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/ 23 October 2009
The United States has formally asked Switzerland to extradite film director Roman Polanski, the Swiss Justice Ministry said on Friday.
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/ 24 January 2008
Biofuels made from plants and waste will prove an increasingly efficient and cheap substitute for oil in many areas over the coming five years, industry analysts said. As long as crude sells at prices towards $100 per barrel, there will be strong demand for cheaper biofuels.
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/ 14 January 2008
Army conscripts used to be a common sight in Andermatt, practising parallel turns or perfecting climbing techniques in case they were needed to defend Switzerland’s mountain heart. These days it is mainly local skiers schussing down the surrounding slopes and the town is better known for two things: the foil that covers a glacier to stop it melting in summer and a giant new luxury holiday resort.
The United Nations, aid agencies and national governments were scrambling on Sunday to get food and supplies to Indonesian towns and cities that have been reduced to rubble by an earthquake that left thousands dead or homeless. As photos and footage emerged of stunned, anguished survivors limping over crumbled buildings, agencies and governments offered millions of dollars, tonnes of supplies and hundreds of personnel.
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/ 25 January 2006
Ministers from more than 25 of the world’s major trading powers will start trying again on Wednesday to break a deadlock in global trade talks. Major players at the 149-member World Trade Organisation (WTO) appear as far apart as ever on the vexing subject of farm trade, as well as market access for industrial goods.
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/ 23 January 2006
About 20 000 people have fled violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to seek refuge in the border to Uganda over a four-day period, the United Nations refugee agency said on Sunday. Most of the refugees said they had fled to escape violence, while about 5 000 said they left the DRC because they feared attack.
Incoming World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy, who takes over as director general on September 1, named his four deputies on Friday, setting his sights on rejuvenating the Doha round of trade talks ahead of a crucial December summit in Hong Kong.
European Union ministers on Friday gave the green light to negotiate a global-trade liberalisation treaty based on a revised text produced on Friday morning, which will force the bloc to abandon all export subsidies on farm goods. The group gave EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy a mandate to thrash out a deal.