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| China environment ministry suspends some approvals for Sinopec, CNPC Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 08:00 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's environment ministry will stop approving some new refining projects or the expansion or renovation of existing facilities by the country's top state-owned oil firms after they failed to meet key pollution targets in 2012, it said on Thursday. The ministry said China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) failed to meet targets to cut chemical oxygen demand in 2012, while Sinopec Group failed to meet a target to cut nitrogen oxide emissions. CNPC is the parent of PetroChina , China's dominant oil and gas producer. ... Full Story | Top |
| Biggest U.S. rocket blasts off with spy satellite Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 06:09 PM PDT  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An unmanned Delta 4-Heavy rocket, the largest in the U.S. fleet, blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Wednesday to put a classified spy satellite into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office, officials said Wednesday. The 23-story-tall rocket lifted off at 11:03 a.m. local time/1803 GMT from a launch pad originally built for, but never used by, NASA's now-retired space shuttles. No details about the rocket's spy-satellite payload were released. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japanese astronaut to command space station in March Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 02:58 PM PDT  By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The first Japanese astronaut to live aboard the International Space Station is preparing for a return flight, this time to serve as commander, officials said on Wednesday. Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, is due to leave in November with a pair of veteran astronauts from the United States and Russia. Wakata, 50, is expected to take command of the orbital research outpost in March, marking the first time a Japanese astronaut will lead a human space mission. ... Full Story | Top |
| TSX ends higher as Syria fears drive energy gains Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 02:07 PM PDT  By John Tilak TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index climbed on Wednesday after concerns about Western military action against Syria drove oil prices to a six-month high and lifted shares of energy producers, but gains were capped as those same worries weighed on other sectors. As Western powers said their minds were made up and that President Bashar al-Assad must face retribution for using banned weapons against his people, U.S. officials sketched out plans for multi-national air strikes on Syria that could last for days. Apprehension that the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Scientists discover key to normal memory lapses in seniors Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 11:24 AM PDT By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - Scientists have good news for all the older adults who occasionally forget why they walked into a room - and panic that they are getting Alzheimer's disease. Not only is age-related memory loss a syndrome in its own right and completely unrelated to that dread disease, but unlike Alzheimer's it may be reversible or even preventable, researchers led by a Nobel laureate said in a study published on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Scientists grow "mini human brains" from stem cells Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 10:01 AM PDT By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have grown the first mini human brains in a laboratory and say their success could lead to new levels of understanding about the way brains develop and what goes wrong in disorders like schizophrenia and autism. Researchers based in Austria started with human stem cells and created a culture in the lab that allowed them to grow into so-called "cerebral organoids" - or mini brains - that consisted of several distinct brain regions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Capital Power to sell three U.S. power plants to Emera Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 09:24 AM PDT TORONTO (Reuters) - Capital Power Corp has agreed to sell its three U.S. natural gas-fired power generation facilities in New England to Emera Inc for $541 million, to stabilize earnings and reduce its exposure to risk. Edmonton, Alberta-based Capital Power, which announced the transaction on Wednesday, said the sale of the three merchant generation facilities reflects changes in the North American power markets in recent years. ... Full Story | Top |
| Corporate suicides highlight stresses at the top Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 09:06 AM PDT By Clare Hutchison LONDON (Reuters) - The suicides of two top executives in Switzerland has prompted calls for greater support for boardroom highfliers. Heavy workloads, frenetic schedules and extensive overseas travel has obliterated the so-called "work-life balance" for many bosses and the financial crisis has piled on the pressure with job cuts, firesales and the scramble to survive. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran uranium report renews push for sanctions in U.S. Congress Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 08:44 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.N. nuclear agency report that Iran has boosted its uranium enrichment capacity led to a renewed a call on Wednesday in the U.S. Congress for tighter sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program. The International Atomic Energy Agency's quarterly report - the first since relative moderate Hassan Rouhani won Iran's June presidential election - said Iran has installed about 1,000 advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges and is set to test them. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia orders oil cut to Belarus after potash clash Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 08:40 AM PDT  By Dmitry Zhdannikov and Vladimir Soldatkin MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia ordered its oil firms on Wednesday to cut supplies to neighboring Belarus by around a quarter, in a major escalation of a trade and diplomatic dispute following the arrest in Minsk of the boss of Russian potash firm. Trade disputes between Russia and Belarus have affected oil deliveries in the past, causing knock-on disruptions to pipeline flows via Belarus to European countries such as Poland and Germany. ... Full Story | Top |
| Africa's top coal port expands to open up export capacity Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 05:48 AM PDT  By Wendell Roelf CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Africa's biggest coal export port is be expanded in a $192 million investment designed to help smaller South African mining companies send their output abroad. Shipping and logistics group Grindrod is forming a joint venture (JV) with investment group RBT Resources to expand its Navitrade terminal at Richards Bay, on South Africa's east coast near the city of Durban, whose existing capacity is mostly used by major mining groups. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan official wants Fukushima operator Tepco to be liquidated Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 05:24 AM PDT  By Aaron Sheldrick and Mari Saito TOKYO (Reuters) - The operator of Japan's wrecked Fukushima nuclear station, Tokyo Electric Power Co, should be liquidated, as its failure to learn from its mistakes fuels insecurity, says the governor of a prefecture hosting another of the utility's atomic plants. Tepco was nationalized last year and receives public funds to pay compensation to the 160,000 people who had to flee their homes after a 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused three reactor meltdowns in the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ghana's top court seen rejecting challenge to Mahama's vote win Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 04:54 AM PDT  By Kwasi Kpodo ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana's Supreme Court is expected this week to reject an opposition challenge to President John Mahama's victory in last year's close-fought election, legal and political experts said on Wednesday. The decision, due by Thursday, will end months of legal wrangling that has gripped the cocoa, gold and oil-exporting nation, one of Africa's brightest economic growth prospects that has built a reputation for political stability. Mahama won the December election with 50. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine PM tells Russia to accept "reality" of EU trade deal Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 04:53 AM PDT  By Richard Balmforth KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's prime minister, seeking to ward off Russian pressure, urged Moscow on Wednesday to accept his country's drive towards a new trade relationship with the European Union as a "reality". Clearly alluding to Kremlin threats of possible retaliatory trade moves, Mykola Azarov said: "The whole world is changing, the global system of economic relations. But to build a fence to protect yourself from changes using artificial barriers is simply pointless. ... Full Story | Top |
| Problem on Angola Saturno to be resolved "by this weekend" -BP Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:57 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - BP said on Wednesday the problem that led it to declare a force majeure on Angola's Saturno grade of crude oil "is expected to be rectified by this weekend". "The failure of a mooring hawser ... 10 days ago has resulted in a temporary reduction of production from the project," BP spokeswoman Sheila Williams said in an emailed response. Traders said on Tuesday that BP had declared a force majeure on August 21. Full Story | Top |
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