CommonDreams.org Headlines

Designs for New UK Nuclear Reactors are Unsafe, Claims Watchdog

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:23:00 -0500

by Terry Macalister

Britain's main safety regulator threw the government's energy plans into chaos tonight by damning the nuclear industry's leading designs for new plants. The Health and Safety Executive said it could not recommend plans for new reactors because of wide-ranging concerns about their safety.

The leading French and American reactors are central to plans for a nuclear renaissance aimed at keeping the lights on and helping to cut carbon emissions. The government needs to build a number of nuclear power stations in the next 10 years to replace old atomic and coal plants.

Australian Camel Cull Plan Angers Animal Welfare Groups

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:14:52 -0500

by Adam Gabbatt

Animal welfare groups have accused the Australian government of being "trigger happy" over plans to shoot 6,000 camels that invaded an outback town in search of water.

Obama's State Department Backpedals on Landmine Treaty Stance

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:10:02 -0500

by Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON - One day after the State Department announced that the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama will not sign the 10-year-old treaty banning anti- personnel landmines, it insisted that Washington's policy on the issue was still being reviewed.

Americans Toss Out 40 Percent of All Food

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:56:46 -0500

by Robert Roy Britt

U.S. residents are wasting food like never before.

While many Americans feasted on turkey and all the fixings yesterday, a new study finds food waste per person has shot up 50 percent since 1974. Some 1,400 calories worth of food is discarded per person each day, which adds up to 150 trillion calories a year.

The study finds that about 40 percent of all the food produced in the United States is tossed out.

U.S. Military Unveils Huge New Prison in Afghanistan

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:44:50 -0500

by Feraidoon Khwazoon

KABUL - The U.S. military has announced the opening of a new prison on Bagram Air Base. The prison, costing 60 million dollars, will hold up to 1,100 prisoners at any one time.

U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, a U.S. Army lawyer who undertook an examination this year of Afghan and American prisons, said that the prison would be handed over to the Afghan government, though it is unclear when that handover will take place.

'No Logo' Author Naomi Klein to Focus on Climate Controversies in New Book

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:36:46 -0500

by Cassandra Szklarski

TORONTO - Naomi Klein says her next book delves into the simmering debate over how best to rein in carbon emissions, a highly divisive issue she predicts will explode at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference, set for Copenhagen next month.

Wal-Mart Price Pressure Hurts China Workers: Report

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:37:40 -0500

BEIJING - Wal-Mart Stores Inc's demand for rock-bottom prices from suppliers in China means some of these companies are forcing their employees to work in sweatshop-like conditions, a new report said on Wednesday.

China Labor Watch said Wal-Mart, which also operates more than 250 stores in China, is failing to pick up on such abuses when it carries out audits of certain suppliers, calling into doubt pledges to source ethically.

Climate Protestors Face Sleeping in Prison Gyms

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:54:59 -0500

Prisons prepare for an influx of detainees during the UN Climate Change Conference happening in two weeks

Overcrowding in the country's prisons means protestors arrested during the climate conference will be held in uncomfortable conditions.

Climate activists are gearing up for the UN Climate Change Conference in two weeks, but face harsh jail conditions if arrested.

Legislation was recently tightened to allow police to hold protestors for up to 40 days if they hinder police work and the already overstretched prison service is gearing up for new arrivals.

Shock over Obama Decision to Reject Landmine Ban

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:40:23 -0500

by Jeffrey Allen

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration announced yesterday that it would not be joining a treaty signed by 158 other countries to ban landmines. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the decision "lacks vision, compassion, and basic common sense."

The group was also stunned by the manner in which the decision was apparently made and subsequently announced.

Although anti-landmine activists and congressional leaders had been urging the administration to begin reviewing the treaty for months, Obama administration officials never indicated that it had even started the process.

White House: US Will Be Out of Afghanistan... by 2017

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:12:53 -0500

by Ross Colvin and Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON - The United States will not be in Afghanistan eight years from now, the White House said on Wednesday, as President Barack Obama prepared to explain to Americans next week why he is expanding the war effort.

After months of deliberation and fending off Republican charges that he was dithering on Afghanistan while violence there surged, Obama will address the nation on Tuesday on the way forward in the costly and unpopular eight-year war.

European MP, Activist Jose Bové Avoids Jail for GM Attack

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:08:16 -0500

FORMER French presidential candidate José Bové has avoided time in prison and been allowed to keep his job as a European MP for his involvement in an attack on genetically modified crops in 2006.

Prosecutors had called for the anti-capitalism activist to spend eight months in jail and be banned from public office for four years office for helping to destroy more than 2,000 tonnes of GM maize in the Gironde.

NATO Will Send 5,000 More Troops to Afghanistan, Says Brown

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:37:24 -0500

by Patrick Wintour

Gordon Brown paved the way today for the announcement next Tuesday of a large US troop surge in Afghanistan by saying he had received assurances from NATO countries that they would contribute an extra 5,000 troops.

The assurances are significant because both Brown and Barack Obama have said they will not commit more of their own troops unless there are increases in other NATO troop numbers.

Fears Forest Proposals Are 'Human Rights Disaster'

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:06:05 -0500

by Leonie Joubert

COPENHAGEN - The clean, ultra-modern chrome and glass lines of the Bella Center, in the Danish capital Copenhagen, is a world away from the thronging canopy suspended over the tropical forests of Uganda, or the Democratic Republic of Congo, or Cameroon.

Iraq Inquiry: Deal Might have been ‘Signed in Blood’ by Blair and Bush in 2002

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:59:42 -0500

by Gordon Rayner

Sir Christopher Meyer told the Iraq Inquiry that the two men spent an afternoon meeting in private at the former president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, in April 2002, which appeared to lead to a shift in the then Prime Minister's stance on Iraq.

Sir Christopher said: "I took no part in any of the discussions and there was a large chunk of that time when no adviser was there.

"The two men were alone in the ranch so I'm not entirely clear to this day what degree of convergence (on Iraq policy) was signed in blood, if you like, at the Crawford ranch.

Ex-UK envoy: US Focused on Iraq Hours after 9/11

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:38:49 -0500

by David Stringer

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice raised the issue of Iraq with the U.K. hours after the Sept. 11 attacks, Britain's former ambassador told an inquiry into the Iraq war Thursday.

Christopher Meyer, who served as then-Prime Minister Tony Blair's envoy to Washington between 1997 and 2003, said he spoke with Rice on Sept. 11, 2001.

"She said there's no doubt this was an Al-Qaida operation, we are just looking to see if there could possibly be any connection with Saddam Hussein," he told the panel.

Iraq: The Inquiry Cover-Up That Will Keep Us in the Dark

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:11:32 -0500

by Andrew Grice

Gordon Brown was accused of strangling the inquiry into the Iraq war at birth yesterday by refusing to let it make public sensitive documents that shed light on the conflict.

Walking, Biking Good for You and the Planet: Study

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:30:16 -0500

by Margaret Munro

Pedestrians and cyclists should be made king of the urban jungle, according to an international study showing the big benefits of "mass active travel."

It suggests money should be diverted way from roads to make walking and cycling "the most direct, convenient, and pleasant options for most urban trips." Pedestrians and bikers should also get "priority" over cars and trucks at intersections.

The study is one of six reports on the "health dividend" of combating climate change published in the medical journal Lancet Wednesday.

Agribusiness Chief Slams Organics

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:56:02 -0500

by Kate Galbraith

When Michael Mack, the chief executive of Syngenta, a Swiss agribusiness giant that makes pesticides and seeds, hears people say that organic food is better for the planet, he has one response: "Au contraire."

"Organic food is not only not better for the planet," he said, in an interview at The New York Times building on Tuesday. "It is categorically worse."

Obama Will Attend Copenhagen Summit Before Picking up Nobel Peace Prize

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:38:56 -0500

by Tim Reid

WASHINGTON - President Obama will travel to Copenhagen next month to attend the climate change conference, ending weeks of uncertainty over whether he would go and after intense pressure from Europe for his presence.

Mr Obama will join another 65 heads of state at the climate change conference on December 9 in the Danish capital, before heading the following day to Oslo to accept his recently awarded Nobel peace Prize, White House aides said. He will then return to the US.

Obama's 'Finish the Job' Talk Sets Stage for Afghan Troop Surge

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:07:28 -0500

by John Nichols

President Obama plans to formally announce on December 1 his decision with regard to the request from some of his more ambitious generals for a massive troop surge in Afghanistan.

But indications are that the president who was elected to set a new course for the nation when it comes to foreign policy will instead "stay the course" set by his quagmire-prone predecessor.

Lead, Chemicals Found in Toys Despite Stricter Law

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500

by Lyndsey Layton

Despite a new law that bans six chemicals from children's products and lowers the lead limit for them, a public interest group has found a number of toys at major retailers that contain the chemicals and illegal amounts of lead.

As Consumer Debt Soars, Layaway Service Returns From the Dead

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:41:02 -0500

by Andrea K. Walker

With consumers leery of piling up credit card debt, more and more retailers are reviving a service that had been given up for dead: layaway.

Kmart began offering Internet layaway this year, and sister company Sears expanded its service to the Internet this year. Online site eLayaway.com has seen its business grow. Toys "R" Us announced last month it would bring back layaway on more expensive items such as bikes and cribs, though not yet in Maryland.

US Will Not Join Treaty Banning Landmines

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:32:28 -0500

by David Alexander

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has no plans to join a global treaty banning landmines because a policy review found the United States could not meet its security commitments without them, the State Department said on Tuesday.

"This administration undertook a policy review and we decided that our landmine policy remains in effect," spokesman Ian Kelly told a briefing five days before a review conference in Cartegena, Colombia on the 10-year-old Mine Ban Treaty.

Khmer Rouge Torturer Apologizes for Deaths

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:14:20 -0500

by Ben Doherty

PHNOM PENH - The Khmer Rouge's executioner-in-chief, the prison boss allegedly responsible for the torture and murder of more than 12,000 people, has made a final plea before an international court, asking that he be allowed to meet his victims' families to apologise in person.

Kaing Guek Eav, known as Comrade Duch, told the Extraordinary Chamber of the Courts of Cambodia in Phnom Penh yesterday that he took full responsibility for the torture and the murders that occurred at his prison.

Chilcot Inquiry Told: Few Links From Saddam to al-Qaida After 9/11

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:21:53 -0500

by James Meikle and Richard Norton-Taylor

There was no evidence of any serious co-operation between Saddam Hussein's regime and al-Qaida after the 9/11 attacks, and contacts before had been sporadic, senior civil servants told the Iraq war inquiry in London today .

Iraq did not want to be associated with the attacks and was not a natural ally of the terrorists, the civil servants said, as they confirmed that Baghdad was not "top of the list" when it came to concerns over weapons capacity in 2001; Iran, Libya and N

Insurance Industry Antitrust Fight Headed to Conference Committee

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:06:16 -0500

by Ryan Grim

The insurance industry successfully fought off a Senate threat to revoke its antitrust exemption as part of health care reform, but the issue lives to fight one more battle in the conference committee negotiations that will take place between the two chambers.

The issue surfaced in mid-October, shortly after the industry lobby, America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), pushed hard against the Democratic health care reform effort, claiming it would significantly raise premiums.

Afghan Army Turnover Rate Threatens US War Plans

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:02:02 -0500

by Gareth Porter

WASHINGTON - One in every four combat soldiers quit the Afghan National Army (ANA) during the year ending in September, published data by the U.S. Defense Department and the Inspector General for Reconstruction in Afghanistan reveals.

That high rate of turnover in the ANA, driven by extremely high rates of desertion, spells trouble for the strategy that President Barack Obama has reportedly decided on, which is said to include the dispatch of thousands of additional U.S. military trainers in order to rapidly increase the size of the ANA.

Obama Administration Urged to Join Mine Ban Treaty

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:59:09 -0500

by David Alexander

WASHINGTON - U.S. acceptance of a treaty banning landmines is "long, long overdue" and President Barack Obama should use a 10-year review this weekend to announce plans to join the accord, anti-landmines campaigners said on Monday.

The treaty, which went into force on March 1, 1999, bans the use, stockpiling, production or transfer of antipersonnel mines. It has been endorsed by 156 countries, but several powers -- including the United States, Russia, China and India -- have not adopted it.

Critics Dismiss Honduran Election -- Even Before First Vote Has Been Cast

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:12:54 -0500

by Fances Robles

TEGUCIGALPA -- While unemployment and crime are high and schools are at a standstill, Hondurans' focus when they go to the polls Sunday will be on settling a crippling political crisis that has consumed the Central American country since June.

Whoever wins the presidency inherits a political mess not of his making and will be forced to cut deals and heal wounds -- or risk four years of instability and international condemnation.

Health Bill Revives Abortion Groups

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:03:23 -0500

by David D. Kirkpatrick

WASHINGTON - Lobbying over abortion was turning into a sleepy business. But the health care debate has brought a new boom, and both sides are exploiting it with fund-raising appeals.

"The reaction has been phenomenal, like a match dropped on dry kindling," said Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.