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.
NONYLPHENOL
BY KEITH NUTHALL
RESTRICTIONS on the marketing and use of nonylphenol and nonylphenolethoxylates have been formally approved by the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers for industry. It accepted amendments previously passed to this directive by the European Parliament and so the legislation passed without having to receive a second reading by MEPs.…
WTO SERVICES ROUND
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has offered to enshrine in international law, the right of non-European Union retailers to enjoy the same rights to set up supermarkets, hypermarkets and departments stores across Europe, as local retail companies.
Its offer comes in the World Trade Organisation’s Doha Development Round, where negotiations on services are the most advanced of all its talks on liberalising global commerce.…
AFGHAN UPDATE
BY MARK ROWE
THE ‘LOOTING of civilisation’ in Baghdad, with its vivid images of wanton destruction and looting inflicted upon the Iraqi national museum, was all too familiar for those who have followed events in Afghanistan. But everyone must hope the parallels stop there, for the experience of those quietly seeking to recover Afghanistan’s glorious archaeological past does not bode well for the long-term restoration of Iraq’s treasures.…
Brussels plan for EU social policy
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A potentially significant step towards aligning social protection policies throughout the 15 member countries of the European Union has been proposed by the European Commission which claims that “without effective EU co-ordination of social protection reforms, we risk reforming too slowly, too ineffectually and too unfairly.”…
GALILEO DEALS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
TECHNICAL and administrative units devoted to the development of the European Union’s EGNOS and GALILEO global positioning initiatives are to be merged. EGNOS – the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service – should be fully operational by next year and Brussels has asked EU ministers to approve placing it under the supervision of the GALILEO Joint Undertaking, which includes both the Commission and the European Space Agency.…
BALKANS ATC
BY KEITH NUTHALL
GRANTS totalling Euro 5 million from the European Commission, Eurocontrol and the Joint Aviation Authorities have been approved for the strengthening Balkans atc services. Funnelled through the EU Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation (CARDS) programme, the funds will support civil aviation authorities and air traffic services in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Macedonia.…
HYDERABAD
BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKA
A CONSORTIUM has been selected to build the IND Rupees 12 billion greenfield Hyderabad international airport, Indian press reports claim. They quote officials saying GMR Vasavi Infrastructure and Malaysia Airport Holding Berhard have clinched the deal, under a public private partnership model.…
SRI LANKA TRAVEL
BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKA, in Columbo
CONSTRUCTION of an airport at Matugama, western Sri Lanka, was to start this month (April), to boost transport links to tourist developments. The island’s travel industry has been boosted by the peace deal with the Tamil Tigers.…
ICAO AERODROMES
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A SERIES of papers about boosting safety in aerodromes have been released by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). They were first published at a joint ICAO-Airports Council International workshop on the certification of aerodromes, held at Dubai, United Arab Emirates.…
BELGIUM NOISE
Keith Nuthall
UNILATERAL action by the Belgian government to ban night-time landing and take-offs of outdated aircraft using hush-kit mufflers is being challenged by the European Commission. It says that Belgium should impose noise restrictions on aircraft in a way that is harmonised with the rest of the EU, under a new air noise directive, in force from July 1.…