Tag: Switzerland

un-dpa: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (right) with Espen Barth Eide (left) Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Cyprus during Cyprus talks. 30 June 2017. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré There was much anticipation in the run up to the resumed Conference on Cyprus in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, at the end of June 2017. The feeling among many observers of the long-running “Cyprus problem” was that this latest phase of negotiations was the closest the parties – the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots – had come in at least a decade to reaching a settlement. These renewed hopes quickly turned to disappointment, however. In the…

The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland took place from 20 to 23 January under the theme “Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution”. I am a regular follower of the World Economic Forum’s website, which – regardless of this one week per year in Davos – is a constant resource of informative and inspirational articles for not just economists, but all types of modern professionals. It is also on my bucket list to one day be an attendee of this one week buzz in the life of Davos, Switzerland. Now that I have put it in writing, the…

Iran Agrees to Framework of Nuclear Deal LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Iran and European nations said here tonight that they had reached a surprisingly specific and comprehensive general understanding about next steps in limiting Tehran’s nuclear program, but officials said that some important issues needed to be resolved before a final agreement in June that would allow the Obama administration to assert it has cut off all of Iran’s pathways to a nuclear weapon.

I hope everybody’s weekends are going well! Here are some great reads for you to look back on this past week. Olympic Game: Washington Hopes Sochi Will Force Putin’s Hand on Syria I don’t know about that… It certainly doesn’t seem that way. Russia is again paralyzing the Security Council on a crucial Syria resolution. CAR is Falling Apart. And Everyone Knows Why Despite the Security Council resolutions, the peacekeeping troops on ground, and the new president elected, things don’t seem to improve in the CAR. Why Bosnians Are Protesting Great piece on Bosnia after the Dayton Peace Accords and…

First round of Syria peace talks will end tomorrow with little headway After a “tense but rather promising” meeting today between representatives of the Syrian Government and the main opposition group on reaching a political end to the country’s three-year-civil war, the United Nations/Arab League mediator said that the first round of talks will end tomorrow with no serious breakthrough or “any real change in position” of either side.

Bitter exchanges at Syria talks “The opposition and US said President Bashar al-Assad had no legitimacy and must step down from power. Syria’s foreign minister had a terse exchange with the UN’s Ban Ki-moon over the length of his speech and said only Syrians could decide Mr Assad’s fate.”

Happy Sunday everybody! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! As you might noticed, I was a little stuck with the blog last week. To be honest, I do want to make some changes for some time now. The problem is, I do know what I want to see here, how I want it to be, I am just not quite sure how to get there. Please bare with me while I figure it out, I promise to keep this thing up with good content all the while. One thing never changes though, and that’s my enthusiasm towards world…

statedept: Following the P5+1 talks with Iran in Geneva, Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to London on November 24 to meet with U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague and Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan. European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton accompanied the Secretary as he traveled from Geneva, Switzerland, to London, U.K.  Go to state.gov for trip details and more photos from the Secretary’s travel.

Kerry Joins European Officials at Iran Nuclear Talks In Geneva, Secretary of State John Kerry sought to temper rising expectations of an imminent deal, saying, “There are important gaps that have to be closed.” (…) “Mr. Kerry will meet with Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, who oversees the multiparty negotiations, about 6 p.m. Before that, he will hold separate meetings with Ms. Ashton; the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius; and the British foreign secretary, William Hague, as the major powers coordinate their own bargaining positions. The German foreign minister, Guido…

After last week’s four-day-long weekend this one lasts only one day in Hungary. A pretty annoying practice really, although I have to add yesterday was the first “working Saturday” when I actually worked. On past ones I only went to work or not even that. The one day weekend turned out to be quite unpleasant though, so I don’t even mind it’s almost over already.  Unfortunately, I also had some major PC issues this past week and I wasn’t even able to use my laptop for a couple of days. Lessons learned: 1. A dysfunctional keyboard for a graphomaniac like…