Worldwide events; zarb e jamhoor newspaper; 134 issue; 28 jul 03 aug, 2013

Independence Day Peru - Jul 28

Peru, officially the Republic of Peru is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.

Peruvian territory was home to ancient cultures, spanning from the Norte Chico civilization, one of the oldest in the world, to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and established a Viceroyalty, which included most of its South American colonies. Afterachieving independence in 1821, Peru has undergone periods of political unrest and fiscal crisis as well as periods of stability and economic upswing.

Peru is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions. Its geography varies from the arid plains of the Pacific coast to the peaks of the Andes Mountains and the tropical forests of the Amazon Basin. It is a developing country with a high Human Development Index score and a poverty level around 31%. Its main economic activities include agriculture, fishing, mining, and manufacturing of products such as textiles.

The Peruvian population, estimated at 29.5 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians,Europeans, Africans, and Asians. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak Quechua or other native languages. This mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music.

History The earliest evidences of human presence in Peruvian territory have been dated to approximately 9,000 years BCE.

The oldest known complex society in Peru, the Norte Chico civilization, flourished along the coast of the Pacific Ocean between 3,000 and 1,800 BCE. These early developments were followed by archaeological cultures such as Cupisnique, Chavin, Paracas, Mochica, Nazca, Wari, and Chimú. In the 15th century, the Incas emerged as a powerful state which, in the span of a century, formed the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. Andean societies were based on agriculture, using techniques such as irrigation and terracing; camelid husbandry and fishing were also important. Organization relied on reciprocity and redistribution because these societies had no notion of market or money.

In 1532, a group of conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro defeated and captured Inca Emperor Atahualpa. Ten years later, the Spanish Crown established the Viceroyalty of Peru, which included most of its South American colonies. Viceroy Francisco de Toledo reorganized the country in the 1570s with silver mining as its main economic activity and Amerindian forced labor as its primary workforce. Peruvian bullion provided revenue for the Spanish Crown and fueled a complex trade network that extended as far as Europe and the Philippines. However, by the 18th century, declining silver production and economic diversification greatly diminished royal income. In response, the Crown enacted the Bourbon Reforms, a series of edicts that increased taxes and partitioned the Viceroyalty of Peru. The new laws provoked Túpac Amaru II's rebellion and other revolts, all of which were defeated.

In the early 19th century, while most of South America was swept by wars of independence, Peru remained a royalist stronghold. As the elite hesitated between emancipation and loyalty to the Spanish Monarchy, independence was achieved only after the occupation by military campaigns of José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar. During the early years of the Republic, endemic struggles for power between military leaders caused political instability. National identity was forged during this period, as Bolivarian projects for a Latin American Confederation floundered and a union with Bolivia proved ephemeral. Between the 1840s and 1860s, Peru enjoyed a period of stability under the presidency of Ramón Castilla through increased state revenues from guano exports. However, by the 1870s, these resources had been squandered, the country was heavily indebted, and political in-fighting was again on the rise.

Peru was defeated by Chile in the 1879–1883 War of the Pacific, losing the provinces ofArica and Tarapacá in the treaties of Ancón and Lima. Internal struggles after the war were followed by a period of stability under the Civilista Party, which lasted until the onset of the authoritarian regime of Augusto B. Leguía. The Great Depression caused the downfall of Leguía, renewed political turmoil, and the emergence of the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA). The rivalry between this organization and a coalition of the elite and the military defined Peruvian politics for the following three decades.

In 1968, the Armed Forces, led by General Juan Velasco Alvarado, staged a coup against president Fernando Belaunde. The new regime undertook radical reforms aimed at fostering development but failed to gain widespread support. In 1975, General Francisco Morales Bermúdez forcefully replaced Velasco, paralyzed reforms, and oversaw the reestablishment of democracy. During the 1980s, Peru faced a considerable external debt, ever-growing inflation, a surge in drug trafficking, and massive political violence. Under the presidency of Alberto Fujimori (1990–2000), the country started to recover; however, accusations of authoritarianism, corruption, and human rights violations forced his resignation after the controversial 2000 elections. Since the end of the Fujimori regime, Peru has tried to fight corruption while sustaining economic growth.

National Day Faroe Islands - Jul 29

Ólavsøka is a national holiday of the Faroe Islands, celebrated on July 29. It is the day when Løgting, the Faroese Parliament, opens its session.

The literal meaning is "Saint Olaf's Wake" (vigilia sancti Olavi in Latin), from Saint Olaf's death at the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 (see Olsok), but the Løgting predates this event. Like several other Faroese holidays, the vøka begins the evening before, so Ólavsøka always starts on July 28 with an opening ceremony. Ólavsøka is the day of the year when many Faroese crowd into the capital Tórshavn. There the national rowing competition finals are held, which is one of the highlights in Faroese sports. In addition, there are art exhibitions, folk music, and Faroese chaindance performances.

The salute for Ólavsøka in Faroese is Góða Ólavsøku! (Good St. Olaf's Wake!).

The stamps shown on the right were issued by Postverk Føroya on 18 May 1998, and the artwork was produced by Edward Fuglø.

The Ólavsøka concert on 27 July

Some of the festivities start some days before, depending on which day in the week Ólavsøka is. There is usually also an Ólavsøka concert in Tórshavn on 27 July in the evening. In 2010 the concert started at 20:00 and ended at around 3 in the morning, according to the schedule.

HUNGARY V4 countries initiate six-month review of Hezbollah-wing ban: Foreign Minister (Online 23 Jul) Visegrád countries have initiated a six-month review of European Union decision to ban Hezbollah's military wing, Hungarian M i n i s t e r o f F o r e i g n A ffairs János Martonyi sta te d o n Mo n d a y.

Several initiatives of the V4 countries of HunSlovakia, the g a r y, Czech Republic and Poland have been included in the political declarations adopted at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers o n M o n d a y, i n c l u d i n g a six-month review of the Hezbollah blacklisted organisation, the Ministe r sa i d .

The ban involves denied e n try to me mb e rs o f th e military organisation as well as a freezing of their bank accounts. At the same time EU foreign ministers said dialogue will be pursued

with every political party in Lebanon, including H e zb o l l a h .

Minister Martonyi said military Hezbollah's wing is easy to identify a n d i t w i l l b e b l a ckl i ste d as an organisation, not through its individual m e m b e r s . H o w e v e r, t h e V4 i s o f th e o p i n i o n th a t in the interest of stabili ty i n L e b a n o n , co o p e ra tion with authorities in Beirut must continue and financial and huma n i ta r i a n a i d to Syr i a n re fu g e e s fro m th e EU i s sti l l l e g a l .

As far as the Syrian civil war is concerned, the Minister Hungarian pointed out that common opinion of EU ministers is that the conflict can only be solved by p o l i ti ca l , a n d n o t b y mi l itary means. He found th e Syri a n si tu a ti o n d r a matic, and emphasized that the "deliberate de-

struction of children", namely the deployment of child soldiers can be a l re a d y o b se r ve d .

Eastern Partnership was also on the agenda of the EU foreign ministers Minister summit.

Martonyi said that Belarus − which was condemned in many ways b y th e EU − w i l l b e a l so i n vi te d to th e EU 's Ea stern Partnership Summit i n Vi l n i u s th i s a u tu m n .

He told journalists that representatives of the V4 countries held a m e e ti n g p r i o r to th e fo r e i g n m i n i ste r i a l o n e , fo r the first time under Hung a r y ' s V 4 p r e s i d e n c y, w h i ch sta r te d o n 1 Ju l y.

V4 countries strive to reach joint positions on major issues on the EU agenda, while also addressing national positi o n s, th e M i n i ste r sa i d .

People's Liberation Army Day China - Aug 01

The People's Liberation Army (PLA; simplified Chinese: 中国人民解放军; traditional Chinese: 中國人民 解放軍; pinyin: Zhōngguó Rénmín Jiěfàngjūn) is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The People's Liberation Army's insignia consists of a roundel with a red star bearing the Chinese characters for "Eight One", referring to August 1 (Chinese: 八一), the date of the 1927 Nanchang Uprising.

The PLA is the world's largest military force, with approximately 3 million members, and has the world's largest (active) standing army, with approximately 2.25 million members. The PLA comprises five main service branches, consisting of the PLA Ground Force, PLA Navy (PLAN), PLA Air Force (PLAAF), Second Artillery Corps (strategic missile force), and the PLA Reserve Force.

Military service is compulsory, in theory, for all men who attain the age of 18; women may register for duty in the medical, veterinary, and other technical services at ages as young as 14. However, a draft in China has never been enforced due to large numbers of volunteers from China's huge population. Demobilized servicemen are carried in a ready reserve, which is reinforced by a standby reserve of veterans and by the militia.

The PLA is formally under the command of the Central Military Commission of the CPC; there is also an identical commission in the government, but it has no clear independent functions. The Ministry of National Defense, which operates under the State Council, does not exercise any authority over the PLA and is far less powerful than the Central Military Commission (CMC). The ministry assures continuing CPC control over the armed forces, and its primary role is that of a liaison office with foreign militaries. The political and military leadership have made a concerted effort to create a professional military force restricted to national defense and to the provision of assistance in domestic economic construction and emergency relief. This conception of the role of the PLA requires the promotion of specialized officers who can understand modern weaponry and handle combined arms operations. Troops around the country are stationed in seven military regions and more than 20 military districts.

Chairman Hu Jintao has defined the missions of the PLA as: • Consolidate the ruling status of the Communist Party • Help ensure China's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and domestic security in order to continue national development • Safeguard China's expanding national interests

The Ólavsøka Eve Procession and Opening on History The People's Liberation Army was founded on 1 August 1927 durTinghúsvøllur on 28 July Normally the opening of Ólavsøka starts with a procession of sports people from Tórshavn, city council members, a ing the Nanchang Uprising when troops of the Kuomintang (KMT) brass band and people riding on horses. They walk in procession from the public school Kommunuskúlin down to the centre of town to Tinghúsvøllur on Vaglið, where people are waiting for the procession to arrive. The people who walk in procession then gather on the triangle-shaped Tinghúsvøllur in front of the parliament building (Løgtingshúsið og Tinghúsið), there will be a speech by someone who is appointed, and this person will officially open the Ólavsøka.

A brass band normally plays at the opening.

The Ólavsøka Boat Race on 28 July The Ólavsøka Boat Race is always held on the eve of Ólavsøka on 28 July. Be-

fore the Ólavsøka festival there have been several other village festivals around the islands, where the Faroese boat race has been going on, starting at the Norðoyastevna in Klaksvík, which is either in the beginning of June or in the end of May. In the end of June there is an island festival in Suðuroy which is called Jóansøka. This festival is celebrated every second year it; is held in Tvøroyri (odd years) and every second years in Vágur (even years). The rowing competition on Jóansøka is always held on a Saturday. The Faroese boat race is in several parts, divided into groups of children, boys, girls, men and women.

The boat races are also grouped by the size of the boats. All the boats are wooden rowing boats, the rowing people are sitting together two and two, and one person is steering the boat in the back of the boat. In Faroese the boats are called 5-mannafør, 6-mannafør, 8-mannafør and 10-mannafør. The boats who win the Ólavsøka Boat Race win a trophy and the boats who become Faroese Champions also win another trophy. Sometimes the same boat is the winner of both trophies. The rowing people who win also get medals. The distance which the boats are rowing is 1,000 meters at the Ólavsøka Boat Race, except for the children who row a shorter distance. In some places the larger Sunleif Rasmussen directboats row longer distances. The 8-mannafør row 1,500 meters and the 10-maning the Olavsoka Cantata nafør row 2,000 meters. But this is not possible in Tórshavn.

2009.

The Ólavsøka Procession and The Cantata on 29 July Ólavsøka On 29 July the Faroese Løgting (parliament) will open again after the summer holiday. The Faroese Prime Minister

(Løgmaður) will give his speech, and the politicians will have the opportunity to comment on it the following days.

But before the opening of the Løgting, there is a ceremony, which starts just before 11 in the morning, where the Faroese priests, the members of the Faroese Parliament, the head of the Police, some Danish officials and some other important people will walk in procession to the Cathedral of Tórshavn (Dómkirkjan, earlier called Havnar Kirkja).

After the service in the church these people will walk in procession to the House of Parliament, which is called Tinghúsið. They will line up just outside the Tinghús facing the crowd of people who are standing around the Tinghúsvøllur. And then it is time for some classical music and choir music, the Olavsoka Cantata, which starts at 12 or just after 12. In 2009 it was the 100 year birthday of the Municipality of Tórshavn, and one of the most famous Faroese composers Sunnleif Rasmussen composed and directed the Ólavsøka Cantata, which was based on the history of Faroese music, back to the Folk Songs and the Psalms of Kingo and up to the present time with modern music. There were 160 choir singers, which came from all of the country.

Independence Day Vanuatu - Jul 30

Vanuatu, officially the Republic of Vanuatu (French: République de Vanuatu,Bislama: Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some 1,750 kilometres (1,090 mi) east of northern Australia, 500 kilometres (310 mi) northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.

Vanuatu was first inhabited by Melanesian people. The first Europeans to visit the islands were the members of a Spanish expedition led by Portuguese navigator Fernandes de Queirós who arrived in Espiritu Santo in 1605 claiming the archipelago for Spain and bestowing that name to the island. In the 1880s France and the United Kingdom claimed parts of the country, and in 1906 they agreed on a framework for jointly managing the archipelago as the New Hebrides through a British–French Condominium. An independence movement arose in the 1970s, and the Republic of Vanuatu was created in 1980.

The nation's name was derived from the word vanua ("land" or "home"), which occurs in several Austronesian languages, and the word tu ("stand"). Together the two words indicated the independent status of the new nation.

History The prehistory of Vanuatu is obscure; archaeological evidence supports the commonly held theory that peoples

speaking Austronesian languages first came to the islands some 4,000 years ago. Pottery fragments have been found dating back to 1300–1100 BCE. The Vanuatu group of islands was discovered by Europeans in 1606 when the Portugueseexplorer Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, working for the Spanish Crown, arrived on Espiritu Santo and called it La Austrialia del Espiritu Santo or "The Southern Land of the Holy Spirit", thinking he had arrived in Terra Australis or Australia. Europeans did not return until 1768, when Louis Antoine de Bougainville rediscovered the islands. In 1774, Captain Cook named the islands the New Hebrides, a name that would last until independence.

In 1825, trader Peter Dillon's discovery of sandalwood on the island of Erromango began a rush of immigrants that ended in 1830 after a clash between immigrants and Polynesian workers. During the 1860s, planters in Australia, Fiji, New Spain, and the Samana Islands, in need of labourers, encouraged a long-term indentured labour trade called "blackbirding". At the height of the labour trade, more than one-half the adult male population of several of the Islands worked abroad. Fragmentary evidence indicates that the current population of Vanuatu is greatly reduced compared to pre-contact times.

It was in the 19th century that both Catholic and Protestant missionaries arrived on the islands. For example, John Geddie (1815–1872), a Scots-Canadian Presbyterianmissionary, landed on the island of Aneityum in 1848 and spent the rest of his life there converting the inhabitants to Christianity. John Gibson Paton was a Scottish missionary whose life work was devoted to the region. Settlers also came, looking for land on which to establish cotton plantations. When international cotton prices collapsed, planters switched to coffee, cocoa, bananas, and, most successfully, coconuts. Initially, British subjects from Australia made up the majority, but the establishment of the Caledonian Company of the New Hebrides in 1882 soon tipped the balance in favour of French subjects. By the turn of the century, the French outnumbered the British two to one.

The jumbling of French and British interests in the islands brought petitions for one or another of the two powers to annex the territory. In 1906, however, France and the United Kingdom agreed to administer the islands jointly. Called the British-French Condominium, it was a unique form of government, with separate governmental systems that came together only in a joint court. Melanesians were barred from acquiring the citizenship of either power.

Challenges to this form of government began in the early 1940s. The arrival of Americans during World War II, with their informal demeanour and relative wealth, was instrumental in the rise of nationalism in the islands. The belief in a mythical messianic figure named John Frum was the basis for an indigenous cargo cult (a movement attempting to obtain industrial goods through magic) promising Melanesian deliverance. Today, John Frum is both a religion and a political party with a member in Parliament.

The first political party was established in the early 1970s and originally was called the New Hebrides National Party.

One of the founders was Father Walter Lini, who later became Prime Minister. Renamed the Vanua'aku Pati in 1974, the party pushed for independence; in 1980, amidst the brief Coconut War, the Republic of Vanuatu was created.

During the 1990s, Vanuatu experienced political instability which eventually resulted in a more decentralised government. The Vanuatu Mobile Force, a paramilitary group, attempted a coup in 1996 because of a pay dispute. There were allegations of corruption in the government of Maxime Carlot Korman. New elections have been called for several times since 1997, most recently in 2004.

Flag Day in Hawaii U.S. - Jul 31

The flag of the state of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian: Ka Hae Hawaiʻi) is the official standard symbolizing Hawaiʻi as a U.S. state. The same flag had also previously been used by the kingdom, protectorate, republic, and territory of Hawaiʻi. It is the only US state flag to feature the Union Flag of the United Kingdom, a holdover of the period in Hawaiian history when it was under the influence of the British Empire.

Ka Hae Hawaiʻi day In 1990, Governor of Hawaiʻi John D. Waihee III proclaimed July 31 to be Ka Hae Hawaiʻi Day, the Hawaiian Flag Day. It has been celebrated each year since then.

Independence Day Benin - Aug 01

Benin (formerly, Dahomey), officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, by Nigeria to the east and by Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. A majority of the population live on its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin. The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo, but the seat of government is in Cotonou, the country's largest city. Benin covers an area of approximately 110,000 square kilometers (42,000 sq mi), with a population of approximately 9.05 million. Benin is a tropical, sub-Saharan nation, highly dependent on agriculture, with substantial employment and income arising from subsistence farming.

The official language of Benin is French, however, indigenous languages such as Fon and Yoruba are commonly spoken. The largest religious group in Benin is Roman Catholicism, followed closely by Islam, Vodun and Protestantism. Benin is a member of the United Nations, the African Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, La Francophonie, the Community of Sahel-Saharan States, the African Petroleum Producers Association and the Niger Basin Authority.

From the 17th to the 19th century, modern day Benin was ruled by the Kingdom of Dahomey. This region was referred to as the Slave Coast from as early as the 17th century due to the large number of slaves shipped to the New World during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. After slavery was abolished, France took over the country and renamed it French Dahomey. In 1960, Dahomey gained full independence from France, bringing in a democratic government for the next 12 years.

A Marxist-Leninist dictatorship called the People's Republic of Benin existed between 1972 and 1990. This regime led to repression and the collapse of the economy. The Republic of Benin was formed in 1991 which brought in multiparty elections.

History The Kingdom of Dahomey formed from a mixture of ethnic groups

on the Abomey plain. Historians theorize that the insecurity caused by slave trading may have contributed to mass migrations of groups to modern day Abomey, including some Aja, a Gbe people who are believed to have founded the city. Those Aja living in Abomey mingled with the local Fon people, also a Gbe people, creating a new ethnic group known as "Dahomey".

The Gbe peoples are said to be descendents of a number of migrants from Wyo. Gangnihessou (a member of an Aja dynasty that in the 16th century along with the Aja populace had come from Tado before settling and ruling separately in what is nowAbomey, Allada, and Porto Novo) became the first ruler of the Dahomey Kingdom.Dahomey had a military culture aimed at securing and In 1892, the French, led by Colonel eventually expanding the borders of the small kingdom with its capDodds, a Senegalese mulatto, inital at modern day Abomey.

The Dahomey Kingdom was known for its culture and traditions. vaded Dahomey.

Young boys were often apprenticed to older soldiers, and taught the kingdom's military customs until they were old enough to join the army. Dahomey was also famous for instituting an elite female soldier corps, called Ahosi or "our mothers" in the Fongbe language, and known by many Europeans as the Dahomean Amazons. This emphasis on military preparation and achievement earned Dahomey the nickname of "black Sparta" from European observers and 19th century explorers like Sir Richard Burton.

The kings of Dahomey sold their war captives into transatlantic slavery; otherwise the captives would have been killed in a ceremony known as the Annual Customs. By c.1750, the King of Dahomey was earning an estimated £250,000 per year by selling Africans to the European slave-traders. Though the leaders of Dahomey appeared initially to resist the slave trade, it flourished in the region of Dahomey for almost three hundred years (beginning in 1472 with a trade agreement with Portuguese merchants), leading to the area being named "the Slave Coast". Court protocols, which demanded that a portion of war captives from the kingdom's many battles be decapitated, decreased the number of enslaved people exported from the area. The number went from 20,000 per year at the beginning of the seventeenth century to 12,000 at the beginning of the 19th century. The decline was partly due to the banning of the trans-Atlantic slave trade by Britain and other countries. This decline continued until 1885, when the last Portuguese slave ship departed from the coast of the present-day Benin Republic.

By the middle of the nineteenth century, Dahomey started to lose its status as the regional power. This enabled the French to take over the area in 1892. In 1899, the French included the land called French Dahomey within the French West Africa colony. In 1958, France granted autonomy to the Republic of Dahomey, and full independence as of August 1, 1960. The president who led them to independence was Hubert Maga.

For the next twelve years, ethnic strife contributed to a period of turbulence. There were several coups and regime changes, with four figures dominating — Hubert Maga, Sourou Apithy,Justin Ahomadegbé and Emile Derlin Zinsou — the first three representing a different area and ethnicity of the country. These three agreed to form a presidential council after violence marred the 1970 elections.

On May 7, 1972, Maga turned over power to Ahomadegbe. On October 26, 1972, Lt. Col.Mathieu Kérékou overthrew the ruling triumvirate, becoming president and stating that the country will not "burden itself by copying foreign ideology, and wants neither Capitalism, Communism, nor Socialism". On November 30, however, he announced that the country was officially Marxist, under the control of the Military Council of the Revolution (CNR), which nationalized the petroleum industry and banks. On November 30, 1975, he renamed the country to People's Republic of Benin.

In 1979, the CNR was dissolved, and Kérékou arranged show elections where he was the only allowed candidate.

Establishing relations with the People's Republic of China, North Korea, and Libya, he put nearly all businesses and economic activities under state control, causing foreign investment in Benin to dry up. Kérékou attempted to reorganize education, pushing his own aphorisms such as "Poverty is not a fatality", resulting in a mass exodus of teachers, along with a large number of other professionals. The regime financed itself by contracting to take nuclear waste from France.

In 1980, Kérékou converted to Islam and changed his first name to Ahmed, then changed his name back after claiming to be a born-again Christian.

In 1989, riots broke out after the regime did not have money to pay its army. The banking system collapsed. Eventually Kérékou renounced Marxism and a convention forced Kérékou to release political prisoners and arrange elections.

The name of the country was changed to the Republic of Benin on March 1, 1990, once the newly formed country's constitution was complete, after the abolition of Marxism–Leninism in the nation in 1989.

In 1991, Kérékou was defeated by Nicéphore Soglo, and became the first black African president to step down after an election. Kérékou returned to power after winning the 1996 vote. In 2001, a closely fought election resulted in Kérékou winning another term, after which his opponents claimed election irregularities.

Kérékou and former president Soglo did not run in the 2006 elections, as both were barred by the constitution's restrictions on age and total terms of candidates. Kérékou is widely praised for making no effort to change the constitution so that he could remain in office or run again, unlike many African leaders.

On March 5, 2006, an election was held that was considered free and fair. It resulted in a runoff between Yayi Boni and Adrien Houngbédji. The runoff election was held on March 19, and was won by Boni, who assumed office on April 6. The success of the fair multi-party elections in Benin won praise internationally. Boni was reelected in 2011, taking 53.18 percent of the vote in the first round—enough to avoid a runoff election, becoming the first president to win an election without a runoff since the restoration of democracy in 1991.

National Day Switzerland - Aug 01

Armed Forces Day - Aug 03 Equatorial Guinea

Armed force day is one those days, which is celebrated in many countries in order to respect their military organizations together. On this day, all the divisions of the defense together are respected for their huge devotion and dedication towards the country. Though different military organization have their own day, such as Army Day, Air Force Day, Navy Day etc, but the Armed forces Day together celebrates the achievement of all these branches of defense.

The armed Forces Day is celebrated on August 3rd every year in Equatorial Guinea.

History

The military history of Equatorial Guinea is not very great.

The military has been reorganized several times for the betterment and more effectiveness and no doubt, the results were successful and fruitful. The total number of people serving in the Armed forces amounts to 2500 only. Out of these 2500, 1400 are in Army, 200 in the navy, 400 are deployed as Paramilitary police and the air force comprises of only 120 service people. Basically, the army is not trained up to the requirements of the present day, and neither are they equipped with the latest versions of arms and ammunitions.

The present armed forces of Equatorial Guinea are equipped with the arms, which are light and small. The arms include small arms, RPGs, and Mortars. The forces are not equipped with latest heavy arms. The light armored vehicles and trucks are all soviet style and do not run or work properly. The armed forces also contain another division called Gendarmerie. The numbers of this division is not known and are trained by the help of French Military cooperation.

Thus the armed force of Equatorial Guinea are not very well trained and are not self sufficient to operate, and thus rely on foreigners to operate. The number of paved aerodromes, number of working aircrafts etc are all very less.

They acquire various ammunitions and warfare vehicles from foreign countries.

Celebrations In spite of having a bad military record the armed forces day is celebrated with great enthusiasm in Equatorial Guinea.

There is no lack of celebration for the armed forces. Though small in number, they are felicitated well on that auspicious day. The armed forces are said to be the most devotional and dedicated work men. This is the reason they are so much respected. The lifestyle they live comprises of discipline and honor, and the hardship they undergo, is because of the countrymen. Thus, on this one day, they are respected thoroughly for their kind devotion in front of all those for whom they take up all those pains. The celebration includes a felicitation ceremony where these men are honored and respected, followed by a huge and grand dinner in the name of the Armed Forces. The whole country gets a public holiday on this day, and the armed forces men enjoy together. They meet, they eat, they drink, for one day they lay the burden of responsibility away from their shoulders and enjoy to their utmost level and why should not they? They have also the right to live for themselves, but they live for others more than they live for themselves.

Independence Day Niger - Aug 03

Niger, officially the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east. Niger covers a land area of almost 1,270,000 km2, making it the largest nation in West Africa, with over 80 percent of its land area covered by the Sahara desert. The country's predominantly Islamic population of just above 15,000,000 is mostly clustered in the far south and west of the nation. The capital city is Niamey, located in the far southwest corner of Niger.

Niger is a developing country, and consistently ranks as one of the lowest ranks of the United Nations' Human Development Index (HDI), 186th of 187 countries in 2011. Much of the non-desert portions of the country are threatened by periodic drought and desertification. The economy is concentrated around subsistence and some export agriculture clustered in the more fertile south, and the export of raw materials, especially uranium ore. Niger remains handicapped by its landlocked position, desert terrain, poor education and poverty of its people, lack of infrastructure, poor health care, and environmental degradation.

Nigerien (/niːˈʒɛəriən/ or pronunciation: /naɪdʒɪrɪˈɛn/) society reflects a diversity drawn from the long independent histories of its several ethnic groups and regions and their relatively short period living in a single state. Historically, what is now Niger has been on the fringes of several large states. Since independence, Nigeriens have lived under five constitutions and three periods of military rule. Following a military coup in 2010, Niger has now become a democratic, multi-party state. A majority live in rural areas, and have little access to advanced education.

History

The date is inspired by the date of the Federal Charter of 1291, placed in "early August" (primo incipiente mense Augusto). The document is one of several dozen pacts attested for the territory of Switzerland in the period of the mid 13th to mid 14th century. The foundation of the Old Swiss Confederacy had been mostly associated with the Bund of Brunnen of 1315, or with the Rütlischwur, dated to 1307 by Aegidius Tschudi.

The Federal Charter of 1291 first assumed great importance in a report by the Federal Department of Home Affairs of November 21, 1889, suggesting a celebration in Bern in 1891 that would combine the city's 700th anniversary with the Confederacy's 600th anniversary.

The date of the Federal Charter came to replace the formerly more prominent, traditional date of November 8 Rütlischwur, 1307 in popular consciousness in the 20th century, specifically after the 650th anniversary celebrations of 1941.

1 August is today celebrated each year with paper lantern parades, bonfires, hanging strings of Swiss flags and fireworks.

Town-specific celebrations The day of independence is typically celebrated at a local, municipality

bread

to celebrate Swiss NaSwiss National Day celebrations baked tional Day around the world The largest Swiss National Day event in the USA is organized and held annually by the Swiss Benevolent Society

of New York. Usually held in Manhattan, New York, the event draws thousands of Swiss, Swiss-Americans and Friends of Switzerland from around New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. This tradition goes back several decades, and was originally held at their former hospice in Mount Kisco, New York during the 1970s.

Celebrations are also held in Washington, District of Columbia by the Swiss Club of Washington D.C. on the Swiss Embassy grounds, and in the Los Angeles suburb of Whittier, in Swiss Park. The Swiss Park celebration features Swiss cultural events and games, including a crossbow competition.

Lammas Scotland - Aug 01

In some English-speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere, August 1 is Lammas Day (Anglo-Saxon hlaf-mass, "loaf-mas"), the festival of the wheat harvest, and is the first harvest festival of the year. On this day it was customary to bring to church a loaf made from the new crop, which began to be harvested at Lammastide. The loaf was blessed, and in AngloSaxon England it might be employed afterwards to work magic: A book of Anglo-Saxon charms directed that the lammas bread be broken into four bits, which were to be placed at the four corners of the barn, to protect the garnered grain. In many parts ofEngland, tenants were bound to present freshly harvested wheat to their landlords on or before the first day of August. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, where it is referred to regularly, it is called "the feast of first fruits". The blessing of first fruits was performed annually in both the Eastern and Western Churches on the first or the sixth of August (the latter being the feast of the Transfiguration of Christ).

Lammas coincides with the feast of St. Peter in Chains, commemorating St. Peter's miraculous deliverance from prison.

role, he stated that the primary question is whether or not the country will be a beneficiary of the new world order.

The Hungarian Prime Minister also said that even though Hungary’s repayment to the IMF is only be due later, it should be settled during the summer, therefore he has instructed Minister of National Economy Mihály Varga to effect the early repayment of the loan requested by the previous governments. The sum necessary is available, he pointed out, thanks to efforts of the Hungarian people these past three years. He highlighted that the Hungarian Government follows a national economic policy in order to keep the values produced by Hungarians within the country, and the new constitution serves as a framework for this goal, keeping the rights and responsibilities in balance.

Entire EU funding budget available for agriculture to be used (Online 26 Jul) A road show to present some 3,000 billion forints (EUR 102m) worth of completed rural development projects will start in Nagykanizsa in western Hungary on August 3, the director of the national rural development institute (NAKVI) said.

The road show will consist of another six stops. The projects to be presented have been carried out under the arrangements of the Darányi Ignác Plan’s New Hungary Rural Development Programme, said Dávid Mezőszentgyörgyi.

A total of 1,300 billion forints has been

available to Hungary for agricultural and rural development projects in the current seven-year budget period of the European Union, he said. Around 90% of this sum has been allocated already and unspent resources are not likely to remain by the end of the year, he added.

Government to remove foreign-currency denominated mortgages from market (Online 26 Jul) The Government has given the economy minister, Mihály Varga, a mandate to remove foreigncurrency denominated mortgages from the Hungarian financial system, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in his regular morning interview on Kos-

suth public radio, adding that a solution is required, which does not endanger the financial system.

The Prime Minister again raised the possibility of introducing a higher 3035% VAT rate on luxury articles, emphasising the need for a just taxation

system.

He also announced that in addition to the increase in VAT on luxury goods, next year’s taxation bill will also include the extension of family tax allowances, a measure that will help several thousands of families.

The Government increases family tax allowances (Online 25 Jul) It is the Government’s high priority to support families with several children. In this spirit, ruling party Fidesz is currently working on further family policy measures aiming to make having children more attractive and at the same time favour employees.

Government spokesperson András Giró-Szász informed the press that the Government had reviewed its family policy and demography action plan and has decided to expand the availability of family tax allowances.

In line with the decision, those who cannot fully take advantage of the allowance by deducting it from their 16 % personal income tax, can also deduct the sum from the 7 % health insurance contribution or the 10 % pension contribution. The cabinet will discuss the next phase of the action plan, including the introduction of flexible childcare benefit (GYED) in September, he added.

The extension of family allowances constitutes a great step ahead for lower income groups, family policy advisor to the Prime Minister Fidesz

MP Máriusz Révész announced on Wednesday, adding that the measures also aim to avoid putting excessive administrative burdens on families. He further said that the planned flexible childcare benefit system will involve pre-calculating how much benefit would be paid during the three years of maternity and childcare leave, and the mother would decide how long she would like to benefit from it. The amount due for three years will not be lost even if the mother decides to have another baby in the meantime. It has also been proposed that the years spent in higher education should be considered as an employment relationship, thus breaking the current scheme of the family support system being linked exclusively to the career path. Under the Job Protection Action Plan introduced last year, the employment of women with small children has increased significantly, Máriusz Révész also announced, pointing out that if mothers with small children return to work from child care/maternity leave, no employer contribution payment is

required in the initial two years, thus considerably increasing their job prospects. In the same spirit, the governing party has proposed the extension of this period to eight years.

Hungary’s Government has introduced the family tax system in combination with one of the lowest tax brackets in Europe, producing significant and tangible results within a short time, with preliminary figures showing that more than 840,000 people saved a total of 158 billion forints thanks to the allowance last year. The allowance is a monthly net 99,000 forints (EUR 340) for three children, which has resulted in an average increase of 24 per cent in the monthly net income of families with three children. The latest figures also show great progress when it comes to women’s employment, which currently stands at 53% according to Eurostat data, the highest level since 1992. The extent of the increase places Hungary among the best within the European Union.

Gov t. or ga nize d 1 0 th pr ofe s s iona l or ie nta tion c a m p f or R om a y out h (Online 25 Jul) The Ministry of Interior is organising its tenth annual professional orientation camp for those young Roma people who are interested in law enforcement work.

50 young people will take part in the six-day camp, with all expenses covered by the Ministry of Interior. The aim of the camp is to introduce the work of the various fields of law enforcement to the young people and make them aware of the require-

ments for admission. Those who are thinking about a possible career in law enforcement will have the opportunity to talk with police officers, fire fighters, prison guards and disaster management professionals.

The participants will also have the change to also attend mock entrance examinations that include physical, psychological and aptitude tests. The aim of this is to introduce the requirements to the young people and make

them aware of what they need to work on prior to the real entrance exams.

The participants will visit the Training Centre of the Hungarian Police Force, where they will attend – among many others – driving and shooting demonstrations. Programs organised during the camp will include visits to the fire fighters at the Liszt Ferenc International Airport and to the National University of Public Service.

Hungary's call to reduce food waste (Online 25 Jul) Hungary's call to reduce food waste has received wide support from the member states of the European Union. 14 member states attending the session of the European Agricultural and Fisheries Council immediately joined the initiative put forward by Hungarian Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas and assured Hungary of their support.

The proposal was required because according to estimates by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), one third of food produced for human consumption is currently wasted. If we add to this poverty and starvation, the scarcity of natural resources and the problem of the ongoing financial and economic crisis, it becomes obvious that this state of affairs must be tackled immediately at global, European and na-

tional levels.

Significant initiatives have begun in this field recently, for instance within the framework of the FAO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In addition, several, successfully national programmes exist throughout Europe, but the exchange of best practices and joint action is required at an EU level, instead of the current, isolated good practices.

This is why Minister Sándor Fazekas proposed an EU-level debate on food waste at the Council of Agriculture Ministers. Hungary asked that the EU, working together with related international organisations and other interested parties, develop a plan that would in cooperation to provide a clear picture of the global situation so that we may take the required, joint measures in all of our interests. The

Hungarian proposal was supported by practically all of the ministers of the EU member states present, and so the Commission is expected to deal intensively with the issue during the upcoming months.

One of the most important tasks aimed at reducing food waste is the harmonisation of food supply methods and the exchange of best practices between countries. In addition, conscious food consumption, support for the establishment of short food chains and increased public awareness of the importance and value of food are also essential.

If the Commission feels that the development of new EU regulations is required, Hungary is ready and willing to hold further negotiations on the issue.

First Paprika shop opens in Moscow (Online 25 Jul) The first shop specialising in Hungarian foods has opened in Moscow under the name Paprika; according to plans, a chain of 10-15 shops will be established in Russia, announced Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas at the shop's opening ceremony.

Similar shops, which will have a uniform image and design, will be opened by Hungarian-Russian joint venture Paprika Ltd. in every Russian city with over one million inhabitants, he added. In addition to stocking premium quality Hungarian food products such as salamis, meat products, wines, pálinkas, chocolates and beers, the first shop, with floor space of roughly two hundred square me-

tres, will also feature a snack bar that serves traditional Hungarian foods.

Mr. Fazekas stressed that supporting food exports to Russia constitutes an important feature of Hungarian agricultural policy. Exports to Russia have been increasing by 20-25% each year since 2010, with similar growth in the last quarter. It is this dynamic growth that is enabling more and more Hungarian goods and high quality, handmade food products to reach the Russian market, and shops that offer premium quality Hungarian goods are being established.

There is demand for Hungarian products in Russia, where Hungarian foods are highly recognised and Hungarian wines, champagnes and meat

products are especially sought after, the Minister said.

Summarising his meeting with Russian Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ilya Shestakov, Minister Fazekas said that one hundred Hungarian companies currently have the right to import to the Russian market. According to plans, a further fifty enterprises will also be involved in the near future to increase Hungarian food exports, he added.

Sándor Fazekas pointed out that the National Agriculture and Food Industry Exhibition (OMÉK) to be held in Budapest this autumn, and at which Russia will be a top partner, will also serve to reinforce Hungarian-Russian agrarian relations.

EC dr ops inf r inge m e nt pr oc e dur e a ga ins t H unga r y ov e r t e le c o t a x e s (Online 24 Jul) The European Commission informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week that it would withdraw its pending case against Hungary with the European Court of Justice regarding the telecommunications taxes, introduced in 2010 temporarily.

The European Commission turned to the European Court of Justice in October 2012, after sending a letter of formal notice to Hungary. The decision to withdraw the case against Hungary and against Spain came after the European Court decided in favour of France in a similar case.

The Commission’s spokesperson in-

formed in a statement that in view of the recent Court of Justice judgement telecommunications regarding charges in France, the Commission decided on 18 July 2013 to withdraw the cases on the same issue pending before the Court against Spain and Hungary as well. The French case is of direct relevance for related cases concerning other Member States, the spokesperson added.

The Hungarian Government welcomes the European Commission’s decision to drop the infringement procedure against Hungary confirming the position consistently represented by the Government that the provi-

sions on telecommunications taxes are fully in line with the EU legislation.

On another infringement procedure contesting the lawfulness of telephone taxes the Government is expecting a similar decision from the EU’s executive body, since the same arguments have been put forward by the European Commission in both cases outlined above.

Despite the increased media attention, the number of infringement procedures launched against Hungary puts the country among those EU member states with fewer than average such procedures in force against them.

N um be r of r e gis t e r e d jobs e e k e r s be low t he ha lf - m illion m a r k (Online 24 Jul) According to the latest data by the National Labour Office, the number of registered jobseekers fell below 500 thousand in Hungary, Minister of State for Employment Policy Sándor Czomba said at the signing ceremony of a funding tender for job creation projects in Nyírkáta.

With the current figure Hungary’s labour market has reached the precrisis level of 2008, and within Europe only a very few countries were capable of achieving this result, Sándor Czomba stressed.

On the last June day which the statistics cover, 497 thousand people were recorded as jobseekers in the registry of the National Employment Service, which figure is 3.5 percent (18 100 people) and 5.2 percent (27 400 people) below the level of May and the corresponding period of the previous year, respectively.

The share of registered jobseekers within the economically active popu-

lation was 11.2 percent, while the respective rate within the working-age population was 7.5 percent. According to statistics, in June 60 700 peowere registered as ple career-starters, and their share within the total number of jobseekers was 12.2 percent. In light of data by the National Employment Service, the number of those who were on the registry for over one year – after a decrease of 2.3 percent was registered for the month -- was 164 600 on the last day of June which corresponds to a share of 33.1 percent within the total number of jobseekers. The proportion of unskilled people among registered jobseekers was 50.1 percent.

A lower jobless figure is insufficient in itself; good results must be underpinned by employment programmes, Sándor Czomba emphasized when speaking about the job creation tenders announced for micro-, small and

medium-sized enterprises. As he said, this year the National Employment Fund had HUF 13bn to spend on this objective and it has been allocated as non-refundable grants to 1139 enterprises for establishing 6500 new jobs.

With regard to the number of bidders, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg was the most successful county, where 79 bidders won funding of over 1.5 billion forints, the Minister of State added.

The subsequent investments will create 643 new jobs, but the scheme also helps retain 587 existing jobs.

The TOMI-FA Kft of Nyírkáta, an enterprise producing and selling pallets, won HUF 39 million at the tender, and the company can thus add 15 registered jobseekers to its current payroll of 22. According to available data on the company, the net sales income of the enterprise was over HUF 111 million, while its balance sheet earnings totalled over HUF 2.3 million.

Gov t. a nnounc e d Es ta blis hm e nt of V4 G4 C e nt r e of Ex c e lle nc e

inhospitable Sahara desert in the last two thousand years, five thousand years ago the north of the country was fertile grasslands. Populations of pastoralists have left paintings of abundant wildlife, domesticated animals, chariots, and a complex culture that dates back to at least 10,000 BCE. Several former northern villages and archaeological sites date from the Green Sahara period of 7,500–7,000 to 3,500–3,000 BCE.

Early historical period:

The Songhai Empire expanded into what is modern Niger from the 15th century, reaching as far as Agadez before its collapse in 1591, from which the modern Zarma and Songhai The Kaouar escarpment, forming an peoples trace their history. At its fall, portions of the empire oasis in the Ténéré desert. and refugees from modern Mali formed a series of Songhai states, with the Dendi Kingdom becoming the most powerful. From the 13th century, the nomadic Tuareg formed large confederations, pushed southward, into the Aïr Mountains, displacing some previous residents to the south.

At their peak, the Tuareg confederations ruled most of what is now northern Niger, and extended their influence into modern Nigeria.

In the 18th century, Fula pastoralists moved into the Liptako area of the west, while smaller Zarma kingdoms, siding with various Hausa states, clashed with the expanding Fulani Empire of Sokoto from the south. The colonial border with British Nigeria was in part based on the rupture between the Sokoto Caliphate to the south, and Hausa ruling dynasties which had fled to the north. In the far east around the Lake Chad basin, the successive expansion of the Kanem Empire and Bornu Empire spread ethnically Kanuri and Toubou rulers and their subject states as far west as Zinder and the Kaouar Oases from the 10th to the 17th centuries.

In the 19th century, contact with the West began when the first European explorers — notably Mungo Park (British) and Heinrich Barth (German) — explored the area, searching for the source of the Niger River. Although French efforts at "pacification" began before 1900, dissident ethnic groups, especially the desert Tuareg, were not fully subdued until 1922, when Niger became a French colony.

Niger's colonial history and development parallel that of other French West African territories. France administered its West African colonies through a governor general in Dakar, Senegal, and governors in the individual territories, including Niger. In addition to conferring French citizenship on the inhabitants of the territories, the 1946 French constitution provided for decentralization of power and limited participation in political life for local advisory assemblies.

Early independence:

A further revision in the organization of overseas territories occurred with the passage of the Overseas Reform Act (Loi Cadre) of 23 July 1956, followed by reorganizing measures enacted by the French Parliament early in 1957. In addition to removing voting inequalities, these laws provided for creation of governmental organs, assuring individual territories a large measure of self-government. After the establishment of the Fifth French Republic on 4 December 1958, Niger became an autonomous state within the French Community. Following full independence on 3 August 1960, however, membership was allowed to lapse.

Photo: Ágnes Bartolf (Online 24 Jul) The Ministry of National Development welcomes the official announcement on the establishment of the V4G4 Centre of Excellence, which marks the beginning of the joint work of nuclear research institutes in the Visegrad Region (the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Centre for Energy Research /MTA EK/, the Polish Narodowym Centrum Badań Jądrowych /NCBJ/, the Czech ÚJV Řež, a.s. and the Slovakian VUJE, a.s.) for the research, development and innovation of Generation IV (G4) nuclear reactors.

The document establishing the V4G4 Centre of Excellence was signed by

Water-cooled Reactors /SCWR/). The development projects of Generation IV nuclear power plants make the opportunity to install inherently safe power reactors which meet the requirements of nuclear security and non-proliferation, emphasized Pál Kovács.

The Minister of State for Energy Affairs explained that a solid international legal framework is essential in ensuring non-proliferation, which plays an important role in the global spread of nuclear power. (It was also the conclusion of the International Conference on Nuclear Security held in Vienna on 1-5 July 2013). Mr Pál Kovács emphasised that a new era of

(GIF) has been launched in 2000 on the initiative of the United States of America to develop the new, 4th Generation of nuclear power plants. The pro-ject’s basic goal is to develop and install reactor types with closed nuclear fuel cycle operation mode, which after participation and transmutation processes can recycle spent fuel as a nuclear fuel material and therefore are able to minimise the amount of used nuclear fuel and radioactive waste.

In 2010, the Hungarian (MTA EK), the Czech (ÚJV Řež, a.s.) and the Slovakian (VUJE, a.s.) nuclear research institutes signed a letter of intent for cooperation on ALLEGRO project

For its first fourteen years as an independent state, Niger was run by a singleparty civilian regime under the presidency of Hamani Diori. In 1974, a combination of devastating droughtand accusations of rampant corruption resulted in a coup d'état that overthrew the Diori regime. Col. Seyni Kountché and a small military group ruled the country until Kountché's death in 1987.

He was succeeded by his Chief of Staff, Col. Ali Saibou, who released political prisoners, liberalized some of Niger's laws and policies, and promulgated a new constitution, with the creation of a single party constitutional Second Republic. However, President Saibou's efforts to control political reforms failed in the face of union and student demands to institute a multi-party democratic system. The Saibou regime acquiesced to these demands by the end of 1990.

New political parties and civic associations sprang up, and a national peace conference was convened in July 1991 to prepare the way for the adoption of a new constitution and the holding of free and fair elections. The debate was often contentious and accusatory, but under the leadership of Prof. André Salifou, the conference developed a plan for a transition government.

Third Republic:

This caretaker government was installed in November 1991 to manage the affairs of state until the institutions of the Third Republic were put into place in April 1993. While the economy deteriorated over the course of the transition, certain accomplishments stand out, including the successful conduct of a constitutional referendum; the adoption of key legislation such as the electoral and rural codes; and the holding of several free, fair, and non-violent nationwide elections. Freedom of the press flourished with the appearance of several new independent newspapers.

Mamadou Tandja, Deposed The results of the January 1995 parliamentary election meant cohabitation between a rival president and prime minister; this led to governmental paralysis, President of the Republic of Niger which provided Col. Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara a rationale to overthrow the Third Republic in January 1996.

While leading a military authority that ran the government (Conseil de Salut National) during a 6-month transition period, Baré enlisted specialists to draft a new constitution for a Fourth Republic announced in May 1996. Baré organized a presidential election in July 1996. While voting was still going on, he replaced the electoral commission.

The new commission declared him the winner after the polls closed. His party won 57% of parliament seats in a flawed legislative election in November 1996.

When his efforts to justify his coup and subsequent questionable elections failed to convince donors to restore multilateral and bilateral economic assistance, a desperate Baré ignored an international embargo against Libya and sought Libyan funds to aid Niger's economy. In repeated violations of basic civil liberties by the regime, opposition leaders were imprisoned; journalists often arrested, and deported by an unofficial militia composed of police and military; and independent media offices were looted and burned.

As part of an initiative started under the 1991 national conference, however, the government signed peace accords in April 1995 with all, meaning Tuareg and Toubou groups that had been in rebellion since 1990. The Tuareg claimed they lacked attention and resources from the central government. The government agreed to absorb some former rebels into the military and, with French assistance, help others return to a productive civilian life.

Fifth Republic since 1999:

On 9 April 1999, Baré was killed in a coup led by Maj. Daouda Malam Wanké, who established a transitional National Reconciliation Council to oversee the drafting of a constitution for a Fifth Republic with a French style semi-presidential system.

In votes that international observers found to be generally free and fair, the Nigerien electorate approved the new constitution in July 1999 and held legislative and presidential elections in October and November 1999.

Heading a coalition of the National Movement for a Developing Society (MNSD) and the Democratic and Social Convention (CDS), Mamadou Tandja won the election.

The new second term government of the Fifth Republic took office on 30 December 2002. In August 2002, serious unrest within the military oc- A Nigerien rebel fighter. Februcurred in Niamey, Diffa, and Nguigmi, but the government was able to re- ary 2008 store order within several days.

The legislature elected in December 2004 contained seven political parties. President Mamadou Tandja was reelected in December 2004 and reappointed Hama Amadou as Prime Minister.Mahamane Ousmane, the head of the CDS, was re-elected President of the National Assembly (parliament) by his peers.

In June 2007, Seyni Oumarou was nominated as the new Prime Minister after Hama Amadou was democratically forced out of office by the National Assembly through a motion of no confidence. From 2007 to 2008, the Second Tuareg Rebellion took place in northern Niger, worsening economic prospects and shutting down political progress.

In a February 2010 coup d'état, a military junta was established in response to Tandja's attempted extension of his political term through constitutional manipulation. The coup established a junta led by the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy, which then held elections in 2011 that were judged internationally to be free and fair.

of "gule" is unclear. Ronald Hutton suggests following the 18th-century Welsh clergyman antiquary John Pettingall that it is merely anAnglicisation of Gŵyl Awst, the Welsh name of the "feast of August". OED and most etymological dictionaries give it a more circuitous origin similar to gullet; from O.Fr. goulet, dim. of goule, "throat, neck," from L. gula "throat,". A Welsh derivation would point to a pre-Christian origin for Lammas and a link to the Gaelic festival of Lughnasadh.

Several antiquaries beginning with John Brady offered a back-construction to its being originally known as Lambmass, under the undocumented supposition that tenants of the Cathedral of York, dedicated to St. Peter ad Vincula, of which this is the feast, would have been required to bring a live lamb to the church, or, with John Skinner, "because Lambs then grew out of season." This is a folk etymology, of which OED notes that it was "subsequently felt as if from LAMB + MASS".

For many villeins, the wheat must have run low in the days before Lammas, and the new harvest began a season of plenty, of hard work and company in the fields, reaping in teams. Thus there was a spirit of celebratory play.

In the medieval agricultural year, Lammas also marked the end of the hay harvest that had begun after Midsummer.

At the end of hay-making a sheep would be loosed in the meadow among the mowers, for him to keep who could catch it.

In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (1.3.19) it is observed of Juliet, "Come Lammas Eve at night shall she [Juliet] be fourteen." Since Juliet was born Lammas eve, she came before the harvest festival, which is significant since her life ended before she could reap what she had sown and enjoy the bounty of the harvest, in this case full consummation and enjoyment of her love with Romeo.

William Hone speaks in The Every-Day Book (1838) of a later festive Lammas day sport common among Scottish farmers near Edinburgh. He says that they "build towers...leaving a hole for a flag-pole in the center so that they may raise their colors." When the flags over the many peat-constructed towers were raised, farmers would go to others' towers and attempt to "level them to the ground." A successful attempt would bring great praise. However, people were allowed to defend their towers, and so everyone was provided with a "tooting-horn" to alert nearby country folk of the impending attack and the battle would turn into a "brawl." According to Hone, more than four people had died at this festival and many more were injured. At the day's end, races were held, with prizes given to the townspeople.

Neo-Paganism Lammas is a Neo-Pagan holiday, often called Lughnasadh, celebrating the first harvest and the reaping of grain. It

is a cross-quarter holiday halfway between the Summer Solstice (Litha) and the Autumnal Equinox (Mabon). In the northern hemisphere, Lammas takes place around August 1 with the Sun near the midpoint of Leo in the tropical zodiac, while in the southern hemisphere Lammas is celebrated around February 1 with the Sun near the midpoint of Aquarius. On the Wheel of the Year, it is opposite Imbolc, which is celebrated on February 2 in the northern hemisphere, and late July / early August in the southern hemisphere.

Other uses Lammas leaves or Lammas growth refers to a second crop of leaves produced in high summer by some species of

trees in temperate countries to replace those lost to insect damage. They often differ slightly in shape, texture and/or hairiness from the earlier leaves.

Republic Day or the Day of the Republic (Macedonian: Ден на Републиката, Den na Republikata) is a major national holiday of the Republic of Macedonia. It is celebrated on 2 August, which is also a major religious holiday – Ilinden (Macedonian: Илинден; St. Elijah day), according to the Julian Calendar. It commemorates two major events in the establishment of the statehood of the Republic of Macedonia, and which took place on this date: •The Ilinden Uprising of 1903 which was organized by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization against the Ottoman Empire, and during which a short-lived republic was proclaimed, and •The First Assembly of ASNOM of 1944, during World War II, which laid the foundation of the modern Macedonian Republic.

Macedonians have traditionally celebrated this day, also called Ilinden, because of its religious significance which has its roots in the Christian St. Elijah (Macedonian: Св. Илиja, Sv. Iliya), and also in the earlier pagan traditions. It has been proclaimed a national holiday since 1944. Major gatherings are held in the monasteries, and there is a march of horsemen from Skopje, the capital, to Kruševo, where the core of the Ilinden Uprising leaders established the Kruševo Republic.

The main celebration takes place in Kruševo, in the area called Mechkin Kamen (Bear's Rock), where a major battle with the Ottoman army took place in August 1903.

Photo: Ágnes Bartolf the Hungarian, Polish, Czech and Slovakian nuclear research institutes on 18 July 2013 in the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Guests have been welcomed by Mr. Domokos Szász, Vice President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The new cooperation between the V4 countries should be considered extraordinary in many ways, underlined Mr. Pál Kovács, Minister of State for Energy Affairs.

Nuclear research and development (R&D) involves taking major steps to extend the lifetime of the currently available fuel materials that are indispensable for nuclear power generation and also to minimise the volume of spent fuel and radioactive waste derived from nuclear based electric power generation. All innovations and results should serve these goals irrespectively of the innovative reactor concepts (Sodium- /SFR/, Gas/GFR/, Lead- and Lead-bismuthcooled Fast Reactors /LFR/, Molten Salt Reactors /MSR/, Supercritical

nuclear energy has started after the Fukushima disaster. The European stress tests have been performed; required measures have been identified and taken. These steps enable the countries of the world to act towards the security of our planet and the spread of environmentally-friendly and long-term sustainable nuclear energy.

Despite the fact that the European Union failed to achieve its original political goal to achieve the security of energy supply, and our region has lost an opportunity for the diversification of energy supply by lack of support for the Nabucco West natural gas pipeline project, Hungary will do its utmost during its V4 Presidency from 1 July 2013 to find common responses for the problems, including energy security, at a regional level. This unique initiative, he added, will give a new dimension to the Visegrad Four’s originally successful cooperation.

A large international project called Generation IV International Forum

setting up the ALLEGRO consortium and future installation of a gas-cooled demonstrational fast reactor only for research purposes with generating 75 MW of heat. In 2012 the Polish NCBJ nuclear research institute joined in the cooperation.

The aims of the V4G4 Centre of Excellence are to represent the ALLEGRO Generation IV nuclear power plant R&D project and to ensure the technical and administrative background until 2018. The Centre of Excellence will contribute to maintaining the high level of nuclear expertise besides the research work, which involves young researchers and engineers in R&D activities. Within the project Hungary will monitor and analyse the closed fuel cycle and fuel issues, the Polish party will be responsible for the material testing, the Czech party for the technological utilisation of high-temperature gas testing and the Slovakian party for planning and security testing.

Commemorations in Budapest to mark the 1456 Hungarian victory at Nándorfehérvár

National Flag Day Venezuela - Aug 03

History In mediæval times the feast was sometimes known in England and Scotland as the "Gule of August", but the meaning

National Day Macedonia - Aug 02

in 2008 would have affected a much stronger Europe and better answers could have been found with greater ease.

Another shortcoming of the EU, he put forward, is that it had failed to fully establish a common financial union in a consequent and rational manner. A financial system of this kind can be successful in times of prosperity, but in a crisis its problems soon become apparent, as they have within the euro zone, he pointed out.

According to Prime Minister Orbán, Europe’s role and importance has been questioned and it is a realistic danger that the continent might lose its cultural, economic and civilizational positions it had previously held for centuries. The current European crisis may easily turn into a long period of recession instead of a transitional phase lasting only a few years, he warned. With regard to Hungary’s

History While most of what is now Niger has been subsumed into the

Military rule and the Fourth Republic:

Augustweggen",

Photo: Gergely Botár (Online 27 Jul) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spoke at the 24th Tusványos summer university and youth camp for Hungarians that started on Tuesday in Băile Tușnad (Tusnádfürdő), Romania. He talked about the EU’s future and the crisis as well as the Hungarian economy’s success.

After arriving to Romania on Friday, he also met with ethnic Hungarian leaders at a working dinner and discussed the most important issues of Hungarian communities in the Carpathian Basin.

The Prime Minister, in faith with tradition, addressed the participants on the closing day of the summer university, where he emphasised that economic growth in the European Union can primarily come from Central Europe. He stated that if the Eastern European countries were accepted into the Union during the 1990s, the crisis

Single party and military rule (1961–1991):

The Swiss National Day (German: Schweizer Bundesfeier; French: Fête nationale Suisse; Italian: Festa nazionale svizzera; Romansh: Fiasta naziunala Svizra) is the national holiday of Switzerland, set on August 1. It is an official national holiday since 1994, although the day had been suggested for the celebration of the foundation of the Swiss Confederacy as early as 1889.

level though certain events draw nation-wide attention. Since the mid-nineteenth century, the Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen has illuminated its 25 meter high waterfalls for special events. Beginning in 1920, the waterfall has been regularly lit for the national holiday and since 1966 is now lit only for this holiday. At the historic location of Rütli Meadow above Lake Lucerne, a representational celebration is staged in the location where the legendary pledge of alliance, theRütlischwur is said to have taken place. "1.

rebelled under the leadership of Zhu De, He Long,Ye Jianying and Zhou Enlai shortly after the end of the first Kuomintang–Communist alliance. They were then known as the Chinese Red Army (simplified Chinese: 红 军 ;traditional Chinese: 紅 軍 ; pinyin: hóngjūn). Between 1934 and 1935, the Red Army survived several campaigns led against it by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek and engaged in the Long March.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945, the Communist military forces were nominally integrated into the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China forming the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army units. During this time, these two military groups primarily used guerrilla warfare, fought a few battles with the Japanese while consolidating their ground by annexing nationalist troops and paramilitary forces behind the Japanese lines.

After the end of the Sino-Japanese War, the Communist Party merged the two military groups and renamed the multi-million Vintage Chinese propaganda poster, strong force the "People's Liberation Army" and eventually won showing the PLA. The caption reads, the Chinese Civil War. A number of military regions were estab- "An Army of the People is Invincilished in 1949. On 11 November 1949, the Air Force leadership ble". The soldier on top is shown to structure was established and the Navy leadership the following be holding a copy of Quotations April. In 1950, the leadership structures of the artillery, armored from Chairman Mao Zedong. troops, air defense troops, public security forces, and worker–soldier militias were also established. The chemical warfare defense forces, the railroad forces, the communications forces, and the second artillery, as well as other forces, were established later.

During the 1950s, the PLA with Soviet help transformed itself from a peasant army into a modern one. Part of this process was the reorganisation that created thirteen military regions in 1955. The PLA also contained many National Revolutionary Army units and Generals who had defected to the PLA. Ma Hongbin and his son Ma Dunjing (19061972)were the only two Muslim Generals who led a Muslim unit, the 81st corps to ever serve in the PLA. Han Youwen, a Salar Muslim General, also defected to the PLA. In November 1950, the PLA or People's Volunteer Armyintervened in the Korean War as United Nations forces under General Douglas MacArthur approached the Yalu River. Under the weight of this offensive, Chinese forces drove MacArthur's forces out of North Korea and captured Seoul, but were subsequently pushed back to a line just north of the 38th Parallel. That war also served as a catalyst for the rapid modernization of the PLAAF. In 1962, the PLA also fought India in the Sino-Indian War successfully neutralizing Indian defenses and achieving all objectives.

Prior to the Cultural Revolution, military region commanders tended to remain in post for long periods. As the PLA took a stronger role in politics, this began to be seen as something of a threat to party (or, at least, civilian) control of the gun. The longest serving military region commanders were Xu Shiyou in the Nanjing Military Region (1954– 74), Yang Dezhi in the Jinan Military Region (1958–74), Chen Xilian in the Shenyang Military Region (1959–73), and Han Xianchu in the Fuzhou Military Region (1960–74).

Establishment of a professional military force equipped with modern weapons and doctrine was the last of the Four Modernizationsannounced by Zhou Enlai and supported by Deng Xiaoping. In keeping with Deng's mandate to reform, the PLA has demobilized millions of men and women since 1978 and has introduced modern methods in such areas as recruitment and manpower, strategy, andeducation and training. In 1979, the PLA fought Vietnam over a border skirmish in the Sino-Vietnamese War where it was reported by Western media that China lost more than 20,000 soldiers. Both sides claimed victory.

During the Sino-Soviet split, strained relations between China and Soviet Russia resulted in bloody border clashes and mutual backing for the opponents enemies. China and Afghanistan had neutral relations with each other during the King's rule. When the pro Soviet Afghan Communists seized power in Afghanistan in 1978, relations between China and the Afghan communists quickly turned hostile. The Afghan pro Soviet communists supported China's enemies in Vietnam and blamed China for supporting Afghan anti communist militants. China responded to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan by supporting the Afghan Mujahidin and ramping up their military presence near Afghanistan in Xinjiang. China acquired military equipment from America to defend itself from Soviet attack.

The People's Liberation Army trained and supported the Afghan Mujahidin during the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

China moved its training camps for the mujahideen from Pakistan into China itself. Hundreds of millions worth of anti aircraft missiles, rocket launchers and machine guns were given to the Mujahidin by the Chinese. Chinese military advisors and army troops were present with the Mujahidin during training.

The People's Liberation Army regularly intrudes into the Indian territory of Arunachal Pradesh. It threatens locals, destroys boundary walls and engages in bullying tactics. It also supports Maoist terrorists by supplying arms and ammunition and imparting training to them, and in many other covert ways to destabilize India.

In the 1980s, China shrunk its military considerably to free up resources for economic development, resulting in the relative decline in resources devoted to the PLA. Following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, ideological correctness was temporarily revived as the dominant theme in Chinese military affairs. Reform and modernization have today resumed their position as the PLA's priority objectives, although the armed forces' political loyalty to the CPC has remained a leading concern. Another area of concern to the political leadership was the PLA's involvement in civilian economic activities. These activities were thought to have impacted PLA readiness and has led the political leadership to attempt to divest the PLA from its non-military business interests.

Beginning in the 1980s, the PLA tried to transform itself from a land-based power, centred on a vast ground force, to a smaller, mobile, high-tech one capable of mounting operations beyond its borders. The motivation for this was that a massive land invasion by Russia was no longer seen as a major threat, and the new threats to China are seen to be a declaration of independence by Taiwan, possibly with assistance from the United States, or a confrontation over the Spratly Islands.

In 1985, under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the CMC, the PLA changed from being constantly prepared to "hit early, strike hard and to fight a nuclear war" to developing the military in an era of peace. The PLA reoriented itself to modernization, improving its fighting ability, and to become a worldclass force.

Deng Xiaoping stressed that the PLA needed to focus more on quality rather than on quantity. The decision of the Chinese government in 1985 to reduce the size of the military by one million was completed by 1987. Staffing in military leadership was cut by about 50 percent. During the Ninth Five Year Plan (1996–2000) the PLA was reduced by a further 500,000. The PLA had also been expected to be reduced by another 200,000 by 2005. The PLA has focused on increasing mechanization and informatization so as to be able to fight a high-intensity war.

Jiang Zemin in 1990 called on the military to "meet political standards, be militarily competent, have a good working style, adhere strictly to discipline, and provide vigorous logistic support" (Chinese: 部队要做到政治合格、军事过硬 、作风优良、纪律严明、保障有力;pinyin: bùduì yào zuò dào zhèngzhì hégé, jūnshì guòyìng, zuòfēng yōuliáng, jìlǜ yánmíng, bǎozhàng yǒulì).

The 1991 Gulf War provided the Chinese leadership with a stark realization that the PLA was an oversized, obsolescent force. The possibility of a militarized Japan has also been a continuous concern to the Chinese leadership since the late 1990s. In addition, China's military leadership has been reacting to and learning from the successes and failures of the American military during the Kosovo War, the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the ongoing Iraqi insurgency. All these lessons inspired China to transform PLA from a military based on quantity to one based on quality.

Chairman Jiang Zemin officially made a "Revolution in Military Affairs" (RMA) part of the official national military strategy in 1993 in order to modernize the Chinese armed forces. A goal of the RMA is to transform the PLA into a force capable of winning what it calls "local wars under high-tech conditions" rather than a massive, numbers-dominated ground-type war. The Chinese military planners call for short decisive campaigns, limited in both their geographic scope and their political goals. In contrast to the past, more attention is given to reconnaissance, mobility, and deep reach. This new vision has shifted resources towards the navy and air force. PLA is also actively preparing for space warfare and cyber-warfare.

For the past 10 to 20 years, the PLA has acquired some advanced weapons systems from Russia, including Sovremenny class destroyers, Sukhoi Su-27 and Sukhoi Su-30aircraft, and Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines. It has also completed several new destroyers and frigates including 2 AAW Type 052C class guided missile destroyers. In addition, the PLAAF has built an indigenous J-10 fighter aircraft. The PLA launched the new Jin class nuclear submarines on 3 December 2004 capable of launching nuclear warheads that could strike targets across the Pacific Ocean.

In August 2010, PLA Daily suggested that Chinese military strategy was out of date, and that China must "audaciously learn from the experience of the information cultures of foreign militaries"

Prime Minister spoke about the EU’s future and the success of the Hungarian economy

The current flag of Venezuela was introduced in 2006. The basic design includes a horizontal tricolor of yellow, blue, and red, dating to the original flag introduced in 1811, in the Venezuelan War of Independence. Further modifications have involved including a set of stars, multiple changes to the placement and number of stars and inclusion of an optional coat of arms at the upper-left corner.

History The flag is essentially the one designed by Francisco de Miranda for

his unsuccessful 1806 expedition to liberate Venezuela and later adopted by the National Congress of 1811. It consisted of three equal horizontal stripes of yellow, blue and red. Miranda's flag is also the inspiration for the flags of Colombia and Ecuador. This original design was first flown on March 12, 1806 at Jacmel, Haiti as Miranda's expedition prepared to make the final leg of its voyage to Venezuela. The flag was first flown over Venezuelan soil at La Vela de Coro, on August 3. Until August 3, 2006, Flag Day was celebrated in Venezuela on March 12. Since 2006 it has been celebrated on August 3.

Martyr's Day Guinea Bissau - Aug 03

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

History

Guinea-Bissau is a country of the western African continent on Atlantic Ocean. Populated by the Malinke, Fulani and other people from West Africa, Portuguese were the first ones to visit the country during the 15th century. Later on, it became one of the Portuguese colonies (1879).

The history of Guinea-Bissau was dominated by Portugal from the 1450s to 1970s. Since independence, the country has been primarily controlled by a single-party system.

Portuguese conquest and the consolidation of country’s interior did not start till the last half of 19th century. This was the time, when Portuguese lost a portion of the island to the French from West Africa. The struggle for independence was started in 1956 by PAIGC (African Party for Independence of Guinea & Cape Verde).

In 1961, it started the armed rebellion against Portuguese. After repeated pressure from the PAIGC, the Portuguese finally met their downfall in 1974. Following Carnation Revolution in April 1974 at Portugal, the country granted independence for the Guinea-Bissau on the September 10th of 1974. Half-brother of Amílcar Cabral, Luís Cabral, was the Guinea-Bissau’s first president.

Colonization Martyr’s Day is observed as an anniversary of the killings of Pidjiguiti. It is celebrated on August 3. It is marked as a day of remembrance of the brave martyrs of the nation. It originates from the Pidjiguiti massacre of 1959. The PAIGC launched their first major movement by instigating the dock-workers strike for better salaries. They did it at Pijiguiti Docks in the Guinea’s Port of Bissau on August 3, 1959.

The P.I.D.E. (political police) suppressed this strike, open wild fire on striking workers and killed more than 50 people.

The political authorities put the entire blame on the PAIGC for framing discontentment among the poor, absentminded workers. However, the loss had already occurred; more than 50 families lost their working heads. It urged a national trauma, which would never be fully cured. That traumatic day of August 3, 1959 is observed nationwide as the Colonization Martyr’s Day.

Celebrations

The Colonization Martyr’s Day is marked as a public holiday in Guinea-Bissau. There are no real celebrations on this day in the country. It is a day of national grief for the citizens of the nation. People on this day, mourn the Pidjiguiti massacre. They light candles and torch processions are a common feature of this day.

In remembrance of the departed souls, they also observe 5 minutes of nationwide silence. On this date, the President of the state delivers a speech, which is telecasted live on a nationwide scale. Here, he passionately remembers the sacrifices of the martyrs of the country and also talks about the economic and military upgrade of Guinea-Bissau.

Gradually over the years the people have come to terms to the loss….which still pains.

Photo: Gergely Botár (Online 22 Jul) Several programmes for children and military parades were organized in Budapest with a view to commemorating the rightly famous triumphant siege of Nándorfehérvár (currently Belgrade) in 1456, which has become deeply rooted in European historical memory by the practice of ringing church bells at noon.

Ships from the so-called Hunyadiline, which carries the name of the famous Hungarian nobleman and warlord János Hunyadi, who led the defence of the Nándorfehérvár fortress, moored at Széchenyi István square in Budapest in the morning, carrying about 300 children who participated in a study trip in the city of Belgrade. The trip took place within the framework of the Erzsé-

bet holiday camps, which give socially disadvantaged children access to recreational activities.

Programmes for children proceeded with museum-pedagogical activities and special Hungarian history lessons.

The Ordnance Disposal and Naval Battalion of the Hungarian Defence Force fired a cannon salute in honour of the heroes of the victory at Nádorfehérvár, and after the noon bell Minister for Agriculture Sándor Fazekas made a keynote speech in the courtyard of the Military History Institute and Museum, in which he called the victory of Nándorfehérvár a climax in Hungarian history.

Christian forces led by János Hunyadi, Hungarian nobleman and warlord, delivered a devastating defeat on Sultan Mehmed III’s

Turkish army, thus delaying the expansion of the Ottoman Empire in Europe. On the day of the battle, Pope Callixtus III ordered the bells of every European church to be rung every day at noon, as a call for believers to pray for the defenders of the city, thus the practice of the noon bell is traditionally attributed to the international commemoration of the battle.

In 2011, the Hungarian Parliament proclaimed 22 July a memorial day for the victory at Nándorfehérvár. In a decree published in Friday’s Official Gazette, Public Administration and Justice Minister Tibor Navracsics declared the commemorations to be a top priority event.

More students receiving state funding (Online 26 Jul) Minister of State for Higher Education István Klinghammer stressed on Thursday that the number of students admitted into state-funded higher education has gone up this year compared with 2012.

This year, a total of 58,844 students have been admitted to the state-financed courses of Hungarian universities and colleges for the academic year beginning in the autumn, compared to the 56,180

students last year. He outlined the figures after the credit threshold for higher education entry was officially announced on Wednesday evening.

The minimum credit for entry was 240 points this year, while 465 points, the maximum, were required to be admitted to applied economics, international studies and economic analysis studies faculties. Most applications were admitted to the Budapest ELTE

University of Humanities. The total number of applicants this year was 95,445, of which 72,159, or 75 percent, have been accepted to a higher education institution, Deputy State Secretary for Higher Education and Science Policy Zoltán Maruzsa pointed out. The most popular were the ELTE University, followed by the University of Debrecen and the Budapest Technical University, added.