May-2011-International

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Germany to abandon all N-power
Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, will shut down all its nuclear power plants by 2022, a decision that would make it the first major industrialised power to go nuclear-free in the aftermath of the atomic disaster in Japan. Germany’s coalition government announced the decision after seven hours of negotiations that stretched into the small hours at Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office. “We want the electricity of the future to be safe, reliable and economically viable,” Merkel said.

Merkel pushed through measures in 2010 to extend lifespan of the country’s 17 reactors, with the last one scheduled to go offline in 2036, but she reversed her pro-nuclear stance after the earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daichi plant on March 11, 2011, triggering nuclear meltdowns.

Germany’s energy supply chain “needs a new architecture,” necessitating huge efforts in boosting renewable energies, efficiency gains and overhauling the electricity grid, Merkel said.

To make up for the loss of nuclear energy, the German government will begin to switch to renewable energy and increase investments in energy research.

G-8 Summit
The 37th G-8 summit was held on May 26-27, 2011 in the commune of Deauville in France.   The G-8 is comprised of the eight main industrialised countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Middle East and North Africa, nuclear safety and economic recovery topped the agenda of G-8 leaders.

G-8 countries and multilateral development banks pledged $20bn in backing for democratic reform, with the EU offering new. The G8 also endorsed the EU's call for worldwide stress tests on nuclear power plants as part of a review of international safety standards.

The G-8 partners shared the EU's resolve to strengthen the multilateral system and liberalise free trade in line with the World Trade Organisation's 2001 Doha mandate, which calls for a fair global trade deal.

On the impetus of the President of the French Republic, the members of the G-8 have committed, within the framework of the "Deauville Partnership", to helping the Arab countries in their transition to free and democratic societies.

Tunisia and Egypt are the first countries to commit to this transition and to join the "Deauville Partnership". The multilateral development banks are prepared to raise more than USD 20 billion, of which EUR 3.5 billion will come from the EIB, to benefit Egypt and Tunisia by 2013.

Osama bin Laden killed by US forces inside Pakistan
On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaida and the most recognisable face of global terrorism, was killed in a US military operation at a heavily fortified compound, around 60 km north of Islamabad.

The operation was wrapped up in 40 minutes and the US team left with Laden’s body. Three adult males—two Qaida couriers and a son of Laden—and one woman were killed in the operation.

Laden's body was buried at sea.

US President Obama said. “On nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to Al-Qaida’s terror: Justice has been done”.

Laden’s death came almost 10 years after Al-Qaida’s deadliest act of terrorism — attacks on the World Trade Centre’s twin towers in New York City and the Pentagon — killed nearly 3,000 persons.

The small team of commandos found Laden living in a plush mansion on a secured compound in the suburb of Islamabad and not in a cave along the rugged and lawless Pakistan-Afghanistan border region, where Pakistani officials said he was hiding. Senior US officials said the Obama Administration did not inform Pakistani authorities of the mission. Only a handful US officials were aware of the plan.

The US official added that since 9/11 the US had made it clear to Pakistan that it would pursue Laden wherever he might be. “Pakistan has long understood that we are war with Al-Qaida. The US had a legal and moral obligation to act on the information it had,” he said.

Senior US officials said they traced Laden by monitoring an Al-Qaida courier they believed was a trusted confidant of the terrorist leader. Over the years, the CIA gathered leads on bin Laden’s inner circle, including his personal couriers.