An Cosantóir

10 | World Strategic Picture Europe Former UK prime minister, Baroness Margaret Thatcher died aged-87. The UK's first female prime minister was borne to St Paul's Cathedral for a ceremonial funeral as thousands lined the streets of London. Although not officially a state funeral she received full military honours, the coffin was escorted by members of all three armed forces to a service before a congregation of 2,300 from across the globe. EU backed talks between the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo ended with no deal on how to coexist peacefully. Talks mediated by Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign affairs chief said, the gap between the parties was "narrow but deep". Thirteen people were shot dead in a village near Belgrade, Serbia's capital, by an unemployed veteran of the Balkan wars who went on a gun rampage. Identified by police as Ljubisa Bogdanovic, born in 1953, he also shot his wife, mother and son before turning the gun on himself. The Americas Two explosions ripped through bystanders at the finish line of the Boston Marathon in April. Three victims died; a 29-yearold woman, a Boston University graduate student from China and an 8-year-old boy, with 264 treated in hospitals. Federal law enforcement officials said both bombs were small, and tests showed no C-4 or other high-grade explosive, suggesting crude materials were used. After a shootout with federal agents, the bombers were identified as Chechen brothers Tamerlan (26), now dead and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (19), recovering in hospital with gunshot wounds. Tamerlan is believed to have been on a federal database of potential terrorism suspects. Efraín Ríos Montt, Guatemala's military dictator in 1982-83, and his then chief of military intelligence, José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, are on trial in Guatemala for genocide and crimes against humanity. The charges arise from systematic massacres of the country's indigenous population carried out by military and paramilitary forces during the country's brutal civil war. Bolivia's president Evo Morales, said his government would take Chile to the international courts in order to recover a corridor to the Pacific Ocean. Access was lost in a 19th-century war with Chile. Chile's president, Sebastián Piñera, has vowed to defend the country's borders. A ruling is due this year over their maritime boundary. The Middle East A spokesman for the Syrian extremist Islamist group, Nusra Front, said that the group had merged with al-Qaeda in Iraq. Nusra Front is a prominent force in the battle to overthrow the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria. The Syrian National Coalition took Syria's seat at an Arab League summit in Qatar. Its delegation was led by Moaz al-Khatib. A spokesman from the Assad government said the seat had been handed to "bandits and thugs". Lebanon's Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, resigned amid infighting and disagreements. Tammam Salam, a Sunni, is considered closer to Saudi Arabia and the West and less friendly to Hezbollah, the Shia party-cum-militia, than was his predecessor. An Cosantóir May 2013 www.dfmagazine.ie Asia North Korea's regime has become ever more aggressive, putting its rocket and artillery units at a "combat posture" by targeting US bases on the American mainland, Guam and Hawaii. It said it was preparing for a "state of war" with South Korea and threatened to restart its Yongbyon nuclear reactor. UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, warned that the crisis on the Korean peninsula may become "uncontrollable". He again urged North Korea to tone down its "provocative rhetoric" while South Korea has raised its alert level to 'vital threat'. Both the US and South Korea warned North Koreas dictator, Kim Jong Un, of the consequences of any attack. Former president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup - ruling until 2008, has returned from a self-imposed exile in London. He claims he had come to "save" his country. Africa In South Sudan five peacekeepers from India and seven foreign civilians were killed by a militia said to be led by David Yau Yau, leader of the Murle tribe. South Sudan's government has accused Sudan's government of trying to stir up strife in the breakaway state. One of Congo's most notorious warlords, Bosco Ntaganda, walked into the US embassy in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, to be taken to the International Criminal Court. The ICC had issued an arrest warrant for him in 2006, for seven counts of war crimes and three counts of crimes against humanity between 2002-2003. After rebel fighters took Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. Michel Djotodia, a rebel leader, declared himself president. The ousted president of CAR, François Bozizé, has accused Chad of helping rebels to overthrow him.

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