Search Results for: Dominican Republic

BY KEITH NUTHALL

MASS production of a vaccine to fight the H5N1 bird flu strain in humans could begin within a year, after pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline launched clinical trials in Germany and Belgium.

The company is testing two vaccines: the first would be targeted at fighting a pandemic after an outbreak; the second aimed at advance inoculations.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

BRITAIN is more enlightened over flexi-time compared with the European Union’s (EU) other large economies, say new figures released by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The EU agency says only Sweden, Finland and Latvia practice more flexi-time, although Britain does not always perform well regarding the degree of flexibility allowed by employers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) political leaders have agreed medium-term (2007-13) budgets for crucial spending projects for the energy sector: Trans European Networks (TENs) and the EU seventh framework programme (FP7) for research. On TENs, the European Parliament, Commission, and EU Council of Ministers have agreed a Euro 7.2 billion budget, Euro 500 million above previous drafts, although this will have to be split with TENs transport projects.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE CZECH Republic is invoking emergency clauses in its accession agreement with the European Union (EU) to block poultry imports from other member states which have been hit by bird flu. Speaking on Radio Prague, agriculture minister Jan Mladek said his government had requested the necessary approval from the European Commission for waiving standard intra-EU free trade guarantees.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has underlined its determination to forge a European Union (EU) energy policy with substance by a slew of legal actions against member states over renewables, liberalisation and biofuels. Brussels has started proceedings against Britain, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic for failing to report progress under the 2001 directive promoting renewable energy sources.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RUSSIAN president Vladimir Putin has sought to shore up Russia’s damaged reputation as a reliable energy partner for eastern Europe, by suggesting Hungary take part in the Blue Stream gas pipeline project. In a visit to Budapest, Putin said Russia and Turkey were considering an extension of the Black Sea project "into south Europe, and our partners in that area have shown interests."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE MULTILATERAL Investment Guarantee Agency, or MIGA, is the international organisation companies turn to when they want to invest in a jurisdiction where their assets might not be that safe. Oil and gas companies have long used MIGA to cover risks that are too tasty for the private insurance industry, and at December 2005, MIGA had supported 13 oil and gas projects, with guarantees totalling US$707 million, with a standard leverage of five-to-one, so investments covered are actually five times larger.…

BY MARK ROWE

CZECH shoemakers have warned that customers putting cost before style have left the country’s footwear industry unable to withstand an onslaught from Chinese shoe companies, despite the anti-dumping dutioes recently announced by the European Commission. According to the Czech Shoe and Leather Association, 71 million pairs of shoes were produced in the country in 1991 by an industry that employed 35,000 people: today just five million pairs a year are made by 3,000 workers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE MULTILATERAL Investment Guarantee Agency, or MIGA, is the international organisation companies turn to when they want to invest in a jurisdiction where their assets might not be that safe. Non-ferrous metal miners and processors use MIGA to cover risks that are too tough for the private insurance industry.…

BY STEVEN SWINDELLS, in Johannesburg

CENTRAL bankers, drug barons, warlords, corporate bosses and small town crooks in Africa are all washing their money despite attempts by governments and international law enforcement agencies to bring them to book. But financial crime has never been as lucrative as now on the world’s poorest continent.…