Search Results for: Libya

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE INTERNATIONAL Energy Agency (IEA) said its 28 developed country members had agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil in July to replace supplies lost from the ongoing disruption production in strife-torn Libya. The IEA said 2 million barrels would be released daily from emergency stocks.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ENERGY companies and non-government organisations (NGOs) participating in the development of a European Union (EU) long-term energy plan to 2050, have identified fossil fuel costs as the main motor of change in future public policy. In consultation staged by the European Commission for developing an ‘Energy Roadmap to 2050’, about half of all respondents believed "global fossil fuel prices in relation to costs of domestic energy resources and long term security of supply will be the most likely key drivers…" This conclusion comes in a summary of responses released by Brussels.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

EARLIER this year, the Lebanese-Canadian Bank (LCB) was designated by the United States as a prime money laundering concern, for alleged connections to drug traffickers and acting as a financial conduit for Lebanese political party Hezbollah, which Washington considers a terrorist organisation.…

BY KACI RACELMA

THE MOROCCAN textile and clothing industry has been recovering energetically from the 2009 recession, with North Africa’s recent political turmoil yet to significantly impact on its fortunes, although it has prompted concerns in the industry.

Exports to Europe are of critical importance to Morocco’s clothing manufacturers, with the government and industry groups combining efforts to improve standards, promote sales abroad and create a nascent design hub for the sector within this north African kingdom.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

UNDER the United Nations’ Al-Qaeda and Taliban sanctions regime, more than 30 states have frozen at least US dollars USD90 million in assets as of September 2010. But Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other designated terrorist groups in the Middle East and Central Asia continue to receive funding despite the region’s widespread adoption of international regulations on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CTF).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has unveiled the cost of its ambitious plan for cutting European Union (EU) greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95% of 1990 levels by 2050. Brussels says that an additional targeted annual investment over the next 40 years is needed – equalling 1.5% of the EU’s GDP – or Euro EUR270 billion.…

BY LEE ADENDOORF, ALYSSA MCMURTRY, MAKKI MARSEILLES, and KEITH NUTHALL

GLOBAL olive oil manufacturing is on a roll, with the International Olive Council (IOC) saying 2009-10 world production was 3.02 million tonnes, a season-on-season increase of 354,500 tonnes (+13%). This would be the second best olive oil production year ever, next only to the record of 3.17 million tonnes produced in 2003/04.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, BY VÉRONIQUE NARAME AND BY SEYDOU TRAORÉ

North Africa’s tobacco market opens to the world

North Africa’s tobacco markets have long been dominated by state-run companies and monopolies. But change has slowly come to the region through increased economic liberalisation, enabling international brands to gain market share.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DETAILED plans for the European Union (EU) to work with the African Union (AU) on boosting the traceability of minerals shipped from Africa to Europe were welcomed yesterday (Dec 15) by the European Parliament. In a motion, the parliament praised an agreement struck between the EU and the AU in Tripoli, Libya, on November 30, at the third EU-Africa Summit.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A SENIOR US state department official has confirmed that America is sending 50 specialist contractors to Libya to track down an estimated stockpile of 20,000 Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) hidden in this vast desert country. Assistant secretary of state Andrew Shapiro said Washington was "very concerned about the threat…posed" to "civil aviation" by MANPADS missiles.…