Iran has urged the Romanian government to clarify the cause of death of Gholamreza Mansouri, the former judge who was found dead at a Bucharest hotel on Friday, June 19.
All posts by Frank Elbers
Romania Rebukes Iran as Investigation Continues
New facts have emerged surrounding the death of the former judge Gholamreza Mansouri, whose body was found in a Bucharest hotel last Friday, June 19. Shortly before the fall inside Hotel Duke, Mansouri had paid for his accommodation and packed his bags, say sources close to the team of investigators. Among his personal belongings, the police found several mobile phones and SIM cards, local media reported.
Will Romania’s Investigation into the Fugitive Judge’s Death be Independent and Fair?
Today the Bucharest police homicide department continues its investigation into the death of Gholamreza Mansouri, the former judge who was found dead in a Bucharest hotel on the afternoon of Friday, June 19. As part of suspicions surrounding Mansouri’s death, questions have arisen about possible political bias in the investigation, as both Romanian authorities and the Iranian foreign ministry immediately assumed Mansouri committed suicide.
The Mysterious Death of an Iranian Judge in Romania
Trianon spel van politici, ook in Roemenië
Honderd jaar nadat Transsylvanië aan Roemeens grondgebied werd toegevoegd, is de herinnering aan “Trianon” nog altijd levend in Roemenië. Het land heeft sinds vorige maand maar liefst twee nationale feestdagen om dit voor Roemenen heugelijke feit te vieren. Op 1 december staan ze op de Nationale Dag (Ziua Națională) – ook wel Grote Unie Dag (Ziua Marii Uniri) – stil bij de unificatie van de Roemeense provincies Wallachije, Moldavië en Transsylvanië. Op 13 mei jongstleden nam het parlement een wet aan die van 4 juni de Dag van het Verdrag van Trianon maakt.
Lees verder in Donau | English version
Human Rights Education, People & Society
What are the key challenges facing human rights education in a world that is becoming more integrated and digital? How are governments fairing in terms of their commitments to upholding human rights? How do we make educational systems inclusive and respectful of minority rights?
Westerdam Cleared for Thailand Disembarkation
Holland America’s MS Westerdam has received permission to disembark passengers in Thailand.
The Westerdam has set course for Laem Chabang, where the current cruise that departed February 1 will end on Thursday, February 13. Guests will be disembarking in Laem Chabang and be transferring to Bangkok for their forward travel home.
“Despite media reports, we have no reason to believe there are any cases of coronavirus onboard,” said a company spokesperson.
Read further in Cruise Industry News.
‘We’ll see the best of him from now until the end of the season’: Sheringham on Haller
Former West Ham striker Teddy Sheringham comments on current striker
Sébastien Haller, the Hammer’s £45 million summer transfer, has been criticized much lately by the fans after a reasonably successful start of the season.
Yet speaking to Love Sport Radio, former West Ham forward Teddy Sheringham predicts that under Moyes Haller will find the net again soon.
“I think the problem with Haller is they haven’t been playing to his strengths, with Moyes coming in – I think he will realise what he’s good at and what kind of service he likes.”
Haller seems to have shared in the rather miserable form of the team in the past months, which is now fighting relegation. He has also been too isolated and hasn’t been serviced good enough.
As TBR wrote, it’s worth noting that Haller has managed to be effective without the help of a strike partner. With six goals and one assist in 23 Premier League appearances he still is West Ham’s top scorer.
At both his previous clubs, the Dutch side FC Utrecht and Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt, Sébastien Haller had a slow start before reaching 29 goals (in 58 appearances) at Frankfurt and 45 at Utrecht (in 87 games).
“He’ll come alive, he’s had that settling in period he hasn’t done great, I think he’ll be alright and we’ll see the best of him from now until the end of the season,” said Sheringham.
Women to rule a district of Istanbul for first time in history
ISTANBUL— Largely gone unnoticed during the contested mayoral election in Istanbul, for the first time in Turkish history, female candidates managed to win in more neighbourhoods than men in a district, Turkey’s largest administrative unit after a province. The neighbourhoods of Kadıköy, a district of Istanbul with over half a million inhabitants, will now be ruled by 12 female mukhtars and nine male counterparts, reported bianet.
The Kadıköy district on the Asian side of Istanbul already had 10 female mukthars, heads of a neighbourhood, before the March 31 municipal elections but in two of the three neighbourhoods where the mukhtar changed, female candidates took over. In a country in which only 17.4% of MPs are women — the global average is 24% — and barely eight per cent of municipal politicians are women, this is a very significant development. This could well be the beginning of a trend in which women play a bigger role in Turkish politics in Istanbul and other urban centers like Ankara and Izmir.
The cosmopolitan Kadıköy district faces the historic city centre of Istanbul on the European side of the Bosporus. Kadıköy is also the name of the most prominent neighbourhood of the district, a residential and commercial area with numerous bars, cinemas and bookshops, and the cultural centre of the Anatolian side of Istanbul. The centre-left Republican People’s Party (CHP) is usually successful in Kadıköy in both local and national elections. Since the mid-1990s the mayor has been from the CHP. The CHP traditionally has been much more open to women and women’s political representation than the conservative AKP.
Outside Istanbul women have been successful in the location election too. The left-wing Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has won the elections in three metropolitan, five city and 46 district municipalities, according to the latest figures from the state-run Anadolu Agency. Using the co-chairpersonship system, the party nominated both a woman and a man for each of the municipalities that it ran for office. Although only one person can be officially nominated for a municipality, a co-chair can come into office after the elections. In five districts that HDP won in the southeastern province Mardin, all five candidates were women.
Uzbekistan Emerges From Economic Isolation With $1 Billion Bond Sale
The economies of Central Asia are slowly opening up to foreign investors after more than two decades of relative isolation. Uzbekistan just sold $1 billion of Eurobonds in its first foray into international debt markets. In doing so, it follows its neighbor Tajikistan, which issued its first bonds in 2017 to finance the construction of a dam and hydroelectric power plant.
Read further in Muftah Magazine.
