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Beijing has reacted angrily to a Pentagon report on China's military power, which claimed it was altering the military balance in Asia. A foreign ministry spokesman called it a "gross distortion of the facts", and urged an end to "Cold War thinking". In its annual report to Congress, the Pentagon said China was developing "disruptive" technologies for nuclear, space and cyber warfare. It could be used to enforce claims over disputed territories, the report said.

Because of their sheer scale, all Canadians are affected by the Tar Sands, no matter where they live. If you live downstream, your water is being polluted and your fish and wildlife may be dangerous to eat. If you live in Saskatchewan you are a victim of acid rain. If you live in BC, "supertankers" may soon be plying your shoreline carrying Tar Sands oil to Asia. If you live in Ontario, you are exposed to harmful emissions from the refining of Tar Sands Oil. And the impacts do not stop at Canada's border - US refineries are re-tooling to handle the dirty oil from Alberta.

A bill to revise the Japan Atomic Energy Agency Law to allow the construction of a site to dispose of low-level radioactive waste passed the House of Councillors on Wednesday. The revised law designates the agency as a body responsible for constructing and managing waste sites. JAEA will draw up a construction plan based on guidelines to be formulated by the Education, Science and Technology Ministry and will start looking at candidate sites for the facility with an eye on starting operations a decade later.

There is no end in sight to the recent strong gains in oil prices, endangering world economic growth and food equilibrium. This prediction is supported by our own modeling, which indicates that prices are more likely to go up than down in the near future. Could this mess have been avoided, why did it come about and what can be done?

June 11 (Bloomberg) -- The world faces an ``oil crisis,'' and the International Energy Agency stands ready to release emergency stockpiles even as the biggest consumers discuss measures to contain spiraling demand, the agency's chief said.

Europe has launched a campaign to triple funding for energy research to 8 billion euros ($11.7 billion) a year in a technology race with China, Japan and the United States, but said industry would have to pay the bulk. "We don't have much choice if we are serious with tackling climate change and remaining competitive," European research commissioner Janez Potocnik told reporters on Wednesday. "In January 2009, U.S. President Obama announced investment in renewable energy and China presented a recovery plan focused on clean technologies," he added. "It is good news... however, it represents quite a challenge for the European position." Solar power should get 16 billion euros over the next decade and up to 30 energy-cutting "Smart Cities" should be built with the backing of around 11 billion euros, said the European Union's executive, the European Commission.

Europe has launched a campaign to triple funding for energy research to 8 billion euros ($11.7 billion) a year in a technology race with China, Japan and the United States, but said industry would have to pay the bulk. "We don't have much choice if we are serious with tackling climate change and remaining competitive," European research commissioner Janez Potocnik told reporters on Wednesday. "In January 2009, U.S. President Obama announced investment in renewable energy and China presented a recovery plan focused on clean technologies," he added. "It is good news... however, it represents quite a challenge for the European position." Solar power should get 16 billion euros over the next decade and up to 30 energy-cutting "Smart Cities" should be built with the backing of around 11 billion euros, said the European Union's executive, the European Commission.

TOKYO --Caved-in roads, warped pipes, washed away cars, and mounds of rubble and earth -- the premises of the Hirono thermal power station of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (TEPCO), located in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, was completely devastated after being struck by the massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11. On March 18, a week after the earthquake, the Denki Shimbun was able to interview three workers of the power plant. While little information has been reported to date as to damage suffered by thermal power plants, the interview provided a glimpse of actual conditions. At the time when the earthquake occurred, the Hirono power station's units 2 and 4 were in operation, units 1, 3 and 5 were off line, and unit 6 was under construction. Units 2 and 4 shut down automatically upon detecting the strong tremor of the earthquake. At the unit 6 construction site, dozens of workers were installing the steel frames of the turbine and boiler buildings. Some of them were working as high as 30 m above the ground. When the workers were shaken by the sudden tremor, they had no option but to cling to the steel frames for the time being. All workers climbed down to the ground and evacuated immediately after the tremor had subsided.