Monday, January 9th, 2012
An investigation into the possessions of Russia’s powerful elite by leading Russian daily Novaya Gazeta has led to the claim that more than 40% of property in Montenegro is owned by Russians, and that there are even entire villages which are 100% Russian owned, according to an article in Croatia’s Slobodna Dalmacija on January 8, 2012. Read more
Monday, January 9th, 2012
First Minister Alex Salmond is to travel to Abu Dhabi this week to sign a “ground-breaking” contract with renewables firm Masdar. Under the agreement, the Energy Technology Partnership – a union of 12 Scottish universities – will develop green energy products with Masdar. They aim to produce new wind, solar, wave and tidal energy technology. Read More
Monday, January 9th, 2012
But Action for Market Towns – the national charity representing market and small towns across the UK – says the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) needs to have a much clearer definition of sustainable development than that included in the draft document. The plans involve the replacement of more than 1,000 pages of national planning
Sunday, January 8th, 2012
The latest EU agreement has disappointed and fallen short of expectations, failing to convince markets of the presence of any credible plans to tackle the Euro-crisis. Though the EU members agreed on measures in the first half of December, intended to communicate to the financial markets that they are working towards the goal of a
Sunday, January 8th, 2012
Norwegian gas from the Snøhvit gas field outside Hammerfest can for the first time be shipped through the Northeast Passage this summer. The Norwegian company Knutsen OAS Shipping has received permission from Russian authorities to transport LNG from Snøhvit to Japan along the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Read More
Sunday, January 8th, 2012
Total length in Sultanate 1,061 km — GCC project completion by 2017 – MUSCAT — Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Futaisi, Transport and Communications Minister, said the financial and technical offers for the pre-qualified companies for the provision of the consultancy services tender for the design and supervision of the railway project were opened recently.
Sunday, January 8th, 2012
Britain’s network of 18th century canals could once again play a major industrial role, in a revival driven by the demand for green energy. There are hopes that inland waterways that are now the preserve of walkers, barge-owners and holidaymakers may finally undergo a rebirth as freight transport routes to meet the needs of power stations run
Sunday, January 8th, 2012
The Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry issued a decree on 21 December 2011 on the fees of the National Land Survey of Finland (NLS). The decree prescribes that the NLS will open its topographic datasets to the public on 1 May 2012 to be used freely and free of charge. “From 1 of May 2012, digital maps portraying
Saturday, January 7th, 2012
At least VND1.55 trillion (US$76 million) has been used incorrectly in master-planning and land-use activities in six HCM City districts. “Violations were found in every procedure, from settings, exams, approval and deployment of the master plan, to land-use plans and management,” Le Sy Bay, vice head of the Government Inspectorate’s Department of Industrial Economy. During the 2001-2005
Saturday, January 7th, 2012
China is considering a proposal to create an energy “super-ministry” as part of a sweeping cabinet reshuffle in 2013, two sources said, a step that would help Beijing impose its will on an industry beset by bureaucratic infighting. The new ministry would replace the National Energy Administration (NEA), China’s main energy regulator, and would take
