Category: Featured
New EU diplomatic service raises questions and confusion
By David Haworth, in Brussels
Next Monday, (19/10) Mrs. Catherine Day will deliver the most important speech of her life.
Who is she, you’ll probably ask. Indeed, for someone of immense influence this tall, blond middle-aged Irishwoman is a reclusive figure, shy – not writing very much, still less seeking out audiences.
But, as the secretary general of the European Commission, the lady is the power behind Commission president José Manuel Barroso’s throne.
New EU diplomatic service raises questions and confusion
By David Haworth, in Brussels
Next Monday, (19/10) Mrs. Catherine Day will deliver the most important speech of her life.
Who is she, you’ll probably ask. Indeed, for someone of immense influence this tall, blond middle-aged Irishwoman is a reclusive figure, shy – not writing very much, still less seeking out audiences.
But, as the secretary general of the European Commission, the lady is the power behind Commission president José Manuel Barroso’s throne.
India will be test-bed for emerging market countries fighting Maoist insurgencies
By Raghavendra Verma, in New Delhi
India is the latest example of a country struggling against a Maoist insurgency fuelled by rural inequality, showing how emerging market governments worldwide risk harbouring violent rebel groups while promoting economic development.
India will be test-bed for emerging market countries fighting Maoist insurgencies
By Raghavendra Verma, in New Delhi
India is the latest example of a country struggling against a Maoist insurgency fuelled by rural inequality, showing how emerging market governments worldwide risk harbouring violent rebel groups while promoting economic development.
In Peru, the notorious Maoist guerrilla group ‘The Shining Path’ continue operations, funded by the illicit drug trade, after a major insurgency in the 1980s and 1990s failed to achieve its political ends. In Nepal, an armed insurgency was successful, ending with a peace accord in 2006, its Communist Party of Nepal (Unified-Maoist) (CPN-UM) joining the country’s parliament and briefly leading its government.
Smug satisfaction over Irish referendum result maybe premature
By David Haworth, in Brussels
By the time you read this, Ireland’s second attempt to ratify the Lisbon Treaty may have succeeded and thunderous pieties about the nation’s wisdom, maturity and farsightedness in reaching the “right” decision will be heard in all the continent’s chancelleries.
Has President Obama lost his mojo?
By Katherine Dunn and Alan Osborn, International News Services
Has President Obama lost it? Many Americans are now saying so following the slump in his public approval ratings in recent months. Few presidents were elected with such jubilation as Mr Obama last November, and not just in America. He rode the crest of an unprecedented worldwide wave of acclaim to the presidency. Now the criticism and backbiting has begun.
Antarctica’s ice is melting - but will its protective treaty melt too?
By Mark Rowe
As with the Arctic – where sea ice is disappearing faster than most scientists had anticipated - Antarctica is thought to hold fossil fuel resources, along with new drugs, industrial compounds and some commercial applications.
New textile e-book offers invaluable resource
By Emma Jackson, International News Services
Global news agency International News Services Ltd – in association with world-leading business publisher Aroq Ltd - has released a major new e-book compiling global textile regulation news and analysis since 2001. This comprehensive 157 page report offers clothing and textile companies, consultants and lobbyists a survey of the sector’s rapid evolution to a free, global market in the last 10 years.
EU plots ‘Lisbon Process’ life-support – but are grand science and technology schemes worth the candle?
By David Haworth, in Brussels
Among many things the ambitious Swedish presidency of the European Union hopes to achieve in the next five months is a revival of the so-called ‘Lisbon Process’. The what? A few may recall this initiative was launched in 2000 to chart the way the EU would become “the world’s most dynamic, knowledge-based economy.” Rhetorically it became a bouncy castle for politicians, left and right, who could jump up and down with ‘Lisbon’, confident of its crowd-pleasing potential, in Brussels and Strasbourg at least.
Brussels burns billions of Euros on publicity – but citizens still can’t stand the EU
By David Haworth, in Brussels
The European Commission and the European Parliament are beginning to feel the rough edge of voter sentiment about them.
Neither institution is well regarded – and becoming less so all the time.
Of course European Union (EU) officials say nothing about the tsunami of complaint, criticism and contempt that the speed of emails exposes them to.
But the email blowback from voters is uncomfortably there.