North & South Korea exchange artillery fire across sea border

According to The Guardian

The tensions renewed when hundreds of artillery shells were fired by the two countries near a disputed sea boundary. North Korea also claimed that it could carry out a “new kind” of nuclear test. Experts have also said that the actions of North Korea could be harder to predict due to the recent political turbulence.

The North had announced to hold a live-fire drill. When the shells landed in the south of the disputed boundary, the South responded. North Korea shot approximately 500 rounds of artillery shells, the South 300.

As said by John Delury, an expert on the North, at Yonsei University in Seoul, these actions are normal springtime tensions. However the amount of the last missile tests are much more than expected.

According to Russian TV

North Korean shells have landed in South Korean waters, which let Seoul to open fire across the disputed border zone. The Monday morning the North Korean government announced to conduct military exercises.

The North is condemned by the International community due to their nuclear tests. The United Nations Secretary Council (UNSC) has also announced that there would be consequences if North Korea continued testing its missile technology. In 2006 the UNSC passed a resolution that forbids the testing of missiles.  

 

Pyongyang announced that it would carry out a “new form” of nuclear test. This would be the fourth nuclear test that North Korea does. The last one was in February the last year. The other two were in 2009 and 2006. And the North also claimed to be running a Uranium enrichment program in order to produce nuclear weapons. 

Bibliography

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/31/south-korea-returns-fire-north-korean-shells

http://rt.com/news/korea-rocket-fire-border-265/

Details of sanctions against Russia to be finalized in London

In order to press the Russian government to withdraw its forces in Crimea, today the western officers are meeting in London to discuss the appropriate sanctions. Asset freezing and travel bans would be the sanctions.

On Monday, unidentified men (10) fired warning shots, when they were moving into a Ukrainian naval base. These kinds of circumstances, made the whole situation even more stressful.

The White House gave a strong declaration where Russia would get out of the G8 group. Barack Obama's press secretary, Jay Carney, said: "It is hard to see the G8 [summit] happening", in Sochi in June. The White house, also gave its opinion about the referendum scheduled for Sunday in Crimea. They said that the result of the referendum won’t be accepted by the US and their international allies.

A rally in Moscow in support of Vladimir 

Putin's stance on Crimea.

The Sunday, the course of the Ukrainian Crisis will take a dramatic turn. The result could enable Vladimir Putin to increase the presence of Russian troops in Crimea. That´s why the next Monday European foreign ministers will take the final decisions about the sanctions for Russia.

The NATO announced that it will deploy a reconnaissance aircraft to overfly Poland and Romania, in order to monitor the crisis. This aircraft will only use the air territory of alliance countries, said one NATO officer.

As the G8 summit is very likely to be cancelled or hosted in a different country, it would effectively mean that Putin had been thrown out of the powerful leaders group.

Russian Gas Pipelines in Europe

There´s a constant doubt if Germany and Great Britain are supporting the US initiative against Russia´s actions, due to their dependence (and whole Europe dependence) of the gas coming from Russia. Declarations from Moscow said that Russia could cut the supply of gas in Europe as a response of the sanctions. Reserves of gas in the pipelines seem to be only solution.

Putin, Stop!

Any move to starve Europe of gas would by a "lose-lose situation for everyone, most particularly for Russia. “Russia has a substantial financial interest in maintaining those exports," Carney said.


Comment

I agree with all the sanctions that the other countries of the G7 group are going to take against Russian government. It´s the only nonviolent way of pressing Russia to take out their troops from the Crimean peninsula. With the asset freezing and travel bans, may be the Russian people could demand for the withdrawal of the Russian Army.

I personally believe that what´s is doing Russia is a complete violation of the Ukraine’s sovereignty. They should respect them, and let them manage this situation. Besides, Russia´s interest in Crimea is not to find a solution for this conflict, but to take control of the Crimean peninsula, which would be an excellent strategic location, due to their geographical borders.

The NATO aircraft, I think that would contribute to increase the tension. There have to be other ways to monitor the conflict, but in my opinion, these kinds of aircrafts, could be misunderstood by the Russians and could be the excuse to begin a worse conflict.

Pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian activists argue

during a rally in Sevastopol on 9 March

A Ukrainian soldier patrols a checkpoint near the

village of Stavki, close to a Crimea region border.

Although I don’t want that Ukraine lost Crimea, the final word rests in the hands of the Crimea population. Let´s remember that Crimea is part of Ukraine, but it´s a region with more autonomy than the rest of regions of Ukraine, besides, it´s a region highly influenced by the Russian culture. That´s why this Sunday in the referendum, there are a lot of chances that Ukraine lose this peninsula. The question is, ¿would Crimea become in an autonomous state or would it become part of Russia? And depending from the result of this question, the international field could become really stressful.


And for the European leaders, I think that they shouldn’t hesitate and they should take a more serious involvement in this crisis. I mean, if they are going to support US initiative, they begin to save some reserves of gas, otherwise they would be in troubles. And I also think, that they shouldn´t be desperate, Russia also needs European buyers for its gas, it could be even worse for them. So I think that if this scenario happens, it wouldn’t last too much.

I hope that this conflict ends in a non-violent way.

Bibliography

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/10/western-officials-london-finalise-sanctions-russia

China Blames Xinjiang Separatists for Stabbing Rampage at Train Station

At least 29 people were killed and other 143 were hounded, when the last Saturday night a group of 10 attackers, dressed in black, with cloth masks and armed with long knives, arrived to the Kunming Railway station in southwest China and began a slaughter against innocent employees and travelers who were there.

The police shot dead four of the ten aggressors. The crime scene was a complete nightmare. Blood puddles everywhere, and moaning people that crawled in the station. One of the slayers was captured.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for this atrocious act, the authorities said that the attack was planned and perpetrated by separatists from the Xinjiang region, where the members of the Uighur minority have had troubles with the government. This Uighur minority is a Muslim population that have faced troubles in the last months, at least 100 Uighurs have been killed.

This slaughter is alarming because this could be the beginning for multiple attacks of Uighurs in other regions different than theirs. In October, a group of Uighurs drove a vehicle into a crowd near Tiananmen Square, in Beijing, killing two people and injuring 40. “The Tiananmen attack last year could be called a turning point, and together with this incident indicates that more terror activities could spread beyond Xinjiang, like violence spread out of Chechnya in Russia,”  said Pan Zhiping, a professor at Xinjiang University.

However, Uighur activists claim that the Chinese religious constraints are aggravating. Especially since the last year attack, when the government began sweeping researches and detention of Uighurs. “If this incident was really the work of Uighurs, then I can only say that it may be an extreme act by people who feel they cannot take it anymore.” said Dilxat Rexit, a spokesman who is in Sweden for the World Uyghur Congress.

Kunming is stunned. The city was known for being a warm destination for tourist.  Throughout the Sunday, hundreds of people lined up at blood donation centers, and that night large crowds went to the station to light candles and lay out white chrysanthemums, a traditional symbol of mourning in China. No one saw it coming.

Comment

This situation in China is awful. I think that the Chinese authorities must do all their efforts in order to capture the other five assassins. They must pay for what they did to them, for what they did to their families and for what they did to the city of Kunming.

It´s very sad to see this kind of news, where innocent people are the victims. They couldn’t do anything to avoid this terrible slaughter. The whole city is concerned and devastated for this attack. I admire the solidarity and support that the citizens have had with this incident. It seems that Kunming is a peaceful city, where everyone supports each other.

However, with a more objective look, I think that the Chinese government is also responsible for this kind of acts that have been happening since last year. China is a beautiful country but it´s also very close minded. As we read on the new, China’s religious constraints are overwhelming for the people who live there. We are on the 21^st century, we have to learn to respect someday. Even if China didn’t stab those poor people, it “helped” to create a propitious environment for this kind of situations.

We don’t respect the freedom of others and that´s the problem. The Uighur Muslim minority just want peace, some space where they can be culturally free. But Chinese government has pressured them to the edge, it has harassed them too much. And with this recent event, pressure is going to be worse, and for China, would be very likely to receive more attacks on the civilization, and it would begin an endless vicious circle.

I´m not justifying this slaughter. I think it´s dreadful and the criminals should pay for their actions. Nevertheless, I think that China should respect more the cultural differences of the people and create a multicultural environment, where the respect for the others would be primordial.

Bibliography

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/world/asia/china.html?ref=asia&_r=0

Russian 'invasion' of Crimea fuels fear of Ukraine conflict

Russia and the west are about to collide, after Russia's government was accused of sending troops to seizure two airports in the Crimea Peninsula. Those "unindentified" uniformed men, apparently, Pro-Russian militias also took control of Crimean Parliament in Simferopol. One Ukrainian official said that 2,000 Russian troops had arrived in Crimea on Friday, in 13 Russian aircrafts.

Ukraine's acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, claimed that Russia is trying to run a similar strategy that it used in 2008, which ended in the addition of two Georgian territories, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. "They are trying to provoke a military conflict and are creating a scenario identical to the Abkhaz one, when having provoked a conflict, they annexed territory," he said. Turchynov, who was installed after the removal of Viktor Yanukovych, claimed directly to Vladimir Putin to stop the invasion and to respect the signed agreements.

The new Ukrainian interior minister, Arsen Avakov, said that this military invasion was a violation of international treaties and norms and that it is a provocation to start a bloodshed in a sovereign state.

The White House said any Russian military intervention in Ukraine would be a "grave mistake", and is also considering the possibility of pulling out of the G8 summit in Russia. This would be a huge stroke for Putin, especially if this decision is backed by European G8 members (UK, Italy, Germany and France). A Russian intervention in Ukraine would make almost impossible the presence of US and European leaders in Sochi, the next June.

Pro-Russian Cossacks rally outside the Crimean
building in Simferopol

Crimea is a territory the size of Belgium which is populated by a Russian majority, but it has been part of Ukraine since independence in August 1991. However Russia has its own military troops, which are much bigger than Ukrainian units in Crimea. The Russian foreign ministry said militia movements were fully in line with bilateral accords.

The gunmen, who hold the parliament and the airports, said that they are part of a self-defense group, which has started as a consequence of the demonstrations in Kiev. Their identity is still a “mystery”. Nevertheless, specialists on land warfare don’t think the same. "When you see a new militia, they will have a jumble-sale look. These lots are uniformly dressed and equipped and seem competent and efficient."

The crisis began, when Ukrainian people protested against the Pro-Russian government, in bloody demonstrations in Kiev. Yanukovych, after some days of disappearance, resurfaced in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, saying that he was the legitimate president of Ukraine and that he was “surprised” by the lack of action that showed Putin. In the terrible presentation of Yanukovych, he defended the Ukrainian territory and claimed that presidential elections scheduled for 25 May were illegitimate.

Russian parliament is working on a new law, which makes easier the process for new territories to be added by Russia, through the use of a referendum in regions where the host country doesn’t have a “legitimate government”. "If as the result of a referendum, Crimea appeals to Russia with a desire to join us, we should have the legal mechanisms to answer." Said the member of the Russian parliament, Elena Mizulina. Another law under discussion would ease the procedures for Russian speaking Ukrainians to receive Russian citizenship.

The Russian nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky is cheering crowds in Sevastopol, promising them financial benefits and psychological support, against the new government in Kiev.
The Russian foreign ministry ordered to its consulate in Simferopol to begin "urgently" issuing passports to members of the Berkut riot police. The Berkut riot police is the toughest police in Ukraine. Berkut squads were used against peaceful demonstrators by the Pro-Russian government. In the city of Lviv, Berkut officers begged forgiveness for the actions of their colleagues, but in Crimea, the returning troops have been received as heroes.

The country needs to get back to work rapidly; the Ukrainian economy
is facing a high risk of default. Outside Crimea, the new government has been recognized as legitimate; however, Ukraine has a lot of work to do to restart the functioning of the state.

"The entry of Russian troops would be a deep humiliation for Ukraine … It would be a second Chechnya." said Igor Sutyagin, a Russian military expert.

Comment

Stressful, this would be the word I would choose to describe the Ukrainian situation. At the beginning of this conflict, I thought that the reasons, which explained the troubles of Ukraine, came from inside the country. Today, I realize how wrong I was.

The Ukrainian conflict hides the interests of other nations. For one side, we have the European Union and United States, for the other one, we have Russia. The west and the east are in a tense calm once again.

"Grave mistake", these were the two words that United States chose to warn Russia from its intervention in Crimea. And of course, United States and the European Union want to stop the military invasion, we are talking about the most important peninsula in the black sea, which is as big as Belgium. They don’t want that Russia take control of this region, because it would give it an excellent strategic geographic place. From Crimea, Russia could have access to all the black sea, which borders with Eastern Europe and Asia.

I really think that the International community should focus all its efforts in supporting the sovereignty of Ukraine in this region. Crimea has been part of Ukraine for more than two decades, and although is a territory highly influenced by the Russian culture, this is not a reason which justifies an invasion or even worse, a Russian seizure.

Without the support of the international organizations, Ukraine will lose for sure this territory. This country is in the edge. It could enter in default at any moment and face an economic crisis. Ukraine is weak and it cannot stop the Putin´s power. That’s why it´s absolutely important that organizations like the United Nations or the NATO act against the Russian invasion.

I found really curious these new laws in which the Russian Parliament is working. One law ease the process of territories who wants to belong to Russia and the other one grant the Russian nationality for Russian-speakers Ukrainians. ¿Coincidence? I don’t think so. It’s obvious what the intention of Russia is. They´re working on adding a new territory and these new laws are the proofs. Crimean peninsula is their target.

Yanukovych is an actor very important in this issue. Thanks to him, Ukraine is living this struggle. But, ¿where is he?, ¿is he trying at least to solve this conflict?, ¿does he have the courage to stand up for his country and the people who elected him?, of course not. He´s hidden in Russia (Rostov-on-Don), while Ukraine faces its worst moment. He also is wondering why Vladimir Putin “abandoned” him and didn’t send its “support” to control the anger of the people.

The courage of Ukrainian people is something that I admire so much. They didn’t let that Yanukovych imposed what he wanted. The Ukrainians took the control of their country and defended it in the right way. However, not all the Ukrainians acted in a proper way, and I am talking of the Berkut riot police. They should feel ashamed for the excess of force they used against their compatriots. As Thomas Jefferson said, “If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey, he is obligated to do so”

The tension is in the air like in the Cold War days, and a possible international conflict could result if the east and the west collide in Crimea. All my support for the Ukrainian people.

Bibliography
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/28/russia-crimea-white-house

Central African Republic: Ethnic cleansing and sectarian killings

In the Central African Republic, Peacekeepers forces have failed the mission of protecting the Muslim people from the ethnic cleansing, in the west part of the country. The objective of these forces is to stop the control of the anti-balaka militias (Christian militias), which purpose is “cleaning” the country from the Muslims. ¿The consequence? A Muslim exodus.

Muslims forced out of their homes, trying
desperately to leave by any means possible.

In recent weeks, there have been anti-balaka attacks on Muslims population in the northwest towns of Bouali, Boyali, Bossembele, bossemptele and Baoro. Due to the lack of action of international communities, international peacekeeping forces have failed in the attempt of protecting those communities. They left Muslims without protection.

In order to escape from the anti-balaka´s attacks, most of the Muslims have fled their villages, while others have taken refuge near churches and mosques.

The international peacekeeping forces are composed by 5500 African Union troops (MISCA) and 1500 French troops (Sangaris). They have been deployed within Bangui and several west towns.

This humanitarian crisis is the result of the seizure of power of the Seleka forces (Nearly all the members of Seleka are Muslims) in March 2013. From approximately ten months, these Seleka forces, destroyed, burned and massacred Christian’s villages.

The Christian response wasn’t a surprise. When the Seleka was disintegrated, the anti-balaka forces gained a lot of power. Then, their next step was the violence and expulsion of Muslim communities. Despite the disintegration of the Seleka, armed Muslim forces, acting independently, have continued brutal attacks on Christian villages.

“It is time for the peacekeeping operation in CAR to protect the civilian population, deploy to threatened areas, and stop this forced exodus.”

                       

Comment

Eye for an eye… This saying could resume the current problem in Central African Republic. The Christians, thirsty of vengeance, want to destroy the Muslim communities. They want to make them feel what they felt when they were attacked by the Seleka.

The anti-balaka militias don’t discriminate when they raze Muslim villages. Killing, no matter who, is a terrible crime. The anti-balaka forces should catch the real enemies and bring them to justice. But what they´re doing in these days is terrible. A lot of innocent blood is being spilled, hundreds of women, children and elders are being massacred.

Because of the actions of a minority, is paying the whole Muslim population. This is not fair, and the Christians militias should realize the atrocious crime they´re committing. They are killing human beings. And what is really ironic is that they´re killing under a name of a religion, the Christian religion, which promotes and defends the life of others, the life of their brothers.

Although, the international community has announced the military support, I think that they could do more efforts for controlling this situation and for calming the anger of the civilians. Yesterday, the European Union announced that they were going to send 500 troops, and France also announced that it would send 400 additional troops to its former colony.

Finally, I think that the main leaders from both sides (Seleka and Anti-balaka) should be brought to the justice and should pay for these horrible massacres, in this way, the Christian and the Muslim communities would feel consoled. This dreadful violence has no sense. As Mahatma Gandhi said once “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”.

Bibliography

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/central-african-republic-ethnic-cleansing-sectarian-violence-2014-02-12

The Syrian Opposition, Explained

As we could watch on the video, there are several rebel groups with opposing interests. As a consequence, they fight each other, and they fight against the Bashar al-Assad Regime too. So the question is ¿Who is fighting who?

The Free Syrian Army (FSA)

It is the most well-known rebel group and is composed by civilians and army defectors. They are really autonomous and they don’t listen to their leader orders. It has been fighting all across the country in different areas.

Rebel Groups Inspired by Al Qaeda

There are two main Al Qaeda inspired groups, one of them is officially recognized by Al Qaeda, and the other one has just been rejected. These Jihad (radical Muslims) rebel groups also receive a huge foreign flow of cash, weapons and fighters. They have begun to fight against non-jihadist rebel groups like the FSA. These groups are established in the north area of the country where Syria borders with the Islamic state of Iraq. Through that border these groups receive support (men and weapons).

Islamist Groups

These groups include the powerful Islamic front. They reject the Al-Qaeda groups and the leadership of the FSA. Due to this situation, they combat with them for the territory. They are settled in the north of the country as well.

Kurdish Fighters

The Kurdish fighters’ priority is to defend their communities. They also would like to have an autonomous area, like the Iraqi Kurdistan. This army controls the territories which border with Turkey.

The government controls most of the cities in western Syria, Homs, Hama and Damascus. It´s believed to be hundreds of individual rebel groups, but the previous are the most important.

Comment

My opinion about this conflict between all these rebel groups is that this situation is moving away the most important objective and the reason why all this civil war has begun: bring down the regime of Bashar al-Assad. The battles between the FSA, the Al-Qaeda inspired groups, the Islamic groups and the Kurdish fighters are hiding and diverting attention from the real enemy.

I don’t support the violence as a solver of conflicts. All these rebel groups should unite themselves to finish this war through the dialogue in the Geneva peace talks. But, as long as all these groups don’t feel represented by the leaders that are there, the peace talks will end in a huge failure. This civil war will go on if these rebel groups continue fighting each other.

Tomorrow the ceasefire that had as objective to let the civilians flee the city of Homs is over. This means that the warfare that has killed more than 130.000 people will go on.

As I said before, all this rebel groups should join their efforts and fight against the same cause. They should follow the example of the Ukrainian protests, which are peaceful protests and they have achieved better results in a shorter period of time. The bloodthirsty government should change the way it face these problems, because they are the example of the people, and if the government attacks the population,  instead of protecting it, then the consequence would be the uprising of the people.

Finally, I think that all these rebel groups should solve their differences by choosing a leader which represents the demands of the people, and this leader should expose those demands in the Geneva peace talks.

Bibliography

http://www.nytimes.com/video/world/middleeast/100000002694572/the-syrian-opposition-explained.html
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/03/13/world/middleeast/a-snapshot-of-the-dispute-in-syria.html?ref=middleeast

Thai voters prevented from casting ballot by anti-government protesters

Tens of thousands of Thais couldn’t cast their ballots on the elections after antigovernment protesters blocked roads and took control of several polling booths. The tense political situation will go on.

The Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, has a lot of chances to be reelected because her party (or versions of it) has been chosen since 2001 by the Thais. "I would like to invite Thai people to come out and vote to uphold democracy." Said Yingluck, after she casted her vote.

Antigovernment demonstrators will continue with their protests until the Prime Minister steps down voluntarily or by force. They also claim that the nation is still ruled by Thaksin Shinawatra, the brother of Yingluck. Thaksin was ousted as Prime minister in a military coup. He lives nowadays in Dubai in order to avoid the charges of corruption that he has in Thailand.

The elections didn’t bring any calm to the current situation of the country. About 6 of the 49 million voters were affected by the closure of the polling booths. The demonstrators focused their efforts in pro-government districts where they prevent voting. The results of the elections won´t be delivered until all districts have been able to vote.

The political instability will continue in Thailand. The protests began in November and have taken the life of 10 people, and have injured 600 more.

Comment

I believe that the current political situation of Thailand is worrying. The current government is being influenced by Thaksin Shinawatra, (An ex-Prime Minister accused of corruption), and it seems that the current Prime Minister (His younger sister) will be reelected.  

If Yingluck is reelected the country will face a doubtful government, where Thaksin will control the nation through his sister. That´s why antigovernment demonstrators protest, and they are in all the right to remove the influenced government.

However, blocking the streets and taking control of the polling booths, in order to prevent civilians to vote is not the right way to ensure the democracy. The protesters should let people vote, because the vote is our main right and if it´s taken away from us we would lose the way of sharing our opinion.

Although I support the antigovernment demonstrators and the idea of removing Yingluck from the power to eliminate the Thaksin influence in the nation, I also believe that the way to ensure the democracy is voting. In this manner, the Thai people will choose a candidate who defends the country´s interests and the people’s will.  

Bibliography

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/02/thai-voters-prevented-casting-ballot-anti-government-protesters