Agrégateur de flux

Growing EU-NATO cooperation to fight human trafficking in Mediterranean and boost cyber defence capabilities was welcomed by Foreign Affairs and Defence MEPs in a debate with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Security and Defence

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Growing EU-NATO cooperation to fight human trafficking in Mediterranean and boost cyber defence capabilities was welcomed by Foreign Affairs and Defence MEPs in a debate with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Security and Defence

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

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Haftungsausschluss : Die Verdolmetschung der Debatten soll die Kommunikation erleichtern, sie stellt jedoch keine authentische Aufzeichnung der Debatten dar. Authentisch sind nur die Originalfassungen der Reden bzw. ihre überprüften schriftlichen Übersetzungen.
Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2017 - EP

Length of video : 157'
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Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Length of video : 27'
You may manually download this video in WMV (318Mb) format

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Length of video : 27'
You may manually download this video in WMV (318Mb) format

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Bulgaria’s far-right parties, grouped together under the United Patriots banner, are about to become part of the new government in an unprecedented development on the country’s increasingly turbulent political scene. 

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Zord

In Da Nang, a coastal city in the center of Vietnam, locals and tourists alike flock every night to Be Anh, one of the city’s most popular seafood restaurants. Many diners are oblivious to the toxic waste spill last April which killed over 100 tons of fish along a 200-kilometer coastline just north of the city.

The release of chemicals, including cyanide, phenols and iron hydroxide was eventually blamed on a steel mill waste pipeline in Hà Tĩnh owned by Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Group. The steel mill was later cited for more than 50 violations, with the company promising to pay $500 million in compensation.

Vietnam’s environmental ministry has stated it will take at least a decade for the region to recover from the spill.

Others diners are mindful of the effects, but insist the pollution does not extend into Da Nang’s waters and the seafood they eat, as tourists flocked to the beaches over the holiday celebrating Vietnam’s Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers’ Day (May 1). Still others have not forgotten, and continue the protests which rocked major cities throughout Vietnam in April and May of last year.

Marking the first anniversary of the spill, protesters in the town of Kỳ Anh blocked the country’s main highway the first week of April. Some 100 Vietnamese used fishing nets, bricks and heavy rocks to block the highway, reportedly delaying thousands of vehicles. Vietnam’s government promised to identify and prosecute protesters for “causing public disorder”. In Ho Chi Minh City, the streets were quiet that same week with few security personnel on guard.

While Vietnamese government officials promise to prosecute instigators of protests, such as Nguyễn Văn Hóa, a 22-year-old resident of Kỳ Anh (arrested for using a flycam to record and publish protests), they also punished four high-ranking government officials for their lack of supervision over environmental safety.

Nguyễn Minh Quang, the former environmental minister, was rebuked and two of his deputies were fired.  Võ Kim Cự, the 60-year old party chief secretary of Hà Tĩnh province, was also fired and has offered his resignation as a delegate of the lawmaking National Assembly, citing “health reasons.”

While the threat of punishment may help deter future environmental disasters and increase oversight, Vietnamese officials are also responding to citizens’ concerns over future pollution. Starting in April, officials in Ho Chi Minh City are installing a network of 53 outdoor LED boards throughout the city which will allow residents to monitor air and water quality in real time. The LED boards will display levels of nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide, as well as the water quality of rivers and canals, and levels of noise pollution.

The U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City already publishes air quality readings from its own monitor on this website, as Vietnam experiences worsening air pollution, resulting in a rising number of Vietnamese being hospitalized for respiratory illnesses.

The city’s efforts to improve citizens’ access to information regarding their quality of living is laudable, but more effort needs to be done in other cities and poorer provinces to ensure local officials at the provincial level pay heed to environmental laws. Vietnam is growing quickly, drawing in manufacturing from many countries, including China, and will need strict vigilance to assure its residents that this developing country will not repeat the mistakes of its neighbor in the north.

The post One Year On From Vietnam’s Worst Environmental Disaster appeared first on Foreign Policy Blogs.

In Da Nang, a coastal city in the center of Vietnam, locals and tourists alike flock every night to Be Anh, one of the city’s most popular seafood restaurants. Many diners are oblivious to the toxic waste spill last April which killed over 100 tons of fish along a 200-kilometer coastline just north of the city.

The release of chemicals, including cyanide, phenols and iron hydroxide was eventually blamed on a steel mill waste pipeline in Hà Tĩnh owned by Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Group. The steel mill was later cited for more than 50 violations, with the company promising to pay $500 million in compensation.

Vietnam’s environmental ministry has stated it will take at least a decade for the region to recover from the spill.

Others diners are mindful of the effects, but insist the pollution does not extend into Da Nang’s waters and the seafood they eat, as tourists flocked to the beaches over the holiday celebrating Vietnam’s Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers’ Day (May 1). Still others have not forgotten, and continue the protests which rocked major cities throughout Vietnam in April and May of last year.

Marking the first anniversary of the spill, protesters in the town of Kỳ Anh blocked the country’s main highway the first week of April. Some 100 Vietnamese used fishing nets, bricks and heavy rocks to block the highway, reportedly delaying thousands of vehicles. Vietnam’s government promised to identify and prosecute protesters for “causing public disorder”. In Ho Chi Minh City, the streets were quiet that same week with few security personnel on guard.

While Vietnamese government officials promise to prosecute instigators of protests, such as Nguyễn Văn Hóa, a 22-year-old resident of Kỳ Anh (arrested for using a flycam to record and publish protests), they also punished four high-ranking government officials for their lack of supervision over environmental safety.

Nguyễn Minh Quang, the former environmental minister, was rebuked and two of his deputies were fired.  Võ Kim Cự, the 60-year old party chief secretary of Hà Tĩnh province, was also fired and has offered his resignation as a delegate of the lawmaking National Assembly, citing “health reasons.”

While the threat of punishment may help deter future environmental disasters and increase oversight, Vietnamese officials are also responding to citizens’ concerns over future pollution. Starting in April, officials in Ho Chi Minh City are installing a network of 53 outdoor LED boards throughout the city which will allow residents to monitor air and water quality in real time. The LED boards will display levels of nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide, as well as the water quality of rivers and canals, and levels of noise pollution.

The U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City already publishes air quality readings from its own monitor on this website, as Vietnam experiences worsening air pollution, resulting in a rising number of Vietnamese being hospitalized for respiratory illnesses.

The city’s efforts to improve citizens’ access to information regarding their quality of living is laudable, but more effort needs to be done in other cities and poorer provinces to ensure local officials at the provincial level pay heed to environmental laws. Vietnam is growing quickly, drawing in manufacturing from many countries, including China, and will need strict vigilance to assure its residents that this developing country will not repeat the mistakes of its neighbor in the north.

The post One Year On From Vietnam’s Worst Environmental Disaster appeared first on Foreign Policy Blogs.

Venezuelans block a street in the capital Caracas in protest of President Nicolas Maduro and his increasingly autocratic rule. Protesters are demanding that open elections be held soon, although the regime is resisting this. (Marco Bello/Reuters)

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro continues to crack down on opposition and protests to his increasingly authoritarian government. As pressure mounts both inside and outside the country amid widespread protests and violent outbreaks, citizens continue to suffer as Maduro clings to power. The government also continues to try to delay holding elections, likely out of concern (and it is valid concern) that they might actually lose.

I wrote about the origins of the present unrest on April 13th. The country’s Supreme Court tried to assume powers of the National Assembly, and the regime declared a major opposition figure–Henrique Capriles, considered a front-runner in the next presidential election–ineligible to run for office. In the time since, marches and protests have become ever-present. Maduro regularly dismisses them as baseless efforts to foment violence and topple his government. Marchers are typically cut off by government-backed security forces. Also, Maduro has directed the Caracas subway system to be closed when protests are planned in order to make it more difficult for participants to gather.

The overwhelming majority of international response has been in support of the opposition. On April 19th, 11 Latin American countries issued a joint statement urging the Venezuelan government to set a timeframe for holding elections in order to “allow for a quick solution to the crisis that Venezuela is living through.”

Antagonism with the U.S. grew further on April 20th when General Motors announced it would be ceasing all operations in Venezuela. The move resulted from government authorities seizing control of GM’s auto manufacturing plant in the city of Valencia, along with bank accounts and other assets. This high-profile rebuke of a major American business is likely to have repercussions in both countries. GM employs almost 4,000 people in Venezuela, mostly at car and truck dealerships. On the same day, protests raged in Caracas and were met by tear gas and rubber bullets.

Shows of discontent against the Maduro regime continued on April 24th, when thousands of protestors in Caracas and other cities gathered on highways and other main streets, sitting down in the middle of roads and refusing to move, bringing traffic to a standstill. Violent encounters with security forces continued, bringing the total of Venezuelans killed since this wave of protests began to 23. The protests and ensuing violence have only increased in intensity in the month since the Supreme Court attempted its takeover.

By April 28th, the death toll rose to 29, as protests shifted in a different direction. On that day hundreds marched to the jail holding Leopoldo Lopez, a highly regarded opposition leader who was arrested in 2014 for instigating violence. Of course Lopez’s supporters maintain he is a political prisoner convicted on bogus charges. While state police blocked access to the prison, those supporting Lopez held a rally outside, shouting “Leopoldo” and holding signs saying “No to Dictatorship.”

***

While the violence perpetrated by government forces is deplorable and debilitating, it does like the opposition is gaining momentum. Protests show no sign of slowing down, and international support is largely on the side of the resistance. Plus according to Reuters, the opposition coalition in the National Assembly now has “majority support.”

Yet many challenges remain. Maduro seems unwilliing relinquish any power, and has done everything he can to prevent Capriles from running against him in the next election. Change will not be easy.

But it seems Venezuelans think change is worth fighting for. A presidential election must be held within a reasonable time, with support of independent monitors to ensure fairness. If the present is allowed to continue, it is hard to see how Venezuelans’ life will be able to improve.

The post Venezuela: Tensions High as Showdown Looms appeared first on Foreign Policy Blogs.