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EnergySolutions awarded Fukushima clean-up contract
One of the first contracts for the clean-up of the Fukushima nuclear power plant has been awarded to EnergySolutions, a US-UK firm that is decommissioning 22 nuclear power stations in the UK.EnergySolutions will be charged with decontaminating the seawater that was used to cool the reactor as it went into meltdown, in the world's worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl accident in 1986. About 125,000 cubic metres of seawater – enough to fil...Read More » Tags
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London mayor: your ideas for policy on the economy
The global financial crisis has raised questions about the very nature of London's economy. Suddenly, its seemingly invincible financial sector has become the object of concern. Is it regulated tightly enough? Is London and, therefore, the UK as a whole, too dependent on it? Should the capital seek to diversify? Is London making enough of its other strong industries, notably legal services, media, education, medical research, tourism and culture...Read More » Tags
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Nobel economists urge Barack Obama to back EU aviation carbon plan
Five Nobel prize winners are among 26 US economists calling on Barack Obama to drop his government's opposition to EU legislation charging airlines for their carbon emissions.The US has been highly critical of the EU's move to include airlines in its emissions trading scheme (ETS), claiming it is illegal under international treaties and backing a lawsuit challenging the plan that was eventually dismissed by the European Court of Justice.At the e...Read More » Tags
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Energy bills: why gas and electricity prices fluctuate
The boss of British Gas predicts energy prices will rise for 10 years – terrible news given that the proportion of people calling debt counsellor National Debtline who are suffering "energy debt" has risen from 2.7% in 2004 to 13.7% in 2011.British Gas faced calls to cut the price of energy after reporting annual pre-tax profits of ?2.4bn in February. However, much of this profit was generated by the oil and exploration business, which has off...Read More » Tags
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Unemployment and public sector job cuts: what the economists say
Chris Williamson, chief economist at MarkitThe latest batch of labour market data point to stubbornly high unemployment, with hiring remaining subdued. Pay pressures were meanwhile again extremely muted, providing good news on the inflation front but bad news for hopes of a further revival in consumer spending.Vacancy data meanwhile point to lacklustre demand for staff. The number of vacancies fell by 5,000 in February, representing a setback fr...Read More » Tags
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Polar Opposites: Opportunities and threats in the Arctic ebook
This ebook looks at the commercial opportunities held within the Arctic's icy plains, together with the attendant environmental threats and challenges to the traditional way of life of the indigenous peoples of the region. The chilly waters off Alaska, Siberia and Greenland have all been earmarked for new energy exploration. Mega-mines, such as the Mary river ore deposits in Canada and 300 miles inside the Arctic Circle, are being...Read More » Tags
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Imran Khan pulls out of conference over Salman Rushdie booking
Imran Khan, the Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician, has pulled out of a conference in Delhi because of the expected attendance of Salman Rushdie.An aide to Khan told the Guardian the 59-year-old, who leads a conservative political party currently riding a wave of mass support in his home country, learned of Rushdie's invitation to the India Today Conclave only on Tuesday evening, and made an immediate decision.Shireen Mazari, who advises Khan...Read More » Tags
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Greece on the breadline: how leftovers became a meal
It used to annoy Xenia Papastavrou, the way Greek tavernas always give you loads of bread, way more bread than you can eat. She started taking it home, just to avoid the waste. Then one night last year a waiter suggested she might as well take all that day's leftover bread away with her, and she had an idea."I thought, there must be lots of other restaurants in this situation, too," Papastavrou said. "And I was sure none of them knew where they ...Read More » Tags
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Bank bonuses: filling in the gaps
Slowly but surely it is becoming possible to identify the top eight highest paid executives at the major banks.The government is requiring disclosure of pay deals for the top highest paid executives of banks – in an attempt to expose pay below board level – but is allowing banks to provide the information anonymously.But while the annual reports produce the tables with the individuals remaining unidentified, a close examination of stock exch...Read More » Tags
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Beyond Goldman Sachs: the nasty culture
The resignation letter on the New York Times opinion page today by Goldman Sachs executive director Greg Smith is shocking. But dozens of interviews with people working in finance in London over the past months for the banking blog suggest that it's not only Goldman Sachs where clients are treated like "muppets" getting their "eyeballs" ripped out. And it's not only clients that are exploited. Investment banks treat their own employees exactly t...Read More » Tags
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