Vienna - Austrian steelmaker voestalpine AG on Thursday reported strong increases in revenue and profit for its second business quarter, as it was able to pass along higher commodity prices to customers.

Net profit for the period from July to September (voestalpine's business year runs from April to April) increased to 279 million euros (352 million dollars), from 192 million euros in the same period last year.

Operating profit rose to 428 million euros, compared with 302 million euros in the second quarter of 2007.

Sales climbed by 17 per cent, to 3.23 billion euros, as the company passed higher material prices on to the market.

Vienna  - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Wednesday it had not been able to make any progress on clarifying whether Iran had conducted research that was related to developing nuclear bombs.

In his latest report on Iran to IAEA member states, Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said that "regrettably, as a result of the lack of cooperation by Iran in connection with the alleged studies and other associated key remaining issues of serious concern, the Agency has not been able to make substantive progress on these issues."

The report, which was also submitted to the United Nations Security Council in New York, showed that Iran is close to completing the installation of nearly 6,000 centrifuges.

Vienna- Satellite images and uranium particles found in the Syrian desert by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could point to a secret nuclear programme, although the agency stressed in its latest report Monday that no conclusions could be drawn yet.

In a report released to IAEA members, the agency's Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said that satellite images taken before and after the al-Kibar site was bombed by the Israeli air force in September 2007 "are similar to what may be found in connection to a reactor site."

Vienna - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Wednesday it had not been able to make any progress on clarifying whether Iran had conducted research that was related to developing nuclear bombs.

In his latest report on Iran to IAEA member states, Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said that "regrettably, as a result of the lack of cooperation by Iran in connection with the alleged studies and other associated key remaining issues of serious concern, the Ageny has not been able to make substantive progress on these issues."

Dubai, Nov 19th, 2008 : UAE is participating in the Eighth Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the 20th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, which are being held simultaneously in Doha, Qatar.

UAE's official delegation to the conference is headed by Minister of Environment and Water HE Dr. Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahd.

The minister said that the two conferences will discuss a number of pertinent issues related to the protection of the ozone layer from depletion.

Vienna - After Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) in Vienna said Wednesday it was hopeful the next administration in Washington would ratify the ban.

Although the treaty has been open for signature since 1996, the global ban on testing nuclear weapons has not come into force because several key countries including the United States have not ratified the text.

Ratification by the US would put pressure on the other countries needed to implement the test ban, Tibor Toth, executive secretary of the provisional test-ban organization, told journalists.