No image available
/ 13 February 2007
International sanctions alone will not prevent Iran making enough high-grade uranium for a nuclear bomb, according to an internal European Union study leaked on Tuesday. The United Nations has imposed sanctions banning transfers of technology and know-how to Iran’s nuclear programme and hinting at broader penalties.
No image available
/ 7 February 2007
Leading European cellphone operators pledged on Tuesday to draw up a voluntary code over the next year aimed at protecting children using cellphones. The companies agreed to support controls on access to adult material, to launch awareness-raising campaigns for parents and children, and to fight illegal content.
No image available
/ 3 February 2007
The European Commission on Saturday confirmed that the H5N1 strain of bird flu was found on a poultry farm in eastern England. The Commission was informed by British authorities of the suspected outbreak of avian influenza in Suffolk on Friday, the European Union executive said in a statement.
No image available
/ 22 January 2007
The European Union on Monday urged increased support for the peacekeeping force in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region, as the EU’s executive arm declared that it had no more funds to offer. EU foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels, committed to continue funding the contingent until a new force combining African Union and United Nations troops can be deployed.
No image available
/ 21 January 2007
The European Commission is set to decide this week whether to propose tough new emissions limits on new car models after the automotive industry failed to meet voluntary targets. EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas is eager to set binding limits on new passengers cars but needs the backing of his colleagues in the European Union’s executive arm to go ahead with the proposal.
No image available
/ 19 January 2007
After taking action against Microsoft and Google, Belgium’s French-speaking newspapers are seeking redress from another internet search engine, Yahoo!, their lawyer said on Thursday. The papers accuse Yahoo! of violating copyright laws by giving internet users free access to archived newspaper articles.
No image available
/ 14 January 2007
The European Union breathed a sigh of relief on Saturday after the Russian Federation and Belarus ended a row over oil trading arrangements that cut Russian supplies to Europe earlier this week. ”I welcome the agreement reached between Russia and Belarus,” EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in Brussels.
No image available
/ 10 January 2007
The European Union put climate change at the heart of a broad new energy policy on Wednesday as it moved to boost renewable fuels, cut consumption and curb its dependence on foreign suppliers of oil and gas. With oil imports hit by the latest energy dispute involving Russia, Brussels laid out a vision of a common energy policy for the 27-nation bloc.
No image available
/ 13 December 2006
European Union leaders should support tough action against Sudanese leaders for their failure to end abuses in the strife-torn region of Darfur, the International Crisis Group and Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday. On the eve of a two-day EU summit in Brussels, the campaigning groups called for individual sanctions on Sudanese leaders, an assets freeze and a travel ban.
No image available
/ 13 December 2006
By 2030, 1,2-billion people in developing countries will belong to a global middle class, up from 400-million today. The increase in wealth will make income inequality and environmental pressures more acute, predicts the World Bank in a report titled <i>Managing the Next Wave of Globalisation</i>.
No image available
/ 11 December 2006
European Union foreign ministers wrangled on Monday over how hard to penalise Turkey for failing to normalise trade with Cyprus at the start of a week that could derail Ankara’s troubled entry negotiations. EU countries are split between some who would shed no tears if talks collapsed and others who say Europe must embrace a key strategic partner to bridge the Western and Islamic worlds.
No image available
/ 22 November 2006
European Union experts say the United States is pushing to get a regional peacekeeping force deployed in Somalia and this could trigger a wider war in the Horn of Africa. The EU has warned that such a deployment could give cover for a larger military operation against the Islamists who control Mogadishu.
No image available
/ 17 November 2006
South African Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu expressed concern on Friday that Jean-Pierre Bemba’s decision to reject the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) election results could spark more violence. ”You have to be crazy not to worry,” Tutu told reporters in Brussels, ahead of a debate on good governance in Africa.
No image available
/ 14 November 2006
The European Union and South Africa said on Tuesday they had cleared up the last details in the way of long-planned cuts to tariffs on car exports to each other’s markets. The plan was previously agreed and EU countries had now backed its details, an EU official said, adding both sides would seek to implement it by December 1.
No image available
/ 14 November 2006
The European Union and South Africa on Tuesday hailed a new closer relationship aimed at enhancing their strategic political cooperation on issues including conflict resolution in Africa. The two sides agreed to work towards a ”strategic partnership” — special relations which the EU so far enjoys only with Canada, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.
No image available
/ 3 November 2006
Ninety-eight percent of registered victims of cluster bombs are civilians, Handicap International, a United Kingdom-based NGO, says in a report published on Thursday. The report, Fatal Footprint, was launched in several countries ahead of an international conference on conventional weapons starting in Geneva on November 7.
No image available
/ 20 October 2006
The European Commission unveiled on Friday a new strategy to encourage peace and stability in the Horn of Africa, as two European Union diplomats were expelled from Ethiopia, inside the conflict-prone region. The strategy is more of a diagnosis of the region’s problems than a cure.
No image available
/ 18 September 2006
Italy won its first Fed Cup title Sunday, beating Belgium 3-2 after Justine Henin-Hardenne retired with an knee injury during the deciding doubles match. The French Open champion won both her singles matches this weekend despite several health complaints, but she was forced to abandon the final in the third set of the decisive doubles when a knee muscle gave way.
No image available
/ 16 September 2006
Count on Justine Henin-Hardenne to draw a weakened Belgium level with Italy in the Fed Cup final. Trying to win a second major title this year after playing all four Grand Slam finals, the French Open champion edged Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday to keep Belgium and Italy tied 1-1 on the opening day.
No image available
/ 13 September 2006
The European Commission is to restrict the amount of liquids allowed in hand luggage for air passengers, in a new security measure, Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said on Wednesday. ”Following the incidents of this summer we have sought to introduce a response proportional to the needs of security,” Barrot told reporters in Brussels.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Friday he could raise 15Â 000 troops for a UN peace force in Lebanon as European nations overcame their reluctance to send soldiers. Italy pledged up to 3Â 000 troops, France 2Â 000, Spain up to 1Â 200 troops and Poland a slightly smaller contingent.
The European Union said on Friday it is giving â,¬6-million in humanitarian aid to Eritrea and â,¬3-million in aid to Ethiopia to help those affected by drought and conflict. The money, which will be given to United Nations agencies, will help cover costs to provide urgent food and water supplies to people in Eritrea.
European Union regulators on Tuesday started scrutinising Europe’s telecommunications industry on risks for children using cellphones and called for self-regulation in the sector. The growth in cellphone could threaten the safety of minors, the European Commission said.
World powers pressed Sudan on Tuesday to accept a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur to replace an ill-equipped African Union force that has been unable to stem the violence that Washington calls genocide. The UN and aid agencies also urged donors at talks in Brussels to finance the 7 000-strong AU force for a few more months.
The European Commission slapped Microsoft on Wednesday with a new fine of €280,5-million for failing to fully respect a 2004 antitrust ruling, but the software giant vowed to appeal. Raising the pressure on Microsoft, the European Union competition watchdog also threatened additional fines of €3-million ($3,82-million) a day from the end of the month if the company continued to defy the ruling.
The European Commission is to step up pressure on Microsoft on Wednesday to respect a 2004 antitrust ruling, by slapping huge new daily fines on the defiant software group. With an irritated Microsoft flaunting the ruling, the EU’s competition watchdog is poised to impose fines as high as â,¬2-million ($2,55-million) per day backdated to December 15.
Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ari Larijani warned on Tuesday that a ”long road” remains ahead before Tehran’s atomic stand-off with the West can be solved, after his latest talks with European officials. ”We had very wide-ranging discussions. We were following up on the Tehran negotiations,” he said after talks with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
The European Commission is due to fine Microsoft on Wednesday as part of a hard-line approach towards getting the software giant to comply with antitrust sanctions that appears to be bearing fruit. The extent of Microsoft’s new-found cooperation in the face of a penalty that is likely to reach hundreds of millions of euros is impressing even the Americans, until now highly critical of Brussels’ approach.
Iran rebuffed Western hopes of a breakthrough in the Iran nuclear crisis on Thursday, saying it has no plans to respond in talks in Brussels to an international offer to curb its atomic plans. A senior Iranian official made the comment hours before Tehran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, was due to have dinner with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
The European Union (EU) executive commission hopes to convince member states to spend more than â,¬6-billion on regional infrastructure in Africa from 2008 to 2013, a Commission official said. The executive has drawn up maps of road, energy, water and information technology networks in Africa, highlighting missing links which could be closed with EU financing, the official said.
The United States ”expects” Iran to respond next week to an international offer to defuse the nuclear stand-off between Tehran and the West, the number three in the US State Department said on Friday. US Undersecretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said he hopes for the response next Wednesday.
Hundreds of elite North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) troops backed by fighter planes and warships will storm a tiny volcanic island off Africa’s Atlantic coast this week in what the Western alliance hopes will prove a potent demonstration of its ability to project power around the world.