Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
DISEASE CONTROL
BY MONICA DOBIE
DATA from the Atlanta, USA’s Centers for Disease Control has shown alarming levels of pesticide contamination in North America. Researchers tested the blood and urine of 9,000 people for levels of 23 pesticides, and found that 100 per cent of the subjects carried detectable levels of contamination.…
INVISIBLE HAND PIECE MONEY LAUNDERING
BY ALAN OSBORN
WHEN a local pizza parlour goes bust, or the site of a planned hotel complex is suddenly left abandoned or interest rates suddenly shoot up for no apparent reason, we don’t normally blame money launderers. Perhaps we should though.…
SEPTEMBER 11 COMPENSATION
BY MONICA DOBIE
AS American newspapers today report intelligence sources saying that Islamic terrorists are planning another attack on US soil this summer, the country’s insurance industry is still dealing with the aftershocks of the September 11th disaster.
Another attack would be mist unwelcome as according to the American Insurance Association, when all claims from September 11th have been processed, insurance losses will total between US$40 and US$50 billion, being by far the most devastating and catastrophic event for the US industry.…
MARITIME SECURITY
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has called on governments to urgently process compliance certification applications from ports and shipping lines for the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS), as its July 1 implementation deadline looms.…
TRANSLATION DELAYS
BY ALAN OSBORN
A NUMBER of key European Union (EU) directives affecting the insurance industry face delays of up to six months because of the failure of EU Council of Ministers secretariat translators to produce legal texts in all 20 official languages of the newly expanded EU.…
AUSTRIA ACCIDENTS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations has warned of an increase in road accidents in Austria and its eastern neighbours, following their accession to the European Union (EU). A UN report has noted Austria’s plans for a “huge new network” of roads to Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary.…
COMMERCIAL FRAUD SEMINAR
BY KEITH NUTHALL
EVERYONE knows commercial fraud costs business millions and millions of dollars and euros, but no one really knows how much. The United Nations is going to investigate, following a successful international seminar staged in Vienna. Keith Nuthall reports.…
COURT OF AUDITORS VOTE
Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has ignored a European Parliament appeal to not appoint Slovakia’s nominee to the EU financial watchdog the Court of Auditors; MEPs claimed insufficient experience in financial forensics. Following May 1’s EU expansion (sparking the need for new court members), parliament accepted a “negative opinion” on Julius Molnár, despite being European cooperation and international relations director for Slovakia’s supreme audit office.…
FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY - EU
Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Commission has asked accountants for their views on its plans to reform accounting rules in the European Union’s (EU) 4th and 7th company law directives to boost transparency and disclosure and prevent financial scandals. Brussels wants to define carefully the responsibility held by all board members on ensuring correct company information is released.…
TRANSLATION DELAYS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has admitted that translation difficulties caused by May 1’s accession of 10 new member countries is already slowing the adoption of important financial legislation, with the EU Council of Ministers accepting a six month delay for two accounting-related directives.…