1 Lithuanian Lita = 3.3825 Venezuelan Bolivar Fuerte

1 Nigerian Naira = 0.0256 Venezuelan Bolivar Fuerte

1 Czech Republic Koruna = 0.3974 Venezuelan Bolivar Fuerte

1 Bolivian Boliviano = 1.4484 Venezuelan Bolivar Fuerte

1 Japanese Yen = 0.0936 Venezuelan Bolivar Fuerte

Efilter is an automatic exception reporting utility. It is very useful and handy while doing vulnerability research on any software designed to work under Windows NT platforms. Due to that it hooks KiUserExceptionDispatcher function, it acts BEFORE any of program's active SEH frames take over the exception. In short words it reports programs exceptions even if they are handled by original program.

A new report by utility and finance experts contains positive news for the environment, our air and our (and our utilities’) pocketbooks — the economics of electric power resources have made zero-emissions energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies the most financially attractive options to meet the nation’s future energy demands.

The lush hills of Strangford Lough are truly a place of magic scenery. Portaferry, a small fishing village, is located one hour’s drive from Belfast in Northern Ireland, and is today perhaps most famous for being close to the location where blockbuster Games of Thrones is filmed. In this idyllic fishing village, struggling with a high unemployment rate and a diminishing population, something new and prosperous is growing. Looking out over the calm waters of Strangford Lough, one could hardly believe that under the ocean surface — that electricity can be produced.

In a previous article, I had a conversation with former-CIA chief Jim Woolsey to discuss one of America’s greatest national security vulnerabilities, its power grid. The issues that Woolsey has been concerned with for over a decade has been the ease in which a terrorist group or other actor (think North Korea for example) could attack the grid and plunge the country into darkness for months, if not years. And if that seems far-fetched, just recall how a tree limb fell in Ohio in 2003 and blacked out the entire Northeast and part of Canada for several days.

In a must-read report released this week on fast-changing energy markets, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi signals a once-in-a-lifetime opening for investors in Middle Eastern renewables and energy efficiency.

A $2 trillion push in the U.S. to blend renewable energy into the power supply and fortify transmission lines against extreme weather means that Americans must act more like Europeans to keep their power costs down.

Just over a decade ago, the state of California faced serious concerns about whether its utilities could generate and/or buy enough power to assure that the world’s seventh-largest economy could keep the lights on. The infamous California energy crisis, which affected several other western states as well, was a complex tangle of poorly structured deregulation, significant market manipulation (remember Enron?), and other causes. Along with rolling blackouts, California endured an official state of emergency that lasted 34 months, led to the recall and replacement of Gov. Gray Davis, and cost the state and its ratepayers billions of dollars — a cautionary tale for all states of electricity supply unable to meet demand.

Germany’s power grid operators boosted the surcharge consumers pay for renewable energy by 18 percent to a record, adding to pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to act against rising electricity bills.

For those clamoring for (and against) the year-end-expiring legislation, and anyone in favor of some tax-code simplification, today the government has offered an early holiday present: proposed reform for some key areas including the production tax credit (PTC) and investment tax credit (ITC).

The United Kingdom is known for its pioneering work in wave, tidal and ocean current energy. The U.S. and Canada have vast marine resources and would benefit from partnerships with UK companies in a number of ways, including building expertise, sharing lessons learned and fostering industry growth.

U.S. Export-Import Bank Chairman Fred Hochberg mounted a defense of the 80-year-old agency as Republicans weigh eliminating the lender they say backs major corporations with political connections.

France’s planned energy law will mobilize about €10 billion (US $13.4 billion) in investment through tax credits and low-interest loans to spur efficiency and renewable power, Environment Minister Segolene Royal said.

A $2 trillion push in the U.S. to blend renewable energy into the power supply and fortify transmission lines against extreme weather means that Americans must act more like Europeans to keep their power costs down.

The secretary general of the United Nations is frustrated with the pace of negotiations for what’s intended to be a crucial agreement limiting global warming.

Climate change pledges submitted so far from the world’s leading economies won’t be enough to keep the planet from warming dangerously, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday in New York.

Proposals to reduce heat-trapping emissions need to be “a floor, not a ceiling,” he said.

The global increase in temperatures will exceed 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) under the national pledges already submitted to UN, Ban said. That’s the goal scientists and the UN have set to avoid the worst effects due to global warming.

The proposals submitted to date “will not be enough to place us on a 2-degree pathway,” Ban said.

Without any changes to global emissions, the world is on track to warm by 4 degrees Celsius or more, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Climate Change Janos Pasztor said earlier this month.

World leaders have five months to go before a meeting of almost 200 nations in Paris that’s intended to seal a new global pact to cut planet-warming carbon emissions. If successful, the agreement would be the first ever to require both developed nations like the US and growing economies like China to address climate change.

“The pace of UN negotiations are far too slow,” Ban said. “It’s like a snail’s pace.”

The U.S., the world’s biggest historic source of greenhouse gases, pledged earlier this year to cut its emissions by as much as 28 percent by 2025. The European Union has promised a 40 percent cut by 2030. Several other major economies, including Australia and Japan, have yet to submit climate plans to the UN.

The United States and China on Sept. 3 formally joined the Paris Agreement in a ceremony in Hangzhou, China, ahead of the G20 Summit. President Obama and President Xi both deposited their country’s official instrument with United Nations Secretary, General Ban-Ki Moon.

Iran's deputy foreign minister said nuclear negotiations in Vienna were useful and another round of talks was scheduled over the course of three days in April.

The European Parliament said Thursday it was considering a unilateral move to give Ukraine relief from customs duties.

Post-employment victimisation and the effects of Jessemy and Onu. The Court of Appeal has recently held that post-employment victimisation is unlawful, overturning the previous decision in Rowstock Ltd & another v Jessemey  and providing he...

UK Pensions Speedbrief: Age discrimination challenge to judicial pension scheme succeedsThe Employment Tribunal has handed down its

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled that the transitional arrangements in the New Judges Pension Scheme (NJPS) constitute unlawful age discrimination.  In a related case, the EAT has also held that the Employment Tribunal (ET) f...

Cost–sharing for the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is a subject close to the minds and pockets of all LGPS funds, employers and members. Consultation by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) on cost–sharing ...

Hot off the press is a Court of Appeal decision dated 7 April 2009 (South Tyneside MBC v The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice and Another) which held that former employing authorities are not liable to make good their funding defic...

At the end of last year, we reported that the Government announced that headline agreements had been reached with the main trade unions in relation to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), the NHS Pension Scheme (NHSPS), the...

The Welsh Ministers have recently issued The Welsh Authorities Staff Transfers (Pensions) Direction 2012, under powers contained in Section 101 of the Local Government Act 2003 (the “2012 Direction”).  The 2012 Direction came into f...