Category: News Desk

Japan Shuts Off Last Working Nuclear Reactor – For Now


Japan has temporarily switched off its final working nuclear reactor in the western prefecture of Fukui for safety checks, marking only the second time in 40 years that the country will not have access to any nuclear power supply.

According to The BBC, Reactor 4 at the Ohi power plant in the western prefecture of Fukui was shut down in the early hours of Monday morning, as renewed concerns grew over the safety of nuclear power plants – arising from radioactive water leaks at Fukushima.

China Bans New Coal Plants In Step To Reduce Pollution


The Chinese government on Thursday unveiled a new multi-pronged approach to tackle the country’s notorious air pollution problem, including a ban on the construction of new coal power plants at three key industrial regions, as well as investments into energy efficient projects that will cut energy consumption per unit of industrial value by 20 percent.

Libya Losing $130 Million Per Day From Oil Protests


Libya’s prime minister Ali Zeidan has promised to act “in a timely manner” to break up protests at several large export terminals and oil fields across the country, after he claimed on Wednesday that the strikes had been costing nearly $130 million a day in lost oil revenue over the past month.

“I won’t let anyone hold Libya and its resources hostage to these groups for long,” the prime minister said, following the announcement of arrest warrants for the leaders of the oil strike.

Heavy Tobacco Use To Kill 1.5 Million Indians A Year: Report


The widespread consumption of tobacco in India is expected to cause the deaths of around 1.5 million Indians a year by 2020, according to a new report by the International Tobacco Control Project (ITCP), calling on authorities to better enforce existing smoke-free laws and to raise the price of the product in order to discourage over-consumption.

China’s Billionaire List Grow By 25 Percent


There are now 315 billionaires in China, according to the Hurun Report’s 2013 Rich List, with the top five seeing their net-worth double on average over the last year, as a surge in stock and asset prices helped boost overall wealth.

The Hurun Report, which tracks China’s wealthiest people, named property tycoon Wang Jianlin as China’s new richest person, with a net-worth of close to $22 billion.

One-Third Of Global Food Supply Wasted Annually: UN


Some 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted every year, said a United Nations report published on Wednesday, bringing about major economic losses to food producers and causing significant environmental damage due to needlessly produced greenhouse gases.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), about 28 percent of the world’s farmland was producing food that would not be eaten. This contributed to an additional 3.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases to the planet’s atmosphere, while the food waste also cost producers some $750 billion annually.

Greece May Need Two More Bailouts: ECB Official


Greece could require two more bailouts to keep its economy afloat, warned European Central Bank Governing Council member Luc Coene on Wednesday, though he remained confident that the worst of the eurozone crisis was already over, reported Reuters.

Japan, India Call For End To Unfair ‘Asian Premium’ On LNG Prices


Ministers from Japan and India have called on energy exporters to reduce the price of liquefied natural gas (LNG), complaining that Asian states had been paying a higher ‘premium’ for the energy resource– compared to the prices paid by European and North American nations.

Barclays May Face $10 Billion Lawsuit For “Corrupt Activities” In Saudi Arabia


 A prominent Saudi businessman is reportedly seeking $10 billion in damages from U.K. financial group Barclays after he claimed that the bank had conducted “corrupt activities” in Saudi Arabia, which ultimately cost his companies billions in lost revenue over the past decade.

Greece Suicide Rate Up 45 Percent Between 2007-11: Study


Suicides in Greece spiked dramatically during the first four years of the financial crisis, said a mental health aid group on Tuesday, warning that there were indications of a further “very large rise” over the last two years.

Using data from the Greek Statistical Authority, the Athens-based group Klimaka found that officially reported suicides had risen steadily between 2007 and 2011, accounting for a 45 percent in deaths during that period – from 328 to 477 per annum.