news20090608BRT

[Biography of the Day] from [Britannica]
Monday, June 8, 2009
Frank Lloyd Wright
Born this day in 1867 was architect Frank Lloyd Wright, whose Prairie style became the basis of 20th-century residential design in the U.S. and who was known as the most abundantly creative genius of American architecture.

[On This Day] from [Britannica]
Monday, June 8, 2009
1504: Michelangelo's David installed in Florence
Believed to have been installed this day in 1504 in the cathedral of Florence was Michelangelo's statue of David, commissioned in 1501 and considered the prime statement of the Renaissance ideal of perfect humanity.

news20090608JT

[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]

[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, June 8, 2009
China urges U.N. caution on N. Korea
Tokyo wants a 'strong' resolution

(Kyodo News) Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi called Sunday for "an appropriate and balanced" U.N. Security Council resolution over North Korea's nuclear test, apparently signaling that China won't accept tougher sanctions against Pyongyang, a Foreign Ministry official said.

During talks with Yang in Tokyo, Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone emphasized the need to "swiftly" adopt a "strong" resolution and pointed out that China's role is important in preventing North Korea from taking provocative actions.

Yang, however, told Nakasone that peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula are also important and that China wants "an appropriate and balanced" United Nations resolution.

The two foreign ministers meanwhile failed to make any progress on the Japan-China joint gas exploration project in a disputed area of the East China Sea.

Earlier in the day, Asia's two biggest financial powerhouses pledged to help pump up the world economy and called for an early conclusion to global trade liberalization talks.

The agreement was reached between Nakasone and Vice Premier Wang Qishan during a one-day economic meeting.

The two economic giants also agreed to establish a working group to consider creating a legal framework and enforcing crackdowns to curb violations of intellectual property rights, according to a memorandum signed earlier in the day by Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshihiro Nikai and Commerce Minister Chen Deming.

Nikai and Chen agreed that the working group should meet once a year. Nikai asked that it convene its first meeting by the end of the year.

A 2004 study by the Japan Patent Office estimated that Japanese companies lost around 9.3 trillion in China from pirated goods.

Nikai said he asked Chen to drop an envisaged compulsory certification system for information technology products made by foreign companies. Nikai proposed that China refer such cases to an international certification system.

Chen was quoted as telling Nikai that Beijing took note of Japan's high level of interest in the issue.

China says it will introduce the system next May.


[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, June 8, 2009
Freed man sees no relief in lay judges

(Kyodo News) Toshikazu Sugaya, freed from prison last week after new DNA testing indicated his innocence in the slaying of a young girl, says he would have been found guilty even if the lay judge system had been in effect for his trial.

"I think lay judges would have believed the result of the (initial) DNA test and judged that I was guilty," said Toshikazu Sugaya, 62, who was released Thursday after spending 17 1/2 years behind bars.

"Even if the district court trial in my case was a lay judge trial, I don't think I would have been acquitted," said Sugaya, who was sentenced to life when he was convicted of kidnapping and murdering Mami Matsuda, a 4-year-old girl, in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, in 1990.

Sugaya, who once drove a bus for kindergartners, said the accuracy of analyses used as evidence in criminal trials needs to be improved.

Under the lay judge system, which started in late May, six ordinary people and three professional judges will try serious criminal cases, such as murder, at district courts.

The lay judges should reflect "the sound social common sense of the public" more directly in judgments, according to the government.

Sugaya was convicted mainly based on the results of a DNA test conducted shortly after the slaying, when the accuracy of DNA analyses was much lower than those used now. He was freed after a recent test showed his DNA does not match that of dried body fluid found on Matsuda's clothing.

Sugaya, who claims he was forced by investigators to confess, said all questioning of criminal suspects should be recorded. "I can never forgive (police officers and prosecutors) unless they apologize to me, my parents and siblings . . . I want the judges to apologize, too," he said.

Police and prosecutors have started partial recordings of interrogations on a trial basis.

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations, saying closed-door questioning has been a hotbed for wrongful convictions, has called for enactment of a law requiring full recordings.

A bill toward that end was introduced by the opposition camp in April. It has passed the Upper House, but the Lower House has not taken it up.

Recalling his time behind bars, Sugaya said there were times when he felt he would never get out. He expressed joy for having been released by saying, "White rice is delicious."


[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, June 8, 2009
Toyako G8 tourist boom goes bust

SAPPORO (Kyodo) Toyako, the host city for the Group of Eight summit last July, saw a 10 percent drop in tourists in fiscal 2008, it was learned Sunday.

Officials in the southern Hokkaido city had been counting on a huge increase, since Toyako is now better known than ever both at home and abroad thanks to the media coverage of the gathering of the world's leaders.

"We didn't expect at all (that the figures) would drop below the level of the previous year," one Toyako official said. "It's beyond our imagination."

The city drew 685,000 tourists in the fiscal year that ended in March.

According to the municipal government, the number of tourists was on the increase until July, but numbers started to fall after August as rising gasoline prices took the wind out of the domestic tourism market.

The global financial crisis in the fall cut into foreign tourists. The number of non-Japanese visitors in February was only 40 percent of the number a year earlier, the municipal government said.

Numbers are also down for this fiscal year. A number of schools in the Kansai region canceled excursions due to the swine flu outbreak, Toyako officials said.

The city had hoped the G8 summit would boost tourism to Lake Toya and the surrounding area known for its natural scenery and the luxury resort hotel that served as the summit venue.


[INTERNATIONAL SOCCER]
Monday, June 8, 2009
Japan edges Uzbekistan
Qualifies for 2010 World Cup

TASHKENT (Kyodo) Japan survived a late onslaught to become the first country to join host South Africa at next year's World Cup finals after a gritty 1-0 win away to Uzbekistan in an Asian qualifier on Saturday.

Shinji Okazaki's ninth-minute goal proved enough to ensure 2002 cohost Japan claimed its fourth consecutive berth at the World Cup, sealing qualification with two matches to spare in Group A.

"It was a tough game but the players held their nerve and battled through. We are excited. The challenge begins here," said Japan coach Takeshi Okada, who was ejected from the bench for apparently protesting Makoto Hasebe's 89th-minute sendoff.

"I couldn't believe what a referee we had. I was only giving instructions to the players and he sent me off. It was unbelievable," added Okada.

Japan claimed one of the two automatic spots from the group after improving its record to 14 points with four wins and two draws from six games.

Uzbekistan started with purpose at Pakhtakor Stadium, but it was Japan that took the lead with its first real raid on goal. Kengo Nakamura picked out Okazaki's run and the in-form Shimizu S-Pulse striker headed in after Uzbekistan goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov had blocked his initial shot.

Yasuhito Endo hit the post with a free kick on 13 minutes and Yoshito Okubo thought he had doubled Japan's lead when he snapped up the rebound, only to see his effort ruled out for offside.

Alexander Geynri nearly forced an equalizer as Uzbekistan raced up the other end and the Central Asians went on to dominate the rest of the half, but were unable to find a way through as Japan's defense comfortably dealt with a succession of set pieces.

Hasebe hit the post early in the second period but the home side continued to force the pace and was unfortunate not to be rewarded with an equalizer for the efforts. Server Djeparov saw a free kick deflected centimeters wide 10 minutes from time and Seigo Narazaki had to be alert to push away a dangerous corner from the Uzbekistan captain.

Japan endured a nerve-jangling finish as Hasebe saw red for apparently elbowing Djeparov, Okada was ejected and Narazaki pulled off a wonderful stop to preserve his side's lead, pushing Islom Tuhtahuja's shot against the crossbar in the dying seconds.

"I had only been able to score in the (last week's friendly) Kirin Cup tournament and games like that so I feel like I have really done something for the team," said Okazaki of his contribution.

"I want to target the World Cup semifinals and raise my game. This isn't the end, it is just the beginning. I'm just pleased we were able to get through the qualifiers."

Japan plays Qatar at home on Wednesday and Okada's side wrap ups the qualifiers away to Australia in Melbourne on June 17.

"These two games will be important for us to keep building," said Okada, who also guided Japan to its World Cup debut in France in 1998 in his first stint at the helm of the national team.

The top two teams in Groups A and B advance directly to the finals. The two third-placed sides meet in a playoff, with the winner of that two-leg tie to take on Oceania champions New Zealand for a ticket to South Africa.

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[Today's Newspaper] from [Los Angeles Times]

[World]
North Korea sentences 2 U.S. reporters to prison
Laura Ling and Euna Lee are convicted a 'grave crime' against the nation, and of illegally crossing into North Korea, and sentenced to 12 years in labor prison.

By John M. Glionna and Barbara Demick
June 8, 2009

Reporting from Daegu, South Korea and Beijing -- Two American television journalists today were convicted of a "grave crime" against North Korea and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor, a move that increased mounting tensions between the U.S. and the reclusive Asian state.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for San Francisco-based Current TV, were sentenced by the top Central Court in Pyongyang in a two-day trial that started Friday as U.S. officials demanded the release of the two women.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency reported that the court "sentenced each of them to 12 years of reform through labor" but gave no further details.

Because the pair were tried by the nation's highest court, there can be no appeal.

After the verdict, U.S. officials reissued their call for North Korea to release them.

"We are deeply concerned by the reported sentencing of the two American citizen journalists by North Korean authorities, and we are engaged through all possible channels to secure their release," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in the statement.

Ling, 32, and Lee, 36, were arrested March 17 along the China-North Korean border after top officials in Pyongyang said they had encroached on North Korean soil while reporting a story on human trafficking by Kim Jong Il's regime.

Housed separately in Pyongyang since their arrest, the women have reached out to family members in the U.S., who have in the last week made several public appeals for their release.

Japanese television has reported that Current TV founder Al Gore was prepared to fly to Pyongyang and secure the women's freedom, depending on the outcome of the trial. It was not known how the guilty verdict might have affected those plans.

Initially, Current TV and the families tried to keep the arrests quiet, hoping that behind the scenes negotiations would avoid turning it into a diplomatic incident. But North Korea's intransigence prompted them to go public along the lines of supporters of the journalist Roxana Saberi, who was released by Iran last month. They have made a number of recent appearances on television and held a candlelight vigil Wednesday to pray for their release.

The families could not be immediately reached for comment when the sentence was announced.

But Paul Song, who is married to Laura Ling's sister, CNN personality Lisa Ling, wrote on his Facebook posting a few minutes afterward: "12 years hard labor!! Please let them go!!"

Many analysts speculate that North Korea, which has in recent months sought to publicly establish its nuclear capabilities -- conducting an underground nuclear test and launching several experimental missiles -- was trying to use the women as political pawns in an attempt to force Washington to sit down for one-on-one talks.

The women's trial was not open to the public.

Choi Choon-heum, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said the verdict was not surprising.

"It was beyond expectations, but no matter what they are doing, they have no choice but to release them in the end," he said. "Obviously it showed a strong will from the military as well. But there is nothing we worry about too much."

Others thought the sentence was overly harsh. "It sounds [like] a pretty strong sentence," said Kim Dong-han, a North Korean law expert at Dongguk University in Seoul. "I had not thought that North Korea would have strongly punished them, but it seems that a political motive was factored into this case."

He speculated that the verdict may have been North Korea's retaliation for what it considered a diplomatic cold shoulder from the Obama administration. "The U.S. needs to take some measures for their release as soon as possible through diplomatic channels," he said.

The harsh sentence is another in a string of defiant acts by an increasingly provocative North Korea, which last month conducted its second nuclear test and appears poised to test a long-range missile. In the past, when North Korea has captured foreigners, it has used them to seek diplomatic favor or financial aid. A U.S. army helicopter pilot, Bobby Hall, captured in 1994 near the demilitarized zone with South Korea, was released after only 13 days.

Scott Snyder, an analyst who has written frequently on North Korean negotiating behavior, said last week before the verdict was announced that the handling of the journalists would be an important "litmus test."

"If things are business as usual in North Korea, it would suggest the journalists would be released quickly. If not, they could be held for a long time," Snyder said.

North Korean labor camps are notorious for their high death rates because of malnutrition and overwork. But thus far, the women have been fairly well treated, housed in a Pyongyang guest house and allowed occasional telephone calls. The Swedish ambassador has also been permitted to visit them.

"The North Koreans are not in a hurry to release them. They see them as valuable pawns," said an aide official who works in Pyongyang, speaking on condition of anonymity a few days before the trial began.

Both women are married and Lee, who is Korean American, has a 4-year-old daughter. In recent days, their plight has drawn worldwide attention.

"We appeal to the North Korean judicial authorities to show the utmost clemency, and we hope the trial will result in the acquittal and release of the two American journalists," Reporters Without Borders said in statement last week. "We urge the judges trying the case to follow the example set by their Iranian counterparts, who released U.S. journalist Roxana Saberi last month."

Over the weekend, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had called for the women's release.

Clinton said she has spoken with foreign officials with influence in North Korea and explored the possibility of sending an envoy to the North, but suggested that no one would be sent during the trial.

Many say political uncertainty in North Korea cast a pall over the trial. After suffering a debilitating stroke last year, strongman Kim Jong Il is reportedly planning to name a successor, rumored to be his youngest son.

The possible power vacuum has created a subtle battle of ideologies as communist hard-liners seek to crush those in favor of social reforms and a more open policy toward the West.

In recent weeks, as the trial date got closer, state-run news in North Korea released condemnations of the women, alluding to their "confirmed crimes" and "illegally intruding into [North Korean] territory."

Experts believe the trial serves as a political litmus test. They say North Korea had an opportunity to distinguish the journalists' case from the political realm and temper an international image further damaged by the nuclear test.

But now those hopes have been cast into doubt with today's verdict.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean studies, said the world will wait to see how Pyongyang handles its prisoners.

"Now that the results came out from the trial, the next step will be a political pardon and a diplomatic resolution," he said. "It's highly likely that Al Gore will visit Pyongyang as early as late this week."

news20090608NYT

[Today's Newspaper] from [The New York Times]

[Asia Pacific]
U.S. Weighs Intercepting North Korean Shipments

By DAVID E. SANGER
Published: June 7, 2009

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration signaled Sunday that it was seeking a way to interdict, possibly with China’s help, North Korean sea and air shipments suspected of carrying weapons or nuclear technology.

The administration also said it was examining whether there was a legal basis to reverse former President George W. Bush’s decision last year to remove the North from a list of states that sponsor terrorism.

The reference to interdictions — preferably at ports or airfields in countries like China, but possibly involving riskier confrontations on the high seas — was made by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. She was the highest-ranking official to talk publicly about such a potentially provocative step as a response to North Korea’s second nuclear test, conducted two weeks ago.

While Mrs. Clinton did not specifically mention assistance from China, other administration officials have been pressing Beijing to take such action under Chinese law.

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” Mrs. Clinton said the United States feared that if the test and other recent actions by North Korea did not lead to “strong action,” there was a risk of “an arms race in Northeast Asia” — an oblique reference to the concern that Japan would reverse its long-held ban against developing nuclear weapons.

So far it is not clear how far the Chinese are willing to go to aid the United States in stopping North Korea’s profitable trade in arms, the isolated country’s most profitable export. But the American focus on interdiction demonstrates a new and potentially far tougher approach to North Korea than both President Clinton and Mr. Bush, in his second term, took as they tried unsuccessfully to reach deals that would ultimately lead North Korea to dismantle its nuclear arsenal.

Mr. Obama, aides say, has decided that he will not offer North Korea new incentives to dismantle the nuclear complex at Yongbyon that the North previously promised to abandon.

“I’m tired of buying the same horse twice,” Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates said last week while touring an antimissile site in Alaska that the Bush administration built to demonstrate its preparedness to destroy North Korean missiles headed toward the United States. (So far, the North Koreans have not successfully tested a missile of sufficient range to reach the United States, though there is evidence that they may be preparing for another test of their long-range Taepodong-2 missile.)

In France on Saturday, Mr. Obama referred to the same string of broken deals, telling reporters, “I don’t think there should be an assumption that we will simply continue down a path in which North Korea is constantly destabilizing the region and we just react in the same ways.” He added, “We are not intending to continue a policy of rewarding provocation.”

While Mr. Obama was in the Middle East and Europe last week, several senior officials said the president’s national security team had all but set aside the central assumption that guided American policy toward North Korea over the past 16 years and two presidencies: that the North would be willing to ultimately abandon its small arsenal of nuclear weapons in return for some combination of oil, nuclear power plants, money, food and guarantees that the United States would not topple its government, the world’s last Stalinesque regime.

Now, after examining the still-inconclusive evidence about the results of North Korea’s second nuclear test, the administration has come to different conclusions: that Pyonyang’s top priority is to be recognized as a nuclear state, that it is unwilling to bargain away its weapons and that it sees tests as a way to help sell its nuclear technology.

“This entirely changes the dynamic of how you deal with them,” a senior national security aide said.

While Mr. Obama is willing to reopen the six-party talks that Mr. Bush began — the other participants are Japan, South Korea, Russia and China — he has no intention, aides say, of offering new incentives to get the North to fulfill agreements from 1994, 2005 and 2008; all were recently renounced.

“Clinton bought it once, Bush bought it again, and we’re not going to buy it a third time,” one of Mr. Obama’s chief strategists said last week, referring to the Yongbyon plant, where the North reprocesses spent nuclear fuel into bomb-grade plutonium.

While some officials privately acknowledged that they would still like to roll back what one called North Korea’s “rudimentary” nuclear capacity, a more realistic goal is to stop the country from devising a small weapon deliverable on a short-, medium- or long-range missile.

In conducting any interdictions, the United States could risk open confrontation with North Korea. That prospect — and the likelihood of escalating conflict if the North resisted an inspection — is why China has balked at American proposals for a resolution by the United Nations Security Council that would explicitly allow interceptions at sea. A previous Security Council resolution, passed after the North’s first nuclear test, in 2006, allowed interdictions “consistent with international law.” But that term was never defined, and few of the provisions were enforced.

North Korea has repeatedly said it would regard any interdiction as an act of war, and officials in Washington have been trying to find ways to stop the shipments without a conflict. Late last week, James B. Steinberg, the deputy secretary of state, visited Beijing with a delegation of American officials, seeking ideas from China about sanctions, including financial pressure, that might force North Korea to change direction.

“The Chinese face a dilemma that they have always faced,” a senior administration official said. “They don’t want North Korea to become a full nuclear weapons state. But they don’t want to cause the state to collapse.” They have been walking a fine line, the official said, taking a tough position against the North of late, but unwilling to publicly embrace steps that would put China in America’s camp.

To counter the Chinese concern, Mr. Steinberg and his delegation argued to the Chinese that failing to crack down on North Korea would prompt reactions that Beijing would find deeply unsettling, including a greater American military presence in the region and more calls in Japan for that country to develop its own weapons.

Mrs. Clinton seemed to reflect this concern in the interview on Sunday. “We will do everything we can to both interdict it and prevent it and shut off their flow of money,” she said. “If we do not take significant and effective action against the North Koreans now, we’ll spark an arms race in Northeast Asia. I don’t think anybody wants to see that.”

While Mrs. Clinton also said the State Department was examining whether North Korea should be placed back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, she acknowledged that there was a legal process for it. “Obviously we would want to see recent evidence of their support for international terrorism,” she said.

That evidence may be hard to come by. While North Korea has engaged in missile sales, it has not been linked to terrorism activity for many years. And North Korea’s restoration to the list would be largely symbolic, because it already faces numerous economic sanctions.

news20090608WP

[Today's Newspaper] fom [The Washington Post]

[Business Policy]
U.S. Will Let Some Banks Repay Aid
Move Doesn't Signal Economic Recovery, Officials Caution

By Binyamin Appelbaum and David Cho
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, June 8, 2009

The Obama administration plans to announce as soon as today that some of the nation's largest banks can repay billions in federal aid, but some officials caution that the show of progress is being underwritten by multiple layers of less visible government support.

Through cheap loans, debt guarantees and a promise that big banks will not be allowed to fail, these officials say the government has created an artificial environment in which profits and stock prices have rebounded, helping banks in recent weeks to raise about $50 billion from private investors.

The money allows the strongest banks to return federal aid provided at the peak of the fall financial crisis, but few banks have expressed eagerness for the government to end the other forms of support, creating concern that these programs will be habit-forming and more difficult to terminate.

As a result, independent experts warn that the government's relationship with the industry is entering a precarious new phase. As with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government will no longer share in the banks' profits, but it still stands ready to absorb losses.

"It's good from an individual investor point of view, it's great for the banks, but from a system point of view it's very dangerous," said Simon Johnson, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund.

The Treasury Department has invested about $200 billion in more than 600 banks under its financial rescue program, to patch problems, facilitate mergers and provide support for new lending.

In recent months, more banks have sought permission to return the money, to avoid restrictions such as limits on executive pay and to show renewed strength. The administration has allowed about 20 smaller banks to do so. It now plans to announce a list of large banks that can join them. J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and American Express are among the firms that expect to be on it.

Officials say they now are confident that the strongest banks no longer need the money, and they want to provide those banks with a public vote of confidence. The officials caution, however, that repayments should not be seen as evidence of economic recovery. Consumer demand remains weak. Unemployment continues to rise. It is still highly likely that the economy will contract during the second quarter.

Banks are recovering more quickly than the overall economy thanks to an array of targeted government rescue programs. The Federal Reserve has made more than $1 trillion in emergency loans. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is helping banks borrow money by promising to repay investors if a bank defaults. And the administration has insisted that it will not allow large banks to fail, for fear of the collateral damage. Treasury officials say these efforts were critical to limit the number of bank failures and the scale of the financial crisis.

In allowing banks to return one form of government support, the direct investments, the administration has sought multiple assurances that the companies will not regret the decision. Regulators conducted stress tests on 19 of the largest banks to determine whether they had sufficient capital reserves to absorb likely losses. The nine banks that passed then were required to raise additional money from private investors.

Banks also were required to issue debt to private investors, without a government guarantee of repayment, to show that they can raise more money if necessary.

But allowing repayments is still a gamble, said Douglas Elliott, a finance specialist at the Brookings Institution.

"The fact that the regulators feel good enough to take the money back is clearly more confirmation that they're feeling good about things. But they could be wrong," Elliott said. "There's still a lot of potential for this to turn out to be a significantly worse problem than it appears to be at the moment."

The government also is foregoing billions of dollars in revenue. The investments were structured as five-year loans that paid an annual interest rate of 5 percent. J.P. Morgan, for example, which accepted $25 billion, would have paid the government up to $1.25 billion a year.

Still, almost no prominent voices have raised opposition to the repayments. Congress is eager to pull away from an unpopular program, and the administration is eager to show that its strategy has worked. Even critics such as Johnson say the government's focus now should turn to long-term changes, such as limitations on executive compensation for all banks.

The repayments are viewed by some administration officials as vindicating a decision made last year by then-Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr.; Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke; and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, who was then president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. After Congress allocated $700 billion to purchase banks' troubled assets, that group instead decided to invest the money directly in banks.

At the time, officials believed that stabilizing the banks was a critical first step, but it still might be necessary for the government to help banks sell devalued mortgage loans, mortgage-related securities and other toxic assets. In particular, officials warned that private investors would not return until banks scrubbed their balance sheets.

Officials acknowledge that the investments have succeeded in part because of the wide range of other federal programs bolstering the banks. But they increasingly believe that additional efforts may not be necessary.

The government has shelved a plan to finance the investor purchases of mortgage loans, and officials are working with less urgency on a plan to finance the purchase of securities. The administration's view of these programs has shifted, officials said. Rather than critical steps, they are now regarded as insurance in case banks fall back into trouble.

news20090608GDN

[News > Environment] from [The Guardian]

[Environment Climate Change]
Bonn: Tax on rich nations' ships and planes could fund climate aid
A levy on rich nations' international flights and shipping fuel could fund climate change adaptation in poorer countries under international global warming deal, conference hears

John Vidal, environment editor
guardian.co.uk, Monday 8 June 2009 00.05 BST
Article history

Britain and other rich countries could be asked to accept a levy on international flight tickets to raise billions of dollars to help the world's poorest nations adapt to climate change under an international global warming deal.

The suggestions come at the start of the second week in the latest round of UN climate talks in Bonn, where 192 countries are starting to negotiate a global agreement to limit and then reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The issue of funding for adaptation is both critical to success but the hardest to agree.

The aviation levy, expected to increase the price of long-haul fares by less than 1%, would raise $10bn a year. It has been proposed by the world's 50 least developed countries. It could be matched by a compulsory surcharge on all international shipping fuel, said Connie Hedegaard, the Danish environment and energy minister who will host the final UN climate summit in Copenhagen in December.

"People are beginning to understand that innovative ideas could generate a lot of money. The Danish shipping industry, which is one of the world's largest, has said a truly global system would work well. Denmark would endorse it," said Hedegaard.

In Bonn last week, a separate Mexican proposal to raise billions of dollars was gaining ground. The idea, known as the "green fund" plan would oblige all nations to pay amounts according to a formula reflecting the size of their economy, greenhouse gas emissions and population.

That could ensure that rich countries, with the longest history of industrial use of fossil fuels, pay most.

Recently, the proposal won praise from 17 major economy nations meeting in Paris as a possible mechanism to help finance a UN pact. US special envoy for climate change, Todd Stern, called it "highly constructive".

The Bonn meeting is the first climate meeting at which countries are discussing texts. These cover greenhouse gas reduction and financing developing nations' efforts to combat climate change.

Analysts last night said the talks were most likely to stall over money. Developing countries, backed by the UN, argue that they will need hundreds of billions of dollars a year to adapt themselves to climate-related disasters, loss of crops and water supplies, which they are already experiencing as temperatures rise. Yet so far, as a Guardian investigation revealed in February, rich countries have pledged only a few billion dollars and have provided only a few hundred million.

"Developing countries will no longer let themselves be sidelined. In the past, they have been brought on board [climate negotiations] by promises of financial support. But all they got was the creation of a couple of funds that stayed empty. Developing countries will not settle for more 'placebo funds'", said Benito Müller, director of Oxford university Institute for Energy Studies.

Saleemul Huq, of the International Institute for Environment and Development, said that until rich countries make serious pledges, the rest of the negotiations will suffer because it will be impossible to agree actions without knowing how they will be funded.

Last week US negotiator Jonathan Pershing said that the US had budgeted $400m to help poor countries adapt to climate change as an interim measure. But this was dismissed as inadequate by Bernarditas Muller of the Philippines, coordinator of the G77 and China group of countries.


[Environment Wildlife]
Out with the new, in with the old as Britain's native species return
The first great bustards born in the wild in the UK since 1832 hatched last week. The reintroduction of this and many other species is invigorating the countryside, but eradicating foreign invaders - animals and plants - is equally important

Robin McKie, science editor
The Observer, Sunday 7 June 2009
Article history

It has been a fine week for David Walters. After 10 years' work, and the investment of more than £100,000 of his own cash, his great bustard project reaped rich dividends last Sunday. Two of the birds that he had reintroduced from Russia to Britain were found to have hatched chicks. "They are the first British bustards to be born in 177 years," he announced proudly last week.

The bustard project is remarkable for the efforts of Walters, a former Wiltshire policeman. It is also striking because it is one of several recent species reintroductions that have been achieved by ecologists trying to reinvigorate the nation's biodiversity. Other successes include the red kite, the white-tailed eagle and the beaver.

Now follow-up plans are being prepared for the short-haired bumblebee, the hen harrier and the corncrake. However, none is likely to match Walter's bustard reintroductions on Salisbury Plain for the commitment of its organiser.

"People spend huge sums of money on holidays to the Galápagos or Tanzania to see exotic animals," said Walters. "But a great bustard, apart from having a smashing name, is an extraordinary bird. It has an 8ft wingspan and looks like a crane on steroids. And when the male displays, it just about turns itself inside out. As a flagship for UK wildlife reintroductions it is simply unbeatable. I had to bring it back to Britain."

The great bustard was wiped out by the spread of intensive farming and the attentions of bird-egg collectors in the early 19th century. The red kite and white-tailed eagle followed a little later, finished off by hill farmers and gamekeepers who thought these predators were killing their animals. In fact, they live more on carrion than on catching their own prey. "However, we have a more enlightened attitude today, so we think it is safe to bring them back," said Graham Madge of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

The ultimate aim is to return the British countryside to a richer and more diverse state. But just as it is important to reintroduce lost species, it is also vital to control foreign invaders endangering existing indigenous plants and animals, say ecologists. A key example is provided by the grey squirrel. An American import, it is now driving our native red squirrel to extinction. Last week, the Country Land and Business Association called for a government cull because, it said, grey squirrels were destroying our broad-leaved woods by damaging the bark of maturing trees.

Then there is the Japanese knotweed, which costs the nation tens of millions of pounds a year to clear up. "It was introduced by Victorians to give colour to their gardens, but has gone from being a prizewinner to a pariah," said Dr Richard Shaw, a principal investigator at the Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International. "It is the biological equivalent of concrete."

Knotweed forms thick, suffocating layers while similar plant pests - such as the Himalayan balsam and floating pennywort - are also having a disastrous impact, Shaw said. Pennywort covers ponds, streams and rivers with the result that they lose their oxygen and fish can no longer breathe. It strangles native plants, but provides no sustenance for our insects. Their numbers plunge, as do populations of birds that feed off them.

These invaders are having the same impact on wildlife as gamekeepers had on the red kite and white-tailed eagle in the 19th century, in other words. Hence the plan by Defra and other government agencies to wage war on the Japanese knotweed - by introducing the plant's native predator, the jumping plant louse, to Britain. The louse lays eggs on the plant and the hatched larvae suck out its sap.

"We tested more than 180 native species of insects found on knotweed in Japan and picked the jumping plant louse because it was the only one that is specific to the Japanese knotweed," said Shaw. "That means it will not spread to other plant species."

Nevertheless, the move does mean that another non-native species could soon be introduced to Britain, albeit one that has been carefully studied and tested. This raises key questions about what kind of wildlife we want for Britain and the measures we are prepared to take to ensure that it is kept healthy and diverse.

Why should we reintroduce beavers or red kites or import insects to kill off invaders such as Japanese knotweed? The answer is simple, according to Andrew Wood, of Natural England, the government's environment advisers. "The more diversity, the healthier the environment," he said.

"If you think about the plants we exploit for food, the fewer we have, the more we are exposed to the dangers of crop disease, for example. Then there is the issue of the relationships between species. You need top predators such as the white-tailed eagle to help keep down populations of small mammals, or red kites to clean up carrion. And then there is the role of an animal in a specific area - such as the beaver. They keep woods well channelled with waterways that act as natural purification systems. So, yes, we have a great deal to gain from reintroductions and by keeping our wildlife as diverse as possible."

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[Today's Paper] from [Slate Magazine]

12 Years of Hard Labor for Journalists in North Korea

By Daniel Politi
Posted Monday, June 8, 2009, at 6:41 AM ET

The Los Angeles Times (LAT) devotes its top nonlocal spot to late-breaking news that after a two-day trial, the two American journalists currently being held in North Korea were convicted of a "grave crime" against the state and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor. Laura Link and Euna Lee of Current TV were tried by the nation's highest court, so there's no appeal, but most seem to agree the isolationist regime will be using the journalists as bargaining chips with Washington. The New York Times (NYT) leads with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mentioning that the administration is looking into ways that the international community could interdict suspicious North Korean cargo. Officials say the White House is trying to get China to cooperate in the efforts. Clinton also said the administration will consider whether to reinstate North Korea into the list of state sponsors of terrorism. The Washington Post (WP) leads with word that the White House is getting ready to announce that some large banks can pay back billions of dollars they received in direct federal aid. That doesn't mean trouble is over for the banks, since they're still receiving "multiple layers of less visible government support," which some are warning could prove even trickier to end.

USA Today (USAT) leads with a look at how in almost all of the serious accidents involving regional airlines over the past 10 years, at least one of the pilots had failed numerous skills tests. In major airlines, only one of the pilots involved in the serious accidents over the past 10 years had failed the tests more than once. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) leads its world-wide newsbox with voters across Europe choosing to punish their ruling parties in European parliamentary and local elections. Left-wing parties once thought they could benefit from the continent's economic woes and rising unemployment, but voters sent them a chilling message by voting for far-right candidates in record numbers. That is, if they bothered to vote at all. Turnout fell to a record low of 43.4 percent.

Many believe that the North Korean government is using the journalists to force the Obama administration to agree to one-on-one talks. And while North Korean experts didn't find the verdict surprising, they still said that the length of the sentence was more than most expected. "It was beyond expectations, but no matter what they are doing, they have no choice but to release them in the end," one expert said. Some speculate North Korea won't agree to release them until Washington sends a high-profile envoy to Pyongyang to plead their case. Speculation continues that former Vice President Al Gore, a co-founder of Current TV, will be traveling to North Korea soon.

Now that some of the nation's biggest banks will be allowed to pay back the direct federal aid they received at the height of the financial crisis, the financial industry's relationship with the government is about to enter "a precarious new phase," declares the Post. The government won't be able to benefit monetarily from the banks if they manage a profit but will still be forced to step in to prevent losses. So far, the government has allowed only 20 smaller banks to pay back the money but now will say that a number of larger banks will be able to do so as well. That means the government will be giving up billions in potential revenue from the loans while implicitly guaranteeing that none of the large banks will be allowed to fail. But in a testament to how unpopular the program really is, no prominent officials have spoken up against the repayment plan.

The NYT off-leads new details about the administration's new compensation czar, who will have to approve any changes in executive pay in companies that have received more than two rounds of federal aid. But even companies that didn't receive any federal aid, or have paid it back, will still be subjected to stricter oversight on their compensation structures. The Treasury Department would apparently allow regulators to force a bank to change its compensation structure if it is found to encourage too much risk. These rules would apply to pretty much all financial companies, not just those that took federal aid.

The WSJ is alone in fronting preliminary results from Lebanon's election that show the American-backed coalition managed to maintain its parliamentary majority, a surprising outcome, since many expected that a Hezbollah-led bloc would be victorious. The election "had been billed as a showdown between Tehran and Washington for influence in the Middle East," notes the NYT. The results might have been affected by the 53 percent turnout rate, which was much higher than anyone was expecting. Perhaps Obama played a part as well: Hezbollah quickly dismissed his Cairo address even though many Muslims responded positively. Whatever the reasons, there is a sigh of relief coming out of Foggy Bottom as the defeat of Hezbollah appears to give Obama more leeway to pursue his Middle East peace initiative. "Lebanon is taken as a window for the advances Iran has made in the region," one U.S. official said. "If Hezbollah had achieved a majority, it would have added to our concerns significantly."

Taking advantage of new ethics rules that require lobbyists to report any payment made for an event or to a group that is associated with a lawmaker or top official, USAT crunches the data and reports that in 2008 that number totaled $35.8 million. More than three-quarters of the money went to nonprofit groups. It shows how lobbyists have continued to find ways to gain favor with lawmakers and government officials despite the ban on gifts and limits on campaign contributions.

On the WP's op-ed page, Max Stier, the head of the Partnership for Public Service, writes that it is typical of Washington leaders to try to deal with a crisis by reorganizing government. The Obama administration is up to it again and wants to overhaul the whole financial regulatory system and create one huge regulator. It's possible that the system does need to restructured, but such overhauls need to be done carefully and must not distract from the real problems. "When government fails, it typically has little to do with the way an agency is organized and almost everything to do with the performance of senior leadership at federal agencies, their ability to effectively manage the people working under them and the culture of the agencies," he writes.

The NYT takes a look at how Williamsburg, the perpetually hip Brooklyn neighborhood that has undergone one of the "city's most radical gentrifications in recent years," is "showing signs of trouble," largely because parents can't afford to subsidize the lives of twentysomething residents as they used to. An owner of a store in the neighborhood said he has seen an increase in applicants who are in their late 20s and have never had paid jobs. Some applicants apparently walk out when they hear the job requirements. "They say, 'You want me to work eight hours?' " he said. "There is a bubble bursting."