Day: June 15, 2021

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UEFA EURO 2020 Sponsor Hisense Showcases Hisense U7 TV at the Tournament

QINGDAO, China, June 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — After a year’s delay, UEFA EURO 2020 officially kicked off in Rome, Italy, in the early hours of June 12, Beijing time. The presence of a large number of Chinese elements on the many digital screens overlooking the stadium aroused widespread discussion among audiences throughout China. In 2016, Hisense, as the first Chinese firm to become a sponsor of UEFA EURO, ran an advertisement with the tagline “Buy TV, Choose U7”, that was seen by millions of football fans worldwide. Hisense’s sponsorship 5 years ago inspired many more Chinese companies to follow their lead by becoming UEFA EURO sponsors. As a result, advertisements from Chinese firms have become a common sight at all of Europe’s major tournaments.

It is the first time in the history of UEFA EURO that the interval between tournaments was extended to five years rather than the usual four. This year also marks the 60th anniversary of the quadrennial event. This year’s tournament was especially anticipated by spectators and football fans around the world, as it is the first world-class sporting event following the ending of lockdown measures in most countries since the outbreak of the pandemic, as well as the first to allow a certain number of spectators to watch the game on site. There was a huge turnout online in Europe for this first game of the tournament, while Chinese fans, due to the time difference, stayed up late to watch the game. The first three days of UEFA EURO 2020 happen to coincide with the Dragon Boat Festival holiday in China, when star teams from Belgium, England and the Netherlands had their first matches. The popularity of these three teams in China is expected to send ratings soaring among that audience.

Five years ago, in 2016, Hisense, the first Chinese sponsor of UEFA Euro in the 56-year history of the tournament, left a lasting impression on the audience with the tagline “Hisense TV China’s No. 1”. During the opening match this year, however, Hisense chose to remain low-profile, by returning to the earlier tagline “Buy TV, Choose U7”. The U7 is a customized TV set series officially created for UEFA Euro 2020, and is proving to be an item in the Hisense TV portfolio that is turning a lot of heads. Just as most soccer teams have their own legendary “No. 7 player”, Hisense’s executives, as they have become of aware of the series’ popularity, have started referring to it in company meetings as “Hisense’s No. 7 Player”.

Publicly available data from All View Cloud show that for two consecutive months, three models in the Hisense U7 series have been among the top 10 best-selling new TVs in China. Hisense U7G-Pro, the world’s first ULED XDR TV, boasts a peak picture brightness of 1600nit, more than 5 times that of ordinary LCD TVs, vastly boosting the clarity of the image and the level of detail. The ultra-high 144HZ refresh rate eliminates the streaking effect that mars the viewing experience when players run or pass the ball. Hisense has also developed a “Super Fan” viewing mode tailored for this year’s UEFA Euro, which includes features such as AI Green Field (a smart feature that optimizes the viewing effect when panning over a field green grass, rendering the image substantially clearer), AI Watching and Multi-Perspective Watching. The lineup of these special features with the football fan in mind makes U7G-Pro a particular good choice for watching UEFA EURO 2020 games.

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Sudan’s Hamdok defends economic reforms, pledges to address imbalances

June 15, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok pledged on Tuesday to address the obstacles that prevented the implementation of measures necessary to reduce the severe effects of economic reforms.

In response to popular protests rejecting tough reforms and calling for his resignation, Hamdok spoke to the Sudanese people to defend the cancellation of commodities and fuel subsidies and the liberalization of the Sudanese pound.

He stressed that the government has put in place several measures to mitigate the negative impact of structural economic reforms including the family support programme to provide direct cash to millions of people.

“Here, we acknowledge that there is an administrative defect in the database that hampered this great work, and we are working to address it with all concerned parties,” he admitted.

He added that only 15% of the international support for the cash transfer programme ($820 million) so far has been used.

The family support programme includes 6.5 million families, about 80% of Sudanese families. However, the government collected the data of only 700,000 families due to the weakness of the administrative apparatus.

Hamdok said that the international support provided for this programme will reach $2 billion in the future, and urged Sudanese to register to benefit from this programme.

“I urge all the daughters and sons of our people to register in this programme and receive direct financial support that contributes to alleviating the burdens of life on them.”

He underscored that his government continues to subsidize many basic commodities and services, including electricity, flour, cooking gas and medicines.

Furthermore, he pointed to the delay in the establishment of cooperative societies that sell goods directly from the producer to the consumer and called on the neighbourhood and popular committees to revitalize these societies to deliver cheap goods to the people.

The Prime Minister, also, accused unnamed parties of contributing to the creation of the hardship of living in the country.

“It is not hidden that there are malicious hands that contribute to disrupting the wheel of production, government work and the functioning of the private sector, as well as inciting lawlessness,” he said alluding to Islamist supporters of the ousted regime.

Many officials in Khartoum admit that the administrative apparatus is not qualified to implement economic and administrative reforms. In addition, they admit the continued presence of the supporters of the ousted regime in the administration due to the lack of clear directives from the prime minister.

Speaking about the protests that took place last Thursday and Friday, Hamdok said the fragmentation of the revolution’s components created a vacuum used by its enemies and supporters of the former regime.

The forces of the revolution “have no choice but to unite, restore their cohesion and organize their ranks. Only with their unity, they can protect the revolution, its values and goals.”

Source: Sudan Tribune

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Juba-Bor road construction nears completion: minister

June 15, 2021 (JUBA) – Construction of the road linking the South Sudan capital, Juba to the Jonglei state capital, Bor is nearing completion, a senior official said on Tuesday.

This was disclosed by the Road and Bridges minister, Simon Mijok Mijak while briefing South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on the road construction progress.

The 151km (94 miles) road is being constructed by the Africa Resource Cooperation Company, an indigenous construction company in South Sudan.

Officials say the Juba-Bor road will be one of the longest four-lane dual carriage highways in East and Central Africa, once completed.

Meanwhile the Roads and Bridges minister urged companies constructing the Juba-Rumbek and Juba-Nimule highways to expedite the process.

More than five years of civil war in South Sudan slowed progress in infrastructural development and the country’s road network has greatly suffered, with rampant insecurity on the poorly maintained roads affecting economic and social development.

Source: Sudan Tribune

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Arab countries call on Security Council to mediate GERD issue

June 15, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – The Arab League on Tuesday voiced “grave concern” about the Ethiopian government’s plans to fill unilaterally the giant dam and called on the Security Council to broker a solution for the dispute.

In an extraordinary meeting held in Doha, the Arab foreign ministers showed their support for Cairo and Khartoum in their dispute with Addis Ababa over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

For its part, Addis Ababa blatantly rejected the call and blamed the Arab countries for supporting the “baseless claims” of Egypt and Sudan.

The Arab foreign ministers “Express grave concern about Ethiopia’s announcement of its intention to continue filling the reservoir of the Renaissance Dam during the next flood season in the summer of 2021,” reads the statement.

It said that the unilateral filing would cause damage to the water interest of the downstream countries and breach the international law and the declaration of principles of 23 March 2015.

The Arab foreign ministers further called on the Security Council to (….) “hold an urgent meeting to discuss this issue and to take the necessary measures to launch an effective negotiating process that ensures a fair, balanced and legally binding agreement on the Renaissance Dam and takes into account the interests of the three countries”.

Sudan and Egypt have already filed two separate letters to the Security Council saying the Ethiopian position represents a threat to regional and international security.

In a meeting held in Kinshasa last April, Ethiopia voiced its objection to the involvement of the United Nations in a quadripartite mediation led by the African Union.

In Addis Ababa, the foreign ministry swiftly rejected the call to involve the Security Council in the dispute.

“Ethiopia rejects the “Resolution” in its entirety. In fact, this is not the first time the League of Arab States issued a statement regarding its misguided positions on the GERD,” said the foreign ministry in Addis Ababa.

The statement further accused the Arab countries of focusing on the interest of Egypt and Sudan.

“There is no better example than this to demonstrate the organization’s unhelpful and misguided approach towards the Nile issue,” added the statement.

The African Union Chairperson visited the three countries last May in a bid to discuss new proposals and prepare for a summit between the head of state and governments of the three countries.

However, Felix Tshisekedi President of Congo canceled his plans after meeting with the Ethiopian leaders at the end of his tour.

On Monday, Sudanese Water Minister Yasir Abbas said the African Union Chairperson who was recently in Khartoum spoke with them about a possible mediation by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Source: Sudan Tribune

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Sudan’s Govt, SPLM-N adjourn peace talks for further consultations

June 15, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – Peace talks between the Sudanese government and the SPLM-N al-Hilu have been adjourned sine die for more consultations, said the South Sudanese mediation and the two parties on Tuesday.

Divergences over to what extent is the separation between the state and religion in Sudan prevented the two parties from signing a framework agreement more than three weeks after the start of direct meetings.

The adjournment of the talks was decided in agreement with the two negotiating parties, for more dialogue and internal consultations on the sticky points, said a statement, signed by the heads of the two negotiating delegations and the chief mediator.

Also, the mediation in cooperation with international partners will seek to bridge the gaps between the parties during the coming weeks, it further added.

“Few outstanding issues have led to delay the talks but the next round will lead to a comprehensive peace agreement,” Tut Gatluak told reporters after the release of the joint statement announcing the suspension.

He added that the two delegations that only 4 of the 19 points of contention remain unresolved, adding they are “simple and can be overcome.”

The head of the government negotiating team Shams al-Din Kabbashi hailed the positive spirit that prevailed in the talks adding it helped achieve progress over the outstanding issues.

“The government delegation will return to the next round with the same will and desire for peace to resume talks over the sticky issues with the SPLM-N,” he added.

Also, the SPLM-N Secretary-General Ammar Amoun who is the head of its negotiating delegation said that the will and determination of the two parties enabled them to reach make progress in the talks.

He added that the two parties agreed on 75 to 80% of the draft framework agreement, adding that only 20% of the sticky issues need further consultations.

Source: Sudan Tribune

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South Sudan: WFP to provide meals to over 530,000 children

June 15, 2021 (JUBA) – The UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday signed an agreement with South Sudan to provide meals to more than 530,000 children in schools across the country.

The WFP deputy country director for South Sudan, Adeyinka Badejo said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Ministry of General Education and Instruction is aimed at increasing enrollment, in addition to encouraging parents to keep children in school.

“We will be focusing on schools which are in more vulnerable areas where the level of food insecurity is high and where participation in education is low and where nutrition rates are concerning,” he told reporters in Juba.

For his part, the Undersecretary in the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, Kuyok Abol Kuyok said the project will enable them to provide school meals to over half a million children in school across the country.

“This program is one of the strategies we have to improve education in South Sudan and we are very grateful to the World Food Program and donors,” he explained.

The school feeding program was introduced before South Sudan attained independence from Sudan in July 2011 to enhance access to food.

Source: Sudan Tribune