An Cosantóir

10 | World Strategic Picture The Americas In allegations derived from documents provided by Edward Snowden, Brazil has demanded an explanation from Canada over reports that Canadian spies had collected internet and phone data from Brazil's mining and energy ministry and a Brazilian diplomat. Following this Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, announced plans to create a secure e-mail service and to host an international summit on internet security next year. Venezuela's navy detained and later released an oil-exploration ship operated by Anadarko, an American company. The ship had been detained in Guyanese waters. Venezuela has a claim to Guyana's Essequibo territory. Europe Italy said it would hold a state funeral for the hundreds of migrants from Africa who died after their boat capsized close to the island of Lampedusa on October 3rd. Enrico Letta, the prime minister, made the announcement during a visit to the island with José Manuel Barroso, the head of the European Commission. Two weeks later in two separate incidents another migrant boat capsized near Italy, killing at least 33, three days later another 370 migrants were rescued between Sicily and Libya. More than 35,000 migrants have landed on Italian shores so far this year. Africa asia After six months talks resumed between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany over the Islamic Republic's disputed nuclear plans. At a meeting in Geneva, Iran presented a plan under which it would agree to limit its nuclear programme in return for recognition of its right to continue enriching uranium and relief from the economic sanctions. Discussions were held in Iran's ruling circle over whether to drop aggressively anti-Western slogans, such as "Death to America". Iran's new president, Hassan Rohani held a phone conversation with Barrack Obama. Vo Nguyen Giap, the legendary Vietnamese general who masterminded victories against France and the US, died aged 102. The Middle East The first UN officials arrived in Syria. They are to pave the way towards the destruction of the country's chemical-weapons arsenal. Eleven rebel groups in Syria declared that they would no longer recognise the command of the civilian dissident leadership based in Turkey. They vowed to establish a state that is ruled according to Islamic law. Addressing the UN's General Assembly, Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, called for sanctions against Iran to be kept up and dubbed its emollient-sounding new president, Hassan Rohani, "a wolf in sheep's clothing". An Cosantóir November 2013 www.dfmagazine.ie The African Union passed a resolution demanding that the International Criminal Court in The Hague grant immunity to African leaders while they are still in office. The trial of Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya's president is due to start next month. On October 5th, America launched a series of counter terrorist operations, with Abu Anas al-Libi seized in Libya. He is to be charged with helping to bomb the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Meanwhile Special Forces came ashore at Somalia's coastal town of Barawe, south of the capital, Mogadishu, but failed to capture a leading member of the Somali jihadist group, the Shabab. Presumably in reprisal Libya's Prime Minister, Ali Zidan, was briefly detained by an unknown group in Tripoli on October 10th. At least 67 people died in a four-day armed stand-off at a shopping mall in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, after ten or more members of the Shabab a Somalian Islamist group, who are affiliated with al-Qaeda, seized the building. It was the worst terrorist attack in Kenya since the bombing of the American embassy in 1998. Former president of Liberia Charles Taylor, arrived in Britain to serve the remainder of a 50year prison sentence for war crimes, after his request to serve his jail time in Rwanda was rejected. Mr Taylor was convicted last year by a UN-backed special court in The Hague for crimes committed in Sierra Leone during its civil war in the 1990s. At least 60 people were killed in Egypt in clashes with police following the biggest protests in support of the Muslim Brotherhood since a crackdown by security forces in August. A dozen bombs killed at least 55 people in Baghdad, most of them Shias. Around 1,000 people were reported to have been killed in Iraq in each of the past two months, the highest death tolls since 2008. At least five bombs went off in Erbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, killing six members of the security forces. The government said six attackers, suspected of links to al-Qaeda, had also been killed.

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