2 More Months to the Judicial Commission in Pakistan

Pakistan's Supreme Court on 30 January 2012 granted two more months to the judicial commission probing the memo issue to complete its investigation. The apex court said the panel would decide on American businessman Mansoor Ijaz's request to record his statement outside the country. A nine-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry also lifted a foreign travel ban on Pakistan's
former ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, who had resigned after the scandal became public. The Supreme Court had formed the commission on December 30 and given it four weeks to complete its investigation. The term of the commission would have ended on 30 January 2012.

Partial Lifting of  Emergency in Egypt

In Egypt, the military rulers declared partial lifting of emergency in the country. The move comes into effect from 25 January 2012- the first anniversary of the 25th January revolution which saw the overthrowing of the decades long Mubarak regime in the country a year ago. The emergency laws gave sweeping powers to the police to arrest and prosecute anyone on charges of Thuggery. The opposition
and the activists who led 25th January uprisings in 2011 in Egypt have been campaigning for the total removal of emergency laws and release of all civilians in military jails. The ruling military Council announced a series of measures on the first anniversary celebrations of the revolution. The 25th January is now a national holiday. The Armed forces will hold celebrations from the 25th to the 28th of January
2012 in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

New Arab League Plan Rejected by Syria

Syria on 23 January 2012 rejected the Arab League plan for President Bashar al-Assad to hand over the power to the Vice President. The Arab League in its meeting on 22 January 2012 in Cairo came out with a plan under which President Assad hands over the power to the Vice President and a national unity government is formed within two months. It called upon the Syrian Government to start a dialogue with the opposition in two weeks. The Unity Government should elect a council in three months to write a constitution. It should also prepare for parliamentary and Presidential elections. The Arab League Foreign Ministers also asked the U.N. Security Council to support the plan to resolve the crisis in Syria. The proposal was on the lines of the GCC mediated power transfer deal in Yemen. Lebanon opposed the move while Algeria objected to taking the plan to the Security Council. The Arab Foreign Ministers had earlier decided to extend the term of Observer’s mission by another month. Their numbers would
be doubled and they would be trained by UN experts. Saudi Arabia announced it will pull out its observers since Syria has not delivered on its promises.

Turkey's Bid to Fast - Track Iran N-Talks

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Wednesday commenced a crucial visit to Iran to pursue a crowded agenda that includes revival of nuclear talks between Tehran and the global powers as well as ways to align perceptions of the two countries in their regional backyard. Ahead of the visit, a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said Mr. Davutoglu and his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi would
discuss the nuclear standoff between Iran and the West, the unrest in Syria and developments in Iraq. Turkey and Iran share their borders with Iraq, while Syria, Iran's key ally, which has recently fallen out with Ankara, is Turkey's next door neighbour. Turkey is heavily dependent on Iranian oil, and is therefore uncomfortable with the new U.S. law, which can target foreign companies routing their payments
for oil imports from Iran through the Iranian Central Bank. The Turkish Foreign Minister is visiting Iran exactly a year after the six global powers and Iran failed to achieve a breakthrough during their nuclear talks that Turkey had hosted in Istanbul.  But days ahead of Mr. Davutoglu's visit, Iran disclosed that it was awaiting the response to its proposal of holding another round of talks with the global powers, represented by the European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. Analysts point out that prospects of talks have brightened after Iran held naval drills — a show of military power near the Strait of
Hormuz, the international channel for oil supplies. On its part, the U.S. has threatened to throttle Iran's oil exports — a move that seeks to convey to its domestic audience, that if it does begins talks with Tehran, it would do so from a position of strength. While Iran had openly welcomed Turkey's mediation on the nuclear issue, it might not sound as enthusiastic in endorsing the use of Ankara's good offices as it did in the past. New irritants have recently developed between the two countries — each with significant regional ambitions — clouding their one-time rosy relationship.

Haditha Verdict is a Shocker for Iraq

Haditha residents and relatives of the 24 Iraqi civilians killed in 2005 in the town by U.S. troops voiced disgust and shock over the light sentence meted out to a soldier involved in the massacre. A lawyer for the victims and the Iraqi government vowed to continue pursuing the case, while a doctor at the town's hospital insisted that residents would never forget the killings. Some residents, including one woman who lost relatives at the time and still lives on the street where much of the violence took place, were so upset by the judgment that they declined to speak to reporters. “This is an assault on the blood of Iraqis,”  lamented Khalid Salman, a Haditha city councillor and lawyer for the victims.

Ortega Starts Third Term in Nicaragua

Nicaraguan ex-rebel Daniel Ortega, joined by allies from Iran and Venezuela, started his third mandate as President on Tuesday with a legislative super majority that has provoked fears of authoritarianism. Mr. Ortega, who has long since traded guerilla garb for white shirts and messages of peace, returned to office in an evening ceremony in Managua's Revolution Square, decorated with thousands of flowers. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is on a tour of Latin American allies, and Mr. Ortega's key financial backer Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez were among more than 8,000 guests. Mr. Ortega gave a military salute to Mr. Chavez before hugging his wife and the Iranian President. Mr. Ahmadinejad greeted his “revolutionary brother Ortega” on arriving in Nicaragua and said the two nations were “fighting to establish solidarity and justice”.

A Planned Coup to Topple the Government Foiled

The Bangladesh army foiled a planned coup in December 2011 attempt to topple the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Some officers in military service were involved in the conspiracy to topple the system of democratic governance. Two former army officers were arrested and a manhunt was launched for the fugitive officer while some 16 others were kept under strict military vigil. Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971 and has a history of coups since then. The country’s first President Sheikh Mujibur Rahmanwas assassinated during a bloody coup in 1975. Bangaldesh was ruled by the
military dictator again from 1982 to 1990. Democracy was restored in 1991.

Contempt of Court Notice to Gilani

Pakistan's Supreme Court on 16 January 2012 issued a contempt of court notice to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for failing to re-open graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. The Apex Court also asked the Pakistan Prime Minister to appear before it on 19 January 2012. The order was issued by a seven-judge bench led by Justice  Nasir-ul-Mulk, that began hearing the case related to the apex court's orders against Zardari and over 8000 others. The bench directed Gilani to personally appear in court to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him for deliberately disregarding the court's orders. A Supreme Court-appointed panel is also probing the memo case. The Supreme Court had issued the order against the  premier after the government's top lawofficer informed it that he had received no instructions regarding the order to reopen the corruption cases.

IAEA report on Uranium Enrichment in Iran

The UN nuclear watchdog, IAEA on 12 January 2012 confirmed that Iran started enriching uranium to 20 percent. The production is taking place at Fordo, a nuclear facility 160 kilometers south-west of Tehran. The Uranium enrichment to the level of 20 percent means it can be upgraded more quickly for use in nuclear weapons than the Iran’s main enriched stockpile at Natanz plant.The level is much higher
than the 3.5 percent at Iran's main enrichment plant in Natanz and can be turned into fissile warhead material faster.

China's Rail Network to Touch India 's Border

China has announced it will accelerate plans to expand a railway network in Tibet to reach two towns near the border with India and will also consider building a railway line to Nepal, officials said this week.New railway lines from Lhasa to Xigaze (Shigatse in Tibetan) and the town of Nyingchi, which lies in a prefecture bordering Arunachal Pradesh, will be built as key projects under a fiveyear development plan (2011-15) for the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), which was announced on Wednesday. Separately, the State-run Xinhua news agency carried a report indicating that the construction of a railway line from Tibet to Nepal was discussed during Premier Wen Jiabao's visit last week to Kathmandu.“The railway which will join Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China will further strengthen ties between the two countries,” Xinhua quoted Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav as saying.

Scale Back Sanctions by Australia Against Myanmar

Australia on 9 January 2012 announced that it would scale back sanctions against Myanmar. Australia took this decision in recognition of steps taken by Myanmar’s military regime towards democracy and greater regional engagement. Myanmar’s military junta held elections in 2010 and transferred power to civilians. However, Myanmar has failed to meet expectations on the release of political prisoners. In Australia, there is a blanket arms embargo to Myanmar. Ban of Import of Iranian Crude Oil by EU The member states of European Union(EU) on 4 January 2012, agreed in principle to ban import of Iranian crude oil to put pressure on Iran for its nuclear programme. However, the time-frame to implement this was not decided. The United States, which recently imposed fresh sanctions on Iran, has welcomed
the news. Meanwhile, Iran has dismissed the threat of new sanctions and denies Western claims that it is trying to develop a nuclear weapons programme. Western powers accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian energy programme. The EU is one of Iran’s biggest markets for oil. This generates most of the Iranian government’s revenue. China is the top buyer of Iranian oil.The EU is a political and economical union of 27 member states.

Maldives lifted Ban on Spas

Maldives on 4 January 2012 lifted ban on spas in the upmarket tourist destination following its verification that these spas were not being used for prostitution. Earlier, it was alleged that these spas were the hub of prostitution. Following this, the tourism ministry ordered all massage centres to close six days ago. The tourism industry is an important foreign exchange earner and employer in the Maldives and the ban on spas could harm the industry. Maldives in 2011 received more than 850000 tourists.

No Breakthrough in Israel-Pales tine Talks

The Israel-Palestine talks ended in the first week of January 2012 with the international mediators from Quartet (the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia) and Jordan ended without any breakthrough in Amman, capital of Jordan. The talks and the outcome were positive and the two sides agreed to carry forward the discussions. The Amman round of peace talks may not have yielded a breakthrough, yet it has broken the ice between the Israeli and Palestinian sides to discuss resumption of the stalled peace talks. Israel charged the Palestinians with raging propaganda campaigns and unilateral diplomatic initiatives against it while Palestine asked Israel to stop settlement construction and accept the 1967 borders.

USA and Saudi Arabia Agreement

In one of their biggest arms deal, the US and Saudi Arabia on 28 December 2011 inked an agreement worth 29.4 billion US dollars for the sale of 80 new F-15SA combat jets and modernisation of another 70. These F-15SA aircraft, manufactured by The Boeing Company, are among the most sophisticated and capable aircraft in the world.

China Issued a White Paper on its Space Activities

China on 29 December 2011 issued a white paper entitled China’s Space Activities in 2011. The white paper is on the development of space industry since 2006 and the major tasks for the next five years. It was the third white paper on China’s space activities. The white paper was issued by the State Council Information Office. China has made the space industry an important part of the nation’s overall development strategy with the objective of exploring and utilizing outer space for peaceful purposes. The Major tasks , which were listed in the white paper for the next five years include space transportation system, Earth satellites, human spaceflights and deep-space exploration. The white paper stated that China would work together with the international community to promote world peace and development.