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OIC (1969 NGO): AZ, AE, IR, IQ, BD, TR, TN, SN, SL, GA, GW, QA, KW, ML, MR, YE, JO, ID, PK, AF, UZ, BH, AL, UG, BN, BJ, TM, BF, TJ, TG, TD, DZ, SA, SS, SY, SR, SO, OM, GM, GY, GN, PS, KM, KG, KZ, CM, CI, LB, LY, MV, MY, EG, MA, MZ, NE, NG
ECOWAS (1972 FTA): BN, BJ, CI, CV, GH, GY, GM, GN, GW, SN, NI, NG, SL, LB, TG
CFA (1945 Zone; 1973 CAEMC; 1994 WAEMU) CM, CF, TD, CG, GQ, GA, BJ, BF, CI, GW, ML, NE, SG, TG
PAPSS (2022): AU
Germany suspends participation in Mali military mission, 12 Aug rear guard
after the West African nation refused to grant a civilian aircraft carrying German troops permission to use its airspace. The flight was part of a troop rotation, and German officials said it was not the first time Mali has denied overflight permission. Germany's defense minister, Christine Lambrecht, alleged her Malian counterpart, Sadio Camara, had not adhered to agreements. German troops will now focus on ensuring their own security, her ministry said. "Camaras' actions speak a different language than his words," Lambrecht said "We must therefore take measures and suspend the operation of our reconnaissance forces and transport flights (with helicopters) until further notice." Germany announced earlier in the year that it was drawing down its participation in a European Union military mission in Mali after France pulled out. But Germany continued to provide troops to the U.N.'s MINUSMA peacekeeping mission in the West African nation. Like France, Germany has expressed misgivings about the presence of Russian mercenaries in Mali.
Germany's defense minister, Christine Lambrecht, alleged her Malian counterpart, Sadio Camara, had not adhered to agreements. German troops will now focus on ensuring their own security, her ministry said.
"Camaras' actions speak a different language than his words," Lambrecht said "We must therefore take measures and suspend the operation of our reconnaissance forces and transport flights (with helicopters) until further notice."
Germany announced earlier in the year that it was drawing down its participation in a European Union military mission in Mali after France pulled out. But Germany continued to provide troops to the U.N.'s MINUSMA peacekeeping mission in the West African nation.
Like France, Germany has expressed misgivings about the presence of Russian mercenaries in Mali.
[...] • Pursuing public-private partnerships to sustainably develop and secure the critical minerals that will supply clean energy technologies
A stronger transatlantic relationship for the stability of the Middle East and North Africa Biden and Draghi Atlantic Council June 2022.
A new transatlantic relationship for the Middle East and North Africa
Through this initiative, the US is empowering North African nations to decide with whom and when they cooperate on issues. Yael Lempert made clear that regional stability is in the best interest of nations across the globe, and that the US will continue to have a newly defined presence in North Africa that highlights the region's human potential. According to Lempert, the US has also been at the forefront of enacting a sustainable political vision in the MENA.
According to Lempert, the US has also been at the forefront of enacting a sustainable political vision in the MENA.
Indeed the US has deployed Special Forces for over two decades across the African continent with as much success as advisors across SE Asia to stop fallen dominoes of Communist expansion.
Key words NATO expansion Southern Front by means of Spain (Morocco) and Italy (Libya) | mercenaries for the White House | France ousted in role (Algeria) 'Sapere aude'
Met with @UrugwiroVillage and @Vbiruta about the U.S.-Rwanda relationship and how to reduce tensions and ongoing violence in the region. We also discussed U.S. concerns about democracy and human rights in Rwanda, including the wrongful detention of Paul Rusesabagina. pic.twitter.com/ZymNMisHDk— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) August 11, 2022
Met with @UrugwiroVillage and @Vbiruta about the U.S.-Rwanda relationship and how to reduce tensions and ongoing violence in the region. We also discussed U.S. concerns about democracy and human rights in Rwanda, including the wrongful detention of Paul Rusesabagina. pic.twitter.com/ZymNMisHDk
8 Aug US State | Vital Partners, Shared Priorities: The Biden Administration's Sub-Saharan Africa Strategy monologue US State | Remarks at the Opening of the U.S.-South African Strategic Dialogue, opening remarks FM PANDOR: Long time no see SEC BLINKEN: floods in Durban and in Kentucky US State | Secretary Antony J. Blinken and South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor at a Joint Press Availability, Q&A SEC BLINKEN: repercussions of Russia's war in Ukraine FM PANDOR: I'm glad that Secretary Blinken has confirmed that America is not asking us to choose
And, as you've heard, by 2050, one in four people on the planet we share will be African. They will shape the destiny not only of this continent but of the world.
Should be easy to copy/paste this speech for Antony's visit to Beijing soon. 😂
Key Projections The World in 2050 | PMC - 2017 |
Of the G7 countries only the US (3rd) is projected to remain in top 7!
Russia was 6th and would remain 6th, larger than any other European state. The Biden Blitzkrieg to force a war on the European continent is like throwing a wrench in well organized logistics of global economies. Doing it on its own merits won't cut it. The US needs more territory. Russia knows what it is defending to survive economically. Brussels and the EU-27 will be a footnote in history. Japan drops down to 8th followed by Germany 9th and quite optimistic a post-Brexit UK at 10th. 'Sapere aude'
* observer, dialogue, or applicant member
APEC (1989 FTA): CN, CN-hk, CN-tw, RU, ID, SG, VN, TH, PH, MX, PE, CL, BN, PG, MY, KR; US, AU, JP, NZ, CA ASEAN (1967 FTA): BN, KH, ID, LA, MY, MM, PH, SG, TH, VN
Drilling of the "Dabei-401" well, designed to be China's deepest onshore gas well, has started on Tuesday in the country's northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The Tarim Oilfield said it is expected to drill 110 ultra-deep wells this year, while it drilled 23 wells with a depth of over 8,000 meters in 2021....Tarim Basin is a major petroliferous basin in China, producing one-sixth of the country's total production of natural gas.
Apart from Sinopec and PetroChina, the other firms that had notified the NYSE of their intentions to delist were China Life Insurance and Aluminium Corporation of China (Chalco). PetroChina said in its release that it had notified the NYSE today of its decision and would file with the SEC on or about August 29 a form to delist its ADSs from the NYSE. American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") from the NYSE [...2000 HKSE/23.5% NYSE, 2005 HKSE, 2007 SSE] As of 9 August 2022, the issued and outstanding ADSs represented approximately 3.93% of the total [diluted] H Shares and approximately 0.45% of the total share capital of the Company. Among the many business reasons for seeking delisting of its ADSs, PetroChina cited "the considerable administrative burden for performing the disclosure obligations as necessary for maintaining the listing of the ADSs on the NYSE as a result of the differences in the regulatory rules of multiple listing venues." ...
PetroChina said in its release that it had notified the NYSE today of its decision and would file with the SEC on or about August 29 a form to delist its ADSs from the NYSE.
American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") from the NYSE [...2000 HKSE/23.5% NYSE, 2005 HKSE, 2007 SSE] As of 9 August 2022, the issued and outstanding ADSs represented approximately 3.93% of the total [diluted] H Shares and approximately 0.45% of the total share capital of the Company.
China's largest oil refiner Sinopec has reportedly extracted crude oil and natural gas from a newly drilled oil reserve with wells around 8,000 meters deep.... 244 tons of crude oil and 970,000 cubic meters of natural gas per day. ... The Shunbei oil and gas field has 41 ultra-deep drilling wells, and is one of the world's deepest onshore commercial oil and gas fields, according to Sinopec.
For the past two decades, China has been stonewalling U.S. regulators over access to the work papers of auditors of publicly traded companies that are based in China but listed on U.S. stock exchanges. China takes the position that these audit work papers hold state secrets and it prohibits audit firms from releasing the documents directly to U.S. regulators, effectively FLOUTING U.S. accounting law FASB guidance. This UNTENABLE situation finally forced the hand of Congress to take a stand in December of 2020....
archived 9 Aug book promo, Thu Jul 28th, 2022
Forced labor has taken place in the Xinjiang region of China, the U.N.'s top expert on slavery concluded in a new report which has riled Beijing. It is "reasonable to conclude that forced labour among Uyghur, Kazakh and other ethnic minorities in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing" took place in the western region, where China has been accused of human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority, and a "genocide" by the [U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo]. In stinging remarks, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery Tomoya Obokata added that some aspects of China's Xinjiang policy could even amount to "enslavement as a crime against humanity."
It is "reasonable to conclude that forced labour among Uyghur, Kazakh and other ethnic minorities in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing" took place in the western region, where China has been accused of human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority, and a "genocide" by the [U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo].
In stinging remarks, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery Tomoya Obokata added that some aspects of China's Xinjiang policy could even amount to "enslavement as a crime against humanity."
Global Times | Non-jury trial for national security case to ensure a fair trial: HK Department of Justice, 17 Aug
The AFP first reported that dozens of suspects including some who were involved in organizing and planning the so-called "35-plus" political strategy in 2020 would see a non-jury trial as the case involves foreign elements. Citing the relevant documents, the AFP also said the reason of departing from the tradition of jury trial is for the personal safety of jurors and their family members, and a risk of perverting the course of justice if the trial is conducted with a jury. [...] The Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance, which incorporated many of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provisions, does not provide for a right to be tried by jury in Hong Kong, so a trial by jury is not a protected right or fundamental right or constitutional right in Hong Kong, Lawrence Ma, barrister and chairman of the Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Two high-profile national security cases in Hong Kong will proceed without juries, according to the media in the former British colony, with some analysts interpreting this as another signal of failing judicial independence.
[HKSAR Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China co-ordinator] Kwong [Chung-Ching] said some defendants might choose to plead guilty to receive shorter jail sentences, but they might also think that arguing in court would not make a difference for the outcome. "Since they have been remanded for more than a year, it makes more sense to just get out of jail as soon as possible," she said.
"Since they have been remanded for more than a year, it makes more sense to just get out of jail as soon as possible," she said.
"The threshold for granting bail is so hard to achieve now,"she added. It's very problematic to see that we are relieved when someone received bail, because it should be a norm that most defendants should receive bail as long as they don't have a high risk of hindering case development."
reference How to Germany | German Law and the German Legal System
There is no such thing as a jury trial in Germany and judges take on a more active role in court proceedings. Court procedures [folowing civil or criminal arraignment?] are otherwise similar to a < wipes tears >jury trial in the USA [minus 12 + 5 alternates]. Under German law the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Litigating in a German court of law could not be any more different from what USA litigation lawyers or English barristers are used to. First, under German civil procedure rules, there is no jury, only a professional judge (usually only one, sometimes three or five). That's the ["]guy["] you need to persuade in order to win your case.
What else is different? Well, quite a lot. For starters, there is no pre-trial discovery: actually, there is no discovery at all. There are no depositions and, normally, also no written witness statements. ...
Well, quite a lot. For starters, there is no pre-trial discovery: actually, there is no discovery at all. There are no depositions and, normally, also no written witness statements. ...
II. The Philosophical Foundation : Hegel´s Philosophy of Rights (1821) [...] III. Academic and Political Criticism: Impracticability and Inefficiency of Jury Trials
The department said that as of August 1, 2022, 114,172 people were kept in Russian detention centers , despite the fact that they are designed for 118,495 . The Federal Penitentiary Service concluded that the filling limit was not exceeded . [...] Aleksey Dobrynin , Managing Partner at Pen & Paper Bar Association, pointed to the overcrowding in prisons in St. Petersburg and the region since last year, and noted that judges continue to impose detention as the main punishment , despite the instruction of the Supreme Court to choose more lenient measures of restraint for light crimes. At the same time, the heads of institutions cannot but accept new prisoners, and the problem is solved by "compacting" the cells, adding new beds. This problem was felt most strongly in the Rostov region - there are 5 detention centers in the region, designed for a total of 3.6 thousand people, but in May of this year, the head of the local PMC, Igor Omelchenko , reported that the limits in each of them were exceeded by 100-300 prisoners....
This problem was felt most strongly in the Rostov region - there are 5 detention centers in the region, designed for a total of 3.6 thousand people, but in May of this year, the head of the local PMC, Igor Omelchenko , reported that the limits in each of them were exceeded by 100-300 prisoners....
Pay-to-stay laws were put into place in many areas during the [Reagan-Biden] tough-on-crime era of the 1980s and '90s, said Brittany Friedman, an assistant professor of sociology at University of Southern California who is leading a study of the practice.
3. In light of the breadth and gravity of the allegations, and the nature of information received, OHCHR has sought access to XUAR [Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region] to verify claims since 2018.7 In parallel, and further to its global mandate under General Assembly resolution 48/141 and within existing resources, OHCHR has continued to monitor the situation and assess the allegations, including by reviewing and critically analysing publicly available official documentation, as well as research material, satellite imagery and other open-source information, examining their origin, credibility, weight and reliability in line with standard OHCHR methodology. Throughout OHCHR's review, particular attention was given to official Government documentation and information, including laws, policies, statistical data, court decisions, and official statements and White Papers made public by the Government, as well as a number of other documents that are in the public domain and which OHCHR has assessed as highly likely to be authentic based on strong indicia of official character.8 OHCHR has also closely studied information presented by the Government, including in the context of its reviews before the UN human rights treaty bodies and in response to UN Special Procedures communications, 9 and examined material submitted to it by academic and other institutions inside China.10. ....
Putin and Jokowi discussed preparations for the G-20 summit in Bali in a phone call Thursday, the Kremlin said in a statement that didn't mention whether the Russian leader will attend. Putin's attendance could also bring him face to face with Volodymyr Zelensk* for the first time since Russia's invasion because the Ukrainian president is also ["]slated["] to be in Bali.[...] "Indonesia wants to be friends with everyone," [Widodo] said. "We don't have problems with any country. Each country will have their own approach. Each leader has their own approach. But what's needed by Indonesia is investment, technology that will change our society."
"Indonesia will never support initiatives that are not in line with its own national interests. Indonesia has always conducted active free foreign policy that is only in line with its national interests," the diplomat said.
Truss's campaign, asked for her position,referred to comments she made in July when she said it would be important to confront Putin in front of allies like India and Indonesia. "I would go there, and I would call Putin out," she told a televised debate on July 25.
A high-speed electric passenger train and an inspection train, customized for the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway in Indonesia, left the port of Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province on Sunday. [...] The first trains will arrive in Jakarta by the end of August, and the delivery of the remainder will be completed in batches by the beginning of 2023, according to the company. ...With a total length of 142 kilometers, the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway connects Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, and Bandung, a famous tourist city in Indonesia.
Africa-press | Raila meets visiting Senator Chris Coons
Senator Coons, who is leading a congressional delegation of [anonymous] US Senate and House Representatives, commended President Kenyatta for ensuring peace and stability prevailed during the election period. [President-elect William] Ruto on the other hand said the talks touched on the just concluded elections in the country and areas of cooperation between Kenya and the United States.
[President-elect William] Ruto on the other hand said the talks touched on the just concluded elections in the country and areas of cooperation between Kenya and the United States.
... Coons, a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and his delegation have already visited Cape Verde [sic] and Mozambique and are expected to visit Rwanda, where the Congo tensions and human rights should be on the agenda following Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Kigali [and South Africa] last week....
... After meeting with Kenyatta, Odinga, and Ruto, Coons told the AP "I was encouraged that in all three meetings we heard a commitment to a call for calm and tranquility, to respect the legal processes established in the 2010 constitution." He said the conversations were about the rule of law, the importance of free and fair elections and peaceful transitions. "Obviously, the United States has had a very difficult experience with these issues for the past few years," Coons said, referring to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as former President Donald Trump tried to remain in power. "I said in all three meetings we have things to learn from Kenya." ...
"Obviously, the United States has had a very difficult experience with these issues for the past few years," Coons said, referring to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as former President Donald Trump tried to remain in power. "I said in all three meetings we have things to learn from Kenya." ...
In a [1984] college paper article, the [imminent] senator wrote the source of his conversion from Republican to Democrat was his [semester abroad in] Kenya. His rivals [of the Ethiopian-American persuasion] used the article to claim that Coons had confessed the Kenyan trip converted him into a Marxist.
"Do you have something against African reporters?"A day after the U.S. announced its new strategy towards Sub-Saharan Africa, and with a new Commander assuming command of AFRICOM today, African reporters say they have to "beg for questions" from Biden's Press Secretary. pic.twitter.com/hGP8LmLpfq— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) August 10, 2022
"Do you have something against African reporters?"A day after the U.S. announced its new strategy towards Sub-Saharan Africa, and with a new Commander assuming command of AFRICOM today, African reporters say they have to "beg for questions" from Biden's Press Secretary. pic.twitter.com/hGP8LmLpfq
Xinhua News Agency: The Foreign Ministry today put out an announcement about the upcoming Coordinators' Meeting on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the 8th Ministerial Conference of FOCAC. Could you shed some light on China's expectations for this meeting? ...
[Ethiopia] Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister [Demeke Mekonnen] stated that without increased trade and FDI, our efforts to mobilize more finance, create decent jobs, boost exports, build manufacturing capacity, and transfer technology would suffer....
The foundation of China-Africa cooperation is solid and well fostered over many decades and Africa has been the destination of the Chinese foreign minister's first foreign visit in a year for 32 consecutive years. [...] Trade between China and Africa reached an all-time high in 2021 of $254 billion, from about $10 billion in 2000, according to Xinhua News Agency....
Recalling the Dakar Declaration, the China-Africa Cooperation Vision 2035, the Declaration on China-Africa Cooperation on Combating Climate Change, and the Dakar Action Plan (2022-2024) adopted at the ministerial conference...
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