VENEZUELA: ‘Exxon Will Never Again Do Business in This Country’

In his Sunday radio and TV programme "Aló Presidente", Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said "they will never steal from us again, the Exxon Mobil bandits, imperialist white-collar thieves who corrupt and oust governments and who supported the invasion of Iraq."

IRAN: Fishing In Troubled Caspian Waters

The unresolved issue of dividing the Caspian Sea among its five littoral states has become a sensitive one for many Iranians who allege a concession to Russia may be in the making by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government, in return for supporting Iran’s nuclear policies.

ROMANIA: Powerless in the New Cold War

With new Cold War rhetoric emerging all around, Romania and Bulgaria are more uncertain than ever about their foreign policy.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Biofuels Worse Than Fossil Fuels, Studies Find

Biofuels are making climate change worse, not better, according to two new studies which found that total greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels are far higher than those from burning gasoline because biofuel production is pushing up food prices and resulting in deforestation and loss of grasslands.

ENERGY: Canada's Oil Sands a Political Hot Potato

Alberta's Parkland Institute and the Polaris Institute have a released a report calling for an emergency strategic petroleum reserve for Canada, as well as for tougher policies to cut fossil fuel consumption and revise the country's oil export regime.

RIGHTS: Controversy Dogs Coal Operations in Colombia

It's an interesting sign of the times when the chairman of a mining company notorious for illegally evicting subsistence farmers to increase international coal exports is invited to lecture on "sustainability".

POLITICS-INDIA: Paying a Price For Launching Israeli Spy Satellite

India's traditionally friendly relations with Iran have come under unprecedented strain because of the launching of an Israeli spy satellite by an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) rocket a fortnight ago.

ENERGY: Wall Street Majors Seek Cleaner Coal Portfolios

Fear of regulation and financial loss related to climate change has spurred three leading U.S. banks to adopt environmental standards to tighten support for the coal industry.

ENVIRONMENT: Record Financing For Biofuels, Not Food

Biofuels have quickly turned from environmental saviour to just another mega-scale get-rich quick scheme. Countries and regions without their own oil reserves to tap now see their farms, peatlands and forests as potential "oil fields" - shallow but renewable lakes of green oil.

JAPAN/CHINA: Relations Thaw Despite Gas Reserves Issue

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda’s efforts at forging closer relations between Japan and China, rectifying the abrasive course set by his predecessors in office, is apparently bearing fruit.

ENERGY-SOUTH AFRICA: Maize Farmers Lobby to Supply Biofuel Industry

South African maize farmers are pushing hard to change a government decision to exclude their crops as feedstock for bioethanol, in view of food security concerns.

BALKANS: Serbia Signs Controversial Energy Deal with Russia

Russia and Serbia signed a "strategic" energy deal Friday.

EUROPE: Aid for Ethiopian Dam Challenged

Financial support has been requested from the European Union for a controversial energy project in Ethiopia that could drive thousands of farmers from their land.

DEVELOPMENT: Biofuels a Lose-Lose Strategy, Critics Say

U.S. biofuels production is driving up food prices around the world, giving billions of poor people a very good reason to hate U.S. policy, say environmentalists.

POLITICS-CHINA: Coveting Neighbourhood Energy Resources

Even as it expands economic cooperation with its wary South-east Asian neighbours, China’s thirst for energy is compelling it to resurrect territorial claims to resources-rich spots in the region that have lain dormant for years.

CLIMATE CHANGE: EU Persists With Biofuels

The European Union has decided to maintain a target for increasing the use of biofuels despite mounting concerns that its strategy could worsen global hunger.

MIDEAST: In Gaza, It&#39s Darkness At Noon

It gets dark, and cold, and people are getting hungry.

Israel closed border crossings Friday, not allowing even UN humanitarian aid trucks carrying basic food. Crossings have been closed frequently since October 2007.

POLITICS-BOLIVIA: Morales Reaches Two-Year Milestone

Exalted by the success of his social programmes, but harassed by opponents who are threatening to declare de facto autonomy in four of Bolivia’s nine departments (provinces), indigenous President Evo Morales completes two years of his mandate on Tuesday, a milestone the country’s three previous presidents failed to reach.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Lao Dam To Feed Thai Energy Hunger

News reports that initial work has begun on the Nam Ngun-3 hydropower project in Laos are a stark reminder of Thailand’s increasing reliance on its neighbours to satisfy its appetite for energy.

ECONOMY-AFRICA: Controversial Proposals Expected at WEF Gathering

The seemingly incongruous presence of Bono, a pop singer rarely spotted without his wraparound sunglasses amid the sombre suits of business and political leaders attending the World Economic Forum (WEF), should ensure that the question of how to end African poverty features prominently in media coverage of the January 23-27 event.

BULGARIA: On To A New Nuclear Path

The European Commission (EC) has given a positive opinion on construction of a nuclear plant at Belene by Russian Atomstroiexport, controlled by Gazprom.