Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Afghanistan

EU Offers Afghanistan 600 Million-Euro Aid Package

Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta (file photo) (epa)

January 29, 2007 -- The European Union today announced an aid package to Afghanistan worth 600 million euros ($775 million) over the next four years.

TEXT SIZE - +

January 29, 2007

The funding will go to healthcare, reform of Afghanistan's justice sector, and rural development, including alternatives to opium poppy production.

Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, who attended a meeting in Berlin with EU officials, insisted on the "need to stabilize the situation before terrorist groups can reform."

(AFP)

Opium In Afghanistan

An antidrug billboard in Kabul shows a skeleton hanging from an opium bulb (AFP)

OPIUM FARMING ON THE RISE Despite a nationwide program by the Afghan government to eradicate opium-poppy fields and offer farmers alternative crops, international experts say that the 2006 opium crop will be as much as 40 percent larger than the previous year's. Afghanistan is the largest producer of opium in the world, and the source of as much as 90 percent of Europe's heroin.(more)

Narcotics Supply Reduced, But Afghanistan Still Suffering

Saffron Could Help Wean Farmers Off Opium Poppies

Poppy-Eradication Drive Launched In Western Province

Insurgency Gains Ground As Poppy-Eradication Efforts Struggle

UN Drug Agency Promotes 'Alternative Development' For Curbing Poppy Cultivation

For weekly news and analysis on Afghanistan by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report."

A vendor in the central Bosnian town of Zenica sells heart-shaped cushions with proclamations of love for 1 euro each.

Love It (Or Hate It), It's Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, the Western holiday celebrating love, has become a global phenomenon over the past two decades. The fall of communism and the emergence of the Internet have helped February 14 become something of an unofficial international day of romance. However, not all the passions the holiday stirs are related to love. While some countries have openly embraced the holiday, others are attempting to ban it or replace it with local customs. More

Gasoline prices have risen dramatically in Pakistan in recent years

In Pakistan, Cleaner Fuel Powers Supply, Safety Issues

Rising fuel prices have pushed Pakistan to become a global leader in using compressed natural gas (CNG) to fuel vehicles. More

Family members of missing Baluchs, mostly political activists, rally in protest on the eve of international Human Rights Day in Quetta, Balochistan, on December 10, 2011.

U.S. Hearing On Balochistan Raises Hackles, Awareness In Pakistan

The U.S. Congressional hearing last week on Balochistan, the largest of Pakistan's four provinces, though it was firmly rejected by Islamabad, is being seen in Pakistan as any eye-opener for the state and its security agencies. More