Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya—President Mwai Kibaki revoked the suspension of two ministers who were taken out of office by Prime Minister Raila Odinga because of corruption allegations. Kibaki argued that Odinga did not have the legal authority to remove the two ministers from office.  According to Al Jazeera, this could disrupt the power-sharing government that was formed in 2008 after a close election in which both Kibaki and Odinga declared victory. They entered into the power-sharing deal to stop violent clashes between supporters of the two candidates. Odinga called former. UN Secretary General, Kofi Anan, who negotiated the deal back in 2008 to mediate the conflict between himself and Kibaki.

Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has announced that Iran is “moving toward a military dictatorship”. Clinton has proposed to sanction Iran and has asked the U.S. Allies in the Middle East to join, according to Business Week. Clinton said that the government of Iran is being supplanted by the Revolutionary Guard Corps which has been responsible for recent opposition movements and controls Iran’s nuclear program. After meeting with Saudi King Abdullah and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al- Faisal to discuss the sanctions where Saud was recorded saying that sanctions were too long term of a solution to the Iran Crisis. Clinton is currently on her three day visit to Qatar and Saudi Arabia where she hopes to persuade Iran to halt their uranium enrichment to prove that creating nuclear weaponry is not on the to-do list.

Europe

VATICAN CITY—In response to a sex abuse scandal in Ireland, Pope Benedict XVI has called a meeting of bishops from the country to discuss how to move forward and restore the public’s trust in the church. Four bishops who were criticized for not properly addressing the issue resigned, according to BBC. A fifth, Bishop Martin Drennen, who was also accused of inaction refuses to resign and is expected to meet with the Pope. An investigation on the Archdiocese of Dublin published in Nov., called the Murphy Report, found that from 1975 to 2004 the church had “obsessively” hidden child abuse, operating a “don’t ask don’t tell” policy. The Pope told the BBC that he is “‘disturbed and distressed’ by the report and shares the ‘outrage, betrayal, and shame’ felt by Irish people.’”

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