INTERNATIONAL AUGUST 2016
- World population to reach 9.9 billion in 2050
The world population will reach 9.9 billion in 2050, increasing by 33 per cent from an estimated 7.4 billion now. Population Reference Bureau (PRB) in its report said that the world population would hit 10 billion mark in 2053, with Asia gain about 900 million to 5.3 billion.
President and CEO of PRB Jeffrey Jordan said, despite declines in fertility rates around the world, the global population gains to remain 10 billion. According to PRB's projections the combined population of the world's least developed countries will double by 2050 to 1.9 billion.
The population in 29 countries will more than double, while 42 countries will register declines. According to the estimates of current population, over 25 per cent of the world's population is under 15 years old.
33 countries in Europe and Asia already have more people over age 65 than under 15 the report said. According to PRB, the top ten fertility rates in the world are in sub-Saharan African countries, with nearly all above 6 children per woman. - UNDP urges Africa to harness the full potential of women
The UN on 28th August urged African nations to close a gender gap that is costing an estimated $95 billion a year in lost economic potential. According to UN Development Fund director Helen Clark, where there are high levels of gender inequality, societies are missing out
They are not harnessing the full potential of women, and that costs economically, at the family level, community level and the national level. In many African nations, women are banned from owning or inheriting land, making it hard for them to borrow money. - Tunisia's new unity government takes office
In Tunisia, the new unity government of Prime Minister Youssef Chahed took office in capital Tunis on 29th August. He is Tunisia's youngest premier since independence from France in 1956, and the seventh in less than six years since the 2011 uprising. Poverty, corruption and violent attacks by extremists are some of the major challenges his government faces. - 60% of key South Asian water basin not usable: Study
Sixty per cent of the groundwater in a river basin supporting more than 750 million people in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh is not drinkable or usable for irrigation. The biggest threat to groundwater in the Indo-Gangetic Basin, named after the Indus and Ganges rivers, is not depletion but contamination, they reported in the journal Nature Geoscience.
The two main concerns are salinity and arsenic, the authors of the study wrote. Up to a depth of 650 feet, some 23 per cent of the groundwater stored in the basin is too salty, and about 37 per cent is affected by arsenic at toxic concentrations
The Indo-Gangetic basin accounts for about a quarter of the global extraction of groundwater -- freshwater which is stored underground in crevices and spaces in soil or rock, fed by rivers and rainfall.
Fifteen-to-twenty million wells extract water from the basin every year amid growing concerns about depletion. The new study -- based on local records of groundwater levels and quality from 2000 to 2012 -- found that the water table was in fact stable or rising across about 70 percent of the aquifer.
It was found to be falling in the other 30 per cent, mainly near highly populated areas. Groundwater can become salty through natural and manmade causes, including inefficient farmland irrigation and poor drainage. Arsenic, too, is naturally present, but levels are exacerbated by use of fertilisers and mining. Arsenic poisoning of drinking water is a major problem in the region. - Brazilian Senate removes President Dilma Rousseff from Office
Brazil's Senate has removed President, Dilma Rousseff, from the office for breaking budgetary laws. This ends an impeachment process that polarized the country and paralyzed its politics for nine months. Senators voted 61 to 20 to convict Ms Rousseff for illegally using money from state banks to boost public spending. It has ended 13 years of leftist Workers Party rule in Latin America's largest economy.
Conservative Michel Temer, the former Vice President, who has run Brazil since Rousseff's suspension in May, has been sworn in as 37th President of the country to serve out the remainder of the Presidential term through 2018.
Ms Rousseff, Brazil’s first female President, became the President on 1st January 2011. She denied any wrongdoing and said the impeachment process was a coup aimed at protecting the interests of the country's economic elite and rolling back social programs that lifted millions of Brazilians from poverty during the last decade. Ms Rousseff pledged to appeal against her removal from the power.
Venezuela has announced withdrawal of its ambassador from Brazil and freezing ties with its neighbour in response to the removal of Rousseff from the office. - Gabon's President Bongo re-elected, national assembly set on fire
In Central African country, Gabon, supporters of opposition candidate Jean Ping have set the national assembly on fire after President Ali Bongo was declared winner of presidential election. Police used tear gas and water cannon to try to quell street protests. Bongo secured a second seven-year term with 49.8 per cent of the vote to Mr Ping's 48.2 per cent, a margin of 5,594 votes. Ping disputes the result. - UN calls for international support to address humanitarian crises
The United Nations has called for international support to address humanitarian crises. The UN held a ceremony at its headquarters in New York on 20th August to mark World Humanitarian Day. About 200 people attended, including UN employees and ambassadors from member-countries.
The UN designated August 19th World Humanitarian Day in 2008 in order to raise awareness of the worldwide need for humanitarian assistance. The date marks the anniversary of the 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, which killed 22 UN staffers, including a special representative.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson attended the ceremony on behalf of UN Chief Ban Ki-moon, who was abroad.
He said the UN meets the challenge all over the world, including Syria, South Sudan, Yemen and Somalia, where humanitarian workers and peacekeepers have lost their lives or are risking them.
Secretary-General Ban issued a statement saying that 130 million people are now dependent on humanitarian assistance. He called on governments and societies around the world to prioritize humanity. - World's oldest underground railway in London starts running
The world's oldest underground rail network takes was launched in London. The train through this passage runs on every week ends (Friday and Saturday). Agreement has eventually been reached, trains will run between north and south London and from east to west, before being rolled out on three further lines including to Heathrow Airport.
The scheme is set to boost the capital's economy by 77 million pounds ($100 million) a year, according to the mayor, and could help support London's nightclubs and bars.
The first underground railway service ran between Paddington and Farringdon Street in central London on January 10 1863 and now the "tube," known the world over for its red roundel symbol, stretches well into London's suburbs and beyond. - UN confirms: Dawood in Karachi
India's assertions on Mafia Don Dawood Ibrahim being shielded in Pakistan gets United Nations confirmation, UNSC committee finds 6 out of 9 addresses of Dawood in Karachi provided by India as correct. Six of the nine addresses of Dawood Ibrahim in Pakistan, provided by India, have got an obvious confirmation from the UN which has removed three from the list as those were found to be incorrect.
India, in a dossier, had cited these nine addresses in Pakistan as those frequented by Dawood, the mastermind of 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. The Security Council's ISIL and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee amended its entry concerning Dawood with "underline and strikethrough".
The addresses were included in a dossier prepared by India in August last year that had listed nine residences of Dawaood Ibrahaim in Pakistan as evidence to show that he is holed up in Pakistan. Islamabad has consistently denied that Dawood is living in the country. - Colombian govt and rebel group FARC sign historic peace accord
Colombian government and the rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, have signed a historic peace accord, putting an end to more than five decades of conflict. The agreement was signed by the head of the Colombian delegation, Humberto de la Calle, and the chief FARC negotiator, Ivan Marquez in the Cuban capital Havana on 24th August.
Both sides have reed to work together to address social exclusion, to deliver justice to the victims of the conflict and build a stable and enduring peace. The left-wing rebels have been fighting Colombian government since 1964. The conflict has killed an estimated 220,000 people and displaced millions. - 49,000 children at risk in Nigeria: UN
In Nigeria, the UN has warned that at least 49,000 children in Borno state will die of malnutrition this year, if they do not receive timely help. The UNICEF in a report said that nearly half a million children around Lake Chad face severe acute malnutrition due to drought and a seven-year violent campaign by the armed group, Boko Haram.
It said, despite the military gains, 2.2 million people remain trapped in areas under the control of Boko Haram or are staying in camps, fearful of going home. The war between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government has left at least 20,000 people dead in six years and made more than 2.6 million homeless. - Assad regime launched chemical attacks: UN
According to a United Nations investigation, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces carried out at least two chemical attacks in Syria and that Islamic State jihadists used mustard gas as a weapon, according to a report seen by AFP on 24th August.
The panel was able to identify the perpetrators of three chemical attacks carried out in 2014 and 2015, but was unable to draw conclusions in the other six cases that it has been investigating over the past year. The report from the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) found that the Syrian regime dropped chemical weapons on two villages in northwestern Idlib province: Talmenes on April 21, 2014 and Sarmin on March 16, 2015.
In both instances, Syrian air force helicopters dropped “a device” on houses that was followed by the “release of a toxic substance,” which in the case of Sarmin matched “the characteristics of chlorine.”
The panel found that the Islamic State “was the only entity with the ability, capability, motive and the means to use sulphur mustard” in an attack on the town of Marea in northern Aleppo province on August 21, 2015.
The Assad regime has repeatedly denied that it has used chemical weapons in Syria, but the report said that in all three cases, it had “sufficient information to reach a conclusion on the actors involved.”
The JIM was set up by the Security Council a year ago to investigate the use of chemical weapons and for the first time to determine who is responsible for the attacks. Most of the nine cases investigated pointed to the alleged use of chlorine gas in barrel bombs dropped from helicopters. - Philippine govt, communist rebels sign ceasefire deal
The Philippine government and Communist guerrillas on 26th August signed an indefinite ceasefire deal to facilitate peace talks aimed at ending one of Asia's longest-running insurgencies. President Rodrigo Duterte's peace adviser said at a signing ceremony in Norway, that both sides agreed to implement unilateral ceasefires which are unlimited in time. Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende described the agreement as a major breakthrough.
The two parties have been meeting in Oslo since 22nd August. The Communist Party of the Philippines launched a rebellion in 1968 that has so far claimed the lives of 30,000 people. - Burkini ban suspended by France's top administrative court
France's highest administrative court has suspended a ban on full-body "burkini" swimsuits that was imposed in the town of Villeneuve-Loubet. It said the ban seriously and illegally breached fundamental freedom of beliefs and individual freedom.
The ruling could set a precedent for up to 30 other towns that have imposed the ban. The court will make a final decision on the legality of the bans later. A lawyer said that people who had been fined could claim their money back. The burkini ban has ignited fierce debate in France and worldwide. - UNSC condemned North Korea for test-firing ballistic missiles
China has joined the 14 other members of the UN Security Council in strongly condemning North Korea for test-firing ballistic missiles. The Security Council issued a unanimous statement, agreeing to take "significant measures" in response to the latest series of launches.
North Korea has test-fired several ballistic missiles in July and August, including one from a submarine towards Japan on 25th August. The UN urged member states to redouble efforts to implement sanctions against Pyongyang, including the latest and toughest measures imposed by the council in March. North Korea has been hit by five sets of UN sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006. - Singapore trials driverless taxis in world first
The world's first driverless taxis went into operation in Singapore in a limited public trial, beating giants like Uber in the race to roll out the revolutionary technology. The "robo-taxi service" is being tested at a small research campus well away from the thrum of the Asian business hub.
Data from the experiment will feed into the roll-out of driverless taxis across the city-state in 2018, said nuTonomy, a US-based tech start-up that developed the software used in the vehicles.
The six taxis - Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric vehicles - will operate in a 2.5 square mile (4.0 square kilometre) area, with set pick-up and drop-off points. Trips have to be booked through the company's smartphone app. Although the high-tech cars will drive themselves, each journey will be accompanied by a nuTonomy engineer, who will observe how the machine performs, and be ready to take over in the event of a problem.
It has also established a USD 300 million venture with Chinese-owned, Swedish-based Volvo to develop self-driving cars for sale by 2021. - China calls for swift formulation of code of conduct for South China Sea
China has called for swift formulation of a legally-binding code of conduct for the South China Sea at a meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. China and the ASEAN countries held working-level talks on a code of conduct in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on 16th August. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin stressed its intention to accelerate efforts to set up the code demanded by the ASEAN nations. The officials also discussed emergency hotlines and steps to prevent maritime accidents.
- Russia launches first Syria raids from Iran base
Russia has said its warplanes flew out of an Iranian airbase for the first time to bomb jihadist groups in Syria, as fighting raged for control of the ravaged city of Aleppo. The United States said the Russian move made the Syrian crisis even more difficult, but it credited Moscow with having given it a brief advance warning.
The defence ministry in Moscow said long-range warplanes took off from Hamedan base in western Iran and “conducted a group air strike against targets of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist groups in the provinces of Aleppo, Deir Ezzor and Idlib”. The strikes destroyed jihadist targets including weapons depots and command centres, “killing a large number of fighters,” Moscow said.
Separately, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 23 civilians were killed in Russian and Syrian strikes on rebel-held areas in Aleppo, Syria’s second city. Nine civilians were also killed in government-held areas by rebel shelling, it said. The deployment from Iran marks a major switch in the bombing campaign the Kremlin launched in September to support Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, as until now Moscow had only flown raids out of its bases in Syria and Russia.
Iran and Russia are the two firmest backers of the Assad regime, with Tehran commanding thousands of troops fighting for him on the ground while Russia provides airpower. Both oppose calls for Assad to step down as a way of resolving the conflict that has killed more than 290,000 people since it erupted in March 2011. - China, ASEAN countries agree to form South China Sea framework
China and ten members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN] have agreed to form a framework for a code of conduct to ease tension in the disputed South China Sea. They also agreed to set the sea rules and guidelines for a hotline for use during maritime emergencies for avoiding conflict.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said documents on the hotline and unplanned encounters would be presented for final approval to leaders in Laos next month at a meeting between China and ASEAN members. - China, Myanmar agree to enhance cooperation on Myitsone Dam project
China and Myanmar agreed on 18th August to enhance cooperation between energy departments to find a proper solution for the suspended Myitsone Dam project. The agreement was finalized during talks between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, who started a five-day official visit to China. The Myitsone Dam is jointly funded by China and Myanmar, but was suspended by the Myanmar government in 2011. - Melbourne wins world's 'most liveable city' award sixth year in a row
Melbourne is the world’s most liveable city for the sixth year running according the Economist’s global liveability survey.
The top five most liveable cities remained unchanged: Melbourne followed by Vienna, Vancouver and Toronto. Adelaide and Calgary in Canada tied for fifth place. Vancouver was the number one city before being overtaken by Melbourne in 2011, which possibly explains why Doyle skips calling Michael Häupl, mayor of second-placed Vienna, for gloating to Robertson.
Sydney fell four places from seventh in 2015 to 11th in the 2016 survey “owing to a heightened perceived threat of terrorism”. It’s the second blow to Sydney’s self confidence in a week. On Monday the city fell from first to second place on Conde Nast’s 2016 list of the friendliest cities.
Melbourne maintained its overall liveability score of 97.5, determined by its score across five broad categories of stability (95), healthcare (100), culture and environment (95.1), education (100) and infrastructure (100). - Russia ready to support proposal for 48-hour ceasefire in Aleppo: UN
U.N. says Russia is ready to support its proposal of a 48-hour ceasefire in the Syrian city of Aleppo to provide humanitarian assistance. UN Special Envoy for Syria de Mistura said Russia must ensure its allied Syrian Government forces adhere to the ceasefire, while the United States and regional powers must ensure opposition fighters are also respects the truce. Russia on 18th August said, it would support a 48-hour ceasefire to supply humanitarian relief to Aleppo citizens. - China opens world's longest glass bridge
In central China, the much-heralded world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge has opened to visitors. It connects two mountain cliffs in what are known as the Avatar Mountains in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province. Completed in December, the 430 m-long bridge cost 3.4 million dollars to build and stands 300 metre above ground. It has been paved with 99 panes of three-layered transparent glass. The 6 metre-wide bridge - designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan - has already set world records for its architecture and construction. Park officials have said a maximum of 8,000 visitors will be allowed on the bridge each day. - Thailand votes on new constitution that could dilute democracy
Thais voted on 7th August in a referendum on a new constitution that critics say is tailor-made for the military government to stay in control for several years and entrench a new, quasi-democratic system that gives vast powers to appointed officials.
The junta, which came to power in a May 2014 coup and ordered rewriting of the constitution, says the new version will usher in a new era of clean politics and stable democracy in a country chronically short of both in recent years, sometimes sliding into violent internal political conflict.
Still, the government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a retired army general, used its sweeping powers to ban political rallies, independent campaigns against the draft constitution and virtually no debates on it.
Opponents say this was done to ensure that people would have little knowledge about the constitution's provisions, even though 1 million copies are claimed to have been distributed to the public in a nation of 64 million people. More than 100 people who tried to campaign against the referendum on social media have been thrown in jail, and open criticism has been made punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The main criticism of the draft constitution includes at least five years of a transitional period and a 250-member appointed Senate that includes the commanders of the army and other security services. A deadlock in the 500-member elected lower house could trigger a selection of a prime minister who is not an elected member of parliament.
Also, emergency decrees enacted by the junta without any parliamentary consent remain valid. So-called independent bodies, stacked with conservative appointees, would hold "disproportionately broad and unchecked powers" over elected politicians, said the international human rights consortium FIDH and the Union for Civil Liberty in Thailand
The draft charter creates undemocratic institutions, weakens the power of future elected governments, and is likely to fuel political instability," they said in a report. Even if Thais vote "no," the military will remain in control for the foreseeable future. Prayuth has promised to hold elections next year, without elaborating on how that would happen if voters reject the draft constitution.
Thailand has endured 13 successful military coups and 11 attempted takeovers since it replaced absolute with a constitutional monarchy in 1932. If passed, this would be Thailand's 20th constitution. - Countries agree on refugee document ahead of New York summit: UN
United Nation member states have reached on an agreement ahead of the first-ever summit on addressing the large movements of refugees and migrants to be held in New York in September. Karen AbuZayd, the UN's special adviser on the summit, said if all the commitments in the non-binding agreement are met, refugee camps would become the exception and a framework would be put in place to handle every new large outflow of refugees. She said that under the agreement countries would agree to resettle some one million refugees by 2017. The agreement comes at a time that refugees and migrants have become a divisive issue in Europe and the United States. - Russia, Turkey agree to restore ties after diplomatic rift
Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to work toward restoring full relations with Turkey, but said rebuilding trade ties will be time consuming.
He said after meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Saint Petersburg. Both the leaders patched their relations and pledged to restore close economic relations. President Putin said Russian trade sanctions on Turkey would be phased out step by step.
The visiting leader said the two countries will restore their yearly bilateral trade target of 100 billion dollars and will speed up the resumption of charter flights from Russia to Turkey.
The Turkish leader also said he is ready to build a natural gas pipeline with Russia and negotiate a deal to construct Turkey's first nuclear power plant. The two agreed to meet later to seek common ground over how to resolve the crisis in Syria. It was Erdogan's first visit to Putin's hometown of Saint Petersburg after the failed coup in Turkey in July, 2016. - U.S. approves sale of arms worth $1.15 bn to Saudi Arabia
The United States has approved the possible sale to Saudi Arabia of up to 153 tanks, hundreds of machine guns and other military gear in a deal worth $1.15 billion. The announcement coincided with news that Saudi-led coalition warplanes had resumed air strikes on Yemen’s capital for the first time in three months, killing 14 people and shutting the airport after UN-brokered talks were suspended.
State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said she was “very concerned” by 9th August casualty reports, but did not directly comment when asked if the State Department worried U.S. weapons being sent to Saudi Arabia could be used against civilians.
According to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), Riyadh had requested the possible purchase of up to 133 American M1A1/A2 Abrams tanks that would be configured to Saudi needs, plus another 20 to replace damaged tanks in their fleet. Additionally, the deal would include 153 .50-caliber machine guns, 266 7.62mm M240 machine guns and a range of other hardware.
The U.S. State Department has approved the “possible” sale and notified Congress on Monday, the DSCA said. Congress has 30 days to block the sale, though is unlikely to do so. Last November, the U.S. approved a $1.29-billion deal to replenish the Saudi air force’s arsenal, depleted by its bombing campaign in Yemen. - Russia announces war games after accusing Ukraine of terrorist plot
Vladimir Putin summoned his security council and the Russian Navy announced war games in the Black Sea a day after the Russian president accused Ukraine of trying to provoke a conflict over Crimea, which Moscow seized and annexed in 2014. The belligerent posture heightened worries in Ukraine that Russia may plan to ramp up fighting in a war between Kiev and pro-Russian eastern separatists that had been de-escalated by a shaky peace process.
Using some of his most aggressive rhetoric against Kiev since the height of the war two years ago, Putin has pledged to take counter-measures against Ukraine, which he accused of sending saboteurs into Crimea to carry out terrorist acts.
Ukraine has called the accusations false and says they look like a pretext for Russia to escalate hostilities. Such an escalation could be used by Putin to demand better terms in the Ukraine peace process, or to inflame nationalist passions at home ahead of Russian parliamentary elections next month
The Russian leader met his top military and intelligence service brass on 11th August and reviewed scenarios for counter-terrorism security measures along the land border, offshore and in Crimean air space
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he had ordered all Ukrainian units near Crimea and in eastern Ukraine onto the highest state of combat readiness. He was seeking to urgently speak to Putin, the leaders of France and Germany, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and European Council President Donald Tusk.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said the United States was extremely concerned and called on both sides to reduce tension and rhetoric.
In New York, the U.N. Security Council held a closed-door meeting at Ukraine’s request to discuss the growing tensions. Ukrainian U.N. Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko warned that Russia had amassed more than 40,000 troops in the region and said the build-up could reflect “very bad intentions.” - Ban launches new initiatives enhancing UN efforts to work with and for world's youth
Bolstering the commitment of the United Nations to work with and for the world's youth, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 12th August announced several key initiatives towards that end, including the formation of an expert group on 'youth, peace and security,' and naming a new envoy on youth employment.
Ban used the opportunity provided by International Youth Day, celebrated annually on 12 August, to announce the new steps to address advance peace promote employment and tackle poverty.
He announced the formation of an Advisory Group of Experts for the Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security, as mandated by UN Security Council resolution, the first such measure to recognize the important and positive role young women and men play in the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security.
The UN chief announced a new Special Envoy for Youth Employment, the former Chancellor of Austria, Werner Faymann. With more than 70 million youths are unemployed worldwide, the new official will aim to help tackle the challenge posed by the fact that young people have all the skills and energy needed to contribute to society – but they lack opportunities for decent work.
The Secretary-General also said that the UN will name the first-ever class of 17 young leaders for sustainable development from among 20,000 nominations, and bring the winners to the UN Headquarters in September. - Venezuela and Colombia agree to gradual reopening of border
Venezuela and Colombia agreed to the gradual reopening of their border one year after the Venezuelan government closed crossings to crack down on smuggling. The announcement came after Presidents Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia met in the Venezuelan city of Puerto Ordaz. The two agreed to begin the process starting Saturday. Officials will open five border checkpoints for pedestrians from 6am to 9pm each day.
Venezuelans have been desperate to cross into Colombia to buy basics as shortages worsen in their economically struggling country, an OPEC member that has been hit hard by the fall in oil prices. Some people in the towns on the Venezuelan side of the border have died after being refused permission to cross to better-stocked Colombian hospitals.
Hundreds of Venezuelans stormed a border checkpoint in July and illegally crossed into Colombia for the day to go grocery shopping.
In the weeks following that incident, Venezuela temporarily opened the border for short periods to allow people to buy food and medicine. More than 100,000 Venezuelans crossed into Colombia during a temporary weekend border opening in July. Many had driven in caravans through the night for a chance at snagging precious goods.
Venezuela's government closed all crossings a year ago to try to stem smuggling along the 1,378-mile (2,219- kilometer) border.
Before the border was shut, more than 100,000 people crossed the border daily, Venezuela's government said. That number shrank to just 3,000 a day after the closure, nonprofit groups working in the region said. Some people were given special permission to cross, including students attending school in Colombia and some chronically ill patients.
Smuggling of price-controlled gasoline and food into Colombia fell 70 percent after the closure, according to the Venezuelan National Guard. - Russia deploys air defence missile system in Crimea
The Russian military said it had delivered its most advanced air defence system to Crimea after pledging July to deploy it to the disputed region. Troops in Crimea had "received the modern S-400 'Triumph' air defence system". The announcement comes as tensions between Ukraine and Russia have soared over the contested peninsula. - Sri Lanka and China sign tripartite agreement to construct Financial City Center in capital Colombo
Sri Lanka and China have finally signed a tripartite agreement to proceed with the construction of a Financial City Center in capital Colombo. Sri Lanka's Urban Development Authority, the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development and the China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd signed the agreement on 12th August for the development of Colombo International Financial City (CIFC) formerly known as the Colombo Port City. - Yemen accepts UN-proposed peace agreement to end armed conflict with rebels
The Yemeni government on 31st July said it has accepted a UN-proposed peace agreement to end more than a year of armed conflict, but there has been no word from the rebels. The announcement by the Saudi-backed government came after a high-level meeting in Riyadh chaired by Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. Yemen's Foreign Minister Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi, who is leading negotiating team in Kuwait City, said he has sent a letter to the UN special envoy informing him the government backed the Kuwait Agreement.
He said, under the agreement, all decisions made by the rebels since they occupied the capital Sana'a in September 2014 will be scrapped. - Tunisian PM Habib Essid loses confidence vote
Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid has lost a confidence vote in parliament, after just a year and a half in office. A total of 118 MPs on 30th July voted to unseat the Tunisian PM, three voted for him to stay at the helm and 27 abstained. Essid's government has been widely criticised for failing to tackle the country's economic crisis, high unemployment and a series of jihadist attacks. - China contradicts NPT consensus: Arms control Association
The Arms Control Association says that the China continues to hail the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) as the cornerstone of global non-proliferation regime, but the country itself has violated the consensus arrived at the 2010 NPT review conference on supply of nuclear technology by transferring nuclear reactors to Pakistan.
This observation on China's supply of nuclear reactors to Pakistan, a country which is not under IAEA safeguards, comes from Arms Control Association, one of leading authorities on nuclear weapons and disarmament, in its latest report assessing progress on non-proliferation.
China has blocked India's membership of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) saying that participation of a non-NPT signatory in the group will weaken the international non-proliferation regime.
The report says that the China's 2013 deal for the Chasma-3 reactor in Pakistan contradicts the consensus document of the 2010 NPT Review Conference, which "reaffirms those new supply arrangements" for the transfer of nuclear materials and technology should require that the recipient accept "IAEA full-scope safeguards and international legally-binding commitments not to acquire nuclear weapons". Islamabad has accepted neither.
India, which has not signed NPT, has singled out China for creating procedural hurdles in its NSG membership bid but has also chosen to remain engaged with Beijing over the issue, hoping that it will review its position at some stage. Ahead of the NSG meetings in Vienna and Seoul in June, China wrote to NSG chair Rafael Mariano Grossi saying NPT membership constituted one of the "prerequisite factors" for consideration of NSG participation and that more discussions were needed before any "specific non-NPT" state could be allowed in.
China's NSG membership since 2004 has not come in the way of its stated supply of as many as 6 reactors to Pakistan's Chasma nuclear power complex.
It is widely held that in helping Pakistan with its nuclear energy programme, China has chosen to override NSG guidelines and shown no regard for the reservations expressed by its members who control international nuclear commerce
The report also accuses China of not keeping its commitment in 2000 to not help any country in the development of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. That commitment was seen as important for China's application for membership of Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) 4 years later. While India has now become a member of MTCR, China's application remains blocked.
Despite NSG membership and partial compliance with the MTCR, according to the report, serious concerns remain over the Chinese government's ability to control the import and export of dual-use technologies, particularly for ballistic missile development. - North Korea fires missile into Japanese waters
North Korea on 3rd August fired a ballistic missile directly into Japanese-controlled waters for the first time, drawing an angry response from Tokyo and ramping up tensions with the U.S. and the South. The U.S. military said the North had actually launched two Rodong intermediate-range missiles simultaneously, but one appeared to have exploded on take-off. The launches followed a North Korean threat of “physical action” over the planned deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea, and came just weeks before the start of joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises.
Investigation sought: The United States, Japan and 10 other countries have requested a UN investigation of North Korea's ballistic missile tests in a move that could lead to targeted sanctions, according to a joint letter obtained by AFP.
Ten Security Council members along with Australia and South Korea asked the UN sanctions committee to "review carefully the known details" about the July 18 launch of three Scud ballistic missiles and a No Dong intermediate-range missile.
The investigation could identify individuals and companies involved in North Korea's missile program who could face targeted sanctions including a global visa ban and assets freeze. - US says, it will not pay Pakistan $300 mn in military reimbursements
U.S military says, it will not pay Pakistan 300 million dollars in military reimbursements. According to Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump, the funds will not be released to the Pakistan because the Secretary has not certified that Pakistan has taken sufficient action against the Haqqani network, a guerrilla insurgent group. The 300 million dollars comes under the Coalition Support Fund, CSF, a U.S. Defense Department program to reimburse allies that have incurred costs in supporting counter terrorist and counter insurgency operations. Pakistan is the largest recipient of CSF. There has been growing resistance in the U.S. Congress to sending money to Pakistan. - Yazidis still victims of Islamic State militants group: UN panel
A United Nations investigative panel says, the Islamic State militants group, IS, is still committing genocide and other crimes against the Yazidi minority group in Iraq. UN Commission of inquiry said, crimes such as genocide are still being committed against the Yazidis, and called for action to prevent further deaths and suffering of the persecuted group.
The commission's statement was released on the second anniversary of a massacre committed by Islamic State militants in Sinjar, Iraq. At least 5,000 Yazidis, mostly men and boys, were killed during the 2014 attack on the Iraqi city. More than 3,200 women and children are still held by IS and are subjected to almost unimaginable violence, the UN panel said. - China joins Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan in security alliance
China is to set up an anti-terrorism alliance with Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. China seeks to boost coordination with neighbours to tackle what it says is a growing domestic militant threat.
Fang Fenghui, a member of the powerful Central Military Commission which controls China's armed forces, hosted a meeting with his counterparts on 3rd August in Urumqi, capital of the western Xinjiang region, where officials say they are battling Islamist militants.
The four countries recognised the serious threat of terrorism and extremism to regional stability, the official Xinhua news agency said, and they agreed to set up a "four-country mechanism" for intelligence sharing and training.
China has long been concerned that instability in Afghanistan will spill over into violence-prone Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people, where hundreds of people have died in recent years in unrest Beijing blames on extremists.
The United States and the United Nations have listed ETIM as a terrorist group, though some experts have questioned its cohesiveness and say China's policies in Xinjiang have contributed to unrest.
China denies that its policies stoke tension in Xinjiang or motivate Uighurs to join Islamic State militants, though it acknowledges some have gone to Syria and Iraq to join the group.
China is also working with Pakistan and the United States to broker peace talks to end a Taliban insurgency that has raged for 15 years in Afghanistan. - Iran bans Pokemon Go app over security concerns
Authorities in Iran have banned the Pokemon Go app because of unspecified security concerns. The decision was taken by the High Council of Virtual Spaces. Iran follows a number of other countries in expressing its worries over security related to the game. But it becomes the first country to issue a ban of Pokemon Go, that challenges players to visit real-world locations to catch cartoon monsters. Despite restrictions on internet usage Iranians on social media have discussed playing Pokemon Go in recent time. Indonesia has banned police officers from playing the game while on duty, and a French player was arrested last month after straying on to a military base while trying to catch Pokemon. - Saudi Arabia sets up crisis management group for laid-off Indians
Saudi Arabia has set up a crisis management group to address difficulties being faced by thousands of laid-off Indian workers while a separate panel has been appointed to look into their claims relating to unpaid wages.
The External Affairs Ministry said a little more time will be required to have full clarity on how many Indians want to come home and how many would like to remain in Saudi Arabia to pursue employment with other companies etc.
Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh returned home after traveling to Saudi Arabia and holding extensive talks with Saudi Labour Minister Mufrej Al Haqbani who promised urgent action to resolve the problems of around 7,000 Indians.
The workers who want to leave Saudi Arabia can authorise the Indian consulate in Jeddah to follow up on their cases in labour courts and proceed on exit.
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