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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday added its voice to the chorus of Western nations troubled by Russia's dealings with foreign oil companies, saying it was "very concerned" by Moscow's treatment of Royal Dutch Shell. "The United States is very concerned by recent Russian government action threatening the revocation of Shell's environmental permit for the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project," State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters. Russia withdrew ecological permits for  ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Friday it was "very concerned" by Russia's threat to revoke the environmental permit at Royal Dutch Shell's Sakhalin-2 oil and gas filed project. "The United States is very concerned by recent Russian government action threatening the revocation of Shell's environmental permit for the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project," State Department spokes ...

By Matthew Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond is making "good progress" after being moved out of intensive care on Friday, a hospital spokeswoman said. His friend and co-host James May said doctors at Leeds General Infirmary were "cautiously optimistic". "I've had a conversation with Hammond today -- not a long one, but it was a conversation," May said. "I am not a doctor but I am his mate and I believe that, deep inside, the Hammond I know is perfectly intact." Hamm ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is pursuing Russia over its decision to revoke environmental approval for a vast oil and gas investment being led by oil giant Shell, a senior Foreign Office official said on Friday. Foreign secretary Margaret Beckett spoke to her Russian counterpart in New York this week on Shell's Sakhalin-2 oil and gas field project, the official said, adding that the Foreign Office  ...

By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Talk about telecommuting. Space tourist Anousheh Ansari said on Friday she's staying on top of things at the office even as she orbits the Earth on the International Space Station. "I'm keeping up to date with what's going on in our office and the progress everyone's making, so they're sending me status reports," Ansari told reporters in a live link-up.  ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Trains broke the Glasgow to London rail speed record on Friday, completing the journey in under four hours. One of Virgin's tilting "Pendolino" trains left Glasgow at 1137 GMT, arriving in London at 1532 GMT, eclipsing the four hours 14 minutes record set in 1981 for the 401-mile (645 km) journey. It was also the first non-stop run between  ...

LONDON (Reuters) - VAT cheats stole 12.6 billion euros (8.5 billion pounds) from the British Treasury in the year to June, five times more than any other European Union country, according to a Belgian report, cited by the BBC. The Treasury, which put Value Added Tax fraud in the country at 1.9 billion pounds in the year to June 2005, said it did not recognise the figure and would be publishing it ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A European Union threshold to avoid dangerous climate change is proving a more difficult goal to achieve than anticipated, according to Foreign secretary Margaret Beckett. The EU has set a goal that global average temperatures should not exceed 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) above preindustrial levels if dangerous interference with the climate is to be avoided. "The scientific di ...

AMMAN (Reuters) - A Palestinian gunman who admitted to killing a British man and wounding five other tourists in Jordan this month was charged with carrying out terrorist acts, a security source said on Friday. Jordan's state security court prosecutor charged Nabil Ahmad Jaoura, 38, with "perpetrating terrorist acts that led to the death of a person, and the illegal possession of a firearm," said ...

By Jeremy Lovell LONDON (Reuters) - Britain called on Friday for world leaders to prepare a summit on easing the humanitarian crisis in Sudan's violence-torn Darfur region. "International leaders should be ready to meet soon to consider next steps," a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair told reporters, adding that no agenda or date had yet been set for such a meeting. He did not elaborate o ...