Global News Headlines 01/06

[greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org]

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Greenpeace Daily Environmental News Headlines
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Thursday, January 6, 2000
Greenbase Unit
Greenpeace International
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 ATMOSPHERE 

1) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Cost of French storms up to 
11.5 billion dollars BYLINE: Hugh Schofield DATELINE:  PARIS, Jan 6
BODY: No-one is prepared to put a precise  figure in it, but from
industry, insurance and government  estimates, the cost of the two
massive storms that  devastated France last week could be more than
75 billion ...

2) Press Association Newsfile HEADLINE: TORIES REVEAL CAR 
POLLUTION PLANS BYLINE: Amanda Brown, Environment 
Correspondent, PA News BODY: Cuts in duty on greener fuels 
and tax discounts for cars which create less pollution are 
part of a package of proposals to be unveiled today by the 
Conservatives. The move is a response to Government policy ...

3) The New York Times January 6, 2000, Late Edition - Final 
SECTION: B; Page 2; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk HEADLINE: 
Whitman Asks U.S. to Ease Standards for Car Emissions BODY: 
Gov. Christine Todd Whitman added her voice yesterday to the
chorus criticizing New Jersey's recently toughened car 
emission tests and asked federal officials to let the state ...

4) 01/06 Activists Target Exxon Mobil Environmental Policy  >XOM
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Religious and environmental  activists
unveiled Thursday a campaign to pressure Exxon  Mobil Corp. (XOM) to
change its policies on global warming  and renewable energy. The
coalition of 42 religious and  environmental groups in 17 states
calls itself Campaign ...

5) 01/06 Venezuela Warns of Health Risks in Flood Aftermath  By Paul
Hughes CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela warned on  Thursday of growing
epidemic risks in the wake of last  month's deadly mudslides and
urged people to stay away from  Caribbean beaches where the bodies of
dozens of victims had  washed up. Health Minister Gilberto Rodriguez
said that the ...

6) Financial Times Online January 6 2000 US: Companies begin 
to think green By Nancy Dunne in Washington When Ford 
Motor Company last month withdrew from a club of companies 
that calls itself the Global Climate Coalition (GCC) and 
word reached the US that DaimlerChrysler was about to do 
the same, environmental groups cheered. ...

 ENERGY 

7) BBC Online Sci/Tech 6 January, 2000, UK birds hit by 
French oil spill By Environment Correspondent Alex Kirby  
The consequences of the oil spill on the north-west coast 
of France look set to affect bird species in the United 
Kingdom for years to come. 
The spill occurred after the tanker Erika broke apart on ...

 FORESTS 

8) AP Worldstream January 6, 2000 HEADLINE: Cambodian 
opposition wants donor freeze amid deforestation concerns 
DATELINE: PHNOM PENH, Cambodia BODY: Cambodia's opposition 
called on international donors Thursday to suspend direct 
assistance to Prime Minister Hun Sen's government unless 
more is done to halt deforestation. Opposition leader Sam ...

9) Canadian Press Newswire January 6, 2000 B.C. government 
moves to establish a registry of the province's biggest 
trees By Malcolm Curtis Victoria Times Colonist VICTORIA 
(CP) - The B.C. government has decided to pick up where a 
West Vancouver outdoorsman left off and establish a 
registry of big trees across the province. ...

 GENETIC ENGINEERING 

(GREENPEACE)
10) 01/06 TESCO REJECTS VEGETABLES GROWN ON GM-TEST SITES By  Amanda
Brown, Environment Correspondent, PA News A leading  supermarket
chain is instructing its fruit and vegetable  suppliers not to grow
crops on sites used for testing  genetically modified crops, it
emerged today. The move by  Tesco comes as the Government is
proposing GM farm-scale ...

11) 01/06 SCIENTISTS CLONE SIX CALVES FROM BULL'S EAR By John  von
Radowitz, Science Correspondent, PA News Six calves  have been cloned
from a bull's ear - marking a significant  step towards creation of
identical genetically-engineered  herds, it was disclosed today. The
clones were produced  from skin cells which had been grown in a
laboratory for ...

12) The Philippine Star Online Field testing of superior corn 
strain undertaken By Mary Ann Ll. Reyes The University of 
the Philippines Institute of Plant Breeding and Agroseed 
Philippines have started the controversial field testing of 
Bt corn in General Santos City, despite opposition raised 
by some non-government organizations as to its possible ...

 MILITARY 

13) ENVIRONMENT-PANAMA: TOXIC LEGACY OF U.S. BASES PANAMA 
CITY, (Jan. 4) IPS - The Panamanian government and 
environmental organizations are continuing to press the 
United States to clean up its former military bases in the 
Canal Zone, which links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in 
this Central American nation. The demands will be put on ...

14) TASS January 6, 2000, HEADLINE: Taiwan tested nukes at the 
end of 1980s: former premier. BYLINE: By Vasily Golovnin 
DATELINE: TOKYO, January 6 BODY: Taiwan conducted "a small 
nuclear test" in the second half of the 1980s, which evoked 
a tough reaction on the part of Washington, former Prime 
Minister of Taiwan Hao Beigjyun said in a book of memoirs ...

 NUCLEAR POWER 

15) GE, Hitachi, Toshiba set up joint firm for nuclear ...
TOKYO, Jan. 6 (Kyodo) -- General Electric Co. of the United 
States, Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. said Thursday they 
set up a joint venture on Jan. 1 to enhance their business 
partnership in light water reactor fuel. The three firms 
said they have integrated their nuclear fuel marketing, ...

16) The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo) January 6, 2000 SECTION: Pg. 3 
HEADLINE: Y2K shows N-plants didn't know equipment BYLINE: 
Yomiuri BODY: Several Y2K-bug disruptions at nuclear plants 
across the nation have demonstrated that the electric power 
companies operating the facilities were not fully aware of 
the workings of their high-tech equipment and that their ...

17) 01/06 Greenpeace demands Mexican nuclear security review  By Fiona
Ortiz MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The Greenpeace  environmental group
Thursday demanded an independent audit  of security at Laguna Verde,
Mexico's sole nuclear power  plant, saying a series of accidents and
cover-ups proved it  was unsafe. Alejandro Calvillo, director of
Greenpeace ...

18) 01/06 ''Glow in the dark'' Santa's grotto safe, agency says EDINBURGH
(Reuters) - A British nuclear energy agency that  built a Santa's
Grotto from containers that had stored  nuclear waste defended itself
Thursday, saying children who  met Santa there had not been exposed
to radiation. Parents  and anti-nuclear groups were furious when it
emerged in late...

19) 01/06 Anti-Nuclear Grp Opposes AmerGen's Oyster Creek  License
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--An anti-nuclear group has  filed a petition
with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory  Commission seeking to block the
license transfer needed for  AmerGen Energy Co.'s acquisition of GPU
Inc.'s (GPU) Oyster  Creek nuclear plant. The Nuclear Information and
Resource ...

 OCEANS 

20) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: French agency urges fishing 
be banned along polluted coastline DATELINE: PARIS, Jan 6 
BODY: The French Food Safety Agency (AFSSA) recommended 
Thursday that fishing be banned along the French coastline 
polluted by oil from a tanker which sank off Brittany last 
month. Its advisory mainly concerns shellfishing "in zones ...

 TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY 

21) BBC Online UK 6 January, 2000, Cash bid to save wild 
species The skylark population is in decline The 
government has pledged £250,000 to help set up a National 
Biodiversity Network to enable organisations to collect, 
share and use information about wild species in Britain in 
their efforts to protect wildlife. ...

22) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Living on the edge: Giant 
panda holding on in fringe habitat DATELINE: PARIS, Jan 6 
BODY: The giant panda and hundreds of other endangered 
species are surviving on the fringes of their historical 
habitat rather than its centre, according to a study that 
says this discovery could make a big impact on conservation ...

23) Nepal's one-horned rhinos face new pitfall BYLINE: Madhav 
Acharya DATELINE: KATHMANDU, Jan. 6 Kyodo BODY: endangered 
by a growing demand for aphrodisiacs made from its horn and 
sundry natural enemies, the Nepalese one-horned rhino is 
now facing death by villagers when they graze on village 
land. During the mating season in April-May, male rhinos ...

 TOXICS 

24) 01/06 German Stores Recall Nike Jerseys On Reports Of  Toxicity
FRANKFURT (AP)--Three major department store  chains are pulling
yellow-and-black jerseys of one of  Germany's most popular soccer
teams after reports that the  Nike-made shirts are laced with a toxic
chemical usually  reserved for anti-barnacle paint on ships. The
Kaufhof and ...

25) 01/06 Fertilizer Reported Deadly To Frogs CORVALLIS, Ore.  (AP) --
Fertilizer levels the Environmental Protection  Agency says are safe
for human drinking water can kill some  species of frogs and toads,
according to a new study.  Oregon State University researchers found
some tadpoles  and young frogs raised in water with low levels of
nitrates ...

26) 01/06 SPORTSWEAR GIANT REASSURES UK AFTER `POISON' SHIRTS  SCA By
Damien Pearse, PA News Sports goods manufacturer  Nike tonight moved
to reassure consumers after reports some  of its football shirts were
laced with a toxic chemical  used in anti-barnacle paint on ships.
Fears were raised  over the safety of the Nike-made shirts of German
side ...

 X-OTHER-X 

27) The Toronto Star January 6, 2000, Edition 1 SECTION: NEWS 
HEADLINE: TRENDS THE EMERGENCE OF THE NEW COLONIZERS 
BYLINE: Neve Gordon BODY: If I were granted one wish for 
the year 2000, I would immediately say, ''Let's repeat 
Seattle.'' In this new millennium, one cannot overemphasize 
the importance of mobilizing people to fight oppression. ...

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