Author Archives: Gunjan Priya

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ECOWAS Calls on Ivorian President To Resign

Gbagbo(L) Ouatarra (R): both claimed the presidency in polls after civil war

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) appealed to Ivory Coast’s President Laurent Gbagbo to resign, and avoid ‘unnecessary bloodshed’ in the country. There were violent clashes in Ivory Coast following Gbagbo’s denial from stepping down on Thursday and many protesters were killed.

Sonny Ugoh, ECOWAS communications director stated that there was an international consensus to pressurize Ivorian president to resign from the post and give power to the former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara.

The ECOWAS official justified the demonstration by the supporters of former Prime Minister Ouattara unless they were violent. He said that the government of Ivory coast should not suppress people’s right to demonstrate. A senior official of the US State department revealed that the United States would impose sanctions against Mr.  Gbagbo if he continued to deny from resigning. France and the African Union have also issued similar warning against the Ivory Coast president for his undemocratic behavior.

More violent protest followed the warnings by different countries. There were clashes between the pro-Gbago troops and Ouattara supporters in the city of Abidjan and also in the central Ivorian city of Tiebissou, leading to death of 30 people reportedly.

Mr. Ouattara appealed to his supporters to take hold of administrative buildings which were still under control of Mr. Gbagbo.

President Laurent Gbagbo and former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara  both declared themselves as winners in the previous polls after the 2002 civil war. The voting was done in order to reestablish peace in Ivory Coast after the civil war.  The ECOWAS official feared that the current crisis might hamper the economic development in the entire West African region.

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Republicans complain over the size, cost of spending bill

US Government proposes spending bill while Republicans criticize

Washington –The opposition Republicans gave green signal to the spending authorization bill of the US government.  On Thursday, they passed $1.1 trillion spending bill to allow the federal government spend funds for the remaining fiscal year, though many of them severely criticized the cost and size of the total expenditure.

Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader from R-Kentucky, however presented another bill to propose an alternative to the government’s bill. This would stop the government from making major financial decisions till February 18 and it would not be able to raise its fund level.

From January, the Republicans will enjoy a majority in the Congress and therefore can pass a less expensive bill if they wanted so.

Mitch McConnell further added that the Republicans would go for a less expensive bill to avoid waste of funds in the new Congress but for now they were obliged to respect the current bill proposed by the government.

The opposition members complained over the spending bill’s various appropriations bills of around $8 billion that were included in a single package by legislators.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, faulted Republicans’ out cry over the bill saying that the large number of the earmarks in the bill were requested by Republican members. said he also stated that the bill had reached the mark of $1.1 trillion to appease McConnell’s demands. Durbin criticized the Republicans for their dual strategy over the legislation.

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South Korea Steps To Enhance Diplomatic Relations With China

South Korea to enhance ties with China

Following attack by North Korea on its island and gunfire clash, South Korea has declared that it would boost relations with china.

Korean peninsula has become vibrant again following N Korea’s aggression against the South. The United States and its allies have been patting South Korea and even backed it by military exercises in the Korean peninsula. The US also warned China for overlooking N Korea’s steps.

The initiative toward boosting funds related to improving relations with China expresses that South Korea is following a defense mechanism against North.

South Korean foreign ministry has declared that it would raise the annual budget on issues related with China from $390 million to $3 billion. The country expects to show its willingness to smoothen relations with China and initiate diplomatic talks.

The raised budget would include expenses on task forces which will resolve problems related to anti-Korean attitude of Chinese and build up academic and cultural relations with China. The South Korean government also plans to begin diplomatic talks for bilateral cooperation.

Seoul’s foreign minister, Kim Sung-hwan stated that relations with China are gradually becoming vital for the stability of peace and security in the Korean peninsula and their economic well being.

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UK Court Grants Bail to WikiLeaks Chief

WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange

The WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange gets relief in the United Kingdom as a court granted him bail against rape allegations and charges of sexual assault. He is facing charges of rape and sexual assault in Sweden which he reportedly committed in August.

UK judge Duncan Ouseley accepted to release Assange on strict conditions following the decision of the City of Westminster. The court also released his passport. He checked in from a local police station in the night. The jury granted bail to WikiLeaks chief on Tuesday on a bail of$310,000, however within 2 hours his bail was cancelled against an appeal. It was then announced that Assange would be kept in custody for another 48 hours.

Assange needs to report in the court again on Jan 11 for next hearing over his extradition. He had surrendered to the British police last week. The 39 year old man, who has moved the entire world by disclosing confidential document of the US administration and many other countries is facing charges of sexual assault and rape which he denied.

Most of the diplomats and the US administration justified Assange’s arrest for disclosure of country’s confidential security information. The disclosure has hampered US reputation and its foreign relations.

Nonetheless, the Swedish court called his arrest as a consequent judiciary process following the charges of sexual assault and rape made against him and clarified that it had nothing to do with politics.

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Intelligence reports refute US claims of success in Afghan war

US soldiers in Afghanistan

Washington: Just before the release of a review of US strategy in Afghanistan by President Obama, two new intelligence reports have revealed an assessment that completely refutes the US claims of progress in the 8-year old battle in the war-torn country.

The reports have further assessed that there is a bleak chance of success on Afghan land and the role of Pakistan will be critical in the entire episode since it is to be seen whether Islamabad is able to wipe out terror havens operating within its territory.

The reports, however, say that there is some sort of developments in Afghanistan situation, which is a sign of limited success for US and allied forces, but the reluctance of Pakistani government to take action against terrorists in its tribal areas remains a serious issue. US officials have been saying for too long that terror outfits freely operate within Pakistan and cross into Afghanistan at their will to launch war against American troops.

Meanwhile, senior Pentagon officials have termed the reports on Pakistan and Afghanistan as baseless and out of date and said that the reports have been compiled by Washington-based analysts who have not spent time analyzing the ground reality during the war in Afghanistan, and have no feel of the situations in these parts of the world.

The debate, however, between the military and intelligence officials shows the seriousness over the Afghan policies which is basically moving around the fact that whether the United States can succeed without Pakistan’s help in the war on terror.

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North Korea’s nuclear program more advanced than Iran: US

N Korea's nuclear program

Washington: The US intelligence department in an important revelation has said that North Korea has more advanced nuclear technology compared to Iran. North Korea’s new nuclear plant to enrich nuclear fuel technology is so much advanced that the countries working on this technology may take more than two decades to match the advancement.

According to intelligence officials. After assessing North Korea’s advancement on the nuclear front, US and South Korean officials have viewed that the new nuclear plant could not have been so enriched without sophisticated networking of certain factors and a full-fledged uranium enrichment plant, elsewhere in the country.

The nuclear capability of North Korea has come as a surprise to many since the country has been facing economic sanctions and a ban on sea and air shipments, executed in the Bush era and made stricter after the UN Security Council resolution passed last year in the aftermath of second nuclear test by North Korea.

The recent intelligence reports have been a cause of concern for the US administration especially when its officials are making an all-out effort to devise a common strategy with China and other Asian countries to contain North Korea’s nuclear advancements.

Gary Samore, chief nuclear adviser in the Obama administration, has conceded for the first time that North Korea’s nuclear program is much more ahead than Iran, which is currently struggling to make further advancement.

Amidst the talk of more sanctions on North Korea, Chinese officials have made a point in which they argued that further sanctions can be counterproductive as largely failed in the past.

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Air Force Bans Sites Publishing WikiLeaks’ Documents

WikiLeaks

Washington: The Air Force has banned the websites of major dailies, news organizations and blogs which publish WikiLeaks documents, according to Air Force officials. The personnel have been asked not to view these sites on work computers until further clearance is issued.

The Air Force has issued warning against the violators and said that the legal actions would be taken if anyone tries to access the banned sites. But at the same time, the officials conceded that the enforcement of the decision might not be fully effective because the personnel who have access to these cables at homes would be able to read the secret documents. The Air Force cyber specialist team, however, has worked very hard on procedures to keep classified documents off unclassified computer terminals. Only those sites having entire set of classified documents, not just excerpts, have been be banned, according to Air Force officials.

Meanwhile, Spokesmen in the Army, navy and Marines have clarified that there is no such intention to ban the portals of news organizations as the US government has already issued a directive in which it explicitly mentioned that the federal employees and contractors should not read the secret WikiLeaks’ documents and other classified materials.

A senior official in the US administration has stated that the decision to allow certain departments and employees to access the secret cables was made in order to let them verify the impact of the documents leaking in the public domain and evaluate the damage done to country’s security.

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US Gives Another Try to Restart Middle East Peace Process

Middle East Peace Process

Jerusalem:  Despite the past failures of the US government to resolve the Middle East issue, President Obama has made one more attempt bringing Israel and Palestine to re-initiate peace talks. In this direction, the United States has sent its special envoy George J. Mitchelle to the region to create a congenial atmosphere in which a progress can be made over the core issues.

The US administration has given up on its efforts to convince Israel to move on settlement building in the West bank to put forth a signal to direct talks. The United States will not consider over the direct talk option for now. Instead, the US envoy will ask the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to come up with their negotiating points separately and then only the US administration will find a solution to the problem.

US special envoy Mitchell had a detail discussion with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday over the latest development, and he would be meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West bank the very next day.  Mr. Mitchelle would then head toward Cairo to meet the Arab League foreign ministers on Wednesday.

Most of the Palestinians opined that the US envoy would be unable to come up with any new methods to resolve the prolonged issue between Israel and Palestine. In the past too, Palestinian people have had raised question over US leadership and dexterity to play a successful role. Meanwhile, the Fatah Central Committee members have said that they were not in favor of any talks with Israel direct or indirect, in the absence of a settlement freeze. They reiterated that the talks must be referred to 1967 announcement based on a two-state theory.

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Internet giant Yahoo mulls cutting 600 to 700 jobs

Carol Bartz, Yahoo CEO

San Francisco : Yahoo Inc, the struggling web portal, will cut 600 to 700 jobs in the latest shake-up amidst company’s unsatisfactory growth results.

Yahoo! has not made any formal announcement regarding the layoffs, but a source familiar to the company’s policies has revealed that the employees could be notified about the decision within couple of days.

If Yahoo! cuts jobs then it will be 5 percent of its total work force which stands on 14,100 employees. At the same time, it will be Yahoo’s fourth biggest jobs cut since 2007. It should be noted that the last two layoffs took place under Yahoo’s current CEO Carol Bartz, a Silicon Valley veteran.

Bartz was hired two years back despite having no background of internet and advertising, which happens to be Yahoo’s main source of revenue generation.  The planned job cuts are going to be implemented in the company’s US products group, which has been under revamping process since the arrival of Blake Irving, ex-Microsoft executive, to run the business last yearHowever, the decision may not be a shocker for many since the report on layoffs was published last month on some technology blogs.

The company’s fragile growth rate, sluggish stock prices, and internal organizational turmoil have raised a question over the company’s current CEO’s capability to manage the functions. Rumors are going around that Bartz might be forced to leave the organization even before her term expires as a CEO in January 2013.

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Veteran US diplomat Holbrooke passes away

Richard Holbrooke

Richard Holbrooke, an accomplished statesman for the United States known for his sharp understanding of international relations and politics, died at the age of 69.

The US State Department announced his demise in a statement on Dec 13 in Washington.

During his stint as a diplomat, Holbrooke had some unprecedented success to his name that no statesman could achieve in the United States. It was him who gave a new dimension to the diplomatic ties with China and also managed critical situation in Afghanistan.

Holbrooke was admitted in the hospital on Dec 10 and undergone a heart surgery. .While remembering his contributions to the US policies for Afghanistan, President Obama said that he was grateful to have a diplomat of Holbrooke’s calibre in his administration.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that Holbrooke had helped in shaping American history, managing complex international relations and  securing  better future for the people. “He will be remembered as a skillful diplomat, who was able to challenge dictators and fight for US interests even during critical hours,” she concluded.

Holbrooke had a vast experience as a statesman, who worked under four Democratic presidents, starting from Lyndon Johnson to Obama. People will never forget his vital role on Vietnam issue in the Johnson government. However, his best acclaimed work was ending the Bosnia war while working as a special mediator in the Clinton government.