Global News Headlines 01/14

[greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greenpeace Daily Environmental News Headlines
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, January 14, 2000
Greenbase Unit
Greenpeace International
------------------------------------------------------------------------

 ATMOSPHERE 

1) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Winter storms caused nearly 
14 billion euros in damage: Munich Re DATELINE: MUNICH,  Germany, Jan
14 BODY: The winter storms which hammered  Europe at the end of last
year caused more than 27 billion  marks (13.8 billion euros, dollars)
in damage, Munich Re,  the world's biggest reinsurance group,
estimated on Friday. ...

2) Fed: ACF calls on govt to reduce greenhouse pollution BODY:
Greenhouse CANBERRA, Jan 14 AAP - The heat was on the 
federal government to reduce Australia's greenhouse 
pollution, an Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) 
spokesman said today. Data released in the US this week 
showed the earth had warmed at a sharply faster rate in the ...

3) THE HINDU January 14, 2000 SECTION: News HEADLINE: India- 
Baalu's plea to U.S. Senator BODY: NEW DELHI, JAN. 13. The 
U.S. should take the lead in giving effect the Kyoto 
Protocol. This was impressed upon the visiting Senator, Mr. 
Sam Brownback, by the Union Minister of Environment and 
Forest, Mr. T. R. Baalu, during a meeting today. During the ...

(GREENPEACE)
4) The Ottawa Citizen January 14, 2000, FINAL SECTION: News; 
A4 HEADLINE: UN report causes jitters about cost of Kyoto 
pledge: Reforestation credits under scrutiny BYLINE: Andrew 
Duffy BODY: There's heightened concern inside government 
about the cost of reaching the Kyoto target in the wake of 
a UN report that could limit Canada's ability to capitalize ...

 ENERGY 

5) Financial Times Online January 14 2000 Companies News / 
Energy US halts BP Amoco takeover bid By Robert Corzine BP 
Amoco's proposed $26.8bn takeover of Atlantic Richfield 
(Arco), the Los Angeles-based oil company, suffered a 
setback yesterday when the UK company conceded it had 
failed to secure the approval of US competition authorities....

6) BBC Online World: Europe 14 January, 2000, French report 
slams ill-fated tanker French officials say an oil tanker 
which sank off the coast of France last month causing a 
major pollution crisis, was in poor condition. 
A report published today Friday by the French Transport 
Ministry blames rust corrosion for the disaster, but ...

7) BANGKOK POST January 14, 2000 SECTION: News HEADLINE: HIN 
KRUT POWER PLANT- Assessment study rejected BODY: Ploenpote 
Atthakor Management steps found unconvincing The Hin Krut 
coal-fired power plant in Prachuap Khiri Khan faced another 
hurdle yesterday as the Office of the Environmental Policy 
and Planning refused to approve its additional ...

8) The Vancouver Sun January 14, 2000, FINAL SECTION: News; 
A1 / Front HEADLINE: Ballard readies fuel cells to heat and 
power homes: The Burnaby firm's first fuel-cell generators 
will be marketed in Japan, but a more powerful version will 
be built for other markets. BYLINE: William Boei, Sun 
Business Reporter BODY: The same fuel cells that power ...

 FORESTS 

9) Bangladesh faces ecological catastrophe DHAKA, Jan 14 
(Reuters) - Poor, overpopulated and polluted Bangladesh must
strike a balance between development and nature to avert a 
likely ecological catastrophe, speakers at an environment 
conference said on Friday. Air pollution, arsenic 
contamination of ground water, rapid urbanisation and ...

10) National Post January 14, 2000 EDITION National Financial 
Post PAGE C5 Weyerhaeuser chief takes a pro free trade 
stand: Wants unified lumber policy Drew Hasselback  
VANCOUVER - Steven Rogel, the U.S.-based executive who now 
runs British Columbia's largest forest operation, spoke out 
yesterday in favour of free trade in lumber between Canada ...

11) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Hun Sen vows end to 
deforestation or resignation DATELINE: PHNOM PENH, Jan 14 
BODY: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen vowed Friday he 
would resign if he failed to put an end to illegal timber 
cutting, warning corrupt officials involved in 
deforestation will face lengthy jail terms. "If I cannot ...

(GREENPEACE)
12) CNN SHOW: CNN NEWS DAY 12:00 January 14, 2000; Transcript 
# 00011402V11 SHOW-TYPE: PACKAGE SECTION: News; 
International HEADLINE: Our Planet: Rainforests of Papua 
New Guinea Take Center Stage in Passionate Debate BYLINE: 
Frank Sesno, Gary Strieker HIGHLIGHT: The rainforest in 
Papua New Guinea, the third largest on the planet, is at ...

13) Financial Times ; 14-Jan-2000 WORLD NEWS: ASIA-PACIFIC: 
Cambodian logging allegations NEWS DIGEST ILLEGAL FOREST 
ACTIVITY Cambodian logging allegations Cambodia's deputy 
prime minister yesterday accused a provincial governor and 
other senior officials of being behind an illegal logging 
racket in the north-east of the country. Sar Kheng told a ...

 GENETIC ENGINEERING 

14) 01/13 Singapore-US-GMOs By ANNA SATHIAH SINGAPORE (AP) --  Sen.
Christopher Bond, touring Southeast Asia to find new  markets for
genetically engineered, Missouri-produced food  said Friday that
opponents of biotechnology were ignoring  the scientific facts. "This
is hysteria. The so-called  scientific objections are hogwash," the
Missouri Republican ...

15) The Economist January 15, 2000 , U.S. Edition SECTION: 
Genetically modified crops HEADLINE: To plant or not to 
plant DATELINE: chicago BODY: JANUARY should be a quiet 
time for mid-western farmers. Instead, they find themselves 
facing one of the hardest farming decisions of the year: 
should they risk putting genetically modified (GM) crops in ...

16) New Scientist January 15, 2000 SECTION: This Week: This 
Week - Focus, Pg. 14 HEADLINE: Against the grain BYLINE: 
Ehsan Masood HIGHLIGHT: The poorest nations are refusing to 
let the US set the agenda when it comes to genetically 
modified crops. Could they pull off a remarkable coup ? 
BODY: IN TWO week's time, a David and Goliath style ...

17) Birmingham Post January 14, 2000, SECTION: Pg. 23 
HEADLINE: ORGANIC FARMS 'STILL AT RISK FROM GM CROPS' BODY: 
Government-backed rules will fail to protect organic farms 
from contamination by genetically modified pollen spread 
from crop trials, it was claimed yesterday. An independent 
study commissioned by the Soil Association warns of the ...

(GREENPEACE)
18) The Irish Times January 14, 2000 SECTION: CITY EDITION; 
HOME NEWS; Pg. 7 HEADLINE: Byrne promises tighter rules on 
GMOs BYLINE: By KEVIN O'SULLIVAN, Environmental and Food 
Science Correspondent BODY: EU rules on labelling GM foods 
will be made stricter as soon as technology becomes 
available to detect smaller amounts of GM material in ...

 MILITARY 

19) 01/14 Plutonium Arrives Safely in Canada By JOHN FLESHER  TRAVERSE
CITY, Mich. (AP) -- A shipment of weapons-grade  plutonium arrived
safely in Canada early Friday after  passing through Michigan
overnight, a congressman said. "We  are very pleased that there has
not been a problem," Rep.  Bart Stupak said. "Everything has arrived
safely. There ...

20) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Britain agrees to end 
controversial wargames in Cyprus beauty spot DATELINE: 
NICOSIA, Jan 14 BODY: Britain signed an agreement with 
Cyprus Friday waiving its right to hold military exercises 
in one of the island's most treasured beauty spots in 
return for the use of a Greek-Cypriot firing range. Under ...

 NUCLEAR POWER 

21) Two flooded French reactors shut for months PARIS, Jan 14 
(Reuters) - France's nuclear safety board said on Friday two
reactors closed after last month's freak storms could be 
out of action for months while safety is tightened. The 
board's assistant director Jerome Goellner said experts had 
underestimated the risks at the plant at Blayais in ...

22) Japan reconsiders nuclear power stance TOKYO, Jan. 14 
(UPI) -- Three and half months after a leak of radioactive 
materials at a Japanese nuclear materials processing plant, 
an official from Japan's energy agency said Thursday that 
the government will promote the use of environmentally 
friendly fuel cells as an alternative to nuclear power. ...

23) Police to inspect JCO plant over nuclear accident 
DATELINE: MITO, Japan, Jan. 14 Kyodo BODY: Police will 
conduct on-the-spot inspections Monday at the JCO Co. 
uranium-processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, 
where Japan's worst nuclear accident occurred last 
September, police sources said Friday. The police will ...

(GREENPEACE)
24) The Evening Post (Wellington) January 13, 2000 SECTION: 
NEWS; NATIONAL; Pg. 2 HEADLINE: No way to stop plutonium 
ship using Tasman - Hobbs BODY: New Zealand is powerless to 
stop a ship loaded with nuclear fuel travelling through the 
South Pacific and Tasman Sea, says Environment Minister 
Marian Hobbs. A ship loaded with plutonium-uranium mixed ...

 OCEANS 

25) 01/13 Environmentalists sue to save endangered manatee By  Michael
Peltier TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Reuters) - U.S. and  Florida officials
have failed to protect the endangered  manatee, a gentle vegetarian
marine mammal often killed by  speeding boats, a coalition of
environmental groups charged  in lawsuits filed Thursday. Failure to
enforce boating ...

(GREENPEACE)
26) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Greenpeace steps up daring 
battle against Japanese whaling fleet BYLINE: Jack Taylor 
DATELINE: SYDNEY, Jan 14 BODY: Greenpeace activists 
involved in an increasingly daring battle with Japanese 
whalers in Antarctica said Friday that their campaign is 
succeeding in embarrassing Japan's whaling industry. In the ...

27) New Scientist January 15, 2000 SECTION: This Week, Pg. 16 
HEADLINE: Synchronised spawning BYLINE: Ian Sample 
HIGHLIGHT: Hormones could revolutionise trout farming, but 
will the public stomach it ? BODY: TROUT are troublesome 
for fish farmers because harvesting their eggs is laborious 
and expensive. So a team of European researchers has ...

(GREENPEACE)
28) The Press (Christchurch) January 14, 2000 SECTION: News; 
National; Pg. 1 HEADLINE: Activists put lives on line 
BYLINE: WALSH Rachel BODY: An inflatable boat with two 
Greenpeace activists aboard was dragged half way up the 
stern ramp of a whaling ship, as the environmental group 
continued its efforts to stop the Japanese whaling. The ...

(GREENPEACE)
29) Greenpeace urges EU to vote against lifting ban on whale 
trade DATELINE: BRUSSELS, Jan. 13 Kyodo BODY: The 
Greenpeace conservationist organization urged European 
countries Thursday to reject lifting the current ban on the 
international trade in whale products which is being pushed 
by Japan and Norway. The group called on the European Union ...

 TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY 

30) New Scientist January 15, 2000 SECTION: Features, Pg. 30 
HEADLINE: When good bugs turn bad BYLINE: Garry Hamilton 
(Seattle; Garry Hamilton is a freelance science writer 
based in Seattle) HIGHLIGHT: They were hailed as the green 
alternative to pesticides, but now there are reports of 
renegade insects threatening native species. Garry Hamilton ...

31) BERNAMA THE MALAYSIAN NATIONAL NEWS AGENCY January 14, 2000
SECTION: News HEADLINE: BIGGEST HAUL OF TIGER, LEOPARD AND 
BLACK BUCK SKINS IN INDIAN STATE BODY: LUCKNOW, Jan 14 
(Bernama-PTI) -- Tiger and leopard skins were seized and 
seven people were arrested in one of the biggest hauls of 
hides of endangered wildlife species in a northern Indian ...

 TOXICS 

32) Monsanto to build biggest non-US plant in Brazil: report  
BRASILIA, Jan 14 (AFP) - US agro-chemical giant Monsanto 
will invest 550 million dollars to construct a production 
plant in Bahia state in northeastern Brazil, a local news 
report said Friday. 
The controversial multinational's new plant will be its ...

33) Asiaweek January 14, 2000 SECTION: FORECAST 2000 THE 
FUTURE OF BUSINESS; Pg. 52 HEADLINE: ECOLOGICAL PROFITS 
BYLINE: Jervina Lao and Murakami Mutsuko/Tokyo HIGHLIGHT: 
Japan Inc. is making "green" investments BODY: Like their 
counterparts in the West, large Japanese corporations are 
discovering that protecting Mother Earth can be good for ...

------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: The above newsclips are to indicate the environment news of the day.
Whole news articles are copyright protected, so unfortunately Greenpeace
cannot distribute them publicly.