British Prime Minister David Cameron has called for a suspension of EU sanctions on Burma, in recognition of its continuing democratic reforms, during the first visit by a British head of state since Burma’s independence in 1948.

Mr Cameron was speaking in Rangoon, where he met President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The prime minister stressed that an arms embargo on Burma should remain in place but it was right to suspend – not lift – other sanctions.

"[Burma] shouldn't be as poor as it is. It shouldn't have suffered under dictatorship for as long as it has, and things don't have to be that way," the prime minister said.

"I do think it is important to send a signal that we want to help see the changes that can bring the growth of freedom of human rights and democracy in your country."

Ms Suu Kyi welcomed the call and said a suspension of the sanctions would aid reformers in the Burmese government.

"We still have a long way to go but we believe we can get there.

"This suspension will have taken place because of the steps taken by the president and other reformers.

"It would also make it quite clear to those who are against reform that should they try to obstruct the way of the reformers, then sanctions could come back."

US President Barack Obama has approved an aid package for Syria's rebels, a US official said on Friday. The package will include communications equipment and medical supplies.

"Consistent with our longstanding efforts to support the peaceful opposition in Syria, the US is providing non-lethal material assistance to the non-violent, political opposition," the official said.

"It's likely deliveries of this assistance will increase over time."

The aid package will include items requested by the opposition to help civilians in need and rebels to organise to fight the "brutality" of government forces, the official added.

Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor, said that the Syrian regime must do more to meet the conditions of the peace plan proposed by special envoy Kofi Annan.

"They need to pull their forces out of these cities. They need to respect the right of peaceful protest across Syria, they need to provide for humanitarian access and they need to demonstrate a commitment to a political transition that's responsive in the Syrian people."

India has overtaken China as the top customer of Iranian oil in data published by Geneva's Petrologistics.

India imported 433,000 barrels per day in the first quarter, an increase of around 23% compared ot the same period in 2011.

Meanwhile China has decreased its imports by 40.3%, buying only 256,000 barrels per day this quarter, reflecting tighter sanctions imposed on Iran by the EU and the US.

India's minister of trade, Rahul Khullar, had previously commented that the sanctions presented India with an "opportunity".

A day before his historic visit to Burma, Prime Minister David Cameron has praised Burma’s progress in implementing democratic reforms and said the UK may ease sanctions on the country.

Cameron said recent developments in Burma were welcome but he wanted to see the ground situation himself, to assess whether the progress was ‘irreversible’.

"If Burma moves towards democracy then we should respond in kind, and we should not be slow in doing that.

"But first I want to go and see for myself on the ground how things are going.

"I hope that following my meetings I will have the confidence to go back to my country, back to others in the European Union, and argue that change in Burma is irreversible it a world of difficult and darkness and all sorts of problems here is one bright light we should encourage."

But the chair of the all party parliamentary group on Burma said, although there had been progress, it was too soon to consider the lifting of arms embargo and key industries such as mining.

"We have still not seen any repressive laws repealed and the constitution has not changed which means the military still have a monopoly of power," Baroness Kinnock told the BBC.

The first day of a tense cease fire in Syria has passed without major incidents.

The UN is currently preparing a team of monitors to assess the situation on the ground and determine whether a full mission is possible.

UN special envoy Kofi Annan said he was ‘encouraged’ but pointed out that Syria did not fully comply with the cease fire plan put forward by him.

Syria still has not removed its troops and heavy weaponry from its cities, which was supposed to be completed by Tuesday.

"All parties have obligations to implement fully the six-point plan. This includes both the military provisions of the plan and the commitment to move to a political process," Mr Annan told the UN Security Council.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US was in support of an immediate deployment of a UN team.

But she stressed the team, as well as the full monitoring mission "will need complete freedom of movement, unimpeded communications, and access throughout the country and to all Syrians, as well as firm security guarantees from all parties."

“Assad will have to go and the Syrian people must be given the chance to chart their own future,

“Given the Assad regime’s record of broken promises, we are proceeding, understandably, with caution.” she said.

The Syrian city of Homs faced further violence as the extended ceasefire deadline approaches.

Opposition activists have said that at least 30 people were killed as the Assad regime launched furhter offensives on the city.

The regime had previously assured the UN-Arab League envoy to the region, Kofi Annan, that they would "cease all military fighting throughout Syrian territory as of 06:00 (03:00 GMT), while reserving the right to respond proportionately to any attacks carried out by armed terrorist groups."

Adding to theincreasing cynicism expressed by foreign leaders, the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, said,

"Nothing casts more doubt on the credibility of the commitments than the fact that commitments have been made and made and made and broken and broken and broken."

UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, said,

"Far from fulfilling their commitment, the regime has cynically exploited the window of diplomatic negotiations to crack down even harder on its own people,"

As the Assad regime failed to put in place an agreed six-point plan towards a ceasefire by the agreed deadline of 10th April, today, the UN-Arab League envoy to the region, Kofi Annan, expressed grave concerns to the UN Security Council.

Addressing Security Council members, Annan said,

"The days before 10 April should have been an opportunity for the government of Syria to send a powerful political signal of peace, with action on all aspects of the six-point plan," he wrote in a report to the Security Council.

"I am gravely concerned at the course of events."

Extending the deadline by another 48 hours, Annan said,

"It is essential that the next 48 hours bring visible signs of immediate and indisputable change in the military posture of the government forces throughout the country,"

The Assad regime, which had previously agreed on the peace plan amidst mounting pressure, had then stated they wanted the opposition forces to disarm.

Urging opposition forces to also work towards the extended deadline, Annan said,

"Give no excuse for the government to renege on its commitments".

Expressing scepticism at an extended ceasefire deadline given to the Assad regime, the UK Foreign Sectretary, William Hague, expressed further cyncism and warned that the regime would be held accountable.

Hague said,

“President Assad and his cronies should be under no doubt that they will be held to account for their actions,”

“There is no evidence so far that the Assad regime has any intention of adhering to any agreement it makes,”

“We continue to support Kofi Annan’s efforts to implement the plan he set out. But if this process fails, Britain is ready to return to the UN Security Council to call again for a united international response to this clear threat to international peace and security."

“We will be ready to intensify our support for the Syrian Opposition, and to support others seeking to do the same. And we will begin the process of seeking the referral by the Security Council of the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.”

A senior Iranian commander with the Revolutionary Guards, Massoud Jazayeri, warned that if Washington took the first step to attack Iran in an attempt to slow its nuclear program, the United States would not be safe against retaliation, reported an Iranian daily newspaper.
 
The newspaper quoted Massoud Jazayeri as saying, 

"In the face of any attack, we will have a crushing response. In that case, we will not only act in the boundaries of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, no place in America will be safe from our attacks."

"America, the Zionists and reactionary Arabs should pay attention that we will seriously confront them wherever the Islamic Republic's interests are threatened."

However, Jazayeri reiterated that Iran would not attack any country first.
 
Israel and United States continue to pressure the Iranian government to stop its nuclear program through sanctions, and the potential threat of military action. Iran continues to assert that its nuclear program is peaceful and covered by the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The 1996 Formula 1 World Champion Damon Hill has voiced concern over the Bahrain Grand Prix, scheduled to take place in just on April 22nd, calling on the sport to think carefully before going ahead.

With just 3 weeks to go until the race, the British driver urged F1 leaders to “tread carefully” and said,

"It would be a bad state of affairs, and bad for Formula One, to be seen to be enforcing martial law in order to hold the race. That is not what this sport should be about. Looking at it today you'd have to say that [the race] could be creating more problems than it's solving."

The BBC has also reported that some teams and sponsors have private expressed reservations about travelling to the country, with some expecting a cancellation at the last minute.

Hill spoke up against going to Bahrain last year, as Formula pulled out due to ongoing protests and allegations of human rights abuses by the Bahraini government, saying,

"Formula One cannot put its head in the sand concerning the Bahrain Grand Prix, because it is a very volatile situation out there."

After visiting the country in February Hill stated he felt there were “sincere efforts to resolve the difficulties”, but has recently come out and said,

"Things are different now. The protests have not abated and may even have become more determined and calculated. It is a worrying state of affairs."

When reminded of his lucrative Sky commentary contract Hill replied,

"Some things are more important than contracts. The view I gave after returning from the visit last year was based on my understanding of several factors; the substantial economic significance of the GP for Bahrain; that the report on the April riots condemned the actions of the police and security forces, and that both sides were to take part in meaningful dialogue to resolve the problems peacefully. Under those conditions one could imagine the GP being a great fillip for a Bahrain on the road to recovery.”

"However, with under three weeks to go, conditions do not seem to have improved, judging by the reports in our European newspapers, social media and on Al Jazeera TV. The recent meeting to garner support for the race as a unifying event was troubling insofar as it tried to represent the rioting in Bahrain as the result of bad press reporting and as a 'youth' issue.

"Promoting the race as 'Uniting Bahrain', whilst a laudable ambition, might be elevating F1 beyond even its own prodigious powers. I'm just saying we have to tread carefully. I hope the FIA are considering the implications of this fully and that events in Bahrain are not seen as they are often sold, as a bunch of yobs throwing Molotov cocktails, because that's a gross simplification. If they believe that, they ought be more wary. You don't get 100,000 people risking their lives in protest for nothing."

"If we go, we all go... But there is obviously still a great deal of pain, anger and tension in Bahrain. It would be better for F1 to make it clear that it properly understands this, and that it wants only the best for all Bahrain, or whatever country it visits. I think F1 is sailing very close to this limit.”

"But there is an even more troubling thought, which is this: is F1 playing brinkmanship for purely financial reasons while people are putting their lives in peril to protest against this event?"

See our earlier posts regarding the Bahrain Grand Prix here:

2012 Bahrain Grand Prix under pressure (11 Jan 2012)

Criticism of Formula One on aborted Bahrain race (15 June 2011)

Also see:

'Another tour of cricket, another year of sanctioning impunity' (26 March 2012)

'Should England's cricket team tour Sri Lanka?' (10 March 2012)

The myth of sports and repressive regimes (03 Aug 2011)

A force for good or ill? Cricket and Sri Lanka today (08 July 2011)

Why a sports boycott is essential for justice (02 July 2011)

Impossible to ignore (21 June 2011)

The link between Sport and Politics (20 June 2011)

The Assad regime has agreed to withdraw its troops and heavy weapons from densely populated areas by the 10th April announced the United Nations-Arab League envoy, Kofi Annan.

Meanwhile the United States, Britain, France, Germany and other countries remained cynical over whether President Assad will keep his word.
 
The U.S. Ambassador, Susan Rice, said,

“Past experience would lead us to be sceptical and to worry that over the next several days, that rather than a diminution of the violence we might yet again see an escalation of the violence. We certainly hope that is not so."
 
“So the United States, for one, would look at these commitments and say, yet again, the proof is the actions, not in the words."

Addressing the U.N. Security Council, Annan said that if Syria agrees to the April 10 deadline, there would be a complete cessation of hostilities within a 48 hours window prior to the deadline.
 
However Annan expressed caution, reminding the member states that despite verbal agreement to end hostilities, but there is still "no progress on the ground."

President Assad had agreed to a six-point military pullout, presented by Annan on 10th March in Damascus, said Annan’s spokesperson, Ahmad Fawzi. 

Fighting between the Assad regime's military and the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) continues to intensify daily. The current death toll stands at 10,108.

Japan’s defense minister, Naoki Tanaka, announced on Friday that the country's missile unit will intercept a North Korean rocket if it were to cross into Japan’s territory. The announcement came as North Korea prepares to launch a satellite into orbit at the middle of next month.

Many countries including the United States claim that North Korea is testing its long-range missile capabilities through this satellite launch, which would violate international agreements. Concerns have also been raised that Japanese lives are in danger if there is a failed launch, leading to Japan deploying destroyers along the Pacific and East China Sea, as well as a missile battery in Tokyo to counter all uncertainties.