An Cosantóir

10 | world strategic picture MIDDLE EAST The Head of Lebanese internal security, Brig Gen Wissam Hassam, was killed along with seven others in a bomb attack in Beirut. The Syrian regime was blamed. Ten more people died in sectarian clashes following the attack. President Assad's government in Syria and most rebel groups agreed to a ceasefire during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-adha. The ceasefire did not hold. The UN held talks between Russia and China as fighting continued around Damascus and in the north. Syrian opposition factions met in Qatar in order to create a broad united front that would supersede the Syrian National Council. Frances president Holland announced that his country would recognise the new Syrian National Coalition. Amid clashes between anti-government demonstrators and police in Bahrain, authorities banned any further protests. Two foreign workers were killed and a third injured in a series of bomb attacks. The head of the military wing of Hamas, Ahmed Jabar, was killed by an Israeli air strike on Gaza. The Israeli security service, Shin Bet, said it had carried out the attack claiming he was responsible for all terrorist attacks launched from Gaza over the past decade. Several Israeli's were killed in revenge rocket attacks. Tensions mounted and armed forces were mobilised on both sides to the point of all out war. The international community called for calm. EUROPE The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) criticised elections held in Ukraine as an, "abuse of power and the excessive role of money." The president, Viktor Yamukovycyh, claimed victory and shrugged off any criticism. Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, sacked his defence minister, Anatoly Serdyukov, after he got caught up in a corruption scandal. NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen says they are considering 'without delay', Turkey's request to deploy Patriot anti-missile systems to protect its border with the unresttorn Syria. The Americas Cuba's former president Fidel Castro published an article and photographs of himself in a state newspaper after it was rumoured he was near death. Scores of people were killed in Haiti and the US as Hurricane Sandy tore a devastating path of destruction. The eastern coastline of the US took the full hit of the storm. In New York millions were left without power, the underground was closed and the New York marathon cancelled. Barack Obama was re-elected as President of the United States, beating Mitt Romney by 50%-48%. Seven US Navy SEALs were disciplined for revealing classified information for a video game. All seven of them worked for two days as paid consultants for a recently released video game "Medal of Honor: Warfighter". One of the SEAL's was a member of the team that killed Osama Bin Laden. An Cosantóir Dec 2012/Jan 2013 www.dfmagazine.ie africa Libyan government forces took control of most of Bani Walid. The town was one of the last vestiges loyal to former Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Simone Gbagbo, the wife of Ivory Coast's exPresident Laurent Gbagbo. She is wanted for alleged crimes against humanity committed in the wake of disputed presidential elections in 2010. An air raid on an arms factory in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, was blamed on Israel. Israel's government made no comment. It is known that Israel blames Sudan for allowing arms to pass through on route to Gaza. The new government in Somalia elected a female foreign minister. Three days later a bomb, suspected to have been planted by the Islamist Shabab militia, blew up outside parliament killing one person. The Economic Union of West African States decision to send troops into Mali against Islamist extremist was endorsed by the African Union. In north western Kenya, Turkana tribesmen killed 42 policemen in an ambush. This follows a dispute over hundreds of stolen cattle from the neighbouring Samburu tribe. ASIA Human rights groups reported that four more Tibetans killed themselves by setting themselves on fire, three of which were teenage Buddhist monks, protesting against Chinese policies. Over 60 people have died this way in the last year. Authorities in Myanmar imposed a night time curfew in parts of western Rakhine after violence flared again between Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakine Buddhists. 120 people are believed missing after a boat carrying many Rohingya Muslims fleeing the unrest capsized in the Bay of Bengal. In China Xi Jinping took over from Hu Jintao, as secretary general of the Communist Party of China. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said that an internal report on the organisations failure to protect civilians during the Sri Lankan civil war will have profound implications for its future operations.

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