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June 19, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - The Suez and Red Sea Fishermen Association (SRFA) on Friday has asked president Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi to interfere to secure the release of 101 Egyptian fisherman detained by the Sudanese authorities since April.

Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir (L) farewells Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) as he departs Khartoum on 27 June 2014 (Photo: Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

Earlier in April, 108 Egyptian fishermen who were bound to Eritrea aboard three ships but were arrested near the port city of Port Sudan over the allegation of encroaching into Sudanese waters. Seven of those, six minors and an elderly, were later released.

A Sudanese court fined twenty-nine of the men 5,000 pound SDG each and sentenced them to two years in jail in case of failure to pay.

Fifty-Nine other fishermen remain in Sudanese custody and their fate is not yet clear.

In September 2012, the Sudanese army said it released dozens of Egyptian fishermen in exchange for 112 Sudanese miners apprehended by the Egyptian authorities for crossing the borders while they were searching for gold.

Ali al-Gunaidi, the chairman of the board of the SRFA, said that time has come for the intervention of the president away from the diplomatic efforts.

Meanwhile, 24 Sudanese traditional miners who unknowingly crossed the borders in search for gold are still in custody in Almenia Al-Gadida, Aswan and Al-Wadi Al-Jadid.

Their families say they went astray while searching for their colleagues who died in the desert.

(ST)

June 19, 2015 (JUBA) - South Sudanese government on Friday said it did not get a proper and satisfying explanation giving reason for which the United Nations (UN) sought the approval to bring attack helicopters into the country.

UN peacekeeping chief, Hervé Ladsous speaks to reporters after a meeting with Jonglei state governor Kuol Manyang Juuk (left behind) who discusses with his aides in Bor on 7 July 2013 (ST)

South Sudanese deputy minister of foreign affairs said the government did not reject the request as alleged on Wednesday but did not get proper explanation, describing report of the under-secretary for peace keeping operations to the UN Security Council as “unfortunate and not reflective of facts [of] views.”

“As the government, we did not reject the request of the United Nations but we asked for explanations. The reasons which were given were not satisfactory,” said deputy foreign affairs minister, Peter Bashir Gbandi.

The reasons which the United Nations gave the government to warrant approval of the attack helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles was allegedly grounded on the necessity to provide protection to civilians coming under direct and targeted attacks from belligerent warring parties in the country.

“South Sudan is a sovereign state with full sovereign responsibilities. It is a country with capable army to provide adequate protection to her citizens and their properties within its territorial jurisdiction. Any support, whether technical or in any form must be supplementary,” Gbandi told Sudan Tribune.

The official was reacting to a report by the UN slamming president Salva Kiir on Wednesday for hindering efforts to protect civilians by blocking UN attack helicopters and surveillance drones and declaring that UN personnel caught taking photos will be deemed spies.

Ladsous told the United Nations Security Council that the world body wanted to do a better job protecting civilians amid the country's civil war.

Some 136,000 civilians are presently sheltering at seven UN sites around the country.

“We needed attack helicopters, request denied; we needed UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), request denied by the president to me, personally, three times last year,” Ladsous told a UN Security Council meeting on peacekeeping operations.

“Juba did declare some of our senior personnel persona non grata, if you look at the fact that yesterday it was announced that UN personnel taking pictures will be considered a spy, I think this raises a number of concerns,” he said. .

Ladsous said the movements of peacekeepers had also been restricted during the 18-month conflict in the world's newest state, which seceded from Sudan in 2011. There are some 12,000 UN troops and police in South Sudan.

But the deputy foreign minister denied the mission in the country was facing any difficulty in movement.

“That is very unfortunate report. It does not reflect facts. Everyone in this country knows, even small children that UNMISS moves throughout. They are out 24 hours and no one has ever stopped them from carrying out their activities except in areas which are not under the control of the government,” Gbandi said.

He also said the UN should instead blame the rebels led by former vice president, Riek Machar, for allegedly restricting non-governmental personnel in their controlled areas.

(ST)

June 19, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - Differences have escalated in an unprecedented manner between the Darfurian Arab Mahameed clan chief, Musa Hilal, and the leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, aka Hametti.

SRF field commander Mohamed Hamdan (Hametti) speaks in a press conference in Khartoum on Wednesday May 14, 2014 (ST)

A hand written statement showing the heading, logo and stamp of the Sudanese Revolutionary Awakening Council (SRAC) led by Hilal has widely circulated in the social media rejecting statements made by Hametti in which he criticized leniency of authorities towards outlaws.

The statement, which was issued Thursday, stressed that the responsibility of punishing criminals falls in the hands of the judiciary and the police not the RSF, saying that Hametti's statements contain hidden messages and signals against specific tribes.

Last Monday, in an audio recording during the welcoming ceremony of the new governor of South Darfur state, Hemetti called for putting criminals to expeditious trials and sentence them to death.

He expressed displeasure with the police who usually release the outlaws under the pretext of lack of evidence or proof, saying police actions make efforts of the RSF useless.

The SRAC emphasized that it stands by applying the principle of accountability according to the Sudan penal code against anyone who perpetrates a crime or a violation in his personal not tribal capacity, denouncing Hemetti's directives to execute people unlawfully.

The statement demanded the hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) to bring such actions which destabilize security in region to an end.

It said that Hemetti's statements confirm accusations against the government that it provokes tribal conflicts, noting that tribes are social and civil institutions and part of the system of governance in the country.

The RSF militia, which is widely known as the Janjaweed militias, were originally mobilized by the Sudanese government to quell the insurgency that broke out in Sudan's western region of Darfur in 2003.

The militia was activated and restructured again in August 2013 under the command of National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) to fight rebel groups in Darfur region, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states following joint attacks by Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebels in North and South Kordofan in April 2013.

It should be recalled that both Hilal and Hemetti belong to the Arab Rezeigat tribe. While the latter belongs to the Mahri branch of the Rezeigat who mainly reside in South and East Darfur states, Hilal belongs to the Aballa (camel herders) Rezeigat of North Darfur.

Both men were recruited by Khartoum to help crush the rebellion which erupted in Darfur in 2003 when an ethnic minority rose up against the Arab-dominated government.

However, both men showed that their ambition go beyond the roles assigned to them by the government and because they had acquired a major following and political standing, Khartoum was left with no option but to provide them with more rewards in terms of high political and military positions.

(ST)

The entire world is talking about ISIS. And we can use big data to find the message amid the clamoring voices.

The international community must ensure the promise of universal human rights no longer rings hollow to Palestinian “living under the 48-year-long Israeli occupation,” today said a UN independent expert.

The United Nations human rights chief has voiced concern over a judgement issued by the Maldives Supreme Court in which the country’s human rights processes appear to be severely challenged.

June 19, 2015 (WASHINGTON) – The Saudi embassy in Khartoum informed their government that they have received information on a joint plot by the Egyptian and Sudanese intelligence to assassinate South Sudan president Salva Kiir.

Wikileaks published on Friday more than 60,000 diplomatic cables from Saudi Arabia and said on its website it would release half a million more in the coming weeks.

According to one of the cables, the embassy was made aware of three Egyptian intelligence officers who were dispatched by Cairo and are staying in Garden City neighbourhood.

The goal is to formulate a plan with Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) to assassinate Kiir and an unidentified number of his aides, the undated cable said.

The leaked cable about Kiir's assassination was issued by the foreign ministry in Riyadh and addressed to the royal palace mentioning the conspiracy against the South Sudanese president.

No other details were given in the cable signed by former Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal.

(ST)

June 18, 2015 (NEW YORK) – United Nations (UN) has accused president Salva Kiir's government in South Sudan of refusing to cooperate with the world body and continuing to harass UN personnel in the young war-ravaged country.

This came in strong worded statements on report presented to the UN Security Council on Wednesday by Herve Ladsous, head of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations in South Sudan.

He explained the frustration to the world body, saying president Kiir's government has been defying repeated requests to cooperate in the task of carrying out the UN mandate in the country where 12,000 peacekeeping troops, police and civilian personnel are involved.

The UN's peacekeeping chief expressed his frustration with South Sudan's leaders on Wednesday, explaining that president Kiir and his government have denied repeated requests for the UN mission there to use equipment needed to protect civilians.

“I see a country — and I can be very candid, that country is South Sudan — a country where we felt that we needed to do a better job to protect civilians," he said.

"We needed attack helicopters — request denied. We needed UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones] — request denied by the president to me, personally, three times last year,” he told the Security Council.

He said Juba has continued to harass its personnel in the country in flagrant violation of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) which the UN signed with the government.

“Juba did declare some of our senior personnel persona non grata," he said.

"If you look at the fact that yesterday it was announced that from now on UN personnel who are taking pictures will be considered as spies, well, I think this raises a number of concerns.”

Juba recently dismissed from the country Toby Lanzer, the deputy head of mission and the UN's humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan, accusing him of being outspoken about the economic and humanitarian situation in the country, where 4.6 million people face severe food insecurity and more than 2 million have been displaced from their homes.

Since the eruption of the conflict in December 2013, the UN has been sheltering and protecting more than 100,000 civilians at hastily set up camps inside UN bases across the country.

Ladous said the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was therefore dealing with a government that did not want to talk things out nor cooperate with requests aimed to facilitate the mission.

For the first time, the UN has publicly revealed that president Kiir did not attend a high-level meeting held by the UN secretary general, Ban Ki Moon, in New York in September last year despite Kiir's travel and presence in New York at the time when he left Juba for such meetings in the US.

UN passed a resolution last month calling for sanctions to be imposed on individuals that are seen to be perpetuating the war and suffering of the populations in South Sudan. It has sent a team to South Sudan to designate individuals that should face the expected measures.

(ST)

Retour en images sur le transfert de l’Harmony of the Seas. Hier, 21 mois après la découpe de sa première tôle, le plus grand paquebot du monde a quitté sa forme de construction pour rejoindre son bassin d’armement, où son achèvement va se poursuivre. L’immense navire, qui avec ses 362 mètres et plus long que le viaduc de Millau, débutera ses essais en mer en février prochain, en vue d’une livraison deux mois plus tard à la compagnie américaine Royal Caribbean International.

 

• Lire la suite de Le plus grand paquebot du monde sort de sa cale de construction

On Alternative(s) to Neoliberal Globalization

From 17 to 19 June 2015, I attended the 14th Annual Conference of the International Social Theory Consortium (ISTC) “Reconstructing Social Theory, History and Practice” at the University of Cambridge, with presentation “On Alternative(s) to Neoliberal Globalization” on the 17th of June 2015.

First, the ISTC conference addressed reconstruction, deconstruction, as the past thirty years can been named Age of Deconstruction; and possibilities of a return of history, discussing, whether there are limits to the deconstruction project? Have these limits been reached? What are the possibilities for the “reconstruction” of narratives of long-term historical change? Is it possible to incl. and integrate the insights and contributions of various critiques of knowledge, while at the same time developing new forms of knowledge? Can we submit the project of deconstruction itself to deconstruction? Etc.

Return to history acknowledges history’s “continuing importance as a social-theoretical category and frame, considering [history’s] persistent utility after […] realizations, and accepting the fact that, by most accounts, history has not reached its end.”

“● How would social science disciplines benefit from new perspectives on understanding long-term change?

● What might, could and should a new philosophy of history – subsequent to so many “turns” – look like?

● What are the possibilities for practice in addressing social justice and democracy, with the benefit or in the absence of long-term historical consciousness?”

Second – The text of my presentation:

The Structure:

Two main premises:

1)  The philosophy of history could have had different development as it has today;

2)    Could there be an alternative or alternatives to neoliberal globalization.

Subquestions:

● Socialism (revolutionary socialism, reformist constitutional socialism) vs. industrial capitalism – as a starting point

● „Traces of moral thought“ and „religious injunctions“ influencing law (Klabbers, Piiparinen)

● Defining normative order (Klabbers, Piiparinen), political ideology (Heywood) and morality (Kant)

● Justifiability of law on moral grounds or on normative grounds (religion, social norm, cultural practice, etc.)

● Examples of different levels (Christianity-Judaism; Judaism-Islam; Marxism-capitalism; Soviet socialist law-capitalist civil law; structuralists-poststructuralists; poststructuralists-Islam; Western cultural practice-Islam; etc.) /The initial idea was to compare modernism-postmodernism, socialism-postsocialism, liberalism-neoliberalism, critical theory-positivism, naturalism-positivism, and then postsocialism-postpostsocialism, postmodernism-postsocialism, poststructuralism-postmodernism, neoliberalism-psotstructuralism, etc./

● Kant’s idea of international and cosmopolitan justice – perpetual peace – in the light of the previous

● The politics of framing in global (and EU) governance / agenda setting

● The role of a lawyer – drawing extralegal concerns into law?

● Who could decide?

Problems:

● Could legal history have developed differently if human thought had in history developed differently?

● Why could there be alternative(s) to neoliberal globalization?

For the structure, I have used the texts of Kant, Klabbers/Piiparinen in order to make my argument that follows in the body:

[I] most recently have worked with EU accountability, incl. political accountability

According to Aristotle, things have both: form and substance / content.

For better understanding political accountability, I first attempted at mapping politics, by mapping political parties at European level and in Estonia, which method – combined with history research – allowed me to estimate transformation of politics in Estonia. – Such research was oriented toward form / structure, and did not say much about political (party) ideologies, except making some conclusions according to the parties’ own assertions about their position on the political right-left scale, although my research also established that more important than what a political party says about its ideology, should be its actual behaviour.

My research also established – agreeing with Chantal Mouffe – that political party ideologies are not easily distinguishable in the contemporary World, because – and Mouffe names two reasons: 1) the right-wing addresses for populist aims left-wing arguments, whereas the left-wing uses right-wing arguments, and 2) there are certain concerns that all political parties would address, such as environment, women’s rights, etc.

Mouffe concludes that although it is dangerous phenomenon, because it limits choice – and, consequently, antagonism always remains and should remain into politics – today’s political parties mostly seem to have reached consensus at the centre btw. centre-right and centre-left.

Mouffe explains such as impossibility to find an alternative to neoliberal globalization.

Now, this was the turning-point for me, because it made me think about the history of political thought from different angle.

One example of antagonism is socialism that – as utopian idea and reaction – appeared against industrial capitalism, resumed by Heywood as having an aim to end capitalist economy and replace it with common ownership. Such development can be divided into: revolutionary socialism (that developed into Communism), and reformist constitutional socialism that turned into social-democrat ideologies.

I understand Mouffe’s conclusion about impossibility of finding an alternative to neoliberal globalization as a-kind-of stop in socialist thought, although neoliberalism refers to greater community / State influence in markets (and, thus, to socialist influence).

One has to take into account that reality exists independently of human cognition, even though humans may not identify it and despite our understandings of reality, which is an old description of the relation btw. objectivity and subjectivity (the latter being constrained in time and space too much to adequately understand and communicate objectivity.)

The relevance for law of the previous:

Jan Klabbers and Touko Piiparinen in book “Normative Pluralism and International Law” (Cambridge University Press, ASIL Studies in International Legal Theory, 2013), explains law as a social phenomenon, containing: “traces of moral thought” or “religious injunctions” detaining meaning and changing over time. They establish that also religions contain normativity, and define “normative order” as “normative control system” – signifying a set of related commands: “Do’s” and “Don’ts” that stem from the same or related source(s).

That way, normative orders are understood as wholes of norms of social control.

Based on understanding “norms” as “rules of behaviour” … whiches breach is accompanied by liability. For that reason, Klabbers and Piiparinen see law as a distinct normative order.

Similarly, religion can be regarded as distinct normative order.

What concerns morals, I would understand morals as quite a distinct from normativity phenomemon, because all human thought does not contain coercive capacity like law or norms. I would derive from Kant who explains morals also as sth. Developing through experience, incl. knowledge about different thinkers.

At the same time, law is related to political morals, ideologies and philosophical thought. We all live in politics – a human being is already by the very nature Zwv noLitikwov.

Schaffer has a concern related to that – if decisions in a society are not grounded in empirics and experience (for example, here lies an advantage of American sociology that is indexial), they can be dangerous, unpredictable, and even have disastrous consequences.

Unger if of opinion that law is an expression of political ideology – thus, the same applies toward legal decisions, and applies toward international law that regulates international relations – thus also social and political processes.

There coexist several normative orders, for example, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, in addition to law. Then, there exist different political ideologies, such as social-democracy, … And there coexist different moral theories, most recently, such as poststructuralism, postmodernism, neoliberalism, critical theory, etc., the latter do not entail enforcement mechanisms.

Although these all are not equal categories, one can bring the following examples: 1) while Christianity is centred around liberation, Islam and Judaism are centred around commandments, thus, prescribing for the “free will” how to behave for the benefit of the community and the governors – thus, Islam and Judaism can actually be considered political ideologies, too, although normative; 2) while Marxism favours nationalization, capitalism favours unequal distribution of capital; 3) while speculation under Soviet Socialist laws was punishable under criminal laws, regulation of resale forms a common part of capitalist civil laws; 4) while structures / forms are important for structuralists, poststructuralists consider ideas / content more important than form; 5) while poststructuralists justify human pleasure, some forms of it are forbidden in Islam; 6) while headscarves are not common in Western cultural tradition, they are prescribed for women in Islam. 7) One could continue here, and actually, before reading Klabbers, Piiparinen, my initial idea was to that way compare modernism-postmodernism, socialism-postsocialism, liberalism-neoliberalism, critical theory-positivism, naturalism-positivism, and then postsocialism-postpostsocialism, postmodernism-postsocialism, poststructuralism-postmodernism, neoliberalism-psotstructuralism, etc.

Thus – society (and law) have to deal with collision of norms, but not solely of norms, but also of concerns of real politics or justice.

Immanuel Kant – who has defined morals – advanced the idea of international and cosmopolitan justice – perpetual peace – being possible, when mature societies reach consensus in peaceful coexistence. All moral questions, according to Kant, are thought in a particular situation – thus “applied moral questions.” Kant also talks about inability to use one’s own understanding without the guidance of another, because various selves interrelate in a community.

Francis Fukuyama’s idea was that liberal democracies do not go to war with each other – and here, to my mind, the word “democracy” refers to consensus and “common moral character.”

Thus, it is relevant to relate law with morals, and in such context analyse historical development of moral thought.

Piiparinen claims that not only one but more spheres of authority are in control of the World – and they may all derive their authority from legal or other norms and theories, for legitimacy.

Still, my presentation derives from the premises that: 1) law should be morally respectable; 2) law should be in harmony with the society it aims to regulate; 3) law can have effects on the society if regulates.

Important is what are the individual moralities who should shape law (that shapes individual moralities) similarly to different normative orders.

Klabbers and Piiparinen explain such as the politics of framing. And to illustrate that, asks, whether the intervention over Kosovo should be judged by moral standards or legal standards?

For lawyers, such position of question is connected with legitimacy, meaning – if illegal, would one be allowed to derive justification from morals (which could be a slippery slope, because morals is fragmented – a comprehensive understanding of universal morals is absent, and understanding and interpretation of morals is subjective, depending on the interpreting person’s education, life experience, intellectual and cognitive abilities, etc.)

Klabbers and Piiparinen still conclude that if morally acceptable, an illegal practice may be accepted and even become new law. The same authors see the problem in drawing the line btw. morally justifiable and morally unjustifiable – which is determined by subjective people.

The problem is that if to question people, many would feel that there was a conflict btw. law and morals at Kosovo, but if to ask people to specify what kind of morals was breached in Kosovo, even the lawyers would have problems with finding the relevant arguments.

On the other hand, maybe such is not the task of lawyers at all – because a good practising lawyer is supposed to rather apply law as precisely as possible than to make a new law through interpretation (be it critical or not).

Then – where from and how to draw extralegal concerns into law? With the aim to justify illegal acts?

Because if every judge or other person applying law would independently justify by moral concerns – such could easily laed to a situation, where, say, judge A would justify a behaviour by poststructural “praise” of pleasure, whereas judge B would justify the same behaviour by Islamic understanding.

Could there exist a common understanding of which religion (if religion to be brought into play at all) or which morals or politics to follow in case law is silent or just does not seem right. (Could such be allowed at all, as by such law looses some of its authority.)

If still needed, could a “common frame of reference” be here possible for global governance? Because – according to Aristotle, democracy is only democracy if everyone feels s/he belongs, and no one feels oppressed, excluded or disempowered.

Politics of framing in global Agenda-setting.

Legitimacy is one of the magic words, justifying moral grounds. Hanecke who has interpreted Hegel, talks about psychological need for Recognition, and I would connect that somehow with legitimacy.

Then – can legitimacy take place of normative orders and morals, and if so – who would shape in media and educational processes the common understanding of situations? Who would guide communitarism?

Klabbers and Piiparinen pose such: Who would decide (for common people) what qualifies as legitimate?

The most reasonable way seems to find a reason from history of philosophical thought – and therefore, I would suggest History of Philosophy for the modern society to replace the position, Marxism had before its aims collapsed. Such common theory as one common frame of reference, could demonstrate how politics and law are always contextual and historically situated. There is no such thing as a purely original idea, but development based on previous developments, changing in line with changing contexts.

Not a small problem is that the so-called “Western” philosophical thought could not be understandable (and thus, acceptable) by the rest of the World, which means that if we base international decisions on Western morality solely, we might only be legitimate in the eyes of the Western part of the world.

I ended here, I did not explain, although in the beginning I intended to, why did I head my presentation as “On Alternative(s) to Neoliberal Globalization” instead of “On Alternative(s) to Neoliberal Democracy,” that could have demanded analysis of democracy and offering alternatives to democracy. As I could not think out more other than meritocracy, it was easier for me to talk about globalization instead.

Theory or ideology – as cultural artefact –may well be replaced by some other cultural artefact. This also applies toward neoliberalism. It is difficult to agree upon political action that could be regarded as “best utopian practice.” The question is how to reach an agreement btw. different multicultural actors on some basis of equality that applies toward democratic law-making procedures as sth. similar to Kantian theory of law describing all legal philosophies, while critical interests are only subjective and everyone’s critical interests cannot be the same over all history. I would not dare to say that sth. ontologically new should emerge, but development has entailed certain rules – a new development always builds on previous development.

Questions my presentation received (as far as I am able to de-/reconstruct):

-Is Mouffe arguing for de-antagonistic politics?

-Why did socialist movements emerge? And don’t they emerge anymore as capitalism is still criticized by socialist ideas?

-What is legitimacy?

-Doesn’t legitimacy mean institutional legitimacy? (I explained that L. has different dimensions and levels; in addition, today I started to think that L. probably may mean Hegelian “Recognition,” too.)

Other important questions raised:

The post On Alternative(s) to Neoliberal Globalization appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

June 19, 2015 (WASHINGTON) – The Sudanese government agreed in principle to establish an Iranian military base, according to a cable released by Wikileaks today.

An Iranian navy special forces known as Takavaran wearing a similar uniform worn by the US military and holding an Israeli made Uzi sub-machine gun stands guard at the Iranian Corvette Admiral Naghdi as it docks in the Red Sea Sudanese town of Port Sudan on October 31, 2012 (Getty Images)

WikiLeaks published on Friday more than 60,000 diplomatic cables from Saudi Arabia and said on its website it would release half a million more in the coming weeks.

A cable classified as ‘Secret' with the letterhead ‘Saudi Arabia – Directorate of General Intelligence' discussed information they received on a request to this effect by the Iranian government.

Saudi intelligence said that the head of Iran parliamentary security subcommittee Ala al-Din Boroujerdi sent a letter to the head of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Mohamed Atta Abbas asking for approval to establish this base.

To discuss this, members of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) met on May 18, 2012 at the residence of Sudan 2nd VP al-Haj Adam Youssef with the presence presidential assistant Nafie Ali Nafie, NISS director Mohamed Atta Abbas, defense minister Abdel-Rahim Mohamed Hussein, presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail and minerals minister Kamal Abdel-Latif described incorrectly as the justice minister.

The participants agreed to temporarily close this dossier, the cable says, and not to discuss it and not to present it to other NCP members due to the “sensitivity of the issue”.

Ismail was tasked with conveying that they cannot agree to this request at present and “clarifying Sudan's critical situation” but at the same time expressing their “preliminary approval of this project and postponing talks on this regard until the right time”.

In December 2012, Sudan denied reports that it has given the go-ahead to Iran for establishing a Red Sea naval base saying it conflicts with government policy.

Since 2012, Port Sudan has become a regular stop for Iranian warships drawing concern by the US and its allies in the Gulf. Khartoum insisted that its relations with Iran are based on common interests and not intended to threaten the interests of the Arab Gulf states.
Iran says that In line with international efforts to combat piracy its Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008 to safeguard the vessels involved in maritime trade, especially the ships and oil tankers owned or leased by Tehran.

Israel also accuses Sudan of serving as a hub for weapons coming from Iran that are sent to Palestinian militants. It is believed to have conducted several airstrikes inside Sudan including one in October 2012 that targeted the Al-Yarmouk arms factory in Khartoum.

(ST)

Névnap Rafael – héber eredetű; jelentése: Isten meggyógyít. Idézet „Mert ha az egyik dolgot megvilágítom, a másikat nem látom. És olyan gyakran előfordul, hogy az ember a rosszat helyezi megvilágításba, bár nehéz eldönteni, hogy ez véletlenül vagy szándékosan történik-e.”

Agatha Christie

• A nap aktualitása
• A nap igéje

EZEN A NAPON EMLÉKSZÜNK RÁ:

Vékony Antal (Tiszaújlak, 1848. június 20. – Máramarossziget, 1903. március 15.) Tanár, író, költő. 1866-ig a máramarosszigeti kollégiumban tanult, ezután Pesten hallgatott teológiát.  1870-ben tanári oklevelet szerzett, s ettől fogva haláláig gimnáziumi tanár volt Máramarosszigeten. Modern nyelvre írta át Zrínyi Szigeti veszedelem című eposzát. (Sziget ostroma, 1892.) Költeményeket írt a Máramaros című lapba. Cikkei az Igazmondóban jelentek meg. (1867. A magyarországi nemzetiségek, a máramarosszigeti főgimnázium Értesítőjében; 1876. Emlékvers Teleki Domokos sírjánál; 1877. Csatáry József emlékezete)

Forrás: Keresztyén Balázs: Kárpátaljai Művelődéstörténeti Kislexikon (Hatodik Síp Alapítvány – Mandátum Kiadó, Budapest – Beregszász, 2001.)

 

MAGYARORSZÁG KULTÚRTÖRTÉNETÉBŐL:

- A Petőfi Kör egyre élesedő vitasorozatán gazdasági kérdésekről beszélnek (1956).

Forrás: Magyarország kultúrtörténete napról napra, Honfoglalás Egyesület 2000.

Kitől kérsz tanácsot?

„Hallgass a tanácsra, és fogadd el az intést, hogy végre bölcs légy!” (Példabeszédek 19:20)

Lehet, hogy jó vagy abban, amit csinálsz. Sőt, talán jobb vagy, mint a legtöbben, de mások segítsége nélkül sohasem leszel olyan jó, amilyen lehetnél. Soha nem fogod elérni a tőled telhető legtöbbet, ha nincs egy jó tanácsadód. Enélkül lehetetlen. Miért kell egy világelső teniszezőnek edző, ráadásul olyasvalaki, aki a pályán nem is olyan jó, mint maga a játékos? André Agassi így válaszolt erre a kérdésre: „A teniszben a győzelemhez elengedhetetlenek a finom igazítások, és az én edzőm, Gil a legjobb ezek felismerésében és alkalmazásában. Minél idősebb leszek, annál nagyobb szükségem van rá.” Miért? Mert a kor és a tapasztalat nem feltétlenül tesz jobbá, néha csak elmélyíti a rutint. Az életben, akárcsak a sportban sosem lehet eljutni odáig, ahol már ne lenne szükségünk jó tanácsra. Mégis sokan aszerint a téves feltételezés szerint működnek, hogy a vezetőknek nincs szükségük vezetésre. Elkövetjük azt a hibát, hogy másokhoz mérjük magunkat ahelyett, hogy a bennünk rejlő, Istentől kapott lehetőségekhez mérnénk önmagunkat, így végül sohasem leszünk azzá, amivé válhattunk volna. Az önértékelés fontos dolog, de a másoktól kapott kiértékelés sorsdöntő lehet. A jó edző teljesítményedet saját képességeidhez méri, nem valaki máséhoz. Ő tudja, hogy mi telik tőled, ezért kényszerít arra, hogy mindent kihozz magadból, amit csak lehet. Arról nem is beszélve, hogy a jó edzők folyamatosan ott vannak a helyszínen, és figyelik a játékodat, nem bent az irodában várnak egy jelentést róla. Azért van ez így, mert ők is befektettek a te sikeredbe, a győzelmed számukra is győzelem. Ruthnak szüksége volt Naomira, Timóteusnak Pálra. Neked ki ad tanácsot?

A fenti elmélkedés a Keresztyén Média UCB Hungary Alapítvány napi elmélkedése (honlap: maiige.hu), melynek írója Bob Gass. Magyar nyelven negyedévre szóló kiadvány formájában megrendelhető az említett honlapon, vagy a következő címen: Mai Ige, 6201 Kiskőrös, Pf. 33.

Rheinische Post: Düsseldorf (ots) - Im Vorfeld des heutigen SPD-Parteikonvents in Berlin hat die Chefin der Grünen-Bundestagsfraktion, Katrin Göring-Eckardt, die Sozialdemokraten zum Widerstand gegen ihren Parteivorsitzenden Sigmar Gabriel aufgerufen. "Die SPD macht ...

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Rheinische Post: Düsseldorf (ots) - Der Landesvorsitzende der Jungen Union (JU), Florian Braun, wertet die Vorgänge um CDU-Chef Armin Laschet als innerparteilichen "Dämpfer" . Er lehne allerdings einen Radikalkurs ab, bei dem sofort nach einem Personalwechsel ...

Propaganda ist nicht nur ein Begriff des 20. Jahrhunderts. Obwohl wir sie meist mit der systematischen Verbreitung von Meinungen und Weltanschauungen in kommunistischen und nationalsozialistischen Regimen assoziieren, können erste Beispiele bereits in der Antike vermutet werden. Über die vielfältigen Erscheinungsformen diskutierten vom 19. bis 21. Juni 2015 Stipendiaten in Wildbad Kreuth.

June 19, 2015 (WASHINGTON) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir was upset by what appeared to be a cool reception by late king Abdullah during a 2012 visit to Riyadh prompting one of his aides to write to Riyadh expressing this displeasure, according to a cable released by Wikileaks.

Saudi King Abdullah (R) meets Sudan's president, Omer Hassan al-Bashir, in Riyadh on 9 March 2012 (Photo: Reuters/Saudi Press Agency)

WikiLeaks published on Friday more than 60,000 diplomatic cables from Saudi Arabia and said on its website it would release half a million more in the coming weeks.

The letter addressed to then Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal from Bashir's adviser Mustafa Ismail dated April 10 2012 showed Khartoum struggling since late 2011 to establish contacts between Riyadh and Khartoum.

“I addressed your highness on December 8, 2011 to set a time to meet your highness in accordance with directions of president Omer Hassan al-Bashir and after the wait went on for so long [to meet Saudi FM] despite repeated phone calls to your chief of staff brother Sultan, brother president [Bashir] decided to visit the Kingdom himself to meet King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz may god preserve him,” Ismail wrote.

“But to be honest your highness, I wish the visit did not take place as the president came back frustrated with a different impression than the one he got after every visit [in the past] he made to the kingdom (he was really distressed)”.

Ismail then asks for a meeting with al-Faisal to discuss this matter further.

The letter by Bashir's adviser offers a rare glimpse into the strained relationship that existed between the two countries during the reign of late King Abdullah which was attributed to Khartoum's close ties with Tehran.

The Sudanese leader has been unable to meet directly with King Abdullah since this 2012 trip despite repeated visits for pilgrimage or regional events.

Bashir has reportedly pushed for financial help from the oil-rich country at that meeting to plug the growing budget hole caused by secession of oil-rich south the year before.

To make matters worse, Saudi Arabia closed its airspace in August 2013 to the plane carrying Bashir on his way to Iran where he was scheduled to attend the inauguration ceremony of then president-elect Hassan Rouhani thus forcing him and his delegation to return home.

But Khartoum may have decided to appease the Arab Gulf state by abruptly shutting down the Iranian cultural center late last year under the pretext of spreading Shiite doctrine.

Sudan also joined the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen after meeting with King Salman in Riyadh last March.

(ST)

Saarbrücker Zeitung: Saarbrücken/Berlin (ots) - Der Vorsitzende des Europa-Ausschusses im Bundestag, Gunther Krichbaum (CDU), sieht in dem EU-Sondergipfel am kommenden Montag die "allerletzte Chance", um eine Staatspleite in Griechenland abzuwenden. "Tsipras muss eine ...

Les ultimes obstacles à la signature de l'accord de paix par la rébellion sont écartés. Le gouvernement a levé les mandats d'arrêt visant