Global News Headlines 07/09

[greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org]

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Greenpeace Daily Environmental News Headlines
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Friday, July 9, 1999
Greenbase Unit
Greenpeace International
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 TOXICS 

1) 07/08 Mitsui Chem Admits Dioxin Found In CNP Herbicides - Asahi TOKYO
(Dow Jones) Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (J.MTC or 4183) and Japan's
agriculture ministry admitted for the first time Thursday that a
herbicide previously made by Mitsui contains dioxin, the Asahi
Shimbun reported Friday morning. Mitsui stopped production and sale
of CNP in March 1994, but until...

2) Japan Economic Newswire HEADLINE: New test shows double the dioxins in
vegetables DATELINE: KITAKYUSHU, Japan, July 9 Kyodo BODY: A group of
researchers at Setsunan University in Osaka Prefecture have developed a new
method for measuring the level of dioxins in vegetables and found that they
contained about twice the levels as the conventional method had revealed,...

3) WHAT THE PAPERS SAY July  9, 1999, Friday SECTION: TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS
HEADLINE: RUSSIAN ROCKET POISONS A NATIONAL PARK SOURCE: RTR, Vesti, July 8,
1999, 20:00  BODY: A vast territory in the center of Kazakhstan has
been polluted  with hectyl as a result of the crash of the Russian
Proton rocket. The Kazakh government has announced that the territory
of the national park...

 NUCLEAR POWER 

(GREENPEACE)
4) Greenpeace urges Ireland to oppose nuclear cargo By Kevin Smith DUBLIN,
July 9 (Reuters) Greenpeace on Friday called on the Irish government to take
a tougher stand against a consignment of weapons grade plutonium due to sail
along the Irish coast next week en route from Britain to Japan. The
environmental pressure group said there were a number of serious security...

5) FEATURE - Is Europe really going non-nuclear? By Mark John BONN, July 9
(Reuters) Europe's 40-yearlove affair with nuclear power is on the rocks.
But while more and more countries are either halting further growth of their
atomic industries or seeking to phase them out  altogether, energy experts
are reluctant to declare the romance dead.  "I wouldn't bet my pension on...

6) AP Worldstream July 09, 1999 HEADLINE: Ukraine doesn't want non-nuclear
replacement for Chernobyl BYLINE: VIKTOR LUHOVYK DATELINE: KIEV, Ukraine
BODY: Ukraine doesn't approve of Germany's proposal to replace the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant with non-nuclear energy sources, President Leonid Kuchma
told German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Friday. Kuchma repeated his...

7) TASS HEADLINE: Damper element breakage reported from Chernobyl power
plant DATELINE: KIEV, July 9  BODY: A damper element breakage occurred in
the third unit of the Chernobyl  nuclear  power plant during the preventive
maintenance on Thursday, July 8. The accident occurred when control rods
with an expired service life were being taken away for replacement by the...

8) ENERGY-RUSSIA:  POVERTY, NOT COMPUTERS, THREATENS ... MOSCOW, (Jul. 9) IPS
While concerns grow in the West about Russia's nuclear industry's capability
to meet the "millennium bug" computer deadline, Russian experts warn that
the real threat lies in unhappy workers and lack of maintenance. These days
many of Russia's 29 nuclear plants are hardly in a position to worry about...

 NUCLEAR WEAPONS & MILITARY 

9) The Washington Times July 09, 1999, Final Edition SECTION: PART A; NATION;
INSIDE THE RING; Pg. A8 BYLINE: Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough; BODY:
NUCLEAR HIDE-AND-SEEK A classified Defense Intelligence Agency report on one
of Russia's most lethal missiles - the mobile SS-25 - has revealed that the
missiles travel on roads and stop at points to avoid being photographed from...

10) WRAPUP-Pakistan eyes Kashmir retreat, battles rage ISLAMABAD, July 9
(Reuters) - Pakistan made a thinly veiled appeal on Friday for defiant
Moslem militants to quit Indian- held Kashmir as India claimed big advances
in efforts to evict them. But militant groups resisting Indian rule in the
disputed Himalayan region immediately rejected the call by Pakistan's...

11) India says probing detained North Korean ship NEW DELHI, July 9 (Reuters)
India said on Friday it had ordered an investigation into a North Korean
ship that was detained last week at Kandla port in the western state of
Gujarat on suspicion of carrying arms. There is an investigation going on.
This is in accordance with Indian law," a foreign ministry spokesman told...

12) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Russian journalist in treason trial defense
lashes at police DATELINE: MOSCOW, July 9  BODY: A Russian navy journalist
on trial for treason in a passionate final address will deny he passed any
military secrets to Japan and will accuse police and security services of
trying to stamp out democracy. Grigory Pasko's defense, to be delivered on...

 OCEANS 

13) 07/09 China-Red Tide BEIJING (AP) Shrimp farmers in eastern China
have been forced to close their ponds to avoid contamination by red
tide, a toxic algae spreading in the Bohai Sea, the newspaper China
Daily said Friday. A tide 600 square miles in size was six miles east
of the port city of Cangzhou, 110 miles southeast of Beijing, and
spreading rapidly, the report...

14) Business Times (Malaysia) July 9, 1999 SECTION: Nation; Pg. 3 HEADLINE: BP
Amoco donates RM58,000 to WWF BYLINE: By Adeline Ong BODY: BP AMOCO Malaysia
yesterday donated RM58,100 to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for turtle awareness
and education programmes at the Ma'daerah Turtle Sanctuary, Kemaman,
Terengganu to be implemented in the period 1999-2000. BP Amoco Malaysia and...

15) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Taiwan, Papau New Guinea sign fishery
accord DATELINE: TAIPEI, July 9 BODY: Taiwan and Papau New Guinea signed a
five million US dollar fishery accord Friday, four days after the two island
states launched controversial diplomatic ties. The agreement between the
Taiwan Deep-sea Tuna Boat Owners and Exporters' Association and PNG National...

16) The Independent (London) July 9, 1999 SECTION: FOREIGN NEWS; Pg. 17
HEADLINE: MUTANT ALGAE SPREADS FROM FRENCH COAST BYLINE: John Lichfield In
Paris BODY: THE FRENCH government faces legal action over its mysterious
failure to combat a mutant weed, or green algae, that is threatening to
choke the marine life of the Mediterranean. A consortium of fishermen,...

 OZONE 

(GREENPEACE)
17) AP Worldstream July 09, 1999 HEADLINE: Sydney's green games image suffers
setback DATELINE: SYDNEY, Australia BODY: Consultants for Sydney's Olympics
organizers have given a courtroom undertaking not to claim the basketball
venue is environmentally friendly. Environmental group Greenpeace has taken
consultants Environmental Planning Pty Ltd and the Olympic Coordination...

 ATMOSPHERE & ENERGY 

18) The Ottawa Citizen July  09, 1999, FINAL SECTION: News; A3 HEADLINE: When
bad weather turns violent: Our global warming habits are contributing to a
new kind of chaos. And that means more tornadoes, more hurricanes and more
damage. Tom Spears reports. BYLINE: Tom Spears BODY: It was a dark and
stormy pair of afternoons and, perhaps, a peek into the future.  The storms...

19) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Russian heatwave spawns killer ticks
BYLINE: Marina Lapenkova DATELINE: MOSCOW, July 9  BODY: Searing summer
temperatures in Russia have brought a new threat to careless strollers apart
from heatstroke -- a proliferation of ticks carrying the deadly encephalitis
virus. Already a score of people have died from the disease and tens of...

20) The Ottawa Citizen July 09, 1999, FINAL SECTION: News; A1/Front HEADLINE:
Great Lakes in dire straits: Some parts of Lake Superior at lowest levels in
70 years BYLINE: Joanne Laucius, with files from Dave Mullington
BODY: Water levels in some parts of the Great Lakes are lower than
they have been in a lifetime. That means big trouble for everyone and
everything that lives...

21) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Floods kill 20, hit more than 200,000 in
eastern India DATELINE: NEW DELHI, July 9  BODY: At least twenty people have
died and more than 200,000 have been hit by monsoon floods in the eastern
Indian state of Bihar, the Press Trust of India reported Friday. Officials
told the news agency the dead included two girls who drowned in separate...

22) 07/09 Hungry Hoppers Vex Texas Farmers By KATIE FAIRBANK FORT WORTH,
Texas (AP) Marauding grasshoppers are munching their way across Texas
in an infestation expected to grow worse for farmers as the summer
wears on. Hordes of hoppers are fattening themselves on grass, weeds
and anything edible in North Texas. These things will feed on a lot
of things as long as...

23) 07/09 Romania, former Soviet Union gripped by heat wave By Ron
Popeski BUCHAREST (Reuters) A heat wave gripping much of Eastern
Europe is well into its second month, spawning forest fires, parching
crops and keeping many elderly people indoors. Particularly hard hit
areas include Romania and the former Soviet Union. Officials in
Ukraine said Friday the temperatures were...

24) Canada oil industry loses lawsuit in pollution battle By Jeffrey Jones
CALGARY, July 9 (Reuters) - A Canadian rancher has won a lawsuit against oil
giant Mobil Corp. in a case that further strains already tense relations
between the energy industry and Alberta farmers over environmental and
health concerns. Tempers among farmers and ranchers in Alberta have erupted...

 TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY 

25) The Washington Times July 09 Final Edition SECTION: A; WORLD; BRIEFING/
PACIFIC RIM; POLICY WATCH; Pg. 12 HEADLINE: Economic crisis worsens plight
of Asian wildlife; Demand rises  for plants, animals BYLINE: Deanna G.
Donovan; SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES BODY: In a recent paper for the
East-West Center in Honolulu, Deanna Donovan examines the effect of the...

26) World Bank may give 60 mln dlrs for Russian ... MOSCOW, July 9 (Itar-Tass)
The World Bank may give 60 million dollars for a Russian pilot project of
stable forest exploitation, sources at the press service of the Ministry of
Economics told Prime Tass on Friday. The overall cost of the project is 89
million dollars. About 60  millions will be given by the International Bank...

27) The Washington Post July 9, 99, Final Edition SECTION: A; Pg. A21 HEADLINE:
Amazon Cash Crop; Brazil Seeks 'Bioroyalties' From Western Drug Firms
BYLINE: Anthony Faiola DATELINE: MANAUS, Brazil BODY: In the marketplace of
this sweltering Amazon city, where cans of giant fish tongues compete for
space with jars of pickled tree bark, Judith Formoso, 62, promises cures of...

28) The Guardian (London) July 9, 1999 SECTION: Guardian Foreign Pages; Pg. 16
HEADLINE: EU tells errant members to go green or lose funds BYLINE: Martin
Walker in Brussels BODY: Martin Walker in Brussels The EU has threatened to
withhold up to pounds 10bn in structural fund payments for the coming year
to a number of member states unless they implement the habitats directive to...

29) U.S.-China talks over panda lease plan rupture WASHINGTON, July 9 (Kyodo)
Negotiations between the United States and China over a panda rental plan
have broken down, an official at the National Zoo said Friday. The National
Zoo, one of the few U.S. zoos that charge no admission fees, offered to pay
250,000 dollars a year over 10 years to leasing a pair of baby giant
pandas...

 GENETIC ENGINEERING 

(GREENPEACE)
30) BusinessWorld July 8, 1999 SECTION: Pg. 6 HEADLINE: Legal action eyed
against field tests of modified crops BYLINE: Earl Warren B. Castillo  BODY:
A group of local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) is taking its battle
against genetically modified crops a notch higher.  The Network Opposed to
Genetically Modified Organisms said it is planning to file a court case to...

31) UK buyers won't pay up for non-GM soya-farmers LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) -
British buyers may want non- genetically modified soya, but they are not
prepared to pay extra for it, according to representatives of the American
Soybean Association. I've been told by several major retailers that they
won't pay a premium for non-GM soya," David Green, consultant to the ASA...

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