NucNews November 13, 2006 -------- NUCLEAR -------- accidents and safety Haunted by a nuclear disaster Monday, November 13 By BOB AUDETTE, Brattleboro Reformer http://www.reformer.com/localnews/ci_4649772 PUTNEY -- Looking straight down on a globe at the North Pole, it's not hard to see that Chernobyl is a lot closer to Brattleboro than most people realize, a mere 4,200 miles, give or take. It may still seem far to most, but the radiation that spewed from the ravaged reactor in April of 1986 reminded the world that distances don't really matter much when it comes to radioactive particles on the wind. Jon Block, an environmental lawyer from Putney and an honorary member of the Concerned Scientists, spoke to a small crowd at the Putney Town Library Sunday about his trip to the disaster site last April. Block said he was invited to visit the site by Nuclear Information and Resource Services, an organization that opposes nuclear power in all its forms and supports research into alternative energy sources. Block, who said "I would never be in favor of them (nuclear power plants) because there is no place to put the waste," returned with haunting memories, photographs and words of caution. Block described Pripyat, a city designed to service what was to be a complex of five nuclear reactors at Chernobyl, as a modern city left to suffer the ravages of time. When the accident happened, the 80,000 inhabitants of Pripyat, many of them scientists and engineers, were evacuated from the city, leaving empty the rows of apartment buildings, schools and public meeting places erected for their benefit. After 20 years, said Block, the whole city has become a crumbling mess. Block said he and his fellow visitors were allowed to get within about 1,000 feet of the reactor, where radiation monitors registered almost one millirem an hour, or three times the exposure level allowed by law for nuclear power workers. Block said they were allowed only 20 minutes at the site because of the radiation level. "If you stayed longer, it's not like you would drop dead, but you would receive more radiation per minute than is considered healthy," he said. One of the most troubling visits for him though, was a trip to the Hall of Memories in Kiev, honoring those who gave their lives stopping the fire, cleaning up the site and sealing up the reactor. In the museum, said Block, are artifacts "of these people who sacrificed their lives to save millions of people who would have otherwise felt the effects. Visiting this museum in Kiev was one of the most moving experiences of my life." He said many of the "liquidators," the firefighters who went in and stopped the fire that was spreading particles around the world, died shortly after they entered the site. Ironically, a memorial to the liquidators is in an area that is off-limits to the general public because of radioactivity. Block said since the steam explosion which vented radioactive particles into the atmosphere 20 years ago, a number of studies have been performed, with a number of different conclusions. But, said Block, if you read all the reports, you will find a middle ground that is disturbing to people like him. He said a number of those reports are available on CD at the Putney Library. Block assured the crowd that nearby Vermont Yankee has a different reactor than was operating at Chernobyl. "You can't have the same accident," said Block. "But you can sure have an accident that would be just as devastating." He added that "the presumption that you can make a fail-safe reactor is more dangerous than the reactor itself. It encourages a culture that is not at the highest level of safety consciousness." If nuclear power were to replace much of the energy supplied by fossil fuels, said Block, it would mean producing enough nuclear waste to fill a Yucca Mountain every two years. He said those concerned about the effects of nuclear power on the environment and on the human body can do a very simple thing to reduce reliance on it. "The biggest source of change would be people conserving energy and doing what is necessary to not use so much of our resources," he said. "The most effective way to make a change is to cut down on the amount of energy being used." Block said, though there is some dispute between studies whether the radiation caused a spike in thyroid cancer and lymphoma after the accident, there is no dispute that "there was a pronounced increase in a variety of cancers following this event and they are continuing in this population." -------- britain Head of British Nuclear Group to leave Mon Nov 13, 2006 LONDON (Reuters) http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=businessNews&storyid=2006-11-13T033020Z_01_L13876938_RTRUKOC_0_UK-ENERGY-BNG-BNF-HAYNES.xml The boss of British Nuclear Group (BNG) is planning to leave the state-owned nuclear clean-up company, which the government is planning to break up and privatise, the Daily Telegraph reported on Monday. Chief Executive Lawrie Haynes would walk away with a financial package worth well over 1 million pounds ($1.92 million), the newspaper added, without citing sources. Haynes was preparing to quit BNG after failing to convince the government to sell the firm as one entity, it said. Had that happened the chief executive might have remained in his post and run the business for the new owners. A comment on the situation was not immediately available from BNG parent British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL). The government last month said it planned to split up BNG for a four-part sell-off, reneging on its original plan to sell the business complete. The move came three months after U.S. engineering and construction company Fluor Corp wrote to BNFL with an offer of up to 400 million pounds for the unit, depending on contracts. -------- business Hitachi, GE to form joint nuclear power ventures November 13, 2006 TOKYO (Reuters) http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=OBR&date=20061113&id=6189478 Japan's Hitachi Ltd. and U.S. group General Electric Co. said on Monday they would set up joint ventures in Japan and the United States to combine their nuclear power operations and capture more contracts. The partnership would help Hitachi, Japan's biggest electronics conglomerate, turn its nuclear power business around and help it get more boiling water reactor contracts abroad, Hitachi said. Hitachi President Kazuo Furukawa told reporters the company aimed to win contracts to build at least a third of the 25 nuclear power plants the U.S. Department of Energy aims to have built by 2020. Hitachi, which had sales of 160 billion yen ($1.4 billion) from its nuclear power business in Japan last year, will transfer its 2,000-person nuclear power division to a joint venture in Japan. Hitachi will hold a 80 percent stake in the company, while GE will hold 20 percent. GE will own 60 percent of the venture in the United States, with Hitachi holding 40 percent, the two companies said. GE has roughly 1,500 employees involved in its $1 billion nuclear power business, GE said. The move comes a month after France's Areva, the world's largest maker of nuclear reactors, and Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd said they would cooperate in this sector, while Japan's Toshiba Corp. completed a $4.2 billion deal to take control of Westinghouse, the U.S. power plant unit of British Nuclear Fuels. "We are not doing this in response to the competition," Rudolph Villa, president of GE's nuclear energy in Asia unit, told reporters. "This partnership is to better meet growing demand. Hitachi is very much experienced in building new plants." GE also is a partner with Hitachi rival Toshiba. GE will not create similar joint ventures with Toshiba, but Toshiba will continue to be a supplier, Villa said. Hitachi's deal with GE, to be signed by June 2007, comes as market watchers worry about Hitachi's ability to secure overseas contracts, after its faulty turbines caused nuclear power units to close down at Japanese utilities Chubu Electric Power Co. and Hokuriku Electric Power Co. in the summer. Hitachi expects a group net loss of 55 billion yen for the year to March, after factoring in an expected cost of 38 billion yen fix the turbines, plus cost overruns at its U.S. thermal power plants. Nuclear power has come back into favor on concerns about crude oil price rises among fuel-hungry countries such as the United States and China. GE and Hitachi won a $5.2 billion contract in June to build nuclear facilities starting in 2009 for U.S. power company NRG Energy Inc., in Hitachi's first major contract abroad. The two companies have been involved in the building of 63 of the 95 boiling water reactor business now in operation worldwide. Prior to the announcement, Hitachi shares closed up 0.43 percent at 699 yen, while GE ended trading on Friday down 0.3 percent at $35.17. (Additional reporting by Sachi Izumi) -------- Industry lobbies on uranium constraints November 13, 2006 The Courier Mail http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,20750172-1702,00.html?from=rss A GOVERNMENT-backed think tank largely made up of uranium industry executives has called for a shake-up of the way uranium ore is regulated and mined in Australia. A report released today by the Uranium Industry Framework (UIF) steering group makes 20 wide-ranging recommendations. The report says the industry should work to promote a better understanding of uranium, that mining laws around Australia be harmonised, and that indigenous communities be encouraged to become involved in mining. The UIF report comes a week before the federal government nuclear energy task force, headed by former Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski, is due to report on the future of the nuclear industry in Australia. The UIF said the Australian uranium industry should establish a “stewardship platform” to promote the industry. The paper said transport constraints hampering shipping of yellowcake be removed and that state and territory governments should develop radiation safety and protection courses for miners as well as a certification system. “Demand for uranium is rising with many countries making more use of nuclear power,” Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane said in a statement regarding the paper. “The spot price for uranium has almost tripled over the last three years, creating valuable export opportunities.” He said Australia currently held about 40 per cent of the world's uranium resources, but accounted for only 23 per cent of the world's production. Australian Uranium Association executive director Michael Angwin said in a statement that the report was another step towards the industry being recognised as part of the mainstream of Australia's resources industry. “Australia's uranium industry is a source of jobs and prosperity for Australia and Australians and a means by which the world will be able to address the problems of global warming,” Mr Angwin said. The Australian Conservation Foundation said the report was another example of the Government showing their ideological support for uranium mining. -------- Nuclear power race Monday, November 13, 2006 American Public Media http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/11/13/PM200611132.html?refid=0 KAI RYSSDAL: If you've been keeping an eye on trends in the energy industry, you might have noticed a couple of things. One, oil's been stuck at plus or minus $60 a barrel for a while now. No big moves up or down. Also, nuclear power's getting a lot of attention. The latest bit came today. General Electric and Hitachi said they're going to combine their nuclear-power businesses. It's the third such marriage this year. And it says something about where the nuclear business is heading. Marketplace's Steve Tripoli has the story. STEVE TRIPOLI: Just last month the world's biggest reactor builder, Areva of France, partnered with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Earlier this year Toshiba bought Westinghouse Electric's nuclear design group. STEVE KEREKES: "The reason, pure and simple, is that folks are positioning themselves to be able to address the next era of nuclear power plant construction." Steve Kerekes of the industry group Nuclear Energy Institute says there could be a surge of plant construction in the next 25 years. World energy needs are growing fast. Global warming from fossil fuels is a concern. And even some environmental groups are coming around. Kerekes says that combination could mean a lot of plant construction. KEREKES: "If you were to hold the nuclear percentage constant in the United States, from where it is today which is 20 percent of our electricity supply overall, you're talking about 50 to 60 new nuclear power plants alone." He says the worldwide potential is for more than a hundred plants. These marriages are about competition too. The newest partnership may help GE break into India, for instance. Industry-watcher Borje Eriksson of the Swedish firm IFS says GE-Hitachi and Areva-Mitsubishi will set the pace. BORJE ERIKSSON: "These two will definitely take, 70-to-80 percent of the market, or even more." All this matchmaking's also about combining technological clout. GE's expertise helps allay concerns about Hitachi's recently unreliable turbines. Borje Erikson says that when it comes to technology one partnership's clearly ahead. ERIKSSON: "If we look in short terms I will spend my money on Areva." Betting on the French company has its logic. In France, state-of-the-art nuclear plants are the main source of electricity. I'm Steve Tripoli for Marketplace. -------- canada Nukes in the Oilsands? Dion says he's open to idea of nuclear power November 13, 2006 Daily Herald-Tribune http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/z_nukesin1113.lasso FORT MCMURRAY (CP) - Liberal leadership candidate Stephane Dion says he's open to the idea of using nuclear energy as a source of power for Alberta's booming oilsands. Dion, who was in Fort McMurray on Sunday drumming up support for his leadership bid, said he'd like to hear more about the nuclear idea, particularly on the issue of safe options for nuclear waste disposal. ''I'm always concerned about what do we do with the nuclear waste,'' said Dion, who is a former Liberal environment minister. ''I'd want to be able to look Canadians in the eye and say I know what to do with the waste of nuclear energy.'' Last week, Alberta Tory leadership candidate Jim Dinning told a candidates' forum that nuclear power must be an option in the oilsands. Dion said he will work with Dinning if they both win. But he said he will not proceed with nuclear power unless there is a ''strong solution'' in place. Touring Fort McMurray for his first time, Dion said the area presents challenges. ''The most exciting challenge to me is Fort McMurray because of the incredible economic growth that we have there,'' he said. ''At the same time, it's also a very big environmental challenge,'' Dion said. ''If I succeed in becoming the leader of my party and subsequently the prime minister of Canada, Alberta will have the best partner it can find.'' -------- depleted uranium She Survived Iraq—Then Shot Herself at Home Editor and Publisher November 13, 2006 Greg Mitchell http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003381399 Her name doesn't show on any official list of American military deaths in the Iraq war, by hostile or non-hostile fire, who died in that country or in hospitals in Europe or back home in the USA. But Iraq killed her just as certainly. She is Jeanne "Linda" Michel, a Navy medic. She came home last month to her husband and three kids (ages 11, 5, and 4), delighted to be back in her suburban home of Clifton Park in upstate New York. Michel, 33, would be discharged from the Navy in a few weeks, finishing her five years of duty. Two weeks after she got home, she shot and killed herself. "She had come through a lot and she had always risen to challenges," her husband, Frantz Michel, who has also served in Iraq, lamented last week. Now he asks why the Navy didn't do more to help her. Michel's story has now been probed by reporter Kate Gurnett in today's Albany Times-Union. It's headlined, "A casualty far from the battlefield." And yet, in many ways, not far at all. Why did it happen? "Like thousands of others returning from Iraq, her mental state was fractured," Gurnett explains. "And it went untreated. Within two weeks, Linda Michel would become a private casualty of war. Re-entry into the world of peace can be harder than deployment, experts say. Picking up where you left off doesn't just happen. ... "Women experience stronger forms of post-traumatic stress disorder and have higher PTSD rates, experts say. In response, the Veterans Affairs Department launched a $6 million study of female veterans. Seeking treatment -- seen by some as a weakness -- may be even tougher for women, who still feel the need to prove themselves to men in military service." In fact, this past August, three veterans in New York's Adirondack region committed suicide within three weeks, according to Helena Davis, deputy director of the Mental Health Association in New York. Michel has served under extremely stressful conditions at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq, a U.S-run prison where guards shot four inmates dead in a 2005 riot -- and an episode of female mudwrestling drew headlines. Michel was treated for depression and prescribed Paxil, but they took her off that medicine when she returned home. Her husband was not informed. "I just wish the Navy would have done some more follow-up, instead of just letting her come home," Frantz, who is on the division staff of the Army National Guard, told the reporter. "If somebody needs Paxil in a combat zone, then that's not the place for them to be. You either send them to a hospital or you send them home and then make sure that the family members know and that they get follow-up care." He has pressed the Navy for answers: "Why wasn't she sent to a facility to resolve the issues? Not keep her in Iraq and give her some antidepressant medication and then just send her home. So those are the answers that I don't have. Which makes me a little angry because I know what is supposed to occur." The Times Union carried another lengthy story on Sunday, by Dennis Yusko, on post-traumatic stress syndome (PTSD) and Iraq veterans. "The number of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans getting treatment for PTSD at VA hospitals and counseling centers increased 87 percent from September 2005 to June 2006 -- to 38,144, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs," Yusko revealed. "At least 30 percent of those who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan are now diagnosed with PTSD, up from 16 percent to 18 percent in 2004, said Charlie Kennedy, PTSD program director and lead psychologist at the Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Of the 400 Capital Region vets in the program, 81 served in Iraq or Afghanistan, Kennedy said, and that number is growing. 'This kind of warfare is devastating,' Kennedy said. 'You don't know who is your friend and who is your enemy.'" -------- europe Nuclear waste convoy reaches dump in Germany Mon Nov 13, 2006 BERLIN (AFP) http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061113/sc_afp/germanynuclear_061113100608 A convoy of trucks carrying 175 tonnes of highly radioactive nuclear waste has reached a storage dump in northern Germany after a three-day journey interrupted by protests. The trucks carrying the 12 containers of reprocessed waste rumbled into the dump in Gorleben at about 6:00 am (0500 GMT) Monday. Hundreds of anti-nuclear activists tried to prevent the waste reaching the dump on the final leg of its journey which had begun by train in northern France on Friday. Dozens of protesters chained themselves to concrete blocks Sunday evening on a road leading to Gorleben, while 400 activists staged a sit-in across a road in a bid to prevent the trucks leaving the town of Dannenberg. The containers had arrived there by train on Sunday afternoon. Protesters from Greenpeace climbed on trees and hung banners from the branches, but hundreds of police moved the demonstrators out of the way. Police said the protests were peaceful in contrast with similar transports in previous years. A total of 16,000 police were mobilised to protect the train as it edged through Germany after leaving the reprocessing plant at La Hague in northwest France on Friday. The waste is produced by German power plants but sent to France because Germany has no reprocessing facilities. Germany is contractually obliged to take the waste back, but activists argue that Gorleben, a disused salt mine which was selected in 1977 as a temporary storage site, is unsafe. The transports are scheduled to continue until 2010. -------- USNRC Officials Visit Bulgaria's Nuke 13 November 2006, Monday Novinite http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=72571 Representatives of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) visited Bulgaria's Nuclear Power Plant in Kozloduy on Monday. The Commissioner of the USNRC Jeffrey Merryfield led the delegation and was accompanied by John Ramsey, the Commission's Chief Program Director and John Toma, technical adviser at the USNRC. US Ambassador to Bulgaria John Beyrle also joined the delegation. The visit started with an official meeting between the delegation and the Nuclear Power Plant's management team. The plant's manager Ivan Genov talked to his guests about the general condition of the nuke and the results of its activities. He also outlined the nuke's major objectives for the upcoming year. Among them are to implement the production programme for achieving financial stability, to maintain high safety level and to expand the presence of the nuke in the free market. Genov pointed out the good results of the participation of the US companies in one of the most complex modernisation programmes of Units 5 and 6. The meeting aims at consolidating the relationship between Bulgaria's Nuclear Regulation Agency and the USNRC, Jeffrey Merryfield said. We will construct many nuclear power plants in the US, Bulgaria is also planning to build a new nuke, that's why we have a lot to talk about, he added. The delegation visited facilities in the territory of the nuke and congratulated the Bulgarian experts on the results achieved in the field of safety. -------- iran Russia, U.S. spar over Iran's nuclear, missile trade By Evelyn Leopold and Irwin Arieff Mon Nov 13, 1006 (Reuters) http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061113/wl_nm/nuclear_iran_un_dc_1 UNITED NATIONS - Russia's proposals for restrictions on materials that could help Iran's nuclear programs are far less comprehensive than Western nations would like, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said on Monday. He spoke to reporters after another meeting of Germany and the five permanent U.N. Security Council powers with veto rights on a European draft resolution imposing sanctions on Iran and Russia's amendments that chop the text in half. At issue in Monday's talks were two lists of dangerous nuclear and missile components -- one drawn up by the Missile Technology Control Regime and the other by Nuclear Suppliers Group. Europeans and the United States want the components on the lists barred to Iran, whose programs they fear are a cover for bomb-making but which Iran says are for electricity needs. "The European text uses the entirety of both of those documents, with a sanctions committee mechanism to make decisions in cases of potential transactions that would not further the Iranian nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program," Bolton said. "The proposed Russian changes today would cut back substantially from the scope" of the lists, Bolton said, adding that experts on all sides would now have to review Moscow's proposals. But Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin was more optimistic. "Some of the technical concerns which were expressed about the kind of proliferation risks our approach would entail, I think were dispelled by some explanations which we gave today," he said. The proposed sanctions seek to punish Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, as demanded in an August 31 Security Council resolution. Iran has to clarify questions of its research linking uranium ore processing, high-explosive tests and missile warhead designs. Several weeks of talks have so far failed to bridge differences between Russia and the West. The European draft, drawn up by Britain, France and Germany, demands nations prevent the sale or supply of any equipment, technology or financing that would contribute to Iran's nuclear or ballistic missile programs. Russia wants sanctions to focus only on "enrichment-related and reprocessing activities," heavy-water reactors and the development of "nuclear weapon delivery systems." And Moscow's amendments delete European demands for a freeze of assets abroad and travel bans against individuals, businesses and groups connected with Tehran's nuclear program. The European draft exempts from sanctions Russia's construction of a reactor in the Iranian Gulf port of Bushehr, but not the delivery of nuclear fuel to the plant which costs about $800 million and is due to go into operation next year. Russia's amendments crossed out all mention of Bushehr. Churkin has argued the plant is legal and does not contribute to proliferation. -------- israel Israel will 'not tolerate' a nuclear Iran: Olmert Nov 13 2006 BREITBART http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/13/061113135607.0h94c19j.html Israel will not accept a nuclear Iran, visiting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told US television, but while not ruling out military action, said he hoped diplomacy would dissuade Tehran from pursuing its nuclear program. "We will not tolerate the possession of nuclear weapons by Iran," Olmert told NBC television's "Today Show" program, ahead of talks with President George W. Bush on Iran's nuclear ambitions and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Asked whether his country was considering a preemptive strike targeting Tehran's nuclear facilities, Olmert answered: "I hope we don't have to reach that stage." But the Israel leader said his first choice is a negotiated resolution. "Every compromise that will stop Iran from acquiring nuclear capabilities, which will be acceptable to President Bush, would be acceptable to me." Olmert added that he was not seeking Washington's protection from Tehran. "I am not coming to the United States to ask America to save Israel," he said, saying his country had drawn the lessons of the Holocaust and World War II. "In the 20th century someone said, 'I will liquidate a nation of people.' And somehow the whole world heard it, may have understood it, but didn't do much to prevent it." "Now we have the president of Iran speaking on every international platform that the purpose of his efforts is to ultimately wipe Israel off the map," Olmert said. "I am not looking for wars or confrontations. I am looking for the outcome," he said, adding that in his view the only result that matters is "whether it will succeed to stop Iran from possessing nuclear weapons." Monday's summit, which comes six months after Olmert's first meeting with Bush at the White House, has been described by officials in Jerusalem as "a down-to-business meeting" on Iran. With Tehran continuing to reject international calls to halt its nuclear enrichment efforts, Israel in recent months has moved the Iranian threat to the top of its agenda. Backed by the United States, Israel has said sanctions are necessary following Tehran's failure to suspend uranium enrichment, and has hinted at possible military action against the Islamic republic. "This is not an issue of Israel only. It is a moral issue of the whole world and the whole world has to stop it," Olmert said. ---- Israel's Olmert 'Not Looking for Wars' By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer Monday, November 13, 2006 http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/11/13/national/w094524S23.DTL (11-13) 09:45 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert brought his concerns over Iran's nuclear threat to the White House on Monday and offered assurances he was not looking for a confrontation with Tehran. "I am not looking for wars," he declared in advance of his meeting with President Bush. "This is not an issue of Israel only," Olmert said of Iran's nuclear efforts, which Israel and the United States say is aimed at building nuclear weapons. "This is a moral issue of the whole world." The meeting was the second Olmert had with Bush since the prime minister took over for the ailing Ariel Sharon. Palestinian gestures toward peacemaking with Israel was also a key topic on their agenda. Tehran's goal is to "ultimately wipe Israel off the map," Olmert said on NBC's "Today" show. "The whole world has to join forces in order to stop it. This is a problem of every country. I know that President Bush is fully aware of that." Iranian officials say their goal is to create nuclear energy. Olmert also arrived with expectations that he could make small-scale moves on the Palestinian front, including the possibility of offering humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people. On Sunday, the Palestinian foreign minister, Mahmoud Zahar, of the ruling Hamas group, accepted an Arab proposal for a peace conference with Israel, diplomats said. The endorsement marks the first time Hamas, which refuses to renounce violence against the Jewish state, has indicated it would consider making amends with Israel. The White House reacted positively to what it called "some activity on the Hamas side." "Both sides are working on it, and we are encouraged," spokesman Tony Snow said. He told reporters that when it comes to peacemaking, however, "nobody ever said it was simple, without bumps." Olmert had dinner Sunday evening with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli government or the U.S. State Department on the meeting. Israel is worried by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated calls to destroy Israel and — like the United States — does not believe Tehran's claims that its nuclear program is intended solely to produce energy. Israel accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies. Olmert said in the NBC interview that he had no objection to the U.S. negotiating with Iran on the nuclear issue to achieve a peaceful compromise. "Every compromise that will stop Iran from acquiring nuclear capability which would be acceptable to President Bush will be acceptable to me. I'm not looking for wars. I'm not looking for confrontations. I'm looking for the outcome." While the U.S. has led international efforts to curb the Iranian nuclear program, Israelis are worried American policy might soften following the Democratic Party's victory in U.S. congressional elections last week. The fear is that with American public opinion turning against the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Bush, a Republican, would be less likely to take decisive military or diplomatic action against Iran. Olmert on Sunday repeated his view that Iran will not scale back its nuclear ambitions unless it fears the consequences of its intransigence, a spokeswoman said. "They (the Iranians) have to be afraid of the consequences if there isn't a compromise," spokeswoman Miri Eisin said Olmert told journalists on the flight to Washington. Olmert appeared, however, to play down a senior Israeli official's suggestion that Israel is preparing for a military strike against Iran's nuclear program. Asked to comment on Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh's remarks, Olmert replied that on such matters, "we have to be very careful about what we say," Eisin said. Sneh said last week that he considered a pre-emptive strike a last resort, but added that "even the last resort is sometimes the only resort." On Sunday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Iran's military would hit back with a "swift, strong and crushing" response to any Israeli military action against it. -------- japan Nuclear Japan Would Cause Huge Damage Warns Russia US leaders have said that Japan has no need for nuclear weapons but that Washington will not seek to stop discussion of the issue. by Staff Writers Tokyo (AFP) Nov 13, 2006 http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Nuclear_Japan_Would_Cause_Huge_Damage_Warns_Russia_999.html A Russian envoy on Monday warned Japan against developing nuclear weapons, saying it would set off a nuclear arms race and cause "huge damage" to regional stability. Top Japanese lawmakers have called for Japan to debate the long-time taboo on developing nuclear weapons in the wake of North Korea's test of an atom bomb last month. "If Japan, which has contributed a great deal to the international community, heads the way of developing nuclear weapons, it would be of huge damage to the stability of the international community," said Alexander Losyukov, the Russian ambassador to Japan. "If such a situation occurs, it would provoke the arms race. Other countries in the vicinity of Japan, especially Russia and China, would have to respond to it," he said at a news conference. "Responding to such an action would be inevitable from the viewpoint of strategic parity," he said. Foreign Minister Taro Aso and Shoichi Nakagawa, a top policy adviser, have called for a frank debate on nuclear weapons -- anathema to many people in the only nation to have been attacked with atomic bombs. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly ruled out even debating the nuclear option. But Abe, who wants officially pacifist Japan to expand its military role, has refused opposition demands that he fire aides who support debate on nuclear weapons. "I want Japanese leaders to take responsible action on this matter. At this point, the prime minister is behaving sensibly, though," Losyukov said. The United States has ensured Japan's security since the end of World War II, when the country was stripped of the right to maintain its own military. US leaders have said that Japan has no need for nuclear weapons but that Washington will not seek to stop discussion of the issue. ---- Nuclear Japan Would Cause Huge Damage Warns Russia Nov 13, 2006 by Staff Writers Tokyo (AFP) http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Nuclear_Japan_Would_Cause_Huge_Damage_Warns_Russia_999.html A Russian envoy on Monday warned Japan against developing nuclear weapons, saying it would set off a nuclear arms race and cause "huge damage" to regional stability. Top Japanese lawmakers have called for Japan to debate the long-time taboo on developing nuclear weapons in the wake of North Korea's test of an atom bomb last month. "If Japan, which has contributed a great deal to the international community, heads the way of developing nuclear weapons, it would be of huge damage to the stability of the international community," said Alexander Losyukov, the Russian ambassador to Japan. "If such a situation occurs, it would provoke the arms race. Other countries in the vicinity of Japan, especially Russia and China, would have to respond to it," he said at a news conference. "Responding to such an action would be inevitable from the viewpoint of strategic parity," he said. Foreign Minister Taro Aso and Shoichi Nakagawa, a top policy adviser, have called for a frank debate on nuclear weapons -- anathema to many people in the only nation to have been attacked with atomic bombs. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly ruled out even debating the nuclear option. But Abe, who wants officially pacifist Japan to expand its military role, has refused opposition demands that he fire aides who support debate on nuclear weapons. "I want Japanese leaders to take responsible action on this matter. At this point, the prime minister is behaving sensibly, though," Losyukov said. The United States has ensured Japan's security since the end of World War II, when the country was stripped of the right to maintain its own military. US leaders have said that Japan has no need for nuclear weapons but that Washington will not seek to stop discussion of the issue. -------- korea S.Korea balks at taking new measures to sanction N.Korea for nuclear test 11/13/2006 Associated Press http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-11-13-south-korea-nuclear_x.htm?csp=34 SEOUL (AP) — South Korea balked Monday at Washington's demand that it fully join a U.S.-led effort to intercept North Korean ships suspected of carrying supplies for the North's nuclear and missile weapons programs. The South insisted that it was already doing enough to stem possible weapons proliferation from North Korea — which detonated a nuclear bomb on Oct. 9 — and announced no new measures to sanction the North under a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the test. The decision underscored Seoul's reluctance to anger Pyongyang and complicated efforts to resolve the standoff over the North's nuclear program now that the communist regime has agreed to return to long-stalled international nuclear disarmament talks. "It's basically not necessary to take (new) measures," Park In-kook, a deputy foreign minister, said at a news briefing. Seoul has joined the U.S.-led initiative, aimed largely at stopping North Korean weapons traffic at sea, only as an observer out of concern that its stopping and searching North Korean ships could lead to armed clashes. Monitoring North Korean shipping would be much more difficult without South Korea, because countries in the initiative can only conduct searches within the territorial waters of participating countries. Ships on the high seas have right of free passage under international law. South Korea is to submit a report Monday on how it would carry out the unanimously adopted Security Council resolution to a U.N. committee charged with overseeing the sanctions on North Korea. The resolution bans the sale of major arms to North Korea and calls for the inspection of cargo entering and leaving the country. It also calls for the freezing of assets of businesses supplying the North's nuclear and ballistic weapons programs, as well as restrictions on sales of luxury goods and travel bans on Pyongyang officials. South Korea has rejected criticism that it is too soft on North Korea, citing as an example its suspension of humanitarian aid to the impoverished North after it test-fired a series of missiles over international objections. The South insists it could inspect North Korean ships under an inter-Korean agreement but it has never done so despite allowing dozens of the communist country's vessels to transit its waters. On Monday, Lee Kwan-se, an official of the Unification Ministry that deals with reconciliation with North Korea, said the South would continue a hold on regular humanitarian aid to the North. Lee also said South Korea will suspend subsidies it pays for a tourism program at the North's Diamond Mountain resort, and also keep on hold an expansion plan for an inter-Korean industrial park in the North's border city of Kaesong. The two projects, considered key symbols of inter-Korean reconciliation, are a major source of hard currency for the North and have been criticized over concern that they may fund the North's missile and nuclear programs. Seoul's measures against the projects are not expected to affect them seriously because the subsidies for the tour project are believed to be rather small and the industrial zone expansion plan is already in limbo due to the North's provocations. The two Koreas are still technically at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. But their relations have warmed since the first, and only, summit of their leaders in 2000, with Seoul pursuing engagement rather than confrontation under the so-called "sunshine policy." Hans Blix, the former U.N. chief weapons inspector, said talks were the only way to resolve the nuclear issue. "Waving the whip is counterproductive," Blix said in Beijing. "Regime change is not the idea. Invasion ... is also not the idea. There remains only talks." But, Blix cautioned, it would be difficult for negotiators — the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia — to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions when some of them have not ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. "It's a handicap so long as the nuclear weapon states will not take seriously and really strive sincerely toward disarmament. There's going to be a handicap in telling others to stay away" from nuclear weapons, Blix said. The treaty — which bans all nuclear explosions — will not enter into force until it has been ratified by all 44 states that participated in a 1996 disarmament conference and have nuclear power or research reactors. Holdouts include the United States, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea. ---- North Korea Says Its Nuclear Weapons Are Designed To Protect South Korea by Staff Writers Seoul (AFP) Nov 13, 2006 http://www.spacewar.com/reports/North_Korea_Says_Its_Nuclear_Weapons_Are_Designed_To_Protect_South_Korea_999.html North Korea said Monday its atomic weapons programme is designed to protect South Korea from a US nuclear threat, and blasted Seoul's main opposition party as traitors over their call for sanctions. Rodong Sinmun, newspaper of the ruling communist party, said the "war deterrent" -- its term for the nuclear programme -- was created to avert moves by "US imperialists" to launch a nuclear war and invade the North. "It is also meant to protect South Korea, too, with warm compatriotism," the paper added in an analysis which took aim at the Grand National Party (GNP). "The GNP group is raising a hue and cry over the war deterrent of the north which protects them too, while uttering no bad word about the nukes of the US which threaten the nation," it said. The GNP has savaged the Seoul government's engagement policy with the North since the October 9 nuclear test, and called for tougher sanctions on Pyongyang. "The GNP gentry is a group of traitors utterly indifferent to the fellow countrymen and the destiny of the nation," the newspaper said. It took particular issue with GNP calls for two inter-Korean projects -- the Mount Kumgang tourist resort and the Kaesong industrial estate -- to be shut down after the test. The Seoul-financed projects have earned the North almost one billion dollars since 1998. "These traitors are desperately insisting on suspending the tour of Mount Kumgang and the project of the Kaesong industrial zone, icons of undertakings for national reconciliation and cooperation," said the analysis carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. The South Korean government announced Monday it will not take any new steps under UN sanctions to punish North Korea for its test and will not join a US-led initiative to inspect cargo to and from the North. --- North Korea Accuses US Of Deploying Atomic Bombs In South korea Seoul (AFP) Nov 13, 2006 http://www.spacewar.com/reports/North_Korea_Says_Its_Nuclear_Weapons_Are_Designed_To_Protect_South_Korea_999.html North Korea on Monday accused the United States of using South Korea as a nuclear outpost by deploying some 1,000 atomic bombs in the country. The North's Korean National Peace Committee said the United States should be denounced for posing the greatest threat of a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula. "South Korea has turned into the biggest nuclear outpost in the Far East with the deployment of about 1,000 US nuclear weapons of different types and their delivery vehicles," the committee said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. South Korea declared in 1991 that it was free of nuclear weapons after US forces withdrew tactical nuclear arms. But the North's committee demanded the United States remove all nuclear weapons from South Korea. "It is quite preposterous for the US to take issue with the DPRK (North Korea) over its nuclear deterrent for self-defense, while keeping mum about the criminal nuclear arms build-up it has perpetrated," it said. North Korea called itself a nuclear-armed state following its nuclear test on October 9. Rodong Sinmun, the North's ruling communist party newspaper, said the country's nuclear weapons program was designed to protect South Korea from a US nuclear threat. "It is also meant to protect South Korea, too, with warm compatriotism," the paper said in a commentary Monday. -------- mideast China and Egypt sign science and technology cooperation agreement November 13, 2006 By Ahmed A. Namatalla The Daily Star http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=3921 CAIRO: China and Egypt have signed a science and technology cooperation agreement whereby Egypt will receive assistance in developing its IT, health, agriculture and energy sectors and conduct joint research projects with China to be financed by a joint fund, representatives of both countries announced at the end of last week's Africa-China summit. Alongside Egypt, Algeria was the only other conference participant to sign a similar deal. The size of the Egypt-China fund has yet to be announced. Under the agreement, signed by President Hosni Mubarak and President Hu Jintao, China will become more involved in implementing alternative energy projects in Egypt, including nuclear energy, as well as expanding already established joint-ventures, including a fish-farming facility in Ismailia. "We are looking to provide applied technologies to small and medium businesses through exchange with Chinese firms," says Su Ping, director of the science and technology division at the Chinese Embassy in Cairo. "We're not just looking to provide advisory services … China is prepared to offer assistance in clean energy including solar, wind and nuclear power." Ping's comments came in confirmation of those made by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu on Nov. 7. "China is willing to conduct cooperation with Egypt in peaceful use of nuclear energy for civilian use on the basis of equality and mutual benefit," Yu said after Mubarak and Jintao signed a nuclear-cooperation agreement. Details of the agreement have not yet been released. Although it carries high start-up costs, the development of nuclear energy could alleviate the pressure on Egypt's dwindling supply of oil and natural gas, and prevent possible conflicts over its Nile water quota, a portion of which is used to operate the High and Aswan Dams. Other possible energy sources include burning hay with minimal environmental effects, says Ping. As an agricultural country, Egypt possesses large amounts of hay and "we have the technology to turn that hay into energy," he adds. China is now preparing to send a scientific delegation to Egypt as early as December to begin implementation of the agreement, though no definite date has been announced yet, says Ping. Egypt faces a 7 percent increase in annual demand for electricity. Earlier this month, the government raised electricity prices by 5 to 8 percent for residential use, depending on consumption, and just over 7 percent across the board for industrial consumption as part of a five year plan begun in 2004 to lower its LE 40 billion energy subsidy budget. Despite the enthusiasm shown by the government, critics point out that Egypt is not yet "qualified" to partner with a giant such as China in the science and technology fields. Bahaa Bakry, environmental planning and urban ecology professor at the faculty of engineering in Cairo University, says research and development (R&D) spending reached less than 0.5 percent of GDP in 2005, while R&D spending in China reached 3.7 percent. "There needs to be a correction in the state's view toward education as a means for development," says Bakry. "I don't think Egypt is qualified yet. I don't think the educational infrastructure is there and I don't think the Egyptian citizen is prepared to pursue science and technology because he's looking for his next meal." Bakry says the recent agreement is set to benefit China by allowing it even more access to the Egyptian market in exchange for its expertise in science and technology. Egypt, on the other hand, lacks the means to take advantage of China's experience in those fields because of its historic lack of emphasis on them. "Unfortunately, I think it's all a big publicity stunt," says Bakry. "Our government likes to show off with big announcements that often yield very little in terms of results." -------- Khiam Southern Lebanon: A Bomb's Anatomy November 13, 2006 By Flaviano Masella, Angelo Saso, Maurizio Torrealta World Prout Assembly http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2006/11/khiam_southern.html The special report was triggered by the radioactivity measurements reported on a crater probably created by an Israeli Bunker Buster bomb in the village of Khiam, in southern Lebanon. The measurements were carried out by two Lebanese professors of physics - Mohammad Ali Kubaissi and Ibrahim Rachidi. The data - 700 nanosieverts per hour – showed remarkably higher radiocativity then the average in the area (Beirut = 35 nSv/hr ). Successivamente, on September 17th, Ali Kubaissi took British researcher Dai Williams, from the environmentalist organization Green Audit, to the same site, to take samples that were then submitted to Chris Busby, technical adisor of the Supervisory Committee on Depleted Uranium, which reports to the British Ministry of Defense. The samples were tested by Harwell’s nuclear laboratory, one of the most authoritative research centers in the world. On October 17th, Harwell disclosed the testing results - two samples in 10 did contain radioactivity. On November 2nd, another British lab, The School of Oceanographic Sciences, confirmed Harwell’s results – the Khiam crater contains slightly enriched uranium. Rainews24 also took a sample taken by Dai Williams for testing by the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Ferrara. The testing - which is still ongoing - found an anomalous structure: the sample’s surface includes alluminium and iron silicates, normal elements in a soil fragment. Yet, looking inside, estremely small bubbles can be found with high concentration of iron. Further testing will clarify the origin of these structures: what seems to be certain at the moment is that they are not caused by a natural process. What kind of weapon is this? What weapon leaves traces of radiation and produces such lethal and circumscribed consequences? Researcher Dai Williams believes this is a new class of weapons using enriched uranium, not through fission processes but through new physical processes kept secret for at least 20 years. Physicist Emilio del Giudice form the National Institute of Nuclear Phisics came to the same conlcusion: “There are two ways to explain the origin of the enriched uranium found in Khiam: About the origin of enriched Uranium there are two possibilities: 1) this material was present already in the structure of the bombs, but I am puzzled since one should explain the rationale of the use of a material which is both expensive and dangerous , because of its enhanced radioactivity, to people handling it , including military personnel of Israeli Army. 2) the enrichment has been the consequence of the use of the bomb; this possibility is hardly compatible with the known effects of conventional nuclear weapons and should imply that some newly discovered nuclear phenomenon could be at work. The Israeli army denied the use of uranium-based weapons in Lebanon. So, how can people defend themselves from potential uranium-related harm? What precautions will the Unifil troops in the area take, and what kind of testing has been carried out to prevent the risks? The documentary directly covers those qestions. Translation by Desiree Berlangieri and Maria Letizia Tesorini -------- russia Russian Court Fines South Korean for Depleted Uranium Smuggling 13.11.2006 MosNews http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/11/13/koreanradiation.shtml A regional court in the Russian Far East has sentenced a South Korean national Kim Jong Hon to pay 500.000 rubles (about $19.000) fine for illegally shipping radioactive equipment from Libya in 2004, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported on Monday. Jong Hon, the president of All Nations Limited Company was arrested December 2004 for using forged documents to bring equipment containing depleted uranium to Sakhalin Island of Russia. The equipment brought to construct a liquefied natural gas plant had no mark of radiation. The court admitted Jong Hon to be guilty with no intention to appeal the judgment the RIA-Novosti news agency reported. -------- u.s. nuc facilities -------- nevada Experts: Reid's Senate position helps poise Yucca Mountain fight November 13, 2006 Martin Griffith Tahoe Daily Tribune http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20061113/REGION/111130035 RENO (AP) - Sen. Harry Reid's rise to power in the Democratic-controlled Congress will give a big boost to efforts to halt a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, experts agree. The state also will benefit if Sen. John Ensign becomes head of the Republican campaign arm in the Senate as expected, they say. Reid, Ensign and other top Nevada elected officials have been fighting the Bush administration's attempts to get the stalled nuclear waste repository back on track. Bush wants to ship the nation's nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, about 110 miles north of Las Vegas. Republican Jim Denton, a veteran campaign consultant from Henderson, said Reid's Senate leadership can't help but bolster the fight against Yucca Mountain. "Absolutely, that's big for Nevada. Yucca Mountain will go nowhere because of him," Denton said. "Reid is Senate majority leader. Ensign will move up. I don't know how Nevada could be in a better position from a national perspective, I just don't," Denton added. Peggy Maze Johnson, executive director of the Nevada environmental group Citizen Alert, said Reid - as Senate minority leader - has been effective in keeping budget requests low enough to slow the Department of Energy's plans at Yucca Moun.tain. "As majority lead.er we are confident Senator Reid can stop Yucca Moun.tain in its tracks," Johnson said. "We can't begin to tell you how positive this is for the final nail in the coffin for Yucca Mountain." DOE spokesman Craig Stevens said Sunday the Bush administration was moving ahead with plans to submit by mid-2008 a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build and open the repository, with a goal of opening it by 2017. "It was voted on by both houses of Congress in 2002, and it's currently the law of the land that a repository be built at Yucca Mountain," Stevens said. "It's the most studied piece of real estate in the world. The national experts agree it's a safe place for spent nuclear fuel," he said. If the U.S. is to keep up with increased demands for electricity and maintain a healthy economy, Stevens added, it will need to develop nuclear energy. "To develop it, we need space to store nuclear fuel and Yucca Mountain is that place," he said. But John J. Pitney Jr., a professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif., and a former Republican strategist, said the new Congress will be more friendly to Reid causes. "For the next Congress, one of the watchwords will be, 'Don't mess with Nevada,"' Pitney told the Las Vegas Sun. "It'd be very difficult to do anything to Nevada that Harry Reid doesn't want done." Reid, after the election, pledged to push legislation requiring that nuclear waste be stored on-site where it's produced. Johnson said her group would continue trying to drum up opposition to Yucca Mountain by stressing the dangers of transporting nuclear waste. "There are still a lot of Democrats, now in the majority, that need to be convinced, so we will need to get our allies across this country mobilized to convince their senators and representatives that this is not only a foolhardy but a very dangerous proposition," Johnson said. -------- ohio Waste raising concern in Piketon Cleanup of uranium plant may top $4.5 billion November 13, 2006 PIKETON (AP)/ Central Ohio http://www.centralohio.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/B8/20061113/NEWS01/611130309/1002 Cleaning up radioactive and hazardous waste at a former uranium-processing plant may top $4.5 billion, and there is evidence contamination has migrated off the 3,714-acre site, the Dayton Daily Newsreported Sunday. The Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which once enriched uranium for weapons and nuclear fuel, closed in 2001. The newspaper said the government has spent $1 billion so far digging up soil, emptying ponds, capping unlined toxic landfills, treating groundwater and hauling contaminants away - more than 43,000 containers of hazardous, radioactive and other waste and 8,400 tons of radioactive scrap metal. Officials with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency say the worst of the plant's contamination is confined to the federal land, in part because thick bedrock slows the spread of groundwater. They also say the plant's environmental record improved in recent years as plant operators adopted modern waste-handling practices and began following rules governing discharges to air and waterways. Still, there is evidence of offsite contamination. According to its most recent environmental reports, the U.S. Energy Department in 2003 and 2004 found small amounts of radioactive contamination outside the southern Ohio plant. Tests on two area deer killed by cars showed traces of uranium isotopes in the livers of both and in the muscle of one. Traces of uranium were also found in milk and egg samples from area farms, and in three vegetables taken from the gardens of plant neighbors. Air, water and sediment tests also revealed small amounts of radioactive uranium, plutonium or technetium, and three fish from area waterways had traces of uranium or plutonium. The U.S. Department of Energy told the newspaper none of the amounts are large enough to pose a health threat. Messages seeking comment were left for the Energy Department by The Associated Press. The cleanup hasn't ended disputes between the Energy Department and the Ohio EPA. Most recently, the Energy Department pushed for a reduced groundwater cleanup standard, arguing that the lesser standard is appropriate because no one drinks the water underneath the plant site, according to memos obtained by the Daily News. "We represent the taxpayers. Our goal here is to make sure we are doing cost-effective, smart cleanup," William Murphie, manager of the Energy Department office overseeing cleanup, told the newspaper. Some of the most dangerous cleanup work is being done inside three massive enrichment buildings, where workers are removing uranium deposits that cling to surfaces inside equipment and 600 miles of piping. They must use extreme care because mishandling the radioactive deposits could cause a small nuclear reaction a "criticality" that could kill workers and spread radiation through the area. Murphie said nothing like that has happened. "We've never had a criticality event, and I have no reason to believe that we ever will have a criticality event," he said. In 2000, the Energy Department launched an investigation that identified hundreds of accidental releases of uranium gas or toxic fluorine at the plant since the 1950s and concluded there was a failure to properly monitor emissions or workers' exposure to radiation. "We take a lot of lumps for the past processes and, face it, mistakes that were made," Murphie said. "We've learned from the past. We're all smarter than we were in the past." Murphie said the department remains committed to the cleanup and trying new solutions if those now in place don't work. "DOE is very proud of the cleanup program here," he said. "We believe we have accomplished a lot." -------- tennessee Southeast has nuclear future November 13, 2006 By Dennis Sherrer Associated Press http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061113/NEWS02/611130327 FLORENCE -- In the 1970s, utilities throughout the country rushed to build nuclear-powered generating plants, creating tens of thousands of jobs for construction workers, engineers and skilled laborers. After a nuclear accident at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island generating plant in 1979, most utilities scaled back plans for new reactors. Instead of nuclear energy, utilities returned to using coal and natural gas to power new generating plants. In 1996, when the Tennessee Valley Authority began producing electricity at its Watts Bar nuclear plant near Knoxville, Tenn., it marked the end of the nuke plant building boom. No new nuclear plants have been completed in the United States since. A decade later, a new rush to build nuclear-powered generating plants looms on the horizon. Dale Klein, director of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, predicts the agency will experience a groundswell of applications for licenses to construct new nuclear plants as the nation's utilities scramble to produce enough electricity to meet the needs of the its ever-growing population. "We do have 14 different entities that have expressed an interest in almost 30 new reactors, so it should be an interesting and exciting time over the next five years," Klein said. About 90,000 people will be needed between 2007 and 2011 to build and operate those plants, Klein said. Many of the new nuclear plants will be built in the Southeast. Klein said Southern Co. wants to expand its Vogtle nuclear plant near Waynesboro, Ga. Entergy plans to expand its Grand Gulf Station nuclear plant near Vicksburg, Miss. The Tennessee Valley Authority is considering expanding its nuclear fleet, which includes Browns Ferry in Alabama and Watts Bar and Sequoyah in Tennessee. Jack Bailey, TVA's vice president of nuclear generation development, said the federal utility is considering completing the Unit 2 reactor at Watts Bar. Construction of the reactor was stopped in 1985 when TVA temporarily shut down its nuclear program over safety concerns. A decision on the fate of Watts Bar Unit 2 is expected within the coming year. TVA is also mulling a proposal to become part of a joint venture known as the NuStart Energy Development Con sortium, and build a new generation of nuclear plants near Scottsboro. The two-reactor plant would be built at the site of TVA's uncompleted Bellefonte nuclear plant where construction was halted in 1988 over cost concerns. Bailey said a decision on the Bellefonte project could be made by 2009. Construction could be completed by 2016. Adding three nuclear reactors to its generation portfolio is only one of several possibilities TVA is considering for boosting its power output to keep pace with economic growth in the Tennessee Valley, Bailey said. If TVA opts to complete Watts Bar Unit 2 and build a new nuclear plant at the Bellefonte site, it could create thousands of jobs for Shoals residents, said David Freeze, president of the Shoals Area Labor Council. He said many Shoals residents worked at Watts Bar and Bellefonte during the initial construction projects. "I rode from Rogersville every day to work at Bellefonte myself. A lot of people from the Shoals worked on that project," Freeze said. Resurgence in nuclear plant construction anywhere in the country would create jobs for skilled crafts workers from the Shoals, he said. "We go to where the jobs are. It doesn't matter where they are." Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist for the Union of Concerned Scientists, scoffs at the predictions of a nuclear power plant construction boom that will create thousands of new jobs. "The economics just aren't there to build new reactors without huge subsidies from the federal government," he said. The Washington-based organization advocates using rigorous scientific analysis, innovative thinking and community advocacy to build a cleaner, healthier environment. Instead of a building boom, Lyman suspects the government might subsidize the construction of as many of six new nuclear plants in hopes of jump-starting the nuclear power industry. "We might see a handful of new plants constructed over the next couple of decades." Instead of touting new nuclear plants, Lyman said federal officials should focus their attention on finding a long-term solution for storing radioactive waste from existing reactors. Many nuclear plants across the country, including Browns Ferry, have run out of storage space for radioactive wastes inside the plant and have begun storing them outside in concrete and steel containers. Plans to create a national nuclear waste repository at Nevada's Yucca Mountain continue to spark controversy. Klein expects the Department of Energy will submit an application to build the repository in 2008. Even if the Nevada facility is allowed to open, it is not expected to solve the nation's nuclear waste disposal woes. During a visit to Browns Ferry in 2005, then-NRC Director Nils J. Diaz said there is already more radioactive waste being stored at nuclear plants around the country than the repository could handle. Klein does not see the lack of storage capacity at Yucca Mountain as a roadblock to building new reactors. He said new technologies being used in other countries would allow the United States to build new nuclear plants even if the Yucca Mountain repository doesn't open. Klein said some countries, including France and Japan, recycle used nuclear fuel from power plants. He said the same technology could be used in the United States. Lyman is concerned any plants built in the United States that recycle spent nuclear fuel rods will be little more than places to store radioactive wastes away from the reactor where they were created. He said Department of Energy requirements for such plants require them to have the ability to store radioactive wastes for 50 to 100 years. Lyman said it's irresponsible for the NRC to consider allowing new reactors to be built before a way to dispose of radioactive waste is developed. -------- MILITARY -------- business Iraq reconstruction needs more than $100B Nov. 13, 2006 United Press International http://washtimes.com/upi/20061110-114629-4533r.htm The civil reconstruction of Iraq will cost at least $100 billion, U.S. officials in Baghdad told Iraqi contractors who are vying for some of the work. "United Nations and World Bank estimates approximated Iraq's infrastructure needs to be about $60 billion (before the 2003 invasion). But this was before we had an opportunity to fully assess the condition of Iraq's infrastructure. After careful analysis, the infrastructure needs have been estimated well over $100 billion," said Terry F. Bautista, director of business management of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division. Bautista spoke Nov. 4 at the Al Rasheed Hotel in the Green Zone in Baghdad to a group of about 300 Iraqi contractors. Prior to the war, a top State Department official predicted the cost to the United States of reconstruction would be less than $3 billion. Then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Iraq would largely pay for its own reconstruction. The U.S. government has put about $22 billion toward civilian reconstruction projects -- most security, power and water related -- with very mixed results so far. Power is available over 12 hours a day across most of the country, but in Baghdad, home to more than 6 million people, about a quarter of the Iraq population, it is only available for four hours a day. Countrywide, about 46 percent of Iraqi power needs go unmet by the fragile electrical infrastructure. Iraq's oil industry continues to lag. Prior to the invasion it produced about 2.5 million barrels a day. It is up to about 2.2 million bpd now. But Iraq's lack of refinery capacity and ability to export oil means it lost out on a potential $16 billion in earnings. Out of a population of 25 million, just 4.6 million Iraqis have potable water, and 5.1 million have sanitary sewage. -------- china China sub stalked U.S. fleet By Bill Gertz THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published November 13, 2006 http://www.washtimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20061113-121539-3317r A Chinese submarine stalked a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group in the Pacific last month and surfaced within firing range of its torpedoes and missiles before being detected, The Washington Times has learned. The surprise encounter highlights China's continuing efforts to prepare for a future conflict with the U.S., despite Pentagon efforts to try to boost relations with Beijing's communist-ruled military. The submarine encounter with the USS Kitty Hawk and its accompanying warships also is an embarrassment to the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Adm. William J. Fallon, who is engaged in an ambitious military exchange program with China aimed at improving relations between the two nations' militaries. Disclosure of the incident comes as Adm. Gary Roughead, commander of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet, is making his first visit to China. The four-star admiral was scheduled to meet senior Chinese military leaders during the weeklong visit, which began over the weekend. According to the defense officials, the Chinese Song-class diesel-powered attack submarine shadowed the Kitty Hawk undetected and surfaced within five miles of the carrier Oct. 26. The surfaced submarine was spotted by a routine surveillance flight by one of the carrier group's planes. The Kitty Hawk battle group includes an attack submarine and anti-submarine helicopters that are charged with protecting the warships from submarine attack. According to the officials, the submarine is equipped with Russian-made wake-homing torpedoes and anti-ship cruise missiles. The Kitty Hawk and several other warships were deployed in ocean waters near Okinawa at the time, as part of a routine fall deployment program. The officials said Chinese submarines rarely have operated in deep water far from Chinese shores or shadowed U.S. vessels. A Pacific Command spokesman declined to comment on the incident, saying details were classified. Pentagon spokesmen also declined to comment. The incident is a setback for the aggressive U.S.-China military exchange program being promoted by Adm. Fallon, who has made several visits to China in recent months in an attempt to develop closer ties. However, critics of the program in the Pentagon say China has not reciprocated and continues to deny U.S. military visitors access to key facilities, including a Beijing command center. In contrast, Chinese military visitors have been invited to military exercises and sensitive U.S. facilities. Additionally, military intelligence officials said Adm. Fallon has restricted U.S. intelligence-gathering activities against China, fearing that disclosure of the activities would upset relations with Beijing. The restrictions are hindering efforts to know more about China's military buildup, the officials said. "This is a harbinger of a stronger Chinese reaction to America's military presence in East Asia," said Richard Fisher, a Chinese military specialist with the International Assessment and Strategy Center, who called the submarine incident alarming. "Given the long range of new Chinese sub-launched anti-ship missiles and those purchased from Russia, this incident is very serious," he said. "It will likely happen again, only because Chinese submarine captains of 40 to 50 new modern submarines entering their navy will want to test their mettle against the 7th Fleet." Pentagon intelligence officials say China's military buildup in recent years has produced large numbers of submarines and surface ships, seeking to control larger portions of international waters in Asia, a move U.S. officials fear could restrict the flow of oil from the Middle East to Asia in the future. Between 2002 and last year, China built 14 new submarines, including new Song-class vessels and several other types, both diesel- and nuclear-powered. Since 1996, when the United States dispatched two aircraft carrier battle groups to waters near Taiwan in a show of force, Beijing also has bought and built weapons designed specifically to attack U.S. aircraft carriers and other warships. "The Chinese have made it clear that they understand the importance of the submarine in any kind of offensive or defensive strategy to deal with a military conflict," an intelligence official said recently. In late 2004, China dispatched a Han-class submarine to waters near Guam, Taiwan and Japan. Japan's military went on emergency alert after the submarine surfaced in Japanese waters. Beijing apologized for the incursion. The Pentagon's latest annual report on Chinese military power stated that China is investing heavily in weapons designed "to interdict, at long ranges, aircraft carrier and expeditionary strike groups that might deploy to the western Pacific." It could not be learned whether the U.S. government lodged a protest with China's government over the incident or otherwise raised the matter in official channels. -------- iraq 'Iraq Is Not Winnable' November 13, 2006 SPIEGEL http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,447763,00.html What happens next in the Middle East? SPIEGEL spoke to Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, to find out. A widely respected foreign policy expert, Haass warns that the Middle East could become dangerous for years to come. SPIEGEL: Mr. Haass, were the election results a message from the voters to President George W. Bush that it's time for US troops to be pulled out of Iraq? Haass: The mid-term election is a signal of widespread popular dissatisfaction with the course of the Iraq war. But it should not be read as a signal of support for a particular alternative. Nor will it lead most Democrats in Congress to call for a quick and complete withdrawal of US forces. Instead, it will reinforce the likelihood that American policy will be adjusted. We can anticipate force reductions and redeployments and possibly a greater emphasis on diplomacy, both within Iraq and with Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria. SPIEGEL: Meaning that the Bush Era has come to an end? Haass: There is something to what you say, in that Iraq was a war of choice that proved to be much more difficult and expensive than Americans bargained for. As a result, the public is pushing back. However, it is not just premature but wrong to say the Bush era is over. The president will be president for another 800 days. He will be able to take initiatives, especially in foreign policy given that our system favors executive leadership. He also may have a better chance to fashion a consensus on immigration reform. And unanticipated crises almost always provide a president with the opportunity to do dramatic things. SPIEGEL: Can you remember a time when US foreign policy was confronted with so many challenges and difficulties? Haass: The short answer is: No. During the Cold War, the United States faced a single challenge that was greater than any we face now. But I can't think of a time when the United States has faced so many difficult challenges at once. What makes it worse is we are facing them at a time when we are increasingly stretched militarily. We are divided politically. We are stretched also economically, and there is a good deal of anti-Americanism in the world. It's a very bad combination. SPIEGEL: Almost five years ago Bush grouped Iraq, North Korea and Iran together in the now-notorious "Axis of Evil." Now the US is faced with considerable crises in all three countries. What to do? Haass: We have allowed ourselves to get into three very difficult situations. As the United States has learned to its great cost in Iraq, military force is no panacea. Any option that would be heavily reliant on the Army is not a realistic option, because the only Army we have is busy right now. SPIEGEL: But diplomacy is still an underused tool. Haass: In the case of Iran and North Korea, I would be willing to have the United States engage in diplomacy directly with them, essentially offering them whatever mix of political and economic and security benefits in exchange for demanding a package of behavior changes. We need to get away from the idea that diplomatic interaction is a value judgment. History suggests that isolation reinforces hardliners. SPIEGEL: But it seems as if the Bush administration is still debating whether regime change or diplomacy is the best way to deal with them. Haass: For quite a few years, there was very little diplomacy, and the emphasis was on regime change which, in my view, was never going to happen. Now you are seeing a bit more diplomacy, but not as much as I would like there to be. I'm not sitting here confident that diplomacy will work, but I think it is worth trying, simply because the alternatives are not terribly attractive. Diplomacy may work; if not, we should demonstrate that we did everything possible to reach a fair and reasonable diplomatic outcome and we couldn't, not because of our policy, but because of theirs. The Bush administration will learn that that puts them in a better position to manage the domestic and international politics of escalation. SPIEGEL: You just invited Iran's President Ahmadinejad for a discussion in New York. Did you get the impression that he is interested in any kind of deal? Haass: There was very little, if anything, in that two-hour meeting that was reassuring about his interest in finding any common ground on reasonable terms with the United States. His tactic is to answer questions with questions. At one point, someone raised questions about Iran's internal situation, democracy and human rights, and within 30 seconds, he was talking about what he saw as the imperfections of American democracy. His argument was that Iran was more democratic because it had more candidates for president than the United States. SPIEGEL: The Israeli ambassador criticized you heavily, saying this was worse then inviting Adolf Hitler for talks. Haass: I disagree. Meeting with somebody like Mr. Ahmadinejad doesn't mean we approve or endorse him. It's nothing else than accepting that he is the President of Iran and in that position, he matters. SPIEGEL: Bush's comments on North Korea's nuclear tests seem to indicate that it is no longer the possession of nuclear weapons, but the passing along of nuclear technology to terrorists or hostile states that America is opposed to. Is this a new nuclear doctrine? Haass: Here, at least, the administration has moved from what you might call non-proliferation to managing proliferation. But I would hope that doesn't become the new status quo. I'm not comfortable living in a world in which an aggressive, hostile, poor and potentially desperate North Korea is sitting on a mountain of nuclear material. That does not fill me with anything except extraordinary alarm. SPIEGEL: And then there are Iraq and the Middle East. You just published an article in the journal Foreign Affairs in which you say that the situation is enough "to make one nostalgic for the old Middle East." Haass: The old Middle East -- an era which I believe has only recently ended -- was one in which the United States enjoyed tremendous dominance and freedom of maneuver. Oil was available at fairly low prices, the region was largely at peace. I believe largely because of the American decision to go to war in Iraq and how it has been carried out, as well as the emphasis on promoting democracy and a lack of any serious energy policy, the Middle East has considerably grown worse. It's one of history's ironies that the first war in Iraq, a war of necessity, marked the beginning of the American era in the Middle East and the second Iraq war, a war of choice, has precipitated its end. SPIEGEL: So what will become of the region? Haass: Visions of a new Middle East that is peaceful, prosperous and democratic will not be realized. Much more likely is the emergence of a new Middle East that will cause great harm to itself and the world. Iran will be a powerful state in the region, a classical imperial power. No viable peace process between Israel and the Palestinians is likely for the foreseeable future. Militias will emerge throughout the region, terrorism will grow in sophistication, tensions between Sunni and Shia will increase, causing problems in countries with divided societies, such as Bahrain, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Islam will fill the political and intellectual vacuum. Iraq at best will remain messy for years to come, with a weak central government, a divided society and sectarian violence. At worst, it will become a failed state racked by all-out civil war that will draw in its neighbors. SPIEGEL: How long will this dangerous period last? Haass: I don't know if this will last for five or 50 years, but it's going to be an incredibly difficult era. Together with managing a dynamic Asia it will be the primary challenge for US foreign policy. SPIEGEL: But the Bush administration still seems hopeful, seeing in all this violence only the "birth pangs" of this wonderful New Middle East. Haass: I hope that they are right. I would love to see them right and me wrong. But I'm afraid they are not. SPIEGEL: Is Iraq still winnable for the United States? Haass: We've reached a point in Iraq where we've got to get real. And this is not going to be a near-term success for American foreign policy. The Iraq situation is not winnable in any meaningful sense of the word "winnable." So what we need to do now is look for a way to limit the losses and costs, try to advance on other fronts in the region and try to limit the fallout of Iraq. That's what you have to do sometimes when you're a global power. SPIEGEL: A special commission headed by former Secretary of State James Baker will soon present a study on how to go forward in Iraq. Will this be the excuse for Bush to withdraw the troops? Haass: The commission gives him something of an opportunity to change course. Historically, commissions have often played an important role when the traditional body politic was unable or unwilling to come up with politically controversial but necessary proposals. We see a tipping point not only on the ground in Iraq but also in the political debate in the United States. I believe more and more people in and around the administration are coming to the conclusion that six or nine more months of the same will not bring us anywhere. SPIEGEL: The disaster of the last years leads many Americans to doubt the military strength and moral superiority of the nation. Is this country on the verge of a new isolationist phase? Haass: The danger is an Iraq syndrome. The war is one the American people weren't quite prepared for: They had not been told it was going to be that difficult and expensive. After the military battlefield phase, they thought it was going to be easy. So this has proven shocking. Nearly 3,000 Americans have lost their lives. Maybe 15,000 - 20,000 Americans have been wounded. Hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent. It has been disruptive on many levels. The danger is that the United States now will be weary of intervening elsewhere, like the cat that once sat on a hot stove and will never sit on any stove again. SPIEGEL: How long could such a period last? Haass: It is quite possible that this generation of Americans will be as affected by Iraq as the previous generation was by Vietnam. SPIEGEL: The world doesn't need the "little sheriff," but it needs a strong America. Haass: Exactly right. There is no doubt that the world needs the United States. We need to stay active in the world, not as a favor to others, but as a favor to ourselves. We cannot turn inward in an age of globalization. Bad things will happen in the world if we are not trying to manage them. The balance of power in Asia, human issues like Darfur, global climate change -- these are problems that are not going to get solved if the United States doesn't participate actively. SPIEGEL: Isolationism would be quite a legacy for someone like Bush. Haass: It would be somewhere between ironic and tragic because this administration has in some ways, like Iraq, been extraordinarily interventionist. SPIEGEL: What could Europe do? Haass: The one-word answer is: More. One wants Europe to have more capacity, so it could do more in Afghanistan, or maybe in places like Darfur. One wants Europe to be more internationally oriented. If you could make a criticism that the United States has under-used the diplomatic tool, Europeans often under-use other tools. In many cases, even if anti-Americanism were to fade, there is still a certain lack of preparedness and capability to act. What Europeans have control over is not American foreign policy. What they have control over is their own capacity and willingness to act -- and that is what they ought to focus on. SPIEGEL: Will Bush leave the world with more problems than he found when he came into office? Haass: Most likely. That said, the administration still has two years to go, so it is too early to judge. All you can say is that it's sobering where we are. As of now, you would have to say the world is not a safer place. Interview conducted by Georg Mascolo -------- israel / palestine U.S. Vetoes UN Resolution on Israeli Attack on Gaza Monday, November 13th, 2006 Democracy Now! Headlines http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/13/1516248 At the United Nations, the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel's recent attack on the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun that killed at least 19 Palestinian civilians and left dozens wounded. One family lost 16 members when Israeli tanks opened fire on their house. Seven children died, the youngest was just a year old. The UN resolution called on Israel to abide by its obligations and responsibilities under the Geneva Convention. It also called on the Palestinian Authority to stop rocket attacks on Israel. The US delegation criticized the resolution for being one-sided. * U.S. Ambassador John Bolton: "We are disturbed at the language of the resolution that is in many places biased against Israel and politically motivated. Such language does not further the cause of peace and its unacceptability to the United States in previous resolutions is well known." The U.S veto was widely criticized in part because the United States has repeatedly used its veto to shield Israel from criticism at the United Nations. * Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian observer to the UN: "As I said, you know, that fact the the Security Council did not adopt this balanced resolution is sending wrong messages. The first one, the wrong message to the extremist on the Israeli side that they are above the law and they can continue this aggression. This aggression has been unfolding for the past five months." Arab League To Lift Palestinian Blockade Arab League chief Amr Moussa said the veto was incomprehensible. In response, the Arab League announced it would lift the financial blockade on the Palestinians in defiance of the United States. Israeli Air Strike Kills 16-Year-Old Palestinian Teenager Despite the international outcry, Israel is continuing to carry out attacks on Gaza. On Sunday, a 16-year-old Palestinian teenager was killed by an Israeli missile strike on Beit Lahiya. Three other Palestinians were injured in the strike. Agreement Reportedly Reached Over New Palestinian PM In other developments in the region, a deal appears to have been reached between leaders of Hamas and Fatah over a new coalition Palestinian government. Under the reported agreement, a former university official named Mohammed Shbeir will become the new Palestinian Prime Minister replacing Hamas leader Ismail Haniya. Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is visiting Washington and will meet today with President Bush. -------- landmines Global Pact to Clean up Unexploded Arms Takes Effect November 13, 2006 Story by Stephanie Nebehay REUTERS NEWS SERVICE http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/38928/story.htm GENEVA - A global treaty obliging warring parties to remove unexploded munitions which kill and maim long after fighting ends came into force on Sunday, amid moves to start negotiations to curb use of cluster bombs. The "explosive remnants of war" pact, clinched three years ago, has been ratified by more than the 20 states needed to become legally binding. It requires the cleaning up of deadly debris such as unexploded shells, grenades, cluster submunitions, mortars and rockets which lie in wait after the end of hostilities. "This is the first international agreement to require the parties to an armed conflict to clear all unexploded munitions that threaten civilians, peacekeepers and humanitarian workers once the fighting is over," the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement. "Its entry into force, finally, is a milestone," Philip Spoerri, ICRC's director of international law, told Reuters. The humanitarian agency -- hoping to minimise death, injury and suffering from Asia to Africa -- was behind the initiative to address unexploded ordnance in 2000. Under the pact, warring parties must mark contaminated areas after a conflict ends and warn civilians of the risks until the ordnance has been cleared. "It creates an obligation to clean up the mess on the battlefield even if a party doesn't control the territory anymore," Mark Hiznay, of the New York-based group Human Rights Watch, told Reuters. El Salvador and Liberia, which have emerged from conflicts, are among 26 states to have ratified the treaty so far. US President George W. Bush has sent it to the Senate. It is a protocol to the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its entry into force comes midway in a two-week review conference where momentum is building to address the issue of deadly cluster bombs, aid agencies say. SENSE OF URGENCY Cluster bombs are air- or ground-launched canisters holding up to 650 submunitions, which often fail to explode on impact. Designed for use against infantry and tanks, they sink into the ground or lie on the surface and become virtual landmines. Israel's use of cluster bombs in its month-long war against Islamist Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon has brought a sense of urgency to halting their firing against military targets located in heavily populated areas, aid agencies say. More than 20 people have been killed by cluster bomblets since the Aug. 14 ceasefire in Lebanon, where experts estimate that an unusually high 40 percent failed to explode on impact. "A new treaty is needed urgently to prohibit cluster munitions, weapons that have caused documented and unacceptable harm for over 40 years. The devastation in Lebanon is just the latest example," Angelo Simonazzi, director-general of the Brussels-based Handicap International, said in a statement. The ICRC has called for a ban on the use of cluster bombs in populated areas, where it says they cause "severe and disproportionate impact" on civilians, a call echoed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Nearly 20 states at the Geneva meeting back an attempt by Sweden to seek the launch of negotiations on some form of treaty, according to the ICRC's Spoerri. -------- latin america UN Urges U.S. To Lift Cuban Blockade Monday, November 13th, 2006 Democracy Now! Headlines http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/13/1516248 Officials in Havana are praising a recent vote at the United Nations calling for the United States to end its 48-year-old trade embargo against Cuba. 183 nations in the United Nations General Assembly voted in favor of lifting the embargo. Israel, the Marshall Islands and Palau joined the United States opposing the resolution. The UN has passed a similar resolution for 15 consecutive years. * Cuban foreign minister Felipe Perez: "Our people have won a strategic victory over a policy which has tried to defeat it through hunger and sickness and without success tried to bring it to its knees. On a day like yesterday, at the UN, filled us all with pride and gives us hope in the conviction of how much prestige and support our fight has on an international scale." -------- mideast Lebanon faces new crisis after walkout by Hizbollah By Robert Fisk in Beirut Published: 13 November 2006 UK Independent http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1963613.ece The Shia, the largest community in Lebanon, are no longer represented in the Lebanese government. It could be just part of Lebanon's bloody-minded politics - or it could be a most dangerous moment in the history of this tragic country. At the weekend, the Hizbollah and the Amal movement walked out of the Lebanese body politic, splitting apart the gentle, utterly false, brilliantly conceived (by the French, of course) confessional system that binds this tortured nation together. There will be demonstrations by Hizbollah to demand a government of "national unity", which means that Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, winner of the so-called "divine victory" against Israel this summer, insists on another pro-Syrian administration in Lebanon. For a world which has decided to support Lebanon's "democracy", this is grave news. The resignation of five cabinet ministers, two from Hizbollah and three from Amal, cannot bring down the government (which needs eight ministers to resign in order to destroy it), but it means that the largest religious community is no longer officially represented in government decision-making. The Hizbollah are warning of demonstrations which could tear the country apart. The stakes? The international tribunal which is supposed to try those responsible for the murder of the former prime minister Rafik Hariri last year, and the possibility that the national "unity" which Hizbollah demands would create a cabinet which could become, once more, Syria's creature in Lebanon. It's not that simple, of course - nothing in Lebanon is - but it's enough to frighten the democratically elected cabinet of Fouad Siniora, Hariri's friend and confidant, and - even more - the Americans who supported "democracy" in Lebanon and then cared nothing for it during this summer's Israeli bombardment of the country. What prompted this extraordinary crisis at a time when thousands of foreign troops are still pouring into Lebanon to secure a peace which looks ever more self-destructive by the day? Clearly, the tribunal is one element. On Friday, the UN presented Mr Siniora with the terms of the court which would try suspects in the Hariri murder, men who will probably turn out to be intelligence agents of President Bashar Assad's regime in Damascus. The Lebanese President, Emile Lahoud, the most faithful friend of Mr Assad, has already said he needs further time to study the UN recommendations - ho hum, his Lebanese opponents say - before he will sanction a cabinet meeting tomorrow to allow parliament to vote on the UN proposals. Mr Siniora - an economist friend of Hariri and no warlord - has now said that he will not accept the resignations. He is waiting for Nasrallah's lads to return to the cabinet, well aware that their continued absence - however legal the cabinet remains - will tear the country apart. The Christians probably account for fewer than 30 per cent of the Lebanese population, and the Sunnis - who largely support them through the leadership of Hariri's son, Saad - create a majority which the Shia cannot outnumber. But Syria and Iran - the armourers of the Hizbollah - are waiting to see what the United States will offer them before cooling the Lebanese oven. Marwan Hamadi, the minister of communications, said yesterday that talks could be held to bring the Shia back into the government. The Beirut conference between Saad Hariri's 14 March movement - the date marks the huge pro-democracy rally last year that followed his father's murder - broke down on Saturday. Mr Hariri's bloc holds a majority in parliament, but the formal Christian rebel-general Michel Aoun - whose supporters are already wearying of his electoral alliance with the Hizbollah - says that the cabinet is not representative. He wants three of his loyalists in the government. Either way, the Christians and the Sunni Muslims of Lebanon are now being torn from their Shia co- religionists. Rival street protests between Christians and Sunnis on the one hand, and Shia on the other, can scarcely be pursued when most of the Lebanese army - a re-formed force of some integrity - are mostly Shia. Bad news indeed. ---- Lebanon's ancient city of Baalbek rises from the rubble 13 Nov 2006 Reuters Source: UNHCR By Laure Chedrawi in Baalbek, Lebanon http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/UNHCR/00afa5de1e6246ac06d8a3e9cf941fb3.htm BAALBEK, Lebanon, November 13 (UNHCR) – Under the Romans, Baalbek was known as Heliopolis, or the City of the Sun. In more recent times, the ancient settlement in northern Lebanon's fertile Bekaa Valley has been associated more with storm clouds; last summer, Israeli airstrikes caused considerable material damage, disrupted agricultural produce and kept the tourists away. Today, the city of 120,000 people is licking the wounds left by the five-week conflict, which began in mid-July when Israel unleashed a massive military response after Hezbollah militias abducted two Israeli soldiers. But its resilient people are busy rebuilding their lives, and in many cases their homes. "The war is not yet behind us. Fighting ended but the problems have just started. Heating, school fees, books and repairs are my daily nightmares", said 55-year-old Mohamad Al-Ahmar, who fled to the nearby town of Britel with his wife and five children during the conflict. The businessman returned to a scene of destruction. "This is what used to be my laundry shop," he recently told UNHCR, pointing to a pile of rubble and sand in the city's Al-Chmas district. "I applied for a small loan through the [state-run] Social Development Centre and rented a new shop to restart my business, but the number of my clients has declined. Most of them still don't know that I am back in operation." But while Al-Ahmar faces a hard time, his energy and determination is typical in Baalbek, where 385 houses were destroyed and a further 850 partially damaged during the conflict. Most Baalbek citizens have returned to the city, reconstruction work is apparent everywhere and small businesses are back up and running. Israeli airstrikes hit residential and commercial buildings as well as industrial plants, but its famous temples were not targeted. One school was totally destroyed and another partly damaged, while at least 113 people were killed. The city-centre souk and traditional houses, all dating back to the Ottoman period, were badly damaged Some local organisations have been helping in the clean-up and reconstruction, but most work is carried out by the inhabitants, who hope to get compensation. UNHCR, meanwhile, has been visiting the area to monitor conditions and needs for those who remain displaced – about 5,000 people from some 800 families. "People here talk about being neglected. The war is over, but UNHCR's role continues. These people are of concern and the agency is considering ways and means to help the community," said Lisbeth Brask Jensen, a field community services officer for the refugee agency. With winter approaching, many of those whose houses were destroyed will have to wait until next year to finish working on their homes. Some of the displaced live with relatives, others have rented apartments or moved to nearby villages. Maria Mortada, a Romanian married to a Lebanese pharmacist, is among those who have had to rent a place. She sought refuge in Romania during the war and saw TV news footage of her apartment in Baalbek go up in flames. "It took us more than three years to build this house, and suddenly everything vanished in seconds. We lost everything. The war has not only taken souls, but also beautiful memories and my private life," she said bitterly, before composing herself and looking to the future. "The winter is here and snow is on the threshold, which will hamper reconstruction works for a while. We must work fast to have our house back by the summer," Mortada added. By then the tourists might be back and Baalbek should be well on its way to recovery. -------- POLICE / PRISONERS / COURTS / JUSTICE -------- courts / tribunals Nobel winners petition Israel to outlaw targeted killing Mon Nov 13, 2006 JERUSALEM (AFP) http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061113/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictisrael Hundreds of Israeli peace activists, joined by three foreign Nobel laureates, asked the nation's high court to rule against targeted assassinations carried out by the army in the Palestinian territories, saying the attacks were killing civilians. The petition, signed by 10 peace groups and 200 individuals, urged the supreme court to rule immediately on the issue in light of last week's Israeli fire in Gaza's Beit Hanun that killed 19 people, mostly women and children. "How many more children need to die before the high court judges rule on the matter," it said. "If a ruling is not handed down immediately, this will cause the deaths of more innocent people, as was the case several days ago in Beit Hanun," a town in northern Gaza, it said. The signatories included Harold Pinter, winner of the Nobel literature prize in 2005, and Betty Williams and Mairead McGuire, the founders of an organization that promoted peace in Northern Ireland and who won the Nobel peace prize in 1976. Since the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000, the Israeli military has killed hundreds of Palestinians in targeted strikes, aimed at hitting militants but often leaving civilians dead. More than 300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israeli strikes since late June, after a soldier was seized by militant groups in the coastal strip. A recent report by Physicians for Human Rights said that more than 60 percent of those killed were civilians and more than 20 percent minors. The targeted assassinations have been condemned by the international community and by human rights groups inside the Jewish state. In January 2002, Israel's supreme court rejected the first appeal over the strikes, filed by an Israeli Arab MP. A second appeal over the policy was filed more than four years ago in April 2002, with the justices yet to issue a ruling. -------- human rights US drops Vietnam, adds Uzbekistan to religious freedoms blacklist Mon Nov 13, 2006 by David Millikin Agence France Presse http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061113/wl_asia_afp/usvietnamreligion WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States dropped Vietnam from its blacklist of nations that severely violate religious freedoms, just days before a visit to the country by President George W. Bush. Uzbekistan was added to the list, while seven other states were redesignated as countries that "engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom," said John Hanford, the State Department's ambassador for international religious freedom. The other states redesignated as "Countries of Particular Concern" were Burma, China, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, Hanford said. Inclusion on the annual list, first issued in 1999, can lead to economic and other sanctions under 1998 US legislation. The State Department rebuffed demands from the government's own Commission on International Religious Freedom to add Pakistan and Turkmenistan to the annual blacklist. The congressionally mandated advisory body also called for Vietnam's redesignation. But the State Department rejected the recommendation, citing "significant improvements toward advancing religious freedom" in Vietnam in the two years since it was added to the list. It was the first time a country has been removed from the blacklist due to negotiated improvements in its treatment of religious minorities, Hanford said. Afghanistan and Iraq were dropped from the list following the US-led ouster respectively of the radical Islamic Taliban militia in Kabul in 2001 and the Baghdad regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003. "Our decision not to redesignate Vietnam is one of the most significant announcements that we're making this year," Hanford told journalists in releasing this year's list. Vietnam was added to the list in 2004 due to "dire" repression of religious groups, notably Protestant Christians, the forced closure of hundreds of churches and the jailing of dozens of "religious prisoners," he said. The State Department said all such prisoners have now been released, laws restricting religious activities lifted and numerous churches reopened. "Though important work remains to be done, Vietnam can no longer be identified as a severe violator of religious freedom as defined under the International Religious Freedom Act," he said. The decision came ahead of a visit later this week to Vietnam by Bush and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to attend a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC). It also followed the release earlier Monday in Vietnam of a US activist, Thuong Nguyen "Cuc" Foshee, whose detention more than a year ago on terrorism charges had been a major irritant in bilateral relations. Hanford insisted neither Foshee's release nor Bush's upcoming visit played a part in dropping Vietnam from the religious freedoms list. "This decision frankly is something we've all been in agreement on for some time," he said. Uzbekistan was blacklisted over its "harsh repression" and harassment of observant Muslims seen as potential terrorists in the central Asian nation, Hanford said. China, which has been on the blacklist since its inception, has made "slow improvement" in its treatment of religious groups and its leaders "have signalled a willingness to improve further," he said. But he said progress was still "inconsistently implemented," leaving China on the list. Saudi Arabia has also done "a lot of significant work" in easing discrimination against non-Muslims and members of minority Muslim sects, but that progress "is not as encouraging as we had hoped," he said. Tom Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, complained Monday that US efforts to force progress in blacklisted nations were "treading water," especially in Saudi Arabia and Iran. He said one of the priorities of the Democratic-controlled Congress to take office in January will be to "reinvigorate our efforts to advance religious freedom." "We have really taken our eye off the ball in pursuing this basic US foreign policy interest and we have to find out what needs to be changed," he said. --- Administration: Detainees Have No Rights Monday, November 13, 2006 By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/11/13/national/w121615S90.DTL&type=politics The Bush administration said Monday that Guantanamo Bay prisoners have no right to challenge their detentions in civilian courts and that lawsuits by hundreds of detainees should be dismissed. In court documents filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the Justice Department defended the military's authority to arrest people overseas and detain them indefinitely without access to courts. It's the first time that argument has been spelled out since President Bush signed a law last month setting up military commissions for the thousands of foreigners being held in U.S. prisons abroad. Bush hailed the law as a crucial tool in the war on terrorism and said it would allow prosecution of several high-level terror suspects. Human rights groups and attorneys for the detainees say the law is unconstitutional. Prisoners normally have the right to challenge their imprisonment. The Justice Department said Monday that the detainees have no constitutional rights because they are being held overseas. Giving military detainees access to civilian courts "would severely impair the military's ability to defend this country," government attorneys wrote. "Congress could have simply withdrawn jurisdiction over these matters and left the decision of whether to detain enemy aliens held abroad to the military," the Justice Department wrote. Instead, Congress set up a military commission structure establishing "unprecedented" levels of review for detainees, the attorneys wrote. On the Net: Justice Department: www.usdoj.gov -------- POLITICS -------- corruption Pentagon Lacks Independent Watchdog Monday, November 13, 2006 By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/11/13/national/w120610S89.DTL&type=politics The Pentagon has been without its chief watchdog for more than a year, even as the military spends billions of dollars a month in Iraq and controversy simmers over warrantless surveillance, missing weapons and friendly fire deaths. President Bush's nominee for the inspector general job is being held up because answers he gave lawmakers have raised concerns with a key senator about his independence. The inspector general's job was created by Congress more than a quarter century ago to be an independent watchdog to investigate fraud, mismanagement and abuses like the infamously overpriced hammers and toilet seats that became past symbols of Pentagon waste. The Defense Department's last inspector general, Joseph Schmitz, stepped down in August 2005, and Bush named David Laufman, a federal prosecutor with GOP credentials, to take over the job months ago. In the interim, the office has been run by an acting inspector general, and it has been criticized as being slow to get staff on the ground to investigate Pentagon issues in Iraq and as shying away from examining the National Security Agency's electronic surveillance program. Laufman's nomination came to a halt after he testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee this summer that the inspector general's law requires him to consult with the defense secretary before embarking on cases involving national security and other sensitive matters. Career employees inside the inspector general's office alerted Democratic Sen. Carl Levin's office that such consultations would be a major departure from current practice. They said they had discussed their concerns with Laufman but could not change his mind. Levin, D-Mich., who probably will take over as chairman in January when Democrats assume control of the Senate, said Laufman's willingness to talk to the secretary jeopardized his independence. "I have real problems with that appointment," Levin said Monday, adding that he "will continue to oppose that nomination." Levin was correct that the current inspector general office hasn't been consulting that way. Laufman was correct in noting the federal law's language suggests he should. The senator also is challenging Laufman's veracity because career employees said they raised concerns about the issue with Laufman. Laufman testified he shared his answers with the career staff but could not recall getting any feedback on the issue. There has been no action on the nomination since, leaving the Pentagon's top watchdog job vacant. Levin declined to be interviewed, but his office says he has serious reservations about the nomination. The current committee chairman, Republican John Warner of Virginia, is checking with senators this week to see if there is enough support for Laufman to proceed. Laufman, a veteran prosecutor who won accolades for convicting a Virginia man of plotting to kill Bush, is now taking the offensive in trying to convince lawmakers he'd be the independent investigator they want. "For too long, there has been a void of aggressive oversight and accountability at the Department of Defense — precisely when we've needed it the most," he told The Associated Press. "It's time to put politics aside and bring new leadership." Laufman has brought to senators' attention a directive — renewed in 2004 by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's office — that requires the inspector general's general counsel office to be staffed by lawyers who work for the secretary, rather than independently hired lawyers. Laufman is promising to try to reverse that order to increase the watchdog's independence. Likewise, Laufman has told senators he wants to aggressively investigate the friendly fire death of former pro football player Pat Tillman and is willing to examine the NSA's anti-terror surveillance program. The inspector general "has the necessary jurisdiction to investigate the NSA electronic surveillance program," Laufman assured senators, adding he'd first want to study the matter before deciding whether and how to investigate. Finally, Laufman said he would model himself after Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction whose investigations of lost weapons and wasteful spending during the Iraq war have rankled the Bush administration. "The outstanding work done by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, particularly under extremely difficult circumstances, is a model of what real oversight is about," Laufman said. "If confirmed, I look forward to partnering with Mr. Bowen and serving as a force multiplier for oversight on Iraq." Before joining the Justice Department, Laufman served on two investigations that cleared Bush's father's administration of wrongdoing, and he later served on the bipartisan panel that toughened House ethics rules in the mid-1990s. His nomination is getting support from fellow inspectors general, including two credited with aggressively pursuing the Bush administration. "David is the prototype for an IG," said Interior Department inspector general Earl Devaney, whose own investigation exposed aspects of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. "His investigations and his background are filled with opportunities that demonstrated his integrity." Devaney said the lengthy vacancy of the Pentagon inspector general job also should worry people. "It is too important a job, and having the cop on the beat is just something remarkably logical," he said. Added Bowen: "I've met David Laufman, and he's explained his vision for oversight in Iraq. He would be an excellent IG." -------- us politics Coalition Launches Campaign to Impeach Bush Monday, November 13th, 2006 Democracy Now! Headlines http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/13/1516248 A coalition of anti-war and veterans groups met in Philadelphia on Saturday to announce plans to mobilize a national movement to impeach President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. A national Impeachment Day has been called for December 10th. Activists are urging grass roots groups to set up impeachment lobbying offices in every congressional district. Speakers on Saturday included Cindy Sheehan whose son Casey died in Iraq. * Cindy Sheehan: "Right now, at this minute, we have to start calling the offices of John Conyers, Nancy Pelosi, Henry Waxman, Stanley Hoyer, Harry Reid, your congressperson, and start saying, 'We want accountability." Sheehan criticized the Democratic leadership for saying impeachment is off the table. Meanwhile a new poll from Newsweek has found that President Bush's approval rating has dropped to a new low of 31 percent. -------- ENERGY -------- alternative energy World's Largest Solar Developer Coming to Pennsylvania PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, November 13, 2006 (ENS) http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2006/2006-11-13-09.asp#anchor4 Pennsylvania looks good to the world’s largest solar power integration company, Conergy AG of Germany. The firm has decided to locate the North American headquarters of its financial subsidiary, voltwerk, and the East Coast operations of its solar engineering and installation subsidiary, SunTechnics, in the state. The move will create up to 50 engineering, financing and management jobs and up to $100 million in clean energy deals over the next three years, Governor Edward Rendell announced Thursday. “The international community is taking notice of Pennsylvania’s clean energy efforts,” Governor Rendell said. “Our commonwealth is a leader in helping to build and deploy a diverse array of alternative energy projects, and that leadership is attracting investments in manufacturing and creating jobs for our residents." “The renewable energy market in the United States is growing rapidly and Pennsylvania is taking a leadership role,” said Mac Moore, regional head for Conergy in North America. “With the state’s forward-thinking policies, we see tremendous potential to develop renewable energy projects and are very pleased to become a part of Pennsylvania’s business community.” Conergy, through its voltwerk and SunTechnics divisions, develops more renewable energy systems than any other company in the world, principally focusing on solar, wind and bioenergy projects. The state also is home to the Spanish wind-energy company Gamesa Corp., the second largest wind energy company in the world. Pennsylvania’s clean energy law mandates 700 megawatts of electricity from solar photovoltaics by 2020, the second largest solar requirement in the country. Within a year, the state also could be the nation’s leading producer of biodiesel with a projected 40 million gallons of annual production. There are more than 5,000 megawatts of untapped wind power in the state, with the potential to generate 45 billion kilowatt-hours annually, or enough to power more than five million homes. The relationship between Pennsylvania and Conergy began when officials from the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Community and Economic Development visited Germany in May during the WindEnergy 2006 conference. Thousands of companies, individuals, investors and energy associations from 26 countries participated in the event. Pennsylvania was the only U.S. state offered a keynote speaking opportunity. Conergy officials later traveled to Pennsylvania to meet with Governor Rendell, who provided a showcase of Pennsylvania’s clean energy initiatives and introduced officials to companies working on advanced technologies in the solar, wind and biofuel sectors. Conergy went public on Germany’s Frankfurt Stock Exchange on March 17, 2005, and has experienced tremendous growth. The Hamburg-based company was established in 1996 by Hans-Martin Rueter and at first run from his living room. It now has more than 1,500 employees worldwide and anticipates revenues of more than $1 billion in 2006. ---- N.Y. Power Plant Test Burns Green Biofuel Blends US: November 13, 2006 REUTERS NEWS SERVICE http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/38934/story.htm NEW YORK - A New York city power plant ran late last month on blends of biofuel, a developing renewable fuel mostly used in transportation, to see how well the domestic fuel produces power, officials said. The Charles Poletti Power Project in Queens, an 885 megawatt plant that runs on natural gas or heating oil, ran biofuel from soybeans fuel blended with heating oil at concentrations between 5 percent and 20 percent. The tests ran for two days in late October. Producers tout biofuel as an alternative to foreign oil that emits less carbon dioxide, the main gas scientists link to global warming, and other pollutants. New York Gov. George Pataki issued an executive order last year requiring state agencies and public authorities to boost their use of biofuels, which include biodiesel and ethanol. It was the largest use of biofuels on any single occasion in the United States, according to the plant's owner and operator, the New York Power Authority. About 100,000 gallons of soybean fuel were blended with 900,000 gallons of No. 6 fuel oil. "The Power Authority's biofuel test signals new possibilities for green-power production that could lead to additional revenues for the state's farmers and the construction of new bio-refineries," Peter Smith, president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, said in a statement. -------- OTHER -------- poverty Congo arrests hundreds of homeless, including kids, accused of political unrest 11/13/2006 Associated Press http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-11-13-congo_x.htm KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Scores of homeless children and others living on the streets of Congo's capital have been rounded up and accused of starting a protest that led to violence as an increasingly tense nation awaits presidential election results. Advocates for street children said those arrested were scapegoats, but Interior Minister Denis Kalume was quoted on state radio Monday as saying the 337 homeless people, including 87 children and 15 mothers, had "provoked this (violence) by disturbing the peace." Kalume said they were being taken outside the capital for "social training." Violence erupted Saturday between supporters of President Joseph Kabila and Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba, the contenders in a presidential runoff late last month. The governor of the Congolese capital said gun and mortar fire killed three civilians and a soldier in front of Bemba's home — the scene of the weekend fighting. By Monday, Congolese soldiers had taken up positions in a nearby cemetery, some sleeping on bullet-scarred gravestones that used to serve as beds for street children. None of the children, usually a ubiquitous reminder of Congo's devastation, were in sight Monday morning. "Those who weren't arrested are hiding from the police," said Mado Langalanga, who lived in the cemetery for nine years until she got a job educating street people about the dangers of HIV and AIDS. Kinshasa, a sprawling city of about 5 million people on the banks of the Congo River, has an estimated 50,000 homeless people and children can be hired for just a few cents to march in a demonstration or burn tires, said Guy Milongo, who works for the private Association for the Development of Young Street People. Radio stations described the protesters as "shege," a word Milongo said is derived from Che Guevara, the Latin American revolutionary who came to fight for Congo's independence, and whose name is invoked to mean a revolutionary spirit. He said the homeless refer to themselves as "Yankees," using the American expression to describe a person who overcomes all odds to survive. The government has a conflicted attitude toward the homeless, Milongo said, noting Kabila invited about 50 street kids to his wedding this year and bought them clothes for the celebration. The very next day, police launched a roundup of the homeless. On Sunday, there was supposed to be a soccer championship among street children's soccer teams, whose uniforms were donated by the government. It never happened because the children feared arrest. Langalanga said the homeless are often used as scapegoats by politicians and government officials seeking to deflect blame for the violence and poverty endemic to Congo. The latest eruption came as electoral officials announced new preliminary results in the election runoff — giving Kabila nearly 60% of votes to Bemba's 40%. Peacekeepers, the biggest U.N. force in the world with some 17,500 troops, have brought reinforcements into the capital, stepped up patrols and reinforced positions in a show of force since the weekend confrontation. Riot police guarded strategic buildings. The elections could set Congo on the road to democracy and peace after decades of dictatorship and war, but the violence underlines the transition's fragility in this poor but mineral-rich nation of 50 million. Supporters of Bemba, a former rebel leader, have alleged vote fraud. While both candidates have pledged a peaceful outcome, "Bemba has made it clear that we cannot accept results skewed by cheating," one of his top advisers, Adrien Dambana, told The Associated Press. Election officials and Kabila's representatives could not immediately be reached for comment. The allegations of fraud led to the protest in front of Bemba's residence Saturday, where young people set up a barricade of flaming tires that blocked the capital's main boulevard. Police fired into the air and dispersed the protesters. Armed men in civilian clothes then fired at the police, according to several accounts. Soon after, shootouts erupted between Bemba fighters who deployed in the cemetery across the boulevard from his home, and forces loyal to Kabila who took up position in a golf course beyond the cemetery. The fighting continued until U.N. officials organized talks between the two sides and persuaded them to withdraw their fighters. Many of Kinshasa's 50,000 homeless come from rural outlying areas of Congo, because the capital was largely spared when the rest of the Central African country suffered back-to-back tribal conflicts from 1997 to 2002. The fighting ballooned into a regional war that attracted marauding armies from six African nations. Kabila inherited power from his father, Laurent Kabila, a former rebel leader who emerged as the main power after the war and was assassinated by his bodyguards in 2001. A complicated peace process eventually took hold, foreign troops withdrew, and the most powerful warlords, including Bemba, joined a transitional government that helped organize elections that have cost the international community some $422 million. -------- ACTIVISTS One dead as riot police battle Bangladesh protesters Mon Nov 13, 2006 by Shafiq Alam Agence France Presse http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061113/wl_sthasia_afp/bangladeshpolitics DHAKA (AFP) - A man was killed and several people were injured after Bangladesh riot police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse stone-throwing protesters in the capital. The clash came on the second day of a nationwide transport blockade organised by opposition parties to force the resignation of an election official accused of trying to rig national polls in January. Emdad Hossain, a doctor at the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, told AFP that police handed over the body of the dead man, who appeared to have been run over by a vehicle. A senior Dhaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the protester died under the wheels of a police van and that at least 10 others were treated at the hospital. Twenty more, including a former lawmaker, were taken to Dhaka's Shomorita Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, a member of the medical staff told AFP. The main opposition Awami League and its allies have accused chief election commissioner M.A. Aziz of drawing up a voters' list that contains 10 million fake voters. They said free and fair elections could not be held with him in place. The opposition, which argues he favours the outgoing administration led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has threatened to boycott the polls unless a string of demands, including Aziz's sacking by the interim administration, are met. Talks between the caretaker government and the Awami League to try to end the deadlock wound up late Monday without any breakthrough. "We have told the caretaker government to reconstitute the election commission. That is our demand. We will continue our nationwide blockade," the opposition alliance spokesman Abdul Jalil told reporters. Talks with other main parties were due to resume Tuesday. Earlier thousands of opposition supporters chanting "Sack Aziz and save the country" again staged demonstrations and blocked highways nationwide, said police. A mob enforcing the transport blockade smashed at least 11 buses at Savar, 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Dhaka, the private UNB agency reported. The roads were empty of cars and many offices and schools remained closed in the capital and other major cities. Deliveries to and from the country's main port in southeastern Chittagong also remained suspended, and rail services were disrupted, officials said. Meanwhile, the BNP announced its own protests for Tuesday. "We will hold protest marches and rallies all over the country to protest the anarchy that the Awami League has created," said party spokesman Imran Saleh Prince. At least 25 people died in four days of violent clashes between rival party activists from October 27 when the BNP-led government's five-year mandate expired. The clashes began when the opposition staged mass protests that led former Supreme Court judge K.M. Hasan to decline to continue as head of a caretaker government in late October. The opposition accused him of being politically biased in favour of the BNP. After talks between the BNP and Awami League to find a compromise candidate broke down amid spiralling violence, President Iajuddin Ahmed installed himself as head of the temporary administration on October 29. The Awami League later called off its protests, saying it wanted to give the president time to show he could be non-partisan in his role as head of the caretaker government, which is tasked with holding fair elections. On Saturday, however, it announced a resumption of protests and an indefinite nationwide road, rail and river blockade.