Search Results for: United Nations

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A COMPREHENSIVE environmental assessment of oil-production impacted sites is being undertaken in Nigeria’s Niger Delta by the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Development Programme. This follows a request by the Nigerian government peace initiative in Ogoniland.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, in New Delhi

THE INDIA-USA nuclear power technology transfer agreement has received a new lease of life after the Congress Party-led Indian minority government’s communist allies (on whom they rely for votes) relented partially during a crucial coordination committee meeting on November 17.…

By Paul Cochrane in Beirut

The universities of the Arab world are going to receive a thoroughgoing check-up by education specialists from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in a joint venture with the largest private foundation in the Arab world.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is refusing to give up on Russia and its neighbours as stable energy partners for the future, despite the largely inconclusive summit between member states and Moscow last month (October) in Mafra, Portugal. It failed to make progress on the demands from the European Commission for reciprocal liberalisation in Russian energy markets, should the EU allow Russian companies – notably Gazprom – a free hand in member states gas sectors.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has approved the latest open-skies deal negotiated between the European Union (EU) and the United States. It allows any EU air carrier to fly from the EU to any American airport without pricing or capacity restrictions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

*Valero retail station

A Valero retail petrol station. Valero petrol is 5% ethanol

Credit – Valero

*Valero – Texas City

Valero’s coker unit at their Texas City refinery.

Credit – Valero

*rtcfule

Caption – Ethanol is now available at a growing number of US gas stations

Credit – National Renewable Energy Laboratory

*ethanol plant jpg & PICT0184_1JPG

Caption – An ethanol production facility in the Midwestern United States, capable of producing 50 million gallons of ethanol annually.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE PUBLISHERS Association has welcomed the formal request by the United States government for a World Trade Organisation (WTO) disputes panel charged with ruling on whether Chinese restrictions on the import of books and other copyrighted products breaks global commerce rules.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE UNITED States and the European Union (EU) have agreed to open to the public the November 6 and 7 meetings of a disputes panel at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) considering their 12-year diplomatic battle over the banana trade.…

BY MARK ROWE

LORRIES are increasingly being stolen for their value as scrap and recycled materials, UK authorities have warned the road haulage industry. The rise in thefts of lorries has been blamed partly on the high prices now paid for scrap metal on the international markets – driven in part by China’s insatiable demand for metal – and on thieves who have realized that almost any part of a lorry, from wheel hubs to side panels, axles, catalytic converters, a plastic chair or the gold in the wiring looms has a recyclable value.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has welcomed a cooperation agreement struck between the British and Irish governments to prevent illegal waste shipments across the land border between their two countries. Brussels was threatening legal action over the problem, because it broke European Union (EU) waste shipment rules, but with London and Dublin combining their forces, and tougher waste regulations being approved for Northern Ireland, the Commission has been satisfied.…