The world last week: Mixed joy and sadness, gains and losses intertwined

(Baonghean) - Last week, the world witnessed many great upheavals, both happy and sad. Besides events worth celebrating such as reaching a "historic" nuclear agreement with Iran or the mythical land passing a reform bill as requested by the troika of creditors, basically helping Greece escape the worst scenario of Grexit at the beginning of the week, the atmosphere of mourning covered the weekend when brutal acts of terrorism took the lives of innocent people in many countries.

Reaching major consensus

After 12 years of waiting, the recent 18-day negotiation period between Iran and the P5+1 group (including the US, Russia, UK, France, China and Germany) has reached a final agreement on the controversial nuclear issue, bringing a "dreamy" ending for peace lovers around the world. Indeed, after repeated delays to the deadline, when public opinion continued to speculate that the persistent, even all-night negotiations between the parties would hardly lead to a compromise soon, July 14th went down in history, witnessing the removal of the final obstacles on the negotiating table, ending more than a decade of wrangling over the Iranian nuclear dossier. Accordingly, Iran will scale back its uranium enrichment program in exchange for the gradual lifting of economic and financial sanctions imposed on the country by the United Nations and the West.

A corner of the scene of the bloody bombing in Iraq on July 17. Photo: AFP

Overall, this landmark agreement has been highly appreciated by politicians and the world public opinion, and acknowledged the efforts of the parties to finalize the headache issue of Iran's nuclear programs. According to AFP news agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the world "breathed a sigh of relief" after the agreement was announced. Meanwhile, the representative of the "insider" - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the agreement has "opened up new horizons" for the country by successfully resolving "an unnecessary crisis".

But besides the "beautiful words" of the West or Iranian politicians, Israel is the country that most heavily criticized this agreement when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a "historic mistake". Moreover, the country's Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely labeled it "the surrender of the West to the axis of evil led by Iran". More recently, the elderly leader of Islam in Iran Ali Khamenei declared that this country will not bow to the US even if it reaches an agreement on nuclear programs. In a speech on the occasion of the end of the fasting month of Ramadan on July 17, this supreme spiritual leader bluntly stated: "The Americans say that they are preventing Iran from possessing nuclear weapons. They know that is not true. We have a religious law, according to which nuclear weapons are prohibited under Islamic law. This has nothing to do with nuclear negotiations".

In another development, with 229 votes in favor, 64 votes against and 6 abstentions, the Greek Parliament on the morning of July 16 passed a bill on strict reforms as requested by creditors in exchange for the third bailout package worth 86 billion euros (equivalent to 94 billion USD). Accordingly, the demand for tax increases, review of pensions and commitment to privatization are the demands from the trio of creditors for Greece. This is a development that is considered to help Greece somewhat reduce pressure and burden, still successfully stay in the Eurozone and "breathe easier" when receiving more money. However, this event has caused deep divisions even within the ruling left-wing radical Syriza party of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, when those who have held important positions voted against or abstained from voting on the reform bill, including former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis. And as if to prove his ability to control the cabinet, on July 17, the prime minister, born in 1974, dismissed a number of members who opposed implementing these reforms, which they considered extremely harsh.

The world is not quietsound of bombs

Last week, the world commemorated the first anniversary of the tragic loss of life in the MH17 plane crash, and the cause of the unjust deaths of innocent passengers has yet to be clarified. The pain has been compounded by the consecutive shootings and bombings in recent days, with some cases resulting in hundreds of casualties. On July 17, the entire United States was shocked by the news that two military bases in Tennessee were opened fire by a crazed gunman, killing four marines. President Obama said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) would quickly investigate to soon provide answers about the incident. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that the shooting suspect, Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, had spent about seven months in Jordan last year. CNN also quoted Abdulazeez's friends as saying that he seemed to have "changed his mind" after returning from the Middle East and "isolated himself" in the first few months after the trip: "Abdulazeez is not as close to his friends as before, something must have happened while Abdulazeez was abroad." Authorities said they were looking into whether terrorism was a motive for the shooting and were studying the previous trips of the killer of the four soldiers.

On the same day, while Muslims were celebrating Eid Al Fitr, marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, a bloody car bomb attack at a market in Diyala province, 30 km east of the Iraqi capital, killed more than 100 civilians, including 15 children. The self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming it was an act of revenge against Shiites. The bombing caused great damage because the terrorists' car contained up to 3 tons of explosives, the scene was chaotic with many buildings collapsed and many body parts scattered everywhere. The indescribable pain has fueled the flames of anger and hatred among the people, public places have been banned in the coming days to avoid a similar tragedy.

The crimes have not stopped, on July 18, at least 13 more people were killed when the extremist Islamic group Boko Haram strapped explosives to three young girls and remotely detonated “human bombs” in an area where attacks often occur in Nigeria. These inhumane people often use children to carry out bombings, and in the past 5 years they have killed about 15,000 people, leaving 1.5 million homeless. Boko Haram’s actions are a testament to their oath of allegiance to IS. Given these inhuman acts of terrorism, it will not be surprising if in the near future, fighting terrorism becomes the focus of the agenda of many countries around the world.

Phu Binh