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Marking one month after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal killing thousands and devastating large swathes of the country&#39s Kathmandu valley, the United Nations relief arm is continuing to intensify its humanitarian operations as it supports national and local authorities with critical life-saving efforts.

With a welcoming &#39tweet&#39 from the International Space Station and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon&#39s renewed appeal for &#8220bold climate action,&#8221 the United Nations-backed World Meteorological Congress opened its seventeenth session today as international delegates will seek to address continuing concerns over global warming.

The international community must intensify efforts to provide regular and safe avenues of migration and access to protection, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared today as he wrapped up his trip to Ireland with a visit to a community of resettled refugees.

The vacuum in the post of Lebanon&#39s presidency has undermined the country&#39s ability to address a range of growing security, economic and social challenges, the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Sigrid Kaag, warned today.

A l'occasion de la Journée mondiale de l'Afrique qui est célébrée le 25 mai, le Secrétaire général de l'ONU, Ban Ki-moon, a salué les progrès réalisés par ce continent et réitéré le soutien des Nations Unies à la construction d'une Afrique en paix et prospère.

Each year, Africa Day is an opportunity to celebrate the continent&#39s achievements and to reflect on its challenges, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, highlighting the courage and determination it took to make remarkable progress to end the Ebola outbreak and urging leaders to commit to ending violence against women and empower them.

Each year, Africa Day is an opportunity to celebrate the continent&#39s achievements and to reflect on its challenges, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, highlighting the courage and determination it took to make remarkable progress to end the Ebola outbreak and urging leaders to commit to ending violence against women and empower them.

May 24, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese cabinet on Thursday will hold its final meeting on Thursday to mark the end of its term before president Omer Hassan al-Bashir's swearing in ceremony in early June.

FILE PHOTO - Members of Sudan's cabinet (REUTERS PICTURES)

Sudan Tribune has learned that senior government figures received formal invitations to attend the meeting which was postponed from its original date of May 25th.

Bashir is expected to address the ministers and thank them for their efforts in the past period before taking a full photo of the cabinet.

In a related issue, it is expected that the Council of States and the National assembly would hold separate meetings in which its members will take the oath office and new speakers will be elected.

Some reports said that former parliament speaker Ahmed Ibrahim al-Tahir is the likely candidate to preside over the Council of States while former Vice president Ali Osman Taha could become the speaker of the parliament.

The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) will hold a meeting on Wednesday with the issue of the new cabinet topping the agenda.

However, it is not clear if the decisions will be made at that meeting.

Bashir could issue a decree delegating the Undersecretaries to run their ministries until a new cabinet is sworn in.

Besides the NCP, the cabinet will include other pro-government parties such as the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Darfuri Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM).

Bashir and the NCP secured a landslide victory in the elections held last April that were shunned by most major opposition parties and discredited by the United States and European Union (EU).

It was also marked by very low turnout that was attributed to apathy of Sudanese voters.

(ST)

WFP Press Release European Union helps treat malnutrition among Sudan's most vulnerable

24 May 2015

KHARTOUM - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed a contribution of €9 million (US$9.7 million) from the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO) to its emergency operations in Sudan.

The funds will help WFP prevent hunger and treat malnutrition among the most vulnerable people in Sudan. WFP will use the contribution to provide life-saving food assistance to more than 152,000 displaced people in West and South Darfur for two months, as well as to more than 193,000 newly displaced people across Darfur for four months. This includes people who were displaced in 2014 and have not been able to return home, in addition to those who have been displaced since January this year.

The contribution will also be used to buy Super Cereal Plus (a nutritious porridge) for the treatment of malnutrition in about 58,000 children aged under five, pregnant women and nursing mothers in the Darfur region and in the states of Kassala, Red Sea.

"The humanitarian situation in Sudan remains critical following years of conflict, natural disasters and underdevelopment. The response to acute malnutrition is one of the main strategic pillars of intervention of the European Commission in the country, with the purpose of saving the lives of children under the age of five,” said ECHO Head of Office in Khartoum Jeroen Uytterschaut. “The European Commission and the EU as a whole is among the main donors for humanitarian assistance in Sudan and thanks to our partnership with the World Food Programme, hundreds of thousands of Sudanese will continue receiving life-saving food aid.”

The EU is a major donor to WFP Sudan, providing €22.9 million in support of emergency operations from 2014 to 2015. Since 2012, ECHO has contributed more than €67 million towards WFP's emergency operations and a further €9.8 million towards the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), managed by WFP, which provides safe and reliable passenger and light cargo services to the entire humanitarian community in Sudan.

“We are very grateful to ECHO for their continous support to WFP's operations in Sudan. This latest contribution will help us reach vulnerable groups in the country through both life-saving and nutritional asistance, especially during the lean season when food stocks are depleted and children and mothers in need could easily slide into malnutrition,” said WFP Sudan Country Director Adnan Khan.

In 2014, ECHO's contribution enabled WFP to assist some 80,800 children, pregnant women and nursing mothers mostly in Kassala and Red Sea states. It also supported some 38,350 refugees in Kassala state, 149,500 vulnerable people in South Kordofan and another 35,000 internally displaced people in North Kordofan through food voucher programmes.

In 2015, WFP plans to assist 3.7 million people across Sudan, of whom 2.7 million live in the conflict-affected region of Darfur, internally displaced people in Blue Nile and South Kordofan, refugees in Kassala state and other food insecure vulnerable groups elswhere in the country.

# # #

WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in around 75 countries.

Follow us on Twitter @wfp_media and @wfp_africa

For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):
Amor Almagro, WFP/Khartoum, Tel. +249 183248001 (ext. 2114), Mob. +249 912174853
Abdulaziz Abdulmomin, WFP/Khartoum, Tel. +249 183248001 (ext. 2123), Mob. +249 912167055

Turkey expects that the Turkish Stream gas pipeline is likely to be launched after 2017, Turkish Ambassador to Russia Umit Yardim told Interfax.

Azerbaijani Minister of Defense Industry Yavar Jamalov has met a delegation led by Special Representative of President of Afghanistan for CIS states Mohammad Shaker Kargar to discuss prospects for cooperation in the field of defense industry.

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

May 24, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) - An Eritrean opposition group on Saturday called on other exiled opposition organization for a more unified military action to depose the regime og president Isaias Afewerki.

Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (arhotabba)

The Ethiopian based Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO), made his call for opposition unity one day ahead of the Eritrean nation sets to celebrate the 24th Independence Day anniversary.

RSADO chairman, Ibrahim Haroun, told Sudan Tribune that although the country secured independence in a hard owned struggle, the government however never guaranteed democratic rights of the Eritrean people.

Haroun said the regime instead ignored the long war of liberation aimed to produce a unified Eritrea and favoured to establish a one-party state by destroying all other opposition parties forcing them to exile.

The opposition leader accused the Eritrean leader Afeworki of dividing unity of the nation and nationalities of the people in order to secure grip on power.

The Eritrean president had been in power since 1991, when the country gained independence from Ethiopia after 30 years of freedom for struggle.

However, the Red Sea nation-under Isaias-rule had never conducted election since independence nor did it implemented the constitution ratified in 1997.

Last year, during the 23thd Independence Day anniversary the Eritrean president pledged to draft a new constitution however that has never happened.

The rebel leader, Haroun says the game being played by the president is enough and it is about all opposition forces as well as the Eritrean Army to join a planned wider military strike to topple the regime and build a new democratic Eritrea.

Haroun called on regional actors and on the international community to support the Afar rebel movement and put pressure on the regime to stop human right violations including ethnic cleansing against Afar minorities.

Considered militarily stronger than the other exiled Eritrean opposition groups, RSADO vows to intensify attacks against the Eritrean regime.

Meanwhile some 4,000 Eritrean refugees residing at camps in Ethiopia's Afar regional state town's of Asayta and Berahle Camps on Saturday rallied in protest to the ongoing oppression in Eritrean against Eritreans.

They called on the international community to intervene to stop the human right violations in the Red Sea nation.

(ST)

A senior Iranian nuclear negotiator says Tehran will not allow the inspection of its military sites as part of a prospective nuclear deal with the P5+1 group of countries.

The sides exchanged views on prospects of cooperation.

“Armenian leadership also will have sensible people and they will understand that good relations with the neighbors are guarantee of the country’s success”

May 24, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir concluded a short visit to Qatar on Sunday, a day after he returned from Saudi Arabia for talks with officials there.

Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir (L) meeting with Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani in Doha May 24, 2015 (QNA)

Bashir arrived in Doha this morning accompanied by his defence minister Abdel-Rahim Mohamed Hussein, the minister of foreign affairs Ali Karti besides several other senior officials.

Qatar news agency (QNA) said that Bashir discussed with the Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani regional and international issues of common concern particularly the recent developments in the area.

According to information obtained by Sudan Tribune, Bashir's trips to Riyadh and Doha were prompted by the recent developments in the Arab world particularly the crisis in Yemen and Syria beside the situation in Egypt following the death sentences handed down against the ousted president Mohamed Morsi and his aides from the Muslim Brotherhood.

Well placed sources said that talks between Bashir and Saudi King Salman Bib Abdel-Aziz were likely dominated by the political and military developments in Yemen, noting that Sudan enjoys reasonable acceptance by the Yemeni popular resistance groups which are fighting the Houthi rebels believed to be backed by Iran. .

It added that the two leaders might have also discussed participation of special Sudanese forces in securing areas inside Yemen and training resistance groups.

The same sources further noted that Bashir's talks in Riyadh tackled developments in Syria, pointing that Sudan is qualified to play a pivotal role to achieve political settlement in Syria due to its ties with Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Ties between Khartoum and Riyadh appear to have warmed up after years of tense relations. Hours after Bashir's visit to Riyadh last March, it was announced that Sudan has joined the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen.

Khartoum's close ties with Tehran were the main cause of cool relations with Riyadh. Last year, Sudan closed Iranian cultural centers in the country which was seen as a gesture of goodwill towards Arab Gulf states.

Karti said in press statements at Khartoum airport upon return form Doha that the visit came to satisfy an invitation extended to Bashir by the Qatari Emir during their meeting on the sidelines of Egypt's economic development conference held in Sharm El-Sheikh last March.

He disclosed that Bashir filled in Tamim on Sudan's internal situation particularly the implementation of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) signed in Doha besides relations with South Sudan.

The foreign minister added that Bashir also briefed the Emir on his presidential program for the new term, stressing that the two sides agreed on the program.

According to Sudan's top diplomat, Bashir expressed appreciation to Qatar's government and peoples for their continued efforts to peace in Sudan, saying that DDPD met the entire demands of the people of Darfur.

Bashir also praised the role of Qatari investments in supporting Sudanese economy, saying it helped the country overcome economic shock caused by the secession of South Sudan which took with it 75% of the oil reserves.

The Sudanese president said the country would witness a new era of peace and stability, emphasizing that his government program until 2016 focuses on bringing rebellion and tribal conflicts to an end.

He added that the government also seeks to strengthen Sudan's foreign relations with friendly countries in the region and in the international arena, saying that Sudan welcomes Qatari investments to achieve Arab food security.

Bashir further said that his government offered more than 2 million acres suitable for farming besides providing investment opportunities in natural gas and electricity production to support agricultural investments.

He called for upgrading economic cooperation to economic integration in order to achieve interests of the two peoples.

The Qatari Emir for his part thanked Bashir for his visit, expressing satisfaction with the convergence of views on current Arab, regional and international issues.

He described his country's support to Sudan as a duty dictated by the fraternal ties between the two nations, stressing readiness to promote relations for the benefit of the two peoples.

Tamim announced Qatar's agreement to launch additional investment projects in Sudan, expressing hope that Sudan achieves further stability, progress and prosperity.

Karti expected that the two countries would continue communication during the coming period through mutual visits of technical teams and officials to implement the agreements reached between the two sides.

(ST)

The Minister also clarified the reports on leaving the summit

Opinión - 25/5/2015
Carmen González Enríquez
Los ministros de Asuntos Exteriores y de Defensa de la UE han aprobado la puesta en marcha de una operación militar en el Mediterráneo (EUNAVFOR Med) destinada a combatir las redes de tráfico de personas que están organizando la llegada a suelo europeo desde África de inmigrantes económicos y refugiados.

Opinión - 25/5/2015
Carmen González Enríquez
Los ministros de Asuntos Exteriores y de Defensa de la UE han aprobado la puesta en marcha de una operación militar en el Mediterráneo (EUNAVFOR Med) destinada a combatir las redes de tráfico de personas que están organizando la llegada a suelo europeo desde África de inmigrantes económicos y refugiados.

Après l'assassinat de l'opposant Zedi Feruzi samedi soir, le mouvement contre un troisième mandat du président burundais Pierre Nkurunziza a immédiatement suspendu le début de dialogue entamé avec le gouvernement et a appelé à reprendre les manifestations dès ce lundi avec « vigueur ». Si l’ONU assure cependant que le dialogue progresse, la question du troisième mandat reste pour l’instant insoluble.