6 August 2015

Week in Brief: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

EGYPT:  Egypt has completed a new Suez canal which is situated beside the old one.  In addition the original canal has been dredged so that it can accommodate larger ships.  The development will increase the amount of tonnage because ships will be able to sail in both directions.  Care has been taken to ensure the safe passage of ships; security is a concern because the new canal is close to North Sinai which is occupied by Isis state militants.

ISRAEL:  Amnesty International has published a report accusing the Israeli armed forces of committing war crimes during the attack on Gaza in the Summer of 2014.  The Israeli Government denied the allegations and said that the report was fundamentally flawed.

LIBYA:  Saif al-Islam, one of Colonel Gaddafi’s sons, has been sentenced to death following his conviction on murder and rape charges.  Eight other former members of the Gaddafi regime have also been sentenced to death.

There have been criticisms about the way in which the trial was conducted and doubts have been raised as to whether it was fair.

IRAQ:  Isis has released photographs showing the destruction of a sports stadium near Ramadi, which has been funded by the Turkish Government.  The Isis fighters alleged that it had been used as a military base.  The stadium was destroyed two months ago, but it is thought the pictures have been released now because advancing Government forces have discovered the ruins.

The Iraqi Government said its forces were gradually surrounding Ramadi and Fallujah.  A woman in Fallujah said that the Isis militants were preventing civilians from leaving, perhaps because they were going to be used as human shields.

SYRIA:  It has been reported that a top aide to Osama Bin Laden has been killed by a US drone near the Syrian/Turkish border.  Muhsin al-Fadhli was said by US authorities to have been the leader of a network of al-Qaeda terrorists; the US had tried to kill him in September 2014.

There are reports that British fighters with Isis forces have been killed by US drones.  Two of them are said to have been trying to recruit more people to join Isis.

It is feared that three Spanish journalists who have been missing for 2 weeks, have been kidnapped.  No message has been sent or received from them or from their kidnappers.

President Assad has admitted that his government has given up territory to the rebels, due to manpower shortages in his army and to fatigue.

TURKEY:  The authorities have arrested 100 people in cities, including Ankara and Istanbul, who they suspect of being linked to Isis.  The Turkish Government has been criticised in the past by those who suspect that it has sympathy with the Isis state, because Isis is opposed by, inter alios, the Kurds of the Kurdistan Workers Party, the PKK, who want an independent Kurdistan

Turkey and the US have agreed to create a buffer zone which will extend into Syria.  The ground which will be covered by the zone is, at present, in the hands of the Islamic State.  It may also upset the Kurds, who are occupying two pieces of territory in the same area.  The Turkish Foreign Minister said that there was no difference between the Isis State fighters and the PKK separatists.

GREECE:  There were demonstrations in Athens as thousands of people expressed their opposition to the latest set of reforms demanded by Greece’s creditors.

A union representing public sector workers and a communist union group organized demonstrations across Greece.

The reforms already agreed by the Greek parliament entitled the country to a €7 billion bridging loan.

However, there are doubts about whether the proposed bailout of €86 billion will go ahead; the IMF is, at present, refusing to join in unless the Eurozone agrees to debt relief on the outstanding €200 billion Greek debt.  There are several Eurozone Governments who oppose that kind of relief.  The German Bundestag will not be asked to vote on any new bailout, unless it is clear that the IMF will take part.

There are revelations that senior members of the Greek government were planning to restore the drachma and to abandon the euro.  Negotiations are still continuing between Greece and its creditors; if they fail, then there is a real likelihood that Greece will reintroduce the drachma.  The allegations that central bank reserves would be used to support the new drachma have now involved Alexis Tsipras, the Prime Minister.  The reports have been confirmed by the former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis.

Mr. Varoufakis is facing the possibility that he may be prosecuted for, apparently, hacking into tax-payer accounts in preparation for “Grexit”.  The Greek Parliament will have to decide whether his immunity from prosecution should be removed.

SPAIN:  King Felipe of Spain has insisted that Catalonia respect Spanish law as Artur Mas, the nationalist leader of the region, has called regional elections in September which he will use as an informal referendum for independence for Catalonia.  If Catalonia declares independence unilaterally it would be illegal, as Spanish law provides that such a referendum must include all of Spain.  The central government has jurisdiction to suspend the powers of regional governments in exceptional circumstances.

FRANCE:  Illegal migrants in France disrupted cross-channel ferry services after the police closed a motorway.  Migrants broke through fences in Calais and the police found it difficult to restore order.  Eurotunnel services were also delayed.

The migrants are using chain saws to make breaches in the security fences.  The French police are outnumbered and have admitted that they cannot cope.

Farmers in France have also blocked lorries trying to enter the country from Spain and Germany.

A law proposed by the Upper House in the French parliament would make it a criminal offence to insult the poor

An aide to the King of Saudi Arabia, who is holidaying in the South of France, has caused controversy by insisting that a female police officer be removed from the line of sight of the King and his entourage, because her presence was an affront.

MONACO:  The International Association of Athletics Federations (“the IAAF”) have been accused of ignoring suspicious results in the testing of athletes.  Information from the IAAF’s database has been leaked to the German broadcaster ARD/WDR and the Sunday Times.  Two independent experts were brought in to peruse the data; they were of the opinion that the information was sufficiently disturbing to warrant the conclusion that the IAAF had not done enough to take action against those who had an abnormal set of blood values.  The countries which are thought to have the most culpable are Russia and Kenya.

GERMANY:  There are signs that anti-immigrant, racist hate crimes are increasing in number in Germany.  There was an arson attack on an immigrant family and an attack on a left-wing councillor’s car.  Official records show that attacks on asylum seekers have increased dramatically in the first 6 months of 2015.  It is thought that the far right and Neo-Nazis are responsible.

THE UKRAINE:  There are allegations coming out of the Ukraine that rebels in the East of the country are trying to make a dirty bomb, using radioactive nuclear waste.  It is said that Russian scientists are providing the necessary expertise.  The allegations have not been verified by Western countries.

USA:  Mike Huckabee, a Republican US presidential candidate, has condemned the nuclear deal with Iran.  He said that it would not stop Iran from developing or deploying a nuclear bomb.  Ayatollah Khamenei, the spiritual leader of Iran, has not approved the deal formally, while he waits to see whether the US will implement the agreement.

Jonathan Pollard, who spied for the Israelis, will complete his 30 year term of imprisonment in November.  Benjamin Natanyahu admitted in 1998 that Mr. Pollard had been a spy.  However, part of his sentence requires him to remain in the US for another 5 years.

ZIMBABWE/USA:  An American dentist has been identified as the person responsible for the death of Cecil, a lion with a distinctive black mane.  It has been alleged that the hunters employed by him lured Cecil from a reserve where animals are protected into territory where hunting is allowed.  Cecil was shot with a crossbow bolt (some reports say with a bow and arrow) and was wounded.  It took 40 hours for the trackers to find him and deliver the coup de grace.

Walter James Palmer has now gone into hiding in the US.  Over 100,000 Americans have signed a petition to the White House demanding that he be extradited to Zimbabwe for trial.  Due to the number of signatories, President Obama cannot ignore the petition, but has to respond formally.

AFGHANISTAN:  It has been admitted by the Taliban that Muhammad Omar, a commander who sheltered Osama Bin Laden, died 2 years ago, apparently from hepatitis.

PAKISTAN:  Malik Ishaq, the founder and leader of a Sunni terrorist group, has been killed in a gun battle.  He had been detained in custody on murder charges and was being transferred from prison when an attempt was made to rescue him.  He died in the cross-fire.

REUNION:  Part of the wing of an aircraft has been found on the island.  The island is in the Indian Ocean and the wreckage has been identified as part of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane which disappeared in March last year.  Barnacles attached to the piece of debris may provide a clue as how the fragment came to be washed up on the island.

OUTER SPACE:  The probe, Philae, which landed on a comet (67P) has sent back information which indicate that the dust contains organic compounds similar to those which form part of human DNA.