law on 14th August to allow gas transit facilities to be leased on a joint venture basis with participation from firms in the European Union or United States. Ukraine will hold 51 percent and foreign partners will be offered 49 percent in the venture, which would manage both transit pipelines and underground gas storage facilities.
  
• UNSC seeks to cut off its funds
  The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on 15th August aimed at weakening Islamists in Iraq and Syria with measures to choke off funding and the flow of foreign fighters. The British-drafted measure also placed six Islamist leaders — from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other nations — on the Al-Qaeda sanctions list, which provides for a travel ban and assets freeze.
  
  The six include senior Al-Qaeda leaders who have provided financing to the Al-Nusra Front in Syria and Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, the spokesman for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), now renamed Islamic State (IS).
  
  British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant noted that the 15-member council had shown “strong unity” in adopting the resolution. The resolution was endorsed by all 15 members of the Council, including Russia.
  
  The resolution demands that IS fighters in Iraq and Syria, rebels from the Al-Nusra Front in Syria and other Al-Qaeda-linked groups “disarm and disband with immediate effect.” It “calls on all member states to take national measures to suppress the flow of foreign terrorist fighters.”
  
• WHO declared Health Emergency due to Ebola
  West Africa's Ebola epidemic is an extraordinary event and now constitutes an international health risk, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on 8th August. WHO said the possible consequences of a further international spread of the outbreak, which has killed almost 1,000 people in four West African countries, were "particularly serious" in view of the virulence of the virus.
  Indian authorities are on alert for the Ebola virus, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said, suggesting there is a risk the virus could be imported into the country if the large population of Indians working in the four affected West African nations returns. There are nearly 45,000 Indians living and working in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria - where an outbreak of the disease has killed 932 people
  The agency said that, while all states with Ebola transmission - so far Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone - should declare a national emergency, there should be no general ban on international travel or trade. Ebola has no proven cures and there is no vaccine to prevent infection, so treatment focuses on alleviating symptoms such as fever, vomiting and diarrhoea - all of which can contribute to severe dehydration. The current outbreak, in which at least 1,711 people have so far been infected, of whom 932 have died, is the most severe in the almost 40 years since Ebola was identified in humans.
  
  What is actually declaration of emergency?
  WHO’s declaration holds significant weight it turns a local or regional issue such as Ebola in West Africa into a global priority.
  It hands countries the green light to move ahead with safety measures that wouldn’t normally be employed to contain an outbreak. In Sierra Leone and Liberia, for example, the military was called in to enforce isolation zones. Hundreds of soldiers were deployed to quarantine villages, distribute food and medical supplies and provide assistance to health care personnel.
  Countries around the world signed onto international health regulations doled out by WHO in 2005. These measures came in the wake of 2003’s SARS pandemic.
  Under the WHO’s supervision, countries that signed on opened their lines of communication and notified the public health body if outbreaks were occurring. They also strengthened their public health system, allowed WHO is investigate when outbreaks occur and accept WHO recommendations, according to Dr. Michael Gardam, the director of infection prevention and control at University Health Network.
  But its stance holds plenty of clout. And it’s only saved for the outbreaks the organization believes will be sticking around for awhile, with a lasting impact to the rest of the world.
  
  A call for international response
  A large part of the declaration is a call to action, not just in Africa but to countries that have the resources and can help. The World Bank this week pledged up to $200 million to fight the virus. The WHO is adding another $100 million to mark a turning point That funding is going to be poured into infrastructure to build hospitals and clinics, increasing supplies such as gloves, gowns and masks, and paying frontline health care workers who are risking their lives to stifle the outbreak
  
  World Health Organization
  The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that is concerned with international public health.
  • It was established on 7 April 1948, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
  • World Health Day – April 7th
  • The constitution of the World Health Organization had been signed by all 69 countries of the United Nations by 22 July 1946, with the first meeting of the World Health Assembly finishing on 24 July 1948. 
  Liberia declared state emergency
  Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has declared a state of emergency as the country grapples with an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. The Ebola outbreak has also hit Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, killing more than 930 people.
  Ebola, a viral haemorrhagic fever, is one of the deadliest diseases known to humans, with a fatality rate in this outbreak of between 50% and 60%. It is spread through contact with the bodily fluids of Ebola patients showing symptoms.
  
• US launched air strike against Islamic militants in Iraq
  The US has launched an air strike against militants from the Islamic State (IS) group in northern Iraq. The Pentagon said its aircraft attacked artillery being used against Kurdish forces defending the city of Irbil. The Sunni Muslim group IS, formerly known as Isis, now has control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria. Tens of thousands of people from minority groups have fled their homes due to the militants' advance. IS has also seized Iraq's largest dam.
  According to US officials, the dam is a vital part of Iraq's infrastructure as it controls the level of the Tigris River and is a key source of water and electricity generation for the Iraqi people. The air strike is the first time the US has been directly involved in a military operation in Iraq since American troops withdrew in late 2011.
  
  Back ground
  An Islamist extremist group called IS (formerly ISIS), which has links to terrorist group Al-Qaeda, has taken control of several cities in the north of the country.
  Hundreds of thousands of people have left the area to avoid the fighting, which is getting closer and closer to the capital city, Baghdad. It's believed almost a million Iraqis have fled their homes since January.
  America has now sent extra military staff to its embassy in Baghdad to protect staff there. This isn't the first time that Iraq has been in the global headlines. In 2003 the UK government decided to send British troops to the country in a US-led invasion. It's a decision that was controversial at the time, and now that another crisis has come up, people are asking how much the UK should get involved. No one is expecting British or American troops to go back to Iraq this time; but both governments say they need to do something to stop the situation getting worse
  
  2003 Invasion
  The war started because the US and UK governments, led by George W Bush and Tony Blair, believed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. These are nuclear, biological and chemical weapons that can kill many people. Iraq's leader at the time, Saddam Hussein, said he didn't any weapons like this. But America and the UK didn't believe him.
  They also said Saddam was a cruel leader who treated his people badly, so they sent in troops to disarm Iraq by force. No weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq
  What was meant to be a quick military mission turned into a long war, which lasted for eight years. More than 4,500 American troops died and the UK lost 179 servicemen and women. No one knows exactly how many Iraqis were killed but it was many thousands.
  Most British troops left by 2011, and the hope was that Iraq could rebuild itself - but when they left, the country was still split into different groups which don't get along.
  Although most Iraqis are Muslim, they belong to different branches of the faith: Shia and Sunni, who disagree about how the country should be run.
  The government in Iraq is Shia while the Isis militants are Sunni. While most people in Iraq are Shia, about 90% of the world's Muslims are Sunni.
  
• Russia banned Agricultural products from West
  Russia announced on August 7th that it had banned imports of meat, fish, milk and milk products and fruit and vegetables from the United States, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Norway. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced the import ban on orders from the country's president, Vladimir Putin, in response to sanctions imposed on Russia by the West over the crisis in Ukraine. The ban has been introduced for one year
  Russia depends heavily on imported foodstuffs — most of it from the West — particularly in the largest and most prosperous cities such as Moscow, where imported food fills an estimated 60-70 percent of the market. Food and agricultural imports from the U.S. amounted to $1.3 billion last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and in 2013 the EU's agricultural exports to Russia totaled 11.8 billion euros ($15.8 billion)
  
• A new Suez Canal by Egypt
  Egypt has launched construction of a "new Suez Canal" that aims to speed up traffic along the existing waterway and boost the country's battered economy. The project, estimated to cost $US 4 billion, foresees the creation of 1 million jobs at a time when Egypt is struggling to recover from more than three years of political turmoil since the ouster of long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
  History of the Suez Canal: 
  • First canal connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas via the Nile River dug in 1874 BC.
  • Egyptians used canals to move warships, send pilgrimages to the Holy Land and transport grain and stones used in ancient monuments.
  • French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps and Egyptian viceroy Said Pasha developed the current Suez Canal in the mid-19th century.
  • Construction took 10 years of generally poorly-paid work by Egyptians drafted at the rate of 20,000 every 10 months from "the peasantry".
  • Canal opened for navigation on November 17, 1869.
  • It cut weeks if not months off journeys between Europe and Asia that otherwise necessitated a trip around Africa.
  • A decision to nationalise the canal in 1956 led to a failed invasion by Britain, which controlled the channel, as well as France and Israel.
  • The waterway was closed briefly until 1957 and then again for eight years following the 1967 war with Israel.
    
• Nepali women climber K2
  Three Nepali women, Maya Sherpa, Dawa Yanjung Sherpa and Pasang Lhamu Sherpa have successfully climbed K2, the world’s second-highest mountain and considered to be the most difficult. It was the first time that Nepali women have climbed the mountain.
  
• New sanctions on Russia by USA, EU
  US President Barack Obama has announced new economic sanctions against Russia. They include banning people in the US from banking with three Russian banks. The EU earlier expanded its sanctions, targeting the oil sector, defense equipment and sensitive technologies.
  Russia has come under increased pressure to end its support for the rebels, who Western governments believe were behind the downing of the Malaysia Airlines jet that killed 298 people in eastern Ukraine. Russia has also been accused by the EU and US of supplying heavy weapons to the rebels - a charge it denies.
  EU sanctions:
  In a new wave of restrictions targeting Russia, the EU has added eight top officials and businessmen, including a Kremlin administration official, and three major companies to its sanctions list. The restrictions came into effect immediately.
  The list includes first deputy head of the presidential administration Aleksey Gromov, businessmen Arkady Rotenberg (SGM Group and TPS Avia), Yury Kovalchuk (Rossiya Bank) and Nikolay Shamalov (Rosinvest and Rossiya Bank). The list also included officials of the self-proclaimed Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics (LNR and DNR). Oksana Tchigrina, a spokesperson of the LNR, and Boris Litvinov, chairman of the Supreme Council of the DNR, have fallen under EU restrictions.
  The companies are Russian National Commercial Bank, airline Dobrolet and joint stock company concern Almaz-Antey, which is a Russian state-owned company that manufactures anti-aircraft weaponry and is accused of allegedly providing weaponry to the local militia in southeast Ukraine.
  Dobrolet is a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned airline Aeroflot, which is included in the list because it operates flights between Moscow and Crimea’s Simferopol.
  Russia’s National Commercial Bank is accused of carrying out operations in Crimea and becoming a dominant player in the market of the peninsula.
  Back Ground:
  On July 16, the U.S. imposed its harshest sanctions yet on Russia over its annexation of Crimea, and what the Obama administration said was Russia's failure to end the Ukraine conflict.
  President Barack Obama expanded steps in targeting two banks, Gazprom Bank and VEB; and two energy companies, Novotek and Rosneft. They won't be able to get important financing in the United States.
  In addition, the administration froze any U.S. assets and prohibited American business contacts for eight Russian arms companies that make weapons, including small arms, mortars and surface-to-air missiles. One is the Kalashnikov Concern, maker of the AK-47 and other arms.
  Earlier this year, the United States and Europe imposed a more limited range of sanctions in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea and the massing of troops along its eastern border with Ukraine. Those included asset freezes and travel bans.
  What's changed since then?
  MH17 was blown out of the sky.
  U.S. officials believe Russia armed the pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine with the rocket system suspected of shooting down the jetliner on July 17. Though, they now say it's likely the rebels didn't know it was a commercial plane at more than 30,000 feet.
  Russian leaders deny any responsibility -- even indirectly -- and are pointing fingers at Ukraine and NATO for stirring up trouble in the region.
  It's only upped the ante regarding Russia and its relationship with the United States and its European allies.
  Aside from the general allied approach to Ukraine, there is more pressure than ever now on Europe to take tougher action because so many of the MH17 passengers were from there, and emotions are fever pitch.
  Why hasn't Europe acted that forcefully?
  Earlier this year, Europe joined the United States in imposing limited sanctions in response to Russia' actions in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. Those sanctions included asset freezes and travel bans.The U.S. response is tougher but it doesn't do a ton of business with Russia. Europe on the other hand does.
  Experts said Europe imports nearly 30% of its energy from Russia, raising the specter of rolling blackouts and unheated homes in the region next winter should Russia decide to retaliate for tougher sanctions. London's place as a regional financial hub is highly dependent on Russian capital. France has already signed off on a deal to deliver two warships to Russia, according to experts.
  Oil giant Shell, which has its headquarters in The Hague, is the largest corporation in the Netherlands and has huge investments in Russia. Remember the MH17 victims and the Netherlands.
  
• 175 killed as earth quake rocks China
  At least 150 people were reported killed and at least 180 others left missing after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern China’s Yunnan province on 3rd August.
  The earthquake, which struck at 4.30 p.m., reduced much of the township of Longtoushan in Ludian county, where the epicenter was located, to rubble, according to photographs posted online. More than180 people have been reported missing, while at least 1,300 were injured as the earthquake left homes and buildings in rubble.
  Residents and rescuers faced a daunting task to search for survivors as night fell and authorities began confronting the challenge of dispatching rescue teams and heavy equipment to the remote and mountainous region.
  
• Bali Issue: India firm on its stand in WTO Summit
  Talks for the first major accord in the World Trade Organization’s 19-year history collapsed over objections raised by India, which was seeking to bolster farm protections. Negotiators for a Trade Facilitation Agreement at WTO headquarters in Geneva, failed to agree as a midnight deadline passed to implement part of the accord by the end of July. India refused to go along without assurances the pact would allow it to keep protections for its domestically produced food. The failure is a setback for the global trade talks and throws into question the ability of the WTO to serve as a forum for international accords as well as its status an arbiter of trade disputes. The WTO estimated that the deal would have stimulated the world economy by more than $1 trillion by cutting regulatory hurdles and red tape at international borders.
  India has refused to support a deal on trade facilitation, which members agreed to in the trade ministers meeting in Bali last December, unless a ‘permanent solution’ to food security issues is in place. The trade facilitation pact is to be ratified by July 31.India wants members to agree to a permanent solution which would ensure that there would be no action against it for subsidising its food security programmes even if it breaches the existing ceiling (fixed at 10 per cent of agricultural production).
  In the Bali Ministerial, India was given a temporary reprieve against legal action under a ‘peace clause’, which it now feels does not give it adequate protection as it is riddled with conditions. It was promised that a ‘permanent solution’ would be in place by 2017, but India has said that it may not get it at all if it waits that long. The Director General met coordinators from 15 groups, representing a cross-section of WTO membership, hoping to reach a solution.
  What is actually Peace Clause?
  Trade negotiators generally refer to Article 13 of the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Agriculture as the Peace Clause. Article 13 holds that domestic support measures and export subsidies of a WTO Member that are legal under the provisions of the Agreement on Agriculture cannot be challenged by other WTO Members on grounds of being illegal under the provisions of another WTO agreement.
  The Peace Clause has expired on January 1, 2004. It is now possible, therefore, for developing countries and nations favoring free trade in agricultural goods, such as the Cairns Group, to use the WTO dispute settlement mechanism in order to challenge, in particular, U.S. and EU export subsidies on agricultural products.
  About Bali Package:
  The Bali Package is a trade agreement resulting from the 9th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Bali, Indonesia on 3–7 December 2013. It is aimed at lowering global trade barriers and is the first agreement reached through the WTO that is approved by all its members. The accord includes provisions for lowering import tariffs and agricultural subsidies, with the intention of making it easier for developing countries to trade with the developed world in global markets. Developed countries would abolish hard import quotas on agricultural products from the developing world and instead would only be allowed to charge tariffs on amount of agricultural imports exceeding specific limits. Another important target is reforming customs bureaucracies and formalities to facilitate trade. The Bali Package consists of ten separate decisions by the Ministerial Conference, covering four areas as follow.
  Why India is not agreeing Trade Facilitation Agreement?
  India has made its stance clear that it will not easily give in to pressure from the West over trade protocols of the World Trade Organisation, as was also discussed during the talks in Bali in December 2013. India fears that agreeing to the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) could compromise its own food security.
  What is the TFA?
  The TFA aims to fast track any movement of goods among countries by cutting down bureaucratic obligations. The problem with TFA runs in a clause that says farm subsidies cannot be more than 10 percent of the value of agricultural production. If the cap is breached, other members can challenge it and also go on to impose trade sanctions on the country.
  The developing countries would have a problem with the solutions offered by the developed countries as without the subsidies the food security of the developing nations could be seriously harmed. India agreed to the TFA in Bali only under the condition that interim relief would be provided to the developing nations. It said no legal actions or sanctions would be imposed on the developing nations till 2017, by which time a solution would be worked out among the nations. However, this interim relief would not be applicable if such subsidies would lead to trade distortions, by which one means, that prices of exports and imports cannot be affected by this.
  Why is India opposed to TFA?
  India's Food Security Act, which is binding on the government by law now, implies that the government will provide very cheap food to the most vulnerable part of the population at extremely low prices. Apart from providing subsidies to the consumers, through the public distribution system, it also provides subsidies to the producers of food grains. So it buys food grains from farmers at a minimum support price, and subsidises inputs like electricity and fertiliser.
  The first problem is with the 10% cap on subsidies which will not be possible for India to achieve. Adding to the woes is the fact that the 10% cap is calculated based on 1986-88 prices when the prices of food grains were much lower. So the cap has to be updated taking into account the present prices of food grains.
  The second problem is that even for providing subsidised food, India will have to open up its own stockpiling to international monitoring. It will not be able to add protein heavy grains like say, lentils, if it wants to, due to riders in the peace clause.
  Third, it might seem unfair to developing countries to not crack down on farm subsidies that the United States provides to its farmers to the tune of more than $20 billion per year. While the WTO is binding the developing countries to protocols, the issue of subsidies by developed giants like US seems to be off the table.
  What does India want?
  India now wants a permanent solution to the issue of public stock holding of food grains. G33 members including China have supported India's stand on the ability to subsidise agricultural production and distribute it to the poor at low cost.
  Why does WTO have a problem with high subsidies?
  WTO argues that if the developing countries continue to give prices to farmers which are higher than the market prices, it might harm the poor farmers in other parts of the world. It also says the deal could add $1 trillion to global gross domestic product and 21 million jobs, by cutting down red tapes. Also according to media reports, the developed world wants the issue of food security to be delinked from the TFA, and could be discussed later.