Three members of a Channel 4 televsion crew working in Bahrain were deported by the government on Monday. Channel 4's foreign correspondent, Jonathan Miller, cameraman Joe Sheffer and producer David Fuller were detained by Bahraini authorities on suspicion of working without formal accreditation. According to David Fuller, due to restrictions placed by the Bahraini government, the crew had been working "under the radar", and had filmed riot police crack down on a small demonstration in a nearby village. The Channel 4 crew was taken to the police station, however Dr Ala'a Shehabi, the British-...
The European Union has announced the suspension of most sanctions on Burma for one year in recognition of ‘historic changes’. The EU will suspend its restrictions against individuals and companies based in Burma and also withheld aid money. However its embargo on arms sales will remain. "The European Union has followed with respect and appreciation the historic changes in Myanmar/Burma over the past year and encourages the wide-ranging reforms to continue," a statement released by the Council of the European Union at the ministers' meeting in Luxembourg said. "As a means to welcome and...
The New Zealand government has approved the sale of 16 dairy farms to a Chinese investor, Shanghai Pengxin, despite facing strong criticism from local farmers and businessmen. The government's decision to allow a foreign investor to acquire land has proved contentious across New Zealand, where a griculture plays a significant role in export earnings. The government initially approved the sale in January, but it was challenged by local farmers and businessman, who had hoped that they could acquire the land themselves. Shanghai Pengxin has acquired a total of 20,000 acres and it plans to spend...
Extracts from a fascinating article by The New York Times last on Syria’s Kurds. The Kurds of Syria, long oppressed by the government of President Bashar al-Assad, are largely staying out of the fighting , hedging their bets as they watch to see who will gain the upper hand. But the PKK has allied itself with the Assad government. In the past, Syria armed and protected the PKK in its long campaign against Turkey. Mr. Assad has made major efforts to keep Syria's Kurds out of the fray, aware that their support for the opposition could prove decisive. He has promised that hundreds of thousands...
As tens of thousands from Bahrain’s Shia community demonstrated against this weekend’s Formula 1 race being held amid ongoing violent repression by the ruling Sunni dynasty, how did Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa justify why the race should go ahead? " I genuinely believe this race is a force for good, it unites many people from many different religious backgrounds, sects and ethnicities ," he said. The standard rationale for sports amid repression – even in the face of obvious evidence to the contrary. Crown Prince Al Khalifa went on to say: “I think cancelling the race just...
The UN Security Council voted unanimously in favour of adopting a Russia-European resolution authorises the deployment of up to 300 unarmed military observers to Syria, to be known as UNSMIS. The move comes less than day after UN ceasefire monitors entered the city of Homs. Stating that the violence between government forces and opposition activists was "clearly incomplete", the resolution warned that "further steps" may be necessary if the agreement is not adhered to. The resolution stipulated that the deployment would depend on the Assad regime's compliance with the UN Secretary General's...
Israel fell silent on Holocaust Memorial Day on Thursday, as the nation remembered six million Jews killed by Nazi during the course of the Second World War. Official commemorations commenced late on Wednesday with a ceremony at Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Israel. At the ceremony, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared the Nazi Holocaust with Iran’s nuclear threat to Israel. “People who refuse to see the Iranian threat have learned nothing from the Shoah (Holocaust).” “They are afraid to speak the truth, which is today, as it was then, that there are people who want to...
The leader of the UK's opposition, Labour party, Ed Milliband, joined calls to cancel the Bahrain Grand Prix given the on-going reports of the state's violent crack down of legitimate protesters. Milliband said, "I certainly think it is the case that, given the violence we have seen in Bahrain and given the human rights abuses, I don't believe the Grand Prix should go ahead. " "I hope that the Government will make its view clear and say the same." His remarks add to those of several politicians and human rights activists, including the shadow foreign secretary, Douglas Alexander, and the shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, who urged British Formula One driver, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamiliton to boycott the event.
European Union diplomats are said to have agreed to suspend sanctions on Burma for one year. An unidentified official told AFP that the suspension would give the EU time to monitor political reform. The agreement would still have to be formally approved by EU foreign ministers at a meeting on Monday. The only sanctions to remain would be the embargo on arms. The EU move comes on the heels of announcements by the US and Australia, easing their own sanctions on Burma in order to encourage democratic reforms in the country.
Amid escalating clashes, Sudan President Omar al-Bashir has declared war on South Sudan, vowing to retake the region which won its independence last year through an internationally-facilitated referendum. During a rally Wednesday, in a message to South Sudan, President Bashir said: “ Either we end up in Juba and take everything, or you end up in Khartoum and take everything ,” referring to the two countries’ capitals. (See the BBC’s report here , and Xinhua's here ) He also described the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which has ruled South Sudan since it seceded from Sudan in July...