Independence DayN I G E R - A u g u s t 3

Niger  celebrates  its  Independence  Day  on August  3rdevery year. Independence Day is that day when a country

either gets independence from a foreign ruling organizationor from a domestic ruler. Independence Day has its ownvalues and it is one of the greatest days for every country.Thus, it is celebrated with great joy as well as respect.

HistoryNiger got independence from France on August 3, 1960.Niger was under France’s control for a long span of time.French  does  trieda lot to spread theirterritory throughoutthe parts, but theyfailed  in capturingAgadez,  which  isthe  southern  partof  the  country.Again, they had toface  a  strong  op-position  fromTaurag. After  that,the French kept onmoving  theirstrategies  andcapital  in  Niger.They  even  pro-claimed Niger to be a military state. However in 1960, thecountry got complete independence from the French con-trol.Niger is one of the most populated countries of the Conti-nent Africa. Thus, it has its own significance. Not only fromthe fields of population, but it is good on the basis of econ-omy also. It  is one of the fastest growing nations in theworld. The importance of  Independence Day is huge inNiger. The proof of this is that along with the IndependenceDay,  they also celebrate Arbor’s Day. On this day,  theyplant a lot of trees in order to fight the growing desertifica-tion. Along with that it also contributes in fighting the grow-ing global warming, and green house effect all over theglobe.

TRADITIONS AND ACTIVITIESThe celebrations of Independence Day in Niger are full ofenjoyment and fun for every citizen. This day has wide sig-nificance in Niger. One of the biggest reasons being that itis one of those festivals (for the people of Niger, it is likeFestival), which helps in binding up people together. Thisis the reason that this day is celebrated with so much ex-citement. The country Niger  is widely diversified on thebasis of languages and ethnicity. However, this occasionbrings all of them together and helps them in enjoying theirfreedom together.The freedom is not earned very easily; rather it is earnedwith a lot of hardships and fights. Many have lost their lifein order to achieve the freedom. Thus, the Nigerian Inde-pendence day celebration is not complete without remem-bering those freedom fighters, who sacrificed their life inorder to get their countrymen free. Hence, they are remem-bered every year on this auspicious occasion.Niger freedom fighters are not only the ones, who greatlycontributed in the freedom struggle, but are also the ones,who inspired the people to go for the freedom struggle andget their country free from the French. Without their inspi-ration,  Niger  would  have  still  been  a  slave  country  toFrance. The people of Niger are well aware of these factsand hence they never fail in remembering these great free-dom fighters and leaders.

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INTERNATIONAL

SPECIAL FOCUSHUNGARIAN BULLETINPowell wins 100 meters in

9.86 in Hungary

SYRIA BULLETINSyria opposition rejects foreign help, 23 killed

DAMASCUS (Google News )Opposition  figures  in Algeriaspoke  out  on  Saturdayagainst any foreign interven-tion as the bloody crackdownon  anti-government  protestscontinued and security forceskilled at  least 23 people andwounded  35  others  as  hun-dreds of thousands of demon-strators  turned  out  foranti-regime protests, activistssaid.Also on Saturday, a man iden-tifying  himself  as  a  Syrianarmy colonel, said he had de-

fected and has “hundreds” oftroops  under  his  commandready to confront the regulararmy in Deir Ezzor.The deaths in the crackdownwere reported by two Syrianhuman  rights  organisations,one of them also saying thathundreds of people were ar-rested  by  security  forces  inDamascus. “Nineteen martyrs fell on Fri-day,”  the National Organiza-tion for Human Rights said.“The  Syrian  authorities  haddecided to go ahead and kill

protesters  during  the  daymarked  by  demonstrationsdubbed ‘Your silence is killingus’,” it said.The toll included one personkilled in Damascus and sevenin the region around the capi-tal,  including  five  in  Kiswahand  two  in  Douma,  saidAmmar  Qorabi,  who  headsthe human rights group.Another  three  were  killed  inDaraa, three more died in theeastern  city  Deir  Ezzor,  twoothers  in  the nearby town ofBukamal,  and  one  in  city  of

Latakia. In  Algiers,  the  oppositionmembers refused any foreignintervention in Syria.“We  refuse  all  foreign  inter-vention,  we  refuse  to  carryweapons,”  said  Adnane  ElBouch, a Syrian lawyer livingin Algeria, during a meeting ofa Syrian support committee. In  Nicosia,  Riad  Al  Asaad,who  identified  himself  as  acolonel who defected from theSyrian army, warned authori-ties against carrying out anyoperation in Deir Ezzor.

Armed groups attack law-enforcement members in eastSyria: report

DAMASCUS (Google News Jul30,  2011)  Armed  groups  at-tacked law- enforcement mem-bers and a police station in thenortheastern city of Deir al-Zourand  stole  some  weapons  andammunitions,  the official SANAnews agency reported late Sat-urday.Armed groups cut off and barri-caded some roads in the city toterrorize residents, said SANA,adding  the  law-enforcementmembers  encountered  thesegroups  and  exchanged  gunfirewith them.It  said  law-enforcement  mem-bers  are  still  hunting  thesegroups down and using the right

methods in dealing with situationthere,  adding  the  residents  ofDeir al-Zour expressed their wor-ries  of  the  groups'  acts  andstressed their refusal of any actsthat would harm  the country  ingeneral and Deir al-Zour in par-ticular.Meanwhile,  the  Syria-News,local  news  website,  cited  wit-nesses as saying that the city ofDeir al-Zour is witnessing a pro-liferation of armed men and thatthe situation is so intense, as thewater and electricity were cut offsince Friday noon. It said thereare large numbers of arrests inthe  nearby  al-Bukmal  city  aswell.

Security forces are conducting alarge-scale house raids and ar-rests  especially  those  whoseages range from 15 to 40, saidthe  report,  adding  the  familiesthere don't know where the de-tainees are taken to."There is a shortage of food andthe  families  there  are  helpingone another by exchanging whatthey  have  of  food  and  water,"The website cited an unnamedjournalist in the area as saying.Activists  said  Deir  al-Zour  wit-nessed a large anti-governmentprotest on Friday, as part of otherprotests  that  took  to  streetsacross the country, to press de-mands  for  the  downfall  of  the

leadership.Local Coordination Committees(LCC), which tracks the protestsin  Syria,  said  the  Syrian  armyhad bombarded al-Jawza neigh-borhood,  west  of  Deir  al-Zour,with artilleries which left many in-juries.The city of Deir al-Zour has wit-nessed a large turnout since theeruption  of  protests more  thanfour months ago.Activists said the unrest in Syriahas  claimed  the  lives  of  morethan  1,400  civilians,  while  thegovernment  disputed  the  toll,blaming the crisis on armed andextremist groups that aim to sowa sectarian rift in the country.

PICTURE NEWS

July 29, 2011.A Pakistani woman receives donated bread at a marketahead of the upcoming Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in La-hore. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and con-ducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, theholiest month in the Islamic calendar.

July 23, 2011.A bone-thin cow passing temporary shelters atDadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya.

July 24, 2011. People cool themselves in a fountain "Friendshipof Peoples" at the Exhibition Center in Moscow, Russia on Sun-day. Temperatures rose to 31 Celsius (88 Fahrenheit) in Moscow.

July 28, 2011.A Palestinian man decorates his shop with fes-tive lights in the old city of Jerusalem for the upcoming Muslimholy fasting month of Ramadan.

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S w i s s N a t i o n a l D a yS W I T Z E R L A N D - A u g u s t 1

The Swiss National Day (German: Schweizer Bun-desfeier;  French: Fête nationale Suisse;  Italian:Festa nazionale svizzera; Romansh: Fiasta naziu-nala Svizra) is set on 1 August. It has been an offi-cial national holiday since 1994, following a publicvote on 26 September 1993 although the day hadbeen suggested for the celebration of the founda-tion of the Swiss Confederacy as early as 1889. 

HistoryThe date  is  inspired by  the date of  the FederalCharter of 1291, placed in "early August" (primo in-cipiente mense Augusto). The document is one ofseveral  dozen pacts  attested  for  the  territory  ofSwitzerland in the period of the mid 13th to mid14th century. The foundation of the Old Swiss Con-federacy  had  been  mostly  associated  with  theBund of Brunnen of 1315, or with the Rütlischwur,dated to 1307 by Aegidius Tschudi.The Federal Charter of 1291 was first attached agreater importance in a report by the Federal De-partment of Home Affairs of 21 November of 1889,suggesting a celebration in Bern in 1891 that wouldcombine the city's 700th anniversary with the Con-federacy's 600th anniversary.The date of the Federal Charter came to replacethe formerly more prominent, traditional date of theRütlischwur of 8 November 1307 in popular con-sciousness in the 20th century, specifically after the650th anniversary celebrations of 1941.1 August was declared an official national holiday in 1685 and first celebratedon an annual basis in 1899. It is today celebrated each year on 1 August withtown-wide paper lantern parades, bonfires, hanging strings of Swiss flags andfireworks.

Early lifeTown-specific celebrationsThe day of independence is typically celebrated at a local, municipality levelthough certain events draw nation-wide attention. Since the mid-nineteenth cen-tury, the Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen has illuminated its 25 meter high water-falls for special events. Beginning in 1920, the waterfall has been regularly lit forthe national holiday and since 1966 is now lit only for this holiday. At the historiclocation of Rütli Meadowabove Lake Lucerne, a representational celebration isstaged in the location where the legendary pledge of alliance, the Rütlischwur issaid to have taken place.

Swiss National Day celebrations around the worldThe largest Swiss National Day event in the USA is organized and held annuallyby the Swiss Benevolent Society of New York. Usually held in Manhattan, NewYork  City,  NY,  the  event  draws  thousands  of  Swiss,  Swiss-Americans  andFriends of Switzerland from around New York, New Jersey, Connecticut andPennsylvania. This tradition goes back several decades, and was originally heldat their former hospice in Mount Kisco, New York during the 1970's.

Fireworks and feastingFor most people, August 1st means bonfires and fire-works and barbecues in the garden or brunch on thefarm.Long before the government decided in 1891 to declarethe day Switzerland's national day, people had cele-brated summer by lighting bonfires. Indeed, the customof lighting a fire on June 24th, St John's Day, is knownall over Europe. But for the Swiss, bonfires had an extrasignificance. For centuries they had built beacons onmountain tops which they lit when danger approached.One legend told of both Lake Geneva and Lake Biel re-lates how hordes of invading barbarians intent on con-quering the ancient Swiss tribes turned back when theysaw the lights reflected in the lake waters, thinking theyhad come to the edge of the earth and were about toride off into the sky.Whether in remembrance of this event, or just becauseit is fun, every Swiss commune now lights its own bon-fire and sets off fireworks, and children parade throughthe streets with paper lanterns - often decorated with theSwiss cross or the symbols of the cantons - and peoplelight candles in their windows.And since no celebration is complete without a feast,many  people  mark  this  festival  of  fire  by  cookingsausages  over  a  barbecue  and  enjoying  them  withfriends.But in recent years an alternative feast has been gainingin popularity: brunch on the farm. The idea was launched in 1993, as an initiative by the Swiss Farmers' Association.Visitors are served fresh farm produce and get to see something of farmers' lives. In 2005 about 430 farms took part,serving brunch to about 200,000 people.

Obama, Bush to Attend New York’s 9/11 Memo-rial Ceremony

(Google  News)  President  BarackObama  and  former  PresidentGeorge W. Bush will  attend NewYork City’s ceremony observing the10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 ter-rorist  attack  on  the  World  TradeCenter, Mayor Michael Bloombergsaid.Obama’s  and  Bush’s  presencemarks the first time a U.S. presidenthas  participated  in  the  annualevent, which this year will coincidewith  the  opening  of  a  memorialplaza  featuring  reflecting  pools,meant to be symbolic voids, on thefootprints  of  the  destroyed  Twin

Towers. The attack occurred eightmonths after Bush took office.Bush and Obama will  join  gover-nors Andrew Cuomo of New Yorkand Chris Christie of New Jersey;George  Pataki,  who  was  NewYork’s  governor  in  2001;  formerMayor  Rudolph  Giuliani;  andBloomberg. The ceremony will in-clude poetry and quotations, and areading  of  the  names  of  all  whodied that day after al Qaeda terror-ists hijacked jets that also crashedinto  the  Pentagon  in Washingtonand in Pennsylvania.“Family members  only  will  be  al-

lowed to walk onto the plaza, lookat  their  loved  ones’  names,  lookdown  into  the  voids,”  Bloombergsaid during his weekly appearanceon WOR radio. “The first day it’s re-served  for  those  family memberswho lost somebody on 9/11.”Visitors must apply for reservationsto  see  the  site  after  Sept.  11,  toavoid  crowding,  Bloomberg  said.Tickets may  be  obtained  throughthe city’s Website, www.nyc.gov.The mayor is 9/11 National Memo-rial chairman, and founder and ma-jority  owner  of  Bloomberg  Newsparent Bloomberg LP.

Yemen Kills 14 Tribesmen by Mistake

(Google  News  July  30,  2011)SANA,  Yemen  —  Governmentairstrikes  in  southern  Yemenagainst Islamist militants acciden-tally  killed  14  pro-governmenttribesmen, a Yemeni security offi-cial said Saturday.The botched airstrikes  reflect  thedifficulty the imperiled governmenthas had battling for survival on mul-tiple fronts since a popular uprisingagainst the longtime president, AliAbdullah Saleh, began six monthsago. Armed tribesmen are fightinggovernment forces in a number ofareas around the country, and Is-lamist militants, some allied with AlQaeda, have overrun entire townsin the restive south.The  airstrikes  hit  just  east  of  thetown of Zinjibar, near the southerncoast, which Islamist militants over-ran in May. Since then, governmentforces and tribesmen have battledto push them out, causing regularcasualties on both sides.The  security  official, Abdullah  al-

Jadana,  said  Saturday  that  menfrom the Fadl tribe had advancedon Zinjibar, killing two militants andoccupying a government communi-cations  building  before  at  leastthree airstrikes hit the area late Fri-day,  he  said. Fourteen  tribesmenwere killed in the strike.A  military  official  confirmed  theairstrikes and said preliminary infor-mation  indicated  a  mistake  hadbeen made. He spoke on conditionof  anonymity  in  line  with  militaryrules.Tribal  loyalties  are  paramount  inYemen’s provinces, where the cen-tral government exerts little control,and  an  errant  airstrike  could  sapthe local support crucial to govern-ment forces.Just  north  of  the  capital,  Sana,where antigovernment tribes havebeen  battling  Yemen’s  army,  twodays of clashes  left 17  tribesmendead, prompting a powerful tribe tothreaten attacks against Sana’s in-ternational airport.

The  Arhab  tribe,  which  has  longcomplained of government neglect,says the elite Republican Guard isshelling and bombing  its villages,killing civilians.The  tribe has previously attackedarmy  bases  and  tried  to  preventtroops from entering Sana, where itfeared they would attack protesters.A tribal leader, Sheik Hamid Assem,said Saturday  that dozens of sol-diers had also been killed.The  Defense  Ministry  acknowl-edged in a statement that soldiershad  died,  but  did  not  provide  anumber.In a statement  issued late Friday,the Arhab  tribe,  “The  sons of  theArhab tribe will strike the Sana In-ternational Airport with all the avail-able means of war in response tothe attacks on them by air and theshelling  of  their  villages  andhomes.”

EU to apply more Sanctions on Syria

(Google  News  )  European Uniongovernments agreed in principle onThursday  to  extend  sanctionsagainst  the government of SyrianPresident  Bashar  al-Assad,  EUdiplomats said. "There is a principal agreement toextend  the  list of  sanctioned per-sons by five," an EU diplomat said,declining to give details of the indi-viduals targeted. The EU wants to increase pressureon Syria`s regime to end a crack-down against demonstrators. It has

already imposed restrictive meas-ures against him and at least twodozen  officials,  and  has  targetedmilitary-linked companies in Syria. Under Thursday's agreement, fivemore people will be targeted withrestrictions such as asset freezesand a travel ban. Once formally approved by EU en-voys, the sanctions will come intoeffect early next week. EU also keep pushing for a UN res-olution at UN Security Council re-garding Syria, as Syrian regime arestill forcing more crackdown at peo-

ple protests.For its part, Russia believes that asolution to the crisis in Syria shouldbe  find  avoiding  foreign  interfer-ence,  Russia`s  Deputy  ForeignMinister  Mikhail  Bogdanov  toldRussia Today. He added that Moscow opposes aUNSC  resolution  on  Surya  sincesimilar measures against Libya didno good. Mr. Bogdanov urged Damascus tofocus  more  on  political  and  eco-nomic reforms.

Tropical Storm Don forms over Gulf of Mexico(Google  News)  The  storm  forcedseveral offshore energy operators toevacuate support workers, but wasnot  yet  strong  enough  to  causecompanies to shut in production.Shell  Oil  Co,  Apache  Corp,Anadarko Petroleum Corp said theywere  evacuating  support  workersprimarily from western Gulf opera-tions. BHP Billiton and BP Plc wereevacuating  support  workers  fromcentral Gulf platforms.The storm was expected  to movethrough  the  southern  and  centralGulf  through  Thursday  and  ap-proach  the  Texas  coast,  the  U.S.National Hurricane Center said.That path would take it near oil andgas operations in the western andwest-central part of the Gulf, largelyavoiding the biggest concentrationsof  production  platforms  south  ofNew  Orleans,  but  near  severalcoastal refineries."If  the weather continues  to movetoward  our  facilities,  we  are  pre-pared to remove additional person-nel  and  shut  in  production at  thattime," Anadarko said.Oil traders were watching the stormdevelop, but said it was not yet hav-ing an impact on U.S. prices, whichfell  more  than  $2  a  barrel  on

Wednesday due to a rise in crude oilstocks and weak economic data.Wholesale gasoline differentials onthe well-supplied Gulf Coast gaineda penny per gallon, but traders saidupsets  at  refineries  in  the  regioncould  have  as much  influence  onprices as the storm."A move to the North or Northwestcould prompt precautionary shut-insof offshore production facilities, de-pending on its intensity, although itwill  need  to  strengthen  rapidly  topose  any  threat  to  facilities,"  JPMorgan  analyst  Lawrence  Eaglessaid in a note.Other producers, including BP Plc,Exxon Mobil  Corp,  Chevron  Corpand  Mexico's  state  oil  companyPemex said  they were monitoringthe storm.The Gulf accounts for 29 percent ofU.S. oil production and 13 percentof natural gas output, according tothe U.S. Energy Information Admin-istration. About 30 percent of U.S.natural gas processing plant capac-ity also lines the Gulf Coast, the EIAsaid.Refiners  along  the  Gulf  Coast,home to 40 percent of the nation'srefining capacity, were also watch-ing the system.

INSURERS WATCHINGThe storm is being closely watchedby  the  global  insurance  industry,which is on track for its worst yearever. Insurers and reinsurers havealready lost more than $60 billion in2011  on  natural  disasters,  and  amajor U.S. hurricane landfall couldbecome a market-changing event,letting  insurance  companies  raiseprices across the board after yearsof declines.Those possibly  facing  the biggestshort-term hit include domestic in-surers  such  as Travelers, Allstateand Chubb -- all of which have suf-fered huge tornado losses this yearas well as reinsurers including Berk-shire HathawayThe  NHC  said  the  system  wasabout  755  miles  east  of  CorpusChristi, Texas, and moving towardthe  west-northwest  at  nearly  12miles per hour (19 km/h).The Texas coastal bend is the mostheavily irrigated cotton area of thestate. The crop's harvest  is set  tostart in early August. A storm coulddamage the state's cotton produc-tion at a  time when  large parts ofTexas have been baked by drought.

Ukraine mourns 32 dead in mine accidents(Google News) Ukraine — Rescuerworkers in Ukraine recovered morebodies Saturday as  the death  tollfrom two separate mining accidentsin the country's notoriously perilouscoal pits rose to 32.Fears  were  rising  meanwhile  forfive miners still missing.President  Viktor  Yanukovych  an-nounced  a  day  of  mourning  forSunday,  while  Prime  MinisterMykola Azarov is to attend a funeralservice  for  victims  the  same  dayand meet their relatives.Twenty-four  miners  died  after  anexplosion  early  Friday  at  theSukhodolskaya-Vostochnaya  coalmine  in  the  eastern  Lugansk  re-gion, the emergency ministry said,revising an earlier toll of 20.Two people are still missing.The  toll  from a separate accidenthours later was also revised, fromseven to eight, with three still miss-ing,  after  a  mine  headframe  col-lapsed at the Bazhanova pit in thetown of Makiyivka in the neighbour-ing Donetsk region.The twin disasters were the coun-try's worst mining accidents sincemore  than  100  miners  died  in  amine explosion in 2007.The  blast  hit  the Sukhodolskaya-Vostochnaya mine at around 2:00am on Friday, in an air passage at

a depth of more  than 900 metres(2,950 feet), where 28 miners wereworking at the time, the emergencyministry said."The  provisional  explanation  is  amethane  explosion,"  the  regionaladministration said Saturday.Rescuers have begun clearing gasfrom an emergency access tunnelinto the mine, in order to go downin search of the missing miners, aspokeswoman for the Lugansk re-gional administration told AFP.But  Albina  Kosheleva  said  therewas little hope of finding more min-ers alive."I can't say anything about this. It isunlikely," she said.Two miners pulled from the debrisand hospitalised in the city's burnsunit remained in "an extremely se-rious condition, on the verge of lifeand  death,"  Kosheleva  added.  Athird survivor died in hospital on Fri-day.Two miners were buried on Satur-day and another 15 are due to beburied on Sunday, said Kosheleva.The prime minister would also holdan  official  meeting  with  relatives,she said.In the other, separate, accident in astate-owned mine  in  the Donetskregion, a 65-metre-high tower con-taining the headgear for raising and

lowering miners into the shaft col-lapsed Friday, trapping workers."The search and rescue operationis continuing", said the emergencyministry.The concrete tower crashed to theground, collapsing  into a mass ofrubble,  tangled with wires, photo-graphs released by the local emer-gency ministry branch showed.Yanukovych interrupted his holidayto  travel  to  the  scene  of  theSukhodolskaya-Vostochnaya acci-dent late Friday and meet relativesof victims and survivors.He  also  called  for  a  governmentcommission to investigate the dis-asters  and  to  work  on  improvingsafety standards to protect miners.The  Sukhodolskaya-Vostochnayamine  is  run  by  a  private  holdingcalled  Metinvest  Group,  which  iscontrolled  by  Rinat  Akhmetov  --Ukraine's  richest  man  whobankrolled Yanukovych's presiden-tial campaign in 2010.Deadly  accidents  are  frequent  inUkrainian mines, most of which arelocated  in  the  country's  industrialeastern region. Many of the minesare  underfunded  and  poorlyequipped,  while  safety  violationsare rife.

FBI offers $25,000 reward in case of Missing N.H. girl

(Google  News  Jul  31,  2011)TRIPOLI: Libya said three journal-ists were killed in a Nato air strikeon state television on Saturday andthat the murder of the rebels' armychief proved al-Qaida was instigat-ing country's armed revolt."Three of our colleagues were mur-dered and 15 injured while perform-ing  their  professional  duty  asLibyan  journalists,"  said  KhaledBasilia,  director  of  Al-JamahiriyaTV's English service.

He branded the air strike "an act ofinternational terrorism and in viola-tion of UN Security Council resolu-tions."  Earlier,  Nato  in  Brusselsannounced it had carried out preci-sion strikes on three Libyan televi-sion transmitters to silence "terrorbroadcasts"  by  MuammarGaddafi's regime. Nato conducteda precision air strike that disabledthree  ground-based  Libyan  stateTV satellite transmission dishes inTripoli.

Report: Israel plans to build sepa-ration barrier in Golan

(Google News July 30, 2011) Israel plans to build a barrier in theGolan Heights to separate the town of Majdal Shams on the Is-raeli side from the suburb of Al-Oude and Ain Al-Tinah in Syria,the Syrian semi-official SANA news agency reported.According to the report, the cement wall will be four kilometerslong and eight meters high. SANA also reported that the wall is expected to be completed inSeptember, before the UN vote on Palestinian statehood.

Syria ranked second in the 23rd International Olympiadin Informatics

(Google News ) Syria Gets Silver Medalin International Olympiad  in Informatics(IOI), held in Thailand on July 22-29, forthe first  time in the history of  its partici-pation consecutively. Kinan Sarmini won the silver medal aftergetting 454 points out of 600 points in the2-day  competitions  which  included

307contestants from 79 countries. Deputy Head of the Syrian Computer So-ciety  (SCS),  Jaafar  al-Khayyer,  toldSANA  that  the  Syrian  team  includedthree contestants beside Sarmini. Sarmini already won the bronze medal inthe 22nd Olympiad competition held lastyear in Waterloo, Canada.

PHILIPPINE BULLETIN

(PR)Malacanang  cited  thecontinued influx of tourist ar-rival in the country which ac-cording to the Department ofTourism (DOT) has reached1.6 million visitors from Jan-uary to May 2011.In a regular press briefing inMalacanang  on  Friday,Deputy  PresidentialSpokesperson Abigail Valtesaid the DOT expressed op-timism that  it can meet  thetarget of 3.74 million arrivalsthis year.“From January to May, 2011,na meet ng DOT iyong tar-get  nila  for  the  number  ofvisitors,  umakyat  po  itong1.6 million at on track napo  sila  para  ma-meet  angannual target na 3.74 millionvisitors.  Posting  a  12-per-cent growth from the sameperiod  last  year,  170,000more visitors almost midwayinto the year,” she said.Valte said DOT representa-tives  had  a  meeting  withPresident Benigno S. AquinoIII on Friday  to present  thePhilippine National TourismDevelopment Plan for 2011-2016.The 2011 State of the NationAddress  (SONA) TechnicalReport  said  the  continuedgrowth  in  visitor  volume  isthe result of sustained mar-keting  and  promotions  ef-forts  undertaken  jointly  bythe public and private sec-tors in key source markets,such as attending  to  travelfairs,  invitational  programsand very selective advertis-ing.In 2010, visitor arrivals sur-passed the 3.3 million targetfor the year reaching an all-time  high  of  3.52  million,16.67%  higher  than  the2009 visitor arrivals of 3.01million,  according  to  theSONA Technical Report.

It was noted that in just thefirst year of  the Aquino ad-ministration,  a  15.60%  in-crease in visitor arrivals wasrecorded from 3.2 million ar-rivals  in  the  period  July2009-June 2010 to 3.7 mil-lion  arrivals  in  the  periodJuly 2010-June 2011.“More particularly, in the firstsix months of the Aquino Ad-ministration,  visitor  volumegrew by 21%, faster than thefirst semester of 2010’s 12%growth. Total  receipts  fromvisitors increased by 11.3%from $2.24 billion in 2009 to$2.49 billion in 2010,” the re-port said.The  report  added  that  theCivil  Aeronautics  Board(CAB) granted new permitsto operate regular air serv-ices to Korean Airlines, GulfAir,  Continental  Airlines,Pakistan  International  Air-lines, which are expected toprovide weekly seat capacityof  12,090  from  Korea,Bahrain, Guam, and Palau.The CAB also granted per-mits  to  Jin Air,  Jetstar Air-ways, Air Busan, MandarinAirlines, Air Nippon Airways,and Jeju Air. These airlinesare  expected  to  bring  in1,498  and  2,265  touristsweekly  from  Japan  andKorea, respectively.The DOT  further estimatesthat  there  will  be  an  addi-tional  37,623  potentialJapanese  tourists  and56,888  potential  Koreantourists  in  the  country withthese additional seat capac-ities.In 2010, Korean tourists ac-counted  for  the  biggestchunk  of  visitor  arrivals  or21.04%  (740,622)  whileJapanese visitors accountedfor 10.19% (358,744) of totaltourist arrivals.

Malacanang cites in-crease of tourist arrivals

Coloma addressesseminar of publicrelations practi-tioners in QuezonCity(PR) Presidential CommunicationsOperations Office (PCOO) Secre-tary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr.shared with public relations practi-tioners from various private busi-nesses  and  companies  thecommunication  strategies  of  thegovernment in imparting to the Fil-ipino people the “good news” thatthe Aquino administration are im-plementing  to  effect  change  to-wards progress and development.In his speech during the SecondModule  of  the  Public  RelationsSeminar  of  the  Public  RelationsSociety of the Philippines (PRSP)at  the  GMA  Network  CorporateCenter in Quezon City on Friday,Coloma meticulously explained tothe seminar participants the Pres-ident’s methods of communicatingwith the citizenry, an important toolthat will help in ensuring the peo-ple’s participation in nation-build-ing.Coloma defined the scope of workand  duties  of  the  government’scommunication group.“What is presidential communica-tion?  It  is  to  assure  the  citizensthat  a  transparent  and  efficientgovernment is working for them…,” Coloma said.“Its goals also include promotingfruitful  communication  betweenthe President and the people andto inspire them to actively partici-pate in nation-building,” he added.The  PCOO  chief  explained  theprocess being used by the agencyin encouraging people’s participa-tion that begins with the Presidentinforming the citizens about whatgovernment is doing for them fol-lowed by  his  receiving  feedbackfrom the people. As a result,  thepeople build a common ground forworking together with government.Coloma also shared to the partic-ipants attending the seminar someremarks from prominent newspa-per columnists regarding the ChiefExecutive’s signature style of ad-dressing the public.In the column of Neal Cruz’s in thePhilippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) onJuly 26, 2011,  the simplicity anddelivery  of  the President’s  latestState of  the Nation Address wascited.He also likened President Aquinoto a painter showing the presentstate of the country.Another  journalist,  Conrado  deQuiros also of  the PDI, stated  inhis column, published on July 27,2011,  that  the President’s SONAspeech was one of the best he hasever heard. He said that PresidentAquino has become the best pub-lic speaker among the Presidentsof the last half-century.“It was one of the best speechesI’ve heard. First off,  I don’t knowhow anyone can fail to realize howP-Noy has become the best publicspeaker among the Presidents ofthe  last  half-century. Better  thanMarcos,  better  than Erap,  betterthan  Cory,  and  certainly  betterthan  Fidel  Ramos  and  GloriaMacapagal-Arroyo,”  De  Quirossaid noting the remarkable devel-opment of the President as a pub-lic speaker.Secretary Coloma cited some ofthe projects that have been under-taken by the Aquino governmentnamely, job generation: matchingsupply with demand, AFP modern-ization & housing for soldiers & po-lice, Pantawid Pamilyang PilipinoProgram: CCT, Synchronization ofARMM with national & local elec-tions  and  Legislative  priorities,among others.The PRSP  is  the country’s pre-mier organization for public rela-tions  professionals.  In  its  rosterare  practitioners  who  representbusiness  and  industry,  govern-ment,  non-profit  organizations,hospitals, schools, hotels and pro-fessional services among others.

(PR)  Malacanang  is  in  theprocess of drafting a Freedom ofInformation  (FOI)  bill  that  bal-ances the interest of the govern-ment  to  withhold  sensitiveinformation and at the same timenot curtail the right of the peopleto  be  informed,  President  Be-nigno Aquino III said.“My  administration  is  in  theprocess of drafting, and suggest-ing, a Freedom of Information billthat we believe will balance legit-imate needs for secrecy with thepublic’s right to know,” the Pres-ident said in his speech speechduring the 25th anniversary cel-ebration  of  the  Philippine  Starnewspaper  in  Makati  City  onThursday.“This right to know carries with itresponsibilities—to use the infor-mation  available  in  context;  topresent  facts  fairly;  and  to  beconscious  of  some  elementswho may want to use the infor-mation not to inform the public,but to, rather, inflame them,” headded.The  Chief  Executive  said  thePalace is carefully studying thedetails  of  such  legislation  inorder to ensure that it serves thepublic  interest without  compro-mising it.Malacanang is close to suggest-ing  a  legislation  that  balancesthe concerns of many stakehold-ers and at  the  same  time  trulyempower  the  citizenry  towardsforming informed decisions, con-sistent with the Constitution, hesaid.“Once this bill is passed into law,the media will have greater ac-cess to all kinds of sensitive in-formation. It is incumbent on youto use this access carefully andresponsibly,” the President saidas  he  asked  the  media  not  toview his statement as an attackto free press.According  to  the President,  hebelieves that the press can con-tinue strengthening  its partner-ship  with  the  people  and  withgovernment to elevate the levelof public discourse.“Partnership does not mean thatwe want media to be lap dogs ofgovernment; at  the same  time,media  shouldn’t  allow  them-selves to be used as attack dogseither,” the President said addingthat the media’s ultimate role isto be a watchdog of the govern-ment.Last year, the House of Repre-sentatives  failed  to  ratify  theFreedom of Information bill be-cause of the lack of a quorum toput the bill to a vote in the LowerHouse.Malacanang  maintains  that

pushing  for  the passage of  theFOI bill is one of its top priorities,noting  however  that  the  Presi-dent  wants  to  ensure  that  theproposed  law keeps a balancebetween providing information tothe public, and at the same timeprotecting  confidential  govern-ment information.Passing the FOI bill would con-cretize the President’s vision ofstamping  out  government  cor-ruption by making the records ofpublic transactions accessible tothe  public,  especially  to  thepress.

Aquino directsDeles to implementclosure pact with

Cordillera People’sLiberation Army

Editorial: Syrianconundrum

DAMASCUS (Google  News  Jul30,  2011)  Despite  the  mediablackout and the absence of theinternational  media  to  reportevents,  the  news  of  yet  moreprotests and deaths in Syria con-tinues to filter through to the out-side  world.  On  Friday,  tens  ofthousands  of  Syrians  were  re-ported on the streets of the coun-try’s cities demanding the removalof the government and, accordingto the opposition, seven civilianswere shot dead. These protestsnow happen every Friday withoutfail.  It  is  clear  that  after  fourmonths  of  protest,  the  unrestshows no sign of abating. On thecontrary, it is growing. The previ-ous Friday saw mass demonstra-tions in almost every city and asmany  as  32  shot  dead.  Friday,which should be a day of prayer,

a day of tranquility, has becomefor Syrians, a day of death — ex-cept that every day is now a dayof death. In the week between Fri-day July 22 and Friday 29, at leastanother  11  civilians  were  killed.Friday is  just an especial day ofdeath. The total figure of civilianskilled is now put at over 1,600 and3,000 are missing. Over 12,500are in detention.Two days ago, the protesters’ tar-get was not only the government.They railed against “Arab silence”which  they  say  is  killing  them.They are bitter that the Arab worldhas not taken a decisive stand onthe  crisis.  They  also  see  them-selves  ignored by a wider worldthat was prepared to take actionover Libya because of the massslaughter  of  civilians  there  andthreats to kill even more but can-not  bring  itself  to  do  the  sameover Syria where the same is hap-pening albeit on a lesser scale.Their complaints are understand-

able.  But  while  the  protestershave the undoubted support of or-dinary Arabs from the Gulf to theAtlantic, as well as of public opin-ion around the world, Syria is notLibya. With its patchwork of faithsand their impact on the country’spolitics, it is a potential tinder boxif mishandled — and it would bemishandled because there  is noconsensus  as  to  what  to  do.  Apost-Assad conflagration in whichtens of thousands might die, couldeasily draw in Iran and Israel andcertainly  impact  on  Lebanon.Thus, while the international com-munity  looks on with horror andutters concern and condemnation,it refrains from taking action on aLibyan  scale.  It  worries  what  ishappening in Syria, but it worrieseven  more  about  what  mightcome afterward if the governmentcollapses.As a result, the Syrian crisis is leftto fester with the infection gradu-ally  spreading  throughout  the

whole  body.  It  looks  like  a  gan-grene — incurable and ultimatelydeadly — but  it could be a  longwhile  before  the  end  stage  isreached.  Equally,  there  is  nodoubt that the Syrian governmenthas a large body of supporters, al-though whether they constitute amajority is highly doubtful.A prolonged but ever deepeningcrisis is the sole prognosis unlessthe  government  can  managechange. Belatedly it is trying to dojust that: The Cabinet has just ap-proved a draft law allowing politi-cal  parties  to  form  and  contestelections. But there is little convic-tion that the ruling party is willingto  share,  let  alone  surrender,power and, given the violence andthe number of people killed, it isdifficult to imagine the governmentcapable of restoring mass publicsupport for it.As more civilians die,  the bitter-ness is bound to increase.

July  25,  2011.  Libyan women  bakers  prepare  pastry  andsweets with the colours of the former Libyan flag used by therebels, at a bakery in the Libyan rebel stronghold city of Beng-hazi. Civil war or not, every year the holy Muslim month of Ra-madan must be respected and in Libya's rebel stronghold ofBenghazi women bakers are working overtime to meet de-mand.

July 22, 2011. A giant image of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafiis unveiled at the Green Square in central Tripoli.

July 25, 2011People place roses in front of Oslo's town hall afteras many as 150,000 people gathered for a flower vigil in the cap-ital, in a show of solidarity with the victims of recent attacks in Nor-way

July 25, 2011. Pakistani shoe maker maker Abdul Hameed,center, works on a giant shoe at his shop in Lahore. Hameedhas made a six-foot shoe with gold thread to attract his cus-tomers for an upcoming Muslim festival known as 'eid', whichusually takes place at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Independence DayBURKINA FASO - August 5

Burkina Faso celebrates its independence day every year on August 5th.This country got independent from French rule in 1960. Before that, theterritory was merged with and separated from other French territories inWest Africa.Until the end of 19th century, the empire-building Mossi dominated the his-tory of Burkina Faso. In 1896, the French claimed the area but Mossi re-sistance  was  there  till  1901,  when  the  French  captured  the  capital,Ouagadougou. In 1919, the colony of upper Volta was established. It wasdismantled and reconstituted several times. The present borders were rec-ognized in 1947.

HistoryFrance colonized Upper Volta in 1897. They did so as a carve-up of WestAfrica between Britain and herself. The French captured the country, notfor any riches, but as a bridge to link their other territories. The populationseemed to the French as a huge labor pool. They never invested in thecountry.After the world war two, the movement for independence was growingstronger day by day in the West African countries. France recreated UpperVolta in 1947 because she feared the growth of support for the movementin Cote d’lvoire. Eventually the issue of independence was forced in theFrench parliament in Paris by representation of the French colonies. Thus,each colony was provided its own Government Council. So, in 1958 Mau-rice Yameogo of the Voltaic Democratic Union was elected as the first pres-ident of Upper Volta.After  independence, Yameogo  tried  to  reduce  the power of  the Mossirulers, but his power was reduced by the poor economy and internal conflicts. In 1965, he was reelected as president. It was quite unsurprising becauseall the other parties were banned. In 1966, a group of army officers headed by Lt. Col. Sangoulé Lamizana overthrew his government in a bloodless rebellion.He then became the head of the state. In 1983, another movement erupted which carved out the country’s modern identity. Thomas Sankara led it. Sankarawas a staunch supporter of women’s equality. He was strongly anti-corruption and ideological. During his rule, female circumcision and prostitution werebanned. He was also against polygamy. He introduced a campaign that vaccinated 3 million children against diseases like yellow fever, measles, andmeningitis, in only 15 days.

TRADITIONS AND ACTIVITIESIn this way, Burkina Faso has come a long way in 47 years. It has established its own identity. Every citizen of the country celebrates the IndependenceDay with unmatched enthusiasm. It is a fact that the country is still poor economically but it is showing a continuous growth of 5%. There are nearly 60ethnic groups in the country and many religions, which live side by side peacefully. They all take the pledge on the Independence Day to make their countryprosperous and peaceful.

Palace says country must learn from2004, 2007 alleged election fraud (PR) The country must strive to put closure to theallegations of election cheatings in 2004 and 2007so that it doesn’t repeat the same mistake, Presi-dential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.Lacierda made this statement in response to thecriticism of some lawmakers who said the publicmust forget about the alleged 2004 and 2007 elec-toral fraud that put former president and now Pam-panga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to power aswell as some of her allies.The President’s spokesman said the real purposeof the reopening of the investigation in the electionanomaly is to discern what really happened duringthose electoral exercises.“We should remember the past in order for us notto  repeat  the past  (mistakes). That’s what we’redoing,” he said in a press briefing in Malacanangon Thursday. “We’re coming up with the truth we’rediscovering the truth, so that as a people and as abody politic we should not allow ourselves to repeatthese illegal acts.”Asked by reporters on how the government wouldbe able to charge the former leader amid legal opin-ions saying the she can no longer be held account-able  after  she  stepped  down,  Lacierda  cited  atheory inunciated by Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes.“There’s a  theory by Chairman Brillantes sayingthat the prescription has not started to run againstthe  former  president  because  she was  enjoyingpresidential  immunity  while  she  was  the  sittingpresident. But it’s a theory of Brillantes and that re-mains to be resolved,” he said.The idea is to show what really happened duringthe 2004 and 2007 elections Lacierda said, addingthat recent revelations if ever they can be provento be  factual would help  in  resolving what  reallyhappened during those elections.Lacierda noted that witnesses coming out to revealwhat they know about the alleged cheatings showtheir confidence in the present administration.As to whether the government can pin down the for-mer leader, Lacierda said the important thing is thatthe  government  is  able  to  discover  the  truthwhether the elections of 2004 and 2007 were legit-imately and properly conducted according to law.The Commission on Elections (Comelec) and theDepartment of Justice (DoJ) have agreed to con-duct a joint inquiry into the alleged electoral fraud.The Comelec said it would handle the criminal as-pect that might come up in the joint investigation.The joint inquiry would proceed even without theparticipation of former Comelec commissioner Vir-gilio Garcillano, believed to have had phone con-versations with  then  President Arroyo  to  rig  the2004 election results. 

BUDAPEST, Hungary(Google  News)  —Asafa Powell won the100-meter race in 9.86seconds  at  the  Hun-garian  Grand  Prix  onSaturday,  the  fastestrun in the country.The Jamaican was theonly competitor to rununder  10  seconds  inwindy  conditions  and68-degree  tempera-ture at Ferenc PuskasStadium,  finishingahead of NgonidzasheMakusha of Zimbabweand Andrew  Hinds  ofBarbados."I  could  have  gone  alot  faster  today  but  Iwas working on somestuff,"  said  Powell,whose personal best is9.72. "It was cold and Iwas  a  bit  cautious.  Itwas still a good time."Powell will compete atthe  Aviva  Grand  PrixDiamond League meetin London next week-end.  It's  his  last  race

before  the  worldchampionships, whichstart Aug. 27 in Daegu,South Korea."This is my year and I'lltry my best. We'll see ifit's enough  for a goldmedal (at the worlds),"said Powell, who wonbronze  in  the  100  atthe worlds in 2007 and2009.Veronica  Campbell-Brown of Jamaica wonthe  women's  200  in22.26  seconds,  withSanya Richards-Rossof  the  United  Statessecond  in  22.63.Blessing Okagbare ofNigeria was third.Joel Craddock  led anAmerican sweep of thetop  three spots  in  the110 hurdles, winning in13.48. Kevin Craddockwas second,  followedby Jeff Porter.Kevin  Borlee  of  Bel-gium  took  the  400  in45.91,  followed  byHungary's  Marcell

Deak Nagy and ErisonHurtault of France.D o u b l e - am p u t e eOscar  Pistorius  ofSouth Africa, who runson carbon-fiber bladesand  qualified  for  theable-bodied worlds forthe  first  time  earlierthis month, was last inthe 400 after finishingin 47.47."This is a really beauti-ful city and the crowdwas really supportive.I'm just sorry I couldn'tgive  them  a  quickertime," Pistorius said. "Ihope to return one dayand give them a betterrace."The  tournament  wasthe inaugural edition ofthe Istvan Gyulai Me-morial,  commemorat-ing the  late SecretaryGeneral  of  the  IAAFwho died  in 2006. Hewas  a  sprinter  in  hisyouth, winning 28 na-tional  championshipsin Hungary.

The Jewish athletes who repu-diated Nazi ideals

(Google News July 30, 2011) Three generations after swastikas and theOlympic rings vied for prominence at the Reichssportfeld in Berlin, blackAmerican track star Jesse Owens remains an icon of anti-racism andanti-fascism simply because his four gold medals discomfited Aryan su-premacists in the "Nazi Games."Rather less familiar, though perhaps more potent symbols, were the 13Jewish athletes who won medals at the Games. They include Canada'sIrving Meretsky and, remarkably, even one German team member.Helene Mayer, a fencer who had won gold in the 1928 Games, was re-luctantly added to the German team as a sop to the U.S. Olympic Com-mittee, which was looking for a way to blunt a Jewish-led campaign foran American boycott of the Games. Tall, blond, green-eyed and Jewishon her father's side, Mayer was proclaimed an "honorary Aryan" for theduration of the Games.In the end, Mayer won a silver medal in the individual foil competition,losing the gold, much to the Nazis' chagrin, to another half-Jewish fencer,Hungary's Ilona Elek. As if that wasn't ignominy enough for the GermanOlympic committee, the bronze medal in the same competition went toa third Jewish athlete, Berlin-born Ellen Preis, who fenced for Austria.But  at  least  as  controversial  as  the  Jewish  athlete  who  donned  aswastika to win a medal is the fate of two American-Jewish athletes whowere denied a medal by the machinations of their own team officials.18-year-old Marty Glickman from Syracuse University and Sam Stoller,21, a University of Michigan track star, were the only Jews on the trackteam the U.S. brought to Berlin. They had trained for the 4x100metrerelay and been personally assured spots on the team by Lawson Robert-son, head coach of the American track team, according to historian DavidClay Large, author of Nazi Games: The Olympics of 1936.For more than a week in Berlin, Glickman and Stoller practised for therelay, but on the eve of the trials, Robertson called a team meeting. Heannounced that the two Jewish athletes would be replaced by JesseOwens and the man who had come a close second to Owens in the 100-metre dash, another black athlete, Ralph Metcalfe.Roberston said he had growing concerns about  the competition andwanted his best men on the track, though most observers felt that anycombination of the U.S. track team could win the relay easily.As it turned out, the American relay team walked away with the compe-tition, crossing the finish line with about 10 metres between themselvesand the second-place Italian team, and 15 metres ahead of the third-place Germans. Based on earlier training times, writes Large, there islittle doubt that the original relay team would have also won gold.Throughout his life, Marty Glickman remained convinced that the last-minute switch had been made at the urging of U.S. Olympic Committeepresident Avery Brundage, a Nazi sympathizer, so as not to further em-barrass the Fuehrer. In 1998, when Glickman was 80, the USOC all butadmitted the fact, awarding him its first Douglas MacArthur Award forlifetime achievement, and referring pointedly to the controversy. Stollerdid not get the same vindication; he had died earlier.Because of the relay team decision, the U.S. had only one Jewish medalwinner in 1936. Sam Balter, at fivefoot-10, was the shortest member ofthe American basketball team that prevailed over Canada, but he still av-eraged more than eight points a game during the tournament.Among the other Jews whose Olympic honours repudiated Nazi idealswere:GOLD Gyorgy Brody, Hungary, Water Polo: He played six matches as agoalkeeper for the Hungarians. He was also on the gold-medal winningteam Hungary sent to the 1932 Games in Los Angeles.Miklos Sarkany, Hungary, Water Polo: Brody's teammate in 1932 and1936 would become a trainer for Hungary's national team for many yearsafter the war.Karoly Karpati, Hungary, Freestyle Wrestling: Karpati's medal was par-ticularly satisfying, because he defeated the German favourite, WolfgangEhrl, who had won the European championship in each of the previousthree years.Endure Kabos, Hungary, Individual Sabre and Team Sabre: Kabos won24 of 25 matches on his way to winning gold, but his status as a fencerdid nothing to protect him during the war. Hungarian officials sent him toa forced labour camp. He escaped from the camp and died while fightingfor the Hungarian resistance.Ibolya Csak, Hungary, High Jump: Csak broke a four-way tie in the finalheat of the women's high-jump by clearing 162 centimetres. She wouldsurvive the war working in Hungary's Banknote Printing Co.Robert Fein, Austria, Weightlifting: Fein came from behind in the light-weight division to tie with Egyptian weightlifter Anwar Mesbah and sharethe gold medal.SILVER Jadwiga Wajs, Poland, Discus: Germans won  the gold andbronze medals in the women's discus throw in 1936, but Wajs took thesilver, improving on her bronze medal in Los Angeles four years earlier.BRONZE Gerard Blitz,  Belgium, Water Polo: Blitz  is  perhaps  betterknown as the man who, after the war, founded the international resortchain that would come to be known as Club Med. But first he was a Bel-gian water polo champion from a family of water polo champions. Hefought in the French resistance during the war.

1. August weggen", bread baked to cele-brate Swiss National Day

Lammas DaySCOTLAND - August 1

In some English-speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere, August 1 is Lammas Day(loaf-mass day), the festival of the wheat harvest, and is the first harvest festival of the year. On thisday it was customary to bring to church a loaf made from the new crop. In many parts ofEngland,tenants were bound to present freshly harvested wheat to their landlords on or before the firstday of August. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, where it is referred to regularly, it is called "thefeast of first fruits". The blessing of new fruits was performed annually in both the EasternandWestern Churches on the first or the sixth of August (the latter being the feast of the Transfigu-ration of Christ). The Sacramentary of Pope Gregory I (died 604) specifies the sixth.In mediæval times the feast was known as the "Gule of August", but the meaning of "gule" isunclear. Ronald Hutton suggests that it may be an Anglicisation of Gŵyl Awst, the Welsh namefor August 1 meaning "feast of August", but this is perhaps an overly-complicated extraction.Most etymological dictionaries give it an origin similar to gullet; from O.Fr. goulet, dim. of goule"throat, neck," from L. gula "throat,". One can see why Hutton feels differently as this Welsh der-ivation would point to a pre-Christian origin for Lammas among the Anglo-Saxons and a link tothe Gaelic festival of Lughnasadh.There are several historical references to it being known as Lambess eve, such as 'Publicationsof the Scottish Historical Society' 1964 and this alternative name is the origin of the Lambesssurname, just as Hallowmass and Christmas were also adopted as familial titles.

ChristianThe feast of St. Peter in Chains, known as Lammas Day in English speaking countries, is a feastcommemorating St Peter's miraculous deliverance from prison. The name is from loaf-mass,bread-feast; so called because on this day offerings were originally made of the first-fruits ofharvest, the Catholic church baptizing the pagan festival in the tradition of the Hebrew FirstFruits.

Pre-IndustrialIn The Every-Day Book by William Hone(published: 1838), he speaks of a festivalcommon among Scottish farmers near Ed-inburgh  that  happens  on  August  1,  or"Lammas Day." He says  that  they  "buildtowers...leaving a hole for a flag-pole in thecenter so that they may raise their colors."When the flags over the many peat-con-structed towers were raised, farmers wouldgo to others' towers and attempt to "levelthem to the ground." A successful attemptwould bring great praise. However, peoplewere allowed to defend their towers, andso everyone was provided with a "tooting-horn" to alert nearby country folk of the im-pending attack and the battle would turninto  a  "brawl." According  to Hone, morethan four people had died at this festival and many more were injured. At the day's end, raceswere held, with prizes given to the townspeople.

Neo-PaganismLammas is a Neo-Pagan holiday, often called Lughnasadh, celebrating the first harvest and thereaping of grain. It is a cross-quarter holiday halfway between the Summer Solstice (Litha) andthe Autumnal Equinox (Mabon). In the northern hemisphere, Lammas takes place around August1 with the Sun near the midpoint of Leo in the tropical zodiac, while in the southern hemisphereLammas is celebrated around February 1 with the Sun near the midpoint of Aquarius. On theWheel of the Year, it is opposite Imbolc, which is celebrated on February 2 in the northern hemi-sphere, and late July / early August in the southern hemisphere.

Other usesLammas leaves or Lammas growth refers to a second crop of leaves produced in high summerby some species of trees in temperate countries to replace those lost to insect damage. Theyoften differ slightly in shape, texture and/or hairiness from the earlier leaves.

Accession of H.H. Sheikh ZayedUAE - August 6

Accession day or the day on which H. H Sheikh Zayed BinSultan Al Nahyan became the president of United Arab Emi-rates is celebrated in UAE on August 6 of every year. Theaccession of Sheikh Zayed to the throne happened in theyear 1966. This accession marked the start of a new epochin the history of United Arab Emirates. Sheikh Zayed was afuturist and farsighted thinker who wanted to unite the coun-try and its people. In more than 3 decades of his rule, hemade sure that with every step he is moving an inch closertowards his goal.

HISTORYH. H Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan is the brain behindwhat UAE is today. He implemented many new infrastructureprojects, which lead to the development of United Arab Emi-rates. He took many steps in the direction of uniting his coun-try  and  as well  as maintaining  healthy  relations with  theneighboring countries. He exploited the oil reserves of UAEin well planned and technical ways which lead to prosperityand filling up the treasure of the states. This was the reasonwhy Forbes considered him as one of the wealthiest personin the world.

TRADITIONS AND ACTIVITIESAccession day is celebrated in UAE with great enthusiasm.For almost a week, the whole country is gripped in the festiveatmosphere. Many government and non-government organ-izations prepare for more than a month so that AccessionDay celebrations are colorful and flamboyant than ever. Shin-ing and sparkling fireworks lit up the night sky of Abu Dhabi.Many traditional concerts and dances take place, which at-tracts many tourists to the country. People flock the roads intheir traditional attire and cars and other vehicles are deco-rated with the national flag. The television channels showmany documentaries about the Accession Day throughoutthe day.

Independence DayBOLIVIA - July 6

The people of Bolivia celebrate the Bolivian IndependenceDay on the 6th day of August every year to commemoratethe end of the Spanish dominion. The Spanish conqueredBolivia in the year 1524, and a counter offensive againstthe Spanish Empire was launched under the leadership ofthe Bolivian leader Simon Bolivar (after whom Bolivia isnamed) in the year, and achieved independence from theSpanish rule on August 8, 1925.

HistoryBolivia then known as “Upper Peru”, was a Spanish colonyunder the Viceroy of Lima. Initially it was an Aymara civi-lization however subsequently it was invaded by the Incaand  then  finally  by  the Spanish  in  the  year  1524. TheSpanish ruled Bolivia with the help of some local govern-ment authorities coming from the Audiecia de Charcas lo-cated in Chuquisaca (modern Sucre), and they generallyemployed people of Bolivia (then upper Peru) to work inthe silver mines they had acquired.Bolivian silver was very popular and expensive and wasthe main source of revenue of the Spanish Empire. Thepeople of Bolivia served as the greatest labor force of theSpanish Empire in this greatest source of revenue, how-ever the people were treated like slaves due to which re-sentment grew against the Spanish slowly and graduallyamong the people of Upper Peru (Bolivia).Plots  against  the  empire  couldn’t  be made  since  theylacked a good leader, and the Spanish authority was very strong, which almost made the Spanish invincible. The people were waiting for a chanceto launch a revolt against the unjust and cruel Spanish Rule and finally the time arrived.Due to different “Napoleonic Wars”, the Spanish power weakened by the year 1776, due to this, the people under the leadership of Simon Bolivartaking advantage launched a struggle for independence on the year 1809, and finally gained independence from the Spanish empire 16 yearsafter the launch of the freedom movement in the year 1925. After the independence from the Spanish, Bolivia was ruled by a series of dictators,who tried to unite all the three regions of the country including Altiplano, the central region and the eastern Andes region.

TRADITIONS AND ACTIVITIESBolivian Independence Day is celebrated every year with great pomp and show on the 6th day of August every year. The events are generallybased on the History, the culture and traditions of Bolivia and the events include patriotic parades through the streets, school functions, music andother forms of entertainment, and loud gun salutes. The functions are organized throughout the country, and musical and theater shows displayinghistory, the gain of independence, and patriotism are organized everywhere on the day.The main attraction and the general custom of celebrations are the Military parades on the day, which is simply magnificent. The day is a nationalholiday of Bolivia locally known as Dia de la Patria. The celebrations continue for a full day especially on the capital city of Bolivia ‘La Pez.’

27 rifles stolen from California military base(Google  News)  FORT  IRWIN,Calif.— More  than  two dozen as-sault rifles have been stolen from aSouthern California military base,and investigators sought the pub-lic's help as  they  looked  to arrestsuspects and recover the weapons,federal officials said Friday.Twenty-six AK-74 assault rifles andone  Dragunov  sniper  rifle  werestolen from a supply warehouse atFort  Irwin  in  San  BernardinoCounty on July 15,  the Bureau ofAlcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Ex-plosives says in a statement.Some arrests have been made andone rifle has been recovered, butthe agency is offering a reward ofup to $10,000 for information lead-

ing to further arrests, the statementsaid."Community participation is neces-sary to improve the likelihood thatATF and our law enforcement part-ners will track down the firearms aswell  as  the  criminals  who  havesought  to destabilize our commu-nity  through  illegal  activity,"  ATFSpecial Agent  in Charge  John A.Torres said in the statement.ATF  spokesman  Special  AgentChristian  Hoffman  could  not  saywhen reached by phone how manywere arrested, whether they weremilitary  or  civilian  or what motivethey may have had.He referred those questions to mil-itary  officials,  who  made  the  ar-

rests. Phone and email messagesleft  late  Friday  for  a  spokesmanfrom the U.S. Army Criminal Inves-tigations Command, which is inves-tigating the theft along with the ATFand the FBI, were not immediatelyreturned.Hoffman  also  could  not  say  whyword  of  the  theft  did  not  becomepublic for two weeks, but said hisagency decided to issue a news re-lease because of the potential dan-ger the loose weapons posed."We determined  that  there was apublic  safety  issue with  the  gunsgetting out on the street," he said.ing “irreconcilable differences.”

A Blast targeted Syrian Pipeline

(Google  News  July  23,  2011)SYRIA- Syria State-run TV re-ported earlier on Friday ”Sabo-teurs hit an oil pipeline with anexplosive device  in  the Talka-lakh  town  near  the  Tal  HoshDam, causing a leak of oil anda 10-meter deep crater. It saidthe saboteurs aimed to contam-inate the dam's water with oil toruin nearby agricultural crops.” The pipeline carries crude fromthe oil fields in the oil-rich east-ern Deir el-Zour to a refinery inBanias, which is the main pointof  export  for  Syrian  oil.  Thecountry's other refinery is in thecentral city of Homs. State TV said the blast hit nearthe western  town of Talkalakhbetween  Homs  and  Tartous,near the Tal Hosh dam, and lefta 33  feet deep crater. The TV

said the "terrorist attack soughtto  cause  oil  to  leak  into  thedam's waters  in order to dam-age  agricultural  crops  in  thearea.""At 04:00 am on Friday, somecitizens  heard  an  explosionnear a pipeline for transportingcrude oil to Baniyas", Governorof  Homs,  Ghassan  Abdul-Aaltold  State-run  news  agencySANA. Oil  Minister  Sifian  Allaw  said1,500  barrels  of  crude  oilleaked from the struck pipelineinto the water behind the dam.He  told The Associated Pressthat  the  pumping  of  oil  wastransferred to another pipelinewithout interruption in the flow. The  oil  that  gushed  into  thedam's  waters  caused  a  largespill,  turning  parts  of  the  sur-

face to black. The Minister said work is goingon to fix  the pipeline and suckup  the  quantity  of  oil  whichgushed into the gap caused bythe explosion and spilled into acanal supplying Tal Hosh Dam,with  some  of  it  reaching  thelake. He noted that pumping throughthe  bombed  pipeline  stoppedimmediately  and  was  shiftedinto another pipeline, stressingthat  oil  supply  to  the  refineryand  the port  has not  been af-fected  and  will  continue  asusual. For his  turn,  Irrigation MinisterGeorge Soumi condemned thisterrorist  act,  saying  it  provesthat  the  sabotage  groups  arelinked with foreign plots aimedat undermining Syria's national

and pan-Arab stances. Numeir Makhlouf, chairman ofthe  state-owned  Syrian  Com-pany  for  Oil  Transport,  toldSANA  that  the  oil  had  leakedinto a main  lake  that  suppliesthe  vast  agricultural  westernarea with irrigation water. Homs governor Ghassan AbdelAl called the explosion a "first-class terrorist" act. Friday's attack came one weekafter saboteurs caused a pas-senger train carrying 480 peo-ple to derail  in Homs, said thestate  TV.  The  pipeline  blastalso  was  the  second  incidentinvolving  an  oil  pipeline  in  amonth,  and  the  second  timethis  week  that  authorities  ac-cused saboteurs of striking  in-stallations.

Fireworks on August 1st

I n d e p e n d e n c e D a y B E N I N - A u g u s t 1

National day is a day on which a countrycelebrates marking  its  nationhood. Theday can be either a day when the countrygets  independence,  or  can  be  a  day,when a particular ruler, or kingdom getsto the throne or is removed. It can evenbe a day when the country gets republic.All  the  above  mentioned  criteria  areenough for considering that day as a Na-tional Day. Though the Day might not becalled a National Day, it is celebrated withthe same feeling.The National day of Benin, which is pop-ularly known as the Republic of Benin, iscelebrated  on  August  1.  The  countryBenin is situated in the western part of thecontinent Africa. Its name comes from thewater body on which it is lying. The namewas changed from Dahomey to the Re-public of Benin, after it got independence.The new name Benin was given for thesake of neutrality.

HistoryThe history of Benin includes the succes-sion  of  kingdoms  and  thus  has  beenunder the dependence of various coun-tries. The rich wealth of the country wastaken up by  the kingdoms, which  ruledhere.  Thus,  turning  the  country  and  itspeople under the poverty line. It is not amongst the rich country. A major population of this country lives under the poverty line. The mainreason of this is the successive domination of other countries and kingdom on this country.In 1704, France was granted a permission to erect a fort in one of the cities of Benin. After few years, Portugal founded a city Benin.Then, it was given autonomy and was named “the colony of Dahomey and its dependences”. Following that, it became a part of theFrench West Africa. Finally, in 1958, Benin proclaimed Republic. On August 1, 1960, Benin formed an independent country. Thus, theday is celebrated as the National day of Benin.

TRADITIONS AND ACTIVITIESNational day is a day of celebration for everyone starting from the people of government to those in opposition. None are left apart. Thecelebration includes ordinary people in a large scale. It also becomes a time when almost everyone thinks about the upcoming devel-opment and the past developments.The stress is given on the developments that have taken place in the last few years of independence. And special interests are takenin displaying the developments under the government that is ruling. The debate in the speeches of the leaders of the government aswell as of the opposition clearly reflects about the recent changes that takes place in the country.The first Independence Day was celebrated in a major enthusiasm. The flag of France was replaced by the flag Of Benin, and washoisted in public to show their freedom form France. Since then, this activity is always repeated on every National Day, to make all thepeople residing in the country feel that they are free and are not under the dominion of any country. National Day is one of the holidays,which is really celebrated in large scale in Benin.

H.H. Sheikh Zayed

Independence DayJAMAICA - August 6

Jamaica National Day was first celebrated onAugust  6,  1962  by  raising  the  National  Flagwhich signified the birth of the nation. This aus-picious occasion is celebrated every year in Ja-maica  and  6th  day  of August  is  noted  as  anational holiday in Jamaica.

HistoryThe history of  independence of Jamaica wasapproved through General elections. February1962 saw the Legislation & the Premier NormanManley  approving  the  new  constitution  andcalled  it  the  General  Elections.  In  this  way,Alexander Bustamente got elected during Apriland was first one to be the Jamaican Prime Min-ister.On August 6, 1962, the nation was given thestatus of an independent country and a memberof the British Commonwealth. The British woulddominate the Jamaicans and they did not haveaccess to rights and freedom. Jamaica becom-ing  an  independent  nation  now  meant  thatBritain  no  longer  controlled  the affairs  of  thecountry.  It  was  now  the  responsibility  of  thenewly  elected Prime Minister  and  the  locallyelected Cabinet to look into the matter to ensureequal rights and freedom to all the Jamaican cit-izens.Jamaica has various national symbols, whichare the representatives of  their  rich history &culture. Its national Flag, Tree, Fruit and Bird, all signifies its rich culture, which defines the Jamiacans, who are extremely proud of where theycome from.The Flag brings memories of the past achievements to mind. It also imparts inspiration toward further successes. It gets flown during several tri-umphant occasions and shows the pride, which Jamaicans have in the country as well as the flag. The flag is of three different colors such asblack, gold and green. Black depicts creativity and strength of its people; gold depicts the wealth & beauty of the sunlight and the green, whichshows the hope and the agricultural resources.The Blue Mohoe (Hibiscus Elatus) is the National Tree of Jamaica. Its National fruit is the Ackee (Blighia sapida). Last but not the least, its Nationalbird is the beautiful Doctor-bird, which is also called as Swallow-tail humming bird. Thus, these symbols distinguish the Jamaicans from the oth-ers.

TRADITIONS AND ACTIVITIESThe Jamaica National Day is officially celebrated by announcing a national holiday in the whole country. The Jamaican people come down in thestreets and go for parades. They celebrate their Independence Day by wearing clothes and shoes with the colors of the Jamaican National Flag.A festival is held on this occasion, which is commonly known as the Jamaica Festival. This festival provides a major trading opportunity for anumber of Jamaicans. The mandate of the Jamaica Festival is to primarily focus on the “Things Jamaican”; the creativity in Jamaican and their cul-tural awareness across different levels in socio-economic reforms.Edward Seaga, the JLP Minister, who looked after Development & Welfare then, spelled out during the Jamaica’s Long-term Development Plan(1963-1968) that the festival was imperative for national development. According to him, it was the way to give Jamaicans the sense of what theyare, and what is their culture and history is all about. It prevails even today and identifies the Jamaicans.

Martyr's DayGUINEA - August 3

Colonization Martyr’s Day is observed as an anniversaryof the killings of Pidjiguiti — a day of remembrance of thebrave martyrs of the nation.

History of the celebration

Guinea-Bissau is a country of the western African conti-nent on Atlantic Ocean. Populated by the Malinke, Fulaniand other people from West Africa, Portuguese were thefirst ones  to visit  the country during  the 15th century.Later  on,  it  became  one  of  the  Portuguese  colonies(1879).The history of Guinea-Bissau was dominated by Portugalfrom the 1450s to 1970s. Since independence, the coun-try has been primarily controlled by a single-party sys-tem.  Portuguese  conquest  and  the  consolidation  ofcountry’s interior did not start till the last half of 19th cen-tury. This was the time, when Portuguese lost a portionof the island to the French from West Africa. The strugglefor independence was started in 1956 by PAIGC (AfricanParty for Independence of Guinea & Cape Verde).In  1961,  it  started  the  armed  rebellion  against  Por-tuguese. After repeated pressure from the PAIGC, thePortuguese finally met their downfall in 1974. FollowingCarnation Revolution in April 1974 at Portugal, the coun-try granted independence for the Guinea-Bissau on theSeptember 10th of 1974. Half-brother of Amílcar Cabral,Luís Cabral, was the Guinea-Bissau’s first president.Colonization Martyr’s Day is observed as an anniversaryof the killings of Pidjiguiti. It is celebrated on August 3. Itis marked as a day of remembrance of the brave martyrsof the nation. It originates from the Pidjiguiti massacre of1959. The PAIGC launched their first major movementby instigating the dock-workers strike for better salaries.They did it at Pijiguiti Docks in the Guinea’s Port of Bis-sau on August 3, 1959.The P.I.D.E. (political police) suppressed this strike, openwild fire on striking workers and killed more than 50 peo-ple. The political authorities put the entire blame on thePAIGC for framing discontentment among the poor, ab-sent-minded workers. However, the loss had already oc-curred; more than 50 families lost their working heads. Iturged  a  national  trauma,  which would  never  be  fullycured. That traumatic day of August 3, 1959 is observednationwide as the Colonization Martyr’s Day.

TRADITIONS AND ACTIVITIESThe Colonization Martyr’s Day is marked as a public hol-iday in Guinea-Bissau. There are no real celebrations onthis day in the country. It is a day of national grief for thecitizens of the nation. People on this day, mourn the Pid-jiguiti massacre. They light candles and torch proces-sions are a common feature of this day.In remembrance of the departed souls, they also observe5 minutes of nationwide silence. On this date, the Pres-ident of the state delivers a speech, which is telecastedlive on a nationwide scale. Here, he passionately remem-bers the sacrifices of the martyrs of the country and alsotalks  about  the  economic  and  military  upgrade  ofGuinea-Bissau.  Gradually  over  the  years  the  peoplehave come to terms to the loss….which still pains.

Revolution DayBURKINA FASO - August 4

Anniversary of the Revolution is a national holiday to commemorate the revolutionthat took place on August 5, 1960. Former Upper Volta is now known as BurkinaFaso. It was named Burkina Faso after the 1983 revolution that saw the rise ofThomas Sankara to power. Burkina Faso means “the land of upright people”.

History of the celebrationFull independence was attained in 1960. The country saw its first military coupin 1966, and civilian rule returned in 1978. Another revolt took place in 1980, ledby Saye Zerbo but he was later overthrown in 1982. In 1983, a counter coupwas launched under the leadership of the charismatic Captain Thomas Sankarato power. On this day, the country was renamed as Burkina Faso. As mentionedbefore it means “the land of upright people”, in More and Dioula which are themajor native languages of the country. Literally, “Burkina” mean the “men of in-tegrity”  in More  language, and  the meaning of  “Faso”  is  “father’s house”  inDioula.The Republic of Upper Volta gained freedom in 1960. The first president wasMaurice Yameogo of the Voltaic Democratic Union. After he came to power,every political party was banned by Yameogo. The government survived until1966. After that when the mass unrest grew out of control military intervened.The military revolt deposed Yameogo. The constitution was suspended and theNational Assembly was dissolved. Lt. Col. Sangoule Lamizana was placed at the head of the government. The army was there in power until1970. After that, the constitution was ratified and Lamizana remained the head of the mixed civil military government throughout the 70s.On November 25, 1980, the Col. Saye Zerbo overthrew the President Lamizana and left him in the bloodless coup. The 1977 constitution waseradicated and the Military Committee of Recovery for National Progress was established as the main governmental body.CSP (Council of Popular Salvation) overthrew Zerbo in 1982. Unrest continued to grow amongst the moderates and the radicals in the CSP.Capt. Thomas Sankara, the then prime minister was arrested. The efforts to release him resulted in another military coup.Following the coup, Sankara formed the CNR (National Council for the Revolution) and made himself the president. He was strongly anti-corrup-tion. Sankara did a lot to “mobilize the masses”. For this purpose, he established CDR (Committees for the Defense of the Revolution). They hadanother function of implementing the revolutionary programs of the CNR. The exact membership of the CNR could never be known. It remaineda secret till the end. The CNR contained the two small Marxist-Leninist groups. Sankara himself, Compaore, Maj. Jean-Baptiste Lingani andCapt. Henri Zongo – all the leftist military officers, who dominated the regime.

TRADITIONS AND ACTIVITIESOn August 4, 1984, the “land of honorable people”, Burkina Faso, emerged out of Upper Volta. Sankara, on this very day launched a movementto mobilize the masses. The enigmatic leader sought by word, and by deed to initiate this massive boot strap development revolution. The fellowcitizens of Sankara still commemorate the endeavors of their strong ideological leader on Revolution Day.

Emancipation DaySt. Kitts & Nevis - August 2

Emancipation Day is celebrated in many former British colonies in the Caribbean and areas ofthe United States on various dates in observance of the emancipation of slaves of African origin.It is also observed in other areas in regard to the abolition of serfdom or other forms of servitude.

August 1 Saint Lucia Barbados: Emancipation Day in Barbados is part of the annual "Seasonof Emancipation" which runs from April 14 to August 23. The Season, includes theanniversary of the Slave Rebellion led by the Right Excellent Bussa, National hero,in 1816 , National Heroes Day on April 28, the Crop Over Festival,the Day of NationalSignificance on July 26(in commemoration of the social unrest of 1937)and Interna-tional Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition on August 23.

Emancipation Day celebrations usually feature a Walk from Independence Squarein Bridgetown to the Heritage Village at the Crop Over Bridgetown Market on theSpring Garden Highway. At the Heritage Village, apart from a concert, there is alsoa wreath-laying ceremony as a tribute to the ancestors. Traditionally, the Prime Min-ister, the Minister responsible for Culture and representatives of the Commission forPan African Affairs are among those laying wreaths. Bermuda: Celebration usually occurs on August 2, despite August 1 beingthe national holiday. On the island the holiday is better known as the first day of "Cup-match", an annual two-day cricket competition between the St. George's and Som-erset cricket clubs. Guyana Jamaica Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Islands

First Monday in August                  Anguilla: In addition to commemorating emancipation, it is the first day of "AugustWeek", the Anguillian Carnival celebrations. J'ouvert is celebrated on this morning, as Carnivalcommences.                  The Bahamas: Celebrations are mainly concentrated in Fox Hill Village, Nassau, aformer slave village whose inhabitants, according to folklore, heard about their freedom a weekafter everyone else on the island. There is a also a celebration beginning on August 1 and lastingseveral days held in the charming settlement of Hatchet Bay on the Bahamian island of Eleutheraknown as the Bay Fest.                  British Virgin Islands: The first Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of August arecelebrated as "August Festival".                  Saint Kitts and Nevis: The first Monday and Tuesday are celebrated as "Emancipa-tion Day" and also Carnival in Nevis.

CanadaThe Slavery Abolition Act 1833 ended slavery in the British Empire on August 1, 1834, and thusalso in Canada. However, the first colony in the British Empire to actually abolish slavery wasUpper Canada, now Ontario. A British army officer and later the first Lieutenant Governor ofUpper Canada (1791-1796), John Graves Simcoe, passed an Act Against Slavery in 1793, whichlead to the abolition of slavery in Upper Canada by 1810. It was then superseded by the SlaveryAbolition Act 1833.While the date of the First August Monday holiday in Canada is historically linked to the abolitionof slavery in the British Empire in 1834; not all of provinces' commemorate the holiday as such.

FloridaThe state of Florida observes emancipation in an unofficial commemoration on May 20. In thecapital, Tallahassee, Civil War reenactorsplaying the part of Major General Edward McCook andother union soldiers act out the speech General McCook gave from the steps of theKnott Houseon May 20, 1865. This was the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in Florida.

Washington, D.CThe municipality of Washington, D.C., celebrates April 16 as Emancipation Day. On that day in1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act for the release ofcertain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia. The Act freed about 3,100 en-slaved persons in the District of Columbia nine months before President Lincoln issued his fa-mous Emancipation Proclamation. TheDistrict of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Actrepresents the only example of compensation by the federal government to former owners ofemancipated slaves.On January 4, 2005, Mayor Anthony Williams signed legislation making Emancipation Day anofficial public holiday in the District. Although Emancipation Day occurs on April 16, by law whenApril 16 is a Saturday, Emancipation Day is observed on the preceding Friday. Each year, a seriesof activities will be held during the public holiday including the traditional Emancipation Day pa-rade celebrating the freedom of enslaved persons in the District of Columbia. The EmancipationDay celebration was held yearly from 1866 to 1901, and was resumed as a tradition and historiccelebration in 2002 as a direct result of years of research, lobbying and leadership done by Ms.Loretta Carter-Hanes.In 2007, the observance of this holiday in Washington, D.C. had the effect of nationally extendingthe 2006 income tax filing deadline from April 16 to April 17. The 2007 date change was not dis-covered until after many forms went to print. In 2011, the tax deadline was extended to Monday,April 18, since the observed date for the holiday was Friday, April 15.

MississippiIn Columbus, Mississippi, Emancipation Day is celebrated on May 8, known locally as "Eight o'May". As in other southern states, the local celebration commemorates the date in 1865 whenAfrican Americans in eastern Mississippi learned of their freedom.

TexasIn Texas, Emancipation Day is celebrated on June 19. It commemorates the announcement inTexas of the abolition of slavery made on that day in 1865. It is commonly known as Juneteenth.

KentuckyEmancipation Day is celebrated on August 8 in Paducah and McCracken County, Kentucky. Ac-cording to the Paducah Sun newspaper, this is the anniversary of the day slaves in this regionlearned of their freedom.

Puerto RicoThe Commonwealth of Puerto Rico celebrates Emancipation Day, an official holiday, on March22.

U.S. Virgin IslandsThe United States Virgin Islands celebrates Emancipation Day, an official holiday, on July 3. Itcommemorates the abolition of slavery by Danish Governor Peter von Scholten on July 3, 1848.

P a r e n t ' s D a y Zaire (Democrat ic Congo) - August 1

Parents Day  is celebrated all over  theworld. In the same way Parents Day isalso celebrated  in  the Democratic Re-public of the Congo. (Sometimes it is ref-erenced  as  DR  Congo.)  The  day  isbasically dedicated to the parents. In ourfast moving life, this one day makes usrelax and think of those people, who giveus  birth  and  brings  us  up  to  face  thischallenging world.

HistoryIn  the  Democratic  Republic  of  theCongo, Parents Day is celebrated on Au-gust 1 every year. This day is dedicatedto  the  parents  throughout  the  country.The history of the country does not sug-gest  practice  of  any  such  day  in  thecountry,  but  in  reality,  there  is  a  daycalled Parents Day. It is also a public hol-iday for the people of the Democratic Re-public of the Congo.The  history  of  the  country  shows  thatonly hunters and gathers used to residein the country. The civilizations were set-tled after the migrations of various tribes.These  tribes  used  to  settle  along  theriver  sides  or  near  the  edges  of  theforests. But then gradually, many king-doms and rulers were established.In 1884-85, a king named Leopold claimed his power in the Berlin discussion, and thus recognized the country (formerly knownas Zaire) as a free Congo state in front of the Europeans. After that, he found that he was not sufficiently funded to develop thestate and thus had to ask support. That led the country to go under the hands of Belgians. Gradually, with many revolts, thecountry got independence, but the conflict after that lead the U.N. to get involved and solve the matter. Thus, gradually the con-flict ended and people finally were freed from any undesirable pressure.

TRADITIONS AND ACTIVITIESThus, Parent’s Day being celebrated in such a country does sound a bit awkward, but it is a reality. Parents Day is celebratedhere with equal emphasis and enthusiasm like in any other country or any other part of the world.Parents are not only the person who gave you birth and brought you up. They are those, who laid the building blocks of yourlife. Nobody can deny the fact that whatever we are today and whatever we will be tomorrow is all because of our parents.Thus, a day to them is nothing in return of what they give us. The Parents Day is celebrated in the Democratic Republic of theCongo on a huge scale.Cards with beautiful quotes and pleasing lines to reflect the feelings and respect towards the parents, wonderful gifts that makesthem feel special, and an atmosphere, which makes them realize that they are not taken for granted and always respectedloved and cared. Parents Day has huge importance and thus, the people get a public holiday on this great day.

Homeland ThanksgivingDay

CROATIA - August 5Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day andthe Day of Croatian Defenders (Croatian: Danpobjede  i  domovinske  zahvalnosti  i  danhrvatskih branitelja) is a public holiday in Croatia

which is held as a memorial to its War of Inde-pendence, celebrated on August 5. On that datein 1995 the Croatian Army took the city of Kninduring Operation Storm, which brought an endto  theRepublic of Serbian Krajina, a self-pro-claimed Serb entity in Croatia.The main celebration is centered in Knin wherethere are festivities commemorating the event,beginning with a Mass and laying of wreaths inhonor of those who died in the war, and contin-uing with parades and concerts. The event is at-tended by thousands of people and the highestpowers in Croatia. The Croatian flag on the Kninfortress is ceremonially lifted as part of the cel-ebrations.In 2008, the Parliament also assigned the nameDay of the Croatian Defenders (Croatian: Danhrvatskih branitelja) to the holiday.

Banner thanking Croatian defenders in Za-greb on 5 August celebration.

Sectarian violence in Quetta kills 19

(Google News) In a fresh spurt ofsectarian violence targeting Shias,at  least  11  people  were  killed  inBalochistan on Saturday; taking thetoll over  the past 24 hours  to 19.The  banned  outfit,  Lashkar-e-Jhangvi  (LeJ)  —  which  has  tar-geted Shias in the past as part of itsagenda  to  turn  Pakistan  into  aSunni state — had claimed respon-sibility for Friday's attack on the of-fice of a private transport companywhere pilgrims were awaiting for acoach to take them to Iran.Though  no  one  had  claimed  re-sponsibility for Saturday's attack ona  van  carrying  people  to  Quettafrom Hazara Town area, police sus-pect this to be part of the sectarianviolence as the victims were Shiasagain. According  to Balochistan'sInspector  General  Police  AminHashim, unidentified gunmen on amotorcycle opened fire at the van;resulting in the death of seven peo-ple on the spot and four others enroute the hospital.Following this spurt in violence, po-lice raided various places in sensi-tive areas and rounded up over 200persons  for  interrogation. The at-

tacks led to protests across Quetta;resulting  in  arson.  Pained  by  thecontinuing sectarian violence in dif-ferent parts of the country, civil so-ciety  drew  a  connection  betweenthis spurt and the recent release ofLeJ chief Malik Ishaq.An accused in the attack on the SriLankan  cricket  team  in  Lahore,Ishaq's family was apparently beingprovided financial assistance by thePunjab Government.PTI reports:After the attack, hundreds of ShiaMuslims gathered on Barori Roadin protest, chanting slogans againstthe government and the police fortheir  failure  to  check  sectariankillings.The angry protesters also blockedthe main road.They  torched vehicles and shopsoutside a hospital, where severalbodies  of  the  slain  persons weretaken  along  and  the  injured  per-sons admitted.Additional  police  force  was  de-ployed in the city to check any re-action, a senior police officer said,adding the situation was now undercontrol.

All dead bodies were taken to thecentral Shia mosque ’ImambargahHazara  Town’  Shia  leaders  alsoheld  an  emergency  meeting  tochalk  out  future  plans  to  protecttheir community against similar at-tacks.Rahim Jaffry, a leader of the Shiacommunity,  said  protests  will  belaunched  across  the  country  ifthose responsible for the killings inQuetta were not arrested within 24hours.He said the government had failedto protect lives and the communitywas left with no option but to launchprotests.Shia  groups  also  announced  ashutter  down  strike  in  Quetta  forSunday  and  a  40-day  mourningagainst the killing.Quetta has witnessed a series ofbomb blasts and sectarian and tar-geted attacks in recent weeks.The Shia community accounts foraround 15 per cent of the country’spopulation of over 170 million.

U.S. boosting efforts against Al Qaeda in Pakistan(Google News July 29, 2011)The U.S. is "doubling down" onits strategy of covert targetedmissile  strikes  in  Pakistan  inthe  wake  of  Osama  binLaden's  death,  believing  thatAl  Qaedais  susceptible  to  adecisive blow, a senior Obamaadministration official said Fri-day."I think there are three to fivesenior leaders that if they're re-moved  from  the  battlefield,would  jeopardize Al  Qaeda'scapacity  to  regenerate,"  saidretired  Gen.  Douglas  Lute,who oversees Afghanistan andPakistan  strategy  at  the  Na-tional Security Council. He de-clined  to  name  them,  otherthan Ayman al Zawahiri, whosucceeded  Bin  Laden  as  AlQaeda's leader."We've got to take advantageof the fact that when Bin Ladendied,  Al  Qaeda  was  in  un-charted  waters,"  Lute  said."This  is  a  period  of  turbu-lence.... You need to go for theknockout punch."Lute's comments were an un-usually  explicit  statement  ofthe thinking behind the admin-istration's  increased  relianceon drones and other forms ofremote  attack  against  AlQaeda. He avoided specificallyreferring  to  drone  strikes,which  are  not  officially  ac-knowledged  by  the  govern-ment,  and  instead  talked  ofcovert  programs  in Pakistan.But his meaning was clear.In a candid assessment, Lutealso  said  the  administrationhad not envisioned the extentto which senior Pakistani offi-cials  would  be  embarrassedless  by  the  presence  of  BinLaden in their country than bythe U.S. raid to kill him withouttheir knowledge."We  underestimated  some-

what  the  humiliation  factorgenerated by the raid itself," hesaid.Lute's remarks in a panel dis-cussion at the Aspen SecurityForum here came after he wasasked to respond to commentsThursday night by retired Adm.Dennis Blair, who was forcedto resign last year as directorof  national  intelligence. Blair,who  left  after  Obama  sidedwith the CIA in a series of pol-icy  disputes  between  thatagency and Blair's office, saiddrone  strikes  have  becomecounterproductive  becausethey are provoking public out-rage  in  Pakistan  and  poten-tially creating new enemies.Blair said the U.S. should offerPakistan  the  chance  to  "puttwo hands on the trigger" as apartner in the program — andtherefore only carry out strikesthe Pakistanis  approve. As  itstands,  he  said,  the  attacksare undertaken without consul-tation with Pakistan's govern-ment,  despite  occasionalcooperation in the past.Blair also argued against  theU.S.  conducting  unilateraldrone  strikes  in  Yemen  andSomalia."We're  treating  the  countriesjust  as  places  where  we  goand attack," he said.Blair's comments marked thefirst time a former Obama ad-ministration official had publiclycriticized  a  key  tenet  of  thepresident's  national  securitystrategy.His  views  on  drone  attackswere repudiated by other for-mer  senior  government  offi-cials  attending  the  Aspenconference,  including  formerCalifornia  CongresswomanJane  Harman,  a  Democratwho chaired a homeland secu-rity intelligence subcommittee.

"Drone attacks … are a crucialtool in our counter-terrorism ar-senal and I support them," shesaid.The disagreement is part of abroader debate over  the effi-cacy  of  relatively  low-costdrone  strikes  versus  the  farmore expensive, long-term useof  troops  on  the  ground  towage a sustained counter-ter-rorism campaign. The admin-istration  has  moved  to  drawdown U.S. troop strength in theregion, believing that the costsare unsustainable.Blair argued that the key to de-feating Al Qaeda was  for  thePakistani military  to mount  asustained  counterinsurgencyto  clear  and  hold  theAfghanistan  border  areaswhere  the  group's  leadershave taken refuge.Lute, reflecting the administra-tion's  view,  noted  that  Pak-istan's military has a presencein those areas, but despite bil-lions in U.S. aid, its army hasshown neither the willingnessnor the capacity to root out mil-itants.Asked about the current threatposed  by  Al  Qaeda,  Luteechoed comments made hereThursday  by  Michael  Leiter,who recently departed as headof the National Counterterror-ism Center.Al Qaeda has been wounded,but not yet defeated, he said,adding, "We're not ready to de-clare victory."Leiter had said that Al Qaeda'sleaders  in Pakistan were  "onthe  ropes,"  but  the organiza-tion  remained  capable  of  at-tacks and "Pakistan remains ahuge problem" because  it al-lows safe haven for Al Qaedaand affiliated groups in its tribalareas along the Afghan border.

(Google  News)  The Fed-eral Bureau of In-vestigation onSaturday offered a$25,000 reward forinformation leadingto the location of amissing 11-year-oldNew Hampshire girllast seen nearly aweek ago, and the

arrest of anyone re-sponsible for herdisappearance.Authorities have been searching forCelina Cass since she went missingon July 25 from her Stewartstown,New Hampshire home, not far fromthe Canadian border.The  5'5"  tall  Cass  who  has  longbrown  hair  and  hazel  eyes  waswearing a pink shirt, pink pulloverand blue shorts before she disap-peared, authorities  said. She waslast  seen  at  home  around  9  p.m.local time on Monday.

The ongoing search for the younggirl also prompted one private citi-zen to offer a $5,000 reward for anyinformation  leading  to  her  where-abouts, New Hampshire senior as-sistant attorney general Jane Youngsaid at a press conference.The FBI joined local and state au-thorities  conducting  the  investiga-tion earlier in the week.Authorities  said  an  aggressivesearch for Cass continues and thereward  offer  does  not  indicate  achange in the nature of the investi-gation. They continue to treat this asa missing person case.

3 journalists killed in Nato raid: Libya

(Google News Jul 31, 2011) Thechange in militarytop brass followingthe wholesale res-ignation of the topmilitary command-ers may subordi-nate the military tocivilian rule, revers-ing the army’s tra-d i t i o n a lpredominance.For  the  first  time  in  the history ofmodern Turkey, the military leader-ship quit over a disagreement withthe  government,  rather  than  thegovernment  being  the one  to  go.Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo-gan grabbed the historic opportu-nity  that  fell  into his  lap with bothhands. Now he can definitively im-pose civil rule over the military, de-stroying  one  of  fundamentalprinciples  of  Mustafa  KemalAtaturk's  regime.  That  principlegave the army the authority to de-fend the foundations of the consti-tution,  and  thus  also  to  removegovernments  that  did  not  complywith Ataturk's principles.The wholesale  resignation  of  the

top military commanders will haveminimal impact on military perform-ance, but the political implicationsare vast. It would not be an exag-geration to describe it as a revolu-tion in Turkey's power structure.The timing of the resignations aretied to the annual August meetingof the country's military council todecide  on  appointments  and  dis-missals in the army. Last year, Er-dogan rejected the majority of therecommendations made by Chiefof Staff Gen.  Isik Kosaner on  thegrounds  that  some  of  the  candi-dates were connected to one of thealleged  conspiracies  against  thegovernment.Kosaner accepted Erdogan's posi-tion and waited a year to put forthhis candidates. But in preparationfor  the  meeting,  scheduled  forTuesday, Erdogan told Kosaner, "Idon't want to see any surprises onthe nominations list." The premierwas thus implying he would not ap-prove the appointments of any sen-ior  officers  implicated  in  theincidents under investigation.Erdogan, who was  reelected  in alandslide in June and now seeks toadvance the constitutional reformssupported by the majority of Turks,is  completing  his  transformationinto today's Ataturk. Just like the fa-ther  of  modern  Turkey,  Erdogancontrols  a  one-party  regime, withno meaningful opposition.

Revolution in Istanbul / Turkish rewrite

(Google  News  Jul  31,  2011)

Blast is third thismonth, fifth thisyear; masked menattack police sta-tion after ridingthrough el-Arish,waving flags withIslamic slogans.After  gunmen  attacked  theEgyptian  gas  pipeline  in  thenorthern Sinai on Saturday – thefifth such attack  in  the past  sixmonths – an  Israeli  energy ex-pert said he believes that Israeliofficials and the country’s majorgas  consumers  have  all  but“given up” on that source of nat-ural gas.“According to the partial informa-tion we have, this explosion onlyaffects the export of Egyptian gasto Israel,” Amit Mor, CEO and en-ergy specialist at the Eco Energyconsulting  firm,  told  TheJerusalem  Post  on  Saturdaynight. “It was directed against Is-rael and will not affect future sup-plies of gas to Jordan, Syria andLebanon.”During  Saturday’s  attack,  thesaboteurs used rocket-propelledgrenades to puncture a hole in asection of the pipeline that nor-mally  directs  gas  to  Israel,  butwhose supply had not yet beenresumed  from  the  previous  at-tack,  on  July  12,  Reuters  re-ported.  The  gunmen  arrived  intwo  trucks but sped away  from

the site after being confronted byEgyptian troops.There were no casualties, the re-port said.“It  is  crucial  to  Israel  that  theEgyptian  government  estab-lishes security control, especiallyin northern Sinai – and especiallyat the crossing point in Rafah onthe Egyptian- Gazan border – toprevent the smuggling of an ar-senal against Israel, and also tosecure the natural gas pipeline toIsrael,” Mor told the Post. “I thinkthe major  consumers  and  gov-ernment all have given up on thesupply of Egyptian gas to Israel.”The  gas  supply  to  Israel  hadbeen due to resume shortly, ac-cording to Mor.“While important for geopoliticaland  economic  reasons,  Israelcan  do  without  that  gas  –  al-though the public will pay muchhigher prices, especially for elec-tricity, in the short term,” he said.“It is a major challenge to the cur-rent – and any future – Egyptiangovernment  to  maintain  sover-eignty in Sinai.”Mor added that the Egyptian gassituation would be a bellwether offuture  policy  emanating  fromCairo.“The resumption of the full con-tractual obligation of gas supplyto Israel can be used as a test-case of the Egyptian governmentto maintain its international obli-gations visa- visforeign direct in-vestments  in Egypt on  the onehand, and its future relations withIsrael on the other,” he said.

Israelis will ‘give up’ on Egyptiangas, expert says

Political camp tradition resumes after Norway attack

(Google  News)  Recordnumbers  of  YoungLiberals  held  Nor-way's  first  summeryouth  camp  sincelast week's slaughterof  69  campers  andthe  Oslo  bomb  thatkilled  eight,  but  po-lice  were  posted  toguard the gathering.It is the first political party camp tostart since Anders Behring Breivikopened  fire on Utoeya  island  lastweek as about 650 members of theyouth wing of Norway's Labor Partygathered there to debate left-lean-ing policies and have fun.Seeking to halt Islamic immigrationand restore what he sees as coreEuropean  values  abandoned  bypolitical  parties,  Breivik  fired  onmany as they tried to swim away.The youngest were 14."The barbaric attack on the LaborParty youth summer camp was inmany ways an attack on us all, andby  us  I  mean  the  youth  politicalmovement in Norway," said Svein-ung Rotevatn, leader of the YoungLiberals.Rotevatn, 23, said there was a "po-lice presence" at the Young Liber-als' island camp off Norway's southcoast for the first time since the an-

nual  event  began  in  1926.  TheLabor youth group had encouragedthem not to cancel, he said.Some  of  the  record-high  170campers who turned up with tentsand coolers wept or held one an-other as  the camp opened with atribute to those who died."We  don't  want  it  to  be  just  amourning  camp,  but  it  will  beshorter than planned, and will focusmore  on  values  than  politics  thisyear," Rotevatn said.All seven parties in Norway's parlia-ment have active youth wings, a ro-bust  tradition  in  Scandinavia,  theNetherlands  and  Germany.  Twopostponed their camps after the at-tack while the Young Conservativescanceled a "summer debate camp"altogether."A lot of people are on edge here,but  I  wouldn't  say  afraid,"  saidChristoffer Torris Olsen, attendinghis  fifth  Young  Liberal  summercamp.Norwegians  have  been  surprisedby comments outside  the countryquestioning the suitability of politi-cal camps, where potential  futureleaders are groomed for office."In the English-speaking world theidea  of  these  youth  camps  mayconvey  images  of  totalitarianregimes and indoctrination of chil-dren, but that is far from the reality,"said Frank Aarebrot, a University ofBergen political scientist."These youngsters are not  sittingaround admiring the party leader-

ship. They're promoting their ownpolitics and mounting serious chal-lenges to the mother party. There'salso the usual boy-meets-girl thingat camp."While  the Labor  youth group has9,500  members,  the  center-rightYoung  Liberals  number  1,000.About  two  dozen  Liberal  Partyadults lent support as the four-daycamp opened."Those kids  last week were killedbecause  they  liked  politics,"  saidOdd Einar Doerum, a  former Lib-eral justice minister. "Politically ac-tive  youths  are  not  that  large  innumber so we have to stand up forthem."While Labor has a collectivist bent,the  Young  Liberals  promote  per-sonal  freedom  and  individual  re-sponsibility.Several said they would try to keepparliament  from authorizing morehi-tech  surveillance,  saying  thatwould be an "over reaction" to lastweek's tragedy."We don't want a  'Norwegian Pa-triot Act'," said Young Liberals sec-retary Anders Bergsaker, referringto a U.S. law heightening securityafter the September 11, 2001, at-tacks."I don't want a society where every-one is walking around suspicious ofeach  other,"  said  21-year-oldHanne Kvilhaugsvik, who is study-ing to be a teacher.

Hungary's insatiable ap-petite for racing

(Google News Jul 31,2011 )Much has beenwritten  about  thepressing need to pro-duce  an  Emirati  For-mula  One  driver  toassist  the  country'sambition of developingan  organic  motor-sports culture.

A  look  in  the  packedstands at Barcelona'sCircuit de Catalunya inMay, or on the streetssurrounding  the  Nur-burgring  last  week,provide proof that na-tional heroes grow na-tional interest.Yet, Hungary, the hostvenue  of  Saturday'sgrand  prix,  has  beencontradicting  that  ac-cepted  rule  since1986.For 26 years, the Hun-garoring,  the  popularracing  circuit  locatedon the outskirts of Bu-dapest, has remaineda  mainstay  on  theworld  championshipcalendar.Only  Monza  andMonte  Carlo  havedone  likewise,  butwhile  the  Italian  andMonaco  grands  prixare steeped in history,and  the  nations  haveproduced  a  series  ofFormula  One  drivers,Hungary's relationshipwith motor racing is farless renowned.Zsolt Baumgartner re-mains  the  only  Hun-garian  driver  tocompete  in  FormulaOne, racing for Jordanand  Minardi  in  2003and 2004.Close  to  100  yearsearlier,  however,  in1906  -  almost  half  acentury  before  For-mula One was created- Hungary provided thewinner of the first inter-national grand prix.Ferenc Szisz  finished32  minutes  ahead  ofhis  closest  rival,  anItalian,  as  he  com-pleted  12  laps  of  amakeshift 103-kilome-tre  track  in  Le Mans.His fastest speed was

clocked at 148.75kph,and  a  large  marbleplaque in his memoryis fastened to the wallat the entrance to theHungaroring's  mediafacilities.Sir Frank Williams, the69-year-older owner ofWilliams  F1,  was  in

Hungary in 1986 whenFormula One first ap-peared behind the IronCurtain. "It was a grim,unattractive,  poorlymaintained  no-invest-ment  place,"  he  said."But it is quite differentnow." Pal Schmitt, the coun-try's  president,  wrotein his opening saluta-tions in this weekend'srace  programme  that"the Hungaroring  hasalways  succeeded  inpresenting fascinatingand  exciting  races"and  both  SebastianVettel, the world cham-pion, and Lewis Hamil-ton,  the  2008champion,  said  thechallenging  circuit  isthe  secret  to  Hun-gary's  endurance.Hamilton  yesterdaycalled  it  "one  of  thebest tracks we have onthe  calendar"  andnoted  it  to  be  "quitehistoric" also.Yet, ahead of the Turk-ish Grand Prix in May,almost  all  24  driversspoke of their affectionfor Istanbul Park and itdid  little  to  preventBernie Ecclestone, thesport's  commercialrights  owner,  scoringthe race off the provi-sional  schedule  fornext season.Jenson Button, Hamil-ton's  teammate  atMcLaren-Mercedes,arguably edged closerto  the  truth  when  heacknowledged - in jest-  a  more  likely  logic."Probably  the  mainreason  is  there  is  aroad called Bernie Av-enue on  the way  intothe circuit," he said, inreference  to  a  smallblue sign positioned at

the  junction  on  to  ashort  two-way  streetleading  up  to  thetrack's entrance.When it comes to cap-turing and maintaininga coveted slot  on  theF1 calendar, inevitablyall roads lead to Eccle-stone's pockets."It's government or cityowned,  so  it's  stillslightly  Communist,"Williams  said.  "Ofcourse, it's a free soci-ety now, but  they stillhave  the old ethos of'that's what we do'."In 2008, a five-year ex-tension was added tothe  existing  dealmeaning  the  Hun-garoring will feature onthe  calendar  until  atleast 2016. Zsolt Gyu-lay,  the  president  ofthe  National Automo-bile  Sport  Federationof  Hungary,  said  ear-lier  this year  that 160million  Hungarianforints (Dh3.1m) wouldbe  spent  renovatingthe circuit."It  is a great circuit todrive, but personally Idon't  think  that's  thereason  [it's  so  endur-ing]," said Button, whowon his first grand prixhere  in  2006.  "It  isprobably the fans. Wehave  a  lot  of  supporthere,  outside  the  ho-tels and in the grand-stands.  Obviously,  ithas gone up and downthrough the years, butgenerally  there  hasbeen  good  supporthere."Hungary's  inauguralrace  reportedly  at-tracted 200,000 spec-tators, despite inflatedticket prices. While thisyear's  event  -  whichclashes with the WorldRally Championship'sFinnish  showpiece  -will undoubtedly see asmaller crowd, a quickglance  at  the  standsyesterday  providedproof  that  popularityremains:  flags of Fin-land,  Estonia  andPoland  were  preva-lent."There  are  probablymore Finnish flags andsupporters  here  thanany other grand prix,"said Heikki Kovalainenof  Team  Lotus,  who,since the retirement ofKimi Raikkonen, is thesole  Scandinavian  inthe  paddock.  "In  thatsense, it is kind of likemy home race."

Rosberg and Schumacher Vis-ited Mercedes-Benz Plant in

Hungary(Google News July 29, 2011) Since the two Petronas GP drivers NicoRosberg and Michael Schumacher are already in Hungary for the Hun-garian  GP,  they  took  the  time  to  visit  the  Mercedes-Benz  plant  inKecskemet.About 1,200 employees of the plant gathered around them and greetedthem. The two responded very well to their ‘fans’. They also answeredsome questions regarding the newest happening in Formula 1 race. Afterthat they went on and signed autographs.That was a very fun day for the staff at the Keckskemet plant,and forsure , it will refresh and inspire them as they prepare for the A and Bclass to roll off the plant’s assembly lines. The Mercedes-Benz plant isestimated to be bigger as its goal is to have about 2,500 employees bythe year 2013 and they are targeting to produce 100,000 cars per year.

EU court raps Hungary over fail-ure to return child to her father(Google News July 29, 2011) Hungary failed in its obligation to return agirl to France after her parents divorced, the European Court of HumanRights ruled on Thursday.The child's mother took the child to Hungary illegally in 2007. A Hungar-ian court ordered in 2008 that the girl be returned to her Irish father inFrance, but Hungarian authorities failed to ensure that the ruling was en-forced.Although the woman was arrested in Hungary in July 2009, a Budapestcourt ordered her release the next day.The  mother  then  disappeared,  taking  the  child  with  her.  The  courtawarded €32,000 to the father, but both parties can appeal the rulingwithin three months.The parents divorced in 2005 and both were entitled to raise the child.

Pre-Hungary analysis – Bu-dapest brings mixed memories(Google News July 29, 2011) Hungary marks a landmark race for JensonButton, and he would like nothing better than to get himself back on trackwith a victory here in his 200th Grand Prix appearance after two recentretirements. The 2009 world champion also has happy memories of theplace after scoring his first F1 triumph here in 2006 at the 113th attempt.

Birthday boy Alonso eyes nicesurprise in Hungary

(Google News July 29, 2011) BUDAPEST - Ferrari's Fernando Alonsowas given a card from reporters and a personal greeting from FormulaOne boss Bernie Ecclestone on his 30th birthday but what the Spaniardreally wants is a more exciting Hungarian Grand Prix.The race outside Budapest has a reputation for being a little processionalwith few overtaking opportunities but the degradation of this year's Pirellitires as well as KERS and DRS should lead to more passes in Sunday'srace."In Hungary we have seen some boring races in the past. This year thisthing cannot happen," Alonso said Friday after finishing second quickestin the second practice behind McLaren's Lewis Hamilton."We finished the planned work program and that's always a positive startto a race weekend. We saw that McLaren looks very strong, as indeedit was last weekend. Now we must try and improve the car, especially inthe third sector of the track, where we seem to be suffering more thanmost."Ecclestone made a special visit to the Ferrari motor home to Alonso'ssurprise."It's nice to celebrate here with Ferrari, a team I will definitely be with atleast until I am 35," added the double world champion, fourth in this sea-son's overall standings."30 is a good number, I like the number. It is also my 30th race for Ferrariso it is a good coincidence."

Pro-Reform Ac-tivities Continue

across SyriaDAMASCUS (Google  News  Jul30, 2011) Activities in support ofthe  comprehensive  reform  pro-gram  under  the  leadership  ofPresident Bashar al-Assad contin-ued across the country, with theparticipants voicing rejection of allforms of vandalism and attemptsto destabilize the country.In  Hasaka,  the  citizens  of  al-Shadadeh city and the neighbor-ing  villages  denounced  thecriminal acts of saboteurs who are

destroying  national  institutionsand killing citizens.The participants stressed that thepractices of criminals who are ter-rorizing citizens debunk their alle-gations to be claiming demands.150 Youths from Aleppo toDamascus to Express Supportto ReformMore than 150 youths arrived in Dam-ascus  on  Saturday  coming  fromAleppo on a car parade and a train trip,in an expression of support to reform.Muhammad Deiri and Fatima al-Ban-nawi, organizers of the event, said themarch is aimed at getting a messageacross  to  the  world,  stating  that  theSyrians are united  in  rejecting all at-tempts  of  foreign  interference  in  theSyrian internal affairs.

Aleppo Students Express Ap-preciation of Russia's Stancesbefore Its ConsulateA  number  of  university  and  institutestudents in Aleppo held a gathering infront of the Russian Consulate in ap-preciation  of  Russia's  supportivestances towards Syria."This activity aims at giving a messageof  gratitude  and  appreciation  of  theRussian stance rejecting foreign inter-ference in Syria's affairs," said AymanAzizi, one of the organizers.He pointed out that the activity will in-clude refining the forest park oppositeto the Consulate and setting up paint-ings to express thanks to Russia.

Tartous' Doctors, Dentists,Pharmacists and EngineersHonor Martyrs' FamiliesIn  the  coastal  province  of  Tartous,

branches  of  Syndicates  of  Doctors,Dentists, Pharmacists and AgriculturalEngineers honored 32 families of themartyrs and the injured who were tar-geted by the armed terrorist groups.Organizers of  the  initiative  said  theywanted through the initiative to expresstheir support to the comprehensive re-form program and their appreciation ofthe sacrifices the military and securityforces offered for the sake of preserv-ing Syria's stability.They stressed that the doctors are of-fering free of charge medical servicesfor the martyrs' families.Thousands of Hadar village in Quneitraprovince hoisted a 7,5 m long, 4,5 mwide flag on a hill, 1650 m above sealevel, overlooking the occupied SyrianGolan.

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