Global News Headlines 07/16

[greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org]

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Greenpeace Daily Environmental News Headlines
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Saturday, July 17, 1999
Greenbase Unit
Greenpeace International
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 TOXICS 

(GREENPEACE)
1) Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press July  14, 1999 SECTION: THE NEWS
OF THE WEEK; The Russian Federation; Vol. 51, No. 24; Pg. 15 HEADLINE:
Environment/Resources SOURCE: BLACK HOLE.-- Near Dzerzhinsk Lies the Most
Polluted Lake in the World. By Viktoria Averbukh. Izvestia, June 1, 1999, p.
5.  Condensed text: DATELINE:  Dzerzhinsk and Moscow  BODY: The first...

2) The Economist July 17, U.S. Edition Indoor pollution HEADLINE: The enemy
within BODY: AVOIDING pollution can be a full-time job. Try not to inhale
traffic fumes; keep away from chemical plants and building-sites; wear a
mask when cycling. It is enough to make you want to stay at home. But that,
according to a growing body of scientific evidence, would be a bad idea....

3) Japan Economic Newswire HEADLINE: Japan wants tests at Kadena after PCBs
found DATELINE: NAHA, Japan, July 16 Kyodo  BODY: The Japanese government
said Friday it wants to conduct toxicity tests at the U.S. Kadena Air Base
after U.S. government tests show low levels of a toxic substance at the
base. Tests by the U.S. Department of Defense showed low levels of...

 NUCLEAR POWER 

4) Cracked reactor pipe to be cut off Sun. for inspection FUKUI, Japan, July
16 (Kyodo) Japan Atomic Power Co. said Friday it  will cut off Sunday
a cracked pipe that leaked radioactive water at its Tsuruga nuclear
power plant in Fukui Prefecture earlier this week to investigate the
cause of the leakage. The L-shaped portion of the pipe connecting
regenerated heat...

5) The Times (London) July 16, 1999 SECTION: Features HEADLINE: Troubled
waters BODY: For the first time since the Second World War, British merchant
vessels have been equipped with weapons. Ships transporting reprocessed
nuclear fuel to Japan are being armed with cannon against the threat posed
by almost daily incidents of assault on merchant vessels by marauders that...

6) 16/7/99 BBC ON-Line Japan nuclear leak 'cover-up' Picture  The No 2
reactor at Tsuruga was shut down after the leak By Juliet Hindell in
Tokyo Executives in charge of a nuclear reactor in Japan where 50
tonnes of radioactive water accidentally leaked earlier this week say
radiation from the leak was 11,500 times the safety limit. The
earlier figure given was 250...

7) Asahi News Service JULY 16, 1999 HEADLINE: NUCLEAR POWER RETHINK TIME
FAST APPROACHING BYLINE: AKITO KUWAYAMA BODY: Japan is set to keep its waste
nuclear fuel in  mothballs for several decades, instead of recycling it. A
bill to that effect an amendment to the law regulating the use of nuclear
reactors passed the Diet earlier this month. The ''interim storage'' of...

(GREENPEACE)
8) 07/16 Greenpeace banned from disrupting BNFL Japan trade LONDON, July
16 (Reuters) A British judge on Friday banned environmental group
Greenpeace from interfering with British Nuclear Fuels' transport of
nuclear material to Japan. Two cargoes of MOX nuclear fuel (plutonium
and uranium), are  to be shipped from Britain and Cherbourg in France
within the next few  weeks....

(GREENPEACE)
9) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Second load of nuclear fuel for Japan
leaves French plant DATELINE: VALOGNES, France, July 16 BODY: A second
shipment of recycled nuclear fuel for Japanese power stations left the
French reprocessing plant late Thursday to be loaded on to a freighter in
the northern port of Cherbourg. The two special containers of fuel were
taken...

(GREENPEACE)
10) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Corruption poses security risk at Mexican
nuclear plant:  Greenpeace DATELINE: MEXICO CITY, July 15  BODY: High level
corruption poses a major security risk at Mexico's Laguna Verde nuclear
power plant, the environmental group Greenpeace said Wednesday. "Serious and
systematic corruption in the management of the nuclear power plant threatens...

11) The Japan Times July 16, 1999 HEADLINE: Lessons unlearned at Genden  BODY:
Earlier this week, more than 50 tons of radioactive cooling water leaked
from the No. 2 nuclear reactor operated by Japan Atomic Power Co. (Genden)
in Tsuruga, Fukui  Prefecture. Operators had to shut down the system
manually, but apparently no ra dioactivity leaked into the atmosphere. The...

 NUCLEAR WEAPONS & MILITARY 

12) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Naval captain denies charges as marathon spy
trial draws to close DATELINE: MOSCOW, July 16  BODY: Russian naval captain
Grigory Pasko told a military court Friday he was not guilty of espionage
and rubbished treason charges filed in a marathon trial whose verdict is due
early next week. Speaking at the end of his six-month trial in the far...

13) THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES July 16, 1999 HEADLINE: FSB Declares Open Season
on Ecologists BYLINE: Anna Badkhen BODY: Have environmentalists become
public enemy No. 1? This week, the Federal Security Service claimed that
Justine Hamilton, an American student exchange coordinator, collected
"secret" environmental information in Central Russia on behalf of the CIA....

14) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Pakistan PM approved troop incursions into
Kashmir border: report DATELINE: ISLAMABAD, July 16  BODY: Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif approved Pakistan army patrols into Indian Kashmir during the
two-month conflict in the region, the army's top general said in an
interview broadcast here Friday. Sharif was kept fully informed of the...

15) 07/16 White House Plays Down Bomb Report By KEVIN GALVIN WASHINGTON
(AP) Clinton administration officials said they didn't believe
China's rare public confirmation of its nuclear weapons capabilities
had anything to do with increasing tensions between China and Taiwan.
But some lawmakers feared Beijing was "saber rattling." We don't see
the connection on Taiwan," State...

16) 07/16 China Tirade On Taiwan Carries Olive Branch By Paul Eckert
BEIJING (Reuters) - China let a glimmer of flexibility shine through
its mounting threats to Taiwan Friday, with a Beijing official
calling on Taipei to clarify its redefinition of relations as
"state-to-state" ties. Since Monday, when Taiwan formally abandoned
the "One China" policy under...

 OCEANS 

(GREENPEACE)
17) FED: Australia starts legal action against Japan over tuna BODY: TUNA
CANBERRA, July 16 AAP - Australia today launched legal action aimed at
reversing Japan's decision to restart fishing for the endangered southern
bluefin tuna (SBT). Federal Agriculture,  Fisheries and Forestry Minister
Mark Vaile and Attorney-General Daryl Williams said Australia was pursuing...

(GREENPEACE)
18) AP Worldstream July 16, 1999 HEADLINE:  Whaler  invites  the ''enemy''
Greenpeace to join hunt BYLINE: DOUG MELLGREN DATELINE: OSLO, Norway  BODY:
A Norwegian whaler on Friday took the unprecedented step of inviting the
''enemy'' Greenpeace to join his  whale  hunt in a bid to settle 30 years of
conflict. Skipper Ole Mindor Myklebust said it was time to talk and invited...

 ATMOSPHERE & ENERGY 

19) ENVIRONMENT-PERU:  GLACIAL SNOW DISAPPEARING FROM ... LIMA, (Jul. 15) IPS
- The increase in global temperatures during the past 27 years has caused
the loss of some 12 billion cubic metres of snow from the glaciers of the
Peruvian Andes, according to experts here. The problem of global warming,
caused by greenhouse gases emitted through the burning of fossil fuels, has...

20) Small nations make big climate change plea to industrial world BYLINE:
Giff Johnson BODY: MAJURO, July 16 (AFP) - Holding an international climate
change meeting in this low-lying atoll nation has injected a dose of reality
about living at sea level for officials from places as far distant from the
Pacific as Scandinavia. Landing at Majuro emphasized the precarious position...

21) Island nations say impact of climate change already being felt BYLINE:
Giff Johnson BODY: MAJURO, July 16 (AFP) - From the Pacific to the Caribbean
to the Indian Ocean, the effects of climate change are already evident, said
officials taking part in the Alliance of Small Island States workshop here
this week. All developing countries are experiencing  climate change, " said
The Guardian (London) July 16, 1999 SECTION: Guardian City Pages; Pg. 26
HEADLINE: Meacher stands by plans for energy tax BYLINE: David Gow  BODY:
David Gow Michael Meacher, environment minister, yesterday rejected a fierce
campaign by manufacturers against the government's proposed energy tax,
insisting that it would  benefit the economy as a whole. He said the...

22) The Guardian (London) July 16, 1999 SECTION: Guardian Home Pages; Pg. 13
HEADLINE: pounds 10m for research into climate change BYLINE: Paul Brown
Environment Correspondent BODY: A pounds 10m centre so scientists can  study
the effects of climate change and help Britain adapt to disasters  such as
floods, tornadoes and heatwaves is being set up by the government. Lord...

23) DEVELOPMENT-CLIMATE: U.N. RESEARCH CENTER TO ... UNITED NATIONS, (Jul. 14)
IPS - The United Nations plans to establish an international research center
to study the weather phenomenon known as El Nino, when warmer waters in the
equatorial eastern Pacific trigger extreme climactic phenomena around the
globe. The main focus of the $3.1 million enterprise will be "to promote...

24) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Russia's taiga burns as heatwave keeps up
BYLINE: Marina Koreneva DATELINE: MOSCOW, July 16  BODY: More than 750 fires
raged across large swatches of taiga Friday, mobilising an army of 6,000
firefighters as Russia's worst heatwave this century showed no signs of
abating. The unprecedented drought and heat that has blanketed the country...

25) ECUADOR-ENVIRONMENT: INDIGENOUS GROUP TAKES ON ... QUITO, Ecuador, (Jul.
15) IPS - Oil companies, pushing ever deeper  into the
biologically-rich Amazon rain forests in their hunt for "black gold"
have been confronted by demands from an indigenous group for a code
of conduct to continue their operations. The 300 strong Secoya
community wants to negotiate an agreement...

26) The Ottawa Citizen July 16, 1999, FINAL SECTION: News; A7 HEADLINE: Canada
joins U.S. in battle over smog: Provinces can't meet standards until Midwest
states control  pollution BYLINE: Andrew Duffy BODY: The federal government
has taken the unusual step of submitting a legal brief  to a U.S. court in a
case that will have a profound effect on future smog levels in Canada....

 TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY 

27) Times Colonist (Victoria) July 16, 1999 Final News A3 MacBlo deal causes
alarm: Major issues include compensation, takeover by Weyerhaeuser and
removal of land from public domain. BY Judith Lavoie Alarm bells are being
sounded in the forests and Environment Ministry over a controversial
proposal to hand over public land to MacMillan Bloedel as compensation for...

28) QLD: Queensland Native  Forest  Day rally to highlight RFA concern  BODY:
FORESTS  QLD BRISBANE, July 16 AAP - Timber workers will stage a rally
outside Parliament House next Tuesday to protest the Regional Forest
Agreement (RFA) process. The Queensland Timber Board has arranged the rally
and a parade through city streets to mark Queensland  Native Forest  Day....

29) QLD: Celebration of wet tropics' World Heritage listing BODY: BRISBANE,
July 16 AAP - A belated celebration will be held tomorrow to mark the 10th
anniversary of the World Heritage listing of north Queensland's wet tropics.
The listing, which actually occurred on December 9, 1988, followed one of
Australia's longest and most bitter environmental campaigns, which ended the...

30) Times Colonist (Victoria) July 16, 1999 Final Voices A13  Outlook poor
for MB's forest tracts BY Christopher Genovali In the voluminous amount of
media concerning Weyerhaeuser's takeover of MacMillan Bloedel, the question
of MB's actual environmental record has received only cursory coverage. For
over a year, the Raincoast Conservation Society has listened to MB's public...

31) 07/16 Japan-Ivory By JOJI SAKURAI TOKYO (AP) Japan became the first
country in a decade Friday to legally import ivory, unloading 50 tons
of elephant tusks from southern Africa at a Tokyo harbor under U.N.
supervision. International trade in ivory was banned in 1989, but the
United Nations authorized an experimental sale of elephant tusks from
Namibia,...

32) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Mexico's royal eagle faces extinction
DATELINE: MEXICO CITY, July 16  BODY: The royal eagle which adorns Mexico's
national emblem is in danger of extinction because it is being killed off by
cattlemen who consider it a pest, an environmental group warned. It's a
shame that our national bird is being wiped out," the director of the...

 GENETIC ENGINEERING 

(GREENPEACE)
33) The Moscow Times July 16, 1999 SECTION: No. 1751 HEADLINE: Biotech Firm
Gets Green Light for Imports BYLINE: Yevgenia Borisova BODY: Staff Writer
The Health Ministry has opened the way for Russia to import controversial
genetically modified food products by registering soybeans produced by the
U.S. agricultural giant Monsanto Co. for use in this country, officials said...

(GREENPEACE)
34) The Prague Post July 14, 1999 SECTION:  News HEADLINE: GMO policy on the
menu BYLINE: Anna van Os  BODY:  Government is finally preparing to serve up
guidelines on genetically  modified food this autumn Months after many West
European countries decided  to ban genetically modified organisms (GMOs),
the Czech government says it  has not made up its mind on the issue. Genetic...

35) The Guardian (London) July 16, 1999 SECTION: Guardian Home Pages; Pg. 9
HEADLINE: European sceptics resist GM  foods; Less concern in US about
scientific advances BYLINE: Tim Radford Science Editor BODY: It's official.
Europeans are less inclined to trust government, more concerned about the
environment and more likely to associate genetically modified foods with...

36) Los Angeles Times July 16, 1999, Home Edition SECTION: Business; Part C;
Page 1; Financial Desk HEADLINE: PUBLIC DISTRUST MAY HALT NEXT PHASE OF
GENETICALLY ALTERED FOOD PRODUCTION; AGRICULTURE: EUROPEANS ARE MORE LEERY
OF THE NEW TECHNOLOGY THAN ARE AMERICANS, ACCORDING TO STUDY PUBLISHED IN
SCIENCE. BYLINE: PAUL JACOBS, TIMES STAFF WRITER  BODY: A new wave of...

37) ``Frankenfood'' headlines scare public, study shows By Maggie Fox, Health
& Science Correspondent WASHINGTON, July 15 (Reuters) The  drive to come up
with a catchy headline probably helped turn Europeans so strongly against
genetically modified foods, while Americans so far barely notice,
researchers said on Thursday. They said the volume and intensity of news...

 OTHERS 

(GREENPEACE)
38) WSJ(7/16): Human Chains, Zapatistas May Greet WTO In Seattle By Helene
Cooper Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal SEATTLE --  Mike Dolan is
mobilizing against globalizing. Descending in a flurry of leaflets on a
meeting of the People of Color Against AIDS Network, he gives the activists
a quick speech about the evils of drug company greed and global trade. But...

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