The US has announced that it is postponing a missile test out of California in order to not aggravate the tension between it and North Korea. The Chinese also issued a rebuke to its ally for causing a tense situation. The two moves are calculated to give North Korea a chance to back away from the standoff. The chances are highly likely, however, that the North will launch a missile next 15 April, the birthday of Kim Il Sung, the father of the current leader. Much will depend on the nature of the missile launch.
The negotiations between the P5+1 (the UN Security Council Permanent members and Germany) and Iran concluded without any signs of tangible progress. Iran has voluntarily slowed down some of its operations but refuses to concede its right to enrich uranium for medical research. Needless to say, the P5+1 believes that the enrichment program is designed to develop sufficient fuel for an atomic bomb. The negotiations have eased some of the tension, but it is likely that Israel will take the failed negotiations as a sign that peaceful measures will not work.
Portugal’s approved deficit reduction plan with the troika was shot down by the country’s highest court which held that some of the budget cuts were unconstitutional. The ruling means that Portugal must find other cuts to meet the deficit reductions demanded by the EU. The disarray will likely roil the world markets as austerity plans are getting harder to sell to a very reluctant public.
World Politics News 
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