Polish economy grows 4.3 per cent in 2011
27 January 2012 - Despite the European debt crisis, Poland's economy grew a brisk 4.3 per cent in 2011, even more than its strong 3.9 per cent growth rate for 2010. The figures released Friday by the Central Statistical Office underline how strongly the economy has continued to grow in Poland, the largest of the ex-communist countries now in the 27-nation European Union. (more)

South Korea allows group to deliver aid to North Korea
27 January 2012 - South Korea allowed members of a private group to accompany aid to North Korea for the first time Friday since leader Kim Jong Il died last month. Associated Press video from the border city of Paju showed a column of trucks transporting 180 tonnes of flour across the border. Seoul's Unification Ministry said members of a private group were travelling with the aid, which is intended for children. (more)

Women's education 'smartest global investment', Ban tells World Economic Forum
27 January 2012 - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on business leaders attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to increase their investment in women's education and health to ensure their well-being and encourage their participation in the world economy. (more)

Americans more generous in giving to charity in 2011 - report
27 January 2012 - Americans gave a total of nearly $347 billion to charity in 2011, a 7.5 per cent increase over 2010, according to a report released Tuesday by Atlas of Giving. The group, which measures and forecasts charitable giving in the United States, said giving expanded at a faster rate than overall economic growth for the year. (more)

European Union and Haiti sign deal to lengthen rural highway
27 January 2012 - The Haitian government and European Union have signed an agreement for building a road to connect the capital with the country's second largest city. The European Union will spend 40.7 million euros ($52.6 million) on a project that will first pave a dirt national highway linking the central towns of Hinche and St Raphael. It is 27 miles (44-kilometer) long. (more)

US: California passes new auto emission rules
27 January 2012 - California air regulators passed sweeping auto emission standards Friday that include a mandate to have 1.4 million electric and hybrid vehicles on state roads by 2025. California's auto emissions standards are influential and often more strict than federal ones. Currently 14 other states have adopted the California rules as their own. (more)

US: A Bronx Tale - local mosque helps out synagogue
27 January 2012 - Members of the Chabad of East Bronx, an ultra-Orthodox synagogue, worship in the Islamic Cultural Center of North America, which is home to the Al-Iman mosque. 'People have a misconception that Muslims hate Jews,' said Yaakov Wayne Baumann. 'But here is an example of them working with us.' Sheikh Moussa Drammeh, the founder of the Al-Iman Mosque, stated, 'We're not as divided as the media portrays us to be. Almost 90 per cent of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian teachings are the same.' (more)

Italy overtakes Germany in new solar PV capacity
27 January 2012 - Italy's newly installed solar photovoltaic capacity overtook Germany for the first time last year as installations rushed to benefit from subsidies, a report by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) showed. Even when Italy cut generous solar incentives in June last year, almost 4 GW of new capacity was installed in just seven months, the report said. (more)

Japanese sell more solar power back to utilities
27 January 2012 - Japanese small solar panel owners -- householders and small businesses -- sold 50 per cent more power to utilities last year than in 2010, Reuters calculations based on an official data showed on 25 January. The data showed Japan's 10 regional power companies spent a total 96 billion yen ($1.2 billion) for surplus solar power from house owners and small businesses last year via a feed-in tariff scheme, which requires them to buy such power. Japan is overhauling its energy policy after the Fukushima crisis shattered public confidence in the safety of nuclear power, and is set to introduce a new subsidy scheme which covers a wider range of renewable energy power developers to support the budding market for domestically produced power. (more)

Democratic Republic of Congo: Refugee returns to start in April
27 January 2012 - Up to 120,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will be helped to return home from the north of neighbouring Republic of Congo after more than two years. An agreement on the voluntary repatriation beginning in April was reached during a recent meeting between officials from the two countries and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), in Congo's capital, Brazzaville. During the Brazzaville meeting, officials from DRC said peace and security had improved in Equateur, a prerequisite for return expressed by 80 per cent of the refugees, according to UNHCR. (more)

EU still sees chance for Israel-Palestinian talks
27 January 2012 - A low-level dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians is not at a dead end, the European Union's foreign policy chief said Thursday, hoping that contacts to get 'real negotiations under way' will continue. 'I don't think there's an impasse,' Ashton told reporters following talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Jordanian capital. After meeting with Abbas and Israelis in the past few days, Ashton said, 'I still remain hopeful that with goodwill, they can continue to talk.' (more)

Japan: Toyota global sales forecast rises on green demand
27 January 2012 - Toyota raised its global sales target for this year to 8.58 million vehicles, up 21 per cent from the previous year, as incentives for ecological cars lift demand in Japan. Toyota's Prius gas-electric hybrid and other ecological cars have been a hit with Japanese consumers despite a languishing auto market overall because of government-backed subsidies. The Prius was Japan's top-selling vehicle in 2011 for the third straight year. (more)

Kepler telescope team finds 11 new solar systems
27 January 2012 - NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space telescope has found 11 new planetary systems, including one with five planets all orbiting closer to their parent star than Mercury circles the Sun, scientists said on Thursday. The discoveries boost the list of confirmed extra-solar planets to 729, including 60 credited to the Kepler team. (more)

Norway offers long-delayed Holocaust apology
27 January 2012 - Norway apologized for the first time on Friday for the country's complicity in the deportation and deaths of Jews during the Nazi occupation in World War Two. In 1998 Norway acknowledged the state's role in the Holocaust and paid some $60 million to Norwegian Jews and Jewish organizations in compensation for property seized. The payout fell short of a full apology but prompted national soul-searching that laid the ground for Friday's speech, said historian Bjarte Bruland. (more)

President Zuma - South Africa working to improve economy
27 January 2012 - South Africa is working towards a thriving mixed economy that is integrated into the Southern African region and African continent as a whole, says President Jacob Zuma. The country, after hosting the United Nations' COP17 climate change conference in December, is also working to achieve a sustainable economy that is not harmful to the environment or the health of its people. (more)

South Africa: Languages Bill to 'improve access to services'
27 January 2012 - Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile says the draft South African Languages Bill is not only intended to promote all the country's official languages, but to improve access to services. The Bill proposes that government departments use at least two languages to communicate with the public. Provinces would also be expected to choose languages that are dominant or mostly spoken to communicate with the public. This, in turn, would open up access to knowledge about services for many more people. Mashatile believes that indigenous African languages should be among those used as official languages, and not just English and Afrikaans. (more)

UK unlocks 7 billion pounds for green networks
27 January 2012 - Britain on Monday sped up its work to connect soaring numbers of renewable energy projects to the electricity grid as regulator Ofgem unlocked 7.7 billion pounds of investment for Scottish network operators to modernize their high-speed grids. 'This investment will create up to 1,500 new jobs and deliver plans to connect enough green energy for 6 million homes,' said Frank Mitchell, chief executive of Scottish Power Energy Networks. (more)

US: California's top ten solar cities
27 January 2012 - This week Environment California released a new report ranking California cities by the amount of solar they've installed. The good news? 'From Fresno to San Francisco and Clovis to Culver City, solar power is becoming a mainstream technology throughout California,' said Michelle Kinman, clean energy advocate with Environment California Research and Policy Center and co-author of the report. (more)

US: Carmakers support California's new 'clean car' regulations
27 January 2012 - Automakers expressed qualified support for California's proposed rules to require carmakers to build more electric and other less-polluting hybrid cars and trucks by 2025. Companies including Ford Motor Corp, Chrysler Group LLC, General Motors Co, Nissan Motor Co Ltd, and others submitted testimony Thursday in support of new emissions standards during a meeting of California Air Resources Board. (more)

US: In historic shift, Fed sets inflation target
27 January 2012 - The US Federal Reserve took the historic step on Wednesday of setting an inflation target, of 2 per cent, a victory for Chairman Ben Bernanke that brings the Fed in line with many of the world's other major central banks. The inflation target is at the high end of what was traditionally seen as an informal target range of roughly 1.7 per cent to 2 per cent and caps Bernanke's crusade to improve communications at what for years had been purposefully opaque and secretive deliberations at the Fed. (more)

Brazil: President Rousseff to visit Cuba, focus on post-embargo era
26 January 2012 - When Brazil President Dilma Rousseff makes her first visit to Cuba next week, she will be discussing the building of a container terminal at the port of Mariel aimed at future trade with the United States when Washington one day lifts its 50-year-old embargo on Cuba. Brazil is also offering Cuba sugar-cane ethanol technology and $200 million in credit for small private farmers to acquire tractors and harvesting and irrigation equipment. (more)

President Ahmadinejad says Iran ready for nuclear talks
26 January 2012 - Iran is ready to revive talks with the world powers, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday, as toughening sanctions aim at forcing Tehran to sharply scale back its nuclear programme. The United States and its allies want Iran to halt making nuclear fuel, which they worry could eventually lead to weapons-grade material and the production of nuclear weapons. A senior UN nuclear agency team is expected to visit Tehran on Saturday. (more)

US: Economy gains as businesses spend more, fire less
26 January 2012 - US businesses are growing more confident in the economy, investing in more equipment, and laying off fewer workers. Factories are busier in large part because businesses are ordering more communication equipment, industrial machinery, and autos. Economists pay close attention to demand for such core capital goods, which are considered a good proxy for business investment plans. (more)

South Africa's All-share tops 34,000 for first time ever
26 January 2012 - South Africa's All-share index closed above 34,000 for the first time in its 17-year history on Thursday, after news the US Federal Reserve will continue to support economic growth lifted stocks and commodities around the world. Gold miners such as Gold Fields surged as bullion touched its highest in more than 6 weeks after the Fed said it planned to keep interest rates at rock bottom for some years and hinted at further stimulus. (more)