Latest news
27 August 2013
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Dutch Foreign Ministry has warned the Dutch engineering company Royal HaskoningDHV not to participate in a sewage construction project in East Jerusalem because it would violate international law.
The warning comes after the publication of new EU guidelines in July that ban union funding of Israeli institutions operating in the occupied territories. According to Haaretz, EU officials are considering warning companies about contacts with the settlements, and an Israeli official was reported stating that such a decision would be a serious escalation in EU measures against the settlements.
Source: Haaretz | Dutch government urges local firm to cancel East Jerusalem project
26 August 2013
According to Al Jazeera, the Afghan president Hamid Karzai made a plea for a joint anti-terrorism campaign with Pakistan during his one-day visit with the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
President Karzai told journalists that the two countries should launch a joint campaign against ‘the menace of terrorism’. The President has previously urged Pakistan to help Afghanistan defeat fighters who he says are destabilizing both countries. The Afghan government considers Taliban safe havens in Pakistan to be the main cause of increased violence. During Karzai’s visit, the Pakistani Prime Minister called for constructive dialogue to improve bilateral relations, but reportedly did not comment on the joint campaign initiative.
Source: Al Jazeera | Karzai seeks Pakistan's help during visit
23 August 2013
The French foreign minister Laurent Fabius warned Syria over a reaction of force from the international community if the Assad regime is proven to have used chemical weapons.
Fabius was reported saying the reaction could take any form of force, but ruled out the deployment of foreign ground troops, thereby suggesting the possibility of Western air strikes. The warning comes after the UN Security Council expressed strong concerns over the alleged use of lethal toxin in the attack on the outskirts of Damascus on 21 August, but failed to reach agreement on the best response.
Source: The Guardian | France warns Syria of forceful response over chemical weapon claims
Source: Al Jazeera | France warns Syria of forceful response
23 August 2013
Ecuador announced its plans to re-start oil drilling in the Amazonian Yasuni National Park, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve with the highest biodiversity per square kilometer in the Amazons. The decision comes after the collapse of a pioneering conservation plan that was designed to compensate Ecuador for an oil moratorium in Yasuni through raising funds, corresponding to expected oil revenues, from international donors.
According to the Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa, the plan had sought co-responsibility in the face of climate change. An opinion posted on the Gulf Times’ website on 20 August argued that the protection of Yasuni is not just Ecuador’s responsibility as the rest of the world also benefits from the oxygen and fresh water generated from the park.
Source: The Guardian | Yasuni: Ecuador abandons plan to stave off Amazon drilling
Source: RFI | Correa anuncia explotación petrolera del Parque Yasuní, reserva mundial de la biósfera
Source: Gulf Times | Protection of Yasuni National Park is a Joint Responsibility
19 August 2013
An Op-ed published in The New York Times argues that General Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, the military ruler of Egypt, was ‘actively seeking the help of Western diplomats as well as the Persian Gulf sheikdoms that largely financed his coup’. It also critiques the idea that Washington’s influence is not that decisive with the Egyptian generals and notes that: ‘America had influence and still does. It was an American official, not an Egyptian one, who informed President Morsi’s staff of the finality of the coup decision.’
The opinion is written by Amr Darrag, a member of the executive board of the Freedom and Justice Party, which is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Mr. Darrag was Egypt’s minister of planning and international cooperation under President Morsi.
Source: The New York Times | Egypt’s Blood, America’s Complicity