Official warns of frenzied campaign against Algeria economy

June 19, 2018

The President of Algeria’s Agricultural Chamber in the El Oued Province, Bakar Hamid, said his country is experiencing a frantic propaganda campaign aimed at damaging the national economy.

The official made his remarks during an interview with local eChorouk newspaper after some countries returned agricultural products imported from Algeria.

Hamid explained that it is necessary to counter such campaigns with all available means so that Algeria can impose its presence in the global market to improve its economy.

He explained that none of the products exported from El-Oued province had been returned, adding, however, that one exporter has exported dates to 12 countries and none of them were returned.

Hamid added that Algeria applies international health standards and any product destined for export should be granted a health certificate in accordance with the agreement signed between the two countries.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180619-official-warns-of-frenzied-campaign-against-algeria-economy/.

Uzbekistan: Heavy flooding kills five in southeast

17.05.2018

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan

Heavy flooding has killed five people in Uzbekistan's southeast, country's Emergency Situations Ministry announced Thursday.

The ministry said floods triggered by torrential rains hit Qashqadaryo Region's Chirakchi district.

Relief efforts were underway in the region, it said.

Earlier this week, roads and up to 200 houses were damaged due to flooding in Qashqadaryo's Kitob district.

Source: Anadolu Agency.
Link: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/todays-headlines/uzbekistan-heavy-flooding-kills-five-in-southeast-/1148821.

Qatar, Iraq sign security cooperation agreement

March 15, 2018

Qatar signed yesterday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Iraq to strengthen security cooperation between the two countries, the Qatar News Agency (QNA) has reported.

The agreement aims to enhance security cooperation and exchanging information and experiences between Qatar and Iraq.

“The MoU between the Qatar and Iraq aims at further joint security cooperation and regulates the coordination process between the two countries, as well as the exchange of information and experience, as Iraq accumulates experience in the security field,” QNA quoted the country’s head of public security, Major General Saad Bin Jassim Al Khulaifi, as saying.

He further explained that it will cover all security-related areas, including training and exchange of information in the field of combating terrorism, money laundry, combating counterfeiting, organised crime, drugs and human trafficking as well as all security of ports and airports.

Praising the “close cooperation between the two countries in all fields,” Al Khulaifi noted that the two parties intend to form a joint committee of specialists to follow up and monitor the implementation of the MoU’s provisions.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180315-qatar-iraq-sign-security-cooperation-agreement/.

Hundreds protest plan to further restrict abortion in Poland

July 02, 2018

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Hundreds of abortion-rights activists in Poland held a protest Monday against a proposed law that would ban abortions in cases involving irreparably damaged fetuses. The activists who assembled outside Poland's parliament chanted "We want choice, not terror" as a special commission of legislators reviewed the proposal.

The commission decided that the draft — proposed by a civic group — needed more work before it goes to the lower house of parliament for debate. Iza Nowak, 38, attended the protest with her 4-year-old son to demand the "right to live the way I want to live." Nowak said she had terminated a pregnancy with a deformed fetus.

"We are not here to campaign for abortions, but to demand the right to choice," she said. A small group of anti-abortion campaigners and Catholic nuns prayed in support of the proposal nearby. As part of a hard-won compromise in a predominantly Catholic nation, Poland allows abortions when a woman's life or health is threatened, when a pregnancy results from a crime, and when tests indicate a high probability of incurable disease or irreparable disability in a fetus. The draft would eliminate the third condition.

Opposition lawmaker Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus alleged the bill was timed to divert attention from a new law that is forcing Supreme Court judges in Poland to retire. The law has put Warsaw at odds with the European Union, which has triggered sanctioning procedures.

European Union moves against Poland for its new court law

July 02, 2018

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union opened another rule-of-law procedure Monday against Poland over what it sees as flaws in the country's Supreme Court law, intensifying a standoff that could threaten Poland's EU voting rights and funding.

The move comes a day before legislation takes effect that will force the early retirement of 27 of 72 justices of the Supreme Court, or more than a third of them. The law is the culmination of the ruling populist Law and Justice party's efforts to put Poland's entire court system under its control, a plan it began nearly three years ago. Party leaders claim they are reforming an inefficient and corrupt court system in the grip of an unaccountable caste of judges and insist their changes are in line with European standards.

Critics see the law on Poland's Supreme Court as the most dramatic step in the party's takeover of the courts, giving the ruling party the power to stack them with loyalists. One of the court's jobs is to verify election results, and critics say the new law marks a serious reversal for democracy.

In announcing its procedure, the European Commission, which polices EU law, said the measures "undermine the principle of judiciary independence." Since "there was no step from the Polish side to reverse them, we made the decision to launch the infringement procedure as a matter of urgency to defend the independence of the Polish judiciary," EU spokesman Margaritis Schinas said. 

Poland now has a month to respond, but if it does not reverse course, a future step would involve the Commission suing Poland at the EU Court of Justice. If Poland were to lose, it could face heavy fines.

Poland has insisted that how it organizes its judiciary is an internal matter that the EU has no right to interfere in. But EU officials have sharply disagreed, saying Poland willingly signed on to EU rules when it joined the community, and that the courts must be counted on to also uphold EU contracts and law.

Mass protests erupted in Poland last summer over new judicial laws, with many of the same Poles who opposed communism three decades ago taking to the streets. The domestic upheaval as well as concerns by the European Commission prompted authorities to concede to some changes, though the main thrust of the legislation has remained the same.

Government spokeswoman Joanna Kopcinska said Monday that the government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is fulfilling its promise to voters to clean up a broken justice system — changes she said previous governments should have made but didn't.

"Maybe we would not have had this discussion (with the EU) had they been done earlier," Kopcinska said. On the eve of the changes, Supreme Court spokesman, judge Michal Laskowski, said it was not yet clear if the president would use his power to immediately force the retirement of the judges, including the court president Malgorzata Gersdorf. They have vowed to show up to work as usual.

"We can expect all sorts of reactions, from nothing happening in the coming days, to a lot happening, including the use of force," Laskowski said. The European Commission has also launched a separate procedure against Poland known as Article 7, which opens the way for possible sanctions and a suspension of voting rights. Hungary, however, has vowed to use its veto to prevent that step against Poland.

With few effective tools left, the EU earlier this year vowed to tie future subsidies to the rule of law, something that could cause Poland to lose some of its future funding — money that has helped fuel 14 years of fast economic development.

Monika Scislowska in Warsaw contributed.

Raging wildfire threatens moorlands in northern England

July 01, 2018

LONDON (AP) — Some 120 firefighters are trying to contain a wildfire that has been declared a "major incident" as it spreads in the moorlands of northern England. British fire officials said two large fires had merged because of high winds and extremely dry conditions as much of England is gripped by a heat wave. The fire is in the Winter Hill area, 220 miles (355 kilometers) northwest of London.

Lancashire fire officials said late Saturday that "we are dealing with a rapidly developing aggressive fire across all vegetation types, including woodlands." About two dozen fire engines are on the scene and steps are being taken to protect nearby properties. Officials are asking residents not to come to try to help because of the threat to public safety.

Austria takes over EU presidency with pledge for security

June 30, 2018

BERLIN (AP) — Austria has taken over the rotating presidency of the European Union with a pledge to better secure the 28-nation bloc's external borders. At a ceremony Saturday outside the Alpine town of Schladming, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the six-month presidency is "an honor for us, but also a great responsibility."

Kurz says "we know that the international environment is difficult right now." Kurz came to power last year as the head of a right-wing coalition government with a pledge to restrict migration to Austria.

He supports setting up landing points for migrants outside the EU and strengthening the bloc's Frontex border agency. EU Council President Donald Tusk praised the Austrian motto for its presidency, "a Europe that protects."