Monday, June 2 2014
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES/ITALY:
Etihad, the flag carrier airline of the United Arab Emirates, announces the finalisation of conditions for further investments in Alitalia. Allegedly, the agreement will provide Etihad a 49% stake of Alitalia. So far, nothing has been finalised or confirmed even if the Chief Executive of Alitalia, Mr Del Torchio, expressed favourably on the issue. (BBC)
SPAIN:
Re Juan Carlos, aged 79, abdicates in favour of the son, Principe Felipe de Asturia, 45 year-old. The King, in a public intervention, thanked the Spanish people and explained that he took this decision for the benefit of the Spanish people. The King has been suffering from various illnesses during the last years. He was also recently put under the spotlight due to an allegation concerning an episode of bear shooting. Earlier this year, the King’s daughter, Princess (Infanta) Cristina, also appeared in front of the court due to corruption allegations. (El Pais, BBC)
LYBIA:
A heavy fighting in Benghazi between the armed group Ansar al-Sharia and irregular forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, a former army general, caused 21 deaths so far. Witnesses declare that the central government is unable to do anything in order to stop the clashes. (Al-Jazeera)
UKRAINE/RUSSIA:
Talks between Russia and Ukraine over the oil prices are expected to start today, with possible dangers for Europe if this issue will not be solved by Wednesday. (Al- Jazeera)
Tuesday, June 3 2014
UKRAINE/RUSSIA:
Russia’s gas State enterprise, Gazprom, decided to give more time Ukraine for paying for gas or natural gas or face a shutoff. It also lowered its asking price, signalling a softening of its stance in the two countries’ pipeline politics. Ukraine paid a part of the amount for the gas already delivered and, therefore, the deadline for the rest of the payment was moved to June, 9th. (NY Times)
EUROPE:
UN’s International Labor Organization affirmed that the austerity measures adopted within the European Union have damaged the population. Now 123 million people, almost a quarter of the entire Member States’ population, are classified as poor. (Al Jazeera)
EGYPT:
General Al-Sisi is officially elected with 96% of suffrages. According to the last data, the percentage of participation rose to 47%. The counterpart denounced the illegitimacies occurred during the consultations. (Le Monde)
ISRAEL:
The Israeli government has proposed a modification to the law establishing the criteria for surrogacy. According to the proposal, now also homosexual people could have babies through surrogacy. The modification must be approved by the Israeli Parliament. (Le Monde)
Wednesday, June 4 2014
EGYPT:
The newly-elected President of Egypt called for the restoration of stability in the country and for the pursuit of “freedom” and “social justice”, echoing the slogan of the 2011 revolution. Now the president has to face and tackle the economic problems of the country. (BBC and Al-Jazeera)
FRANCE/USA:
The sanctions that the US is willing to enforce against the BNP Paribas group are considered by the French President far excessive and likely to damage the free trade agreement between the EU and the US. The sanctions follow the BNP group violation of the US- imposed sanctions against Teheran, as well as other countries in the American black list. (Al-Jazeera)
PALESTINE/ISRAEL:
Fatah e Hamas have decided to form a consensus government in preparation for the elections of the new Palestinian President and Parliament. The decision came after the resolution of the foreign-ministry issue which blocked the implementation reconciliation agreement between the two parties of April, 23rd. Israel urged the international community not to accept the new ‘terrorist’ government and is working on possible punitive measures. (Al- Jazeera)
Thursday, June 5 2014:
SIRYA:
Bashar Al-Assad has been elected for the third time President of the Syrian Arab Republic, with 88, 7% of preferences, despite the civil war that has been hitting Syria since 2011.The other two candidates, Hassan al-Nouri and Maher Hajjar, gained respectively 4.3 and 3.2 percent. The election was, a farce, according to the opposition: in fact, not only the polls were installed in government-controlled areas, but also the other two candidates were chosen by the government itself and did not offer any real alternative to Assad. (Al Jazeera)
EUROPE/US:
Today reunites in Brussels the G7 without Russia, which has been excluded. Among the major themes in order to be discussed, there is the issue of possible further sanctions against Russia. (Al Jazeera)
ISRAEL/PALESTINE:
Israel is inviting bids for new 15000 houses to construct in the Israel- annexed East part of Jerusalem and on the West Bank. Ariel Sharon affirmed that it was “an appropriate Zionist response to the terrorist Palestinian government” which was formed on Wednesday. Palestinians are going to appeal to the UN on the issue. (Hurriyet)
Friday, June 6 2014:
EUROPE/US:
Today it was held in Normandy the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the landing in Normandy (the D-Day). In this occasion, President Vladimir Putin met the newly-elected Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who in occasion of the G7 demonstrated her uncertainty as for the possibility of imposing further sanctions against Russia, told Mr Putin that Moscow bore “great responsibility” for making peace in Ukraine. (BBC)
TURKEY:
Similarly to the Gezi Park protests of May 2013, a group of protesters gathered in a park in Amasya holding a “tree watch” to try to save 137 trees in a park – often used as a picnic spot – against plans to build a petrol station. The protest has already begun spreading across the country through social media with the hashtag #DirenAmasya. (BBC)
IRAQ:
Protesters- organised attack against the military caused clashes in the city of Masala provoking at around 20 deaths and almost 60 injuries. The day before, a similar offence was launched in the city of Samarra, causing 7 deaths among the security forces meanwhile some parts of the cities went under the protesters’ control. (Al Jazeera)
