What's Happening Today - Thursday 30 September

Japan:

Washington  has asked Japan to withdraw from the Azadegan oil field project in Iran, indicating that oil company Inpex could be mentioned in a new list of firms to be targeted for US sanctions (NB Comes day after Okinawa governor renews call for US military base to leave)

Japan:

Japan's Defense Ministry is considering a plan to station ground troops in Japan's southwestern islands near a disputed island chain, placing troops on the remote Yonaguni Island near Taiwan

China:

China's State Council has approved measures to prevent housing prices from increasing too quickly, including requiring a 30 percent down payment on mortgages and limiting the number of homes people are allowed to buy in cities where prices are high or have risen quickly

North Korea:

Watching developments as Vice Foreign Minister Pak Kil-yon tells UN General Assembly North Korea will strengthen its nuclear deterrent to "counter US threat"

Koreas:

South-North Korean working-level military talks held in border village of Panmunjom; first such meeting in nearly two years, began at 0100 gmt

South Korea:

UN's Food and Agriculture Organization regional conference continues in Gyeongju; agricultural officials, experts from 44 Asia-Pacific member countries discuss ways to resolve regional food shortages (-1 Oct)

Vietnam:

Two-day meeting of chiefs of ASEAN Security Agencies (MACOSA) concludes in Hanoi (Vietnamese news agency VNA)

Indonesia:

Watching for updates after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Papua province in eastern Indonesia, occurring 105 kilometers north-northwest of Dobo, Kepulauan Aru, Indonesia; 310 kilometers west-southwest of Enarotali, Papua, Indonesia; 900 kilometers north-northeast of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; and 2,985 kilometers east of Jakarta, Java, Indonesia.

Russia:

Agricultural Ministries of Russia and Japan to meet at a congress in Moscow.

India:

Allahabad High Court gives judgement on 60-year old dispute between Hindus, Muslims over religious site in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh

India:

TENTATIVE Shutdown called by Communist Party of India (Maoist) in protest against civilian deaths in Jammu and Kashmir

India:

Indian steel czar Lakshmi Mittal is to complete the sale of its 50 percent stake in Kazakh oil firm Caspian Investment Resources (CIR) to China's Sinopec, the other half of which is owned by Russia's Lukoil Overseas

Pakistan:

International donor conference held in Islamabad; venue changed from Lahore due to security concerns; some 214 delegates expected to attend, representing NGOs, UN agencies

Nepal:

Parliament makes ninth attempt to elect prime minister; country has been without government since 30 June, when former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal stood down under pressure from Maoists

Russia:

Watching developments following reports Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, sacked by President Medvedev, intends to appeal against his dismissal

Georgia:

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen visits to meet President Mikheil Saakashvili, Prime Minister Nikoloz Gilauri, Parliament Speaker David Bakradze, Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze (Visits on same day as breakaway republic of Abkhazia marks Independence Day, though only recognized by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru)

Tajikistan:

Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) ministerial meeting on energy, petroleum continues in Dushanbe (- 1 Oct); member states are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

Kazakhstan:

Group for implementing and evaluating Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) concludes first session

Iran:

Update after Iranian Judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani said ultimately called Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani a liar and that an endowment of Azad University is false

Turkey:

Black Sea Energy and Economic Forum continues (- 1 Oct); Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz, Iraqi Oil Minister Husayn al-Shahristani attend (Atlantic Council website)

Turkey:

The  Kurdistan Workers' Party is expected to hold a press conference in Qandil mountain in northern Iraq today, where it will announce an extension of a unilateral ceasefire for another 12 months

Turkey:

Looking ahead as Turkey hosts a summit of representatives from all Kyrgyz ethnic groups in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan. It is intended to restore stability and promote tolerance following ethnic clashes in recent months. The conference will be co-sponsored by the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), of which Turkey currently holds the rotating presidency, and the Kyrgyz government. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva, CICA Executive Director Cinar Aldemir and 130 other officials will participate in the summit.

Yemen:

Watching developments after a convoy carrying Shabwa province Govenor Ali al-Ahmadi and Yemeni Defence Ministry officials was ambushed in Shabwa province by masked assailants.

Lebanon:

Hezbollah will try to block further Lebanese financing of a UN-backed investigation into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafia al-Hariri, a spokesman for the group said

Somalia:

Somali rebel groups Hizbul Islam and al Shabaab have stopped talks on merging to fight against the Somali government but plan to resume the discussions at a later point, according to Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys.

Ethiopia:

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi will urge Mogadishu to select a new Somali prime minister immediately to  help ease the pressure on the Transitional Federal Government posed by Al Shabaab.

Sudan:

Sudan's Missiriya tribe will use force against anyone who tries to prevent them voting in a referendum determining if the Abyei region will join the south, tribe leader Mukhtar Babu Nimir said

West Bank:

US envoy George Mitchell expected to holds talks with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in bid to rescue direct peace talks with Israel which have stalled over dispute over settlement building; EU's foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton, also due in region to bolster EU support for direct talks

Libya:

Annual "Al-Wafa Day"; introduced in 1989 to honour all those who have contributed to "march of humanity through excellence, act of giving, innovative and exceptional accomplishment, at national, African, Arab or international level"; not clear if country's leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi, would attend ceremony at people's hall in Tripoli or deliver a speech to mark occasion

Sierra Leone:

Today, the UN Security Council is lifting a 13-year-old arms embargo against Sierra Leone after being assured that the nation is sufficiently stable following the civil war that ended in 2002

Ukraine:

Start of Yalta European Strategy (YES) annual meeting (- 3 Oct); organized by major businessman Viktor Pinchuk; top Ukrainian, EU officials in attendance; Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski meets counterpart Viktor Yanukovych on 1 October

Poland:

Interior ministers from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, security officials from UK, USA (G6 plus USA) meet in Krakow; second and last day

Poland:

Largest military exercise this year, Anakonda 2010, involving thousands of  troops, helicopters, ships and tanks near Russian borders (- 6 Oct)

Germany:

Chancellor Angela Merkel has welcomed European Commission proposals for increased sanctions against EU states that fail to curb deficits, but said treaty changes were still needed  in October.

Portugal:

Portugal will expand its austerity program, reducing public sector payroll by 5 percent in the coming year, Prime Minister Jose Socrates said. The policy will include progressive salary cuts targeted on the top 10 percent of earners, an increase of the value-added tax by two percentage points to 23 percent in 2011 and a new tax on certain financial transactions.

US:

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev wraps up visit

US:

Washington has imposed sanctions on Iranian officials deemed responsible for human rights violations, including the Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) Mohammad Ali Jafari; current Minister of Welfare and Security and former Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli; current Prosecutor-General and former Minister of Intelligence Qolam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei; former Prosecutor-General of Tehran Saeed Mortazavi; Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi; Interior Minister and former Deputy Commander of the Armed Forces for Law Enforcement Mostafa Mohammad Najjar; Deputy Chief of Iran's National Police Ahmad-Reza Radan; current Deputy IRGC Commander for Intelligence and former Commander of the IRGC's Basij Forces Hossein Taeb.

Mexico:

Reaction after yet another mayor, the 12th this year, is attacked. Two people were injured in a grenade attack on the Matamoros City Hall in Mexico's Tamaulipas state

Ecuador:

Ecuador receives the first installment of $800 million from a $1 billion Chinese loan. The remaining $200 million, which is destined for the oil sector, will be negotiated in upcoming months.

Posted via email from luay's posterous