Kosovo declared 'fully independent'

 

Kosovan Prime Minister Hashim Thaci (r) called the

 decision a 'historic turnaround' for the state

   
     Western powers overseeing Kosovo have announced the end of their supervision of the tiny Balkan nation. Kosovo had been overseen by a group made up of 23 EU countries, the US and Turkey since 2008, when it unilaterally declared independence from Serbia. US President Barack Obama said Monday marked a "historic milestone" for Kosovo, which he said had made "significant progress". But Serbia dismissed the sovereignty announcement as meaningless. It does not recognise the secession of Kosovo and regards it as part of Serbia.

Spain gears up for bank bailout by eurozone partners

 

     Up to 60bn euros (£48bn; $78bn) will be needed to bail out Spain's banks, according to the country's second biggest lender, BBVA. The results of independent stress tests of the Spanish banking sector will be published on 28 September. But previews are already being sent to the country's financial institutions.

     The BBC has been told that the Spanish government has already put in place economic reform plans that would allow it to apply for a bailout immediately. Spain's conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has in the past insisted Madrid would not become the fourth European capital in recent years to apply for such a bailout, but sources indicate such a programme is now likely.

Mohamed Morsi goes to UN general assembly with independence in mind

Egypt's first democratically elected and Islamist president takes first trip to US keen to redefine international relations

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• Abdel-Rahman Hussein in Cairo
• The Guardian, Sunday 23 September 2012 13.16 EDT

Mohamed Morsi, the Egyptian president, will be under the spotlight during his trip to the UN general assembly in New York. Photograph: Virginia Mayo/AP

The UN general assembly, which opens in New York this week, is notable for the cast of leaders it draws to the city. This year, it is Mohamed Morsi, who will be the most closely watched, as he embarks on his first visit to the US as president, at a delicate time in relations between America and the Islamic world.

Morsi, who will meet David Cameron and French president François Hollande but not Barack Obama – has left the US leadership in no doubt that relations have entered a new era. America was angered by his dilatory response to the attack on the US embassy two weeks ago.

On his official Facebook page the president said: "Egyptian foreign relations are now about a balance with other nations based on mutual respect and interests. We open doors and do not close others."

An MP from Egypt's dissolved parliament for the Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice party, Mahmoud Helmy, told the Guardian, "The president's visit is primarily about Egypt's interests, and we trust Morsi to do that. He's trying to set foundations for mutual interests and improving relations to a level that was lost with the previous regime, which was more of a stooge."

Elijah Zarwan, a Cairo-based fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said: "Morsi and Obama have compelling shared interests in keeping the Egyptian-US relationship strong, and have already moved to mend fences after last week's tensions, which I suspect will be a flash in the pan. US relations with Mubarak were sometimes prickly. Relations with Egypt's first democratically elected and Islamist president may also be, but for different reasons."

Morsi is catering to public opinion in Egypt by making it clear that he is his own man when it comes to foreign relations. Choosing to visit Iran, the first visit by an Egyptian leader in 30 years, he then went on to publicly criticise the Syrian regime, in Tehran to the chagrin of its staunchest regional ally.

And in the wake of the embassy attacks, he also had to contend with local uproar at the American film which triggered the anger.

"The embassy events are not the first nor the last flash points that may happen, and they will not influence relations between two countries so markedly," Helmy said. "We announced that we don't accept the offense to the Prophet Mohammed and we also condemn the violence and attack on the embassy. Any foreigner in your country is your guest and you are responsible for his safety."

And despite the events in Cairo having implications on the US presidential race, Morsi does travel to the US with a merit of goodwill, according to Bassel Adel, member of the secular liberal Free Egyptians party. "Morsi goes to the US with a card up his sleeve that the Brotherhood didn't participate in the embassy protest, for the first time in their history. Also events in Libya [where the US ambassador was killed after an attack on the consulate] overshadowed the events in Cairo."

However, Adel alluded to a unique relationship that the Brotherhood has with the US administration, going back to the early days of the revolution that ousted Mubarak. "Egyptians not belonging to the Brotherhood feel there is a special relationship between the Brotherhood and the US, adirect line of communication that began with the onset of the revolution. This is something that needs to be looked into."

Russia boots out USAID

By the CNN Wire Staff

September 19, 2012 -- Updated 2007 GMT (0407 HKT)

Russia's President Vladimir Putin addresses supporters in Manezhnaya Square on election night, March 4, 2012.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The State Department says itis "extremely proud" of the work USAID did in Russia
• Russia says it was undermined by the U.S. Agency for International Development
• USAID had worked in Russia for two decades

(CNN) -- Russia has thrown out the United States Agency for International Development, the U.S. State Department said, claiming that the aid agency has undermined Russia's sovereignty.

"We have recently received a decision of the Russian Government to end USAID activities there," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said this week. "The United States is extremely proud of what USAID has accomplished in Russia over the last 20 years, and we will work with our partners and staff to responsibly end or transition those programs."

At APEC Russia and the U.S. look east

Senior Russian officials have said that some of the agency's programs, such as some human rights groups and election monitoring, have undermined Russia's sovereignty, according to the state news agency RIA Novosti.

Russian protesters defy Kremlin with anti-Putin rally

Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched though Moscow on Saturday to demand an end to President Vladimir Putin’s long rule and show their protest movement remains strong, despite increasingly tough Kremlin measures against the opposition.

By Clementine LOGAN / Marie NORMAND (video)

The first major protest against President Vladimir Putin after a summer lull drew tens of thousands of people, determined to show that opposition sentiment remains strong despite Kremlin efforts to muzzle dissent.
The street protests broke out after a December parliamentary election won by Putin’s party through what observers said was widespread fraud, and they grew in strength ahead of Putin’s effectively unopposed election in March to a third presidential term.
Huge rallies of more than 100,000 people even in bitter winter cold gave many protesters hope for democratic change. These hopes have waned, but opposition supporters appear ready to dig in for a long fight.

Russian army battles fighters in Caucasus

At least 12 killed in fighting between army and Islamist fighters in volatile region.

Russian Army battles fighters in Causacus
At least 12 killed betwee Army and Islamist fighters in Volatile Region

     Russian security forces have killed 12 people including leading Islamist fighters in the North Caucasus republics of Kabardino-Balkaria and Chechnya, officials and local media said. Two law-enforcement officials were also killed in the fighting, they said on Thursday.

     Russia is fighting an Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus where fighters carry out almost daily attacks more than a decade after federal forces ousted a separatist government in Chechnya.
Fighters in the North Caucasus say they are fighting for an Islamic state in the strip of provinces along Russia's southernborder.

Protesters Set Fire to German Embassy in Sudan

Protesters Set Fire to German Embassy in Sudan

 

AFP

Angry protesters in the Sudanese capital Khartoum attacked the German Embassy on Friday, setting fire to parts of the building. They also tore down the German flag and raised an Islamist banner. The violence was part of a wave of protests against an anti-Islam film across the Muslim world.

     Following Friday prayers, thousands of protesters in the Sudanese capital Khartoum attacked the embassies of Germany and Britain, outraged by a film that insults the Prophet Muhammad.

Witnesses said that protesters threw rocks at the embassies, which are close to each other, and tried to storm their main entrances. Some demonstrators managed to get past security forces and enter the German Embassy.

Russia to expel US development agency USAID

Russia has asked the US Agency for International Development to leave the country, accusing it of trying to influence Russian elections. A portion of USAID's budget supports an independent monitoring group that has reported on widespread vote fraud.

Russia on Wednesday explained its decision to put an end to the U.S. Agency for International Development’s two decades of work in Russia by saying the U.S. government agency was using its money to influence elections.
The U.S. State Department announced Tuesday that Russia has demanded USAID leave the country, a culmination of years of resentment over what Moscow sees as American interference aimed at undermining President Vladimir Putin’s hold on power.
“We are talking about attempts through the issuing of grants to affect the course of political processes, including elections on various levels, and institutions of civil society,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
Nearly 60 percent of the aid agency’s $50 million annual budget this year has been allocated for the promotion of democracy and civil society in Russia. Some of this money has gone to support Russia’s only independent election monitoring group, Golos, which fielded thousands of observers in last winter’s parliamentary and presidential elections, and compiled reports of widespread vote fraud in support of Putin’s party.

French embassies brace for cartoon backlash

French embassies, consulates and international schools in 20 Muslim countries closed their doors on Friday for fear of a violent backlash over cartoons published earlier this week by Paris-based weekly Charlie Hebdo.

French embassies, consulates, cultural centres and schools in around 20 Muslim countries shut up shop on Friday – the Muslim holy day – for fear of retaliatory violence following weekly prayers. The order came from the foreign ministry, which anticipates violent demonstrations over the publishing Wednesday of Prophet Mohammed cartoons by satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo. The obscene cartoons exacerbated anger among Muslim communities after more than a week of deadly protests sparked by the US-made amateurish video “Innocence of Muslims”.
Security had been beefed up on security arrangements at institutions abroad and in France, with reinforcements and armed guards on standby. The French Foreign Ministry issued a travel warning urging French citizens in the Muslim world to exercise “the greatest vigilance”, avoiding public gatherings and “sensitive buildings”. Tens of thousands of French expatriates live in Muslim countries.

ANALYSIS RELIGION Punishing blasphemers: New calls on an old issue

Protests over the cartoons – which showed the Prophet Mohammed naked – had already begun Thursday in Tehran and Kabul. Demonstrators chanted “death to France” outside the
 French embassies in the two capitals. One student told TV reporters that the “doomed, nasty French” had committed an offence that the activists were willing to “sacrifice” themselves for. “What were they thinking?” he asked.
In Tunisia, French schools were shut down from Wednesday until next Monday after the ruling Islamists branded the cartoons a "new attack" on their religion. One parent outside a school in Tunis told FRANCE 24 that she was reassured by the decision. “It's better not to take any chances, given that we don

Euro v US Dollar

7 September 2012 Last updated at 07:16 ET

ECB plan pushes euro to two-month high against dollar

Last Updated at 07 Sep 2012, 11:56 ET *Chart shows local time

€1 buys	change	%
1.2789	+ +0.02	+ +1.25

The euro has strengthened to a two-month high against the US dollar, as the European Central Bank's bond-buying plans continued to please the markets.

The euro rose 0.3% to $1.2673 in early trading on Friday.
It also hit a two-month peak against the Japanese yen and a one-month peak against the Swiss franc.
Yields on Spanish and Italian 10-year bonds fell further, easing implied borrowing costs for the debt-laden countries.