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HomePress Briefings ...Department Press Briefing – February 25, 2022
Department Press Briefing – February 25, 2022
Ned Price, Department Spokesperson
FINLAND / SWEDEN
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES / INDIA
UKRAINE / U.S. CITIZENS
2:35 p.m. EST
MR PRICE: Good afternoon.
QUESTION: Good afternoon.
MR PRICE: Hello. My apologies for the delay. We actually intended to start early today; we are now starting late. I report to higher authorities, as we all do.
I'd like to start by saying this: The American people are standing with the people of Ukraine as they suffer an unjustified, unprovoked, and premeditated attack by Russia's military forces. It's a brutal attack. It's a brutal attack that is endangering the lives and livelihoods of millions of civilians. We will not falter in our resolute support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
This is a dangerous moment for Europe and really for freedom-loving people everywhere. Putin's assault on Ukraine is an attack on the principles that undergird global peace, stability, and security the world over.
But Putin didn't account for everything, and he didn't account for the bravery and resolve of the people of Ukraine. We commend the Ukrainian people for showing strength and determination in response to an unprovoked attack by the Kremlin. We have seen Ukrainian soldiers demonstrate incredible bravery in the first day of self-defense: shooting down Russian aircraft, firing at tanks, and holding many of the positions while under violent assault.
The Kremlin continues to use disinformation, including false reports alleging – again, falsely – the widespread surrender of Ukrainian troops. Moscow is resorting to outright lies in an effort to weaken the resolve of Ukraine's military and of its people. We also are witting of reports that the Russian Federation plans to threaten to kill the family members of Ukrainian soldiers if they do not surrender. These tactics are classic intimidation; they are synonymous with the Kremlin; they are unacceptable.
This isn't the first time, of course, Putin has decided that his country can attack another country with impunity.
Moscow's further invasion of Ukraine is part of a pattern of the Kremlin's destructive behavior. The Russian Federation, of course, invaded Georgia in 2008. It continues to occupy territories within Georgia's borders, and for decades it has stationed troops in Moldova without host government consent.
Tomorrow, the United States will join Ukraine in solemnly marking the eighth anniversary of Russia's 2014 invasion and brutal occupation of Crimea – a flagrant disregard for international law as well as Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The United States reaffirms, as we always have: Crimea is Ukraine.
The Ukrainian people have known 30 years of independence, and while building their democracy they have shown relentless and inspiring pursuit of liberty, of peace, of security, of human dignity, and they continue to show that they will not go back in time.
As we approach the seventh anniversary of the brutal murder of Boris Nemtsov, we are reminded that many Russians disagree with Putin's brutal and imperialist tactics and policies. The citizens of Russia who are peacefully protesting, including in Putin's own hometown and in dozens of other cities across the Russian Federation, are rejecting his violence against the people of Ukraine. We deeply respect them. We respect their bravery; we respect their heroism. They are out in the streets demanding that Russia's government, their government, stop this unprovoked and unjustified war. We've seen leading Russian journalists denouncing Putin's war of choice. We have heard of Russia's mothers concerned about the reckless deployment of their sons to a needless war.
These courageous people of conscience in Russia persist. They persist despite the Kremlin's reinvigorated crackdown. This too is classic from Putin's playbook. Whenever challenged by people, his own people speaking truth and opposing views, his tactic is to silence them.
The people of Russia, as we have said time and again, are not our enemy. We hold President Putin and his cronies responsible for this war, not them. We join you in saying, "No to war," "нет войне" (Cyrillic).
President Biden has said from the start of this crisis if Putin chooses to invade, the cost to Russia will be immediate and profound – to its financial system, to its economy, to its technological base, and to its strategic position and ambitions, as well as its reputation in the world.
And the world has now witnessed that Putin has made a choice. He rejected diplomacy. He has chosen war. And President Biden has announced our response.
To be clear: This is not the outcome we wanted. This is not the outcome we sought to prevent. It's both a tragedy for the people of Ukraine and a choice Putin made that he – that he has decided for the people of Russia. This is a choice that has been decided for them, not by them. Putin's war of choice has required that we follow through on imposing the massive consequences and severe costs, and that we ensure his flagrant violation of international law will be a strategic failure. We stand united with our NATO Allies and partners in Europe and around the world in confronting the Russian Government and holding President Putin and those around him to account.
QUESTION: Thanks, Ned. I just wanted – I think you might have misspoken. This is the outcome you sought to prevent, right?
MR PRICE: This is the outcome that we sought to prevent.
QUESTION: Okay. Can I ask you – this may be already kind of OBE, but there was this proposal the Chinese – Chinese proposal the Russians seem to have picked up on, at least for an hour or so, about talks between Russia and Ukraine happening in Minsk. I know the Secretary spoke to Foreign Minister Kuleba today. What's the U.S. – what's your thinking about the efficacy of such a – of such talks?
MR PRICE: Well, Matt, you've heard us say before that over the course of several weeks leading up to the events that we've seen recently in Ukraine – the assault on Ukraine, its sovereignty, its territorial integrity, and really its people – that Moscow engaged in a pretense of diplomacy. That was before the invasion started.
Now we see Moscow suggesting that diplomacy take place at the barrel of a gun or as Moscow's rockets, mortars, artillery target the Ukrainian people. This is not real diplomacy. Those are not the conditions for real diplomacy. We and our allies have called for a real diplomatic solution from day one. President Zelenskyy, for his part, has repeatedly reached out to President Putin, but his outstretched hand at every turn was met now by silence and now bombs.
If President Putin is serious about diplomacy, he knows what he can do. He should immediately stop the bombing campaign against civilians, order the withdrawal of his forces from Ukraine, and indicate very clearly, unambiguously to the world, that Moscow is prepared to de-escalate. We have not seen that yet.
QUESTION: So you don't think it's a good idea.
MR PRICE: We have not seen any indication that Putin is prepared to de-escalate. We have not seen any indication that he is willing to create the conditions in which diplomacy can succeed.
QUESTION: And just to put a superfine point on it, it is not the question of the – it is not a question of the venue. If the same talks – without some kind of significant change from the Russians, you don't think talks anywhere would —
MR PRICE: This is a question that is much more fundamental than the venue. This is the question of whether diplomacy can succeed under these conditions. We do not think it can.
QUESTION: Okay. Then just secondly and finally from me, Finland and Sweden were invited to participate in this NATO meeting in Brussels earlier today, and the Russians have, I don't know, issued a warning, saying that if they were to join NATO – and I know that there isn't any current plan for them to do so, but if they were that there would be repercussions, military and political repercussions for them.
Now, I'm not going to ask you whether the U.S. would encourage or support Finland or Sweden to join NATO, but there are conditions that have to be satisfied, or aspirants have to satisfy certain conditions to become members. Do Finland and Sweden currently, as they are now, meet those conditions for membership?
MR PRICE: That is a question, Matt, for NATO. But there is a more fundamental question that your question actually gets at, and that is really what is at stake in this conflict. We have made the point before that Ukraine is a valued partner of the United States. Its people are partners of the American people. But this in some ways, in many ways, is bigger than a territorial conflict between Russia and Ukraine. It is bigger because these are about the foundational principles that for 70 years now, since the end – over the course of two world wars and since the end of the Cold War – principles that have undergirded and really fueled unprecedented levels of stability, of prosperity, of security the world over – in Europe, Indo-Pacific, and everywhere in between. That is what Putin is threatening.
In addition to the territorial integrity of Ukraine, the people of Ukraine, the Government of Ukraine, what Putin is threatening are these – is this rules-based international order. And one of the central precepts of that rules-based international order is the foundational truth that every country should be free to determine its own policies – its own domestic policy, its own foreign policies, its partnerships, its alliances, its associations, its aspirations. That is what Putin has sought to trample on in Ukraine. It is what, if we are to listen to at least this bluster, we may be led to believe he wants to trample on beyond Ukraine.
QUESTION: Okay. I get that. That's not – my question is about Finland and Sweden. It's not about what Putin's policies are. Ukraine has made it very clear that it wants to – or the current government in Ukraine has made it very clear that it wants to join NATO, and NATO has said no, you're not ready yet. What my question is, is if – and I know you're not going to want to answer a hypothetical – but if you're going to say no, that – I mean, do Finland and Sweden meet the criteria for NATO membership?
MR PRICE: So first —
QUESTION: Should they – should they apply tomorrow, would they have to – would – would they have to do – are they democratic enough?
MR PRICE: So —
QUESTION: Do they – do they uphold human rights? Do they —
MR PRICE: So let me make three points. It is up to Finland and Sweden to determine for themselves if they wish to join NATO or any other alliance. It is our firm position that – and a firm position of the NATO Alliance – that NATO's door remains open to all eligible aspirants. And three, ultimately, if a country does apply, does aspire for NATO membership, that's a decision for NATO, not for any other country.
QUESTION: Right, but I just want to know would the United States support – you don't support Ukraine's membership in NATO right now. But do you —
MR PRICE: Matt, you yourself have just said that neither Finland nor Sweden have indicated that they aspire to join NATO. So —
QUESTION: I know. Well, that's why – that's why I – I tried to couch the question whether they would currently meet the criteria to become members.
MR PRICE: I'm going to let Finland and Sweden speak for themselves.
QUESTION: All right.
MR PRICE: Yes, Vivian.
QUESTION: Thanks, Ned. The EU has agreed to impose sanctions on Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov today. The President said obviously it was under consideration yesterday. There are reports that the U.S. will announce sanctions on Putin today. Can you tell us if that is the case?
MR PRICE: As you heard from the President yesterday, all options are on the table. All options means all. All means all. We are looking closely at additional options that may apply appropriate pressure to the Russian Federation, to President Putin, to those around him. But any additional measures would join a litany of steps that, together with our EU allies, with Australia, with Canada, with Great Britain, with New Zealand, a number of other countries, we announced yesterday that constitute the strongest, most consequential set of sanctions and other economic measures ever imposed. And the fact that they are responsive to this brazen, brutal, unprovoked aggression on the part of Russia against Ukraine speaks to their strength and why that strength was and is necessary.
So any additional measures would complement the fact that we announced yesterday, that now all ten of Russia's largest bank, which hold 80 percent of the assets in Russia's banking sector, are now subject to these measures; the export controls that we have – the Department of Commerce, to be specific, imposed yesterday now block the import of some 50 percent of the strategic imports that Moscow would need for its strategic positioning, it's strategic ambitions; the fact that the Russian Government is now cut off in terms of its sovereign debt from Western financing; the fact that elites around President Putin are now sanctioned and subject to those attendant restrictions. Any additional measures – and again, we have said that if President Putin continues to escalate, we will do the same. But any additional measures would join that long litany of steps that already constitute the strongest, the most decisive response that the United States, and together with our allies and partners, have ever mounted.
Humeyra.
QUESTION: So I have a couple of follow-ups on both of those issues. But before, please indulge me. Foreign Policy magazine first reported this, about locally employed staff working in Ukraine and how they're seeking U.S. help. So what is the plan for them? How many people are we talking about? And what is your assessment? Do you not think you have an obligation to these people?
MR PRICE: Humeyra, the Secretary and others from here have been in regular touch with the Embassy Kyiv community, and that of course includes our locally employed staff. You've traveled with us. You know the value that the Secretary, that the team around him, attach to our locally employed staff. They are at the heart of our embassy operations around the world. Quite simply, our embassies, our posts around the world, could not function without our locally employed staff.
On February 24th, a couple of days ago, the locally employed staff committee sent us an email following Russia's unprovoked attack against Kyiv. We are exploring all legal options available to us that would enable us to support them at what clearly is a very difficult time for our locally employed staff.
We've already taken some important steps. We've implemented paid administrative leave for all staff unable to work or telework, regardless of their location. Whether our local staff are working, whether they're teleworking, whether they are unable to work, let me be clear: They are being paid. Whether they are in Ukraine or outside of Ukraine, they are being paid. We have established a dedicated communications channel for all of our locally employed staff to contact us with their questions, with their concerns, so that we can be responsive directly to them. And we've provided the option of salary advances to support those locally employed staff who need an extra amount of assistance at what is clearly a very difficult time.
So these relationships are deeply meaningful to us. They're deeply important to us. Again, our operations could not continue without our locally employed staff.
QUESTION: How many people are we talking about?
MR PRICE: I'm not in a position to offer that.
QUESTION: Four hundred? A hundred?
MR PRICE: All of them are being paid. All of them have these options available to them.
QUESTION: Can I just follow up on that?
MR PRICE: Sure.
QUESTION: Unless you want to go into something else, Humeyra.
QUESTION: Yeah, I was going to move on.
QUESTION: Can I just do one quick question on that?
QUESTION: Yeah, go ahead.
QUESTION: Okay. One thing that they asked for specifically in this letter was assistance relocating out of the country. The Biden administration has been talking about this potential assault for weeks now. So why isn't there already a way to help these locally employed staff get out of the country if they want to? And do you plan on doing that?
MR PRICE: Well, we are exploring all options that are legally available to us and that are logistically available to us at this time. As you know, we have for – over the course of weeks now been issuing public communications directed, in the first instance, at the American citizen community in Kyiv, those who otherwise would have traveled to Ukraine, urging individuals not to travel to Ukraine; and more recently urging Americans located in Ukraine to depart Ukraine. We have of course provided guidance to our locally engaged staff, locally employed staff who has come to us – who had come to us seeking guidance, seeking direction. So I can't speak to specific cases. I can't speak to specific decisions or choices that may have been made. But we are here to support them in every conceivable way that we can.
QUESTION: That raises actually the – sorry.
QUESTION: And is there any reason to believe they'd be specifically subject to Russian aggression?
MR PRICE: I'm sorry?
QUESTION: Is there any reason to believe that these locally employed staff would be specifically subject to Russian aggressions?
MR PRICE: I have – I have not seen any indication that they would be targeted for their role, but we have seen every indication that this is intended to be, on the part of the Russian Federation, not only an assault on Ukraine's territorial integrity, not only an assault on its government, but also an assault on the Ukrainian people. So we are deeply concerned about the intentions, the motivations of the Russian Federation. It's why we are seeking to bring this unprovoked, needless war to an end as quickly as we can.
QUESTION: Just on this. Do you know, were there any local staff who accompanied the people who went to Lviv and were working in Lviv and who have since now been relocated basically to Poland, and who would have gone and are now, temporarily at least, being – living in Poland?
MR PRICE: It was a core embassy team, Matt, that —
QUESTION: Of just Americans or were there local staff too?
MR PRICE: It was a core embassy team. I'm not in a position to offer if there were any locally employed staff with them.
QUESTION: Just to close the loop on sanctions and then I'll move on to UN very briefly. So the assessments out there about how long it would take Russian forces to overrun Kyiv is mentioned, like, in days. And yet the President and others in this government said yesterday sanctions would be more impactful in time. Is it fair to say, then, in the immediate term the U.S. is basically unable to stop Putin?
MR PRICE: I don't think you heard anyone say that. What you have heard us say is that – well, let me back up. Over the course of months now, we have been ringing the alarm bell, as we had information available to us as early as late last year that Vladimir Putin had these intentions. We started to see his forces mobilize around that time. You remember in November of 2021 when we first started to speak about this publicly. We – beyond our public messaging, we engaged in robust private diplomacy behind closed doors to ensure that our allies and partners around the world knew what we knew so that we could operate in tandem with one another.
When it comes to the sanctions that you mentioned, these were coordinated with allies and partners around the world. Part of what gives them the bite, the heft that they have is that these were not just measures that were introduced by the United States, but also by the European Union —
QUESTION: It doesn't matter how many people, how many countries introduced that. It's just – it's a matter of time, and we're talking about days, and president openly said that they don't have the days. But —
MR PRICE: But you will look – if you see what has transpired in the Russian marketplace, over the course not only of recent days but of recent weeks, the threat of these massive consequences have pushed the ruble to its lowest level in years, pushed the Russian stock market, pushed down investor sentiment, and have made clear that these measures have tremendous bite. And we saw that yesterday when these measures were introduced. So what is true is that these measures are designed to garner strength, to garner momentum over time, but with their immediate introduction yesterday on top of the measures that we imposed on Monday in response to President Putin's recognition of these so-called republics in eastern Ukraine, you have seen that there has been an immediate effect, there has been an immediate bite.
QUESTION: My final one is on UN. The vote is delayed for an hour. Do you know why?
MR PRICE: I do not. You would need to ask the UN.
QUESTION: Are you confident you've got UAE and India to say – to vote yes?
MR PRICE: We are confident that the Russian Federation will be and will be shown to be isolated on the world stage. We are confident that our partners, that our allies around the world will stand in very clear, very stark opposition to this aggression, to this assault on Ukraine's territorial integrity, to its independence, to its sovereignty. We have every expectation that message will emanate loud and clear from this UN session.
QUESTION: All your partners, including India and UAE?
MR PRICE: We have every expectation that message will be loud and clear to the Russian Federation, unambiguous to President Putin.
QUESTION: Can I follow up on something that you said when you were speaking with Matt? You said if you were listen to the blunder of President Putin, you might believe he was willing to go beyond Ukraine. Do you have reason to believe that that is the case?
MR PRICE: President Putin knows, because we have stated very clearly that our commitment to NATO – NATO's Article 5, an attack on one is an attack on all – is as vibrant, is as sacrosanct as it was at NATO's founding some seven decades ago. You heard the President say again yesterday that we will fight for every inch of NATO territory. That is a message that we have made very clear in public. It is a message that we have conveyed very clearly in private. I have no doubt that that message has reached President Putin.
QUESTION: And one separate question? Oh, if you want to do a follow-up.
QUESTION: (Inaudible), thank you. But is there anything specific to indicate – the NATO secretary general said today that there are indications that the Kremlin's objectives spanned beyond Ukraine. Is there anything to suggest from the U.S.'s perspective that they do?
MR PRICE: Well, what we have seen from President Putin, not only in recent days but in recent years, is his desire to go back to an era that has long since passed, an era in which spheres of influence are acceptable, an era in which large countries can bully small countries, an era in which might equals right. That is an era that should have ended, certainly with the fall of the Berlin wall, certainly with the end of the Cold War, but of course, President Putin has other desires, other aspirations. It is our task to reinforce the rules that have, again, governed the international community over the course of some 70 years, but certainly in more recent years since the end of the Cold War.
Abigail.
QUESTION: Can you give us any update on your efforts to help Americans who are still in – who are still in Ukraine? I know you are always hesitant to give exact numbers, but do you have any further indication of how many Americans have crossed over the border into Poland, for instance?
MR PRICE: So as you've heard us say, we don't have precise figures in any country around the world of the number of Americans who are present in a foreign country at any given time, and you know those reasons well. We don't track Americans, we don't require them to register, we don't require them to unregister when they leave a country.
In the case of Ukraine, however, we did have an estimate and we do have an estimate dated from October of last year of Americans resident in Ukraine. At the time, October of 2021, there were 6,600 Americans resident in Ukraine by our estimation. And that estimation was based on data from our Ukrainian partners. It was based on data that was available to us as well, including data from local organizations.
That same month, October of 2021, is the very same month that we started warning Americans not to travel to Ukraine. It was – those warnings were later superseded by clear and consistent encouragement to Americans to leave the country, and most recently warnings that Americans should leave the country. So since October of 2021, we have seen a sweeping shift in the advice and guidance we have provided to Americans who either sought to travel to Ukraine or Americans who might have been resident in Ukraine. So while we don't have a firm number of Americans who are there, we have good reason to believe – and I think all of you have good reason to conclude – that the number of Americans in Ukraine now is far lower than 6,600.
What we have been doing over the course of weeks now is communicating with Americans who are located in Ukraine, asking them to be in touch with us, providing us their contact information so that we in turn can provide them specific, tailored guidance about what they should do to depart the country. We have done so in the context of commercial air travel when that was available, and now more recently we've provided specific, consistent guidance on how Americans can travel overland to leave the country, including offering them specific advice as to which border crossings to go to so that they can travel from Ukraine into Poland with ease.
We've conducted diplomacy with our Polish allies to make sure that Americans need not provide any sort of advance notice when they seek to travel from Ukraine into Poland. We've set up a welcome center on the Polish side of the border with representatives of the State Department there to offer them any advice, any forms, any guidance they may need to complete their onward travel. So we've been in regular, consistent touch with Americans who are in Ukraine and Americans who have made that travel into Poland.
QUESTION: Ned, if I may, I'd like to follow on sanctions. So you mentioned those additional measures means additional sanctions, but what might be the trigger? What might trigger them? So what else are you waiting from Moscow? Moscow is bombing Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. I have the moral right to tell about this and not speculating because my family spent this night in the shelter. So what might – what else might happened and to just push administration to apply the additional sanctions?
And secondly, if I may, there are a lot of talks in Ukraine about the possibility of some kind of talks with the Russians. President Zelenskyy told about this in his statement that maybe America and United Kingdom may backing Ukraine in those conversations. So what's your message to Ukraine? Do you think that it's necessary right now or it's the wrong way? Thank you.
MR PRICE: Thank you. So we do believe that diplomacy is the only responsible way to address this. That was our belief prior to the start of the Russian invasion; it is our belief now that the Russian invasion and assault on Ukraine has begun. At the same time, we want to see diplomacy conducted in a context, in an environment, in which it can succeed. Our concern had been prior to the Russian invasion that, again, Moscow was using the so-called pretense of diplomacy, pretending to take part in serious diplomatic discussions, having these staged, highly choreographed meetings of the National Security Council where President Putin would instruct his lieutenants to engage in diplomacy only as he continued to amass his forces.
Now we see offers of diplomacy at the barrel of a gun. We see these offers as tanks continue to roll across the border, as your fellow countrymen, your fellow countrywomen, remain subject to unimaginable levels of violence and brutality by the Russian Federation. We want to make clear to President Putin that diplomacy by the barrel of a gun – coercive diplomacy – is not something that we are going to take part in. It is not something that will bring an end to this conflict in a real, genuine, and sustainable way.
We do want to see diplomacy succeed. That is why we are doing everything we can through our public messaging, but in some ways much more importantly, through the measures we have introduced over the past couple days, coercive measures that are designed to contour President Putin's next moves, to put pressure on his economy, on his financial system, on those around him, and on President Putin himself so that we see de-escalation, we see diminution of violence, we see withdrawal of forces. We have not seen any of those things just yet, but these measures were just instituted and it is our sincere desire to see this going forward so that we can work diplomatically to bring an end to this senseless, unprovoked violence.
In terms of sanctions, as we've said, we have instituted the most biting, the most crippling, the most devastating set of sanctions together with our allies and partners that the world has ever seen. And we have additional measures that, if we do not see de-escalation, if we do not see a diminution in violence, that we are prepared to enact – again, together with our allies and partners.
QUESTION: Following up on this, there was a memo sent around today to State Department employees calling for the cancellation of all government-to-government contacts with Russia unless it was a major national security interest topic, and those were listed. I'm just wondering what the goal of that approach is, what you guys think that does.
MR PRICE: The goal of – could you —
QUESTION: The goal of cutting off most of the contacts unless it's of a high national security interest topic.
MR PRICE: So again, Russia's actions, its needless, unprovoked, unnecessary, brutal campaign against Ukraine, has fundamentally changed the relationship that Moscow has not only with the United States but with countries around the world. The flavor, the look, the feel of our relationship with Moscow is very different today than it was last week or even a few days ago. At the same time, we have national security priorities, national security imperatives. And there may be some areas in which the fulfillment of our national security priorities and imperatives require us to engage, to coexist at some level, with the Russian Federation.
These are areas that are of overriding importance to us, and there are a few that come to mind. But the point is that Moscow is now a pariah on the world stage. President Putin is a pariah on the world stage. His economy will suffer. His financial system will suffer. Moscow's strategic ambitions will suffer. Moscow's strategic positioning and strength will suffer. But again, we are always going to pursue what's in our national security interest, however we need to do that.
Yes, Paul.
QUESTION: Ned, you've spoken about the U.S. rejecting this idea of talks in Minsk. But the talks were offered with Ukraine, and I don't think Ukraine has stated its position. If I'm right, are you telling Ukraine you wouldn't stop – you wouldn't support them if they entered talks?
MR PRICE: We are a partner of the Ukrainian Government. We're a partner of the Ukrainian people. We will partner with them in real, constructive diplomacy, just as in our engagement with the Russian Federation, whether that was on a bilateral basis, whether it was through the NATO-Russia Council, whether it was through the OSCE. We incorporated the viewpoints, we incorporated the perspectives, we incorporated the interests of our Ukrainian partners into that.
So we are here to support our Ukrainian partners – not only diplomatically; that's important. We are supporting them with our security assistance, unprecedented levels of security assistance that will only continue to increase now that Putin has made this disastrous decision. Our support for Ukraine's economy – just last week the Secretary signed a fourth $1 billion loan guarantee. We have continued through other means to provide stability to the Ukrainian economy, financial system, and through our humanitarian support. We provided $52 million in humanitarian funding for the people of Ukraine last year. We will continue to provide significant levels of humanitarian support to the Ukrainian people this year.
QUESTION: Following on that. So has the U.S. advised the Ukrainians against entering into any diplomatic talks with Moscow? And do you believe that that offer today was made in bad faith?
MR PRICE: On your second question, it is our belief that Moscow has sought to engage in the pretense of diplomacy. They clearly, it appears, attempted to do that prior to the invasion to buy time, to continue their preparations for what, it now seems clear, Vladimir Putin had intended all along. I don't think it takes a grand geopolitical analyst to know that an offer of diplomacy as you rain down bombs, mortar shells, as your tanks advance towards a capital of 2.9 million people, as your forces encircle a capital, as your political leaders make demands of demilitarization, make demands of a fundamentally neutral foreign policy, essentially removing agency that Kyiv should otherwise have – that is not the context in which diplomacy can succeed.
I think it is fair to say that we see eye to eye with our Ukrainian partners on that front. President Biden, as you know, spoke to President Zelenskyy earlier today. Secretary Blinken, as you know, spoke to Foreign Minister Kuleba earlier today. We will continue to provide guidance, to share information with our Ukrainian partners. They in turn are continuing to provide updates to us, and we are ensuring that everything we do will be fully coordinated and that we'll be operating in pure lockstep.
QUESTION: President Zelenskyy said last night to Western interlocutors that it might be the last time that he's seen alive. Is the U.S. in any discussions with the Ukrainian Government about securing their safety? Are they moving them outside of the country or otherwise? Have the Ukrainians made such a request or the U.S. made such an offer?
MR PRICE: We are in constant discussion with our Ukrainian partners. Again, the President today; the Secretary today; the Secretary a couple of days ago spoke to Foreign Minister Kuleba; a couple days before that he spoke to Foreign Minister Kuleba. And that's only at the senior most levels. At working levels, we have been in regular contact with our Ukrainian partners about the challenges they're facing, about the ways we will continue to support them – their security needs, their humanitarian needs, their economic needs, their political needs. But I wouldn't want to characterize it beyond that.
QUESTION: Ned?
MR PRICE: Yes.
QUESTION: The president, President Zelenskyy, also made an appeal for a no-fly zone. Is any consideration being given to that?
MR PRICE: We are in regular dialogue, as I just said, with our Ukrainian partners. We are looking at a range of ways we can continue to support them, but I wouldn't want to go beyond that.
Lalit.
QUESTION: On a halt in the bilateral talks with Russia, can you give us a couple of examples of issues that are of such significant national security interest that you – they will continue?
MR PRICE: Well, I'll offer one, at least. Of course it remains in our interest to see to it that Iran is never able to acquire a nuclear weapon. The fact that Russia has now invaded Ukraine should not give Iran the green light to develop a nuclear weapon, to weaponize, to move towards the point at which it can quickly acquire a nuclear weapon. It remains as in our interest today to deny Iran that ability than it was on Saturday.
MR PRICE: Lalit.
QUESTION: Thank you. I wanted to ask you about —
QUESTION: Wait, wait, hold on. Okay, that's one. But the list that I saw goes – includes the Arctic Council. It includes climate change talks. Is there anything significant that – like, does it include the Strategic Dialogue?
MR PRICE: We have no plans to take part in another Strategic Dialogue at the moment.
QUESTION: At the moment?
MR PRICE: At the moment.
QUESTION: And again, all of this stuff is suspension. It's not permanent. So should Russia change its —
MR PRICE: The point —
QUESTION: — its course, these would resume?
MR PRICE: The – much like sanctions, these are a means to an end. What we are trying to do is to change on an urgent basis Moscow's behavior, to bring this violence to an end, to bring this conflict to an end, to bring the suffering that Russia is inflicting on the Ukrainian people to an end.
QUESTION: I want to ask you about India-U.S. relationship in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. You know India has a strong relationship with Russia and so has with the United States as well. Has the Ukrainian crisis strained India-U.S. relationship?
MR PRICE: We have a broad strategic partnership with India. As you know, we had an opportunity to see our Indian counterpart, Foreign Minister Jaishankar, in Australia just the other day when we were in the Indo-Pacific for a meeting of the Quad. What we have done, including in the context of the bilateral discussion we had with Foreign Minister Jaishankar in Sydney – sorry, in Melbourne – was to share our fervent belief that countries around the world, especially those countries that have a level of influence, of clout, of leverage with the Russian Federation needed to use that to good effect, needed to use that to protect the rules-based international order, again, that have worked to the benefit of the United States, that have worked to the benefit of our European allies, that have worked to the benefit of India and, quite frankly, have worked to the benefit of the Russian Federation over the course of some 70 years.
We share important interests with India. We share important values with India. And we know India has a relationship with Russia that is distinct from the relationship that we have with Russia. Of course, that is okay. What we have asked of every country around the world is that they use that leverage to good effect to uphold those norms, those rules that have been at the center, again, of unprecedented levels over the past 70 years of security, stability, and prosperity.
QUESTION: Do you believe that India has influence or leverage over Russia?
MR PRICE: India has a relationship with Russia that we certainly don't have. India and Russia have a relationship, including in the defense and security sector, that we don't have. And again, we have asked every country that has a relationship, and certainly those countries that have leverage, to use that leverage in a constructive way.
QUESTION: I have one more question on – Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan was recently in Moscow when Russian attacked Ukraine. This is the first time in 20 years a Pakistani prime minister had visited Russia. Do you see realignment of forces there?
MR PRICE: Well, I will leave it to our Pakistani partners to speak to their position on this. What I can say is that we communicated to Pakistan our position on what was then the threat of a Russian invasion and what is now the ongoing Russian invasion against Ukraine. Just as India does, Pakistan knows precisely where we stand on this. These are, again, rules, norms, guidelines that benefit India, Pakistan, the United States, and Russia as well.
QUESTION: Thank you. I have a follow-up on Minsk talks and a broader point about the conflict. Is the United States – has the United States been explicitly asking the Ukrainians not to take part in the proposed talks?
MR PRICE: We have been in regular contact with our Ukrainian partners. We want to see diplomacy. We want to see diplomacy succeed, and we want that precisely because only through diplomacy can we bring an end to this needless, unprovoked, brutal conflict, and only through diplomacy can we save lives on a sustainable basis. So first and most important, we want to see diplomacy. We want to see diplomacy succeed.
A corollary to that – we want to know that Russia is actually interested in genuine diplomacy. It now appears quite clear that Russia was not and has not been interested in genuine diplomacy. They were interested in the pretense of diplomacy. And as I said before, in the context of the ongoing invasion, diplomacy at the barrel of a gun – that is not genuine diplomacy. That is coercive diplomacy. That is coercion with the guise of diplomatic niceties. That is not something that can bring an end to this conflict in a way that we know it must end.
QUESTION: And my broader point, if I may – why do you think this military operation is taking place? Is this because the Russians are so inherently evil that they woke up one day and decided to attack a neighboring country? Or is it because of some broader and deeper roots that needs to be addressed, like, for instance, the international security architecture doesn't work in its current form?
MR PRICE: You'll have to ask that question of President Putin. Only he can give you a good answer to – or he – only he can give you an answer; I'm not sure it'll be a good one – to explain his decisions.
But let me make one point. This is not and was not a decision of the Russian people. This was a decision that was made for them. This was not a decision that was made by them. And even in recent hours, in recent days, we have seen thousands of brave Russians take to the streets peacefully to demonstrate against what they see as precisely what we see: an unprovoked, an unjustified, a needless war that will inflict costs not only on Ukraine but also on Russia.
The fact is that Russians are unlikely to see their countrymen come back in body bags because Putin controls just about every instrument of communication, every mass media – every element of the mass media. But Russians will be coming home in body bags. This has already had a devastating, consequential effect on the Russian economy. This has already had consequential implications for Russia's strategic ambitions both at the present and going forward.
So this is not a decision, judging by what we're seeing, from the Russian people themselves that they wanted to see. This is not a decision that many of them support. The American people, the United States Government, we are standing on the side of those Russians who are peacefully taking to the streets to voice their concern, their criticism, their in some cases deep condemnation of what is going on, and to exert the rights that are as universal to them as they are to anyone anywhere else. They are doing this in the face of continued crackdowns against the exercise of these same – very same universal rights. This is, just as we have said of so many other tactics, straight from Putin's playbook. The fact that dissent of this nature – peaceful protests, peaceful demonstrations – are quashed and crushed in short order, that is symptomatic of a deep-seated insecurity on the part of President Putin, of those around him.
So I want to be very clear that even though this was a decision – a reckless, brutal, costly decision by President Putin and his lieutenants, we are under no illusions that this has the support of the Russian people, and in fact, we're seeing the Russian people indicate very clearly, many of them, that this is something they reject.
QUESTION: Can I have one more on that?
QUESTION: Would the United States like to see a resumption of talks on Euro-Atlantic security, and maybe even talks with China about the international security architecture overall, to maybe try and update it or overhaul it as necessary?
MR PRICE: So I'll make two points. Prior to the onset of this needless war, we had made a genuine, good-faith offer together with our allies and partners to discuss with the Russian Federation certain areas where we thought we could make progress on a reciprocal basis. These would have been discussions about, just as you said, broader European security architecture, the placement of offensive missiles in Europe, arms control protocols, arms control agreements, when it – steps when it comes to stability, transparency as well.
That was very much on the table. The Russian Federation again engaged in this pretense of diplomacy with us. There was an exchange, as everyone knows by now, of written proposals, written responses, there were high-level meetings, all of which culminated in what we've now seen: the Russian invasion of Ukraine, perhaps an invasion that was planned all along.
That is not our near-term priority. Our near-term priority for diplomacy going forward is to bring as quickly as possible an end to this needless violence, this brutality that the Russian Federation is directing against the Ukrainian state, against the Ukrainian Government, and against the Ukrainian people. That is our near-term focus.
QUESTION: Can I go back —
QUESTION: Can I follow up?
QUESTION: — to these bilateral talks just for a second? Because I think I asked the wrong question. I should have – instead of asking you what is exempted, because I've seen the list of exemptions and it's frankly huge, can you give us an example of the kinds of talks that now are no longer going to take place?
MR PRICE: You're asking me to —
QUESTION: Well, I mean, are we talking about cultural exchanges or what?
MR PRICE: Matt, I —
QUESTION: I mean, because if you look at the list of stuff that's exempted, you start with the JCPOA, you go to climate, you go to COVID, you go to anything having to do with consular affairs —
MR PRICE: What you will see —
QUESTION: — you go to anything that the seventh floor thinks is significant enough, which could be anything. So I'm just wondering what it is that is that —
MR PRICE: You will see – you will see —
QUESTION: You have the Arctic Council in there, you have every single, like —
MR PRICE: You will see – you will see a focus on our core national security interests.
QUESTION: Yeah, but every international organization – contact with the Russians at every international organization is carved out, it's exempted from this.
MR PRICE: Matt, I'm not sure this —
QUESTION: Everything from the ICAO to the Arctic Council to the OSCE to —
MR PRICE: We are going to pursue —
QUESTION: Oh, I know, so what is – what has been banned or halted because of this directive?
MR PRICE: We are going to pursue what is in our national security interest. Some of the things you just listed are fundamental to our national security interests. Just because Russia has taken this action doesn't mean that we should stop caring about our own security, the well-being, the welfare, the safety, the security of the American people. You've seen for yourself at least what purports to be a list of areas where we need to engage, we might need to engage to pursue those core national security interests. I will leave it to your well-informed imagination what might not meet that criteria.
QUESTION: I'm not – no, I'm just wondering, can you point to something specific that is now no longer able to be talked about with the Russians bilaterally because of this? Because it just seems like almost everything that one can imagine except for, I don't know, licensing for artwork to come to be loaned to a museum —
MR PRICE: The Russian —
QUESTION: — is included, is exempted.
MR PRICE: The unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine has contoured, has changed our bilateral relationship. So —
QUESTION: I'm not – I understand that. I'm —
QUESTION: I have something specific that I want to ask about arms talks.
MR PRICE: Please. Please, Vivian. About what talks?
QUESTION: Are arms talks – arms talks.
QUESTION: Are they off the table completely now?
MR PRICE: At this point, we do not have any plans for the next iteration of the Strategic Stability Dialogue. Arms control is an area – whether it's in the context of the JCPOA, if you want to consider that an arms control agreement, or the fact that the United States and the Russian Federation have the two largest nuclear arsenals on the planet – it would remain in our national security interest to see to it that nuclear material, nuclear warheads, that nuclear stockpiles remain under control in the positive control of the Russian Federation, that stockpiles that remain – that nuclear arsenals remain small, as small as possible. Certainly, arms control is something that will continue to be in our national security interest, but we don't have another iteration of the Strategic Stability Dialogue planned.
QUESTION: I have a specific thing on that. So today the – in London they canceled the performance of the Bolshoi Ballet yesterday. The Kennedy Center canceled the performance of a Russian ballet. Are cultural exchange exchanges or commercially – commercial cultural visits now off the table in the U.S.?
MR PRICE: I don't want to be categorical about it. Again, this is not a decision that was taken by the Russian people. This was a decision —
QUESTION: But I mean, this is still – I understand that. I'm sorry to interrupt, but I understand that the Russian people didn't do this. But still, is the U.S. – will the U.S. be blocking this? I mean, you've had a member of Congress, a Democrat, who suggested that Russian students should be expelled from U.S. schools and expelled from the U.S. So are we going that far that we're not going to allow Russian cultural visits, or it indicates —
MR PRICE: We are exacting – we are exacting costly consequences for President Putin, for those around him, for the Kremlin, for the Russian Government. Our goal is not to punish the Russian people. Our goal is to stand with the Russian people, many of whom are taking to the streets in protest of this war that has the potential to devastate their country, their economy, their society as well.
So again, I'm not prepared to tell you today precisely what will be canceled, whether the Bolshoi will be coming to Washington within the next several days or several weeks. What I can tell you is that we are going to continue to exact costing – costly consequences for the Kremlin, but we will continue to stand up for the universal rights of the Russian people.
QUESTION: Should you go ahead and follow suit – not you personally, but Treasury or whoever is going to be announcing the – the EU sanctions that were introduced today against President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov, I just want to be clear. Would that complicate any communication between the President and the president, or the Secretary and the foreign minister, or any meetings that —
MR PRICE: So you've just posed a hypothetical wrapped in a hypothetical, so it's a little bit difficult for me to —
QUESTION: Well —
QUESTION: It's about to happen.
MR PRICE: — for me to answer that.
QUESTION: Well, should we —
MR PRICE: And I appreciate the breaking news updates from Reuters. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Should we ask again in 10 minutes? (Laughter.)
MR PRICE: Hopefully, I'll be out of here in 10 minutes. (Laughter.) What I would say is that we will always keep the door open to diplomacy.
QUESTION: Okay, so —
MR PRICE: We would not do anything that would shut the door to genuine diplomacy.
QUESTION: Okay, so these – and so such talks would be ones that are, like, exempted —
MR PRICE: You're not going to extract anything else from me on this front, at this time at least.
Dmitry.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
QUESTION: You announced – I mean, the State Department has announced recently the expulsion of the Russian DCM. From your point of view, it's a response to what the Russians have been doing. The Russians are saying pretty much the same thing. This vicious cycle has been going on for some time now. And this is not the policy stuff; this is purely technical issues. Why can't you resolve those problems of at least letting your diplomatic missions to work properly? The Russians are saying, guys, let's reset all those mutual claims that we have. You're saying no, or that's my understanding. And I'd like to hear your take on that.
MR PRICE: I think you might be misinformed. We have been very clear that, especially during times of tensions, especially during times of crisis, especially during times of conflict, it is important for governments to be able to communicate, to correspond with one another. What we've seen from the Russian Federation over the course of months now has been a constriction on the part of our embassy operations in Moscow. Most recently, we saw them on an unprovoked basis expel our DCM.
The watchwords, the buzzword for us, is parity. That's precisely what we are seeking. The Russian embassy here in Washington is more resourced, better resourced than is our diplomatic mission in Moscow. We're looking for parity; we're looking for fairness. So this step we announced yesterday, the fact that we had expelled or indicated to the Russian Federation that we would be expelling their second-ranking official here in Washington, it was not a response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It was a response to what Russia has done to our bilateral mission in Moscow.
All right, thank you all very much.
QUESTION: Thank you.
(The briefing was concluded at 3:34 p.m.)
Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Finland India Office of the Spokesperson Pakistan Russia Sweden Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom
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In a powerful example of art imitating life, author Jonathan pikes' life served as inspiration for his book I Know Who I Am and I'm Not What You Call Me. The book has been made into a play of the same title that will be staged at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center in Liberty City from Nov. 12 through 20.
He thought his dream was over, but then he received a $10,000 rant from the BeMe Miami program for his work with his nonprofit program, the Jonathan Spikes Foundation. "I was able to get another $10,000 from the Idea.me crowdfunding platform," and the Knight and Miami Foundations each contributed $5.000 each, Spikes shared.
The play, directed by local theater giant Andre Gainey, is a "story of hope, redemption and restoration," said Spikes. The life of the main character, Damon McBlessed, is based on Spikes' life.
One pivotal and especially painful experience occurred when Spikes revealed to his mother that he had been molested by a family friend.
"My mother grabbed a belt," he shared, "but she beat me with the belt." Years of therapy helped him to deal with the anger and pain that and other experiences produced within him. Another shocking development has been significant to how Spikes lives his life.
"After we did the reading in 2013, six weeks later discovered I had cancer of the gallbladder, and was given a three year prognosis," he shared. Three years later, on April 17, 2016, the date the dire prognosis was to have come to fruition, Spikes said he had a big party to celebrate his survival and vowed to be bolder and more courageous.
WHEN: November 12-20, 2016; 2 shows daily; at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
WHERE: African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, 6161 NW 22 Avenue, Miami, FL., 33142.
COST: Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door and are available at www.jonathanspikes.eventbrite.com or www.jonathanspikes.org.
CONTACT: For more information, contact Karen Grey at 954-566-2712 or kgrey@abetterconcept.com.


text:
Posted on Jan. 29, 2016, 5:00 am by SOG Staff
The anti-government occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge appears to be winding down this week with The Oregonian reporting here that the "ragtag remnants" of the occupying group seem to be surrendering or leaving. The dissolution of the occupation follows the arrests earlier this week of the group's leaders and the killing of the group's de facto spokesman. In other news:
Plea Deals of the Rich and Famous. The Charlotte Observer has a report this week about the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that resulted in a misdemeanor plea bargain for retired general and former CIA director David Petraeus. Petraeus faced federal criminal charges after a 2012 scandal where he was accused of providing classified information to and having an extramarital affair with his biographer. The report indicates that some people in government and law enforcement viewed Petraeus's deal as unusually lenient while others saw potential hurdles to obtaining a felony conviction at trial.
The Man Who Knew Too Little. Speaking of mishandling classified information, the Washington Post reports here that the Navy's current intelligence chief, Vice Admiral Ted "Twig" Branch, has for years been barred from accessing classified information because of the possibility that he may be indicted in a corruption investigation. The situation is described by one senior Navy official as "not optimum."
Retroactivity of Substantive Rules. Jamie blogged earlier this week about the Supreme Court's ruling in Montgomery v. Louisiana that Miller v. Alabama announced a substantive rule of constitutional law that applies retroactively to cases on collateral review. Before reaching the question of whether Miller's rule was substantive or procedural, the court also held that the Constitution requires state collateral review courts to give retroactive effect to new substantive rules. The Court had appointed amicus curiae to argue against that holding and the Court's discussion of the issue is worth a read for retroactivity analysis enthusiasts.
FBI Shares Child Pornography. USA Today reports here that the "FBI operated what it described as one of the Internet's largest child pornography websites" for nearly two weeks last year. The site in question was tracked to computer servers in North Carolina prior to being moved by the FBI to its own servers in Virginia. The report indicates that the FBI took control of the child pornography website but left it online in an effort to identify and apprehend users of the site. The FBI apparently has deployed this tactic on prior occasions, but this case represented a "significant departure" from prior efforts because some files could be downloaded directly from the FBI. Orin Kerr opines here that the F.B.I. faced a "trolley problem" dilemma in deciding whether to keep the site up.
Federal Government Wants its Bayonets Back. The New York Times reports here that the Obama administration is requiring local law enforcement agencies across the country to return certain federal military surplus equipment. Sheriffs quoted in the report lament the loss of their departments' 14-ton M-113 armored vehicles, but are especially annoyed at having to return their bayonets. The bayonets reportedly had proven effective at cutting seatbelts in car wrecks and decorating the barrels of assault rifles during parades. President Obama famously remarked in 2012 that because of the changed nature of the military, the Government had "fewer horses and bayonets" than in the past. There's no word on how many horses are headed back to the federal stable, but sixteen bayonets are on their way courtesy of a Michigan Sheriff's Department.
Category: Uncategorized | Tags: news roundup

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Hassan Rohani (în ; ) este un politician iranian și teolog șiit, jurist de formație. A fost cel de-al șaptelea președinte al Iranului, în perioada august 2013 – august 2021.

Anii de tinerețe și de studii în Iran
Hassan Rohani s-a născut în anul 1948 la Sorkheh, lângă Semnan, în nordul Iranului într-o familie persană religioasă, sub numele Hasan Fereydun. Tatăl său Hadj Asadollah Fereydun (decedat in 2011) avea o prăvălie de condimente la Sorkheh. Mama sa locuiește în prezent la Semnan împreună cu fiicele și ginerii ei. Hadj Asadollah Fereydun a fost, după câte se știe, activ în mișcarea de opoziție religioasă împotriva șahului și a fost arestat prima oară în anul 1962, și apoi mai mult de douăzeci de ori, înaintea Revoluției iraniene din anul 1979.

Hassan Fereydun a studiat în anii 1960 la Seminarul religios din Semnan, apoi la Seminarul din Qom, unde a fost elevul unor renumiți dascăli ai islamului persan, precum Mohammad Mohaghegh Damad, Morteza Haeri Yazdi, Mohammad-Reza Golpaygani, Soltani, Mohammad Fazel Lankarani, și Mohammad Shahabadi. Pe deasupra, Rohani a făcut și studii de cultură generală și a fost admis la Universitatea din Teheran în anul 1969, obținând licența în științele juridice în anul 1972.

Studiile în străinătate
Apoi a continuat studiile de drept la Universitatea Caledoniană din Glasgow, în Scoția, terminând în anul 1995 masteratul în drept cu o teză intitulată "Puterea legislativă islamică cu referință la experiența iraniană". Sub îndrumarea lui dr Mahdi Yaraa și a profesorului Sayed Hassan Amin în 1999 Hassan Fereydun a pregătit teza sa de doctorat "Flexibilitatea Shariyei (Legea islamică) cu referință la experiența iraniană", bazată, între altele, pe învățătura juristului islamic afghan Mohammad Hashim Kamali.
Hassan Fereydun a adoptat mai târziu numele de familie Rohani, ceea ce înseamnă "al spiritului, spiritual".
În afara limbii sale materne, persana, dr. Hassan Rohani vorbește fluent arabă și engleza.

Activitatea sa în mișcarea de rezistență islamică
Ca tânăr cleric, Hassan Rohani și-a început activitatea politică în ilegalitate, ca susținător al Mișcării islamice iraniene a ayatollahului Ruhollah Khomeini. După 1965 el a străbătut Iranul în lung și în lat ținând discursuri împotriva regimului Șahului Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. În acei ani a fost arestat de mai multe ori și i s-a interzis să mai țină cuvântări în public.
În anul 1977 a fost silit să părăsească Iranul pentru a nu fi arestat, și s-a alăturat în exil la Paris ayatollahului Khomeini.

Cariera după victoria Revoluției islamice în Iran
După victoria revoluției islamiste, dr. Rouhani s-a dedicat mai ales organizării armatei, iar în anul 1980 a fost ales în Parlamentul Republicii Iraniene.
Din 1989 Rohani este membru în Consiliului Suprem pentru Securitate națională a Iranului, din anul 1991 membru al Consiliului pentru asigurarea interesului regimului, din anul 1992 conduce Centrul pentru Cercetări Strategice al Iranului, iar în anul 1999 a fost numit în comisia de experți de pe lângă Conducătorul Suprem al Republicii Islamice.
Rohani a mai indeplinit funcțiile de vicepreședinte al Parlamentului iranian (în al 4-lea și al 5-lea termen).
În perioada președinției lui Mohammad Hatami dr. Rohani, ca secretar general al Consiliului pentru Securitate națională între anii 1989-2005, a reprezentat Iranul în tratativele asupra programului nuclear iranian cu Statele Unite, Marea Britanie, Franța și Germania.

Alegerea ca președinte al Iranului
În campania prezidențială din 2013 Rohani a fost susținut de tabăra islamistă reformistă din jurul foștilor președinți Mohammad Hatami și Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsandjani, (Mohammad-Reza Aref și-a retras candidatura în favoarea lui Rohani) rivalii mai conservatori divizându-și voturile între trei candidați principali - Ali Akbar Velayati, Said Djalili și Mohsen Rezayi. La alegeri au luat parte 72% din cei cu drept de vot, Ruhani obținând în mod surprinzător din prima rundă 50.71% din voturi, pe locul doi situându-se primarul orașului Teheran, Mohammad Baker Kalibaf. Conducătorul suprem, ayatollahul Ali Khamenei, a preferat să nu sprijine în mod deschis pe niciunul din candidați și nu a luat măsuri pentru blocarea candidaturii lui Rohani, așa cum au cerut unele cercuri conservatoare, revoltate de unele declarații critice ale candidatului reformist cu privire la încălcări ale drepturilor omului și la starea relațiilor internaționale ale Iranului.

Rohani a declarat că, dacă va fi ales, va pregăti o "cartă a drepturilor cetățenești", va restaura economia țării (zdruncinată de sancțiunile economice aplicate de numeroase state din cauza programului nuclear) și va îmbunătăți relațiile cu puterile occidentale.

Hassan Rohani s-a căsătorit în anul 1969 cu o verișoară a sa, Sahebeh Arabi, și cuplului i s-au născut patru copii: 2 fii și 2 fiice. Fiul cel mare, Hossein, s-a sinucis în aprilie 1992.

Cărți și articole
în persană:
 Islamic Revolution: Roots and Challenges (انقلاب اسلامی؛ ریشه‌ها و چالش‌ها), June 1997, ISBN 9649102507
 Fundaments of Political Thoughts of Imam Khomeini (مبانی تفکر سیاسی امام خمینی), July 1999
 Memoirs of Dr. Hassan Rouhani; Vol. 1: The Islamic Revolution (خاطرات دکتر حسن روحانی؛ جلد اول: انقلاب اسلامی), February 2008, ISBN 9786005914801
 Introduction to Islamic Countries (آشنایی با کشورهای اسلامی), November 2008
 Islamic Political Thought; Vol. 1: Conceptual Framework (اندیشه‌های سیاسی اسلام؛ جلد اول: مبانی نظری), December 2009, ISBN 9789649539409
 Islamic Political Thought; Vol. 2: Foreign Policy (اندیشه‌های سیاسی اسلام؛ جلد دوم: سیاست خارجی), December 2009, ISBN 9789649539416
 Islamic Political Thought; Vol. 3: Cultural and Social Issues (اندیشه‌های سیاسی اسلام؛ جلد سوم: مسائل فرهنگی و اجتماعی), December 2009, ISBN 9789649539423
 National Security and Economic System of Iran (امنیت ملی و نظام اقتصادی ایران), August 2010, ISBN 9786005247947
 National Security and Nuclear Diplomacy (امنیت ملی و دیپلماسی هسته‌ای), January 2011, ISBN 9786002900074
 Role of Seminaries in Moral and Political Developments of Society (نقش حوزه‌های علمیه در تحولات اخلاقی و سیاسی جامعه), November 2011
 An Introduction to the History of Shia' Imams (مقدمه‌ای بر تاریخ امامان شیعه), March 2012, ISBN 9786005914948
 Age of Legal Capacity and Responsibility (سن اهلیت و مسئولیت قانونی), October 2012, ISBN 9786002900135
 Memoirs of Dr. Hassan Rouhani; Vol. 2: Sacred Defense (خاطرات دکتر حسن روحانی؛ جلد دوم: دفاع مقدس), January 2013
 Narration of Foresight and Hope (روایت تدبیر و امید), March 2013
 National Security and Foreign Policy (امنیت ملی و سیاست خارجی), May 2013
 National Security and Environment (امنیت ملی و محیط زیست), May 2013
în engleză:
 The Islamic Legislative Power, May 1994
 The Flexibility of Shariah; Islamic Law, April 1996
în arabă:
 Comments on Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence); Lessons of the Late Muhaqqiq Damaad (تقريرات درس فقه مرحوم محقق داماد) (Chapter on Prayers [صلاة]), Noirmbrie 2012
 Comments on Usul (Principles of Fiqh); Lessons of the Late Ayatollah Haeri (تقريرات درس أصول مرحوم حائري) (Chapter on Academic Principles [أصول علمية]), March 2012

Note

Legături externe
 date biografice pe situl Centrului pentru Cercetări strategice al Iranului
 date biografice pe situl Consiliului de experți de pe lângă Conducătorul Suprem al Iranului în persană
 site depsre Hassan Rohani  în persană

Nașteri în 1948
Nașteri pe 12 noiembrie
Politicieni iranieni
Lideri naționali actuali
Președinți ai Iranului

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Lozzy Loves Lippy: Maybelline Super Stay Better Skin Foundation Review.
Maybelline Super Stay Better Skin Foundation Review.
I Bought the Maybelline Superstay better skin foundation a couple of weeks ago for £8.99 in Superdrug and I have been wearing it since.
The Colour I got it in is sand 030, it's a warm yellowy toned light-medium shade and it was a great match for my skin tone. The product itself is an almost moosey-liquid texture.
The Bottle Says that it is a flawless finish foundation, gives better looking skin in three weeks and instantly evens skin tone.
When I first applied the foundation, I used my foundation brush but I found that it just sat on the skin. I then tried it with my (clean) hands and it seemed to melt in and blend a lot better.
I tried it with and without primer. I found it applied more even without primer but it wore better and got less oily with primer.
The Packaging says 'flawless finish' and too me that means a real full coverage but I (with high standards) felt it was more medium-full coverage but I was able to build it up to full coverage and it didn't look cakey.
The product says it is for 'normal skin' and I think this is right because on one side of my face I have quite normal skin and on the other I have dry patches. I loved it on the normal side but it clung and went patchy around the dry bits.
The finish to this is definitely matte. The product goes on wet but quickly dries to a powder-like finish.
I wore it out of the house once, last Thursday, to the Physiotherapist (#brokenlegproblems). The Pyhsio was quite tiring and strenuous but the makeup didn't budge. It did get a bit shiny around the T-zone but nothing that would put me off wearing it.
On it's own, without primer or powder, it still held up to me cooking dinner and chopping onions with tears streaming down my face.
It does give good coverage, it is reasonably priced and it blends well, however it clings to my dry skin so I wouldn't buy it again. If you have normal or even oily skin I think this would work for you. I've decided that I'm going to add it to moisturiser in the summer when I don't want to wear too much makeup and stick to my Maybelline fit me/Dream Matte Moose for now.
Catch my YouTube review of it here-CLICK ME PLEASE!!


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Home » Musicians » Tomás Cabado
Tomás Cabado
Tomás Cabado (Buenos Aires, 1993) is a guitarist and composer. His career as a musician was always crossed by very diverse interests: as a guitarist he trained in the Jazz career at the Manuel de Falla Conservatory and led different groups, among which is "A veces el faro, a veces el barco, a veces se encuentran" with Camila Nebbia and Axel Filip, a project with which he released his first album in 2019. As a composer he received his degree at the National University of the Arts in 2016, and devoted himself to the composition of contemporary and later experimental music, a field in which he made tours and residencies in Europe and Latin America, premiering several works and releasing three albums in Germany, England and the United States. Although the axes of his creation are eclectic, Tomás maintains a production attentive to the contexts, stories and musicians that make up each aesthetic. In his new album, "Para las Esporas", to be released at the end of July, he brings together his influences as a popular musician and some from the scholarly tradition, with an eye on a very personal sense of melody and the harmonic and arranging prisms by which he refracts.
Tomas cabado
Different Corners of the World of Jazz
Para las Esporas
Isla Desierta Discos
Unconcious Collections
Another Timbre
Especies de Basilea
Marginal Frequency
A veces el faro, a...
Irazu Records
Historia de la luz:...
Wandelweiser Records
en los ojos de los peces
From: Haikus
By Tomás Cabado
Una Montaña Sin Nombre
Arenales I
From: Para las Esporas
Bagunza
Location: Buenos Aires
Born: April 22, 1993
Help improve the Tomás Cabado page
All About Jazz musician pages are maintained by musicians, publicists and trusted members like you. Interested? Tell us why you would like to improve the Tomás Cabado musician page.
Contact Tomás Cabado


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Q: Send keys to window DOM with Selenium in python to bypass captcha I am trying to get data from a webpage (https://www.educacion.gob.es/teseo/irGestionarConsulta.do). It has a captcha at the entry which I manually solve and move to the results page.
It happens that going back from the results page to the entry page does not modify the captcha if I reach the initial page with the "go back" button of the browser; but if I use the driver.back() instruction of Selenium's WebDriver, sometimes the captcha is modified - which I'd better avoid.
Clearly: I want to get access from Selenium to the DOM window (the browser), rather than to the document (or any element within the html) and send the ALT+ARROW_LEFT keys to the browser (the window).
This, apparently, cannot be done with:
from selenium.webdriver import Firefox
from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys

driver = Firefox()
driver.get(url)
xpath = ???
driver.find_element_by_xpath(xpath).send_keys(Keys.ALT, Keys.ARROW_LEFT)

because send_keys connects to the element on focus, and my target is the DOM window, not any particular element of the document.
I have also tried with ActionChains:
from selenium.webdriver.common.action_chains import ActionChains

action = ActionChains(driver)
action.key_down(Keys.LEFT_ALT).key_down(Keys.ARROW_LEFT).send_keys().key_up(Keys.LEFT_ALT).key_up(Keys.ARROW_LEFT)
action.perform()

This also does not work (I have tried with several combinations). The documentation states that key_down/up require an element to send keys, which if None (the default) is the current focused element. So again here, there is the issue of how to focus on the window (the browser).
I have thought about using the mouse controls, but I assume it will be the same: I know how to make the mouse reach any element in the document, but I want to reach the window/browser.
I have thought of identifying the target element through the driver.current_window_handle, but also fruitlessly.
Can this be done from Selenium? If so, how? Can other libraries do it, perhaps pyppeteer or playwright?

A: Try with JavaScriptExecutor - driver.execute_script("window.history.go(-1)")

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Taking A Look At Eastern Conference Chaos
by kcou-admin
By: AJ Douglas
As the NBA reaches its third-quarter mark in the season, a little post trade deadline anarchy has kept us glued to League Pass. The entire season thus far has basically been a two-horse race between the Warriors and the Cleveland Lebrons (erm, Cavaliers). It still might be, for that matter. But thanks to a couple opportunistic deadline moves, a historic scoring stretch by an unlikely 5'9" point guard and a whole lot of grit this two horse race has at the very least turned into something much more interesting.
The Warriors will undoubtedly reel from Kevin Durant's MCL sprain. Without his scoring ability and newly found rim protection prowess, Curry and Klay will have to revert back to their 2015-16 form to stay atop the West. However, Durant will be back for the playoffs barring a setback, which means the Warriors won't be hurting for too long. The Rockets and Spurs will surely be gunning for the #1 seed but even if they get it, nobody in the conference is well equipped enough to take down a fully healthy Warriors squad. The East as it stands may be more interesting. Yes, the Cavs still sit comfortably with a 3 game hold on the top spot. But with LeBron averaging just over 37 minutes a game this year thanks to a lack of depth, the Eastern Conference Championship looks to be much more interesting this year especially considering that the Celtics, Wizards and Raptors have all been hitting their stride post-trade deadline. Let's take a look at the three teams shooting to dethrone the Cavs and send the NBA world into chaos.
At this time last year, the Wizards had just lost their 31st game of the season against the Cavs to send their record below .500, the tandem of Bradley Beal and John Wall couldn't find their fit with each other and most correctly assumed they wouldn't see the playoffs despite having one of the best point guards in the NBA running the show. Compare that to now as the Wizards come off their 36th win of the season. Wall and Beal have turned into a two-headed monster, outscoring opponents by nine points per 100 possessions when on the floor together and having career years in the process. In addition, Otto Porter has burst onto the scene, shooting from beyond the arc at a clip of over 45%. 45%! This team is young, but has a real edge to it. John Wall has always played with a chip on his shoulder, and the chip seems to have rubbed off on Beal and Porter making for an entertaining and hungry team who just might be able to out-hustle the top teams in the East.
A month ago, the Raptors looked to be the same good team that wasn't good enough to do anything super impactful in the context of the playoffs. But after a few nifty moves that landed them Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker, the Raps may have the versatility they have so desperately needed for the past two seasons. Ibaka allows them to stretch the floor and play small if they need to match up, while Tucker provides them with one of the best defenders in the league. On both sides of the floor the Raptors have gotten exponentially better through this trade, not to mention the locker room presence that two high-caliber veterans can bring. Add these two onto a team that already boasts a top form DeRozan (28/5/3 this year) and we may be looking at a tough elimination at least, and a bona fide playoff danger at best.
As much as it pains my cold, dead Lakers heart to say, the Celtics have evolved throughout the season to become an absolute force led by Isaiah Thomas's historic performance. Scoring at a clip of 29 a game and adding six assists on top of that, Thomas has begun to creep into the conversation of the most prolific sub-six foot players ever. Whether that performance will carry on into the playoffs remains to be seen, but Thomas has earned all the recognition he gets and has led this Celtics team to places many thought were years away. Add the crafty coaching of Brad Stevens and a top notch set of role players in Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder, Avery Bradley and Jaylen Brown and all of a sudden the Boston Celtics look like the most fit challengers of anyone in the East. Wednesday's 103-99 win over the Cavaliers might just have been a look into the crystal ball of the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals and if this game is any indication, we all better start firing up the popcorn. This Thomas led team plays with a massive chip on their collective shoulder and any team that can rotate players like the C's can while remaining disciplined and pesky on the defensive end can't be counted out of any playoff game, no matter the opponent.
With these three teams along with the LeBron-led Cavs, the Eastern Conference looks to be chock-full of talent leading into this year's playoffs. It remains to be seen if any of these teams have enough in the tank to remove the Cavs' stranglehold on the East, but none of the teams listed look to be going down easy this year.
Tags: Basketball, Boston Celtics, NBA, Sports, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards
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Saint Thomas este una din cele unsprezece parohii ale statului caraibian Barbados. Se află în mijlocul insulei, fiind una dintre cele două parohii care nu au deschidere la ocean.

Obiective turistice
 Clifton Hill Moravian Church
 Sharon Moravian Church
 Harrison's Cave

Parohiile vecine
 Saint Andrew - Nord-est
 Saint George - Sud-est
 Saint James - Vest
 Saint Joseph - Est
 Saint Michael - Sud-vest

Parohiile din Barbados


KIÊN GIANG – The Cái Lớn – Cái Bé irrigation project in the Mekong Delta has been approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, according to Lê Hồng Linh, director of the ministry's Irrigation Work Investment and Construction Management Board No 10.
The project, which will connect the Cái Lớn River to the Cái Bé River in the Delta, is expected to improve agricultural and aquaculture production, control salinity, fight the effects of climate change, and supply freshwater to An Minh and An Biên districts during periods of low rainfall.
Construction on the first phase of the project, slated to be completed by the end of 2021, will occur in Châu Thành District on 54.5 hectares of land. It will cost over VNĐ3.309 trillion, of which VNĐ3.3 trillion will be from government bonds.
Phạm Vũ Hồng, chairman of Kiên Giang People's Committee, said the project would help combat climate change (which the province is especially susceptible) and will bring value to the area and nearby regions.
The People's Committee and Kiên Giang's National Assembly delegates strongly backed the project, and local authorities said they consulted experts about the project.
Nguyễn Văn Đồng, director of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Hậu Giang Province, said that it would be preferable to have either freshwater or saline water since a mixture of the two is problematic.
As part of the project, local farmers will receive training on how to adapt to climate change.
Earlier, many experts had expressed concern about the project and questioned its importance and effectiveness.
Professor Lê Anh Tuấn from Cần Thơ University, for instance, said that it would harm the biodiversity of the region, and that the building of a system to keep out salinity and preserve freshwater could pollute freshwater due to chemicals from farming.
Professor Dương Văn Ni from the university said that farmers were using saltwater for aquaculture, and questioned how the control of salinity would affect that. He also said the lack of diversity in farming products is the issue, not the problem of salinity and freshwater.


What are the best attractions in Malaysia and Where to stay for best place ?
Malaysia Beauty With GSM Technology!
The most amazing trip in Malaysia!
Top 10 Island in Malaysia!!
Which cities of Malaysia have international Airports?
What is the industrial situation in Miri?
Ever heard of Kuala Lumpur Tower?
Where to go in Shah Alam?
How many religions are practiced in Malaysia?
Which language is spoken in Malaysia?
Planning a trip to Malaysia. Can anybody tell me what to do, see and experience?


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Entertainment , Sports
Rutgers to Black Whistleblower: You Don't Have to Go Home...
After whistle-blowing on Rutgers University head coach, Erick Murdock's contract was not renewed.
By #TeamEBONY | April 4, 2013
It's official – the scandal surrounding the Rutgers University men's basketball team is moving along with all deliberate speed. Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti and other administrators including school president, Robert Barchi, finally did what needed to be done and fired embattled men's basketball coach Mike Rice after a video of him shoving, physically hitting and kicking them and berating them with abusive language (homophobic slurs and sexist remarks) went viral. Rice was initially fined $50,000, suspended for three games and ordered to attend anger management by Pernetti. Pernetti insists that he and President Barachi took the therapeutic route with Rice in an effort to "rehabilitate" the coach prone to tantrums and meltdowns. How interesting is it that the school would choose the "rehabilitative" route with Rice, yet choose a punitive route when it comes to Eric Murdock, who henceforth and forever more will be known as a "whistleblower."
While many have a lot to say about Murdock, he is not a scrub by any stretch of the imagination. Murdock led Bridgewater West High School to two state titles, set the NCAA record for career steals at Providence and was selected by the Utah Jazz in the first round of the 1991 NBA Draft, retiring from the NBA in 2003. Murdock is really the man at the center of this scandal because he is the person who actually brought Rice's terrorism of players to the attention of Rutgers University officials. Murdock says that he notified officials of Rice's ill behavior even before he showed Pernetti the videotape and nothing happened, primarily because Rice would be on his best behavior when Pernetti attended practices. One could deduce that this lack of response caused Murdock to videotape the practices over the course of two years (2010-2012) and prompted his dismissal from the team and quite possibly a career in coaching.
Keith Clinkscales, Founder and CEO of TheShadowLeague.com believes that Murdock acted in the best interest of the students. "I wouldn't call him a whistleblower. It's courageous that Murdock actually spoke out against what was happening. There's a certain omertà that exists in coaching so speaking out now for him is still very difficult," says Clinkscales. Murdock's long career in basketball suggests that he knew the potential consequences of his actions by informing Pernetti about what was happening, so his motivation was not necessarily in keeping his job, but in protecting players.
What was the motivation of Pernetti, Barachi and other administrators to keep Rice, who was in the midst of three back-to-back losing seasons as head coach and dismiss Murdock, a man who had excelled in basketball at all levels? Some would argue racism, while others would say the culture of the game. "Letting personnel contracts lapse or expire isn't an uncommon thing in basketball. I don't know if that was a racial thing or an anger thing. Rice was an equal opportunity offender. Before I would move to a racial conclusion I would move to a misdirected anger conclusion which became a part of Rice's coaching style and the line began to blur between a hard-nosed approach to coaching and what qualifies as abuse."
Jason Woullard, President of ARHE Network, believes that race is a factor in how players are treated. "I was disgusted watching the video of Mike Rice and troubled that this type of behavior was tolerated by the school. I coached high school basketball last season and know that many of our Black kids put up with this because I am sure that coach Rice was probably also very loyal to them in other ways. In my experience, many of these coaches serve as father figures to Black kids because of the lack of Black fathers that many have in our society."
Which brings us back to Murdock, who was the head of player development. While many believe that Murdock was motivated by personal reasons, the fact remains that he did actually move forward with the evidence, quite possible ending any possibility of ever being a head basketball coach, which he was poised to do based on his career trajectory. This possible outcome is an issue for a major sport with a lack of Black college coaches.
Clinkscales offers, "Understand that Murdock is making a tough call in a coaching fraternity that's not easy for African Americans to break in on. Look at Shaka Smart at VCU and Tommy Amaker at Harvard. These are moments and it's difficult to do something that may derail the moment. African Americans don't get very many of these moments, so this is how race is an issue in this case."
Since Rice's firing, a group of 13 faculty members have called for President Barachi, who took office in September 2012, to step-down for his mishandling of the situation, because of the double standard. Two players including prominent sophomore guard Jerome Seagears are transferring. I wonder if there will be calls for Murdock's reinstatement?
While there are certainly calls for more firings, one "firing" in particular started it all; Pernetti's decision to allow Eric Murdock's contract to lapse as director of player development instead of firing Rice as head coach when the unthinkable came to light. One can ponder about what motivated that poor decision-making, but the result will be the same: a Black man with a promising college coaching career has, in all likelihood, lost the opportunity to fulfill it and that is quite possibly worthy of a meltdown.
Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D. is founder and editor-in-chief of The Burton Wire, which covers news, opinion and culture of the African Diaspora. She serves as editor-at-large for TheRoot.com. Follow her on Twitter @Ntellectual or @TheBurtonWire.


NetVEST Financial, LLC is an independent wealth and estate management firm located in Scottsdale, Arizona who serves the needs of clients in nearly all 50 states. Our philosophy consists of a 360-degree approach to wealth planning– the uniting of investment management, tax planning, and estate management strategies.
How to split a revocable trust when your spouse passes away?
The 3 people who should be involved in your estate plan?
Why you may want to re-think giving assets outright to your children when you pass away?
How to protect your heirs from creditors, divorces, litigation, & claims?
Put estate planning freedom back where it belongs – in YOUR hands.
and debunking the myths surrounding trusts and estate planning.


Iceland might not be the first location that springs to mind when you think of dream destinations for honeymoons, but it should be.
Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, is only a short flight away from England, so why not include a whirlwind weekend in the country as a part of your UK adventures? You'll soon find this one dreamy destination that lovers around the world shouldn't miss.
A visit to the Blue Lagoon should be one of the first things on your list when you arrive in Iceland. This is a giant outdoor geothermal spa, which is a perfect shade of milky blue. A combination of minerals, silica and healthy algae keep the waters pristine and gift the lagoon its unique colour.
A perfect place for some honeymoon relaxation, treat yourselves to couples spa treatments. You can even receive spa treatments and massages floating on the water on a mattress in the lagoon - so you never miss a chance to enjoy the natural surrounds and breathe in the unspoilt air.
While in summer the lagoon is surrounded by rolling green hills, in winter these turn white with snow, creating a magical atmosphere combined with steam rising from the waters.
Put aside a couple of hours to wander the streets of Reykjavik. Its quaint, colourful buildings look especially wonderful during the Christmas and New Year season when they are dressed and lit up beyond all expectations! The atmosphere is truly festive, with Santa Claus, snow and palpable merriment in the air.
For couples interested in exploring Reykjavik's wealth of artistic talent, whether it's paintings, performers, poets or novelists, there are plenty of galleries and museums to enjoy strolling through, hand-in-hand. Try the Einar Jonsson Museum or the National Gallery of Iceland. You might even want to hire bicycles so you can cycle around, or take a tour of what's on offer.
If you're an active couple, head for the hills. Iceland has a beautiful, dramatic landscape, with rising volcanos, deep valleys, waterfalls and meadows - all you can imagine from a fairy tale and more. You can embark upon self-guided walks, perfect for those seeking an intimate experience, or join a guided hike.
Those seeking a truly unique adventure might want to explore the scenery together on horseback. Trot gently over volcanic rocks, gallop around mountains and untouched wilderness all from the back of a steed as the wind blows through your hair.
One of Iceland's most spectacular attractions is the Northern Lights phenomenon, also known as Aurora Borealis. This is when the sky lights up in an array of colours, though most often a shade of green, as electronically charged particles from the sun collide with the upper atmosphere.
There is no experience in the world quite like sitting with a loved one and witnessing this jaw-dropping event. To see the Northern Lights, your best bet is to head to Iceland in winter when the nights are long and clear. Local tour providers can take you to the best lookout spots slightly outside the city, where you can cuddle up and wait for this masterpiece of nature to appear.
In central Reykjavik the night life is vibrant. There is a huge variety of bars, clubs and pubs so whether you're after an all-out rave or a more serene glass of wine, there's something for everybody.
Enjoy a romantic, candlelit meal looking out to the water and see if the Icelandic party mood sweeps you off your feet to dance the night away.
When your feet tire, remember there is a heavenly bed waiting for you at one of the city's beautiful luxury resorts.


This product has been discontinued by the manufacturer, Variable, Inc.
The CO2 NODE Module measures CO2 gas concentrations in air. When attached to the NODE Sensor Platform, it wirelessly sends information to your mobile device such as iPad, iPhone, and Android. Use it to study cellular respiration in peas or photosynthetic metabolism studies.
CO2 gas generated by germinating peas is measured using NODE with the CO2 NODE Module.
Download this free experiment for using NODE with the CO2 sensor module. Student instructions and teacher's information are included.


The Challenger Center is best known for our simulated missions. Students get the chance to take part in a fully hands-on simulation of one of several space missions. From Rendezvousing with a comet to establishing a Martian colony, our missions offer a truly out of this world experience.
Our missions are not just fun and engaging for students, we also work hard to impart useful, applicable STEM education to our "crew". Recently, we worked alongside a committee of two dozen local teachers and school administrators to update our mission curriculum. This ensures that our STEM-focused missions align directly with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Kentucky education standards.
Since our opening in 1999, we have flown over 5000 missions with everyone from local elementary schools to business leaders from state-leading companies. Contact us to see how your class or group can benefit from a Challenger mission experience.
Challenger.org is an online repository for activities, projects, and pre- or post-mission lessons designed to enhance your Challenger experience.
In Rendezvous with a Comet astronauts onboard the Space Station work with their counterparts in Mission Control and are tasked with sending a probe to intercept and collect new data on a comet. They work as scientists and engineers as part of a continuing study of our Solar System. New pre-mission lesson plans incorporate the engineering design model into preparation for their simulated mission.
In Voyage to Mars students will serve as the first settlers in a permanent base on Mars where they will collect and analyze a number of planetary samples and data. This information is vital to scientists and explorers for a better understanding of their mission.
In Return to the Moon our crew is tasked with establishing a permanent Lunar colony, and are the first lunar explorers since Apollo 17 in 1972. The Challenger Crew must work together to work through the challenges encountered on the Lunar surface.