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General : Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament, will on Thursday 14 May receive the International Charlemagne Prize. The prize is awarded every year to recognise work in the service of European unification. The ceremony in Aachen will be attended by eight heads of states as well as many former laureates such as Pat Cox and Jean-Claude Juncker. French president François Hollande and King Abdullah II of Jordan will pay tribute to Schulz with a speech.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Joe, congratulations on your nomination to become the 19th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As you plow through the millions of emails, letters, and phone calls of support that are stacking up at the moment, I know you are already thinking about your agenda for the fall, assuming your confirmation goes well — which of course it will. The support and goodwill on The Hill is palpable, notable, sincere, and a potential source of real strength for you, by the way.

Your selection reflects deep credit on your beloved U.S. Marine Corps; rewards the hard work you have put into a brilliant career; and will require the ongoing deep support and love of your family. During our time together in NATO, I was so impressed to see your intellect, character, and creativity on display first hand as our NATO/ISAF commander in Afghanistan. The same traits you brought to that incredibly challenging assignment will serve you well in this new post.

I know leaving the Corps and the position of commandant — one you revere — is a very hard task for you. You will always have the touchstone of your Marine roots, but the nation has bigger responsibilities in store for you, and no one will be better at leaving service parochialism at the door. Your broad and meaningful joint graduate education — both at The Fletcher School at Tufts (full disclosure: where I am dean) and at Georgetown University — will stand you in good stead in that regard.

You’ll get a ton of advice going forward, most of which will be worth about what you pay for it. But having spent many years focused on these key areas, I would like to offer a few challenges and ideas to think about as you build a transition team and focus on both first steps and long term issues (all following Senate confirmation, of course).

Dodging the 2016 political venom. An election year can be a lost year in Washington, as petty politics reinforces the useless gridlock that plagues our capital. You are fortunate to have as defense secretary Ash Carter, not a particularly political or polarizing figure. He is, essentially, an enlightened bipartisan technocrat (in the best sense of that term) who has extraordinarily broad bureaucratic skills in the Washington arena. Joe, the innate ability you have to “disagree without becoming disagreeable” will help; but there will be times when nothing you say will be acceptable either to one side or the other in heated debate. Have a thick skin, and recognize the mud will splash pretty equally from both sides of the aisle over time.

People and money. While as chairman you will be principally advising the president and the national security team on military operations, we both know that a significant part of your job will be taken up with the issues surrounding personnel and budget. At the top of the list is always taking care of the force — something you have done throughout your time in uniform. Of particular note as you come into office this fall will be the debates over retirement and pay. Frankly, it is time to modernize the retirement system — while appropriately grandfathering those already in the service — and you will be a leading voice in making this fair but functional. On the budget side, you’ll need to keep hammering for a solution to the mindless sequestration cuts. Neither will be fun debates to have, but both will require your leadership form the uniformed side.

Countering violent extremism. The radical Islamic agenda will naturally be front and center for you. The best approach is to use hard power in the short term, but find ways to play the long game within an interagency approach. While your focus must be on the front-end combat requirements, you can play a powerful voice supporting partners like State, Treasury, USAID, and the intelligence community as they get at the longer-term issues — which are economic, cultural, political, and diplomatic. Again, your voice will be important to make sure we use both hard and soft power intelligently.

Standing firm with Russia. There are certainly zones of cooperation with Russia (counterterrorism, counternarcotics, and piracy) but they are increasingly few and far between. While we don’t want to stumble back into a new Cold War, we need to face down the bullying approach of Vladimir Putin in Ukraine specifically — and more generally around the Russia’s periphery. NATO is key, and your intimate and personal knowledge of the various commanders from your time hosting them in Kabul will be a significant asset. Spend quality time with the incoming chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Gen. Petr Pavel of the Czech Republic, and meet with the leading European chiefs of defense (Britain, France, Germany, and Italy) as soon as you can.

Balancing Asia. China will rise, and they will threaten the South China Sea with what new Pacific Commander Adm. Harry Harris has called, “the great wall of sand” — the building of artificial islands to claim sovereignty. China will not only irritate and threaten their neighbors in Southeast Asia, they will press up against Japan in the Northeast. The U.S. role will be to provide balance, build our relationships with treaty allies and partners alike, and ensure North Korea does not go completely off the rails. Your physical presence early and often will be helpful and necessary. And nobody knows this region better than Admiral Harris, who takes up his post just before you — lean on his advice.

Preparing for cyber conflict. The dogs of war are ready to slip free online. Expect on your watch over the next four years to see a major incident that impacts the national electrical grid, a significant cyberstrike on a U.S. combat system, and increasingly vicious hacks on the U.S. financial network. You will need to think through the role of CYBERCOM and whether or not we should begin to move toward a Cyber Force, much as we thought about creating an Air Force after World War II. Perhaps the time is right to at least build a cyber force along the model of US Special Operations Command. One big event will demand that we do so; why not get ahead of the curve?

Beware the black swans. Three big possibilities are a pandemic, a nuclear detonation, or a huge humanitarian disaster. You can bet on at least one in your four years as chairman, perhaps two. A pandemic in the class of the 1918 Spanish Influenza would be a global disaster and is not unlikely. A loose nuclear weapon, while unlikely, is a potential global catastrophe and ongoing proliferation increases the chances. And another significant tsunami or a huge earthquake (say on the west coast of the United States) is not impossible. These low probability, high impact events cannot be discounted.

To prepare for them, you need a small, innovative, “red cell” on the Joint Staff that can help predict these outlier events, then provide first-order recommendations for responses that can be tasked to the various combatant commands. This Disaster Innovation Cell could be a crucial resource on your close-in team. But part of the process should also focus on providing military support to civilian authorities via interagency coordination.

Joe, good luck in an incredibly challenging but meaningful assignment. Godspeed and open water to you.

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq travelled to Finland on 8 May for discussions with the Finnish Minister of Defence, Carl Haglund on the preparation of the European Council in June 2015 and Finland’s participation in EDA projects. 

”Finland is actively involved in many of the Agency’s initiatives such as our commercial satellite communication joint procurement scheme, helicopter exercise programme, cyber defence and measures for the European defence industry including support to small and medium sized enterprises. Finland furthermore leads the Agency’s work on maritime capabilities in the Arctic as well as the maritime surveillance project which is ready to be used by Member States. With its long experience in regional multilateral cooperation, we have a lot to learn from Finland in areas such as security of supply”, stressed Jorge Domecq during his visit in Finland. 

During his visit in Finland, Jorge Domecq also spoke at a seminar on European defence organised by the Finnish Institute of International Affairs and the Ministry of Defence of Finland. He furthermore held meetings with the Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces, as well as the Permanent Secretary Arto Räty and other high-level officials at the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister’s office. 

It is part of a series of visits by Mr. Domecq to all EDA Member States following his appointment as EDA Chief Executive and ahead of the Ministerial Steering Board on 18 May 2015. So far, Mr. Domecq visited Spain, Lithuania, Latvia, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, Ireland, France, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Estonia, Poland, Slovenia, Greece, Cyprus and Luxembourg. Upcoming confirmed visits are Sweden and Italy. 

 

More information

• News "Sweden welcomes EDA Chief Executive" (12 May 2015)
• News "Jorge Domecq in Luxembourg to discuss cooperation" (5 May 2015)
• News "Defence cooperation talks in Cyprus" (23 April 2015)
• News "Chief Executive meets Hungarian Minister of Defence" (23 April 2015)
• News "EDA Chief Executive visits Athens" (22 April 2015)
• News "Jorge Domecq in Poland for defence discussions"(20 April 2015)
• News "Jorge Domecq meets Estonian Minister of Defence" (20 April 2015)
• News "Meeting with Croatian Defence Minister in Zagreb" (17 April 2015)
• News "Slovenia welcomes Jorge Domecq" (15 April 2015)
• News "EDA Chief Executive visits Czech Republic" (13 April 2015)
• News "Jorge Domecq in Bulgaria to discuss defence cooperation" (8 April 2015)
• News "EDA Chief Executive travels to Romania" (8 April 2015)
• News "EDA Chief Executive meets French Minister of Defence" (30 March 2015)
• News "Jorge Domecq exchanges views with Irish Minister of Defence Simon Coveney T.D." (25 March 2015)
• News "EDA Chief Executive visits The Netherlands" (23 March 2015)
• News "Discussions on European defence in Portugal" (19 March 2015)
• News "Jorge Domecq meets German Secretary of State" (19 March 2015)
• News "Belgium and EDA discuss future defence cooperation" (18 March 2015)
• News "Jorge Domecq in the UK for cooperation talks" (25 Feb 2015)
• News "Latvia and EDA discuss cooperation opportunities" (19 Feb 2015)
• News "EDA Chief Executive visits Lithuania" (17 Feb 2015) 

A menekültügyi szükséghelyzet miatt muszáj szolidaritást vállalni. Orbán erre mondta, hogy őrültség.

A menekültügyi szükséghelyzet miatt muszáj szolidaritást vállalni. Orbán erre mondta, hogy őrültség.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — On a recent Saturday morning, Saudi national guardsman Abdulaziz Al Omran and his friend Khaled bin Mohammed sat down at a cafe on Tahlia St. to discuss their country’s military operations in Yemen. The 30-somethings wore designer sunglasses, one with shorts and a t-shirt and other in the baggy pants of a Riyadh hipster. They blended in amid a handful of tables full of similarly dressed young men.

For the last six weeks, Saudi Arabia has launched airstrikes in Yemen aimed at re-installing the country’s president, now in exile in the kingdom, and stopping Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Here on Tahlia St., a café-lined corridor at the center of social life for young men in Riyadh, the Yemen campaign is popular. Omran and bin Mohammed’s normal banter about weekend plans has been supplemented by talk of border security and regional rival Iran, they said. In the years since the Arab Spring, Tehran has seized influence in three major Arab capitals — Damascus, Baghdad, and Sanaa. They lauded the fact that Saudi Arabia drew a red line at Yemen, which sits at the foot of the Arabian Peninsula.

“The recent strikes should have happened years ago,” said Omran as he sipped his coffee. “Until now, we are still facing dangers from Yemen.”

Bin Mohammed nodded in reply, and announced proudly that he was joining the National Guard, the military branch seen as the protectors of the monarchy. “I pray they send me to Yemen so I can fight the Houthis,” he said. Several fellow coffee drinkers looked on as his voice rose with emotion.

As Gulf leaders gather for a summit at Camp David on Wednesday, Yemen is likely to be on the agenda. White House and Gulf officials have said the meeting will reaffirm U.S. ties to the Arab Gulf monarchs, in the face of a looming deal between the United States and Iran over its nuclear program. While Riyadh argues that it is at war in Yemen with Iranian proxies who threaten the kingdom’s security, Washington has gently pushed for an end — or at least a pause — to the military activity as the humanitarian crisis there deepens. A five-day ceasefire is set to begin on May 12 to allow aid and medicine to move into besieged areas — but all indications suggest that the war will resume after this brief hiatus. In the hours before the truce was set to begin, Saudi Arabia amassed troops along the Yemeni border and Houthi rebels battered the Saudi cities of Jizan and Najran with rockets.

One reason the Saudis seem in no hurry to end the fight is that there has so far been no hint of public dissatisfaction at the military campaign. Both in the tightly-controlled domestic press and social media, many have praised the Saudi efforts: Newspapers laud each day’s airstrikes, the radio plays songs in praise of the operation, and Twitter and Facebook are alight with praise and heroic-looking montages of the king. Some Saudi women took up a social media campaign urging fellow females to put aside fears of long deployments and marry soldiers, explained 26-year-old Alanood at a café in central Riyadh.

Surely, not everyone here agrees — but malcontents are for now keeping quiet. And even some former critics of the monarchy have come out in support of the operation, piling public praise on Riyadh.                

“We are all with Yemen,” tweeted Saudi cleric Salman al-Ouda, a frequent critic of the monarchy who has served jail time for his criticism. The Yemeni people should “recover their freedom and independence, dignity, security and options and against Persian domination,” the Islamist preacher continued.

Such support could be key for a new monarch, who has ordered dramatic changes to the kingdom’s government in his first 100 days in office. Since taking the crown in January, the new monarch has reorganized the government, reshuffled the cabinet, and revamped the succession order, placing his son second-in-line to the throne.

Liberals, too, have voiced uncommon support. From his home in East Riyadh, writer and translator Khaled al-Ghannami — a former religious radical who reformed and became an outspoken critic of the government-backed clerical authorities.

“King Abdullah was a good man, but we also believe that his period was very weak one,” he says. “For years and years, we see threats that we are going to be invaded. Hezbollah in Iraq said it. The Houthis in Yemen said it. Honestly, Saudis felt very insulted…. King Salman preserved our dignity again.”

Analysts say this growing pro-Saudi sentiment extends beyond the country’s borders, to Sunnis across the Gulf. “A sense of Arabness is being revived by the Saudi government as it is trying to build a regional Arab bloc against Iran,” says Jorg Determann, assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. “The Saudis would like to encourage a common Arab front: of Arabic-speaking states and also Sunni states.”

* * *

A 45-minute drive north of Riyadh, on the dusty campus of Saudi Arabia’s counter-radicalization program, counselors say they hope their country’s Yemen operation will also win over another cohort: Islamic extremists.

Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry says some 2,500 Saudis have left to Iraq and Syria in recent years to join groups such as the Islamic State and the al Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra. Many of the young recruits — the average age is between 18 and 25, according to the Interior Ministry — see their jihadist mission as an essentially humanitarian one. For years, they have watched fellow Sunnis in Syria and Iraq suffer at the hands of Iranian allies — whether Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus or Shiite militias in Iraq. Radical groups use the suffering as a lure: You have a duty to help, they say, because no state or government is fighting back against Iran.

At the Mohammed bin Nayef Center for Counseling and Care, where all returned foreign fighters must spend at least three months before returning to society, religious counselors say the Saudi operation in Yemen has given them a counter argument. “[The Yemen operation] show[s] them that when it is suitable, your government will do the right thing,” says Dr. Hameed al-Shaygi, a counselor at the center and professor of the sociology of crime at King Saud University. “You cannot take these actions with your own hands and do it by yourself.”

The domestic story mirrors an argument Saudi Arabia has repeatedly made overseas: that allowing Iranian influence to fester will only feed the agenda of radical groups. “In Yemen, you empower al Qaeda if you allow the Houthis to fight them, but if you stop the Houthis and help create an inclusive government, everyone will unite against al Qaeda,” argues Saud Al Tamamy, a professor of political science at King Saud University. “[Doing so] will not allow al Qaeda to use the argument that the Sunnis are oppressed.”

In other words, the Saudi de-radicalization program aims to convince the jihadists that the Saudi state can do a better job at helping Sunnis than any individuals can on their own. Nearly 3,000 jihadists have made their way through the kingdom’s rehabilitation program since it began in 2005. According to the Center’s director, Maj. Gen. Nasser Al Mutairi, 86 percent of them have returned to their normal lives without incident; 13 percent have relapsed, and of those, half have been re-arrested.

Proponents of the approach say they are confident it will work even better now with new leadership at the helm. King Salman is markedly closer to the religious elite than his predecessor, and the intervention in Yemen, his supporters say, has rallied Sunnis of all stripes to his side.

“It’s like a competition: who will stand up for Sunnis against radical Shiites? The Islamic State is someone with a good stolen car,” says Abdullah Al-Shammri, a former Saudi diplomat, making an analogy to the Yemen operation. “[The Yemen operation] is the newest Porsche.”

* * *

Saudi Arabia’s stance on Yemen has emboldened many here and across the Gulf to imagine new theaters for Riyadh’s regional influence. They see the tides turning against Tehran and think: If Saudi Arabia is willing to push back in Yemen, why not in other Arab capitals like Damascus and Baghdad, too? The Syrian opposition is wondering out loud whether Saudi Arabia may start transferring more advanced weapons to the rebels, even if the United States objects. Riyadh recently said it would soon host a conference of opposition groups fighting Assad, in a bid to unify competing rebel factions.

“When the Yemen situation happened and the Saudis and others went into that coalition, they did so without the green light from the Americans. Now they feel they could do the same in Syria,” says Adib Shishakly, the opposition Syrian National Coalition’s official representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. “I think with the new Saudi administration, and with the guts they had to go to Yemen, things will change dramatically for us.”

Yet the biggest risk to the Saudi regional leadership — and domestic unity — may be the Yemen operation itself. So far, airstrikes have been judged simply on the merit of the initiative itself, not on whether they is working. “For Iran now, this card — the Houthis — is burned,” says Mohammed Al Sulami, an assistant professor of Iranian history at Umm al-Qura University and one of the kingdom’s few fluent Farsi speakers. “Tehran will now try to fortify their relations with Syria and Iraq. But it’s over for them in Yemen.”

But Riyadh’s position may weaken if the conflict drags on further, or fails to push back the Houthis. The Saudi coalition has met a number of its military objectives, such as eliminating the Houthis’ stocks of ballistic missiles, but have so far failed to push the rebels from either the capital of Sanaa or the port city of Aden after six weeks of bombing.

International criticism may also start to grate. On May 10, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator for Yemen accused the Saudi-led coalition of breaking international law, bombing schools and hospitals in a barrage of 130 airstrikes over 24 hours. Relief organizations are also warning of a humanitarian catastrophe as the conflict drags on.

So far, however, the war remains popular. Most Saudis say that the Yemen operation was warranted, and that the Houthis do indeed pose a direct threat. Back on Tahlia St., the young men say they are ready to fight.

“I support the attack, we need to show the Houthis we have military power,” says 24-year-old Ibrahim. Soon, he adds, he’ll join the army.

This report was produced with the support of a grant from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting.

MOHAMMED MAHJOUB/AFP/Getty Images

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The Middle East peace process is on the top of the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council, taking place on 18 May 2015, in Brussels.

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Defence ministers review EU military operations, on 18 May 2015, in Brussels.

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EU Ministers of Education, Culture, Youth, Sport and Communication meet in Brussels on 18-19 May 2015. The Council will focus on Education and Youth on the first day, and on Culture, Audiovisual and Sport on the second day.

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DRAFT RECOMMENDATION on the draft Council and Commission decision on the conclusion by the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement establishing a Partnership between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Turkmenistan, of the other part
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Ramona Nicole Mănescu

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday praised the new defense equipment shown during the Victory Day parade in Moscow.

DT 02/2015 (en papel) - Mayo de 2015
Mario Esteban (coord.)
Este documento es fruto de las acciones realizadas a lo largo del primer año de vida del grupo de trabajo sobre la presencia empresarial española en el Sudeste Asiático, creado por el Real Instituto Elcano en diciembre de 2013.

DT 02/2015 (en papel) - Mayo de 2015
Mario Esteban (coord.)
Este documento es fruto de las acciones realizadas a lo largo del primer año de vida del grupo de trabajo sobre la presencia empresarial española en el Sudeste Asiático, creado por el Real Instituto Elcano en diciembre de 2013.

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Impact assessment as an effective tool in producing better legislation was the focus of a workshop organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), in co-operation with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia and the OSCE Office in Yerevan. It was held in Tsaghkadzor, Armenia, on 12 and 13 May 2015.

The workshop gathered some 35 representatives from the Ministries of Justice, Finance and Economics, as well as from the National Assembly and civil society. Workshop participants discussed ways to ensure the proper conduct of impact assessment for drafting policy decisions and legislation. It also focused on ways to involve key stakeholders in impact assessments.

“It is only through proper assessment of the potential impact of a law at an early stage that lawmakers can ensure that what looks good on paper will also work well in practice,” said Alice Thomas, Chief of the ODIHR Legislative Support Unit. “This is one of the key elements of good, effective lawmaking.”

Arsen Mkrtchyan, First Deputy Minister of Justice, said: “Impact assessment is an important tool to obtain high quality legislation throughout the entire cycle of policy-making, beginning from the problem analysis stage, when different solutions are assessed, to the adoption of a legal act, and the ensuing monitoring and evaluation of its implementation.”

This was the second of four thematic workshops on different aspects of the lawmaking process in Armenia to be conducted throughout 2015, as envisaged by an agreement signed between ODIHR and the Ministry of Justice in 2014. The recommendations made in each workshop will later form part of a regulatory-reform roadmap for Armenia, offering concrete and specific action points.

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• OSCE/ODIHR workshop in Armenia highlights the importance of transparent policy-making and legislative planning
• OSCE/ODIHR partners with civil society at workshop in Malaga, Spain to improve hate crime recording
• OSCE/ODIHR Civil Society Forum focuses on strengthening role of associations in public decision-making processes

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Pakistan

Gunmen kill 42 in attack on bus in Karachi

Gunmen on motorbikes attacked a bus carrying 42 people who were members of the minority Ismaili Muslim community on Wednesday (CNN, BBC). Six  attackers used 9 mm pistols to shoot at the 60 people on the bus as they were traveling to a Shia place of worship in Karachi. After the attack, the bus was driven to a hospital parking lot. Jundallah, a violent extremist group that targets Pakistan’s Shiite Muslim minority claimed responsibility for the attack. “This is the first such incident of its kind towards the Ismaili community,” said Zohra Yusuf, the chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. “Nothing on this scale has ever been seen before.” Previously, the Ismaili community was not targeted by extremist groups, unlike many of the other minority Shiite groups.

Pakistan hangs former MQM worker for murder

On Tuesday, Pakistan hanged Saulat Mirza,  a former Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) worker convicted of murder,  after delaying his execution multiple times (BBC, Dawn). Mirza was convicted in 1999 of killing the head of Karachi’s power utility service, Shahid Hamid. His execution was scheduled for March 19, 2015 after Pakistan lifted its unofficial moratorium on the death penalty earlier this year following a deadly attack on a school in Peshawar. His execution was delayed after he released a video alleging that the killing of Hamid was ordered by MQM chief Altaf Hussain. His video-taped allegations came just one week after authorities raided MQM headquarters in Karachi. Hussain, who lives in self-imposed exile in London, has denied any involvement in the murder of Hamid.

Nepal

Casualties rise from second earthquake

A U.S. Marine helicopter in Nepal carrying six U.S. Marines and two Nepalese soldiers went missing Tuesday evening while delivering aid to victims of the latest earthquake. The helicopter and its crew have yet to be found, but officials are hopeful that the helicopter did not crash (BBC).

As of early Wednesday, Nepal’s National Emergency Operation Center had reported 65 deaths and 1,988 injuries as a result of Tuesday’searthquake (New York Times). India’s home minister said 16 people were killed in the northeastern state of Bihar, with an additional person killed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. CCTV, the Chinese state-run broadcaster, reported one person killed by the earthquake in Tibet. The earlier earthquake on April 25 has killed over 8,000 people.

India

Opposition renews criticism of government’s land bill

Opponents of the government’s proposed land acquisition bill once again took aim at the legislation in India’s lower house of Parliament, the Lok Sabha (NDTV, The Times of India, Zee News, The Huffington Post). The bill has been introduced by the ruling party, the BJP, and it would make it easier for the government to acquire land for development. Critics of the bill claim it hurts the poor, particularly farmers, while proponents argue that it is a much-needed measure that can streamline economic development efforts. The proposed law was previously debated in the Lok Sabha in April. Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the opposition Congress party in Parliament, took advantage of the new debate and proclaimed that the government has “murdered” the existing land acquisition laws. Gandhi has been the most vocal opponent of the bill after returning from a mysterious voluntary two-month hiatus from Parliament. The bill has stalled in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s parliament, where the government is in a minority.

Study finds lack of regulatory approval for drug combinations sold in India

A study published Tuesday in the medical journal PLOS Medicine found that almost two-thirds of drug combinations sold in India to treat pain, depression, and psychotic conditions lack adequate regulatory approval (Reuters). These cocktails of drugs are known as fixed-dose combinations (FDCs). In 2012, an Indian parliamentary panel had warned that a large number of FDCs were reaching the market only with approval from state regulators, despite laws requiring regulatory approval from the central government for all new drugs, including FDCs. In some cases, according to the study, some of the individual drugs included in the FDCs were banned or unapproved internationally. The lead researcher of the study, Dr. Patricia McGettigan of Queen Mary University of London, argues that India should ban the sale and manufacturing of FDCs not approved by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), the country’s central regulatory authority on pharmaceuticals (Science Daily).

Google to expand in India

Google and the government of the state of Telangana have signed a deal for Google to build a 2 million square foot campus outside the city of Hyderabad. Google will invest 10 billion rupees ($156 million) in what would become the company’s largest campus outside the United States and Google’s first company-owned campus in Asia (Livemint). Construction for the facility will begin in 2016 and is expected to be completed by 2019. Google currently has four offices in India, in the cities of Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurgaon, and Hyderabad. The new facility would double the size of Google’s Indian workforce from 6,500 to 13,000, according to Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao (The Times of India). Meanwhile, Hyderabad may also become the first Indian city to be entirely covered by Google Street View, which provides panoramic street-level imagery for Google’s map services.Google is negotiating with the Indian home ministry for permission to expand this service at a city-wide level, and the company has agreed to the Telangana government’s request to launch the service in Hyderabad (Hindustan Times).

Afghanistan

Afghan first lady speaks at awards luncheon

Afghan first lady Rula Ghani spoke at the National Democratic Institute’s (NDI) 2015 Madeleine K. Albright luncheon on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. (Pajhwok). At the luncheon, NDI awarded its 2015 Albright Grant to the Worker Women Social Organization (WWSO), a grassroots group based in Kandahar, Afghanistan that empowers young girls to become leaders through after-school programs and training sessions. Ghani’s remarks focused largely on the plight of Afghan women, but her tone was optimistic. She said: “Afghan women are among the strongest women I have ever had the privilege to know,” and added that “they are hardworking, persistent, resourceful, and they are tough. If they need support and help it is not because they are weak or clueless but because they are strong and will put every little bit of support to good use.”

Afghanistan, Pakistan pledge to fight terrorism together

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to fight terrorism together in a press conference on Tuesday at the end of Sharif’s first visit to Kabul since Ghani’s inauguration (Guardian). Strengthening relations with Pakistan has been a top priority for Ghani, who previously hosted Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, who was also part of the most recent delegation. At the press conference, Sharif said: “I assure you, Mr. President, that the enemies of Afghanistan cannot be friends of Pakistan.” He explained that “any effort by any militant or group to destabilize Afghanistan will be dealt with severely and such elements will be outlawed and hunted down.”

Im Streit um die Novel Foods-Verordnung geht das Europaparlament in die Offensive: Die Unterhändler hätten nach eigenen Angaben ihr “letztes Angebot“ auf den Tisch gelegt und seien zu keinen weiteren Kompromissen gegenüber den Mitgliedsstaaten bereit. EurActiv Brüssel berichtet.

General : EP President Martin Schulz will be awarded the 57th International Charlemagne Prize at a ceremony on Thursday 14 May in Aachen. The prize goes to Mr Schulz for his work to promote democracy, not least by making the European Parliament more visible, audible and understandable, and for his role in the "Spitzenkandidaten" process ahead of the 2014 European elections.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : EP President Martin Schulz will be awarded the 57th International Charlemagne Prize at a ceremony on Thursday 14 May in Aachen. The prize goes to Mr Schulz for his work to promote democracy, not least by making the European Parliament more visible, audible and understandable, and for his role in the "Spitzenkandidaten" process ahead of the 2014 European elections.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : EP President Martin Schulz will be awarded the 57th International Charlemagne Prize at a ceremony on Thursday 14 May in Aachen. The prize goes to Mr Schulz for his work to promote democracy, not least by making the European Parliament more visible, audible and understandable, and for his role in the "Spitzenkandidaten" process ahead of the 2014 European elections.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP