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INTERNATIONAL

SPECIAL FOCUSPAKISTAN BULLETINSuicide blast kills 48 at

mosque in Pakistan

SYRIA BULLETINSyria Kills 32 Protesters After Obama Calls on

Assad to Quit(Google News Aug 19, 2011) Syrian securityforces killed at least 32 protesters and ar-rested more than 300 people after U.S. Pres-ident Barack Obama, in concert withEuropean allies, called on Bashar al-Assadto step down.At least 27 people died today in a suburb ofthe capital, Damascus, the Homs gover-norate and Daraa, where the revolt againstSyria’s president began in mid-March, saidAmmar Qurabi of the National Organizationfor Human Rights in Syria. Five were killedyesterday at rallies in the Damascus suburbsand across the country, according to Qurabiand Mahmoud Merhi, head of the Arab Or-ganization for Human Rights. State mediasaid four security forces members were killedby militants in Daraa.Western calls on Assad to step down “willcertainly have an impact,” Merhi said byphone from Damascus. “They will emboldenpeople and strengthen the momentum of therallies.”In a coordinated move yesterday with U.K.Prime Minister David Cameron, French Pres-ident Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancel-lor Angela Merkel, Obama issued astatement saying the Syrian people deserveto chart their own future.The European Union said today it reached anagreement to broaden sanctions against theSyrian regime, including preparing for an em-bargo on Syrian crude oil into the bloc.Added Pressure: The measure by Westerngovernments may add to pressure for UnitedNations action to penalize the government forthe crackdown that Merhi and Qurabi say haskilled more than 2,400 people. About 500members of the security forces have diedduring that time, the government has said.Faced with the most serious threat to his fam-

ily’s 40-year rule, Assad has deployed tanks,armored vehicles, artillery and helicopters tocrush the uprising that began after revoltsousted the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt andsparked a conflict in Libya.Today’s crackdown left several people injuredin Daraa, a southern area, and the city ofAleppo, Merhi said.Security was tight as Muslims attended themidday Friday prayers, which have been fol-lowed by weekly protests during the fivemonths of unrest. Forces prevented thoseunder 55 from attending prayers today inDaraa, Al Arabiya television said, citingunidentified activists.The citizens of Syria “have braved ferociousbrutality at the hands of their government,”Obama said. “For the sake of the Syrian peo-ple, the time has come for President Assadto step aside.”U.S. Sanctions: Obama’s declaration was hisfirst explicit call for Assad to give up powersince the uprising started. He also signed anexecutive order freezing any Syrian govern-ment assets in the U.S. and banning importto the U.S. of petroleum products of Syrianorigin. The order prohibits people in the U.S.from doing business with Syria.The EU is adding 20 Syrian individuals or en-tities to those targeted for an asset freezeand travel ban. A proposal is being preparedfor consideration by the council next week foran embargo on Syrian crude oil and suspen-sion of technical assistance of the EuropeanInvestment Bank.“The European Union continues to aim atputting an end to the brutal repression andassisting the Syrian people to achieve theirlegitimate aspirations,” EU foreign policychief Catherine Ashton said in the statement.UN Action: U.S. and Western powers in the

UN Security Council will introduce a draft res-olution in the coming days that includesmeasures to increase pressure on the gov-ernment, U.K. Deputy Ambassador PhilipParham said, without giving specifics. MiguelBerger, Germany’s deputy ambassador, saidit will include sanctions.A UN team will go to Syria this weekend on afour-day mission to assess the humanitariansituation, emergency relief coordinator Va-lerie Amos told reporters. She said the gov-ernment has pledged “full access” for theteam.Marc Ginsberg, a former U.S. ambassador toMorocco, was among experts on the regionwho said the U.S. action will do little by itselfto weaken Assad. Analysts and administra-tion officials said pressure will increase if co-ordinated sanctions cut off enough Syrian oilexports to affect government finances or ifother nations empower opponents insideSyria. About 90 percent of its oil exports goto Europe, according to the U.S.Declining Production: Syria, whose output isdeclining, produces about 385,000 barrels ofcrude a day and has the Middle East’s ninth-largest reserves, according to data from BPPlc.Further sanctions at the UN level may be hin-dered by Russian resistance. Russia op-poses calls on Assad to step down, theForeign Ministry in Moscow said today on itswebsite. Assad needs time to implementpromised changes in Syria, the ministry said,while calling for a halt to all violence in thecountry.“We don’t share the point of view of the U.S.and EU about President Assad and will con-tinue to follow our consistent and principledline on Syria,” the ministry said.“Russia has been a longstanding ally of Syria

and is no hurry to see the regime fall,” saidChris Phillips, an analyst at the Economist In-telligence Unit in London.In addition to wanting to defend the right ofstates to deal with internal problems withoutoutside interference, Russia and China “feelquite betrayed over what happened in Libyaand believe the Western states have over-stepped their mandate with helping therebels,” Phillips said.“Russia has been building a base in Syria forits navy in the Mediterranean and the Syrianregime in many ways is Russia’s closest ally,serving a key strategic purpose,” he added.Limited Options: Obama’s choices since theviolence began have been limited by “howcomplicated and uncertain” the situation is inSyria, Russia and China’s resistance to sanc-tions and how Iran or terrorists could react,said Anthony Cordesman, a military analystat the Center for Strategic and InternationalStudies in Washington.Direct intervention by the U.S. would riskforcing Arab and other Muslim states to sup-port Assad, he said. “You would see it bepopular in the United States and Israel, but itwould not have achieved any meaningfulstrategic effect.”Even now, Cordesman said, Assad “doesn’tcare what people around him or countriesaround him think,” and he could hold on topower for another year or more. “We haveabsolutely no idea of what will happen ifAssad goes,” he said.In his statement, Obama said the U.S. “can-not and will not impose this transition” for theSyrian people, who have expressed “theirstrong desire that there not be foreign inter-vention in their movement.”

PICTURE NEWS

August 9, 2011. US President Barack Obama is saluted as hearrives at Dover Air Force Base where he will privately meet withfamilies of the 30 Americans that died in a helicopter crash inAfghanistan

August 10, 2011.Kashmiri Muslim women pray inside theJamia Mosque in Srinagar, India. Muslims around the worldare marking the holy fasting month of Ramadan, where thedevout fast from dawn until dusk

Aug. 9, 2011. An activist from the opposition Bharatiya JanataParty is beaten up by police during a protest against corruption inNew Delhi, India. Police used bamboo batons and water canonsto control thousands of angry supporters of India's main opposi-tion party who were marching in New Delhi to protest against thegovernment's hosting of last year's Commonwealth Gamesamong other corruption charges.

August 8, 2011. A shop is set on fire as rioters gather in Croy-don, south London, violence and looting spread across someof London's most impoverished neighborhoods with youthssetting fire to shops and vehicles, during a third day of riotingin the city that will host next summer's Olympic Games.

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S t . S t e p h e n ' s D a yH U N G A RY - A u g u s t 2 0

Saint Stephen I (Hungarian: I. (Szent) István) (Latin: Sanctus Stephanus)(Esztergom, 967/969/975 – 15 August 1038, Esztergom-Szentkirály orSzékesfehérvár, Hungary), born Vajk, was Grand Prince of the Hungarians(997–1000) and the first King of Hungary (1000–1038). He greatly ex-panded Hungarian control over the Carpathian Basin during his lifetime,broadly established Christianity in the region, and is generally consideredto be the founder of the Kingdom of Hungary. Pope Gregory VII canonizedStephen I, together with his son, Saint Emeric of Hungary and Bishop Ger-ard of Csanád, on 20 August 1083. Stephen became one of the most pop-ular saints in Hungary, and 20 August, which was also his feast day until1687, is celebrated as a state holiday commemorating the foundation ofthe nation.

HistoryEarly years:He was born as Vajk in the town of Esztergom. His father was GrandPrince Géza of Hungary; his mother was Sarolt, daughter of Gyula of Tran-sylvania a Hungarian nobleman who had been baptized in Greece.Though Sarolt was baptized into the Orthodox Christian faith at her father'scourt in Transylvania by the Greek bishop Hierotheos, she did not persistin the religion. According to his legends, Vajk was baptized a Christian bySaint Adalbert of Prague. He was given the baptismal name Stephen(István) in honour of the original early Christian Saint Stephen. The bap-tised name was possibly chosen on purpose, as it means not only "crown"as mentioned, but also "norm, standard" in Hebrew. So the mission of St.Stephen was to grant a norm to Hungary through the Holy Crown (alsocalled the Doctrine of the Holy Crown). However, another reason couldbe thought of: that Stephen, as fiancé of a woman from the diocese ofPassau, simply wanted to do honour to the then-major saint of Passau,Saint Stephen, after whom the Passau Cathedral is named up to today.When Stephen reached adolescence, Great Prince Géza convened anassembly where they decided that Stephen would follow his father as themonarch of the Hungarians. This decision, however, contradicted the Mag-yar tribal custom that gave the right of succession to the eldest close relative of the deceased ruler.Stephen married Giselle of Bavaria, the daughter of Henry II the Wrangler in orafter 995. By this marriage, he became the brother-in-law of the future Henry II,Holy Roman Emperor. Giselle arrived at her husband's court accompanied byGerman knights.

Ruling prince of the Hungarians:In 997, his father died and a succession struggle ensued. Stephen claimed torule the Magyars by the principle of Christian divine right, while his uncle Kop-pány, a powerful pagan chieftain in Somogy, claimed the traditional right of ag-natic seniority. Eventually, the two met in battle near Veszprém and Stephen,victorious, assumed the role of Grand Prince of the Hungarians. Stephen's vic-tory came about primarily thanks to his German retinue led by the brothersPázmány and Hont. The nearly contemporary deed of foundation of the Abbeyof Pannonhalma clearly described the battle as a struggle between the Germansand the Magyars. Thus, Stephen strengthened his power in Transdanubia, butseveral parts of Hungary still did not accept his rule.According to Hungarian tradition, Pope Silvester II, with the consent of Otto III,Holy Roman Emperor, sent a magnificent jeweled gold crown to Stephen alongwith an apostolic cross and a letter of blessing officially recognizing Stephen asthe Christian king of Hungary. Later this tradition was interpreted as the papalrecognition of the independence of Hungary from the Holy Roman Empire. Thedate of Stephen's coronation is variously given as Christmas Day, 1000 or 1January 1001.Stephen I is closely tied to the Crown of St. Stephen and the Doctrine of theHoly Crown which marks a unique tradition of the Kingdom of Hungary. Accord-ing to Hartwick's legend, during his coronation Stephen dedicated the crown tothe Holy Virgin, thereby sealing a contract between God and the crown (whichis therefore considered a "holy" crown). This contract is also the basis for theDoctrine of the Holy Crown and the basis for the Apostolic Kingdom of Hungary.The actual crown which survives today was probably never worn by the king

himself as it has been dated as originating in the 12th century. The origin of the crown, however, is hotly disputed.

First King of Hungary:According to the much argued Chronicon Pictum, the first king of the Hungarians isAttila the Hun. However, the codex repeats itself as Stephen I is also cited as thefirst king of the Hungarians. Also argued by historians is the exact meaning of thephrase in the Remonstrances to Emerick from St Stephen: "Regale ornamentumscito esse maximum: sequi antecessores reges et honestos imitari parentos", whichtranslates to: "The greatest deed for the kingdom is to follow the old kings and to im-itate parents". This might mean that Stephen is referring to the "old kings" whichcould only be Attila and Nimrod. It might also mean that the constitution of the king-dom itself was not employed by St Stephen, but by his ancestors.What is confirmed is that, after (or just before) his coronation, Stephen I foundedseveral dioceses, namely, the dioceses of Veszprém, Győr, Kalocsa, Vác, and Bihar.He also established the Archdiocese of Esztergom. Thus he set up an ecclesiasticalorganisation independent of the German archbishops. He also began to organize aterritory-based administration by founding several counties (comitatus, megye)in hiskingdom.Stephen discouraged pagan customs and strengthened Christianity by means ofvarious laws. In his first decree, issued at the beginning of his rule, he ordered thateach ten villages would be obliged to build a church. He invited foreign priests toHungary to evangelize his kingdom. Saint Astricus served as his adviser and SaintGerard Sagredo as the tutor for his son Emeric (also rendered as Imre).Around 1003, Stephen invaded and occupied Transylvania, a territory ruled by hismaternal uncle, Gyula, a semi-independent chieftain. After this victory, Stephen or-ganized the Diocese of Transylvania. In the next few years he also occupied thelands of the Black Magyars in the southern part of Transdanubia, and there organizedthe Diocese of Pécs. Shortly afterwards, it is believed that he made an agreementwithSamuel Aba, the chieftain of the Kabar tribes settled in the Mátra region, whomarried Stephen's sister. In his brother-in-law's domains, Stephen founded the Dio-cese of Eger.Finally, Stephen occupied the domains of Ajtony, a semi-pagan chieftain who had been ruling over the territories of thelater Banat. Here Stephen set up the Diocese of Csanád.

External politics:In his external politics Stephen I allied himself with his brother-in-law, the Emperor Henry II against Prince Boleslaw I ofPoland, who had extended his rule over the territories between the Morava and VáhRivers. Stephen sent troops to the em-peror's army, and in the Peace of Bautzen, in 1018, the Polish prince had to hand over the occupied territories to Stephen.Shortly afterwards, Stephen sent troops to help Boleslaw I in his campaign against Kievan Rus'. In 1018, Stephen lead hisarmies against Bulgaria, in alliance with the Byzantine Emperor Basil II, and collected several relics during his campaign.After the death of Henry II ( 3 July 1024), Stephen broke with the German alliance, because the new Holy Roman Emperor,Conrad II claimed supremacy over the Kingdom of Hungary, while Stephen demanded the Duchy of Bavaria for his sonEmeric who was the nearest relative of the deceased Emperor Henry II (who himself had been the last male descendantof the old dukes of Bavaria). In 1027, Stephen had Bishop Werner of Strasbourg, the envoy sent by Conrad II to the Byzan-tine Empire, arrested at the frontier. In 1030, the emperor lead his armies against Hungary, but Stephen's troops forcedthem to retreat. Stephen and Emperor Conrad II concluded peace negotiations in 1031, and the territories between theLeitha (Hungarian: (Lajta)) and Fischa Rivers were ceded to Hungary.

His last yearsStephen intended to retire to a life of holy contemplation and hand the kingdom over to his son Emeric, but Emeric waswounded in a hunting accident and died in 1031. In Stephen's words of mourning:By God's secret decision death took him, so that wickedness would not change his soul and false imaginations would notdeceive his mind – as the Book of Wisdom teaches about early death.Stephen mourned for a very long time over the loss of his son, which took a great toll on his health. He eventually recovered,but never regained his original vitality. Having no children left, he could not find anyone among his remaining relatives whowas able to rule the country competently and be willing to maintain the Christian faith of the nation. He did not want toentrust his kingdom to his cousin, Duke Vazul, whom he suspected to be following pagan customs. The disregarded duketook part in a conspiracy aimed at the murder of Stephen I, but the assassination attempt failed and Vazul had his eyesgouged out and molten lead poured in his ears. Without a living heir, on his deathbed, King St. Istvan raised with his righthand the Holy Crown of Hungary, and prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, asking her to take the Hungarian people as hersubjects and become their queen. King Stephen died on the feast day which commemorates the bodily assumption intoheaven of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Feast of the Assumption on 15 August, in the year 1038, at Esztergom-Szentkirályor Székesfehérvár, where he was buried. His nobles and his subjects were said to have mourned for three straight yearsafterwards.

His legacyFollowing Stephen's death, his nephew Peter Urseolo (his appointed heir) and his brother-in-law Samuel Aba contendedfor the crown. Nine years of instability followed until Stephen's cousin Andrew I was crowned King of Hungary in 1047 tore-establish the Árpád dynasty. Hungarian historiography saw Peter and Samuel as members of the Árpád dynasty, andboth are counted among the Árpád kings.Shortly after Stephen's death, healing miracles were said to have occurred at his tomb. Stephen was canonized by PopeGregory VII as Saint Stephen of Hungary in 1083, along with his son, Saint Emeric and Bishop Gerhard (Hungarian: SzentGellért). Thus Saint Stephen became the first canonized confessor king, a new category of saint. He is venerated as thepatron saint of Hungary, kings, children who are dying, masons, stonecutters, and bricklayers.St Stephen is not mentioned in the Tridentine Calendar. His feast day was added to the General Roman Calendar only in1631, and only as a commemoration on 20 August, the feast of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. In 1687, it was moved to 2 Sep-tember and remained there until the 1969 revision of the Roman Catholic calendar of saints. Then the feast of Saint Joachimon 16 August was moved and the date became available for another celebration, so the feast of Saint Stephen of Hungarywas moved to that date, the day immediately after his death. Some traditionalist Catholics continue to observe pre-1970versions of the General Roman Calendar.In the local calendar of the Church in Hungary, the feast is observed on 20 August, the day on which his sacred relics weretranslated to the city of Buda. It is a public holiday in Hungary. During the period of Communist rule in Hungary, St. Stephen'sDay was referred to as the anniversary of the Stalinist constitution of 1949 and "The celebration of the new bread — theend of the harvest".San Estevan del Rey Mission Church is a church that was founded in 1629 in Acoma, New Mexico is named for the king.The Pueblo of Acoma continues to celebrate on 2 September his feast day with traditional Native American dances. The king's right hand, known as the Holy Right, is kept as a relic. Hungarians interpreted the incorruptibility of his right armand hand - with which he had held the Holy Crown aloft from his deathbed when asking our Lady to be the Queen of theHungarians - as a sign that the Blessed Virgin Mary had accepted the king's offer to her of the Hungarian people, and sheremains officially their queen. The incorrupt arm was divided among European royalty, but the Holy Right of King SaintStephen was placed in a town built solely for the purpose of keeping it, the town in Transylvania called "Szent Jobb", orHoly Right. Later, the Holy Right was transferred to where it is today, the Basilica of King Saint Stephen in Budapest. Apartfrom the Holy Right, only some bone fragments remain, which are kept in churches throughout Hungary. HungarianCatholics honor the first king of their country with annual processions, at which the Holy Right is exhibited.The canonization of Saint Stephen was recognized by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople in the year2000. The Holy Crown, popularly attributed to St. Stephen, was removed from the country in 1945 for safekeeping, and entrustedto the United States government. It was kept in a vault at Fort Knox until 1978, when it was returned to the nation by orderof President Jimmy Carter. It has been enshrined in the Hungarian parliament building in Budapest since 2000.

QuoteA miniature of the king from the Chronicon Pictum, 1360.

Artistic representationKing Stephen of Hungary has been a popular theme in art, especially from the 19th century on, with the development ofnationalism. Paintings such as The Baptism of Vajk (1875) by Gyula Benczúr and many statues representing the king allover Hungary testify to Stephen's importance in Hungarian national thought.The last complete opera by the Hungarian composer Ferenc Erkel is István király (King Stephen) (1885). The best knownrepresentations of St. Stephen in music are Ludwig van Beethoven's King Stephen Overture, and the 1983 rock operaIstván, a király (Stephen, the King) by Levente Szörényi and János Bródy. Szörényi's Veled, Uram! (With You, my Lord!)(2000) was a sequel to István király.The crown is represented in the painting of Edward Burne-Jones, started in 1881, The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon.

Obama plan to review deportation casesstokes heated debate

(Google News: August 19, 2011 )The Obama administration's plan toreview the cases of 300,000 illegalimmigrants currently in deportationproceedings to identify "low-prior-ity" offenders has sparked a debatein Washington and beyond.Officials said that by launching thecase-by-case review, they are refo-cusing deportation efforts on con-victed felons and other "publicsafety threats." Those who havenot committed crimes could be al-lowed to remain in the U.S.The move was cheered by some il-legal immigrants, notably collegestudents who have been pushingCongress to pass the Dream Act,which would allow them to stay inthe country, as well as supporters

of the legislation.Senate Democrats working for im-migration reform welcomed thenew policy. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), said it would "alleviate some ofthe pressure on our broken immi-gration system." Sen. RichardDurbin (D-Ill.), coauthor of theDream Act bill that would grant apath to citizenship for certain illegalimmigrant students, described thepolicy as "a fair and just way to dealwith an important group of immi-grant students."Jon Feere, a legal analyst at theCenter for Immigration Studies,which has sought tougher restric-tions on immigration, said the newpolicy was "an effort by PresidentObama to appeal to some Latino

voters, but the overwhelming ma-jority of Americans want strong en-forcement."

Critics labeled the plan a "blanketamnesty" for a large group of illegalimmigrants.Several Republicans, including Ari-zona Gov. Jan Brewer, came outagainst the plan Friday."This plan amounts to back-dooramnesty for hundreds of thousands-- if not millions -- of illegal aliens,"Brewer said in a statement. "Weneed to remind President Obamathat we elected a president thatserves beneath the law and did notanoint a king that is above the law."

Libya refutes rebel claims Gadhafi seekingrefuge for his family

(Google News August 20, 2011)Libyan officials are refuting rebelclaims that Moammar Gadhafi isseeking refuge for his family, sayingFriday that neither the leader norhis wife and children plan to leavethe country.Libyan Deputy Foreign MinisterKhaled Kaim told CNN that Gadhafiand his family are staying in thecountry, countering rebel reportsthat the governments of Egypt, Mo-rocco, Tunisia and Algeria havebeen asked to accept the family.U.S. and NATO officials also saythey have no indication Gadhafi ismaking preparations to leave.Abdel Monem al-Houni, a repre-sentative of the rebel TransitionalCouncil in Cairo, told CNN he wasinformed about the request by theArab governments who received it.Kaim said the four governmentscould speak on their own behalfabout the rebel claims.The reports come as U.S. officialssay the embattled leader may bemaking preparations for a laststand in Tripoli as a months-longNATO air campaign continues amidreports of rebel advances."We believe he could be planningfor a last stand," one U.S. officialsaid.A second U.S. official confirmed asimilar concern and said the Gad-hafi plan could involve a final mili-tary offensive against civilians,launched from his last majorstrongholds around the Libyan cap-ital.The officials, who have knowledgeof the situation on the ground, didnot want to be named because ofthe sensitive intelligence matters.In an address broadcast on Libyanstate television Monday, Gadhafiurged supporters to take up armsand battle rebel forces."Move always forward to the chal-lenge; pick up your weapons; go tothe fight in order to liberate Libyainch by inch from the traitors andfrom NATO. Be prepared to fight ifthey hit the ground," Gadhafi said.Both U.S. officials emphasized thatif a final push by Gadhafi happens,

the United States doesn't have aclear idea what form it could take.However, State Departmentspokesman Mark Toner said Fridaythat U.S. officials in Benghazi havebeen working with the Libyan oppo-sition "on exactly what it's going tolook like post-Gadhafi.""Impossible to say when he'll go,but it's clear that he will go," Tonertold CNN's Brooke Baldwin.Meanwhile Friday, oppositionforces said a former Libyan primeminister has left Tripoli and joinedwith rebels in the country's westernmountains.Abdel Salam Jalloud "is in Zintanand he is a free man among therebels," said Jumma Ibrahim, aspokesman for the Military Councilof the Western Mountain Region, arebel group.Kaim declined to confirm or denythe report.Jalloud was among members ofGadhafi's inner-circle responsiblefor the 1969 coup that put Gadhafiinto power. Jalloud fell out of favorwith the regime in the mid-1990s.The speculation over a Gadhafi"last stand" comes as his troops arebattling rebel forces on a number offronts, including in the west, wherefighting has raged for days over thestrategic city of Zawiya, about 30miles west of Tripoli and a majorsupply route to the capital.Fierce artillery fire could be heardaround Zawiya on Friday. Rebelstook a major oil refinery there, saidHobab Jomaa, a rebel fighter. Theywere in control of the western partof the city, but battles continued inthe eastern part, he said.When asked when rebels mightbegin their move toward Tripoli, onefighter in Zawiya told CNN's SaraSidner, "Two days, maybe by theend of the week.""They are becoming more embold-ened," Sidner said of the rebels."They feel like they can really havea chance at Tripoli."The International Organization forMigration said Friday that it is work-ing to evacuate an unknown num-ber of foreign nationals from Tripoli

and other western cities "who areincreasingly vulnerable and nowwant to leave."Government spokesman MusaIbrahim downplayed the move-ments Friday, saying rebel supplylines have been cut off from thecoast and from the south, renderingthem unable to advance."We have paid a heavy price, andwe have nothing in front of us ex-cept the prize, and the prize is vic-tory over those traitors whocollaborated with the crusaderenemy and transformed Libya intoa bloodbath," Ibrahim said.Meanwhile, a NATO airstrike de-stroyed the home of Abdullah al-Sanussi, the head of Libya'sintelligence service and a brother-in-law of Gadhafi's, neighbors andLibyan government officials saidFriday.The strike also destroyed a schooland medical store, neighbors andofficials said. One person -- not al-Sanussi -- was killed, they said.In June, the International CriminalCourt issued an arrest warrant foral-Sanussi along with Gadhafi andhis son Saif al-Islam for actionstaken as a popular uprising mor-phed into civil war.The warrants are for "crimesagainst humanity," including murderand persecution committed in Libyain February "through the state ap-paratus and security forces."Gadhafi's government has rejectedthe court's authority.The attack on al-Sanussi's housefollowed a NATO airstrike Thursdaynight that killed a brother ofIbrahim, the governmentspokesman, a Libyan governmentofficial said.Hasan Ali Ibrahim, a youngerbrother of Musa Ibrahim, was work-ing as a civilian volunteer for theGadhafi government, the officialsaid. The 25-year-old universitystudent had left Tripoli with a groupof people to check on friends in Za-wiya; he and the others were struckby bullets fired from an Apache hel-icopter while on foot in Zawiya'scentral square, the official said.

EU to apply more Sanctions on Syria

(Google News Aug. 20 , 2011) EUgovernments have agreed to in-crease the number of Syrian offi-cials and institutions targeted bysanctions. Plans have also beendrawn up for a possible oil embargoagainst the country.

The moves are in response toPresident Bashar al-Assad's ongo-ing crackdown on protesters, whoare contesting his family's four-decade rule over Syria.15 people and five institutions willbe added to a list of those already

targeted by asset freezes andtravel bans.The increased sanctions reflect asignificant stepping up of interna-tional pressure against Assad'sregime. They are subject to formalapproval early next week.

Canada marks the 64th anniversary of Pakistan’s in-dependence

Ontario-Canada (14 August2011) Prime Minister StephenHarper today issued the fol-lowing statement to mark the64th anniversary of Pakistan’sindependence:“On behalf of Canadians, I ampleased to extend my verybest wishes and sincere con-gratulations to all those cele-brating the 64th anniversaryof Pakistan’s independence.“Our country is home to a vi-brant, 300,000-memberstrong community of Canadi-ans of Pakistani heritage,which plays a meaningful rolein our diverse cultural land-

scape and contributes toCanada’s prosperity in allfields of endeavour.“On this special day, we re-flect on the events and ac-complishments that haveshaped the history of Pakistanand we celebrate the ties be-tween our two countries.“I would also like to take thisopportunity to recall the cata-strophic floods that causedmassive devastation in Pak-istan last year. Our Govern-ment’s humanitarianassistance and the contribu-tions of thousands of individ-ual Canadians helped meet

the urgent needs of millions ofpeople affected by the floods.While Pakistan continues tofeel the impact of the 2010monsoon floods and faceswide-ranging challenges, Icommend the Pakistani peo-ple for their dignified re-silience in the face ofadversity.“Canada values its relation-ship with Pakistan and westand by Pakistanis as theycontinue to work towardsbuilding a strong, stable andsecure nation. Once again, Iwish you the best as you com-memorate this important day.”

Press release on the 20th anniversary of Independence ofUkraine

HUNGARY BULLETIN

(PR)Minority language rightsactivists demand bilingual-ism in Felvidék/South-Slova-kia, where the majority ofHungarians live. Severaltowns and villages of the re-gion swept into action byposting stickers calling forsignposts to also be in Hun-garian. The activists fromthe so-called KétnyelvűSzlovákia/Bilingual SlovakiaFacebook initiative are put-ting stickers in places wherethey feel names should also

be in Hungarian. They haveliterally placed thousands ofstickers on every possiblesignpost, notice board, andin the windows of shops thatback the idea. Some of theshops have even includedHungarian now on their no-tices. The aim of the Hun-garian group is to preservethe visual and verbal pres-ence of their mother tonguefor which they said they hadlawful rights.

Activists claim bilingualSlovakia

Census commis-sioners to be re-cruited(PR) By 1 August the Demo-cratic Alliance of Hungariansin Transylvania (RMDSZ) hadofficially engaged in recruitingpaid census commissionersfor the national census to beheld in October 2011. The cru-cial effect of the next censusfor minorities is grasped intheir proportion of the totalpopulation, since under thePublic Administration Lawpassed in Romania 2001, if anational or ethnic minoritymakes up over 20 percent ofthe population of a given set-tlement, they have the right tostreet signs, schools, and offi-cial proceedings in their ownlanguage. In Romania thereare approximately 1.5 millionHungarian speaking people.After refusing to use minoritylanguage questionnaires in2002, the Romanian Statisti-cal Institute has the same atti-tude after a decade. TheRMDSZ seeks for the supportof Hungarian teachers in Ro-manian to emphasize theneed for confessing ethnicidentity. It would be desirable,if at least 6-7 000 Hungariancensus commissioners collectdata throughout Transylvaniain order to ensure that every300 Hungarian inhabitants inmunicipalities gets at leastone commissioner.

(PR) The Hungarian state declaredits support for all Hungarian (prospec-tive) citizens living outside the countryin response to the deed of the ViaNova ICS vice-chairman (youth or-ganization of the Hungarian CoalitionParty in Slovakia). László Gubík pub-licly confessed that he is now a Hun-garian citizen ignoring the legalrepercussions he may face. Further-more, Hungary once again gave itsassurance that it would not provideany information on persons applyingfor Hungarian citizenship.On 1 January 2011, the modified Cit-izenship Act of Hungary came into ef-fect introducing the simplifiednaturalization procedure. Under theamended law every non-Hungariancitizen is eligible for the simplified nat-uralisation if he or any of his ances-tors was a Hungarian citizen or ifthere is reason to believe that his orher origin is from Hungary; he proveshis knowledge of the Hungarian lan-guage; he has no criminal record andis not under prosecution; and his nat-uralisation does not violate the publicand national security of Hungary.Thus far more than 130,000 applica-tions have been filed, mainly from Ro-mania and Serbia. Seventy percent ofthe applications have beenprocessed in nearly 70 countries ofthe world. While Hungary respectsthe internationally applied practice ofdual citizenship, Slovakia enacted acitizenship law that envisage a fine of€3319 if a person failed to report thesecond citizenship automatically for-feiting the Slovak one. Béla Bugár,leader of the Hungarian-Slovak Most-Híd party said that his party wouldoffer legal assistance to anyone con-sidering taking legal steps to regaintheir Slovak citizenship. Nine Hungar-ian people in Slovakia have been re-ported to have lost their Slovakcitizenships when they gained a Hun-garian one under Hungary's new dualcitizenship laws since the start of theyear.

Dual citizenshipalong the river Ipoly

When Arabs killArabs, the left

falls silent(Google News Aug. 20, 2011) In Syria anti-government protesters have told reportersthat President Bashar al-Assad's police areusing torture in an especially perverse way.It's not for information gathering, since theycan learn who opposes them by simply pho-tographing demonstrators in the streets. Nowthey torture to terrify rebels by promisingthem a hideous death.The police pick up men at random, keepthem a few days, then return them to theirfamilies, the many signs of torture readableon their dead bodies. It's not enough to killdemonstrators with tanks and snipers or havegunboats bombard the port of Latakia. Thepeople are willing to face death. The policewant them to fear torture as well.Seventy such deaths in detention have re-cently been documented, 40 of them in thecity of Homs, a centre of anti-Assad feeling.In the five months since the demonstrationsbegan, the government has killed about

2,000 citizens. The official view is that thestate is saving Syria from vicious gangs ofcriminals. State television reports that eventsare proceeding as they should.Even Saudi Arabia and the Arab Leaguehave criticized Assad's use of force. BarackObama wants him to resign. So far, however,he remains committed to the homicidal stylethat kept his father's Baath government in of-fice for 29 years.Last Saturday about 40 people with anti-Assad banners held a peaceful demonstra-tion outside the embassy of Syria in Ottawa.They all appeared to be Syrians, accordingto the Ottawa Citizen reporter. They weretalking about the monstrous governmentthat's ruling their homeland and the attemptsby pro-Assad operatives in Canada to intim-idate them.But on that occasion, where were all theCanadian-born experts on the Middle East,those vociferous and selfrighteous moralists,who come out of the woodwork every time Is-rael appears to be in violation of some UNresolution or strikes back against an outragelike the killing of the bus passengers onThursday near Eilat?Where, during the Syrian protest, were themassed student armies from York Universityand Concordia and the Ontario Institute for

Studies in Education? Where were the le-gions of academics and trade unionists whoare always ready to declare what policyshould be followed by the wise and the virtu-ous? Where, for that matter, were Dykes andTrans People for Palestine, who make sucha great noise in Toronto and whose websiteproudly declares they support everyone'srights?It happens that the answers to these rhetori-cal questions are the same in each case:They were all at work on their next IsraeliApartheid campaign. The truth is that leftishCanadians have only one interest in the Mid-dle East, the struggle between Palestiniansand Israelis. That appears to be their entireforeign policy. They insist they are not preju-diced; they are devoted to human rights,nothing more.But when they consider the world beyondCanada, and choose which cause deservestheir energy, they usually select the Palestini-ans. Their chronically narrow focus on a sin-gle conflict is selfblinding. It produces a weirdaberration of opinion.When conflict appears elsewhere on theplanet, whether it's in Tibet or Sudan or Syria,our left-wing morality police go limp. They ex-hibit passion on one issue only. How can theybe taken seriously?

In Philip Roth's novel Deception, a Czechgentile in London asks her American Jewishlover, "Why does everyone around here hateIsrael so much. Can you explain that?" Let'sgrant, she says, that Israel is a terrible coun-try. Her lover won't grant that but she contin-ues: "Still, there are many countries far moreterrible. Yet the hostility to Israel is almost uni-versal among the people I meet." Why? Howcould that be?He replies that it's an article of faith amongthe left. They are wedded to unrealistic hopesfor social justice and they resent Israel's fail-ure to live up to their ideals. People expectmoral perfection from Israel and are appalledwhen Israel doesn't deliver.Israelis are expected to live by the higheststandards and, in difficulty, "turn the othercheek." Roth's male character offers ashrewd point: "You criticize most harshly thepeople who behave best, or the least badly."That novel appeared 21 years ago. Sincethen, leftists have grown steadily angrier atIsrael. Its strange destiny is to be the onlyopen democracy in the Middle East, the onlystate with free speech and free judges - andto be nevertheless the favourite enemy of theCanadian left.

August 9, 2011. A trader looks to the German DAX stock indexat the stock exchange in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. Shortly afterthe Dax indicated a positive trend the index temporarily fell by7 per cent

August 8, 2011. Lokor Logitel, a three-year-old girl, cries at theMukutano feeding centre in Naduat Village, northwest of Kenya'scapital Nairobi. The famine in the Horn of Africa is spreading andmay soon engulf as many as six more regions of the lawless na-tion of Somalia.

August 11, 2011. Ultra-Orthodox Jews attend a prayer as theygather in the religious neighborhood of Mea Shearim to protestagainst summer events organized by the city council, Jerusalem

August 6, 2011. Nikita Talichev, 10, runs with others duringmorning exercise at a training camp in the mountain valley ofEski-Karmen 50 km (31.07 mile) from Sevastopol, Ukraine. Thecamp "Crimea Sich" annualy welcomes about 150 childrenfrom Russia and Ukraine at the age from 7 up to 19 years old.

We are shrinking (PR) Based on estimates Hungarians in Serbia willamount to 274 000 in the next census. A 16 percentdecrease is to be observed with regard to figuresof the 2002 census due to migration, assimilation,mixed marriages and low birth-rates. The up-com-ing population census in October this year may re-veal whether the outspoken policy of the kin-stateand Hungarian organizations of Vajdaság/Vojvod-ina – the prevention of gradual population shrink-age – has proven to be successful.

(Google News August 20,2011)PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Asuicide bomber struck worshipersduring prayers yesterday at amosque close to the Afghan bor-der, killing 48 people in an attackone official said may have beenaimed at anti-Taliban elders pray-ing during the holy month of Ra-madan.Militants have frequently attackedtribesmen who have dared speakup - or raise arms - against themin the border region, where AlQaeda and the Pakistani Talibanhave long held sway. Rifts be-tween insurgent factions havealso led to mass-casualty attacksthere.Pakistan has lost more than35,000 people in militant violencesince 2007, with mosques, mar-kets, and hotels targeted. But theattack was shocking because itcame not only on Islam’s holiestday of the week, but also its holi-est month, when observant Mus-lims fast during the daytime andspend extra time in prayer andcommunal activities.“Whoever did it in the holy monthof Ramadan cannot be a Muslim,’’said Saleem Khan, who said thatin the aftermath of the blast peopleran over him to escape the scene.“It is the cruelest thing any Muslimwould do,’’ he said from his hospi-tal bed in the main northwesterncity of Peshawar, where he wasbeing treated for his injuries.The mosque is in Ghundi, a villagein the Khyber tribal region, a partof Pakistan’s tribal belt that is off-limits to foreigners and consideredtoo dangerous for nonlocal Pak-istanis to visit. Much of the non-lethal supplies heading to USforces in Afghanistan passthrough it.

As it has in other areas of the bor-der during the last three years, thePakistani Army has carried outseveral operations against mili-tants in Khyber, with limited suc-cess. It has funded and supportedthe creation of tribal militias insome areas, which have alsostruggled against the brutality ofthe Taliban.More than 300 people were at themosque, a local administratorsaid. “All the evidence we havegathered confirms that it is a sui-cide attack,’’ said another local of-ficial.The blast killed 48 people, accord-ing to Khalid Mumtaz, a local gov-ernment official. At least 85 werewounded.TV footage showed prayer caps,shoes, and green prayer matsscattered across a blood-splat-tered floor, while ceiling fans weretwisted and walls blackened. Mencomforted a young boy who weptas he held his hand to his heart.A top provincial official said sev-eral elders of the Maddo Khel tribewho were in the mosque couldhave been the targets. He said thetribe had been campaigningagainst the militants in the area,with the backing of the govern-ment.He did not give his name becausehe was not authorized to speak tothe media.The attack was the deadliest sincetwin bombings in mid-June killedaround 40 people in Peshawar.That attack was believed to bepart of a series of bombingsstaged by militants in retaliation forthe US killing of Al Qaeda chiefOsama bin Laden in May.The Pakistani Taliban and its affil-iates are seeking to topple Pak-istan’s pro-Western government

and install a hard-line Islamistregime. Their anti-American rhet-oric, combined with fact that suc-cessive Pakistani regimes havebeen corrupt and unable to pro-vide basic services to the country,means they have some support.The United States is supportingPakistan’s fight against the mili-tants because of their deep linksto Al Qaeda, whose leaders arebelieved to be based in the tribalregions. But the relationship be-tween the countries is deeply trou-bled, chiefly over allegations thatIslamabad is supporting insurgentfactions fighting in Afghanistan.Secretary of State Hillary RodhamClinton condemned the bombing.“The slaughter of worshipers asthey gathered at a mosque for Ra-madan’s Friday prayers under-scores the brutality of those whowould target civilians during a timeof celebration and reflection forMuslims throughout the world,’’she said in a statement.Since 2008, the United States hasroutinely fired missiles at militanttargets in the northwest, a tacticthat has increasingly angeredPakistan’s army and civilian lead-ers as well its people.The most recent attack took placeearlier yesterday in South Waziris-tan, where two missiles hit ahouse, killing four suspected mili-tants, said two Pakistani intelli-gence officials who spoke oncondition of anonymity becausethey were not authorized to speakto reporters.South Waziristan is a lawlessstretch of rugged territory that waslargely under the control of thePakistani Taliban until October2009, when the country’s armylaunched an operation against theinsurgents.

Trade and industry seek army’sintervention

(Google News July 30, 2011) Representatives of the Federation of Pak-istan Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Karachi Chamber of Com-merce & Industry, Korangi Association of Trade & Industry, and KarachiTraders Action Committee said that the law and order situation was be-yond the control of the police and Rangers.The army must be brought in as the last resort to prevent further blood-shed in the city of 17 million people, said FPCCI President Khalid Tawab.He added that the civil law-enforcement agencies had failed to restorepeace to the metropolis.KCCI President Saeed Shafique also endorsed the demand and saidpolice had miserably failed to restore peace.Chairman of the Karachi Traders Action Committee (KTAC) SiddiqMemon appealed to the army chief to take immediate notice of the city’sgrave situation.He said all trading activities had come to a grinding halt due to the vio-lence, which had devastating effects on the economy.“Karachi should immediately be handed over to the army,” he said,adding that the police and Rangers had failed to maintainlaw and order in the city.Losses run into billions: The KTAC chairman said the ongoing wave ofkillings in the city caused losses of over Rs100 billion to local traders.More than 300 Eid bazaars and markets had been closed down whileover 35,000 people related to the bazaars and markets had losttheir jobs, he said.The Korangi Association of Trade and Industry said it seemed that lawand order was getting out of control of the local administration and thelaw-enforcement agencies.“It’s now inevitable to call the army in to control the law and order situa-tion in the city,” said KATI Patron-in-Chief S.M.Muneer, Chairman Syed Johar Ali Qandhari as well as former and pres-ent office-bearers of the association while showing grave concern overthe prevailing law and order situation in Karachi.The KATI chairman appealed to the government to ask the army tocleanse the city from illegitimate arms and weapons, which seemed be-yond the control of the law-enforcers, and return to the barracks after-wards.He said the gang warfare and ongoing strife between certain groups haddestroyed the city peace. He said traders and industrialists were unableto continue with their businesses due to the violence. This was the worsteconomic situation over the last three years and due to which the entirecountry would suffer, he said.The patron-in-chief of the association asked the apex body of the busi-ness community, FPCCI, to immediately call a meeting of all stakehold-ers and decide a line of action to save the country’s economy.The business leaders were of the view that killings of innocent people inalmost every part of the city were becoming a routine and it appearedthat the law-enforcement agencies were not capable enough to controlthe situation. “How can police control the situation when almost 5,000policemen have been detailed with around 100 VIPs on escort and se-curity duties in a city of over 20 million people?” they said.Exporters worry: Chairman of the Pakistan Tanners Association (SouthZone) Aziz Ahmed said the worsening law and order situation had crip-pled industrial activities, affecting the country’s exports.He added that exporters were extremely worried over the cancellationof orders.He said workers were not turning up due to massive targeted killings inalmost every corner of the city. He said foreign buyers had also cancelledtheir planned visits to Pakistan for the same reason.He asked the government to take every necessary action to restore lawand order instead of sitting idle.

Saint Stephen I in Budapest

20th August - Hungary's biggest National HolidayHistorical Background

Stephen (István in Hungarian) was Hungary’s first king and he laid the foundation of the state by con-verting the nomad and pagan Magyar people (Hungarians) into Christianity.Until the end of the 10th century the seven Hungarian tribes often attacked and robbed Western Euro-pean nations. After a major defeat in 955, the Hungarian leaders decided to give up the raids, focus onsettling down and found a strong state.István realized that he can only achieve this by converting Hungarians into the Roman Catholic reli-gion.He received a crown from Pope Sylvester II and became Hungary’s first king in 1000 AD. The HolyCrown has survived the coming centuries and it is now Hungary's most precious treasure.You can view the Holy Crown in Budapest Parliament.King Stephen consolidated his power. He built churches all around the country and invited Catholicpriests to help to lay down the foundations of Christianity. István formed new, strict legislations insteadof the former pagan rules and took administrative measures to organize the country.As a result of King Stephen's efforts Hungary became a strong state and a protector of Western Europeduring the Medieval Ages.Stephen was canonized on 20th of August in 1083 and became the patron of Hungary.For the canonization procedure King Stephen’s remains were exhumed. According to the story his righthand was found as fresh as the day he was buried.The hand was detached and since then everybody can view our first king's mummified right in St.Stephen's Basilica in Budapest. 20th August became Hungary’s national day and stayed that way until 1945, when Communist leadersprohibited celebrations due to the religious nature of the holiday.In 1990 the Hungarian Parliament declared 20th August national holiday again.

CUSTOMS AND ACTIVITIESRaising of the national flag of Hungary with military honours:Venue: Kossuth Lajos tér, BudapestTime: 20 August 2011, 8.00The programme of celebrations on 20 August will start with the raising of the national flag in front ofthe Parliament Building. In a departure from custom, before the raising of the flag the CeremonialGuard of the Defence Forces will greet the President of the Republic of Hungary, the Prime Ministerof Hungary, the Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament and the Chief of Staff of the Hungarian De-fence Forces with a ceremonial changing of the guard in the Central Domed Hall of the ParliamentBuilding.In line with tradition, the ceremonial raising of the national flag will be carried out by the BudapestGarrison, and Pál Schmitt, the President of the Republic of Hungary, will authorise it. Also attendingthe ceremony will be Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán, Speaker of the Hungarian ParliamentLászló Kövér, members of the diplomatic corps and invited guests.The Central Orchestra of the Auxiliary Brigade of the Hungarian Defence Forces and the NationalMounted Guard of Honour of the Hungarian Republic will take part in the event, and historical flagswill be flown in front of the Parliament Building. The narrator for the ceremony will be Áron Őze, and the National Anthem will be sung byKatalin Szvorák, winner of the Alternative Kossuth Prize. The raising of the flag will be broadcast live by Duna Television.After the ceremony, the National Mounted Guard of Honour and the military orchestra will parade along Alkotmány utca in the direction of He-roes’ Square, where an officers’ passing out ceremony will take place later. On Andrássy út from Oktogon to Heroes’ Square there will be per-formances by military orchestras, majorettes and exhibition drill soldiers.At 8 p.m. The national flag will be lowered with military honours in front of the Parliament Building. The lowering of the flag will be carried outby the Budapest Garrison.

Open day in the Parliament Building:Time: 20 August 2011, 10.00–18.00The Parliament Building opens its doors to the public on our national holidays. On 20 August visitorsmay tour the home of the Hungarian legislature from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. As part of the Open ParliamentProgramme, visitors may see the Ceremonial Staircase and the Central Domed Hall of Parliament,where the Holy Crown of Hungary is guarded by keepers of the crown from the Defence Forces. Duringthe programme, the Parliament’s guard unit from the Guards’ Regiment of the Republic will changeevery half hour at the main entrance to the building. The Orchestra of the Police Special Forces willbe performing in the square.Entry to the building will be via Gate XII. There is no need for prior registration for the parliamentarytour, and there is no charge.

Celebration Mass and Procession of the Holy Right:Venue: Szent István tér, BudapestTime: 20 August 2011, 17.00In the early1800s, during the reign of Emperor Francis, it became a custom to carry in solemn proces-sion the miraculously preserved right hand of the saint and king who founded the State of Hungary. Inthose days the procession was on Buda’s Castle Hill in what were known as the Days of Saint Stephen.In the Second World War the Holy Right and the coronation regalia were despoiled, and from 1950the procession and veneration of the Holy Right were banned. On 20 August 1987 the Chapel of theHoly Right in Saint Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest was consecrated, and it became the final restingplace for the relic of our great king. In 1988, on the 950th anniversary of the death of Saint Stephen, the nationwide progress of the HolyRight was revived; every year since then the supplicatory progress has set off on Saint Stephen’s Day.This year, as in previous years, on 20 August a Celebration Mass will be held in front of Saint Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest, after which thenationwide progress of the Holy Right will start. The Liturgy, which starts at 17.00, will be led by Cardinal Péter Erdő, Primate of Hungary,Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and President of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops' Conference.This year the Procession of the Holy Right proceeds along its older, longer route, passing through József Attila utca and Széchenyi tér, thenturning through Zrínyi utca back to Szent István tér. In the procession members of monastic and knightlyorders recognised by the Holy See, Societies of Apostolic Life, and pilgrims from parishes will go inprocession before the Holy Right. Individual members of the public will also be able to take part in theprocession.

Határon Túra / ‘Cross-border Tour’:Venue: Kossuth Lajos tér, BudapestTime: 19.00, 20 August 2011This large-scale cycle tour linking Transylvania and Hungary was inaugurated last year under the nameKorszak Váltó Határon-Túra (‘Epoch-changing Cross-border Tour’). The aim of the initiative is to assistin creating direct links between the motherland and Hungarians living beyond the borders, and betweenthe Hungarian and Romanian nations, and to draw attention to an environmentally friendly, sustainablemode of transport: cycling. The main patrons of the event are Pál Schmitt, President of the Republicof Hungary and sports ambassador Imre Pulai, Olympic and world champion sprint canoer.In 2011 the tour of more than 850 km will take place between 13 and 20 August, and will take the cy-clists from the ‘one-thousand-year-old border’ to Budapest, passing through around one hundred set-tlements on the way. The main settlements on the route are Gyimesbükk (Ghimeş-Făget),Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc), Szászrégen (Reghin), Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca), Pádis (Padis),Nagyszalonta (Salonta), Szarvas, Kecskemét and Budapest.The slogan of the 2011 tour is: Élmény. Teljesítmény (‘Experience. Achievement’). The tour is morethan this however, as it is also a charity event. The participants’ entry fees will go towards supportingthe Csíksomlyó (Şumuleu Ciuc) Dévai Szent Ferenc Foundation Children’s Home. The organisers are contributing one thousand forints fromthe entry fee of every participant to the children’s home, and they will help in forwarding to the foundation’s representatives the pledges anddonations that are received during the tour.The participants in the tour will arrive in Budapest on 20 August, on the date of the celebration of the State’s foundation. The organisers willwait for cyclists to arrive in Hősök tere in Soroksár (District XXIII in Budapest), and at 5 p.m. they will cycle en masse to Parliament. At 7 p.m.László Kövér, Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament, will greet them. The Hot Jazz Band will perform at the event. After this the determinationof cyclists will be rewarded with a view of the festive firework display from Parliament.

State honours:Our national holidays are fitting opportunities for the award of Hungary’s highest state honours. This year the Order of Merit of the HungarianRepublic will be awarded on the eve of the celebration of the founding of the State. Thehonours will be awarded by the President of the Republic of Hungary, at the nominationof the Prime Minister.The decorations are awarded as recognition for outstanding achievements in the serviceof the nation, in promoting the development of the country, in furthering the interests ofthe nation and in advancing universal human values.On 19 August in the Central Domed Hall of Parliament Pál Schmitt, President of the Re-public of Hungary, will award the Grand Cross, Commander Cross and Commander Crosswith Star of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic. Prime Minister of Hungary ViktorOrbán and Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament László Kövér will also be present at theawards ceremony. Following the event the list of recipients can be read below.

Minorities Award for Hungarians beyond the Borders:According to Decree 1/1995. (IX. 28.) ME, the Prime Minister of Hungary can confer theMinorities Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to the status of minorities inthe spheres of public life, economics, science, culture or education. The two categoriesof the award are for Minorities within Hungary and for Hungarians beyond the Borders,and can be awarded to Hungarian and non- Hungarian persons and organisations carryingout outstanding work in the fields of public life, education, culture, the church, science, mass communication, or autonomous economic or-ganisation. The award is accompanied by a certificate, a commemorative plaque and one million forints – for an individual recipient or an or-ganisation.The awards ceremony for the Hungarians beyond the Borders category will take place on the eve of the national day, on 19 August in theDelegation Hall of the Parliament Building. The list of recipients can be read below on 20 August.

The ‘Hungary Cake’ on the ‘Avenue of Hungarian Flavours’:This is the fifth year in which the National Guild of Hungarian Confectioners has prepared a masterpiece of the confectioner’s art for the cel-ebration of the State’s foundation. The Hungary Cake will be presented for the first time on the Avenue of Hungarian Flavours, and thencakes prepared according to the original recipe will appear in confectionaries.The title of the Hungary Cake is awarded in competition every year. Entrants range from master confectioners to ambitious housewives – themost important factor is that recipes should be innovative and full of creative ideas typifying the Hungarian world of flavour, and in some wayconnected to the National Day of 20 August. The competition will be judged by a distinguished jury of master confectioners, who will choosethree cakes from the first round to go into the final, and in the second round a new jury will decide on the ultimate winner for the year.This year the cakes that have reached the final include the White Butter Pear Cake from Tatabánya, with its perfect combination of pear-mas-carpone, cheese-chocolate. The incomparable fruit from the famous city of Kecskemét domi-nates in the other two concoctions in the competition: the Kecskemét Peach Cake and the MilletCake with Kecskemét Peach Filling.The official announcement of the Hungary cake will take place at the beginning of August. Con-fectioners will simultaneously start making the winning cake according to an identical recipe inthe country’s hundreds of confectioner’s, and the cake can be bought from 20 August onwards.The recipe for the 2011 Hungary Cake can be accessed here after announcement of the com-petition result.The winning cakes from past years:

- 2007: Madártej (Floating Islands) Cake - 2008: Szatmári Plum Cake- 2009: Pándi Sour Cherry Cake- 2010: Plum Dumpling Cake

Ecumenical blessing of bread:Venue: Clark Ádám tér, BudapestTime: 20 August 2011, 16:00The origins of the Saint Stephen’s Day harvest celebration stretch back to the reign of Maria Theresa: the Queen ordered that on 20 Augustevery year we should commemorate the king who founded our state. Visitors flocked from far and wide to celebrate the Breaking of the NewBread with ceremonial harvest festivities which were then held on the Stephen Days on Castle Hill in Buda.These traditions are kept alive in the Mesterségek Ünnepe Crafts Fair, held every year on 20 August in Buda’s Castle District. Last year wasthe first in which the ecumenical service took place in Clark Ádám tér, with the participation of the associations which preserve these traditions.In the service, the liturgy which forms part of the celebration events includes the symbolic blessing of bread made from newly harvestedwheat, and with this gesture thanks is given for this year’s crop.At the event Gábor Tamás Nagy, Mayor of District I, will address those assembled, and then Szilvia Bognár will perform songs associatedwith Saint Stephen. Member organisations of the Alliance of Folk Arts Associations and dance troops from the Children's Folk Arts HeritageSociety will take part in the event. Áron Őze will be the narrator for the event.

Harvest procession:Venue: Budapest, from Clark Ádám tér to Saint Stephen’s Basilica via the Chain BridgeTime: 20 August 2011, 16:00Following the ceremony, the festive harvest procession will set off from Clark Ádám tér in the direction of the Basilica, for the master bakers’ bread to be blessed byCardinal Péter Erdő, Primate of Hungary and Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest. Children, master bakers, dancers and musicians in traditional folk costume will formpart of the procession. The procession will cross the Chain Bridge to its destination in front of Saint Stephen’s Basilica. Anybody may join the procession.

Ceremonial Fireworks:Venue: Budapest, Bank of the Danube Date and time: 20 August 2011, 9 p.m. hoursOne of the essential elements of the series of events held in Budapest on 20 August is the fireworks that attract hundreds of thousands of spectators. Inkeeping with the tradition, the special light show will begin at 9 p.m. this year, too, and the primary viewing area is the section of the bank of Danubebetween Petőfi Bridge and Margit Bridge.This year the rockets will be launched from four sites: similarly to last year, the primary launching area is the three barges on the Danube, two of whichwill be anchored between Margit Bridge and the Chain Bridge and one opposite the harbour at Vigadó square. The fourth site is the now traditional GellértMountain, but unlike the usual scenario, the rockets will be placed not on the Citadel, rather in front of the Statue of Liberty, which is safer in terms of fireprotection. The fire crackers will spring up to heights of 10 to 200 meters, naturally, those shot from Gellért Mountain will fly higher than that. The four siteswill present an unforgettable sight along a length of three kilometres.In the visual appearance and background music of the show of thirty minutes the Danube will have an important role, along with the successful HungarianEU Presidency of the last six months. The first minutes of the light show will recreate the atmosphere of Budapest cafés before the turn of the century,then the images will turn back all the way to the era of Saint Stephen, and the flashing lights will present symbols of the establishment of the state, ourancients traditions and Christianity. The fireworks will greet countries of the Danube strategy as well, with a special music compilation and matchingimages, then Hungary appears as a diverse, cultural capital located in the heart of Europe. The closing images will display togetherness, then in the finalminutes the sight and music will reach cathartic heights and make an powerful impression on the spectators.In addition to the now traditional firework bombs exploding into coloured stars, we can watch dragon’s eggs, a cracking stroboscope, a tiger’s tail, goldenshower, comet and coconut palm, and we will also be entertained by elements sunflower and golden spider. Although the rapid zigzag movements oflights will draw a different image on the sky for each spectator, we can rest assured that the fireworks will be unforgettable this year, too.

Historic carnival on the Danube / air and water parade:Venue: Budapest, between Margit Bridge and Petőfi BridgeDate and time: 20 August 2011, 14:00 to 15:30The ceremonial parade will start by the flight of the transport helicopters and Gripen group of the Hungarian Army over the Danube, to be accompanied by the appearanceof motorboats on the water flying the national flag of Hungary aboard. After this show of a few minutes the historical ships will leave Margit Bridge towards Chain Bridge,showing a clear sight for spectators on the banks. The spectacular props attached to the ships cover five historic eras. The era of Saint Stephen, Renaissance, theReform Era, the Art Nouveau of the turn of the century and our time. The props affixed to the Moscow type ships had to comply with strict requirements. The total weightof the ships could not exceed 5 000 kg, and the applicants had to ensure a clear line of sight for the pilot of the ship and room for movement for the crew.The ships will be making a lap of honour around the building of Parliament, while on the balcony of Hunter’s Room the Guard of Honour of the Republic Guard Regimentwill be giving a salute to the ships - symbolically, to Hungarian history - by flying the historical flags and the national flag of Hungary. After the honour ceremony the shipswill form a line and carry on their journey in the direction of the Chain Bridge. During this a convoy of 8 ships will float up on the Danube from the direction of PetőfiBridge, with almost seven hundred youths in state foster care, who will enjoy a close view of the event. At the Chain Bridge the convoy will fall in line behind the historicalships and continue their journey towards Petőfi Bridge.After the ships have left, at 4.20 p.m. a motorboat show and race will start. After the placement of the buoys, a spectacular show and race will start, with internationalcompetitors. During the show the announcer will keep the spectators informed on what is happening on the water.The program will continue in the air at 4.40 p.m. The air show will start with the MD-500 helicopter group of the Riot Police, then we can witness a historical moment: aPolikarpov PO-2, a one-engine biplane designed in 1924 and manufactured in 1954 will tow the legendary “Cimbora” type glider.They will be followed by a hang glider group of 5 of the Hungarian Motor Gliding Federation, then spectators on the bank will get a chance to watch a group of 3 of HajduTrió Apollo Fox. For one flyover the first aircraft used in public civil aviation, Li-2 will be introduced, then in the group of MALÉV Flight Club we can watch a Z-142, aCessna-172 and a Maule. The spectacular rally will be made even more exciting by an aerobatics show, Tamás Illés advanced European and world championship silvermedalist pilot will perform a spectacular show with his Edge 540 aircraft, after which we can see a group of the very popular Cessna aircraft, as the individual of Centroplanekft. This group will be followed by a group composed of one of the state-of-the-art airplanes of our time, a group of twin engine, four seat DA-42 of Pannon Air Serviceutility airplanes. Together with Trener Kft., the college of Nyíregyháza has trained lots of pilots for the Hungarian flight community, their introduction this time will be agroup of 5 of Z-142 aircraft, a sight that matches the traditions of the college and the company.Group of MD-500 helicopters of the Riot PoliceGroup of 5 Apollo glidersHajdu Trio Group (Apollo Fox)Group of Malév airplanes Group of Centroplane 3DA-42 group (Pannon Air)Group of Z-142 of Nyíregyháza

Contributed by: Attila Szántó

Latest developments in Mideast political unrest from North Africa to the Persian Gulf(Google News) Syrian security forces kill atleast 20 protesters despite promises byPresident Bashar Assad that the militaryoperations against the 5-month-old upris-ing are over. The killings, which came asthousands poured into the streets acrossSyria, suggest the autocratic leader is ei-ther unwilling to stop the violence — or notfully in control of his own regime.LIBYA: Moammar Gadhafi’s forces launch

a fierce counterattack in a strategic west-ern city, firing rockets, mortar shells andanti-aircraft guns in a bid to keep the rebelsfrom gaining complete control and advanc-ing toward the nearby capital. NATO’sbombing campaign has made it difficult forthe regime to send massive reinforcementsto Zawiya, enabling the rebels to maintaina foothold in their biggest prize in months.But the fierce onslaught by regime forces

signaled an opposition push toward Tripoli,Gadhafi’s main stronghold, would be ardu-ous and bloody.BAHRAIN: A senior Shiite cleric in Bahrainsays Sunni Gulf leaders are showing dou-ble standards by supporting Arab uprisingselsewhere while aiding Bahrain’s crack-down on its pro-reform protests. Sheik IsaQassim says Shiite-led calls for greaterrights in Bahrain are being ignored by Gulf

neighbors that have backed other revolts,such as those in Syria and Libya.Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. Allrights reserved. This material may not bepublished, broadcast, rewritten or redistrib-uted.

Statue of King Stephen I ofHungary and Queen Gisellein Veszprém (Hungary)

North Korean leader Kim in Russia, to meet Medvedev(Google News Aug 20, 2011 ) In hisfirst public visit to Russia in nearly adecade, Kim will meet PresidentDmitry Medvedev and will spendtime in the country's Far East andSiberia, the Kremlin said in a state-ment.Russia is a member of the long-stalled six-party talks on NorthKorea's nuclear program, thoughChina now holds more influencewith North Korea than Russia does.Kim made his last public visit toRussia in 2002, when he met then-President Vladimir Putin in the fareastern city of Vladivostok. He hasvisited China, Pyongyang's closestbig-power ally, three times in justover a year.Kim arrived in the town of Khasan,near the short border betweenNorth Korea and Russia, and wasgreeted by the Primorye region gov-ernor and President DmitryMedvedev's representative in theRussian Far East, a regional gov-ernment source said.South Korea's Yonhap newsagency, citing a South Korean gov-ernment source, said Kim wouldlikely hold talks with Medvedev inUlan-Ude, hundreds of kilometers(miles) further west near LakeBaikal in Siberia.

"We understand Chairman Kim'sspecial train arrived at Khasan Sta-tion at about 10 a.m. after crossingthe border between North Koreaand Russia and that a welcomingceremony is happening there," Yon-hap quoted the source as saying.The Kremlin statement confirmedKim was arriving on Saturday andsaid he would spend time in the FarEast and Siberia."The main event of the visit will bePresident Dmitry Medvedev's meet-ing with Kim Jong-il," it said.Yonhap said Kim was expected tostay in Russia for a week.The visit follows a series of top-levelmeetings between Pyongyang,Seoul, Washington and Beijing thathas raised hopes of a resumption oflong-stalled talks on disabling thesecretive North's nuclear weaponsprogramme.Russia and Japan are also partiesto the talks.North Korea has been desperate foreconomic aid after suffering fromdevastating floods and economicsanctions led by the United Statesbecause of its nuclear programme.Citing a "severe deficit" of foodproducts in North Korea, Russia'sForeign Ministry said on Friday thatRussia would send 50,000 tonnes

of grain to North Korea by the endof September. It said the first ship-ment was made on Friday.Russia and North Korea were oncepolitically close, but relations cooledand trade fell sharply after the col-lapse of the Communist SovietUnion in 1991.Russia has expressed concernabout North Korea missile tests andurged it to abide by commitments onits nuclear programme, but haswarned South Korea and the UnitedStates against acting too aggres-sively with the North.Russian authorities in Vladivostok,130 km (80 miles) from the NorthKorean border, had been makingpreparations for a possible visit byKim in June, according to a local of-ficial.He never arrived, and the newspa-per Kommersant reported that hehad canceled the visit because ofworries about security followingmedia reports that he was coming.In 2001, Kim travelled over 7,000km (4,500 miles) to Moscow by trainfor talks with Putin, who is nowprime minister and is considering areturn to the presidency in a votenext March.

(PR August 20, 2011) Adoption of theHistoric Act of Independence ofUkraine on 24th August 1991 markeda new historical stage of developmentof Ukrainian foreign policy. The coun-try and its Foreign Policy Office facingurgent tasks of recognition of Ukraineby the international community. Therecognition of Ukraine by almost allcountries, the establishment of theirdiplomatic relations and active devel-opment of bilateral cooperation, thecreation of legal framework of interna-tional activities, opening of represen-tative offices of foreign states andinternational organizations in Ukraine,an effective network of its own diplo-matic and consular missions - all ofthis is a huge achievement moderndiplomacy of Ukraine for 20 years pe-riod of Independence.Among the concrete achievements ofthis period, it should be mentionedvery difficult arrangement of the basicpolitical treaties with neighboringcountries, in particular - Russia andRomania, international legal regula-tion of the state border of Ukraine, andsuch landmark achievements as thesigning of a comprehensive basicAgreement with Russia, the Partner-ship Agreement for Cooperation withthe EU and the Charter on a Distinc-tive Partnership with NATO, the estab-lishment of strategic partnershiprelations with the United States andPoland, the successful developmentof mutually beneficial relations withpartners in Europe, Asia and othercountries.Achievement of national diplomacy al-lowed us successfully complete nego-tiations on Ukraine's accession to theWTO, the expansion of practical coop-eration with NATO through continuedparticipation of Ukraine in NATOpeacekeeping operations.Since Independence, Ukraine haspassed a long way in realization of itsstrategic goal – to be the member ofEU, has defined in 1993 by Resolutionof Verkhovna Rada "On Main Princi-ples of Ukraine's Foreign Policy". Cur-rently, we are surely moving by thechosen direction and targeting the po-tential of our foreign policy for the ef-fective use of available nationalachievements.Ukraine foreign policy priorities remain

unchanged and are based on steadydefending of our national interests.They include the European integra-tion, active regional policy, especiallyin the Black Sea region as well assuch key components as the develop-ment of equal and neighborly relationswith Russia and other neighboringcountries, strategic partnership withthe United States and Poland, provid-ing economic interests and energy in-dependence of Ukraine. Our priorities,of course, remains the protection of in-terests of Ukrainian legal entities, sup-port of Ukrainian citizens livingabroad, strengthening the image andprestige of Ukraine in the world, activeparticipation in multilateral mecha-nisms for international cooperation,measures to maintain internationalpeace and security.Ukraine as an active member of inter-national community must respond tothe new challenges and rapid evolu-tion of global economic relations.Therefore the new challenges of theforeign policy direction are constantlyappearing.We can not ignore the significant eco-nomic, socio-cultural potential of Asia,Africa and Latin America – that is whywe now turn our attention to these re-gions. We can not turn a blind eye tothe worsening problems of terrorism,human trafficking, illegal immigration -that is why we are joining to the globalefforts for combating terrorism, partic-ularly in the nuclear field, and initiateinternational mechanisms for combat-ing illegal migration in particular - inthe context of the common readmis-sion space of EU-Ukraine – riskycountries of illegal immigrants. Wecan not pay attention to the threaten-ing environment in the world. Thisissue directly affects the lives of ourcitizens and is a permanent nationalinterest.Today almost all countries involved ina process of formation of the effectivemodel of the future architecture of theworld, connected in turn with the for-mation of a new multipolar worldorder. This is the important task of cre-ating such a system of internationalrelations, which can improve handlingprocesses of world development ingeneral and simultaneously to providereliable security to each member of

the international community. There-fore there is no other choice but tochange the geopolitical structure ofthe world to embrace these changesmore modern democratic states andthereby open the way for broad inter-national cooperation.At the current stage of Ukraine devel-opment it is important to find new mar-kets, new investment opportunities,new technologies. In this regard, obvi-ously, it is important to guide our ex-ternal efforts to the East, to draw lookstoward Asia - China, India and othercountries in South and East Asia,which actually moves the center ofgravity of world economy and impor-tant geopolitical processes. This ap-proach meets the challenge ofeconomization of foreign policy, geog-raphy diversification of foreign tradeand strengthening of Ukraine as an in-fluential participant of the globalgeopolitical order.Equally an important markets are inthe Latin America that have significantpotential for the development of mutu-ally beneficial international coopera-tion in all areas. Prospects for thisregion is determined primarily by itshuge domestic market, rapid eco-nomic growth, the effect of natural andhuman resources, scientific and tech-nological potential. Not to be over-looked and other countries that can bein the interest of the national economy.Ukraine should actively participate inall processes aimed to build interna-tional relations. In this context it is im-portant that foreign policy hascontributed into creation of favorableexternal conditions for the effectiveconducting of internal political andeconomic transformation.The reality is that Ukraine will continueto build an European future, while re-lying on the equitable relations with itsmajor partners - Russia, EU, USA, -taking into account national interests.Hopefully, the optimal balance of for-eign policy priorities will replace con-frontational model of the past.The foreign police activity must pro-vide the necessary dynamics of do-mestic development. Balanced foreignpolicy can guarantee a peaceful andstable development of our country forthe next foreseeable future.

US troops may stay inAfghanistan until 2024

(Google News)The agreementwould allow not only military train-ers to stay to build up the Afghanarmy and police, but also Ameri-can special forces soldiers and airpower to remain.The prospect of such a deal hasalready been met with angeramong Afghanistan’s neighboursincluding, publicly, Iran and, pri-vately, Pakistan.It also risks being rejected by theTaliban and derailing any attemptto coax them to the negotiatingtable, according to one seniormember of Hamid Karzai’s peacecouncil.A withdrawal of American troopshas already begun following anagreement to hand over securityfor the country to Kabul by the endof 2014.But Afghans wary of being aban-doned are keen to lock Americainto a longer partnership after thedeadline. Many analysts also be-lieve the American military wouldlike to retain a presence close toPakistan, Iran and China.Both Afghan and American offi-cials said that they hoped to signthe pact before the Bonn Confer-ence on Afghanistan in December.Barack Obama and Hamid Karzaiagreed last week to escalate thenegotiations and their national se-curity advisers will meet in Wash-ington in September.

Rangin Dadfar Spanta, MrKarzai’s top security adviser, toldThe Daily Telegraph that “remark-able progress” had been made.US officials have said they wouldbe disappointed if a deal could notbe reached by December and thatthe majority of small print hadbeen agreed.Dr Spanta said a longer-termpresence was crucial not only tobuild Afghan forces, but also tofight terrorism.“If [the Americans] provide usweapons and equipment, theyneed facilities to bring that equip-ment,” he said. “If they train ourpolice and soldiers, then thosetrainers will not be 10 or 20, theywill be thousands.“We know we will be confrontedwith international terrorists. 2014,is not the end of international ter-rorist networks and we have acommon commitment to fightthem. For this purpose also, theUS needs facilities.”Afghan forces would still needsupport from US fighter aircraftand helicopters, he predicted. Inthe past, Washington officialshave estimated a total of 25,000troops may be needed.Dr Spanta added: “In the Afghanproposal we are talking about 10years from 2014, but this is underdiscussion.” America would not begranted its own bases, and would

be a guest on Afghan bases, hesaid. Pakistan and Iran were alsodeeply opposed to the deal.Andrey Avetisyan, Russian am-bassador to Kabul, said:“Afghanistan needs many otherthings apart from the permanentmilitary presence of some coun-tries. It needs economic help andit needs peace. Military bases arenot a tool for peace.“I don’t understand why suchbases are needed. If the job isdone, if terrorism is defeated andpeace and stability is broughtback, then why would you needbases?“If the job is not done, then severalthousand troops, even specialforces, will not be able to do thejob that 150,000 troops couldn’tdo. It is not possible.”A complete withdrawal of foreigntroops has been a precondition forany Taliban negotiations with MrKarzai’s government and the dealwould wreck the currently distantprospect of a negotiated peace,Mr Avetisyan said.Abdul Hakim Mujahid, deputyleader of the peace council set upby Mr Karzai to seek a settlement,said he suspected the Taliban hadintensified their insurgency in re-sponse to the prospect of the pact.“They want to put pressure on theworld community and Afghan gov-ernment,” he said.

Enemies bent upon damagingPakistan, says Shahbaz

(Google News) LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad ShahbazSharif has ordered foolproof security arrangements throughout theprovince on Yaum-e-Ali (RA), directing police and other law-enforcementagencies to remain alert and senior police officers to pay field visits toensure strict implementation of the security plan evolved for the purpose.He was addressing a meeting to review security arrangements on Yaum-e-Shahadat of Hazrat Ali (RA) and law and order situation in the province,here on Monday. Senior advisor Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, provin-cial law minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, MPA Col. (r) Shuja Khanzada,the chief secretary, the inspector general of police, the capital city policeofficer, Lahore, and senior officers concerned were also present. Addressing the meeting, the chief minister said that Pakistan was pass-ing through the most critical phase of its history and the enemies werebent upon damaging the country. He said that, under the situation, pro-motion of religious harmony, national solidarity and brotherhood was theneed of the hour. He said that the people would have to forget their petty differences andgather on a single platform to foil the nefarious designs of enemies.Every citizen will have to play his due role for peace in the country, headded. He ordered foolproof security arrangements on the pattern of those madeon Muharram-ul-Haram. Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa informed themeeting that effective security arrangements on the pattern of Muhar-ram-ul-Haram had been made for maintaining peace on Yaum-e-Ali andprovincial ministers had been sent to their respective divisions for thepurpose. Chief Secretary Nasir Mehmood Khan Khosa said that security arrange-ments had been finalized for Yaum-e-Ali (RA) and instructions had beenissued to all commissioners and district coordination officers in this re-gard. Inspector General Police Javed Iqbal gave a briefing regardingoverall law and order situation in the province and the measures takenagainst criminal elements.

Romanian film Orient Expressmarks revival of PRFA

(Google News) Islamabad: The Embassy of Romania and Pakistan-Ro-mania Friendship Association organised the screening of a Romanianfilm Orient Express here on Thursday as part of the mainframe of its cul-tural activity in Pakistan and also to revive the existing Pakistan-RomaniaFriendship Association (PRFA).PRFA was re-activated at the initiative of Emilian Ion, the ambassadorExtraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to Pakistan, with the sup-port of Pakistani friends, who have agreed to be part of this common ef-fort, aiming to boost the bilateral relations between Pakistan andRomania.The association is independently led by a Board of Governors and it isfocused on organising social and cultural events that will maintain anddevelop the excellent relationship between the two countries. Thescreening of Orient Express is the first activity of the new PRFA at theinitiative of the Embassy of Romania in Islamabad. The screening of theRomanian film at Cinepax turned out to be successful event well at-tended by the business community, diplomatic missions, Creme de laCreme of the society, young Pakistanis, members of the association, cor-porate people and all major print and electronic media. Speaking on the occasion, the Romanian ambassador said that one ofthe main objectives of the Pakistan Romania Friendship Association isto introduce, share and promote the culture of Romania in Pakistan. Afterthis first step of projecting the Romanian movie Orient Express , similarevents will subsequently follow.The PRFA team comprises (President) Syed Ahmed, (Sr. Vice President)Wazir Ahmad Jogezai, (Vice President) Anwar Moin, (Executive Secre-tary General) Zehra Valliani, (Secretary General) Atif Farooqi, (Media Ad-visor) Ansar Mahmood Bhatti, (Legal Advisor) Amjad Kamal Butt.Orient Express is a 2004 Romanian film Directed by Sergui Nicolaescu.The film was Romania s submission to the 77th Academy Awards for theBest Foreign Film Category, but was not accepted as a nominee. Re-leased in 2004, Orient Express is a 116-minute movie supposedly re-membered as a renaissance for Romanian cinematography. Directed bySergiu Nicolaescu, the movie s overall has a taste for anyone who lovescrime and mystery.The theme moves around Prince Andrei Morudzi, who at an old age, re-treats to his castle in Romania, during the two world wars, after havinglead an eventful youth. There he is seen upon as a rare bird by the localfolk, due to his strange attitude towards life and his exquisite manners,which don t fit in the way of life of the villagers. In the end, despite tryingto distance himself from the local people, he can t but influence theirhumble existences.The action of the movie takes place in 1935, somewhere in Romania,where Prince Andrei Morudzi, the last descendant of an aristocratic fam-ily has been living for 16 years in total isolation in his old castle inMoruzeni town, after he had spent most of his fortune on travelling, gam-bling and parties during his agitated youth years. His loneliness, com-forted only by his trusted servant Costache is disturbed by the ghosts ofthe past, the memories of the youth age and the compulsive desire toride his horse, every day, to the railroad nearby, just to see the OrientExpress train, which he frequently took to Paris in the early years. Dueto his strange attitude towards life and his exquisite manners, which donot fit the lifestyle of the villagers, he is looked upon as a rare bird by thelocal people. Trying to live again a normal life, the prince gets in contactwith some families from the next town, and unintentionally, creates adrama.

Organization ofIslamic Cooper-

ation: ActSwiftly to Rein

in Syria(Google News 20 Aug 2011) TheOrganization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)should immediately take action against Syriafor violating the organization's charter by sys-tematically and brutally suppressing peacefulcivilian protests.(New York) - The Organization of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) should immediately take ac-tion against Syria for violating the

organization's charter by systematically andbrutally suppressing peaceful civilianprotests, Human Rights Watch said today ina letter to the group's secretary-general.The OIC should send a delegation to Syria toinvestigate the serious crimes and humanrights violations and to express to Syrian au-thorities in the strongest terms the organiza-tion's condemnation of these repressivemeasures, Human Rights Watch said. TheOIC should issue a clear statement that se-curity forces conducting policing may uselethal force only when strictly necessary toprotect life, and that killing peaceful protest-ers is a serious violation of the OIC charter,Human Rights Watch said."Syria, a member of the OIC since 1970, hasfor four months now made a mockery of itsinternational obligations with unlawful killings,disappearances, torture, and sieges on wholecities, towns, and villages," said Sarah LeahWhitson, Middle East director at HumanRights Watch. "The OIC should immediately

take action against this member state."The OIC, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia andless than an hour's drive from Mecca, thebirthplace of Islam, represents states withover 1.5 billion Muslims. With 57 memberstates, it is the second-largest inter-govern-mental organization in the world, after theUnited Nations.Under article 2 of the OIC's charter, "Memberstates shall uphold and promote, at the na-tional and international levels, good gover-nance, democracy, human rights andfundamental freedoms, and the rule of law."While Arabs and Muslims celebrate the holymonth of Ramadan, which began on August1, hundreds of thousands of people in Syriaare bearing the brunt of a ferocious campaignthat has left around 2,000 people dead andtens of thousands wounded or detained.Human Rights Watch said that the OIC isshirking its responsibility under its own char-ter as hundreds of Syrians are killed, de-tained, tortured, or wounded on a daily basis,

in what are almost certainly crimes againsthumanity.The OIC's secretary-general, Ekmeleddinİhsanoğlu, expressed "concern" at civilian ca-sualties on August 2, 2011. But he alsoequated the victims with the aggressor bycalling "upon all parties to preserve the unityand cohesion of their country and to spare itthe risks of infighting and external interven-tion." On August 13, he called for the "Syrianleadership to exercise the highest level of re-straint through an immediate halt of the useof force to quell the public demonstrations."But the OIC has not gone beyond thesestatements in addressing the attacks onpeaceful protesters in Syria."The inaction of an organization of OIC's im-portance in the face of the likely crimesagainst humanity by one of its member statesis both abhorrent and inexcusable," Whitsonsaid. "The OIC, just like its member states,needs to live up to its charter."

“My dearest son, if you desire to honor the royal crown, I advise, I counsel, I urgeyou above all things to maintain the Catholic and Apostolic faith with such diligenceand care that you may be an example for all those placed under you by God, andthat all the clergy may rightly call you a man of true Christian profession. Failing todo this, you may be sure that you will not be called a Christian or a son of theChurch. Indeed, in the royal palace, after the faith itself, the Church holds secondplace, first constituted and spread through the whole world by His members, theapostles and holy fathers, And though she always produced fresh offspring, never-theless in certain places she is regarded as ancient. However, dearest son, evennow in our kingdom the Church is proclaimed as young and newly planted; and forthat reason she needs more prudent and trustworthy guardians less a benefit whichthe divine mercy bestowed on us undeservedly should be destroyed and annihilatedthrough your idleness, indolence or neglect.My beloved son, delight of my heart, hope of your posterity, I pray, I command, thatat very time and in everything, strengthened by your devotion to me, you may showfavor not only to relations and kin, or to the most eminent, be they leaders or richmen or neighbors or fellow-countrymen, but also to foreigners and to all who cometo you. By fulfilling your duty in this way you will reach the highest state of happi-ness. Be merciful to all who are suffering violence, keeping always in your heart theexample of the Lord who said: “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”. Be patient witheveryone, not only with the powerful, but also with the weak.Finally be strong lest prosperity lift you up too much or adversity cast you down.Be humble in this life that God may raise you up in the next. Be truly moderate anddo not punish or condemn anyone immoderately. Be gentle so that you may neveroppose justice. Be honorable so that you never voluntarily bring disgrace upon any-one. Be chaste so that you may avoid all the foulness that so resembles the pangsof death.All these virtues I have noted above make up the royal crown and without them noone is fit to rule here on earth or attain to the heavenly Kingdom.

–Excerpt from Saint Stephen's admonitions to his son Emeric.

Apostolic King of Hungary

King Stephen's statue inhis hometown, Esztergom

Holy Crown

St. Stephen's right hand

Independence DayU K R A I N E - A u g u s t 2 4

Ukraine (Ukrainian:Україна, transliterated:Ukrayina, [ukrɑˈjinɑ];Russ-ian: Украи́на; CrimeanTatar: Ukraina) is a countryin Eastern Europe. It hasan area of 603,628 km²,making it the largest con-tiguous country on the Eu-ropean continent. Ukraineborders the Russian Fed-eration to the east andnortheast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to thewest, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Seaof Azov to the south and southeast, respectively.Established by the Varangians in the 9th century, the medieval state ofKievan Rus', the first East Slavic state, emerged as a powerful nation inthe middle ages until it disintegrated in the 12th century. By the middle ofthe 14th century, Ukrainian territories were under the rule of three externalpowers—the Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the King-dom of Poland. After the Great Northern War (1700–1721) Ukraine was di-vided between a number of regional powers and, by the 19th century, thelargest part of Ukraine was integrated into the Russian Empire with the restunder Austro-Hungarian control. After a chaotic period of incessant warfareand several attempts at independence (1917–21) following World War Iand the Russian Civil War, it emerged on December 30, 1922 as one ofthe founding republics of the So-viet Union. The Ukrainian SovietSocialist Republic's territory wasenlarged westward shortly beforeand after World War II, and south-wards in 1954 with the Crimeatransfer. In 1945, the UkrainianSSR became one of the foundingmembers of the United Nations.Ukraine became independentagain after the dissolution of theSoviet Union in 1991. Herewithbegan a period of transition to amarket economy, in which Ukrainewas stricken with an eight-year re-cession. Since then though, theeconomy experienced a high in-crease in GDP growth. Ukrainewas caught up in the worldwideeconomic crisis in 2008 and theeconomy plunged. GDP fell 20%from spring 2008 to spring 2009,then leveled off as analysts com-pared the magnitude of the down-turn to the worst years of economicdepression during the early 1990s.Ukraine is a unitary state composed of 24 oblasts (provinces), one au-tonomous republic(Crimea), and two cities with special status: Kiev, its cap-ital and largest city, and Sevastopol, which houses the Russian Black SeaFleet under a leasing agreement. Ukraine is a republicunder a semi-pres-idential system with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches.Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine continues to maintainthe second largestmilitary in Europe, after that of Russia. The country ishome to 46 million people, 77.8 percent of whom are ethnic Ukrainians,with sizable minorities of Russians (17%), Belarusians and Romanians.The Ukrainian language is the official language in Ukraine. Russian is alsowidely spoken. The dominant religion in the country is Eastern OrthodoxChristianity, which has heavily influenced Ukrainian architecture, literatureand music.

HistoryEtymology:During the period of Romantic nationalism it was popular to trace the originof the country's name back to an ancient ethnonym. After this pseudo-his-torical view was discarded, two main versions of the etymology emerged.Naturally, the versions have different implications from a nationalist pointof view, and are also based on different possible or certain meanings ofthe lexeme ukraina as it occurs in historical sources. According to one view,the term is taken to mean 'borderland' or simply 'land' (also 'in-land' or'home-land', 'principality'), whilst in the other it is said to be derived fromthe old slavic word 'kraina', meaning 'country', and therefore, according tothis understanding of the term, 'u-kraina' means 'in-country' or 'my-country'.Although it is not considered to be appropriate, it is common practice torefer to Ukraine as "the Ukraine" in English.

Early history:Human settlement in the territory of Ukraine dates back to 32,000 BCE,with evidence of the Gravettian culture in the Crimean Mountains. By 4,500BCE, the Neolithic Cucuteni-Trypillian Culture flourished in a wide area thatincluded parts of modern Ukraine including Trypillia and the entire Dnieper-Dniester region. During the Iron Age, the land was inhabited by Cimmeri-ans, Scythians, and Sarmatians. Between 700 BC and 200 BC it was partof the Scythian Kingdom, or Scythia.Later, colonies of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, and the Byzantine Em-pire, such as Tyras, Olbia, and Hermonassa, were founded, beginning inthe 6th century BC, on the northeastern shore of theBlack Sea, and thrivedwell into the 6th century AD. The Goths stayed in the area but came underthe sway of the Huns from the 370s AD. In the 7th century AD, the territoryof eastern Ukraine was the center of Old Great Bulgaria. At the end of thecentury, the majority of Bulgar tribes migrated in different directions andthe land fell into the Khazars' hands.

Golden Age of Kiev:The Kievan Rus' were founded by the Rus' people,Varangians who firstsettled around Ladoga andNovgorod, then graduallymoved southward eventu-ally reaching Kiev about880. The Kievan Rus' in-cluded the western part ofmodern Ukraine, Belarus,with larger part of it situatedon the territory of modernRussia. According to thePrimary Chronicle the Rus'elite initially consisted ofVarangians from Scandi-navia.During the 10th and 11thcenturies, it became thelargest and most powerfulstate in Europe. In the fol-lowing centuries, it laid thefoundation for the nationalidentity of Ukrainians andRussians. Kiev, the capital of modern Ukraine, became the most importantcity of the Rus'.The Varangians later became assimilated into the local Slavic populationand became part of the Rus' first dynasty, the Rurik Dynasty. Kievan Rus'was composed of several principalities ruled by the interrelatedRurikidPrinces. The seat of Kiev, the most prestigious and influential of all princi-palities, became the subject of many rivalries among Rurikids as the mostvaluable prize in their quest for power.The Golden Age of Kievan Rus' began with the reign of Vladimir the Great(980–1015), who turned Rus' toward Byzantine Christianity. During thereign of his son, Yaroslav the Wise (1019–1054), Kievan Rus' reached thezenith of its cultural development and military power. This was followed bythe state's increasing fragmentation as the relative importance of regionalpowers rose again. After a final resurgence under the rule of VladimirMonomakh (1113–1125) and his son Mstislav (1125–1132), Kievan Rus' fi-nally disintegrated into separate principalities following Mstislav's death.In the 11th and 12th centuries, constant incursions by nomadic Turkictribes, such as the Pechenegs and the Kipchaks, caused a massivemigra-tion of Slavic populations to the safer, heavily forested regions of the north.The 13th century Mongol invasion devastated Kievan Rus'. Kiev was totallydestroyed in 1240. On the Ukrainian territory, the state of Kievan Rus' wassucceeded by the principalities of Halychand Volodymyr-Volynskyi, whichwere merged into the state of Galicia-Volhynia.

Foreign domination:In the mid-14th century, Galicia-Volhynia was subjugated by Casimir III ofPoland, while the heartland of Rus', including Kiev, fell under the Gediminasof the Grand Duchy of Lithuania after the Battle on the Irpen' River. Fol-lowing the 1386 Union of Krevo, a dynastic union between Poland andLithuania, much of what became northern Ukraine was controlled by theincreasingly Slavicised local Lithuanian nobles as part of the Grand Duchyof Lithuania.By 1569, the Union of Lublin formed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth,and a significant part of Ukrainian territory was moved from Lithuanian ruleto the Polish administration, as it was transferred to the Polish Crown.Under the cultural and political pressure of Polonisation much upper classof Polish Ruthenia (another term for the land of Rus) converted to Catholi-cism and became indistinguishable from the Polish nobility. Thus, the com-moners, deprived of their native protectors among Rus nobility, turned forprotection to the Cossacks, who remained fiercely Orthodox at all timesand tended to turn to violence against those they perceived as enemies,particularly the Polish state and its representatives.In the mid-17th century, a Cossack military quasi-state, the ZaporozhianHost, was established by the Dnieper Cossacks and the Ruthenian peas-ants fleeing Polish serfdom. Poland had little real control of this land, yetthey found the Cossacks to be a useful fighting force against the Turks andTatars, and at times the two allied in military campaigns. However, the con-tinued enserfment of peasantry by thePolish nobility emphasized by theCommonwealth's fierce exploitation of the workforce, and most importantly,the suppression of the Orthodox Church pushed the allegiances of Cos-sacks away from Poland.Their aspiration was to have representation in Polish Sejm, recognition ofOrthodox traditions and the gradual expansion of the Cossack Registry.These were all vehemently denied by the Polish nobility. The Cossackseventually turned for protection to Orthodox Russia, a decision which wouldlater lead towards the downfall of the Polish-Lithuanian state, and thepreservation of the Orthodox Church and in Ukraine.In 1648, Bohdan Khmelnytsky led the largest of the Cossack uprisingsagainst the Commonwealth and the Polish king John II Casimir. Left-bankUkraine was eventually integrated into Muscovite Russia as the CossackHetmanate, following the 1654 Treaty of Pereyaslav and the ensuingRusso-Polish War. After the partitions of Poland at the end of the 18th cen-tury byPrussia, Habsburg Austria, and Russia, Western UkrainianGaliciawas taken over by Austria, while the rest of Ukraine was progressively in-corporated into the Russian Empire.The Crimean Khanate was one of the strongest powers in Eastern Europeuntil the 18th century; at one point it even succeeded, under the Crimeankhan Devlet I Giray, to devastate Moscow. The Russian population of theborderlands suffered annual Tatar invasions and tens of thousands of sol-diers were required to protect the southern boundaries. From the beginningof the 16th century until the end of 17th century the Crimean Tatar raiderbands made almost annual forays into agricultural Slavic lands searchingfor captives to sell as slaves. According to Orest Subtelny, "...from 1450 to1586, eighty-six Tatar raidswere recorded, and from 1600 to 1647, sev-enty." In 1688, Tatars captured a record number of 60,000 Ukrainians. Thiswas a heavy burden for the state, and slowed its social and economic de-velopment. Since Crimean Tatars did not permit settlement of Russians tosouthern regions where the soil is better and the season is long enough,Muscovy had to depend on poorer regions and labour intensive agriculture.Poland-Lithuania, Moldavia andWallachia were also subjected to extensiveslave raiding. The Crimean Khanate was conquered by the Russian Empirein 1778, bringing an end to Mongol and Tatar rule in Europe.In 1648, Bohdan Khmelnytsky led the largest of the Cossack uprisingsagainst the Commonwealth and the Polish king John II Casimir. Left-bankUkraine was eventually integrated into Muscovite Russia as the CossackHetmanate, following the 1654 Treaty of Pereyaslav and the ensuingRusso-Polish War. After the partitions of Poland at the end of the 18th cen-tury byPrussia, Habsburg Austria, and Russia, Western UkrainianGaliciawas taken over by Austria, while the rest of Ukraine was progressively in-corporated into the Russian Empire.The Crimean Khanate was one of the strongest powers in Eastern Europeuntil the 18th century; at one point it even succeeded, under the Crimeankhan Devlet I Giray, to devastate Moscow. The Russian population of theborderlands suffered annual Tatar invasions and tens of thousands of sol-diers were required to protect the southern boundaries. From the beginningof the 16th century until the end of 17th century the Crimean Tatar raiderbands made almost annual forays into agricultural Slavic lands searchingfor captives to sell as slaves. According to Orest Subtelny, "...from 1450 to1586, eighty-six Tatar raidswere recorded, and from 1600 to 1647, sev-enty." In 1688, Tatars captured a record number of 60,000 Ukrainians. Thiswas a heavy burden for the state, and slowed its social and economic de-velopment. Since Crimean Tatars did not permit settlement of Russians tosouthern regions where the soil is better and the season is long enough,Muscovy had to depend on poorer regions and labour intensive agriculture.Poland-Lithuania, Moldavia andWallachia were also subjected to extensiveslave raiding. The Crimean Khanate was conquered by the Russian Empirein 1778, bringing an end to Mongol and Tatar rule in Europe.

The Ruin:In 1657–1686 came "The Ruin," a devastating 30-year war amongst Rus-sia, Poland, Turks and Cossacks for control of Ukraine. For three yearsKhmelnytsky's armies controlled present-day western and central Ukraine,but deserted by his Tatar allies, he suffered a crushing defeat atBerestechko, and turned to the Russian Czar for help.In 1654, Khmelnytsky signed the Treaty of Pereiaslav, forming a militaryand political alliance with Russia that acknowledged loyalty to the Czar.The wars escalated in intensity with hundreds of thousands of deaths. De-feat came in 1686 as the "Eternal Peace" between Russia and Poland gaveKiev and the Cossack lands east of the Dnieper over to Russian rule andthe Ukrainian lands west of the Dnieper to Poland.In 1709 Cossack Hetman Ivan Mazepa (1687–1709) sided with Swedenagainst Russia in the Great Northern War (1700–1721). Mazepa, a memberof the Cossack nobility, received an excellent education abroad and provedto be a brilliant political and military leader enjoying good relations with theRomanov dynasty. After Peter the Great became czar, Mazepa as hetmangave him more than twenty years of loyal military and diplomatic serviceand was well rewarded.Eventually Peter recognized that in order to consolidate and modernizeRussia's political and economic power it was necessary to do away withthe hetmanate and Ukrainian and Cossack aspirations to autonomy.Mazepa accepted Polish invitations to join the Poles and Swedes againstRussia. The move was disastrous for the hetmanate, Ukrainian autonomy,and Mazepa. He died in exile after fleeing from the Battle of Poltava (1709),where the Swedes and their Cossack allies suffered a catastrophic defeatat the hands of Peter's Russian forcesThe hetmanate was abolished in 1764; the Zaporizhska Sich abolished in1775, as centralized Russian control became the norm. With the partition-ing of Poland in 1772, 1793, and 1795, the Ukrainian lands west of theDnieper were divided between Russia and Austria. From 1737 to 1834 ex-pansion into the northern Black Sea littoral and the eastern Danube valleywas a cornerstone of Russian foreign policy.Lithuanians and Poles controlled vast estates in Ukraine, and were a lawunto themselves. Judicial rulings from Cracow were routinely flouted. Heav-ily taxed peasants were practically tied to the land as serfs. Occasionallythe landowners battled each other using armies of Ukrainian peasants. ThePoles and Lithuanians were Roman Catholics and tried with some successto convert the Orthodox lesser nobility. In 1596 they set up the "Greek-Catholic" or Uniate Church, under the authority of the Pope but using East-ern rituals; it dominates western Ukraine to this day. Tensions between theUniates and the Orthodox were never resolved, and the religious differen-tiation left the Ukrainian Orthodox peasants leaderless, as they were re-luctant to follow the Ukrainian nobles.The Cossack-led uprising called Koliivshchyna that erupted in the Ukrainianborderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1768 involved eth-nicity as one root cause of Ukrainian violence that killed tens of thousandsof Poles and Jews. Religious warfare also broke out between Ukrainiangroups. Increasing conflict between Uniate and Orthodox parishes alongthe newly reinforced Polish-Russian border on the Dnepr River in the timeof Catherine II set the stage for the uprising. As Uniate religious practiceshad become more Latinized, Orthodoxy in this region drew even closer intodependence on the Russian Orthodox Church. Confessional tensions alsoreflected opposing Polish and Russian political allegiances.After the annexation of the Crimean Khanate in 1783, the region was set-tled by migrants from other parts of Ukraine. Despite the promises ofUkrainian autonomy given by the Treaty of Pereyaslav, the Ukrainian eliteand the Cossacks never received the freedoms and the autonomy theywere expecting from Imperial Russia. However, within the Empire, Ukraini-ans rose to the highest offices of Russian state, and the Russian OrthodoxChurch. At a later period, the tsarist regime carried the policy of Russifica-tion of Ukrainian lands, suppressing the use of the Ukrainian language inprint, and in public.

19th century, World War I and rev-olution:In the 19th century Ukraine was a rural area largely ignored by Russia andAustria. With growing urbanization and modernization, and a cultural trendtoward nationalism inspired by romanticism, a Ukrainian intelligentsia com-mitted to national rebirth and social justice emerged. The serf-turned-na-tional-poet Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861) and the political theoristMykhailo Drahomanov (1841–1895) led the growing nationalist movement.After Ukraine and Crimea became aligned with the Russian EmpireRusso-Turkish War (1768–1774), significant German immigrationGerman RussianColonies occurred after it was encouraged byCatherine the Great and herimmediate successors. Immigration was encouraged into Ukraine and es-pecially the Crimea by Catherine in her proclamation of open migration tothe Russian Empire. Immigration was encouraged for Germans and otherEuropeans to thin the previously dominant Turk population and encouragemore complete use of farmland.Beginning in the 19th century, there was a continuous migration fromUkraine to settle the distant areas of the Russian Empire. According to the1897 census, there were 223,000 ethnic Ukrainians in Siberia and 102,000in Central Asia. Between 1896 and 1906, after the construction of the trans-Siberian railway, a total of 1.6 million Ukrainians migrated eastward.Nationalist and socialist parties developed in the late 19th century. AustrianGalicia, which enjoyed substantial political freedom under the relatively le-nient rule of the Habsburgs, became the center of the nationalist move-

ment.Ukraine entered World War I on the side of both the Central Powers, underAustria, and the Triple Entente, under Russia. 3.5 million Ukrainians foughtwith the Imperial Russian Army, while 250,000 fought for the Austro-Hun-garian Army. During the war, Austro-Hungarianauthorities established theUkrainian Legion to fight against the Russian Empire. This legion was thefoundation of the Ukrainian Galician Army that fought against the Bolshe-viks and Poles in the post World War I period (1919–23). Those suspectedof the Russophile sentiments in Austria were treated harshly. Up to 5,000supporters of the Russian Empire from Galicia were detained and placedin Austrian internment camps in Talerhof, Styria, and in a fortress at Terezín(now in the Czech Republic).With the collapse of the Russian and Austrian empires following World WarI and the Russian Revolution of 1917, a Ukrainian national movement forself-determination reemerged. During 1917–20, several separate Ukrainianstates briefly emerged: the Ukrainian People's Republic, the Hetmanate,the Directorate and the pro-Bolshevik Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic(or Soviet Ukraine) successively established territories in the former Russ-ian Empire; while the West Ukrainian People's Republic and the Hutsul Re-public emerged briefly in the formerAustro-Hungarian territory. In the midstof Civil War, an anarchist movementcalled the Black Army led byNestorMakhno also developed in SouthernUkraine.However, with Western Ukraine's de-feat in the Polish-Ukrainian War fol-lowed by the failure of the further Polishoffensive that was repelled by the Bol-sheviks. According to the Peace ofRiga concluded between the Sovietsand Poland, western Ukraine was offi-cially incorporated into Poland who inturn recognised the Ukrainian SovietSocialist Republic in March 1919, thatlater became a founding member of theUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics orthe Soviet Union in December 1922.

Inter-war SovietUkraine:The civil war that eventually brought the Soviet government to power dev-astated Ukraine. It left over 1.5 million people dead and hundreds of thou-sands homeless. In addition, Soviet Ukraine had to face the famine of 1921.Seeing the exhausted society, the Soviet government remained very flex-ible during the 1920s. Thus under the aegis of the Ukrainization policy pur-sued by the national Communist leadership of Mykola Skrypnyk Sovietleadership encouraged a national renaissance in literature and the arts.The Ukrainian culture and language enjoyed a revival, as Ukrainisation be-came a local implementation of the Soviet-wide policy of Korenisation (lit-erallyindigenisation) policy. The Bolsheviks were also committed tointroducing universal health care, education and social-security benefits,as well as the right to work and housing. Women's rights were greatly in-creased through new laws aimed to wipe away centuries-old inequalities.Most of these policies were sharply reversed by the early 1930s afterJoseph Stalin gradually consolidated power to become the de facto com-munist party leader.The communists gave a privileged position to manual labor, the largestclass in the cities, where Russians dominated. The typical worker was moreattached to class identity than to ethnicity. Although there were incidentsof ethnic friction among workers (in addition to Ukrainians and Russiansthere were significant numbers of Poles, Germans, Jews, and others in theUkrainian workforce), industrial laborers had already adopted Russian cul-ture and language to a significant extent. Workers whose ethnicity wasUkrainian were not attracted to campaigns of Ukrainianization or de-Rus-sification in meaningful numbers, but remained loyal members of the Sovietworking class. There was no significant antagonism between workers iden-tifying themselves as Ukrainian or Russian.Starting from the late 1920s, Ukraine was involved in the Soviet industrial-isation and the republic's industrial output quadrupled during the 1930s.The industrialisation had a heavy cost for the peasantry, demographicallya backbone of the Ukrainian nation. To satisfy the state's need for increasedfood supplies and to finance industrialisation, Stalin instituted a programof collectivisation of agriculture as the state combined the peasants' landsand animals into collective farms and enforced the policies by the regulartroops and secret police. Those who resisted were arrested and deportedand the increased production quotas were placed on the peasantry. Thecollectivisation had a devastating effect on agricultural productivity. As themembers of the collective farms were not allowed to receive any grain untilsometimes unrealistic quotas were met, starvation in the Soviet Union be-came more common. In 1932–33, millions starved to death in a famineknown as Holodomor or "Great Famine". Scholars are divided as towhether this famine fits the definition of genocide, but the Ukrainian parlia-ment and other countries recognise it as such.The famine claimed up to 10 million of Ukrainian lives as peasants' foodstocks were forcibly removed by the Soviet government by the NKVD se-cret police. Some explanations for the causes for the excess deaths in ruralareas of Ukraine and Kazakhstan dur-ing 1931–34 has been given by dividingthe causes into three groups: objectivenon-policy-related factors, like thedrought of 1931 and poor weather in1932; inadvertent result of policies withother objectives, like rapid industrializa-tion, socialization of livestock, and neg-lected crop rotation patterns; anddeaths caused intentionally by a starva-tion policy. The Communist leadershipperceived famine not as a humanitariancatastrophe but as a means of classstruggle and used starvation as a pun-ishment tool to force peasants into col-lective farms. It was largely the samegroups of individuals who were respon-sible for the mass killing operations dur-ing the civil war, collectivisation, and theGreat Terror. These groups were asso-ciated with Efim Georgievich Evdoki-mov (1891–1939) and operated inUkraine during the civil war, in the NorthCaucasus in the 1920s, and in the Se-cret Operational Division within GeneralState Political Administration (OGPU) in1929–31. Evdokimov transferred intoCommunist Party administration in1934, when he became Party secretaryfor North Caucasus Krai. But he ap-pears to have continued advisingJoseph Stalin and Nikolai Yezhov on security matters, and the latter reliedon Evdokimov's former colleagues to carry out the mass killing operationsthat are known as the Great Terror in 1937–38.With Joseph Stalin's change of course in the late 1920s, however,Moscow's toleration of Ukrainian national identity came to an end. System-atic state terror of the 1930s destroyed Ukraine's writers, artists, and intel-lectuals; the Communist Party of Ukraine was purged of its "nationalistdeviationists". Two waves of Stalinist political repression and persecutionin the Soviet Union (1929–34 and 1936–38) resulted in the killing of some681,692 people; this included four-fifths of the Ukrainian cultural elite andthree quarters of all the Red Army's higher-ranking officers.

World War II:Following the Invasion of Poland in September 1939, German and Soviettroops divided the territory of Poland. Thus, Eastern Galicia and Volhyniawith their Ukrainian population became reunited with the rest of Ukraine.The unification that Ukraine achieved for the first time in its history was adecisive event in the history of the nation.After France surrendered to Germany, Romania ceded Bessarabia andnorthern Bukovina to Soviet demands. The Ukrainian SSR incorporatednorthern and southern districts of Bessarabia, the northern Bukovina, andthe Soviet-occupied Hertsa region. But it ceded the western part of the Mol-davian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic to the newly created Molda-vian Soviet Socialist Republic. All these territorial gains were internationallyrecognised by the Paris peace treaties of 1947.German armies invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, thereby initi-ating four straight years of incessant total war. The Axis allies initially ad-vanced against desperate but unsuccessful efforts of the Red Army. In theencirclement battle of Kiev, the city was acclaimed as a "Hero City", for thefierce resistance by the Red Army and by the local population. More than600,000 Soviet soldiers (or one quarter of the Western Front) were killedor taken captive there.Although the wide majority of Ukrainians fought alongside the Red Armyand Soviet resistance, some elements of the Ukrainian nationalist under-ground created an anti-Soviet nationalist formation in Galicia, the UkrainianInsurgent Army (1942) that at times engaged the Nazi forces and continuedto fight the USSR in the years after the war. Using guerilla war tactics, theinsurgents targeted for assassination and terror those who they perceivedas representing, or cooperating at any level with, the Soviet state.At the same time another nationalist movement fought alongside the Nazis.In total, the number of ethnic Ukrainians that fought in the ranks of the So-viet Army is estimated from 4.5 million to 7 million. The pro-Soviet partisanguerilla resistance in Ukraine is estimated to number at 47,800 from thestart of occupation to 500,000 at its peak in 1944; with about 50 percent ofthem being ethnic Ukrainians. Generally, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army'sfigures are very undependable, ranging anywhere from 15,000 to as muchas 100,000 fighters.Initially, the Germans were even received as liberators by some westernUkrainians, who had only joined the Soviet Union in 1939. However, brutalGerman rule in the occupied territories eventually turned its supportersagainst the occupation. Nazi administrators of conquered Soviet territoriesmade little attempt to exploit the population of Ukrainian territories' dissat-isfaction with Stalinist political and economic policies. Instead, the Nazispreserved the collective-farm system, systematically carried out genocidalpolicies against Jews, deported others to work in Germany, and began asystematic depopulation of Ukraine to prepare it for German colonisation,which included a food blockade on Kiev.The vast majority of the fighting in World War II took place on the EasternFront, and Nazi Germany suffered 93 percent of all its casualties there.The total losses inflicted upon the Ukrainian population during the war areestimated between five and eight million,including over half a million Jewskilled by the Einsatzgruppen, sometimes with the help of local collabora-tors. Of the estimated 8.7 million Soviet troops who fell in battle against theNazis, 1.4 million were ethnic Ukrainians. So to this day, Victory Day is cel-ebrated as one of ten Ukrainian national holidays.

Post–World War II:The republic was heavily damaged by the war, and it required significantefforts to recover. More than 700 cities and towns and 28,000 villages weredestroyed. The situation was worsened by a famine in 1946–47 caused bythe drought and the infrastructure breakdown that took away tens of thou-sands of lives.In 1945, the Ukrainian SSR became one of the founding members of theUnited Nations organization. First Soviet computer MESM was built in KievInstitute of Electrotechnology and became operational in 1950.According to statistics, as of 1 January 1953, Ukrainians were second onlyto Russians among adult "special deportees", comprising 20% of the total.Apart from Ukrainians, over 450,000 ethnic Germans from Ukraine andmore than 200,000 Crimean Tatars were victims of forced deportations.Following the death of Stalin in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev became the newleader of the USSR. Being the First Secretary of the Communist Party ofUkrainian SSR in 1938–49, Khrushchev was intimately familiar with the re-public and after taking power union-wide, he began to emphasize thefriendship between the Ukrainian and Russian nations. In 1954, the 300thanniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav was widely celebrated, and in par-ticular, Crimea was transferred from the Russian SFSR to the UkrainianSSR.Already by 1950, the republic fully surpassed pre-war levels of industry andproduction. During the 1946–1950 five year plan nearly 20 percent of theSoviet budget was invested in Soviet Ukraine, a five percent increase fromprewar plans. As a result the Ukrainian workforce rose 33.2 percent from1940 to 1955 while industrial output grew 2.2 times in that same period.Soviet Ukraine soon became a European leader in industrial production. Italso became an important center of the Soviet arms industry and high-techresearch. Such an important role resulted in a major influence of the localelite.Many members of the Soviet leadership came from Ukraine, most notablyLeonid Brezhnev, who would later oust Khrushchev and become the Sovietleader from 1964 to 1982, as well as many prominent Soviet sportspeople,scientists and artists. On April 26, 1986, a reactor in the Chernobyl NuclearPower Plant exploded, resulting in the Chernobyl disaster, the worst nu-clear reactor accident in history. At the time of the accident seven millionpeople lived in the contaminated territories, including 2.2 million in Ukraine.After the accident, a new city, Slavutych, was built outside the exclusionzone to house and support the employees of the plant which was decom-missioned in 2000. A report prepared by the International Atomic EnergyAgency and World Health Organization attributed 56 direct deaths to theaccident and estimated that there may have been 4,000 extra cancerdeaths.

Independence:On July 16, 1990, the new parliament adopted the Declaration of StateSovereignty of Ukraine. The declaration established the principles of theself-determination of the Ukrainian nation, its democracy, political and eco-nomic independence, and the priority of Ukrainian law on the Ukrainian ter-ritory over Soviet law. A month earlier, a similar declaration was adoptedby the parliament of the Russian SFSR. This started a period of confronta-tion between the central Soviet, and new republican authorities. In August1991, a conservative faction among the Communist leaders of the SovietUnion attempted a coup to remove Mikhail Gorbachev and to restore theCommunist party's power. After the attempt failed, on August 24, 1991 theUkrainian parliament adopted the Act of Independence in which the parlia-ment declared Ukraine as an independent democratic state.A referendum and the first presidential elections took place on December1, 1991. That day, more than 90 percent of the Ukrainian people expressedtheir support for the Act of Independence, and they elected the chairmanof the parliament, Leonid Kravchuk to serve as the first President of thecountry. At the meeting in Brest, Belarus on December 8, followed by AlmaAta meeting on December 21, the leaders of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine,formally dissolved the Soviet Union and formed the Commonwealth of In-dependent States (CIS).Although the idea of an independent Ukrainian nation had previously notexisted in the 20th century in the minds of international policy makers,Ukraine was initially viewed as a republic with favorable economic condi-tions in comparison to the other regions of the Soviet Union. However, thecountry experienced deeper economic slowdown than some of the otherformer Soviet Republics. During the recession, Ukraine lost 60 percent ofits GDP from 1991 to 1999, and suffered five-digit inflation rates. Dissatis-fied with the economic conditions, as well as the amounts of crime and cor-ruption, Ukrainians protested and organised strikes.The Ukrainian economy stabilized by the end of the 1990s. A new currency,the hryvnia, was introduced in 1996. Since 2000, the country has enjoyedsteady real economic growth averaging about seven percent annually. Anew Constitution of Ukraine was adopted under second President LeonidKuchma in 1996, which turned Ukraine into a semi-presidential republicand established a stable political system. Kuchma was, however, criticizedby opponents for corruption, electoral fraud, discouraging free speech andconcentrating too much of power in his office. He also repeatedly trans-ferred public property into the hands of loyal oligarchs.In 2004, Viktor Yanukovych, then Prime Minister, was declared the winnerof the presidential elections, which had been largely rigged, as theSupreme Court of Ukraine later ruled. The results caused a public outcryin support of the opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, who challengedthe outcome of the elections. This resulted in the peaceful Orange Revo-lution, bringingViktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko to power, whilecasting Viktor Yanukovych in opposition. Yanukovych returned to a positionof power in 2006, when he became Prime Minister in the Alliance of Na-tional Unity, untilsnap elections in September 2007 made TymoshenkoPrime Minister again. Yanukovych was elected President in 2010.Conflicts with Russia over the price of natural gas briefly stopped all gassupplies to Ukraine in 2006 and again in 2009, leading to gas shortages inseveral other European countries.

Historical maps of Ukraine:The Ukrainian state has occupied a number of territories since its initialfoundation. Most of these territories have been located within Eastern Eu-rope, however, as depicted in the maps in the gallery below, has also attimes extended well into Eurasia and South-Eastern Europe. At times therehas also been a distinct lack of a Ukrainian state, as its territories were ona number of occasions, annexed by its more powerful neighbours.

Military:After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited a 780,000 manmilitary force on its territory, equipped with the third-largest nuclearweapons arsenal in the world. In May 1992, Ukraine signed the StrategicArms Reduction Treaty (START) in which the country agreed to give up allnuclear weapons to Russia for disposal and to join the Nuclear Non-Prolif-eration Treaty as a non-nuclear weapon state. Ukraine ratified the treaty in1994, and by 1996 the country became free of nuclear weapons. Ukraine took consistent steps toward reduction of conventional weapons.It signed the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, which calledfor reduction of tanks, artillery, and armoured vehicles (army forces werereduced to 300,000). The country plans to convert the current conscript-based military into a professional volunteer military not later than in 2011.Ukraine has been playing an increasingly larger role in peacekeeping op-erations. Ukrainian troops are deployed in Kosovo as part of the Ukrain-ian-Polish Battalion. A Ukrainian unit was deployed in Lebanon, as part ofUN Interim Force enforcing the mandated ceasefire agreement. There wasalso a maintenance and training battalion deployed inSierra Leone. In2003–05, a Ukrainian unit was deployed in Iraq, as part of the Multinationalforce in Iraq under Polish command. The total Ukrainian military deploy-ment around the world is 562 servicemen. Military units of other states participate in multinational military exerciseswith Ukrainian forces in Ukraine regularly, including U.S. military forces. Following independence, Ukraine declared itself a neutral state. The coun-try has had a limited military partnership with Russia, other CIS countriesand a partnership with NATO since 1994. In the 2000s, the governmentwas leaning towards the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and a deepercooperation with the alliance was set by the NATO-Ukraine Action Plansigned in 2002. It was later agreed that the question of joining NATO shouldbe answered by a national referendum at some point in the future. CurrentPresident Viktor Yanukovych considers the current level of co-operationbetween Ukraine and NATO sufficient. Yanukovich is against Ukraine join-ing NATO. During the 2008 Bucharest summit NATO declared that Ukrainewill become a member of NATO, whenever it wants and when it would cor-respond to the criteria for the accession.

The Baptism of GrandPrince Vladimir, led tothe adoption of Christi-anity in Kievan Rus'.

"Reply of the ZaporozhianCossacks to SultanMehmed IV of the OttomanEmpire."Painted by IlyaRepin from 1880 to 1891.

The Khanate ofCrimea was one ofthe strongest pow-ers in Eastern Eu-rope until the end ofthe 17th century.

Bohdan Khmelnyt-sky, "Hetman ofUkraine"; establishan independentUkraine after the up-rising in 1648against Poland.

M o h a m m e d V I ' s B i r t h d a yM O R O C C O - A u g u s t 2 1

Mohammed VI, (Arabic: سداسلا دمحم‎) (born21 August 1963) is the present King of Mo-rocco and Amir al-Mu'minin (commander ofthe faithful). He ascended to the throne on23 July 1999 upon the death of his father.

EducationOn the day of his birth, he was appointedHeir Apparent and Crown Prince. His father,King Hassan II, was keen on giving him a re-ligious and political education from an earlyage. At the age of four, he started attendingthe Qur'anic school at the Royal Palace, andreceived a religious and traditional educa-tion.After primary and secondary studies atRoyal College and after he received his Bac-calaureate in 1981, Mohammed obtained in1985 a Bachelor's degree in law at the Col-lege oflaw of the Mohammed V University atAgdal in Rabat. His research paper dealtwith "the Arab-African Union and the Strat-egy of the Kingdom of Morocco in matters ofInternational Relations". He has also fre-quented the Imperial College and Universityof Rabat. In the same year of 1985 he wasappointed President of the Pan Arab Gamesand commissioned Colonel Major of theRoyal Moroccan Army on 26 November, andCoordinator of the Offices and Services ofthe Royal Armed Forces until 1994.In 1987 he obtained his first Certificat d'É-tudes Supérieures (CES) in political sci-ences and in July 1988 he obtained aDiplôme d'Études Approfondies DEA in pub-lic law.In November 1988 he trained in Brusselswith Jacques Delors, then President of theEuropean Commission.He obtained his doctorate in law (PhD) with distinction on 29 October 1993 from the FrenchUniversityof Nice Sophia Antipolis for his thesis on "EEC-Maghreb Relations".Mohammed was promoted to the rank of Major General on 12 July 1994, the same year he becamePresident of the High Council of Culture and Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Moroccan Army until1999, the year he succeeded his father on 23 July, being enthroned at Rabat on 30 July.He received an honorary degree (doctor honoris causa) from George Washington University on 22June 2000 for his promotion of democracy in Morocco.

Social reform and liberalizationShortly after he took the throne, he addressed his nation via television, promising to take on povertyand corruption, while creating jobs and improving Morocco's human rights record. Mohammed VI isgenerally opposed by Islamist conservatives, and some of his reforms have angered fundamentalists.He also created a new family code, or Mudawana, which granted women more power. The law cameinto effect in February, 2004.Mohammed VI also created the so-called Instance Equité et Réconciliation (IER), a commission, whichwas supposed to research human rights violations under Hassan II. The commission was however notallowed to report about human rights violations until 1999, when Mohammed was enthroned. Thismove was welcomed by many as a move towards democracy, but also criticized because reports ofhuman rights violations could not name the perpetrators. According to human rights organisations,abuses still exist in Morocco. The2011 Moroccan protests were motivated by corruption and generaldiscontentment towards politicians in general and by the desire of better life conditions motivated bythe economic crisis. The King has answered the protesters with the promise of further reforms.In a speech delivered on 9 March 2011 the King said that parliament would receive "new powers thatenable it to discharge its representative, legislative, and regulatory mission". In addition to the powersof the judiciary being granted indepedence from the King. And the king announced that he was impan-eling a committee of legal scholars to produce a draft constitution by June.

WealthThe king and his family hold stock in the ONA Group, a holding company with a diverse portfolio (min-ing, food processing, retail and financial services, etc.) Mohammed is estimated by Forbes magazineto be worth $2 billion and the Moroccan Royal Family has one of the largest fortunes in the world. Hispalace's daily operating budget is reported by Forbes to be $960,000, owing much of it to the expenseof clothes and car repair.

FamilyMohammed, who was born in Rabat, has one brother, Prince Moulay Rachid, and three sisters,Princess Lalla Meryem, Princess Lalla Asma, and Princess Lalla Hasna.On 21 March 2002 in Rabat, he married Salma Bennani (now H.R.H. Princess Lalla Salma) in Rabat,and she was granted the personal title of Princess with the style of Her Royal Highness on her marriage.They have two children, Crown Prince Moulay Hassan, who was born on 8 May 2003, and PrincessLalla Khadija, who was born on 28 February 2007.

Decorations Grand Officer of the Order of the Equatorial Star of Gabon (7 July 1977) Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (27

October 1980) Grand Cross of the Order of the Chrysanthemum of Japan (7 March 1987) Grand Cross of the Order of the Republic of Tunisia (x August 1987) Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic of Italy (18 March 1997)

with Collar (11 April 2000) Collar of the Order of Hussein ibn 'Ali of Jordan (x March 2000) Grand Collar of the Order of the Seventh of November of Tunisia (x May 2000) Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour of France (19 March 2000) Grand Cross of the Order of National Merit of Mauritania (x April 2000) Grand Cross of the National Order of Mali of Mali with Collar (14 June 2000) Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic of Spain with Collar (16 September

2000) Grand Cross of the Order of Oumayid of Syria (9 April 2001) Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Lebanon of the Lebanon Special Class (13

June 2001) Grand Cross of the Order of Abu Bakar Siddiq of the International Red Cross and

Red Crescent Movement (29 June 2001) Grand Collar of the Order of al-Khalifa of Bahrain (28 July 2001) Collar of the Order of Mubarak the Great of Kuwait (22 October 2002) Grand Cross of the Order of the Independence of Qatar (25 October 2002) Grand Cross of the Order of the Nile of Egypt (28 October 2002) Grand Cross of the Order of Pakistan First Class (Nishan-e-Pakistan) of Pakistan

(19 July 2003) Grand Cross of the Order of Valour of the Cameroon of the Cameroon (17 June 2004) Grand Cross of the Order of the Equatorial Star of Gabon (21 June 2004) Grand Cross of the National Order of the Niger of the Niger (24 June 2004) Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold I of Belgium (5 October 2004) Grand Collar of the Order of the Southern Cross of Brazil (26 November 2004) Medal of Honour of the Congress of Peru of Peru (1 December 2004) Grand Collar of the Order of Bernardo O'Higgins of Chile (3 December 2004) Grand Collar of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin of Argentina (7 De

cember 2004) Grand Collar of the Order of the Aztec Eagle of Mexico (11 February 2005) Grand Cross of the Order of Burkinabé of Burkina Faso (1 March 2005) Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum of Japan (28 November 2005) Grand Cross of the Order of the Republic of The Gambia (20 February 2006) Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Congo of the Congo-Brazzaville (22 February

2006) Grand Cross of the Order of the National Heroes of the Democratic Republic of the

Congo of Congo-Kinshasa (28 February 2006)

N a t i o n a l F l a g D a yU K R A I N E - A u g u s t 2 3

On the 23d of August, just before the IndependenceDay, Ukraine celebrates National Flag Day of Ukraine.Today you could see flags everywhere: on the buildingsand the balconies, on the flagpoles, etc. Such a cele-bration in the history of nations is quite young. For ex-ample, the Day of the Swedish flag Flag is celebratedsince 1983, the Day of Canada – since 1995, Mexico –1937, in the Russian Federation, the National Flag Dayhas been operating since 1994, in the Republic of Be-larus since 1995. In Ukraine, after the publication of therelevant Presidential Decree, the Flag Day appearedon Aug. 23, 2004. Ukrainian government asked peopleto fly the Ukrainian flag at their homes and flats on this day. The next day, on the August 24th Ukrainecelebrates the Independence Day.

Remembrance of the SlaveTrade & its Abolit ion

INTERNATIONAL - August 23International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, August 23 of each year,the day designated by UNESCO to memorialize the transatlantic slave trade. That date was chosenby the UNESCO Executive Board's adoption of resolution 29 C/40 at its 29th session. Circular CL/3494of July 29, 1998 from the Director-General invited Ministers of Culture to promote the day. The date issignificant because, during the night of August 22 to August 23, 1791 on the island of Saint Domingue(now known as Haiti), an uprising began which set forth events which were a major factor in the abolitionof the transatlantic slave trade.UNESCO Member States organize events every year on that date, inviting participation from youngpeople, educators, artists and intellectuals. As part of the goals of the intercultural UNESCO project,"The Slave Route", it is an opportunity for collective recognition and focus on the "historic causes, themethods and the consequences" of slavery. Additionally, it sets the stage for analysis and dialogue ofthe interactions which gave rise to the transatlantic trade in human beings between Africa, Europe, theAmericas and the Caribbean.The International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition was first celebratedin a number of countries, in particular in Haiti (23 August 1998) and Senegal (23 August 1999). A num-ber of cultural events and debates were organized. In 2001 the Mulhouse Textile Museum in Franceconducted a fabric workshop entitled "Indiennes de Traite" (a type of calico) used as currency in tradefor Africans. TheInternational Slavery Museum opened its doors on August 23, 2007 in Liverpool whereSlavery Remembrance Day events have been conducted since 2004.

Dia do SoldadoBRAZIL - August 25

The Soldier's Day is established in honor of Luis Alves de Lima e Silva , patron of the Brazilian Army ,born August 25th of 1803 that goes down in history as "the peacemaker" and stifles many rebellionsagainst the Empire.

BIOGRAPHYArmy-Marshal Luís Alves de Lima e Silva - Duque de Caxias - Patron of the Brazilian Army (August25, 1803 - May 7, 1880), "Born on the farm of Sao Paulo, Vila Porto de Estrela, in the Baixada Flumi-nense, Rio de January. On November 22, 1808, he enlisted as a cadet in the 1st Infantry Regiment,joining later, the Royal Military Academy. Lieutenant, he joined the newly created Battalion of the Em-peror, as an assistant, with him receiving the baptism of fire 3 May 1823, in the struggles for independ-ence in Bahia, when he could prove exceptional qualities of initiative, control, intelligence and bravery.With just over 20 years, it was captain and also participated with the Emperor's Battalion, of the Cam-paign of cisplatin. In December 2, 1839, as colonel, came to embody the aura of Peaceful and symbolof nationality, to be appointed President of the Province of Maranhão and General Commander of theForces Operations, to address the "Balaiada," after which he received the title Barao de Caxias andpromotion to brigadier. He entered the history as "The Peacemaker" and drowned many rebellionsagainst the Empire. pacified Also Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais, in 1842, why was promoted to Field-Marshal graduate. In end of 1842, was appointed President and Commander in Chief of the Army inoperations in Rio Grande do Sul, to combat Farroupilha Revolution, which had lasted eight years, andat the end of which was effected as Field-Marshal, elected Senator for New South Wales and awardedthe title of Count. In 1851 he was again appointed as President and Commander in Chief of the Armyof the South done this, to fight against Oribe, Uruguay, and soon after, against Rosas, Argentina. Vic-torious again, he was promoted to Lieutenant General and elevated to the dignity of Marquis. On June16, 1855, was Minister of War and in 1856 President of the Council of Ministers, both for the first time.In October 10, 1866, was appointed Commander in Chief of the Forces of Empire troops in operationsagainst the dictator Lopez of Paraguay, being carried out in the rank of Marshal of the Army, taking on10 February 1867, the Command General operations forces, replacing General Mitre, Argentina. It fol-lows a series of resounding victories in Itororó, Valentinas Avai and Lomas, the surrender of Angosturaand putting into Asuncion, considered closed when the glorious campaign for him commanded. "Forthe services rendered in the War of Paraguay," the Emperor granted on March 23, 1869, the title ofDuke - the highest title of nobility granted by the emperor. Caxias was Minister of War and Presidentof the Council of Ministers two more times, the last from 1875 to 1878. Died at Fazenda Santa Monica,near the city of Brookfield - RJ, and his body taken to the river and buried in the Cemetery of Catumbi.Today, the remains of the Patron Army and his wife lie in the mausoleum in front of the Palacio Duquede Caxias, in downtown Rio de Janeiro. "

A GREAT ARMY FOR A GREAT PATRON"Luis Alves de Lima e Silva - the Duke of Caxias is the distinguished patron of the Brazilian Army, whoreveres the date of his birth - August 25 -" Soldier's Day "pacified Caxias do Maranhão, São Paulo,Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul, stricken provinces in the last century, by serious internal rebellion,so he received the epithet of "The Pacifier." commanded armies in three external campaigns: the mostdifficult one, when Lomas Valentines, in 1868, taken of justifiable pride, he cried to his soldiers: "TheGod of hosts is with us. Aha! March to the fight, that victory is certain, because the General tab andfriend to you, even until today, was not won. "Caxias organized the Brazilian Army, it was political,provincial governments and even Brazil, it was President Council of Ministers three times. Not onlythis, "The Pacifier" was more exponential the figure of his time, calling it the apologists, "The Constableof the Empire." The late journalist and venerating the Barbosa Lima Sobrinho nickname of "The Patronof Amnesty" and the Brazilian people, in spontaneous consecration, popularized the term "hardcore",which are referred to those who comply, without limitation, their duties. Marshal of the Army, Directorof State and War, Generalissimo Armies of the Triple Alliance, Baron, Count, Marquis, Duke, Presidentof Provinces, Senator, minister of war three times, three times President of the Council of Ministers,"Artifice of National Unity," is Caxias, patron of the glorious and undefeated Brazilian Army! The unfor-gettable sociologist Gilberto Freyre, in recognition of the sublime virtues of the Duque de Caxias, putit this way: "Caxiismo set of virtues is not only military, but of civic virtues, common to military and civil-ian. The "hardcore" should be both civilians and military. The caxiismo should be taught in schoolsboth in civilian and military. It's all over Brazil who needs it "...

Independence DayURUGUAY - August 25

Uruguay (officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; Spanish: República Orientaldel Uruguay pronounced [reˈpuβlika oɾjenˈtal del uɾuˈɣwai]) isa country located in the south eastern part of South America.It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million livein the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area. An esti-mated 88% of the population are of European descent.Uruguay's only land border is with Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil,to the north. To the west lies the Uruguay River and the es-tuary of the Río de la Plata to the southwest. To the southeastlies the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean. With an area ofapproximately 176,000 square kilometres (68,000 sq mi),Uruguay is the second-smallest nation in South America byarea, after Suriname.Colonia del Sacramento, one of the oldest European settle-ments in the country, was founded by the Portuguese in1680. Montevideo was founded by the Spanish in the early18th century as a military stronghold. Uruguay won its inde-pendence in 1811–28 following a three-way struggle betweenthe claims of Spain, Argentina and Brazil. It is a constitutionaldemocracy, with a president who is both the head of stateand the head of government.Uruguay is one of the most economically developed countriesin South America, with a high GDP per capita and the 52ndhighest Human Development Index in the world as of 2010, and the first by human development in Latin America, when inequalityis factored in. Uruguay is also noted for its low levels of corruption, being ranked by Transparency International as the secondleast corrupt country in Latin America (behind Chile). Its political and labour conditions are good. It was the highest rated countryin Latin America on Legatum's 2010 Prosperity Index. Reader's Digest ranked Uruguay as ninth "Most livable and greenest"country in the world, and first in all the Americas. Uruguay is ranked highest in Latin America on the Global Peace Index.Uruguay was the first South American country to legalize same-sex and different-sex civil unions at a national level, and to allowgay adoption. Uruguay and Bolivia were the only countries in the Americas which did not go into recession (2 consecutive quartersof retraction) as a result of the Late-2000s financial crisis. In 2009, Uruguay became the first nation in the world to provide everyschool child with a free laptop and internet. It was the first nation in the Americas to test hemp cultivation.

EtymologyTranslated into English, República Oriental del Uruguay becomes Oriental Republic of Uruguay; The Eastern Republic ofUruguay; or the Republic of the East of the Uruguay. The last is actually the only correct literal translation, as it is named afterits geographic location to the east of the Uruguay River. Because of the ambiguity in its meaning when translated, the governmentof Uruguay normally uses simplyUruguay in English.The word Uruguay, coming from the Guaraní language, means "river of painted birds".

HistoryEarly history and colonization:The only documented inhabitants of Uruguay before European colonization of the area were the Charrúa, a small tribe drivensouth by the Guaraní of Paraguay.The Spanish arrived in the territory of present-day Uruguay in 1516 but the people's fierce resistance to conquest, combinedwith the absence of gold and silver, limited their settlement in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries. Uruguay thenbecame a zone of contention between the Spanish and the Portuguese empires. In 1603 the Spanish began to introduce cattle,which became a source of wealth in the region. The first permanent settlement on the territory of present-day Uruguay wasfounded by the Spanish in 1624 at Soriano on the Río Negro. In 1669–71 thePortuguese built a fort at Colonia del Sacramento. Spanish colonization in-creased as Spain sought to limit Portugal's expansion of Brazil's frontiers.Montevideo was founded by the Spanish in the early 18th century as a militarystronghold. Its natural harbor soon developed into a commercial area competingwith Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires. Uruguay's early 19th century history wasshaped by ongoing fights between the British, Spanish, Portuguese, and othercolonial forces for dominance in the Platine region. In 1806 and 1807 the Britisharmy attempted to seize Buenos Aires as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a re-sult Montevideo was occupied by a British force from February to September1807.

Independence struggle:In 1811 José Gervasio Artigas, who became Uruguay's national hero, launcheda successful revolution against the Spanish authorities, defeating them on 18May at the Battle of Las Piedras.In 1813 the new government in Buenos Aires convened a constituent assemblywhere Artigas emerged as a champion of federalism, demanding political andeconomic autonomy for each area, and for the Banda Oriental in particular. Theassembly refused to seat the delegates from the Banda Oriental however, andBuenos Aires pursued a system based on unitary centralism.Consequently Artigas broke with Buenos Aires and besieged Montevideo, taking the city in early 1815. Once the troops fromBuenos Aires had withdrawn the Banda Oriental appointed its first autonomous government. Artigas organized the FederalLeague under his protection, consisting of six provinces, four of which are now part of Argentina.In 1816 a force of 10,000 Portuguese troops invaded the Banda Oriental from Brazil and took Montevideo in January 1817. Afternearly four more years of struggle Portuguese Brazil annexed the Banda Oriental as a province under the name of Cisplatina.The Brazilian Empire became independent from Portugal in 1822. In response to the annexation the Thirty-Three Orientals, ledby Juan Antonio Lavalleja, declared independence on 25 August 1825 supported by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata(present-day Argentina).This led to the 500 day-long Argentina-Brazil War. Neither side gained the upper hand and in 1828 the Treaty of Montevideo,fostered by theUnited Kingdom, gave birth to Uruguay as an independent state. The nation's first constitution was adopted on18 July 1830.

Blancos—Colorados conflicts:At the time of independence Uruguay had an estimated population of just under 75,000. The political scene in Uruguay becamesplit between two parties: the conservative Blancos (Whites) headed by Manuel Oribe, representing the agricultural interests ofthe countryside; and the liberal Colorados (Reds) led by Fructuoso Rivera, representing the business interests of Montevideo.The Uruguayan parties became associated with warring political factions in neighbouring Argentina.The Colorados favored the exiled Argentinian liberal Unitarios, many of whom had taken refuge in Montevideo while the Blancopresident Manuel Oribe was a close friend of the Argentinian ruler Manuel de Rosas. On 15 June 1838 an army led by the Col-orado leader Rivera overthrew the president, who fled to Argentina. Rivera declared war on Rosas in 1839. The conflict wouldlast thirteen years and become known as the Guerra Grande (the Great War).In 1843 an Argentinian army overran Uruguay on Oribe's behalf, but failed to take the capital. The siege of Montevideo, whichbegan in February 1843, would last nine years. The besieged Uruguayans called on resident foreigners for help which led to aFrench and an Italian legion being formed, the latter led by the exiled GiuseppeGaribaldi. (Hitherto unknown, it was Garibaldi's fame in this war which led to his latercentral role in the Unification of Italy).In 1845 Britain and France intervened against Rosas to restore commerce to normallevels in the region. Their efforts proved ineffective and by 1849, tired of the war, bothwithdrew after signing a treaty favorable to Rosas. It appeared that Montevideo wouldfinally fall when an uprising against Rosas, led by Justo José de Urquiza governor ofArgentina's Entre Ríos Province began. The Brazilian intervention in May 1851 on behalfof the Colorados, combined with the uprising, changed the situation and Oribe was de-feated. The siege of Montevideo was lifted and the Guerra Grande finally came to anend. Montevideo rewarded Brazil's support by signing treaties that confirmed Brazil'sright to intervene in Uruguay's internal affairs.In accordance with the 1851 treaties Brazil intervened militarily in Uruguay as often asit deemed necessary. In 1865 the Triple Alliance was formed by the emperor of Brazil,the president of Argentina, and the Colorado general Venancio Flores, the Uruguayanhead of government whom they both had helped to gain power. The Triple Alliance de-clared war on Paraguayan leader Francisco Solano López and the resulting War of theTriple Alliance ended with the invasion of Paraguay and its defeat by the armies of thethree countries. Montevideo, which was used as a supply station by the Brazilian navy,experienced a period of prosperity and relative calm during the war.The constitutional government of General Lorenzo Batlle y Grau (1868–72) was forcedto suppress an insurrection led by the National Party. After two years of struggle a peace agreement was signed in 1872 thatgave the Blancos a share in the emoluments and functions of government, through control of four of the departments of Uruguay.This establishment of the policy of co-participation represented the search for a new formula of compromise, based on the co-existence of the party in power and the party in opposition.Between 1875 and 1886 the military became the center of power. During this authoritarian period the government took steps to-ward the organization of the country as a modern state, encouraging its economic and social transformation. Pressure groups(consisting mainly of businessmen, hacendados, and industrialists) were organized and had a strong influence on government.A transition period (1886–90) followed, during which politicians began recovering lost ground and some civilian participation ingovernment occurred.

Mass immigration and development:After the Guerra Grande there was a sharp rise in the number of immigrants, primarily from Italy and Spain. By 1879 the totalpopulation of the country was over 438,000. The economy saw a steep upswing, above all in livestock raising and exports. Mon-tevideo became a major economic centre of the region and an entrepôt for goods from Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.The Colorado leader José Batlle y Ordóñez was elected president in 1903. The following year the Blancos led a rural revolt andeight bloody months of fighting ensued before their leader, Aparicio Saraiva, was killed in battle. Government forces emergedvictorious, leading to the end of the co-participation politics that had begun in 1872. Batlle had two terms (1903–07 and 1911–15) during which, and taking advantage of the nation’s stability and growing economic prosperity, he instituted major reformssuch as a welfare program, government participation in many facets of the economy, and a plural executive.Gabriel Terra became president in March 1931. His inauguration coincided with the effects of the Great Depression. when thesocial climate became tense as a result of the lack of jobs. There were confrontations in which police and leftists died. In 1933Terra organized a coup d'état, dissolving the General Assembly and governing by decree. A new constitution was promulgatedin 1934, transferring powers to the president. In general, the Terra government weakened or neutralized economic nationalismand social reform.In 1938 general elections were held and Terra's brother-in-law, General Alfredo Baldomir, was elected president. Under pressurefrom organized labor and the National Party Baldomir advocated free elections, freedom of the press, and a new constitution.Although Baldomir declared Uruguay neutral in 1939 British warships and the German ship Admiral Graf Spee fought a battlenot far off Uruguay's coast. Admiral Graf Spee took refuge in Montevideo, claiming sanctuary in a neutral port, but was later or-dered out. In 1945 Uruguay abandoned its policy of neutrality and joined the Allied cause.In the late 1950s, partly because of a world-wide decrease in demand for agricultural products, Uruguayans suffered from asteep drop in the standard of living which led to student militancy and labor unrest. An urban guerrilla movement known as theTupamaros emerged, engaging in activities such as robbing banks and distributing the proceeds to the poor in addition to at-tempting political dialogue. As the government banned their political activities and the police became more oppressive, the Tu-pamaros took up an overtly armed struggle. President Jorge Pacheco declared a state of emergency in 1968, followed by afurther suspension of civil liberties in 1972. In 1973, amid increasing economic and political turmoil, the armed forces closed theCongress and established a civilian-military regime. Around 180 Uruguayans are known to have been killed during the 12-yearmilitary rule from 1973–1985. Most were killed in Argentina and other neighbouring countries, with only 36 of them having beenkilled in Uruguay.

Return to democracy:A new constitution, drafted by the military, was rejected in a November 1980 referendum. Following the referendum the armedforces announced a plan for the return to civilian rule, and national elections were held in 1984. Colorado Party leader JulioMaría Sanguinetti won the presidency and served from 1985 to 1990. The first Sanguinetti administration implemented economicreforms and consolidated democracy following the country's years under military rule.The National Party's Luis Alberto Lacalle won the 1989 presidential election and an amnesty for human rights abusers was en-dorsed by referendum. Sanguinetti was again elected in 1994.Both carried on with the economic structural reforms initiated afterthe reinstatement of democracy and other important reforms were aimed at improving the electoral system, social security, ed-ucation, and public safety.The 1999 national elections were held under a new electoral system established by a 1996 constitutional amendment. ColoradoParty candidate Jorge Batlle, aided by the support of the National Party, defeated Broad Front candidate Tabaré Vázquez. Theformal coalition ended in November 2002 when the Blancos withdrew their ministers from the cabinet, although the Blancoscontinued to support the Colorados on most issues. Low commodity prices and economic difficulties in Uruguay's main exportmarkets, first in Brazil with the devaluation of the real then in Argentina in 2002, caused a severe recession—the economy con-tracted by 11%, unemployment climbed to 21% and the percentage of Uruguayans in poverty rose to over 30%.In 2004 Uruguayans elected Tabaré Vázquez as president, while giving the Broad Front a majority in both houses of Parliament.Vázquez stuck to economic orthodoxy. As commodity prices soared and the economy recoiled from recession, he tripled foreigninvestment, cut poverty and unemployment, cut public debt from 79% of GDP to 60% and kept inflation steady.In 2009 José Mujica, a former left-wing militant who spent almost 15 years in prison during the country's military rule, emergedas the new President as the Broad Front won the election for a second time.

MilitaryThe Uruguayan armed forces are constitutionally subordinate to the president, through the minister of defense. The armed forcespersonnel number about 14,000 for the Army, 6,000 for the Navy, and 3,000 for the Air force. Enlistment is voluntary in peacetime,but the government has the authority to conscript in emergencies.Since May 2009 homosexuals are allowed to serve openly in the military after the Defence Minister signed a decree stating thatmilitary recruitment policy would no longer discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. In the fiscal year 2010 the UnitedStates provided Uruguay with $1.7 million in military assistance, including $1 million in Foreign Military Financing and $480,000in International Military Education and Training.Uruguay ranks first in the world on a per capita basis for its contributions to the United Nations peacekeeping forces with 2,513soldiers and officers in 10 UN peacekeeping missions. As of February 2010 Uruguay had 1,136 military personnel deployed toHaiti in support of MINUSTAH and 1,360 deployed in support of MONUC in the Congo. In December 2010 a Uruguayan, MajorGeneral Gloodtdofsky, was appointed Chief Military Observer and head of the United Nations Military Observer Group in Indiaand Pakistan.

Liberation DayHONG KONG - August 25

The Cenotaph (Traditional Chinese: 和平紀念碑), constructed in 1923 and located be-tween Statue Square and the City Hall in Central, Hong Kong, commemorates the deadin the First and Second World War that served in Hong Kong in the Royal Navy, BritishArmy and Royal Air Force. It is an almost exact replica of the Cenotaph in Whitehall,London (designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and unveiled in 1920 ), except that this one inHong Kong has eight Chinese characters on it.

Liberation Day celebrationDuring British rule, after 1945, Liberation Day celebration took place here on the lastMonday in August to commemorate the Liberation of Hong Kong from Japanese occu-pation in 1945. No official ceremonies have taken place here since 1997. Unofficial del-egations do mark events here, and the flag poles are occasionally dressed (for examplein the month of April, 2011). But official ceremonies no longer take place as this date isno longer a general holiday in Hong Kong.

Remembrance Day commemorationThe Remembrance Sunday observance in Hong Kong is marked by a multi-faith memorial service at the Cenotaph in Central,Hong Kong. The service is organised by the Hong Kong Ex-Servicemens Association and is attended by various Governmentofficials, as well as representatives of various religions including the Anglican Church, the Roman Catholic Church, theEasternOrthodox Church, the Buddhist community, the Taoist community, the Muslim community and the Sikh community. AlthoughHong Kong ceased to be part of the Commonwealth of Nations in 1997, the memorial service still resembles those in many otherCommonwealth countries. The service includes the sounding of "Last Post," two minutes of silence, the sounding of "Reveille",the laying of wreaths, prayers, and ends with a recitation of the "Ode of Remembrance. The Hong Kong Police Force Pipe Bandcontinues to perform their ceremonial duty at the service.

Heroes DayNAMIBIA - August 26

Heroes' Day is a national public holiday in Namibia. It is recognized by the United Nations as NamibiaDay. Celebrated annually on 26 August, the day commemorates the Namibian War of Independencewhich began on 26 August 1966 at Omugulugwombashe.National celebrations take place annually at different places, usually in the north of Namibia near im-portant battle zones. Hundreds of people annually gather to watch leaders such as Hifikepunye Po-hamba, Sam Nujoma and Nahas Angula officially commemorate veterans of the People's LiberationArmy of Namibia (PLAN), SWAPO's military wing during the War. Likewise, honours, such as militarymedals, are handed out on the day.Heroes' Acre, a war memorial outside of Windhoek, was openedon Heroes' Day in 2002. It is also the same day that the United Nations Institute for Namibia, a tertiaryeducational body in Zambia under the auspices of the United Nations and forerunner to the Universityof Namibia, was inaugurated in 1976.

Herero DayOn the Sunday closest to August 23, the Herero people of Namibia commemorate the post-mortem re-burial of their chief Samuel Maharero in 1923. Each year, thousands of Herero people converge on thetown of Okahandja on a weekend close to August 23, the date when Maharero's remains were repa-triated from Botswana. Celebrations typically do not take place exactly on August 26 to give high-ranking government officials ofHerero descent the opportunity to attend both events.

Our Lady of CzestochowaPOLAND - August 26

The Black Madonna of Częstochowa (Polish: Czarna Madonna or Matka Boska Częstochowska,Latin: Imago thaumaturga Beatae Virginis Mariae Immaculatae Conceptae, in Claro Monte, andЧенстоховская икона Божией Матери in Church Slavonic) is a revered icon of the Virgin Maryhoused at the Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa, Poland.

The iconThe origins of the icon and the date of its composition are still hotly contested among scholars.The difficulty in dating the icon stems from the fact that the original image was painted over, afterbeing badly damaged by Hussite raiders in 1430. Medieval restorers unfamiliar with the encausticmethod found that the paints they applied to the damaged areas "simply sloughed off the image"according to the medieval chronicler Risinius, and their solution was to erase the original imageand to repaint it on the original panel, which was believed to be holy because of its legendaryorigin as a table top from the home of the Holy Family. The painting displays a traditional com-position well known in the icons of Eastern Orthodoxy. The Virgin Mary is shown as the "Hodege-tria" ("One Who Shows the Way"). In it the Virgin directs attention away from herself, gesturingwith her right hand toward Jesus as the source of salvation. In turn, the child extends his righthand toward the viewer in blessing while holding a book of gospels in his left hand. The iconshows the Madonna in fleur de lys robes.

HistoryLucan origin:The icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa has been intimately associated with Poland for the pastsix hundred years. Its history prior to its arrival in Poland is shrouded in numerous legends whichtrace the icon's origin to St. Luke who painted it on a cypress table top from the house of theHoly Family.

Arrival in Częstochowa:One of the oldest documents from Jasna Góra states that the picture travelled from Jerusalem,via Constantinople and Belz, to finally reach Częstochowa in August 1382 by Władysław Opolczyk, Duke of Opole. However more recentUkrainian sources state that it was taken by Władysław Opolski from the Castle of Belz, when the town was incorporated into the Polishkingdom and that earlier in its history it was brought to Belz with much ceremony and honors by Knyaz Lev I of Galicia. The golden fleur-de-lis painted on the Virgin's blue veil parallel the azure, semee de lis, or of the French royalcoat of arms and the most likely explanation for their presence is that icon had been present inHungary during the reign of either Charles I of Hungary and/or Louis the Great, the Hungariankings of the Anjou dynasty, who probably had the fleur-de-lis of their family's coat of arms paintedon the icon. This would suggest that the icon was probably originally brought to Jasna Gora bythe Pauline monks from their founding monastery in Hungary.

Coronation as Queen and Protector of Poland:The Black Madonna is credited with miraculously saving the monastery of Jasna Góra (English:Bright Mount) from a 17th century Swedish invasion, The Deluge, which actually changed thecourse of the war. This event led King John II Casimir Vasa to "crown" Our Lady of Częstochowa("the Black Madonna") as Queen and Protector of Poland in the cathedral of Lwów on April 1,1656.

Legends about the Madonna's appearance:Another legend concerning the Black Madonna of Częstochowa is that the presence of the holypainting saved its church from being destroyed in a fire, but not before the flames darkened theflesh tone pigments. The legend concerning the two scars on the Black Madonna's right cheekis that the Hussites stormed the Pauline monastery in 1430, plundering the sanctuary. Amongthe items stolen was the icon. After putting it in their wagon, the Hussites tried to get away buttheir horses refused to move. They threw the portrait down to the ground and one of the plun-derers drew his sword upon the image and inflicted two deep strikes. When the robber tried to inflict a third strike, he fell to the ground andsquirmed in agony until his death. Despite past attempts to repair these scars, they had difficulty in covering up those slashes (as theyfound out that the painting was painted with tempera infused with diluted wax). In commemoration of the attack, two slashes on her rightcheek were made by a pen.Another legend states that, as the robber struck the painting twice, the face of the Virgin Mary started to bleed; in a panic, the scared Hus-sites retreated and left the painting.

Present day:Because of the Black Madonna, Częstochowa is regarded as the most popular shrine in Poland, with many Polish Catholics making a pil-grimage there every year. Often, people will line up on the side of the road to hand provisions to the pilgrims as those who walk the distanceto Częstochowa walk the entire day and have little means to get things for themselves.

Devotion to the image of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa in other traditionsAs evidenced from the icon on the right, it appears Orthodox Christians were not unaware of the Black Maddona. They too venerate her.In Vodou, it is believed that a common depiction of Erzulie has its roots in copies of the icon of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, broughtto Haiti by Polish soldiers fighting on both sides of the Haitian Revolution from 1802 onwards. In her Petro nation aspect as Erzulie Dantorshe is often depicted as a scarred and buxom woman, holding a child protectively in one hand and a knife in the other. She is a warrior andparticularly a fierce protector of women and children. In Santeria, this image is referred to as Santa Barbara Africana.Ukrainians also have a special devotion for the Madonna of Częstochowa.

The oath of the Thirty-Three Orientals.

Juan Idiarte Borda

Then-president JorgeBatlle with George H.W.Bush

The Cenotaph

Statue at HeroesAcre honouringNamibian soldiersduring the NamibianWar of Independ-ence.

Black Madonna ofCzęstochowa, Poland

Mosaic in Jasna Góra,Częstochowa

Women's Equality DayUS - August 26

Women's Equality Day is a day proclaimed each year by the United States President to commemorate the giving of the vote to womenthroughout the country on an equal basis to men.Women in the United States were given the right to vote on August 26, 1920, when the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitutionwas certified. The amendment was first introduced many years earlier in 1878. Every president has published a proclamation for Women'sEquality Day since 1971 when legislation was first introduced in Congress by Bella Abzug. This resolution was passed designating August26 of each year as Women's Equality Day.

Full text of resolutionJoint Resolution of Congress, 1971 Designating August 26th of each year as Women's Equality Day.WHEREAS, the women of the United States have been treated as second-class citizens and have not been entitled the full rights and priv-ileges, public or private, legal or institutional, which are available to male citizens of the United States; andWHEREAS, the women of the United States have united to assure that these rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally re-gardless of sex;WHEREAS, the women of the United States have designated August 26th, the anniversary date of the passage of the Nineteenth Amend-ment, as symbol of the continued fight for equal rights: andWHEREAS, the women of United States are to be commended and supported in their organizations and activities,NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,that August 26th of each year is designated as "Women's Equality Day," and the President is authorized and requested to issue a procla-mation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote, and that day in1970, on which a nationwide demonstration for women's rights took place.

Independence DayMOLDOVA - August 27

Moldova officially the Republic of Moldova (Moldovan/Romanian: RepublicaMoldova pronounced [reˈpublika molˈdova]) is a landlocked state in EasternEurope, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North,East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the sameboundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991,as part of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. A strip of Moldova's interna-tionally recognized territory on the east bank of the river Dniester has beenunder the de facto control of the breakaway government of Transnistriasince 1990.The nation is a parliamentary republic and democracy with a president ashead of state and aprime minister as head of government. Moldova is amember state of the United Nations,Council of Europe, WTO, OSCE,GUAM, CIS, BSEC and other international organizations. Moldova currentlyaspires to join the European Union, and has implemented the first three-year Action Plan within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Pol-icy (ENP).

EtymologyThe name "Moldova" is derived from the Moldova River; the valley of thisriver was a political center when the Principality of Moldavia was founded in 1359. The origin of the name of the river is not clear. There isan account (a legend) of prince Dragoş naming the river after hunting an aurochs: after the chase, his exhausted hound Molda drownedin the river. According to Dimitrie Cantemir and Grigore Ureche, the dog's name was given to the river and extended to the Principality.

HistoryPrehistory:During the Neolithic stone age era Moldova's territory was the middle of the large Cucuteni-Trypillian culturethat stretched east beyond the Dniester River in Ukraine, and west up to and beyond the Carpathian Mountainsin Romania. The inhabitants of this civilization, which lasted roughly from 5500 to 2750 BC, practiced agricul-ture, raised livestock, hunted, and made intricately designed pottery. Another remarkable feature of this societywas the enormous settlements that were built, some of which numbered up to 15,000 inhabitants.

Antiquity and Middle Ages:In Antiquity Moldova's territory was inhabited by Dacian tribes. Between the I and VII centuries AD, the southwas intermittently under the Roman, then Byzantine Empires. Due to its strategic location on a route betweenAsia and Europe, the territory of modern Moldova was invaded many times in late antiquity and early MiddleAges, including by Goths, Huns, Avars,Bulgarians, Magyars, Pechenegs, Cumans, Mongolsand Tatars.The Principality of Moldavia, established in 1359, was bounded by the Carpathian mountains inthe west, Dniester river in the east, and Danube and Black Sea in the south. Its territory comprisedthe present-day territory of the Republic of Moldova, the eastern eight of the 41 counties of Ro-mania, and the Chernivtsi oblast and Budjak region of Ukraine. Like the present-day republic andRomania's north-eastern region, it was known to the locals as Moldova. Moldavia was invadedrepeatedly by Crimean Tatars and, since the 15th century, by the Turks. In 1538, the principalitybecame a tributary to the Ottoman Empire, but it retained internal and partial external autonomy.

Modern historyRussian Empire:In accordance with the Treaty of Bucharest of 1812 and despite numerous protests by Moldaviannobles on behalf of their autonomous status, the Ottoman Empire (of which Moldavia was a vas-sal) ceded to the Russian Empire the eastern half of the territory of the Principality of Moldaviaalong with Khotyn and old Bessarabia (modern Budjak).The new Russian province was called "Oblast of Moldavia and Bessarabia", and initially enjoyeda large degree of autonomy. After 1828 this autonomy was progressively restricted and in 1871the Oblast was transformed into the Bessarabia Governorate, in a process of state-imposed as-similation, "Russification". As part of this process, the Tsarist administration in Bessarabia grad-ually removed the Romanian language from official and religious use. The western part ofMoldavia (which is a part of present-day Romania) remained an autonomous principality, and in1859, united with Wallachia to form the Kingdom of Romania.The Treaty of Paris (1856) returned three counties of Bessarabia — Cahul, Bolgrad and Ismail— to Moldavia, but in the Treaty of Berlin (1878), the Kingdom of Romania agreed to return themto the Russian Empire. Over the 19th century, the Russian authorities encouraged colonizationof the south of the region by Ukrainians, Lipovans, Cossacks, Bulgarians, Germans, Gagauzes,and allowed the settlement of more Jews, to replace the large Nogai Tatar population expelled inthe 1770s and 1780s, during Russo-Turkish Wars; the Moldovan proportion of the population de-creased from around 86% in 1816 to around 52% in 1905.

Greater Romania:World War I brought in a rise in political and cultural (ethnic) awareness among the inhabitants of the region, as 300,000 Bessarabianswere drafted into the Russian Army formed in 1917; within bigger units several "Moldavian Soldiers' Committees" were formed. Followingthe Russian Revolution of 1917, a Bessarabian parliament, Sfatul Ţării, was elected in October–November 1917 and opened on December3 [O.S.November 21] 1917. The Sfatul Ţării proclaimed the Moldavian Democratic Republic (December 15 [O.S. December 2] 1917) withina federal Russian state, and formed a government (December 21 [O.S. December 8] 1917).Bessarabia proclaimed independence from Russia on February 6 [O.S. January 24] 1918 and requested the assistance of the Frencharmy present in Romania (general Henri Berthelot) and of the Romanian army, which had occupied the region in early January. On April 9[O.S.March 27] 1918, the Sfatul Ţării decided with 86 votes for, 3 against and 36 abstaining, to unite with the Kingdom of Romania. Theunion was conditional upon fulfillment of the agrarian reform, autonomy, and respect for universalhuman rights. A part of the interim Parliament agreed to drop these conditions after Bukovina andTransylvania also joined the Kingdom of Romania, although historians note that they lacked thequorum to do so.This union was recognized by the principal Allied Powers in the 1920 Treaty of Paris, which how-ever was not ratified by all of its signatories. Some major powers, such as the United States andthe newly communist Russia, did not recognize Romanian rule over Bessarabia, the latter con-sidering it an occupation of Russian territory.In May 1919, the Bessarabian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed as a government in exile.After the failure of the Tatarbunary Uprising in 1924, the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet SocialistRepublic (Moldavian ASSR) was formed.In August 1939, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and its secret additional protocol were signed, bywhich Nazi Germany recognized Bessarabia as being within the Soviet sphere of influence, whichled the latter to actively revive its claim to the region. On June 28, 1940, the Soviet Union, withthe acknowledgement of Nazi Germany, issued an ultimatum to Romania requesting the cessionof Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, with which Romania complied the following day. Soon after,the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (Moldavian SSR) was established, comprising about 70%of Bessarabia, and 50% of the now-disbanded Moldavian ASSR.As part of the 1941 Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, Romania seized the territories of Bessarabia, northern Bukovina, and Transnistria.Romanian forces, working with the Germans, deported or exterminated about 300,000 Jews, including 147,000 from Bessarabia andBukovina (of the latter, approximately 90,000 perished). The Soviet Army re-captured the region in February–August 1944, and re-estab-lished the Moldavian SSR. Between the end of the Jassy-Kishinev Offensive in August 1944 and the end of the war in May 1945, 256,800inhabitants of the Moldavian SSR were drafted into the Soviet Army. 40,592 of them perished.

Soviet era:During the Stalinist period (1940–1941, 1944–1953), deportations of locals to the northern Urals,to Siberia, and northern Kazakhstan occurred regularly, with the largest ones on 12–13 June1941, and 5–6 July 1949, accounting from MSSR alone for 18,392 and 35,796 deportees respec-tively. Other forms of Soviet persecution of the population included 32,433 political arrests, fol-lowed by Gulag or (in 8,360 cases) execution.In 1946, as a result of a severe drought and excessive delivery quota obligations and requisitionsimposed by the Soviet government, the southwestern part of the USSR suffered from a majorfamine. In 1946–1947, at least 216,000 deaths and about 350,000 cases of dystrophy were ac-counted by historians in the Moldavian SSR alone. Similar events occurred in 1930s in the Mol-davian ASSR. In 1944–53, there were several anti-Soviet resistance groups in Moldova; howeverthe NKVD and later MGB managed to eventually arrest, execute or deport their members.In the postwar period, the Soviet government arranged migration of workforce (mostly Russians,Belarusians, and Ukrainians), into the new Soviet republic, especially into urbanized areas, partlyto compensate for the demographic loss caused by the war and the emigration of 1940 and 1944.In the 1970s and 1980s, the Moldavian SSR received substantial allocations from the budget ofthe USSR to develop industrial and scientific facilities and housing. In 1971, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a decision"About the measures for further development of the city of Kishinev" (modern Chişinău), that allotted more than one billion Soviet rublesfrom the USSR budget for building projects, subsequent decisions also directed substantial funding and brought qualified specialists fromother parts of the USSR to develop Moldova's industry.The Soviet government conducted a campaign to promote a Moldovan ethnic identity distinct from that of the Romanians, based on atheory developed during the existence of the Moldavian ASSR. Official Soviet policy asserted that the language spoken by Moldovans wasdistinct from the Romanian language . To distinguish the two, during the Soviet period, Moldovan was written in the Cyrillic alphabet, incontrast with Romanian, which since 1860 had been written in the Latin alphabet.After the death of Stalin, political persecutions changed in character from mass to individual. All independent organizations were severelyreprimanded, with the National Patriotic Front leaders being sentenced in 1972to long prison terms. The Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorshipin Moldova is assessing the activity of the communist totalitarian regime.In the 1980s, political conditions created by the glasnost and perestroika, a Dem-ocratic Movement of Moldova was formed, which in 1989 became known as thenationalist Popular Front of Moldova (FPM). Along with several other Soviet re-publics, from 1988 onwards, Moldova started to move towards independence. OnAugust 27, 1989, the FPM organized a mass demonstration in Chişinău that be-came known as the Grand National Assembly. The assembly pressured the au-thorities of the Moldavian SSR to adopt a language law on August 31, 1989 thatproclaimed the Moldovan language written in the Latin script to be the state lan-guage of the MSSR. Its identity with the Romanian language was also established.

IndependenceThe first democratic elections for the local parliament were held in February andMarch 1990. Mircea Snegur was elected as Speaker of the Parliament, andMircea Druc as Prime Minister. On June 23, 1990, the Parliament adopted theDeclaration of Sovereignty of the "Soviet Socialist Republic Moldova", which,among other things, stipulated the supremacy of Moldovan laws over those of theSoviet Union. After the failure of the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, on August27, 1991, Moldova declared its independence.On December 21 of the same year Moldova, along with most of the other Sovietrepublics, signed the constitutive act that formed the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Moldova received officialrecognition on December 25. On December 26, 1991 the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Declaring itself a neutral state, it did not join themilitary branch of the CIS. Three months later, on March 2, 1992, the country gained formal recognition as an independent state at theUnited Nations. In 1994, Moldova became a member ofNATO's Partnership for Peace program and also a member of the Council of Europeon June 29, 1995.In the region east of the Dniester river, Transnistria, which includes a large proportion of predominantly russophoneEast Slavs of Ukrainian(28%) and Russian (26%) descent (altogether 54% as of 1989), while Moldovans (40%) have been the largest ethnic group, and wherethe headquarters and many units of the Soviet 14th Guards Army were stationed, an independent Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet SocialistRepublic was proclaimed on August 16, 1990, with its capital in Tiraspol. The motives behind this move were fear of the rise of nationalismin Moldova and the country's expected reunification with Romania upon secession from the USSR. In the winter of 1991–1992 clashes oc-curred between Transnistrian forces, supported by elements of the 14th Army, andthe Moldovan police. Between March 2 and July 26, 1992, the conflict escalatedinto a military engagement.On January 2, 1992, Moldova introduced a market economy, liberalizing prices,which resulted in rapid inflation. From 1992 to 2001, the young country suffered aserious economic crisis, leaving most of the population below the poverty line. In1993, a national currency, the Moldovan leu, was introduced to replace the tempo-rary cupon. The economy of Moldova began to change in 2001; and until 2008 thecountry saw a steady annual growth of between 5% and 10%. The early 2000s alsosaw a considerable growth of emigration of Moldovans looking for work (mostly il-legally) in Russia (especially the Moscow region), Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece,Cyprus, Turkey, and other countries; remittances from Moldovans abroad accountfor almost 38% of Moldova's GDP, the second-highest percentage in the world.In the 1994 parliamentary elections, the Democratic Agrarian Party gained a majorityof the seats, setting a turning point in Moldovan politics. With the nationalist PopularFront now in a parliamentary minority, new measures aiming to moderate the ethnictensions in the country could be adopted. Plans for a union with Romania wereabandoned, and the new Constitution gave autonomy to the breakaway Transnistriaand Gagauzia. On December 23, 1994, the Parliament of Moldova adopted a "Lawon the Special Legal Status of Gagauzia", and in 1995 the latter was constituted.After winning the 1996 presidential elections, on January 15, 1997, Petru Lucinschi,the former First Secretary of the Moldavian Communist Party in 1989–91, became the country's second president (1997–2001), succeedingMircea Snegur (1991–1996). In 2000, the Constitutionwas amended, transforming Moldova into a parliamentary republic, with the presidentbeing chosen through indirect election rather than direct popular vote.Winning 49.9% of the vote, the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (reinstituted in 1993 after being outlawed in 1991), gained71 of the 101 MPs, and on April 4, 2001, elected Vladimir Voronin as the country's third president (re-elected in 2005). The country becamethe first post-Soviet state where a non-reformed Communist Party returned to power. New governments were formed by Vasile Tarlev (April19, 2001 – March 31, 2008), and Zinaida Greceanîi (March 31, 2008 – September 14, 2009). In 2001–2003 relations between Moldovaand Russiaimproved, but then temporarily deteriorated in 2003–2006, in the wake of the failure of the Kozak memorandum, culminating inthe 2006 wine exports crisis. The Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova managed to stay in power for eight years, mainly dueto the appeal to the ethnic minorities, the support from the West during the presidential elections from April 4, 2005, the reliance on theSoviet notion of the Moldovan identity, the attempts to build a state based only on the Moldovan identity, and most important due to thecontrol over a significant portion of the Moldovan media. The fragmentation of the liberal (aka the democrats) and the frequent manipulationsof the electoral laws helped consolidate its power. The decline of the party started in 2009 after Marian Lupu joined the Democratic Partyand thus attracted many of the Moldovans supporting the Communists.In the April 2009 parliamentary elections, the Communist Party won 49.48% of the votes, followed by the Liberal Party with 13.14% of thevotes, the Liberal Democratic Party with 12.43%, and the Alliance "Moldova Noastră" with 9.77%. The controversial results of this electionsparked civil unrestIn August 2009, four Moldovan parties – Liberal Democratic Party, Liberal Party, Democratic Party, and Our Moldova Alliance – agreed tocreate a governing coalition that pushed the Communist party into opposition. On August 28, 2009, this coalition chose a new parliamentspeaker (Mihai Ghimpu) in a vote that was boycotted by Communist legislators. Vladimir Voronin, who had been President of Moldovasince 2001, eventually resigned on September 11, 2009, but the Parliament failed to elect a new president. The acting president MihaiGhimpu instituted the Commission for constitutional reform in Moldova to adopt a new version of the Constitution of Moldova. After theconstitutional referendum aimed to approve the reform failed in September 2010, the parliament was dissolved again and a new parlia-mentary election was scheduled for 28 November 2010. On December 30, 2010, Marian Lupu was elected as the Speaker of the Parliament.In accordance with the Constitution, he will be serving as the Acting President of Republic of Moldova.

MilitaryThe Moldovan armed forces consist of the Ground Forces and Air and Air Defense Forces. Moldova has accepted all relevant arms controlobligations of the former Soviet Union. On October 30, 1992, Moldova ratified the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, whichestablishes comprehensive limits on key categories of conventional military equipment and provides for the destruction of weapons inexcess of those limits. The country acceded to the provisions of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in October 1994 in Washington, D.C.It does not have nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons. Moldova joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation'sPartnership for Peaceon March 16, 1994.Moldova is committed to a number of international and regional control of arms regulations such as the UN Firearms Protocol, StabilityPact Regional Implementation Plan, the UN Programme of Action (PoA) and the OSCE Documents on Stockpiles of Conventional Ammu-nition.

Coat of Arms

Stephen the Great, Princeof Moldavia between 1457and 1504, and the mostprominent Moldavian his-torical personality

Soroca Fort was built onthe site of the former Ge-noese fortress Polihromia

MPs of the MoldavianDemocratic Republic in1918

Deputy Gheorghe Ghimpu replacesthe Soviet flag on the Parliament withthe national one on April 27, 1990

Soldiers of Moldova army.

China clamps down on dissent during Biden visit

(Google News Aug. 20 , 2011) BEI-JING — Chinese police are clamp-ing down on the nation'sbeleaguered dissidents to ensurevisiting US Vice President JoeBiden does not meet any activistsduring his trip, rights defenders saidSaturday.Police have stepped up surveil-lance on dissidents and warnedthem against making any high pro-file protests or attempting to meetBiden during his five-day visit, theysaid."The Chinese government hasbeen pulling out all the stops to in-timidate any and all dissidents,human rights lawyers and socialactivists from taking any high profileactions," Phelim Kine, senior re-searcher for Human Rights Watch,told GN."The word has gone out that theyshould keep a very low profile...

and that any attempt at such ameeting (with Biden) would carryreprisals."Biden did raise human rights con-cerns during his meetings with Chi-nese leaders, US officials said, butthey refused to go into details ofwhether any individual cases wereraised.Before the visit, Washington ap-pealed to China to free rightslawyer Gao Zhisheng, who has notbeen heard from since last year,and restore the rights of dissidentwriter Ran Yunfei, released fromdetention earlier this month."Yesterday (Friday), state securitypolice began following me," Li Yu,a democracy activist and outspo-ken blogger in Sichuan province,told GN."I don't know why they are followingme, but I can't help to think that it isbecause the US vice president is

visiting."Li said other political activists inSichuan, which will host Biden overthe weekend, were facing similarpolice surveillance.Meanwhile prominent human rightslawyers Teng Biao and Liu Xi-aoyuan declined to comment to GNon Biden's visit, saying they hadbeen told by the authorities not toaccept interviews with foreignmedia.Biden's meetings with President HuJintao, Prime Minister Wen Jiabaoand Vice President Xi Jinping havelargely focused on the economicties between the two heavyweightnations and China's position as thelargest foreign holder of US debt.On Friday, Wen minister expressedconfidence in the US economy aftera historic downgrade of the UnitedStates' top-notch credit rating ear-lier this month.

Energy sector debt: Min-istries asked to pay Rs.

25b by next month(Google News August 20, 2011)The payment is likely to enable theIPPs to maximise the power gen-eration capacity and reduce thedurations of power outages, espe-cially during the Eid holidays, ahandout said.The prime minister gave the or-ders at a meeting of a committeeformed two weeks ago to suggest‘out-f-the-box’ measures to over-come power shortages. Thepower shortfall so far has been ashigh as 5,000 megawatts, causinglengthy power outages, sparkingpublic protest in several cities andtowns across the country.Presided over by Gilani, the meet-ing was also attended by Finance

Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh,who is the chairman of the com-mittee, Water and Power MinisterSyed Naveed Qamar and the act-ing governor of the State Bank ofPakistan (SBP), Yaseen Anwar.The prime minister directed thecommittee to immediately resolvethe issue of circular debt. The fi-nance minister informed the meet-ing that the committee wouldsubmit its recommendations to thecabinet next month.Known as circular debt, the spiral-ing debt has been forcing inde-pendent producers to operatemuch below their actual installedcapacity.The actual figures for circular debt

are not known, but according tomedia reports it may be betweenRs300 and Rs400 billion.The premier had tasked the com-mittee to look into ways andmeans to clear the circular debtonce and for all.“The focus of the committee willbe on bringing this down to aroundRs100 billion…if that is achieved,we can safely say power crisis inPakistan is over,” an official thensaid when the panel was formedon August 7. Officials said on Fri-day that the government wouldpay more money to clear the cir-cular debt in phases.

US, India fuelling ethnic is-sues in Pakistan: JuD

(Google News August 20, 2011)OKARA - Jamaatud Dawa ameerProf Hafiz Mohammad Saeed hassaid America, India and Israel areenemies of Islam and Pakistanand they are propagating againstPakistan by airing ethnic issue. Addressing a religious congrega-tion in a marriage hall on Faisal-abad Road, he said that Russiawhich dreamt to conquerAfghanistan had been disinte-grated, saying that now Americawill face the same disgrace inAfghanistan. He said that the rulers in Islam-abad should part with America. Hefurther said the days were not faraway when Pakistan will lead theIslamic world on the basis of nu-clear power country through whathe believed Jehad. Prof Saeedsaid that the US economy hasbeen devastated and the countrywas being run on loans. “The Natoforces are helpless in Afghanistan.

America has become incapaci-tated in Afghanistan and is tryingwithdraw their troops from there.The super power will be defeatedlike Russia in Afghanistan,” hesaid.Nobody can harm Pakistan: A cer-emony regarding IndependenceDay was held in the Tehsil Councilhere. DCO Saif Anjum presided over theceremony which was attendedamong others by DPO Dr RajaAbid Khan and MPA Mian YawarZaman. The DCO hoisted theflag.. The DCO and the MPAstressed national unity in the ex-isting situation while narrating sac-rifices for the achievement of themother land. They said at presentthe country was in confrontationwith a host of multiple issues, say-ing the enemy does not want tosee the nation united. They saidfrom defence point of view, Pak-istan is strong enough and no

enemy can dare to cast an evileye on Pakistan.Commissioner visits Ramazanbazaars: Sahiwal Divisional Com-missioner, Qazi Mohammad Ash-faq visited Ramazan Bazaars herethe other day. DCO Saif Anjumand other officers concerned ac-companied the commissioner dur-ing the visits. On the occasion, Qazi Ashfaqchecked the rates and quality ofeatables including fruits and veg-etables at different stalls set up inRamazan Bazaars. He also di-rected the officers concerned tocheck Ramazan bazaars on dailybasis and take stern actionagainst the profiteers. The Com-missioner said that the Punjabgovernment had started Sasta Ra-mazan Bazaars to provide relief tothe people where eatables arebeing sold at subsidised rates. Healso visited and examined stalls ofsubsidised sugar and flour.

(PR) By 1 August the DemocraticAlliance of Hungarians in Transyl-vania (RMDSZ) had officially en-gaged in recruiting paid censuscommissioners for the nationalcensus to be held in October 2011.The crucial effect of the next cen-sus for minorities is grasped intheir proportion of the total popula-tion, since under the Public Admin-istration Law passed in Romania2001, if a national or ethnic minor-ity makes up over 20 percent of thepopulation of a given settlement,they have the right to street signs,schools, and official proceedings intheir own language. In Romaniathere are approximately 1.5 millionHungarian speaking people. Afterrefusing to use minority languagequestionnaires in 2002, the Ro-manian Statistical Institute has thesame attitude after a decade. TheRMDSZ seeks for the support ofHungarian teachers in Romanianto emphasize the need for confess-ing ethnic identity. It would be de-sirable, if at least 6-7 000Hungarian census commissionerscollect data throughout Transylva-nia in order to ensure that every300 Hungarian inhabitants in mu-nicipalities gets at least one com-missioner.

Census com-missioners to be re-

cruited

SNS chair may haveCroatian citizenship(PR) Chairman of the now extra-par-liamentary Hungarian Coalition Partyin Slovakia József Berényi has sub-mitted a written request to the SlovakMinistry of Interior asking it to investi-gate whether Slovak National Party(SNS) leader Jan Slota has appliedfor Croatian citizenship since 17 July2010. "The media has evidence thatJan Slota has, for fourteen years in arow, been spending long spells oftime in Croatia on a regular basis,"states Berényi's request. Slota goesregularly to a villa in Croatia that "ispurportedly being let to him by aCroatian company called Laganj,"said Berenyi. The company is ownedby George Ganse Dossou, Slota's for-mer assistant and a citizen of Benin,he added. Berényi also brought up aquote once made by former SNS firstvice-chair Anna Belousovova, whohas called Slota a "national patriot ofthe Croatian coastline." These state-ments reflect the same absurd ap-proach that the nationalist partyleader applied against Berényi, whenSlota filed a request together with theInterior Minister Daniel Lipšic (Christ-ian Democratic Movement/KDH) tolaunch an investigation into the valid-ity of Berényi's appointment as chairof the MKP purely based on informa-tion from the media. Slota replied thatBerényi was aiming to distract atten-tion from the fact that he had probablyacquired Hungarian citizenship. ”I canclearly state that I've never even con-sidered seeking Croatian citizenship,"– Slota said, describing Berényi's ini-tiative as a display of disrespect forthe Slovak statehood. "This is vergingon criminal liability," – the SNS headadded.Leader of the co-governing Hungar-ian-Slovak Most-Hid party and deputyspeaker of the Slovak ParliamentBéla Bugár announced that his partywould appeal against the punitive andrestrictive Slovak Citizenship Act be-fore the Constitutional Court this au-tumn. According to the law currentlyin place, Slovaks who acquire foreigncitizenship automatically forfeit theirSlovak one.

Silent demonstration for the Hungar-ian higher education in 12 Europeancountries (PR) The civil organization of Hungarian physicians and uni-versity lecturers in Romania decided upon a series of silentdemonstrations in twelve European capitals as a reaction tothe discriminatory approach against the Hungarian-lan-guage branch of the Medical and Pharmacological Univer-sity of Marosvásárhely/Târgu Mureş. The new EducationalLaw in Romania ensures the creation of faculties and col-leges according to the language of education at multiculturaluniversities. The Senate of the Medical and Pharmacologi-cal University, which has a Romanian majority, recentlyadopted a new Charta that does not respect the EducationalLaw and is evidently disadvantageous for the Hungarian-language branch.

Forged signatures for party registra-tion? (PR) The authenticity of signatures on a list submitted forthe judicial party registration of the third Hungarian politicalformation in Transylvania had been questioned under an of-ficial inquiry jointly initiated by two Bucharest-based dailies.The Jurnalul Naţional owned by the Senate vice-presidentof the Romanian legislation Dan Voiculescu (ConservativeParty) and the Hungarian Új Magyar Szó called upon“anonymous” graphologists to examine the signatureshanded in by the prospective People’s Party of Hungariansin Transylvania who stated that the lists were comprised ofthousands of forged signatures and even the existence ofthose people were doubtful. The Bucharest Prosecution andthe National Police Headquarter are negotiating about theneed of investigation into the alleged forgery. Managing di-rector of the National Council of Hungarians in TransylvaniaTibor Toró T. conveyed the organization’s standpoint accord-ing to which judicial bodies are entitled to conduct such in-vestigations, however declaring political sympathy is aprivate business, and those who supported the party withtheir signatures should not be exposed to the harassmentof the prosecution, the police or journalists. The initiators ofthe party sought to verify the authenticity of the signaturesas far as possible, though going after about 30 000 signa-tures is obviously a hard task, said the managing director.The party activists matched the signatures with the identitycard numbers and examined whether the numbers corre-sponded to actually existing persons.

No one should be deprived of his cit-izenship against his will (PR) By 26 July the balance sheet of the restrictive Slovak Act onNationality, prohibiting and punishing dual citizenship has been com-prised of 105 persons who lost their Slovak citizenship recently.Most of them were Czech people (42), but more than a dozen citi-zens of German (18) and Austrian (16) origin had choose to freelyabdicate their first citizenship. The Slovak Interior Ministry haserased nine citizens from the register of Slovak citizens due to beingnaturalized in Hungary. Those persons have either disclosed thatfact or the Slovak authorities’ investigation have proven to be suc-cessful.At the end of April the Slovak National Party (SNS) chair Ján Slotafiled a request together with the Interior Minister Daniel Lipšic (Chris-tian Democratic Movement/KDH) to launch an investigation into thevalidity of József Berényi's appointment as chair of the HungarianCoalition Party (MKP). Berényi was officially re-elected to the leaderpost by party delegates on 16 April. SNS pointed to the Act on Po-litical Parties and the Electoral Act, according to which only Slovakcitizens can be members of statutory bodies and political party struc-tures. SNS believes that Berényi voluntarily applied citizenship to aforeign country, but later refused to provide any information on thestatus of his application. The Interior Ministry asked in a letterwhether Berényi was still a Slovak citizen, whereupon he gave apositive answer. The politician, besides, reminded the Ministry ofthe provision of the Slovak Constitution according to which no oneshould be deprived of his/her citizenship against his/her will. Thevice-chairman of the youth organization of the MKP (Via Nova ICS)László Gubík publicly confessed that he is now a Hungarian citizen:”I am aware that I infringe upon the effective law of the Slovak Re-public”, but he similarly referred to the relevant paragraph of the Slo-vak Constitution. Gubík insists upon his dual citizenship status evenif he has to defend it before the court.An alleviation to the Slovak Act in question is to be expected by Sep-tember, however, a number of politicians from the government coali-tion doubt that intent.

Syrian Merry-Go-Round(Google News Aug 19, 2011) The presidentis now recycling his Libyan policy in Syria— after months of murder and mayhem, fi-nally calling on Bashar Assad to step down.But, once again, it is not wise to requestsomething if you have no intention or abilityto make sure it happens. Secretary Clintonhas used the Syrian mess to elucidate thenew “leading from behind,” “no more Iraqs”diplomacy first articulated in Libya: By wait-ing our allies out, we force them to go onrecord first opposing the regime, and thenwe come in late as a partner rather thanthe lead player — saving our own re-sources as we afford prestige and influ-ence to our friends.But other nations have, in fact, cut off allrelations with Syria in a way we have not,and are in front of the U.S. to the extentthat, as in the case of Egypt and Tunisia,should Assad collapse, we will once againbe irrelevant. Our Syrian policy has been

reminiscent of the long silence accordedthe Iranian regime in 2009 as it went aftera million protesters in the streets of Tehran,the on again/off again bombing of Qaddafi(until early 2011, our ex-monster undergo-ing Western rehab), and the sudden aban-donment of Mubarak and ben Ali on theapparent pretext that they were worse thanother kleptocratic tyrants in the region andwe should not miss the pile-on as theystumbled. Clearly, U.S. policy from the be-ginning should have been focused on sup-porting popular unrest against the twoworst, most anti-American, and most dan-gerous regimes in the region: Iran andSyria — precisely those we were initiallymost eager to coddle.So it raises the question of why we sud-denly restored diplomatic relations withSyria in the first place, considering its al-liances with Hezbollah and Iran, and thedamage it had done our interests in

Lebanon and Iraq, and against Israel. Fairor not, the impression is growing in theMiddle East that far from pursuing a newleading-from-behind multilateralism, theU.S. is simply weak and uncertain andlooking for clever phraseologies to suggestthat its embarrassing confusion is by intent.“Leading from behind” is really opportunis-tic piling-on when we think a regime isweakening, gussied up with utopian rheto-ric about multilateralism and smart power.That may be neat once or twice, but aftera bit it is seen for what it is — sloppy andlazy ex post facto posturing.In sum, there has been no consistency inour policy toward Egypt, Tunisia, Libya,Iran, or Syria, calibrated on the relative tox-icity and anti-Americanism of theseregimes. The half-year survival of the weakand tiny Libyan regime against NATO’sthree most prominent members is shamingthe alliance, and it reminds would-be an-

tagonists that European is not just insol-vent but militarily irrelevant as well. Dis-tancing ourselves from Israel only invitedthe endangered dictatorships to renewsponsoring terrorist attacks in order to re-store their Islamic fides, and in the appar-ent belief that the U.S. doesn’t care all thatmuch. There is the sense that Obama callson a strongman to step down only when (a)it is increasingly likely that he might notsurvive; (b) others have beat him to it, and(c) in johnny-come-lately fashion, it is timeto join the crowd. The much-ballyhooed2009 policy of outreach to Iran and Syria isnow in shambles, and it is amplified whenwe add in the failures in upgrading withCuba, Russia, and Venezuela — remindingus that the bad guys in the world both pre-dated and transcended George Bush,something the Obama administration stillhasn’t grasped.

Charbel: Lebanon will stay out of Syria’s affairs

(Google News Aug 20, 2011)BEIRUT: Interior Minister MarwanCharbel said Friday Lebanonwould refrain from interfering inSyria’s internal affairs irrespec-tive of developments on theground.During a meeting with the U.S.Embassy Charge d’Affaires Can-dace Putnam, Charbel and hisguest discussed the situation ofSyrian refugees in Lebanon andthe fate of several Syrian opposi-tion figures who have gone miss-ing in Lebanon in recent months.Charbel stressed that Syrian

refugees have been treated inline with applicable laws and in-ternational human rights char-ters.Charbel said that his govern-ment’s policy was aimed at avoid-ing the negative repercussions ofongoing developments in Syriawhile refraining from interveningin Syria’s internal affairs.He also underlined that securityforces were instructed to protectdemonstrators and guaranteefreedom of speech as efforts touncover the fate of missing oppo-sition figures continue.

Jordanians demonstrate in support of Syrianprotesters

(Google News Aug 19, 2011)Amman - Hundreds of Jordani-ans demonstrated on Friday inthe city of Mafraq, 60 kilometreseast of Amman, to express sup-port for Syrian pro-democracyprotesters.The rally was organized by aJordanian gathering formed re-cently to back the Syrian peopleand the Muslim Brotherhoodmovement, witnesses said.Participants chanted slogansand raised placards condemn-ing 'massacres of civilians' in

neighbouring Syria by theregime of President Bashar al-Assad.Former Muslim Brotherhoodmovement leader Salem Falahatlashed out at Arab governmentsfor their 'shameful silence' overwhat is going in Syria.He urged a pan-Arab standagainst the Syrian regime.Speakers during the rallywarned against any foreign in-tervention in Syria in support ofthe Assad regime, in a veiledreference to Iran.