INTERNATIONAL MAY 2013

INTERNATIONAL MAY 2013

• Kyrgyzstan will shut a key United States airbase in July next year despite Washington’s efforts to retain the facility beyond its forces drawdown in Afghanistan. The Kyrgyz government is sending a closure motion to Parliament, said an announcement posted on the cabinet website on 21 May. The Pentagon has been using the airbase, which sits at Kyrgyzstan’s main civilian airport Manas in the capital Bishkek, since 2001 as a major supply centre for Afghanistan. It hosts about 1,500 U.S. troops and operates round-the-clock, with planes hauling thousands of troops and hundreds of tones of cargo every month. Russia, which is opposed to American long-term military presence in Central Asia, has long been lobbying for the base closure with the Kyrgyz authorities.
  
• The US Senate on 23 May 2013 approved Srikanth Srinivasan was as the most senior US Judge of the South Asian descent to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The unanimous approval of Srinivasan gave birth to speculations that one day he may be tapped for the Supreme Court. Srinivasan born in Chandigarh, India and raised in Kansas is the first justice who has been confirmed to the Washington court since 2006 a year after Chief Justice John Roberts’ elevation created a vacancy. He is the Principle Deputy Solicitor General and defends the policies of US President Barack Obama before the Supreme Court. Earlier he has also worked under the former President, George W. Bush. He is a proud recipient of the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Furthering US National Security in 2003.
  
• 91 people, including 20 children were killed because of huge tornado that went through Oklahoma City suburbs in US on 20 May 2013. The worst affected area was Moore, situated towards the south of Oklahoma. The tornado travelled with the speed of 320 kmph. Apart from 91 killed, 120 are seriously injured. The President of US, Barack Obama declared the Oklahoma tornado as the major disaster. Tornado is the rotating column of air which is in contact with the earth as well as cumulonimbus cloud, at the same time. They are also called cyclones or twisters. The tornado is encircled by the cloud of dust and debris. Most of the tornadoes travel with a speed of less than 110 miles per hour and are around 250 feet across. Before dissipating, they travel to several kilometres.
  
• President Robert Mugabe on 22 May 2013 signed Zimbabwe's new constitution into law, clearing the path to crucial elections later this year. The constitution was unopposed through both houses of parliament. The new constitution was approved overwhelmingly in a referendum in March 2013.The constitution cut short the powers of the president, limits presidential tenures to two five-year terms and does away with the post of prime minister. However, it does not apply retroactively so the 89-year-old Mugabe could technically extend his three decades in office by another 10 years. A new constitution is one of the pre-conditions for elections to pick a successor to the power-sharing government Mugabe formed four years ago with Tsvangirai. The date for the elections is yet to be announced.
  
• China has indicated it will go ahead with building infrastructure in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) despite India’s concerns, signing a memorandum of understanding with Pakistan on a transport corridor expected to pass through the disputed region. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who on 24 May, wrapped up a two-day visit to Pakistan following his trip to India, called on both countries to “start formulating a long-term plan for the China-Pakistan economic corridor project and gradually push forward its construction”, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Both countries signed an MoU to cooperate on a “long-term” plan on the corridor, among 11 agreements announced during Mr. Li’s visit. Chinese planners have called for a transport and economic corridor to link China’s far-western Xinjiang region to the port of Gwadar, on the Arabian Sea, which China helped build and is now managing. The corridor, they hope, will speed up development in Xinjiang, which has seen intermittent unrest, and also open up a new route for China’s energy imports from West Asia. The corridor will pass through PoK, which borders Xinjiang and provides the only feasible transport link between China and Pakistan.
  
• Pakistan's new parliament sworn in the capital on 31 May, Islamabad, in that country's first-ever democratic transition of power. The swearing-in ceremony took place amid tight security around the city's "Red Zone," where key government buildings are located. A new speaker should be elected by secret ballot on June 3.The new Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, whose Pakistan Muslim League (N) party won May’s elections, should be formally elected by the lower house and sworn in two days later.
  
• Sharif's party commands 177 of the 342 seats in the assembly. That gives it significant leverage if it seeks to oust President Asif Ali Zardari when his term expires in September. Zardari was credited with steering Pakistan to its democratic milestone by holding together the fractious coalition government led by his Pakistan People's Party for its full five-year term.
  
• In a historic milestone for the Sikhs in Pakistan, Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora has become the first person from the minority community to enter the Punjab province assembly, since the country's independence in 1947.Arora belongs to Narowal district, 80 km from Lahore, and is associated with the Pakistan Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee. He took oath along with 340 other lawmakers during the first session of the new Punjab Assembly on 1 June. He was nominated to a seat reserved for minority communities by the PML-N, which has formed governments in Punjab and at the centre after its victory in the May 11 polls. "June 1 will be remembered as a special day as it brought a triumph to the local Sikh community and other minorities living peacefully in Pakistan," he said. Arora said he would work to rehabilitate historical and religious sites of the Sikhs. Media reports described Arora's induction as a member of the provincial assembly as a "historic milestone for the Sikh community".
  
• According to World Health Organization, World No-Tobacco day is observed every year on 31 May 2013. The Theme this year is “Ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship”. WHO urged Governments (with its message free yourself) everywhere to address this needless threat to public health. The day is meant to highlight the risks associated with tobacco usage and reduce its consumption. Tobacco is the single largest cause of preventable death globally and approximately 5.5 million people die around the world every year - with India accounting for nearly a fifth of this. The primary risk of tobacco usage includes many forms of cancers. The ultimate goal is to contribute to protect present and future generations not only from these devastating health consequences, but also against the social, environmental and economic scourges of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke.
  
• The President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas on 2 June 2013 named Rami Hamdallah as his new Prime Minister. Rami Hamdallah replaced Western-favored economist Salam Fayyad who had left the office of Prime Minister in April 2013 and formally quit now. Rami Hamdallah is a member of Fatah Palestinian National Authority which is headed by Mahmoud Abbas. He also served as secretary general of the Palestinian central elections commission. On 27 April 2013, Mahmoud Abbas, the President had announced about the commencement of consultations for forming the unity government under his leadership. This had to be done in line with the reconciliation deal between rival Islamist movement Hamas and Fatah. Hamas, the controller of the Gaza strip, however termed Rami Hamdallah’s appointment as the PM, illegal.
  
• Nigeria's House of Representatives on 30 May, has voted to ban gay marriage and outlaw any groups actively supporting gay rights, endorsing a measure that also calls for 10-year prison sentences for any "public show" of affection by a same-sex couple.Representatives appeared to unanimously approve the proposal in a voice vote, sending it immediately to President Goodluck Jonathan for him to potentially sign into law in Africa's most populous nation. It wasn't immediately clear if Jonathan would sign the measure, though gays and lesbians already face public ridicule and possible prison sentences in Nigeria. Under the proposed law, Nigeria would ban any same-sex marriage from being conducted in either a church or a mosque. Gay or lesbian couples who marry could face up to 14 years each in prison. Witnesses or anyone who helps couples marry could be sentenced to 10 years behind bars. Anyone taking part in a group advocating for gay rights or anyone caught in a "public show" of affection also would face 10 years in prison if convicted by a criminal court. Gay sex has been banned in Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people, since colonial rule by the British.
  
• Gays face open discrimination and abuse in a country divided by Christians and Muslims who almost uniformly oppose homosexuality. Across the African continent, many countries already have made homosexuality punishable by jail sentences. Ugandan legislators introduced a bill that would impose the death penalty for some gays and lesbians, though it was amended in November to remove the threat of execution. Even in South Africa, the one country where gays can marry, lesbians have been brutally attacked and murdered in so-called "corrective rapes”. Nigeria has one of the world's largest populations of people living with HIV and AIDS.
  
• A 33-nation block of American countries has expressed the desire to open communications with the five-country BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa), Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Eduardo Rodríguez Parrilla told the media on 27 May. India has the distinction of being the first dialogue partner of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), followed by China. Formed in late 2011, CELAC groups together all states in the Americas, barring the United States and Canada. In August last year, Chile, the pro-tem Chairman of CELAC, along with Cuba and Venezuela, had held talks in New Delhi, with the then External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna for a “strategic alliance” that would include annual meetings, working together in regional organizations, and increasing commercial exchange. The troika then went to China and struck a similar alliance. As the Cuban Foreign Minister pointed out, CELAC was planning its next engagement with India on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September. Though CELAC had kept out the US and one of its major demands was to end the half-century-old American economic embargo on Cuba, its members include nations being led by parties with different ideologies — from a conservative Chile to a vehemently anti-America Cuba along with several countries following middle-of-the-road policies as well.
  
• At the second CELAC-India meeting in September, the two sides will work on the creation of a business economic development forum, an agricultural working group and an energy forum. Earlier, at a talk at the Indian Council of World Affairs, the Minister pointed out that CELAC consisted of 600 million people, it was free from wars and had abundant energy and water resources.
  
• More Indians have stopped believing in God, according to the latest Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism. The report has found that the number of non religious people in India has risen. As against 87% saying they were religious in the same survey in 2005, the percentage has fallen to 81% in 2013.
  
• The survey found a 1% dip in the number of people calling themselves as an atheist. In 2005, 4% people said they didn't believe in God. In 2012, that had dipped to 3%. Globally, the trend is similar. Religiosity has dropped by 9%, while atheism has risen by 3%. The report says there is a notable decline across the globe in self-description of being religious. Pakistan is among the few countries which have seen an increase in the number of people who call themselves religious - by 6%. South Africa has seen a 19% dip in those calling themselves religious, US 13%, Switzerland and France 21% and Vietnam 23%.
  
• A total of 51,927 persons were interviewed globally from 57 countries across the globe in five continents. In each country a national probability sample of around 1000 men and women was interviewed. China has the highest number of atheists living in a single country with nearly 50% of its population describing themselves as non-believers compared to an average of 13% across the world.
  
• Australia is the world happiest nation, according to Better Life Index by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It has once again topped the world as the Happiest Industrialised Nation in the OECD report, which was released on 28th May, 2013.
  
• The OECD Better Life Index compares the well-being of 34 developed and emerging countries based on eleven categories including housing, income, jobs, education, life satisfaction and work-life balance. The Better Life Index found that 84 % of Australians are satisfied with their lives -- better than the OECD average of 80 %.
  
• Participants said they have more positive experiences, such as feelings of rest, pride in accomplishment and enjoyment, in an average day than negative ones. Australians' happiness was even greater than that of Canadians and Swedes, also known for high standards of living.
  
• The survey also found that Australians are living longer, with life expectancy at almost 82 years -- two years higher than the average. Employment levels are also stronger -- at 73 % compared with an average of 66 percent for people aged 15 to 64.
  
• The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) has declared and designated the Nicobar Islands in India as a world biosphere reserve under its Man and the Biosphere Programme. Member countries establish such reserves. UNESCO recognizes them under the programme to promote sustainable development based on local community efforts and sound science.
  
• They are considered as sites of excellence, where new and optimal practices to manage nature and human activities are tested and demonstrated. The island chain is home to 1,800 animal species and some of the world's most endangered tribes. It is among 12 new sites added to the global network of biosphere reserves in Paris on 30 May. Such reserves are located in 117 countries and nine of them are now located in India.
• Chinese authorities on 16 May, have granted approval for an environmental assessment of a controversial 2 GW dam project — slated to be the country’s tallest dam — despite concerns voiced by a number of environmental groups. The Ministry of Environmental Protection this week said it had approved a year-long assessment of the Shuangjiangkou project on the Dadu River in the southwestern Sichuan province. Even as it gave the go-ahead, the Ministry acknowledged the project would “affect the spawning and movement of rare fish species, as well as the growth of endangered plants, including the Chinese yew, which is under first-class state protection”. The Ministry reasoned that countermeasures would help mitigate the impact. It called for protecting fish habitats and constructing seed banks for rare plants but did not say how it would enforce the measures.
  
• The Shuangjiangkou dam will have an installed capacity of 2 GW and will generate 7.93 billion kilowatt-hours of power annually, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The project will cost $ 4 billion. At 314 metres, it will be China’s tallest dam, surpassing the nearly 300-metre-tall Xiaowan dam on the Mekong river. The Shuangjiangkou dam will be 180-metre taller than Three Gorges dam.
  
• The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 16 May passed a non-binding resolution condemning the government of Syria and calling for political transition. The vote passed with 107 of 193 nations in favour, 12 against and 59 abstentions, including India, representing a sharp fall in support compared to a similar resolution passed last August with 133 votes in favour, 12 against and 31 abstentions. Discomfort over signals of growing extremism within the ranks of Syria’s rebel groups was apparent, with India’s Permanent Representative to the U.N. Ashoke Kumar Mukherji warning that, “Unilateral action of any kind will not resolve the crisis... It will only exacerbate the problem and cause greater instability and violence even beyond Syria’s borders.”
  
• The International Monetary Fund on 15 May 2013 approved a three-year, $ 1.3 billion loan for supporting Cyprus’ attempts to stabilize its financial sector and to bring the Government’s deficit under control and restore economic growth. The IMF loan to Cyprus is basically a part of a rescue package of 10 billion Euros (US $ 12.9 billion) counterfeit in March 2013 with the Eurozone’s bailout fund. The loan was approved by IMF’s Executive Board which also includes an immediate disbursement of US $ 110.7 million. Counting the IMF disbursement, Cyprus has received about US $ 2.7 billion in the third week of May from its international lenders. The Luxembourg-based European Stability Mechanism, which is a Eurozone bailout fund, on 13 May, announced that it had approved its first bailout tranche for Cyprus and transferred an initial 2 billion euros (US $ 2.6 billion). The rest of the tranche — up to 1 billion Euros — will be transferred by 30 June 2013.
  
• On the eve of a major international donors’ conference, the European Union on 14 May, announced that it was pledging €520 million (US $ 674.8 million) over the next two years to help rebuild the west African country of Mali as a functioning state. The announcement was made by Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, who said the investment would benefit Europe as well as Africa. Until a military intervention by France, followed by the engagement of other African countries, many international officials were concerned that Mali’s vast, ungoverned north was a haven for terrorist groups that, unhindered by government control, could feel free to plot attacks anywhere in the world. Officials in Mali have come up with a $4.3-billion-euro ($5.58-billion) multifaceted plan for what EU officials are calling “a total relaunch of the country.” The plan includes rebuilding government institutions and the military, staging elections in July, holding dialogues with rebels in the north, rebuilding roads and schools, reviving the moribund economy so that people get paid for working, among others.
  
• India’s bid for observer status in the Arctic Council was successful on 15 May 2013, along with that of five other countries — China, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Singapore — at a meeting in Kiruna, Sweden. Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, welcomed India’s admission. An MEA official spokesperson said India would contribute its scientific expertise, particularly in polar research capabilities, to the work of the Arctic Council to support its objectives. However, at the level of realpolitik, India will be looking at the opportunities for hydrocarbon exploration offered in the Arctic circle by joining hands with either of the five countries gearing up for the purpose — the US, Canada, Norway, Russia and Denmark. When geography is considered Russia emerges as the most attractive partner. But for that to happen, India will have to take a firm political stand on the Lomonosov Ridge and the Mendeleev Ridge which Russia claims are an extension of its continental shelf. By supporting Moscow’s position, India could get access to the rich deposits and also utilize the North Sea Route. India has its Arctic research station named Himadri since 2008 that is located at the International Arctic Research base, Ny-Alesund at Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway. The station is operated by the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research. India’s approach in the Arctic Circle since 2008 has always been purely scientific. China became the first Asian country to navigate the area with a three-month sea voyage in an ice breaker across the Arctic Circle.
  
• The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on 19 May 2013 declared that it will start the work on world’s biggest hydroelectric Inga dam on Congo River in October 2015. DRC made the announcement on the construction of the dam in Paris after the talks between the DRC and International officials ended. The meet on the development of the dam involved multilateral lending institutions. The planned Inga dam project will produce 40,000 MW power and provide electricity to half the African Continent. Whereas, the World Bank has estimated that DR Congo’s total hydropower resources can generate up to 1,00,000 MWs. As per the World Bank estimates if the project is completed at full its capacity than it will be capable of providing power to about 500 million African households. During the first phase the Inga 3 Basse Chute project will have a capacity of 4,800 megawatts. The Paris meet of the DR Congo and the international officials followed the deal signed on 7 May 2013 between South Africa and DR Congo for cooperation in the energy sector. As per the 7 May 2013 deal, South Africa will buy some of the electricity produced by the project. The project will be developed on the powerful Inga Falls that lie is a narrow strip of DR Congo Territory, through which the Congo river runs down to the Atlantic Coast. At present, Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River of China is the world's largest hydropower complex, with a capacity of 22,500 MWs.
  
• North Korea on 19 May 2013 test-fired a short-range missile off its east coast, counted as fourth test firing in two days. The missile was fired into the Sea of Japan. Earlier on 18 May, the country fired three short-range missiles off its east coast, considered as part of a military drill. The launching of missile by North Korea is not usual but it came at a time of sensitive alert on the peninsula followed by the Pyongyang’s nuclear test in February 2013 which had led to tougher UN Sanctions. The launch of missile by North Korea was to demonstrate its military ambitions in rebelliousness of international sanctions and diplomatic efforts to convince the totalitarian state to return to talks.
  
• The first phase of Sri Lanka’s northern railway project, funded by a line of credit facilitated by India, was commissioned on 14 May. Coaches in chugged along from Medawachchiya in Anuradhapura, the North Central Province, to Madhu Road, marking the return of a crucial transportation link .Tracks along the 43 km-stretch were reconstructed as part of the $800 million-project, being executed by the Indian Railway Ministry’s IRCON International Limited to restore the 252 km-railway line that would connect different parts of the country. Commissioning the service, Minister for Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa said India had been with Sri Lanka at every stage of rehabilitation and reconstruction of the north.
  
• The Election Commission of Pakistan on 14 May 2013 announced results of 272 National Assembly seats, with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML (N)) heading the count with 126 seats, followed by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) with 31 seats. The voting took place for all parliamentary constituencies of Pakistan to elect 342 members for the National assembly, including 60 seats reserved for women and 10 for non-Muslims, simultaneously voting took place for the four Provincial Assemblies of Punjab, KPK, Sindh and Balochistan as well. Pakistan Election 2013 was intended to elect members for its lower house Majlis-e-Shoora. Pakistan's opposition parties, Imran Khan`s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and PML (N) were the major contenders for the general Election. The 63-year-old Sharif, the Chief of PML (N) had twice served as premier. The party attained an overpowering lead with 130 seats. The first runner up is Imran Khan`s PTI with 37 seats and the last is the PPP with 31 seats. To have a majority in the 342-member National Assembly, a party or coalition would need 172 seats. The Senate or upper house of the parliament is currently controlled by the PPP.
  
• France's President Francois Hollande on 17 May 2013 signed the bill to legalize gay marriage. It makes France the ninth in Europe, and 14th in the world to do so. The move was opposed by many conservatives and the Catholic Church in France. As of May 2013, thirteen countries (Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Norway, Spain, South Africa, Sweden), and several sub-national jurisdictions (parts of Mexico and the USA), allow same-sex couples to marry.
  
• Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak began a second term on 6 May, after his Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition, which has ruled for 56 years, held on to power in elections branded as fraudulent by a bitter opposition. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim terming the victory “worst electoral fraud in our history” called for a protest rally.
  
• The ruling camp won the election with a minority vote. Barisan won 133 seats in the 222-member Parliament. The opposition alliance won 89 seats, an increase of 14, largely at the expense of non-aligned candidates. This makes Mr. Najib the first leader in four decades to win with a minority of the ballots according to Malaysian media. Mr. Najib (59), who had promised free and fair polls and has since brushed off numerous allegations of irregularities, was sworn in by the king in Kuala Lumpur.
  
• Russia and the US on 8 May, have agreed to work together to bring the warring sides in Syria to the negotiating table, raising hopes for an end to carnage in the war-torn country and a thaw in frosty relations between Moscow and Washington. Emerging from hours-long talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that the sides agreed to convene “as soon as possible, maybe at the end of this month” an international conference on Syria. The meet will be a follow-up to the Geneva Peace Conference in June 2012, which called for the Syrian government and the opposition to create a transitional government to steer the peace process in Syria. The Geneva plan got stalled because the U.S. demanded that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down as a precondition for peace talks.
  
• Arab countries on 1 May, have collectively agreed to accept an arrangement that would allow Israelis and Palestinians to go ahead with land swaps to resolve differences, rather than strictly sticking to the pre-1967-war position. Speaking on behalf of the 22-nation Arab League (AL), Qatar Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasem Al Thani, appeared to concede land swaps following a meeting in Washington of Arab officials and John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace. The Israeli establishment seemed elated by the development. The perceptible shift in the Arab position seemed to have the approval of the Palestinian Authority (PA), whose Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki was present at the meeting. Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan and Qatar also participated in the talks along with officials from Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Joe Biden, the U.S. Vice-President, also attended part of the meeting. The AL’s proposal in its original form was pegged around a full Arab recognition of an Israeli state, in case it gave up land captured in the 1967 war, and accepted a “just solution” for Palestinian refugees. The Israelis had earlier rejected the plan, which was proposed in 2002 at the AL summit in Beirut. Israel objects to the return to 1967 borders, the return of Palestinian refugees displaced in earlier wars, and the inclusion of East Jerusalem in a future Palestinian state.
  
• Days ahead of India’s external affairs Minister Salman Khurshid’s planned visit to Beijing, Official sources said on 5 May, India and China pulled back their troops from the face-off point at Daulat Beg Oldi sector in Ladakh, where the Chinese forces had intruded nearly three weeks ago. A group of Chinese troops estimated at around 50 and accompanied by vehicles and dogs had intruded 19 km inside the Indian Territory across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Daulat Beg Oldi sector on 15 April and set up five tents. Indian troops had also established tented posts facing the Chinese forces at a distance of 300 meters. The troops of the two sides held four flag meetings, the last one being yesterday. However, there was no positive outcome from these meetings, which went hand-in-hand with high-level diplomatic efforts to break the impasse. But an agreement was reached on 4 May, for both sides to pull back their troops simultaneously from the face-off point. The face-off in Ladakh had cast a shadow over the visit of Mr Khurshid to China on 9 May to prepare the ground for the new Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang's visit to India from 20 May.
  
• Libya’s parliament on 5 May 2013 passed a comprehensive law, which bans anyone who served as a senior official under Muammar Gaddafi during his 42 year-long rule from working in government.
  
  The passing of such Political Isolation Law possibly will lead to the dismissal of many current leaders, some of whom had defected to the rebel side during the country’s 2011 civil war or had been elected to office since Gaddafi’s ouster and killing. The move is also likely to further stall the country’s already unsteady transition to democracy by ousting elected lawmakers. The General National Congress, Libya’s elected parliament, voted overpoweringly in favour of the law.
  
• Almost 260,000 people, half of them young children, died of hunger during the last famine in Somalia, according to a U.N. report on 1 May, which admitted the world body should have done more to prevent the tragedy. The toll is much higher than was feared at the time of the 2010-2012 food crisis in the troubled Horn of Africa country and also exceeds the 220,000 who starved to death in the 1992 famine. Half of those who died were children under five, according to the joint report by the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the U.S.-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network.“Famine and severe food insecurity in Somalia claimed the lives of about 258,000 people between October 2010 and April 2012, including 133,000 children under five,” said the report, the first scientific estimate of how many died. Somalia was the hardest hit by extreme drought in 2011 that affected over 13 million people across the Horn of Africa.
  
• China, on 2 May 2013, successfully launched a communications satellite called Zhongxing-11 from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest Sichuan province. The satellite was launched into its present orbit from Long March-3B rocket. Zhongxing-11 is mainly to provide services for the commercial communications and broadcasting. The satellite is also responsible for meeting needs of digital broadband multimedia, streaming media for clients, Direct-to-Home as well as data transmission for the Asia-Pacific region.
  
• Ireland’s government on 1 May 2013 unveiled the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill. It explains when life-saving abortions can be performed. Moreover, it’s a clarification of rights within the ambit of Current law. The bill mentioned clearly that anyone illegally involved in abortion could face a maximum 14-year prison sentence whether he is a doctor or a patient. The bill was unveiled following the death of an Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar in 2012.
  
• Maryland, the U.S. state located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, on 2 May 2013 became the first southern US state to abolish the death penalty.The measure on it was signed by Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley on 2 May 2013. The person who was attended was former Maryland death row inmate Kirk Bloodsworth. He will be the first person in the country freed from death penalty because of DNA evidence after being convicted in a death penalty case.
  
  On the global level, Maryland is the 18th state to abolish the death penalty. The Governor can commute the death sentences of intimates to life without parole. The Governor O’Malley has asserted that he will consider them on a case-by-case basis. The state’s last execution was in 2005.