Oil hits new record price in Europe
On top of the geopolitical pressures in the Middle East forcing up the price of oil, another factor sent the price of a barrel of crude up nearly 3% higher to a new record price of over 78 dollars in Europe. BP is shutting down its Prudhoe Bay oilfield in Alaska, which pumps 8% of the United States’ crude, and is the country’s biggest oilfield.
BP has discovered severe corrosion in its local pipeline network, after two recent oil spills. Analysts fear the repairs could take months. In the currently tight oil market, where supply is struggling to match booming demand, financial experts are predicting the price of a barrel could soon hit 80 dollars. BP’s woes are compounded by the fact they face legal action for a huge oil spill at Prudhoe in March, when a million litres of oil polluted the pristine Arctic wilderness. In the same month an explosion at a BP refinery in Texas killed 15 people.
More : euronews.net
Related Travel Information
Slingbox Internet TV Gadget Hits Europe
Sling Media on Tuesday made its Slingbox device, which can plug into a users terrestrial, cable or satellite television hookup and then transmit footage via the Web, publicly available for the first time in Britain for 180 pounds (roughly $338USD), Reuters reports.
Users can view programming from a television hooked up to the Slingbox using a PC or notebook computer, according to Reuters.
The product is being labeled a placeshifting device, in the vein of popular time-shifting digital video recorders like TiVo and Sky+, which allow users to record television broadcasts for viewing at a later time,
Nintendo Wii hits Europe in December
Nintendos next-generation Wii games console will launch across Europe on 8 December, the company has officially announced.
The console will cost €249 throughout Europe and £179 in the UK. Games are expected to sell for between €49 and €59, or £34 to £39 in the UK.
The Wii ships with a wireless remote, a Nunchuk controller and five different sports games that can be played using simple physical movements.
More : vnunet.com
DS Hits 6m in Europe
The brouhaha surrounding last weeks deluge of Wii details stole attention from Nintendos DS for a while, but new numbers from Nintendo reveal that the public is not forgetting about it.
The DS has sold 6 million units in Europe, Nintendos Satoru Shibata said at Nintendos Wii briefing on Friday. This is a handsome addition to the 10 million units that the handheld has sold in Japan.
Nintendo says the DS is responsible for widening the gaming audience, just like it said it would. Around 44 per cent of DS owners are female, said Nintendos Laurent Fisher,
Europe flat as oil price weighs
European stocks ended flat on Tuesday as crude oil hit a record $72.20 a barrel, putting the skids under airlines and carmakers, while resources stocks rallied to help propel Britains FTSE 100 higher.
Philips Electronics dropped after missing analysts first-quarter forecasts, while online gamer PartyGaming sank on concerns about overexposure in the United States, and British Land rose after broker upgrades.
The FTSEurofirst index of Europes top 300 shares closed 0.1 percent lower at 1,368.32 points in the first session since the four-day Easter break, with gains on Wall Street lending support late in the session.
More: edition.cnn.com
Extreme weather hits U.S. states, Europe
The governor of Texas is pleading with residents not to use fireworks during their New Year's celebrations, as wildfires blaze across the tinder-dry state.
Texas Governor Rick Perry has asked the federal government to declare a state of disaster as at least 73 wildfires burned in the state, destroying almost 200 homes in Texas and neighbouring Oklahoma.
Perry recently toured the remains of 100 destroyed homes located in the town of Cross Plains, which suffered the brunt of the damage.
The fires have come after months of drought in the state, and are feeding on dry vegetation
