Video: Japan protests restart of Oi nuclear plant

[More protest videos here. h/t Ex-SKF] By ERIC JOHNSTON, Staff writer17 June 2012 OSAKA – The decision to restart two reactors at the Oi nuclear plant has sparked international concern, with antinuclear activists and politicians in many countries sending letters of protest and holding rallies outside Japanese embassies and consulates over the past week. Politicians […]

Iraq ‘green belt’ front line in anti-desertification fight – ‘If we do nothing, the desert will envelop us’

Karbala, Iraq, 3 June 2012 (AFP) – Trees as far as the eye can see are the weapons one Iraqi province is using in the fight against desertification in a country where decades of conflict have exacted a terrible environmental toll. Karbala, 110 kilometres (70 miles) south of Baghdad, is best known as the site […]

Return of rain reignites Australia water wars between farmers and conservationists

2 June 2012 (Sydney Morning Herald) – Rivers are flowing again, but so is the friction over water rights among states and between farmers and conservationists, writes David Humphries. The last time we dropped in on the Kennedys, their cotton property Whitegates resembled a setting for The Grapes of Wrath. Dust into dust, and under […]

Dam threatens a way of life in Peru – ‘It’s a return to violence, another war’

By AARON NELSEN15 May 2012 BOCA SANIBENI, Peru – Along the murky waters of the Ene River, in a remote jungle valley on the verdant eastern slopes of the Andes, the rhythmic humming of an outboard motor draws the stares of curious Ashaninka children. With encroachment from settlers and speculators, and after a devastating war […]

Indians ‘cry with happiness’ at Brazilian Court ruling

11 May 2012 (Survival International) – The Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe Indians of Brazil are celebrating a Supreme Court decision to allow them to live undisturbed on their land. The Pataxó, of Bahia state, have been subjected to violent conflict for decades as ranchers have been occupying their indigenous territory. They have been pushing to be able […]

Panetta: Environment and climate change emerge as national security concerns

By Nick Simeone, American Forces Press Service3 May 2012 WASHINGTON – Climate and environmental change are emerging as national security threats that weigh heavily in the Pentagon’s new strategy, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told an environmental group last night. “The area of climate change has a dramatic impact on national security,” Panetta said here […]

EU hands extra 20 million euros to Pakistan flood victims

BRUSSELS, 30 April 2012 (AFP) – Brussels on Monday announced a further 20 million euros in aid to victims of Pakistan’s 2011 monsoon floods, as well as people displaced by conflict, bringing funding this year to 55 million euros. While the world had responded with generosity to the country’s devastating 2010 and 2011 floods [not […]

Fees and anger rise in California water war

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and FELICITY BARRINGER23 April 2012 SAN DIEGO – There are accusations of conspiracies, illegal secret meetings and double-dealing. Embarrassing documents and e-mails have been posted on an official Web site emblazoned with the words “Fact vs. Fiction.” Animosities have grown so deep that the players have resorted to exchanging lengthy, caustic letters, […]

As Arctic ice cap melts, a new Cold War

(AP) YOKOSUKA, Japan – To the world’s military leaders, the debate over climate change is long over. They are preparing for a new kind of Cold War in the Arctic, anticipating that rising temperatures there will open up a treasure trove of resources, long-dreamed-of sea lanes and a slew of potential conflicts. By Arctic standards, […]

As Arctic warms, generals agree to closer ties at historic meet

By David Ljunggren; Editing by Eric Walsh13 Apr 2012 OTTAWA (Reuters) – Defense chiefs from eight Arctic nations agreed on Friday to cooperate more closely to deal with disasters and search and rescue operations in the remote resource-rich region, Canada’s top soldier said. As the Arctic warms up, major nations are jostling for influence in […]

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