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| Olympics-What do you do with a mountain resort with Games gone? Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 08:00 PM PST (repeats with no changes to text) By David Ljunggren and Olga Petrova ROSA KHUTOR, Russia, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Stanislav Kuznetsov has a headache like no other: it measures 780,000 square metres and covers a large expanse of Russian mountainside. The Gorky Gorod resort in the snowy Caucasus peaks above Sochi was packed during the Winter Olympics. Now the Games are ending, Kuznetsov's job is to keep filling the nine hotels. "We are seriously thinking about the future," said Kuznetsov, deputy chairman of the board at Russian state lender Sberbank, which owns 92 percent of Gorky Gorod. Full Story | Top |
| Indonesian copper smelters at risk as mining policy misfires Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 03:59 PM PST By Michael Taylor and Wilda Asmarini JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian policies to force miners to process raw materials at home are misfiring, as disputes over the new rules disrupt plans to invest nearly $4 billion in copper smelters to cater for miners such as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono imposed a controversial mining law on January 12, but the rules have left the mining sector in turmoil. The tax ratchets up sharply before an outright export ban from 2017 and Freeport and Newmont Mining Corp, which produce 97 percent of Indonesia's copper, have halted all exports and are locked in talks with the government because they say the tax breaches their contracts. This has deepened uncertainty on plans to construct three copper smelters, since the firms building them say they need firm supply guarantees from Freeport and Newmont to put in place financing so they can proceed. Full Story | Top |
| Rock around the clock: zircon crystal is oldest piece of Earth Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 12:59 PM PST  Scientists using two different age-determining techniques have shown that a tiny zircon crystal found on a sheep ranch in western Australia is the oldest known piece of our planet, dating to 4.4 billion years ago. Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience on Sunday, the researchers said the discovery indicates that Earth's crust formed relatively soon after the planet formed and that the little gem was a remnant of it. John Valley, a University of Wisconsin geoscience professor who led the research, said the findings suggest that the early Earth was not as harsh a place as many scientists have thought. But because some scientists hypothesized that this technique might give a false date due to possible movement of lead atoms within the crystal over time, the researchers turned to a second sophisticated method to verify the finding. Full Story | Top |
| Global warming won't cut winter deaths as hoped: UK study Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 10:43 AM PST By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent OSLO (Reuters) - Global warming will fail to reduce high winter death rates as some officials have predicted because there will be more harmful weather extremes even as it gets less cold, a British study showed on Sunday. A draft U.N. report due for publication next month says that, overall, climate change will harm human health, but adds: "Positive effects will include modest improvements in cold-related mortality and morbidity in some areas due to fewer cold extremes, shifts in food production and reduced capacity of disease-carrying vectors." However a report in the journal Nature Climate Change on the situation in England and Wales said climate warming would likely not decrease winter mortality in those places. Lead author Philip Staddon of the University of Exeter told Reuters that the findings were likely to apply to other developed countries in temperate regions that risk more extreme weather as temperatures rise. Excess winter deaths (EWDs), the number of people who die in winter compared to other times of the year, roughly halved to 31,000 in England and Wales in 2012-12 from 60,000 typical in the 1950s, official data show. Full Story | Top |
| Sun-dimming volcanoes partly explain global warming hiatus-study Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 10:06 AM PST By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent OSLO (Reuters) - Small volcanic eruptions help explain a hiatus in global warming this century by dimming sunlight and offsetting a rise in emissions of heat-trapping gases to record highs, a study showed on Sunday. Eruptions of at least 17 volcanoes since 2000, including Nabro in Eritrea, Kasatochi in Alaska and Merapi in Indonesia, ejected sulfur whose sun-blocking effect had been largely ignored until now by climate scientists, it said. The pace of rising world surface temperatures has slowed since an exceptionally warm 1998, heartening those who doubt that an urgent, trillion-dollar shift to renewable energies from fossil fuels is needed to counter global warming. "This is a complex detective story," said Benjamin Santer of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, lead author of the study in the journal Nature Geoscience that gives the most detailed account yet of the cooling impact of volcanoes. Full Story | Top |
| Polls show Scots becoming more sceptical about independence Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 08:33 AM PST  Scots are becoming more sceptical about the idea of Scotland becoming independent of the United Kingdom, two polls showed on Sunday, delivering a setback to nationalists who want the small country to call off its 307-year-old union with England. The polls were published on the eve of the first full cabinet meeting to be held in Scotland by Prime Minister David Cameron's government, a move meant to demonstrate his commitment to keeping the oil-rich nation in the UK. Scots will decide whether to break from the UK in a referendum on September 18, with the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) trying to persuade them they would be freer and more prosperous on their own, a claim Cameron rejects. An ICM poll for the Scotland on Sunday newspaper showed support for a "no" vote had risen to 49 percent, up five percentage points in a month, while support for a "yes" vote remained static at 37 percent. Full Story | Top |
| Polls show Scots becoming more skeptical about independence Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 08:29 AM PST  Scots are becoming more skeptical about the idea of Scotland becoming independent of the United Kingdom, two polls showed on Sunday, delivering a setback to nationalists who want the small country to call off its 307-year-old union with England. The polls were published on the eve of the first full cabinet meeting to be held in Scotland by Prime Minister David Cameron's government, a move meant to demonstrate his commitment to keeping the oil-rich nation in the UK. Scots will decide whether to break from the UK in a referendum on September 18, with the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) trying to persuade them they would be freer and more prosperous on their own, a claim Cameron rejects. An ICM poll for the Scotland on Sunday newspaper showed support for a "no" vote had risen to 49 percent, up five percentage points in a month, while support for a "yes" vote remained static at 37 percent. Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria closes northern border with Cameroon to keep out Islamists Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 07:24 AM PST Nigeria has sealed its northern border with Cameroon in an effort to shut out Islamist militants using its neighbor as a launchpad for attacks, the military said on Sunday. The closure extends from northern Borno state, by Lake Chad, to the southern end of Adamawa state, around halfway along Nigeria's 1,500-mile border with Cameroon. Both states are covered by a state of emergency that President Goodluck Jonathan declared last May as part of an offensive meant to crush Islamist sect Boko Haram. "To effectively curtail the activities of the insurgents, the Cameroon border in the northeast has been closed indefinitely," Brigadier-General Rogers Ibe Nicholas said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Libya's oil production falls to 230,000 bpd after oilfield closure Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 06:24 AM PST Libya's oil production has fallen to 230,000 barrels a day due to the closure of the El Sharara field following protests, state-owned National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Sunday. NOC closed on Thursday the 340,000 bpd El Sharara field located in the remote south due to protests and clashes in the area. "Production today is 230,000 bpd," NOC spokesman Mohammed El Harari said, without giving a breakdown of oilfields. Restoring El Sharara to full production at the start of the year had been a victory for Prime Minister Ali Zeidan as he struggled to end another protest that blockaded three eastern oil terminals since August. Full Story | Top |
| Small Nebraska agency might further complicate Keystone fight Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 05:06 AM PST  By Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A small Nebraska state commission that has never considered a major oil pipeline route could soon play a pivotal role in deciding the fate of the Keystone XL pipeline, a project brimming with political risk for both the U.S. and Canadian governments. A court ruling this week reinstating the Nebraska Public Service Commission's authority over TransCanada Corp's $5.4 billion project from the Alberta oil sands has raised new questions about a long-delayed project that Canada considers crucial to its economic future. As a result, Keystone XL may face several more months of uncertainty while the state's judicial system finally decides who has the power to approve its proposed path. The commission could start its review once TransCanada submits an application, but the company will likely wait to see whether the lower court's ruling stands up against appeals. Full Story | Top |
| West faces daunting task to rescue Ukraine after uprising Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 04:40 AM PST  By Paul Taylor PARIS (Reuters) - Western nations face a daunting task to help stabilize a near bankrupt Ukraine after a popular uprising toppled its Russian-backed president, and will need to placate a wounded Moscow. The biggest challenge falls to the European Union, which helped broker an end to violent repression in Kiev last week, after Ukrainians rebelled against President Viktor Yanukovich. The European Commission's economics chief, Olli Rehn, promised substantial financial support on Sunday and went out on a political limb by saying the country should be given the prospect of joining the EU one day. Rehn made clear that Brussels stood ready to provide more than the 610 million euros ($838 million) in immediate assistance that was on offer last November when Yanukovich spurned a far-reaching economic pact with the EU, preferring Vladimir Putin's promise of a $15 billion bailout from Russia. Full Story | Top |
| UK tells Russia: Don't intervene in Ukraine, let economy heal Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 03:58 AM PST  By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Britain warned Russia on Sunday against intervening in Ukraine's "complex" crisis, saying London wanted to contribute to an international economic programme aimed at shoring up the "desperately difficult" situation of the Ukrainian economy. In comments that may anger Moscow, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said his government was in regular contact with the Russian government to try to persuade it that closer ties between Ukraine and the European Union should not worry it. "If there's an economic package, it will be important that Russia doesn't do anything to undermine that economic package and is working in cooperation and support of it," Hague told BBC TV. When asked if he was worried that Russia might "send in the tanks" to defend the interests of Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine, Hague warned against what he called "external duress" or Russian intervention. Full Story | Top |
| What do you do with a mountain resort with Games gone? Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 03:01 AM PST  By David Ljunggren and Olga Petrova ROSA KHUTOR, Russia (Reuters) - Stanislav Kuznetsov has a headache like no other: it measures 780,000 square meters and covers a large expanse of Russian mountainside. The Gorky Gorod resort in the snowy Caucasus peaks above Sochi was packed during the Winter Olympics. Now the Games are ending, Kuznetsov's job is to keep filling the nine hotels. "We are seriously thinking about the future," said Kuznetsov, deputy chairman of the board at Russian state lender Sberbank, which owns 92 percent of Gorky Gorod. Full Story | Top |
| S.Sudan army says repels rebel attacks on positions near Bor Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 02:41 AM PST By Carl Odera JUBA (Reuters) - The South Sudanese army said on Sunday it had repulsed three rebel attacks on its positions near the market town of Bor, which is regarded as a gateway to the capital Juba. Thousands have been killed and more than 800,000 have fled their homes since fighting began in South Sudan two months ago, triggered by a power struggle between President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, his former deputy whom he sacked in July. The warring sides in South Sudan, the world's youngest country after seceding from Sudan in 2011, signed a ceasefire on January 23 but sporadic clashes have continued. Bor, situated 190 km (120 miles) to the north of Juba by road, has changed hands at least three times since December when fighting broke out between SPLA troops loyal to the government and rebel forces. Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan army says repels rebel attacks on positions near Bor Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 01:52 AM PST By Carl Odera JUBA (Reuters) - The South Sudanese army said on Sunday it had repulsed three rebel attacks on its positions near the market town of Bor, which is regarded as a gateway to the capital Juba. Thousands have been killed and more than 800,000 have fled their homes since fighting began in South Sudan two months ago, triggered by a power struggle between President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, his former deputy whom he sacked in July. The warring sides in South Sudan, the world's youngest country after seceding from Sudan in 2011, signed a ceasefire on January 23 but sporadic clashes have continued. Bor, situated 190 km (120 miles) to the north of Juba by road, has changed hands at least three times since December when fighting broke out between SPLA troops loyal to the government and rebel forces. Full Story | Top |
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