Search Results for: saudi arabia⊂mit=Search

BY ALAN OSBORN, in London

EUROPEAN and US regulatory bodies have agreed to co-operate to develop common testing and engineering standards for mobile air conditioning systems such as those used in automobiles. Because some of the gases used in these systems, such as HFC 134a, are far more lethal to the environment than carbon dioxide, the European Union (EU) has agreed to start phasing them out in 2011 and stop using them in new autos from 2017.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

THE NUMBER of Syrians studying in the US has dropped a steep 32% over the past five years, with sometimes-criticised universities in Syria the direct beneficiaries, even attracting foreign students from around the Middle East.

The move comes as Arab students are increasingly shunning top ranked US universities because of anger about its government’s foreign policy, and as Syria’s ossified university system opens up to the private sector.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE, in Sydney

FOR devotees of Captain Kirk, Dr Spock and the original Star Trek crew, the thrilling world of nanotechnology could sound vaguely familiar. It offers the 21st century a swathe of new products and services, from dirt-repelling cars to ‘thinking’ materials that can change colour automatically.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPE’S business newspapers are reporting that German publishing giant Bertelsmann will join the Quaero serach engine consortium that wants to create a European rival to Google. A spokeswoman for Bertelsmann’s information logistics arm Empolis however would only confirm to the Bookseller that "we are considering this", adding that there may be a formal announcement by the end of this week.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

OUT of 60 recommendations made in a report last December by the European Parliament on strategies to prevent human trafficking only one specifically mentioned money laundering and even there the message was essentially "carry on as before" and "keep your eyes open".…

BY MARK ROWE AND PAUL COCHRANE

INTRODUCTION

JUST as chocolate sells well in cold countries, so do soft drinks flourish in hot countries, which would suggest that North Africa and the Levant presents an inviting face to the international drinks market.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FACILITIES for the new permanent secretariat for the International Energy Forum (IEF) have been launched in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The secretariat will help run biannual summits for the IEF, which links oil producer and importing countries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) has admitted Saudi Arabia as a member, a move making Riyadh remove rules preventing overseas oil and gas companies from serving its wealthy petroleum sector. All WTO member countries would have equal access, under the WTO ‘most favoured nation’ principle.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE USE of more and increasingly sophisticated monitoring equipment to detect radioactive steel scrap, that might otherwise be melted and cause health problems for workers and the public, has been urged by a European Commission report. It warns: “The problem of rogue sources shows no sign of diminishing”.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE
IN the Lebanese, Syrian and Jordanian paint markets there is always an extra ingredient that must be thrown into the mix: politics. The political situation, internal or external, can have positive knock-on effects, such as Jordan’s booming construction market due to an influx of Iraqi refugees, or negatively, such as in Lebanon, where the sector is experiencing something of a slump due to political instability.…