Search Results for: Dutch

BY DAVID HAWORTH

THE CONTINUING turmoil of the economic crisis finds some Brussels officials in a downbeat mood, as the new European Commission team, which took office in February, returns to work after the summer break. This was not improved by the reappointed Commission president José Manuel Barroso’s recent ‘State of the Union’ (as in European Union) speech to the European Parliament.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN chemical industry federation CEFIC has called for a review of administration under European Union (EU) chemical control system REACH to help small-and-medium-sized paint and other chemical companies (SMEs) deal with its burden. As the first key REACH chemical deadline of November 30 approaches, CEFIC director general Hubert Mandery said REACH costs hit smaller firms hard, especially for the oncoming two REACH registrations, involving smaller tonnages of chemicals.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

NEW Zealand-based metals mining company Stracon has teamed up with the European Space Agency (ESA) and a Dutch technology firm to establish a satellite-linked remote monitoring centre for plant at a Peru open cast mine. The Netherlands’ EstrellaSat has adapted space technology to create a digital network linking managers at a control centre in its home country to lorries working at the El Brocal mine, 4,500 metres up the Peruvian Andes.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

GUYANA and Suriname are neighbours with a lot in common – culturally Caribbean, but on South America, they are important shipment routes for illegal drug traffickers and so exposed to money laundering offences. They are, however, not offshore financial centres and so complex financial instruments are not available for hiding the dirty cash generated by organised crime in these countries.…

By Keith Nuthall, International News Services

Both projects draw on the eight volume Unesco-coordinated General History of Africa written from 1964 to 1999 which tried to create a standard for the continent written from an African rather than a colonial European perspective.

An evaluation study on using this general history in higher education throughout the continent will be written this year.…

BY MARK GODFREY

ANYONE familiar with Beijing’s nightlife scene will have noticed a sure rise in the number of women smokers over the past couple of years. An increase in the number of women smokers, from a small base, has encouraged a local cigarette industry facing a public ban on smoking in public places in 2011 as well as rising taxes and an anti-smoking lobby growing in assertiveness.…

BY EMMA JACKSON

DUTCH electronics corporation Philips is working with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) to bring sustainable energy to African villages, where an estimated 560 million people are left in darkness after nightfall. The resulting restrictions on people’s activities can actually be serious – for instance children are unable to finish their homework.…

By Keith Nuthall

Historians are working with Unesco and educationalists to try to develop a common African history syllabus, including the teaching approach and pedagogical materials. The ambitious project will initially focus on helping primary and secondary schools across the continent and, this coming year, an assessment will consider how universities in Africa could benefit from such work.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has fined 12 producers of animal feed phosphates Euro EUR175million for operating a cartel across Europe, inflating feed prices for livestock producers. Phosphates are widely used in feed, including for cattle, pigs and poultry. The Commission said the cartel covered "most of the EU" in sharing markets and fixing prices.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

HISTORIANS are working with Unesco (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and educationalists to try and develop a common African history syllabus, teaching approach and pedagogical materials. The ambitious project will initially focus on helping primary and secondary schools across Africa, and this coming year an assessment will consider how universities in Africa could benefit from such work.…