Format: Aside

Aug 15

Italy for sale -#2

Debt, crisis and tax evasion keep their pressure on Italian Government and stress political relationships. In this scenario, tens of theories about sales of public assets crowd the summer debate on media, pushed by Ministers and politicians. Monti Government is now engaged in the new challenge of selling the (residual) family silver, after its recent …

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Aug 15

Petizione sulle inchieste Stato-mafia

Il Fatto Quotidiano, su sollecitazione di una lettrice di Collegno, ha promosso una raccolta di firme in favore dei giudici di Palermo e Caltanissetta. L’iniziativa, senza valore giuridico ma di impatto poilitico, ha registrato oltre 100.000 adesioni nei primi cinque giorni.

Aug 06

Concern on “fracking” in Europe

Concern arises, as Halliburton, Chevron and Exxon declare they are starting the ‘fracking’ process in Europe, The Ecologist reported. Hydraulic fracturing is the propagation of fractures in rock layers, as a result of the action of a pressurized fluid (Wikipedia) used to extract liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons. In the US, gas-extraction in the Marcellus Shale …

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Aug 06

The Economic History of the Last 2000 Years

The Atlantic reports an interesting history of the world economy, from a JP Morgan research. In the article, you can find other graphs showing the average GDP per capita in different Counties and areas, and a summary of the research explainin the economic trends, before and after the Industrial Revolution.

Aug 03

Europe: calls

EUR 2.000.000 is the budget of the Call for Proposal “EU ETV pilot programme – Call for proposal 2011-2012 on the Setting-up of Verification Bodies”. Deadline for applications: 7 September 2012. Another call for proposals on environment themes has been recently released by the European Commission: ENT/CIP/11/C/N02C00 – “Reinforcing procurement of eco-innovation – Network of …

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Aug 03

Italy: calls

Ministry of Infrasturcture and Transport issues a call for training of freight professionals. See the call text here. A European Prize for best practices in health and safety of workers is sponsored by INAIL.

Jul 31

China’s new cut to rare earth export quota

USA is looking at building a trade case on the restrictions at WTO, accusing China of market manipulation with its 72% cut of export quota of rare earth elements. China currently dominates the market of rare earth elements with 95% of global production, and its move is seen as particularly dangerous for the ICT and …

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