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Ed Webb

Key oil figures were distorted by US pressure, says whistleblower | Environment | The G... - 0 views

  • The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency who claims it has been deliberately underplaying a looming shortage for fear of triggering panic buying.The senior official claims the US has played an influential role in encouraging the watchdog to underplay the rate of decline from existing oil fields while overplaying the chances of finding new reserves.
  • John Hemming, the MP who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on peak oil and gas, said the revelations confirmed his suspicions that the IEA underplayed how quickly the world was running out and this had profound implications for British government energy policy.He said he had also been contacted by some IEA officials unhappy with its lack of independent scepticism over predictions. "Reliance on IEA reports has been used to justify claims that oil and gas supplies will not peak before 2030. It is clear now that this will not be the case and the IEA figures cannot be relied on," said Hemming."This all gives an importance to the Copenhagen [climate change] talks and an urgent need for the UK to move faster towards a more sustainable [lower carbon] economy if it is to avoid severe economic dislocation," he added.
Ed Webb

The Associated Press: EU fails to end African boycott at climate talks - 0 views

  • About 50 African nations have boycotted some meetings since Monday evening at the U.N. climate talks in Barcelona. The talks are meant to prepare for next month's major climate convention in Copenhagen.
Ed Webb

Bomb hits outside suspected Pakistani nuclear-weapons site | McClatchy - 0 views

  • A suicide bomber attacked a suspected nuclear-weapons site Friday in Pakistan, raising fears about the security of the nuclear arsenal
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    Can you hear the sound of Scott Sagan saying "I told you so"?
Ed Webb

Pakistanis to Clinton: War on terror is not our war | McClatchy - 0 views

  • Prominent women and tribesmen from the North West Frontier Province delivered the same hostile message that she'd heard the two preceding days from students and journalists: Pakistanis aren't ready to endorse American friendship despite an eight-year-old anti-terrorism alliance between the countries and a multi-billion-dollar new U.S. aid package.
  • "We are fighting a war that is imposed on us. It's not our war. It is your war," journalist Asma Shirazi told Clinton during the women's meeting. "You had one 9-11. We are having daily 9-11s in Pakistan."
  • "The problem is that we want American dollars but we, as a country, hate Americans," Abida Hussain, a former Pakistani ambassador to Washington, told McClatchy. "We're not perfect, but we want the Americans to be perfect."
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Islamabad routinely protests the strikes, even though the Pakistani military secretly co-operates with them. Pakistani officials are unwilling to explain the rationale; the government here rarely defends the American relationship.
Ed Webb

Secretary-General encouraged by deal resolving political crisis in Honduras - 0 views

  • Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said that he is encouraged by news that an agreement has been reached to resolve the political crisis in Honduras that began when President José Manuel Zelaya was ousted from power in June.
Ed Webb

Lebanese to Israel: Hands off our hummus! - Haaretz - Israel News - 3 views

  • a simmering war over regional cuisine between Lebanon and Israel
  • Lebanese businessmen accuse Israel of stealing a host of traditional Middle Eastern dishes, particularly hummus, and marketing them worldwide as Israeli
  • The issue of food copyright was raised last year by the head of Lebanon's Association of Lebanese Industrialists, Fadi Abboud, when he announced plans to sue Israel to stop it from marketing hummus and other regional dishes as Israeli. But to do that, Lebanon must formally register the product as Lebanese. The association is still in the process of collecting documents and proof supporting its claim for that purpose. Lebanese industrialists cite, as an example, the lawsuit over feta cheese in which a European Union court ruled in 2002 the cheese must be made with Greek sheep and goats milk to bear the name feta. That ruling is only valid for products sold in the EU.
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    potentially bad news for companies like Sabra... talk about marketing regional dishes as Israeli. too bad; last I heard, Sabra hummus is relatively popular. haha
Ed Webb

U.N. lowers expectations for Copenhagen climate deal: Scientific American - 1 views

  • recently U.N. officials and diplomats have said privately that it is unlikely a legally binding deal on reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be clinched at the Copenhagen summit. They have suggested that the most that could be expected was a nonbinding political declaration.
Ed Webb

BBC NEWS | Europe | Democracy loses support in Russia - 2 views

  • A growing number of Russians believe their country does not need democracy, a nationwide survey by one of Russia's leading polling agencies suggests.
Ed Webb

Gazprom strikes preliminary gas deal with China - Yahoo! News - 0 views

  • China and Russia signed a framework agreement Tuesday that could see a steady flow of natural gas to energy-hungry China from its resource-rich neighbor. It was one of numerous trade and military agreements signed during a state visit by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the countries overcome traditional mistrust to push ahead mutual economic interests.
  • Other deals included Chinese companies making investments in construction industry facilities in Russia, Zhukov said. "Naturally, the Chinese are interested in getting (ownership) stakes," he said without giving any details.
  • an agreement on advance notification for planned ballistic missile launches by either country.
Ed Webb

The Associated Press: New Iran sanctions could strengthen Rev. Guard - 1 views

  • Tougher sanctions against Iran that the U.S. and its allies are considering to pressure it over its nuclear program might only strengthen its hard-line president and the Revolutionary Guard, boosting the elite force's economic and political muscle, experts warn.
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    How effective are sanctions? What can be the unintended consequences?
Ed Webb

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | The paradox of North Korea - 0 views

  • North Korea looks across the heavily armed border to its South Korean neighbour, backed by a nuclear superpower, the United States.
  • With the nuclear powers China and Russia on its other border, one of the world's most isolated and friendless countries believes it has a strong and compelling logic for wanting its own atomic bombs.
  • This may be a deeply authoritarian and impoverished place, but at least some of its citizens appear genuinely proud and defiant. Upon whatever it is based, it is that strand of legitimacy, as much as the physical controls, that has helped make North Korea so resilient for so long.
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