Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has ordered an investigation into a device used to detect bombs at checkpoints, after the devices were banned from export in Britain and labelled useless by United States forces. The ADE651 device, known as the ‘magic wand’, uses a series of interchangeable credit card size paper cards said to be…
Senators at odds over early release of Liberal RCMP report
OTTAWA — Liberals and Conservative senators are locked in a dispute about the pending release of a report that is deeply critical of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and calls for at least 5,000 new officers to help boost the national force. The Liberal majority on the Senate national security committee, which is dissolved while…
Israel ‘to keep’ parts of West Bank (Al Jazeera)
Israeli prime minister has reaffirmed his country’s commitment to retaining parts of the occupied West Bank, undermining US efforts to restart talks aimed at eventually establishing a Palestinian state. During a tree planting ceremony in a West Bank settlement, Binyamin Netanyahu said that parts of the territory would be kept by Israel under any final peace agreement reached…
Russia-US ‘close to nuclear deal’ (Al Jazeera)
Russia and the United States are close to agreeing a new pact to reduce their Cold War arsenals of nuclear weapons, the Russian president has said. Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that he is “optimistic for the conclusion of the deal” to succeed the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), which expired last month. More…
Upheaval in Green party over May leadership (National Post)
OTTAWA — Green party Leader Elizabeth May has come under attack by senior members of her own party who are upset with her management of the organization and fear she is trying to avoid a mandatory leadership review that party rules say must be held this year. Canwest News Service has learned that at least…
China’s Zero-Carbon City Dongtan Delayed, But Not Necessarily Dead, Says Planner (Treehugger)
Last year, I wrote a post mourning the demise of one of the world’s most exciting construction projects: an ecologically sustainable city for half a million people off the coast of Shanghai called Dongtan. The idea was ambitious: a city without a landfill or cars, producing its own renewable electricity and generating zero carbon emissions. Originally…
Rich nations urged to provide $10bn in climate funds (BBC)
Brazil, China, India and South Africa have urged wealthy nations to hand over $10bn (£6bn) pledged to poor nations in 2010 to fight climate change. The group – known as Basic – said the money must be available at once “as proof of their commitment” to address the global challenge. More at BBC
NY Times Calls on Obama to Lead on Climate Bill. Will He Listen? (Treehugger)
The next few months, beginning with President Obama’s upcoming State of the Union speech, will be big ones for any effort to put a price on carbon in this country. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid has signaled his willingness to have a floor vote on climate this spring, and Sens. Kerry, Leiberman, and Graham are…
Shell Faces Legal Fight Over Arctic Wells (Common Dreams)
Royal Dutch Shell‘s controversial plans to drill for billions of barrels of oil in the Arctic’s environmentally sensitive frozen waters face a potentially damaging legal challenge An alliance of conservation and Alaskan indigenous groups has filed a legal claim to prevent Shell drilling for oil this year in the Arctic Ocean’s Chukchi Sea. Two years ago,…
Why We Need to Subsidize Journalism. An Exclusive Interview with Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols.
I have doubts about this approach. I certainly respect the value of good journalism but I fear that this would, in some cases, subsidize people who simply refused to adapt and would also cause government interference with journalist. Still, all points of view should be considered when discussing what to do when news organizations are…