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| Without Keystone, oil trains may cause six deaths per year: U.S. State Department report Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 06:49 PM PST (Reuters) - Replacing the Keystone XL pipeline with oil-laden freight trains from Canada may result in an average of six additional rail-related deaths per year, according to a U.S. State Department report that is adding to pressure for President Barack Obama to approve the line. The long-awaited study, released on Friday, focused on the environmental impact of TransCanada's $5.4 billion pipeline, but also spent several pages analyzing the potential human impact of various ways to transport oil, using historical injury and fatality statistics for railways and oil pipelines. Shipping another 830,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude "would result in an estimated 49 additional injuries and six additional fatalities for the No Action rail scenarios compared to one additional injury and no fatalities" per year if Keystone XL is built, according to the report. Keystone XL would carry 830,000 bpd from Alberta's oil sands U.S. refiners, but has been awaiting a presidential permit for more than five years. Full Story | Top |
| Iran says nuclear talks failure would be 'disaster' Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 03:22 PM PST  By Adrian Croft and Alexandra Hudson MUNICH (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister held rare private talks with his U.S. counterpart on Sunday and said it would be a "disaster" if Tehran did not turn a provisional agreement to defuse a decade-old dispute over its nuclear program into a permanent deal. In a sign of the thawing climate between the Islamic Republic and the West, Iran's Mohammad Javad Zarif said he had held bilateral talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, as well as with other ministers from the six powers negotiating with Tehran, during a three-day security conference in Munich. His talks looked forward to negotiations starting in Vienna on February 18 when Iran and the six powers will attempt over a period of six months to build on an interim agreement on Tehran's nuclear activities to reach a definitive deal. Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan's privatization tsar embarks on quest to revive economy Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 01:09 PM PST  By Mehreen Zahra-Malik ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Mohammad Zubair was on a cruise dinner with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Thailand when he was offered the hardest job of his life: privatizing a huge chunk of the economy while fighting resistance from the opposition and trade unions. Three privatization ministers have gone to jail and most have corruption cases hanging over their heads," he said. "Don't take this job." But Pakistan's new privatization tsar is determined to find buyers for 68 public companies, most of them loss-making, including two gas companies, an oil company, about 10 banks, the national airline and power distribution companies - all within the next two years. The government sees the sell-offs as a life saver for Pakistan's $225 billion economy crippled by power shortages, corruption and militant violence. Full Story | Top |
| Canadian miner Teck reports spill at Columbia River smelter Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 12:24 PM PST Canadian diversified miner Teck Resources Ltd is investigating another spill at its Trail smelting complex in British Columbia, but said on Sunday it does not expect the incident to have a long-term impact on fish or the environment. Up to 25 cubic meters (883 cubic feet) of a solution containing some sodium hydroxide was released into a sewer line on Tuesday, Teck said in a statement. Sodium hydroxide is a corrosive chemical that when concentrated can burn and blister skin. "Initial information indicates that the sewage treatment plant process may have diluted the high pH solution somewhat but otherwise had a limited effect," Teck spokesman Richard Deane said in an email on Sunday. Full Story | Top |
| Keystone report raises pressure on Obama to approve pipeline Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 12:23 PM PST  By Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pressure for President Barack Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline increased after a State Department report played down the impact it would have on climate change, irking environmentalists and delighting the project's proponents. But the White House signaled late on Friday that a decision on an application by TransCanada Corp to build the $5.4 billion project would be made "only after careful consideration" of the report, along with comments from the public and other government agencies. "The Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement includes a range of estimates of the project's climate impacts, and that information will now need to be closely evaluated by Secretary (of State John) Kerry and other relevant agency heads in the weeks ahead," White House spokesman Matt Lehrich said. Full Story | Top |
| EPA scrutiny could be linchpin to Keystone review process Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 12:23 PM PST By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's critical assessment of the proposed northern leg of the Keystone pipeline could have outsized influence on the final decision of whether to approve the project, experts familiar with the process said. Friday's State Department report contained the EPA's evaluation that crude produced from Canada's oil sands, which the pipeline would carry, are 17 percent more greenhouse gas intensive than average oil used in the United States. The EPA also said oil sands imports would be 2-10 percent more greenhouse-gas intensive than imported oil from Mexico or Venezuela that would probably replace it. The Departments of Defense, Commerce, Commerce, Energy, Justice, Transportation and Homeland Security are also evaluating the State Department's environmental assessment of the Keystone proposal. Full Story | Top |
| France sees Iran opportunity if sanctions are lifted: Moscovici Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 11:44 AM PST  France will have "significant commercial opportunities" in Iran if sanctions are lifted, but Tehran first has to prove its good faith in abiding by nuclear undertakings, Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said on Sunday. Moscovici was speaking on LCI television as a French business delegation travelled to the Iranian capital for meetings with officials and business leaders. The three-day visit is intended to "convey the message that, if the situation improves, there will be significant commercial opportunities for France in Iran", Moscovici said. Full Story | Top |
| White House: Obama awaits more Keystone reviews; timing unclear Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 10:18 AM PST  U.S. President Barack Obama still wants to hear from other federal agencies before deciding whether to accept the State Department's finding that the Keystone XL pipeline would have no major impact on climate change, his top aide said on Sunday. White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said Obama would decide once the Environmental Protection Agency, Energy Department and other federal experts offer their assessments of the State Department review, as well as their own analysis. But McDonough offered no word how soon Obama may rule. Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan rebels say army razed town, using foreign fighters Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 09:40 AM PST  By Andrew Green JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudanese rebels accused government forces on Sunday of razing the hometown of their leader Riek Machar, violating a ceasefire, and said the army was drawing support from foreign fighters now in the country. Rebel spokesman Lul Ruai Koang said government SPLA forces and fighters from the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement - a rebel group from north of the border - had destroyed the northern town of Leer on Saturday, massacring women and children as they fled. An army spokesman said he had not received any reports of fighting in Leer, where the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said last week more than 200 of its staff had been forced to flee because of growing insecurity. The claims and counter-claims came as east African ceasefire monitors began to arrive in South Sudan, seven weeks after violence erupted in the capital, Juba, before spreading across the world's newest state. Full Story | Top |
| German industry says energy reform plans threaten jobs Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 08:01 AM PST  By Madeline Chambers BERLIN (Reuters) - German industry has warned that the government's new energy plans jeopardize jobs in Europe's biggest economy, in particular a proposal to make firms that generate their own electricity pay charges to support renewable sources. Social Democrat (SPD) Economy Minister and Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has outlined a much-needed reform to a system of costly subsidies which has helped to fund a boom in green energy in Germany. The Federation of German Industry (BDI) said Gabriel's plans put 900,000 jobs in Germany at risk, according to Welt am Sonntag. In a letter to 900 companies, BDI chief Ulrich Grillo said the existing help given to energy-intensive firms was a condition for companies to stay in Germany. Full Story | Top |
| Advance ceasefire monitor team arrives in South Sudan Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 06:43 AM PST An advance team of monitors sent by east African nations arrived in South Sudan on Sunday to set up a mission tasked with observing a shaky ceasefire agreed by government and rebel forces. The warring sides signed the ceasefire on January 23 to end weeks of fighting, but sporadic clashes have continued, underlining the challenge regional mediators face when peace talks resume in neighboring Ethiopia next week. "We will start our mission, at least the teams will be deployed, within the next week," General Gebreegzabher Mebrahtu, a retired Ethiopian General who is leading the advance team, told reporters in Juba. The team's first task was to meet government officials and non-state organisations and conduct recces of possible areas for deployment, the regional IGAD grouping, which brokered the truce, said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Scotland's pro-independence camp gets small poll boost before vote Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 05:37 AM PST The number of people in Scotland who want their small country to become independent of the United Kingdom in a referendum later this year has risen slightly, a poll showed on Sunday, but those opposed to a breakaway still enjoy a commanding lead. In the referendum, to be held on September 18 this year, voters will decide whether Scotland, which has a population of just over 5 million and is a source of North Sea oil, should end its 307-year-old union with England and leave the UK. A "yes" vote would place the future of Britain's Scotland-based nuclear submarine fleet in doubt and could weaken London's claim to a permanent seat on the United Nations and its influence in the European Union. But it showed support for Scotland remaining part of the UK was steady at 42 percent, the same as in November, suggesting Scots will reject independence. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. and Iran meet to discuss final nuclear accord Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 04:20 AM PST  By Adrian Croft and Alexandra Hudson MUNICH (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of the United States and Iran held rare private talks in Germany on Sunday to discuss the next stage in efforts to reach a definitive agreement to end a decade-old dispute over Iran's nuclear program. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference to talk about nuclear negotiations between six world powers and Iran that will resume in Vienna on February 18. The talks will aim to settle the nuclear dispute after Iran agreed, under a landmark preliminary deal last November, to halt its most sensitive nuclear operations in return for winning some relief from sanctions. In his talks with Zarif, Kerry stressed the importance of both sides negotiating in good faith and Iran abiding by its commitments under the November interim accord, a U.S. State Department official said. Full Story | Top |
| Indian state bars foreign supermarkets in latest blow for chains Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 02:00 AM PST  By Tony Munroe MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Indian state of Rajasthan has barred foreign direct investment in supermarkets, an ominous sign for global retailers who covet India's vast but fragmented retail sector if the country's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) comes to power nationally in upcoming elections. The BJP is considered to be more investor-friendly than India's ruling Congress party but opposes foreign direct investment in supermarkets because of its impact on small shopkeepers. Full Story | Top |
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