Global News Headlines 01/05

[greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org]

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Greenpeace Daily Environmental News Headlines
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Wednesday, January 5, 2000
Greenbase Unit
Greenpeace International
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 ATMOSPHERE 

1) Japanese archipelago warmer than usual last year TOKYO, 
Jan. 5 (Kyodo) -- The Japanese archipelago was warmer than 
usual last year, with the average temperature in Tokyo 1.4 
C higher at a record 17.0 C and four other locations 
marking record high average temperatures, the 
Meteorological Agency said Wednesday. Given the fact that ...

2) The Daily Telegraph Online The sizzling 90s: Warmest 
decade yet prelude to disaster By JONATHAN PORTER 6jan00  
THE 1990s was Australia's warmest decade since records 
began 90 years ago, the Bureau of Meteorology announced 
yesterday. 
The figures prompted warnings from scientists of ...

3) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Threat to intensify 
transport strike in Indian industrial heartland DATELINE: 
BOMBAY, Jan 5 BODY: Private transporters in India's 
industrial heartland Maharashtra on Wednesday threatened to 
intensify their three- day-old strike against tough new 
anti- pollution measures. "The strike is total. We will ...

4) The Christian Science Monitor January 5, 2000, SECTION: 
EDITORIALS; THE MONITOR'S VIEW; Pg. 8 HEADLINE: Beyond 
Greenhouse Gases BODY: International wrangling over ways to 
control the greenhouse gases that drive global warming is 
the prelude to a larger debate. Scientists now find that 
the dust, soot, and other microscopic particles we kick ...

5) Europe seen facing 10 bln euro storm damage bill PARIS, 
Jan 5 (Reuters) - Storms that ravaged western Europe last 
month caused around 10 billion euros ($10.37 billion) worth 
of economic damage with France facing the biggest repair 
bill, U.S. risk management group EQE International said on 
Wednesday. The firm put insurance payouts from gales that ...

 ENERGY 

6) China Able to Make 600-kw Wind-Power Generating Units 
URUMQI (Jan. 5) XINHUA - A company based in northwest China 
's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has been able to 
manufacture 600-kilowatt wind-power generating units which 
incorporate the country's highest technology level. China's 
wind power has developed vigorously in recent years, and by ...

7) City in Niigata Pref. eyes tax cut for 'green' residents 
DATELINE: NIIGATA, Japan, Jan. 5 Kyodo BODY: The city of 
Joetsu in Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast is 
considering introducing a tax cut for environmentally 
friendly households and companies in fiscal 2001, city 
officials said Wednesday. The officials said the city ...

 FORESTS 

8) Deutsche Presse-Agentur January 5, 2000 HEADLINE: 
Environmental group recommends Cambodia cancel logging 
contracts DATELINE: Phnom Penh BODY: An environmental 
watchdog recommended Wednesday that the Cambodian 
government cancel more than half of the logging contracts 
in the country because of widespread over-cutting. ...

9) Qld: Democrats call for end to tree clearing feud BODY: 
BRISBANE, Jan 5 AAP - The Democrats have called on federal 
Environment Minister Robert Hill and Queensland Premier 
Peter Beattie to end their long-running feud over tree 
clearing. The high-profile political opponents have been 
locked in a war of words on environmental issues for more ...

 GENETIC ENGINEERING 

10) EU needs its own FDA, says USDA's Schumacher OXFORD, 
England, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The European Union needs an 
organisation similar to the U.S.'s Food and Drug 
Administration to instill consumer confidence in 
genetically modified foods and help avoid transatlantic 
trade spats, U.S. Agriculture Under Secretary Gus ...

11) The Guardian (London) January 5, 2000 SECTION: Guardian 
Society Pages; Pg. 5 HEADLINE: Words of warning; When 
scientists talk of 'absence of evidence' of risk, take 
cover. Geoff Tansey on a new report BODY: Public scepticism 
about the rapid and widespread adoption of GM crops and 
foods is not ill-founded, a report on the politics and risk ...

(GREENPEACE)
12) South China Morning Post January 5, 2000 SECTION: News; 
Pg. 3 HEADLINE: Supermarket makes GM-free food vow BYLINE: 
ALEX LO BODY: A leading supermarket chain is to eliminate 
all genetically modified ingredients from products bearing 
its own label. ParknShop said yesterday more than 600 
products carrying the company logo would be free of GM ...

13) The Toronto Star January 5, 2000, Edition 1 SECTION: LIFE 
HEADLINE: INDEPENDENT PANEL TO STUDY BIOTECH FOODS BODY: 
OTTAWA (CP) - The federal government will establish an 
independent panel to examine future scientific developments 
in food biotechnology. Health Canada, the Canadian Food 
Inspection Agency and Environment Canada said the new panel ...

14) National Post January 5, 2000 EDITION National Financial 
Post PAGE C3 Retailers to yank GM foods from shelves: 
Farmers 'nervous' John Greenwood The growing public 
resistance to genetically modified foods that has rocked 
farmers and retailers in Europe has now spread to North 
America. ...

 MILITARY 

15) U.S. to use surplus plutonium to make nuclear fuel 
WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department 
said on Tuesday it would dispose of up to 50 metric tons of 
surplus plutonium in a sign of its commitment to cut stocks 
of weapons-grade material. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson 
said the plan called for 17 metric tons of the plutonium to ...

 NUCLEAR POWER 

(GREENPEACE)
16) GREENPEACE ASKS LATIN AMERICAN GOVTS TO FORBID ...
Mexico City, Jan 04, 2000 (EFE via COMTEX) -- The 
ecological organization Greenpeace asked Latin American 
governments on Tuesday to oppose allowing a ship carrying 
plutonium from the United Kingdom and France to Japan pass 
through the Caribbean Sea due to the allegedly high risk of ...

17) 01/05 Japan-Nuclear TOKYO (AP) -- The company that caused  Japan's
worst nuclear accident said Wednesday it wants to  resume operations
as soon as possible. JCO Co. wants to  resume making nuclear fuel
after resolving safety issues,  compensating victims and gaining
approval from local and  national governments, said Katsunori Suzuki,
a company ...

18) JCO paid 'apology' money to Tokaimura residents in ...
MITO, Japan, Jan. 5 (Kyodo) -- JCO Co., the operator of the 
mishap-ridden Tokaimura nuclear fuel processing plant, paid 
money to local residents in late December as an "apology" 
for Japan's worst nuclear accident last year, company 
officials said Wednesday. JCO officials visited every house ...

19) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Germany set to authorize 
new shipment of atomic waste: official DATELINE: BERLIN, 
Jan 5 BODY: Germany is set to authorize the resumption of 
the controversial transport in Germany of atomic waste for 
the first time since 1998, a government official said 
Wednesday. But Wolfram Koenig, head of the government ...

20) Storms caused safety incident at French reactors PARIS, 
Jan 5 (Reuters) - Freak storms over the Christmas weekend 
impaired emergency cooling systems at a nuclear plant in 
southwest France, causing a grade two nuclear incident, the 
nuclear safety board DSIN said on Wednesday. Three 
900-megawatt nuclear reactors at the Blayais plant near ...

 OCEANS 

21) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Oil spill threatens central 
African coast DATELINE: LUANDA, Jan 5 BODY: An oil spill is 
threatening the central African coast off the Angolan 
enclave of Cabinda, the local government said Wednesday. A 
big slick of oil hit the Atlantic waters off the oil-rich 
enclave near the port of Futila, killing large quantities of...

22) United Press International January 5, 2000 HEADLINE: New 
rules for 'dolphin-safe' tuna BODY: New rules for 
'dolphin-safe' tuna WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) - Canned tuna 
sold in the United States will soon be able to qualify for 
the "dolphin-safe" label if the dolphins managed to escape 
from the nets before the tuna were reeled in. The ...

(GREENPEACE)
23) South China Morning Post January 5, 2000 SECTION: News; 
Pg. 12 HEADLINE: Young people lose appetite for whale meat 
BYLINE: SALLY FISHER in Tokyo BODY: The Government has 
spent a small fortune propping up whaling industry -but the 
market for whale meat is dying, with many young consumers 
preferring a more Western diet. Their distaste for the meat ...

24) Sunken Erika holding oil for now, France says PARIS, Jan 5 
(Reuters) - Interior Minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement told 
the cabinet on Wednesday there was no immediate danger of 
more oil leaking from the sunken tanker Erika, which was 
the source of a major spill on the coast of western France. 
"An exploration of the wreckage of the Erika is in ...

 TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY 

25) 01/05 Law To Protect Galapagos Enacted QUITO, Ecuador (AP)  -- A law
aimed at conserving and controlling development of  the Galapagos
Islands went into effect Wednesday when  President Jamil Mahuad gave
the necessary approval. Mahuad  approved a regulation to implement a
law passed in March  1998 that would halt further human migration to
the ...

 TOXICS 

26) The Irish Times January 5, 2000 SECTION: CITY EDITION; 
HOME NEWS; Pg. 5 HEADLINE: Strong tendency to bloom 
formation One of the most extensive studies of Irish lakes 
not only confirms they are under environmental strain but 
algal blooms are an emerging, insidious threat BODY: Until 
very recently, even where there has been the best of ...

27) The New York Times January 5, 2000, Late Edition - Final 
SECTION: B; Page 4; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk HEADLINE: 
Final Federal Study Bolsters Case for Requiring G.E. to 
Clean Up PCB's in Hudson River BYLINE: By ANDREW C. REVKIN 
BODY: Releasing the final installment in its eight-year 
study of Hudson River pollution, the federal Environmental ...

28) 01/05 Used tyres to be employed as fuel, NATION (Thailand)  FOLLOWING
six months of feasibility testing, Michelin Siam  Group and Siam
Cement Industry will go ahead with plans to  turn used and scrap
tyres into fuel for making cement. With  support from the department
of industrial works, the two  companies have spent six months testing
the technology that ...

 X-OTHER-X 

29) The New York Times January 5, 2000, Late Edition - Final 
SECTION: A; Page 15; Column 1; National Desk HEADLINE: 
Seattle Will Drop Most of Trade Protest Cases BYLINE: By 
SAM HOWE VERHOVEK DATELINE: SEATTLE, Jan. 4 BODY: Seattle 
officials said today that they were dropping all but about 
40 of the unresolved misdemeanor cases stemming from the ...

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