Haaretz
PM leaning toward razing homes of Gaza evacuees
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is leaning toward sticking to an earlier decision to demolish the homes of the settlers who will be evacuated from the Gaza Strip, according to cabinet sources.
The decision to tear down the houses was made a year ago, following Sharon's defeat in the poll among Likud members. A demolition was intended to prevent Palestinians from "dancing on the rooftops" after the settlers' evacuation.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/573367.html
Ministers may ease citizenship terms for Palestinian spouses
By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondent
The ministerial committee for legislation is set to approve Sunday proposed changes in the Citizenship Law that would allow dozens of mixed Israeli-Palestinian couples to continue or begin family unification procedures to acquire Israeli citizenship for the Palestinian partner.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/573602.html
Abu Mazen could do a lot more
By Ze'ev Schiff
As long as the Qassam rockets and mortar shells fired intermittently from the Gaza Strip to Jewish settlements do not take a toll in lives, it is unlikely that Israel will respond with force. However, if there are casualties, Israel will not be able to stay its hand.
This is also the case if the Palestinians open fire during the disengagement itself. In the history of the Israel Defense Forces, it has never restrained itself, as it has recently, in the face of violence. In any case, the Palestinian firing of Qassams and mortars indicates just how fragile the cease-fire is.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=573064&contrassID=2&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0
COUNT ON MORE BOMBS GOING OFF ! It always happens when there is a prisoner release. The zealots are all pent-up while in prison and they can't wait to martyr.
Israel, PA to discuss criteria for prisoner release
By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press
The joint PA-Israel prisoners committee will meet Sunday to discuss the criteria for the release of 400 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
Representatives of the Palestinian Authority are expected to demand an easing of the criteria, although most Israeli ministers are set to oppose any changes.
Health Minister Dan Naveh (Likud), who serves on the joint committee, said additional prisoners should not be released until Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas acts to stop Qassam rocket attacks on the hard-hit southern city of Sderot, Israel Radio reported Sunday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/573352.html
Islamic Jihad kills Palestinian suspected of collaborating with Israel
By The Associated Press
Militants from the Islamic Jihad on Saturday killed a Palestinian youth suspected of collaborating with Israeli intelligence, the group said.
The body of the 18-year-old youth, identified as Rami al-Malakh, was found outside his village near the West Bank town of Tul Karm.
Residents said Al-Makh had disappeared last night. He was shot to death.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/573366.html
Tel Avivians picnic on the grass on International Marijuana Day
By Tamara Traubman, Haaretz Correspondent
Thousands of people gathered at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv on Saturday to take part in the International Marijuana Day picnic and call for the legalization of marijuana.
"This is a day of protest, to show how peaceful, unaggressive and law-abiding the people who support legalization are," said Lior Lubelski, one of the organizers.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/573365.html
Nazi tribute at German Open causes outrage
By Reuters
BERLIN - A photograph of Nazi Hermann Goering in the program of the German Open tennis tournament and reference to the host club's "golden times" after its Jewish members fled in the 1930s has caused outrage.
The head of Berlin's Jewish community Albert Meyer said on Saturday the passage was a disgrace.
"This article is unthinkably tactless," he told German newspaper Bild.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/573414.html
PM leaning toward razing homes of Gaza evacuees
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is leaning toward sticking to an earlier decision to demolish the homes of the settlers who will be evacuated from the Gaza Strip, according to cabinet sources.
The decision to tear down the houses was made a year ago, following Sharon's defeat in the poll among Likud members. A demolition was intended to prevent Palestinians from "dancing on the rooftops" after the settlers' evacuation.
The sources said over the weekend that no convincing reason had been given for leaving the houses intact, especially since the Palestinian Authority also supports destroying them.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/573367.html
What can Israeli Arabs learn at Ariel?
By Gideon Levy
Three important Arab mayors decided to publish prominent advertisements congratulating the Judea and Samaria Academic College in Ariel after the government of Israel, including the Labor Party, made one of its most disgraceful decisions - to upgrade the college, located in the occupied territories, to the status of a university. As public leaders, the mayors of Tira, Kafr Qasem and Jaljulya not only shamed themselves in their public messages of congratulations, but also the Arab citizens they represent.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/573403.html
The Miami Herald
Family of beheaded American seeks solace
MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA - Relatives of Nicholas Berg, the young American entrepreneur beheaded in Iraq, have taken different paths as they've searched for solace in the year since his death.
His father, Michael Berg, has intensified his anti-war activities and traveled the globe to meet families of other civilians kidnapped or slain in Iraq. His weekly peace vigil at a suburban Philadelphia courthouse and frequent interviews contrast sharply with the response of his wife, Suzanne, who has grieved privately since her son's body was found on a Baghdad street on May 8, 2004.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11592345.htm
Enough's enough on that bride
BY ANA VECIANA-SUAREZ
aveciana@herald.com
Cold feet have never gotten so much attention -- or hot air.
Since a Georgia woman went AWOL days before her wedding, we've been bludgeoned with hours upon hours and words upon words about the bride who claimed she had been abducted and the jilted groom who vowed he will wait for her at the altar forever and ever, or as long as it takes her to walk down the aisle. Now we know more about this couple than we do about our own neighbors.
Enough, please!
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11578028.htm
Seized finger deals man a losing hand
A customer who found a fingertip in his frozen custard won't give it back, thwarting any chance of reattaching the wayward digit.
BY ESTES THOMPSON
Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. - To a dessert shop customer, the severed fingertip found in a pint of frozen custard could be worth big dollars in a potential lawsuit. To the shop worker who lost it, the value is far more than monetary.
But Clarence Stowers still has the digit, refusing to return the evidence to be reattached. And now it's too late for doctors to do anything for 23-year-old Brandon Fizer.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11585999.htm
Giacomo stuns the field to win Kentucky Derby
RICHARD ROSENBLATT
Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Not this time, Nick. Not even with five horses.
Giacomo, a 50-1 shot, defied the odds and won the $2.4 million Kentucky Derby in a gigantic upset Saturday, running down a game Afleet Alex in the final strides and generating a huge payoff.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11587495.htm
Global Warming/Climate Change
Climate Change: Government and Canadian Steel Industry Reach Agreement
HAMILTON, Jan. 10 /CNW Telbec/ - The Government of Canada, the Governmentof Ontario and the Canadian Steel Producers Association today signed aMemorandum of Understanding to work together to address climate change.The agreement sets out short-term and longer-term plans for governmentand industry action to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The steelindustry commits to doing its share to help Canada meet its climate changecommitments, provided this does not undermine the competitiveness of theindustry or result in an unfair burden. The Government of Canada will designemissions-reduction targets that reflect this commitment. It will also joinforces with the industry to develop new low-emissions technologies bycommitting $300,000 to an international research effort.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2005/10/c1248.html
Freak Weather Intensifies Climate Change Debate
By Paul Watson, PA
The devastating floods and gale force winds that swept parts of Britain and killed at least three people have intensified the global warming debate.
With more horrendous weather on the horizon people are left wondering what is causing the atrocious conditions with forecasters warning that more bad weather could again hit the affected areas later this week
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3983671
Watching Earth’s Climate Change in the Classroom
Annual average global warming by the year 2040 simulated and plotted using EdGCM.
College and high school students can now see how Earth’s climate is changing without leaving their computers.
NASA and other organizations use NASA’s global climate computer model (GCM) to see how Earth’s climate is changing. A GCM calculates many things, such as how much sunlight is reflected and absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere, the temperature of the air and oceans, the distribution of clouds, rainfall, and snow, and what may happen to the polar ice caps in the future.
http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/geowissenschaften/bericht-38744.html
Tsunami Highlights Climate Change Risk, Says Scientist
By James Lyons, PA Political Correspondent
The tsunami disaster underlines the threat posed by climate change, Britain’s top scientist said today.
Sir David King came under attack in the United States after saying global warming was a greater threat than terror earlier this year.
But Sir David, the Government’s chief scientific adviser, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he stands by the evaluation.
He said: “What is happening in the Indian Ocean underlines the importance of the Earth’s system to our ability to live safely.
“And what we are talking about in terms of climate change is something that is really driven by our own use of fossil fuels, so this is something we can manage.”
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3945933
Church Leaders say Tsunami Disaster warns of Climate Change
"This was a clear warning on what climate change could do to the world."
Posted: Tuesday, January 4 , 2005, 8:33 (UK)
Amid the earthquake tragedy it has been reported that two senior world church leaders have insisted that political leaders in all countries take the Asian Tsunami disaster as a stark warning of the terror that could become evident through climate change. They maintained that if the world did not give more attention to environmental issues then more tragedies such as the one seen in Asia could follow.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary, Rev Samuel Kobia stated, "This was a clear warning on what climate change could do to the world."
http://www.christiantoday.com/news/church/311.htm
Australia 'gutless' over climate change
January 5, 2005 - 11:49AM
Australia was being half-hearted and gutless about climate change, South Australian Premier Mike Rann said today.
Mr Rann called for a special Council of Australian Government (COAG) meeting on climate change to be held within months.
"In that meeting, as Australian leaders, we should seek an agreement that seriously tackles climate change and commits Australia to ratification of the Kyoto protocol," Mr Rann said today.
"In 2005, we stand at the crossroads.
"We can go along as we are now, burying
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Australia-gutless-over-climate-change/2005/01/05/1104832149102.html
UN's small island meeting unanimously adopts position on climate change, clean energy
Kofi Annan addresses press conference
14 January 2005 – The United Nations meeting on small island developing States concluded today with unanimous agreement that such countries were suffering already from the consequences of climate change, with some seeing a threatening rise in sea levels, and a call to promote the use of renewable energy sources and cleaner fossil fuel technologies as a top priority.
"Adaptation to adverse impacts of climate change and sea-level rise remains a major priority," the delegations said in a document on implementing agreements made in Barbados a decade ago.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=13047&Cr=small&Cr1=island
MP introduces new Bill to tackle climate change
Jan 14 2005
Today Mike Weir, MP for Angus, introduced a Private Members Bill, backed by a coalition including Friends of the Earth, which would boost the use of renewable sources for generating heat. The second reading of the Bill will take place on 4 February 2005. The new law would increase the use of renewable fuel crops such as willow and straw and harness sources such as solar power and ground heat.
Around a third of the UK's demand for energy is for heat. The proposed new law would require a proportion of heating fuel sold in the UK to be sourced from renewable resources so less fossil fuels, such as coal, would be used for heat. It would play a significant role in helping the UK to combat climate change.
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/mp_introduces_new_bill_to_14012005.html
Top global scientific minds meet to study climate change (published on 14-Jan-2005)
Top scientists from the UK and Japan have joined forces to create a super-technology for predicting climate change in the 21st Century.
This unique collaboration will combine the brainpower of top British scientists from the NCAS Centre for Global Atmospheric Modelling (CGAM) and the MET Office's Hadley Centre with Japanese climate experts and cutting edge super-computing technology.
The UK has invested £1.4 million in the initiative, which will run over the next five years and is hoped to significantly advance the science of predicting climate change.
Using the Japanese Earth Simulator supercomputer, one of the world's most powerful machines, the scientists will run the UK's state of the art climate models with the most complex science incorporated to date and at the highest resolution ever.
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=9389&channel=0
New warning over climate change
Researchers have warned that last week's devastating storms may be just a taste of things to come.
Scientists from Thurso and Southampton studied the seas off the west coast of Scotland and predict more frequent storms as result of climate change.
Researchers at Thurso's Environmental Research Institute - part of the UHI Millennium Institute network - and Southampton Oceanography Centre carried out a series of research projects on the impact of the sea on coastal communities and lifeline ferry services in western Scotland and the Western Isles.
http://icdumfries.icnetwork.co.uk/news/nationalnews/headlines/tm_objectid=15085536&method=full&siteid=77296&headline=new-warning-over-climate-change-name_page.html
Sri Lanka and Canada sign MoU on climate change
Wednesday, January 19, 2005, 14:52 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
The MoU signed by the two countries will remain valid for five years.
Jan 19, Colombo: Sri Lanka and Canada have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will facilitate cooperation on climate change initiatives and joint projects to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions.
Environment and Natural Resources Minister A.H.M. Fowzie signed the MoU on behalf of the Sri Lankan government, while Canadian Environment Minister Stephane Dion signed on behalf of the Canadian government.
http://www.colombopage.com/archive/January19145221UN.html
Baby birds in winter sound climate change warning (published on 21-Jan-2005)
Spring has arrived in January this year, providing another warning sign that the UK's climate is changing, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
A young family of song thrushes has been spotted in the middle of winter in Brighton, Sussex, earlier this week.
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=9431&channel=0
Launch of Anglo Japanese Climate Change Initiative
Climate Change on the Agenda as Jack Straw visits Japan
British and Japanese scientists joined forces at the British Embassy in Tokyo recently to formalise a unique and powerful collaboration that will significantly advance the science of predicting climate change for the 21st century. The aim of this five-year partnership is to combine the brainpower of top UK and Japanese climate science experts with cutting-edge supercomputing technology in Japan. The UK is investing £1.4m in this initiative.
The Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, opened the seminar during his bilateral visit to Japan on 19 January. Mr Straw outlined UK plans and aims for climate change during its G8 presidency, including highlighting the importance Japan plays as a partner both on climate change and science.
http://www.oilfiredup.com/news/index.asp?id=277
International report warns of climate change impact
Last Updated 25/01/2005, 08:36:47
A new report to be released today is expected to paint a dire picture for the environment, as a result of global warming.
The study - Meeting the Climate Change Challenge - has been prepared by a task force of senior politicians, business leaders and academics from across the world.
It warns that even a one degree rise in average temperatures will lead to massive climate change and could bring about major droughts, increased disease, a dramatic rise in sea levels and death of forests.
The study says the globe may reach a point of no return in as little as 10 years.
The authors urge all countries in the G8 group of rich nations to generate a quarter of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025, and to form better ties with with leading developing nations such as China.
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/s1288240.htm
THE AMOUNT OF AIRLINE ROUTES SHOULD BE CUT IN HALF AT THE VERY LEAST.
Climate change and the future of air travel
Adapting air travel to ease its impact on the environment
The investigation focuses on how aircraft can avoid creating vapour trails, also known as contrails. These spindly threads of condensation may not seem important but some persist for hours and behave in the same way as high altitude cirrus clouds, trapping warmth in the atmosphere and exacerbating global warming.
Air travel is currently growing at between 3 and 5% per year and cargo transportation by air is increasing by 7% per year. The researchers at Imperial College London are combining predictions from climate change models with air traffic simulations to predict contrail formation and identify ways of reducing it.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-01/eaps-cca012505.php
Alarming results from world's largest climate change study
[Date: 2005-01-27]
The initial results of the largest climate prediction experiment make worrying reading. Greenhouse gases could cause global temperatures to rise by up to 11 degrees Celsius by the middle of the century.
Such a temperature increase is more than double the maximum warming so far considered by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=EN_RCN_ID:23261
Climate change presents tangible threat: Vanuatu President Kelekele
By Royson Willie - Vanuatu Daily Post
Posted Thursday, January 27, 2005
The President of the Republic, Kalkot Matas Kelekele, has stated that adaptation to climate change, variability and sea level change is an urgent need.
He said because the livelihood of the people of Vanuatu and the economy are interwoven, shaped and driven by climate sensitive sectors, the effects of climate and sea level change are already very real and pose a tangible threat to the future socio-economic wellbeing of the country.
http://www.news.vu/en/news/environment/050127-climate-change-presents-tangible-threat.shtml
Tourism,Recreation and Climate Change (Aspects of Tourism S.)
By C.Michael Hall, James Higham
Climate change is one of the major environmental issues facing the world today. As the worlds largest industry tourism both contributes to and will be dramatically affected by climate change. Climate change has been described as a threat greater than terrorism. This book represents the first comprehensive book-level examination of the relationship between tourism and climate change and is of interest not only to students of tourism but to policy makers and the tourism industry who will have to respond to the challenges posed by climate change.
http://www.hospitalitynet.org/book/154000367/114000655.html
Climate change 'disaster by 2026'
Polar bears are at risk of dying out if the Arctic summer sea ice melts
Dangerous levels of climate change could be reached in just over 20 years if nothing is done to stop global warming, a WWF-UK study claims.
At current rates, the Earth will be 2C above pre-industrial levels some time between 2026 and 2060, says a paper by Dr Mark New of Oxford University.
Temperatures in the Arctic could rise by three times this amount, he says.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/4218441.stm
Shell Chair urges UK government to act on climate change
Posted: 31 Jan 2005
Warning against the "angry beast" of climate change, Lord Ron Oxburgh, Chairman of the UK arm of Shell, called for more determined action by the UK government to limit emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Delivering the fourth Greenpeace Business Lecture on 25 January, Lord Oxburgh said that the Shell Group has nothing to fear from the taxation and regulatory changes that are needed to avoid the potentially disastrous consequences of climate change.
He said, "Governments in developed countries need to introduce taxes, regulations or plans such as the European Union carbon trading scheme to increase the cost of emitting carbon dioxide."
http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=2418
RUNAWAY CLIMATE CHANGE POSSIBLE
2.2.2005. 13:52:15
Scientists at a global warming conference in England say they see potential triggers for runaway climate change but admit that when and how they may be unleashed are quite unknown.
The widespread view of climate change is that it would be progressive, which means humans would have enough time to respond to the crisis and plants and animals have a better chance of adapting to its effects.
But scientists at the conference on global warming say there is also the risk of sudden, catastrophic, irreversible and uncontrollable climate change that could be triggered in as-yet unknown conditions.
"There's still a great deal we don't know about these rapid non-linear events," British scientist Sir John Houghton, a leading member of the UN's top panel on global warming, said.
The climate conference opened to renewed concern about the worsening threat of global warming and appeals from Britain to its ally, the United States, not to stand on the sidelines.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=104359®ion=3
concluding...
