Global News Headlines 07/04

[greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org]

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Greenpeace Daily Environmental News Headlines
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Sunday, July 4, 1999
Greenbase Unit
Greenpeace International
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 TOXICS 

1) 07/04 Japan facing major problem of dioxin pollution By MARI
YAMAGUCHI TOKOROZAWA, Japan (AP) Eiko Kotani keeps her windows closed
and runs an air purifier all day long. She washes her vegetables
carefully, peels her tomatoes and avoids fatty meat, fish from the
nearby bay and ice cream of any flavor. But she still fears for the
health of her family.    Kotani's...

2) Thousands of farmers in Belgian dioxin protest BRUSSELS, July 4 (Reuters)
- Thousands of angry Belgian farmers marched through Brussels on Sunday to
protest against the government's handling of the dioxin-in-food crisis,
estimated to have cost the country $1.5 billion. A car belonging to Belgian
television station RTBF was overturned and some journalists including a...

3) Dioxin-like substance found accumulated in human body TOKYO, July 3
(Kyodo) Scientists in Ehime Prefecture said Saturday they have detected
harmful compounds similar to dioxins in a number of people. Researchers at
Ehime University led by Tadaaki Wakimoto, professor at the university's
agricultural department, said they have detected polyclorinated naphthalene...

4) New pesticide kills bugs but is harmless to humans By Philip Shishkin  NEW
YORK, July 4 (Reuters) - There's money to be made when a chicken breast
doused in herb sauce tastes good to humans but can kill cockroaches. That's
the thinking of EcoSMART Technologies, a small privately-held Tennessee
company with an ambitious goal -- to crack open a tight pest-control market...

 NUCLEAR POWER 

5) Planned MOX shipment vulnerable to attack: think tank LONDON, July 3
(Kyodo) A British think tank on Friday strongly  criticized Japan's plan to
transport mixed plutonium-uranium oxide (MOX) fuel from Europe to Japan in
armed ships this fall and called the plan "irresponsible." The Oxford
Research Group, a private think tank dealing with nuclear issues, said...

6) RWE chief-German nuclear talks to run until autumn BONN, July 3  (Reuters)
Dietmar Kuhnt, management board chairman of German utility RWE AG, said on
Saturday that agreement with the government over withdrawal from nuclera
energy would not be reached until the autumn at the earliest. Differences of
opinion in the red-green ruling coalition over the issue were one of the...

7) Chinese nuke reactor closed July 1998 due to breakage BEIJING, July 4
(Kyodo) An indigenous nuclear power reactor in Zhejiang Province has been
stopped since July 1998 due to a breakage caused by structural flaws,
according to sources involved with Chinese nuclear power reactors. A U.S.
company has been conducting major repairs on the reactor, where operations...

8) 07/04 Castro's son defends Cuban nuclear energy project HAVANA,
(Reuters) - President Fidel Castro's son rebuffs foreign criticism of
Cuba's aspirations to build and operate a nuclear power plant in a
book presented by a Cuban newspaper Sunday. Foreign critics,
especially in the neighboring United States, have cited security and
safety issues to attack communist-ruled...

9) Stage one of Jabiluka uranium mine complete BODY: ERA STAGE ONE OF JABILUKA
CANBERRA, July 4 AAP - The first stage of the controversial Jabiluka uranium
mine has been completed under budget and ahead of schedule, Energy Resources
of Australia Ltd (ERA) said today. ERA chief executive Phillip Shirvington
said the completion of stage one comes ahead of this week's expected...

10) Washington Times July 04 Final Edition SECTION: C; NATION; Pg. C4
HEADLINE: Clinton urged to halt opening of Australia mine; GOP leaders call
it 'eco- imperialism' BYLINE: Audrey Hudson BODY: House Democrats are urging
President Clinton to use his vote on the U.N. World Heritage Commission to
reach across international borders and prevent a mine from opening in...

 NUCLEAR WEAPONS & MILITARY 

11) 07/04  AWSJ: End To India-Pakistan Crisis May Be Near By Jonathan
Karp Staff Reporter LAHORE, Pakistan -- Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's
sudden journey to Washington for talks with U.S. President Bill
Clinton and a key Indian military victory over Pakistani-supported
forces could signal the beginning of the end of the latest crisis
over the divided territory of...

 OCEANS 

12) 07/03 Canada Releases Alaskan Fisherman By PAUL QUEARY JUNEAU, Alaska
(AP) Canadian authorities have released an Alaska fisherman after the
U.S. State Department protested the seizure of his boat in waters
involved in years of border disputes. The incident was the first
seizure in a decades-long dispute over a portion of Dixon Entrance,
an expanse of water between the...

13) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: French battle to keep oil pollution from
Riviera beaches DATELINE: MARSEILLE, France, July 4 BODY: Firemen,
paramilitary police and municipal workers battled late Saturday to keep the
remains of a big oil slick in the Mediterranean from polluting French
Riviera beaches at a peak vacation period. Four floating barriers were...

14) SA: Reefs may never recover from spill: residents  BODY: SPILL RESIDENTS
ADELAIDE, July 3 AAP - Sensitive reefs off Adelaide's southern beaches may
never recover from a massive oil spill this week, local residents fear. A
fiery public meeting today of more than 100 people at Aldinga, 20km south of
Adelaide, rejected a government environment protection expert's claim that...

 ATMOSPHERE & ENERGY 

15) Times Colonist (Victoria) July 4, 1999 Final Capital Region C1/FRONT
Scientists set sail to study climate change BY Roma Luciw Scientists from
Canada, Japan and the United States left Victoria for the Arctic Saturday
aboard the Coast Guard vessel Wilfrid Laurier to begin a series of research
projects on climate change and circulation of the oceans.  ``Laurier is a...

16) AP Worldstream July 04, 1999 HEADLINE: Two rivers  overflow, torrential
rains flood more areas of Bangladesh DATELINE: DHAKA, Bangladesh  BODY: Two
major rivers in Bangladesh overflowed Sunday after heavy rains in northern
and central Bangladesh, driving at least 5,000 people to higher ground where
they lashed together bamboo and thatched reed huts. The  Flood  Monitoring...

17) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Death toll, floodwaters rise after China
storms DATELINE: BEIJING, July 3  BODY: Chinese authorities Saturday were
struggling to cope with the aftermath of a week of heavy rainstorms which
left at least 152 people dead and severe flooding across central China. Four
people died in northwestern Qinghai province during a rainstorm when the...

18) THE DAILY TELEGRAPH(LONDON) July 03, 1999 SECTION: Pg. 16 HEADLINE:
International: No relief in sight as 140 are killed by Moscow heat BYLINE:
Marcus Warren in Moscow BODY: FOREST fires raged outside big Russian cities
yesterday as forecasters predicted no let-up in a month-long heatwave which
has already claimed at least 140  lives in the capital alone. Daytime...

19) Business Times (Malaysia) July 3, 1999 SECTION: Pg. 22 HEADLINE: Energy
demand rises 5pc despite slowdown BYLINE: By Lokman Mansor BODY: ENERGY
demand in Malaysia recorded a 5 per cent increase last year despite the
slower economy, thanks to the coming on stream of power-intensive industrial
investments. According to BP Amoco head of energy analysis Andrew P. Barton,...

20) FOCUS-Petrobras, Exxon seal Brazil oil deals By Tracey Ober RIO DE
JANEIRO, July 2 (Reuters) U.S. petroleum giant Exxon signed two much-awaited
joint venture contracts with Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras on Friday,
teaming up to explore the country's untapped offshore basins. The deal comes
two weeks after 10 foreign companies, including Exxon, bought access to...

21) The Washington Times July 04 Final Edition SECTION: C; NATION; AMERICAN
SCENE; Pg. C8 HEADLINE: Greens and the jittery boost sale of solar-power
system BYLINE: Jolyn Okimoto; ASSOCIATED PRESS BODY: PHOENIX - Chris Mueller
says she has been concerned about the environmental impact of her energy
consumption for years, but it was the so-called millennium bug that prompted...

 TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY 

22) Times Colonist (Victoria) July 3, 1999 Final News A8 Activists urge
old-growth boycott OTTAWA (CP) A mobile swatch of British Columbia
rainforest pulled on to Parliament Hill as green activists urged Canadians
to watch what they buy.  ``We're on the road to let Canadians know the
consequences of their purchasing decisions,'' Simone Stothers, a campaigner...

23) The Xinhua News Agency HEADLINE: 20 percent of forest cover down in sri
lanka DATELINE: colombo, july 3; ITEM NO: 0703069 BODY: sri lanka's forest
cover is dwindling at the rate of 50,000 per year, according to the latest
statistics by the sri lankan forest conservation department (fcd) here.
today, the country's forest cover has dropped to almost 20 percent from the...

24) UN food standards panel to include consumer voice WASHINGTON, July 2
(Reuters) - The United Nations' international food standards commission said
Friday it would look for ways to give consumer groups a voice in making food
safety rules. Codex Alimentarius, a relatively unknown UN-sponsored
commission, has assumed more prominence in recent years for its work in...

25) AGRICULTURE-JAMAICA: STEMMING THE FLOW OF CHEAP ... MONTEGO BAY, (Jul. 1)
IPS - The Jamaican government is under fire from the United States for
imposing stricter guidelines on imported agricultural products, including
meats and poultry, in an effort to appease local farmers. Earlier this year,
the government announced new guidelines for meat and poultry importation,...

26) 07/04 Birdwatching Risky in Colombia By FRANK BAJAK BOGOTA, Colombia
(AP) While leftist rebels are protecting myriad species by banning
hunting and limiting fishing, they don't necessarily show the same
respect for humans. Four American birdwatchers learned as much last
year. Venturing into Andean meadows in search of the rare
Cundinamarca Antpitta, a bird found only in...

 GENETIC ENGINEERING 

27) The Times (London) July 3, 1999 SECTION: Business HEADLINE: United
Biscuits price hit by food safety concerns BYLINE: Robert Cole, City
Correspondent  BODY: Shares in United Biscuits sank yesterday as it revealed
that it was suffering from concerns over food safety. The company makes
prepared vegetarian meals branded with the Linda McCartney name. It said...

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