Photo Credit: Reuters/Alexander Demianchuk (Reuters) – Rosneft is seeking to borrow up to $30 billion from China in exchange for possibly doubling oil supplies, making Beijing the largest consumer of Russian oil and further diverting supplies away from Europe. Four industry sources familiar with the situation told Reuters Rosneft was in talks with China’s state firm CNPC about the borrowing, which would echo… Read more →
Photo Credit: Reuters/Francois Rihouay (Reuters) – Malian troops hunted house-to-house in Gao on Monday for Islamist insurgents whose attack inside the northern town at the weekend showed the risk that French forces might become entangled in a messy guerrilla war. Sneaking across the Niger River under cover of darkness, the al Qaeda-allied rebels fought Malian and French troops on Sunday in… Read more →
Photo: Reuters The future currency of Scotland, assuming a “yes” vote in next year’s vote on independence, has been questioned by supporters and opponents. Some argue Scotland would have to adopt the euro as a consequence of gaining full EU statehood, while others have called for a new currency or retention of sterling. The Fiscal Commission Working Group, a panel… Read more →
AFP Photo / Rainier Ehrhardt UK officials plan to monitor Britons’ online activities by placing surveillance devices on the country’s telecom networks, a Parliamentary report says. The program would keep tabs on which websites were visited as well as who contacted whom. On Tuesday the British Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee published the report outlining a massive, national surveillance program… Read more →
A suicide bomber has blown himself up in the northern Mali town of Gao – the country’s first such case, sources say. The attacker approached a group of soldiers on a motorbike before detonating an explosive belt, injuring one of them, a Malian officer told AFP. Gao is the most populous city in northern Mali, where French-led troops have ousted… Read more →
Photo Credit: REUTERS The Greek right-wing extremist party Golden Dawn has established contacts with German neo-Nazis in Bavaria. The group, which is represented in Greek parliament, is also attempting to set up a cell in the southern German state. The Greek right-wing extremist party Golden Dawn is establishing close contacts with Bavarian neo-Nazis and began setting up a cell in Nuremberg last… Read more →
A UN human rights inquiry has called on Israel to remove all Jewish settlers from the West Bank and cease expansion. The report said the settlements violate international law, and are an attempt to drive out Palestinians through intimidation. “Israel must, in compliance with article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, cease all settlement activities without preconditions,” the report read, adding… Read more →
The European Commission has proposed that member states restrict the use of certain classes of pesticide that are believed to be harmful to bees. Sprays that use neonicotinoid chemicals should only be used on crops that are not attractive to the insects they said. The sale of seeds treated with these chemicals should also be prohibited. Bayer, one of the… Read more →
French troops patrol on January 30, 2013 along the Niger river in the northern city of Gao. (AFP Photo / Sia Kambou) A message posted on a jihadist website on Sunday promised that “terrible” attacks will soon strike the US, France, Denmark and other European countries. “Where will the next strike by Al-Qaeda be?” a message on the Ansar al-Mujahidin… Read more →
Downing Street has said that the British government will dispatch 350 troops to Mali to aid French troops stationed in the country’s north, as part of a UK mission to train local forces and engage in “force protection.” British representatives are attending a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss the provision of troops as part of an EU mission… Read more →
