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On November 9th, IPI hosted a Distinguished Author Series featuring Steven Lee Myers, author of The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin.

Click here to view the event video on YouTube>>

The New Tsar is a highly readable and deeply researched narrative about the ambitious and determined onetime Russian spy who, emerging from a grim childhood of poverty in Leningrad, rose through the ranks of the KGB and post-communist political disorder in Moscow to consolidate tsar-like personal rule and become a consequential, unpredictable, and destabilizing world leader. He has ushered in a new authoritarianism, quashing dissent, repressing inchoate revolts, defying Western rivals, and all the while building widespread support at home for his mission of restoring assertive Russian power and influence in places ranging from Ukraine to Syria. Praising the book for revealing “why Putin acts the way he does”, Robert D. Kaplan, author of In Europe’s Shadow, says, “Personalities determine history as much as geography, and there is no personality who has had such a pivotal effect on 21st century Europe as Vladimir Putin.”

The event was moderated by IPI Senior Adviser for External Relations Warren Hoge.

Serco has reached an agreement with the Australian Government to amend the terms of its contract to provide in-service support to the fleet of Armidale-class patrol boats (ACPB).

The USs Navy's Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) has conducted a successful test flight of a Trident II D5 Missile aboard the navy's Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), the USS Kentucky.

The UK Royal Navy frigate HMS Richmond has rescued more than 130 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea as part of a day-long operation by European navies.

The navies of the US and the Republic of Korea (ROK) have started the annual bilateral training event, Exercise Clear Horizon 2015, in a bid to improve cooperation and enhance capabilities in mine countermeasure operations.

Le Conseil d'Etat a ordonné lundi au sénateur-maire FN de Fréjus (Var) David Rachline d'autoriser, à titre provisoire sous huit jours et sous astreinte de 500 euros par jour de retard, l'ouverture au public...

Le taux de chômage des personnes handicapées reste supérieur à 20 %.

Le gouvernement a envoyé son document d'orientation aux partenaires sociaux. Ils devront poser d'ici à janvier « les principes de fonctionnement » du futur compte.

November 9, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - A new batch of Sudanese ground troops arrived in Yemen's port city Aden Monday to participate in the Saudi-led campaign against the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi militants, said sources.

Sudanese troops arriving in Aden, Yemen (Al-Arabiya TV)

Military sources in Aden told several Yemeni media outlets that a Sudanese force consisting of 400 officers and soldiers has arrived Monday morning at Al-Zait seaport in Al-Braiga.

The Sudanese army has not commented on the reports.

Since mid-October, around 850 Sudanese soldiers had arrived in Aden to join the coalition. Also, Sudanese officials including president Omer al-Bashir and the defence minister Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Ouf have expressed readiness to send 6,000 troops to Yemen.

The spokesperson for the Sudanese army Ahmed Khalifa al-Shami has earlier said the arrival of the vanguard ground troops in Aden comes within the framework of Sudan's participation in the “Operation Restoring Hope” carried out by the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen.

He pointed out the deployment of the Sudanese troops in Yemen is the responsibility of the coalition command, saying the troops receive direct orders from the command and ready to carry out any tasks entrusted to it.

At a time when Saudi Arabia's strongest allies including Egypt and Pakistan have declined requests by Riyadh to send ground troops to Yemen, Khartoum has recently shifted its alliances in response to growing economic pressures at home.

Late last year, Sudanese authorities ordered the closure of the Iranian Cultural Centre in the capital Khartoum and other states and asked the Iranian cultural attaché to leave the country in a move seen as a gesture of goodwill towards the Arab Gulf states.

(ST)

November 9, 2015 (BOR) - A three months vacination campaign targeting an estimated 8,000 heads of cattle is underway in Twic East county of South Sudan's Jonglei state.

Cattle keeper Abraham Thon stands in front of some resting cows outside Bor, the capital of South Sudan's Jonglei state, on 20 September 2014 (ST)

Veterinaries Sans Frontiers (VSF) Germany and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation( FAO) are conducting the initiative on animals and small ruminants in a region where majority of the rural population depend on livestock rearing activities.

The Twic East county commissioner, Dau Akoi said the three month project will enhance food security, reduce and eradicate the common diseases among animals in his county.

“We are targeting 8,000 heads of cattle, goats and sheep all together. The program would run for three months or more. This is because we want to improve level of food security in this place by ensuring proper care for the animals in the area”, Akoi explained.

A number of community health animal workers were trained on how to administer the vaccines, identify the symptoms of sickness in the animals and give the right treatment.

VSF will, as part of the program, vaccinate up to 2,000 animals while FAO will assist 6,000 animals within the period of three months or more according to the commissioner.

These year, however, no cases of Hemorrhagic Septicemia and East Coarse Fever were reported among animals. The vaccination is being administered free of charge.

“It is free of charge, no one would be expected to pay for anything. But if the community show their commitments to host the vaccinators, give them meals in areas where they will not be able to get food, since work would be intensive. That would be great”, said Dau.

(ST).

November 9, 2015 (JUBA)- South Sudanese internally displaced persons who are facing the ongoing conflict and living in the worst conditions are pleading humanitarian assistances amid looming hunger in the country.

Food is distributed at a refugee site in South Sudan's Upper Nile state (Photo: WFP/Ahnna Gudmunds)

The UN HCR said in its latest assessment of 31 October that there are 1.66 million of IDPs in the young nation. Also UN Word Food Programme (WFP) on 22 October pointed to the looming hunger saying that 3.9 million people now face severe food insecurity and tens of thousands on brink of famine.

“We have been suffering and suffering”, said Mary Nyadak in Juba, a mother of nine children who lost her husband during the raging conflict. And to make matters worse, her home was burnt down during fighting

“This is the first time I am seeing sorghum in four months,” she told a visiting team of the WFP as she clutched a yellow card issued by the largest humanitarian agency in the world.

The card enables her family to receive food assistance in the form of a household cereal staple called sorghum. Given the pangs of hunger she has experienced in the last few months, she can't afford to lose the card.

WFP has been providing lifesaving food in South Sudan to hundreds of thousands of families who were forced to flee their homes. But as 40% of the population faces life-threatening levels of hunger, it appeals assistances from governments and donor communities to reach more.

"Don't forget South Sudan: Make an emergency donation now," the online appeal by the UNWFP notes in part. "Your gift will be immediately put to work to ensure that families who have already lost everything don't also go hungry. For example, a donation of $75 will provide nutritious food to a family like Rhoda's for an entire month — making a tremendous impact”, it added.

To promote self-sufficiency and increase local agricultural production the WFP is also constructing 13 road in seven states. The purpose of the 530 kilometres roads is to improve farmers access to local markets.

(ST)

November 9, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's First Vice-President Bakri Hassan Salih has asked a visiting US Congress delegation to lift the economic sanctions imposed on Sudan in order to enable it carry out political and economic reforms.

Sudan's first vice president Bakri Hassan Salih (Photo SUNA)

A delegation of members of US Congress has conducted a private visit to Khartoum from 7th to 9th November. The visit was organized by two US-based think-tanks under the sponsorship of a Sudanese trading company.

Salih on Monday briefed the visiting delegation on the political situation in the country besides the Sudanese/US relations since the current regime assumed power in 1989, demanding the US to lift the economic and trade sanctions and remove Sudan's name from the list of states sponsors of terrorism.

“Despite all obstacles set by Washington, the Sudanese government has kept the doors open for dialogue in order to restore normal ties between the two nations,” he said.

Washington imposed economic and trade sanctions on Sudan in 1997 in response to its alleged connection to terror networks and human rights abuses. In 2007 it strengthened the embargo, citing abuses in Darfur which it labelled as genocide.

Also, Sudan has been on the US list of countries supporting terrorism since 1993, for allegedly providing support and safe haven for terrorist groups.

Salih stressed that Sudan seeks to maintain balanced relations with the international community on the bases of the common interests.

He briefed the Congress delegation on the government efforts to achieve economic and political reforms, expressing hope that the US supports those efforts by lifting the sanctions imposed on Sudan.

For his part, the head of the US Congress delegation Bennie Thompson expressed appreciation for Salih, noting the delegation, which is composed of four members of the US House of Representatives, sought to get acquainted with the situation in the Sudan.

He told the official news agency (SUNA) that the members of the delegation would convey what they have seen on the ground in Sudan to their colleagues in the US Congress, noting the meeting with Salih dealt with Sudan's history since independence besides the challenges facing the country including the US sanctions.

“We urged Lieut. Gen. Bakri to talk to businessmen,” he added.

It should be mentioned that the US Congress delegation held several meetings with government officials, parliamentarians, businessmen and civil society leaders to assess the political situation and the impact of the US sanctions.

The members of the US Congress delegation refrained from speaking in the press conference held at the conclusion of their visit to Sudan on Monday allowing the sponsors to brief the reporters on the outcome of the visit.

MEETING PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER

Meanwhile, the US Congress delegation on Monday discussed with the speaker of the National Assembly Ibrahim Ahmed Omer the recent political developments and bilateral relations.

Omer told reporters following the meeting that the Sudanese/US relations were the main issue of discussion with the visiting delegation, noting he briefed them on the strategic location of Sudan and the importance of achieving peace, stability and development.

He noted the members of the delegation said they are mainly interested in collecting the required facts and information in order to convey them to the concerned bodies, denying they requested the US Congress to change its stance toward Sudan.

“What we heard from them is considered reasonable but we can't say that we reached any conclusions because they are very careful not to speak or express any position,” he said.

Omer further hoped that the US deals with Sudan differently, saying Washington doesn't deal with his country from a strategic position but derives its policies from a predetermined and distorted ideological image.

(ST)

(B2) Cent militaires supplémentaires de la 6e Brigade de chasseurs (Jägerbrigade) ont été mis en alerte pour faire face à la situation des réfugiés dans le Tyrol. 1650 soldats sont déjà déployés dans tout le pays en appui de la police, pour des missions d’assistance aux réfugiés et de sécurité, précise-t-on à Vienne. Ce qui témoigne de la gravité de la situation.

Le service d'espionnage de la Stasi a recruté l'agent Gaby, qui fait carrière au sein du service de renseignement ouest-allemand : le BND. Elle atteint le poste de directrice adjointe du service politique URSS, elle fournit à la STASI des analyses sur les intentions de l'ouest vis-à-vis de l'Union Soviétique. Curieusement, c'est par le biais du BND, que la STASI avait une vue d'ensemble des activités des alliés : 
"Les rapports [de Gaby] nous donnaient aussi des pistes sur de possibles agents du BND à l'est. Plus important, nous avions une vue plus large du monde au travers de ce que le BND appelait les informations au "ruban jaune", au sujet desquelles on sait très peu de choses. C'était le résultat de l'espionnage par le BND des propres alliés de la République Fédérale. La plupart de ces informations provenait d'une station d'écoute allemande, nom de code "Eismeer" (mer polaire), située près de Conil et Cadiz sur la côte atlantique de l'Espagne. Cette station d'écoute avait été créée dans les années 30, quand le régime nazi entretenait d'étroites relations avec l'Espagne de Franco. L'opération, qui portait le nom de code de "Delikatesse", consistait à espionner les lignes de communication  entre l'Afrique de l'Ouest et l'Europe et entre l'Amérique du Nord et du Sud, qui étaient utilisées par la CIA et les ambassades américaines. Toutes les transcriptions du BND qui concernaient des partenaires de la RFA portaient un ruban jaune afin de s'assurer qu'elles ne soient pas transmises accidentellement, de peur que les Alliés n'apprennent ce que la RFA avait entendu. La RFA, avec ses services secrets possédant les compétences techniques et des officiers de police munis d'outils de décryptage, pouvait théoriquement décoder les signaux de 14 nations alliées. Elle entretenait un partenariat très étroit avec les services secrets turcs, et pendant la guerre des Malouines en 1982, c'était le seul service capable de décoder les messages radios argentins pour le compte des Britanniques. L'efficacité technologique des services secrets ouest-allemands, et notre capacité à nous en servir grâce à Gaby et à d'autres sources, nous permettait de nous reposer sur eux. L'Allemagne de l'ouest faisait le sale travail d'espionner les USA, et nous volions leurs informations."
Markus Wolf, in "Memoirs of a spymaster : the man who waged a secret war against the West" pp 149-150

Le président LR et son homologue UDI étaient lundi soir les invités d'un meeting de la campagne des régionales en Pays de la Loire.

http://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/uploads/council-images/thumbs/uploads/council-images/remote/http_7e18a1c646f5450b9d6d-a75424f262e53e74f9539145894f4378.r8.cf3.rackcdn.com/b46beccc-5210-11e5-bb24-bc764e084e2e_6.38_thumb_169_1441267663_1441267580_129_97shar_c1.jpg

Speeches by Donald TUSK, President of the European Council.

Download this video here.

Bár a megroppant bizalmat jelentős részben sikerült helyreállítani, Athén és a hitelezők között rendületlenül folyik a kötélhúzás a görög kormány által bevállalt gazdasági és pénzügyi reformok teljesítése körül. Ennek jeleként a soron következő görög kölcsönök folyósítása egyelőre várat magára.

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