Early on Tuesday, Seoul and Pyongyang reached agreement to end the crisis that began last week.
Talks between North and South Korea started Saturday evening, after the 48 hour North Korean ultimatum expired.
According to the agreement, Seoul will stop all loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts (Measure 3) while Pyongyang will lift the semi-war state that was declared on Friday (Measure 4).
On Thursday afternoon, North Korea fired a rocket at South Korean positions. A second attack was reported and according to Col. Jeon Ha-gyu (South Korean military spokesman) it consisted in several rounds of 76.2 mm direct weapons. South Korea retaliated with a dozen 155 mm howitzer shells. No casualties have been reported so far.
This is the most relevant episode in five years. Three factors play a role here: the explosion of a mine earlier this month that injured two South Korean soldiers who belonged to a border patrol unit; the broadcast of South Korean propaganda messages via loudspeakers along the border; and an annual US-South Korea joint military exercise that started on Monday.
Oltre sei mesi dopo la firma posta sugli accordi di Minsk, la situazione in Ucraina orientale non offre garanzie. Eppure, durante il mese di luglio, è stato registrato un numero di violazioni del cessate il fuoco inferiore rispetto ai mesi precedenti. Una lettura in chiave scettica è, tuttavia, obbligatoria dato il re-intensificarsi degli scontri nelle ultime 24/48 ore. La città di Donetsk e il villaggio di Shyrokyne continuano ad essere epicentro dei “combattimenti” tra le forze ucraine e quelle indipendentiste, e lungo tutta la linea di contatto la tensione resta alta. Inoltre, la popolazione civile continua a far fronte a serie problematiche, quali la mancanza di acqua, energia elettrica, assistenza medica etc.[1]
Central African Republic Crisis
Political violence has been a constant element in Central African Republic (CAR) history. Since 2012, after a 3 year civil war (2004-2007), the Country has been facing a new crisis. After 5/6 months of “gestation”, the actual crisis burst out in March 2013 when Muslim Séléka militias overrun CAR’s Capital (Bangui) forcing President Bozize to flee. In the following months, the crisis lost its early link with political fight and became a pure interreligious conflict: Muslims against Christians, Séléka militias against anti-balaka militias. The very victim of the conflict has been the non-fighting population.
