Zone 3- Euro-Americas Summary Week # 119

Week # 119 – Dated May 07-14, 2010

WESTERN EUROPE

Britain's humbled Labour Party has begun a potentially bitter race for Gordon Brown's successor following its ouster after 13 years in office. Ex-foreign secretary David Miliband leads the field to become the opposition leader who'll take on Britain's new coalition chiefs David Cameron and Nick Clegg —meanwhile his younger sibling Ed Miliband has emerge as his closest challenger.

Meanwhile Britain's new Prime Minister David Cameron has banned the use of mobile phones at cabinet meetings in a bid to ensure his top team stay focused on the challenges facing them.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has abandoned hopes of pushing through tax cuts for Europe's biggest economy after what she called a "bitter defeat" in an election overshadowed by the Greek debt crisis. Merkel's center-right coalition lost control of Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, in an election last week that also erased its majority in the upper house of parliament — making the country harder to run.

Spain's leading labor union has called a civil servants strike next month to protest government plans to cut salaries as part of a plan to reduce the deficit. Meanwhile Portugal ordered deep wage and spending cuts along with higher taxes to slash the public deficit by more than half. As governments stepped up their war on debt, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that the whole European Union would be under threat if the euro was allowed to fail in the debt crisis. The European single currency slumped to a new 14-month low at 1.2517 dollars on Thursday amid persistent concerns over the debt crisis.

Pope Benedict has said that the greatest threat to Catholicism came from "sin within the Church," one of his most forthright comments so far on a sexual abuse scandal that has created turmoil in the church. Meanwhile an Austrian bishop who has pushed the Vatican for reforms said in an interview last week that the Catholic Church should drop its celibacy requirement for priests.

Iran is willing to hold talks with the European Union's foreign policy chief over its disputed nuclear activities, a senior official said last week, after the bloc's top diplomat spoke of new sanctions against Tehran.

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

President Bamir Topi began talks with Albanian leaders and international representatives on (May 7th), in another bid to end the political stalemate that is threatening the EU integration process. Meanwhile local media reported that Albania may be included in a list of countries where NATO's missile defence shield will be deployed.

The European Commission (EC) is pressing Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to approve a law on holding a population census across both entities.

Hundreds of students and professors in Bulgaria staged a protest last week (May 11^th) outside the country's biggest university over cuts in education subsidies.

Bulgarian Environment Minister Nona Karadzhova announced last week that companies are being denied the right to participate in revenue-raising carbon emissions trading, while blaming a lack of appropriate action by the previous government and its disregard for specific recommendations made to Bulgaria regarding the issue.

Political and economic criteria that Kosovo is required to meet are the main priorities of the integrations ministry, Minister Besim Beqaj said last week on May 9^th, Europe Day, a state holiday in Kosovo.

European Parliament (EP) official Hannes Swoboda said on Thursday (May 13th) that one solution for Serbs in northern Kosovo would be broad autonomy, similar to that offered Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), based on the Dayton Peace Accord.

Meanwhile Kosovo’s Opposition parties say that early elections would be a better option than maintaining the current government coalition. They blame strained relations between the government and international personnel, such as EULEX and the International Civilian Office. EULEX personnel recently raided Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications offices as part of an anti-corruption investigation.

Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni has asked Belgrade to provide facts about mass graves dating from the 1998-1999 conflict. Meanwhile Serb Authorities have found a new mass grave believed to contain the remains of about 250 ethnic Albanians killed during the 1998-1999 Kosovo conflict.

Djibouti has formally recognized the Republic of Kosovo, the 68th country to do so since Pristina declared independence from Serbia in February 2008.

The second world conference on inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue closed in the town of Ohrid Macedonia last week The two-day forum brought together 500 representatives of religious communities, experts and politicians from 30 countries. Meanwhile several thousand Albanians rallied in downtown Skopje on May 10th to protest what they describe as discriminatory policies against them. They called for halting legal proceedings against ethnic Albanians involved in the 2001 conflict and insisted Albanian be recognized as an official language. The peaceful march ended without incident amid heavy police presence.

Macedonia has also takes over the six-month chairmanship of the Council of Europe's (CoE) Committee of Ministers from Switzerland earlier this month.

Thousands of farmers blocked the area around the government building in Bucharest Romania earlier this month, demanding the resignation of all officials at the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry, due to alleged incompetence. The protestors demanded government subsidies for fuel and irrigation water that they say are late.

According to local media Serbia will have to pay 36m euros in damages to an Israeli company for violating a contract to rent a spy satellite. Belgrade also reportedly must pay about 13,800 euros in legal fees.

Speaking at a conference on Polish EU presidency organized by Warsaw University, Deputy Polish Prime Minister said last week that Eastern Partnership, energy security, commerce and competitiveness will be among priorities of the0020Polish Presidency of the EU due to start on July 1, 2011. Meanwhile while affirming that there is no reason to believe that Poland is threatened in connection with the Greek crisis. PM Tusk admitted that the nation’s zloty has come under pressure against major currencies that has delayed entry to the ERM-2 mechanism, a pre-requisite for adopting the European single currency.

Hungary's new parliament plans to take up the bill, under which the nation would offer citizenship to Hungarian minorities living abroad. Responding to this proposal Slovakia has recalled its ambassador to Hungary.

Meanwhile a Hungarian government spokesperson has said that the incoming government's plans to annul retroactively the outgoing government's Jan. 1 personal income tax measures would widen the 2010 budget deficit to a level the IMF and EU would disprove of. The center-right opposition Fidesz party recorded a landslide victory at April's parliamentary elections and is in the process of forming the next government.

Regarding the Greek aid package hammered out in crisis this past weekend, while Slovakia has not formally rejected the package, the Slovak Prime Minister has said he cannot grant Greece a loan before it fulfils its commitments. The Austrians have also chimed in with words of doubt.

Belarus has recalled its ambassador from Kyrgyzstan for consultations. The Foreign Office said that it has taken this step for security reasons because extremists have threatened its personnel.

Ukraine’s foreign minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko said last week that the country is unlikely to join a customs union involving Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan because it is already a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Meanwhile the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) had accepted Israel, Slovenia and Estonia as members, bringing the organization's membership total to 34.

Latvia's prime minister said last week that the fragile economy was recovering faster than expected leading to a quicker exit from price deflation. Latvia has promised gradually to reduce its budget deficit as one of the conditions of winning funding from a 7.5 billion euro bailout agreed at the end of 2008 with IMF and the EU.

At the economic front the Polish government asked the reluctant central bank to support its request to extend the $20.5 billion (13.8 billion pound) credit line, which expired last week. Poland and several other countries received it to help weather the financial crisis a year ago.

The Czech government needs to find about 40 billion to 45 billion crowns ($2.12 billion to $2.39 billion) in tax hikes and savings to achieve next year's deficit target of 4.8 % of gross domestic product. Meanwhile the country's caretaker cabinet is set to quit after the May 28-29 election.

The European Commission has recommended that Estonia be allowed to adopt the common euro currency next year, as it meets all the economic criteria.

Most Hungarian workers with children will pay less tax under a family tax system to be launched next January. The measure is part of the incoming centre-right Fidesz government's efforts to stimulate Hungary's economy, which suffered its worst downturn in nearly two decades last year, and is expected to lag its European peers on the path to recovery.

The Latvian hacker, a "virtual Robin Hood", who stole millions of classified tax documents from government computers and leaked the information via Twitter, has been caught by police. Meanwhile economic data released in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia last week suggested the worst of the Baltic States' deep recessions may be over.

The Lithuanian president during a visit to Dublin last week talked about ‘Brain Drain’ suffered by the nation. The impact of the global economic crisis on Lithuania has made the flow of migration from the country “more aggressive” and almost 90,000 Lithuanians currently live in Ireland.

Poland’s Catholic Bishops Conference announced that Papal diplomat Jozef Kowalczyk has been appointed new Catholic Chief Clergy of the nation.

Last week marked the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Most countries from the former communist bloc mark the defeat of Nazi Germany on May 9^th every year.

RUSSIA

Somalia’s transitional government has called on Russia to explain about why Russian forces after arresting pirates set them free aboard their small vessel. A military official admitted that they were stripped of their weapons and navigation equipment. A Russian media later quoted a military source saying the pirates were now likely dead.

The Moscow department of the Russian Prosecutor’s Investigative Committee (SKP) has opened a criminal case against vice mayor of Moscow Alexander Ryabinin accused taking commercial property from a company as a bribe for agreeing in December to a development project in a Moscow district.

Regarding the recent visit of the Russian Premier to Syria, Syrian media has welcomed the visit, with government newspaper Tishrin hailing Russia's "growing role" in the Middle East, especially in the context of Washington's "failure to protect stability and world peace, because of its flagrant bias" towards Israel.

Turkey agreed last week to let Russia build and own a $20 billion nuclear power plant in a deal that opens a new page in Russia's global expansion in the industry. Rosatom, the state nuclear corporation, signed the agreement to build four reactors on Turkey's southern Mediterranean coast during a visit by President Dmitry Medvedev to the country.

Meanwhile a Moscow court sentenced a map enthusiast to four years in prison last week for passing classified information to the United States that one report said could help the U.S. military in a missile strike against Russia.

A Major agricultural group Rusagro became the latest Russian company to postpone plans for initial public offering amid uncertainty on international markets. Meanwhile Swedish retailer IKEA, the biggest owner of commercial real estate in Russia, has been beset by accusations of corruption.

An explosion in the Raspadskaya coal mine of the West Siberian town of Mezhudechensk has left at least 12 dead, 59 injured and over 80 trapped. Also reports from southern Russia say a car bomb exploded near a military base in the Daghestan region today, killing at least one person.

The reception at the Russian Victory Day parade on Red Square, that marked the final defeat of Nazi Germany by the Soviet Union in World War II., was attended by 21 foreign leaders, including Chinese President Hu Jintao, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of state of almost all the ex-Soviet nations.

Russia and Ukraine are release unified history textbook by end of 2010. The two nations differ in their interpretation of the 1930s famine in Ukraine. Ukrainian nationalists say Russia, as the legal successor of the Soviet Union, should bear responsibility for the famine in which more than 3 million people perished.

A Russian helicopter company is planning to develop the world's first fifth-generation combat helicopter, which according to experts would be able to attack fighter jets and be invisible for radars.

According to reports Imams in Russia will be able to access the country's prison system and work with Muslim prisoners according to a new agreement signed between the federal prison authority (FSIN) and the Russian Council of Muftis.

Everyone entering Russia from Tajikistan is to be vaccinated against polio, the Foreign Ministry said last week after two babies became ill with the disease after arriving from the Central Asian state. Some 300 cases of polio were registered in Tajikistan recently with 13 deaths. Around 90% of those infected are children under five years old.

US/CANADA

US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke described the Greek debt crisis as a European problem but one that could affect U.S. banks if not dealt with.

Several lawmakers are urging the Obama administration to put the Pakistani Taliban on a State Department terrorism blacklist that would impose sanctions on the group, which officials say is linked to the failed Times Square car bombing. The move would freeze the group's U.S. assets and make it a crime for Americans to offer it material support.

According to a new Associated Press-GfK Poll the Gulf of Mexico oil spill hasn't stained President Barack Obama nor dimmed the public's desire for offshore energy drilling.

With public anxiety over the fragile economy threatening Obama's Democrats in November's congressional elections, he tried last week to turn the tables on Republican critics, accusing them of sitting on the sidelines last year when he was tackling the financial crisis. Meanwhile President Obama's nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court seat is elevating touchy social issues in an election year.

President Obama sent a landmark arms-reduction treaty with Russia to the Senate last week for ratification and called for $80 billion in nuclear funding, which could help win opposition support.

Meanwhile Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched fence-mending talks with Afghan government leaders last week by assuring President Hamid Karzai that the U.S. will help rebuild and defend Afghanistan long after the last U.S. combat troops have left.

Six U.N. human rights experts said last week that Arizona's new law on illegal immigration could violate international standards that are binding in the United States.

Canadian legislators grilled the head of BP Plc Canadian unit last week, concerned about the risks of the company's plans to drill in Arctic waters after the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

LATIN AMERICA

According to an Argentine court official, former economy minister Jose Martinez de Hoz, the economic brains behind the 1976-1983 military dictatorship, was arrested last week following the lifting of an amnesty law.

According to reports Brazil is to build a US$483 million (S$671 million) nuclear reactor to produce radioactive material for medical use as well as industrial-grade enriched uranium. Meanwhile Brazil's government is starting a program to replant deforested areas of the Amazon with palm trees and harvest their oil for bio-diesel.

Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega announced last week that his country will lend 286 million U.S. dollars to Greece through the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The money will come from the country’s foreign exchange reserves, which currently amount to 245 billion dollars.

According to the Brazilian Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao a total of 50 Brazilians have died and 361 others have been hospitalized due to the A/H1N1 flu in the country since April 3.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera met last week with 53 provincial governors to unveil his work plan highlighting goals and commitments of the government. He specifically stressed the challenges in reconstructing the earthquake-devastated areas and the need to create a new financial plan that underlines the reallocation of resources.

A Pakistani man has been charged with violating gun control laws in Chile after traces of explosives were detected on his body and belongings during a visit to the US embassy in Chile.

Mexico's President Felipe Calderon last week defended the army's record in fighting organized crime, saying that the soldiers and sailors are fighting for freedom and justice in the country. Meanwhile Mexico has extradited a former state governor to the United States to face charges of helping smuggle cocaine through Cancun to the U.S., in a high-profile demonstration of the nation's increased willingness to extradite suspects as it battles surging drug violence.

Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela, has called for the institutionalization of the Latin American Common Market, UNASUR and has warned that its twelve member states should remember the commitments they made to Haiti. Meanwhile a former Venezuelan defense minister and critic of President Hugo Chavez was sentenced to more than 7 years in prison last week after being convicted of embezzlement and abuse of power.

Chavez, who only recently signed up to Twitter, has rapidly risen up the ranks to become the top tweeter in the country despite having previously described the service as a “tool of terror.” The leader has also hired hundreds of staffers to reply to tweets.

Meanwhile Business leaders have accused President Hugo Chavez of attempting to strangle Venezuelan businesses that rely on imports by making them pay more for foreign-made products. They said Chavez is irresponsibly allowing the black-market rate for U.S. dollars to spiral upward, which increases costs for close to half of the country's importers. §

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Business and Politics in the Muslim World (BPM)refers to the project entitled, "Globalized Business and Politics: A View from the Muslim World.' The blog development project has been undertaken and jointly developed by the Gilani Research Foundation and BPM as a free resource and social discussion tool.

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Zone 3- Euro-Americas Summary Week # 118

Week # 118 – Dated Apr.30-May 07, 2010

WESTERN EUROPE

The European Commission has referred four Member States, Estonia, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal, .to the EU's Court of Justice for failing to communicate their national measures for transposing legislation on working conditions in the international rail sector.

Euro zone members and the IMF announced last week that they have agreed on a 110 billion-euro aid package for Greece over the next three years. The EU will provide 80 billion euros of it, while the rest will come from the IMF. Meanwhile Greek Public employees kicked off a 48-hour strike against the government's austerity measures that include wage cuts.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said in an interview last week that the fact that Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country should not be an obstacle to EU membership.

According to documents shared with The Associated Press last week Israel's secretive nuclear activities may undergo unprecedented scrutiny next month, with a key meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency tentatively set to focus on the topic for the first time.

France's opposition Socialists presented a bill last week that would ban Islamic face veils in places such as hospitals and banks.

A British court has said that the government will not be allowed to keep evidence secret from former Guantanamo prisoners who are suing the U.K. over its alleged complicity in their detention.

Outgoing U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer shot down expectations of a climate treaty this year, saying last week that a major U.N. conference in December would yield only a "first answer" on curbing greenhouse gases.

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

Tens of thousands of people hit the streets of Tirana Albania last week in a protest organized by the opposition, insisting authorities open the ballot boxes from the June 2009 general elections, which they say were marred by violations. The government, however, says the demands are illegal. Amidst ongoing protests Deputy Prime Minister Ilir Meta has asked members of the opposition Socialist Party (SP) to end their hunger strike and start a fresh dialogue. Meanwhile the European Parliament (EP) has failed so far to bring Albania's political parties together for dialogue aimed at ending the country's political crisis.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) announced last week that parliamentary and presidential elections will be held on October 3rd.Meawhile in Croatia May 1^st marked the 15th anniversary of Operation Bljesak (Flash), in which Croatian forces removed Serb forces from the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina.

Montenegro officially became an associate member of the EU last week when the country's Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the bloc took effect.

Crin Antonescu, Romanian leader of the opposition National Liberal Party, has called for the government of Prime Minister Emil Boc to resign, while saying that the premier should either step down or find an actual solution to the economic crisis. Also the two largest opposition parties, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party, have drafted a no-confidence motion against the government of Prime Minister. Meanwhile Washington and Bucharest signed an agreement that will eventually lead to visa-free travel for Romanian citizens visiting the United States.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has handed over score of volumes from an investigation into the World War II Katyn massacre of some 20,000 Polish officers and other prominent citizens, to his Polish counterpart as a move to repair long-troubled relations with Warsaw.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of Poland's late president told reporters in first political speech since his brother's death that he has gathered some 1,650,000 signatures of support for his campaign in the presidential elections.

The Czech Republic will hold a general election on May 28-29 that looks likely to bring back the centre-left Social Democrats to power. The election could break a deadlock that has crippled policymaking in the central European country since an election produced a hung parliament in 2006. But polls show that no strong government is likely to emerge, owing to the fine balance between left and right-leaning voters, and a minority government is a possibility.

President Shimon Peres told Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohut who was on Israel’s tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Czechoslovakia and Israel. He also urged the later to follow the example set by the Czech Republic, i.e. the amicable division of the former Czechoslovakia, in the process of seeking a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said last week that he would not hand over Kyrgyzstan's ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to face charges of violence in Kyrgyzstan. He has also criticized both Moscow and the West for supporting Kyrgyzstan’s new government.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has signed a decree that resets the export duty on Russian natural gas for Ukraine to zero for volumes of 1.1 trillion cubic feet in 2010. The premier has also proposed merging Gazprom with Ukraine's much smaller National Energy Company, Naftogaz Ukrainy. The proposal came after the new Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's agreement last month to extend the lease of a Russian naval base in exchange for cheaper gas imports.

On the financial front the Polish finance ministry has asked the central bank (NBP) to back its request to prolong a credit line of more than 20 billion dollars granted to Poland by the IMF last year.

The Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic (MoSR) unveiled its first Iveco M65E 4x4 Light Multirole Vehicle (LMV) at the International Defence Exhibition Bratislava (IDEB) last week. The vehicle is the first of ten LMVs that were delivered to the MoSR last week following an ‘integration’ program bringing the systems up to date with current Slovakian standard operating procedures.

Hungary's incoming government says the budget deficit this year could come in at 7-8 % of GDP, based on its current estimate, but it will seek to get it down to 5-6%, economy. Hungary targets a deficit of 3.8 %of GDP this year under a key financing deal with the IMF and the EU.

European Commission forecasts have showed that Estonia looks set to meet on a sustainable basis the criteria it needs to adopt the euro, with inflation and deficits staying within EU limits in 2010 and 2011. Estonia says it already met the criteria for 2009, the year on which its 2011 entry bid will be judged. But to convince European authorities of its fitness to adopt the single currency it will have to show those goals.

The Lithuanian government has approved an amendment to the country's electricity law to implement the EU's third energy package of legislative reforms, which provides a new framework for competition in the energy sector.

The European Commission last week referred Poland to the EU Court of Justice for incorrectly implementing EU rules prohibiting discrimination based on race or ethnic origin. The move comes after Poland failed to adequately transpose the legislation agreed at EU level in its national law.

The far-right Slovak National Party (SNS) has outraged Roma with election posters suggesting they abuse the welfare state, straining ethnic relations in the run-up to a general election. Posters for the SNS show a dark-skinned man with tattoos and a golden necklace, accompanied by the slogan "Do not feed those who do not want to work.

According to the report of a joint United Nations-European Union mission of experts, the Mining in the Kalush area of Ukraine has left the ground unstable and flat to subsidence, endangering the security dams at risk of bursting as a result of snowmelt and spring floods. Ground and surface water has become highly contaminated.

RUSSIA

A Russian warship opened fire on a hijacked oil tanker last week, freeing the crew and arresting the Somali pirates, who a day earlier had raced across the Indian Ocean to seize a cargo valued at more than $50 million.

Russia and Turkey have agreed on all the details and commercial terms for the construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant.

According to reports Cold War allies, Russia and Cuba have recently moved to restore their ties which declined after the breakup of the U.S.S.R.

Meanwhile US and Russia are also to propose ban on WMD in Middle East. The proposal – involving the appointment of a special coordinator to conduct exploratory talks with Israel, Iran and the Arab states, followed by a regional conference –was a central issue at last week’s New York conference aimed at preventing further spread of nuclear weapons around the world.

A 'National Nanotechnology Network' has been announced by the Russian Government in which the largest state universities and research centers will be integrated into a countrywide network, whose members will receive access to information about one another's research developments and facilities. Meanwhile Iran and Russia have reached an agreement on launching two satellites into orbit in order to study distance communication. The agreement was reached during Iran's Communications and IT Minister's last visit to Russia.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov acknowledged last week that his newly elected pro-Russian government was seriously considering Moscow’s proposal to merge its state-run behemoth Gazprom with Ukraine’s national energy company Naftogaz.

Dmitry Medvedev has launched a wide-ranging attack on the Soviet Union as a totalitarian state that crushed individual liberties in the most outspoken comments on the USSR by a Russian leader in recent years. According to some Mr Medvedev's comments, which also included stinging criticism on the historical role of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, will be interpreted by many as an attempt to distance himself from Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, who has adopted a more ambiguous stance on Russia's often tragic history.

Residential areas were flooded in Russia’s district of Dagestan, due to heavy rains and an emergency water discharge from the local Gedzhukh Lake. Some 210 private houses, where about 1,000 people live, were flooded.

The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has called upon the faithful to have more children in order to repopulate their vast nation.

At least 13 injured in hippodrome explosion in Russia's North Caucasus. The bomb exploded near a VIP box during a horse race in the city of Nalchik, according to the report. No one was reported killed in the blast.

Last week on 9^th May troops from the United States, Britain and France marched in Russia’s annual Victory Day parade through Red Square for the first time, a step Russia's president called a nod toward their "common victory" in World War II. The annual parade celebrates the defeat of Nazi Germany by the former Soviet Union and its Western allies and serves as a demonstration of Russian military might.

According to a recent poll conducted by Nextep Pakistan, Croatia and Russia have topped a list of countries where people sitting behind shop and office counters have a surly attitude and find it difficult to smile.

US/CANADA

The Flagstaff City Council in America voted unanimously last week to sue over the new Arizona state immigration law. The council's vote directs the city attorney to retain legal counsel. It is an unfunded mandate to carry out the responsibilities of the federal government.

On the international front Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that a new round of UN sanctions against Tehran would close the door on diplomatic engagement with the United States.

Meanwhile a record number of Canadians returned to work in April, stunning markets and adding pressure on the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates in June, ahead of other major industrialized countries.

The Canadian Supreme Court said in a landmark ruling last week that reporters in the country have no constitutional right to offer their sources blanket confidentiality. In the first pronouncement of its kind, the court ruled by an 8-1 majority that journalists could offer sources protection. But if prosecutors subsequently demanded to know who those sources were, courts would decide the merits of confidentiality promises on a case-by-case basis.

A Canadian military board of inquiry reported last week that the soldier who embarrassed Ottawa by alleging troops knew Afghan authorities were abusing prisoners handed over by Canada's forces was mistaken. A note by the soldier, written after an incident on June 14, 2006, became public last December and seemed to contradict official assurances that Canadian troops had no credible evidence that prisoners might be harmed.

LATIN AMERICA

Argentine Ambassador in Peru Darío Alessandro was summoned by an Argentine court last week in connection with the probe into the alleged bribes to export goods to Venezuela.

The European Union and the South American trade group Mercosur are to relaunch stalled negotiations on a trade liberalization pact. Leaders will formalize the move at an EU-Mercosur summit in two weeks in Madrid.

South American leaders at the 12-nation UNASUR summit last week slammed a controversial new immigration law in the US state of Arizona, but stressed they did not hold US President Barack Obama responsible.

Meanwhile the group named former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner as their secretary-general, setting aside their differences in hopes that the 12-nation UNASUR group can consolidate into a regional force.

Argentina has finally signed up for a significant increase in natural-gas imports from Bolivia, ending years of short-term solutions to its gas-supply deficit.

Last week Argentina's lower house passed a gay marriage bill that, if also approved by senators, will put the country among a handful in the world that allow homosexual couples to marry.

Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva has been named the most influential leader in the world by Time magazine – ahead of Barack Obama, who came fourth, Nancy Pelosi (8th) and Sarah Palin (9th), while neither Gordon Brown nor any other European leader made it to the top 25.

According to the country's labor minister Brazil will be able to create up to 2.5 million new jobs in 2010, higher than a previous estimate of 2 million.

On the security front Turkey and Brazil are trying to revive a stalled atomic fuel deal with Iran in an attempt to help the Islamic Republic avoid new UN sanctions over its nuclear program. However Brazil's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said Brasilia had not made an official offer to mediate over a UN-backed nuclear fuel swap between Iran and the West.

According to the Agriculture Ministry Sugar output in Brazil, the world’s biggest producer, will rise 17 % this year as drier weather will favor harvesting and after cane growers increased planting.

In the after math of the controversial immigration law, Mexico’s Congress has urged President Felipe Calderon to consider breaking commercial ties with Arizona and called on government officials to refrain from traveling to the U.S. state.

Senior Mexican and Chinese lawmakers have voiced their intention to work for more exchanges at the congressional level to help bring ties between the two countries to a new level.

Meanwhile the Mexican government has said that drug violence that has killed some 23,000 people could rage until 2014.

Venezuelan police has arrested a man on suspicion of trying to ‘incite’ the assassination of President Hugo Chavez. The accused allegedly has links with Columbia where according to the police messages were found on his computers alluding to a plot to kill Chavez involving Colombia's outlawed right-wing paramilitary groups.

The US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela criticized Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s meddling in the Colombian presidential elections. Chávez has repeatedly said that it would be "very difficult" to mend relations with Colombia if the candidate of the ruling Social National Unity Party, Juan Manuel Santos, is elected. He has also questioned leftwing candidate Gustavo Petro, for his views on the Bolivarian Revolution.

According to a recent report by international firm FTI Consulting, Venezuela, along with Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, tops the list of countries with the largest amount of public security problems.

President Hugo Chavez's ruling party rallied hundreds of thousands of members to a congressional election primary vote last week— a key step in preventing infighting as they battle a resurgent and united opposition.

On the energy front, Venezuela state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, has agreed to buy a 49% stake in the Dominican Republic's Refidomsa refinery, which can process 34,000 barrels of oil a day.

China has signed an in-principal agreement with political ally Venezuela for the sale of 33 civil aircrafts, including the Harbin Y12E. Reportedly Venezuela plans to use the aircraft to develop regional passenger and cargo services in rural areas. Meanwhile it is expected that in 2010 the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) may shrink for the second consecutive year, which economists and business associations term inevitable.

AUSTRALASIA

Just months ahead of an expected general election Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's government has taken a beating in an opinion poll after ditching its climate change plan, with the opposition taking the lead for the first time in years. §

________________________________________________________
Business and Politics in the Muslim World (BPM)refers to the project entitled, "Globalized Business and Politics: A View from the Muslim World.' The blog development project has been undertaken and jointly developed by the Gilani Research Foundation and BPM as a free resource and social discussion tool.
Please Preview your comments before posting.