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News archives

Friday, October 29, 2004

India: Now, Roads will harvest water
City roads may soon harvest rainwater, besides catering to motorists. V.K. Jain of Tapas, on whose petition the High Court made rain water harvesting mandatory in Delhi, said the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has filed an affidavit that roads could also harvest rain water like flyovers. "T... Continued...

Harare: City Council Cuts Water Supply to Harare Central Hospital, Prison
Harare HARARE City Council yesterday disconnected water supplies at Harare Central Hospital and Harare Central Prison over unpaid water bills. Harare Hospital, a major referral hospital in the country, had been battling to pay its bills in the past few months as it had run out of funds. Council ... Continued...

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Learning To Love Lula
A wicked sun beats down on the balding head of Iran Auzier, a 57-year-old electrician finishing a wiring job at a boatyard on Brazil's Rio Negro. Like everyone else toiling here in the red dust, Auzier works hard for little pay. "There's not much opportunity," he says. "Just a few people get most of... Continued...

Nigeria: How to Tackle Water Scarcity
Acute shortage of water supply in the country has attracted the attention of Africa Safe Water Foundation (ASW-AF), which has identified six priority areas to tackle the menace. Foundation President, Mr. Festus Dennis-Akano said, the priority areas essentially bordered on water sanitation, which ... Continued...

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

WTO Pushes More Farm Subsidies Reductions
Further reductions in European Union farm subsidies would significantly boost global commerce, the World Trade Organization said Wednesday. In its 212-page review of EU trade policies from 2002-2004, the WTO also urged "further simplification" of the 25-nation bloc's rules. The global trade body ... Continued...

Recycled Sewage Could Solve Woes
THE thought of drinking recycled sewage may leave a bad taste in your mouth, but it is possibly another option to help solve Sydney's water crisis. A leading academic has suggested the mixing of highly treated wastewater with the city's drinking water could start at Prospect Reservoir. Associa... Continued...

India Rules Out Trade-Offs In Wto Talks
INDIA today ruled out any trade-offs between agriculture and other areas of negotiations in the run-up to real agreements under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) given the critical position agriculture holds in the country's economy in terms of livelihood concerns of millions of far... Continued...

EU/US: Dispute Over American Export Tax Breaks Not Fully Laid To Rest
The biggest-ever transatlantic trade war looks to be nearing its end, but there could yet be further skirmishes in the long-running dispute over the US "Foreign Sales Corporation" scheme. The European Union is set to lift from the start of next year trade sanctions imposed on the US in retaliation a... Continued...

Water Funders Alliance Coordinator Position Announcement
The Water Funders Alliance (WFA), the newest working group of the Environmental Grantmakers Association, is seeking a part-time coordinator. The successful candidate should be an energetic, self-motivated, organized person with experience in the philanthropic field and knowledgeable about water iss... Continued...

Monday, October 25, 2004

The Contagion of Fear
The disease's fatal grip on the brain seems to come out of nowhere, afflicting an otherwise healthy person and turning him into an incoherent muddle. In Ulster County in upstate New York, that was how death came to at least two people in the last year. The rare brain malady called Creutzfeldt-J... Continued...

The Stark Reality Of Mexican’s Lives Contrasts With The Optimism Of President Fox
These days both governments and some business groups continue to talk about great achievements and how they propose to deepen the integration of our economies. They are proposing a NAFTA-plus. As Canadians hear President Fox’s exultant speeches delivered in Ottawa this week, it is important to know ... Continued...

Inertia Sets In in China; The River Runs Black
The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China's Future. Elizabeth C. Economy. xvi + 337 pp. Cornell University Press. 2004. $ 29.95. China's environmental problems are in the news. As I drafted this review, the disastrous situation with pollution and health care in the People's Repub... Continued...

EU To Lift Trade Sanctions Against US Amid Lingering Doubts
The EU commission acted Monday to ease trade tensions with the United States, saying it would lift sanctions after US President George W. Bush approved a repeal of illegal corporate tax breaks. But the commission also said it will check that a new US law providing export assistance is compatible ... Continued...

China's Auto Exports Outnumber Imports
China's auto and auto parts and components exports have outnumbered imports this year. According to data provided by the Ministry of Commerce, China exported US$5.729 billion worth of autos and auto parts and components in January-September, 2004, up 69.1 per cent year on year, while imports tota... Continued...

Tap water linked to higher risk of stillbirths
Chlorine which is used to disinfect tap water can contribute to an increased risk of having a stillborn baby, researchers have said. The chance is up to 21 per cent greater where pregnant women are drinking and washing in water laced with by-products of the chemical. Experts believe there may al... Continued...

Sunday, October 24, 2004

Memo Lets CIA Take Detainees Out of Iraq; Serious Breach of Geneva Conventions
At the request of the CIA, the Justice Department drafted a confidential memo that authorizes the agency to transfer detainees out of Iraq for interrogation -- a practice that international legal specialists say contravenes the Geneva Conventions. One intelligence official familiar with the op... Continued...

Saturday, October 23, 2004

U.S. - Japanese Officials Conclude Agreement for Resumption of Beef Trade
Tokyo, Japan. October 23. U.S. and Japanese officials in Tokyo today reached a framework agreement that will permit the resumption of beef trade between the two countries following a ten-month interruption. The agreement was reached after three days of prolonged negotiations to determine the ... Continued...

U.S., Japan Agree to Resume Beef Exports, Penn Says
U.S. beef exports to Japan will start in ``a matter of weeks'' with a review in July that may lead to full beef trade between the two countries, J.B. Penn, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary, told reporters in Tokyo. Japan and the U.S. agreed to resume exports of beef under a U.... Continued...

WTO, WB, IMF Strengthen Cooperation
The heads of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) met here Friday to strengthen cooperation in promoting the global economy. "This is the second year in a row that the heads of the IMF and the World Bank have traveled to Geneva to attend a W... Continued...

Kyoto Treaty To Be Binding After Russian Ratification
ENVIRONMENTALISTS HAILED Russia as the world's ecological saviour yesterday after the Russian parliament made good on President Vladimir Putin's promise to endorse the Kyoto climate change pact. Yesterday's vote will see the UN treaty take effect early next year. The world's industrialised countr... Continued...

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

USA: Suit to stop addition of fluoride in water dismissed by judge
ESCONDIDO – A judge has tossed out a lawsuit aimed at blocking the city from adding fluoride to its water supply. An attorney who filed the suit for a group of Escondido residents says he'll appeal. "They're not going to give up," said the attorney, Norm Blumenthal. "They do have strong feelings... Continued...

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

USA: Water Executives to meet in NY Assess the merits of incentive-based versus structured competition regulation
The International Water Management Institute warns that the explosive global population growth may lead to water wars in much the same way that an imbalance in supply and demand for oil have lead to oil wars. One solution to the imbalance in supply and demand for water is to rebuild the nation’s... Continued...

Sunday, October 17, 2004

Even Bush Submits To These Global Tests
Knuckling under to an international institution run by unelected bureaucrats isn't exactly President Bush's style, but in the next few days he will sign important tax legislation crafted expressly to appease just such a body. The curiously named American Jobs Creation Act, passed by Congress ju... Continued...

Saturday, October 16, 2004

USA: October is National Toilet Repair Month
In case you haven't heard, October is National Toilet Repair Month. Did you know that toilet flushing accounts for 38 percent of household water use and that a leaking toilet can be one of the greatest sources of water waste in the home? According to statistics produced by Fluidmaster, a major man... Continued...

Friday, October 15, 2004

Rural Women's Day addresses water use
On this Rural Women's Day around the world, Victorian women have chosen to come to grips with a major issue for everyone - water, and how to use it sustainably. Reporter Gerald Callinan is a male voice at the 'Women on Water Conference' in Sale. "With water increasingly being seen as one of th... Continued...

Potential health consequences of consumption of demineralized and remineralized and altered mineral content drinking-water
Nutrients minerals in drinking-water and the potential health consequences of consumption of demineralized and remineralized and altered mineral content drinking-water The draft papers listed below were presented at the WHO Workshop, 11-13 November 2003, Rome on the topic: Nutrient Minerals in Dr... Continued...

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Public warned Scottish Water job cuts pose threat to safety
PUBLIC safety will be put at risk if Scottish Water presses ahead with a programme of job cuts, the drinking water regulator (see http://www.dwqr.org.uk/) warned yesterday. Key quote "The staff reductions are going on, and they have to be very careful that those staff reductions don’t happen to... Continued...

Chemical company Orica plans to sell its dirty water
Chemical company Orica is investigating whether it can sell the contaminated groundwater it must clean up. By the end of next year Orica will be treating about 15 megalitres of groundwater at its Botany site each day. That is equivalent to about 1 per cent of Sydney's daily water usage. In a s... Continued...

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

India: National Conference on Water Quality Issues
A National Conference on Water Quality Issues is opening tomorrow in Kolkata to deliberate upon issues pertaining to water quality in the country. The contamination of ground water due to arsenic, fluoride and nitrate along with water quality related health issues, community based water quality moni... Continued...

US Coalition Files Complaint To Curb Chinese Textiles
A coalition of US apparel and textile makers and their labor unions announced a series of petitions to the US government in an effort to limit Chinese imports they claim are suffocating their industries. An announcement Tuesday said a so-called safeguard petition was filed in an effort to limit C... Continued...

Textile Makers, Unions Appeal To Bush
Washington --- U.S. textile companies and workers on Tuesday said they are asking the Bush administration to help save their jobs by limiting Chinese imports, which may surge once a worldwide quota ends Jan. 1. "There will be 650,000 jobs in the U.S. lost if China is allowed to flood the U.S. mar... Continued...

Corporate Pork
THE American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, just passed by Congress and likely to be signed by President Bush, ought to be called the "American Corporate Pork Act of 2004." Hardly any corporate special interests, it seems, walked away from this stunning boondoggle without a tax cut - after what's bee... Continued...

WTO Must Ensure Interest Of Small Farmers
New Delhi, - THE Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Kantilal Bhuria, has asked the Asian Farmers' Group for Coordination (AFGC) to suggest ways and means to safeguard the interests of farmers in developing countries at the WTO negotiations on agriculture. "WTO agriculture negotiations are cruc... Continued...

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

US Senate OKs water disputes bill
TUCSON - The U.S. Senate approved legislation to resolve a long-standing dispute over how much Arizona owes the federal government for construction of the Central Arizona Project. The bill also settles Indian water rights, some of which have been in dispute for decades. "It's the biggest water se... Continued...

US Ethanol Industry Concerned About Possible Flooding Of Canadian Ethanol
Renewable Fuel News via NewsEdge Corporation : The recent news of Brazilian ethanol imports making their way into the Canadian gasoline market caught the attention of the largest U.S. ethanol trade group, worried that Canadian ethanol will in turn flood the U.S. market. In late August, RFN learne... Continued...

Experts Say No Delay In Approval Process Of GM Crops
HYDERABAD: While the industry has complained about the unnecessary delay in approval of genetically modified (GM) crops, Dr RP Sharma of the National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, is of the view that the regulatory authority followed necessary procedures in time while approving the countr... Continued...

Where They Stand: Economic Policy
Taxes BUSH Would make permanent most of his $ 1.875 trillion in tax cuts, the majority of which expire by 2010, and abolish the estate tax. Favors simplifying the tax code but wants to grant new exemptions for retirement and healthcare savings. REALITY CHECK Tax cuts benefited most house... Continued...

New Zealand Mulling WTO Appeal Over Apples
WELLINGTON, Oct 12 NZPA - New Zealand may take Australia to the World Trade Organisation to force it to open its doors to its apples. The New Zealand apple industry, angry Australia has refused to drop its longstanding ban on New Zealand apples, said yesterday it was an option that should be cons... Continued...

Indonesia Govt Orders Carrefour To Stop Selling Imported Rice
Agriculture Minister Bungaran Saragih has ordered French hypermarket operator Carrefour to stop selling imported rice from today at any of its outlets as the practice is illegal, Bisnis Indonesia reported, quoting the minister. The government ban against imported rice, which has been in place... Continued...

FTA With US Depends On IPR Implementation: Pakistani Official
Collector Sales Tax (East), Afzal Bhatti, said the United States was reluctant to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Pakistan because of Pakistan's inability to enforce Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). Addressing auditors of Auditor General of Pakistan (AGPR) at the NIPA Auditorium he sa... Continued...

Gene Revolution And Patent Rights
Though patents have an important role to play, the main problem is the way the system gets manipulated. - Vino John. IN THIS "International Year of Rice," India is being nudged by the US and its cohortsto take up genetically modified rice to "solve the problems" on the this cereal. The Indian Cou... Continued...

633-Page Corporate Tax Code Overhaul
The Senate on Monday shipped President Bush a wide-ranging $136 billion bill that contains the most profound rewrite of the corporate tax code in two decades. The bill, which the Senate approved 69-17 early Monday, began as an effort to help U.S. exporters avoid European tariffs. But as Republ... Continued...

Conrad Says World Trade Agreements Increasingly Affect Domestic Ag Policies
Events this past summer have increased the urgency for U.S. farm payments to "decouple" from production for farmers to compete within world trade rules, says Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. "What's happened in the last year has confirmed that world trade is moving in the direction of scaling back progra... Continued...

Trade War: Boeing Calls For End Of Launch Aid
Harry Stonecipher, Boeing's chief executive, yesterday accused European rival Airbus of undercutting the price of his company's planes through illegal government subsidy in an escalation of the growing trade war between the US and EU. Mr Stonecipher made plain that Boeing was not prepared to make... Continued...

Congress Gives Away the Store
With its giveaways for Nascar, ceiling fan companies and foreigners who bet on the ponies, it's easy to ridicule the corporate tax bill that cleared Congress yesterday and is now ready for President Bush's signature. But there's a much bigger joke on taxpayers: among the some $140 billion in new cor... Continued...

Monday, October 11, 2004

USA: States too underfunded to prevent water pollution
Study: States too underfunded to prevent water pollution SACRAMENTO - More than 30 years after passage of the federal Clean Water Act, many states lack the money to provide enough regulation, according to a study released Monday. Budget problems mean California enforces just 23 percent of fede... Continued...

Sunday, October 10, 2004

Japan Thirsty for Hawaiian Deep-Sea Water
Known for its $30-a-pound Kona coffee beans, posh $1,000-a-night hotel suites and $1 million ocean-view condos, the west coast of Hawaii's Big Island is now cashing in with another pricey offering: $6 bottled water from the bottom of the ocean. Desalinated deep-sea water from Kona is the state's... Continued...

Friday, October 8, 2004

Mexican Deputy Calls on Canada to Review NAFTA
Mexican Federal Deputy Victor Suarez Carrera paid a visit to Parliament Hill on September 20th. In an early morning press conference he said, “On behalf of Mexican Deputies and Senators from several political parties, I respectfully call on the Canadian government to begin a comprehens... Continued...

Wednesday, October 6, 2004

Canada's Farmers Profit
NORWOOD, Ontario - Hans Vink says his dairy farm has turned a profit in each of the last 30 years. And he is confident that Vink Farms will wind up in the black again this year. Like all 22,680 dairy, chicken, turkey and egg farmers in this country, Mr. Vink produces a fixed amount under quota... Continued...

Tuesday, October 5, 2004

Mexico Files Response With The CEC Secretariat To The "Hazardous Waste In Arteaga"
Montreal, 5 October 2004—On 24 September, the Secretariat of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) of North America received Mexico's response to citizen submission SEM-04-001/Hazardous Waste in Arteaga filed by Genaro Meléndez Lugo and José Javier, José Genaro, Miguel Án... Continued...

China's Testy Foreign Policy Wins Few Friends, Despite Need
October 5, 2004 Tuesday Home Edition China's foreign policy as recently as last year was on a roll, earning kudos for helping to fight global terrorism and restrain North Korea's nuclear ambitions. But a look around the neighborhood now finds Beijing's relations with Washington, Tokyo, Seoul... Continued...

Brazil Expects Talks To Resume After Election
Brazil expects negotiations on a Free Trade Area for the Americas to resume within six weeks after the U.S. presidential election, Foreign Relations Minister Celso Amorim said. ''Obviously now -- and this is not an excuse but a reality -- we have to wait for the North American electoral process,'... Continued...

UK Accused of Using Aid to Promote Privatisation
The British government has been imposing privatisation on developing countries, often with disastrous results, as a condition for granting aid, according to a report to be published this week. The study, undertaken by War on Want and to be launched at the Labour party conference, says private sec... Continued...

Lead Levels in Water Misrepresented Across U.S.
Cities across the country are manipulating the results of tests used to detect lead in water, violating federal law and putting millions of Americans at risk of drinking more of the contaminant than their suppliers are reporting. Some cities, including Philadelphia and Boston, have thrown out te... Continued...

Monday, October 4, 2004

Kerry's Trade Winds
Senator John Kerry has promised a revision of Clinton-era trade policies to insure that future agreements contain stronger, enforceable labor and environmental standards. Even such a pro-corporate free-trading Clintonista as former trade czar Mickey Kantor now agrees that NAFTA needs "freshening.... Continued...

New EU Trade Chief Hopes For WTO Accord In 2006
Incoming EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson said Monday that he hoped the World Trade Organization's Doha trade round could be completed during 2006. He said a WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong at the end of 2005 would be an important "staging post" but that he hoped the WTO talks "will be ... Continued...

With FTAA Talks Shut Down, Critical 9/30 Market Access Deadline Set at Miami Ministerial Passes
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The depth of the opposition to a NAFTA-style hemispheric integration was highlighted today as a vital September 30 deadline for conclusion of market access negotiations in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) set at the 2003 Miami FTAA Ministerial passed, Public Citizen ... Continued...

U.S. in Mine Dispute in Peruvian Andes
Gerardo de la Cruz, a 42-year-old farmer, is one of thousands who spent two weeks blockading a U.S.-run gold mine in the Andes, the latest example of the uneasy relationship between Peru's rural poor and the mining industry. The siege of Latin America's largest gold mine was lifted Sept. 17 after... Continued...

USTR Complains To The WTO About European Customs Laws
Although the European Union's 25 member states operate a customs union, the U.S. Trade Representative complains that the EU has no single administration of customs laws. The USTR says customs courts in various European countries can interpret the same laws differently, and that U.S. exporters pay th... Continued...

Sunday, October 3, 2004

Bangladesh: New law on cards to protect water bodies from encroachers
The government is formulating a new law with strict provisions to protect rivers, canals and other water bodies and flood-flow zones from encroachers and remove unauthorised structures built in the prohibited zones as specified in the law. A similar law was enacted in 2000 to protect playgrounds... Continued...

Saudi Arabia: Water Conservation Campaign Launched
RIYADH, 3 October 2004 — A nationwide water conservation campaign was launched here yesterday. The theme of the campaign is “The Decision Is in Your Hands.” The first phase of the campaign will include Riyadh, Makkah, Madinah, Eastern Province, Asir, Tabuk, Qasim, Hail, Baha, Jizan, Najran and Al... Continued...

Saturday, October 2, 2004

Carlsbad approves agreement to buy desalinated water
CARLSBAD – An agreement to have all of the city's potable water supplied by a private desalination plant was approved unanimously Tuesday night by the City Council, making Carlsbad the first city in the county to sign up for desalinated water. Council members, who also serve as the city's Munici... Continued...

Friday, October 1, 2004

Japan, US To Hold Talks Over Resumption Of US Beef Imports - Report
The United States and Japan will hold working-level talks this month over resuming US beef imports currently banned because of fears over mad cow disease, the Sankei Shimbun reported, quoting Japanese agriculture ministry officials. Before the talks at the end of the month, the Japanese gover... Continued...

Taiwan, Japan, S Korea Defend Fishery Subsidies In WTO
Taiwan has joined hands with Japan and South Korea to build a united front to defend their fishery subsidies policies at the World Trade Organization (WTO), a trade source said in Geneva Thursday. The WTO members had agreed at the 2001 Doha Ministerial Conference to launch negotiations in the are... Continued...

Joke Is On Big Business In 'Yes'
The Yes Men," a likable documentary profile, follows Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno around the world as they perform as the Yes Men, two anti globalization activist-pranksters who enjoy the challenge of infiltrating the corporate world only to embarrass it. They don't throw fire extinguishers throu... Continued...

Friday, September 24, 2004

Bulk water company acquired by Nordic American Inc
Nordic American, Inc. (OTC: NDAM) has signed a letter of intent to acquire Global H2O Resources Inc. Terms and price of the acquisition, which is slated to close prior to year end, have not been disclosed. Established in 1994, Global H2O Resources Inc. is engaged in the bulk sale of fresh, pure ... Continued...

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Israel signs agreement to buy bulk water from Manavgat, Turkey
JERUSALEM -- Israel has signed an agreement to buy water from Turkey and may pay for part of it with weapons, in a deal aimed at alleviating Israel's chronic water shortage and cementing its relations with an important Middle East ally. Under the 20-year agreement, Turkey will ship 40,500 acre fe... Continued...

Monday, November 19, 2001

Business Companies Reach for Blue Gold
Five years ago, a Canadian businessman from Vancouver came to the City of Sitka, a small town with 9,000 people in southeastern part of the State of Alaska. "Let me export the water in the Blue Lake," he said. The State government gave him right to take nearly 4.5 billion gallons of lake water per d... Continued...

Monday, December 6, 1999

Wto II: How's It Playing? The Seattle Summit
Greenwire rounds up the latest commentary and analysis on the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle: Anchorage Daily News: "The Seattle protest was often inarticulate and hysterical. But world trade practices are shaping our future in so many ways that they deserve scrutiny and debate. The rul... Continued...