Search Results for: Research

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

WITH the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the midst of an unprecedented construction boom, the paint sector is flourishing with contracts of up to half a million dollars underway, 200% growth in fire-resistance paints, and over 16% growth predicted for the sector as a whole this year.…

BY MONICA DOBIE

FOOD consumers often do not understand the nutritional information given on packaging labels, according to a comprehensive US study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Vanderbilt University Medical Centre researchers have found that the reading and mathematical skills of a significant number of consumers may actually be insufficient to extract needed dietary information from labels.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

INLAND waterway transport, long the Cinderella of sustainable transport in the UK, could receive a boost via a European Union (EU) research project developing new ship designs and more effective links with road and rail systems. The CREATING project involves 29 research teams from across Europe, and their designs will be published and made available to inland ship freight operators.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A BRITISH science team is leading new European Union (EU) research that seeks to measure phenomena that have thus far been un-measurable. The UK National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, is heading up a ‘measurement of naturalness’ project that is part of the EU Sixth Framework Project ‘measuring the impossible’ series of studies.…

BY DINAH GARDNER, in Beijing

CHINA is talking tough over the launch of a World Trade Organisation (WTO) case over its levying of tariffs on imported auto parts, and analysts expect Beijing to follow this up at the WTO before even considering compromise.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

It looks as though you’re going to have to pay even more to run a big car in Europe soon if the motor industry there doesn’t smarten up its act to cut CO2 emissions. This follows a new report from the European Commission in Brussels on the progress made since 1998/9 when auto manufacturers from Europe, Japan and Korea pledged to voluntarily reduce carbon dioxide emissions in new cars sold in the 25-nation European bloc to 140g/km by 2008/09.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

The Iranian tobacco market has been partly opened up to international players in the past five years and growth is expected to rise strongly, but development of the sector is beset by extraordinarily high rates of smuggling and governmental regulations.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL and DAVID HAWORTH, in Brussels

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) financial watchdog, the Court of Auditors, has for the 12th year running refused to give EU accounts a complete positive assurance. The court said much EU spending in 2005 had not involved proper invoices, correctly paid bills and the selection of best value suppliers.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Damascus and Amman

JORDAN and Syria both have large tobacco markets, with a third of Jordan’s population, and around 60% of Syria’s male population, being smokers. Both markets are growing, spurred on by large young populations and the cultural prevalence of smoking cigarettes and nargileh (water pipes), but not all is rosy in the sector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has intervened in detailed debates over the restoration of North Sea plaice and sole stocks, accusing the European Commission of failing to listen to expertise within the fishing industry. In a comprehensive set of amendments to Brussels’ proposed conservation plan, the parliament has claimed the Commission is guilty of "totally ignoring the North Sea Regional Advisory Council (NSRAC)", and in this way "has missed an opportunity to generate support for its own policy", instead indulging in top-down policy dictates that were supposed to be a thing of the past.…