position:secretary general

Boutros-Ghali, more than an Ali G punchline
▻http://africasacountry.com/2016/02/boutros-ghali-more-than-an-ali-g-punchline

How to mark the passing of #Boutros_Boutros-Ghali, former #UN Secretary General and a major figure of late 20th Century global affairs? Perhaps by appraising the lessons to be learned from his life and work. The world in 2016 presents a set of problems distinct from those faced by Boutros-Ghali as the Cold War fizzled […]

#FRONT_PAGE #Bill_Clinton #International_Affairs #Kofi_Annan #Madeleine_Albright #Politics #Rwandan_Genocide

A New Direction for Lebanon’s Muslim Brothers - Syria in Crisis - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
▻http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=62740
A New Direction for Lebanon’s Muslim Brothers
Posted by: RAPHAËL LEFÈVRE
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2016
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The Muslim Brotherhood has never played as large a role in the political life of Lebanon as it has in other Arab countries such as Egypt and Syria, but the January 2016 election of Azzam Ayyoubi as Secretary General of the Brotherhood’s Lebanon branch, the Jamaa al-Islamiya, has provoked speculation that the move could refresh the group’s image and bolster its influence in the local Sunni Muslim community. A 48-year-old Tripoli school inspector and head of the group’s political bureau until recently, Ayyoubi is viewed as a pragmatic yet principled Islamist leader who can shore up the group’s popularity.

Created in 1964 by Islamic activists from Tripoli, the Jamaa al-Islamiya has since then spread, to varying degrees, to all of Lebanon’s regions. It spearheads a vast network of medical facilities and schools distributed across the country. The group is also active in the Sunni religious sphere. Its influence in mosques and institutions such as Dar al-Fatwa have turned it into the most powerful Sunni Islamist actor.

Yet, for all its successes, the Jamaa al-Islamiya remains on the fringes of Lebanese politics. The group has only one member in parliament, a stark contrast to the 26 MPs boasted by the Future Movement, the party of former prime minister Saad al-Hariri that is its main Sunni rival. It is a junior partner in the March 14 coalition, a cross-sectarian gathering of parties opposed to the Syrian regime. Even in Tripoli, a traditional bastion of support for the group, it has struggled to retain its political relevance.

While there are many reasons for this state of affairs, a key element has been the lack of a bold leadership at its helm willing to clarify the group’s political positions on a range of issues, a symptom of the Islamist old guard’s grasp on the reins of leadership. Before aiming to expand the reach of his organization, Azzam Ayyoubi will thus face the uphill task of reforming the Jamaa al-Islamiya and injecting new blood into its veins.

OVERCOMING INTERNAL TENSIONS

In itself, the election of Azzam Ayyoubi is a manifestation of the intense degree of frustration felt by the younger generation of activists towards an old guard that has held power since the 1960s. Indeed, the main line of fracture which emerged during the contest between candidates vying for the top post was neither ideological nor regional, but generational. It pitted Azzam Ayyoubi, who had the support of a majority of the youth, against Ghassan Hoblos, also a Tripolitan but one from the generation of the group’s founding fathers. Ayyoubi’s electoral victory was preceded by elections to the Majlis al-Shura, the group’s main internal decision making body, which yielded a major rise in young members in the Majlis.

Generational tensions are not merely a product of younger members’ thirst for positions and responsibilities but also a result of clashing visions over the identity of the Jamaa al-Islamiya. While successive leaders such as Fathi Yakan, Faysal Mawlawi, and Ibrahim al-Masri have all prioritized organizational survival through tight hierarchy and discreet political manoeuvring, the youth have by contrast encouraged greater openness and more assertive political stances. Reportedly, members in their thirties and forties have been the driving force behind the entry of six women into the group’s Majlis al-Shura who will now, for the first time, have voting rights equal to the men. They have also pushed for greater coordination with other Sunni Islamist forces and with non-Muslims.

Nato orders fleet to deploy in Aegean Sea ’to help end Europe’s refugee crisis’ | Europe | News | The Independent

Là, ce qui est impressionnant, c’est le titre : on comprend qu’ils veulent en finir avec la fameuse « crise des réfugiés » avec les trucs sur la photo, et du coup, on se dit : enfin, une vraie solution.

▻http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/nato-orders-fleet-to-deploy-in-aegean-sea-to-help-end-europes-refugee

http://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2016/02/11/12/nato-fleet.jpg

The Nato fleet is being deployed to the Aegean Sea immediately in a bid to end the flow of refugees crossing the sea into Europe from Turkey.

#réfugiés #syrie #asile #crise_politique_européenne

Selfishness on refugees has brought EU ‘to its knees’
▻https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/selfishness-on-refugees-has-brought-eu-to-its-knees-1.2477702

http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2477701.1451213444!/image/image.jpg

The “ruinously selfish” behaviour of some member states towards refugees has brought the European Union to its knees, former attorney general Peter Sutherland has said.

In a sharp denunciation of Europe’s failures on migration and social integration, Mr Sutherland, who is special representative to the United Nations secretary general for migration, said political “paralysis and ambivalence” was threatening the future of the EU and resulting in the rise of xenophobic and racist parties.

With a population of 508 million, the EU should have had no insuperable problem welcoming even a million refugees “had the political leadership of the member states wanted to do so and had the effort been properly organised,” Mr Sutherland said. “But instead, ruinously selfish behaviour by some member states has brought the EU to its knees.”

Extreme winter conditions threaten Mongolian herders - IFRC
▻http://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/news-stories/asia-pacific/mongolia/extreme-winter-conditions--threaten-mongolian-herders--69694

Hundreds of thousands of nomadic herder families who live on the vast grasslands of Mongolia are under threat with the onset of severe winter weather, or what is called ‘Dzud’ in Mongolian language. Dzud is heralded by a dry summer resulting in a poor harvest of hay for winter feed. In many places temperatures have dropped below -30C and pasture land is being covered with up to 45 cm of snow. In the worst affected areas half-starving herds of livestock are already struggling to cope with the cold weather.

“The Red Cross is deeply concerned about the situation, and we are now preparing for the possibility that we may need to launch a large emergency operation,” said Ms. Nordov Bolormaa, Secretary General of the Mongolian Red Cross Society after a long contingency planning meeting with her disaster management staff.

The Mongolian National State Emergency Committee has warned that over the coming weeks there is strong likelihood of a ‘Dzud’ disaster similar to that witnessed in the winter of 2009 – 2010 when snowstorms and extreme cold killed millions of animals, depriving poor herder families in the worst affected areas of their only source of income. Tens of thousands of households lost all or more than half of their animals and many were forced to move to slum areas on the outskirts of Ulaan Baatar and other urban centres. Large scale migration to the cities exacerbates social problems such as unemployment, alcoholism and extreme poverty.

At the end of November the Mongolian Information and Research Institute of Meteorology and Environment forecast that extreme winter conditions will affect 40% of the country in the coming weeks. In the period from mid-December to mid-January temperatures are expected to remain far below what is normal for this season and snowfall is likely to be much more than in an average winter.

Photo du #dzud blanc de 2012…

http://resource.news.mn/news/photo/2012/12/e7384f8f8f5c0a08/748f4454adab635dbig.jpg

More deaths at sea likely as winter looms - nrc.no

▻http://www.nrc.no/?did=9210240

Signalé par l’irremplaçable @isskein

Friday six children drowned off the Turkish coast. The Norwegian Refugee Council fears that more children will die in the Mediterranean in the coming months as the sea gets rougher and refugees and migrants continue to come.
“The EU and its Member States must prioritise the saving of lives at sea as the weather gets worse and people continue to cross the sea from Turkey to Greece,” said Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council Jan Egeland. “Today’s tragic accidents outside Turkey’s coast highlight the need for more and better rescue capacity between Turkey and Greece, and for alternative safe and legal routes to Europe”.

At least six children drowned when two boats sank off the Turkish coast Friday, according to Turkish media.

Why did it take Turkey just 17 seconds to shoot down Russian jet?
▻http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/26/russia-turkey-jet-mark-galeotti

In 2012, the Syrians shot down a Turkish jet which had entered its airspace, and Erdogan’s furious response at the time was that “a short-term border violation can never be a pretext for an attack”.

(At the time, Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen called it “another example of the Syrian authorities’ disregard for international norms”. There hasn’t been a similar critique of Ankara.)

#pour_mémoire #amnésie

European diplomat claims world will condemn Ukraine if it does not investigate murders on Maidan, in Odesa
▻http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine-abroad/european-diplomat-claims-world-will-condemn-ukraine-if-it-does-not-investi

Ukraine will face international condemnation if Kyiv ignores the remarks of the Council of Europe experts concerning the investigation into the events on Maidan, the tragedy in Odesa in 2014, Director of Human Rights, Special Advisor to the Council of Europe’s Secretary General for Ukraine Christos Giakoumopoulos has stated.

(brève)

The International Advisory Panel says Ukraine’s investigations into May 2014 violence in Odesa are inefficient
▻http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/the-international-advisory-panel-says-ukraines-investigations-into-may-201

The International Advisory Panel overseeing the investigations into the tragic events in Odesa on May 2, 2014 has said that the investigations being carried out by the Ukrainian authorities have so far been insufficient.

Pour ne pas changer, hélas !

Is War About to Break Out in the Balkans?
After 20 years of peace, Republika Srpska threatens to tear apart the agreement that has held Bosnia together. The West must stop it.
▻http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/10/26/war-break-out-balkans-bosnia-republika-srpska-dayton

Lost in the cacophony of international news about Russian airstrikes against U.S.-backed anti-Assad rebels in Syria and refugees flooding through the Balkans on their way to Western Europe, a crisis is brewing in Bosnia-Herzegovina on the European Union’s southeast flank. And here, too, Moscow has a hand in the mischief-making.
Nov. 21 marks the 20th anniversary of the Dayton peace agreement, which ended three-and-a-half years of brutal war between Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks. In Dayton, Ohio, U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke achieved a major diplomatic victory that ended the conflict and established the foundations of a viable state. The Dayton agreement also created an internationally backed overseer called the high representative to implement the peace accords. To this day, Bosnia is a rare success story in post-conflict state-building. The anniversary should be a time for celebration.
Unfortunately, it may not turn out that way. The Dayton agreement created two highly autonomous entities inside Bosnia: the Bosniak-Croat majority federation and the Serb majority Republika Srpska. Milorad Dodik, president of Republika Srpska, plans to rain on the Dayton anniversary parade by openly violating the agreement on Nov. 15 in a move that many see as a thinly veiled independence referendum.
The scheduled plebiscite has only one question: “Do you support the unconstitutional and unauthorized imposition of laws by the High Representative of the International Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly the imposed laws on the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of [Bosnia-Herzegovina] and the implementation of their decisions on the territory of Republika Srpska?” Such a biased and leading question offers only one right answer. The referendum will give Dodik political and legal cover to order Republika Srpska institutions — from government administrators to tax collectors — to stop obeying state court orders, verdicts, and rulings, and to obstruct the work of the prosecutor’s office. This would undo 20 years of progress and commence the destruction of Bosnia’s legal order. While the referendum only addresses the judiciary, its destructive intentions make it a de facto declaration of independence. Lest anyone doubt Dodik’s intentions, in April he announced that Republika Srpska will hold an independence referendum in 2018.

Le rapport du 4/09/15 du Haut Représentant du Secrétaire Général de l’ONU.

Special Report of the High Representative to the Secretary General of the UN on the Implementation of the GFAP in BiH
▻http://www.ohr.int/other-doc/hr-reports/default.asp?content_id=49202

Conclusion

27. Under the authorities vested in me under Annex 10 of the GFAP and relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, I hereby inform the UN Security Council of the following:

No referendum can be conducted by an entity in a matter that does not fall within its constitutional competencies.
Matters of state judicial institutions fall within the constitutional responsibilities of the state and do not fall under the entity’s constitutional responsibilities.
The status and powers of the High Representative are matters arising under the GFAP and international law, and therefore do not fall within the purview of the entities.
The entities cannot adopt legal acts on these matters, by referendum or otherwise.
The adoption by the entity of an act calling for a referendum of its citizens or the result of such a referendum that prevents the said entity from performing its obligations under Annex 4 and Annex 10 of the GFAP constitutes a material breach of Annex 4 and Annex 10 of the GFAP.
28. The attempts by the RS authorities to undermine existing state level institutions and constitutional responsibilities, to undo measures deemed necessary for implementing the GFAP, as well as to challenge the High Representative, his authority under Annex 10 and decisions of the High Representative(s) undertaken on the basis of the GFAP and UN Security Council Resolutions adopted under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter could have a serious effect on the durability of the implementation of the civilian aspects of the peace settlement.

29. The measures taken in implementing the GFAP over the last 20 years in BiH must not be called into question, and the UN Security Council and the broader international community must focus their efforts on sustaining what has been achieved over this period. If the current course of action initiated by the RS authorities remains unchecked, there will be increased risk that BiH will slide further towards disintegration, which could have significant international peace and security implications.

OSCE secretary general calls situation in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict explosive
▻http://www.kyivpost.com/content/world/osce-secretary-general-calls-situation-in-nagorno-karabakh-conflict-explos

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier believes the current situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict poses a threat to the entire oblast.

Al Wefaq leader’s trial put off to October 14 | GulfNews.com
▻http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/bahrain/al-wefaq-leader-s-trial-put-off-to-october-14-1.1584576

Bahrain’s Court of Appeals yesterday postponed the trial of Ali Salman, the secretary general of Al Wefaq society, to October 14.

The appeal was against the four-year jail sentence pronounced by the Higher Criminal Court in June.

Advocate General Haroon Al Zayani said the appeal hearing began yesterday following “a conviction of inciting non-compliance with the law, publicly inciting hatred — an act which had disturbed public peace — and insulting a statutory body.”

Al Wefaq leader’s trial put off to October 14
Public Prosecution wants reversal of lower court’s acquittal verdict
Published: 18:15 September 15, 2015 Gulf News
By Habib Toumi,Bureau Chief
SHARERssShare on facebookShare on twitterAdd on google plusSend Email to FriendAddthis
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Manama: Bahrain’s Court of Appeals yesterday postponed the trial of Ali Salman, the secretary general of Al Wefaq society, to October 14.

The appeal was against the four-year jail sentence pronounced by the Higher Criminal Court in June.

Advocate General Haroon Al Zayani said the appeal hearing began yesterday following “a conviction of inciting non-compliance with the law, publicly inciting hatred — an act which had disturbed public peace — and insulting a statutory body.”

Ali Salman, 49, was convicted of the charges following investigations into recordings of public speeches and sermons that promoted extremist views, incited violence and encouraged the use of force against the kingdom’s authorities, referring to such acts as a religious duty, he added.

“In line with Bahrain’s Penal Code, these acts constitute a clear contravention of the law,” he said. “In accordance with the law, the defendant was subsequently questioned on the content of these recordings in the presence of four lawyers. Evidence submitted to the courts included examples of repeatedly making public threats about the possibility of carrying out military-style ...[operations] in the kingdom, in a similar manner to other factions and groups in the region, and the possibility of resorting to this option at any time. Additional evidence included instances wherein the defendant called upon global powers to intervene in the kingdom’s internal affairs and support the overthrow of the government, on the grounds that it would serve their interests. Other evidence included statements made by the defendant that called for the reinstatement of the disbanded Islamic Council of Scholars, as well as incitement against naturalised Bahraini citizens, accusing them of disloyalty and terrorist acts.”

European Parliament Expresses Support for Labeling Settlement Goods
This is first time the European Parliament expresses support for differentiating between Israel and settlements; Netanyahu says motion is unjustified and harms peace.

Barak Ravid Sep 10, 2015 Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.675568

The European Parliament expressed its support Thursday for putting special labels on consumer goods produced in West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights settlements, as well as for “differentiating” between the EU’s attitude toward Israel and to the settlements. Five hundred and twenty-five EU parliamentarians voted for the motion, which dealt with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, 70 voted against and 31 abstained.
The motion stated that the European Parliament: “Welcomes the EU’s commitment – in the spirit of differentiation between Israel and its activities in the occupied Palestinian Territory – to ensuring that all agreements between the EU and Israel must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, takes note of the letter sent to the VP/HR by 16 EU Foreign Ministers on 13 April 2015, encouraging her to take the lead within the Commission with a view to completing the work on EU-wide guidelines on the labelling of Israeli settlement produce.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the expression of support. “The European Parliament decision is unjustified, it is just a perversion of justice and a distortion of reason, and I think that it also harms peace, it doesn’t advance it,” he said. “The roots of the conflict are not territories and the roots of the conflict are not the settlements. We already have a historical memory as to what happened when Europe marked products of Jews.” 
The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem responded angrily to the motion, especially the parts dealing with the settlements. The reason, according to senior officials in the ministry, is that this is the first time the EU supported a “differentiation” between Israel and the settlements and mentions the need to label products from the settlements. “The problem with this clause is the erosion and the change in the rhetoric in Europe with regard to the settlements,” a senior Foreign Ministry official said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said that the EU motion was “discriminatory with a sharp smell of boycott,” and added that “under the guise of a technical step, this is an attempt to force a diplomatic solution instead of encouraging the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table. Europe is acting with hypocritical sanctimoniousness toward Israel when it does not consider proposing similar solutions to northern Cyprus or Western Sahara.”
The EU decision comes at a time in which discussions in the European Commission – the EU’s executive body – on the matter of labeling products from West Bank settlements are in the home stretch. The EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said herself at a press conference on Saturday that work on this matter was very close to completion.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) with U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron in London.AP
A senior Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem said that various European diplomats have conveyed messages to Israel over the past few weeks that the publication of directives for marking products from settlements would be renewed in October. The EU decision is expected to give significant political backing to Mogherini on labeling the products and increase pressure by the 16 countries who believe the matter should be advanced.
Earlier this week the secretary general of the European External Action Service, Helga Schmid, visited Jerusalem and discussed the labeling directives with her Israeli counterparts. A senior official in the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem said discussion turned into a pointed argument.
Foreign Ministry officials said that the labeling directives are the first step on a slippery slope that could lead to a boycott of products from the settlements and on all Israeli products in general. The European representatives said that these were not sanctions or a boycott on Israel but only a technical step to apply EU legislation with regard to consumer protection.
“When we told then this was a boycott they blew up and really lost their minds,” a senior Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem said. “We told them that labeling products from the settlements is like a door, that once opened, cannot be closed. We made clear to them that we did not see this as a technical step, but as a political step against Israel in every sense.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior Foreign Ministry officials are making major efforts to delay the publication of the directives. Netanyahu raised the subject in meetings with EU President Donald Tusk, with the Lithuanian prime minister and with the prime minister of Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn, who visited Jerusalem over the past week.
The issue also came up in a meeting between Netanyahu and British Prime Minister David Cameron Thursday in London. At the beginning of the meeting Netanyahu reiterated the message that he stated frequently in recent weeks as part of his attempts to block moves against the settlements. “I want to say here in 10 Downing Street, and reaffirm again that I am ready to resume direct negotiations with the Palestinians with no conditions whatsoever to enter negotiations, and I’m willing to do so immediately," Netanyahu said.
Mattia Toaldo, a Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told Haaretz that “this is the first time in my memory that one of the 3 top EU institutions uses the word ’differentiation’ for this policy. This clarifies the distinction with boycotts and makes it more acceptable for a number of European governments. On the one hand, this is gradually becoming an automatic policy that is implemented to bring bureaucracy in line with EU laws and international law. On the other hand, some politicians still see it as an alternative to the peace process, and this could block it in the future given that Mogherini now has the imperative to restart talks.”

Barak Ravid
Haaretz Correspondent

NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative says creation of NATO training center in Georgia does not pose threat to Russia
▻http://www.kyivpost.com/content/russia-and-former-soviet-union/nato-secretary-generals-special-representative-says-creation-of-nato-train

The opening of a NATO training center in Georgia is not aimed against Russia, James Appathurai, NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, said in an interview with Georgia’s Channel 1 television.

(intégralité de la brève)

Vaziani à moins de 10 km au sud-ouest de l’aéroport de Tbilissi.

Et puisque ce n’est pas dirigé contre la Russie, ce ne peut être que contre l’Iran, alors. Bon, on peut aussi imaginer une alternative à Incirlik, au cas où la Turquie évolue bizarrement, mais cela supposerait l’acceptation des survols par l’Iran.

NATO Picks Site For Military Training Center In Georgia | EurasiaNet.org
▻http://www.eurasianet.org/node/72526

Vaziani is a former Soviet base that remained in the hands of the Russian military until 2001. Russia bombed it during the 2008 war with Georgia over the breakaway territory of South Ossetia.

▻https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaziani_Military_Base

Al-Akhbar says Nasrallah speech tomorrow will fiercely back Aoun:
▻https://mideastwire.wordpress.com/2015/08/13/al-akhbar-says-nasrallah-speech-tomorrow-will-fiercely-back-a

On August 13, the Al-Akhbar daily newspaper carried the following report by Nicolas Nassif: “…In the speech that he will be making tomorrow, Friday, on the occasion of the victory in the July 2006 war, the Hezbollah Secretary General, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, is expected to be addressing [former] President Michel Aoun in an unprecedented manner and tone so that all the others may hear him very well. He will probably go further than the former instances when he clang to the alliance between the two men and between Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic movement. He will go further than the phrases “We will cut the hand that touches the movement,” “we will not allow for singling the movement out,” and “we are both one” to saying the phrase: “Aoun is our partner in victory.”

“In essence, all what he [i.e. Nasrallah] will be saying tomorrow will serve to refute all that has been recently said on Hezbollah having turned its back to its Christian ally in the confrontation that the latter have been engaged into concerning the military and security appointments, mainly the appointment of a new army commander. Of course, the Party has repeatedly voiced out its approach concerning the issue of stability and how it is clinging to it when it said that there will be no resignation from the Tammam Salam cabinet, there will be no boycotting and no taking to the street.

“This statement was interpreted as indicating a clear difference between the two allies, a difference that caused Aoun to stand alone in the battle of the military and security appointments thus losing the confrontation and allowing his adversaries to impose the postponement of the officers’ lay off. However, Nasrallah is expected to make an announcement tomorrow where he tells Aoun that their projects are common, that targeting one of them implies that they both are being targeted, and that their response will be a joint one…”

UN paid millions to Russian aviation firm since learning of sex attack on girl | World news | The Guardian
▻http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/30/united-nations-utair-congo-sexual-attack

The United Nations has spent half a billion dollars on contracts with a Russian aviation company since discovering one of its helicopter crews in the Democratic Republic of the Congo drugged and raped a teenage girl in a sexual attack.

Senior UN officials considered terminating the company UTair’s contract after concluding that the incident, in which the girl was dumped naked and unconscious inside the helicopter base, was indicative of a wider culture of sexual exploitation at the company.

Internal UN documents, marked “strictly confidential” and leaked to the Guardian, reveal how the UN’s internal complaints unit uncovered evidence the woman was abused with lit cigarettes and photographed lying on the ground. The UN concluded the shocking attack in 2010 was perpetrated by the manager in charge of UTair’s base in Kalemie, eastern DRC.

The main investigative report, from March 2011, warned of a possible “culture of sexual exploitation and abuse” at UTair. Copies of that report were circulated among top officials at the UN, including, in New York, the office of the secretary general, Ban Ki-moon.

#tolérance_zéro #violences_sexuelles #onu

Haitian groups sign cholera letter, head of U.N. campaign ends tenure | Miami Herald Miami Herald
▻http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article26860678.html

More than 150 Haitian-American organizations and prominent personalities including Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat and Illinois State Senator Kwame Raoul have signed a letter urging U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Secretary of State John Kerry to clear the path for justice for #Haiti’s #cholera victims. (...) In 2014, for example, Haiti had 28,000 new cases of cholera. In previous year, the numbers were well over 60,000 cases and at its debut, 100,000 cases.

#nations_unies #justice #santé

NATO Members’ Defense Spending, in Two Charts - Defense One
▻http://www.defenseone.com/politics/2015/06/nato-members-defense-spending-two-charts/116008

Five NATO members are expected to meet the alliance’s 2 percent target for defense spending in 2015, according to data released on Monday.

[...]

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg commended the change, but warned that total alliance spending will decline by roughly 1.5 percent this year.

Of the 28 countries, 18 are increasing their military spending in real terms, the data indicates. Still, alliance members will spend a collective total $892 billion on defense in 2015, down from $942 billion in 2014 and $968 billion in 2013.

https://admin.govexec.com/media/gbc/docs/pdfs_edit/natopercgdp.png https://admin.govexec.com/media/gbc/docs/pdfs_edit/deltadefensespending.png

Palestinian Authority to disband cabinet, form new unity government: Report
▻http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestinian-authority-disband-cabinet-form-new-unity-government-repor

“The government will resign in the next 24 hours because this one is weak and there is no chance that Hamas will allow it to work in Gaza,” said secretary general Amin Maqbul.

But Ihab Bseiso, spokesman for the consensus government, told AFP he was unaware of the matter.

“We had a meeting today and we didn’t discuss this issue,” he said.

According to the Palestinian news agency Ma’an, the new government will take “several days” to form.

The decision comes as efforts to reform the existing West Bank-Gaza unity government have proven largely futile.
– See more at: ▻http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestinian-authority-disband-cabinet-form-new-unity-government-repor

Strategic talks between Israel, France deteriorate into serious dispute - Strategic consultations between the countries last week end in discord over French initiative for UN resolution on talks with Palestinians.
By Barak Ravid | May 14, 2015 Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.656362

Strategic consultations between Israel and France last week deteriorated into an argument over French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius’ initiative to advance a resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian issue in the United Nations Security Council, with Israel arguing that Paris was operating behind Israel’s back.

The strategic dialogue meetings take place annually and are attended by Foreign Ministry officials of both countries. Israel’s delegation was led by Foreign Ministry Director General Nissim Ben-Sheetrit, while French Foreign Ministry Secretary General Christian Masset led his country’s large delegation to Jerusalem.

The objective is to consult on diplomatic and security issues, but it is also meant to symbolize the close coordination between the two countries. Israeli diplomats say that this is a forum in which the two sides generally stress what they have in common, and that even if there are disagreements, confrontations and arguments are generally avoided.

The meeting that took place last week at Foreign Ministry headquarters was therefore quite exceptional. From the first moments it became clear to participants that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to smooth over the disagreements between the two sides, particularly with regard to the Palestinian issue. Both Israeli and French diplomats said that the harsh exchanges were evidence of the depth of the tension between the two countries, and that the frustration building on both sides over the past few months erupted in full force.

What specifically led to the blowup is Fabius’ attempt to revive a UN Security Council resolution on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The French tried to advance such a resolution a few months ago, but it failed when the Palestinians rejected Paris’ draft.

The resolution is expected to call for basing the borders of the Palestinian state along the 1967 lines with territorial exchanges, making Jerusalem the capital of both states, some formulation that recognizes Israel as a Jewish state, setting a timetable for finishing negotiations and the convening of an international peace conference.

Fabius recently agreed to an American request to put off advancing the resolution until a nuclear agreement is reached with Iran, which is supposed to take place by June 30, but he is determined to bring the resolution to a Security Council vote by no later than the end of September, when the UN General Assembly meets in New York.

Israeli diplomats said that in recent weeks the Foreign Ministry had received information indicating that the French had started discussing the wording of a draft resolution in both Paris and New York with the Palestinians, the Arab states and several members of the Security Council. By contrast, the French had not held similar consultations with Israel and never gave Israel a draft of the resolution or at least an outline of its main points.

Ben-Sheetrit protested this behavior at last week’s meeting, according to two Israeli diplomats familiar with the details of the discussions. “You are speaking with the whole world about your initiative, just not with us,” the diplomats quoted him as saying. “You seem to have forgotten that we are also a party to this and that you ought to involve us, too.”

The Israeli diplomats said that the French delegates became defensive and denied having presented a draft or detailed principles to the Palestinians or the Arab states. “They said that things were at a preliminary stage and that when there was something drawn up, they’d show it to us,” one of the diplomats said. “They said the whole process in the Security Council was for our benefit and that they are trying to arrive at a formula that will be acceptable to both sides and would allow the resumption of the peace process.”

The Israelis, however, refused to be convinced, and the discussion became increasingly confrontational and deteriorated into mutual recriminations. “At a certain point the strategic dialogue became a dialogue of the deaf,” an Israeli diplomat said.

Both Israeli and French diplomats agreed that the discordant tones and great tension during the discussion represent the current state of relations between Israel and France. The stalemate in the peace process, the feeling in Europe that Israel plans to continue expanding the settlements, and the increasing number of international initiatives at the UN and elsewhere are overshadowing broad agreement on larger issues like the Iranian nukes, Syria and Hezbollah.

“We’re at a difficult moment in this relationship,” a French diplomat said. “On the Palestinian issue there is a real lack of agreement. There is increasing frustration in Europe, and that’s what we tried to explain.”

Greece: The Noose Tightens | Jacobin
▻https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/04/syriza-eurozone-default-exit-stathis

With the Communist Party still firmly holding to sectarian opposition, and its secretary general declaring that it would refuse any support to the government even in the case of a break with the eurozone, and the far-left Antarsya repeating that the government has already surrendered, it is the responsibility of Syriza’s left to propose the only sensible approach that could avoid failure: holding firm on the line of confrontation with the EU and prepare the popular movement and Greek society more broadly to embark on a radically different trajectory, both at the domestic and at the international level.

The stakes could not be higher.

#Grèce

Stoltenberg says Russian propaganda must be answered with truth
▻http://www.kyivpost.com/content/russia-and-former-soviet-union/stoltenberg-says-russian-propaganda-must-be-answered-with-truth-384872.htm

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg believes it is unwise to counter Russian propaganda with propaganda.

Une brève (tout est là) à encadrer tellement c’est #beau !

le futur pétrolier du Liban : tout le monde y croit
(en gras et italique, quelques informations incidentes mais significatives)
Lebanon : Deadlock blocking offshore tender but not business
▻http://www.mesp.me/2015/03/30/lebanon-political-deadlock-blocking-offshore-tender-but-not-business-prospecting/#more-5080

While the political deadlock continues to present the greatest obstacle to Lebanon’s oil and gas sector, with no tangible progress on the missing legislation required to proceed with the first licensing round, Lebanese officials, and the private sector, seem unaffected and continue to prospect for potential partners. A special attention is given to the Lebanese diaspora – large and influential in a number of resource-rich countries – and to identifying businesses ran by people with a Lebanese background, or employing Lebanese in top positions.[...]
On the private sector front, and during his visit to Lebanon, the Secretary General of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Michele Valensise visited the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture on March 10, accompanied by the Italian Ambassador, Giuseppe Morabito. Were present at the business meeting: the Minister of Economy, Alain Hakim, the Minister of State for Administrative Reform Nabil de Freige, the head of the CCIA, Mohammad Choucair, the president of Businessmed, the organization gathering sub-Mediterranean business Associations Jacques Sarraf, the CEO of Future Pipe Industries Fouad Makhzoumi etc. Choucair, the host, outlined three focus areas for cooperation between Lebanese and Italian businesses:
1) developing Lebanese infrastructure;
2) exploitation of oil and gas resources and
3) post-war reconstruction in Syria.
Note that Choucair, a businessman close to former PM Saad Hariri, is himself involved in establishing Apex Gas Limited, a Lebanese company with no previous petroleum activity registered in Hong Kong, aspiring to participate in the first licensing round.

#énergie
#pétrole
#gaz
#Liban

Diplomatic Activity Portends “Coup” in Saudi Foreign Relations
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/diplomatic-activity-portends-coup%E2%80%9D-saudi-foreign-relation

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/1136099.jpg

Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Abdullatif al-Zayani attends an extraordinary GCC meeting of foreign ministers, on February 14, 2015, in the Saudi capital #Riyadh. AFP/Fayez Nureldine Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Abdullatif al-Zayani attends an extraordinary GCC meeting of foreign ministers, on February 14, 2015, in the Saudi capital Riyadh. AFP/Fayez Nureldine

Riyadh has seen a flurry of diplomatic activity from the Gulf in the past few days amid talk of changes in Saudi foreign policy under #King_Salman_bin_Abdulaziz. The new policy would be geared toward establishing a Sunni alliance against Iran and mending fences with #turkey, #Qatar, and the #Muslim_Brotherhood. After (...)

#Mideast_&_North_Africa #Ankara #Ansarullah #Articles #Egypt #Kuwait #Mohammed_bin_Nayef #Sabah_al-Ahmed_al-Jaber_al-Sabah #Saudi_Arabia #syria #Yemen

Crimean clubs expelled from Russian League
▻http://www.brecorder.com/sports/other-sports/219294-crimean-clubs-expelled-from-russian-league.html

Russia’s Football Union on Friday expelled three Crimean clubs from the country’s league’s third division in adherence to a ruling from European football’s governing body UEFA.
(…)
Last month the three Crimean clubs were banned by UEFA from taking part in Russian competitions starting from January 1.
“The Russian football federation cannot organise matches in Crimea without the agreement of UEFA and Ukraine,” UEFA secretary general Gianni Infantino announced in December.
“Following the decision of UEFA’s emergency panel, the executive committee decided to ban Crimean clubs from taking part in competitions organised by the Russian federation starting from January 1, 2015,” Infantino added.
“Until a new order, Crimea will be considered as a special zone.”
The RFU quickly accepted they would obey UEFA’s ruling.
RFU deputy chief Nikita Simonyan said: “We cannot ignore UEFA and FIFA decisions. We must comply with UEFA’s decision as it’s European football’s governing body.”
Russia’s sports minister Vitaly Mutko said that UEFA suggested the creation of a separate league in Crimea, which will subordinate directly to the European football ruling body.
“UEFA suggests to create an independent structure that will unite the football federations of Crimea and Sevastopol,” Mutko said.
“Probably we will set up the Crimean football league that will be subordinated to UEFA directly.”

Grande victoire occidentale : la Crimée n’est plus en Russie ! En tous cas pour le foot…