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Dans un entretien au « Monde », le premier ministre assure que « la France a une stratégie pour gagner cette guerre » contre l’organisation Etat islamique. Il propose aussi « une nouvelle relation avec l’islam de France ».

Le Conseil de sécurité a adopté vendredi une résolution dans laquelle il autorise le déploiement au Burundi d'une composante de Police des Nations Unies, d'un effectif maximum de 228 policiers, chargés de surveiller la situation en matière de sécurité.

La Représentante spéciale des Nations Unies chargée de la question des violences sexuelles commises en période de conflit, Zainab Bangura, a appelé vendredi le gouvernement congolais à traduire en justice les auteurs des viols commis il y a six ans dans le territoire de Walikale, en République démocratique du Congo (RDC).

Le Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme (HCDH) s'est déclaré vendredi préoccupé par les peines de prison prononcées contre des membres du principal parti d'opposition en Gambie et par l'usage excessif de la force dans le cadre de manifestations.

Le Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU a adopté à l'unanimité vendredi une résolution prorogeant pour une durée de deux semaines le mandat de la Mission des Nations Unies au Soudan du Sud (MINUSS) dans un contexte tendu après une reprise des combats début juillet.

En avant, marche ! Politiques, journalistes, syndicalistes, professeurs ou simples citoyens, les demandes de renseignements pour adhérer aux différentes réserves proposées par le gouvernement sont en train...

Mercredi, Marion Maréchal-Le Pen s'est fendu d'un tweet annonçant qu'elle postulait dans la réserve opérationnelle de l'armée, pour « montrer l'exemple ». La jeune députée FN du Vaucluse n'est pas la seule...

« Vous croyez que je suis candidat pour être ministre des Finances ? » Même s'il n'a toujours pas officialisé sa candidature aux primaires de la droite et du centre, l'ex-président a de plus en plus de...

Selon un communiqué des Républicains, le rapport de la "police des polices" sur le dispositif le soir du 14 juillet ne répond pas à toutes les questions.

Le sistership du paquebot Carnival Vista, livré au printemps par les chantiers italiens Finacantieri à la compagnie américaine CCL, sera baptisé Carnival Horizon. Alors que son aîné a été réalisé à Monfalcone, ce second navire sortira de Marghera en mars 2018.

Longs de près de 324 mètres pour une largeur de 37 mètres et une jauge de 133.500 GT, les paquebots de la classe Vista comptent 1967 cabines, soit une capacité de 4977 passagers et, avec l’équipage, plus de 6400 personnes à bord. 

• Lire la suite de Carnival Cruise Lines : Le second Vista sera baptisé Carnival Horizon

July 28, 2016 (NAIROBI) - The European Commission has released €40 million in emergency humanitarian assistance to South Sudan in the wake of recent clashes in the country.

European flags are seen outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels (Reuters Photo)

The donation, the Commission said in a statement, brings to €103 million its total support for the young nation for 2016.

An outbreak of violence in the young nation early this month has displaced more than 40,000 people, agencies said, as the renewed fighting threatens peace and stability.

"The recent deadly escalation of hostilities in South Sudan is extremely worrying and threatens the very fragile situation in the country. The EU stands by those most in need caught up in the conflict. The emergency aid will address the overall deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country, providing crucial supplies such as food and nutrition, water and sanitation, protection and healthcare,” Christos Stylianides, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management said in a statement.

“I urge all parties to respect their obligation to grant unhindered and safe humanitarian access to those in need. Furthermore, the systematic looting of humanitarian facilities is unacceptable and must stop immediately," added the official.

Recent violence has affected food supply and the nutrition situation in South Sudan has reportedly reached critical levels in many areas. Access to medicine throughout the country is limited, with humanitarian organizations providing the majority of healthcare, according to the Commission.

Meanwhile, together the European Commission and Member States are reportedly providing more than 43 per cent of the overall humanitarian response in the country.

(ST)

July 28, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese capital Khartoum will host next Sunday a meeting for the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) Partners Group to discuss implementation of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS) and the recent developments in Juba,.

Botswana's former president Festus Mogae (Photo File AFP)

The meeting which will be co-chaired by Sudan and China, includes representatives of Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan, Somalia, Chad, China, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, the African Union Commission, the European Union, the IGAD Partners Forum and the United Nations.

In a press statement on Thursday Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Garib Allah Khidir, said that Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour will co-chair the meeting with the Chinese Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Zhong Jianhua.

China which has energy interest in South Sudan has always been actively involved in the regional and international efforts to end the South Sudanese conflict.

The meeting will be briefed by the Chair of JMEC, former President Festus Mogae.

The first meeting of the JMEC partners group held in Nairobi in February 2016 had been co-chaired by Kenya and the United States, the second held in Addis Ababa last May.

Since the clashes in Juba between the troops of President Salva Kiir and the former First Vice President Riek Machar and his replacement by Taban Deng Gai, observers agree that the peace process is on the verge of collapse.

Some diplomats express hope that a Machar would return to Juba and be reappointed in his position. But it is not clear how such scenario can be achieved.

(ST)

July 28, 2016 (JUBA) – At least 17 people have died from recent Cholera outbreaks in South Sudan and 340 cases of the disease registered in recent weeks, the health ministry said.

A child receives an oral cholera vaccine dose in the South Sudan capital, Juba (Medair Photo)

A World Health Organization (WHO) statement issued on Wednesday also confirmed the early suspected cases of Cholera in different parts of the young nation, saying 10 samples from patients tested positive for Vibrio Cholera Ivana in a public health laboratory.

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Its symptoms may be mild or moderate, with acute watery diarrhoea and severe dehydration notable. It can lead to death if untreated.

46 cholera patients were reportedly been hospitalized in Duk county of Jonglei state, while seven died. Also five people, out of the 12 registered cases, died in Terekeka county of Central Equatoria state.

On Wednesday, the medical charity, MSF, and the health ministry launched a vaccination campaign that, it said, targets 4,000 people in Juba, particularly in the epidemic suburbs of Gorom, Khor William and Giada as well as in other parts of the country's capital.

Only a quarter of people living South Sudan's towns have access to clean drinking water, worsening any spread of water borne diseases.

Researchers have estimated that every year, there are roughly 1.4 to 4.3 million cases, and 28 000 to 142 000 deaths per year worldwide due to cholera. The short incubation period of two hours to five days, is factor that triggers the potentially explosive pattern of outbreaks.

(ST)

July 28, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudan's President, Salva Kiir on Thursday met his two deputies in the coalition government, during which he expressed willingness to expedite implementation of the peace deal.

President Salva Kiir meets SPLM-IO Chief Negotiator, Taban Deng Gai, in Juba, December 22, 2015 (ST Photo)

The three leaders, a statement from the presidency noted, agreed to undertake measures to "strengthen the protection of civilians”.

“The President of the Republic of South Sudan, H.E. Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit, today met with his two deputies, to discuss some of the issues on peace implementation and some current developments in the country. The three leaders have agreed to undertake measures to expedite the implementation process of the peace agreement so that the country can move forward with reconciliation, healing and forgiveness”, partly reads the statement Sudan Tribune obtained.

“The president has made it clear that he will cooperate with the new first vice president and the vice president to ensure that priority would be given to resolving key problems that have caused strong protests by the people. A new spirit is emerging from the presidency, the spirit of cooperation, consensus and willingness to implement the agreement so that the country can move forward,” it added.

President Kiir on Monday appointed the armed opposition's former chief mediator, Taban Deng Gai as the country's First Vice-President replacing Riek Machar, who left the capital following recent clashes.

More than 270 soldiers, officials said, died when forces loyal to Kiir clashed with pro-Machar soldiers before a ceasefire was declared.

According to the statement from the presidency, a number of things have been agreed to be resolved, including accepting that the deputy speaker's position be nominated by the armed opposition.

“These nominations will speed-up the establishment of a new parliament incorporating members of the SPLM/A-IO, and enabling the parliament to function as normal, enacting laws and aiding in the establishment of institutions prescribed by the Compromise Peace Agreement 2015, including approving the new Constitution of the Republic, leading to the next census and elections”, it stressed.

Officials at the presidency told Sudan Tribune that many of the details of the peace proposal were already known, including, among others, commitment to observing a permanent ceasefire, implementing the security arrangement by disbanding and integrating members of armed opposition into different institutions of government under one command and protecting the civilians.

Observers, however, say it is unclear how the leaders intend to implement the deal and how members of armed opposition and the international community would react, if the accord is compromised.

It is also unclear what exactly the leaders have agreed to do as the first thing in the implementation of the peace agreement and how long they have collectively intended to achieve their objectives.

(ST)

There have long been reports that the ongoing delays with the commissioning of the Admiral Gorshkov frigate have to do with defects in its air defense systems. These were thought to be primarily related to problems with integration of the Poliment Redut air defense missile system. The Poliment system was designed to be Russia’s answer to AEGIS, with four phased array antennas that are able to track 16 targets at the same time. The Redut system consists of four or eight vertical launch systems that launch three types of missiles. The 9M100 is the short-range missile, with a range of up to 15km. The 9M96M is the medium-range missile, with a range of 40-50km. Finally, the 9M96 long-range missile is supposed to have a range of up to 150km.

It now appears that the Redut’s problems are much more serious than just integration. A recent report notes that the Ministry of Defense has stopped trials of the system because of continuing problems with the 9M96 long-range missile. Specifically, the missiles appear to fail after three seconds of flight. Some reports indicate that the Redut system works well hitting targets up to 40km away, but fails in the long range. The implication is that the short and medium range missiles work well, but the long range missile does not. Nevertheless, this may be an improvement over previous results, as trials of the Redut system on the Steregushchiy class corvettes in 2014 showed that they were only able to hit targets at distances of up to 15km because the medium-range Furke-2 radar system was not functioning properly.

Instead of further trials, the problems will now be sorted out by an inter-agency commission, a sure sign that the problems are serious and are not expected to be fixed any time soon. The problems stem from issues at the design bureau, which is reportedly not up to the task of designing a missile with the requirements provided by the Defense Ministry. The Fakel machine design bureau, which is developing the missiles is supposedly in relatively poor condition, using technologies and equipment left over from the Soviet period.

Redut systems are supposed to be installed on both the Admiral Gorshkov frigates and the Steregushchiy class corvettes. The corvettes that have been commissioned so far with partial Redut systems that are not able to strike long-distance targets. It looks like the Russian military is now facing a choice regarding how long it is willing to wait to commission the already long-delayed first ship of the Admiral Gorshkov frigate class. So far, the Defense Ministry has not been willing to commission the frigate without a fully functional air defense system, though this may change as the delays grow longer.

 

The United States delivered 24 AeroVironment RQ-11B Raven unmanned aircraft systems to Ukraine on 27 July, the US Embassy in Kiev said. The package included 72 hand-launched Raven intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft and associated equipment, which was transported to

The Minister for Women’s Affairs, Delbar Nazari, has narrowly survived a vote of no confidence in parliament earlier this month. This is the latest in a long series of such motions against ministers that have become a means of carrying out political confrontations by proxy in parliament since a long time. MPs, however, seem to have become tired of this practice themselves lately. AAN senior analyst Thomas Ruttig summarises these latest events (with contributions by Salima Ahmadi, who witnessed the debate in parliament, and Ehsan Qaane).

A group of MPs from the lower house of the Afghan parliament has failed to oust the Minister for Women’s Affairs, Delbar Nazari. She was accused of corruption and professional ineffectiveness. In the end, only 51 out of 125 MPs present supported the motion when the vote took place on 13 July 2016, while 68 rejected it (there were also three blank votes and three votes were ruled invalid). Almost all MPs present would have had to support the motion in order to have the minister sacked. With currently 234 MPs, (1) 118 MPs constitute the required majority. Minister Nazari is an Uzbek from Balkh province and a nominee of the Chief Executive’s camp for the cabinet of the National Unity Government (NUG). Despite her ethnicity, she has no links to the main Uzbek party, Jombesh. (Read a short biography of the minister in footnote 2.)

The constitution (Article 92) gives parliament the right to summon and potentially oust high-ranking government officials who need a vote of confidence to secure their office (ministers or the heads of institutions equivalent to ministries, such as the heads of the Central Bank and the NDS). This procedure is called estezah in Afghan parliamentary terminology (meaning “interpellation,” sometimes wrongly translated as ‘impeachment’).

According to its internal regulations, the lower house (Wolesi Jirga) requires that at least a fifth of its MPs sign an estezah motion. After that, a question-and-answer session (called estejwab, from the word jawab, for “answer”) must be held, followed by a vote. Should an MP lose this vote, he or she must resign from their post and the president should nominate a new candidate (see this AAN dispatch about how the Wolesi Jirga works). This, however, has not always been the case in practice. Former President Hamed Karzai in particular had a record of repeatedly ignoring such parliamentary votes: then Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, for example, kept his position until January 2010, in spite of receiving a vote of no confidence in May 2007; see here).

The right to carry out estezah was conferred to parliament by the 2003 Constitutional Loya Jirga (CLJ), during which there was strong disagreement between those who supported a centralised presidential system and those who favoured a parliamentary one. The centralist group constituted a narrow majority while those favouring a stronger parliament represented a strong minority of about 45 per cent of the CLJ delegates (read this AAN dispatch: https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/flash-to-the-past-long-live-consensus-a-look-back-at-the-2003-constitutional-loya-jirga/). The process of estezah, therefore, was granted as a concession to the minority. And it has backfired.

This series of interpellations – for example, parliament went after eleven ministers in early 2013 alone (see AAN analysis here) and sacked Karzai’s defence and interior ministers in one go in 2012 (see AAN’s analysis here) while there had only been two estezah motions during Ghani’s presidency before the one against Nazari (3) – as well as the former president’s reaction (or lack thereof) to this event put considerable strain on the relationship between the Afghan legislative and executive branches (see this AAN dispatch). It has also had repercussions to this day, as the practice has undermined the position of the cabinet and its members in the political system. Presidents have been able to side-step parliament’s powers by establishing internal, opaque decision-making or advisory bodies, usually referred to as ‘the Palace.’ This has often relegated the cabinet ministers, particularly those described as ‘technocrats’ without their own power-base, into a subordinate position where they have to carry out decisions taken above rather than make their own ones.

Nazari was also probably lucky, as this motion came at a time when both houses of parliament, and particularly the lower house, were deciding on the composition of a joint Wolesi Jirga/Meshrano Jirga commission on electoral reform, an issue long overdue (see AAN’s analysis here and here), which they apparently considered to be more important than the motion against Nazari. (4)

What were the accusations against Nazari?

According to the Secretary of the Wolesi Jirga, MP Erfanullah Erfan, four reasons were given for summoning the minister: 1) accusations of fesad, which cover both administrative and moral corruption; 2) nepotism, ie the appointment of relatives to positions in the ministry, 3) weak management, and 4) her inefficiency as a minister. It is unclear, however, who initiated the motion and how many MPs signed it before it reached the Wolesi Jirga. These documents are not publicly available.

As far as AAN was able to ascertain, there were no concrete accusations or even evidence for any of the charges laid against Nazari in the written motion. This led to some finger-pointing and denials. Two female MPs told AAN that three of their female colleagues – Fawzia Kofi, from Badakhshan province and head of the commission for women’s affairs, Razia Sadat Mangal from Paktia province, and Rubaba Parwani from Kabul province – had been behind the estezah motion. Sadat Mangal acknowledged that she had signed the petition, but said she had not initiated it. (She told AAN it was initiated by Kabul MP Kubra Mustafawi.) Parwani refused to comment, and Kufi was unavailable to AAN for comment. The fact remains, however, that only female MPs took the floor when the motion was debated.

Another emotional point raised against the minister in the debate was an alleged case of rape, which had occurred inside the ministry – although actually under the current minister’s predecessor. Some MPs – including Parwani and Mustafawi – reproached Nazari for hiring the father of the alleged perpetrator (the latter had worked in the ministry himself but was fired after the incident) as her adviser. These allegations failed to mobilise a sufficient number of MPs. The parliament’s administrative board apparently also decided not to follow up on the charges made, although MP Parwani claimed she had submitted documents as “evidence” against Nazari (which a member of the board denied when talking to AAN).

Two MPs close to the main Uzbek party Jombesh, Bashir Ahmad Tahienj from Faryab and Qudratullah Zaki from Takhar, rejected another accusation against the minister when talking to AAN, that Nazari had promoted fellow Uzbeks in her ministry in what would amount to ‘ethnic nepotism.’ Quite the contrary, Tahienj alleged, as Jombesh was in fact unhappy that Nazari had not, in their view, appointed enough Afghan Turks to her ministry: “This was the reason we [Uzbeks] spoke to her so many times: why could she not appoint some Turktabar (5)?” The minister’s brother, however, works as an advisor at the ministry; Nazari insists she needs him as a mahram.

The two MPs further noted, when talking to AAN, that Nazari had told them certain female MPs had turned against her after she had refused to give jobs in the ministry to their relatives. According to Tahienj and Zaki, the minister said those MPs had then threatened ‘to take revenge’ by getting her removed from her post. In the debate, Nazari admitted to shortcomings in her ministry’s work and said the next time she is called in, she would present the ministry’s achievements. She claimed that all her recent appointments had been approved by the president’s office.

On another point, Nazari had also been accused by a number of MPs – including Shakeba Hashemi from Kandahar and Rayhana Azad from Uruzgan – of improper behaviour, undermining the constitution and the country’s judiciary and giving legitimacy to the Taleban. During a press conference (reported by Afghan media here), she had urged the Taleban to “punish perpetrators of violence against women” within their own ranks. The minister stood by her statement, arguing that she had aimed at preventing the Taleban from stoning girls and women accused of ‘moral corruption’ and that she, in the holy month of Ramadan, had wanted to contribute to peace building and ending atrocities against women (here).

Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi, the WJ speaker, cut short this debate (as one other MP confirmed to AAN) as the accusation had not been a formal part of the motion against Ms Nazari and urged MPs to vote for the continuation of her term in office.

What was the politicking behind the anti-Nazari motion?

The motion against Minister Nazari had elements both of political infighting between the two camps in the NUG and of longstanding conflicts between different female politicians for influence over the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA). Kufi, Hashemi and Fatima Aziz, who were actively involved in the move against Nazari, belong to the Abdullah camp. Before the NUG was formed, Kufi and Hashimi had apparently harboured aspirations for top MoWA positions themselves, according to some MPs. Furthermore, no male MPs spoke against Nazari in the debate; most votes of no confidence came from female MPs.

The post of Minister for Women’s Affairs (6) has been highly sought by individual female politicians ever since its introduction by the 2001 Bonn conference. This has often caused rifts within the post-Taleban women’s movement and among individual female politicians. This post’s importance is enhanced by the fact that it is seen among Afghan elites as the only clear ‘women’s slot’ in cabinet where, usually, only a small number of women are members (currently four out of 24, far below the 25 per cent quota for women MPs). Starting with the first minister appointed at the Bonn conference, there have been repeated accusations of ethnic or political ‘monopolisation’ of positions in the ministry and/or the exclusion of relevant women’s networks. The current infighting and accusations and counter-accusations among female MPs provide more evidence that there is no unified ‘women’s block’ in parliament pursuing a joint women’s rights agenda.

Nasima Niazi, an MP from Helmand, made another important point. She told AAN that although Minister Nazari was not from her ethnic group and neither did they share the same political views, she had decided not to support the vote to have her ousted, as the estezah sessions had become “subjective“ affairs. She also accused the house of a gender bias, as originally signatures for three estezah motions were collected (the others being against the (male) ministers of trade and commerce and of education), but only the female minister was subjected to it. (Speaker Ibrahimi shifted the blame to the committee of the chairs of the parliamentary commissions (kamita-ye ru’asa) by stating that this is the body responsible for setting the house’s agenda.)

First swallows of spring, or more?

More importantly, Niazi’s complaint against the estezah’s use as a political tool to push parochial (and sometimes unlawful) interests of individual MPs seems to reflect a growing uneasiness about this practice in the Wolesi Jirga. Such complaints, as well as the accusation that the house’s administrative board treats different ministers differently, have been increasing for over a month. In the case of the trade and commerce minister, for example, some MPs who initially signed the motion later withdrew their signatures, one MP told AAN. The plenary also showed no signs, despite repeated demands by some signatories, to start the estezah procedure. Also, the last candidates for the long vacant posts of defence minister and head of the intelligence service (NDS) went though unexpectedly smoothly in parliament in May 2016 (see AAN’s reporting here).

This constitutes a move towards a much-needed ‘normalisation’ and professionalisation of the Afghan parliament’s work. On many occasions, it has acted as a body that is merely a conglomerate of individuals pursuing parochial interests, neglecting to pull together and pass vital legislation for the sake of the nation’s interests (see this AAN analysis). It remains to be seen, however, whether this represents a general shift or, as the Afghan proverb says, is just the arrival of the first swallow before spring has properly sprung.

 

(1) A group of MPs that were boycotting the WJ sessions (see AAN’s reporting here) since mid-May about the TUTAP controversy had one by one returned by June. MP Shinkai Karokhel, who was appointed ambassador to Canada on 13 May 2016, is still attending parliament as her credentials have not been given yet. Two more MPs appointed to governmental posts (Naqibullah Faiq for head of the Afghanistan National Standards Authority in February 2016 and Shukrai Barakzai, appointed ambassador to Norway in February 2016), have not been replaced as this is legally impossible in the last year of the WJ’s tenure. The quorum has not been lowered, though.

(2) Al-Hajj Delbar Nazari, born in 1958, is an Uzbek from Khulm district in Balkh province (formerly part of Samangan).  Although some sources, such as a NPS Samangan provincial profile (not available online anymore) associate her with Jombesh, she told AAN that her nomination came from the CEO team, in particular from Atta Muhammad Nur, the acting governor of her home province Balkh whose rivalry with Dostum is well known. She obtained a degree from the Teachers Training Centre of Balkh (Dar ul-Mu’alemin Balkh). According to her introduction in parliament, she also holds a degree from Balkh University in Dari and English literature and one from the private Kateb University in International Relations (2011). Her own biography posted on the MoWA website includes stints as both teacher and principal at the Naeem Shahid High School in Samangan (ten years), as well as work with Oxfam (three years), German Agro Action (three years), ZOA (a Dutch NGO) and UNICEF (two years, allegedly as head of educational programs in Samangan) and as civic educator for the joint elections management body (JEMB) for the presidential elections in 2004 (no details or order given). From 2005 to 2010, she served as a member of parliament for Samangan. In 2012 and 2013, she worked as “a legal advisor to the first deputy.” Before her appointment as minister, she worked in the Ministry of the Interior’s department for the development of the electronic national ID card (gender section).

(3) Both happened In the second sitting of the 2015 legislative year (7 September to 20 January 2016): On 2 November 2015, then interior minister Nur-ul-Haq Ulumi survived a no-confidence vote (see here) and as did telecommunication minister Abdul Razaq Wahidi on 4 January 2016 (see here).

(4) At that point, the WJ had not been able to nominate its members for the commission, while the MJ had already named its delegates. The WJ finally followed suit on 18 July 2016.

(5) “Turktabar” is a relatively new term, used by some not only for members of Turkic ethnic groups in Afghanistan, ie Uzbeks, Turkmen and Kyrgyz, but also to include the Hazara, Qizilbash and Bayat, claiming that they all belong to a larger, joint ‘Turco-Mongol’ group.

(6) The first Minister of Women’s Affairs was Sima Samar who served in this post from 2001 to early 2003 in the post-Taleban interim and transitional authorities (before the first regular elections). She was followed by Dr Habiba Surabi (2003-04) – when Samar became the head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) – and, after the 2004 presidential election, Dr Massuda Jalal (October 2004-July 2006). In July 2006, Dr Husn Banu Ghazanfar received the vote of confidence for this position from parliament. She served up to the formation of the NUG cabinet after the 2014 presidential election. The women who served (after 2004) as deputy ministers for policy and vocational affairs were Shafiqa Yarqin, Soraya Sobhrang, Mazari Safa, while Tajwar Kakar, Najiba Sharifi, Maliha Sahak and Muzhgan Mustafawi were deputy ministers for financial and administrative affairs.

 

The Brazilian Navy's Marines Corps (CFN) has received the last vehicles to complete its battery of ASTROS CFN 2020 (Artillery SaTuration ROcket System) self-propelled multiple launch rocket system (MLRS), purchased from Avibras Indústria Aeroespacial. The last vehicles were placed in service

The navies of China and Russia will hold a joint exercise in the South China Sea in September, a spokesperson from China's Ministry of National Defense said on 28 July, confirming earlier media reports. Codenamed 'Joint Sea 2016', the drill will be held on both land and sea and "enhance the

Indian firm Zen Technologies has secured an export order from Egypt to supply a range of training and simulation equipment, the company said on 28 July. Zen, which is based in Hyderabad, said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange that the contract is worth around INR300 million (USD4.5 million)