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Israel proposes West Bank barrier as border
- Israel wanted to keep east Jerusalem and consolidate Jewish settlements behind the separation barrier, which slices close to 10 per cent off the West Bank.
- The proposal would fall short of what the Palestinians seem likely to accept, especially because it would leave Jerusalem on the “Israeli” side of the border.
- But it would also mark a significant step for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has spent most of his career as a staunch opponent of Palestinian independence.
Arab League halts mission in Syria
- The Arab League halted its observer mission to Syria
- There initiatives continue to face two major obstacles — Damascus' rejection of an Arab peace plan which it says impinges on its sovereignty, and Russia's willingness to use its U.N. Security Council veto to protect Syria from sanctions.
Gorbachev calls for referendum
- The former Soviet President, Mikhail Gorbachev, has called for a national referendum in Russia on a political and constitutional reform to end “Caesarism” and assert “people power.”
- The last Soviet leader, who supported Vladimir Putin during his first years as President, has recently harshly criticised him for having built a fossilised corrupt political system that “imitates” democracy.
- He proposed the following question for a referendum: “Do you support a political and constitutional reform that would eliminate Caesarism and guarantee people power?”
Amidst rise of fundamentalism, Maldives reaching out to friendly nations
- The Maldives has sought greater understanding from its neighbours as it grapples with Islamic fundamentalism, political violence and dissidence that is threatening its three-year-old experiment with multiparty democracy.
- The Maldivian government headed by President Mohd. Nasheed has been buffeted by religious extremism including calls for Jihad, a vicious hate campaign against women and members of the government, a judiciary that has been thwarting attempts at reforming three decades of cronyism under the previous regime, and corporate tycoons accusing Male of following anti-Islamist policies.
- The controversy has already claimed the first woman Secretary-General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Dhiyana Saeed, a Maldivian and fast becoming the multi-island nation's face to the outside world in addition to Mr. Nasheed.
- Ms. Saeed resigned after criticising the arrest of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed. This is the first case of mid-term resignation of a Secretary-General in the history of the SAARC.
- We are reaching out to friendly countries so that they are with us as Maldives transits towards becoming a mature democracy like India by reforming its institutions, especially the judiciary
- The Maldives government says the current problem is the judiciary. The Judicial Services Commission (JSC), mandated to uphold judicial propriety, too has “failed time and again.” In 2010, the JSC took no action on 143 complaints and when it took up the case of Abdulla, the judge brought the case to a criminal court which issued an order against the previous proceedings of the JSC.
- We are looking at educational institutions in moderate Islamic countries and encouraging students to go there.
