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BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NASCENT tourism hotspot is being nurtured by the United Nations in Afghanistan, where the former Taliban government exploded the famous Bamiyan Buddha statues. The site also sports other archaeological remains and the scenic Band-i-Amir Lake, so is being visited by Kabul ex-pats Kabul and wealthier Afghans.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A FORMAL ban on importing fur into the European Union (EU) from animals caught by leghold traps (and others considered inhumane) could finally be written into EU law. The European Commission has proposed a directive transposing international agreements struck in the late 1990’s with Russia, Canada and the USA, committing these countries to phasing out certain traps deemed particularly painful.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi has launched talks with member countries on maybe staging an emergency meeting of the WTO council for trade in goods on the oncoming abolition of textiles and clothing quotas. He has been consulting on this idea, proposed by Mauritius, Bangladesh and Nepal, which want the council to examine the costs of adjusting to a global quota-free regime from January, under the WTO’s agreement on textiles and clothing.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is planning to lend Euro 15 million to NPO Petrovax Pharm, a Russian niche pharmaceutical company, so it can build a green field plant near Moscow making new generation influenza vaccines for the ex-USSR market.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Finance Corporation (IFC), of the World Bank, will provide up to US$90 million in financing to Comgás, Brazil’s largest piped natural gas distributor. The loan help the company expand and upgrade its distribution network, making gas available to 70,000 new customers in five years, and 200,000 in 10.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE ANNOUNCEMENT of the policy portfolios commanded by the incoming European Commission from November generally spells good news for the European Union’s (EU) ferrous and non-ferrous sectors, senior industry figures have told Metal Bulletin. “In general … we are quite happy with the commissioners who will be responsible for industry”, said Gordon Moffat, director of the association of European iron and steel industries Eurofer.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A lack of metering in Iraq means “there could be no guarantee that all the (locally produced) oil could be accounted for”, the UN Security Council has been warned. The International Monitoring and Advisory Board of the Development Fund for Iraq said the problem would “take at least a year to resolve.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE AWARD to Cyprus of the key European Commission health and consumer affairs portfolio could signal a waning of Brussels’ enthusiasm for tougher rules against smoking and cigarette sales. Cypriot Markos Kyprianou, 44, has been given the job in the new Commission that takes office in November.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has released a practical guide advising small and medium-sized businesses on improving their security for information technology and telecommunications. ‘Securing Your Business: Information security issues and resources for small and entrepreneurial companies’ tells companies how to implement 2002 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines on network and IT security.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
GAZ de France’s domestic market dominance is risking energy liberalisation progress made by the French government, the International Energy Authority has warned. Although Paris had taken “commendable steps towards a sound legal and regulatory framework for liberalised energy markets….challenges…