Search Results for: Czech Republic

BY GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE

HAITI’S troubled fishing industry has been dealt a severe blow by the earthquake that devastated its capital Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. The destruction of the city’s port facilities, warehouses, and distribution systems means that fish, once plentiful in markets, have for the time become a rare commodity, said Michel Chancy, the undersecretary for food at Haiti’s ministry of agriculture, which is responsible for fishing and aquaculture.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CO2 emissions statistics released by the European Commission show that while British motorists are ignoring government calls to buy smaller cars, their vehicles are at least getting greener. Across the European Union (EU) the CO2 emitted by passenger cars is falling fast: looking at 2008, a report said the average specific CO2 emissions from passenger cars were 153.5g CO2/km.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A YEAR of struggle would be the best way to sum up 2009 as far as the global clothing and textile industry is concerned. The depth and severity of the worldwide recession left many clothing and textile companies reeling, even impacting upon China, which had previously been dominating global markets.…

BY GEORGE STONE

GHANA, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are Africa’s latest upstream hotspots as major energy firms seek new provinces outside of regional heavyweight oil producers Nigeria and Angola. But jockeying for position has already led to friction between governments and the industry.…

By Paul Cochrane, in Beirut

In an age of mass migration on a global scale, is it possible for governments to impose on the public, particularly immigrants, what they can and cannot wear? Take the diktats on women's wear in France versus Iran. In the Islamic Republic, females above the age of nine are required to wear the hijab (veil) and cover up their bodies.

Conversely, in France the authorities have talked of banning the burka and succeeded several years ago in banning the hijab in public offices and schools. Turkey has also done the same in the name of secularism.

Many argue that the French and Turkish are right to do so, to stem the tide of Islamisation and, moreover, for women – in most cases girls – to have the individual choice as to whether they want to wear a hijab, not decided upon by parents or family.…

By Keith Nuthall, International News Services

So the Treaty of Lisbon has been ratified. With the Czech Constitutional Court backing its contents as legal and a new national opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights portion of the treaty given to his country, Czech president Václav Klaus has at last signed the treaty.

It should now come into force by the end of the year. So we will see a permanent president of the European Council of Ministers (albeit probably low profile Belgian prime minister Herman van Rompuy rather than pushy ex-UK PM Tony Blair); an EU foreign minister; and more power for the European Parliament.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

MINIMUM excise duty rates on tobacco products across the European Union (EU) are rising and at such rates that demand will almost certainly be depressed in many EU member states. The impact will be especially marked in eastern Europe, where governments have been given additional time to implement hikes in excise duty.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A MAJOR European research project is to spend Euro 44 million on developing tiny components to help electric vehicles improve their performance, so that they can better compete with models powered with liquid fuels. The Fiat and Audi-backed E3CAR (Energy efficient electrical car) project will especially focus on emerging nanotechnologies as its researchers aim to boost electric cars’ often less than stellar driving abilities.…

By Paul Cochrane, in Beirut

Sanctions are one of those political issues that can make amiable dinner conversation turn unpleasant, as the battle lines are drawn down the table between those for and against. They have certainly had mixed success, starting with the first recorded case of a trade embargo some 2,400 years ago between Athens and neighboring Megara. That embargo failed and sparked a war.

Some argue they have had a spotty record since, while others prefer to pick-and-mix examples from embargoes through the ages to argue their case. The more pragmatic approach would be not whether sanctions “work,” but when and under what circumstances.

On one hand, those that are meant to oust a dictator but result in the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians – in Iraq for instance – can be considered counter-productive.…

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.

She is the institution’s leaderene though hiding behind the good manners and discretion of a classic civil servant. Catherine Day is seldom heard and rarely seen.

In a few days, however, she will stand before a huge audience of colleagues to explain to them how the clumsily-titled ‘external action service’ is to be developed and how it will affect their working lives.…