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In late-July, the European Investment Bank (EIB) agreed on the financing structure of NeuConnect, the first ever energy link connecting Germany and the United Kingdom, two of the largest electricity markets in Europe.

The investment to build the interconnector will amount to EUR2.8 billion, with the EIB set to contribute up to EUR400 million for the financing construction of the section within the European Union (EU). Other financiers include the UK Infrastructure Bank, which will focus on the stretch within UK maritime and land territory, and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).…

AVIATION has always been regarded as a tougher sector to convert to low carbon fuels than road transport, because of the high intensity burn required to power planes – which traditionally been supplied by fossil-based kerosene. And a lot is burned.

In 2019, before Covid-19 knocked the industry off a seemingly unstoppable growth trajectory, 95 billion gallons of fuel was burned by commercial airlines worldwide said statistical service Statista.

Speaking to Petroleum Review, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) deputy director for environmental protection Jane Hupe said analysis undertaken by the UN agency found “that, by 2050, it would be physically possible to meet 100 percent of international aviation jet fuel demand with sustainable aviation fuels, corresponding to a 63 percent reduction in emissions.”…

Britain’s open register of beneficial ownership was groundbreaking worldwide but its effectiveness as a bulwark against money laundering is being debated, even as both the European Union (EU) and the US move ahead at varying pace to replicate the system. The question of whether BO registers should be open or closed is one that is being discussed in countries around the world.…

THE CANADIAN auto parts sector is likely to suffer should the Trump administration go ahead with plans to impose escalating duties on Mexican exports to the USA to force Mexico to further restrict immigration into America.

With President Donald Trump yesterday (June 5) claiming talks with the Mexican government have been insufficiently productive, the US is poised to impose 5% duties on all imports from Mexico on June 10.…

A FORMER correspondent for International News Services has published a memoir about the four years she lived in Myanmar.

Our Home in Myanmar is written by Australian journalist, Jessica Mudditt, who moved to Yangon with her Bangladeshi husband in 2012 to join The Myanmar Times. She also worked at the country’s state-run newspaper during the historic elections of 2015, and was a consultant for the United Nations and the British Embassy.…

A FAILURE to engage education actors, frequent leadership changes and a general lack of commitment is derailing implementation of a much-vaunted Education Sector Strategic Plan 2018-2020 (ESSP), Somali higher education experts are warning.

Last October (2018), Somalia’s ministry of education culture and higher education released the plan as a policy blueprint, outlining what ails the sector and what needs to be done to turn it around within three years.…

Philip Morris International (PMI) has warned that cigarette smugglers and counterfeiters are expanding the platforms they use to generate illicit sales during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A spokesperson said: “Covid-19 has accelerated the trend of illicit markets moving toward e-commerce and cyberspace, while also expanding the range of goods being sold online and on the dark web. This may redefine the route of illicit goods to market.”…

A BIOFUEL research group has released a report that argues the feedstocks currently used by the world’s only refiner of bio-based aviation fuels cannot be increased to a large scale, and any significant increase would boost carbon emissions anyway. Biofuelwatch, a UK/US research and advocacy group assessing the impact of large-scale bioenergy, concludes that the model used by Paramount, California-based refinery, owned by Boston, USA-based World Energy, is “not scaleable”.…

LAGOS is Nigeria and Africa’s most populous city - a fast-moving and changing metropolis that plays home to both the country’s super-rich and the super-poor. It’s Nigeria’s commercial capital. It is the hub of its dynamic music industry, growing arts scene and tech startups.

International News Services’ Nigeria correspondent, Samuel Okocha, has produced a photographic book showing a candid glimpse of the city. “It’s also a product of my strong interests in street photography which has been therapeutic for me,” Samuel said. “Street photography helps me slow down in a crazy fast moving city like Lagos.…

International News Services has won a prestigious business award for southern England – being named Media Company of the Year by the UK’s Southern Enterprise Awards for dynamic small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The agency was one of 5,000 businesses assessed by organiser SME News, Britain’s national publication for groundbreaking and innovative businesses.

SME News has the story about our agency – see Global News Agency Offers Specialist Media Outlets a Window on the World

Also see https://www.sme-news.co.uk/awards/uk-southern-business-awards/

The award panel said:

“20 years established, International News Services clearly owes its longevity and client reach within the industry to its highly experienced multilingual international team of reporters and editors, alongside its honest, upfront and trustworthy approach to its clients across the globe.

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