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| Monday night viewing: close encounter with enormous asteroid Monday, Feb 17, 2014 07:50 PM PST (Reuters) - An asteroid estimated to be the size of three football fields is set for its close-up on a live webcast as it whizzes by Earth on Monday, roughly a year after one exploded over Russia and injured 1,200 people. Slooh Space Camera plans to track the close approach of Asteroid 2000 EM26 as it races past the planet at approximately 27,000 miles per hour (43,000 km/h), starting at 9 p.m. EST (2 a.m. GMT, February 18), the robotic telescope service said in a statement on Slooh.com. The 295-yard (270-meter) asteroid was expected to streak by Earth little more than a year after another asteroid exploded on February 15, 2013 over Chelyabinsk, Russia, injuring 1,200 people following a massive shock wave that shattered windows and damaged buildings. However, the International Olympic Committee at the last minute said it could be done only after the games and separately. Full Story | Top |
| Earth marks close encounter with enormous asteroid Monday, Feb 17, 2014 07:49 PM PST (Webcast held, asteroid unsighted) Feb 17 (Reuters) - An asteroid estimated to be the size of three football fields whizzed close to Earth on Monday, roughly a year after one exploded over Russia and injured 1,200 people. Slooh Space Camera tracked the approach of the asteroid as it raced past the planet at about 27,000 mph (43,000 kmph), starting at 9 p.m. EST (2 a.m. GMT, Feb. 18), the robotic telescope service said in a statement on Slooh.com. The Dubai Astronomy Group provided Slooh photos of the part of the sky where the rock was expected to be seen, but its motion could not be picked out immediately in a live webcast against the backdrop of night-time stars. The 295-yard (270-m) asteroid was streaking past Earth at a distance of about 2.1 million miles (3.4 million km) little more than a year after another asteroid exploded on Feb. 15, 2013, over Chelyabinsk, Russia. Full Story | Top |
| Iran and U.S. agree final nuclear deal may be unreachable Monday, Feb 17, 2014 03:49 PM PST  By Parisa Hafezi and Louis Charbonneau VIENNA (Reuters) - The United States and long-time arch-foe Iran agree on at least one thing ahead of Tuesday's negotiations on a long-term nuclear deal - reaching an agreement will be very difficult, if not impossible. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the man who has the final say on all matters of state in the Islamic Republic, declared again on Monday that talks between Tehran and six world powers "will not lead anywhere. Their remarks came on the eve of the first round of high-level negotiations since an interim deal was struck on November 24 under which Tehran curbed some nuclear activities for six months in return for limited sanctions relief to allow time for a long-term agreement to be hammered out. Despite his skepticism about the chances for a lasting deal with the West, Khamenei made clear Tehran was committed to continuing the negotiations between Iran and Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. Full Story | Top |
| France moves to ban GM maize planting in short, long term Monday, Feb 17, 2014 02:30 PM PST France published a decree on Monday to prevent the planting of genetically modified maize as a stopgap measure, while the government works on changes to domestic and European laws to ensure a longer-term ban. The French government, which maintains that GM crops present environmental risks, has been trying to institute a new ban on GM maize (corn) after a senior court twice struck down similar measures. But in a surprise move, the French Senate late on Monday rejected a proposed domestic law banning GM maize crops with a majority of voters adopting a motion of inadmissibility claiming the attempt as unconstitutional. Monday's decree was timed to avert any sowing of GM maize by farmers before a law banning planting of GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Full Story | Top |
| Explosive found in carry-on bag at Anchorage airport Monday, Feb 17, 2014 12:36 PM PST By Steve Quinn JUNEAU, Alaska (Reuters) - Security agents at Alaska's largest commercial airport closed the lone security checkpoint for nearly two hours on Sunday after discovering an oil field worker packing an explosive device. The "possible threat item" was detected as the passenger's carry-on bag was being screened at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport on Sunday afternoon, said Ann Davis, a Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman. The passenger had a ticket to fly on Shared Services Aviation, a joint service between energy companies ConocoPhillips and BP, which transports employees and contractors. Full Story | Top |
| First biomarker could help boys at risk of major depression Monday, Feb 17, 2014 12:06 PM PST By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - British brain scientists have identified the first biomarker, or biological signpost, for clinical depression and say it could help find boys in particular who are at risk of developing the debilitating mental illness. In a study in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (PNAS) journal, the team found that teenage boys who have a combination of depressive symptoms and raised levels of the stress hormone cortisol are up to 14 times more likely to develop major depression than those who show neither trait. "We're very bad about looking after our mental health, and yet the problems of mental health are extremely common," said Barbara Sahakian, a Cambridge University professor of Clinical neuropsychology who worked on the study. "(And) we now have a very real way of identifying those teenage boys most likely to develop clinical depression." He said armed with such knowledge, doctors and other carers could target prevention strategies at depression-vulnerable boys and "hopefully help reduce their risk of serious episodes of depression and their consequences in adult life". Full Story | Top |
| German coalition hurt by scandal but won't break Monday, Feb 17, 2014 08:43 AM PST  Agriculture Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich's resignation prompted tit-for-tat calls for the Social Democrats, who share power in Chancellor Angela Merkel's "grand coalition", to offer up a scalp of their own. However, analysts expect the coalition, which has a large parliamentary majority, to return to business as usual after a brief spell of shin-kicking between Merkel's conservatives, its Bavarian sister party led by Horst Seehofer and the Social Democrats of Sigmar Gabriel. So despite the fighting, the coalition will survive." Merkel's grand coalition, which was sworn in only two months ago, has to tackle delicate reforms of the energy and pension systems. But Friedrich's resignation last Friday was over allegations dating from when he held a different position in a different government. Full Story | Top |
| 'Green and clean' tech Finland looks to Israel for inspiration Monday, Feb 17, 2014 08:20 AM PST  By Luke Baker BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen is determined to overhaul his economy, and cites Israel's success as a "start-up" nation brimming with high-tech innovation as his model. With just 5.4 million people, a world-class education system and an international mindset, Finland can be more nimble than many of its competitors at a time when its industrial output is in decline and productivity falling. "We have to reinvent our country," Katainen told Reuters, discussing Finland's tendency for 20-year economic cycles, the end of the last marked by Nokia's decline after a decade of global domination. Katainen is banking on several high-tech sectors, in at least one of which Finland has already made a name for itself - the gaming industry, where companies such as Rovio, the designer of Angry Birds, are reknown. Full Story | Top |
| Shell to drill for oil in Namibian waters Monday, Feb 17, 2014 07:11 AM PST  Royal Dutch Shell is to drill offshore Namibia, a growing area of interest for oil and gas explorers, the southern African country's mines and energy minister said on Monday. Shell has taken over exploration blocks 2913A and 2914B in the Orange Basin from Signet Petroleum, with the Anglo-Dutch group acquiring a 90 percent stake in the two blocks and Namibian national oil company Namcor keeping its 10 percent carried interest. Full Story | Top |
| Britain must ease planning rules on shale gas - consultancy Monday, Feb 17, 2014 06:27 AM PST Britain must streamline shale gas planning rules to cut delays or it will fail to achieve significant output and will miss out on potential tax revenues, energy consultancy Poyry said. The country is in the early stages of exploring for unconventional gas to counter growing dependence on imports and a government-commissioned geological study has estimated it could have shale resources equivalent to several hundred years of demand. But Poyry warned on Monday that red tape was unnecessarily delaying shale gas development. "If the regulatory and permitting process is not made more efficient, then it may not be possible to achieve shale gas production at any scale," Poyry analysts said in the report, which was also given to members of the economics committee in the House of Lords, parliament's second chamber, last week. Full Story | Top |
| China calls for fair handling of escalating solar dispute with U.S. Monday, Feb 17, 2014 06:18 AM PST  China urged the United States on Monday to "objectively and fairly" handle an ongoing trade dispute between the two countries after Washington signaled last week it could extend import duties on Chinese solar panels to a wider range of products. The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled on Friday that Chinese solar panels made with cells manufactured in Taiwan may harm the American solar industry, bringing it closer to adding to the duties it slapped on products from China in 2012. The U.S. arm of German solar manufacturer SolarWorld AG had complained that Chinese manufacturers are sidestepping the duties by shifting production of the cells used to make their panels to Taiwan and continuing to flood the U.S. market with cheap products. "China remains open for trade negotiations and hopes for sincere dialogue to properly resolve the issue to achieve a win-win result," the official added. Full Story | Top |
| Libya parliament agrees to "early" election amid public anger Monday, Feb 17, 2014 06:09 AM PST  Libya's parliament will call elections "as early as possible", its president said on Monday, in an apparent effort to assuage ordinary Libyans angry over political chaos in the country nearly three years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. The parliament, the General National Congress (GNC), is deadlocked between Islamists and nationalists, compounding a sense of chaos as Libya's fledgling army tries to assert itself against unruly ex-rebels, tribal groups and Islamist militants. Many people in the OPEC oil-producing nation blame mainly the GNC infighting for a lack of progress in the transition towards democracy since the ousting of Gaddafi in 2011. "The GNC announces... that elections will be held as early as possible," GNC President Nouri Abusahmain said in a televised speech marking the third anniversary of the start of the NATO-backed uprising against Gaddafi. Full Story | Top |
| S.Africa's Eskom says power supply "very tight" this week Monday, Feb 17, 2014 05:34 AM PST  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's electricity supply will be "very tight" this week because of outages at a number of units, state-run power utility Eskom said on Monday. Eskom is battling to keep the lights on in Africa's largest economy as it races to build new plants and meet rising demand that threatens to outstrip available supply. Full Story | Top |
| Dividend hunters toast earnings season surprises Monday, Feb 17, 2014 05:21 AM PST  By Atul Prakash LONDON (Reuters) - Halfway through Europe's company earnings season, investors who made record bets in search of dividends have cause for celebration, though they should prepare for disappointment from some traditionally high-paying sectors. Global miner Rio Tinto raised its dividend by 15 percent last week, and French oil firm Total joined in with a 3.4 percent rise, while French bank BNP Paribas said it planned to boost its dividend payout ratio to around 45 percent of earnings by 2016 from 41 percent. Investors have been lured to these funds by predictions that aggregate dividend levels in Europe will return to growth this year after holding flat for two years. According to Markit data, dividends for MSCI Europe (ex-UK) companies will rise 5 percent to 183 billion euros ($250 billion) in 2014 and to almost 200 billion euros next year. Full Story | Top |
| Bouygues takes $1.9 billion write-down on Alstom stake Monday, Feb 17, 2014 05:18 AM PST  By Natalie Huet PARIS (Reuters) - French conglomerate Bouygues will write down the value of its stake in train and turbine maker Alstom by 1.4 billion euros ($1.9 billion) to reflect its weaker cash flow forecasts and depressed market value. The move cuts the stake's value in Bouygues' balance sheet by about 31 percent to 3.08 billion euros. It will appear in fourth-quarter financial statements and will have no impact on Bouygues' cash position or operating performance, the construction-to-telecoms conglomerate said on Monday. Alstom cut its forecasts for free cash flow and operating profitability last month because of weak orders for power equipment, raising the specter of a dividend cut and sending its shares tumbling. Full Story | Top |
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