INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2014
- U.K.’s Afghan combat role ends
UK base was handed over to the control of the Afghan security forces, bringing to an end British troops’ campaign in Helmand province. It brings to an end a costly chapter in the 13-year campaign, with the vast majority of the 453 troops who died in the conflict losing their lives fighting the Taliban insurgency in Helmand. The UK, which has had a presence in the southern province since 2006, is preparing to withdraw combat personnel entirely from Afghanistan by the end of the year.
Camp Bastion has been the centre of British operations in the country since UK troops were sent to Helmand in 2006. At the peak of the Afghan conflict there were 10,000 British personnel there, with 20,000 US marines, Danes, Estonians and other nationalities at 180 bases and checkpoints. - Rousseff reelected as Brazil President
(Brazil president, Brazil elections, Rouseff reelected)
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was reelected by a whisker in a second-round head-to-head vote, after one of the closest, most aggressive campaigns in the country’s recent history. Rousseff, whose left-wing Workers’ Party has governed Brazil since 2003, had 51.6 percent with 99 percent of votes counted. Aécio Neves, the center-right candidate for the Brazilian Social Democratic Party, came second, with 48.4 percent.
Other important points- The verdict in favour of Ms. Rousseff for another four years is because of the popularity of the social protection programmes of the centre-left Workers’ party during its 12-year rule.
- Such a reading is borne out by the response from Brazil’s vocal and impatient middle classes, who rallied behind the two opposition candidates right through the poll campaign.
- Brazil, as with other countries of the region, may have nearly reached the end of the commodities boom of recent years. The President has, in her second term, some deft balancing to do to retain the support of her political constituency, while formulating policies to ensure macro-economic stability.
- Greater transparency could further enhance Brazil’s growing global economic and political clout.
- British coalition collapses EU referendum bill
A bid to set in law a proposed British referendum on EU membership failed on 28th October, with both parties in the coalition government blaming the other. Put forward by Bob Neill, in the Conservative party of Prime Minister David Cameron, the bill would have guaranteed that the next government would have to hold a referendum in 2017.
The bill passed its first hurdle earlier this month, but the parties' failure to agree means it will not go forward to a vote in the House of Commons. Under pressure from the rising popularity of the anti-EU UK Independence Party ahead of a May 2015 election, Cameron has vowed to renegotiate the terms of Britain's membership of the bloc and then hold a referendum.
The Liberal Democrats said that their coalition partners secretly opposed the bill as it would have taken the force out of an election promise that voting Conservative is the only way to guarantee an EU referendum. - Death sentence for Jamaat-e-Islami chief
A Bangladesh war crimes tribunal on 29th October handed death penalty to Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami for crimes, which include the killings of nation’s leading intellectuals during the country’s War of Liberation in 1971.
Rahman Nizami served as a senior minister during the tenure of the Khaleda Zia–led government, has also been awarded life sentence in other charges of crimes against humanity.
The International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1), one of the two tribunals, found the Jamaat chief guilty in eight out of 16 charges levelled against him in a historic trial that began nearly four decades after Bangladesh’s emergence as an independent country. - Sweden recognized Palestine
Sweden on 30th October officially recognized the state of Palestine, becoming the first western European Union member to do so. While the Palestinians cheered the move, Israel summoned Sweden’s ambassador to protest and express disappointment.
Seven EU members in Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean have already recognised a Palestinian state — Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Romania. Non-EU member Iceland is the only other western European nation to have done so. - Australia bans travel to terror spots
Australia on 30th October passed a law criminalising travel to terror hotspots, a tough counter-terrorism measure aimed at stopping jihadists from going to Iraq and Syria to fight. The Australian government has been increasingly concerned about the flow of foreign fighters to the Middle East to join militant groups such as Islamic State, with 70 Australians believed to have already made the journey.
The Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fighters) includes measures that make it an offence to enter a “declared area” where a terrorist organisation is engaging in hostile activity, without a valid reason. The offence carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. - EU, Russia, Ukraine sign gas supply deal
Ukraine, Russia and the European Union signed a deal on 30th October on the resumption of Russian natural gas supplies to Ukraine for winter after several months of delay during the conflict in Ukraine.
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, witnessed the three-way signing ceremony in Brussels. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said in Kiev that the EU had agreed to serve as guarantor for Kiev in holding Russia to an agreement, notably on the price Ukraine would pay.
Yatseniuk, in figures later confirmed by Moscow, said Ukraine would pay $378 per 1,000 cubic metres to the end of 2014 and $365 in the first quarter of 2015. He said Kiev was ready to pay off debts for gas immediately after any deal was signed. A total of $1.45 billion would be paid immediately and a further $1.65 billion paid by the end of the year, he said.
Russian energy minister Alexander Novak insisted that Ukraine would still have to pay up front for new deliveries to see its 45 million people through winter. Moscow expects some $1.6 billion for gas to be supplied. Some critics of Russia question whether its motivation is financial or whether prolonging the wrangling with ex-Soviet Ukraine and its Western allies suits Moscow's diplomatic agenda. - Burkina Faso President resigned
Burkina Faso's embattled President Blaise Compaore announced on 31st October that he was stepping down to make way for elections after a violent uprising against his 27-year rule. His resignation came as tens of thousands of protesters demanded that he quit immediately after a day of unrest that saw mass demonstrations, with protesters storming and setting fire to Parliament.
Observers have drawn a parallel between the protests and the Arab Spring, while the situation is being closely watched across Africa, where at least four heads-of-state are pushing constitutional change to cling to power.
Army Chief Navere Honore Traore said he would take power "in line with constitutional measures", a move which will prove hugely unpopular with the protesters, who see him as a close ally of Campaore. The EU called for the people of Burkina Faso to have the final say in who rules their country.
Burkina Faso, also known by its short-form name Burkina, is a landlocked country in West Africa. Its capital is Ouagadougou. After gaining independence from France in 1960, the country underwent many governmental changes. Today it is a semi-presidential republic. Blaise Compaoré was the most recent President and has ruled the country since a coup brought him to power in 1987 until his resignation on 31 October 2014 - Panel to review peacekeeping operations
Under pressure from India over the safety of United Nations Peacekeeping forces, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has set up a 14-member panel, including an Indian to review peacekeeping operations worldwide.
The panel, headed by Jose Ramos-Horta, the former President of East Timor, will include Lt. General Abhijit Guha, a retired Indian Army officer who now holds a U.N. post.
In the past few months, India has taken up the issue of “changing mandates” and a lack of consultation by the Security Council that appoints the missions. In particular, India had objected after the killing of three Indian peacekeepers, or “blue helmets,” in South Sudan when rebels attacked their base, while 39 have been killed on peacekeeping duty in the Congo.
At the U.N. General Assembly this year, India had called for a greater role in the decision making about peacekeeping operations, especially in areas of internal political conflict. The government also raised the issue strongly with the U.N. Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous when he visited New Delhi in July.
With 8,132 soldiers on UN missions, India is the third largest contributor of peacekeeping forces, after Bangladesh and Pakistan. It has suffered the highest casualties in UN peacekeeping operations, with an estimated 157 Indian soldiers being killed since 1950. The move for a bigger role in deciding UN peacekeeping mandates is seen as part of the bigger push by India for a permanent seat at the Security Council.
UN Peace Keeping Force: Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role held by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations as "a unique and dynamic instrument developed by the Organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace." It is distinguished from both peace building and peacemaking. - Spain imposes ‘Google tax’
The Spanish government has successfully passed a new copyright law which imposes fees for online content aggregators such as Google News, in an effort to protect its print media industry.
The new intellectual property law, known popularly as the “Google Tax” or by its initials LPI, requires services which post links and excerpts of news articles to pay a fee to the organisation representing Spanish newspapers, the Association of Editors of Spanish Dailies (known by its Spanish-language abbreviation AEDE). Failure to pay up can lead to a fine of up to €600,000.
A similar law passed in Germany saw Google removing the affected newspapers from Google news altogether — before the publishers eventually came back and asked to be relisted after seeing their traffic plummet, a step they said they had to take because of the “overwhelming market power of Google”.
The “Google tax” isn’t the only component of Spain’s law, which tightens up existing regulation. Once it comes into action at the beginning of 2014, the country will also require websites to remove links to material that infringes copyright, even if the websites themselves don’t make money from the infringement. It doesn’t require copyright holders to go through a judge before demanding links be removed, while imposing fines of €600,000 on sites which don’t act.
The law also applies to the third party sites providing hosting or payment services to the infringing site, something that has led opponents of the law to label it as “censorship”, comparing it to the financial boycott of Wikileaks - India won another term at UNHRC
India was on 21st October re-elected to the UN's main human rights body for the period of 2015-17, receiving the highest number of votes in the Asia-Pacific group. India is currently a member of the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and its first term is due to end on December 31, 2014. The country's Ambassador to the UN -Asoke Mukerji
India was competing in the Asia-Pacific group in which four seats were up for election. The other countries competing in the group were Indonesia, Bangladesh, Qatar, Thailand, Kuwait, Cambodia, Philippines and Bahrain. Out of them, India, Bangladesh, Qatar and Indonesia made it to the UNHRC.
India received 162 votes, the highest number in the Asia-Pacific group. Apart from India, the other 14 member states elected to the Human Rights Council for a three-year term of office beginning January 1, 2015, are Albania, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Botswana, the Congo, El Salvador, Ghana, Indonesia, Latvia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Paraguay, Portugal and Qatar.
The Council members are elected for a period of three years by the majority of members of the General Assembly through direct and secret ballot. Last year, the General Assembly had elected 14 countries, including China, Saudi Arabia and Russia to serve on the Council.
About UNHRC:
The United Nations Human Rights Council is a United Nations System inter-governmental body, It consists of 47 member states
The nations are responsible for promoting and protecting human rights around the world.
At present the President of UNHRC - Baudelaire Ndong Ella
WHO declared Nigeria Ebola-free?
The World Health Organization declared Nigeria free of Ebola infections on 20th October. WHO declared t hat this is an outcome the triumphal result of world-class epidemiological detective work. The announcement came 42 days after the last reported infection in Nigeria’s outbreak, twice the maximum incubation period for the Ebola virus.
More than 9,000 people have become infected in the epidemic, over 4,500 people have died, and the number of infections is still doubling every month, the W.H.O. has reported.
Nigeria’s success in averting that outcome started with the action of Ameyo Stella Adadevoh, a doctor at First Consultant Hospital in Lagos who diagnosed the Ebola virus in Mr. Sawyer and later died of the disease. Together with Benjamin Ohiaeri, the hospital director, Dr. Adadevoh had insisted on keeping Mr. Sawyer isolated despite threats of legal action by Liberian officials demanding his release.
All about Ebola
Ebola is a serious infectious illness which often proves fatal. The virus, which is thought to have originated in fruit bats, was first detected in 1976 in an outbreak near the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo
People are infected when they have direct contact through broken skin, or the mouth and nose, with the blood, vomit, faeces or bodily fluids of someone with Ebola. The virus can be present in urine and semen too. Infection may also occur through direct contact with contaminated bedding, clothing and surfaces - but only through broken skin. It is still unclear how long the virus exists on surfaces but there is some evidence to suggest it can last up to six days. Bleach and chlorine can kill Ebola. The disease is not airborne, like flu. Very close direct contact with an infected person is required for the virus to be passed to another person.
It can take up anything from two to 21 days for humans with the virus to show symptoms. People are not infectious until the symptoms develop. People are infectious as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus - in some cases, up to seven weeks after they recover
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in West Africa are the countries worst affected by this outbreak, which came to light in March 2014. - Attack on Canada Parliament
A gunman attacked Canada's parliament on 22nd October, with gunfire erupting near where Prime Minister Stephen Harper was speaking, and a soldier was fatally shot at a nearby war memorial, stunning the Canadian capital.
The gunman in the parliament building was shot dead, and Harper was safely removed in incidents that may have been linked to Islamic militants.
Canada announced this month it was joining the battle against Islamic State fighters who have taken over parts of Iraq and Syria.
Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada, which has stricter gun laws than the United States, and the regulations at one point included a national registry of rifles and shotguns. Legislation was passed in 2012 to scrap the registry.
Ottawa also has a low murder rate. There were nine homicides in 2013 and seven in 2012, in a city of 885,000 people. Compared with Capitol Hill in Washington, security on Parliament Hill is also fairly low key. Anybody could walk right up to the front door of parliament's Centre Block with arms and explosives without being challenged before entering the front door, where a few guards check accreditation.
Centre Block is the main building on Parliament Hill, a sprawling complex of buildings and open space in downtown Ottawa. It contains the House of Commons and Senate chambers as well as the offices of some members of parliament, senators, and senior administration for both legislative houses. - New mail service launched
Google Inc launched an email service called 'Inbox' on 22nd October that will better organize emails and display information such as appointments, flight bookings and package deliveries in a more user-friendly way. For now the new service is being provided alongside Gmail, which was launched in 2004. It will be available on the Web as well as on Android smart phones and iPhones. - Finance ministers seek to boost global recovery
World financial leaders are pledging to act boldly and ambitiously to give a weak and uneven global recovery some momentum, but they have often fallen short in the past when trying to follow through on their promises.
The pledge from the International Monetary Fund's policy-setting committee comes after a week of volatile swings in the financial markets - powered by concerns that parts of Europe may be sliding into another recession.
The IMF called increasing economic growth an "utmost priority" during the fall meeting of the IMF and World Bank. In a closing statement on 11th October from the steering committee of the 188-nation IMF, the finance leaders also committed to making the necessary structural changes that would boost growth.
Officials also endorsed the IMF's efforts to support three West African countries battling the Ebola crisis, which could be added to ministers' usual concerns over interest rates and budgets, particularly if the virus becomes widespread.
Managing Director Christine Lagarde said that the IMF has made $130 million available to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and that the IMF and other international agencies stood ready to do more. In addition to the $130 million in interest-free loans being provided by the IMF, the World Bank is providing $400 million for the Ebola efforts.
The World Bank policy committee said that "swift and coordinated action and financial support are critical to contain" the deadly disease.
The IMF and World Bank meetings were preceded by talks among finance ministers and central bank presidents of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging nations, which comprise 85 percent of the global economy. The G20 focused on measures they could impliment to strengthen the global economy and make the recovery more robust.
In a comment clearly aimed at Germany, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told finance ministers that European countries with "external surpluses and fiscal flexibility" needed to do more to address weakness in demand that was holding back growth. Germany, Europe's largest economy, ran a large trade surplus last year. He also called on China, now the world's second-largest economy, and Japan, No. 3, to make the necessary policy adjustments to increase their own growth. - Pak seeks UN intervention in J & K
Stepping up its attempts to internationalize the Kashmir issue, Pakistan has written to the UN chief on the security situation along the LoC and the International Border with India and sought the world body's intervention in resolving the issue.
In a letter to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, Adviser to the Pakistan Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz accused India of "deliberate and unprovoked violations of the ceasefire agreement and cross-border firing" over the past weeks.
Referring to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's address to UN General Assembly last month during which he emphasized on the need to resolve the whole issue of Jammu and Kashmir, Aziz said "unfortunately, India has adopted a policy that runs counter to its stated desire to engage in a serious bilateral dialogue with Pakistan."
He added, "India cancelled, unilaterally and without any plausible justification, the Foreign Secretary level talks that were scheduled to be held on August 25, 2014."
Kashmir Issue:
The Kashmir conflict is a territorial dispute between the Government of India, Kashmiri insurgent groups and the Government of Pakistan over control of the Kashmir region. Although an interstate dispute over Kashmir has existed between India and Pakistan since the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, there is also an internal conflict between Kashmiri insurgents—some in favor of Kashmiri accession to Pakistan and others seeking complete independence for the area.
India and Pakistan have fought at least three wars over Kashmir, including the Indo-Pakistani Wars of 1947, 1965 and 1999. Furthermore, since 1984 the two countries have also been involved in several skirmishes over control of the Siachen Glacier. India claims the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir and as of 2010, administers approximately 43% of the region, including most of Jammu, the Kashmir Valley, Ladakh, and the Siachen Glacier. India's claims are contested by Pakistan, which controls approximately 37% of Kashmir, namely Azad Kashmir and the northern areas of Gilgit Baltista. - Rakapaksa re-launches Yal Devi
President of Srilanka Rajapaksa flagged off the train at Pallai, about 40 km from Jaffna, and travelled, Indian Railways’ subsidiary IRCON has rebuilt the stretch — damaged during the war — as part of the Indian government’s $800 million line of credit to restore select railway lines in the island, predominantly in its Tamil-majority Northern Province.
The coaches used for the launch were made in China. India has supplied 60 coaches, but Sri Lanka is considering sourcing additional coaches from China to take advantage of the newly-laid tracks capable of facilitating speeds of up to 120 km per hour, it is reliably learnt.
About Yal Devi:
Yal Devi is a major intercity express train in Sri Lanka. Operated by Sri Lanka Railways, the Yal Devi connects Colombo, the nation's commercial hub, with the northern cities of Jaffna and Kankesanturai. Since 1990, the service has had to terminate at intermediate stations, due to the Sri Lankan civil war. - U.K. Commons house voted in favor of Palestine
In a political development that will have enormous symbolic importance for the cause of Palestine, the British House of Commons voted overwhelmingly in favour of recognising Palestine as a state alongside Israel. Although it is the government and not the House of Commons that recognises states, the voting result at 274 to 12 will strengthen the moral case for Palestine internationally while simultaneously isolating Israel for its illegal occupation of Palestine.
Indeed, even though less than half the Members of Parliament (MPs) took part in the voting and Ministers abstained, the debate in the House was sharply critical of Israel’s methods of keeping Palestine under its control.
The United Kingdom does not recognise the state of Palestine, and was one of the 41 countries that abstained from voting at the U.N. General Assembly in 2012 when a majority voted to upgrade the status of Palestine to that of a ‘non-member observer state.’ Its current policy on Palestine “reserves the right to recognise a Palestinian state bilaterally at the moment of our choosing and when it can best help bring about peace.” - Conscription for women in Norway
Norway on 14th October voted to extend military service to women, saying the step was meant to expand the talent pool for its armed forces. Most European countries have abolished conscription in favor of a professional army, but Norway has instead said it wants to ensure its military is more competent and diverse by making it "gender neutral".
The new policy will come into effect in 2016, bringing the NATO country, which operates a weak form of mandatory military service, more in line with Israel than other European nations.
Norway had an official target of reaching 20 per cent women in the army by 2020 under the previous administration but the right-wing government, which took power last year, has not committed to gender targets. - Pakistan launched Mannar housing project
Pakistan has launched a housing project in Mannar, where India is currently building 6,000 homes for families displaced during Sri Lanka’s brutal civil war. Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Qasim Qureshi recently handed over a cheque of $1 million to Sri Lanka’s Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa and Minister of Industries and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen for the project to build 220 homes in Mannar, a coastal district in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province.
Mannar has a unique ethnic and religious composition, though it is inhabited by a majority of Tamil speakers. The district is home to the province’s largest population of Muslims, thousands of whom were forcibly evicted by the LTTE in 1990. It has a sizeable Catholic population which is now eagerly awaiting the Pope’s visit in January, in addition to Hindus and a small percentage of Sinhala-speaking Buddhists. - Nations step up efforts as Ebola threat spreads
Ebola’s escalating spread constitutes the worst global health emergency in years, world leaders warned, vowing to dramatically step up the response to the virus that has already killed nearly 4,500 people. As of 12th October, 4,493 people had died out of a total of 8,997 cases in the outbreak now affecting seven countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Nations are taking initiations to control the disease.
Airports in Britain, Canada and the United States have already introduced stepped-up screening of travellers arriving from West Africa.
Initiations in India:
The government on 16th October ordered a more extensive drill and also asked states to step up surveillance for Ebola that has ravaged West Africa and also appeared in US and some European countries. Thermal or body temperature scanners at airports, training for state health officials, Ebola testing laboratories in 10 cities and screening at all entry points were part of the protocol conveyed to states
More than 22,000 passengers had been screened for Ebola in the country by October 15, a source said. Fifty-six of them were identified as high risk, seven as medium risk while the others were categorised as low risk, a statement release by the government said.
Low-risk passengers are given general advice while medium and high-risk passengers are kept under observation — states keep a track of them — for a month. Their blood samples are tested and so far none have returned positives.
The Centre will give 50,000 pieces of protective gear to states. These facilities will be inspected by teams sent from the Centre. The minister will review the preparedness on October 21.
From West Africa
The hemorrhagic virus has ravaged West African countries Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone since the start of the year, and outside the region, cases have begun surfacing in the United States and Spain.
The WHO warned this week that the infection rate could reach 10,000 a week by early December in a worst-case scenario. European Union health ministers are to meet in Brussels on Thursday, with member states under pressure to follow Washington in sending troops to West Africa to help fight the virus.
The U.N. Security Council urged the international community to “accelerate and dramatically expand” aid to the West African countries battling the epidemic.
The Red Cross also urged the international community to focus less on dramatic actions like shutting down airports and entire countries and more on engaging with populations to alter behaviours allowing the outbreak to swell. - 750,000 in West Africa face hunger threat: UN
Ebola could cause a major food crisis in Africa if it continues unchecked, and millions of people in the worst-hit countries are already running short as farms are abandoned and trade interrupted, a UN organisation warns. The outbreak of the deadly virus in West Africa is piling more pressure on supplies that are already badly stretched.
The global famine warning system is predicting a major food crisis if the Ebola outbreak continues to grow exponentially, and the UN still hasn't reached over 750,000 people in need of food in West Africa.
On October 16th is World Food Day, and UN agencies and non-governmental organizations are scrambling to scale up efforts to avert widespread hunger. WFP says it needs to reach 1.3 million people in need in hardest-hit Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
So far, it has provided food to 534,000 people and expects to reach between 600,000 and 700,000 this month, WFP spokesman Bettina Luescher said. 'And we are working hard to reach and scale up to 1.3 million eventually.'
WFP is providing food to patients in Ebola treatment centers, survivors of the virus who have been discharged, and communities which have been quarantined or have seen widespread transmission.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said that in Lofa County, the worst affected rural county in Liberia, the price of food and other commodities increased from 30 to 75 percent in August. Action Against Hunger said the price of cassava — a key staple — increased by almost 150 percent in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, during the first week in August. - Pakistan court stops work on nuclear plants
A Pakistani court has restrained the government from initiating work on two proposed nuclear power plants to be built with Chinese help unless environmental safeguards are adhered. The two-judge bench at the Sindh High Court restrained the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission on 16th October to carry out work at the proposed sites in Karachi without adhering to environmental laws.
The court directive was issued on a petition challenging the environmental impact assessment report of the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency, which approved the two plants. The petitioner’s counsel said the reactors would be built by China on a design known as ACP-1000 that has not been operational even in China. - Nigeria claims deal with Boko Haram
Nigeria on 17th October claimed to have reached a deal with Boko Haram militants on a ceasefire and the release of more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls but doubts immediately surrounded the purported breakthrough.
Chief of Defence Staff Air Marshal Alex Badeh told senior military officials from Nigeria and Cameroon meeting in Abuja that a "ceasefire agreement" had been concluded between the government and the insurgents.
Badeh's announcement came after a senior aide to President Goodluck Jonathan, Hassan Tukur, told AFP an agreement to end hostilities had been reached following talks, as well as for the release of 219 girls held captive since April.
But a precedent of previous government and military claims about an end to the deadly five-year conflict and the fate of the missing teenagers left many observers cautious.
Jonathan is also expected to declare his bid for re-election in the coming weeks, with positive news about the hostages and the violence likely to give him a political boost.
Shehu Sani, a Boko Haram expert who has negotiated with the group on behalf of the government said had "never heard" of Danladi Ahmadu, whom Tukur claimed represented the militants at talks.
Ralph Bello-Fadile an advisor to Nigeria's National Security Advisor (NSA), said the NSA has been inundated with fraudsters claiming to represent Shekau. - Pro-EU coalition wins in Latvia
Latvia's hawkish centre-right ruling coalition has won a clear majority in a general election, results showed on 5th October 6, 2014. Lativa takes over the presidency of the EU at the start of next year Together, the Unity party, the Nationalist Alliance and the Union of Greens and Farmers had won 58 percent support with 99 percent of votes counted, according to figures from the electoral commission.
While Latvia is still recovering from the financial crisis which saw its economy contract around 20 percent, the election has been dominated by security issues.The former Soviet republic is a member of both NATO and the European Union and has backed EU economic sanctions imposed against Moscow over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and its support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Latvia also contains many ethnic Russians, who constitute about a quarter of its two million populations. When the Soviet Union broke up many ethnic Russians were stranded in the Baltic States and defined as "non-citizens" without full passports. U.N. figures for 2013 showed that there were more than 280,000 non-citizens in Latvia.
Some fear that the Russian-speaking communities in the Baltic’s could become geopolitical flashpoints, potentially manipulated by Putin to destabilize the region. Moscow has long complained about the rights of ethnic Russians in the Baltics.
With Russia on its doorstep, the Latvian government has taken a robust stance on security. After taking over as prime minister in January, Straujuma has boosted defense spending and joined Baltic neighbors Estonia and Lithuania in pressing for a bigger NATO presence in the region.
It has also strongly backed EU sanctions imposed on Russia and, along with its Baltic neighbours and Poland, agreed to host about 700 U.S. troops and tanks which will be deployed in the next two weeks to deliver a message of NATO resolve to Moscow.
Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 4 October 2014. The previous elections were held in 2011, but according to the country's constitution, the parliamentary term was reduced to only three years following early elections (the 2011 elections took place a year after the 2010 elections). - Hong Kong protesters defiant as deadline approaches
Ahead of a Hong Kong government deadline to clear occupied streets in time for work 6th October, some pro-democracy protesters began removing some of their barricades in a week-long campaign of civil disobedience.
The city's embattled leader, Leung Chun-ying, warned that police will "take all necessary actions" to clear occupied streets by 6th October to allow the 3,000 government workers to return to work and for schools in that area to reopen. The massive protests that began September 28 after a week of student class boycott has paralyzed several key commercial districts.
On 5th October, one of the campaign's main organizers, the group called Occupy Central with Love and Peace, announced that supporters would leave the Mong Kok district, the scene of several clashes on 3rd October with residents and organized mobs opposed to the protests, and the entrance to Leung's office, site of a tense standoff Thursday. The protesters planned to join the occupation of major roads near the main government headquarters.
But some demonstrators refused to leave any protest sites because authorities have yet to make any concessions, and no one group controls what has become a mass public campaign, the Post reported.
Issue back ground and analysis- Hong Kong has been rocked by a spate of student-led protests that have swept across the city’s sensitive financial, administrative and shopping hubs. The agitation has sharply brought into focus the “one country-two systems” policy that defined Hong Kong’s transition from an erstwhile British colony to a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
- The protesters are clamoring for full democracy that includes open nomination of candidates for the post of Chief Executive (CE) of the territory in the elections scheduled for 2017.
- Their protests have acquired a sharp and emotive edge after Beijing was accused of reneging on its commitment to premise the entire electoral process from 2017 on universal suffrage, including the choice of candidates for Hong Kong’s highest office.
- The high-profile protests that could, if they get prolonged, threaten Hong Kong’s status as one of Asia’s premier financial centers need to be analyzed in their fuller context.
- During the entire period of British rule — a full 155 years following the Opium Wars — democratic advancement in the territory was minimal.
- Post-1997 under Chinese sovereignty, the democratic reform process has begun to take shape, based on the Basic Law adopted by China in 1990.
- Under its terms, the CE would be elected by universal suffrage in 2017; but a committee would also be formed that would supervise nominations.
- While the agitating students, seeking unconditional democracy, may be unhappy with this law, the accusation that Beijing has reneged on its legal obligations is entirely flawed.
- By January, 2015, Nepal constitution draft
According to Nepalli Congress leader, former Prime Minister of Nepal Deuba the first draft of Nepal’s new Constitution will be ready by the January 22 deadline. He claimed that parties involved with the draft process have agreed to provide special citizenship to non-residential Nepalis (NRN) but conceded there have been complications over providing political rights.
Political parties, which pledged during the second Constituent Assembly elections, have set January 22 as deadline to draft the Constitution so as to institutionalize the achievements of the Peoples Movement of 2006. Political instability has plagued Nepal since the end of the civil war in 2006.
Politicians have yet to agree on a new Constitution — a key part of the peace deal with the Maoists — and are at odds over proposals to divide Nepal into states, along ethnic lines.
Back ground- On 1 February 2005 King Gyanendra suspended the Parliament, appointed a government led by himself, and enforced martial law. The King argued that civil politicians were unfit to handle the Maoist insurgency. Telephone lines were cut and several high-profile political leaders were detained. Other opposition leaders fled to India and regrouped there. A broad coalition called the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) was formed in opposition to the royal takeover, encompassing the seven parliamentary parties who held about 90% of the seats in the old, dissolved parliament.
- On 22 November 2005, the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) of parliamentary parties and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) agreed on a historic and unprecedented 12-point memorandum of understanding (MOU) for peace and democracy. Nepalese from various walks of life and the international community regarded the MOU as an appropriate political response to the crisis that was developing in Nepal. Against the backdrop of the historical sufferings of the Nepalese people and the enormous human cost of the last ten years of violent conflict, the MOU, which proposes a peaceful transition through an elected constituent assembly, created an acceptable formula for a united movement for democracy. As per the 12-point MOU, the SPA called for a protest movement, and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) supported it. This led to a countrywide uprising called the Loktantra Andolan that started in April 2006. All political forces including civil society and professional organizations actively galvanized the people. This resulted in massive and spontaneous demonstrations and rallies held across Nepal against King Gyanendra's autocratic rule.
- On 19 May 2006, the parliament assumed total legislative power and gave executive power to the Government of Nepal (previously known as His Majesty's Government). Names of many institutions (including the army) were stripped of the "royal" adjective and the Raj Parishad (a council of the King's advisers) was abolished, with his duties assigned to the Parliament itself. The activities of the King became subject to parliamentary scrutiny and the King's properties were subjected to taxation. Moreover, Nepal was declared a secular state abrogating the previous status of a Hindu Kingdom. However, most of the changes have, as yet, not been implemented. On 19 July 2006, the Prime Minister, G. P. Koirala, sent a letter to the United Nations announcing the intention of the Nepalese government to hold elections to a constituent assembly by April 2007.
- On 23 December 2007, an agreement was made for the monarchy to be abolished and the country to become a federal republic with the Prime Minister becoming head of state. Defying political pundits, who had predicted it to be trounced in the April 2008 elections, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) became the largest party amidst a general atmosphere of fear and intimidation from all sides. A federal republic was established in May 2008, with only four members of the 601-seat Constituent Assembly voting against the change, which ended 240 years of royal rule in Nepal. The government announced a public holiday for three days, (May 28—May 30), to celebrate the country becoming a federal republic.
- Since 2008 Major parties such as the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN UML) and the Nepali Congress agreed to write a constitution to replace the interim one within 2 years. However, uncooperative and "selfish" behavior of the political parties has been citedas the major cause behind the de-railing of the peace process.
- On May 2012 constitution assembly was dissolved and another election to select the constitution assembly members was declared by Dr. Baburam Bhattarai.
- London most popular city for workers: Survey
London is the most popular city in the world to work in, an international survey of more than 200,000 people found, with nearly one in six of those questioned wanting to move to the British capital to secure employment
The study by The Boston Consulting Group and totaljobs.com found respondents from 189 countries ranked London above New York and Paris, while Britain was second behind the United States as the most appealing country for international jobseekers.
While the survey - described by its compilers as the most expansive study conducted on worker mobility - found that almost two thirds of jobseekers were willing to move abroad to work, within Britain only 44 percent of people want to move overseas for work. - Britain, Ireland ink visa deals
Britain and Ireland on 7th October inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on visa cooperation to allow Chinese and Indian visitors to travel to the two island nations on a single visa. The landmark visa deal will help Britain and Ireland share data and exchange information to inform and determine immigration decisions and allow visitors from India and China to travel more easily between the two countries, Xinhua reported citing the British Home Office.
The British-Irish Visa scheme will start in China by the end of October and in India soon afterwards, the Home Office noted. China and India are both key markets for British and Irish tourism and more than 10,000 visitors are expected to use the scheme. - Switzerland gears up for automatic exchange of tax information
Under global pressure, Switzerland on 8th October began a process to put in place a framework for automatic exchange of information on tax matters with the US, the EU and other “select countries”. In the initial phase, these countries will include those with which Switzerland has “close economic and political ties”, but it is not yet clear whether these nations include India.
For determining these “select” countries in the initial phase, the Swiss Government will also take into account whether such jurisdictions provide their taxpayers (having accounts in Swiss banks) with “sufficient scope for regularisation”.
Switzerland has been perceived for long as a safe haven for alleged illicit funds and has been facing global pressure to share account and client details of its banks.
Back ground:
The Swiss bank UBS became embroiled in controversy starting in 2008 when the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation made a formal request to travel to Switzerland to probe a multi-billion-dollar tax evasion case involving the bank. The investigation had, in part, been prompted by disclosures made by Bradley Birkenfeld, a former UBS banker in Switzerland, who testified to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that UBS had directed its North American sales force to recruit U.S. taxpayers by offering them access to offshore financial vehicles to hide their assets and avoid taxes.
The events sparked by Birkenfeld's whistle blowing and resulting controversy created unprecedented pressure on UBS, the Swiss banking industry and the Swiss government from the U.S. and European Union members eager to claw back delinquent taxes from assets their taxpayers had stashed in offshore accounts maintained by UBS and other Swiss banks. The controversy eventually led to the erosion of Switzerland's fabled bank secrecy laws. - EU nod for N-plant
The EU gave the go-ahead on 8th October to Britain's plans to build its first new nuclear power plant in 20 years. The double-reactor plant at Hinkley Point in south-west England would come online in 2023 and operate for about 60 years. At full capacity, it could meet as much as 7% of the country's energy needs.- The construction costs alone are estimated at 24.5 billion pounds (39.4 billion dollars). The project will also require some 17 billion pounds in debt financing, according to the commission.
- To get the commission's approval, Britain agreed to ask a higher guarantee fee than initially planned from the plant's operator, a move that the EU estimates will decrease the state subsidy by more than 1 billion pounds.
- China bars drug-tainted stars from film, TV roles
Stars who have used drugs, visited prostitutes or been involved in other law-breaking will not be allowed to appear on Chinese television, movie screens or other forms of broadcast, state media said on, following a series of scandals.
The ban by the broadcast regulator, which includes radio and advertisements, is meant to keep the industry healthy. Chinese prosecutors last month approved the arrest of Jaycee Chan, son of kung fu movie star Jackie Chan, after a suspected drugs offense, the latest in a string of celebrities to fall foul of the law.
China has detained several other mostly B-list celebrities in recent months on drug-related charges, cases that have been publicized widely in both state and social media. They have included movie and television stars, film directors and a prominent screenwriter.
The crackdown has come as the government seeks to push forward a wider campaign against extravagance and decadence. Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to go after corruption and excess among the elite, a prime source of public discontent as the gap between the poor and the wealthy continues to grow. - China-Russia gas project agreement
China and Russia have begun implementing their $400 billion mega-gas deal. It is a strategic project which allows Russia to lower its dependence on the European market, and open prospects of tapping the growing energy demand in the Asia-Pacific, with Beijing as the star consumer.
Russia’s eastward shift is anchored by the agreement to supply China 38 billion cubic meters of gas every year for 30 years. Gas flows will commence in 2018 after the lengthy Siberia Power Pipeline, having both Russian and Chinese components, gets completed.
On 9th October, the Chinese side froze the design and construction plan on its side for the pipeline, which will start in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province and terminate in Shanghai, China’s premier commercial and industrial hub. Construction is expected to start next year, covering three main segments before the pipeline terminates in Shanghai three years later.
Work on Russian segment of the pipeline, linking Siberia’s Kovyktin and Chayandin gas fields with the eastern port city of Vladivostok — a distance of 4,000 km — commenced last month.
The Russians are planning to invest $55 billion in building infrastructure and further exploring Siberia’s energy resources, to consolidate their outreach to Asia via China. - Anti- EU party won first British parliament seat
Britain's anti-EU UK Independence Party won its first elected seat in parliament on 10th October by a landslide and came a close second in another vote, proving it poses a threat to the country's two main parties in a national election next year.
UKIP, which wants a British EU withdrawal and strict curbs on immigration, was expected to do well in both votes. But the unexpectedly wide margin of its victory in the seaside town of Clacton and its strong performance in an election in northern England, which it almost won too, came as a surprise.
In Clacton, it won 60 percent of the vote after the sitting parliamentarian for Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives defected to UKIP, which didn't put up a candidate for the area when it was last contested in 2010. - French vote to cut n-energy reliance
Lawmakers in France, the world’s most nuclear-dependent country, on 10th October voted to cut reliance on the energy source from more than 75 per cent to 50 per cent within a decade. The measure calls for an increase in the share of renewable from 23 per cent in 2020 to 32 per cent in 2030 and a drop in the use of fossil fuels to around 30 per cent. It also sets a goal for a reduction of 40 per cent in greenhouse gas emissions from the 1990 levels by 2030 and a 75 per cent reduction in 2050. - G20 urges U.S. Congress to support IMF reform
Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from G20 countries had sharp words for the U.S. Congress on 10th October, with the Group Treasurer describing Capitol Hill as being a “very difficult… obstacle” in their bid to pass internal reform of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Issuing the Group’s statement during the annual fall meetings, Australian Finance Minister Joe Hockey, whose nation currently holds the Group’s presidency said, “It does affect the U.S. and their reputation, when there is global agreement and in fact agreement from the White House to undertake IMF reform… For domestic reasons the U.S. Congress might not be moving on this issue but for global reasons the U.S. should move on this issue.”
More broadly, the Ministers and Governors said regarding the world economy, “While some key economies are recovering, others face renewed weakness.” Their statement also emphasised an agreement regarding a Global Infrastructure Initiative, and a Global Infrastructure Hub to support the Initiative, to be finalised before the Group leaders’ summit in November.
The issue of reforming the Bretton Woods institutions has been a long-standing one, particularly for emerging economic powers such as India and China, who have consistently argued that the changing global dynamics favours their economies and it is high time that the institutions’ constituent structure reflected this new reality.
In 2011, shortly before the announcement of the candidacy of current IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, its Executive Directors from the BRICS economies openly revolted against the prospect of the top role remaining with a European.
G-20:
The Group of Twenty (also known as the G-20 or G20) is a forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies. The members, shown highlighted on the map at right, include 19 individual countries—Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States—and the European Union (EU). The EU is represented by the European Commission and by the ECB. - Japan’s bullet train turns 50
Japan’s bullet train has completed 50 years of its launching. The bullet train was introduced between Tokyo and Osaka 50 years ago. The Shinkansen, as it’s called in Japan, gave a boost to train travel in Europe and Asia at a time when the rise of the automobile and the airplane threated to eclipse it. It was inaugurated on October 1st, 2014. The first bullet train, travelled from Tokyo to Osaka in four hours, which are 513 km away to each other.
Japan started building a high-speed line during World War II, but construction was halted in 1943 as funds ran out. The idea was revived in the 1950s, but many questioned undertaking such a costly project, particularly with the expansion of air travel and highways. Criticism turned to pride when construction, financed partly by an $80 million World Bank loan, was completed in time for the Tokyo Olympics in October 1964.
The first Shinkansen had a maximum speed of 210 kilometres per hour. The fastest trains previously, in Europe, could reach 160 kph. At present bullet trains, in Japan and elsewhere, have reached and in some cases exceeded 300 kph. By average speed, China has the fastest train in the world, averaging 284 kph on a route between Shijiazhuang and Zhengshou Dong, according to a biennial World Speed Survey by Railway Gazette.
In Europe, Asia too:
The Shinkansen renewed interest in high-speed rail elsewhere, notably in Europe. France and Spain are among the leaders in Europe, and Turkey last year became the ninth country to operate a train at an average speed of 200 kph, according to Railway Gazette. South Korea and Taiwan also operate high—speed systems in Asia. The United States is an exception, though there are proposals to build lines in California and Texas. The fastest train in the U.S., Amtrak’s Acela Express, averages 169 kph on a short stretch between Baltimore and Wilmington, Delaware, the speed survey says.
Shanghai launched a German-built maglev train in 2004 on a 30-kilometre route between the city and the airport. It can hit 430 kph. A Japanese maglev train in development has topped 500 kph in tests. If built, it could reduce the travel time between Tokyo and Osaka to just over one hour. With speed, though, some of the romance is lost. A faster Shinkansen has eliminated its dining car. “The problem is that Japan is such a small country,” said Araki, the retired engineer. “If you go too fast, you’ll get there in no time. No time to enjoy an onboard meal.”
Bullet train in India:
The Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor is an approved high-speed rail corridor in India connecting the cities of Mumbai and Ahmadabad. If built it will be India's first high speed rail line. The project is estimated to cost between Rs 35,000 to Rs 60,000 crore - U.S.-Indonesia debt-for-nature swap
The United States has struck a deal to reduce Indonesia’s debts in exchange for Jakarta pledging about $12 million for programmes to protect endangered species and their habitats on Sumatra island, conservationists said on 3rd October. The agreement, which was inked this week, will provide additional funds for environmental groups to improve programmes aimed at protecting the Sumatran low-land rainforests as well as efforts to increase populations of threatened animals.
The forests of Sumatra, a huge island in western Indonesia, are one of the most bio-diverse places on the planet and are home to critically endangered Sumatran rhinos and tigers. - Sweden to recognize state of Palestine
Sweden's new centre-left government will recognize the state of Palestine in a move that will make it the first major European country to take the step, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said on 3rd October. The UN general assembly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine in 2012 but the European Union and most EU countries, have yet to give official recognition.
For the Palestinians, Sweden's move will be a welcome boost for its ambitions. With its reputation as an honest broker in international affairs and with an influential voice in EU foreign policy, the decision may well make other countries sit up and pay attention at a time when the Palestinians are threatening unilateral moves towards statehood.
The Palestinians want an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza, with its capital in East Jerusalem. While Gaza's boundaries are clearly defined, the precise territory of what would constitute Palestine in the West Bank and East Jerusalem will only be determined via negotiations with Israel on a two-state solution, negotiations which are currently suspended. - North, South Korea agree on dialogue
South Korea — South and North Korea agreed on 4th October to resume high-level talks this year, raising hopes for a thaw in the long-tense relations on the divided Korean Peninsula. A statement from South Korea did not specify what would be discussed. But South Korea had proposed in August that senior officials meet to discuss a new round of reunions of family members separated by the Korean War six decades ago, a program that has proceeded in fits and starts for years as inter-Korean relations have fluctuated.
The North had rejected the August overture, insisting that Seoul first stop activists in the South from sending balloons into North Korea bearing antigovernment propaganda.
But a breakthrough appeared to come on 4th October, when top South Korean policy makers met with a North Korean delegation visiting Incheon for the closing ceremony of the Asian Games, a surprise visit that South Korea announced just an hour before the officials’ arrival. The delegation included three of the most trusted aides of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.
The North Korean delegation’s visit and the agreement to resume talks were all the more unexpected, given the North’s recent vitriol toward the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye. On Thursday, the North called Ms. Park “a rabid dog” after she vowed that pressing the North to end human rights abuses would be a key goal of her government.
The two Koreas have technically been at war since the Korean War ended in 1953 with a truce rather than a peace treaty, and their relationship has been particularly sour during the past few years. But signs of a possible thaw have emerged in recent months. - Independence Referendum for Catalonia
Spanish region Catalonia on 27 September 2014 announced to hold independence referendum on 9 November 2014. The President of Catalonia Artur Mas signed a decree calling for a Scottish style referendum on independence. Earlier on 19 September 2014, Catalonian lawmakers voted by a margin of 106 to 28 in favor of authorizing the referendum. However, Spain quickly denounced the move and called the plan unconstitutional. It repeatedly insists that any regional vote on independence would be illegal, pointing out that the country's 1978 constitution means major questions must be put to all Spaniards and that only they can call a referendum.
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