EU ramps up aid to famine-stricken Sahel

Mon, 22 Nov 2010

Brussels - European Union aid for the famine-stricken region of the Sahel in Africa is to reach 74 million euros (136 million dollars) in 2010, the bloc's executive said Monday.

The increase is the result of the European Commission's decision to double funding for humanitarian and food assistance from 20 to 40 million euros.

"People living in the Sahel region need our support to survive. This financial engagement shows that Europe cares," EU humanitarian aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement.

The EU executive said that food insecurity was affecting over 10 million people in the Sahel - a semi-desert region that cuts across the continent, through Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The situation was most acute in Niger and Chad, with northern Nigeria, Burkina Faso, eastern and northern Mali and northern Cameroon also hard hit, the EU commission indicated.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/354689,eu%C2%A0ramps-aid-famine-stricken-sahel.html.

Two jailed for war crimes in Bosnian conflict

Mon, 22 Nov 2010

Belgrade- Serbia's War Crimes Court sentenced Monday two former officials to prison terms for their role in torturing and killing some 700 Muslims in eastern Bosnia during the 1992-95 conflict in that country.

Branko Grujic and Branko Popovic were found guilty of involvement in the killings in the town of Zvornik, near the Bosnian-Serbian border from May to July 1992.

Grujic, a municipal official in Serb-controlled Zvornik during the war, was sentenced to six years' imprisonment and Popovic, a former territorial defense commander, was given 15 years.

The prosecutor's office said that the sentence was "inadequate" because of the number of victims and the brutality of the crimes. They said they would appeal but did not specify what prison sentence would be satisfactory.

Serbia has prosecuted dozens of people for crimes committed during the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

However, the most-wanted war crimes suspects - Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic - remain on the run. Failure to capture them has blocked Serbia's path towards European Union membership.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/354695,war-crimes-bosnian-conflict.html.

Socrates defends robustness of Portugal's economy - Summary

Mon, 22 Nov 2010

Lisbon/Madrid - Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates on Monday defended the robustness of his country's economy, saying its problems were smaller than those of many other European countries and had "no relation" with Ireland.

European Union finance ministers announced on Sunday that Dublin had applied for financial aid from the International Monetary Fund and from the rescue mechanisms EU set in place in May after the bailout of Greece, the first such bailout in the eurozone.

There has been concern that Portugal and Spain might need similar assistance.

Socrates said he hoped the aid measures for Ireland would "normalize" markets and prevent the Irish problems from affecting Portugal.

Portugal's financial system turned out one of the strongest during the economic crisis in 2008 and 2009, Socrates said.

Portugal also had no property bubble, and its public debt was in line with the EU average, the premier pointed out.

Portugal's expected 2010 public deficit of 7.3 per cent was below those of France or Britain, and an austerity budget which has been given the green light by parliament will reduce it to 4.6 per cent in 2011, Socrates said.

On Wednesday, the government is facing a general strike over the austerity budget which cuts public sector wages, freezes pensions and raises value added tax.

Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos has also stressed the differences between Ireland and Portugal, which he said had a "modern, sophisticated, well regulated and supervised, resilient and well capitalized banking system."

Portuguese economist Antonio Nogueira Leite warned, however, that the Irish bailout would only calm markets in the short term and would not eliminate Portugal's woes.

Meanwhile in neighboring Spain, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero stressed the differences between Spain and Ireland.

Stress tests had proven the solidity of the Spanish banking sector, Zapatero's Socialist Party's organizational secretary Marcelino Iglesias quoted the premier as saying.

Spain's debt was below the European average, and the public deficit - of 11.1 per cent - would be reduced through austerity measures over the next few years, according to Zapatero.

In Brussels, a spokesman for EU economy commissioner Olli Rehn also ruled out the risk of a wider fallout from Ireland.

"There are no analogies to be made, the Irish case is very specific," Amadeu Altafaj told reporters.

"The decisions concerning Ireland are also meant to stop any possible tension and contagion to other economies," he added.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/354697,portugals-economy-summary.html.

Ireland's Cowen to dissolve parliament in New Year

Mon, 22 Nov 2010

Dublin - Ireland's Prime Minister Brian Cowen announced Monday that he would dissolve the Irish parliament in the New Year after December's austerity budget has been enacted.

Cowen has said he will seek a dissolution of the Dail (the Irish parliament) after "the current budgetary process is complete."

Speaking at government buildings, Cowen said it was "a matter of importance that the Dail and government should continue to discharge its obligations to bring forward solutions to the current economic position."

He said the government would publish its four-year plan this week, present a budget to the Dail in December, and continue discussions with the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Cowen's shock decision came under unprecedented pressure Monday after both his coalition partners in the Green Party and the opposition Labor and Fine Gael parties demanded an early election in the wake of the country's bailout.

There had been feverish expectation that Cowen would announce his department Monday evening as support for the government which has a majority of three appeared to be crumbling.

The terms of the European Union/International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue package for Ireland were still being negotiated in Dublin, and with protesters on the streets of the capital.

Ireland's formal request for aid to bailout its troubled banking sector and tackle its sovereign debt problems had been approved by eurozone ministers Sunday night.

The precise amount of the funding has not been revealed, but it is reported to be between 80 billion and 90 billion euros (111.6 to 122.8 billion dollars).

The government is to publish a four-year economic plan on Wednesday.

In a fast-moving political situation, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny had said earlier Monday: "What is needed now is an immediate general election so that a new government, with a clear parliamentary majority, can prepare the four-year economic plan, complete negotiations with the EU and IMF, and frame a budget for 2011."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/354729,dissolve-parliament-new-year.html.

Algeria gets good rainfall in grain sowing season

Mon Nov 22, 2010

By Lamine Chikhi

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria's grain-growing regions had good rainfall during the sowing season, a vital ingredient for a strong harvest, official figures obtained by Reuters showed.

Algeria, with a population of about 35 million, is the world's fifth biggest importer of grain. The volume of imports fluctuates according to the size of its domestic harvest, which depends heavily on good rains.

Figures collated by the Agriculture Ministry's National Institute for Soils, Irrigation and Drainage (INSID), showed that rain levels between September 1 and November 7 compared favorably to conditions at the same time last year.

"We have had a lot of rain, and a lot of rain now is never a bad thing," INSID Director-General Mohammed Habila told Reuters in an interview.

Reuters calculations based on the INSID figures for the period showed that the average minimum rainfall for all Algeria's main agricultural areas was 81.3 millimeters, compared to 78.3 mm for the same period last year.

Last season's grain harvest was 4.56 million tonnes. This was below the record 6.1 million tonnes in 2009, but it was comfortably above the average for the past decade.

Algeria has in the past experienced poor harvests when grain-growing regions have not received the necessary minimum of rainfall, as most land under cultivation is not irrigated.

Agronomists say the Algerian grain crop requires rain during two periods: the sowing season, where moisture is needed to create the right soil conditions for the seed to develop, and in March-April to ensure the plants mature properly.

Algeria has 3.3 million hectares of land under cereals cultivation. It has a strategy to reduce dependence on rainfall, and this year will implement a series of new measures which it hopes will increase the grain yield. These include:

* Seed varieties supplied to farmers are currently of good quality, according to INSID Director-General Habila. In previous years, Algeria had problems with seed quality.

* Habila said that the country already had sufficient stocks of fertilizer to treat one million hectares of land -- more than in previous years -- and would continue to acquire more during the season.

* Officials say irrigation will be more extensive and better organized. Habila said 500,000 hectares of land will be covered by a coordinated system of back-up irrigation, under which the ministry will issue alerts to start irrigation when conditions require it.

* The Agriculture Ministry has created a "Club of 50" which will reward farmers who achieve yields of 50 quintals (5 tonnes) or more per hectare. Only 17 farmers reached this level last season.

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE6AL0CP20101122?sp=true.

Iran, Algeria to expand economic cooperation

TEHRAN, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Iran and Algeria on Monday vowed to expand economic cooperation between the two countries.

In a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani on Monday, visiting Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia called for new initiatives to promote the economic ties between the two Islamic states, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"Despite the many steps taken for the development of all-out cooperation between the two countries, efforts should be made to develop a new plan to promote the level of economic ties between Iran and Algeria," Ouyahia was quoted as saying.

He called for the establishment of a council for the two countries' businessmen and a joint investment fund, and underlined the necessity for supporting private companies' participation in the two countries' economic projects, the report said.

"Algiers welcomes the presence and activity of Iranian companies in different economic fields," he added.

For his part, Larijani said the relations between the two countries are "stable" and the two sides enjoy common stances in regional and international issues.

Iran and Algeria have vast capacities and capabilities in different fields, which should be utilized in line with the expansion of economic and trade cooperation, he was quoted by Fars as saying.

Also on Monday, the Algerian prime minister met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ouyahia said that Iranian and Algerian officials are resolute to strengthen their all-out bilateral relations and to participate actively in the global scene, according to the presidential website.

He said that he had successful talks with Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, adding "during the talks, we could take big steps to deepen the bilateral, especially economic and cultural, relations."

Ahmadinejad also said that independent nations should work out their development plan according to their own potentials and their own local patterns.

On Sunday, the Iranian first vice president said at a meeting with Ouyahia that the two countries enjoy great potentials to expand their bilateral economic ties.

Rahimi said the volume of trade transactions between the two countries is not very high. He also expressed his hope that the current meeting would help strengthen the bilateral economic relations, the local satellite Press TV reported.

For his part, Ouyahia said Algeria wants to expand economic cooperation with Iran and is interested in adopting Iran's expertise in science, technology, and economic affairs, according to the report.

On Sunday, during a meeting between Iranian Economy Minister Shamseddin Hosseini and Algerian Minister for Maghreb and African Affairs Abdelkader Messahel, the two ministers stressed the need for drawing a road map to reinvigorate the two countries' bilateral relations.

During the meeting, Hosseini called for further expansion of mutual economic cooperation, according to Fars.

Tehran is ready to set up an independent Iranian bank in Algeria, he was quoted as saying.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-11/23/c_13617612.htm.

Sudan: NCP Threatens Not to Recognize the Referendum Outcome

20 November 2010

Khartoum — The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) on Saturday expressed its dissatisfaction with the voter registration process for the South Sudan referendum in the North saying there were clear violations that undermines the credibility of the process.

Mandoor Al-Mahdi, a senior NCP official, told the government sponsored Sudanese Media Center (SMC) that the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM), in control of the South, is exercising intimidation against potential voters in the capital and also those urging Southerners to register.

The official alleged that SPLM members are present at polling stations to persuade Southerners not to register. He added that these incidents were reported to the South Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) to rectify the situation but no action was taken.

The presidential adviser and NCP figure Al-Sheik Beesh told SMC that they will not recognize the outcome of the referendum if the registration process continues in this non-transparent manner.

Voter registration began on Monday for the January 2011 referendum on whether oil-producing southern Sudan should secede from the north. It is widely expected that Southerners will choose independence.

In Khartoum, registration centers were empty as many southerners who live in the Sudanese capital made the trip south to enroll or abstained from registering altogether for fear of intimidation by the ruling party in the North.

The presidential assistant Nafie Ali Nafie toured the registration centers in Khartoum this week and appeared visibly angry on TV saying that the low turnout was a result of SPLM instructions. He has also reportedly clashed with poll workers after they turned away a prospective voter who did not have the required documentation to register.

However, the SPLM made similar accusations to the NCP that it is seeking to pressure Southerners in the North to vote for unity through "citizens' committees" by collecting the phone numbers of those who registered.

The SPLM's Atem Garang said southerners were being told: "You must vote for unity when you come and vote next time."

"It is intimidation. It is against the law," Garang told a news conference in Khartoum. He also denied that they had asked Southerners in the North to boycott the registration process.

"The southern Sudanese, we never urged them not to register because we want them to be free. When we talk about a free and fair referendum, it means when you are going to registration you must be free. We did not to talk to them to boycott the registration," Garang said.

Around five million southerners, living in both north and south Sudan and abroad, are eligible to sign up for the referendum which could result in the African continent's largest country being split into two.

For the south to secede in a valid referendum, there must be an absolute majority of a minimum of 50 percent for independence plus one vote, and 60 percent of those eligible must also have cast their ballots.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/201011220006.html.