Search Results for: Czech Republic

BY Cristina Muntean

The rector of the Czech Republic’s second largest university has told University World News he plans to fight to protect planned public investment into expanding its campus, while his country’s government plans severe austerity cuts.

The centre-right coalition government of prime minister Petr Ne?as…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE CONSUMER protection authorities of Portugal have been busy with unsafe cosmetics products in September, with five withdrawals reported by European Union consumer safety network RAPEX. Some covered Spanish made products – such as Isdruc ‘Crema despigmentante’ skin lightening cream; plus Tempting ‘Vitamine vital shampoo’ and ‘Live Mask repair’.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is threatening legal action at the European Court of Justice against Belgium, the Czech Republic and Greece, for not implementing European Union directive 2008/112/EC on the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures. It mandates safety labelling and collating information to protect the environment and human health from chemical mixtures, including cosmetics, soaps and their ingredients.…

BY JULIAN RYALL

BEFORE September 8, few people anywhere had heard of Zhan Qixiong or his battered fishing boat. However, since the Chinese fisherman and his 14-strong crew were taken into custody by the Japan Coast Guard on September 8, Zhan has found himself at the centre of an escalating geopolitical row that has already put planned discussions over gas and oil deposits between Beijing and Tokyo on hold and is ratcheting up broader tensions in the region.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

PRESSURE is being applied to non-ferrous metal mining companies to follow an Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) code of practice that prevents them fuelling armed conflicts in the Great Lakes region of Africa.

Its countries have been witness to come of the worst human rights abuses and violence of the last 50 years: the genocide in Rwanda and the bloody civil war of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

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A UNITED Nations campaign could – if successful – significantly increase worldwide demand for soap. Its Global Handwashing Day has highlighted how diarrhoeal and acute respiratory diseases kill 3.5 million children aged under five annually, and that washing their hands after using toilets and before handling food can reduce such deaths by 40% and 23% respectively.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has released details of its plan to create a centralised registry for emissions trading permits by January 2013, and security will be a paramount consideration. Earlier this year, security controls were reviewed in existing national registries after a major theft of data from the Czech Republic’s register.…

BY MAKKI MARSEILLES, PAUL COCHRANE

CYPRIOTS are Europe’s heaviest smokers, according to figures from European Union (EU) pollsters Eurobarometer. For those living in the internationally recognised predominantly Greek Republic of Cyprus (RoC) portion of the island, consumption of consumers aged 15 and above during 2009 averaged 21.7 cigarettes daily, and those in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus 21.6.…

BY WANG FANGQING

CHINA’S leading brewer Tsingtao has launched a premium beer – Yi Pin, telling just-drinks that it will be trialled in China’s domestic market. "It will be only available in high-end restaurants," said a Qingdao-based spokesperson, targeting urban elites.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE INTERNATIONAL Organisation for Standardization (ISO) is developing standards for natural gas fuelling stations to help promote vehicles using this alternative fuel. A new committee ISO/PC 252 will coordinate the work, developing two standards: on fuelling stations for compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG).…