World Leaders and Government Minsters

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/world-leaders-1/index.html

Kosovo Recognition Country List

Thank YOU! FALEMINDERIT SHUMË!

http://www.beinkosovo.com/en/be-in-kosovo

1. Costa Rica (17 February 2008)

2. United States of America (18 February 2008)

3. France (18 February 2008)

4. Afghanistan (18 February 2008)

5. Albania - Shqipëria (18 February 2008)

6. Turkey (February 18, 2008)

7. United Kingdom (EU) (February 18, 2008)

8. Australia (February 19, 2008)

9. Senegal (February 19, 2008)

10. Germany (EU) (February 20, 2008)

11. Latvia (EU) (February 20, 2008)

12. Denmark (EU) (February 21, 2008)

13. Estonia (EU) (February 21, 2008

14. Italy (EU) (February 21, 2008)

15. Luxembourg (EU) (February 21, 2008)

Peru (February 22, 2008)

Belgium (EU) (February 24, 2008)

Poland (EU) (February 26, 2008)

Switzerland (February 27, 2008)

Austria (EU) (February 27, 2008)

Ireland (EU) (February 29, 2008)

Sweden (EU) (March 4, 2008)

Netherlands (EU) (March 4, 2008)

Iceland (March 5, 2008)

Slovenia (EU) (March 5, 2008)

Finland (EU) (March 7, 2008)

Japan (March 18, 2008

Canada (March 18, 2008)

Monaco (March 19, 2008)

Hungary (EU) (March 19, 2008)

Croatia (March 19, 2008)

Bulgaria (EU) (March 20, 2008)

Liechtenstein (March 25, 2008)

Korea, Rep. (March 28, 2008)

Norway (March 28, 2008)

Marshall Islands (April 17, 2008)

Nauru (April 23, 2008)

Burkina Faso (April 24, 2008

Lithuania (EU) (May 6, 2008)

San Marino (May 11, 2008)

Czech Republic (EU) (May 21, 2008)

Liberia (May 30, 2008)

Sierra Leone (June 13, 2008)

Colombia (August 6, 2008)

Belize (August 7, 2008)

Malta (EU) (August 21, 2008)

Samoa (September 15, 2008)

Portugal (EU) (October 7, 2008

Montenegro (October 9, 2008)

Macedonia (October 9, 2008)

United Arab Emirates (October 14, 2008)

Malaysia (October 30, 2008)

Micronesia, Fed. Sts. (December 5, 2008

Panama (January 16, 2009)

Maldives (February 19, 2009)

Palau (March 6, 2009)

Gambia, The (April 7, 2009)

Saudi Arabia (April 20, 2009)

Comoros (May 14, 2009)

Bahrain (May 19, 2009)

Jordan (July 8, 2009)

Dominican Republic (July 11, 2009)

New Zealand (November 11, 2009)

Malawi (December 16, 2009)

Mauritania (January 12, 2010)

Swaziland (April 12, 2010

Vanuatu (April 28, 2010)

Djibouti (May 12, 2010)

Somalia (May 19, 2010)

Honduras (September 3, 2010)

Kiribati (October 21, 2010)

Tuvalu (November 18, 2010)

Qatar (January 4, 2011)

Guinea-Bissau (January 14, 2011)

Oman (February 4, 2011)

Andorra (June 8, 2011)

Central African Republic (July 22, 2011)

Niger (August 16, 2011)

Guinea Conakry (August 16, 2011)

Benin (August 17, 2011)

Saint Lucia (August 19, 2011)

Gabon (9 September 2011)

/// Thematic Map | Interactive Map 111 UN Member states recognized Kosovo http://www.kosovothanksyou.com/

Ukraine's President Poroshenko Vows To Retake Separatist-Held East

 Ukraine's president vowed Sunday to reassert government control over eastern regions as the army unleashed a counter-offensive against Russian-backed separatist fighters vying for command over the airport in the city of Donetsk.

The separatist stronghold was shaken by intense outgoing and incoming artillery fire over the weekend as a bitter battle rages for the air terminal and surrounding areas.

Streets in Donetsk, which was home to 1 million people before unrest erupted in spring, were completely deserted Sunday and the windows of apartments in the center were rattled by incessant rocket and mortar fire.

The warring sides exchanged rocket fire along several points in the roughly 350-kilometer (220-mile) front line.

Regional authorities loyal to the government said two children, aged 7 and 16, were killed when a rebel shell hit their home in Vuhlehirsk, a town 75 kilometers (45 miles) northeast of Donetsk.

A little further west, in the rebel-controlled city of Horlivka, two were killed and another 16 injured as a result of rocket attacks, city council secretary Oleg Gurbanov said in a statement.

Ukraine prospects of an imminent renewal of combat in the civil war.

The cold spring in Ukraine brings warning of an imminent renewal of combat in the civil war.

Former NATO commander U.S. Gen. Wesley Clark returned last month from a fact-finding journey to Kiev to convey to the Atlantic Council, a foreign affairs think tank in Washington, that authorities there expect a Russian-led separatist offensive to launch sometime before the Russian celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Nazis’ surrender in World War II, on Victory Day, May 9.

A Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) officer recently told a Kiev television audience to expect Russian terrorist activity on or about Orthodox Easter, which was April 12.

Moscow is reportedly most concerned with the prospect of a new round of fighting beginning sometime during or after the May 9 festivities across Russia.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/18/eastern-ukraine-fighting_n_6495894.html

The war in Yemen including Saudi Arabia and Egypt

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The war in Yemen is the archetypal quarrel in a faraway country between people of whom the world knows nothing. Sometimes, though, its internal power struggles become enmeshed in wider geopolitical contests—rarely to its benefit. In the 1960s the rivalry between monarchists and Arab nationalists split the Arab world. Egypt intervened on the side of the nationalist republicans against the loyalists of the Zaydi imamate, backed by Saudi Arabia. These days the great division is the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which feeds sectarianism between Sunnis and Shias respectively. Now Saudi Arabia and Egypt are allies, intervening to support Sunnis against the Houthis, a northern Zaydi militia, that is backed by Iran.

Three weeks into the air campaign, and with civilian casualties growing, there is little sign that the Saudi-led coalition has much of a political or military strategy. The Latin name for the land, Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia) seems a mockery: the poorest country in the Arab world is being bombed by one of the richest.

For America, which backs the Saudi operation with logistical help and intelligence, Yemen presents two dangers: it is a breeding ground for transnational jihadists (al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is the most dangerous of the group’s branches) and it offers Iran an opportunity to extend its influence and nurture a Shia ally that, some fear, might become akin to Hizbullah in Lebanon. Both risks are being exacerbated by the chaos.

The Houthis fought repeated conflicts with the Yemeni government led by the former strongman, Ali Abdullah Saleh. Amid a popular uprising, the president stepped down in 2011 and power passed to a transitional government led by Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi. But the Houthis, now allied with Mr Saleh, took the capital, Sana’a, last September and then marched on Aden, to which Mr Hadi had fled.

Understanding the Middle East's geopolitical mess

Sectarianism has not been strong in Yemen, and there is much uncertainty about how much support Iran provides the Houthis. Rhetorically, though, Iran’s backing has become strident. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, said Saudi attacks in Yemen amounted to genocide. In one tweet, he mocked the recently enthroned King Salman, and especially his son and defence minister, Prince Muhammad, who is in his thirties: “inexperienced #youngsters have come to power & replaced composure w barbarism”. Amid the chaos, al-Qaeda has taken over Mukalla, a Yemeni port—although it suffered a setback when an American drone strike killed one of its leaders on April 15th.

Saudi action might have prevented the Houthis from taking all of Aden, but they are still making gains. Air strikes alone will not defeat them, but the ground option is receding after Pakistan rebuffed a Saudi request to send troops (see Banyan). Egypt seems in no rush to send soldiers to Yemen, which some call its “Vietnam”.

Has the time come for a political deal? There are increasing calls for a ceasefire and negotiations. On April 14th the UN Security Council passed a resolution placing an arms embargo on the Houthis and Mr Saleh’s family. It also recognised the Saudi call for UN-mediated talks in Riyadh, a condition that no Houthi could agree to. In pushing for the restoration of Mr Hadi, the Saudis are relying on an unpopular ally, not least because he fled the country. Mr Hadi has appointed Khaled al-Bahah as his deputy. A former prime minister, Mr Bahah is seen as just about the only unifying figure in Yemen. Still, Saudi Arabia has set out no clear political objectives. That leaves it with the impossible task of trying to annihilate the Houthis—and allowing Iran to pose as the peacemaker.

Evidence suggests Syrian troops used toxic chemicals

An international human rights group says evidence "strongly suggests" that Syrian government forces used toxic chemicals in several barrel bomb attacks in northwestern Syria last month.

Human Rights Watch quotes rescue workers as saying the attacks in Idlib province from March 16 to March 31 affected at least 206 people, including 20 civil defense workers. It said one attack killed six civilians, including three children.

The group's report, released Tuesday, said people near the sites of three attacks exhibited symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic chemicals, and gas canisters were among the barrel bomb remnants. It said witnesses also described a strong chlorine smell.

Chlorine was first introduced as a chemical weapon in World War I. Most nations banned its use in war in the Geneva Protocol of 1925.

the opening ceremony of the Summit of the Americas at the ATLAPA Convention Center in Panama City on April 10, 2015 (

..

U.N. Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon is praising presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro for moving to restore U.S.-Cuban diplomatic relations after decades of hostility.

Ban says at the Summit of the Americas that the region is "overcoming longstanding divisions in historic ways, as we see in this very room."

He notes that it's the first time all 35 nations of the Americas have attended the summit. Cuba was excluded for years, and Ban says President Raul Castro's presence Friday evening fulfills a wish felt across the region.

Ban says that it's a move in line with the United Nations Charter and its "goal of promoting good neighborliness."

Pope Francis' star power is being felt at the Summit of Americas.

In a message read by Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, the first pope from Latin America has urged leaders to seek common ground to solve problems afflicting the heavily Roman Catholic region.

The Argentine-born pontiff said that even as Latin American nations have progressed economically in recent years, large numbers of people continue to live in poverty and reducing inequality will only come about with concerted government action.

Parolin read the message at the summit's opening ceremony Friday evening. In it the pope said he wanted to encourage "mutual cooperation and maximum effort required to overcome differences on the road to the common good."

Host Panama invited the Vatican to participate in the summit for the first time in the meeting's 21-year history.

The pope and Parolin played a role in brokering secret talks between Cuba and the United States that led President Barack Obama in December to announce that he was opening negotiations on restoring ties with the communist island.

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President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro have exchanged greetings and handshakes at the opening of the Summit of the Americas in Panama.

It's the first such interaction between the two men in three years, and one of the only times that the leaders of the U.S. and Cuba have spoken to one another in more than a half century.

The moment was captured on a video taken by a reporter for the Venezuelan television network Telesur. Obama and Castro can be seen greeting each other in a big crowd while U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez look on. Obama and Castro shake hands multiple times while nodding and chatting comfortably.

The encounter was highly anticipated at the summit — the first to include Cuba. Castro and Obama announced in December their intentions to restore diplomatic relations between their two countries after more than 50 years of estrangement.

The White House says the interaction was informal and there was no substantive conversation between the men. Obama and Castro are expected to speak further on Saturday.

Obama and Castro last shook hands in 2013 at Nelson Mandela's funeral in South Africa. They spoke by phone in December before announcing the deal to restore relations, and again on Wednesday before Obama left Washington on his trip to Jamaica and Panama.