14 January 2011

According to the Afghan Minister of Finance, as corroborated by other independent sources, between 2002 and 2009 only USD 6 billion (or 15 %) out of a total of USD 40 billion in international aid actually reached the Afghan Government. Of the remaining USD 34 billion, which was channelled through international organisations, regional development banks, NGOs, international contractors and so on, between 70 % and 80 % never reached the intended beneficiaries, the people of Afghanistan.

22 November 2010

According to documents published by Wikileaks on 22 October 2010, US forces in Iraq may have handed over detainees to their Iraqi counterparts, knowing that there was a risk they could be tortured.

11 November 2010

According to numerous reports, the situation in the occupied territories of the Western Sahara has significantly deteriorated in recent weeks. Over 12 000 Sahrawi men, women and children have left their cities and set up tents in the outskirts of the cities El Aaiun, Smara and Boujdour in protest at the ongoing exploitation of Western Sahara’s natural resources and their dire socioeconomic situation, as well as the persistent refusal of Morocco to allow a free and fair referendum to be organised by the UN on the fate of the Western Sahara.

26 July 2010

In Afghanistan the US military decided to outsource most of its logistics to private contractors, who in turn have subcontracted the protection of military convoys to local Afghan security providers. This has had disastrous consequences: the decision to place the US military supply chain into private hands is fuelling extortion and corruption, as warlords, local mafia bosses, and ultimately Taliban commanders end up taking a significant share of the USD 2.2‑3 billion spent on military logistics in Afghanistan. This amount surpasses the funding going to the Taliban from their ‘taxation’ of the narcotics industry (calculated by the UN at 15 % of their war budget).

22 July 2010

A seguito di un attentato con esplosivo liquido, sventato all’aeroporto londinese di Heathrow quattro anni fa, è stato adottato un regolamento comunitario (regolamento (CE) n. 1546/2006, del 4 ottobre 2006)⁽¹⁾, la cui scadenza era prevista ad aprile 2010. Esso consente di portare con sé, a bordo dell’aereo, un massimo di 10 flaconi della capacità di 100 millilitri, una limitazione che da tempo snerva i viaggiatori e provoca notevoli disagi.

16 dic. 2009

Visti il titolo IX, articolo 145, e il titolo XI, articoli 162 e 166, del TCE; visti i principi generali sanciti nella Comunicazione della Commissione al Consiglio Europeo «Un piano europeo di ripresa economica» del 26 novembre 2008; vista la risoluzione del Parlamento europeo «Orientamenti per le politiche a favore dell'occupazione» dell'11 marzo 2009; tenuto conto che nel sito industriale di Anagni risiede lo stabilimento dell'ex società Videocolor, che occupa oggi 1 400 dipendenti;

16 October 2009

There have recently been significant developments related to the question of nuclear weapons. On 24 September 2009, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously in favour of a resolution on disarmament and non-proliferation addressing the issue of the total abolition of nuclear weapons.