Commissioner Piebalgs calls for a stronger partnership with Small Islands Developing States

EU Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, will represent the EU at the UN Third International Conference on Small Islands Developing States (SIDS), organised in Samoa from 1 to 4 September. The event, which takes place every 10 years, will aim to put in the spotlight the significant challenges that these small islands face, due to their small size, their isolation and their vulnerability to the effects of climate change. The Commissioner will confirm EU's renewed commitment to address the special needs and vulnerabilities of SIDS.  Commissioner Piebalgs will be in Samoa until September 2, and he will take the opportunity to visit some of the EU-funded projects, aiming among other things to providing drinking water to the population.

Full Press release: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-956_en.htm

No início dos anos 80, com os soldados soviéticos no Afeganistão, isto era assim: as secretas americana (CIA) e saudita (GID) gastavam milhões de dólares no apoio, directo ou indirecto, aos mujahedin no Afeganistão para que estes combatessem o Exército Vermelho.

Tratavam-se de "covert operations" e, por isso, no caso da Arábia Saudita, o dinheiro era, primeiro, enviado de Riade para o seu embaixador nos Estados Unidos, Bandar bin Sultan. Este, posteriormente, reenviava os fundos para uma conta secreta da CIA na Suíça. A partir daqui, os operacionais da Near East Division efectuavam as compras de material militar no mercado internacional, a países como Israel ou até mesmo a China, na altura feroz inimiga da URSS.   

"A saudi spy quickly become accustomed to being treated like a bank teller. 'We don't do operations', Prince Turky once told CIA colleague from the Directorate Operations Near East Division. 'We don't know how. All we know how to do is write checks'."

in "Ghost Wars" de Steve Coll (The Penguin Press, 2004)

The Commission has today announced further funding for a programme to fight drug trafficking and organised crime, the AIRCOP project – ongoing since 2011  in several countries of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

EU steps up its efforts to fight organised crime and drug trafficking in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean

The European Commission has announced additional funding of three million euros for the Airport Communication Project (AIRCOP), an on-going initiative in several countries of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean to help reduce trafficking in drugs and other illicit products, thanks to more effective, well-connected counter-narcotic activities. This includes connecting the participating airports to international databases and communication networks and promoting intelligence and information sharing. European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, said: "Organised crime, drug trafficking and the damage that they bring are a global problem that requires a strong and coordinated response".  So far, thanks to this programme more than 355 kg of cocaine and 1120 kg of cannabis were seized, among other results. With today's announcement, the European Commission has contributed almost €8 million to the AIRCOP project.

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-914_en.htm

EU launches new programme to support Africa's continental integration

The first ever EU programme in development and cooperation that covers Africa as a whole, called "Pan-African Programme", has today been launched with an allocation of €415 million for this first phase (2014-2017). Welcoming the initiative, EU Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, said:  "The major innovation of this programme is that it allows the EU to link up the cooperation it has with Northern Africa, South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa".

It will contribute, amongst others, to increased mobility on the African continent, better trade relations across regions and also better equip both continents for addressing trans-national and global challenges, such as climate change or security. It will fund projects ranging from sustainable agriculture, environment, and higher education to governance, infrastructure, as well as research and innovation.

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-908_en.htm

"Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's founder, belonged to a movement of secular, urban Muslim intellectual. They saw Islam as a source of culture but not as a proselytizing faith or a basis of political order. Jinnah attempted to construct for Pakistan a secular democratic constitution tinted with Islamic values."

in "Ghost Wars" de Steve Coll (The Penguin Press, 2004)

Jordi Pujol

Ricardo Salgado

Nos últimas dias, em Portugal e Espanha duas figuras cimeiras "caíram em desgraça" e, de certa forma, pela mesma razão: dinheiro. No caso português, Ricardo Salgado está neste momento nas mãos da Justiça, por causa do escândalo no GES/BES. Já em Espanha, Jordi Pujol, ex-líder catalão, assumiu que durante 34 anos manteve uma fortuna escondida no estrangeiro sem a declarar.

Pujol, tal como Salgado, teve um reinado longo nas suas funções, presidindo à Generalitat durante 23 anos. Mas, ao contrário do banqueiro português, Pujol tinha-se tornado numa referência para milhares de pessoas, sobretudo catalães, que sonham com a independência daquela região. Agora, com 84 anos, Pujol vê todo o seu percurso político manchado pela cobiça e pela ganância e, sobretudo, pelo facto de ter enganado o seu Estado e os seus concidadãos.