The Kenyan energy ministry has announced it is cancelling crude oil imports from Iran following threats of sanctions. The US embassy in Nairobi had warned the Kenyan government of the importance of cutting revenue to Iran after Kenya signed a deal to import 4 million tonnes of crude oil from Iran last month. "There are sanctions that are in place for people that are buying oil and products from Iran - there would be repercussions," the US ambassador in Nairobi, Scott Gration, said earlier on Wednesday. "Because of international pressure, we have withdrawn that understanding," AFP news agency...
Libya's diaspora began casting their votes on Wednesday, ahead of the historic election for the National Congress on 7th July. Libyan diaspora cast votes in six countries - Canada, UK, US, UAE, Jordan and Germany. Whilst some had recently fled, many had left Libya a long time ago, at some point during Gaddafi's 42-year rule. The Times reported that one elderly gentleman who cast his vote in Wembley, UK, carried with him a passport dating back to 1969. Coaches have been arranged to enable Britain's 30,000 Libyans to travel to London to cast their votes before Saturday.
Protesters clashed with police in Kiev after Russian was made a regional language in the predominantly Russian regions of Ukraine. Many say the measure threatens Ukraine’s sovereignty after 20 years of independence from the former Soviet Union. The bill was approved , after Ukraine’s parliament voted in a surprise proposal, giving those against the bill inadequate time to cast their ballots. If this bill becomes a law, there will be implications on the languages used in courts, education and other institutions in the Russian speaking regions of Ukraine, although Ukranian would still remain...
Uzbekistan withdrew from a defence alliance between Russia and former six former Soviet satellite states - Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CTSO) - on Monday. The Uzbek Foreign Ministry said the decision stemmed from their opposition to recent attempts to strengthen military cooperation within the CTSO. Russia remains sceptical, and believes the withdrawal paves the way for a us base in uzbekistan preceding the NATO pullout of Afghanistan. In 1999 Uzbekistan pulled out of the CTSO, allowing the US to use its air base in the south during the Afghan war (2001-2005). In 2006, it was...
A report by New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch has revealed widespread torture by the government. HRW interviewed more than 200 former detainees, including women and children who were held in an "archipelago of torture centres". The group says the torture amounts to crimes against humanity and called for UN observers to examine Syrian detention centres and refer the issue to the International Criminal Court. The report contains horrific details of torture methods, including an account by a 13-year old boy. "They said, 'You pigs, you want freedom?' They interrogated me by myself.. they...
Pakistan has ended an 11 month dispute that had strained relations between Washington and Islamabad, by agreeing to allow US forces to reopen supply lines across its border into Afghanistan. The agreement was instigated by an apology issued by the US secretary of state, Hilary Clinton for the killing of 24 Pakistani troops in a Nato airstrike during the November. ‘I once again reiterated our deepest regrets for the tragic incident in Salala last November...Foreign Minister Khar and I acknowledged the mistakes that resulted in the loss of Pakistani military lives’ Commenting on the reopening...
Turkey scrambled six F-16 fighter jets on its border with Syria, after Syrian helicoptors flew close to its border on Saturday. In a statement, the Turkish army said that three such incidents were observed on Saturday, however, there was no violation of Turkish airspace. On Friday, Turkey began deploying rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns along the border. The move comes after a Turkish jet in the border area was shot down by Syrian forces, prompting the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to say that Syria as an "open threat" to his country.
On the 14th day of anti-government protests sparked by rising inflation in Sudan, over 1000 protesters have been arrested and detained in secret locations. The protest on Friday was broken up by security forces using tear gas, after the country's information minister, Ghazi Al-Sadiq, said the protesters were "rioters" who were threatening the country's stability, and urged the Sudanese people “not to allow the rioters to undermine security and stability of the Sudan.” Members of the rights group, Organization for Defense of Rights and Freedoms said that whereabouts of those arrested remain...
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has termed the conflict in Syria a civil war and appealed for “further militarisation of the conflict [in Syria]” to be “avoided at all costs" . Writing to the UN Security Council, Ms Pillay said the crisis would now be called “a non-international internal armed conflict” which is the legal term for civil war which means that the Geneva Conventions on armed conflict would now apply. She claimed that “the ongoing provision of arms to the Syrian government and to its opponents feeds additional violence" . It appears that both sides of the...
President Assad of Syria was previously considered for an honorary knighthood by the Queen during Tony Blair's era, reports The Times on Sunday. According to official papers obtained by The Sunday Times under freedom of information laws, discussions took place ahead of Assad's 2002 visit to the UK, where he was granted an audience with the Queen and Prince of Wales. The documents reveal in details the measures taken by the British government to enhance the Syrian president's image by promoting Assad's "photogenic" wife and seeking to ensure he was portrayed by the media in a favourable light...