Global News Headlines 08/12

[greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org]

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Greenpeace Daily Environmental News Headlines
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Thursday, August 12, 1999
Greenbase Unit
Greenpeace International
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 TOXICS 

(GREENPEACE)
1) PA 08/12 1519  BRITAIN `OBSTRUCTING' TOXIC POLLUTANT BAN SAYS GREENPEA  By
Nicky Burridge, PA News Environmental campaigners today accused  Britain of
obstructing international efforts to ban industrial toxics which may  have
caused polar bears to develop both male and female sex  characteristics.
Launching its report, The Tip of the Iceberg,  Greenpeace  said it had...

(GREENPEACE)
2) MINE WASTES PNG RIVERS, GLOBAL BAN URGED  PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea,
August 11, 1999 (ENS) - The release by Australian mining company Broken
Hill Proprietary of reports confirming severe environmental impacts of mine
wastes dumped in Papua New Guinea's Ok Tedi River has sparked calls for a
global ban of river and sea dumping of mine tailings. The Ok Tedi open-pit...

3) The Mirror August 12, 1999, Thursday SECTION:  NEWS; Pg. 28 HEADLINE:
SUPER RAT RUNS WILD BYLINE: Nathan Yates BODY: By NATHAN YATES MUTANT rats
immune to all legal poisons are spreading across Britain. The disease-ridden
rodents have become virtually indestructible after developing resistance to
chemicals which could easily kill a man. Scientists fear the immunity could...

4) The Northern Echo August  12, 1999 SECTION:  Pg. 6 HEADLINE: DUMPING OF
CHEMICAL CANISTERS IS CONDEMNED  BODY:  FIREFIGHTERS and council chiefs
have slammed as "irresponsible" the dumping  of nine canisters of a highly
flammable cleaning agent on waste ground used  as a play area by children.
The methelene  chloride,  which is used as  a de-greasing substance, was...

5) The San Francisco Chronicle  AUGUST  12, 1999, THURSDAY, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A20 LENGTH:  558 words HEADLINE: Refinery Neighbors Want
Their Blood Tested for Dioxin BYLINE: Benjamin Pimentel, Chronicle Staff
Writer DATELINE: RICHMOND  BODY: Fearful of the long-term effects of living
near the Chevron refinery,  residents of a Richmond neighborhood asked the...

6) HEADLINE: Trapped in one of the most  polluted  places on earth BYLINE:
Victoria Loginova  BODY: ATTENTION - FEATURE /// KARABASH, Russia,  Aug  12
(AFP) - For the past five years Sergei Perelygin and his wife Olga  have
dreamed of quitting their two-roomed cottage sited in one of the most
polluted  places on the planet. They live just 300 metres (yards) from  the...

 NUCLEAR POWER 

(GREENPEACE)
7) BBC Summary of World Broadcasts August  13, 1999, Friday HEADLINE: Foreign
delegation reassures government on safety of  plutonium shipment SOURCE:
BODY: [2] Text of report by Radio Australia on 11th August A delegation of
Japanese, French and British officials is currently in Fiji to try and
persuade the government that  plutonium  shipments through the Pacific are...

8) SAFETY REGULATIONS VIOLATED AT NUCLEAR REACTORS ACROSS U.S.  WASHINGTON,
DC, August 11, 1999 (ENS) - Safety has been compromised at nuclear reactors
throughout the United States, with more than 90 percent of the country's
reactors run in violation of government safety regulations over the last
three years, a study by the Washington, DC based watchdog group Public...

9) Ameriscan ENS August 11 THOUSANDS OF SHAD DIE FROM NUCLEAR PLANT HEAT
Several thousand dead shad were found near the circulating water intake of
the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant in Texas on Saturday. Plant officials
said the fish may have died due to stress from low oxygen levels and high
temperatures. Only fish near the intake area were affected. A survey of the...

10) AP Worldstream August  12, 1999;  HEADLINE: South Korea  approves funds for
nuclear  reactors in North Korea DATELINE: SEOUL, South  Korea  BODY:
Despite fears that North Korea will test-fire a missile, South Korea's
parliament on Thursday unanimously approved dlrs 3.22 billion  in funding
for two non-weapon  nuclear  reactors in the North. The government-proposed...

11) Deutsche Presse-Agentur August  12,  HEADLINE: New  crack found on Japanese
reactor pipe DATELINE: Tokyo  BODY: A new crack  was found on the inner
surface of a section of pipe that leaked radioactive  water July 12 at a
nuclear  power plant in Fukui Prefecture in central  Japan, Japan Atomic
Power Company officials said Thursday. The  discovery, made using an...

12) BBC Summary of World Broadcasts August  13, 1999, Friday HEADLINE: Four
arrested trying to sell radioactive substance 9  BODY: 5] Text of  report
in English by the Turkish news agency Anatolia Istanbul, 10th  August:
Four persons including two foreigners were captured on Tuesday  [10th
August] while trying to sell the radioactive substance they brought  to...

 NUCLEAR WEAPONS & MILITARY 

(GREENPEACE)
13) CNews August 11, 1999 Silly  season strikes Nanoose Bay  By JIM HUME
CANOE Columnist More columns by Jim Hume  VICTORIA, B.C. - The  silly
season was  late hitting  the West Coast this  year. Delayed no  doubt by
incessant  late winter  rain, even more  incessant early  spring  rain,
late  spring  rain and  early summer rain accompanied by  temperatures  low...

14) HEADLINE: FED: Steps urged to stop Y2K bug triggering  nuclear  weapons
BODY: Y2K  NUCLEAR  PARLY 005 CANBERRA, Aug 12 AAP - The Senate today
urged the Australian government to help eliminate any risk of an
international  nuclear  accident sparked by the year 2000 (Y2K) millennium
bug. It approved a motion by Australian Democrats Lyn Allison, noting  the...

15) Agence France Presse August  12,  HEADLINE:  Israel rushed arms shipments
to India during Kashmir crisis: daily  DATELINE: TEL AVIV,  BODY: Israel
agreed to speed up shipments of arms  and military equipment to India
during the recent crisis with Pakistan over Kashmir, the influential Hebrew
daily Haaretz reported Thursday. The  Israeli move came in response to a...

16) BBC Summary of World Broadcasts August  13, 1999, Friday HEADLINE:
Landmines on China-Vietnam border cleared BODY: 6] Excerpts from  report in
English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News  Agency)
Jingxi, Guangxi, 11th August: China announced today that it has  cleared
the last landmines from its border with Vietnam. This marks the  successful...

 OCEANS 

(GREENPEACE)
17) Australia seeks stay on Japan tuna fishing CANBERRA, Aug 12 (Reuters)  -
Australia said on Friday it was seeking an injunction to halt "experimental"
fishing by Japan for southern bluefin tuna --the primary catch for the
gourmet sashimi trade -- pending a full legal challenge to the programme.
Australia has accused Japan of using science to  disguise commercial fishing...

18) AAP NEWSFEED August  12, 1999, Thursday SECTION:  Nationwide General News;
Features HEADLINE: QLD: Peoplewatching popular  among migrating humpback
whales BYLINE: By Barbara Adam  BODY: TRAVEL  WHALES PEOPLE (TRAVELFEATURE)
FRASER ISLAND, Qld, AAP - The annual  peoplewatching  tours have begun in
the calm waters off Queensland between  Hervey Bay and Fraser  Island. It's...

19) Ameriscan ENS August 11 ALASKA SEEKS DAMAGES AGAINST ROYAL CARIBBEAN
Alaska plans to file a civil lawsuit against Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines
and seek the maximum allowable damages for the pollution of Alaskan waters.
Last month, Royal Caribbean admitted to 21 felony counts related to the
intentional dumping of bilge oil and hazardous wastes such as dry cleaning...

 ATMOSPHERE & ENERGY 

(GREENPEACE)
20) THE DAILY TELEGRAPH(LONDON)  August  12, 1999, Thursday SECTION: Pg. 06
LENGTH: 1226 words HEADLINE:  Connected: Waves are breaking out Suddenly,
renewable power sources are  back in political fashion. Researchers are
cautiously optimistic that this  time it may be more than wind. Jon Pratty
reports BYLINE: BY JON PRATTY  BODY: Last month at the World Sustainability...

21) REUTERS NEWS SERVICE Interview - Tasmania wind  plan needs  greenhouse push
AUSTRALIA: August 12, 1999  MELBOURNE - A  A$500-A$600 million project  to
generate 400  megawatts of wind power was partly hinging on  government
plans  for  tackling  greenhouse gas emissions, Hydro  Electric  Corp
chairman Peter  Rae said yesterday.  Tasmania's  state-owned  HEC  has...

22) Ameriscan ENS August 11 LOBBYISTS SPEAK OUT AGAINST RENEWABLE ENERGY
SUBSIDIES  A Washington, DC lobby group says government should not provide
subsidies for renewable energies under federal restructuring of the U.S.
power industry. "We question the need" for federal subsidies to solar,
wind, biomass and geothermal energy producers, says Citizens for State...

23) 08/12 Clinton Orders More Work On Turning Crops To Fuels By Randall
Mikkelsen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton Thursday stepped
up  a federal drive to use crops, grasses and trees to develop motor
fuels, electricity and industrial products, aiming to triple their
use by 2010. Adoption of the fledgling biomass industry could mean up
to $20 billion in...

24) Los Angeles Times August  12, 1999, Thursday, Home  Edition SECTION: Part
A; Page 1; Foreign Desk HEADLINE: TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE  DELIVERS SHADES OF
MILLENNIAL MAGIC BYLINE: JOHN-THOR DAHLBURG, TIMES STAFF  WRITER DATELINE:
REIMS, France  BODY: Casting darkness across Europe in  the very heart  of
day, the last total solar eclipse of the millennium on  Wednesday  brought...

25) Deutsche Presse-Agentur August  12, 1999,  HEADLINE:  Haze blamed for
illnesses in Indonesia's Riau province DATELINE: Jakarta  BODY: Health
authorities in Indonesia's eastern Sumatra province of  Riau have blamed
the choking smoke from  forest  fires and burning bushland  for the
respiratory illnesses which have hit numerous people in the main  city of...

26) Xinhua  HEADLINE: experts warn of  ozone  depletion over qingha-tibet
plateau DATELINE: lhasa, august 12; BODY: experts have warned that an  hole
in the  ozone  layer will be formed over the qinghai-tibet plateau if
prompt, effective measures are not taken to deal with the low  ozone
distribution phenomenon occurring over the plateau this summer. the  ozone...

27) U.S. Newswire August  12, 1999 11:23 Eastern Time SECTION: NATIONAL DESK
HEADLINE: White House Fact Sheet on Bio-based  Products and Bioenergy
BYLINE: White House Press Office, 202-456-2100 DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Aug.
12  BODY: The following was released today by the  White House:  The
President's New Executive Order on  Bio-based Products and Bioenergy...

28) OTC  08/11 2011  ENERGY-ECUADOR:  INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES BANK ON ... QUITO,
(Aug. 10) IPS - Indigenous communities in Ecuador's Amazon  provinces of
Pastaza and Napo are using solar energy and  hydroelectric power generated
by a waterfall to improve their  quality of life. With aid provided by  the
Italian Cooperation, the communities have  set up solar energy panels  and...

29) ABIX: Australasian Business Intelligence August  12, 1999 Thursday SECTION:
Pg. 17 HEADLINE: Oils is oils again for Shell  depot SOURCE: The Daily
Telegraph  ABSTRACT: The Shell Company of  Australia Ltd's terminal at
Greenwich in Sydney Harbour was back in  business on 11 August 1999. A
Liberian tanker, the "Sanko Quality", was  unloading 89,000 tonnes of...

 GENETIC ENGINEERGING 

30) Ameriscan ENS August 11 BIOTERRORISM COULD THREATEN CROPS, HUMAN HEALTH
America's crops may be vulnerable to terrorist attacks through the use of
biotechnology, and federal agencies are preparing to assess the possible
risks to human health and the U.S. food supply. Larry Madden, a professor of
plant pathology at Ohio State University, says experts need to begin...

31) The Independent (London) August  12, 1999,  Thursday SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 9
HEADLINE: FARM SUBSIDIES HAVE BROUGHT DEATH  TO MILLIONS OF SONGBIRDS
BYLINE: Kate Watson-Smyth  BODY: INTENSIVE  FARMING methods have led to the
disappearance of millions of birds over the  past 20 years, according  to a
report in the science magazine Nature. Up to  10 million breeding  pairs of...

32) Australian Broadcasting Corp August 12 Australians must  embrace  GM foods,
says scientist One of  Australia's most famous  scientists  has delivered a
ringing  endorsement of  genetically modified (GM) food and  dismissed
calls for it to be labelled.  Nobel prize winner Professor Peter  Doherty
says genetic  engineering is changing the  reality of agriculture.  The...

 OTHER 

33) ABIX: Australasian Business Intelligence August  12, 1999 Thursday
SECTION: Pg. 13 HEADLINE: Thirst for justice in an evil world SOURCE: The
Australian BYLINE: Geoffrey Robertson  ABSTRACT: The thirst for justice is
growing in the world. This has many causes. The concentration camps of
World War II made many determined that such evil  would never again...

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