BRUSSELS/VIENNA — The historic nuclear deal reached three months ago between the international community and Iran began a new phase Sunday as all sides implemented policies under which Tehran must scale back its enrichment capacities and dismantle infrastructure in return for an easing of sanctions.

Sunday was "adoption day," the day that participants began making necessary arrangements and preparations for the implementation of their commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

"Today marks an important milestone toward preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensuring its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful going forward," U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement.

Obama on Sunday sent a memorandum to the relevant U.S. authorities about the steps required by Iran before sanctions can be lifted.

Obama said that, in addition, he had directed the heads of all relevant U.S. departments to begin preparations to implement the U.S. commitments in the plan. This includes "providing relief from nuclear-related sanctions as detailed in the text of the plan once the International Atomic Energy Agency has verified that Iran has completed all of its nuclear steps."

The European Union also took the required legal steps to suspend economic and financial sanctions on Tehran and restrictive measures targeting individuals and entities.

The EU on Sunday adopted the legislative framework for lifting all of its nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions, the European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, said in a statement.

"We have respected the timetable set out in the JCPOA, which demonstrates our collective will to stick to its provisions," Mogherini said.

Iran signed the accord in July with the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, aimed at easing years of tension over suspicions that Tehran's nuclear program was geared towards producing a bomb – an allegation Iran denies.

Under the deal, however, these decisions will only take effect once the International Atomic Energy Agency – or IAEA – confirms that Iran has carried out a series of steps to dismantle its nuclear enrichment program – a moment referred to as Implementation Day.

"My own assessment is that implementation can be expected to take place [at the] end of the year [or] beginning of next year, but of course only once the IAEA has given the green light," a senior Western diplomat said Friday on condition of anonymity.

The deal specifies, among other things, that Iran will drastically reduce its stock of low-enriched uranium from 12 tons to 300 kilogrammes by exporting this material to Russia.

Tehran must also rebuild its Arak research reactor so that it does not produce plutonium as a waste product – a project with which China is heavily involved.

The IAEA is tasked with overseeing the deal, and can carry out inspections at short intervals. Once lifted, the sanctions can be reimposed at short notice if Tehran is found to be in violation of the agreement.

Any disputes are to be resolved by a so-called Joint Commission of representatives from the six Western powers and Iran. This panel is to have its first meeting on Monday, bringing together political directors from the seven countries.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: "This is a landmark day for an historic deal, marking the culmination of a decade of talks between the UK, our partners, and Iran."

It will ensure that a nuclear weapon remains beyond Iran's reach, creating a safer region while opening opportunities for Iran to re-engage with the international community.

Senior U.S. administration officials said that Washington doubts that Iran can fulfil all its nuclear requirements by year's end, and that what is important is that "it's done right, not that it's done quickly."

Story: DPA

MANILA — The death toll from Typhoon Koppu in the Philippines rose to 14, officials said today, as emergency teams rescued victims stranded by floods and began clearing areas damaged by the storm.

In the biggest loss of life reported from a single incident, seven people drowned when a motorboat capsized in choppy seas off Iloilo City, 460 kilometers south of Manila, the coastguard said.

The boat had just left port on Sunday when it was battered by huge waves and strong winds. Thirty-two people were rescued, but two were still missing.

Koppu slammed into the country early Sunday, displacing thousands, toppling trees and cutting off electricity.

More than 20,000 people were displaced, while about 6,530 passengers were stranded after dozens of flights were cancelled and sea travel was suspended.

Although it had weakened since the weekend, the slow-moving typhoon was still over the very northern part of the country, packing maximum winds of 120 kilometres per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 150 kph, the weather bureau said.

It was moving north-northeast at just 5kph. The typhoon's slow passage meant it had time to inflict more rain and wind damage compared to a faster-moving storm of the same strength.

Other fatalities included three people hit by fallen trees or collapsed masonry, and two who drowned in floods in the northern province of Nueva Ecija.

One man was buried in a landslide in Benguet province, while another was electrocuted in Tarlac province, local and disaster relief officials said.

Soldiers, police officers and other emergency workers were dispatched to Nueva Ecija, a rice-growing province where murky floodwaters reached up to rooftops in some places.

Stranded residents' calls for help were sent via the disaster relief agency's website and Twitter account, or through radio stations.

"My family trapped on this location, please send rescue," one tweet said, which included a map. Another tweet said, "Please help them. Several houses have already been swept away."

Story: DPA 

By Soe Zeya Tun and Antoni Slodkowski
Reuters

HTAY KHO, Myanmar — Htay Kho, a remote village tucked away between the valleys of this ragged strip of eastern Myanmar, was for decades off-limits as armed rebels fought the military before a recent ceasefire stopped the bloody conflict.

Now the semi-civilian government of President Thein Sein and rebels from eight armed groups have signed a wider peace deal, although the pact fell short of the nationwide accord the ruling party had hoped to trumpet ahead of a Nov.8 general election.

But for the Kayaw people of Htay Kho – and millions from myriad other ethnic groups living in similar villages that pepper the fringes of this diverse country – the upcoming vote is about more than just the fragile peace process.

With its lack of access to running water, jobs and proper education, Htay Kho, some 480 km (300 miles) northeast of the commercial capital, Yangon, is Myanmar writ small.

The election comes at a time of sweeping social and economic change, as villagers use the newly-opened borders to leave for Malaysia and Thailand in search of jobs.

Reintegration with the outside world has sparked a debate about whether to abandon traditional costumes of the Kayaw women, famous for brass coils worn around their calves and ankles.

"We are tired of being poor," said Tawnyo, the village headman, who like most Kayaw uses only one name. "We don't have enough clothes for our children and sometimes not enough food. This needs to change first."

Ethnic Kayaw attend a mass Sept. 13 at the catholic church at Htay Kho village in Myanmar's Kayah state,. Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun

Years of Isolation

When the sun sets behind the mist-shrouded hills, the 280 inhabitants of Htay Kho light fires to mark the end of a back-breaking day on the surrounding slopes.

Their raspy voices, tired after planting corn grains and blurred with Khaungyae, a rice liquor, mix with the sparks and drift above its 80 rickety huts and across the nearby mountain tops. A drab yellow Roman Catholic church built by Italian missionaries a century ago towers over the settlement.

After years of isolation, there is no electricity or mobile phone coverage. Average income per person stands at less than USD$50 (about 1,800 baht) a year and the 60 kilomter journey to the nearest city takes four hours – on a bus that comes every three days.

Tawnyo places his hopes in opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who recently visited the area, galvanizing crowds with pledges of development and a government inclusive of ethnic minorities.

With about 30,000 members, the Kayaw are among the smallest ethnic minorities among Myanmar's 135 officially recognized groups.

The rebels in the area have put down their guns and taken to the hills to grow rice and corn, but slash-and-burn cultivation methods mean they struggle to find new places to farm.

Brass Coils and Coins

One of the farmers, Thu Ray San, 27, said she has to walk for hours to the nearby hills with a basket so heavy she needs help to load it on her back.

"We mix rice with corn because it's easier to grow in the high mountains," she said.

With every move, Thu Ray San's silver braces and necklaces rustled around her neck, knees and ankles.

Kayaw women traditionally wear the coils, decorate their ears with silver rings and sport horn-shaped necklaces and strings with old British and Indian coins.

Only about 100 women from Htay Kho and two neighboring settlements still wear the costumes. At USD$100 a set (3,500 baht), they are a powerful status symbol in the village.

The dress is now at the heart of a debate about customs which have survived unchanged for generations.

"We should abolish this dress so that our women look civilized and can work in offices," said Salomon, vice president of the All Ethnic National Karenni People Development Party, a local political organization. "This is what separates us from the outside world."

But the women, and headman Tawnyo, want to protect the tradition and turn the village into a tourist attraction and cultural heritage site.

In the hut of one woman named Borlinan, family members huddle by a fire to sing and play on traditional instruments.

"How can they even dream of banning our dress," said Borlinan. "Even when we die, we get buried with the coils. They stay with us forever."