Global News Headlines 01/14

[greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org]

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Greenpeace Daily Environmental News Headlines
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Thursday, January 14, 1999
Greenbase Unit
Greenpeace International
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 TOXICS 

(GREENPEACE)
1) COGEMA MUST ANSWER CHARGES IT ENDANGERED ACTIVIST PARIS, France, January
13, 1999 (ENS) - French state-owned nuclear company Cogema has been
ordered to answer in court allegations that its fuel reprocessing
activities put the life of an anti-nuclear campaigner at risk.  The
move will put pressure on the firm at a time when its operations are
coming under increasing political...

2) Cambodia ministers deny approving toxic waste deal PHNOM PENH, Jan 14
(Reuters) - Cambodian ministers denied a report on Thursday that the
government approved the dumping of 3,000 tonnes of mercury-laced waste from
Taiwan. The government never approved it," Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh
told Reuters. "I'm a member of the government but I never heard of any $6...

3) BORNEO BULLETIN Jan 14, 1999 SECTION: News HEADLINE: Borneo- 55 industries
found polluting rivers BODY: KUCHING Fifty-five industries were compounded
by the Riverine Enforcement Unit of the Sarawak Rivers' Board (SRB) last
year as part of the latter's statewide exercise in keeping monthly checks on
industries in ensuring that solid wastes are disposed off properly. SRB's...

4) The Japan Times January 14, 1999, HEADLINE: Avoiding a toxic meltdown
BODY: A survey conducted last year by the Environment Agency showed that
endocrine-disrupting chemicals, or environmental  hormones, had been
detected in most of Japan's water systems. It also indicated that dioxin in
excess of standardized limits existed in the air in the Tokyo Metropolitan...

5) BBC Summary of World Broadcasts January 14, 1999 HEADLINE: "Ecological
disaster looming" after power cut for chemical firms SOURCE: Radio
Bosnia-Hercegovina, Sarajevo, 6 Jan 99  BODY: 1] H3.- FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
The electricity authority of Bosnia-Hercegovina and Tuzla [eastern Bosnia]
power plant have cut off the supply of electricity and steam to the Polihem...

6) AP Worldstream January 14, 1999 HEADLINE: Death of vultures points to
dangers for man DATELINE: NEW DELHI, India BODY: Vultures are dying off in
alarming numbers in India, and high levels of pesticide found in their
carcasses could mean man is being poisoned as well, scientists said
Thursday. The independent Center for Science and Environment conducted its...

7) The Christian Science Monitor Jan 14, 1999, SECTION: USA; Pg. 2 HEADLINE:
How ethical is testing pesticides on people, EPA asks BYLINE: Peter N.
Spotts, DATELINE: WASHINGTON  HIGHLIGHT: Using human subjects will  make
chemicals safer, say supporters.But critics worry about potential side
effects. BODY: For years, companies have tested  pesticides  on animals to...

 NUCLEAR POWER 

8) 01/13 Germany Bans Nuclear Waste Cargo BERLIN (AP) -- Partners in
Germany's coalition government reached an agreement Wednesday to ban
the practice of sending spent nuclear fuel out of the country for
reprocessing. The agreement, part of the government's plan to end the
use of nuclear power  in Germany, will take effect in 2000 under a
compromise between the coalition's...

9) French plant to lose billions from German nuclear deal BODY: PARIS,  Jan
14 (AFP) - Germany's plan to abandon nuclear energy will translate
into 5.4 billion dollars in losses to the French company COGEMA,
which reprocesses nuclear waste, a company executive said Thursday.
Christian Gobert was reacting to Wednesday's agreement between
Germany's two ruling parties to...

10) Bulgaria N-plant unharmed by Danube oil spill SOFIA, Jan 14 (Reuters) -
A big diesel oil spill floating along the Danube River passed Bulgaria's
Kozloduy nuclear power plant without affecting its safety, officals said on
Thursday. The biggest patch of the spill passed by the plant during the
night without even smearing the barriers installed to divert it," Kozloduy's...

11) Experts out for moratorium on nuclear ... MINSK, January 14 (Itar-Tass)
-- Commission of experts under the Byelorussian government on Thursday spoke
out for introducing a 10-year moratorium on the construction of nuclear
power plants in the republic.  The reasons behind the decision were purely
economic. Chairman of the commission, vice-president of the national Academy...

 NUCLEAR WEAPONS & MILITARY 

12) 01/14 Russia Attacks U.S. Over Iran Criticism By Adam Tanner MOSCOW
(Reuters) - Russia responded defiantly on Thursday to U.S. sanctions
and a threat of further action over alleged Russian exports of
missile and nuclear technology to Iran, and said inept U.S. spying
might explain the row. Moscow gave no sign of curtailing cooperation
with Iran, and the Atomic Energy...

13) United Press International HEADLINE: Russia looks to US for Y2K help
BYLINE: BY JOE WARMINSKY DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 BODY: A Russian
technology official says that many facets of Russian industry and government
might not be clear of the year 2000 computer bug, but key sectors such as
defense and nuclear energy should be ready with help from a North Carolina...

14) AP Worldstream January 14, 1999 HEADLINE: Russia to  modernize nuclear
weapons parts after sub-critical nuclear tests DATELINE: MOSCOW BODY: Russia
will upgrade components in its nuclear weapons following a recent series of
sub-critical nuclear tests at an Arctic test range, a newspaper report said
Thursday. The tests,  conducted on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago between...

15) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Fiji soldiers claim atomic bomb tests
causing cancer DATELINE: SUVA, Jan 14  BODY: Fiji soldiers who served on
Christmas Island when the British tested the atomic bomb there in the 1950s
say they are dying from the effects. Of the 39 soldiers who served there
more than half had died from cancer, Ratu Inoke Bainimarama, who also served...

16) BBC Summary of World Broadcasts Jan 14, 1999 HEADLINE: Tour to promote
nuclear dump "waste of time" SOURCE: text of report by Radio New Zealand
International on 13th January  A tour of Pacific island countries by the man
promoting a plan to use Wake Island to store weapons-grade  plutonium  will
be a waste of time, according to the Nuclear - Free and Independent Pacific...

 OCEANS 

(GREENPEACE)
17) Japanese whaling ship leaves for Antarctic: Greenpeace TOKYO, Jan. 14
(Kyodo) A Japanese whaling ship left for the Antarctic earlier this week as
part of a "research" program which the environmental group Greenpeace said
is aimed at commercial gains. Greenpeace said the 7,575-ton Nisshin Maru,
which caught fire on the  high seas 1,000 kilometers east of Australia last...

18) KWS Told To Stop Harvest Of Corals  Nairobi (The Nation, January 13, 1999)
The Kenya Wildlife Service has been told to put a stop to the harvesting of
corals along the Malindi coastline. The chairman of the Environment Trust of
Kenya, Mr.  Z.K. Nderu, said yesterday the organisation was opposed  to the
activities of a number of foreigners involved in the harvesting of  the...

19) The Edmonton Journal January 14, 1999 Final Canada E11 If  U.S. offends,
stripmine a park; MP angered by salmon overfishing A Reform MP says one of
British Columbia's most spectacular wilderness parks should be mined to
punish the United States for overfishing Canadian salmon.  Mike Scott said
the American refusal to settle the  Pacific salmon dispute should be...

20) NSW: Mass pilchard deaths in Newcastle prompt fishing ban BODY: SYDNEY,
Jan 14 AAP - The mass death of pilchards in Newcastle has prompted the state
government to ban collection of the fish in the area. Fisheries Minister Bob
Martin said thousands of dead pilchards had been found on Stockton and
Merewether beaches. He said the fish were  probably killed by a herpes virus...

21) FED: Clamp-down on dry bulk cargo residues on Barrier Reef BODY:
BRISBANE, Jan 14 AAP - Marine authorities are out to stop the practice of
ships washing their decks of coal dust and other pollutants in Great Barrier
Reef waters. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) said today the loading of dry...

 ATMOSPHERE & ENERGY 

(GREENPEACE)
22) AP Worldstream January 14, 1999 HEADLINE: State oil company demands
compensation from Greenpeace after protest DATELINE: OSLO, Norway  BODY:
Norway's state oil company, Statoil, on Thursday demanded 1,848,000 kroner
(dlrs 250,000) in compensation from Greenpeace  for costs caused by
activists boarding an offshore oil drilling rig in August. Greenpeace...

23) The Guardian (London) January 14, 1999 SECTION: The Guardian Home Page;
Pg. 11 HEADLINE: Prescott blames Europe for failure to hit clean air target
BYLINE: Paul Brown Environment Correspondent BODY: THE Government has been
forced to abandon ambitious plans to cut the amount of dust produced by
diesel exhausts - but  has blamed the embarrassing U-turn on pollution  from...

24) 01/13 Japan Could Save Money Choosing Wind Over Nuclear Pwr-S
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Japan could save money if it scrapped its
plutonium-fuel nuclear power program and replaced it with energy from
offshore wind power platforms, according to an environmental
group-sponsored analysis. Recent advances in technology, such as
larger, more reliable turbines and offshore...

25) Climate Change Utility Officials, Analysts See Little Hope Of Meeting Kyoto
Goals by Scheduled Time By Alec Zacaroli The Bureau of National Affairs,
Inc., Washington D.C. No. 08 Wednesday, January 13, 1999 ISSN 1521-9402 News
TUCSON, Ariz.--It will be virtually impossible for the U.S. electric utility
industry to achieve the emission reductions needed for the United States to...

26) Daily Oil Bulletin January 13, 1999 Final 8  Ottawa Orders Environmental
Review Of Oil Sands Region The Canadian government has put a new hurdle
before Suncor Energy Inc. and its plans for a major oil sands expansion by
requiring an environmental review process for the whole northern Alberta oil
sands region be in place before it gets a green light.  Suncor, whose...

 TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY 

27) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: China handles 26,000  logging violations
in two months DATELINE: BEIJING, Jan 14  BODY: China's blitz on logging
violations following an emergency ban on natural forest logging  has
resulted in 26,369 cases in three months, Xinhua reported Thursday.
Disastrous summer flooding prompted logging bans in Yunnan, Sichuan,...

28) New Straits Times (Malaysia) January 14, 1999 SECTION: National; Pg. 3
HEADLINE: Ginger growers threaten environs BYLINE: By Tony Emmanuel BODY:
BENTONG, Wed.- Efforts by the Pahang Government to curb indiscriminate land
clearing by ginger growers and to rehabilitate forests in the Bentong
district are in jeopardy. Ginger growers continue to illegally and...

29) Times Colonist (Victoria) January 14, 1999 Final Capital Region D4 Forest
industry fears trade war over bill BY  Judith Lavoie The last thing B.C.'s
faltering forest industry needs is an all-out trade war with the U.S., say
industry spokesmen who want the federal government to withdraw legislation
that is aggravating trade hostilities. The U.S. has threatened to block some...

 GENETIC ENGINEERING 

30) Asahi News Service Jan 14, 1999, HEADLINE: IMPORT CONTROLS DUE ON
GENETICALLY ENGINEERED PRODUCTS DATELINE: TOKYO BODY: Concerned over the
dangers posed by genetically engineered plants, animals and microorganisms,
representatives of 170 nations have agreed to adopt controls on importing
them, during working-level talks on the Convention on Biological Diversity,...

31) Scientists to Grow More Trans-genic Vegetables  BEIJING (Jan. 14) XINHUA -
Chinese scientists will expand trans-genic vegetable-seed production to 20
hectares in Beijing's  Daxing County this year. Sources at the Chinese
Academy of Sciences (CAS), China's top  scientific research organization,
said the CAS has been selling trans-genic hot pepper, tomato, and green...

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