Posts Tagged ‘government’
Nigerian fuel subsidy protests
Adeleke Olurunnimbe Mamora
Nigerians took to the streets on Friday in demonstrations against the government’s removal of a fuel price subsidy. A general strike has been called for Monday. Former Lagos East Senator Adeleke Olurunnimbe Mamora said the protests are getting “bigger” and coupled with Monday’s strike could lead to a “total paralysis” of the economy.
Interview: Former Lagos East Senator Adeleke Olurunnimbe Mamora, Action Congress of Nigeria party
Paris protesters call for Syria’s al-Assad to go
Demonstrators at the Place du Trocadero call for regime change in Syria, 11 June 2011. Photo: LA Bagnetto
Syrian demonstrators took to the streets of cities across the world on Saturday in protest against the Syrian regime. In downtown Montreal about 300 people gathered, chanting, “the people want an end to the regime”. While in Paris near the Eiffel tower activists were demanding for an end to corruption and tyranny.
Radio Report: Anti-Assad protests in Paris
EU to give five million euros for Guinea election
EU Commissioner Piebalgs on the Forécariah bridge, 100 kilometres east of Conakry, 7 May 2011
The European Union is to provide five million euros to help Guinea run a delayed general election. Wrapping up his two-day visit to Guinea on Saturday the European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs told RFI that support for the country’s parliamentary elections is “crucial” to avoid future ethnic violence.
“Elections are crucial because countries in Africa have a lot of tribal history and it is very difficult to find any other method to avoid violence and poor representation of each and every ethnic group,” Piebalgs says.
Guinea has not had a legislature since 2008 when it was dissolved by former military junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara. A 155-member National Transition Council has been acting in place of parliament since February 2010. Read the rest of this entry »
France plans 13 ecocities
Hammarby urban redevelopment, Stockholm, Sweden, February 2010, CC licence: La Citta Vita
France is set to have 13 ecocities attracting 50,000 extra inhabitants over the next 25 years in specially designed eco-quarters. The government has told local authorities to submit their plans by March next year. Eighty per cent of France’s population lives in urban areas which produce 70 per cent of French greenhouse gas emissions. The plan aims to “show that it’s possible to grow, to welcome new inhabitants and do it in a sustainable way,” government adviser Emmanuelle Gay told RFI.
Competition in France’s conservative camp as reshuffle looms
François Fillon, October 2008, CC licence: europeanpeoplesparty
It was make or break time for French Prime Minister François Fillon on French television on Sunday night. Facing a government reshuffle by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in October, Fillon could be said to be positioning himself as a possible future presidential candidate. He has remained obedient to Sarkozy since his appointment in 2007, maintaining what he calls an “alliance”. But is now the time for him to go it alone?
