The first is the fact that Israel feels obliged to undertake an unprecedented, country-wide civil defense exercise this week.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Obama sows a Mideast whirlwind

The Civil Rights Division is committed to continuing our work with AAPI communities and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to exercise their civil and constitutional rights.

WHITEHOUSE: The Civil Rights Division and AAPI Communities

That is because the countries of Europe, almost without exception, are signatories to the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, which obliges them to encourage "the effective exercise of civil, political, social, cultural and other rights and freedoms" abroad.

FORBES: Commentary

The aim of this exercise, called NEAMWave12, is to evaluate the technical alert mechanism and the civil protection services when taking the tsunami risk into account.

UNESCO: Progress Towards a Tsunami Early Warning System in the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Participants welcomed another new law in the pipeline, on the transparency of state institutions to the mass-media, as another effective legal instrument to exercise the right to access information, which is judged to improve good governance and civil society participation in decision-making.

UNESCO: MEDIA SERVICES