Weekly News Roundup: October 9th - October 14th

This week's news trends focused extensively on the surprising announcement made by North Korean officials on Monday, startling the entire international community with the nuclear test it had allegedly performed, which in turn triggered a massive wave of condemnations and an intensive lobby for the voting of a United Nations resolution against the Asian country.

The North Korean nuclear international scandal was coupled by a series of others, be they similar in their theme, like the Iranian issue, which recorded new developments, or political, such as the Georgian-Russian diplomatic row odyssey, the murder of a Russian journalist, an avid critic of the Kremlin administration, or the current struggles within the Palestinian territories, as well as the controversy surrounding the French genocide bill, that consequently drew more profound division lines between the former and Turkey, in its accession bid to the European Union. New developments were recorded in Thailand, too, with the approval of the new interim cabinet, plus leader of the Commons Jack Straw-created veil controversy finds new supporters.

At the beginning of the week, as reports of a new North Korean nuclear test broke out, the Beijing administration was among the first nations to issue an official statement today, sternly labeling it as "brazen" in a language that qualified as unusually strong for the Chinese government, Reuters reports.
"The DPRK has ignored the widespread opposition of the international community and conducted a nuclear test brazenly on October 9", is part of the formal announcement released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on its official website, quoted by Reuters. "The Chinese government is firmly opposed to this", it added.
Upon employing quite an unusually powerful language against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, China, a traditional political and international ally of the Asian country that constantly supported the path of dialogue over harsh sanctions, demanded Pyongyang to halt all additional actions that could seriously affect the present situation and urged the North Korean government to return to six-party negotiations upon the nuclear issue, whose main objective is to put an end to North Korea's nuclear ambitions, as well as end the nuclear tests.

Russian media reported that one of the fiercest critics of the Putin administration, as well of the Russian President himself, journalist Anna Politkovskaya, was shot in the head on Saturday night, while she was climbing to her apartment, an event that has been widely described as plain contract killing.
In an official statement issued by the Russian authorities on Sunday, it was mentioned that a pistol and four spent cartridges had been found near 48 year old Politkovskaya, one of the most prominent journalists to be killed in the last 10 years, who attained her status through the fact that she actively criticized Kremlin for the human rights violations it performed in Chechnya, labeling Vladimir Putin as a "KGB snoop" and often drawing similes between him and Stalin continuously breaking the freedom of the press and thus putting a clampdown on democracy.
The Russian police announced that it had already started pursuing a young man, wearing a black baseball cap, whom witnesses placed at the scene of the murder shortly after it happened.
Rumors highlighted that this year's speaker at the prestigious Sydney Writers Festival had been the subject of hate expressed by many people within the Russian security forces' circles and that she had been receiving a serious number of threats for the past two years. Once she was reportedly taken by the Russian forces and held in a pit for three days without water or food and was submitted to a mock execution.

As promised immediately after the coup they had delivered upon the leadership of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his parliamentary organization, Thailand's military junta announced on Monday the establishment of the new 28-member Thai cabinet, which has already been approved by King Bhumibol Adulayadej.
According to a government spokesman, Yongyuth Maiyalarb, the new interim government, which is expected to rule the country until October next year, consists of many economists and top civil servants, as well as two retired military officers, who have been appointed in many of the post-coup cabinet's ministries. The spokesman added that all can begin their work "right away" after the official ceremony of the entire Cabinet being sworn in.
The new interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanot announced that he had chosen central bank President Pridiyathorn Devakula, the man with an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, who provided a consistent contribution to aiding Thailand out of a terrible financial crisis, to solve the priorities of the Finance Ministry, as well as to hold the portfolio of the deputy Prime Minister upon economic issues.
As far as the Foreign Ministry portfolio is concerned, Surayud chose Nita Pibulsongkram, who had filled the office of the Thai Ambassador to the United States and to the United Nations. Pibulsongkram was also the chief negotiator for a free trade agreement between Thailand and the United States.

As expected, leader of the Commons and MP for Blackburn, Jack Straw's last week's comments regarding the fact that Muslim women should strive to remove their veils (also known as "niqabs") while interacting with other people, in order to reduce what he labeled as " separation" and alienation of both their group and of the people who come into contact with them, already established two totally separate camps, with British officials attempting to distance themselves from such remarks, while the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain endorsing it.
On the one hand, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt announced on Sunday that they join their colleagues Ruth Kelly and Peter Hain in stressing the idea that Jack Straw's statements could rather worsen relations with the Muslim community than improve them.
On the other hand, the leader of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, announced that he supported the debate sparked by Straw's remarks, given that less than 5 per cent of the Muslim women wear the niqab these days: "This is not a religious issue but a cultural one. Mr Straw has opened a debate within the Muslim community and encouraged interaction. Muslims themselves have failed to create a mechanism to discuss these issues. That is why they have had to be discussed out in the open."

In a new episode of the diplomatic battle between Russia and Georgia, that currently enters its second week, following the arrest of four Russian intelligence officers by Georgian authorities over spying charges, a Georgian airport official in Tbilisi warned that the Il-76 cargo plane, one of the two sent by the Russian Emergencies Ministry to evacuate all remaining Russian citizens from Georgia on Monday, might not receive permission to land, Russian RIA Novosti news agency reported.
"The Il-62 is a passenger airplane, and we have no problem with it. But we have a problem with the other Russian emergencies ministry's plane, an Il-76. That is a cargo plane, and there may be a problem with that", Giorgi Mzhavanadze stated.
On the other hand, one of the spokesmen for the Russian Emergencies Ministry announced that Georgia does not possess such a right to refuse the landing of the cargo plane, since it did not fulfill the proper standard procedure of officially requesting the prohibition of all flights performed by that aircraft. Consequently, all activities performed by the two planes are expected to go as planned: "The flights of the Il-62 and Il-76 were scheduled for 1.30 p.m. Moscow time (9.30 GMT) and 2.00 p.m. (10 GMT). They are scheduled to return about 270 Russians", he declared.

A top Qatari official issued a formal statement on Monday, highlighting that his country's Foreign Ministry has been appointed in mediating the negotiations between the two Palestinian factions at war, Fatah and Hamas, as far as the establishment of the national unity government issue is concerned.
The official, who liked to keep his anonymity, due to the sensitivity of the issue, added that the Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al Thani is expected to meet with both Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, in a separate series of meetings in Gaza City on Monday, to tackle the problem with both and see if there is any middle ground to be approached. "He will discuss the forming of a national unity government and will try to bring both sides closer", the official asserted.
He also added that it was the Qatari Foreign Minister's initiative to talk to Abbas on Monday, after he would have had a series of diplomatic discussions with one of the top leaders of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, in Damascus, Syria.

According to a report made by the New York Times, the United States issued an official statement by which it announced that a wide agreement on sanctions against Iran's nuclear ambitions has been reached following six-party nations' meeting in London last week.
The report was based upon a series of other statements made by American senior officials and diplomats who had taken part in the one-day conference in the British capital, highlighting on the other hand, that negotiations are still at large with regard to what exact penalties and their schedule are supposed to be.
Among such officials was Nicholas Burns, the US Undersecretary of State for political affairs, who stressed upon the idea that "What we've got is an agreement to go to the Security Council" for the drafting of a series of restrictions against Iran, irrespective of what the other countries asserted through their diplomatic language. He was making a subtle reference to the fact that, except for the United States, no other country, such as Britain, China, France, Germany or Russia, went to such extent as to comment the outcome of the London meeting in such optimistic terms.

The latest local elections' results have surely delivered quite a "blow"-like surprise for current Belgian Liberal Democrats Party's leader and Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, whose parliamentarian organization was forced to accept defeat before the opposition far-right Flemish Interest Party as well as the Christian Democrats.
According to the final results of the votes cast, the extremist Flemish Interest Party's gains were reflected in the 308 municipal councils across the Flanders region, the Dutch-speaking one, it won, which stretched beyond its traditional Antwerp area. The anti-immigrant party scored 20.6 percent, which is no less that a staggering 14.9 percent more as compared to six years ago, ranking second after the Christian Democrats in Flanders' smaller cities.
The situation is all the more critical for Verhofstadt's fragile coalition, since its partners in governing, the French-speaking Socialists, recorded a just as large defeat in their own French-speaking regions, given their alleged involvement in a series of corruption scandals, yet their results did not score as bad as expected. Official results showed that the Socialist Party won 22 seats, with two more than the Flemish Interest within the 55-seat council of Antwerp. In addition to this, they were forced to renounce their majority in Charleroi in Wallonia, plus Namur, the capital of the province.

On Tuesday, it was reported that, following North Korea's announcement regarding the nuclear test it carried out on Monday morning, American diplomats highlighted that the United Nations Security Council would continue yesterday's close-doors session, in order to discuss United States sanctions' proposals, among which are all types of cargoes' inspections, as well as an economic embargo on all goods that may be related to the manufacturing of missiles.
Meanwhile, US, South Korean and French nuclear scientists carried on a series of analyses on Monday's nuclear underground explosion reported by the South Korean Yonhap news agency to have been conducted at 10.36 a.m. in Hwaderi, near Kiju city, and termed by North Korean officials as successful, raising doubts to the latter's claims. According to the scientists, the explosion, which occurred 240 miles north from North Korean capital Pyongyang, equaled 500 metric tons of TNT, which, in the opinion of a US intelligence official, was extremely small for such a type of blast.
Moreover, given the fact that the explosion was allegedly so small, geological sensors that are supposed to trace radioactive emissions could not perform the required tests. This, in turn, may mean that the international community may never attain the certainty that a nuclear test had been indeed conducted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chose to issue an official statement regarding the horrible murder of prestigious journalist Anna Politkovskaya, one of the harshest critics of the Kremlin administration, during the weekend, an event which has been constantly termed as an assassination or contractual killing performed by her many enemies, some of which from within the circles of the Russian security forces.
Following a conversation with US President George Bush, Putin, who has been the subject of intense disputes over the fact that he chose not to publicly state anything related to the journalist's death, prompting people to protest on the Moscow streets, highlighted that "all necessary efforts will be made for an objective investigation into the tragic death".
The United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner, Louise Arbor, brought her verbal contribution to the horrendous act as well, calling for a thorough investigation of the murder and labeling Politkovskaya's killing as a tremendous loss "for all who struggle for human rights around the world".

According to Israeli security officials, one of them being Ephraim Sneh, North Korea's Monday announcement that it has carried out a nuclear test, if it were believed to be true, would display the fact that the international community has lamentably failed in its attempt to impose a definite and cohesive point of view and approach with regard to such a matter and therefore, other countries that pursue such agendas, like Iran, could feel encouraged to follow the Asian country's example.
Moreover, Sneh pointed to the fact that North Korea's defiance of previous warnings launched by the United Nations Security Council have not had any effect, which, in turn, could mean that warnings are not enough to solve such an issue.
As far as Iran is concerned, sanctions could be employed, but in order for them to achieve their ends, they must be extremely harsh ones, such as a refined oil embargo, given that Iran, irrespective of the quantities of crude oil that it exports, does not possess many facilities to refine it. Consequently, such a sanction could weigh down a lot on the Islamic republic.

Monday's nuclear test announcement by the North Korean officials created quite a moral dilemma for their Indian counterparts, who are currently undergoing the last standard procedure steps of completing a nuclear deal with United States representatives.
In addition to this, Indian political analysts warned that should North Korea continue with its nuclear defiance, India would feel more and more constrained with regard to its own nuclear business that it shares with the United States.
This is the reason why the New Delhi administration planned its reaction to the news of the Asian country's alleged nuclear test-fires extremely carefully, knowing that, similarly to this country, it had not been a part of the Non-Proliferation treaty organization when it conducted its own nuclear tests.
However, India's criticism with regard to latest events taking place in North Korea was labeled as extremely hypocritical, given such circumstances. In reply, Indian officials stressed upon the fact that their criticism was legitimate given that North Korea had broken its part of the agreement it signed with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

A series of crucial talks were conducted between church minister and Northern Ireland Protestant leader of the biggest parliamentarian organization in the province, Ian Paisley, known for its hard-line approach of Catholicism, and his counterpart, Archbishop Armagh Sean Brady, the head of the Irish Romah Catholic Church, at Stormont Castle in Belfast, whose results were hailed as being extremely encouraging.
In what many labeled as a complete surprise, Ian Paisely emerged after the round of discussions, which were deemed as very important for the future of Northern Ireland, full of optimism and hope with regard to a resumption of the relationship between the two religious communities, which had been so bitterly crossed over a long period of time. "I welcome the opportunity that this meeting has provided. It is in the interests of everyone to develop the foundations for stability and prosperity for all the people of Northern Ireland", Paisely highlighted.
In his turn, the Catholic Archbishop described the discussions as "helpful and constructive", given that the 90 minute talks centered upon "the benefits that would arise to all parts of the community from a stable and devolved administration in Northern Ireland. Hopes are now rising for further progress. I pray that these hopes may not be dashed."

Hamas' continuous stubbornness with regard to accepting the condition according to which it must recognize Israel's right to existence, in order to be able to form the national unity government in the Palestinian territories, and thus receive international recognition, as well as funding to mend the serious economic failure, led once again to the collapse of negotiations with their Fatah counterparts, which were mediated by Qatari representatives, Reuters informs.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry issued an official statement on Tuesday, in order to announce that it had not managed to solve the stalemate between Hamas and Fatah, given that the former rejected all proposals that envisioned the group's participation in a government that would be bound to acknowledge Israel, as well as all agreements it previously signed with it, without the inclusion of the so called Prisoners' Document, drafted by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, to which Hamas agreed in June.
"The differences on the core issues have remained ... in the light of tonight's talks it does not seem as if we are closer to an agreement", clearly pointed out one of Abbas's top aides, Yasser Abed Rabbo. "We will continue the dialogue over these points but no agenda for a unity government can succeed unless these points are resolved", he added.

On Wednesday, in view of latest rumors according to which North Korea conducted a second nuclear test, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe issued an official statement, in order to announce that his country has not gathered any intelligence data to either confirm or deny such a piece of information. "I have not received information about any indications that a test has taken place", Abe highlighted during a budget meeting of the Japanese legislative body.
On the other hand, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso highlighted, during the same parliamentary meeting, that Japan does indeed have some information with regard to a potential second nuclear test being conducted on Wednesday but such information could not be confirmed either.
As far as the Washington administration is concerned, one of the senior officials of the State Department, who kept his anonymity status due to the sensitivity of the matter, stressed on Tuesday that should North Korea carry out several nuclear tests, it would not bring any surprise, yet there has been no indication of such an activity so far.
His statement was confirmed by that of a White House spokesperson, Blair Jones, who asserted that the United States does not possess any evidence of any additional tests carried out by the Asian country.

Although last week, following an important meeting with US State Department Condoleezza Rice in Ramallah, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas stressed upon the fact that Hamas would be required to officially recognize Israel's right to existence in order to be able to take part in the establishment of the national unity government in the Palestinian territories, the latter changed his rhetoric, highlighting that neither Hamas nor his own Fatah party are obliged to perform such a change of policy, during an interview with Arab al-Arabiya television station.
Back then, the US official expressed her "great admiration" for Abbas and for what she labeled as his "willingness" to resume stalled Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, during the joint conference she held after the meeting. She also promised that the United States would help the Palestinian President in his endeavor with Hamas and the formation of the coalition government.
However, during the televised appearance, Abbas declared that "Hamas is not required to recognize Israel. ... It is not required of Hamas, nor of Fatah, nor of the Popular Front (for the Liberation of Palestine) to recognize Israel", Israel-based Palestinian Media Watch monitor group's translation of the interview, read. Moreover, he alleged that even his own Fatah Party had not come to terms with such a precondition, at least from an official point of view, and defended Hamas for the fact that it retained its right to not follow such a prerequisite.

In a practice that has already become all too common, it was Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's turn to vow that his country would not be stopped from continuing the nuclear program it envisaged and would not give in to international pressure on this matter during a televised appearance at the Iranian state-run television, Chinese news agency Xinhua reports.
The appearance had been recorded during a meeting of the Ayatollah with some of the most important Iranian officials: "I believe our policy is clear progress proposing transparent logic and insisting on the nation's rights without retreat", he stated. He added that his country acted very wisely when it briefly suspended uranium enrichment procedures under the stipulations of an agreement with Britain, France and Germany in November 2003. However, the Islamic republic chose to resume the nuclear schedule, upon the election of the new Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005.
"We have blamed ourselves if we hadn't experienced that (suspension), and we might have asked ourselves 'why we had not try that?. Now, we push forward with full confidence, no one could find a good reason that the nuclear path is wrong for Iran", he stated.
His comments were reinforced by those of Ahmadinejad, who continued on the same rhetorical line as he did in the last few weeks, pledging that his country would not abandon any of the current nuclear projects it develops: "The Iranian nation will continue its path of dignity based on resistance, wisdom and without fear", he declared.

Even though it pursues a nuclear program, just like North Korea and it vowed on Tuesday to continue developing it, irrespective of all the sanctions that the United Nations Security Council could possible place upon the country, the Tehran administration issued an official statement yesterday in order to condemn the use of nuclear weapons and the carrying out of nuclear tests.
Moreover, even American nuclear experts and officials maintain that North Korea and Iran are two very different cases and should be regarded as such.
"Iran is against the use and production of nuclear weapons. No country is competent to use nuclear weapons", Gholamhossein Elham, the spokesman for the Iranian government, stated during a weekly news conference, when reporters inquired about the country's reaction with regard to the North Korean underground nuclear test-firing.
The official reiterated the fact that, as opposed to North Korea and even though it had been included in the famous "axis of evil", alongside the Asian country, by US President George Bush, the nuclear energy it is developing is only for the sole civilian purpose of providing for the ever increasing electricity demands of the population.

The so called "veil controversy", started by former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw last week, when the official highlighted that Muslim women should renounce their veils (also known as niqabs), stipulated in the Koran, in order to facilitate communication and interpersonal relationships, found new supporters, when British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Finance Minister Gordon Brown and one of the most controversial British-Indian writers, raised as a Muslim, Salman Rushdie, announced that they back the debate upon this matter.
Tony Blair labeled Straw's veil debate as being "perfectly sensible" in addressing such a controversial theme, while Rushdie, who was forced to hide ever since his 1988 book "The Satanic Verses" sparked outrage all over the Muslim world, used more direct language to express his support of Straw.
"I don't think anyone is suggesting it's not a matter of personal choice in the end, for people to do what they want. What Jack Straw was saying was perfectly sensible, which is that if we want to break down the barriers between people and between different cultures and religions, then it is important these issues are raised and discussed", Blair commented during an interview with the BBC television station.
In addition to this, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown was interviewed by the BBC as well as to whether he preferred "it and think it better for Britain if fewer people wore veils". "That is what Jack Straw has said and I support it", he answered plainly.

On Thursday, it was reported that a new United Nations Security Council resolution against North Korea's recent nuclear test circulated yesterday, which employs milder language regarding the economic restrictions and cargo inspections that would be performed on the Asian country, in order to make both China and Russia come to an agreement on the sanctions' path.
According to the Associated Press, which obtained a copy of the draft resolution, what represents a new element in the list of penalties against North Korea is a travel ban on all people that back any of North Korea's ballistic missile, nuclear or building of weapons of mass destruction-related programs in any fashion.
In spite of the fact that the US-sponsored draft drops the demand to freeze all assets obtained from "illicit activities such as those related to counterfeiting, money-laundering or narcotics" plus all assets that have to do with weapons, it still stipulates that all countries need to freeze all assets that are in some fashion related to the weapons and missile programs developed by North Korea.
On the other hand, the resolution does not include any specifications with regard to a series of demands advanced by Japan, that revolved around the barring of all North Korean ships and aircraft from all harbors and airports around the world, since such a serious restriction would eventually be strongly vetoed by both Russia and China, which have always attempted to solve both Iranian and North Korean nuclear issues through the path of dialogue.

As the three-day negotiations regarding the resumption of the devolution process in Northern Ireland, began at St Andrews in Scotland, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who opened the conference alongside Irish premier Bertie Ahern, highlighted his hopes regarding the bright future that this political procedure still possesses, the BBC informs.
The Prime Minister added that a lot of progress has been made between the two parties and that it was time "to get the business done. I believe the political will is there to do that".
He also warned that that these talks represent what he labeled as the "one-off opportunity" to change the political future of Northern Ireland for the better.
Ahern stressed upon the fact that the two governments, the UK and the Irish ones, would attempt to find a compromise solution for all the "outstanding issues" on the "short enough list", while DUP leader and chief of the Protestant community in Northern Ireland, Ian Paisley, stated that Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, a representative of the Catholic side, must support the policing process.
Sinn Fein President, Gerry Adams, replied that he hoped the DUP leader would be able to "sort the issues out. The government's position... is very clear, that the working institutions should be in place by 24 November. That's Sinn Fein's position too", referring to the date the parties were given by the UK and Irish governments to attain a deal on the power-sharing procedures. In case such a deadline fails, just like others had done before, the Northern Ireland assembly idea would be put on a shelf.

The Georgian Ambassador to Moscow provided an avid criticism of the Kremlin administration, accusing it of performing outright "ethnic cleansing" operations, as far as Georgian citizens are concerned, after Russia managed to deport 400 Georgians from Russian territory in the last few days.
Irakli Chubinishvili highlighted that the remaining Georgians, who are still living on Russian soil, were "hiding at home in fear" following what has been labeled as a campaign of intimidation supported by the Russian authorities. He said that these Georgians have been subjected to "absolutely stupid" measures, which purport a retaliatory nature, for something that that they are wrongfully accused of. "The Russian government has decided to punish Georgia. They went to real extremes. Georgians and 'suspected Georgians' are being sought out and taken to police stations", he complained.

Many political analysts voiced avid concern over French Parliament's debate with regard to a genocide bill, which stipulated that it is considered a crime to deny that Armenians were submitted to "ethnic cleansing" operations performed by the Ottoman Empire, fearing this might trigger quite a long-standing diplomatic scandal with Turkey, which in turn could seriously affect the relationship of the Ankara administration with the European Union and consequently Turkey's chances to move on with its accession process, Reuters informs.
Moreover, many French businessmen fear that their private affairs would also be seriously severed if the bill receives approval of the lower House of the French Parliament, given that many Turkish nationals live in France.
"To deny the Armenian genocide is to help perpetuate it. I firmly believe that the Armenia question deserves the same judicial treatment as the Holocaust. Does a genocide committed in the World War One have less value than a genocide committed in World War Two? Obviously not", one deputy of the Union for Popular Movement party, Deputy Philippe Pomezec, stated.
The law stipulates that anyone who denies that the Armenian population had suffered genocide by the Ottoman Turks would receive a one-year prison and a 45,000 euro fine, which resembles the Holocaust-related legislation to a great extent.

The new military-appointed Thai Prime Minister, Surayud Chulanont, is currently leading what many have already labeled a "charm offensive" on the international community in order to persuade it that the government he established is an efficient one in terms of bringing democratic reign back to the country.
However, European Union representatives were not that easy to convince, urging the Prime Minister and his government to end martial law in the country and plan the elections schedule faster.
In an effort to prove that everything is going along according to what has been established and pledged before, Chulanont sent around 100 invitations to international envoys, to meet him at the Government House and stressed upon the fact that all projects started by former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra that relate to the infrastructure of the country, such as Bangkok's three rail routes worth of 4.3 billion dollars, would be continued.
However, the European Union officials led by the Finnish Ambassador Lars Backstrom, highlighted to the Thai Prime Minister that the measures he adopted are not enough to set the country on the democratic path. "Lift martial law without delay", he urged, adding that Chulanont must also lift the activities ban placed upon all political parties during the September 19th military coup and requested the head of the government to organize the elections sooner than the one-year deadline the military officials initially set it.

On Friday, important United Nations Security Council members reported that the two-hour behind-the-closed-doors negotiations held on Thursday evening regarding the draft resolution against North Korea and its claimed nuclear test at the beginning of this week, have recorded significant progress with Russia and China, which have agreed to most of the document's stipulations, yet urged for milder versions of others.
"We have made very substantial progress. I don't want to say we've reached agreement yet but many, many of the significant differences have been closed, very much to our satisfaction", US Ambassador John Bolton highlighted after the meeting.
His comments were reinforced by those of the Chinese UN Ambassador Wang Guangya, who stressed upon the fact that "good progress had been made" in changing the text of the resolution.
The new version of the US-sponsored draft resolution, which dropped the weapons embargo requirement against North Korea, does nevertheless include specifications regarding economic sanctions and a naval blockade upon the country. Its text was sent to all the capitals of the six countries involved in the decision-making processes of the resolution on Thursday evening, so that the ministers of the respective countries are able to perform any other potential changes. Although the United States intends to submit the draft to voting procedures on Friday morning, Japanese officials expressed their belief that such an action would likely be performed on Saturday morning.

What many European Union officials as well as their Turkish counterparts feared of taking place bore fruit on Thursday night, when the French National Assembly passed the genocide bill, according to which it is now a crime to deny that Armenians were the victims of the massacres performed by the Ottoman Empire.
With 106 deputies voting in favor of the bill and 19 against it, while four abstained and 448 did not vote at all, the law, which resembles the Holocaust one, now stipulates that anyone who attempts to deny the historical fact that more than one million Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1919 would receive a fine of up to 45,000 euros, or about 56,000 euros plus one year in prison. However, the bill could still be opposed by either the senate or further on, by the French President himself.
As far as Turkey is concerned, the approval of the bill was interpreted as a sign of the fact that France basically declared its complete opposition to the country's accession to the European Union. The Turkish Parliamentary speaker, Bulent Arinc, avidly criticized what he labeled as France's "hostile attitude" toward his state. "This is a shameful decision. We are sorry to see that this bill was passed only because of internal French politics", he said.

Muslim movement Hamas, currently ruling the Palestinian government, reiterated, through its political leader, now living in exile in Damascus, Khaled Meshaal, the fact that it would not support the condition of upholding Israel's right to existence simply because it sees no effective practical gain out of it, Reuters informs. Moreover, the official added that it would continue to resist accepting such a condition in spite of all potential retaliations the organization might suffer from Western powers.
"Hamas will not surrender to those wanting to mount a coup against it, will not recognize Israel and will not abandon armed resistance", Meshaal stated during a conference in Damascus, to mark the last series of celebrations for the remaining 10 days of the Muslim holy month of the Ramadan.
In spite of the warnings issued by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas regarding the emergency government idea or the early elections it might organize, or the fact that both the United States and the European Union insisted upon the fact that the group must officially accept the state of Israel at all costs, Meshall maintained that Hamas' charter, which vows for the destruction of the Jewish state, would bring its rewards in the end.

On Saturday, US intelligence officials confirmed to a great extent North Korea's claim with regard to a nuclear test.
The only main element for the scientific approval of such a fact is the great amount of radioactivity detected in a series of environmental samples, which is consistent with a nuclear blast. These had been gathered by an American military airplane and displayed the existence of a radioactive area above the Sea of Japan. However, officials highlighted that a series of additional scientific analyses needs to be performed in order to be sure of the truthfulness of North Korea's claim. "The intelligence community continues to analyze the data", the spokesman for the National Security Council, Frederick Jones stated.
He added that even though nuclear experts believe that a partial plutonium implosion had occurred, one less than a kiloton, which would be far smaller than the 23 kiloton one the United States dropped on Japan during the Second World War, they cannot prove it for the time being. However, the partial plutonium implosion hypothesis may mean in turn that some of the plutonium failed to implode and thus may be picked up from the environmental samples. As far as this aspect of the issue is concerned, on the rhetorical level, North Korea announced that the alleged test it carried was successful.

United Nations diplomats announced that the General Assembly of the world body had passed a resolution according to which South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon was approved to succeed Kofi Annan as the new United Nations Secretary General on January 1st, when the latter's second five-year mandate would have ended.
Thus, the 62-year-old diplomat, who has taken an active role during the stalled six-nation nuclear talks to persuade North Korea to end its nuclear program, will become the eighth Secretary General during the organization's 60-year history. He has been the only candidate of all the seven ones who won all the four informal polls voting procedures that took place in the United Nations Security Council.
Following Assembly President's Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa's request upon the organization's diplomats to adopt the resolution yesterday, all of the officials and staff personnel began applauding when hearing the name of the South Korean representative, while Annan described him as "a future secretary general who is exceptionally attuned to the sensitivities of countries and constituencies in every continent" and "a man with a truly global mind at the helm of the world's only universal organization."

A matter which has the great potential of creating a series of diplomatic struggles between France and Turkey, with the approval of the so called French genocide bill that makes it a crime to deny the massacres suffered by the Armenian population under the occupation of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, has unfolded into another new episode on Friday, when the European Union avidly condemned the legislation, on the one hand, and Turkish Consumers Union began boycotting French goods, aside from blaming France for openly declaring its rejection of their country's accession to the EU, on the other.
As far as the European Union was concerned, the European political and economic body highlighted that the law is most counterproductive, given that it comes at a very critical point in the negotiations between Turkey and the EU for the accession. "We don't think that this decision at this moment is helpful in the context of the European Union's relations with Turkey. This is not the best way to contribute to something we think is important", European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso stated during a conference on Friday.
Sharing in the same point of view, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn outlined the fact that the Armenian population massacre by the Turkish Ottomans gives a rather abrupt finality to the debate, instead of opening it up, which in turn may have a negative effect on the relationship among all three entities, the French, the Turkish, the Armenian ones: "We don't achieve real dialogue and real reconciliation by ultimatums, but by dialogue. Therefore, this law is counterproductive". Like Barroso, Rehn commented upon the fact that the bill comes at a very critical moment, when the European Union attempts to avoid a clampdown of negotiations with the Muslim nation. "The real issue now is to avoid a train crash because of a slowing down of the reform process (in Turkey) and because of Turkey not yet meeting its obligations", he asserted.