INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016
- Few new pledges at U.N. talks to resettle Syrian refugees
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on countries on 30th March to re-settle nearly half a million Syrian refugees in the next three years, but only Italy, Sweden and the United States immediately announced plans to play a part.
The United Nations refugee agency aims to re-settle some 480,000, about 10 percent of those now in neighbouring countries, by the end of 2018, but concedes it is battling to overcome widespread fear and political wrangling. Prior to ministerial-level talks, countries had pledged 179,000 places since 2013, refugee agency figures show.
The European Union proposed that 54,000 places never attributed under the EU's own relocation scheme be used to admit Syrian refugees from Turkey, on a voluntary basis
The EU and Turkey struck an agreement intended to cut off the flow from Syria, but arrivals along the main migrant route into Greece rose sharply
Migrant flows from sub-Saharan Africa across the Mediterranean are picking up too, and Italy's coast guard and navy vessels rescued 1,361 from boats and rubber dinghies
Ban urged countries to pledge new legal pathways for admitting the refugees, such as resettlement or humanitarian admission, family reunions, as well as labour and study opportunities. - Canada to accept additional 10,000 Syrian refugees
Canada will take in an additional 10,000 Syrian refugees, adding to the more than 25,000 already received in the last few months, said immigration minister John McCallum. According to him the Canadian Broadcasting Corp was responding to complaints from Canadian groups who want to sponsor Syrian refugees but did not have their applications processed quickly enough to be among the government’s initial target of 25,000.
The Liberal government won election in October 2015 pledging to bring in more Syrian refugees more quickly than the previous Conservative government. Private groups including church, family and community organizations had lined up to sponsor Syrian families.
A total of 26,200 Syrian refugees had arrived in Canada as of 28 March, according to the immigration department. But nearly 16,000 more applications are in process or have been finalized, even though the refugees have not yet arrived, according to official figures.
McCallum said he has instructed bureaucrats to extend the deadline for submitting sponsorship applications to Thursday from the initial 1 March deadline, which should allow the department to process the backlog. - North Korea fires short-range projectile into sea: South Korea
North Korea test-fired a short-range missile into the sea off its east coast on 29th March, South Korea's military said, amid heightened tension over the isolated country's nuclear and rocket programs.
The missile was fired from near the North Korean coastal town of Wonsan and flew northeast for about 200 km, Seoul's Joint Chief of Staff said in a statement.
It was the third such launch by the North in two weeks, as the isolated state stepped up its military threats to protest ongoing Seoul-Washington joint army drills being held south of the border.
The latest launch comes ahead of trilateral talks between the leaders of the US, Japan and South Korea on Thursday aimed at discussing the growing threat of a nuclear-armed North. - Children in Yemen bearing brunt of brutal war: UNICEF
Hundreds of thousands of children in Yemen face life-threatening malnutrition and millions lack access to health care or clean water due to the year-old war there, the U.N. Children's Fund said on 29th March.
The report "Childhood on the Brink" said, on average, at least six children have been killed or injured every day.
UNICEF has confirmed 934 children directly killed and 1,356 injured, but says they are only a tip of the iceberg. Nearly half of Yemen's 22 provinces are on the verge of famine and over 13 million people need food aid, the U.N.'s World Food Programme said. - US President Barack Obama visits Cuba
Barack Obama on 20th March became the first US president in 88 years to visit Cuba, touching down in Havana for a landmark trip aimed at ending decades of Cold War animosity.
Obama is not only the first sitting US president since Fidel Castro's guerrillas overthrew the US-backed government of Fulgencio Batista in 1959, but the first since President Calvin Coolidge in 1928.
Seeking to leave a historic foreign policy mark in his final year in office, Obama will tour the newly reopened US embassy and old town Havana late Sunday, hold talks with Cuban President Raul Castro on Monday and attend a baseball game before leaving Tuesday.
For Cubans dreaming of escaping isolation and reinvigorating their threadbare economy, the visit has created huge excitement.
Obama hopes that a host of incremental and seemingly technical steps will open Cuba's economy, transforming the island economically and politically, backers of the policy say. In the latest such move, the US government gave the home rental platform Airbnb a green light to accept bookings in Cuba from non-American customers.
Obama, Castro hail new day for US-Cuba relations
US President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro vowed in Havana to set aside their differences in pursuit of what the US President called a new day for the relationship between the neighbours.
On 20th March, Cuban President Raul Castro and President Barack Obama agreed to work together, despite wrangling over human rights. Mr Castro said, more needed to be done to lift the US embargo on trade with Cuba and that the Guantanamo Bay detention camp must close.
Trying to draw a line under past heavy handed US intervention in the island's affairs, Obama vowed that Cuba's destiny will not be decided by the United States or any other nation. But he insisted that Washington was not going to give up pressing for political freedoms in Cuba, where the Communist Party controls politics, the media and the economy.
He said, the United States will continue to speak up on behalf of democracy. Meeting Castro for only the third time for formal talks, Obama was greeted by a military band at the Palace of the Revolution. Obama said, the trade embargo would be fully lifted. He is the first sitting President to visit Cuba in 88 years. - North Korea fires five short-range missiles into sea
North Korea on 21st March fired five short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast. An official with South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were launched from near the eastern city of Hamhung, and landed in the East Sea (Sea of Japan).
The launches came just days after the North test-fired two medium-range missiles, in what the UN Security Council described as an unacceptable violation of UN resolutions. Tensions have been soaring on the divided Korean peninsula since the North carried out its fourth nuclear test on January 6, followed a month later by a long-range rocket launch that was widely seen as a disguised ballistic missile test. - Belgian Capital Brussels comes under terror attacks
At least 31 people have been killed and more than 81 others seriously injured in terrorist attacks at Brussels international airport and a city metro station. Belgium's Health Minister said two blasts hit Zaventem airport at, and another struck Maelbeek metro station an hour later. The government has not confirmed casualty numbers.
Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur said 20 died at Maelbeek and 11 dead at the airport. Belgium has now raised its terror threat to its highest level. The attacks come four days after Salah Abdeslam, the main fugitive in the Paris attacks, was seized in Brussels. The airport and whole transport system in Brussels are closed. - India among five countries to develop vaccines against Zika virus: WHO
India is among five countries where projects are underway to develop vaccines to fight the Zika virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) says, at present, more than 30 companies are working on, or have developed, potential new diagnostic tests.
WHO's Director-General Margaret Chan said that in less than a year, the status of Zika has changed from a mild medical curiosity to a disease with severe public health implications. Zika virus is posing severe public health implications and is linked to neonatal malformations and neurological disorders affecting newborns.
The virus is currently circulating in 38 countries and territories. The WHO had in February declared the Zika virus outbreak as an international public health emergency. Experts have agreed that a reliable, point-of-care diagnostic test is the most urgent priority. - US lawmakers introduce legislation to help India join APEC
A group of influential American lawmakers have introduced a legislation asking the Obama administration to help India join the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, Matt Salmon on 23rd March said that membership of the APEC would provide India a constructive forum to glean insight from other Asian countries that have already taken significant steps to advance their economies. Mr Salmon, who introduced the legislation in the US Congress, said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is striving for major economic reforms to open India's markets, improve trade volume, and facilitate his growing population's need for continued job growth.
The legislation notes that the US-India partnership is vital to the US strategic interests in the Asia-Pacific region and across the globe.
Singapore-headquartered APEC is a forum for 21 economies to promote free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Important members of the APEC are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Singapore, and the United States. - North Korea claims more progress in missile development
North Korea said on 24th October that it had successfully conducted a high-powered, solid-fuel rocket engine test, which if confirmed would be a major step forward in boosting its missile attack capability against South Korea and the United States.
North Korea uses liquid propellants for its main ballistic missiles that target South Korea, US bases in the Asia-Pacific region and the American mainland.
Such missiles need to be fuelled before they are launched, so it is relatively difficult to use them on short notice. The use of solid propellants, already loaded inside missiles, reduces launch preparation time and increases the mobility of the weapons, making it harder to detect signs before they are launched.
The North's state media said that leader Kim Jong-un expressed delight after observing the successful testing of a "large-output solid fuel rocket engine," which made an "earth-shaking" sound as it spit out a large beam of fire. Kim said that the test will enhance a missile capability that will "mercilessly" strike enemies, an apparent reference to South Korea and the United States.
It is not possible to independently confirm the North's statement or other high-profile announcements from the secretive, tightly controlled country.
The North's test appears intended to use solid propellants for missiles with a range of 400-500 kilometres that can place entire South Korea in its striking range, and Pyongyang will likely try to do the same on medium- and long-range missiles, according to analyst Chae Yeon-seok at South Korea's state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute. Chae said the North already uses solid propellants for some short-range missiles.
In recent weeks, North Korea has launched missiles and other weapons into the sea and escalated threats of attacks in response to ongoing annual South Korea-US military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal. The drills are the biggest, and come after North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test and launched a long-range rocket earlier this year. - Yemen Ceasefire April 10, Peace Talks April 18: UN
A special UN envoy announced on 23rd March a ceasefire across Yemen on April 10 followed a week later by fresh peace talks, raising hopes for a breakthrough in a war that has brought the impoverished Arab country to its knees.
Yemen has been gripped by violence since September 2014, when Iran-backed Huthi rebels stormed the capital Sanaa and forced the internationally recognized government to flee south to the second city of Aden. The parties to the conflict have agreed to a nationwide cessation of hostilities beginning April 10 at midnight in advance of the upcoming round of the peace talks, which will take place on April 18 in Kuwait," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed told a press conference in New York.
More than 6,300 people have been killed in Yemen since a Saudi-led coalition -- which includes Kuwait -- began an air war in March last year to push back an offensive by the Huthi rebels, who control Sanaa.
Previous UN-sponsored negotiations between the Shiite rebels and government officials failed to reach a breakthrough, while a ceasefire went into force on December 15 but it was repeatedly violated and the Saudi-led coalition announced an end to the truce on January 2.
In the February, 2016 the UN envoy warned that the warring parties were unable to agree on terms for a new round of peace talks, but those divisions appear to have been overcome.
The face-to-face negotiations are in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216, which states that the rebels must withdraw from seized territories and disarm. The envoy said he hoped the cessation of hostilities would allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access to millions of suffering Yemenis. The year-long coalition campaign has faced criticism over civilian casualties.
The UN said earlier this month that Saudi-led raids are responsible for the vast majority of the estimated 3,200 civilian deaths in the Yemen war. - US says it hasn't changed position on Syria's Assad
The Obama administration has maintained that President Bashar Assad shouldn't lead Syria any longer, rejecting a Russian claim that the US has changed its position. Interfax news agency quoted Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov saying Washington now accepts Moscow's argument that Assad's future shouldn't be open for negotiation right now.
Assad's Russian-backed government and Western-supported rebels recently concluded a round of peace talks and will meet again next month. Secretary of State John Kerry visited President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials in the Kremlin this week to plot the next steps.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said: "Any suggestion that we have changed in any way our view of Assad's future is false. Assad has lost his legitimacy to govern. We haven't changed our view on that.
The US softened demands last year for Assad's immediate departure, but still insists he should resign at some point in a political transition process. Russia says outside powers shouldn't try to determine Syria's leadership. Assad has offered no indication he is willing to leave power.
At least 250,000 people, and perhaps as many as a half million, have been killed in the five-year civil war. The fighting also has spawned Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II and has led to the emergence of the Islamic State group. - India leads renewable energy charge
India and China led developing countries in investments made in renewable energy in 2015, when for the first time commitments in solar, wind and other renewables capacity by emerging economies surpassed those by wealthy nations, a UN-backed report has said.
The report “Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016” by the UN Environment Programme said the developing world including China, India and Brazil committed a total of $156 billion in new renewables capacity last year, up 19 per cent on 2014. Investments by developed countries were down eight per cent in 2015 to $130 billion.
The year 2015 was the first time when investment in renewables in developing countries outweighed that in developed economies, the report said.
A large part of the record-breaking investment in developing countries took place in China, which lifted its investment by 17 per cent to $102.9 billion, more than a third of global commitments. India was also among the top 10 investing countries in renewable energy, with its commitments rising 22 per cent to $10.2 billion. The US, Japan, UK Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and Chile all made it to the top 10 investing countries in 2015.
Within the developing-economy category, the “Big Three” of China, India and Brazil saw investment rise 16 per cent to $120.2 billion, while other developing economies enjoyed a 30 per cent bounce to $36.1 billion.
Among developed countries, investment in Europe was down 21%, from $62 billion in 2014 to $48.8 billion in 2015, the continent's lowest figure for nine years despite record investments in offshore wind projects. The US was up 19% to $44.1 billion, and in Japan investment was much the same as the previous year at $36.2 billion.
The report said India enjoyed a second successive year of increasing investment, breaching the $10 billion for the first time since 2011. It added that the highlight of India's performance in 2015 was a jump in utility-scale solar financings to $4.6 billion, up 75% on the previous year, although still a little below the 2011 record of $4.9 billion.
Among the big projects getting the financial go-ahead were the NTPC Kadiri PV plant phase one, at 250 MW, and the Adani Ramanathapuram PV installation, at 200 MW. - Russia begin withdrawal of its troops in Syria
Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked his defence minister to begin pulling out the main part of Russian troops in Syria. The announcement came just hours after peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition got under way in the Swiss city of Geneva on 13th March. Putin expressed hope that the withdrawal of Russian troops from today will be a stimulus for a political resolution of the conflict.
After talks resumed in Geneva to end the conflict, Syria's top government negotiator described as positive and constructive his meeting with Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy for Syria. Bashar Jaafari, Syria's Ambassador to the UN said the government is interested in a dialogue that is Syrian-led without foreign intervention and precondition. For his part, Salim al-Muslat, of the opposition High Negotiations Committee said his side is also optimistic but it insisted on a political transition in Syria without President Bashar al-Assad. - One-third of Syrian children were born during war, UNICEF report finds
One-third of all Syrian children were born in the five years that conflict has convulsed their country, the United Nations said on Monday in a report that suggests a new lost generation.
More than 300,000 of these children, who total about 3.7 million, were born as refugees, according to the report by Unicef, the United Nations Children’s Fund. It said their lives had been “shaped by violence, fear and displacement.”
In all, Unicef estimated that 8.4 million Syrian children, or 80 percent of Syria’s 18-and-under population, are in urgent need of humanitarian aid, either in Syria or in neighboring countries.
The report added to a body of measurements about the Syrian war’s destructive effect, particularly on children, as many grow into adolescence and adulthood orphaned, uneducated, unemployed and hungry.
In the first week of March, 2016, the charity Save the Children said in an assessment of the conflict that at least a quarter-million children lived in besieged areas of the country and that some ate animal feed and grass to survive.
Unicef said some of the war’s worst excesses had taken place in 2015. Its report documented nearly 1,500 “grave violations against children” last year, more than half of them from explosive weapons in populated areas. The report estimated that more than 2.1 million children in Syria were out of school last year. - Unsafe environment causes 23% deaths in 11 Asian nations: WHO
The WHO estimates that at least 3.8 million people die every year in just 11 South-East Asian countries due to unsafe work and living environment.
In a new report released on 15th March, the UN body said that exposure to air, water and soil pollution, radiations, chemical exposure and unsafe work environment contribute to 23 per cent of the total fatalities. The number further increases to a staggering 26 per cent of the total for children below the age of five. WHO estimates that world over at least 12.6 million people fall prey to these hazardous conditions each year.
Air pollution is implicated in increasing cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes and ischemic heart disease, as well as cancer. India has been at the forefront of the pollution debate, with New Delhi’s pollution levels escalating to top Beijing’s. The rising air pollution levels have led to the closure of power plants in the city’s vicinity.
Thirteen of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India, according to another WHO report released in December 2015.
The report also held household air pollution from burning of wood, animal dung and crop waste for cooking purposes responsible for 1.69 million premature deaths in South-East Asia annually and for half the pneumonia deaths in children under five years.
WHO’s South-East Asia Region comprises 11 Bangladesh, Bhutan, Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste. - World's first fully electric double decker bus launched in London
In UK, the world's first fully electric double decker bus was launched by London's transport authority on 14th March and will start service in the British capital next month. Five of the buses, made by China automaker BYD, will run on two routes in London. The bus represents a breakthrough in public transportation, according to BYD, which had to come up with a new compact battery design to allow the technology to be applied to the double decker. - Denmark tops global 'happy' index, Burundi at bottom
Denmark, closely followed by Switzerland, is the happiest country in the world while crisis-torn Syria and Burundi are the most miserable, according to a global ranking released on 16th March
The 2016 World Happiness Report seeks to quantify happiness as a means of making societies healthier and more efficient. The United Nations published the first such study in 2012.
As with last year, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden round out the top 10, making small or medium-sized countries in Western Europe seven of the top 10 happiest countries
Denmark, which was ranked first in the 2013 version of the report but lost that honor to Switzerland in 2015, now reclaims its title as happiest country on Earth
Burundi was the most miserable, followed by war-ravaged Syria, Togo, Afghanistan and six other countries in sub-Saharan Africa -- Benin, Rwanda, Guinea, Liberia, Tanzania and Madagascar as the least happy of 157 countries
The report compared data from 2005 to 2015 showing that Greece, which suffered enormously from the global recession and now faces a crippling migrant crisis, had the highest drop in happiness.
The United States, where sharp polarization has been exposed in the 2016 presidential election campaign, out-ranked several Western European countries to be 13th most happy nation, up two spots from last year.
Germany was 16th, Britain 23rd and France 32nd. A string of Middle Eastern kingdoms -- Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain -- out-ranked Italy, which came in at number 50, and Japan, which took the 53rd spot. China, the world's most populous country, was ranked 83rd and India, the world's largest democracy, came in at 118
The authors said six factors -- GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, social freedom, generosity and absence of corruption -- explain almost three-quarters of the variation across different countries. The report compared levels of happiness in 2005-2007, before the onset of the global recession, with 2013-2015, the most recent three-year period for which data from a Gallup World Poll is available
Of the 126 countries for which comparable data was available, 55 had significant increases in happiness and 45 had significant decreases, the report found.
Among the top 20 gainers were Thailand and China, eight countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States and Eastern Europe, seven in Latin America, two in sub-Saharan Africa and Macedonia in the Balkans
The 20 largest losers of happiness included Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East; Japan and India in Asia; and Cyprus, Spain, Italy and Greece in Europe -- all hard hit by the economic crisis.
Ukraine, where the east has been roiled by a pro-Russian insurgency since 2014, has also fallen into the group of 10 largest happiness declines
Iceland and Ireland offer the best examples of maintaining happiness in the face of economic crisis due to high degrees of social support, the report found. - North Korea fires ballistic missile into sea, South Korea's defence ministry says
North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea off its eastern coast on 17th March, just days after leader Kim Jong-Un ordered further nuclear warhead and missile tests, South Korea's defence ministry said.
According to the South Korea Ministry the missile was launched from Sukchon in the country's southwest at 5:55 am on 17th March and it flew 800 kilometres (500 miles) into the East Sea, also called Sea of Japan.
The launch comes amid heightened tension on the Korean peninsula with the North remaining defiant in the face of the latest UN Security Council resolution adopted earlier in the month in response to a nuclear test conducted in January.
The South Korean military said was closely tracking and monitoring the situation and maintaining a readiness posture for any North Korean provocation. The launch was confirmed by US officials. - US imposes new sanctions: US President Barack Obama has issued an executive order imposing new sanctions on North Korea, after its allegedly illicit nuclear test and satellite launch. It freezes North Korean government property in America and bans US exports to, or investment in, North Korea. The order also greatly expands powers to blacklist anyone, including non-Americans, dealing with North Korea.
The 6th January nuclear test and 7th February satellite launch were said to be violative of existing UN sanctions. President Obama's order includes measures from the recently agreed UN Security Council sanctions - the toughest sanctions in decades against North Korea. But it also contains separate sanctions passed by Congress and enacted by the President in February. - EU, Turkey strike 'Historic' deal to send back migrants
Turkish and EU leaders agreed a "historic" deal to curb the huge flow of asylum seekers to Europe, which will see all migrants arriving in Greece being sent back to Turkey from 20th March.
But leaders warned on 18th March it would be a "Herculean task" to implement the deal, aimed at easing the biggest migration crisis since World War II, while critics said the deal breached international law. Turkey extracted a string of political and financial concessions from the 28-nation European Union in exchange for becoming a bulwark against asylum seekers from Syria and elsewhere.
EU president Donald Tusk said that under the deal all "irregular" migrants would be returned to Turkey from Sunday. For every Syrian refugee expelled, the EU would resettle one directly from Turkey. Tusk said the deal would only work as part of a broader plan, including support for Greece, the main point of entry for migrants to Europe, and cutting the flow of refugees through the Balkans to Germany.
Around 4,000 people including women and children have drowned crossing the Aegean Sea in flimsy smugglers' boats, including 400 this year alone. For its cooperation to stem the flow, Turkey won an acceleration of its long-stalled bid for EU membership, the doubling of refugee aid to six billion Euros ($6.8 billion) and visa-free travel by June.
Despite the big words, there are still huge doubts about how to implement such a scheme, not least due to still often-tense relations between Ankara and Brussels.
4,000 border officials and other experts will need to start working immediately on implementing the deal that will cost the EU up to 300 million Euros over six months. The deal envisages major aid for Greece, where tens of thousands of refugees are trapped in dire conditions after Balkan countries shut their borders.
The deal would not affect the 46,000 migrants already in Greece, who will either be expelled as economic migrants or granted asylum.
Amnesty International criticised the deal, setting up a sign outside the summit venue saying: "Don't trade refugees". The United Nations and rights groups fear the deal could violate international law that forbids the mass deportation of refugees.
Many EU states had meanwhile expressed concerns about Ankara's human rights record, including its treatment of the Kurds and a crackdown on critics of the government.
The crisis has left Europe increasingly divided, with fears that its Schengen passport-free zone could collapse as states reintroduce border controls and concerns over the rise of populism and anti-immigrant sentiment.
British Prime Minister David Cameron was also hosting a meeting with Merkel and several other EU leaders on how to tackle migration flows from lawless Libya, which appeared to be increasing again. - Cameroon sentences 89 Boko Haram militants to death
Cameroon has sentenced 89 members of Nigerian militant group Boko Haram to death. According to local media, they were convicted by a military court on terror charges for their roles in several attacks in the country's northern region which borders Nigeria.
Cameroon had passed an anti-terror law in 2014 which introduced the death sentence. This is the first time the death sentenced has been used since that law was passed. The 89 are among the 850 people arrested in Cameroon on charges of links to Boko Haram. - Plane crashes in Russia
All 62 people aboard a passenger jet flying from Dubai to southern Russia were killed when their plane crashed on its second attempt to land at Rostov-on-Don airport on 19th March. Russia's emergencies ministry said the aircraft, a Boeing (BA.N) 737-800 operated by Dubai-based budget carrier Flydubai, crashed at 0340 (0040 GMT). Most of those on board were Russian.
The aircraft hit the ground and broke into pieces," the Investigative Committee of Russia said in a statement on its website.
According to the independent U.S.-based Flight Safety Foundation, there was strong wind at the airport with a speed of 43 kilometres per hour, with gusts up to 69 kilometres, but visibility was reasonable.
It said the plane was in a mid-air holding pattern for more than two hours. The crash occurred more than two hours after the plane, flight number FZ981, was scheduled to land. Russia's Interfax news agency cited a source in the emergency services as saying the pilot changed his mind about landing on the approach to the airport. - US, South Korea set to begin largest ever joint military exercises on Korean peninsula
The US and South Korea are set to begin their largest ever joint military exercises amid high tensions on the Korean peninsula. More than 300,000 South Korean and 15,000 US troops will take part in the drills. South Korean Defence Minister Han Min-koo has said the exercises will be twice the size of last year. The drills start days after the UN passed new sanctions on North Korea.
Security tensions have increased since the North tested a nuclear device in January, followed by a rocket launch. The North responded to the sanctions by saying it was readying nuclear weapons for 'pre-emptive' use, and firing short-range missiles into the sea.
The exercises, which begin tomorrow and run until 30 April, are intended to warn North Korea against provocations. The US and South Korea also began formal talks on the deployment of the US missile defence system to the peninsula, a move strongly opposed by North Korea, Russia and China.
North Korea threaten: North Korea has threatened to turn Washington and Seoul into “flames and ashes”, warning of an indiscriminate “pre-emptive nuclear strike of justice” in reaction to the start of US-South Korean military drills. Such threats have been a staple of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, since he took power after his father’s death in December 2011. But they tend to increase when Washington and Seoul stage what they describe as annual defensive springtime war games.
NorthKorea says the drills, which were set to start on 7th March and run to the end of April, are rehearsals for invading. North Korea’s powerful National Defence Commission threatened strikes against targets in South Korea, US bases in the Pacific and the US mainland, saying its enemies “are working with bloodshot eyes to infringe upon the dignity, sovereignty and vital rights” of the country.
A pre-emptive, large-scale military strike that would end the authoritarian rule of the Kim dynasty is highly unlikely. There is also considerable outside debate about whether North Korea is even capable of the kind of strikes it threatens. The country makes progress with each new nuclear test, having staged its fourth in January, but many experts say North Korea’s arsenal may consist only of still-crude nuclear bombs.
There is uncertainty as to whether it has mastered the miniaturisation process needed to mount bombs on warheads and widespread doubt over whether the country has a reliable long-range missile that could deliver such a bomb to the US mainland.
But North Korea’s bellicose rhetoric raises unease in Seoul and the US, not least because of the huge number of troops and weaponry facing off along the world’s most heavily armed border, which is an hour’s drive from the South Korean capital of Seoul and its 10 million residents.
Korean animosity occasionally erupts in bloody skirmishes. Fifty South Koreans were killed in attacks in 2010 that Seoul blames on North Korea, and there are always concerns about an escalation of violence. - Bangladesh upholds death penalty for Jamaat leader Mir Quasem for 1971 war crimes
In Bangladesh, Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of top Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali for crimes against humanity during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
A five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha delivered the verdict this morning. International Crimes Tribunal had sentenced 63-year old Mir Quasem Ali, considered the financial backbone of the Jamaat-e-Islami, to death on November 2, 2014.
The tribunal had ordered capital punishment on 2 charges of murder unarmed freedom fighters, and a total of 72 years in prison on eight other war crime charges including arson, looting, torture, and illegal confinement.
Upholding the capital punishment, the apex court said under his command of the Al-Badr in Chittagong, local collaborators of the Pakistani army let loose terror on the Bengali freedom fighters. This is the 7th war crimes case to be resolved by the apex court.
The International Crimes Tribunals were set up by the Sheikh Hasina government in 2010, nearly 40 years after the Liberation War. According to official estimates, the war left around 3 million dead, 2 lakh women raped and rendered another 10 million refugees on Indian soil. Since 2013, 4 war criminals have been executed in Bangladesh.
Attorney General Mahbubhey Alam has expressed satisfaction at the verdict saying justice has been done to lakhs of war matryrs. Freedom fighters, activists of the Ganajagran Manch who led the Shahbhag movement for maximum punishment of war criminals had victory processions in the capital. Security has been tightened at all sensitive points in the capital Chittagong to avoid any untoward events. - Iran conducts new missile tests defying US sanctions
Iran conducted multiple ballistic missile tests on 8th March in an exercise to demonstrate "deterrent power," a move that comes in defiance of US sanctions imposed over its missile programme in January.
The announcement by the official IRNA news agency said the tests showed the country's "all-out readiness to confront threats" against its territorial integrity.
State television a short time after showed still images of the armaments used in what it described as a military drill in which "ballistic missiles were fired from silos" in different parts of the country.
The United States imposed new sanctions over Iran's missile programme in January almost immediately after separate sanctions related to Iran's nuclear activities had been lifted under a landmark deal with world powers.
The latest tests, called "The Power of Velayat", a reference to the religious doctrine of the Islamic republic's leadership, were undertaken by the Revolutionary Guards and Aerospace Forces, IRNA reported. Ballistic missile tests have been seen as a means for Iran's military to demonstrate that the nuclear deal will have no impact on its plans, which is says are for domestic defence only.
Iran's ballistic missile programme has been contentious since the nuclear deal with the United States and five other powers was struck in Vienna on July 14 last year.
On October 11, Tehran conducted the first of two ballistic missile tests which angered Washington. State television weeks later aired unprecedented footage of underground missile storage bunkers.
A UN panel said in December that the tests breached previous resolutions aimed at stopping Tehran from developing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Tehran has always denied seeking an atomic weapon and argues that its missiles would never be designed to, nor ever carries the bomb.
The nuclear deal was heralded by moderates such as Rouhani, who staked his reputation on the negotiations, but hardliners in Tehran said it damaged national interests. - UN concerned over radical EU-Turkey plan to tackle migrant crisis
United Nations has expressed concern over a radical EU-Turkey plan to ease the migrant crisis, saying it could contravene international law. Under the plan, all migrants arriving in Greece from Turkey would be returned and for each Syrian sent back, a Syrian in Turkey would be resettled in the EU.
The UN's refugee agency said any collective expulsion of foreigners is not consistent with European law. Amnesty International called the plan a death blow to the right to seek asylum. The deal, discussed at a summit in Brussels on Monday, has not been finalised and talks will continue ahead of an EU meeting on March, 17-18th. - Slovenia, Croatia close borders along Balkan route
Western Balkan nations have closed their borders for migrants, exacerbating a dire humanitarian situation on the Macedonian frontier. EU interior ministers will meet in Brussels to discuss the crisis. The scheduled two-day meeting will tackle various areas including a proposed deal with Turkey and the restoration of the visa-free Schengen zone, along with plans for a European border and coastguard system.
The talks came after Slovenia and Croatia, two of the countries along the Balkan route used by hundreds of thousands of people in recent months, barred entry to transiting migrants from 9th March. Macedonia has not let anyone enter since on 7th March. Serbia also indicated that it would follow suit.
EU member Slovenia said it would make exceptions only for migrants wishing to claim asylum in the country or for those seeking entry on humanitarian grounds. As the 28-nation EU battles the worst migration crisis since World War Two, the fresh measures ramped up the pressure on the bloc to seal a proposed deal with Turkey to ease the chaos.
More than a million people have crossed the Aegean Sea into Greece since the start of 2015, many from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq and most aiming to reach wealthy Germany, Austria and Scandinavia.
This has caused deep divisions among EU members about how to deal with the crisis. Authorities in Greece, the main entry point into the EU across the sea from Turkey, said on 9th March that nearly 36,000 migrants were now stranded there.
A controversial deal discussed with Turkey at an EU summit on 7th March and due to be finalised on March 17-18 would see the country take back all illegal migrants landing in Greece. Ankara proposed an arrangement under which the EU would resettle one Syrian refugee from camps in Turkey in exchange for every Syrian that Turkey takes from Greece.
In return though, Turkey wants six billion euros in aid, visa-free access to Europe's passport-free Schengen zone and a speeding up of Ankara's efforts to join the EU. Turkey currently hosts 2.7 million refugees from the five-year-old Syrian civil war and is the main springboard for migrants heading to the EU. - Arab League declares Hezbollah group a terrorist organization
Arab League foreign ministers on 11th March declared Lebanon's Shia movement Hezbollah a "terrorist" group, after Sunni-dominated Gulf monarchies adopted the same stance.
Nearly all members of the pan-Arab body supported the decision, but not Lebanon and Iraq which expressed "reservations", the bloc said in a statement read out at a news conference by Bahraini diplomat Wahid Mubarak Sayar.
The announcement comes after Gulf monarchies in the first week of March, 2016 declared Hezbollah a "terrorist" group, escalating tensions with the movement which has lawmakers in Lebanon's parliament and is backed by Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran.
The Saudi delegation briefly withdrew from discussions to protest against Iraqi foreign minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's refusal to label Hezbollah as terrorist. In January, Bahrain said it had dismantled a "terror" cell allegedly linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah.
That same month, a lower court in Kuwait sentenced 22 people, all but one of them Kuwaiti Shiites, who were charged with spying for Iran and plotting Hezbollah-linked attacks in the Gulf country
The Revolutionary Guards created Hezbollah (Party of God) in the 1980s. Funded by Iran, it is the only side not to have put down weapons after Lebanon's civil war from 1975 to 1990. The United States, Canada and Australia have listed Hezbollah as a "terrorist" group. The European Union has also blacklisted its military wing. - UN to probe South Sudan attack
A high-level board of inquiry will investigate how United Nations peacekeepers responded to an attack at their camp in South Sudan where tens of thousands of civilians were sheltering. Gunmen in army uniforms stormed the camp in the northeastern town of Malakal on February 17 and 18, firing on civilians and torching shelters. At least 25 people were killed and 160 were wounded.
UN said the independent panel will “conduct an in-depth investigation into the UN mission's response to clashes that broke out.” The UN mission in South Sudan is also reviewing security at the eight “protection of civilians” sites. - UN delays vote on tough new North Korea sanctions at Russia's request
The United Nations Security Council delayed until 3rd March a vote on a U.S.-Chinese drafted resolution that would dramatically expand U.N. sanctions on North Korea after Russia said it needed more time to review the text
The vote, which had been scheduled for 2nd March, is now planned on 3rd March, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity. The expanded sanctions, if adopted, would require inspections of all cargo going to and from North Korea and blacklisting North Koreans active in Syria, Iran and Vietnam.
After nearly two months of bilateral negotiations that at one point involved U.S. President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, China agreed to support the unusually tough measures intended to persuade its close ally North Korea to abandon its atomic weapons program.
Originally Washington had wanted the council to adopt the resolution last weekend but Russia had demanded more time to study it.
The draft seen by Reuters would require U.N. member states to conduct mandatory inspections of all cargo passing through their territory to or from North Korea to look for illicit goods. Previously states only had to do this if they had reasonable grounds to believe there was illicit cargo.
The list of explicitly banned luxury goods will be expanded to include luxury watches, aquatic recreational vehicles, snowmobiles worth more than $2,000, lead crystal items and recreational sports equipment.
Pyongyang denied the Feb. 7 launch involved banned ballistic missile technology, saying it was a peaceful satellite launch.
The proposal would also close a gap in the U.N. arms embargo on Pyongyang by banning all weapons imports and exports. There would also be an unprecedented ban on the transfer to North Korea of any item that could directly contribute to the operational capabilities of its armed forces, such as trucks that could be modified for military purposes.
Other proposed measures include a ban on all supplies of aviation and rocket fuel to North Korea, a requirement for states to expel North Korean diplomats engaging in illicit activities, and blacklisting 16 North Korean individuals and 12 entities, including the National Aerospace Development Agency, or NADA, the body responsible for February's rocket launch.
North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006 because of its four nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches. - Donald Trump, Hilary Clinton win seven seats each on primaries
In the United States, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton took a giant step toward securing the White House nominations of their parties, thumping rivals in a slew of Super 1st March primaries. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have each won the most states on the biggest day of the race for the US presidential nominations. Mr Trump won seven states while his closest rival, Ted Cruz, took three. Clinton also racked up seven wins. She beat rival Bernie Sanders across a host of southern US states. Sanders won 4 states.
- Indonesia issues tsunami alert after massive 7.9 magnitude quake
Indonesia has issued a tsunami warning after a massive and shallow earthquake struck off the west coast of its island of Sumatra, a region devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean quake and tsunami. The warning has been issued for West Sumatra, North Sumatra and Aceh after the 7.9 magnitude quake hit the region on 2nd March.
The epicentre of the quake was 808 kilometers southwest of Padang. It was 10 kilometers deep. Rescue efforts have been hampered by the darkness that falls early in the tropical archipelago. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, but the shallower a quake, the more likely it is to cause damage. In Singapore, police have urged people to remain calm after tremors were felt in Singapore. - UN imposes toughest-ever sanctions on North Korea
United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted the toughest sanctions ever imposed on North Korea in response to its fourth nuclear test and rocket launch. The 15-member council last night passed a resolution drafted by the United States and backed by China, Pyongyang's sole ally.
The sanctions took aim at North Korean exports and set up inspections of all cargo to and from the reclusive country.
Among the unprecedented measures is a new requirement that all countries must inspect cargo destined for and coming from North Korea, in all airports and sea ports. The resolution provides for a ban or severe restrictions on exports of coal, iron and iron ore, gold, titanium and rare earth minerals from North Korea, and prohibits the supply.
The resolution tightens an arms embargo by banning sales of small arms and bars vessels suspected of carrying illegal goods for North Korea from ports. Under the measure, UN member states will expel North Korean diplomats engaged in smuggling or other illegal activities.
A total of 16 individuals and 12 entities were added to a UN sanctions blacklist, including North Korea's NADA space agency and its spy agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said this firm response by the Security Council should put an end to the cycle of provocation and lead to the resumption of dialogue. It took seven weeks of tough negotiations for the United States and China to come to agreement on the package of measures, but its impact will depend largely on how Beijing implements the sanctions. - North Korea fires short-range projectiles into sea
North Korea has fired several short-range projectiles into the sea, according to South Korea's Defence Ministry. The projectiles were fired on 3rd March from Wonsan on the east coast.
It comes hours after the UN Security Council unanimously voted to impose some of its strongest ever sanctions against North Korea in response to its fourth nuclear test and rocket launch. The 15-member council passed a resolution drafted by the United States and backed by China
The sanctions took aim at North Korean exports and set up inspections of all cargo to and from the reclusive country. US President Barack Obama welcomed the sweeping measures as a firm, united, and appropriate response to the January 6th nuclear test and Feb 7th rocket launch.
Among the unprecedented measures is a new requirement that all countries must inspect cargo destined for and coming from North Korea, in all airports and sea ports. The resolution provides for a ban or severe restrictions on exports of coal, iron and iron ore, gold, titanium and rare earth minerals from North Korea, and prohibits the supply.
The resolution tightens an arms embargo by banning sales of small arms and bars vessels suspected of carrying illegal goods for North Korea from ports. Under the measure, UN member states will expel North Korean diplomats engaged in smuggling or other illegal activities.
A total of 16 individuals and 12 entities were added to a UN sanctions blacklist, including North Korea's NADA space agency and its spy agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau. - North Korea leader tells military to be ready to use nuclear weapons
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his country to be ready to use its nuclear weapons at any time and the military to be in "pre-emptive attack" mode in the face of growing threats from its enemies, state media said on 4th March.
The comments, carried by the North's official KCNA news agency, marked a further escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula after the U.N. Security Council imposed harsh new sanctions on the isolated state for its nuclear programme.
North Korea, known for belligerent rhetoric, has previously threatened pre-emptive attacks on its enemies, including South Korea and the United States. Military experts doubt it has yet developed the capability to fire a long-range missile with a miniaturised warhead to deliver a nuclear weapon as far as the United States.
Kim made the comments as he supervised military exercises involving newly developed rocket launchers, KCNA reported. It did not mention the date of the drills but said the new weapons had South Korea within range.
South Korea's defence ministry said on 3rd March the North launched several projectiles off its coast into the sea, up to 150 km (90 miles) away, an apparent response to the U.N. sanctions. - Brazil's Lula detained in corruption probe; Rousseff objects
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was briefly detained for questioning on 4th March in a federal investigation of a vast corruption scheme, fanning a political crisis that threatens to topple his successor, President Dilma Rousseff.
Lula's questioning in police custody was the highest profile development in a two-year-old graft probe centred on the state oil company Petrobras, which has rocked Brazil's political and business establishment and deepened the worst recession in decades in Latin America's biggest economy.
The investigation threatens to tarnish the legacy of Brazil's most powerful politician, whose humble roots and anti-poverty programs made him a folk hero, by putting a legal spotlight on how his left-leaning Workers' Party consolidated its position since rising to power 13 years ago.
Police picked up Lula at his home on the outskirts of Sao Paulo and released him after three hours of questioning. They said evidence suggested Lula had received illicit benefits from kickbacks at the oil company, Petrobras, in the form of payments and luxury real estate.
The evidence against the former president brought the graft investigation closer to his protege Rousseff. She is already fighting off impeachment for allegedly breaking budget rules, weakening her efforts to pull the economy out of recession. - US issues formal notification for sale of F-16 jets to Pakistan
Amidst stiff opposition from India and top American lawmakers, the US government has formally published federal notification for the sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.
The notification, published by the federal register on 4th March, said this proposed sale contributes to US foreign policy objectives and national security goals by helping to improve the security of a strategic partner in South Asia. It added that the Government of Pakistan had requested for this 700 million US Dollar sale. India has opposed the sale of F-16 to Pakistan, saying it disagree with Washington's rationale that such arms transfers help to combat terrorism. Last month, India had summoned US Ambassador Richard Verma to convey its displeasure and disappointment over the decision.
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