Search Results for: United Nations

BY PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT

THE SYRIAN economy is in bad shape: sanctions have been slapped on the country by the United States and the European Union (EU), and the uprisings that began in March last year continue unabated. But while one of Syria’s main revenue earners – fossil fuel oil – has been affected by instability and international sanctions, its olive oil sector has had its best year ever harvest, estimated at 200,000 tonnes.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, IN NEW DELHI

DRINKS industry specialists in India think that troubled giant United Spirits Ltd (USL) could be forced to seek international partnerships to help navigate its present financial difficulties. United Spirits has lost half its share price value from USD20 to USD10 in the last six months.…

BY LEAH GERMAIN

MINERAL market specialists are calling for the United States government to step up investment and support for the country’s rare earth mining industry or else the country will lose out on developing important green technologies to competing countries like China.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT; AND HELENA FLUSFELDER, IN JERUSALEM

IT is not often that a country that has serious energy security issues gets to choose about whether it wants an energy export industry – but the State of Israel is in this relatively happy situation.…

BY MARK ROWE, IN LONDON; ZLATKO CONKAS, IN NOVI SAD, SERBIA; MIKE STEIN, IN PRAGUE; AND BLAKE BERRY, IN WARSAW

DURING the spring of 2011, the prevailing view throughout eastern Europe’s personal care and toiletries market was that while business was not exactly buoyant, the worst of the recession was over – then came the credit crises and the faltering Euro.…

BY ROBERT STOKES, IN EDINBURGH

INVESTORS want to make the United Kingdom the hot spot for new gas storage projects in the European Union (EU). The UK tops the EU’s league table of projects either applied for or with official consent: 11.1 billion cubic metres (bcm) of space compared with 4.6bcm of current operational capacity.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE UNITED States has appealed against a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling that claimed American labelling rules for dolphin-friendly tuna were so tough, they broke global commerce rules. Washington opposes a September 2011 WTO decision in a long-running dispute that would allow importers, notably Mexico, to label tuna as ‘dolphin-friendly’ when fishermen corral dolphins (who eat tuna) to help them target these valuable fish.…

BY ALAN OSBORN, IN LONDON; JULIAN RYALL, IN TOKYO; AND LEAH GERMAIN, IN EDMONTON

TEXTILE recycling has come a long way since the days of the rag-and-bone man a generation or so ago, with particularly dramatic changes happening in some European countries over the past ten years.…

BY JULIAN RYALL, IN TOKYO

MICROBIOLOGISTS discovered microbially-produced surface-active agents as far back as the 1960s but the cosmetics industry largely overlooked the true value of biosurfactants – as they are more handily known – until recently. Japan has been at the forefront of this move, reflecting a desire amongst Japanese consumers in recent years for products that are kind to the environment.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE APPELLATE body of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has today (Monday) dismissed the bulk of China’s appeals against a WTO disputes panel ruling branding illegal its export duties and quotas on bauxite, magnesium, silicon metal, yellow phosphorous, and zinc.…