Global News Headlines 01/15

[greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org]

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Greenpeace Daily Environmental News Headlines
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Friday, January 15, 1999
Greenbase Unit
Greenpeace International
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 TOXICS 

(GREENPEACE)
1) The Independent (London) January 14, 1999 SECTION: NEWS; Page 5 HEADLINE:
Additive in toys linked to cancer BYLINE: By Charles Arthur Technology
Editor BODY: A GROUP of chemicals commonly used to soften children's toys
are almost 20 times more dangerous than previously thought, research shows.
James Bridges, a British scientist reviewing the matter for the European...

(GREENPEACE)
2) AP Worldstream January 15, 1999 HEADLINE: Greenpeace welcomes soft toy ban
for babies in Greece DATELINE: ATHENS, Greece BODY: The sale of soft plastic
toys for babies and toddlers has been banned in Greece under a government
order that took effect Friday. The measure prevents the sale of all toys and
''teethers'' made with soft polyvinyl  chloride  (soft  PVC)  for children...

3) Asiaweek January 15, 1999 SECTION: EDITORIALS; Pg. 18 HEADLINE: HOLD THE
GARBAGE, THANKS; Forty million tons  of toxic trash a year trades globally.
It must stop BODY: Not in my backyard. That attitude has prompted many a
community to dump its garbage in the backyard of another, which in turn
passes it on to another and another.  Eventually, the garbage ends up in the...

4) Cambodia rights workers should be released - U.N. By Ek Madra PHNOM PENH,
Jan 15 (Reuters) - A top U.N. human rights official on Friday called for the
release from prison of two rights workers arrested last month during violent
protests over the dumping of Taiwanese toxic waste in southern Cambodia.
Thomas Hammarberg, the U.N. secretary general's representative for human...

5) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Cambodian government denies accepting waste
bribe DATELINE: PHNOM PENH, Jan 15  BODY: Cambodia's government on Friday
fiercely denied a report alleging it had accepted a massive bribe to allow
alleged toxic waste from Taiwan to be dumped close to a coastal resort.
Statements from both the senior ruling coalition party of Hun en and the...

6) Deutsche Presse-Agentur January 15, 1999 HEADLINE: Estonia concerned about
Russian waste in Gulf of Finland DATELINE: Narva, Estonia  BODY: Every day
for two weeks, the Russian town of Ivangorod has dumped 8,000 cubic metres
of untreated household and human waste into a river bound for the Gulf of
Finland,  environmental authorities in neighbouring Estonia said Friday. If...

7) Levels of cancer-causing chemicals drop By JENNIFER KIMURA SPRINGFIELD,
Ill. Jan 15 (UPI) -- Chicago residents may be leading healthier lives than
10 years ago, according to a new report on levels of cancer-causing
chemicals emitted by steel industries. The Windy City ranked first of
139 Illinois cities and towns in reducing levels of three toxic
chemicals --...

8) ENVIRONMENT-PANAMA:  DEVELOPMENT MODEL MARS ... PANAMA CITY, (Jan. 13) IPS
The Panamanian development model --  based on the indiscriminate
exploitation of its natural resources  -- has become a vicious circle
harming the quality of life of the  people. Rodrigo Tarte, executive
director of the non-governmental Fundacion  Natura, and Stanley Heckadon,...

9) International Herald Tribune (Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) January 15, 1999,
SECTION: News; Pg. 1 HEADLINE: Ecology: Cambodia's Next Man-Made Disaster
BYLINE: By Michael Richardson; International Herald Tribune DATELINE: PHNOM
PENH BODY: The floating casino moored at the edge of this city, where the
Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers meet, symbolizes the readiness of those who...

 NUCLEAR POWER 

(GREENPEACE)
10) 01/15 FEARS FOR NUCLEAR PLANT AS GERMANY SCRAPS #1.2BN DEAL By Amanda
Brown, Environment Correspondent,PA News. Anti-nuclear campaigners
today claimed the cancellation by Germany of 1.2 billion of contracts
for reprocessing at Sellafield, could be the "death knell," for the
Thorp reprocessing works. Greenpeace called on the UK Government to
welcome the...

11) ANGER OVER SELLAFIELD JOBS AS GERMANY BOWS TO GREENS By Padraic Flanagan,
PA News Nuclear workers at Sellafield were today facing an uncertain future
after the German government cancelled contracts worth  1.2 billion. Under
pressure from Green politicians, Germany scrapped plans to reprocess 2,000
tonnes of spent nuclear fuel at the plant over the next 10 years. The shock...

12) 01/15 France Seeks Non-Nuke Energy Sources PARIS (AP) -- France will
speed up its search for "cleaner" nuclear energy and for non-nuclear
energy sources, a top minister said Friday. But Education and
Research Minister Claude Allegre, speaking on Europe 1 radio,
softened his remarks by insisting that French energy policies were
not being changed. France uses...

13) France wants compensation for German N-waste deals PARIS, Jan 15 (Reuters)
France will demand that Bonn stick to nuclear waste reprocessing contracts
or compensate French companies as Germany phases out nuclear energy, senior
French officials said on Friday. Germany must keep its commitments. The
French government will be very firm on this,"  Education and Research...

14) Deutsche Presse-Agentur Jan 15, 1999 NEWS FEATURE: German government
takes on powerful nuclear industry  BYLINE: By Thomas Spieker, dpa DATELINE:
Bonn BODY: Germany's centre-left government of Social Democrats and Greens
has thrown down the  gauntlet to the nation's energy suppliers, telling them
they will be forced to shut down their nuclear reactors if they refuse to do...

15) JAPAN PLANS TO SHIP MOX FUEL WITHOUT ESCORT SHIP TOKYO, Japan, January 14,
1999 (ENS) - Japan plans to transport MOX nuclear fuel containing
plutonium from the United Kingdom before summer with no escort ships,
NHK television reported Wednesday. Protection against terrorist
seizure would be provided by equipping the British transport ship
with firearms.  MOX, mixed-oxide, is...

16) Europe Energy January 15, 1999 SECTION:  No. 528 HEADLINE: END OF THE ROAD
FOR FRENCH FAST BREEDER REACTOR. BODY: A ruling which gives the official
go-ahead for the decommissioning of the controversial Superphenix fast
breeder nuclear reactor in Creys-Malville in South-East France was published
in the French official gazette on  December 31, 1998. The text, which had...

17) Europe Energy Jan 15, 1999 SECTION: No. 528 HEADLINE: IAEA EXPERTS EXAMINE
OLD REACTORS AT BULGARIA'S KOZLODUY POWER STATION. BODY: An International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission is paying a visit to Bulgaria from
January 11 to 29 to examine the state of the four oldest reactors at the
Kozloduy nuclear power station, whose closure has been demanded by the...

18) 01/14 N.Y. Nuclear Plant Fire Put Out SCRIBA, N.Y. (AP) -- A fire
erupted Thursday near the electric turbine at the James FitzPatrick
nuclear power plant near Oswego. The fire was under control shortly
after it started at about 1 p.m., but wasn't completely extinguished
until Thursday evening, according to Woody Berzins, spokesman for the
New York Power Authority, the...

19) ComEd worker complaints upheld CHICAGO, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Labor
Department has ordered ComEd to reinstate and compensate six former workers
at ComEd's now closed Zion nuclear station who allege they were punished in
retaliation for whistleblowing on nuclear safety issues. ComEd told the
Chicago Sun-Times today it will appeal the Labor Department's Jan. 6 ruling....

20) The Daily Yomiuri January 16, 1999 SECTION: Pg. 2 HEADLINE: Electricity
rates may rise to cover N-disposal costs BYLINE: Yomiuri Society  BODY: An
increase in electricity charges may be required to cover the enormous costs
of disposing of high-level radioactive waste produced during the
reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, according to a report released Thursday...

 NUCLEAR WEAPONS & MILITARY 

21) The Guardian (London) January 15, 1999 SECTION: The Guardian Home Page; Pg.
6 HEADLINE: Gulf veterans 'more likely  to get ill' but no syndrome
BYLINE: Sarah Boseley Health Correspondent BODY: THE Gulf war damaged
the health of many British servicemen, but Gulf war syndrome does not
exist, two studies into the illnesses of the UK  veterans have
concluded.  Many of those who...

22) 01/15 Russia Wants U.S. Allegation Proof By ANNA DOLGOV MOSCOW (AP)
-- The United States has not provided enough evidence to prove
allegations that several Russian scientific institutes helped Iran
build weapons of mass destruction, Russian President Boris Yeltsin's
chief of staff said Friday. Washington sanctioned three Russian
institutes earlier this week, accusing...

23) The Moscow Times Jan 15, 1999 SECTION: No. 1622 HEADLINE: Supreme Court
to Hear Nikitin Case Feb. 4 BYLINE: By Brian Whitmore BODY: Staff Writer ST.
PETERSBURG - On Feb. 4 the  Russian Supreme Court will hear the case of
former navy captain and environmentalist Alexander Nikitin, accused by the
Federal Security Service of espionage for co-authoring a report on the...

 OCEANS 

24) 01/15 PORT FINED RECORD #4 MILLION OVER OIL SPILL By Brendan Berry,
PA News The Sea Empress oil spill today cost a port the biggest
penalty for pollution ever handed out in a British court. Milford
Haven Port Authority must pay a  4 million fine, with legal costs
amounting to 1.7 million, for causing an environmental disaster along
120 miles of Welsh coastline....

25) 01/14 URGENT STEPS URGED TO SAVE FISHING INDUSTRY By Trevor Mason,
Parliamentary Chief Reporter, PA News Ministers were urged tonight to
take urgent action to help conserve dwindling fish stocks -- or watch
the fishing industry die out altogether. Tory Shaun Woodward (Witney)
warned of a "desperate situation" facing fishermen as the world
marched towards...

26) AMERISCAN: JANUARY 14, 1999  NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SUED OVER COHO
HABITAT The Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) and the
Southwest Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit in U.S. Federal
District Court in San Francisco Wednesday against the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS). The lawsuit seeks to compel the federal agency to...

27) ASIA PULSE HEADLINE: US SEEKS 15 MTHS TO ACT ON WTO INDIA SHRIMP IMPORTS
ORDER DATELINE: NEW DELHI, Jan 15 BODY: The United States has sought 15
months in which to implement the World Trade Organisation (WTO) order asking
it to lift the ban on shrimp imports from India, the Indian commerce
ministry said today. The US had sought the time for implementation after...

 ATMOSPHERE & ENERGY 

28) The Ottawa Citizen Friday, January 15, 1999 Final News A3  Blame it  on La
Nina: El Nino's frigid sister reaches out to chill Ontario BY Andrew Duffy
Environment Canada researchers say La Nina, El Nino's cold sister, is the
oceanic culprit behind Ontario's unusually heavy snowfalls and bone-chilling
temperatures.  La Nina -- it means ``the little  girl'' in Spanish --is a...

29) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Global warming effect on oceans could lead
to still more warming DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Jan 14 BODY: Global warming
could reduce the oceans' ability to clear the air of carbon dioxide, thereby
pushing up global temperatures still more, researchers said in an article
out Thursday. Global warming would affect the oceans' phytoplankton, which...

 TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY 

30) Logger acquitted of poaching old SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- A Northern
California logger has been acquitted of poaching over $800,000 worth of old
growth cedar and fir trees taken from government land near his property.  A
federal jury in San Francisco acquitted Ko Michael Lockwood of 32 felony
counts in connection with the sale of trees including 15 Port Orford cedars,...

31) E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  SFCW - Sustainable Forestry &
Certification Watch: an independent organisation to monitor forest
certification worldwide MONTREAL, Jan. 12 /CNW-PRN/ - Sustainable Forestry &
Certification Watch has been established to monitor and report on forest
certification worldwide.  SFCW is an independent, non- profit,...

32) VIC: Protesters lock themselves up in the Otways BODY:MELBOURNE, Jan 15 AAP
Three protesters who have locked themselves to machinery barring the path of
loggers in the Otway Ranges state forest south-west of Melbourne are being
cut out by state government rangers tonight. Two of the protesters have
attached themselves with thumb locks to a car which has been cemented into...

33) The Press (Christchurch) January  15, 1999 SECTION: NEWS; NATIONAL; Pg. 6;
REGIONAL NEWS HEADLINE: TWC denies Japanese  interest BYLINE: CHRISTIAN
Peter  BODY: Timberlands West Coast  management is hotly denying that three
Japanese companies are seeking to  buy the State-owned forestry enterprise.
The latest denial, the third in  a month to allegations made by conservation...

34) South China Morning Post January  15, 1999 SECTION: News; Pg. 10 HEADLINE:
Phi Phi warriors ready to fight on BYLINE:  WILLIAM BARNES in Bangkok BODY:
Green activists smarting from their failure to stop filming of The Beach,
starring Leonardo DiCaprio, console themselves with the fact that a national
park row became a major Thai scandal for the first time. But the price is...

 GENETIC ENGINEERING 

35) Sierra Club Executive Endorses High-Yield ...WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 /U.S.
Newswire/ Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, has endorsed
high-yield agriculture, including bio-engineered crops, because high farm
yields will help save wildlife habitat and wild species. Hudson Institute's
Center for Global Food Issues has researched and advocated this agricultural...

36) Africa lags behind in biotechnology  Nairobi (The Nation, January 14, 1999)
Despite its enormous natural  resource reserves, Africa is yet to reap the
fruits of biotechnology,  years after the discipline was introduced. Ever
since the inception of the technology, Africa has remained a mere supplier
of raw materials used by research- oriented institutions and multinational...

37) Canada rejects Monsanto's dairy growth hormone OTTAWA, Jan 14 (Reuters)
- Canada's health department said on Thursday it will not approve Monsanto
Co.'s <MTC.N>  controversial bovine growth hormone, rbST -- which boosts
milk production in cows -- due to concerns for the health of treated
animals. Health Canada said its veterinary experts cited an increased risk...

38) Asiaweek January 15, 1999 SECTION: BUSINESS; Agriculture; Pg. 51 HEADLINE:
THE GENE REVOLUTION; prize-winning Indian farmer proves you can help feed a
nation -- and make money BYLINE: BY JAGDISH RATTANANI, JALNA BODY: In an
experimental plot near his seed-processing plant in Jalna town south of
Bombay, Badrinarayan  Ramulal Bar-wale sees several unharvested eggplants....

39) The Irish Times January 15, 1999, CITY EDITION SECTION: HOME NEWS; Pg. 7
HEADLINE: Monsanto criticised for not taking part in Cork conference
Organisers accuse biotechnology interests of avoiding controversy BYLINE: By
KEVIN O'SULLIVAN BODY: The organisers of the biggest conference staged in
the Republic on genetic engineering of food have accused biotechnology...

 OTHERS 

(GREENPEACE)
40) The Press (Christchurch) Jan 15, 1999 SECTION: FEATURES; GENERAL; Pg. 5;
NEWS REVIEW HEADLINE: More extremes as  2000 looms BYLINE:  ROBSON Seth
BODY: Local and global environmental issues will increase in importance as
New Zealand approaches the new century, predicts SETH ROBSON. This year,
global environmental problems will continue to affect Canterbury. Last...

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