On the picture Philip Hammond and Federica Mogherini. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond was in Brussels 22 and 23 September to meet representatives of the European Commission, members of the European Parliament and business leaders as part of Her Britannic Majesty’s Government’s renegotiation of the United Kingdom’s ties with the EU. During this jaunt Hammond likewise met Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders as part of his agenda fostering reforms within the EU.

In the framework of his visit, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the EU, HE Ambassador Shan Morgan organised a round-table titled “UK Competitiveness” on Wednesday, 23 September, with numerous business people in Brussels. The event was also attended by Britain’s bilateral ambassador to Belgium, HE Alison Rose, and the Managing Director of AmCham EU, Susan Danger.   For more information: The Rt Hon Philip Hammond: https://www.gov.uk/government/people/philip-Hammond US American Chamber of Commerce to the EU: www.amchameu.eu/                    

On Saturday, October 3rd will Rwandans from all over Europe and from different corners of the world gather in the Netherlands to celebrate Rwanda Day. This day is an opportunity to discuss together on progress in Rwanda, but also to come up with solutions to the challenges in the small African country. President Paul Kagame will be the guest of honor and he will take after his speech at an interactive session with the guests. Commenting on this special event said HE Jean Pierre Karabaranga, ambassador of Rwanda in the Netherlands: “The meeting serves as a way to connect to each other again, with the history that we have, but we can learn from today’s Rwanda and how everyone can play a role in the future Rwanda Now Rwandans from near and far gathered. will arrive in the Netherlands, we work together progress; but the most important is that we remain committed and preferably redouble our efforts to build up a prosperous country. “ The success of Rwanda depends on all Rwandans who live at home and abroad. By cooperating with each other, but also by working with friends from Rwanda set objectives can be achieved. By celebrating Day of Rwanda, the Rwandan community gets abroad the opportunity to understand its role and determine with regard to the future of the country. Earlier editions of Rwanda Day was held in Dallas, Atlanta, Toronto, London, Boston, Paris, Chicago and Brussels, where thousands of Rwandans spectators. In the Netherlands, will present Rwandan banks and real estate companies to Rwandans living abroad and to inform them about financial services, including chargebacks and the ability to invest in the real estate market. There will also be a selection of Rwandan companies are present to showcase their products. Young professionals and entrepreneurs from both Rwanda and from abroad will be the development and the business environment of the country to discuss. Prior to the Rwanda Day on October 3 was launched today by the Rwanda Development Board in collaboration with the Embassy of Rwanda in The Hague and the Netherlands African Business Council (NABC), a highly successful Business Matchmaking Event held in Amsterdam which has been visited by more than 300 companies from Rwanda and the Netherlands. For more information about Rwanda Day visit: www.rwandaday.org. Follow twittered on the conversations withRwanda and #RwandaDay.

The European Commission has launched the Capital Markets Union (CMU) Action Plan for a true single market to help build capital within the 28 EU Member States. One of the urgent actions published in the plan includes the re-introduction of sound security markets. The action plan was designed to remove obstacles for cross-border investments in the EU and access to finance. The current climate is difficult for companies that have bank financing and low dependency on capital markets. If the deep venture capital markets of the US were available to the EU between 2009 and 2014, there would have been an excess of EUR 90 billion funding for EU companies. Alternative sources of funding widely available in other parts of the world were listed for companies struggling to find resources, especially SMEs and start-ups. These include capital markets, venture capital, crowd-funding and asset management industry. It is integral to have diverse sources of funding for investment and developing businesses to maintain financial stability. In the event of security problems in the banking sector, the benefits to businesses and access to finance may be mitigated. For this reason the CMU represents an important step towards the completion of the European Economic and Monetary Union.    

Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi at his first appearance hearing on 30 September 2015 at the International Criminal Court in The Hague ICC-CPI.   On 30 September 2015, Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi appeared before the single Judge of Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Judge Cuno Tarfusser, at the seat of the ICC in The Hague (The Netherlands). The Single Judge provisionally set the date of the beginning of the confirmation of charges hearing in respect of Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi for 18 January 2016. The hearing was held in the presence of the Prosecutor and the Defence. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi was represented by his Duty Counsel, Mohamed Aouini. The Single Judge verified the identity of the suspect, and ensured that he was clearly informed of the charges brought against him and of his rights under the Rome Statute of the ICC in a language he fully understands and speaks, in this case, Arabic. The opening of the confirmation of charges hearing is provisionally scheduled for 18 January 2016. The purpose of the confirmation of charges hearing is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that the person committed each of the crimes charged. If the charges are confirmed, the case will be transferred to a Trial Chamber, which will conduct the subsequent phase of the proceedings: the trial. Background: It is alleged that Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, born in Agoune, 100 kilometers west of Timbuktu, Mali, from the Ansar Tuareg tribe, was an active personality in the context of the occupation of Timbuktu. He allegedly was a member of Ansar Eddine, working closely with the leaders of the two armed groups and in the context of the structures and institutions established by them. It is alleged that, until September 2012, he was at the head of the “Hesbah” (“Manners’ Brigade”), operational from May 2012. He was also associated with the work of the Islamic Court of Timbuktu and has participated in executing its decisions. Specifically, it is alleged that he was involved in the destruction of the buildings mentioned in the charges. The Chamber found that the evidence presented by the Prosecutor establish reasonable grounds to believe that Al Mahdi is criminally responsible for having committed, individually and jointly with others, facilitated or otherwise contributed to the commission of war crimes alleged by the Prosecutor regarding intentionally directing attacks against the following buildings: 1) the mausoleum Sidi Mahmoud Ben Omar Mohamed Aquit, 2) the mausoleum Sheikh Mohamed Mahmoud Al Arawani, 3) the mausoleum Sheikh Sidi Mokhtar Ben Sidi Muhammad Ben Sheikh Alkabir, 4) the mausoleum Alpha Moya, 5) the mausoleum Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Ben Amar Arragadi, 6) the mausoleum Sheikh Muhammad El Micky, 7) the mausoleum Cheick Abdoul Kassim Attouaty, 8) the mausoleum Ahamed Fulane, 9) the mausoleum Bahaber Babadi�, and 10) Sidi Yahia mosque.