Mediaboss Marketing

ByStephen Beard

April 20, 2017 | 2:00 PM

On est chez nous! The phrase, which means this is our home, thunders around a sports stadium in northeastern Paris. Some 6,000 supporters of the far-right National Front party are in full cry at a campaign rally as they await the arrival of their heroine, the leader of their party and a front-runner in Frances presidential election, Marine Le Pen.

On est chez nous is a battle cry for the National Front and conveys two connected messages: We have too many immigrants coming to France and We dont like the European Union running our country.

Jean Cautirot, who was at the Paris rally, said he and his fellow party members resent Europes passport-free zone because it facilitates the influx of more migrants, which France does not want and cannot afford. Cautirot detests any EU involvement in French domestic affairs.

Im in favor of Europe so long as we just work together, but Im against a European dictatorship. We dont need to be ordered about by Brussels. The majority of French people dont want that. We are perfectly able to govern ourselves, he said.

Marine Le Pen has pledged that if she wins, she will immediately pull out of the passport-free zone and renegotiate a much looser relationship with the EU. Then shell hold a referendum on whether France should leave the single currency and perhaps the bloc as well. Jean-Paul Martin, a retired art gallery manager and Front supporter, knows already how he would vote.

I would vote for Frexit, absolutely, absolutely, he told Marketplace. "I think we do not take any benefit from the European Union.

That will surprise many Brits, who for many years harbored the suspicion that the EU was set up mainly for the benefit of the French in order to contain the economic powerhouse next door, Germany. The euro was a French idea. But theres little doubt that today many French people are disillusioned with the EU and with the euro.

With the euro, our purchasing power has gone down," said Danielle Oger, a Front voter. "I feel it, and other French people feel it for sure,

Shes right. When the single currency was launched more than 15 years ago, French and German consumers had roughly equal purchasing power; today, the Germans are 17 percent better off. Analysts point out the discrepancy is mainly due to Frances failure to reform, but many French people blame the euro, and it shows in the opinion polls. Last year, a major survey by the Pew Research Center revealed that the French are less positive about the EU than even the Brits. And the Brits have voted to leave.

Karim Amellal,a Franco-Algerian writer and entrepreneur, said the French have clearly fallen out of love with Europe.

In France, people dont believe the European Union can solve their problems anymore, he said. Problems like an unemployment rate of 10 percent, which is twice the rate of other major economies, like Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. But Amellal, whos pro-EU and anti-National Front, does not believe the French would ever vote to leave the Union.

Its obvious that the cost and the economic disruption would be huge. And I think when people think about that, they will realize that leaving the single currency and the EU is not the answer, he said.

Amellal is reassured that an EU referendum is unlikely in France because, as the polls indicate, Le Pen may get through the first round of the election on Sunday, but she will probably not win the second round, and therefore will not be the next president of France. But no one can be sure of the outcome of this highly unpredictable election or its longer-term repercussions. It has already stoked up some powerful nationalist sentiment in a key member state of the European Union. At Le Pens rally in Paris this week, the crowd sang the National Anthem three times in the middleof her speech.

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French voters are turning against the European Union - Marketplace.org

Commissioner Neven Mimica announces further EU support to Haiti on an official visit to the country

During an official visit to Haiti after the appointment of a new Government, Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica announced a new EU aid package.

The first of which is a special allocation of 18.5 million (14.5 million in exceptional budget support and 4 million for an agricultural project) in response to Hurricane Matthew which hit the island in October 2016 and caused widespread damage to housing, agriculture, and infrastructure. The EU had also provided initial emergency relief last year when the hurricane struck the country.

Commissioner Mimica said: "Through our new support we clearly show the solidarity of the European Union towards Haiti. We remain committed to supporting the Haitian population and the reconstruction and stabilisation of the country."

The second part of support through the signature with the Prime Minister S.E.M Jack Guy Lafontant is a 45 million agreement for the construction of the National Road #3, connecting Port-au-Prince to the northern town of Cap Haitian, the second biggest town and port of Haiti.

Commissioner Mimica added: I am aware that the people of Haiti have suffered for many years from poor road conditions. The EU is committed to the completion of the National Road #3 all the way from Port-au-Prince to Cap Haitian. I am delighted to be signing this project which will help the development of the island. This road will facilitate community access to health centres, schools and other services.

Background:

Haiti remains the poorest country in the Latin America/Caribbean region. It is, in addition one of the most unequal with an alarming Gini coefficient of 0.592 (one of the highest in the world), and chronic political, socio-economic and environmental fragility. Haiti receives around 42% of the financial assistance allocated to the Caribbean region under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) (2014-2020).

More information on the European Development Fund:

In line with the country context and as reflected in the national development strategies of Haiti, the EU strategic objectives pursued in the 11th EDF include:

More information on the EU's crisis response to Hurricane Matthew:

Matthew, a category 4 hurricane, made landfall in Haiti on 4 October 2016, causing widespread flooding and damage to housing, agriculture, and infrastructure. At least 2.1 million people were affected, including 894,000 children. Of them, 1.4 million were in need of assistance, including 500,000 children, with at least 125,000 requiring protection from exploitation, violation, and abuse (United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs figures of November 2016).

In this context, the European Commission provided humanitarian aid worth 19.7 million to cover immediate needs in relation to food and nutrition security, water and sanitation, education, shelter and protection.

Furthermore, the Commission mobilised 18.5 million under the State Building Contract and the Southern Food Security project to support the Government in its post-Matthew reconstruction and agricultural rehabilitation efforts.

IP/17/1022

Press contacts:

Carlos MARTIN RUIZ DE GORDEJUELA (+32 2 296 53 22)

Nabila MASSRALI (+ 32 2 296 92 18)

Daniel PUGLISI (+32 2 296 91 40)

General public inquiries: Europe Direct by phone 00 800 67 89 10 11 or by email

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The European Union increases its support for Haiti - Reliefweb

World powers such as France, Germany, Britain and China have an obligation to stop North Korea from triggering a worldwide crisis over its nuclear weapons program, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, warned Thursday. As tensions between the U.S. and North Korea have risen in recent days, with both nations exchanging increasingly tough warnings about potential military strikes, Mogherini saidEurope and China must work together "in times of growing tensions and geopolitical unpredictability" to avoid an outbreak of war in the Korean Peninsula.

"Everyone understands that the crisis withNorth Koreawill have a global fallout," she said during aspeech at Tsinghua University in China as part of a three-day trip to discuss trade and geopolitics. Mogherini said shebrought up her concerns aboutNorth Korea during talks this week with Chinese officials in Beijing.

She said the EU and China havea "common responsibility and an interest to avoid a military escalation in the Korean Peninsula, to push for North Korea to abide by its international obligations and re-engage with the international community, and work together for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula."

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Her remarks came asEuropean Union officials are debatinghow to respond to North Korea's nuclear threats. The EU, a major trade partner with South Korea and Japan,increased sanctions against Pyongyang in March, including banning its members frominvesting in North Korea's mining, refining and chemical industries. A statement at the time calledthe isolated nation's nuclear and missile tests "a grave threat to international peace and security in the region and beyond." But officials in Germany and Sweden have called for maintaining diplomatic ties withPyongyang and continuing to sendhumanitarian aid to North Koreans.

Mogherini said the threat from North Korea should be obvious to all. She shared during her speech how her 12-year-old daughter hadrecently raisedquestions about the potential fornuclear war in the region if the situation further deteriorated, the Associated Press reported."If a 12-year-old in Europe understands the risks of an escalation, (in) such a faraway place from home, it is quite self-evident that we have common responsibilities," Mogherinisaid.

North Korea has warned in recent months that it could use its growingnuclear weapons program to attack the U.S. or South Korea.PresidentDonald Trumphas urged China, a close Pyongyang ally, to use its influence to persuadeNorth Korea to give upits nuclear and missile programs and stop threatening other nations.

Pyongyang has so far remained undeterred.The North Korean government warned Thursday in the state-run Rodong Sinmun, the officialnewspaper of North Koreas Workers Party,of a super-mighty preemptive strike against the U.S. military that "will completely and immediately wipe out not only U.S. imperialists' invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the U.S. mainland and reduce them to ashes."

Vice PresidentMike Pencesaid Wednesday while visiting Tokyo thatthe U.S. would respond with an "overwhelming and effective" military strike if North Korea attempts to execute any of its threats against Washington.

Excerpt from:
North Korea War Would Have 'Global Fallout,' European Union Policy Chief Warns - Newsweek

The European Union is expecting Britain to pay the full cost of relocating two major EU agencies from London back to the EU after Brexit, in the latest signal that Brussels intends to play hardball over the costs of UK withdrawal from Europe.

The plan, revealed in a leaked draft of the European Commissions Brexit negotiating mandate, looks certain to raise the temperature of the debate over Britains so-called Brexit bill.

Europe is expecting to reclaim two of its most prestigious UK-based agencies,covering banking and medicine regulations, which employ hundreds of highly skilled staff in offices based in Londons Docklands.

Last week David Davis, the Brexit secretary, indicated that Britain did not accept that the agencies would necessarily have to be relocated inside the EU after Brexit - a position that was swiftly rejected by senior figures across Europe.

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Brussels demands the UK foots the bill to relocate London-based EU agencies after Brexit - Telegraph.co.uk

EDUCATION is something most Aussies take for granted.

But for girls and women growing up in Afghanistan the simple act of learning - or showing their face in public - can get them killed.

It's been 18 years since Samira Nazar and her family fled the war-torn south-central Asian country but the memories of the Taliban's oppressive misogynistic brutality are still strong for the 29-year-old woman.

"You see your mum, your aunts, every woman around you being oppressed," Samira recalls as she reveals the simple act of shopping was enough to end in public retribution.

"There were guns everywhere, they (the soldiers) would threaten people.

"If you go shopping you want to see what you're buying. You need to see it and feel it and as a woman you can't uncover your face to see something properly.

"If you did you would get punished. They would hit you.

"I saw my mum hit from behind with a stick because she lifted her veil to see fabric at the market.

"The extreme way of punishing women was to take them to a sports stadium where they would stone women."

When Samira was 11, her mother Nasrin and her father Shukoor decided to risk everything by fleeing Afghanistan with their three children.

The Nazars believed a good education was the one thing all their children deserved and they knew they had no hope of giving their daughters that if they stayed in a country where learning could lead to state-sanctioned murder.

"It was not acceptable for my parents to see us grow up without education," Samira says of the impetus behind their flight for life.

"It was a definitely a risk for them to take, but to take us to a safe place and get access to education they needed to take those risks."

Samira and her family eventually settled in Austria as refugees.

"My parents encouraged us to embrace our new home and our new language," she says.

"They encouraged us to get used to it and to have Austrian friends and that was the key to why we were able to adapt to our new environment very easily.

"We just wanted to do well and that has contributed to a better life for us."

Samira completed her normal schooling at 16 and, instead of just settling for a job in a local factory or as a waitress, she enrolled in a German language school with the aim of going on to study business.

She travelled 100km a day to attend classes, driven to succeed by the incredible sacrifices made by her parents.

"The risk they took is one of the things that defines me - it has helped me to achieve, to help me takes my own risks and to say 'Yes' to hard things," she says, revealing that learning in a language that was not her native tongue was one of the hardest, but most satisfying, things she has done.

"I believe that language is a door opener to culture and to people."

Now fluent in four languages and with a resume that lists CSIRO, Microsoft and Fujitsu, the University of Queensland Business School academic has her sights set on completing a PhD with a focus on social impact and sustainability.

"Businesses have a major influence on our society, so if you want to create change it is good to start with businesses and that is why I am wanting to complete my PhD at UQ Business School," she says.

"We're surrounded by so many things like climate change and social and political unrest.

"I think as we educate businesses and help them make the right decisions then we will also help the wider community.

"A lot of businesses would like to leave a legacy but they just don't know how and I believe that I can help them to make the right decisions and consider their stakeholders in an ethical way."

As Samira moves towards her dream of changing the world one corporation at a time, she knows that no matter what she achieves she will be helping to pay forward the incredible sacrifices her parents made so she could be free to learn.

"Giving up is a not an option for me," she says.

"I hope to inspire others who are in a similar situation to mine." - ARM NEWSDESK

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From Afghanistan to Australia, Samira speaks language of success - Chinchilla News