Global News Headlines 12/23

["greenbase" <greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org>]

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Greenpeace Daily Environmental News Headlines
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Thursday, December 23, 1999
Greenbase Unit
Greenpeace International
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 ATMOSPHERE 

1) 12/22 Chrysler Div Reviews Membership In Global Warming Grp
WASHINGTON (AP)--Jim Holden, the new president of  DaimlerChrysler
AG's Chrysler division, said Wednesday that  there is still work to
do before the new company is at an  optimum performance level after
last year's merger. But he  said executives are more than halfway
there. Holden also ...

2) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Tehran under mounting 
pressure as pollution reaches "critical" levels BYLINE: 
Kianouche Dorranie DATELINE: TEHRAN, Dec 23 BODY: Tehran 
officials came under increasing pressure Thursday as 
pollution in the Iranian capital reached critical levels, 
sending untold numbers to seek medical help for a variety of...

3) The Independent (London) December 23, 1999 SECTION: TITLE 
PAGE; Pg. 1 HEADLINE: CLIMATE CHIEFS ISSUE SEVERE WEATHER 
WARNING TO WORLD BYLINE: Michael Mccarthy Environment 
Correspondent BODY: GLOBAL WARMING is now changing the 
world's climate rapidly, and humanity faces a "critical" 
position because of it, the chief meteorologists of Britain ...

4) The Independent (London) December 23, 1999 SECTION: 
COMMENT; Pg. 3 HEADLINE: LEADING ARTICLE: REAPING A 
WHIRLWIND BODY: THIRTY THOUSAND people may have died in the 
floods in Venezuela, while earlier this week the Automobile 
Association had its busiest day this century. From the 
awful to the ridiculous, you might think; but climate ...

(GREENPEACE)
5) The Vancouver Sun December 23, 1999, FINAL SECTION: News; 
A1 / Front HEADLINE: Time magazine calls Great Bear Rain 
Forest deal top achievement BYLINE: Jim Beatty, Sun 
Legislature Bureau DATELINE: VICTORIA BODY: VICTORIA -- In 
a sign that the long running battle in the woods may be 
over, environmentalists and foresters agree that ...

6) The Washington Times December 23, 1999, Final Edition 
SECTION: PART A; COMMENTARY; Pg. A14 HEADLINE: Global 
climate contortionists BYLINE: Michael Fumento BODY: 
"Noticed the weather lately?" asks a print and television ad
put out by the National Environmental Trust. Well, yes, most
of us notice it every day. But that's not what they mean. ...

 ENERGY 

7) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: More than 1,000 birds 
damaged by oil spill DATELINE: RENNES, France, Dec 23 BODY: 
Volunteers have found more than a thousand sea birds covered
in oil spilled from the tanker Erika which sank off the 
French coast 11 days ago, the Bird Protection League said 
Thursday. "The birds in our treatment centres are covered ...

8) Fed: Most people unaware of greenpower choices: ABS BODY: 
CANBERRA, Dec 23 AAP - Most Australians are ignorant of 
alternative or greener energy options and are not prepared 
to dig into their pockets to pay to switch over, new 
figures show. Just three per cent of people surveyed by the 
Australian Bureau of Statistics this year were connected to ...

9) 12/23 1999 was gustiest year yet for worldwide wind  production By
Timothy Gardner NEW YORK, Dec 23 (Reuters) -  More wind power
capacity was produced globally over the  last year than ever,
according to a Washington, D.C. trade  group. In 1999, 3,600 more
megawatts (MW), about the  capacity of three large nuclear power
plants, were produced ...

 FORESTS 

10) The Boston Globe December 23, 1999, ,THIRD EDITION 
SECTION: METRO/REGION; Pg. B3 HEADLINE: US PUSHES AHEAD ON 
FOREST PLAN CRITICS SAY CLINTON ORDER 'RIDICULOUS' BYLINE: 
By Robert Braile, GLOBE CORRESPONDENT BODY: A New Hampshire 
logger calls it "totally ridiculous" and a Republican 
presidential candidate calls it "the epitome of federal ...

 GENETIC ENGINEERING 

11) 12/23 Mycogen Sues Monsanto, DeltaPine INDIANAPOLIS  (Reuters) -
Mycogen Plant Science Inc. charged on Thursday  that Australian
affiliates of Monsanto Co. (MTC.N) and  Delta and Pine Land Co.
(DLP.N) have infringed its patents  on genetically modified cotton
seeds. In a filing in  Australia, Mycogen said Monsanto Australia
Ltd. and ...

12) The Economist December 25, 1999 , U.S. Edition SECTION: 
Canada HEADLINE: Food fight DATELINE: vancouver BODY: WHEN 
it comes to science and food, the Canadians used to have 
more in common with their southern neighbours than with 
fussy Europeans. No longer, to judge by two recent 
announcements. First, McCain Foods, a New Brunswick firm ...

13) Africa News December 23, 1999 SECTION: NEWS, DOCUMENTS & 
COMMENTARY HEADLINE: South Africa; Chain stands by 
'Frankenfoods' BYLINE: Louise Cook, Business Day 
(Johannesburg) BODY: Johannesburg - Shoprite Checkers 
followed Pick 'n Pay yesterday in saying it would not clear 
its shelves of genetically modified food. This followed an ...

(GREENPEACE)
14) Austin American-Statesman December 22, 1999, SECTION: 
Editorial; Pg. A18 HEADLINE: Seeds of protest BODY: In 
Mexico, the protesters were street-wise environmentalists 
who chained themselves to railroad tracks. In the United 
States, they were A-list lawyers in suits who went to the 
federal courthouse with a complex lawsuit. In both cases ...

15) Reuters Czech govt approves plan to regulate GM foods  
CZECH REPUBLIC: December 23, 1999 PRAGUE - The Czech 
government approved a draft law on the regulation of 
genetically modified (GM) foods yesterday which would 
require state licensing of any GM product, spokesman Libor 
Roucek told a news conference. ...

 NUCLEAR POWER 

16) IAEA paying most attention to Japan over Y2K issues 
VIENNA, Dec. 23 (Kyodo) -- The International Atomic Energy 
Agency (IAEA) is paying more attention to Japan's nuclear 
power plants than those in the former Soviet Union or 
Eastern Europe with regard to Year 2000 (Y2K) computer bug 
problems, IAEA sources said Wednesday. The sources said the ...

17) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: No Y2K trouble expected at 
Russian nuclear plants, ministry says DATELINE: MOSCOW, Dec 
23 BODY: Russia's atomic energy ministry confidently  asserted
Thursday that its nuclear plants were Y2K-proof  but said personnel
will nevertheless be on hand to guard  against any mishaps. "The
nuclear sites are not equipped ...

18) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: EU aid for closure of 
Lithuanian nuclear reactor is delayed DATELINE: VILNIUS, 
Dec 23 BODY: A demand by the European Union for a date for 
closure of a Chernobyl-type nuclear reactor has delayed aid 
of 10 million euros (dollars) to help Lithuania 
decommission the unit, Lithuanian government sources said ...

(GREENPEACE)
19) The Independent (London) December 23, 1999 SECTION: NEWS; 
Pg. 6 HEADLINE: SWISS FIND SERIOUS FAULTS IN BRITISH 
NUCLEAR FUEL BYLINE: Steve Connor Science Editor BODY: THE 
NUCLEAR safety authority in Switzerland confirmed yesterday 
that it had discovered serious faults with controversial 
mixed plutonium - uranium oxide (Mox) fuel supplied by ...

20) The New York Times December 23, 1999, Thursday, Late 
Edition - Final SECTION: A; Page 11; Column 1; Foreign Desk 
HEADLINE: Death Stirs Up Opposition Of Japanese To Atom Use 
BYLINE: By HOWARD W. FRENCH DATELINE: TOKYO, Dec. 22 BODY: 
The death late Tuesday of a worker exposed to radiation in 
Japan's worst nuclear accident brought renewed calls today ...

21) The New York Times December 23, 1999, Late Edition - Final 
SECTION: B; Page 8; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk HEADLINE: 
An Upstate Utility Gets a Deal on Two Nuclear Reactors 
BYLINE: MATTHEW L. WALD DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 BODY: 
A utility in upstate New York said today it was buying the 
controlling share of two nuclear reactors, including the ...

22) The Washington Post December 23, 1999, Final Edition 
SECTION: A; Pg. A01 HEADLINE: Plant Hid Risk From Workers; 
Paducah Bosses Knew Some Had High Radiation Levels BYLINE: 
Joby Warrick, Washington Post Staff Writer DATELINE: 
PADUCAH, Ky. BODY: One worker collapsed on the factory 
floor, his body ravaged by lymphoma. Two others died within ...

23) Reuters Norway govt approves operation of N-power reactors
NORWAY: December 23, 1999 OSLO - Norway's Industry 
Ministry said yesterday it had given the green light for 
continued operation of the country's only two nuclear power 
reactors in Halden and Kjeller, southeast Norway. 
It also said it had appointed a committee, which included ...

24) Financial Times ; 22-Dec-1999 NATIONAL NEWS: Drive to 
restore Japanese confidence in nuclear fuel Britain is to 
send its top energy sector civil servant to Japan as part 
of a strategy to win back confidence in British Nuclear 
Fuels. 
The measure was agreed at ameeting on Monday night between ...

25) AmerGen and Entergy take nuclear battle to N.Y. By Scott 
DiSavino NEW YORK, Dec 23 (Reuters) - The battle between 
AmerGen Energy Co. and Entergy Nuclear, the only two 
companies actively buying nuclear power plants in the U.S., 
has moved to New York. On Wednesday, Rochester Gas & 
Electric Corp. (RG&E), supported by Entergy Nuclear, ...

 OCEANS 

26) THE HINDU December 23, 1999 SECTION: News HEADLINE: An 
unnatural disaster BODY: THE THOUSANDS of people who died 
when a cyclone struck the eastern coast of India last 
weekend could have been saved if mangrove forests had not 
been destroyed to make way for shrimp farms, according to 
coastal geographers. The cyclone came ashore from the Bay ...

(GREENPEACE)
27) 12/23 FOCUS-French coast on oil alert as winds shift By  Rodolphe
Landais LE CROISIC, France (Reuters) - Residents  along France's west
coast were braced for a dismal  Christmas as shifting winds kept them
guessing Thursday as  to where a giant oil slick drifting in the
Atlantic would  reach land. In Paris, French Transport Minister
Jean-Claude ...

 TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY 

28) 12/22 Poor protection allows destruction of Venezuela's  e... By BART
JONES CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- The Orinoco  turtle was nearly
extinct, so environmental officials  dispatched agents to guard the
tiny sand islands in the  mighty Orinoco River where females lay
their eggs. But ...

29) BusinessWorld December 23, 1999 SECTION: Pg. 10 HEADLINE: 
Mining operations seen threatening indigenous peoples' 
rights, survival BODY: The survival of indigenous Filipinos 
must be prioritized over any economic consideration, 
stressed ambassador Howard Dee in a recent forum on the 
plight of indigenous peoples living near mining areas. Mr. ...

 TOXICS 

30) BusinessWorld December 23, 1999, SECTION: Pg. 21 HEADLINE: 
WEEKENDER; A different christmas story(ENVIRONMENT) BODY: 
It was nothing short of quixotic. When the People's Task 
Force for Bases Cleanup (PTFBC), in 1995, raised the 
possibility that there might be toxic wastes in Clark Air 
Field, a former US Air Force base in Pampanga, not a few ...

(GREENPEACE)
31) AFX European Focus December 23, 1999 SECTION: COMPANY NEWS 
HEADLINE: Older ships in Antwerp port to be monitored for 
scrapping rules compliance DATELINE: BRUSSELS BODY: The 
Flemish regional government will monitor ships older than 
25 years which enter the port of Antwerp to ensure they are  not
being sent outside OECD countries for scrapping, a ...

32) BBC Online Sci/Tech 23 December, 1999, Chemical pollution 
slow to clear By Environment Correspondent Alex Kirby UK 
scientists have found that some highly toxic contaminants 
are not dispersing in water as rapidly as they had thought. 
The discovery was made by researchers at the Natural 
Environment Research Council's centre for ecology and ...

 X-OTHER-X 

33) Fed: Fewer Australians concerned about environment BODY: 
CANBERRA, Dec 23 AAP - Fewer Australians care about 
environmental problems despite a large number of them saying
conditions are worsening, new figures show. City dwellers 
are more likely to be concerned than people in rural and 
regional Australia, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) ...

34) Financial Times ; 22-Dec-1999 NATIONAL NEWS: Brown unveils 
details of debt relief package Gordon Brown yesterday 
unveiled details of a plan to write off all debt owed to 
the government by some of the world's poorest countries. 
The chancellor confirmed that Britain would waive the 
remaining 10 per cent of trade loans outstanding under the ...

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