7.1.2010 by HoisseBig.

	The Yemen Hidden Agenda: Behind the Al-Qaeda Scenarios, A Strategic Oil Transit Chokepoint - by F. William Engdahl - 2010-01-05
	The steady escalation of US military involvement in Yemen, a dismally poor land adjacent to Saudi Arabia.

Geschrieben in Welt News Spezial | Keine Kommentare »

7.1.2010 by HoisseBig.

Flooding Causes Havoc in Northern Albania

Tirana | 05 January 2010 |

Flooding in Shkodra

Albanian authorities said on Tuesday that flood waters in Northern Albania have covered thousands of hectares of arable land and engulfed over 200 houses, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of families. Albania`s Prime Minister Sali Berisha called for urgent evacuation of the residents of the flooded areas on Tuesday.

“We are managing the situation but the atmospheric condition do not favour us,” he told a press conference. “We are one the verge of a real catastrophe and the evacuation should be carried out urgently,” he added.

Floods in the low plains in northern Albania have led to a rapidly deteriorating situation during the last 24 hours. Experts have warned that if the dams on the Drin river fail, parts of northern Albania could face waves of  over 20 meters of water.

In a statement the Ministry of Interior said that 600 hectares were under water in the city of Shkodra and 37 families were evacuated from their homes. Some 100 Roma were relocated to shelters.

In the commune of Ana e Malit near Shkodra, 850 hectares have been flooded, including 130 houses. Meanwhile 28 families have been transported into temporary shelters.

The commune of Dajc has over 1000 hectares under water, with 70 flooded houses and 57 families evacuated. Problems with flooding also continued to be present in the coastal areas of the region of Lezha, where the Army Corps of Engineers is working to strengthen costal banks…………

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/24794/

Geschrieben in Balkan (Englisch) | 1 Kommentar »

7.1.2010 by HoisseBig.

Albanian Krenar Lusha, first an illegal immigrant in Serbia (Kosovo-Metohija province), then in UK, where he arrived smuggled by an Albanian gang on a back of a truck, has been jailed for seven years by the British authorities for terrorism.

According to the police sources, his claim for asylum on the grounds that he was a “Kosovan in fear of persecution by the Serbian authorities”, was rejected by the UK authorities, but Britain has provided him with a 100% mortgage for a £93,000 home, UK driving licence and a cushy £30,000-a-year job, allowing him to spend his free time learning how to turn a mobile phone into a bomb trigger, where to place the landmines, how to field-strip an AK-47 automatic rifle and, in general, to muse about killing Jews and Americans.

Article »

Geschrieben in Balkan (Englisch) | Keine Kommentare »

7.1.2010 by HoisseBig.

Falsifikimi i euros, banda kriminale në Shqipëri

EUROPOL/ Zv/Drejtori i Përgjithshëm për Hetimin e Krimit, Agron Kuliçaj: “Ky fenomen ndikon në ekonominë europiane”…

me shume

Geschrieben in Kosovo-Albanien (Albanian), Balkan | Keine Kommentare »

7.1.2010 by HoisseBig.

 Allen voran, verspricht der Kellner Lulzim Basha der sich nun Innenminister nennt, den Albanern freie Visas fuer den Shengin Raum.

Mit Video, die TV PR des Innenministers Lulzim Basha, der ansonsten nur durch Korruptions Geschaefte und seine Drogen Diplomaten als Aussenminister aufgefallen ist.

aus albania.de

ALBANIAN PRESPECTIVE TO EU

The government of Prime Minister Berisha, continues to promise the visas in Europe when the political climate, is creating conditions for a destabilization of the country. Premier Berisha called the Albanian opposition and its leader as “the strongest mafia in the Balkans” by passing laws that threaten serious violation of human rights. Meanwhile, Albanian opposition requires the resignations of Prime Minister Berisha, the development of early elections, announcing protests in the whole country. While the European dream of Albanians, going to failure as a message to be confronted with democratic values of Europe, starting from votes, property and freedoms of the politic and civil rights.

Geschrieben in Balkan (Englisch), Balkan | Keine Kommentare »

7.1.2010 by HoisseBig.

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

The dark side of micro-finance in Bosnia

Al Jazeera has an article about micro-finance in Bosnia. The theory is that microfinance helps people to start small businesses. Reality in Bosnia was that most loans were just used for consuming (nobody checked what you did with the money). Companies competed to extend loans and by the end of 2008 there were 390,000 loans on the books, together totaling over BAM 1 billion ($770m). As there was no central credit rating organization some people took several loans from different banks. Now the default rates are rising fast and the banks have become stingy.

For starting businesses the loans were not suitable. The rates were too high, the typical term of one year maximum much too short and the amounts of money available much too low. If you asked for 70,000 US$ it was not possible. So nothing was solved for the large communist era companies that wanted to transform themselves.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Inzko is going for broke in Bosnia

Bosnia’s international overlord (OHR) Inzko has thrown down the gauntlet: he has stated that Dodik has violated Dayton and announced that he will go to the Security Council. It is the culmination of a long policy of confrontation from both sides, but mostly from Inzko.

In the Dayton Agreement Inzko’s function is described as a mediator. But Inzko hasn’t shown any of the neutrality that is expected from a mediator. Instead he has extensively tried to use his “Bonn powers”. These powers were after Dayton given to the OHR to enable him to counter obstruction like the blocking of refugee returns. Inzko abused them by instead trying to use them to “improve” Dayton. What he failed to perceive was the element of authoritiveness. Using the Bonn powers to fight obstruction was in the spirit of Dayton and as such Bosnia’s Serbs could accept it. However, using these same powers to “reform” the Dayton Agreement in a way that makes it more acceptable for the Bosniaks and less acceptable for the Serbs definitely is not acceptable for them. By acting so Inzko has undermined the credibility of his function.

Dodik has reacted to this with his own challenge: he wants a referendum on the extension of the appointment of some international judges. He claims that these judges are prejudiced but he doesn’t seem very serious about that: I haven’t heard a list of complaints or seen a website that attacks the functioning of those judges. They definitely would be there if Dodik wanted to convince the international community of his viewpoint. Instead it looks like Dodik just is trying to pick a fight on a point where he thinks he can get the support of his population.

This confrontationist attitude may cost Dodik dearly. By shaping the confrontation as a challenge to the OHR and the international community he is doing exactly what his enemies wish: challenging the world’s big powers openly more or less forces them to react. It looks like Dodik has become overconfident after his previous confrontations with Inzko and now wants to definitively dispower Inzko.

In my opinion both sides are foolish. Their behavior may seriously harm Bosnia.

aus

http://nation-building.blogspot.com/

Geschrieben in Economy - Wirtschaft | Keine Kommentare »