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Profile: Opec
A profile of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
2008-11-20 11:43:08
ISLAMABAD
INT14International/Diplomacy/DefencePakistan calls for halt to US spy plane attacksIslamabad, Nov 20 Xinhua Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has urged a halt to missile strikes by US drones inside Pakistani territory.Kayani made the appeal while addressing the military committee of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO in Brussels at the invitation of Admiral Giampaolo Di Paolo, chairman of the committee, according to a statement issued by the Pakistani army Wednesday. The statement came a few hours after a US drone fired missiles in Pakistan's district of Bannu bordering Afghanistan, killing at least five people.Pakistani officials said that the US has fired some 20 missiles in the tribal region since August.Kayani highlighted the need to reinforce Pakistan's efforts and operate in a coordinated manner within respective national boundaries, the statement said. "He urged a halt to unarmed combat aerial vehicle use within Pakistan's territory," it said.In his address, Kayani apprised the NATO military committee of the overall security situation in the region. --Xinhua177 Words20110919
2008-11-20 03:00:00
BRUSSELS
ECO1Economy/BusinessNo Christmas gravy for Europe's ailing carmakersBy Nicholas RigilloBrussels, Nov 20 DPA Ah, the style of an Italian Ferrari, the solidity of a German Mercedes, the flair of a French Renault!The car industry is not only Europe's pride and joy, it provides income for some 12 million families and last year generated a combined turnover of 551 billion euros $700 billion, or about 5 percent of the continent's gross domestic product GDP.One in every three cars sold around the world is European.But now, caught between the global credit crunch, a recession and the need to make greener vehicles, Europe's automobile industry says it is facing its most difficult moment since the oil crisis of the early 1970s.Sales have shifted into reverse since the spring, and the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association ACEA is predicting layoffs of up to 5 percent of the industry's continental workforce.Manufacturers are appealing for help. All indications are that they won't get all they want.One demand from ACEA is for more schemes similar to what Italy did to help save Fiat - state-subsidized discounts for people who trade in their old bangers for new, less-polluting models.Another involves 40 billion euros in cheap loans to help develop fuel-efficient technologies.Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, one of the European Union's most influential figures, on Tuesday joined top officials from France and Germany in calling for a European-wide rescue plan similar to the one being considered by US President George W Bush."If the US administration is prepared to spend billions of dollars to save Ford and General Motors from collapse, then we cannot simply look on and abandon our manufacturers in Europe," Juncker told the German tabloid Bild.Officials in Brussels say the European Commission is working on a range of short-term measures which should help the industry head off recession.But they caution industrialists against raising their expectations too high.The European Investment Bank EIB, whose task it would be to provide carmakers with low-interest loans, has dismissed the 40-billion-euro demand as "fantasy".Spokesman Rainer Schlitt told DPA that the EIB has already loaned 7 billion euros to car manufacturers over the past 12 years.The 40 billion euros that carmakers seek would be only five billion short of the total amount of cheap credit that the EIB provided across all EU industries in 2007.While France's PSA Peugeot-Citroen and Renault and Germany's Daimler are among those that suffered the greatest drop in sales in October, Europe's biggest headache concerns Opel, GM's German subsidiary.German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she is considering a request for credit guarantees to help Opel overcome a possible liquidity crisis due to the massive cash shortages being experienced by its US-based parent company.But Schlitt said the EIB would only be able to finance research and development projects, not "Opel-style" aid.Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso has also said he wants to help. But he is also threatening to refer the United States to the World Trade Organization WTO over Washington's plans to bail out its own ailing car industry with subsidies worth $25 billion.One of the problems facing the likes of Opel is that the EU has very strict rules on what kind of state aid governments can provide to their industries."Member states cannot export their problems to other member states," said Jonathan Todd, spokesman for EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes."You should not have a situation where a subsidy received by one company puts another company in another member state, or in the same member state, at risk," Todd said.This means governments cannot bail out a specific carmaker, and that any help to the industry should be agreed with other EU car-making nations.And while Opel is clearly suffering from the effects of the global credit crunch, officials also reject any comparison with the banking industry, which has enjoyed credit guarantees and aid totalling some 1.5 trillion euros."If banks collapse, the economy collapses," one official said, while the bankruptcy of a single car manufacturer would not jeopardize a country's entire economy.Thus, Europe's carmakers can still expect billions of euros in state aid. But this will likely be spread over a number of years and will mostly be targeted at research and development projects that lead to more fuel-efficient, less-polluting cars. And that aid will almost certainly not boost car sales this Christmas.--Indo-Asian News Service791 Words20110750
2008-11-20 03:00:00
Nigeria: Stop Harassing Journalists, Rights Group Charges SSS
A media focussed Non- Governmental Organization, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA yesterday condemned the frequent harassment of media workers in Nigeria by security agents.
2008-11-19 23:06:23
Africa: Dakar Declaration - African Media Leaders Forum AMLF - Shaping the Future of African Media
We, owners of African media organizations in Africa, met in Dakar, SÃ©nÃ©gal on November 3-4, 2008, to discuss the state of media in Africa, and media's relationship...
2008-11-19 11:26:19
Africa: Top U.S. Charity Lauds Bush Africa Policy
Africare, the leading United States charitable organization helping Africa, has awarded President George W. Bush the 2008 Bishop John T. Walker Humanitarian Service Award.
2008-11-19 11:26:19
Africa: Over 1.5 Million in Benefit From Return of Cassava, UN Reports
Following years of massive crop losses caused by a devastating virus, the tropical root crop cassava - one of Africa's principal foodstuffs - has made a comeback and is benefiting some 1.65 million people throughout the Great Lakes region, the United Nations Food and Agriculture...
2008-11-15 20:09:15
Germany enters recession
The German gross domestic product shrank for a second quarter in a row, according to data published Thursday, while the Organization for Economic Cooperation...
2008-11-14 22:37:16
Germany considers revamping financial supervision
German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck is considering revamping financial supervision in the country as a result of the global financial crisis, local press reported Thursday. "There is a considerable need for optimization of the national organization of financial supervision," German business daily Handelsblatt quoted Finance Ministry sources as saying. The ministry is considering several options, including integrating the German Financial Supervisory Authority BaFin into th ...
2008-11-14 05:26:22
OPEC president: further oil output cut likely
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC Thursday said it will announce further oil output cut at the end of this month if global oil prices continue falling down, Algerian news agency APS reported. Algerian Minister of Energy and Mines Chakib Khelil, who is also OPEC's current rotating president, told reporters here that OPEC members will meet in Cairo on Nov. 19 to discuss the oil output cut on the sideline of the meeting of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Coun ...
2008-11-14 05:30:22