Both leaders of the South Sudan conflict have arrived in Ethiopia Friday to meet face-to-face for the first time since the breakout of fighting after a government row in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, December 16. President Salva Kiir and the leader of the SPLM-SPLA in the Opposition, Dr. Riek Machar, and are scheduled … Read more
Transdniestria is “the first liberated part of Novorossiya,” according to Russian Economist Sergei Lebedev. Levedev also said that he saw a new state forming between Russia and Moldova, which spreads across Ukraine. The statements were published on the website Ruskline.ru Tuesday. Lebedev said that although “the New Russian Transdniestr Moldovan Republic (PMR),” born in 1990, was the … Read more
The People’s Council of the People’s Republic of Donetsk (DNR) has scheduled a referendum for May 11, according to Council Chairman Denis Pushkin, despite warnings from Kiev and a request by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The referendum will concern the status of the region–whether it wishes to remain Ukrainian or become Russian. The council moved … Read more
Azerbaijan has assumed the Council of Europe chair amid a dire human rights situation within the country. The taking over of the chairmanship of the decision-making human rights institution takes place in light of Azerbaijan’s unseemly track record of human rights abuse, as highlighted in Amnesty International’s report Behind Bar’s: Silencing dissent in Azerbaijan, released … Read more
Further strictening of Russian internet law passed the legislature Monday, and is expected to further cool Russian internet expression, while Russian President Vladimir Putin explained the law in terms of “the way its done everywhere” to deal with the CIA-initiated internet, and thanked Edward Snowden for playing his part. Under the law, commonly refereed to … Read more
Following up on threats made Monday, the US has imposed the first sanctions against South Sudan, where the president has not come to the table to discuss peace with the rebels after over four months of fighting has disrupted the nation and displaced over a million South Sudanese. On Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry … Read more
In Azerbaijan Tuesday, European Amnesty International members and activists gathered from 2.00 to 3.00 o’clock outside the Council of Europe Chairmanship ceremony to protest human rights abuses in Azerbaijan–the country that will assume the chairmanship of the human rights decision-making institution May 14. The demonstrators called on the Azerbaijani government to assume a leadership position … Read more
Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the UN, announced Tuesday that rebel SPLM/A leader Dr. Riek Machar has agreed to face-to-face talks with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir. Ki-moon spoke with Machar via satellite telephone shortly after his arrival in South Sudan. Last Friday, Kiir also agreed to attend the face-to-face meeting. “He [Machar] said that … Read more
Italian newspaper La Repubblica has published a Wikileaks cable that shows that the Vatican communicated with US diplomats in October, 1973, and expressed support for the Pinochet coup in Chile. In the communication, between Vatican second in command, Secretary of State Giovanni Benelli, and US diplomats, Benelli expressed, “grave concern, and to Pope Paul VI … Read more
Mykhailo Koval, the acting defense minister of Ukraine, made statements Tuesday explaining that anti-terrorism operations taking place in Southeastern Ukraine–based on “liquidation” of diversionists and terrorists–are not performed with haste in order to prevent casualties among the civilian population. The defense minister told a story explaining the situation Tuesday at the briefing after the closed … Read more
Polygamy has been legally approved by President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya. The bill was passed into law by the Kenyan parliament in a vote which caused female legislators to storm out of parliament in protest. The president signed the bill April 29. The office of the president released a statement about the law. “Marriage is … Read more
Three big issues in Ukraine were set for a nationwide referendum May 25, but the majority of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, voted against the referendum Tuesday. The three issues pressing in Ukraine that were to be addressed in the referendum were territorial integrity, the status of the Russian language in Ukraine, and decentralization of … Read more