Bangladesh has ordered three international charities to stop providing
aid to Rohingya refugees who cross the border to flee violence in
Myanmar. France's Doctors without Borders (MSF) and Action Against
Hunger (ACF) as well as Britain's Muslim Aid UK have been told to suspend their
services in the Cox's Bazaar district bordering Myanmar.
The former UN Secretary - General Kofi Annan
quit as international peace envoy to Syria on 3 August, complaining
that his initiative to end the bloodshed there never received the support it
deserved. As Syria's government deployed fighter jets against rebels armed with
tanks around the commercial capital Aleppo, the outgoing UN-Arab League envoy
voiced regret at the "increasing militarisation" of the nearly
17-month conflict.
The 193 member U.N. General Assembly on
3 August, overwhelmingly adopted a Saudi-drafted resolution on Syria that
expressed “grave concern” at the escalating violence but India was
among the 31 nations that abstained. The General Assembly passed the resolution
that denounced Syria’s crackdown on its people and demanded that the country
lockdown its chemical and biological weapons. The resolution also deplored “the
failure of the Security Council to agree on measures to ensure the compliance
of Syrian authorities with its decisions”. The resolution got 133 votes in
favour, while 12 countries voted against. Thirty-one countries, including
India, abstained.
An outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus has killed
at least 13 people in Uganda. The outbreak began in late June. Ebola is spread by close personal
contact, and kills up to 90 percent of those infected. There is no vaccine for
the virus. Symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, headache, vomiting
and impaired kidneys.
Somalia’s Constituent Assembly on 1 August ,
endorsed a draft constitution billed as a key step to ending decades of civil
war during. The Horn of Africa
country’s outgoing government hailed the end of an eight-year interim period.
Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali expressed happy and announced that Somalia
has from now, left the transitional period. The special assembly chosen by
traditional elders in a U.N.-backed process took eight days to debate and vote
on the new Constitution, as the graft-riddled government approaches the end of
its mandate on August 20.Key steps in the fragile political process remain,
including a new Parliament to be selected by traditional elders, with that
Parliament to subsequently elect a new President.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court on 8 August 2012
ordered the Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to appear before judges
for he failed to write Swiss authorities to reopen corruption cases against
the president Asif Ali Zardari. The court asked the PM to appear before judges
on 27 August 2012 to explain his actions.Earlier on 3 August 2012 the Supreme
Court had nullified a legislation that sought to protect elected legislators
from contempt charges. It was believed that the legislation was meant to
prevent court from disqualifying current Prime Minister from the office under
contempt charges.Earlier,the Supreme Court of Pakistan had removed Yousuf Raza
Gilani from his post on 19 June 2012 after he failed to follow court’s order to
write a letter to Swiss authorities asking them to reopen corruption case
against President Asif Ali Zardari.
In Sudan, the ruling National Transitional
Council (NTC) handed over power to the newly elected National Assembly on 8 August 2012 in a ceremony in Tripoli.
NTC Chairman, Mustafa Abdel Jalil passed on the responsibility to the oldest
member of the new two hundred member assembly, Mohammed Ali Salim. The new
assembly will appoint a new interim Prime Minister to form the government and a
sixty-member panel to draft the new constitution of Libya. The ceremony marked
the first peaceful government transition of the country post Gadhafi seized
power in Libya.
The US government on 2 August 2012 announced to impose some fresh
sanctions on Iran. These sanctions, imposed under Comprehensive Iran
Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (CISADA), put punitive
regulation on those who continued to maintain ties with Iran.Under the sanction
Bank of Kunlun in China and Elaf Islamic Bank in Iraq faced cut off from
transactions with US institutions. The two banks were punished for facilitating
transactions worth millions of dollars on behalf of sanctioned Iranian banks.
Experts say that the new sanctions categorically target the Iranian energy and
petrochemical sectors. Earlier this year India, China and a host of other
nations had opposed US’ dictate to cut down their oil imports from Iran. US and
European Union have come down heavily on Iran’s nuclear programme seeking all
possible diplomatic methods to stop the belligerent nation to carry on its
nuclear programme. Though the heavy sanctions imposed by the US and EU over
Iran have not yielded them the desired result as Iran has thus far not gave up
its plan to build nuclear armaments.
Sudan and South Sudan have come into an
agreement in Adis ababa on 5
August, on a deal over oil, resolving a key part of a bitter dispute that
brought the rivals to the brink of all-out war earlier this year. African Union
mediator Thabo Mbeki said that the parties have agreed on all of the financial
arrangements regarding oil. Landlocked South Sudan said it had agreed to pay a
pipeline transit fee of $9.48 per oil barrel to transport its crude through
Sudan, a significant drop from Sudan’s initial demands of up to $36 a barrel in
fees. In addition, South Sudan agreed to make a "one-off payment" to
Khartoum of some $3 billion to cover the massive financial gap created by the
South's independence last year, a fractious divorce that left a raft of issues
unresolved. Mutrif Siddiq, a Sudanese delegate to the talks in the Ethiopian
capital, said the deal was "reasonable", although it did not meet the
expectations of either side. U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed the deal,
saying it opened the door to better prosperity for both countries. He also
praised the mediation efforts of the African Union led by Thabo Mbeki, a former
South African president.
Taiwan proposed for a peace proposal on 5 August aimed at easing mounting
tensions in a territorial dispute over an island chain in the East China Sea
also claimed by China and Japan. The proposal, put forth by President Ma
Ying-jeou, came after Japanese Defence Minister Satoshi Morimoto warned
recently, Tokyo could send troops to the island chain.
At least six persons were killed and several
injured, on 5 August, by a gunmen, at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, a
Gurdwara, in what appeared to be a hate crime in Oak Creek, a quiet suburb
of Milwaukee. Reports also quoted an unnamed member of the Sikh community as
saying a Sikh priest visiting from New Delhi was said to have been shot at. One
police officer was injured in an exchange of fire. India said its embassy in
Washington was in touch with the U.S. National Security Council on the tragic
incident. Indian Ambassador Nirupama Rao said an official was rushed to the
site to ascertain the situation.
Russia will build a string of naval bases along
its northern coast as it prepares to
claim a vast swath of the energy-rich Arctic. Security Council chief Nikolay
Patrushev said on 7 August, that a list of naval infrastructure hubs along the
Northern Sea Route has been drawn up to serve as resupply bases for Russian
warships and border guard vessels. By 2020, Russia is to deploy a combined-arms
force of naval, border and coastal guard units to protect its economic and
political interests in the Arctic.President Vladimir Putin last month said that
Russia would build dozens of warships by 2020 to better protect its natural resources
in the Arctic. Russia, which is entitled to a 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone
in the Arctic, plans to submit next year its claim for a 150-mile additional
territory on the grounds that the seabed is continuation of its continental
shelf. This claim is disputed by other Arctic powers — Norway, the United
States, Canada and Denmark.Russia also plans to open year-round navigation
along the Northern Sea Route, which stretches for 5,600 km along Russia’s
Arctic coast from Murmansk in the Barents Sea to the Bering Strait in the Far
East.
The United Nations on 17 August, has announced
that Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi will replace Kofi Annan as peace
envoy to Syria. The 78- year-old Brahimi has worked in several
high-profile positions at the UN, gaining a reputation as a tough, independent
negotiator as envoy to Afghanistan, Iraq and Haiti. He helped negotiate the end
of Lebanon’s civil war. Mr. Brahimi is a member of the Elders, a group of
former world leaders working for global peace. Mr. Annan announced his
resignation earlier this month after failing to achieve a temporary ceasefire
during six- month tenure. The Security Council announced on 16 august, it would
end the UN military observer mission in Syria.
In a high intensity political act, Ecuador
on 16 August, granted asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, ignoring
a threat from the British government to strip it of its diplomatic status and
storm its embassy in London to arrest Mr. Assange for breaching his bail
conditions. He has been holed up at the embassy since seeking refuge there in
June to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of sexual assault. British
Foreign Secretary William Hague made clear that Mr. Assange would not be given
safe passage out of the country and indicated that the diplomatic stand-off
could drag on for some “considerable” time. Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Ricardo
Patino said the decision to grant asylum to Mr. Assange was prompted by a concern
for Mr. Assange’s human rights as his government believed that his fears of
“political persecution’’ were “legitimate.” Mr. Assange fears that if
extradited to Sweden he could be handed to the American government that wants
to prosecute him for publishing secret official documents. Britain said it was
“disappointed” by the decision and stressed its “obligation” to extradite Mr.
Assange to Sweden pointing out that he had exhausted all legal options in
Britain.
Noted Indian-American journalist and author Fareed
Zakaria(48) has been suspended by his employers CNN and Time magazine after
he admitted to plagiarism and apologized for the ethical lapse. Mr Zakaria, was
suspended by CNN and Time magazine after he admitted that he had plagiarised
portions of an article he wrote on gun control for Time, from the New Yorker
magazine. He issued an apology saying he had made a “terrible mistake” and his
lifting a paragraph from the article by Harvard University professor of
American history Jill Lepore was an “ethical lapse“. Mr Zakaria, a Yale and
Harvard graduate, had written the column on gun control that appeared in the
August 20 issue of Time magazine. Born on 20 January 1964 in Mumbai,
Maharashtra, Fareed Zakaria obtained his Bachelors degree in Arts from Yale
University. Later he received Doctorate in Political Science from Harvard
University in 1993. In a career spanning more than two decades in journalism,
Zakaria worked with numerous global media organizations such as News Week,
Time, CNN.
China's commerce ministry announced on 14
August, China will develop two economic zones in North Korea. Both
sides met in Beijing to discuss the setting up of Rason Economic and Trade Zone
and Hwanggumphyong and Wihwa Islands Economic Zone.Sources said , a joint
mechanism will be set up to train personnel, for compiling plans and
regulations, customs clearance and telecom links .
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation
suspended Syria on 16 August ,
citing President Bashar al-Assad's suppression of the Syrian revolt, but there
was little support for direct military involvement in Syria at a summit of
Muslim leaders in Mecca.Summit host Saudi Arabia has led Arab efforts to
isolate Syria diplomatically.
Anti-Japanese protests rocked Chinese cities on 19 August, as nationalists from Japan
landed on an East China Sea island at the heart of a territorial dispute between
the two nations. In several Chinese cities, thousands took to the streets
shouted slogans agaist Japan’s claim over the islands. Tokyo and
Beijing have been feuding for decades over the island chain, known as the
Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, near potentially huge maritime gas
fields. On 19 August, 10 Japanese made an unauthorised landing on Uotsuri
island, the largest in a small archipelago known in Japan as the Senkaku
Islands and in China as the Diaoyu Islands. Of the 10 who visited the island,
five were conservative local assembly members.
Myanmar abolished direct media censorship on 20 August, the latest dramatic reform
by its quasi-civilian regime, but journalists face other formidable
restrictions including a ban on private daily newspapers and a pervasive
culture of self-censorship. Under the new rules, journalists no longer have to
submit reports to state censors before publication, ending a practice strictly
enforced during nearly half a century of military rule that ended in March last
year. Previously, every song, book, cartoon, news report and planned piece of
art required approval by teams of censors rooting out political messages and
criticisms of one of Asia’s most repressive governments. Privately run daily
newspapers are still not permitted, leaving a monopoly to state-run papers.
Miss China , Wenxia Yu, was crowned the 62nd
Miss World with Miss Wales
Sophie Elizabeth Moulds as the 1st runner-up and Miss Australia Jessica Michele
Kahawaty as the 2nd runner-up. This event was held at Ordos, in China on
18 august.Miss India Vanya Mishra stood at sixth place. While Vanyamishra
got the coveted titles of Miss World Beauty with a Purpose and also went on to
win the Multimedia Award at the Miss World pageant. Miss china was also
awarded Miss Talent 2012, Miss World 2012 Beach Beauty was Miss Wales. While
South Sudan took away the Miss World 2012 Top Model award.Finally, Miss World
Sports Woman 2012 was awarded to Miss Sweden.
Meles Zenawi (57), Ethiopia’s Prime Minister
since 1995, died on 20 August, in a
hospital in Brussels. Sources said, Deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn
would head a transitional government while the ruling party chooses Mr. Meles
successor, adding that the Constitution allowed his government to appoint a
successor without holding elections. Mr. Meles’s Ethiopian People’s
Revolutionary Democratic Front seized power in 1991 following the collapse of
the dictatorship of Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam. He headed the transitional
government and won elections in 1995, 2000, 2005 and most recently in 2010, in
a landslide election whose validity was questioned by Western observers and
human rights groups. Mr. Meles is credited with resurrecting the ruined economy
he inherited in 1991. In the last seven years, the economy has grown by an
average 11 per cent annually due to investments in agriculture and
infrastructure. Adis Ababa is the capital for Ethiopia.
Russia became the 156th member of the World
Trade Organization on 21 August,
following nearly two decades of negotiations. Russia was one of the world's
last major economies to join the Geneva-based institution, having previously
expressed concerns about the potential influx of Western goods and services. As
part of its membership, Russia has agreed to lower import tariffs to less than
8 percent from a current average of around 10 percent. As part of the
agreement, Russia has also made commitments to open trade in several sectors,
including the banking, automotive and insurance industries. Some analysts
expect this will be to the benefit of Russian consumers by making it cheaper
for them to purchase imported products while allowing them to save more and
invest back into the local economy. Russia joins the South Pacific island
nation of Vanuatu, which will become the WTO s 157th member on
21 August. Pascal Lamy is the present Director-General of WTO.