At the start of the year, China and several members of ASEAN, the South-East Asian economic community, mutually abolished tariffs. With a trade volume of nearly $ 200 billion, they have thus created the world’s third-largest free trade area. The agreement initially applies only to Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. In 2015, the free trade zone will be extended to include Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar.

So-called “sensitive” products are excluded from zero-tariff, including textiles and electronics. For China, the ASEAN is­ ­interesting in terms of importing commodities as well as exporting manufactured goods. The agreement does not affect non-tariff trade barriers. (cir)

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has two new judges. Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi from Argentina and Kuniko Ozaki from Japan took up their posts in January. In November they were elected by the Assembly of State Parties. The ICC has 18 judges from various countries. It is an independent body and exists alongside the United Nation’s International Court of Justice (ICJ). (cir)

According to the United Nations, around 125,000 people have fled from the DR Congo to the Central African Republic and Congo-Brazzaville since the end of October. Ten thousand more are on the move within the strife-torn country itself. These “new” refugees mainly come from the Equateur Province in the North-West of the DR Congo, where the fighting is not so much moti­vated by mineral exploitation as in the East of the country, but rather about political discontent and resistance to the government of Joseph Kabila.

In the East, the government ended a military offensive against the militia FDLR, the base of which are Hutus from Rwanda, at the turn of the year. Sylvain Ekenge, a spokesman of the army, told the German daily newspaper “taz” that of 6,000 FDLR fighters in the DR Congo, “1,472 were killed and 2,029 imprisoned or sent back to Rwanda”. (cir)

Two humanitarian agencies from Germany, medica mondiale and Welthungerhilfe, have not pulled out of Afghanistan, as was mistakenly reported in our January edition. They did, however, adapt to the tense security situation. In late 2008, medica mondiale closed an office in Kandahar, whereas Welthungerhilfe will shut down its office in Takhar in February. Both agencies stated they will stay active in other parts of Afghanistan. (cir)

Oil giant Shell faces yet another lawsuit, answering charges in The Hague of polluting fields and fishing ponds in the Niger Delta. Dutch newspapers reported that the case against Shell subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company was allowed by a judge on 30 December. Nigerian farmers and the Dutch civil-society organisation Milieudefensie, a member of the international environmental activist network Friends of the Earth, are demanding compensation from the Shell subsidiary. Proceedings on the four charges are set to start on 10 February. The first matter to be clarified is whether Shell cleaned up the mess made by a leaking pipeline in Oruma in 2005. (cir)

The German Development Institute will consider application it receives up to 8 April for its upcoming trainee programme. Aplicants need excellent degrees in earlier studies, citizenship of an EU member country and language skills. The course will start in September and last nine months. (dem)
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In Haiti, more than 170,000 people lost their lives in an earthquake in January. Hardest hit was the capital Port-au-Prince, which is located a mere 15 kilometres from the epicentre. The quake, which rated 7,0 on the Richter Scale, disrupted water and electricity supply and destroyed some 60 % of the buildings in Port-au-Prince. According to the United Nations, up to 3.5 million people are affected by the quake. 10 million people live in Haiti. Among the dead were UN as well as aid agency staff. (cir)

A high-profile report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) contains a mistake, as was pointed out in January. The assertion that Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035 is exaggerated and not sufficiently backed by scientific evidence. The paragraph in question is included in a 938-page report by the IPCC’s Working Group II. It refers merely to a report by the environmental group WWF. According to Nature, the science journal, Andreas Schild, director-general of the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, has called the IPCC statement wrong and misleading. Nature also mentions some other – albeit less spectacular – flaws in the same section of the IPCC report. While some experts call for the resignation of IPCC chief Rajendar Pachauri, others insist that the inaccuracy about melting glaciers does not invalidate the entire report, to which a great number of scientists have contributed. (cir)

At the beginning of the year, all Kit Kat bars in Britain went fair-trade. The news was reported by Transfair in January. According to the organisation, the raw materials for Nestlé’s certified chocolate bar will be sourced from cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire. (cir)