Pacific Leaders Say Climate Will Claim Entire Nations

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Jul 31, 2014

A man displays dried fish for sale at Dong Xuan wholesale
market in Hanoi on July 29, 2014. (Reuters Photo/Kham)

Koror, Palau. Pacific leaders warned on Thursday that entire island nations will disappear under the waves unless action is taken to address climate change.

The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) wrapped up its annual meeting in Palau with a call to action on the issue of global warming, with the 15-nation regional grouping saying there was no excuse not to act to curb climate change.

“We all know the causes of climate change, we know the solutions,” Samoa Prime Minister Sailele Malielegaoi told reporters after releasing a communique from the three-day meeting. “All that is left is decisive action from leaders with the courage to do what needs to be done to save the world.”

Malielegaoi said Pacific island nations, some of which are barely one meter above sea level, were at the forefront of the climate change issue because it was a matter of survival for them.

“The reason for the very strong stance put forward by Pacific island countries is that we are the most vulnerable. Many of our states will disappear under the ocean if climate change is allowed to continue.”

The Forum also demanded an end to overfishing in the Pacific, largely by “distant water” fleets from as far afield as Europe, saying sustainable development was needed in the world’s largest ocean.

“Leaders note with concern the rapid decline of tuna stocks and… [want to] urgently strengthen sustainable fisheries and management plans,” the communique said.

The Pacific tuna industry is worth about $4.0 billion a year annually but relatively little of the money trickles back to Forum countries.

Scientists say tuna stocks are dwindling quickly, with the southern bluefin variety down an estimated 96 percent after decades of overfishing.

The Forum announced it had appointed its first ever female Secretary General, with lawyer and diplomat Meg Taylor of Papua New Guinea taking over from Samoa’s Neroni Slade.

Agence France-Presse

Wrecked Costa Concordia enters Italian port to be scrapped

Yahoo – AFP, July 27, 2014

Wrecked Costa Concordia enters Italian port to be scrapped (AFP)

Genoa (Italy) (AFP) - The wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship limped Sunday into the Italian port of Genoa to be scrapped two and a half years after it capsized in a tragedy that claimed 32 lives.

The hulking vessel about twice the size of the Titanic was towed into the northern port after a four-day, 280 kilometre (175 mile) journey from the disaster site off the Tuscan island of Giglio.

"We can finally breathe a sigh of relief," Italy's Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti told journalists.

Fears the damaged hull would break up under the strain, spilling toxic waste into Europe's biggest marine sanctuary, proved unfounded, and dolphins joined the convoy of environmental experts in welcoming the ship into Genoa.

The once-luxury liner arrived overnight and weighed anchor around two nautical miles (3.6 kilometres) off shore, where engineers attached it to a series of tugboats which manoeuvred it into Genoa's Voltri port at 1000 GMT.

Civil protection agency chief Franco Gabrielli told journalists a high wind was slowing the delicate operation and the ship was not expected to be secured until around 1400 GMT.

Once it is fastened in place, interior furnishings and fittings will be stripped out of the ship to make it light enough to tow into the scrapping area, where it will be divided into three parts for dismantling.

Crowds of curious locals gathered near the port on the outskirts of Genoa at first light, eager to see the remains of the battered ship, which crashed into rocks off Giglio island in January 2012 with 4,229 people from 70 countries on board.

Bad omen

Built in 2005 in the Sestri Ponente Finantieri yard in Genoa, the Concordia was the largest Italian cruise ship in history at the time of its launch -- but was considered unlucky by some from the start.

At a floating ceremony in 2006 attended by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone -- Pope Benedict XVI's number two -- the bottle of champagne swung agaist the hull failed to smash, a bad omen in seagoing lore.

Images of the vast vessel toppled on its side off Giglio in January 2012 went viral around the world, and its captain Francesco Schettino was dubbed Italy's "most hated man" by local media after he escaped in a lifeboat while terrified passengers threw themselves into the icy sea.

Schettino is currently on trial for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning the vessel before all passengers had evacuated.

The salvage operation to recover the Concordia was the biggest ever attempted and is expected to cost in the region of 1.5 billion euros ($2.01 billion).

For Genoa -- former maritime power and home to explorer Christopher Columbus -- the contract to dismantle the ship is a welcome boost in a period of economic crisis, creating hundreds of jobs in the city for a 22-month period.

The remains of the 114,500-tonnes Concordia will not simply be thrown away: over 80 percent of it is expected to be recycled or reused.

Between 40,000 and 50,000 tonnes of steel will be melted down and reused in the construction industry, while undamaged copper wiring, plumbing, plastics, machinery and furniture will recovered and sold on.

Personal belongings recovered on the lower decks will be returned to owners while items such as the ship's piano -- which was being played as the ship hit the rocks -- may end up in a museum.

One of the first tasks will be to search for the body of one of the victims, Indian waiter Russel Rebello, whose remains were never found and may have been trapped in a part of the vessel previously inaccessible to salvage crew.

'Tokyo should no longer be inhabited,' Japanese doctor warns residents regarding radiation

Natural News, David Gutierrez, staff writer, July 21, 2014

Tokyo City View Buildings Roads

(NaturalNews) In an essay addressed to his colleagues, Japanese doctor Shigeru Mita has explained why he recently moved away from Tokyo to restart his practice in western Japan: He believes that Tokyo is no longer safe to inhabit due to radioactive contamination caused by the March 11, 2011, meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The essay, titled "Why did I leave Tokyo?" was published in the newsletter of the Association of Doctors in Kodaira, metropolitan Tokyo.

Soil tests prove contamination

Dr. Mita opens his essay by contextualizing his decision to leave, noting that he had a long history as a doctor in Tokyo.

"I closed the clinic in March 2014, which had served the community of Kodaira for more than 50 years, since my father's generation, and I have started a new Mita clinic in Okayama-city on April 21," he wrote.

Dr. Mita notes that, for the past 10 years, he had been working to persuade the municipal government of Tokyo to stock iodine pills to distribute to the population in the case of a nuclear accident. Dr. Mita's concern had been that an earthquake might trigger a meltdown at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant. All of his requests were rejected, however, under the excuse that there was no reason to expect such an accident.

When the disaster did occur -- albeit at a different plant than Dr. Mita had feared -- Tokyo did not act to protect its population, and still has taken no measures. Yet, based on soil surveys, Dr. Mita noted, "It is clear that Eastern Japan and Metropolitan Tokyo have been contaminated with radiation."

Dr. Mita compares radioactive contamination of the soil (measured in becquerels per kilogram, Bq/kg) in various parts of Tokyo with that observed in various portions of Europe following the Chernobyl disaster.

Prior to 2011, Shinjuku (the region of Tokyo that houses the municipal government) tested at only 0.5-1.5 Bq/kg. Today, levels at nearby Kodaira are at 200-300 Bq/kg.

"Within the 23 districts of Metropolitan Tokyo, contamination in the east part is 1000-4000 Bq/kg and the west part is 300-1000 Bq/kg," Dr. Mita wrote.

For comparison, Kiev (capital of the Ukraine) has soil tested at 500 Bq/kg (Cs-137 only). Following the Chernobyl accident, West Germany and Italy reported levels of 90-100 Bq/kg, and both experienced measurable health effects on their populations.

Dr. Mita notes that the radiation situation in Tokyo is getting worse, not better, due to urban practices of concentrating solid waste in small areas such as municipal dumps and sewage plants. That is why, he says, radiation levels in Tokyo riverbeds have actually been increasing over the prior two years.

"Tokyo should no longer be inhabited, and... those who insist on living in Tokyo must take regular breaks in safer areas," Dr. Mita writes. "Issues such as depopulation and state decline continue to burden the lives of second and third generation Ukrainians and Belarusians today, and I fear that this may be the future of Eastern Japan."

Patients showing radiation-induced sickness

Dr. Mita's essay also chronicles the many cases he has observed of patients presenting with radiation-induced health problems. He notes that, since 2011, he has observed while blood cell counts declining in children under the age of 10, including in children under one year old. In all of these cases, symptoms typically improve if the children move to western Japan. He has similarly observed persistent respiratory symptoms that improve in patients who move away.

Other patients have shown symptoms including "nosebleed, hair loss, lack of energy, subcutaneous bleeding, visible urinary hemorrhage, skin inflammations, coughs and various other non-specific symptoms." He also notes high occurrences of rheumatic muscle symptoms similar to those observed following the Chernobyl disaster.

"Ever since 3.11, everybody living in Eastern Japan including Tokyo is a victim, and everybody is involved," he wrote.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.save-children-from-radiation.org

http://science.naturalnews.com

Japanese farmers bring a cow to the front of the agriculture
ministry in Tokyo, on June 20, 2014

Related Articles:

Angry Japan farmers bring Fukushima cow to Tokyo

"Fast-Tracking" - Feb 8, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Reference to Fukushima / H-bomb nuclear pollution and a warning about nuclear  (> 20 Min)

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“... Japan

Let us talk for a moment about Japan, and then I'll close the day of messages. There are thousands of souls on my side of the veil and they're just fine, more than fine. We have spoken so often of what happens at the Wind of Birth. I told you, before they even came in, they saw the potential. I looked in their eyes. "You may not last long. You know that, don't you? You're coming into this planet and you may not be here very long. And the passing that you will have with your family will not be pleasant, if any ever are. Why would you come in anyway?" I want to tell you what they said. When a soul has the mind of God, it understands fully what generates peace and what generates energy shift. You can clearly see what generates what the planet needs the most when you are about to arrive. So they said, "We're going to be part of one of the biggest compassion events the planet has ever seen." One earthquake, one tsunami. All of those who left that day will change the earth forever. And it already has. It was the same for the last tsunami as well.

Every single one of them on my side of the veil is getting ready to come back. Many old souls were involved, and just for a moment, if they could give you any information, if they could talk to you right now, if they could speak your language and look into your eyes, they would thank you for your compassion for them and those who are left. And they would say, "Be with those family members who are still alive. Enter their hearts every day and give them peace and keep them from crying, because we're OK."

Nuclear Power Revealed

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time.

So in closing, do you understand what you're seeing? You're seeing intelligent design, quantum energy and high consciousness. You are seeing changes in Human nature. You're seeing countries putting things together instead of separating. You are seeing those who don't want war and instead want peace, good schools for their children, safety in their streets and a say in their government. We told you it was going to happen this way. I want my partner to teach these things that I have said in his 3D lectures for awhile. Many won't be able to know these things otherwise.  …”

Report finds gaps in US nuclear disaster plans

Yahoo – AFP, Kerry Sheridan, 24 July 2014

Towers carrying electricity in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania from a

nuclear power plant on March 25, 2011 (AFP Photo/Stan Honda)

Washington (AFP) - US nuclear plants must better prepare for the risk of natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis and floods, said a report Thursday on lessons learned from Japan's Fukushima crisis in 2011.

Current approaches to regulating nuclear safety "are clearly inadequate for preventing core-melt accidents and mitigating their consequences," the report said.

As of now, US safety regulations are based on making sure nuclear plants can withstand equipment failures, loss of power and other malfunctions related to the design of the plant, otherwise known as design-basis events.

TEPCO workers near the stricken

Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant at

 Okuma town in Fukushima prefecture on

 February 28, 2012 (AFP Photo/Yoshikazu

Tsuno)

But history has shown that the biggest nuclear accidents in recent history -- including at Fukushima Daiichi, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl -- "were all initiated by beyond-design-basis events," said the report.

Things like natural disasters, human errors and power outages "have the potential to affect large geographical regions and multiple nuclear plants," said John Garrick, a nuclear engineer and co-author of the report.

"These include earthquakes, tsunamis and other geographically extensive floods and such things as geomagnetic disturbances," Garrick told reporters.

Titled "Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident for Improving the Safety of US Plants," the report was commissioned by Congress from the National Academy of Sciences, a non-governmental group of experts that provides scientific and policy advice.

Call to update plans

The March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami knocked out power to the Fukushima Daiichi plant, causing severe core damage in three reactors, releases of radioactive material, widespread evacuations and the eventual shutdown of all nuclear power plants in Japan.

The report did not find fault with Japan's actions before or after the incident.

Rather, it called for nuclear plants and US nuclear regulators to actively seek out the latest scientific data on risks and revise their plans accordingly.

The United States operates 100 nuclear power reactors, whose safety procedures are overseen by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Nuclear plants should be ready to respond to a wide-spanning natural disaster that could damage infrastructure and disperse radioactive material beyond their 10-mile (16-kilometer) emergency planning zone, the report said.

It cited a number of off-site events that could interfere with electrical power to nuclear operations, from terrorism to human error to geomagnetic disturbances caused by solar storms that interrupt the electrical grid.

"There is some new evidence now that some of these events are not as rare as perhaps we thought," said Garrick.

Better understanding of risks

The report did not include an in-depth examination of US preparedness for a nuclear accident, nor did it set a new safety threshold for whether US nuclear plants should be allowed to operate.

A security boat sits in front of Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant on the Hudson

River on March 22, 2011 in Buchanan, New York (AFP Photo/Don Emmert)

However, it said nuclear plants should examine emergency plans for backup sources of power as well as safety systems for monitoring reactors and spent-fuel pools.

It also recommended improved training for nuclear plant operators who may need to cope with unexpected disasters, and urged the US government to "incorporate modern risk concepts into its nuclear safety regulations."

It is not that the risks of natural disaster are necessarily greater than ever before, but that experts now have a better understanding of their potential impacts, said the study authors.

A number of changes have already been called for in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster, said study director Kevin Crowley.

"Since the accident, in the United States and in many other countries, there have been a great many efforts to understand the lessons and to implement changes," Crowley told reporters.

"It is really too early to know just how they are going to turn out," he said.

Related Articles:

"Fast-Tracking" - Feb 8, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Reference to Fukushima / H-bomb nuclear pollution and a warning about nuclear  (> 20 Min)

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“... Japan

Let us talk for a moment about Japan, and then I'll close the day of messages. There are thousands of souls on my side of the veil and they're just fine, more than fine. We have spoken so often of what happens at the Wind of Birth. I told you, before they even came in, they saw the potential. I looked in their eyes. "You may not last long. You know that, don't you? You're coming into this planet and you may not be here very long. And the passing that you will have with your family will not be pleasant, if any ever are. Why would you come in anyway?" I want to tell you what they said. When a soul has the mind of God, it understands fully what generates peace and what generates energy shift. You can clearly see what generates what the planet needs the most when you are about to arrive. So they said, "We're going to be part of one of the biggest compassion events the planet has ever seen." One earthquake, one tsunami. All of those who left that day will change the earth forever. And it already has. It was the same for the last tsunami as well.

Every single one of them on my side of the veil is getting ready to come back. Many old souls were involved, and just for a moment, if they could give you any information, if they could talk to you right now, if they could speak your language and look into your eyes, they would thank you for your compassion for them and those who are left. And they would say, "Be with those family members who are still alive. Enter their hearts every day and give them peace and keep them from crying, because we're OK."

Nuclear Power Revealed

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time.

So in closing, do you understand what you're seeing? You're seeing intelligent design, quantum energy and high consciousness. You are seeing changes in Human nature. You're seeing countries putting things together instead of separating. You are seeing those who don't want war and instead want peace, good schools for their children, safety in their streets and a say in their government. We told you it was going to happen this way. I want my partner to teach these things that I have said in his 3D lectures for awhile. Many won't be able to know these things otherwise.  …”

Badly decomposed body found in South Korea is fugitive ferry tycoon, say police

Businessman Yoo Byung-un headed family that owns operator of Sewol ferry which sank in April, killing 300

The Guardian, Agencies, Tuesday 22 July 2014

Policemen transport a stretcher with a body believed to be that of Yoo
Byung-un Photograph: Yonhap/Reuters

South Korean police said on Tuesday that a body found last month in the south of the country belonged to a fugitive businessman who headed the family that owned the operator of a ferry that capsized in April, killing more than 300 people.

Police said at a press conference that a badly decomposed body found on June 12 had been identified by DNA evidence as well as fingerprints as that of Yoo Byung-un, who had been the subject of the country's largest manhunt.

The discovery ended a massive, months-long manhunt for the 73-year-old billionaire whose family owns the Sewol ferry operator, Chonghaejin Marine Co.

The heavily decomposed corpse was recovered on June 12 from a plum field in Suncheon, a city 300 kilometres (186 miles) south of Seoul.

Tests matched the DNA of the body to Yoo's elder brother, leading police to believe the body was that of the reclusive billionaire.Yoo went on the run shortly after the 6,825-tonne Sewol capsized and sank on April 16 with 476 people on board, including 325 high school students.

The number of confirmed dead currently stands at 294, with 10 victims still unaccounted for.

The ferry disaster stunned South Korea and unleashed widespread public anger, as it emerged that incompetence, corruption and greed had all contributed to the scale of the disaster.

President Park Geun-Hye and her administration have been bitterly criticised for their response to the tragedy.

The captain and 14 surviving crew members are currently on trial, some of them on charges of wilful homicide which carry the death penalty.

A summons was issued for Yoo shortly after the sinking, but he refused to surrender to police and eventually went on the run.

A reward of 500 million won ($490,000) was offered for information leading to his capture, and 100 million won for that of his eldest son, Yoo Dae-Kyun.

Yoo was wanted for questioning on possible charges of embezzlement and criminal negligence, related to regulatory violations.

Many of his family members have been arrested, including his wife and his brother. A daughter is fighting an extradition bid from Paris.

Earlier this month, South Korean prosecutors filed embezzlement charges against his 71-year-old wife, Kwon Yun-Ja.

The charges were unrelated to the ferry sinking, and involved the alleged embezzlement of money from a splinter religious group established by Kwon's father.

In June, thousands of police officers conducted a raid on a major church complex looking for Yoo.

Great white shark choked by sea lion

Yahoo – AFP, July 17, 2014

Great white shark choked by sea lion (AFP)

Perth (Australia) (AFP) - A great white shark that washed up on an Australian beach this week had a sea lion stuck in its throat which likely caused its death, fisheries officials said Thursday.

The four-metre (13-foot) white pointer was filmed thrashing around just off Coronation Beach, 430 kilometres (270 miles) north of Perth, and was later found on the sand.

The Western Australia Department of Fisheries said it had no visible signs of injury or disease, but had a large sea lion lodged in its throat.

"This could explain why the shark was exhibiting such unusual behaviour in shallow waters off Coronation Beach," said research scientist Rory McAuley in a statement.

"It is possible that the shark was trying to dislodge the blockage.

"Such a large object may have damaged the shark's internal organs or impeded water flow into his gills, contributing to his death," he added.

"Alternatively, the shark may have accidentally become stranded in his attempts to get rid of the obstruction."

Brad Tapper filmed the shark as it struggled in shallow waters and posted the clip on YouTube.

Tapper, who had been at the beach with his children, said a dog walker first noticed the shark when his pet refused to go in the water.

"When we spotted it, it was about 50 metres off the shore. We thought it was a diver or something," he told the West Australian newspaper.

"It was kind of surreal, you're watching it and you don't realise how rare it is at the time until you get home and have a look at the footage."

After it beached itself, some onlookers attempted to drag the shark out to sea using a tow rope, but the animal returned to shore soon after.

"We went to look at it and got within three or four metres of it but it started kicking and thrashing around again so we thought it was time to leave," Tapper said.

CNPC exploratory drilling near Paracels complete

Want China Times, Xinhua and Staff Reporter 2014-07-16

The Chinese oil rig near the Paracel Islands, May 11. (File photo/CNS)

State-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, announced on Tuesday the completion of drilling and exploration off the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

Signs of oil and gas were found in the operation, known as the Zhongjiannan Project, and the company will assess the data collected and decide on the next step, a statement from the company read.

The company started drilling two wells in May and completed the work on the first well on May 27, while drilling on the second well ended Tuesday.

The drilling rig provided by China Oilfield Services will be relocated to operations in Hainan.

Qiu Zhongjian, a geologist from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that the drilling was well organized, as the company fully considered geological hazards, engineering issues and possible typhoons.

He said he was firmly opposed to Vietnam's disruption during China's drilling operations as, he said, the project area lies in the "undisputed sea area of China's Xisha [Paracel] Islands."

Large-scale riots were seen in Vietnam, with looting of businesses identified as Chinese, in response to China's deployment of the oil rig to the area near the islands, which Vietnam claims is in its exclusive economic zone, along with the islands themselves.

Preliminary analysis of the geological data acquired has shown that the area has the basic conditions and potential for oil exploration, but extraction testing cannot begin before a comprehensive assessment of the data, said Wang Zhen, deputy director of the company's Policy Research Office.

For safety reasons, the test operation was not arranged immediately, because July is the beginning of the typhoon season.

While the project may help improve understanding of the engineering and geological issues in the South China Sea, the development of "deep-sea drilling technology" will also bring economic benefits, said Wang.

Police Arrest Alleged Turtle Smuggler in Bali

Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana,  Jul 15, 2014

A Green Sea Turtle grazes. (Wikimedia Commons)

Denpasar. Police foiled an alleged attempt to smuggle rare green turtles from Bali’s mainland to nearby Serangan Island on Tuesday — the latest arrest in a string of turtle smuggling busts to hit the popular tourist destination.

A 56-year-old man, identified as Sangkalan, was arrested early this morning after police officers on patrol in Ngurah Rai found 17 turtles inside his pickup truck, Denpasar Police Chief, Sr.Cmr. Djoko Hariutomo said.

The turtles were estimated to be more than 5 years old, given their size. They weighed about 50 kilograms each and measured about 1 meter in diameter, Djoko said.

Djoko said the driver claimed to have been following an order to transfer the turtles to Serangan, a small island located south of the capital Denpasar, from Jembrana.

“He was just a paid man, we haven’t revealed the syndicate,” the police chief said.

Bali was considered the main destination for smugglers trying to move turtles in Indonesia because of the high prices they commanded in the local animal trade, Djoko said.

Most were destined for culinary purposes.

Today’s arrest is the latest in a string of attempts to smuggle turtles in Bali.

Earlier this month two marine police officers in Bali were arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle seven green sea turtles, known as Chelonia mydas.

In March, police rescued another 17 green turtles transported to Bali from Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara.

Twelve of the turtles were released back into the ocean after they were treated, while the remaining five are still undergoing treatment.

Costa Concordia successfully refloated

Officials say operation in Giglio has proceeded without a hitch in preparation for cruise liner being towed away

theguardian.com, Agencies in Giglio, Monday 14 July 2014

The Costa Concordia after it was refloated off the island of Giglio in Italy.
Photograph: Alessandro La Rocca/AP

The shipwrecked Costa Concordia has been successfully refloated in preparation for towing it away for scrapping.

Authorities expressed satisfaction that the operation to float the Concordia from an underwater platform had proceeded without a hitch early on Monday. The cruise liner struck a reef in January 2012 and capsized, killing 32 people.

Air was pumped slowly into 30 tanks or "sponsons" attached to both sides of the 290-metre, 114,500-tonne Concordia to expel the water inside, raising it two metres (6.5 feet) off the artificial platform it has rested on since it was righted in September.

It will now be towed away from the shore and moored using anchors and cables. Thirty-six steel cables and 56 chains will hold the sponsons in place.

Italy's environmental minister told reporters that the operation would only be finished when the ship was successfully transported to the port of Genoa for scrapping. Towing is set for later this month.

The area is in one of Europe's largest marine sanctuaries – a haven for dolphins and whales – and environmentalists have warned about the dangers of toxic waste or fuel leaking into the sea as the ship is raised and towed.

The Concordia – twice as big as the Titanic – crashed off Giglio on the night of 13 January 2012, forcing many of its 4,229 passengers and crew from 70 countries to jump into the sea as lifeboat pulleys failed.

The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, is on trial for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the vessel before all passengers had evacuated.

The Giglio shopkeeper Silvia said residents were looking forward to "waving farewell to the rusting hulk blighting our once-pristine shoreline".

The wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship during an operation to refloat

the boat on July 14, 2014 off Giglio Island, Italy (AFP Photo/Vincenzo Pinto)

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Costa Concordia floats for first time since shipwreck (+Video)

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Jolie to visit Nauru to check refugee facilities

Yahoo – AFP, 14 July 2014

Angelina Jolie, who has confirmed she will visit Nauru, the island where Australia
sends asylum-seeksers for resettlement, speaks in London on June 13, 2014
(AFP Photo/Carl Court)

Sydney (AFP) - Hollywood star and UN refugee envoy Angelina Jolie has accepted an invitation to visit the small island of Nauru where Australia sends asylum-seekers for processing and resettlement, the government said Monday.

Jolie, a UN goodwill ambassador, was invited by the Pacific island nation's President Baron Waqa when they met at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence Against Women in Conflict in London.

"The government of Nauru can confirm that Angelina Jolie has accepted an invitation by President Baron Waqa to visit our nation," a government spokeswoman told AFP.

"We believe this will be a wonderful opportunity to showcase the facilities for refugees on Nauru, which we believe are world-best practice."

Under Canberra's punitive offshore detention policy, asylum-seekers attempting to arrive by boat are transferred to camps in Nauru or Papua New Guinea for processing and permanent resettlement outside Australia.

Most of those sent to Nauru are families with more than 1,000 people currently held and another 99 having been resettled in the community.

Refugee advocates have been deeply critical of the Australian policy and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees last year slammed the facilities on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island and Nauru.

It said they failed to meet international standards of treatment and amounted to arbitrary detention in breach of international law, while failing to provide an efficient system for assessing refugee claims or safe and humane conditions.

It also noted efforts made to improve conditions on steamy and mosquito-infested Nauru, where people were forced to live in cramped tents with little privacy after riots razed buildings last year.

Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, who rejected the criticism, said Monday the Jolie visit was "a matter for the Nauruan government".

Asked whether he was concerned the visit would shine a light on Australia's treatment of asylum-seekers in Nauru, he told reporters: "I don't plan to respond to any of the assertions you have made."

Nauru said a date for Jolie's trip had yet to be finalised.

Australian rescuers free stranded baby whale

News24 – AFP, 2014-07-10

Sea World marine rescuer workers try to rescue a humpback
 whale beached at Palm Beach on Queensland's Gold Coast.
(Patrick Hamilton, AFP)

Gold Coast - Australian rescuers freed a beached baby whale on Thursday almost two days after it became stranded on a popular beach, as a large crowd of onlookers cheered.

The humpback whale, believed to be two years old, was successfully fitted with a specially designed harness and a boat was used to tow it into deeper waters.

It was the fifth attempt at removing the whale since it washed up on Palm Beach in Queensland State late on Tuesday.

In previous attempts, the rope linked to the harness snapped or the whale got stuck on a sandbar slightly further offshore.

"We were working against the conditions, time was running out on us", Tacha Mulligan, the marine animal supervisor at Queensland's Sea World marine park, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"It was the perfect time to go when we were able to release it. We are cautiously optimistic it will be okay from here on in."

Rescuers had erected marquees to keep the whale cool during the day, while staff from Sea World and Queensland's department of environment and heritage protection cared for it at night.

Mulligan said the whale would be exhausted after being out of the sea for many hours.

"It's been through quite an ordeal", she said, adding that the animal was now in deep water and rescuers would monitor its progress through the day.

Whale beaching are relatively common in Australia, but scientists do not know why they happen.

Humpbacks are currently on their annual southern migration from Antarctica to warmer waters in Queensland State to give birth and mate.

- AFP

UN tribunal rules for Bangladesh in maritime border dispute with India

Bangladesh and India have welcomed the decision of a UN tribunal that established a new maritime border, ending a decades-long dispute. It's thought the ruling will allow more economic exploitation of the Bay of Bengal.

Deutsche Welle, 8 July 2014

On Tuesday, the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruled on the disputed area of the bay of Bengal, awarding the greater share of it to Bangladesh.

In its verdict, binding on both countries, the court awarded 19,467 square kilometers (7,516 square miles), from a total disputed area of 25,602, to India's smaller neighbor.

The ruling was welcomed by India, which said it paved the way for greater economic cooperation between the two countries.

Bangladesh declared the result a "win-win situation for the peoples of Bangladesh and India." The development is expected to open the way for Bangladesh to exploit of undersea resources and further develop its fishing industry.

"We commend India for its willingness to resolve this matter peacefully by legal means and for its acceptance of the tribunal's judgment," Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali told a news conference on Tuesday.

The ruling means that Bangladesh will once again be eager to open up its waters for foreign companies to explore for hydrocarbons in the resource-rich sea. The maritime dispute is believed to have deterred firms from investing in the "sea blocks" being offered by Bangladesh.

In 2012, Bangladesh resolved a similar sea border dispute that had been a long standing point of contention with neighboring Myanmar, with a ruling made by the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea in Hamburg.

Bangladesh, with a population of 160 million and strong economic growth, has struggled with energy supplies in recent years.

rc/mkg (AFP, Reuters)

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