Global News Headlines 06/24

[greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org]

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Greenpeace Daily Environmental News Headlines
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Thursday, June 24, 1999
Greenbase Unit
Greenpeace International
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 TOXICS 

(GREENPEACE)
1) FOCUS-Coca-Cola says phenol at root of scare By Olivier Hamoir DUNKIRK,
France, June 24 (Reuters) - Coca-Cola <KO.N> said on Thursday some of its
shipping pallets had been contaminated by the toxic chemical phenol, in a
European health scare which led to temporary sales bans in Belgium and
France. France lifted its sales ban on Coca-Cola cans produced at its plant...

2) Deutsche Presse-Agentur June 24, 1999 HEADLINE: ANALYSIS: European food
safety concerns set to alter eating habits BYLINE: Shada Islam, dpa
DATELINE: Brussels  BODY: Shopping for food never used to be like this.
Every Saturday at her local supermarket, telecommunications consultant Marta
Hernandez, 29, carefully examines every single label and brand, checking and...

3) EU environment cause for "serious concern"- report By Michael Mann
BRUSSELS, June 24 (Reuters) - The level of environmental standards in the
European Union remain a cause for serious concern, despite recent progress
in tightening legislation, the bloc's chief environmental watchdog said on
Thursday. While there has been success in reducing use of substances that...

4) World Bank accused of promoting medical waste WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters)
An environmental group on Thursday accused the World Bank of "environmental
racism" for backing projects which fund dioxin-producing medical waste
incinerators in 20 countries around the world. The Health Care Without Harm
coalition published the report, which claimed the bank funded projects in...

5) HEALTH-INDIA:  BHOPAL DISASTER LINGERS AFTER ... WASHINGTON, (Jun. 22) IPS
Survivors of one of the world's worst industrial disasters, which struck the
Indian city of Bhopal nearly  15 years ago, still suffer from the effects of
toxic gas, according  to visiting Bhopal community health workers. The
accident at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopalin December 1984...

 NUCLEAR POWER 

(GREENPEACE)
6) AP Worldstream June 24, 1999 BYLINE: SUSANNA LOOF FEA-Sweden-Nuclear
DATELINE: STOCKHOLM, Sweden BODY: The pending shutdown of Sweden's oldest
reactor is a shaky step toward living without nuclear power for a nation
that's one of the world's most dependent on that energy source. Last week,
the Supreme Administrative Court upheld the government's order to shut down...

7) BBC Summary of World Broadcasts June 25, 1999 HEADLINE: Two hurt in
Siberian reactorleak SOURCE: NTV, Moscow 16 Jun 99 BODY:  [Presenter] A
radioactive emission has occurred at the Siberian Chemicals Plant in the
Tomsk region. We have a report from the scene. [Correspondent] An incident
has occurred at one of the Siberian Chemicals Plant's nuclear reactors. Two...

8) The Ottawa Citizen June 24, 1999, FINAL SECTION: News; A3 HEADLINE: Federal
Court exposes AECL's 'double secret': Canadians 'should know what they're
not allowed to know': judge BYLINE: Andrew Duffy BODY: A Federal Court judge
has denied a request by Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. for ''double secret''
protection of documents related to its controversial sale of nuclear...

9) Lithuania may begin Ignalina N-plant closure in 2005 VILNIUS, June 24
(Reuters) - Lithuania could begin closing the first bloc of the
controversial Ignalina nuclear power plant in 2005, though the entire
decommissioning of the Soviet-era plant may take 20 years, a senior
government official said on Thursday. Deputy Economics Minister Viktoras...

 NUCLEAR WEAPONS & MILITARY 

10) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Prosecution calls for 12 years' prison
against Russian journalist DATELINE: MOSCOW, June 24  BODY: The prosecution
called for 12 years' imprisonment against Grigory Pasko, a Russian naval
captain and journalist being tried for high treason in the far eastern port
of Vladivostok, ITAR-TASS quoted one of his lawyers as saying Thursday. The...

11) 06/24 Panel: Nuclear Cleanup Inadequate By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
WASHINGTON (AP) Despite billions spent so far, current technology is
not up to the job of cleaning contaminated soil and water at the
Energy Department's nuclear weapons sites, a scientific advisory
panel reported Thursday. The technology that often is used to
remediate contaminated sites is simply ineffective and...

12) AP Worldstream June 24, 1999 HEADLINE: Experts set to assess environmental
impact of Balkans conflict DATELINE: NAIROBI, Kenya  BODY: Environmental
experts are set to begin a full scale assessment of the impact of the
conflict in the Balkans on the environment and human settlement in two to
three weeks, a U.N. spokesman said Thursday. United Nations Environment...

 OCEANS 

(GREENPEACE)
13) 06/24 EU MINISTERS AGREE TO CUT RADIOACTIVE SEA DISCHARGES By Amanda
Brown, Environment Correspondent, PA News Deputy Prime Minister John
Prescott and European ministers today agreed at the annual Oslo-Paris
Commission (Ospar) meeting in Hull to boost efforts to make big cuts
in radioactive discharges to the sea.    It was also agreed that
Ospar, a European body to protect...

14) QLD: Leaky pipe may have caused oil slick, court told BYLINE: Rosemary
Desmond  BODY: SHIP BRISBANE, June 24 AAP - A ship discharging ballast water
near the Great Barrier Reef last year may have created an oil slick through
a leaky pipe, a Brisbane court was told today. The spill occurred when the
Malaysian-registered coal carrier Pernas Amang was discharging ballast water...

 ATMOSPHERE & ENERGY 

15) VIC: Sydney to be flooded by 2100, Red Cross disaster report BYLINE: Greg
Rule BODY: SWISS REDCROSS AUST MELBOURNE, June 24 AAP - Australia's largest
city, Sydney, will be severely and permanently flooded in 100 years,
according to a world report on natural disasters by the international Red
Cross. And Sydneysiders will be powerless to stop the flood, with no choice...

16) THE DAILY TELEGRAPH(LONDON) June 24, 1999 SECTION: Pg. 10 HEADLINE: Red
Cross reports record number of natural disasters BYLINE: Charles Clover,
Environment Editor  BODY: A RECORD number of natural disasters last year
caused extensive damage and drove more refugees from the land than war and
conflict combined, the Red  Cross said yesterday. Its World Disasters Report...

17) The Christian Science Monitor June  24, 1999 SECTION: FEATURES; IDEAS;
WHATEVER . . .; Pg. 12 HEADLINE: Evidence mounts: Warming trend changes
climate BYLINE: Robert C. Cowen, Special to The Christian Science Monitor
DATELINE: BOSTON BODY: Indications of man-made global warming continue to
appear. It shows up in the latest study that confirms that the 20th century...

18) International Herald Tribune June 24, 1999, SECTION: Special Report; Pg.
24 HEADLINE: Windmills Are on a Roll; Operating Costs Are Down While
Energy Capacity Is Up BYLINE:Brad Spurgeon; International Herald
Tribune DATELINE: PARIS BODY: Most modern technologies seem to
develop in leaps and bounds by overnight revolutionary discoveries.
Not so windmills. The world's fastest...

19) EU threatens binding rules for Japanese cars LUXEMBOURG, June 24 (Reuters)
European Union environment ministers on Thursday repeated their threat to
impose binding restrictions on Japanese carmakers if they do not agree
voluntary reductions in carbon dioxide emissions by September.  But
ministers welcomed an undertaking by South Korean manufacturers to meet...

20) Deutsche Presse-Agentur June 24, 1999 HEADLINE: German motorists changing
to eco-friendly fuels DATELINE: Muenster, Germany BODY: An increasingly
number of German motorists are switching to environmentally friendlier bio-
diesel, produced from natural crops rather than fossil fuels. In 1998 use of
bio-diesel rose by 10 per cent in  Germany to around 100,000 tons. And...

 TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY 

(GREENPEACE)
21) FED: Green groups split over major shakeup of national laws BODY:
ENVIRONMENT DAYLEAD CANBERRA, June 24 AAP - Conservation groups are bitterly
divided over the greatest shakeup of Australia's environmental laws in 25
years. While some environment groups welcomed the changes because they
expand Commonwealth coverage in certain areas, such as threatened species,...

22) Lawmakers ask Clinton for forest roadbuilding ban WASHINGTON, June 24
(Reuters) - A bipartisan group of lawmakers urged President Clinton on
Thursday to impose a permanent ban on building new roads in the national
forests. Clinton already imposed an 18-month road-building ban in February
that expires in August 2000, but it covered only certain forests.  "We urge...

23) WRAPUP-World Bank angers critics with China loan By Mark Egan WASHINGTON,
June 24 (Reuters) The World Bank tried on Thursday to defuse one of its most
bitter disputes in years as it approved a $160 million loan to China that
has angered its biggest shareholders and outraged Tibetan activists.  The
loan, to be used in part to resettle 58,000 poor Chinese farmers to an area...

24) US likely to retaliate in EU beef dispute - USTR By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON,
June  24 (Reuters) - U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said on
Thursday it was doubtful the European Union would open its market to beef
from cattle raised with artificial growth hormones in time to avoid U.S.
retaliation. "I'm not overly optimistic we will see any progress before...

 GENETIC ENGINEERING 

(GREENPEACE)
25) 06/24 FOCUS-EU close to temporary GMO moratorium By Michael Mann
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) European Union environment ministers Thursday
moved closer to a moratorium on authorizing new genetically modified
organisms, at least until new rules can be agreed to reassure
consumers of their safety. "Until new rules are in place, we don't
want any new products to be...

26) THE DAILY TELEGRAPH(LONDON) June 24, 1999 SECTION: Pg. 15 HEADLINE: Suspend
GM food sales, say French  BYLINE: Oliver Poole  BODY: ALL sales of new
genetically modified foods should be suspended in the European Union until
products using them are clearly labelled, France said yesterday. Dominique
Voynet, Environment  Minister, and Green Party member of the coalition, said...

27) UK MPs ask for tighter GM food information rules LONDON, June 24 (Reuters)
British lawmakers on Thursday called on the government to force people who
sell foods containing genetically modified (GM) products to make sure
customers are aware of what they are buying. People are in danger of
purchasing GM foods without realising it. The government is at fault in...

28) The Washington Post June  24, 1999 Final Edition SECTION: OP-ED; Pg. A27
HEADLINE: Europe's Food Fright  YLINE: Jim Hoagland DATELINE: PARIS BODY: At
loggerheads over the  quality and importance of food throughout history,
Americans and French now diverge on its safety. The old saying that
Americans eat to live and the French live to eat takes on new meaning as...

29) 06/24 MINISTERS REFUSE TO BUDGE OVER HUMAN CLONING By John von
Radowitz, Science Correspondent, PA News Ministers today took the
scientific world by surprise by refusing to give the go-ahead for
human cloning to aid medical research. The Government was widely
expected to abide by the advice of a high-powered panel of experts
and open the door to the creation of human...

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