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@readthisskipnothing
"Thailand's government is to lift a state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding provinces because anti-government protesters have become less active, a senior security official said on Tuesday.
The government set the 60-day emergency from Jan 22 to help contain protests in the run-up to a general election on Feb 2, but most of its measures were barely used, especially after a court ruled on Feb 19 that some had been imposed illegally."
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - NATO member Turkey has chosen a Chinese defense firm that has been sanctioned by Washington to co-produce a $4 billion long-range air and missile defense system, rejecting rival bids Russian, U.S. and European firms.
"Western powers have previously criticised China for not rigorously enforcing UN sanctions imposed on North Korea because of its nuclear programme, the BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing reports.
However, relations between Beijing and Pyongyang have been seriously strained in recent months, our correspondent adds."
"The Pentagon announced on Wednesday it was sending the mobile, land-based missile defense system THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) to Guam. It’s the latest sign the U.S. believes North Korea may indeed launch a missile -- perhaps even a nuclear-tipped missile -- across the Western Pacific at a U.S. military target.
The truck-mounted missile system is designed to shoot down short- and medium-range ballistic missiles within 250 kilometers, serving as an umbrella system for large theaters of operation. It is also able to target missiles outside the atmosphere, giving it a higher range than the Patriot system."
"Two months into Secretary of State John Kerry's tenure, a large number of senior State Department positions remain vacant, and the process to fill them seems indefinitely stalled, officials inside the department tell The Cable.
When Kerry's predecessor, Hillary Clinton, came into office, she negotiated for herself 100 percent control over State Department appointments and largely kept Obama campaign officials at arms' length. Kerry has no such deal with the White House, and his office is only one voice in a White House-managed appointment process that is moving as slowly as molasses, several State Department officials and insiders say."
"On 4 July, Swedish amateur pilots penetrated Belarus' airspace according to an email received by Belarus Digest. Their small aircraft crossed the Lithuanian-Belarusian border and parachuted hundreds of teddy-bears with notes of support for the freedom of speech. Covered by some Belarusian and Swedish media, but denied by the Belarusian authorities, the flight has generated more publicity than some of the pro-democracy initiatives by civil society groups and the EU in Belarus."
"NATO rejected Turkey’s request for the adoption of a contingency plan to include the establishment a no-fly zone over Syrian airspace, which was made during a meeting last week in Brussels after Turkey invoked Article Four of the NATO Treaty in response to Syria’s downing of a Turkish jet in international airspace. "
“'If there’s a risk of exploitation, a risk of human trafficking for that individual, then we’re going to protect that individual and say no,'[Canadian Human Resources Minister, Diane Finley] said."
"A spokesman said the plane, an F-4 Phantom, was dealt with 'according to the laws that govern such situations', the state news agency Sana said.
The Turkish prime minister said his country would 'take the necessary steps' once all the facts were known.
The Turkish and Syrian navies are meanwhile engaged in a joint search for the two missing crew members."
"A Russian ship believed to be carrying helicopters and missiles for Syria has been effectively stopped in its tracks off the coast of Scotland after its insurance was cancelled at the behest of the British government.
British security officials confirmed they had told Standard Club that providing insurance to the shipment was likely to be a breach of European Union sanctions against the Syrian regime."
"Pakistan's top court has disqualified Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani from holding office, two months after convicting him of contempt of court.
In April, the Supreme Court convicted Mr Gilani of failing to pursue corruption charges against President Asif Ali Zardari.
... the governing Pakistan People's Party is in emergency session to decide its next move.
It has the necessary majority in parliament to elect a successor to Mr Gilani."
"Simmering tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia are threatening to erupt into a full-blown diplomatic showdown after Saudi authorities executed at least four Iranians for drug trafficking.
In the latest in a series of spats between the two Persian Gulf neighbours, at loggerheads over Iran’s suspect nuclear programme, Tehran publicly accused Riyadh of 'inhumane actions' in carrying out the executions and warned of 'repercussions'. "
"Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson was speaking after making the first visit by a top US official in two decades.
He said his trip to Mogadishu was to acknowledge "significant progress" made against al-Shabab militants.
...the US envoy was in and out of the Somali capital in a matter of hours on Sunday, but during his key visit met the Somali president, prime minister and other members of the Transitional Federal Government.
Mr Carson said the US would impose sanctions on anyone standing in the way of the political process now under way."
“Russian President Vladimir Putin says he’ll talk with Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Beijing.
The Putin-Ahmadinejad talks in Beijing come as the Russian president prepares to host the so-called “P5+1” group — the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany — this month in a round of negotiations on aimed at halting Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program. The Kremlin made the announcement Sunday through Yuri Ushakov, a former ambassador to the United States who advises the Russian leader on foreign policy, RIA Novosti reported.”
"Two students who staged a protest in 2010 to demand free education were sentenced to eight years and five months in prison yesterday by a Turkish court.
The students, Berna Yılmaz and Ferhat Tüzer, unfurled a banner reading: “We want free education, we will get it,” during a meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Roma citizens on March 14, 2010. Berna Yılmaz and Ferhat Tüzer have already spent one and a half year in jail under arrest. They were released in October 2011, after the previous prosecutor of the case, Kasım İlimoğlu, requested the students’ acquittal, arguing their act was constitutional and fell within the limits of the freedom of expression. However, Prosecutor Adem Özcan, who replaced İlimoğlu following his appointment to the case, demanded on March 9 that the students, Ferhat Tüzer, Berna Yılmaz and another suspect Utku Aykar, be sentenced on charges of membership of a terrorist organization. Ferhat Tüzer, a mechanical engineering student at Trakya University, Berna Yılmaz, an anthropology student at Ankara University and the other suspect Utku Aykar opened a banner demanding free education during Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s meeting with the Roma community in March 2010. Tüzer and Yılmaz were subsequently arrested but later released after remaining behind bars for 18 months, while Aykar was tried without arrest."
"Under the legislation, people could be fined for taking part in unsanctioned protests, or for violations during sanctioned ones.
Human rights activists have said that the bill violates Russia's constitution on the right to free assembly."