Search Results for: America

BY RACHEL JONES, in Caracas

VENEZUELA’S Orinoco Belt-which follows the line of the Orinoco River in the south of the country’s Guárico, Anzoátegui and Monagas states-is home to some of the biggest reserves of crude oil in the world: 77.2 billion barrels of conventional proved reserves, and about 270 billion barrels of recoverable heavy oil.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

MANY European academics and experts in the study of commercial crime are more than happy to discuss the state of play in the sector in an informal way with outsiders; others may be a little more cautious. But all are likely to suggest ways to gain further assistance.…

BY KARRYN CARTELLE

THE SIGNING of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between South Korea and the United States is expected to fuel an already booming seafood trade. And with the Koreans having a host of other FTAs in the works, it appears this seafood-producing nation will use free trade agreements to push its seafood products to every continent.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CHINA has been baldly accused of hosting much of the world’s booming counterfeit auto parts production. A detailed report by the planet’s largest think tank – the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – said: "China has been repeatedly identified as the principal source of counterfeit activity in the automotive sector, involving both trademark and design infringements.…

BY ALAN OSBORN and MONICA DOBIE, in Ottawa

AGAINST the background of a stable or even declining birth-rate, north American baby food companies are turning to organic and other premium foods to maintain and, where possible, to increase market share. The US Food Institute reports that the overall USA baby food and drink market is predicted to remain virtually unchanged between now and 2011 when sales will reach only US$3.6 billion – just US$100 million higher than this year.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE CREATION of a European Institute of Technology (EIT) is now anticipated, despite deep and persistent criticism of the idea from many European Union (EU) academics. The European Parliament in late September gave the project its qualified blessing and ministers from the EU’s 27 member states are now expected to cut a deal this autumn over finding Euro 308.7 million from European Commission budgets.…

BY LUCY JONES, in Dallas, Texas, ALAN OSBORN, in London, and PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut.

AS American gas prices once again edge closer to the US$3 a gallon mark – the point at which an all-pervading quiet panic besets the US retail market – staff at the country’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s hotline know busy times are ahead.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE UNITED Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has warned that the rapid industrialisation of global animal food production is increasing the risk of disease transmission from animals to humans, especially given expanding global trade networks. In a policy paper Industrial Livestock Production and Global Health Risks, the FAO said: "The risk of disease transmission from animals to humans will increase…due to human and livestock population growth, dynamic changes in livestock production, the emergence of worldwide agro-food networks and a significant increase in the mobility of people and goods."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

IT is common currency amongst extreme British Eurosceptics that business and government on the continent of Europe is a cesspit of dishonesty and corruption, against which Britain shines like a beacon of virtue and decency.

Allowing "Europeans" who lack Britain’s traditional sense of fair play and transparency control over the laws and regulations mandated by the "Mother of Parliaments" is heresy to such folk.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, in the real world, and BELINDA BLESSED, in Second Life

EVERY decade or so comes a technology that is so new, comprehensive, interesting, and damn useful, that it completely changes the way that we have fun and do business.…