There is no doubt that major industrial development projects require robust and accelerated approval processes.

Europe was struggling to restore roads and railways today after heavy snow caused hundreds of accidents, halted flights, downed power lines in Poland and trapped more than 160 people overnight on a frozen German road.

TWO OF Europe’s greatest bird-watching spectacles are getting under way: raptors cranes and storks are converging on Gibraltar and the Bosporus strait before crossing the sea for Africa, where they will spend the winter.

Tests done on dead birds found in southern Denmark have turned up no sign of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration said today.