Search Results for: United Nations

BY KEITH NUTHALL

SPACE maybe called the final frontier on TV, but for mining industry and environmentalists, bragging rights must surely go to the ocean deeps – the most inaccessible and unexplored regions on Earth. Speculation has been continuing for decades about the potential mineral riches on ocean floors, however there have always been four obvious problems about extracting them: noone really knows what is down there; the expense of prospecting for such minerals could be prohibitive; there is yet no comprehensive internationally agreed legal regime covering potential work in international waters; and there are risks it could cause irreparable damage to ecosystems that are barely understood.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, in New Delhi

THE SUCCESSFUL completion of Indo-US Nuclear Deal continues to be in the realm of speculation as the stubborn communist allies of the ruling coalition government in New Delhi and the hostile rightwing opposition in the parliament have further hardened their stand.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Kuwait

THE MARKET for fake car parts in the Middle East is rising at an alarming pace, now accounting for an estimated 30% of the region’s US$11 billion parts sector. In a recent Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report, the Middle East was highlighted as a central market in the US$16 billion global trade in fake auto parts, which is growing at an estimated 9-11% a year.…

BY LARS RUGAARD, in Copenhagen

REPUTEDLY immense riches looming below the glaciated surface of the Arctic Ocean have come within human reach because climate change is gradually thawing the world’s previously frozen-stiff polar regions. But this consequence of a milder physical climate has provoked tension between the countries with an Arctic Ocean, creating echoes of the long defunct cold war, and indicating a long and tough legal and political fight for what could be an important addition to the Earth’s undiscovered hydrocarbon reserves.…

BY DAVID ANDERSON, in Chisinau

AS the European Union (EU) expands its borders ever eastwards, the challenge of dealing with geopolitical and corruption issues grows larger. One such hotspot is Transdniestria, a mixed Russian, Ukrainean and Moldovan-speaking strip of land bordering Moldova, which is recognised by no other country as an independent state.…

BY MARK ROWE

WHICHEVER way you look, the oil and gas sector is investing in biofuels. The larger energy companies – driven by an eye for a new and potentially lucrative market as well as shareholder concern and governmental and international political pressure – are investigating both first and second generation biofuels.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

SPACE maybe called the final frontier on TV, but for mining industry and environmentalists, bragging rights must surely go to the ocean deeps – the most inaccessible and unexplored regions on Earth. Speculation has been continuing for decades about the potential mineral riches on ocean floors, however there have always been four obvious problems about extracting them: noone really knows what is down there; the expense of prospecting for such minerals could be prohibitive; there is yet no comprehensive internationally agreed legal regime covering potential work in international waters; and there are risks it could cause irreparable damage to ecosystems that are barely understood.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE TERM ‘preparation’ for chemical compounds used within cosmetics will be replaced in European Union (EU) legislation with the term ‘mixtures’ in a raft of legal reforms covering chemical products. These are being proposed by the European Commission to bring EU legislation in line with the United Nations’ Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL and ALAN OSBORN

GEOGRAPHICALLY Russia is part of Europe. Moscow is 1,557 miles from London, but 3,456 miles from New York. The Russian capital is also just 760 miles from Stockholm, as the crow flies. These figures are worth considering when trying understanding the often fraught energy diplomacy between Russia and the European Union (EU).…

BY DAVID HAWORTH, in Brussels

ONLY a small fraction of food induced illnesses are reported to the public health authorities because most cases are sporadic and outside recognised outbreaks, Robert Tauxe, of the Centre for Disease Control, Atlanta, USA, told a key Brussels environmental health meeting.…