#Ireland: #irishfarmers blockade meat factories in protest over #cattleprices

Processors say 24-hour action ‘unnecessary, misguided and counterproductive’

Farmers led by IFA president Eddie Downey (front left) and IFA national livestock chairman Henry Burns at the Department of Agriculture in June during a protest over cattle prices. Photograph: Finbarr O’Rourke

Farmers have begun a 24-hour blockade on meat factories in a protest at what they claim are low cattle prices... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#Ireland failing to tackle corruption in #exportcountries

Report shows few countries taking steps to stamp out corruption in corporate world

The study finds that just four out of 41 exporter countries who signed up to the OECD anti-bribery convention 15 years ago are actively investigating and prosecuting companies that cheat taxpayers

Charlie Taylor

Ireland is among a number of exporter countries accused of doing little or nothing to stamp out corruption in the business world... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#Ireland: Europe’s Irish presence in the #transatlanticcorridor

David O’Sullivan, the new EU ambassador to the US, is assuming the role at an important political moment

David O’Sullivan: the chief operating officer of the European Union’s diplomatic corps, the European External Action Service

Sitting in his office in the European External Action Services (EEAS) headquarters in central Brussels, David O’Sullivan apologises for the bareness of the room. Most of his belongings have already been shipped to Washington, he explains. The distinctive blue flag of the European Union is still there, however, soon to be joined by the stars and stripes of the US flag as the Churchtown native prepares to take up his new role as EU ambassador... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#Ireland: Talking #Turkey as a market to replace #Russia

Ireland is not currently looking to Turkey as a replacement market for Russia. But should we be?

Eastern promise: Istanbul – Enterprise Ireland opened an office in the city in January

Stephen Starr

Irish food exporters are up against it. The Russian ban on EU and others’ foodstuffs over the conflict in Ukraine has had another negative consequence: a scramble with EU neighbours for access to replacement markets... (Read more).

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

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#Russia: #ForeignMinister Voices Bleak Forecast for Russia-U.S. Relations

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  Lavrov, left, pictured here with then Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in 2010, spoke at length on Monday about Russia’s relations with the U.S., which have been blighted by a series of unresolved issues between the two nations.
  Photo: Polishmfa / flickr

The prospect of assuaging the rift in U.S.-Russia relations appeared dimmer Monday after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov predicted that the dire state of bilateral ties would persist for a long time... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#Europe: #ECB begins #buyingbonds to #reviveeconomy

Central bank focuses on short-dated debt held by French and Spanish banks

The plan, announced by ECB president Mario Draghi in September, aims to take rebundled debt off the balance sheets of euro-zone banks. Photograph: Martin Leissl/Bloomberg

The European Central Bank launched its much-awaited covered bond-purchase programme yesterday in a bid to kick-start the moribund euro zone economy, focusing on short-dated debt held by French and Spanish banks, according to analysts... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#Ireland on course to incur €80m fine for exceeding #milkquota

Farmers ramp up production ahead of removal of EU’s milk quota regime

Figures from the Department of Agriculture suggest the State’s milk supply is currently 6.93 per cent over-quota

Ireland could be hit with a record €80 million fine for exceeding its milk quota this year if the current level of supply is not curtailed.

With the EU’s milk quota regime ending in March, it appears many farmers have ramped up production ahead of time. Figures from the Department of Agriculture suggest the State’s milk supply is currently 6.93 per cent over-quota... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#Ireland - New #Innovators: Powerful Yogurt

Irepak prepares to launch high-protein, fat-free product next month

Irepak’s Robert Doyle says Powerful Yogurt, a high-protein, fat-free product, will go on sale from mid-November.

Food products with added protein is a growing market within the international food industry. Now Kildare-based start-up, Irepak, is about to enter the segment with the launch of a new, high-protein yogurt... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#Ireland: Record year for #trade expected at #DublinPort

Total throughput figures (consisting of imports and exports) are close to 2007 levels

Ships in Dublin Port being loaded with goods for export. Photograph: Dara Mac Donaill / The Irish Times

Charlie Taylor

Dublin Port is predicting a record year for trade on the back of a sharp rise in throughput levels and ferry passenger numbers.

New figures show that total throughput (consisting of imports and exports) at the country’s largest and busiest port rose 5.7 per cent to 7.8 million tonnes in the third quarter... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#USA: What the #Dollar’s Rise Tells Us About the #GlobalEconomy

Remember the currency wars? They were about the notion, popular over the last few years among financial commentators and not a few global policy makers, that the nations of earth had become locked in a pattern of debasing their currencies in pursuit of a momentary economic advantage, a race to the bottom that would end in tears for all... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#China #exporting #tortureequipment, says Amnesty

130 firms involved in trade that fuels human rights abuses in Africa and Asia, agency reports

A flashlight that also functions as an electric shock device is displayed in a security equipment shop in Beijing. Photograph: EPAChinese companies are exporting an ever increasing number of electric shock batons, stun guns, spiked metal batons and other gruesome tools of torture, the rights group Amnesty International says in a report... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#Russia: One-Fifth of Russia's #OilProduction Is at Risk Due to #Sanctions

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  Gazprom Neft's Prirazhlomnaya oil rig last year became the first to begin pumping oil from Russia's Arctic shelf.
  Photo: Gazprom

Some 100 million tons of annual oil production — or about 20 percent Russia's total oil output — is at risk because of sanctions related to the supply of Western technology and expertise to Russia, Vagit Alekperov, the head of Russia's No. 2 oil company, said Friday... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#USA: #Soybeans End Higher, #Corn Lower

Soybeans End Higher, Corn Lower

DES MOINES, Iowa (Agriculture.com)-- With the governmental data showing big crops ahead, a bearish tone ruled the CME Group's corn, soybean and wheat markets Friday. Soybeans did find a buyer to be able to close slightly higher... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#Scotland - From banking to teacakes: what happens if it's a yes in the referendum

We take a sector by sector look at what will happen to Scotland's economy if voters choose independence on Thursday

Saltires wave in front of the logo for the Royal Bank of Scotland during a demonstration for Scottish Independence. Photograph: Mark Pinder. (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#Europe: mending a bad marriage

The European project is a failed marriage, and only a radical reappraisal of the union – political and, above all, fiscal – can prevent a messy divorce

Photograph: Mike Kemp/Rubberball/Getty

(Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#Iran to Capitalize on #Russia-West Standoff Over #Ukraine

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  President Vladimir Putin meeting with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on September 13, 2013.
  Photo: Presidential Press Service / Wikimedia Commons

When President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani meet on Friday against the backdrop of Russia's slide into the abyss of Western sanctions, the two countries may find one another to be increasingly suitable economic allies... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#Russia: Ruble Plummets as #EU Ends Uncertainty Over #Sanctions

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  Mariano Rajoy Brey, Spanish Prime Minister,right, and José Manuel Barroso, center, in the presence of Pedro Passos Coelho, Portuguese Prime Minister, at a special meeting of the European Council last month.
  Photo: Ec.europa.eu

The Russian currency plunged to historic lows against the dollar Thursday as the European Union appeared to end more than a week of vacillation by opting to impose a new round of sanctions against Russia over its backing of separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#USA: #China Fines @Volkswagen and @Chrysler for #AntitrustViolations

A production line of Golf sedans manufactured at a Volkswagen plant jointly operated with China FAW in Guangdong Province. Credit Chinafotopress, via Getty Images

HONG KONG — Chinese regulators fined Volkswagen and Chrysler for violating antitrust laws, announcing on Thursday the first monetary penalties against large multinational carmakers swept up in a broad investigation... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#Ireland ranked as one of the best for #industrialcompetitiveness

A number of new studies published today show Ireland doing well on the global stage

A number of new studies have ranked Ireland in terms of its competitiveness, connectedness and repuation

(Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,