Our Lady of the Rosary Spain - Oct 7
Our Lady of the Rosary (also Our Lady of the Holy Rosary or Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary) is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary in relation to the rosary. In 1571 Pope Pius V instituted "Our Lady of Victory" as an annual feast to commemorate the victory of Lepanto. The victory was attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, as a rosary procession had been offered on that day in St. Peter's Square in Rome for the success of the mission of the Holy League to hold back Muslim forces from overrunning Western Europe. In 1573, Pope Gregory XIII changed the title of this feast-day to "Feast of the Holy Rosary". This feast was extended by Pope Clement XII to the whole of the Latin Rite, inserting it into the Roman Catholic calendar of saints in 1716, and assigning it to the first Sunday in October. Pope Pius X changed the date to 7 October in 1913, as part of his effort to restore celebration of the liturgy of the Sundays. Prior to the battle of Lepanto, in thanks for the victory of the Battle of Muret, Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester built the first shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Victory. Our Lady of the Rosary is the patron saint of several places around the world and María del Rosario is a common female Spanish name (colloquially abbreviated to Rosario or Charo). Rosario can also be used as a male first name, particularly in Italian.
Battle of Angamos Peru - Oct 8
The Battle of Angamos (Combate naval de Angamos) was fought on October 8, 1879, during the naval stage of the War of the Pacific (Guerra del Pacífico). The Chilean Navy, commanded by Captain Galvarino Riveros and Captain Juan Jose Latorre surrounded and captured the ironclad Huáscar, commanded by Rear Admiral Miguel Grau Seminario, who died in combat. After the battle, the crippled Peruvian Navy was unable to prevent the invasion of its territory. The Huascar was repaired and served under the Chilean flag until its decommission, and now sits as a floating museum in the port of Talcahuano.
Background After the Naval Battle of Iquique, the Peruvian ironclad
Huascar made several incursions into Chilean waters, challenging the Chilean navy's domination along its entire coast; the Huascar attacked ports and captured transports. Chile's plan was to achieve naval supremacy prior to invading Bolivian and/or Peruvian territory to establish the logistic advantage needed to launch a terrestrial campaign. No attempt to disembark troops could be made by the Chileans, because the Huascar was preventing the entire Chilean Navy from taking control of the sea; the Chilean fleet was in a diminished state of readiness after a long campaign away from its base. In order to initiate the naval stage of the compaign the Huascar had to be eliminated or captured. The Chilean government accelerated their naval campaign to secure the logistic support for the planned land invasion of Peru. On September 20, the Chilean fleet sailed north, escorting an important convoy with troops bound for Antofagasta. Once at the port of Mejillones, Captain Galvarino Riveros reorganized the fleet into two divisions: 1st Division—Commodore Galvarino Riveros. I. Ironclad Blanco Encalada : Commodore Galvarino Riveros II. Schooner Virjen de Covadonga : Lt. Captain Manuel Orella Transport Matias Cousiño : Lt. Captain Augusto Castleton. 2nd Division—Commander Juan Jose Latorre III. Ironclad Almirante Cochrane : Commander Juan Jose Latorre IV. Corvette O’Higgins : Lt. Captain Jorge Montt Alvarez Transport Loa : Lt. Captain Javier Molinas Gacitua.
Chilean strategy:
Commander in Chief Galvarino Riveros on October 1 summoned his officers to a council, where it was decided to hunt down the Peruvian vessel at Arica. The same day Grau in his flagship Huascar gave orders to sail along the Chilean coast as far south as Coquimbo, accompanied by the corvette Union. Because the Chilean fleet sailed close to the shore and the Peruvian fleet was farther out in the open sea, the formations passed in opposite directions without seeing each other. Chilean Minister of War Sotomayor conceived a plan that called for Latorre’s division to cruise perpendicular to the coast at Mejillones, while Riveros’ division sailed to Antofagasta to observe and to defend the city. So, if the Huascar tried to attack the port, it would be surrounded by the Blanco Encalada and the heavier warships. On the other hand, if Grau passed by, Riveros could follow, keeping him from escaping southward and forcing the Peruvian admiral northward toward Latorre's division. In Mejillones, on October 7, a plan was approved to deceive the Peruvian ships. Riveros would wait for Grau at Antofagasta while Latorre would set up an east-west barrier-like formation about twenty miles (36 km) from shore. If Riveros spotted the Huascar, he would follow and keep it from retreating to the south until Latorre engaged the Peruvian fleet. During the night the Peruvian warships were sailing off the Chilean coast northward toward Arica when they saw the light of Antofagasta. Admiral Grau decided to engage any Chilean vessel in port, intending to inflict some damage. At 01:10 hrs on October 8, the Huascar searched the bay without encountering any targets. She came up with the Union at 03:00 hrs, and the two warships resumed their northward heading. At the same hour lookouts on the Chilean Blanco Encalada saw two smoke columns on the horizon. Simultaneously, Grau was informed that there were three columns of smoke to the north; he decided to investigate. Both fleets spotted each other and the Peruvian ships turned back to the south. Riveros ordered a reduction in speed of the Chilean ships to make Grau think it was possible to turn back north and sail for Peru. At 05:40 hrs indeed the two Peruvian ships began to slowly turn once again to the north. The Blanco Encalada increased speed and began closing on the Peruvians to discourage Grau from again turning back to the south. At 07:15 hrs, steaming northward, the two Peruvian vessels spotted smoke columns ahead; it was Latorre’s division approaching. Since the Peruvian Union could manage 13 knots, she was able to sail northeastward and escape, but the Huascar had to stay the course and fight.
N a v a l B a t t le of A nga m os
Struggle The Off Punta Angamos at 09:25 hrs the Huascar opened fire on the Cochrane. The latter did not return fire but continued
to close. She reached her effective cannon range of 2,200 meters 15 minutes later. The Cochrane, Captain Latorre, began to shell the Peruvian ironclad. One of the Chilean shots pierced the Huascar's turret, wounding the twelve crew members manning the 300-pound cannons. Another shot perforated the armour just above the Huascar's waterline, cutting her left rudder chain and leaving her temporarily adrift. The Huascar now was listing hard to starboard and was hampered also by a deformation in the hull acquired when she rammed the Esmeralda during their engagement at Iquique five months earlier. Barely ten minutes later an emergency rudder had been set by the Huascar's crew. At 10:00 hrs another shell from the Cochrane hit the Huascar, piercing the bridge cabin and killing Admiral Grau and his adjunct, Diego Ferre. Command then fell to Lt. Captain Elías Aguirre. The explosion also shattered the vessel's rudder wheel. Lt. Captain Gaona’s gunners caused heavy casualties among the Peruvian crew: the Chileans were using Palliser type armor-piercing rounds, which exploded right after penetrating the hull. At 10:10, the Huascar flag was bring down from its hoist by the intense gunfire. Latorre ordered a halt to the fire, thinking that the ship was surrendered. However, the monitor kept his pace and within minutes an unidentified officer hoisted again, resuming the combat. Meanwhile, the Huascar crew had again repaired the rudder wheel. At 10:22 hrs, with the Blanco Encalada and the Covadonga at close range, a shot from Blanca Encalada, Commodore Riveros, perforated the Huacar's artillery tower, killing almost all of the sailors within and damaging the rightmost cannon. Another shot, from the Cochrane, passed through the officers' quarters and wrecked the emergency rudder station, which had been disabled already twice before. The Huascarnow could sail only in a wide semicircle to starboard. Once rudder control was regained, Captain Aguirre of the Huascar tried to ram the Cochrane. Latorre was also manoeuvring to ram the Huascar, but the Peruvian ironclad, whose steering was again enabled, suddenly veered to port and both ships passed by each other. Another shell pierced the Huascar's artillery tower 12 minutes later, killing all within, including Captain Aguirre. Command of the ship went to Lt. Pedro Garezon, who in conference with the remaining officers to scuttle the ship rather than allow it to be captured. At 10:54 hrs the order was given to evacuate the wounded from the engine room and open the seacocks to scuttle the ship and hence prevent its capture. At 10:55 hrs Huascar flag was bring down for second time. The Chilean warships, noticing that the Huascar was decreasing speed, mustered their boarding parties. At 11:08 hrs, 14 to 20 Chileans sailors boarded the Huascar, without encountering any resistance. They closed the seacock valves (with 1.2 meters of water in the engine room) and extinguished several fires while the now captured Peruvian crew was being transported to the Chilean vessels as prisoners of war.
Consequences With capture of the Huascar, plus the previous neutralization of the Independencia at Punta Gruesa, fire power of
the Peruvian Navy was drastically reduced, bringing the sea campaign of the War of the Pacific to an end. From now on, the Chilean Navy was able to use the Huascar as one of its own ships. The decisive victory at Angamos allowed the Chilean Army to freely decide the course of action to attack the Allies, and the land invasion of Peru and Bolivia began.
Death of Henri Christophe Haiti - Oct 8
Henri Christophe (who chose for himself an anglicized name Henry Christopher) (6 October 1767 – 8 October 1820) was a key leader in the Haitian Revolution, winning independence from France in 1804. On 17 February 1807, after the creation of a separate nation in the north, Christophe was elected President of the State of Haiti. On 26 March 1811, he was proclaimed Henry I, King of Haïti. He is also known for constructing the Citadelle Laferrière.
Early life Born Christopher Henry
probably in Grenada, the son of Christophe, a freeman, Christophe was brought to Saint Domingue as a slave in the northern region. In 1779 he may have served with the French Forces as a drummer boy in the American Revolution in the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Dominigue, a regiment composed of gens de couleur. They fought at the Siege of Savannah. As an adult, Christophe worked as a mason, sailor, stable hand, waiter, and billiard maker. He worked in and managed a hotel restaurant in Cap-Français, the capital of the French colony of Saint-Domingue, where he became skilled at dealing with the grand blancs, as the wealthy white French planters were called. Such political skills also served him well when he became an officer in the military and leader in the country. He was said to have obtained his freedom as a young man, before the Slave Uprising of 1791. Sometime after he had settled in Haiti he brought his sister Marie there, where she married and had issue. Beginning with the slave uprising of 1791, Christophe distinguished himself in the Haïtian Revolution and quickly rose to be an officer. He fought for years with Toussaint Louverture in the north, helping defeat the French, the Spanish, British, and finally French national troops. By 1802 he was a general under Toussaint Louverture.
Independent Haiti After the French deported Toussaint Louverture to France, and
fighting continued under Rochambeau, Jean Jacques Dessalines recognized they wanted to reenslave the blacks. He led the fight to defeat French forces. As leader, Dessalines declared Saint-Domingue's independence and the new name of Haiti in 1804. In 1806 Christophe was aware of a plot to kill Dessalines; seeing an opportunity to seize power for himself, he did not warn the self-proclaimed Emperor. The plot was said to involve Alexandre Pétion, a competing "gens de couleur"; as a half-white, Pétion held a weak position among the majority of black leaders and population and possibly viewed assassination as the surest way of removing Dessalines. However, this allegation has not been proven; other sources clear Pétion's name from the plot and say that he has been tied to it only on the basis of such conjectures. In any case, Dessalines was assassinated, and Christophe was elected to the newly created position of president, but without real powers.
and kingdom of Haiti State Feeling insulted, Christophe retreated with his followers
to the Plaine du Nord and created a separate government there. Christophe had suspected that he would be next to be assassinated. In 1807 Christophe declared himself président et généralissime des forces de terre et de mer de l'État d'Haïti (English: President and Generalissimo of the armies of land and sea of the State of Haïti). Pétion became President of the "Republic of Haïti" in the south backed by General Boyer who had control of the southern armies. In 1811 Henry made the northern state of Haïti a kingdom, and was ordained King by Arch Bishop of Milot Corneil Breuil. The edict of 1 April 1811 gave his full title as Henri, par la grâce de Dieu et la Loi constitutionelle de l'État Roi d'Haïti, Souverain des Îles de la Tortue, Gonâve, et autres îles adjacentes, Destructeur de la tyrannie, Régénérateur et bienfaiteur de la nation haïtienne, Créateur de ses institutiones morales, politiques et guerrières, Premier monarque couronné du Nouveau-Monde, Défenseur de la foi, Fondateur de l'ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Henri. Henry, by the grace of God and constitutional law of the state, King of Haiti, Sovereign of Tortuga, Gonâve, and other adjacent islands, Destroyer of tyranny, Regenerator and Benefactor of the Haïtian nation, Creator of her moral, political, and martial institutions, First crowned monarch of the New World, Defender of the faith, Founder of the Royal Military Order of Saint Henry. He renamed Cap Français Cap-Henri. It is now called Cap-Haïtien. Christophe named his legitimate son, Jacques-Victor Henry, heir apparent with the title Prince Royal of Haïti. Even in documents written in French, the king's name was usually given an English spelling. He had another son who was a colonel in his army. Christophe built for his own use six châteaux, eight palaces and the massive Citadelle Laferrière, still considered one of the wonders of the era. Nine years later, at the end of his monarchy, he had increased the number of designated nobility from the original 87 to 134. Politically, in the North, Christophe was caught between reinforcing a version of the slave plantation system in an attempt to increase agricultural production, or handing out the plantation land for peasant cultivation (the approach taken by Alexandre Petion in the South). King Henry took the route of enforcing corvee plantation work on the population in lieu of taxes alongside his massive building projects. As a result, Northern Haiti during his reign was despotic but relatively wealthy. He preferred trading with English merchants and American merchants than both French and Spanish merchants which did not recognize Haiti as independent country, he ordered that extra Africans be brought to Haiti to work on his vast projects instead of being traded to other Caribbean countries where they would be held as slaves. As a result, numerous Africans who were originally brought by the French as slaves came to Haiti. He made an agreement with Britain that Haiti would not be threat to their Caribbean colonies in return that the British Navy would warn the Kingdom of Haiti of any imminent attack from French troops, in 1807 the British Parliament passed the Slave Trade of 1807 which did not outlaw slavery, but abolishing the importation of African slaves in British territory, because of this increased bilateral trade, he had gathered an enormous sum of British pounds for his treasury. By contrast, Petion's Southern Haiti became much poorer because the land-share destroyed agricultural productivity.
Nobility and heraldry
One of Christophe's first acts as king was to create a Haïtian Peerage, with four princes, seven dukes, 22 counts, 40 barons and 14 chevaliers. Christophe also founded a College of Arms to provide armorial bearings to the newly ennobled. Christophe's kingship was modelled in part on the enlightened absolutism of Frederick the Great. Thomas Clarkson, the English slave abolitionist, held a long written correspondence with Christophe which gives insights into his philosophy and style of government (Griggs and Prator). The king sought an education for his children along the lines of the princelings of Enlightenment Europe.
End of reign Despite his efforts to promote education and establish a legal system called the Code Henry, King Henri was an un-
popular autocratic monarch. In addition, his realm was constantly challenged by that of the South, which was ruled by gens de couleur. Toward the end of Christophe's reign, public sentiment was sharply against what many perceived to be his feudal policies, which he intended to develop the country. Ill and infirm at age fifty-three, King Henry shot himself with a silver bullet rather than face the possibility of a coup. He was buried within the Citadelle Laferriere. Pierre Nord Alexis, President of Haiti from 1902–1908, was Christophe's grandson. Michèle Bennett Duvalier, First Lady of Haiti from 1980 to 1986, was Christophe's great-great-great-granddaughter.
Navy Day Peru - Oct 8
Navy Day in Peru is a national holiday celebrated on October 8 to commemorate the Battle of Angamos in 1879 and it is also the anniversary of the creation of the Peruvian Navy in 1821.
HISTORY
The Peruvian ironclad Huascar continued after the Naval Battle of Iquique to make several incursions attacking Chilean ports along its entire coast and capturing transports and challenging Chilean naval dominion. Chile’s plan was to achieve naval supremacy before invading Peru so the Huascar had to be eliminated or captured because it is thwarting Chile’s plans. So the government of Chile made a decision to advance the naval campaign in order to achieve sea domination. Once sea domination was achieved the land operations with the logistic support can commence. The Huascar opened fire at the Chilean battleship Cochrane on October 8, 1879 at 09:25 hrs at Punta Angamos, but the Cochrane did not fire back until it closed in on the Huascar. Upon reaching its effective cannon range it began to shell the ironclad. One shot pierced the artillery turret wounding the crews of the cannons and another shot punctured the armor cutting the left rudder. Another shot from the Cochrane pierced the Huascar bridge instantly killing its admiral and another officer. The Chilean war ships noticed that the Huascar was slowing down so they began preparations to board it. The Peruvian Navy’s fire power was drastically reduced with capture of the Huascar. This brought the sea campaign of the War of the Pacific to an end. The Chilean Navy soon used the Huascar as one of its own ships. The significant victory at Angamos permitted the Chilean Army to decide the best way to attack the Allies.
Celebrations Navy Day celebrations typically include military parades and other activities, such as speeches from politicians and navy leaders.
Independence Day Uganda - Oct 9
Uganda officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, which is also bordered by Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda takes its name from the Buganda kingdom, which encompassed a portion of the south of the country including the capital Kampala. The people of Uganda were hunter-gatherers until 1,700 to 2,300 years ago, when Bantu-speaking populations migrated to the southern parts of the country. Uganda gained independence from Britain on 9 October 1962. The official languages are English and Swahili, although multiple other languages are spoken in the country.
History
The Ugandans were hunter-gatherers until 1,700 to 2,300 years ago. Bantu-speaking populations, who were probably from central Africa, migrated to the southern parts of the country. These groups brought and developed ironworking skills and new ideas of social and political organization. The Empire of Kitara covered most of the great lakes area, from Lake Albert, Lake Tanganyika, Lake Victoria, to Lake Kyoga. Its leadership headquarters were mainly in what became Ankole, believed to have been run by the Bachwezi dynasty in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, who may have followed a semi-legendary dynasty known as the Batembuzi. Bunyoro-Kitara is claimed as the antecedent of later kingdoms; Buganda and Ankole. The Nilotic Luo invasion is believed to have led the collapse of Chwezi empire. The twins Rukidi Mpuuga and Kato Kimera are believed to be the first kings of Bunyonro and Buganda after the Chwezi Empire collapsed, creating the Babiito and Bambejja Dynasty. Nilotic people including Luo and Ateker entered the area from the north, probably beginning about A.D. 120. They were cattle herders and subsistence farmers who settled mainly the northern and eastern parts of the country. Some Luo invaded the area of Bunyoro and assimilated with the Bantu there, establishing the Babiito dynasty of the current Omukama (ruler) of Bunyoro-Kitara. Luo migration continued until the 16th century, with some Luo settling amid Bantu people in Eastern Uganda, with others proceeding to the western shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya and Tanzania. The Ateker (Karimojong and Iteso) settled in the northeastern and eastern parts of the country, and some fused with the Luo in the area north of Lake Kyoga. Arab traders moved inland from the Indian Ocean coast of East Africa in the 1830s. They were followed in the 1860s by British explorers C o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h e O w e n searching for the source of the Nile. Protestantmissionaries entered the country in 1877, followed by Catholic missionaries in 1879. The F a l l s D a m i n J i n j a . C o n occurred beUnited Kingdom placed the area under the charter of the British East s t r u c t i o n Africa Company in 1888, and ruled it as a protectorate from 1894. t we e n 1 9 5 1 a nd 1 9 5 4 As several other territories and chiefdoms were integrated, the final protectorate called Uganda took shape in 1914. From 1900 to 1920, a sleeping sickness epidemic killed more than 250,000 people, about two-thirds of the population in the affected lake-shore areas. Uganda gained independence from Britain in 1962, maintaining its Commonwealth membership. The first post-independence election, held in 1962, was won by an alliance between the Uganda People's Congress (UPC) and Kabaka Yekka (KY). UPC and KY formed the first post-independence government with Milton Obote as executive Prime Minister, the Buganda Kabaka (King) Edward Muteesa II holding the largely ceremonial position of President and William Wilberforce Nadiope, the Kyabazinga (paramount chief) of Busoga, as Vice President. In 1966, following a power struggle between the Obote-led government and King Muteesa, the UPC-dominated Parliament changed the constitution and removed the ceremonial president and vice president. In 1967, a new constitution proclaimed Uganda a republic and abolished the traditional kingdoms. Without first calling elections, Obote was declared the executive President. After a military coup in 1971, Obote was deposed from power and the dictator Idi Amin seized control of the country. Amin ruled Uganda with the military for the next eight years and carried out mass killings within the country to maintain his rule. An estimated 300,000 Ugandans lost their lives at the hands of his regime. Aside from his brutalities, he forcibly removed the entrepreneurial South Asian minority from Uganda, which left the country's economy in ruins. Amin's atrocities were graphically accounted in the 1977 book, "A State of Blood," which was written by one of his former ministers after he fled the country. Amin's reign was ended after the Uganda-Tanzania War in 1979 in which Tanzanian forces aided by Ugandan exiles invaded Uganda. This led to the return of Obote, who was deposed once more in 1985 by General Tito Okello. Okello ruled for six months until he was deposed after the so called "bush war" by the National Resistance Army (NRA) operating under the leadership of the current president, Yoweri Museveni, and various rebel groups, including the Federal Democratic Movement of Andrew Kayiira, and another belonging to John Nkwaanga. Museveni has been in power since 1986. In the mid to late 1990s, he was lauded by the West as part of a new generation of African leaders. His presidency has included involvement in the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other conflicts in the Great Lakes region, as well as the civil war against the Lord's Resistance Army, which has been guilty of numerous crimes against humanity including child slavery and mass murder. Conflict in northern Uganda has killed thousands and displaced millions.
The Fiesta Nacional de España (Festa Nacional d'Espanya in C a t a l a n / Va l e n c i a n ; Festa Nacional de España in Galician; Espainiako Jai Nazionala in Basque) is the national day of Spain. It is held annually on October 12 and is a national holiday. It commemorates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's first arrival in the Americas, a day also celebrated in other countries.
National Day Spain - Oct 12
History The anniversary
of Columbus' landing in the New World on October 12, 1492 is widely celebrated throughout the Americas, where it is known as Columbus Day in the United States and as Dia de la Raza in various Latin American countries. Celebration of the anniversary in Spain dates to 1935, when the first festival was held in Madrid. The day was known as Dia de la Hispanidad, emphasizing Spain's connection to the Hispanidad, the international Hispanic community. On November 27, 1981, a royal decree established Día de la Hispanidad as a national holiday. However, on October 7, 1987 the name was changed to Fiesta Nacional, and October 12 became one of two national celebrations, along with Constitution Day on December 6. Spain's "national day" had moved around several times during the various regime changes of the 20th century; establishing it on the day of the international Columbus celebration was part of a compromise between conservatives, who wanted to emphasize the status of the monarchy and Spain's history, and Republicans, who wanted to commemorate Spain's burgeoning democracy with an official holiday. The change in name had the effect of removing all reference to Spain's historical colonialism, and even its ties to Latin America. Since 2000, October 12 has also been Spain's Day of the Armed Forces, celebrated each year with a military parade in Madrid. To commemorate it, there is a parade led by the military (usually held in Madrid) presided by the Spanish King, who is the Head of State, since Spain is politically organized as a constitutional monarchy. The Prime Minister of Spain (Presidente del Gobierno) has also a special role in the ceremony, only second to that of the King. Then a wide array of authorities, from foreign diplomats deployed in Spain to members of the Autonomous governments, are invited to attend the parade performed by the Spanish Armed Forces, which typically feature a display by the Spanish Air Force's aerobatics team, the Patrulla Águila. Other than this, however, the holiday is not widely or enthusiastically celebrated in Spain; there are no other large-scale patriotic parades, marches, or other events, and the observation is generally overshadowed by the feast day of Our Lady of the Pillar.
Rwagasore Day Burundi - Oct 13
Prince Louis Rwagasore (10 January 1932 — 13 October 1961) is Burundi's national and independence hero. He was a Burundi nationalist and prime minister. He was the son of Mwami (King) Mwambutsa IV. He briefly attended university in Belgium, but left to spearhead his country's anti-colonial movement. He founded a series of African cooperatives to encourage economic independence, but these were quickly banned by Belgium in 1958. That same year, Rwagasore established a nationalist political movement, UPRONA (Union for National Progress). Believing that the role of the royal family should transcend partisan politics, his father promoted him to Chief of Butanyerera, but Rwagasore turned down the appointment so that he could devote himself fully to the nationalist cause. Rwagasore, a Tutsi, was married to a Hutu woman, and it was hoped he could bridge the differences between the two groups, Tutsi and Hutu, in an independent Burundi. At the first UPRONA Congress (March 1960), he demanded complete independence for Burundi and called on the local population to boycott Belgian stores and refuse to pay taxes. Because of his calls for civil disobedience, he was placed under house arrest. Despite the setbacks, Rwagasore and UPRONA won a clear victory in elections for the colony's Legislative Assembly in 1961, winning 80 percent of the vote. The next day, he was declared prime minister, with a mandate to prepare the country for independence.
Leif Erikson Day U.S. - Oct 9
Leif Erikson Day is an annual American observance occurring on October 9. It honors Leif Ericson (Old Norse: Leifr Eiríksson or the Norwegian: "Leiv Eiriksson"), the Norse explorer who brought the first Europeans known to have set foot in North America.
History America Not Discovered by Columbus by Rasmus B.
Anderson was published in 1874. This book helped popularize the now familiar idea that Vikings were the first Europeans in the New World. During his appearance at the Norse-American Centennial in 1925, President Calvin Coolidge gave recognition to Leif Erikson as the Discoverer of America due to research by Norwegian-American scholars such as Knut Gjerset and Ludvig Hektoen. In 1930, Wisconsin became the first U.S. state to officially adopt Leif Erikson Day as a state holiday, thanks in large part to efforts by Rasmus Anderson. A year later, the state of Minnesota followed suit. By 1956, Leif Erikson Day had been made an official observance in seven states (Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Illinois, Colorado, Washington, and California) and one Canadian province (Saskatchewan). In 1963, the U.S. Representative from Duluth, John Blatnik, introduced a bill to observe Leif Erikson Day nationwide. The following year Congress adopted this unanimously. In 1964, theUnited States Congress authorized and requested the President to create the observance through an annual proclamation. Lyndon B. Johnson and each President since have done so. Presidents have used the proclamation to praise the contributions of Americans of Nordic descent generally and the spirit of discovery. In addition to the federal observance, some states officially commemorate Leif Erikson Day, particularly in the Upper Midwest, where large numbers of people from the Nordic countries settled.
Date
October 9 is not associated with any particular event in Leif Erikson's life. The date was chosen because the ship Restauration coming from Stavanger, Norway, arrived in New York Harbor on October 9, 1825 at the start of the first organized immigration from Norway to the United States.
Han'Gul South Korea - Oct 9
Hangul Day — also called Hangul Proclamation Day or Korean Alphabet Day — is a Korean national commemorative day marking the invention and the proclamation of hangul (한 글 ), the native alphabet of the Korean language, by King Sejong the Great. It is observed on October 9 in South Korea and on January 15 in North Korea. In North Korea, the day is called Chosun-gul Day. According to the Sejong Sillok (세종실록;世宗實綠), King Sejong proclaimed publication of Hunmin Jeongeum (훈민정음;訓民正音), the document introducing the newly created alphabet which was also originally called by the same name, in the ninth month of the lunar calendar in 1446. In 1926, the Hangul Society celebrated the octo-sexagesimal (480th) anniversary of the declaration of hangul on the last day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar, which is on November 4 of the Gregorian calendar. Members of the Society declared it the first observance of "Gagyanal (가갸날)". The name came from "Gagyageul (가갸글)", an early colloquial name for hangul, based on a mnemonic recitation beginning "gagya geogyeo (가갸거겨)". The name of the commemorative day was changed to "Hangullal" in 1928, soon after the term "hangul," coined originally in 1913 by Ju Si-gyeong, became widely accepted as the new name for the alphabet. The day was then celebrated according to the lunar calendar. In 1931, the celebration of the day was switched to October 29 of the Gregorian calendar. In 1934, arose the claim that they must assume that the Julian calendar was used in 1446, so the date was again changed to October 28. The discovery in 1940 of an original copy of the Hunmin Jeongeum Haerye, a volume of commentary to the Hunmin Jeongeum that appeared not long after the document it commented upon, revealed that the Hunmin Jeongeum was announced during the first ten days (sangsun; 상순; 上旬) of the ninth month. The tenth day of the ninth month of 1446 of the lunar calendar in 1446 was equivalent to October 9 of the Julian calendar. After the South Korean government was established in 1945, Hangul Day was declared as a legal holiday to be marked on October 9, on which governmental workers are excused from work. Its legal status as a holiday was removed in 1991 because of pressure from major employersto increase the number of working days, along with the introduction of the Korean United Nations Day. However, Hangul Day still retains a legal status as a national commemoration day. The Hangul Society has campaigned to restore the holiday's former status, but with little impact. North Korea celebrates the equivalent Chosŏn'gŭl Day on January 15 to mark the day in 1444 (1443 in lunar calendar), which is believed to be that of the actual creation of Hunmin Jeongeum.
D o u b l e Te n t h D a y Ta i w a n - O c t 1 0
Double Ten Day (traditional Chinese: 雙十節; simplified Chinese: 双十节; pinyin: Shuāng Shí Jié) is the national day of the Republic of China (ROC) and celebrates the start of the Wuchang Uprising of October 10, 1911, which led to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in China and establishment of the Republic of China on January 1, 1912. It is therefore designated by the government as National Celebration Day (traditional Chinese: 國慶日; simplified Chinese:国庆日; pinyin: Guóqìng Rì). As a result of the Chinese Civil War, the Government of the Republic of China lost control of mainland China and relocated to Taiwan in 1949. The National Celebration Day is now mainly celebrated in the Free Area which remains under control of the Republic, but is also celebrated by some Overseas Chinese.
Croatia officially the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Republika Hrvatska), is a country in Central Europe and Southeastern Europe at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain, the Balkans, and the Adriatic Sea. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. Croatia borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the southeast, and has a comparatively small stretch of border with Montenegro at its southernmost tip along the Adriatic coast. The Croats arrived in the early 7th century in what today is Croatia. They organized the state into two dukedoms. The first king, King Tomislav was crowned in AD 925 and Croatia was elevated into the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for almost two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Peter Krešimir IV and Demetrius Zvonimir. Croatia entered a union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand from the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, Croatia was included in the short-lived State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs that declared independence from Austria–Hungary and co-founded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. A Croatian state briefly existed during World War II, but it was a Nazi/Fascist puppet-state. After World War II, Croatia became a founding member of the Second Yugoslavia. On 25 June 1991, Croatia declared independence and became a sovereign state. Since the fall of communism and the end of the Croatian War of Independence, Croatia has achieved high human development and income equality, and ranks highly amongst Central European nations in terms of education, health, quality of life and economic dynamism. Croatia is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, NATO, the World Trade Organization and CEFTA. Croatia is an acceding state of the European Union, with entry expected in July 2013, and is a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean. Croatia is classified as an emerging and developing economy by the International Monetary Fund and a high income economy by the World Bank.
History
Prehistory and antiquity:
The area known as Croatia today was inhabited throughout the prehistoric period. Fossils of Neanderthals dating to the middle Paleolithic period have been unearthed in the areas of Krapina and Vindija in northern Croatia. Remnants of the Starčevo, Vučedol and Hvar cultures, all dating from the early Neolithic period, were found in other parts of the country. The Iron Age left traces of the Hallstatt culture (early Illyrians) and the La Tène culture (Celts). Much later the region was settled by Liburnians and Illyrians, and Greek colonies were established on the islands of Vis (by Dionysius I of Syracuse) and Hvar. In 9 AD the territory of today's Croatia became part of the Roman Empire. Emperor Diocletian built a massive palace in Split where he retired from politics in AD 305. During the 5th century the last Roman Emperor Julius Nepos ruled his small empire from Diocletian's Palace before he was killed in AD 480. Early history of Croatia ends with the Avar invasion in the first half of the 7th century and the destruction of almost all Roman towns. Roman survivors retreated to strategically better defended points on the coast, islands and mountains. The modern city of Dubrovnik was founded by those survivors. Ethnogenesis of Croatian people (called White Croats before the migration) started with their emigration from the territory of White Croatia, located in central Europe, to the area of the present day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Oton Iveković, The arrival of the Croats at the shores of A dr ia t ic .
Medieval Croatia:
According to the work De Administrando Imperio written by the 10th-century Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Croats had arrived in what is today Croatia probably in the early 7th century. They soon formed two dukedoms; the Duchy of Pannonia in the north and the Duchy of Littoral Croatia in the south. The Christianization of Croats first began in the 7th century when Pope John IV (640–642) sent Christian teachers and missionaries to Croatian Provinces, and was mostly complete by the 9th century. In the late 8th century both duchies became Frankish vassals before regaining independence in the following century. The first native Croatian ruler recognized by thePope was duke Branimir, whom Pope John VIII referred to as Dux Croatorum ("Duke of Croats") in 879. Duke Tomislav of Littoral Croatia was the most prominent member of the House of Trpimirović, a dynasty which ruled Croatia between the 9th and 11th century. Tomislav annexed parts of Pannonian Croatia and merged the two duchies into a single kingdom in 925, which is assumed to have been delimited by the Adriatic Sea, the Drava river, the Raša river and the Drina river. The medieval Croatian kingdom reached its peak in the 11th century during the reigns of Petar Krešimir IV (1058–1074) and Zvonimir (1075–1089). Following the extinction of the Croatian ruling dynasty in 1091, Ladislaus I of Hungary – brother of Helen II, the last Croatian queen – became king of Croatia. Croatian nobility of the Littoral opposed this crowning which led to a 10-year war and the subsequent recognition of the Hungarian ruler Coloman as king of Croatia and Hungary in the treaty of 1102 referred to as Pacta conventa. In return, Coloman promised to maintain Croatia as an autonomous kingdom headed by a viceroy, titled Ban. For the next four centuries, the Kingdom of Croatia was ruled by Sabor (parliament) and Bans appointed by the Hungarian king. The Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia remained a legally distinct constitutional entity, but the advent of a Hungarian king brought about other consequences such as: the introduction of feudalism and the rise of native noble families such as the Frankopans and the Šubićs. The 1273Congregatio Regni tocius Sclavonie Generalis, the oldest surviving document written by the Croatian parliament, dates from this period.Subsequent kings sought to restore some of their previously lost influence by granting certain privileges to towns. The first period of personal union between Croatia and Hungary ended in 1526 with the Battle of Mohács and the defeat of Hungarian forces by the Ottomans. After the death of King Louis II, Croatian nobles at the Cetingrad assembly chose the Habsburgs as new rulers of the Kingdom of Croatia, under the condition that they provide the troops and finances required to protect Croatia against the Ottoman Empire.
Dalmatian cities:
Celebration in Taiwan In Taiwan, the official celebration starts with the raising of the flag of the Republic of China in front of the Presidential
Building, followed by public singing of the National Anthem of the Republic of China. It is then followed by celebrations in front of the Presidential Building, including a military parade. Festivities displayed also include many aspects of traditional Chinese culture, like the lion dance and drum teams. Later in the day, the President of the Republic of China addresses the country and fireworks displays are held throughout the major cities of the island. During the Double Ten Day of 2009, all government sponsored festivities were canceled, and the money intended for the festivals (NT$ 70 million) were reallocated for reconstruction of the damage done by Typhoon Morakot.
While the Kingdom of Croatia controlled much of the hinterland of what was once the Roman province of Dalmatia, the fortified cities of Dalmatia, at the time the economic and cultural centres of the region, still with a substantial amount of Romance-speaking population, mostly remained under nominal Byzantine control, with the Kingdom of Croatia and the Republic of Venice vying for control over them. These included Zadar, Šibenik, Split and Dubrovnik (at the time known as Ragusa). Dubrovnik had originally been founded in the 7th century, and evolved into an independent maritime republic. During the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) the city fell under the control of Venice, which lasted until the 14th century and the 1358 Treaty of Zadar when Venetians' defeat at the hands of the Kingdom of Hungary caused them to lose control of Dalmatia. By the 15th century Venice again brought much of Dalmatia under its control but the Republic of Ragusa, under protection of the Ottomans and Habsburgs, enjoyed independence and became rich through trade. At a time when inland Croatia was embroiled in a series of devastating wars against the Ottoman Empire, Dubrovnik flourished and became the most important centre for Croatian literature during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In 1797 Napoleon's forces occupied the entire eastern Adriatic coastline as well as a substantial part of the hinterland, ending both the Venetian and the Ragusan republics and establishing the French-controlled Illyrian Provinces. Along with the large Slavic (Croatian) majority, Dalmatia retained large Italian communities along the coast. According to the 1816 Austro-Hungarian census, 22% of Dalmatian population was Italian-speaking. Since the 19th century, most Dalmatian Italians and Morlachs (speakers of the Istro-Romanian language) were gradually assimilated by the prevailing Croatian culture and language.
Habsburg Monarchy and Austria-Hungary: Day Military Parade National In the past, the Military of the Republic of China has traditionally put on a military parade. During this parade, troops In 1529 the Ottoman army captured Buda and besieged Vienna in an event which brought turmoil to Croatian border
and equipment are marched past a reviewing platform in front of the Presidential Building. Typically, foreign ambassadors, military officers, and other representatives and dignitaries are invited to view the parade. The parade has been held intermitently during the period of the Republic of China on Taiwan. On October 10, 1949 the first public military parade was held in Taiwan by the Nationalist Government with Chen Cheng serving as the Grand Review Officer. The 1964 National Day parade was struck by tragedy when a low flying airforce F-104 Phantom fighter aircraft struck a Broadcasting Corporation of China tower, causing the plane's fuel tank to fall and kill three people including a woman and her baby in front of the Central Weather Bureau building in downtown Taipei. The other two remaining F-104 aircraft were ordered to look for the crashed aircraft and accidentally collided and crashed in Tucheng City, Taipei County (now New Taipei City) killing both pilots. The parade was not held again until 1975. When Chen Shui-bian became President, the parade was not held until 2007 and then it was entitled a "Celebration Drill" and not a traditional military parade. Since Ma Yingjeou became president, no parade has been held.
outside of Taiwan Celebration Overseas Chinese played a key role in the birth of the ROC since
the nation’s founding father Sun Yat-sen, a medical doctor by training, received financial support mainly from the overseas Chinese communities abroad to overthrow the imperial Qing dynasty and establish the second republic in Asia in 1912. Outside of Taiwan, Double Ten Day is also celebrated by many Overseas Chinese communities. Sizable Double Ten Day parades occur yearly in the Chinatowns of San Francisco and Chicago. On mainland China, it is celebrated as the anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution and the Wuchang Uprising. Before the sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred to the PRC in 1997, many ROC supporters there would display patriotic and colorful flags (mainly the national flag of ROC) to celebrate Double Ten Day. Taiwan agencies such as the Kwang Hwa Information and Culture Center in Hong Kong have annually held a public ceremony to celebrate Double Ten with members of pro-ROC private groups. The day continues to be celebrated in Hong Kong after the transfer of sovereignty to the mainland, but the national flags publicly shown have been removed by Police of Hong Kong ever since July 1997.
ROC President Chiang Kai-shek presiding over the 1966 Double Te n c e le br a t ions .
Moi Day Kenya - Oct 10
October 10 of each year is recognized as a public holiday since the year 1989 when it was passed into law by parliament. On this day every year, Kenyans take a break from work to honor their former president’s accomplishments since he took office exactly 29 years go.
History Kenya, as an independent country, was a consti-
tutional monarchy at the outset, the British monarch being its nominal head of state and the prime minister as the head of government. Kenya became a republic on December 1964 with Kenyatta was as the country’s first president. Moi assumed the presidency of Kenya when Kenyatta died in 1978. Moi’s leadership motto was taken from the Swahili word nyayo meaning “footsteps” to assure Kenyans that he was following the legacy of the beloved Kenyatta. At the outset of Moi’s leadership he adopted a more populist approach by releasing political prisoners and traveling to the country side among the nation’s people. Kenya’s economic growth began to slowdown in the 1980s as Moi’s rule became increasingly dictatorial in nature. The Moi government in 1982 changed the constitution to make Kenya a one-party state. Beginning in the 1980s, Kenya’s economic woes worsened as it experienced several debilitating droughts and the price of coffee dropping several times. Kenya fell into debt, and unemployment numbers rose significantly. Moi’s new term was marked by recurring economic difficulties and calls for more reform. In late 1997 Moi consented to the repeal of repressive antiopposition laws in response to the mounting demonstrations calling for electoral. Despite the divided opposition to Moi’s rule he was reelected president in December.
TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS AND ACTIVITIES
Since Moi’s retirement in 2002, Moi’s day has been observed event without the traditional military marches, fly-overs and traditional choirs.
World Mental Health Day Worldwide - Oct 10
World Mental Health Day (October 10), is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy. It was first celebrated in 1992 at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, a global mental health organization with members and contacts in more than 150 countries. This day, each October thousands of supports come to celebrate this annual awareness program to bring attention to Mental Illness and its major effects on peoples' life worldwide.In some countries this day is part of the larger Mental Illness Awareness Week.
N a tiona l C om ing Out D a y U . S . - O c t 11
National Coming Out Day (NCOD) is an internationally observed civil awareness day for coming out and discussion about gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), and asexual people. It is observed by members of the LGBT communities and their supporters (often referred to as "allies") on October 11 every year, or October 12 in the United Kingdom.
History NCOD was founded in 1988 by Robert Eichberg, a
psychologist from New Mexico and Jean O'Leary, an openly-gay political leader from Los Angeles, on behalf of the personal growth workshop The Experience and National Gay Rights Advocates. The date of October 11 was chosen because it was the anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The first headquarters was located in the West Hollywood, California offices of the National Gay Rights Advocates. 18 states participated in the first NCOD, which was covered in the national media. In its second year, the headquarters moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and participation grew to 21 states. After a media push in 1990, NCOD was observed in all 50 states and seven other countries. Participation continued to grow and in 1990 NCOD merged their efforts with the Human Rights Campaign Fund.
Observance
Events are held annually to celebrate coming out and to raise awareness of the LGBT community and LGBT rights movement. Participants are encouraged to wear pride symbols, such as the pink triangle (gays), Bisexual pride flag (bisexuals) & the black triangle (lesbians), the Greek letter lambda, and rainbows in jewelry and on clothing.
International observance:
In the United States, the Human Rights Campaign manages the event under the National Coming Out Project, offering resources to LGBT individuals, couples, parents and children, as well as straight friends and relatives, to promote awareness of LGBT families living honest and open lives. Candace Gingrich became the spokesperson for the day in April 1995. Despite its name, National Coming Out Day (so called because it originated as an event in the United States) is in fact observed in many countries, including Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, New Zealand, Croatia, Poland and the United Kingdom (in the UK it is celebrated on October 12). As of 2008, the Netherlands also has Coming Out Day on October 11.
Day of Liberation from the French Laos - Oct 12
Liberation Day is celebrated in Laos on 12th October each year. This day commemorates Laos' liberation from its protectorate status with France. The Democratic Republic of Laos is a socialist republic in Southeast Asia. The land of republic Laos called "Land of a Million Elephants". On 19th July 1949 Laos was granted semi-autonomy as an "associated state" within the French Union. The French remained in de facto control until 12th October 1954. In 1968, the North Vietnamese Army launched a multi-division attack against the Royal Lao Army. On December 1975, 600 years of monarchy of French has brought to an end.
Discovery Day Bahamas - Oct 12
In the Bahamas Discovery Day is a public holiday on October 12, celebrating the arrival of Christoper Columbus in the New World in 1492. It coincides with the Columbus Day celebrations of many other countries in the Americas. Columbus's initial landfall was on the now-unknown island of Guanahani in the Bahamas in 1492. If Discovery Day falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, it is observed the following Monday. Schools, Banks, Public Offices and most shops are closed on Discovery Day.
Inde pe nde nc e D a y Equa tor ia l Guine a - Oc t 1 2
Ecuatorial, pronounced French: République de Guinée équatoriale, pronounced: is a country located in Middle Africa. It comprises two parts: a Continental Region (Río Muni), including several small offshore islands like Corisco, Elobey Grande and Elobey Chico; and an insular region containing Annobón island and Bioko island (formerly Fernando Po) where the capital Malabo is situated. Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the east is the mainland region. Equatorial Guinea is bordered by Cameroon on the north, Gabon on the south and east, and the Gulf of Guinea on the west, where the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe is located between Bioko and Annobón. Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name is suggestive of its location near both the equator and the Gulf of Guinea. Besides the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla on the Mediterranean coast next to Morocco, it is the only territory in mainland Africa with Spanish as the official language. With an area of 28,000 square kilometres (11,000 sq mi) Equatorial Guinea is one of the smallest countries in continental Africa. It is also the richest per capita ; however, the wealth is distributed very unevenly, with 70% of the population living under the United Nations Poverty Threshold of $2/day. With a population of 650,702, Equatorial Guinea is the third smallest country in continental Africa. It is also the second smallest United Nations (UN) member from continental Africa. The discovery of sizeable petroleum reserves in recent years is altering the economic and political status of the country. Its gross domestic product (GDP) per capita ranks 28th in the world; however, most of the country's considerable oil wealth actually lies in the hands of only a few people. Equatorial Guinea has one of the worst human rights records in the world, consistently ranking among the "worst of the worst" in Freedom House's annual survey of political and civil rightsand Reporters Without Borders ranks President Obiang among its "predators" of press freedom. Out of 44 sub-Saharan countries, Equatorial Guinea ranks 9th highest in the Human Development Index (HDI) and 115th overall, which is among the medium HDI countries.
HISTORY
In the continental region that is now Equatorial Guinea there are believed to have been pygmies, of whom only isolated pockets remain in northern Río Muni. Bantu migrations between the 17th and 19th centuries brought the coastal tribes and later the Fang. Elements of the latter may have generated the Bubi, who emigrated to Bioko from Cameroon and Rio Muni in several waves and succeeded former Neolithic populations. The Annobón population, native to Angola, was introduced by the Portuguese via São Tomé island (São Tomé and Príncipe). The Portuguese explorer Fernão do Pó, seeking a path to India, is credited as being the first European to discover the island of Bioko in 1472. He called it Formosa ("Beautiful"), but it quickly took on the name of its European discoverer. The islands of Fernando Pó and Annobón were colonized by Portugal in 1474. In 1778, the island, adjacent islets, and commercial rights to the mainland between the Niger and Ogoue Rivers were ceded to Spain in exchange for territory in the American continent (Treaty of El Pardo, between Queen Maria I of Portugal and King Charles III of Spain). Between 1778 and 1810, the territory of Equatorial Guinea depended administratively on the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, with seat in Buenos Aires. From 1827 to 1843, the United Kingdom established a base on the island to combat the slave trade, which was then moved to Sierra Leone upon agreement with Spain in 1843. In 1844, on restoration of Spanish sovereignty, it became known as the Territorios Españoles del Golfo de Guinea Ecuatorial. The mainland portion, Rio Muni, became a protectorate in 1885 and a colony in 1900. Conflicting claims to the mainland were settled by the Treaty of Paris in 1900, and periodically, the mainland territories were united administratively under Spanish rule. Between 1926 and 1959 they were united as the colony of Spanish Guinea. In September 1968, Francisco Macías Nguema was elected first president of Equatorial Guinea, and independence was recognised on October 12, 1968. In July 1970, Nguema created a single-party state. Nguema’s reign of terror led to the death or exile of up to 1/3 of the country's population. Out of a population of 300,000, an estimated 80,000 had been killed. The economy collapsed, and skilled citizens and foreigners left. Teodoro Obiang deposed Francisco Macías Nguema on August 3, 1979, in a bloody coup d'état.
Nossa Senhora de Aparecida Brazil - Oct 12
Our Lady of Aparecida (Portuguese: Nossa Senhora Aparecida or Nossa Senhora da Conceição Aparecida) is the patron saint of Brazil, venerated in the Catholic Church. A dark-skinned Marian image, Our Lady of Aparecida is represented by a short, clay statue of the Virgin Mary, currently housed in the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, in the town of Aparecida, São Paulo. Her feast day is celebrated on October 12, which has been observed as a public holiday since Pope John Paul II consecrated the Basilica in 1980. The Basilica is the fourth most popular Marian shrine in the world, being able to hold up to 45,000 worshippers.
History
Apparition:
The official account of the Aparecida apparition took place in October 1717, when Dom Pedro de Almeida, Count of Assumar and Governor of the Province of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, was passing through the area of Guaratinguetá, a small city in the Paraíba river valley, during a trip to Vila Rica, an important gold mining site. The people of Guaratinguetá decided to hold a feast in his honour, and though it was not fishing season, the fishermen went down to the Paraíba waters to fish for the feast. Three of the fishermen, Domingos Garcia, João Alves, and Filipe Pedroso, prayed to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, and asked God's help. They were unable to catch any fish, and after several hours in the river, they were ready to give up when João cast his net once more near the Port of Itaguaçu. Instead of fish, he hauled in the body of a statue with a missing head. They cast their net again, and brought up the statue's head. After cleaning the statue, they found that it was a black version of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Legend has it that when the fishermen recovered the body, then the head, the slender figure of the Aparecida Virgin became so heavy that they couldn't budge it. After that, according to the official account, they named their find Nossa Senhora da Aparecida Conceição (English: Our Lady of the Appeared Conception), wrapped it in cloth and continued to fish; now their catch was so great that they returned to port because the weight of the fish threatened to sink their craft. This was the first miracle attributed to Our Lady of Aparecida.
areas. After the failure of early military operations the Kingdom of Croatia was split into civilian and military units in 1553. The latter eventually became known as the Croatian Military Frontier, a territory directly controlled by Vienna. Ottoman raids on Croatian territory continued until the 1593 Battle of Sisak which resulted in Ottoman defeat and after which the borders stabilised for a time. During the Great Turkish War (1667–1698), Slavonia was regained but western Bosnia, which had been part of Croatia since before the Ottoman conquest, remained outside Croatian control. The present-day crescent-shaped border between the two countries is a historical remnant of this outcome. Dalmatia, the southern part of the crescent, was created by Venetian conquests which ensued following the 13th-century Siege of Zara and was eventually defined by the 17h- and 18th-century wars with Ottomans. Over the course of the two centuries of Ottoman wars Croatia underwent great demographic changes. Croats who had inhabited the areas of Lika, Moslavina and north-west Bosnia migrated towards Austria and the present-day Burgenland Croats are direct descendants of these settlers. To replace the fleeing Croats the Habsburgs called on the Orthodox populations of Bosnia and Serbia to provide military service in the Croatian Military Frontier. Serb migration into this region, which had started in the 16th century, peaked during the Great Serb Migrations of 1690 and 1737–39. Fuelled by the ideas of romantic nationalism which became popular throughout Europe in the 19th century, a national revival in Croatia, called the Illyrian movement, began gaining ground in the 1830s. The movement was a political and cultural campaign initiated by a group of Croatian intellectuals who advocated for unity of all South Slavs within the Habsburg Monarchy and their most important focus was the establishment of a standard language as a counter-weight to Hungarian and the promotion of Croatian literature and culture. Prominent members of this movement were writers Ivan Mažuranić and Petar Preradović, poet Antun Mihanović, composer Vatroslav Lisinski and Ljudevit Gaj who published the first standardized orthography of the Croatian language. Due to the popularity of the Illyrian movement Croatian became official language in the Kingdom of Croatia in 1847, replacing Latin. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 Croatia sided with Austrian and Russian forces who defeated the Hungarian army in 1849, which ushered a period marked by a policy of Germanization. By the 1860s its failure became apparent, which resulted in the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and the creation of amonarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. The treaty left the issue of Croatia's status unresolved. The kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia were eventually united following the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement of 1868. The sovereignty over the port city of Rijekaremained contested between Croatia and Hungary, while Kingdom of Dalmatia remained under Austrian control. After the Ottoman Empire had lost control over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, Austria-Hungary abolished the Croatian Military Frontier and restored the territories to Croatia in 1881. In the late 19th century pro-Hungarian and pro-Austrian political parties played Croats against Serbs with the aim of controlling the parliament. This policy failed in 1906 when the Croat-Serb Coalition won the elections. This political situation remained unchanged until the advent of World War I.
Kingdom of Yugoslavia and World War II:
On 29 October 1918 the Croatian Sabor (parliament) declared independence and decided to join the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, which in turn entered into union with Kingdom of Serbia on 1 December 1918 to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. In 1921 the kingdom adopted a new constitution which envisioned the country as a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. In 1922 historical provinces were abolished and the country was divided into 33 oblasts. These decisions effectively put an end to state autonomy and were met with public outcry in Croatia. A movement for the restoration of state autonomy thus began gaining ground under the leadership of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS). As the adoption of the 1921 constitution sparked tensions among ethnic groups, the already unhealthy political situation became even worse after Stjepan Radić, the president of HSS, was assassinated during a Yugoslav Parliament session in June 1928 by a Serb ultranationalist deputy Puniša Račić. Following the political crisis triggered by the shooting, in January 1929 King Alexander abolished the constitution, dissolved the parliament, and declared a royal dictatorship, officially renamed Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In October oblasts were replaced by a system of nine banovinas, with most of Croatian territory split into the northern Sava Banovina (with seat in Zagreb) and Littoral Banovina(with seat in Split). Vladko Maček, who had succeeded Radić at the helm of HSS and who continued to call for greater autonomy for Croatia, was imprisoned in 1933 and sentenced to three years in jail for treason. However, Maček was released following Alexander's assassination in Marseille in October 1934 which had been organized by foreign-based Macedonian and Croatian nationalist groups, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) and the Ustaše. Upon his release, Maček continued to be a vocal proponent of greater federalization of Yugoslavia, which eventually resulted in the Cvetković–Maček Agreementof August 1939 which created the autonomous Banovina of Croatia. Its borders were in part historical borders of Croatia, and in part based on the application of the principle of ethnicity according to which the territory in Bosnia and Herzegovina with a majority ethnic Croat population was annexed to the Banovina. The Banovina would be governed in internal matters by the Croatian Sabor (parliament) and a crown-appointed Ban. In April 1941 Kingdom of Yugoslavia was invaded and occupied by Germany and Italy in little more than ten days. Following the invasion the territory of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region of Syrmia were incorporated into Independent State of Croatia (NDH), a Nazi-backed puppet state. Parts of Dalmatia were occupied by Italy and northern Croatian regions of Baranja and Međimurje were occupied by Hungary. The newly installed NDH regime was led by Ante Pavelić and members of his ultranationalist movement Ustaše. The Ustaše regime introduced anti-semitic laws and conducted a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against Serb and Roma inhabitants of NDH, exemplified by concentration camps such as the one at Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška where opponents of the Ustaše regime and other 'undesirables' were held. The Jewish Virtual Library estimates that between 45,000 and 52,000 Croatian Serbs were killed at Jasenovac and that between 330,000 and 390,000 Serbs were victims of the entire genocide campaign. A resistance movement soon emerged and in June 1941 the 1st Sisak Partisan Detachment was formed nearSisak, as the first military unit formed by a resistance movement in occupied Europe. This sparked the beginning of the Yugoslav Partisan movement, a communist multi-ethnic anti-fascist resistance group led by Josip Broz Tito. Initially fighting as a guerrilla force, the movement grew rapidly and by late 1944, the Partisans numbered 800,000 men and women organized in four field armies and 52 divisions which engaged in conventional warfare. The Partisans' goal was to create a communist statein Yugoslavia and to this end they attempted to appeal to all the various ethnic groups within Yugoslavia by adopting a policy of brotherhood and unity. Following the Tehran Conference in December 1943 Partisans gained recognition from the Allies. With their support in logistics, equipment, training and air power, and with the assistance of Soviet troops in the November 1944 Belgrade Offensive, they eventually gained control of the entire country and the border regions of Italy and Austria by the end of WWII in May 1945. Post-war estimates have put the number of WWII casualties in present-day Croatia at around 270,000.
Modern era:
Modern Croatia was founded on AVNOJ anti-fascist partisans' principles during World War II, and it became a constitutional federal republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. A single-party socialist state was established but, because of the Tito-Stalin split, economic and personal freedom were better than in the Eastern Bloc. From the 1950s, the Socialist Republic of Croatiaenjoyed an autonomy under the rule of the local Communist elite, but in 1967 a group of influential Croatian poets and linguists published a Declaration on the Status and Name of the Croatian Standard Language. After 1968, the patriotic goals of that document morphed into a generic Croatian movement for more rights for Croatia, greater civil rights and demands for the decentralization of the economy. In the end the Yugoslav leadership interpreted the Croatian Spring as a restoration of Croatian nationalism, dismissed the movement as chauvinistic and arrested most of its important leaders. In 1974, a new Yugoslav federal constitution was ratified that gave more autonomy to the individual republics, thereby basically fulfilling the main goals of the Croatian Spring. Nationalistic sentiment, which would bring an end to the Yugoslav federation, had been widespread among various ethnicities for some years. Albanian demands in 1981 for Kosovo to be removed from Serbia and transformed to a constituent republic within Yugoslavia led to riots,and similar attitudes surfaced among other nations with the Serbian SANU Memorandum in 1986; Croatia and Slovenia also responded negatively in 1989 after Serbia's leader Slobodan Milošević organized coups in Vojvodina, Kosovo and Montenegro to install authorities who would be loyal to his cause. Croatia declared independence from socialist Yugoslavia in 1991. War broke out in 1991 with Yugoslav National Army open attacks on Croatia. At the end of 1991 there was full-scale war in Croatia. The war was between the Serbs, in what had been the Republic of Serbia in the former Yugoslavia, and Croats in the newly independent Croatia. The reasons for the war are quite complex. To greatly simplify, while Croatia and Slovenia wanted to separate from Yugoslavia, Serbs were largely unwilling to allow this to happen, probably largely for economic reasons. Franjo Tuđman's election win further inflamed the situation. Croatian Serbs left the Croatian parliament and created the Association of the Municipalities of Northern Dalmatia and Lika in Knin. This was later to become the Republika Srpska Krajina. On the events of 1990–92, Milan Babić, Serbian leader and president of Republika Srpska Krajina, was later to declare that he had been "strongly influenced and misled by Serbian propaganda." These events culminated in the full scale Croatian War of Independence between 1991 and 1995. The war ended with Croatian victory with Operation Storm (known in Croatian as Oluja) in the summer of 1995. The events of August 1995 remain the subject of several cases before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, regarding the conduct of the victorious Croatian Army and the exodus of ethnic Serbs. Croatia was internationally recognized on 15 January 1992 by the European Union, and subsequently the United Nations. During that time, Croatia controlled less than two thirds of its legal territory.
Military Croatian Armed Forces (CAF) consist of the Army, Navy and Air Force branches in addition to the Education and Train-
ing Command and Support Command. The CAF is headed by the General Staff which reports to the Defence Minister, who in turn reports to the President of Croatia. According to the constitution, the President is commander-in-chief of the armed forces and in case of immediate threat during wartime he issues orders directly to the General Staff. Following the 1991–95 war defence spending and CAF size are in constant decline. As of 2005 military spending was an estimated 2.39% of the country's GDP, which placed Croatia 64th in a ranking of all countries. Since 2005 the budget was kept below 2% of GDP, down from the record high of 11.1% in 1994. Traditionally relying on a large number of conscripts, CAF also went through a period of reforms focused on downsizing, restructuring and professionalisation in the years prior to Croatia's accession to NATO in April 2009. According to a presidential decree issued in 2006 the CAF is set to employ 18,100 active duty military personnel, 3,000 civilians and 2,000 18–30 year-old voluntary conscripts in peacetime. Compulsory conscription was abolished in January 2008. Until 2008 military service was compulsory for men at age 18 and conscripts served six-month tours of duty, reduced in 2001 from the earlier scheme of nine-month conscription tours. Conscientious objectors could instead opt for an eight-month civilian service. As of April 2011 the Croatian military had 120 members stationed in foreign countries as part of United Nations-led international peacekeeping forces, including 95 serving as part of UNDOF in Golan Heights. As of 2011 an additional 350 troops serve as part of NATO-led ISAF force in Afghanistan and another 20 with KFOR in Kosovo. Croatia also has a significant military industry sector which exported around US$120 million worth of military equipment and armament in 2010. Croatian-made weapons and vehicles used by CAF include the standard sidearm HS2000 manufactured by HS Produkt and the M-84D battle tank designed by the Đuro Đaković factory. Uniforms and helmets worn by CAF soldiers are also locally produced and successfully marketed to other countries.
Columbus Day / Día de la Raza International - Oct 12
Many countries in the New World and elsewhere celebrate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas, which occurred on October 12, 1492, as an official holiday. The event is celebrated as Columbus Day in the United States, as Día de la Raza in many countries in Latin America, as Discovery Day in the Bahamas, as Día de la Hispanidad andFiesta Nacional in Spain and as Día de las Américas (Day of the Americas) in Uruguay. These holidays have been celebrated unofficially since the late 18th century, and officially in various areas since the early 20th century.
United States observance History:
Columbus Day first became an official state holiday in Colorado in 1906, and became a federal holiday in 1937. However, people have celebrated Columbus's voyage since the colonial period. In 1792, New York City and other U.S. cities celebrated the 300th anniversary of his landing in the New World. In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison called upon the people of the United States to celebrate Columbus Day on the 400th anniversary of the event. During the four hundredth anniversary, in 1892, teachers, preachers, poets and politicians used Columbus Day rituals to teach ideals of patriotism. These patriotic rituals were framed around themes such as support for war, citizenship boundaries, the importance of loyalty to the nation, and celebrating social progress. Catholic immigration in the mid-19th century induced discrimination from anti-immigrant activists such as the Ku Klux Klan. Like many other struggling immigrant communities, Catholics developed organizations to fight discrimination and provide insurance for the struggling immigrants. One such organization, the Knights of Columbus, chose that name in part because it saw Christopher Columbus as a fitting symbol of Catholic immigrants' right to citizenship: one of their own, a fellow Catholic, had discovered America. Many Italian-Americans observe Columbus Day as a celebration of their heritage, the first occasion being in New York City on October 12, 1866. Columbus Day was first popularized as a holiday in the United States through the lobbying of Angelo Noce, a first generation Italian, in Denver. The first official, regular Columbus Day holiday was proclaimed by Colorado governor Jesse F. McDonald in 1905 and made a statutory holiday in 1907. In April 1934, as a result of lobbying by the Knights of Columbus, Congress and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt made October 12 a federal holiday under the name Columbus Day. Since 1971, the holiday has been fixed to the second Monday in October, coincidentally the same day as Thanksgiving in neighboring Canada (which was fixed to that date in 1959). It is generally observed today by banks, the bond market, the U.S. Postal Service and other federal agencies, most state government offices, and some school districts. Some businesses and some stock exchanges remain open, also some states and municipalities abstain from observing the holiday.
Local observance of Columbus Day:
Actual observance varies in different parts of the United States, ranging from large-scale parades and events to complete non-observance. Most states celebrate Columbus Day as an official state holiday, though many mark it as a "Day of Observance" or "Recognition" and two do not recognize it at all. Some states close schools and other state services, while others operate as normal. San Francisco claims the nation's oldest continuously existing celebration with the Italian-American community's annual Columbus Day Parade, which was established by Nicola Larco in 1868, while New York City boasts the largest. As in the mainland U.S., Columbus Day is a legal holiday in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. In the United States Virgin Islands, the day is celebrated as both Columbus Day and "Puerto Rico Friendship Day." Virginia also celebrates two legal holidays on the day, Columbus Day and Yorktown Victory Day, which honors the final victory at the Siege of Yorktown in the Revolutionary War.
Non-observance:
Hawaii and South Dakota are the two states that do not recognize Columbus Day at all, though both mark the day with an alternative holiday or observance. Hawaii celebrates Discoverers' Day, which commemorates the Polynesian discoverers of Hawaii on the same date, the second Monday of October. though the name change has not ended protest related to the observance of Columbus' discovery. The state government does not treat either Columbus Day or Discoverers' Day as a legal holiday; state, city and county government offices and schools are open for business. South Dakota celebrates the day as officially a state holiday known as "Native American Day" rather than Columbus Day. Nevada does not celebrate Columbus Day as an official holiday; however, the governor is "authorized and requested" by statute to proclaim the day each year. Several other states have removed Columbus Day as a paid holiday for government workers while still maintaining it either as a day of recognition or a legal holiday for other purposes. These include California, Texas, and Florida. In 2007, Dane County Wisconsin Supervisor Ashok Kumar replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day. The city of Berkeley, California has replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day since 1992, a move which has been replicated by several other localities. Two other California cities, Sebastopol and Santa Cruz, now celebrate Indigenous People's Day. South Dakota renamed the holiday "Native American Day". Various tribal governments in Oklahoma designate the day "Native American Day", or name the day after their own tribe.
Latin American observance Día de la Raza:
The date Columbus arrived in the Americas is celebrated in many countries in Latin America. The most common name for the celebration in Spanish (including in some Latino communities in the United States) is the Día de la Raza ("day of the race" or "day of the [hispanic] people"), commemorating the first encounters of Europeans and Native Americans. The day was first celebrated in Argentina in 1917,Venezuela and Colombia in 1921, Chile in 1922, and Mexico in 1928. The day was also celebrated under this title in Spain until 1957, when it was changed to the Día de la Hispanidad ("Hispanity Day"), and in Venezuela until 2002, when it was changed to the Día de la Resistencia Indígena (Day of Indigenous Resistance). Originally conceived of as a celebration of Hispanic influence in the Americas, as evidenced by the complementary celebrations in Spain and Latin America, Día de la Raza has come to be seen by some in Latin America as a counter to Columbus Day; a celebration of the resistance against the arrival of Europeans to the Americas and of the native races and cultures. In the U.S. Día de la Raza has served as a time of mobilization for pan-ethnic Latino activists, particularly in the 1960s. Since then, La Raza has served as a periodic rallying cry for Hispanic activists. The first Hispanic March on Washington occurred on Columbus Day in 1996. The name has remained in the largest Hispanic social justice organization, the National Council of La Raza.
Venezuela:
The statue:
Between 1921 and 2002, Venezuela celebrated Día de la Raza along with many other Latin American nations. The original holiday was officially established in 1921 under President Juan Vicente Gómez. In 2002, under president Hugo Chávez, the name was changed to Día de la Resistencia Indígena (Day of Indigenous Resistance) to commemorate the Indigenous peoples' resistance to European settlement. On October 12, 2004 a crowd of pro-government activists toppled the statue of Columbus in Caracas and sprayed allusive graffiti over its pedestal. The pro-Chávez website Aporrea wrote: "Just like the statue of Saddam in Baghdad, that of Columbus the tyrant also fell this October 12, 2004 in Caracas." The famous toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue had occurred the previous year.
Patroness of Brazil:
Since 1994, Costa Rica had changed the official holiday from Día de la Raza to Día de las Culturas (Day of the cultures) to recognize the mix of European, American, African and Asiancultures that helped to compose Costa Rican (and Latin American) culture.
While it is not known why the statue was at the bottom of the river, it is known who made it. According to most sources, the statue had been sculpted by Frei Agostino de Jesus, a monk from São Paulo known for his artistic skills in making sacred images. The three foot tall image was made around 1650, and must have been underwater for years, once it lost its original polychromy. The image has a dark brown color, as it was sculpted in clay (resulting in many of its replicas being painted black), and it is covered by a stiff dark blue robe of richly embroidered thick cloth with golden clasps, and wears an imperial crown which was added in 1904. Only her face and hands can be seen. Devotion to the statue grew rapidly, particularly among Afro-Brazilians, not only for its black Madonnastatus, but also because one of the first miracles attributed to the image was reportedly performed to an enslaved young man. Over the years following its apparition, veneration of the Virgin invoked as Aparecida increased as many miracles were attributed to her. For the following fifteen years, the statue remained within Filipe Pedroso's family and neighbors came to venerate it. Stories of Our Lady of Aparecida's miracles were spread throughout Brazil and the Pedroso family built her a chapel which soon became too small for so many worshippers. In 1737, the priest of Guaratinguetá built her a chapel on the Coqueiros hill, and public visits began in July 1745. The number of worshippers increased dramatically and in 1834 work on a larger church was begun; this became known as the "old Basilica" when work on the even larger "new Basilica" was started in 1955. In 1904, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, the statue of Our Lady of Aparecida was crowned by the archbishop of São Paulo, Dom Lino Deodato Rodrigues, at the decree of the Holy See and in the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio. The Coronation was performed on behalf of Pope Pius X. The coronation was a major event, and the gold for the manufacture of the crown was donated by the exiled Princess Isabel, then the Head of Brazil's Imperial Family. In 1908, the church received the title of Minor Basilica. Twenty years later, the village that had grown around the church on Coqueiros hill became a municipality, named after the saint. In 1930, the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Aparecida, was proclaimed the "Queen and Principal Patroness of Brazil" byPope Pius XII., St. Peter of Alcantara retaining the position of patron, but now as co-patron. Up until the 1950s, Aparecida remained an unassuming village with a small community of Redemptionists. They arrived from the sanctuary of the Virgin of Altötting in Germany and took on the responsibility for the shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, making it the first Redemptionist parish in Latin America.
Controversies:
Our Lady of Aparecida has, more than once, been the source of religious conflicts among Catholics and Protestants. On May 16, 1978, a Protestant took the statue from its niche on the Basilica after the last Mass of the day. He was chased by guards and some of the church goers. As he was caught, the statue fell to the ground breaking to pieces. Because the statue was made of clay that had been submersed in water for a long time, it was difficult to put the pieces back together, but a group of dedicated artists and artisans carefully pieced it together again. On her feast day in 1995, a public holiday, an incident later known as "kicking of the saint" took place when televangelist bishop Sérgio Von Helde, of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), kicked a replica of Our Lady Aparecida on a late-night religious program broadcast by Rede Record, which is owned by the UCKG. On the following day, Rede Globo's Jornal Nacional denounced the incident, causing a nationwide commotion. The event was perceived by Catholics as a major act of religious intolerance, causing a public outcry. Several temples of the UCKG were targeted by protesters, and Von Helde was transferred to South Africa until the end of the controversy.
The New Basilica
In the mid-20th century, as the popularity of Our Lady of Aparecida grew, the construction of a much larger building to shelter the image became necessary. In 1955, work on the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida was begun. Architect Benedito Calixto designed a building in the form of a Greek cross, 173 meters long and 168 meters wide; the tower is 100 meter high, the naves have 40 meters and the dome is 70 meters high, covering a surface area of around 18,000 square meters. It can hold up to 45,000 people. The 272,000 square meters of parking hold 4,000 buses and 6,000 cars. It is currently the largest Marian temple and the second largest Basilica in the world, losing only to St. Peter's in the Vatican City. On July 4, 1980, while still under construction, it was consecrated by Pope John Paul II and given the title of Minor Basilica. As the patroness of Brazil, one of the functions of the Basilica is to work as a site of pilgrimage for laborers, which takes place each year on Brazil's independence holiday, September 7. According to recent estimates, the Basilica attracts about 8 million pilgrims a year. The influence of the cult of Our Lady Aparecida on Brazilian Catholic society is incalculable. In 1992 a study showed that 296 parishes were dedicated to her while five cathedrals had the same title. In addition, many towns are named after the Virgin and so are many Brazilian women and girls. The modern art styled cathedral of Brasilia designed by Oscar Niemeyer is dedicated to Nossa Senhora Aparecida, as Brasilia is the national capital and she is invoked as Brazil's special protector. In 2004, to commemorate the centennial of the pontifical coronation commanded by Pope Pius X, and the 150th anniversary of the dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the statue of Our Lady of Aparecida was crowned afresh. The coronation was presided by the then Archbishop emeritus of Rio de Janeiro, Cardinal Eugênio Sales, in the capacity of special papal envoy of Pope John Paul II. During a visit to the new Basilica in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI granted the shrine a Golden Rose.
In other countries United Kingdom:
A representation of Our Lady Aparecida is to be found outside the Roman Catholic church and shrine of Our Lady of Willesden, Nicoll Road, London NW10 (on the wall between the entrance to the presbytery and that to the church).
United States:
The Blessed Virgin Mary is also the patron saint of the United States for Roman Catholics. The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, located in Washington, D.C., have been visited by popes and dignitaries, and served as the site for the funeral masses of some Catholic politicians. Annually, a mass in honor of the patroness of Brazil is celebrated in October for the Brazilian Catholic community of New York.
Portugal:
Brazilian Catholics probably inherited their devotion of Mary from Portugal, which has a famous shrine for her in Fatima, where she is said to have appeared personally to three shepherds children numerous times with special messages and warnings. The patron saint of Portugal (as well as of the Church of England) was Saint George until 1640 when, one week after (re)gaining independence from Spain, the King D. Joao IV, dedicated Portugal to Our Lady of Conception by giving his crown to Our Lady. Since that date, Portuguese kings and queens never wore a crown again.
Assassination in 1961 Cultural references Just two weeks later, on October 13, 1961, Rwagasore was assassinated while taking his dinner at the Hotel Tan- The telenovela A Padroeira, broadcast on Rede Globo between June 18, 2001 and February 23, 2002, was a fictional
ganyika by a Greek national named Georges Kageorgis, allegedly in the pay of the pro-Belgian Christian Democratic Party (PDC). Inter-ethnic rivalries between the Hutu and Tutsi factions of UPRONA flared shortly after.
Independence Day Croatia - Oct 8
portrayal of the founding of the Our Lady of Aparecida statue, loosely based on the 1865 novel As Minas de Prata by José de Alencar, which itself had been adapted for the telenovela format in 1966 by the now defunct TV Excelsior.
Costa Rica:
Spain
Since 1987, Spain has celebrated the anniversary of Columbus's arrival in the Americas as its Fiesta Nacional or "National Day". Previously Spain had celebrated the day as Día de la Hispanidad, emphasizing Spain's ties with the Hispanidad, the international Hispanic community. In 1981 a royal decree established the Día de la Hispanidad as a national holiday. However, in 1987 the name was changed to Fiesta Nacional, and October 12 became one of two national celebrations, along with Constitution Day on December 6. Spain's "national day" had moved around several times during the various regime changes of the 20th century; establishing it on the day of the international Columbus celebration was part of a compromise between conservatives, who wanted to emphasize the status of the monarchy and Spain's history, and Republicans, who wanted to commemorate Spain's burgeoning democracy with an official holiday. Since 2000, October 12 has also been Spain's Day of the Armed Forces, celebrated each year with a military parade in Madrid. Other than this, however, the holiday is not widely or enthusiastically celebrated in Spain; there are no other large-scale patriotic parades, marches, or other events, and the observation is generally overshadowed by the feast day of Our Lady of the Pillar.
Opposition to Columbus celebrations
Opposition to Columbus Day dates to at least the 19th century, when activists sought to eradicate Columbus Day celebrations because they thought they were being used to expand Catholic influence. By far the more common opposition today, decrying Columbus's and Europeans' actions against the indigenous populations of the Americas, did not gain much traction till the latter half of the 20th century. This opposition has been spearheaded by indigenous groups, though it has spread into the mainstream. There are two main, though highly interrelated strands of this critique. The first refers primarily to the indigenous population collapse and cruel treatment towards indigenous peoples during the European colonization of the American continents which followed Columbus's discovery. Some have argued that the responsibility of contemporary governments and their citizens for allegedly ongoing acts of genocide against Native Americans are masked by positive Columbus myths and celebrations. These critics argue that a particular understanding of the legacy of Columbus has been used to legitimize their actions, and it is this misuse of history that must be exposed. F. David Peat asserts that many cultural myths of North America exclude or diminish the culture and myths of Native Americans. These cultural myths include ideas expressed by Michael Berliner of the Ayn Rand Institute claiming that Western civilization brought “reason, science, self-reliance,individualism, ambition, and productive achievement” to a people who were based in “primitivism, mysticism, and collectivism”, and to a land that was “sparsely inhabited, unused, and underdeveloped.” American anthropologist Jack Weatherford says that on Columbus Day Americans celebrate the greatest waves of genocide of the Indians known in history. American Indian Movement of Colorado leader and activist Ward Churchill takes this argument further, contending that the mythologizing and celebration of the European settlement of the Americas in Columbus Day make it easier for people today to avoid taking responsibility for their own actions, or the actions of their governments regarding indigenous populations. He wrote in his book Bringing the Law Back Home:
Very high on the list of those expressions of non-indigenous sensibility [that] contribute to the perpetuation of genocidal policies against Indians are the annual Columbus Day celebration, events in which it is baldly asserted that the process, events, and circumstances described above are, at best, either acceptable or unimportant. More often, the sentiments expressed by the participants are, quite frankly, that the fate of Native America embodied in Columbus and the Columbian legacy is a matter to be openly and enthusiastically applauded as an unrivaled "boon to all mankind". Undeniably, the situation of American Indians will not — in fact cannot — change for the better so long as such attitudes are deemed socially acceptable by the mainstream populace. Hence, such celebrations as Columbus Day must be stopped.
A second strain of the criticism of Columbus Day focuses on the character of Columbus himself. In time for the observation of Columbus Day in 2004, the final volume of a compendium of Columbus-era documents was published by the University of California, Los Angeles's Medieval and Renaissance Center. Geoffrey Symcox, the general editor of the project, asserted: "While giving the brilliant mariner his due, the collection portrays Columbus as an unrelenting social climber and self-promoter who stopped at nothing— not even exploitation, slavery, or twisting Biblical scripture— to advance his ambitions… Many of the unflattering documents have been known for the last century or more, but nobody paid much attention to them until recently… The fact that Columbus brought slavery, enormous exploitation or devastating diseases to the Americas used to be seen as a minor detail - if it was recognized at all - in light of his role as the great bringer of white man's civilization to the benighted idolatrous American continent. But to historians today this information is very important. It changes our whole view of the enterprise." Most critiques combine elements of both strains. Journalist and media critic Norman Solomon reflects in Columbus Day: A Clash of Myth and History that many people choose to hold on to the myths surrounding Columbus whereas historians who deal with the evidence are frequently depicted as "politically correct" revisionists. He quotes from the logbook Columbus's initial description of the Indians: "They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance.... They would make fine servants.... With 50 men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want." In 1495, during the Second Voyage, Indians were transported to Spain as slaves, many dying en route. "Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity," Columbus later wrote, "go on sending all the slaves that can be sold." Solomon states that the most important contemporary documentary evidence is the multi-volume History of the Indies by the Catholic priest Bartolomé de las Casas who observed the region where Columbus was governor. In contrast to "the myth" Solomon quotes Las Casas who describes Spaniards driven by "insatiable greed" — "killing, terrorizing, afflicting, and torturing the native peoples" with "the strangest and most varied new methods of cruelty" and how systematic violence was aimed at preventing "Indians from daring to think of themselves as human beings." The Spaniards "thought nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades", wrote Las Casas. "My eyes have seen these acts so foreign to human nature, and now I tremble as I write." In the summer of 1990, 350 representatives from Indian groups from all over the hemisphere, met in Quito, Ecuador, at the first Intercontinental Gathering of Indigenous People in the Americas, to mobilize against the quincentennial celebration of Columbus Day. The following summer, in Davis, California, more than a hundred Native Americans gathered for a follow-up meeting to the Quito conference. They declared October 12, 1992, "International Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People." The largest ecumenical body in the United States, the National Council of Churches, called on Christians to refrain from celebrating the Columbus quincentennial, saying, "What represented newness of freedom, hope, and opportunity for some was the occasion for oppression, degradation and genocide for others."
Plans to ban slot machines in Hungary
HUNGARY PM Orbán discussed the European economic situation with William Hague (Online 04 Oct) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban discussed European Unionrelated issues and the Euroecopean nomic situation talks during with UK Foreign Secretary William Hague in Budapest on Thursday. Minister Hague stated that rebelations tween Hungary Britain and "very were very strong, good". He said dis- Photo: Árvai Károly topics with cussed Prime Minister Orbán included the nual financial framework (MFF) as Eurozone crisis, the EU's multian- well as the need to make energy co-
operation and tighter more efficient among European countries. They agreed on the need to eliminate energy dependence, stating that creating energy security is a strategic interest of vital importance, and all steps to eradicate energy dependence should be supported. They also conthat cluded while managing the econ o m i c challenges Europe is facing job creation must be kept in sight.
Tw o - d a y i n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n f e r ence on Cybercrime launched (Online 04 Oct) The two-day international conference on Cyberspace in Budapest was by opened Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who told the conference that few users realise even today that they can fall victim to crime in the cyberspace. Global cybercrime genermore ated revenue last year than drug trafficking, he added. The Hungarian Government urges countries around the world to step up efforts and cooperate to create a secure cyberspace while preparing the fight against cyber terrorism, the Prime Minister said. Today it is possible for someone to launch an attack at a relatively low cost from a simple computer disrupting the operation of an entire state, he added. Prime Minister Orbán also applauded Hungary's IT sector, which, he said, has a promising future, noting that Hungarians had always been at the forefront of IT development. It is enough to mention such luminaries as mathematician John Von Neumann, 18th century polymath Farkas Kempelen and János Kemény, creator of Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (BASIC), he said. While the sector is rather capital intensive, past experiences show that a country of the size of Hungary and low capital are also capable of producing serious achievements because the cyber world is primarily built on mind sets. Prime Minister Orbán said this is why capital-poor countries can contribute to the development of the IT and cyber sector with their innovative initiatives. After the Hungarian Prime Minister,
Foreign Minister János Martonyi took the floor saying that Cyberspace is a global phenomenon and therefore requires global cooperation to address problems connected to cyberspace. He added that governments needed to make use of the help and knowledge available of civil organisations, companies and economic sectors. British Foreign Secretary William Hague congratulated the Hungarian Government for hosting this conference, stating that Hungary has provided important leadership to maintain the momentum from the 2011 London Conference on cyberspace. The Minister said in his speech that an international consensus is needed in shaping the future of cyberspace, told the international conference, stating that this was "urgent" and "unavoidable", since organised cybercrime represented an enormous danger. Well-organised computer attacks are being launched against governments and businesses. Cybercrime knows no borders and all countries are affected, he said. This means countries must join forces to find a common solution, he said. Kim Sung-Han, Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs South of said Korea, cyberthat was space changing at a rapid pace, and information and knowledge are increasingly important. The that attacks threaten cyber security must be avoided at an international level so the advantages of cyberspace can be utilised, he added. Cyberspace must remain free and albeit open, safe and reliable, he said, expressing hope that further discussions of the matter would take place at next year's cyberspace conference in Seoul. High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Vice President of the European Commission Lady Catherine Ashton also addressed the conference, stating that concerning cybercrime, the Budapest Convention, signed in 2001, is the most efficient instrument in this regard. The conference was also greeted by the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who sent a video message, assuring the participants about her country’s full support on the security of cyberspace. The two-day Conference in Budapest aim is to promote the network and content development of cyber space as well as the free and safe use of cyber space and the exploration of the opportunities for the development required for this. The conference is also aimed at facilitating the close cooperation between the public and the private sectors and the coordination between the international and the regional organizations.
1,000 Roma women may get vocational training and job within the social welfare system (Online 05 Oct) Minister of Human Resources Zoltán Balog announced at a press conference that one thousand Roma women may receive vocational training and then a suitable job in the social and child welfare system within the framework of the EU-financed program launched by the Ministry of Human Resources and National Roma Council. The Ministry and the Roma organisation expect that the women will play a significant role in coordinating between the Roma communities and social institutions. The Minister declared at a press conference in Budapest organized on the occasion of the launching of the new educational project called Nő az esély (meaning both "Increasing Opportunity" and "Women, our opportunity"), that it is women who hold the opportunity for progress in Roma integration, and who are otherwise also the „engines of life” within the family. The Minister also stated that the program provides the Roma people with education and an adequately paid job instead of just giving money. He
added that the women will perform various social assistant type tasks, after which they will be able to join the various programs such as the Roma settlement programs. He announced that four times as many applications were submitted than expected, so the Ministry is confident that there will be no problems launching the further stages of the program. President of the National Roma Council Flórián Farkas called the program a pioneering initiative, stating that it has been launched in 19 counties and the capital. Referring to the great number of applications, he emphasized that the goal is to double the number of people participating in the training by the end of 2014. He also added that the program "is not just a Roma issue, but a question of inclusion and integration", which according to the organisation's President means that the participants will assist not only in solving the problems of the Roma, but also those of non-Roma people. According to the communiqué provided to journalists, as part of the
program disadvantaged Roma women will be primarily included in the training that lasts till the end of August, 2014 and according to their expectations at least 750 of them will attain qualifications. Within the vocational training project, which has a budget of more that 1.5 billion HUF, participants may obtain training to become, among others, a nursing assistant, educator, social carer and nurse, geriatric nurse, home care nurse and Roma social carer. The job placement opportunities of those who complete a successful examination will be facilitated by the second part of the project, with a budget of 1.4 billion HUF, in which a yearlong employment support and funding for the further training of employees will be provided to employers. It is also expected that the Roma women participating in the training will serve as a connection between the social institutions and the several thousand disadvantaged people who have so far not requested social and child welfare or child protection services.
The bigge s t f lood c ont r ol r e s e r v oir of H unga r y ha s be e n ha nde d ov e r (Online 05 Oct) At a celebratory event on Thursday, the flood control reservoir of Tiszasüly-Hany was handed over as the newest element of the Vásárhelyi Plan Improvement Programme. The facility was constructed between July 2009 and September 2012 with the help of a financial aid worth 18.9 billion HUF, allocated by the European Union and the Hungarian state. The reservoir is capable of taking in 250 million cubic meters of water. The beneficiary of the financial aid
was the General Directorate of Water Management. At the closing ceremony, State Secretary for Municipal Affairs of the Ministry of Interior András Tállai said that the reservoir will protect 570 thousand people and 660 thousand acres of land. The state secretary emphasized that natural disasters at the turn of the millennium showed that there is need for a new solution against floods since building higher ramparts is too expensive and require special tech-
nology. The Vásárhely Plan Improvement Programme has laid the new foundation of flood protection. During the first part of the programme, six reservoirs were designed. One was handed over in Czigánd in 2008 and another one in Tiszaroff in 2009. In addition to the Hany-Tiszasüly facility, the implementation of the Nagykunság reservoir will be finished this year, whereas construction works of the Szamos-Kraszna and Bereg reservoirs are about to begin.
New homeless healthcare center in Budapest (Online 05 Oct) A new homeless care cenwas ter handed over on Friday in the capital. The inbuilding a cludes healthcare section along with a unit for elderly homeless people. At the occaKároly sion Kontrát, State Secretary of the Ministry of Interior said: Governthe ment and the leaders of Budapest defined the re-establishment of order as a particularly important task. “The question of homeless people is a very complex problem that needs to be treated with governmental and local governmental tools at the same time. That is the reason behind start-
ing the Heated Streets program.” – emphasized the State Secretary. He pointed out: the new establishment in Szabolcs street provides not only solid shelter and high standard healthcare service for the homeless but, with its 157 places, creating dig-
nified circumas stances well. The Government supthe ported program with million 500 forints and the Ministry of Intesecured rior million 222 by forints means of pubemploylic ment. István Tarlós, Mayor of Buexdapest, plained that the Heated Streets p r o g r a m last started September and by November this year there will be 800 new places, of which 641 places were already available last winter. Part of this initiative was the healthcare center. The cost of the program was 1.72 billion forints. 345 million forints was used for the renovation of the new building.
Govt spent 38 billion forints for recovery following the Red Sludge Disaster (Online 05 Oct) Work on recovery, reconstruction and the mitigation of environmental damages following the red sludge disaster cost the state a total of 38 billion forints – over 130 million Euros. "The total cost of recovery included 21 billion forints for the mitigation of damages to the environment", said the Ministry of Rural Development's State Secretary for Environmental Affairs at the event entitled "Kolontár and the future of our environment". At the roundtable discussion organised to mark the 2nd anniversary of the red sludge disaster, Zoltán Illés emphasised that several thousand tons of plaster had been poured into a 100km long stretch of the Marcal River to protect aquatic habitats and the Danube. In the words of the State Secretary for Environmental Affairs, the fact that following the outflow of the toxic sludge we managed to prevent what had been impossible to avert in the case of the Romanian cyanide pollution was a "world sensation". Work at the aluminium plant in Ajka was initially stopped, then after six days the plant was reopened in the interests of saving thousands of jobs. In addition to the steadfast work of both individuals and organisations, Zoltán Illés also acknowledged the huge personal role played by the Prime
Minister, because unlike several foreign examples of industrial disasters, the Hungarian State did not leave its people out in the cold. Zoltán Illés emphasised that the 135 billion forint fine imposed on the company was based on the amount of sludge that escaped the reservoir and had been calculated using strict formulae. He added, the owners of MAL Hungarian Aluminium Production and Trade Company Ltd. had taken him to court over his statements in the media and are claiming 15 billion forints in total damages. He called this a "diversionary tactic", because legal proceedings had already been underway in relation to the red sludge disaster at the time. At the roundtable discussion György Bakondi, head of the National Directorate General for Disaster Management (NDGDM) stated that the damage causes by the disaster, which attracted intense interest worldwide, were horrendous. The State alone spent 38 billion forints on damage mitigation, and people living in the region received further help thanks to active social cohesion. He recalled that the official bodies, the fire brigade, the police and water management experts, all struggled heroically after the dam broke. It was thanks to Hungarian engineering expertise that the caustic pollution was
successfully prevented from reaching the Danube, he said. The Director General added, forced State ownership of MAL prevented the company from going bankrupt and following the introduction of environmentally friendly dry technology the company is still operating today. With regard to lessons learnt from the disaster, György Bakondi emphasised that following the recovery the main emphasis has shifted to prevention, and the civil protection system has been overhauled. New regulations have since also been introduced with regard to both the transportation of dangerous materials and dangerous works. The participants of the discussion, which was organised by the charity Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HIA), viewed the exhibition of drawings by local school children at the main building of the new educational trail, after which they laid wreaths at the memorial to the victims of the disaster. Toxic red sludge escaping from the MAL reservoir near Ajka on 4 October 2010 flooded three villages: Kolontár, Devecser and Somlóvásárhely. Ten people died, over two-hundred were injured and several hundred families lost their homes as a result of the catastrophe.
Hungary dismayed to learn that Ukraine to fine dual citizens (Online 04 Oct) Hungary learned with dismay that Ukraine's law to enforce a fine on dual citizens, Zsuzsanna Répás, Deputy State Secretary for Hungarian Communities Abroad said on Thursday. Deputy State Secretary Répás said that the planned measure was perplexing since it did not reflect the ac-
tual situation in Ukraine: many of Ukraine's neighbours to the West allowed dual citizenship to the small Ukrainian minority, compared to the country's eastern areas, where there are perhaps hundreds of thousands who possess Russian papers. The Ukrainian legislation has approved an amendment which allows the au-
thorities to fine anyone who hides their dual citizenship and strengthens restrictions on it. Open and behind-the-scenes Hungarian diplomatic steps had put an end to the earlier harassment of claimants of Hungarian citizenship, she added.
Hungary condemns the shelling of Turkish bordertown Akcakale (Online 04 Oct) Hungary regards it unacceptable and firmly condemns the shelling of the Turkish town of Akcale as a result of the violent acts along the Syrian-Turkish border on October 3, which has lead to the death of five local citizens, including
children, and has caused serious injuries to many others. The Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its deepest sympathies to the families of the victims. Hungary, with complete solidarity, stands up for Turkey, its ally, and
urges that the Syrian regime put an end to its violent acts, which are against international law and which by now threaten the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the neighbouring countries.
János Martonyi Discussed EU Issues with Foreign Secretary William Hague (Online 04 Oct) Foreign Minister János Martonyi and Foreign Secretary William Hague discussed EU issues and other foreign policy questions in Budapest on October 4. Following their meeting they held a joint press conference. The Hungarian Foreign Minister declared that cooperation was excellent both in the bilateral and in the multilateral frameworks between the two countries. The UK and Hungary shared joint efforts in the mission in Afghanistan, in the sanctions against Iran, and in other areas of European common foreign and security policy. Minister Martonyi expressed his thanks for the British efforts made to promote Croatia’s EU accession. He
pointed out that both countries have an interest in the stability, security and prosperity of the countries in the Western Balkans. Foreign Secretary William Hague stated that relations are „very strong and very good” between the UK and Hungary. As regards their meeting the Foreign Secretary said that they discussed the main foreign policy questions such as Iran’s nuclear program, the situation in Afghanistan, EU enlargement in the Western Balkans and the Syrian crisis. The Hungarian Foreign Minister described the situation in Syria as dramatic and catastrophic, and he recalled that the Hungarian Embassy had undertaken to represent British
interests since the UK closed its mission in Damascus. Both ministers ensured Turkey about their continuing solidarity. Foreign Secretary William Hague, concerning the clashes that took place at the Syrian-Turkish border, declared that it was demonstrated again: „the longer the Syrian crisis lasts, the greater threat it poses for international peace and security, including the neighbouring countries of Syria.”Therefore, it is vital that that the UN Security Council adopt a „categorical” resolution on Syria. He added that Turkey’s reaction was „understandable,” but it was important to prevent the escalation of the crisis.
Government to launch national innovation strategy consultation (Online 04 Oct) The Government will launch a national consultation process with regard to its long term innovation strategy until 2020 at the end of the month – Minister of State for Economic Strategy at the Ministry for National Economy Zoltán Cséfalvay announced on Thursday at a Swedish-Hungarian innovation forum in Budapest. As the Minister of State explained, the strategy will focus on strengthening knowledge centers, promoting knowledge utilization by enterprises both big and small as well as facilitating knowledge transfer between the two. He has also reminded the participants that strengthening competitiveness may serve as a long-term remedy for the crisis and within this issue research and development as well as innovation play pivotal roles. Sweden is the best example of this attitude, as the country has been among the top performers in any kind of innovation ranking, he added. Speaking about the Hungarian proj-
ects of Swedish companies he said the following: although the total amount of these lags behind the investments of other countries, but Swedish projects are more research and development intensive. “It is in the best interest of both the Swedish and the Hungarian economy to attract such investments in the future”, he added. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt also addressed the forum, stating that the key to successful innovation policy is a strong Europe and commitment to the rule of law and a free society. He added that Sweden has a 200-year history of freedom as opposed to the two decades Hungary had. But there is hope and confidence, he emphasized, because both countries are creative and innovative. He also highlighted that the Swedish Ericsson company is the largest company in Hungary dealing with R+D which provides opportunities for further cooperation between the two countries. At the forum the Deputy Director
General responsible for research-development-innovation issues at the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise, Energy&Communications Jon Simonsson was also among presenters who called attention to the importance of cooperation between the public sector, enterprises and scientific institutions regarding innovation. He also highlighted the crucial role of the public sector which it may play not only in promoting innovation and development via tenders but also in defining objectives for the society. As Deputy Chief Executive responsible for enterprise relations at EricsHungary Roland Jakab son emphasized, in the field of innovation Ericsson has assigned a key task for its Hungarian subsidiary: more than 1200 research engineers are employed at every stage of innovation in Hungary, such as education, basic research, applied research, industrial application and development. This result could not have been achieved without the excellent relationships with universities – he stated.
Minister Balog met with member of the French Senate on Roma issues (Online 04 Oct) Minister for Human Resources Zoltán Balog met with member of the French Senate’s European Affairs Committee Michael Billout, who is preparing a report on the situation of the Roma for his committee. At this meeting, the Minister informed Mr Billout about the Hungarian Government’s most important measures aimed at facilitating integration of the
Roma, underlining the significance of the role of education and boosting employment. Minister Balog emphasised that it is important that free movement within the EU, considered primarily as an asset, not become an opportunity misused by criminal groups. Mr Billout informed the minister about the problem of anti-Roma attitudes in France, which creates diffi-
culties in the implementation of programs at a local level. He also emphasised that parallel to the EU-level concept, strong national strategies are also essential and added that what Minister Balog has told him so far is very encouraging. Mr Billout will submit his report to the French Senate on 15 October, 2012.
Direct flights necessary to boost Chinese tourism traffic in Hungary (Online 03 Oct) Minister for National Economy György Matolcsy spoke at the conference titled Chinese-Hungarian Trade Relations Today, stating that cooperation between Hungary and China has been increasingly promising and a strong economic bridge has been built between the two countries. Chinese investments total almost 2.5 billion USD in Hungary. According to the Minister, the latest Wanhua project at Kazincbarcika may be followed by further six to eight significant investments. On the other hand, the Minister for
National Economy stressed that there was still much to be done in the field of logistics development. Hungary is an obvious logistics center where any kind of transport infrastructure can be established – let it be by air, road or on waterways – therefore by exploiting all the possibilities the country must become a significant logistics hub, the minister stated. On the two-day of the conference, organized by Századvég Economic Research Institute and the Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (IE CASS),
participants analyzed among other topics, the role Hungary plays in Chinese tourism and the opportunities this field offers, establishing that Hungary should attract as many Chinese tourists as possible, as the Asian country is a huge market of potential visitors where tourism spending was rising even during the crisis. Among others, direct flights between the two countries must be restored, relevant marketing must be launched and visa administration processes must be speeded up – experts said.
A lm os t ha lf a billion f or int s f or c hildr e n wit h int e gr a t ion, le a r ning a nd be ha v iour a l dif f ic ult ie s (Online 03 Oct) A total of HUF 477 million will be allocated by the Minister of Human Resources to the development of students with integration, learning
and behavioural difficulties. After consideration of applications, HUF 453 850 000 has been made available to local governmentrun institutions; non-state
institutions will receive 16 860 000 HUF and 6 950 000 HUF will be granted to higher education institutions functioning as central budget organisations.
(Online 01 Oct) machines will of Minister be banned in State in charge Hungary within of the Prime the following Minister’s Ofweeks, except János fice in "casino’s opanLázár erating under nounced at a concession". press conferThere are curence on Monthree rently day that the such casinos Hungarian in operating Government he Hungary, proposes the stated, and the complete ban Government of slot maplans to further chines. tighten regulaThe Minister of tions regulating State, alongtheir future esside Governtablishment. m e n t The resulting Spokesman approximately András Giróbillion 20-30 Szász, stated forint shortfall in that previous János Lázár, András Giró-Szász (photo: Károly Árvai) budget income measures only would be repartly prevented disadvantaged peo- Therefore, Minister of State Lázár placed with income from proposed ple from spending state subsidies on added, Parliament is expected to ef- taxes on online gambling, the regulaslot machines and serious national fect exceptionally urgent proceedings tion of which will be worked out by security risks had also come to light to adopt the proposal as early as this Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of regarding the activities of those with Tuesday, after which the new legisla- Public Administration and Justice tion could come into force by the end Tibor Navracsics. interests in the gambling industry. of the month. As a result, gambling
FM Martonyi’s meeting with CEI secretary general (Online 02 Oct) Upon the invitation of the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs János Martonyi Secretary General of the Central European Initiative (CEI), G e r h a r d Pfanzelter paid a working visit to Budapest on 2 October 2012. Hungary is going to hold the Presidency of the international organization from 1 January to 31 D e c e m b e r Gerhard Pfanzelter, János Martonyi (photo: Gergely Botár) 2013. Since
the foundation of the CEI in Budapest in 1989 Hungary has assumed the Presidency three times already. The primary purpose of the visit of the Secretary General was the preparation of the Hungarian Presidency of the Organization next year. State Secretary Gergely Prőhle invited the Secretary General for a working lunch after the meeting with the Minister.
First Roma Strategy consultation held in Brussels (Online 04 Oct) Hungary leads the way among EU Member States with regard to the implementation and comprehensive monitoring of the Roma Strategy and its effects, Deputy State Secretary for Social Inclusion Katalin Langerné Victor stated following the first two-day meeting on the Roma Strategy in Brussels. The Deputy State Secretary said that after this event, further professional meetings would take place in the coming months. The EU’s Roma Strategy, according to which every Member State is to prepare its own
national strategy, was agreed upon in 2011 during the Hungarian EU Presidency. Hungary was the first to submit this document, followed by the other EU members, after which an opinion was delivered by the European Commission. Now that it is time to realise these proposals, the primary goal is to determine how it would be possible to monitor the implementation process in every Member State, the Deputy State Secretary said. At the meeting this week only a minority of the countries arrived with particular proposals, including Hungary, Sweden, the
Czech Republic and Spain. Sweden is creating a mentor network to serve the interests of the target group, calling this process “bridge building”. This type of program already exists in Hungary on several levels, the Deputy State Secretary said, for example in local governments and kindergartens, and it has been initiated in other areas, such as healthcare, with the possibility of including members of the target group as mentors. Contact between the government sector and the social actors concerned will be ensured by the Roma Coordination Council.
Viktor Orbán honoured by Sapientia University (Online 03 Oct) Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania has presented a Bocskai István Award to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Targu M u r e s (Marosvásárhely) to recognise his role in founding and developing the higher education institution. The award, named after István Bocskai, a Calvinist nobleman and Prince of Transylvania in 1605-06, was founded in July 2012 and the Prime Minister was the first to receive it. An (Photo: Barna Burger) eager advocate of Hungarian interests, Orbán signed a preliminary agreement on Bocskai led a revolt against the Habsburg behalf of the Hungarian government with Emperor's efforts to impose Roman heads of the Sapientia Foundation, Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania Catholicism on the people. In addition to the award ceremony, Viktor and Patrium Christian University on the
development of education in Transylvania. In line with the agreement, the Hungarian government will make 4 billion forints (14 million euros) available for Hungarian higher education in Transylvania in order to finance outstanding development projects. Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zsolt Németh, who accompanied the Prime Minister, told Hungarian News Agency MTI that the Hungarian Government would initiate putting the Romanian financing of Sapientia University onto the agenda of the Hungarian-Romanian joint committee’s next session.
Pr im e M inis t e r Or bá n ina ugur a t e d Te v a 's ne w H unga r ia n pla nt (Online 02 Oct) Prime Minister Orbán spoke at the inauguration of the IsTeva raeli Pharmaceutical Industries new LTD’s Hungarian headquarters Gödöllő, in stating that the pharmaceutical industry is one of Hungary’s most successful trademarks worldwide and Governthe ment will do everything in its power to maintain it. The Hungarian Photo: Károly Árvai Prime Minister underlined that be it developments or ing strategically important oncological investments, the Hungarian Govern- products, which were previously ment is ready for further cooperation scarce commodities throughout Euwith Teva. He added that the com- rope. pany is also a strategic partner of the Prime Minister Orbán stated that people of Hungary, since every sev- everyone who provides opportunities enth sick person in the country owes for Hungarians through investment is their recovery to the pharmaceutical our ally, and the head of Teva is such a person. Concluding his speech, he products of Teva. The new factory will produce sterile said that this investment serves the of the investors as well as interests products, such as hypodermic needles and infusions, as well as produc- the employees and the Hungarian economy.
Ambassador of Israel to Hungary, Ilan Mor also spoke at the event, highlighting the imof portance cooperation between Hungary and Israel and stated that he is proud that several thousand Hungarians work with and for Teva. Global Director of Teva Jeremy anLevin nounced that the company firmly believes in the Hungarian people and in the Hungarian economy. CEO of Teva Hungary Mihály Kaszás emphasised that the sterile centre is equipped with state-of-the-art technology. The 22 billion forint investment resulted in a 15 thousand square meter plant creating 263 new jobs, he said, adding that the plant can also provide a stable background to suppliers. The headquarters in Hungary serves as the European hub for Teva, which has been operating in the country since 1993.
Vik t or Or bá n m e e t s wit h Slov a k ia n Pr im e M inis t e r R obe r t Fic o (Online 02 Oct) handling the On Tuesday, economic criSlovakian sis, Robert Fico Prime Minister said. Robert Fico Furthermore, and Viktor the two Prime Orbán inauguMinisters rated the Pilis signed a joint Slovakians' statement on Centre in Pilisbuilding a new szentkereszt. bridge over the In his speech river Danube at the cerebetween Hunmony, Robert g a r y ' s Fico emphaKomárom and sized that the Slovakia's Konew cultural marno. The accentre shows cord also seeks that if both to develop trafsides have the fic links bewill, delicate istween the two sues can also countries. At be tackled. the ceremony, When asked Orban said that about his meet- Viktor Orban, Robert Fico (Photo: Csaba Pelsőczy) the border being with Viktor tween Hungary Orbán, the Slovakian head of govern- phere, and shed light on the areas of and Slovakia has crossing points ment said that the talks were held in cooperation between the neighbour- every 24 kilometres, but the goal is to a constructive and pragmatic atmos- ing states. When countries cooper- reduce this to 7.5 kilometres. ate, they are more successful in
Foreign Minister János Martonyi’s address at the UN Alliance of Civilizations (Online 02 Oct) Let me first of all express my gratitude to You, President Sampaio for inviting us to this most important ministerial meeting of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations today. We highly appreciate and acknowledge your efforts in leading the Alliance through today’s challenging times. Under your leadership, the Alliance of Civilizations has indeed become a well recognized UN platform for intercultural dialogue and cooperation, devoted to promoting trust, tolerance and respect among human beings of different beliefs, cultures and languages. Hungary is fully dedicated to the success of the Alliance and shares its result-oriented goals in particular when promoting a common understanding of cultural diversity on a global level. When holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first six months of last year, we put special emphasis on these values. We support the cultural diversity approach of minority cultures and languages. Minority rights are necessary because they promote cultural diversity and protect the richness of cultural heritage. We are convinced
therefore that intercultural dialogue should respect the equal value of minority cultures and languages. Belonging to a community, based on diversity, equality and participation is a common aspiration shared by all people – this is a message emerging from the Arab Spring we experienced. However, with regard to the recent deadly events in Benghazi and incidents elsewhere, it is clear that international action should focus more on the development and implementation of forward-looking strategies in dealing with religious extremism which still too often inspires violence with political purpose. Dialogue and consensus building, dispute management, mediation and conflict resolution are more needed than ever. We firmly believe that the UN Alliance of Civilizations – in cooperation with other international actors – is an appropriate platform to address these challenges. In this respect, we fully agree with your suggestion, High Representative, to find the dividing line between freedom of expression and hate speech. How all this can be implemented in an effective way and under a respon-
sible leadership is the main issue to deal with at the forthcoming 5th Alliance of Civilizations Global Forum, hosted by Austria in February of next year. We mostly welcome the Vienna propositions and are ready to take an active part in its endeavors. As a multi-stakeholder initiative, the Alliance, indeed, has to reinforce its actions at grass-roots level in particular by enhancing a global network of non-State players, civil society, voluntary organizations and foundations when finding new mechanisms for early response and crisis management tools. President Sampaio, we support your proposals, put forward recently to scale up the capacity of the Alliance to deliver and we are ready to make more commitments to the Alliance of Civilizations when offering to host a “cluster office” in Hungary. When concluding, dear High Representative, let me reiterate Hungary’s full commitment to and appreciation of the goals and results of the Alliance of Civilizations, a precious tool in our hands for the benefit of the one and only human civilization. We very much look forward to the Vienna Forum and its successful outcome.
Hungary supports a treaty amendment with conditions (Online 02 Oct) Finding a solution for the problems of the Eurozone is also in Hungary’s interest, but it would require the amendment of the EU Treaty. Hungary could support it only under certain conditions, Foreign Minister János Martonyi declared before Parliament’s Committee on European Affairs October 2, 2012. The Hungarian Foreign Minister stated that the conditions for Hungary supporting a treaty amendment include maintaining the principle of conferral, which means that each competence that has not been transferred to the EU by the Treaty shall remain with the Member States. He stressed the importance of the equality of Member States and that double standards should be avoided. Minister Martonyi pointed out the single market – which is one of the most important achievements of European integration – should be preserved, and great emphasis should be laid on legitimizing the EU decision making process. He added that respecting national identity and the principle of subsidiarity are also among the conditions Hungary would set. Foreign Minister János Martonyi said that although the economic strategy had recently changed in Europe, –
with growth promotion in addition to budget discipline and restrictions – the results of this shift are still not visible in most countries. He admitted that the crisis was not over, the differences in competitiveness had not diminished between the members of the Eurozone, and the future of the single currency as well as of the EU was uncertain. The Minister stated that Hungary’s interests were clear: Europe is to become strong, unified, and based on values. Solidarity is particularly important among these values. The Minister warned that a major Eurozone crisis would be such a shock for the entire EU that it would endanger the whole framework of European integration. He emphasized that whatever new measures would be taken or whatever new mechanisms might be introduced for the sake of solving the problems of the Eurozone, these measures or mechanisms should not increase the distance between the Eurozone and the Member States who were outside the Eurozone because the possibility for joining the Eurozone must be preserved. Regarding the current proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework
for 2014-2020, Minister János Martonyi declared that its recommendation to decrease the Cohesion Fund was unacceptable for Hungary and that Hungary would stick to its position until the last moment. In response to a question posed by Lajos Mile (LMP), Vice Chairman of the Committee Minister Martonyi stated the proposal concerning the payments of the Cohesion Fund would be most disadvantageous for Hungary and the Baltic states. János Martonyi pointed out, in response to MP Zoltán Balczó (Jobbik) who claimed that there was significant difference between the statements of Minister Martonyi and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán concerning the future of Europe, that Hungary was not unique in that „members of the cabinet have diverging or partly diverging views on some questions while they fully agree on the fundamental objectives.” Answering a question from MP István Bebes (Fidesz) about Croatia’s accession to the EU Minister Martonyi expressed his hope that Croatia would join the EU without problems on July 1, 2013, and he added that the enlargement process remained important for Hungary.
National Food Chain Safety Strategy under development (Online 02 Oct) The Ministry of Rural Development is developing a food chain safety strategy. The objective of the document is to determine the measures and instruments through which the protection of the health of consumers may continue to be most effectively realised. A special goal of the strategy is the further decrease in food-related illnesses, including the number of infections that occur in households. A further goal – to be achieved through
the filtering out of dishonest enterprises and increasing consumer awareness – is the efficient prevention of scandals that potentially endanger the health of the public and/or cause significant financial and ethical damage, and which as a result adversely affect both the domestic and international reputation of Hungarian foods. Based on the current food safety status, Hungary – similarly to many other countries within the European Union
– is among the safest places in the world. The Ministry of Rural Development would like to include every social group involved in the preliminary preparation of the strategy: consumers, enterprises within the food chain (from agriculture and the processing industry to trade and the catering industry), after which it will also consult with experts from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and other institutions involved in research.
Vi k t o r O r b á n g r e e t e d L e b a n o n ’s Maronite Patriarch (Online 01 Oct) Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt and Semjén State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and ExEcoternal n o m i c Relations Péter Szijjártó welc o m e d Lebanese Maronite Patriarch B e c h a r a alBoutros Rahi and his escort in the Hungarian Parliament. The patriarch congratulated govern- Photo: Gergely Botár the ment on its achievements and spoke highly of the which he saw as an indication that Hungarian constitution, a document Europe's future could be based on
pressured.
Christian values. Lebanese Christians are particularly inin terested inter-religious dialogue and peaceful coexistence, said the Patriarch. At the talks, the Prime Minister the stressed importance of dehaving the fended new, Christianbased Hungarian constitution in Europe, and he promised to provide similar to support Christians outEurope side should they be
Or bá n r e c e iv e d R om a nia n For e ign M inis t e r C or la t e a n in his of f ic e (Online 01 Oct) Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania Titus Corlatean on Monday, 1 October. Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó and the Ambassador of Romania were also present at the meeting. The Romanian Photo: Gergely Botár party thanked Hungary for its continuous support for interests in strong cooperation, espeRomania’s Schengen accession. cially regarding the Multiannual FiBoth countries’ representatives ex- nancial Framework (MFF), the pressed their intent to represent their Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
and Cohesion Funds. They stated that Central Europe’s energy security is in the strategic interest of both Hungary and Romania, therefore they both wish for swift progress in the AGRI and the N a b u c c o pipeline projects. The Hungarian party called for the opening of the border between the two countries in order to ensure that the closely interconnected border economic regions should once again begin to successfully operate.
Almost 2 billion HUF to help disadvantaged students (Online 01 Oct) A total of 1.89 billion HUF is available for disadvantaged primary and secondary school students for the school year 2012/2013 within the framework of the “For the road” scholarship program. Its subprograms called “Road to secondary school” and “Road to Certificate of Education”, launched by the Human Resources Support Manage-
ment Office on behalf of the State Secretariat for Social Inclusion of the Ministry of Human Resources, provide scholarship and mentoring programmes in order to enhance the learning opportunities of disadvantaged students, with special regard to those of Roma origin. Creating equal opportunities for disadvantaged students is
an important objective for the government and will reap its rewards for the whole of society. Owing to the “For the road” program, more than twenty thousand students received financial and mentoring support last year and 50 percent of new applicants for the school year 2012/13 are of Roma origin.
Hungary\'s Modern radar system becomes complete (Online 02 Oct) Construction of NATO the radar is going to start soon at in Medina Tolna County, Hungary. Defence Minister Csaba Hende laid the foundation stone of the installation together with the representatives of the contractors and designing in architects the village on Tuesday, October 2. Before laying the foundation stone, Csaba Hende stated that “we cannot speak of an independent, sovereign Hungary if we are unable to keep our own airspace under surveillance.” modern The radar system of Hungary becomes complete with the construction of the 3D radar at the Medina, Minister of Desaid, fence that adding NATO covers 94 per cent of the investmentrelated costs. The Minister of Defence said that with the state-of-the-art radar system and the most advanced Gripen tactical fighters, the Hungarian Defence Forces acting in the de-
fence of the airspace can give the best responses to any threats from the air. To characterize the capacity of the radar, the Minister noted that it
will be capable of detecting a sphere placed at a distance of 200 kilometers which is 30 centimeters in diameter. Csaba Hende also stressed that the Hungarian Defence Forces must always be supplied with the equipbest ment. “We are rebuilding the Hungarian miliindustry tary and are providing the HungarDefence ian with Forces equipment made in Hungary that is marketable even on the international marthe ket”, Minister stated. In March 2011 the Ministry of anDefence nounced that the 3D radar station meeting the NATO standards – which was earlier to be built on the Zengő and then on the Tubes Hills – would be constructed at Medina to replace a radar station that was made with Soviet technology and has been in service since 1987. The other two 3D radar stations providing surveillance of the Hungarian airspace operate in Bánkút and Békéscsaba.
Firefight in Afghanistan between a US– Hungarian unit and the taliban (Online) In the morning of Thursday, October 4 there was a firefight between the Hungarian–US special operations unit and the Taliban insurgents. No NATO troops were injured in the firefight, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) informed the Hungarian News Agency MTI. According to the press release, the
soldiers of the Hungarian Special Operations Group (SOG) – who operate in close cooperation with the US 1st Special Forces Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) – were also engaged in the firefight. The press release reminds that in 2011, Maj.-Gen. Michael Repass, the commander of the United States
Special Operations Command Europe (USSOCEUR) decorated the soldiers of the Hungarian Special Operations Group for their bravery which saved several US soldiers’ lives in the firefight that took place last September.
Ten Years of Success: End of exercise blonde avalanche 2012 (Online) The soldiers of the Tisza Multinational Engineer Battalion were preparing for executing flood control tasks in contingencies at this year’s E x e r c i s e Blonde Avalanche 2012 held in Romania. The exercise – which was conducted at the outskirts of Braila on the River Danube – ended with a VIP day on September 21. Apart from the Romanian hosts, Hungarian, Slovak and Ukrainian soldiers from the other nations of the Tisza battalion also participated in the exercise. During the VIP day – on which Romanian Defence Minister Corneliu Dobritoiu and Lt.Gen. Dr. Zoltán Orosz, the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff were also present – the soldiers of the multinational engineer battalion demonstrated how they build a floating bridge, run a ferry site and if needed, how they rescue people who had fallen into the water or had been
left stranded on the far bank of the river. The participants of the event saw the military equipment and vehicles in
service with the Romanian armed forces and the disaster managem e n t directorate. Additionally, the hosts also demonstrated how they set up and furnish a refugee camp. After seeing the exercise, Lt.Gen. Zoltán Orosz told us that this year’s event has been a good example of the tenyear success story of Blonde Avalanche exercises. He added that next year the Slovaks will be the lead nation of the battalion, so Exercise Blonde Avalanche will be organized by Hungary’s northern neighbor in 2013. Lt.-Col. Levente Tábi, the military technology chief engineer of the HDF Joint Force Command informed us that on seeing the success of this four-nation cooperation, Serbia also announced its intention to participate in Exercise Blonde Avalanche next year.
Simulator training in Sweden ( O n l i n e ) Twenty-three Gripen pilots, intercept controllers (IC) and joint terminal conattack trollers (JTACs) of the HungarDefence ian Forces participated in a simulator-aided tactical training in Sweden between Septem10–14, ber 2012. Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő, the Chief of the Defence Staff inspected the training on the spot inside the Air Swedish Force Air Combat Simulation Center (FLSC). The participation in the weeklong training every year during the period of the program is made possible by the m o d i f i e d Gripen lease agreement. The Swedish Air Force Air Combat Simulation Center has been run and developed by the Swedish Defence Research Agency since (FOI) 1998. Besides providing training for pilots, intercept controllers and joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs), the center provides means for testing onboard avionics and weapons as well as means for the development of new tactics and combat techniques. The center has facilities for the simultaneous training of eight pilots, two intercept controllers and one joint terminal attack controller. The pre-constructed scenarios enable the soldiers to progress by the end of training from simple missions to the more complex tasks which require more experience. There is also opportunity to carry out full preparation, to continuously monitor the task execution as well as to replay and evaluate the completed missions.
The pilots practiced in two-on-two, four-on-four and beyond visual range air combat scenarios. The training program included the preparation of the lead aircraft of two-plane and flight-level formations as well as the conduct of offensive and defensive counter-air operations. The missions involved in Composite Air Operations (COMAO) require that the participants of the operation be led and prepared by a well-trained commander. For this reason, the centre provides facilities for training the operations commanders who are to lead COMAO formations. Beyond acquiring the skills of air-to-air and airto-ground deployments, during the training missions the training audience had a chance to practice sup-
of pression enemy air defence (SEAD) maneuvers, which was followed by a meticulous and detailed after action review. Throughout the training the IC staff focused on the control of two-on-two four-onand four air combats and the of execution COMAO missions as well as the further development of their close cooperation with the pilots. To be able to take full advantage of the Gripens’ combat roles, it is necessary to the prepare joint terminal conattack trollers and let them practice how to request close air support (CAS) for the land force units. For this the reason, of scenarios the training program included CAS built-in missions. The training joint and task execution and the detailed after action reviews ensured the continuous enhancement of effectiveness and the successful execution of real-world missions. The personnel completed 200 flying missions during the complex training, which considerably improves the soldiers’ proficiency in a very cost-effective way. The simulator training substitutes for those real-world missions that could be implemented only at enormously magnified costs even under home circumstances. The simulation center provided the participants with opportunity to fly missions which – considering the number of aircraft at home – either could not be carried out or could be carried out only on major NATO exercises.
Smooth takeover of force protection tasks at KAIA (Online) “The of takeover force protection tasks at the Kabul International Airport took (KAIA) place in order Monday, on October 1, and the soldiers of the Hungarian D e f e n c e Forces will perform their duties there for months”, six Chief of Defence Gen. Dr. Benkő Tibor said at a press conference in Budapest. Tibor Gen. Benkő told the press that the travel of the 230-strong force protection contingent abroad and the takeover of force protection tasks in the capital of Afghanistan had taken place in an orderly manner. “From now on the airport will be operated by the French armed forces, and the Hungarians will be responsible for its force protection”, Gen. Benkő added. Hungary and the Hungarian Defence Forces have assumed a new role in
NATO-led operations in the Afghanistan in a new way, the Defence Minister said when announcing the government’s decision at the end of August in Budapest. On that occasion, Csaba Hende said that the Hungarian Defence Forces would withdraw the contingent of their Provincial Reconstruction Team from Baghlan Province in March 2013 and would simultaneously end their provincial development activities as
well. At the same time, on reNATO’s quest, 230 soldiers of the Hungarian Defence Forces would assume the force protection duties at Kabul International Airport for six months as of October 1 this year. Csaba Hende stressed that Hungary continues to supNATO’s port in role Afghanistan, but in line with internathe tional developments – the upcoming withdrawal of NATO combat forces from the Asian country in 2014 – significantly transforms its operational role. Minister Hende reasserted that in accordance with the governmental decision, the Hungarian troop contribution to the NATO-led operations in Afghanistan would temporarily increase as of October, but would significantly decrease as of the spring of 2013.
Giv ing m or e s pa c e t o e nt e r pr is e s a t na t iona l a nd int e r na t iona l le v e ls In the next two (Online 05 Oct) weeks expansion plans will be announced by two of the large American corporations with which State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations had meetings on his recent US visit. The companies have informed the State Secretariat that if they decide on expansion, it will very likely take place in Hungary. The heads of the corporations appreciate the reliability and stability of the Hungarian business environment, as well as the skill and diligence of Hungarian employees. With regard to the promotion of Hun-
garian firms, Minister of State for the Prime Minister’s Office János Lázár attended the 50th delegates’ meeting of the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BKIK), at which he praised the creativity and innovation of Hungarian entrepreneurs. He pointed out that the Government seeks to help Hungarian enterprises with its own measures; these are strongly influenced, however, by global trends and the European economic crisis. He added that the Hungarian government strives to establish partnerships with interest groups and businesses, and to inte-
grate the Chamber’s suggestions into its modus operandi. He also mentioned that the reorganisation of EU development funds has started, with the aim of reducing state bureaucracy. The Government intends to draw down 100 per cent of EU funds and to allocate 60 per cent of the available resources to developing the competitiveness of businesses and to promoting growth, which he regards as more important than infrastructure development or the modernisation of public administration.
H unga r ia n dia s por a or ga nis a t ions t o hold s e s s ions ne x t we e k (Online 04 Oct) Next week the Hungarian Diaspora Council (MDT) and the Hungarian Permanent Conference (MAERT) will hold sessions, with the aim to produce a register of Hungarian memorials and items of value around the world dubbed "Julianus" and discuss the year of Hungarian nurseries abroad. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will ad-
dress both meetings. Deputy State Secretary for Hungarian Communities Abroad Zsuzsanna Répás told journalists at a background briefing in Budapest, that the MDT on Monday would hold a review of various memorial sites, evaluate progress made under the Julianus programme as well as assess further necessary measures.
At the MAERT session, next year's highlights under the nation-policy programme will be determined, and a review of problems affecting various regions reviewed. At last's year's meeting, the strategy document of the policy of the nation was approved, and, this time round, delegates will build on this document with an action plan, she said.
Győri met with French high-profile officials to discuss cooperation on EU issues (Online 03 Oct) There are several points of current EU issues in which Hungary and France are able to work together very well, Minister of State for EU Affairs Enikő Győri said following a two-day visit to Paris on Wednesday. During her stay, Minister of State Győri met with Advisor to the President on EU affairs Philippe LegliseCosta and Head of the Senate’s Committee on EU affairs Simon Sutour. Among others, the two parties discussed, the multiannual financial framework (MFF), issues related to long-term economic coordination and the question of the banking union. Regarding the debate initiated by France in the European Council on the EU’s growth pact, Hungary agrees with the French on the necessity of growth and new jobs beside fiscal consolidation. However, Minister of State Győri added that even though we are committed to the latter, as seen in our decreasing public debt and budget deficit, we would like to decide for ourselves what methods we use to achieve the results.
The Hungarian Minister of State pointed out that France faces similar problems as Hungary, since the country has to decrease its deficit and is suffering from high (11%) unemployment. The Hungarian Government has been tackling these problems for the past two years, trying to eliminate the obstacles to growth through tax policies and structural reforms, she added. With regard to the European Commission’s proposal on granting the European Central Bank (ECB) supervisory competence within the Eurozone, Minister of State Győri said the Hungarian Government can only make a responsible decision if competition and the Common Market will not be impaired and so Hungary will not be at a disadvantage because it is outside the Eurozone. Additionally, the potential accession of Hungary to the zone could only be considered if rights and obligations are in balance. France, as she pointed out, accepts that the problems of non-eurozone states must also be considered. Both countries agree that reaching a
decision on the 2014-2020 MFF at the EU summit in November would be optimal, which the Hungarian official said would also be necessary because of predictability so at to ensure that Member States have at least a year to prepare through the introduction of their own new, internal regulations and restructuring of their institution system so that the applicants of EU tenders would not experience any problems in the field of payments. Minister of State Győri confirmed the Hungarian standpoint stating that a 30% decrease in cohesion funding is unacceptable, since it would go against the logic of assisting the less developed. Both Hungary and France agree that the amount suggested for agricultural policies by the European Commission is the minimum, as neither country would want to work with less. To achieve this, she added, a suitably strong Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is needed, provided with the necessary financial instruments.
Significant support for the homeless (Online 03 Oct) In 2012 the Government has made over HUF 8.2 billion available for the care of homeless people. The funding will be awarded to, among others, health care and social services institutions, those providing daytime services or temporary accommodation and rehabilitation institutions.
In order to allocate state aid appropriately, the Government is working with institutions which have a long history in helping the homeless and which give direct assistance, such as local government-run institutions, church and civil organisations. Furthermore, the New Széchenyi Plan is issuing tenders worth hundreds of millions for aid to the home-
less. Through tenders worth a total of HUF 380 million, the Public Foundation for the Homeless (Hajléktalanokért Közalapítvány) is assisting organisations in provision of supplementary services – such as call centres and extending the opening hours of daytime shelters for weekends – in addition to basic ones.
External trade turnover continued to increase in July (Online 02 Oct) In July 2012 exports and imports increased by 5.6 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively, compared to the corresponding period of 2011. According to the latest flash report of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), In January-July 2012 the volume of exports and imports was higher by 3.3 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively, compared to the same period of 2011. External trade continued to record a significant surplus of 1200bn HUF (4.1bn EUR) in the initial seven months of the year. Exports in July amounted to 1 846bn HUF (6 440 million EUR) and imports totaled 1 723bn HUF (6 009 million EUR). Therefore, external trade registered a surplus of 123bn HUF (431 million EUR) at the end of the month. Analyzing commodity groups it can be concluded that in the initial seven months of the year the export volume of machinery and transport equipment declined by 0.9 percent, while their import volume was up by 1.5
percent in comparison to the January-July 2011 period. The decline of export in this commodity group was mainly the consequence of diminishing exports of telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment, while the import volume of these products increased substantially. Volumes of both exports and imports increased dynamically regarding products associated with vehicle manufacturing (power generating machinery and equipment, road vehicles) as well as office machines and automatic data processing machines. In the January-July 2012 period the export and import volumes of manufactured products were up by 8.4 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. Among commodity groups it was the exports of medical and pharmaceutical products which increased by great extent. Prices of fuels and electric energy have risen by more than the long-
time average (22 percent), and the import volume of products belonging to this category was down by 3.5 percent compared to the January-July 2011 period. In the initial seven months of 2012 the export volume of food, beverages and tobacco products increased dynamically (by 7.7 percent), whereas their import volume was 4.3 percent lower compared to the base period. In January-July 2012 the volume of Hungarian exports heading to EU member countries was higher by 3.3 percent, while the volume of imports was up by 4.5 percent compared to the initial seven months of the previous year. The export volume to nonEU countries also increased by 3.3 percent, whereas the volume of imports declined by 4.2 percent. As a consequence, the external trade deficit vis-à-vis these countries declined to 371bn HUF which is 116bn HUF less than in the base period.
PM met with leader of Hungarian Community Party (Online 01 Oct) The Hungarian Prime Minister received József Berényi, President of the Hungarian Community Party (MKP), in his office on Monday. Mr. Orbán will be meeting his Slovakian counterpart, Prime Minister Fico, tomorrow, and although discussions are likely to mainly centre on economic issues, the Prime Minister wished to be informed on the status of the Hungarian minority in
Slovakia. The MKP’s President informed Prime Minister Orbán about the downgrading of the Selye János University and the latest news concerning Hungarians who have lost their Slovakian citizenship after obtaining Hungarian nationality. They also discussed the public reaction regarding the European Parliament's discussion of the Benes Decrees, which state the col-
lective guilt of Hungarians and Germans. The MKP’s leader also reported on the joint declaration of the Hungarian organisations in Slovakia, signed on September 25, stating the need for cultural and regional selfgovernance, which the Prime Minister agreed are indispensable to the continued survival and development of Hungarians in Slovakia.
I am pleased to note that bilateral relations between Pakistan and South Korea have been further strengthened through a number of concrete steps. These developments are of such a significant nature that they will continue to positively impact our friendly ties in the coming generations. Korea is now becoming one of the largest investors in Pakistan, especially in the hydropower sector in which we expect investment of almost $5 billion. Its direct impact will include job creation and a social uplift for the community; however, its indirect impact will be further reaching and long term. The electricity provided from the project will power Pakistan’s industries, allow businesses to profit and light up Pakistan. South Korea has agreed to provide Pakistan with a soft loan of around $300 million under the EDCF facility. Further, a number of multimillion dollar projects are being implemented by KOICA, the official development agency of the Korean government. These projects range from helping in the resettlement of IDPs in KPK to a separate project which gives vocational skills to violence and insurgency affected youth. Korea supports the provision of advanced education in partnership with the Higher Education Commission and has also helped slum dwellers by supporting informal schools. Hundreds of Pakistan Government officials have been provided trainings in various fields in Korea while Pakistani engineers will be given a competitive edge through training at the Garment Technology Institute and the Communication Technology Centre of Excellence. South Korea is also undertaking projects for water purification and water management to provide safe drinking water. Also worth mentioning is that the Korean private and corporate sectors are also involved in developments and assistance projects across Pakistan. From volunteer doctors to flood assistance, the Korean people and Korean corporations have exhibited their affection for the people of Pakistan time and again, and continue to do so. I believe that our countries have complimenting assets. South Korea has a technological advantage and industrial strength while Pakistan is rich in natural resources and quality manpower. It is my sincere wish and prayer that Korea’s friendship with Pakistan proves mutually beneficial; that it brings our people closer together; and that it plays its due role in uplifting the social and economic conditions of both our nations. On the occasion of the National Foundation day of the Republic of Korea, I wish everlasting friendship and cooperation between our two countries and people. I hope we can endeavor to move forward towards our common goals.