Argentina takes ship dispute with Ghana to UN court

BBC News, 14 November 2012

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• Argentine ship crew return home
• Argentina 'firm' over seized ship
• Ghana refuses Argentine ship bid

A skeleton crew remains on the
Libertad held in the Ghanaian port
of Tema

Argentina has asked a United Nations court to order the release of one of its navy ships impounded in Ghana because of a debt dispute.

Argentina argues that the seizure violates maritime law.

The ship was prevented from leaving Ghana last month, after a local court ruled in favour of a financial fund backed by an American billionaire.

The fund says it is owed $370m (£233m) by the Argentine government as a result of its debt default a decade ago.

It is seeking $20m in return for the release of the ship, a three-masted training vessel.

International dispute

Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said Argentina had approached the International Sea Tribunal, based in Germany, to request the "immediate and unconditional release of the frigate ARA Libertad and its restocking so it can leave the port of Temar [in Ghana] with the utmost urgency".

On Monday, Mr Timerman had given Ghana one day to release the ship or face legal action.

The government said it saw itself forced to take the case to the International Sea Tribunal after the Ghanaian government failed to meet its deadline.

Argentina argues that the ship is a military vessel and was on an official visit to Ghana and should therefore not have been impounded.

It says the seizure violates the immunity of military vessels under international maritime law.

The Libertad has been detained in the Tema since 2 October. Only a skeleton crew remain after more than 300 sailors flew home about three weeks later.

Sailors on board the Libertad reportedly pulled guns on Ghanaian officials last week after they tried to board the vessel to move it to another berth.

Water and electricity had reportedly been shut off to the ship a few days earlier in response to Argentina's refusal to let officials move the ship to a less busy part of the port.

NML Capital is a subsidiary of US hedge fund Elliot Capital Management, one of Argentina's former creditors.

In 2001 and 2002, Argentina defaulted on more than $100bn of debt. Most of these loans were subsequently restructured, giving creditors about 30% of their money back.

However, some creditors including Elliot chose to hold out, pursuing the Argentine government through the courts.

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Argentina orders sailors to evacuate Libertad ship seized by Ghana

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Among the loans underwritten by the Export Credits Guarantee
Department  was one for £35m to Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe for
the purchase of five of BAE Systems' Hawk fighter jets. 
Photograph: PA

Britain owed millions for weapons used by autocratic regimes

Former Indonesian president General Suharto. Britain lent 
the country  more than £630m at a time when Suharto 
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Bluefin tuna quotas up for renewal

Google – AFP, Celine Serrat (AFP), 12 November 2012 

Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks are estimated to have halved over four decades

in some areas (AFP/File, Str)

PARIS — Fishing nations meet in Morocco this week to thrash out tuna quotas as experts urge maintaining bluefin catch limits amid promising signs of the decimated species making a comeback.

Hunted to the brink of extinction to feed a burgeoning sushi market, the Atlantic bluefin tuna was placed on the endangered list of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Stocks are estimated to have halved over four decades in some areas, with catches in the 1990s exceeding 60,000 tons per year.

Jolted into action by evidence of the game fish's looming annihilation, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) agreed to a 32,000-ton annual catch limit in 2006.

Last month, scientists said they had

 found evidence that the fishing limits

 were spawning a bluefin revival (AFP/File,

Yoshikazu Tsuno)

Two years later, environmentalists fought a losing battle for the introduction of a complete ban on bluefin fishing, but the ICCAT introduced progressively tougher limits year after year.

The current annual quota is 12,900 tons for the Mediterranean and east Atlantic and 1,750 tons for the west Atlantic -- a figure scientists say should allow a complete population recovery by about 2020.

Last month, ICCAT scientists said they had found the first evidence that the fishing limits were spawning a bluefin revival in the east Atlantic and Mediterranean.

For a week from Monday, the ICCAT's 48 member countries will meet in Agadir on Morocco's west coast to consider whether to alter the Total Allowable Catch (TAC), an annual upper limit, for the next three years.

"We are still very concerned about control and the incidence of illegal fishing of this stock," Sergi Tudela, head of fisheries at green group WWF Mediterranean, warned ahead of the meeting.

"The WWF is encouraging ICCAT contracting parties not to relax their recovery ambitions for this year... and keep the TAC at 12,900 tons," he said in a teleconference.

With sections of the fishing industry pushing for a relaxation of quotas, the Pew Environment Group also urged a cautionary approach.

The current quota is 12,900 tons for the

 Mediterranean and east Atlantic and 1,750

tons  for the west Atlantic (AFP/File,
Yoshikazu Tsuno)

"If the data is correct, we have seen a quicker turnaround than expected," said Pew expert Remi Parmentier.

"But the authors of the (ICCAT) report have pointed out so many uncertainties that this is not the time to lower our guard."

In September, experts at an IUCN conference warned that global tuna stocks were fast reaching the limits of fishing sustainability.

Five of the world's eight tuna species are classified as threatened or near-threatened, they said.

The Atlantic bluefin species, which can live to 40 years and grow to more than four metres (13 feet) long, is in the gravest danger of disappearing.

It is so highly prized by sushi-loving Japanese that a 269-kilogram (592-pound) fish went for a record 56.49 million yen ($737,000 at the time) in January auctions.

The Atlantic bluefin spawn just once a year and do not reach reproductive maturity until they are eight to 12 years old, making them more vulnerable to overfishing than smaller species which spawn more frequently.

The global tuna industry is an economic juggernaut with fishing in the Pacific Ocean alone -- accounting for 65 percent of the global commercial catch -- worth around $5.5 billion annually.

The ICCAT is tasked with the conservation of 30 fish species. Its members include the United States, Canada, Russia, Britain, China, several Mediterranean countries, the European Union and Japan, which single-handedly consumes over 75 percent of all the bluefin tuna caught, according to the WWF.

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U.S. seafood catch reaches 17-year high

“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

"....Let us just talk about the ocean for a moment. We won't even get to what's happening in the air and what mammals might experience. Let's just speak of the ocean. Have you heard about the salmon? What has your science warned you against? You're overfishing! The sea is dying. The coral is dying. The reefs are going away. You're not seeing the food chain that used to be there. You've overfished everything. Fishing quotas have been set up to help this. Oh, all those little people in the red room - they don't know about the purple. Red people only know about the red paradigm.

Did you hear about the salmon recently? There's too many of them! In the very place where quotas are in place so you won't overfish, they're jumping in the boats! Against all odds and any projections from environmentalists or biologists, they're overrunning the oceans in Alaska - way too many fish.

What does that tell you? Is it possible that Gaia takes care of itself? That's what it tells you! Perhaps this alignment is going to keep humanity fed. Did anybody think of this? What if Gaia is in alliance with you? What if the increase in consciousness that raised your DNA vibration has alerted Gaia to change the weather cycle and get ready to feed humanity? Are you looking at the ocean where the oil spill occurred? It's recovering in a way that was not predicted. What's happening?

The life cycle itself is being altered by the temperature change of the ocean and much of what you have believed is the paradigm of life in the sea is slowly changing. A new system of life is appearing, as it has before, and is upon you in your lifetime. It will compliment what you know and expose you to a new concept: Gaia regularly refreshes the life cycle on Earth. ...."

Tokelau islands shift to solar energy

BBC News, 7 November 2012

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Solar energy is to replace diesel
to power Tokelau's electricity

Tokelau has become the first territory able to meet all its electricity needs with solar power, officials say.

The South Pacific territory - comprising the three atolls of Atafu, Nukunonu and Fakaofo - had been dependent on diesel to generate electricity.

New Zealand, which administers Tokelau, funded a $7m (£4.3m) solar project.

Solar grids were constructed on the three atolls, with the last completed earlier this week.

"The Tokelau Renewable Energy Project is a world first. Tokelau's three main atolls now have enough solar capacity, on average, to meet electricity needs," NewZealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said in a statement.

"Until now, Tokelau has been 100% dependent upon diesel for electricity generation, with heavy economic and environmental costs," he added.

Project co-ordinator Mike Basset-Smith said that the move represented a "milestone of huge importance" for Tokelau, as it would now be able to spend more on social welfare.

The remote islands of Tokelau lie between New Zealand and Hawaii.

Most of the 1,500 islanders live by subsistence farming, with thousands of others choosing to settle in New Zealand or neighbouring Samoa.

Location of Tokelau

World's rarest whale seen for first time after New Zealand beaching

Two skeletons now known to be spade-toothed beaked whales were misidentified by conservationists in 2010

guardian.co.uk, Associated Press,  Tuesday 6 November 2012

The spade-toothed beaked whale is so rare, nobody has seen one alive.
Photograph: AP

The spade-toothed beaked whale is so rare that nobody has seen one alive, but scientists have proof the species still exists.

Two skeletons were identified as belonging to the species after a 17-foot whale and her calf beached themselves in New Zealand in 2010. Scientists hope the discovery will provide insights into the species and into ocean ecosystems.

It was almost a missed opportunity, however, since conservation workers misidentified the carcasses as a much more common type of whale and buried them.

In a paper published Tuesday in the journal Current Biology, researchers from New Zealand and the United States say of their discovery: "For the first time we have a description of the world's rarest and perhaps most enigmatic marine mammal."

Previously only three skull fragments of the species had been found: in New Zealand in 1872 and in the 1950s and the last one 26 years ago on an island off Chile. The males have broad blade-like tusk teeth that give the species its name. Both males and females have beaks which make them resemble dolphins.

"This is pretty fantastic," said Ewan Fordyce, a geology professor at the University of Otago who specialises in the evolution of whales and who was not involved in the research. "There would be few, if any, mammalian species in the world that would be rarer. And we know much more about panda bears and other iconic, rare animals."

The beached whales, an adult and her 11-foot male calf, were discovered on Opape Beach on the North Island on New Year's Eve in 2010. Conservation workers thought they were Gray's beaked whales and took tissue samples before burying them about nine feet under the sand.

Those samples ended up at the University of Auckland where scientists did routine tests about six months later. Rochelle Constantine, a co-author of the paper, said she and her colleague Kirsten Thompson couldn't believe it when the results showed the pair to be the rarest of whales.

"Kirsten and I went quiet. We were pretty stunned," she said.

Further tests confirmed the discovery. Constantine said they then retested about 160 samples taken from other stranded Gray's whales but didn't find any more that had been misidentified.

This year, researchers returned to the beach to exhume the skeletons.

Anton van Helden, who manages the marine mammals collection for New Zealand's national museum Te Papa, said it wasn't a straightforward task to find the remains after so long and that the mother's skull, which was buried shallower than the rest of the remains, washed out to sea. But they were able to recover the rest of the skeletons.

"It's a hugely significant find," said van Helden, a co-author of the paper.

He said it's impossible to know why the whales came ashore although whales often beach themselves when they become ill. He said almost nothing is known about the species except they live in the South Pacific Ocean and eat primarily squid.

Fordyce said it may be possible to use the skeletons of the rare whales to reconstruct their muscles and tissues and to find out more about how they live and die and why they are so reclusive.

The scientists say the discovery could also provide broader insights into the ocean's complex ecosystems.

"This is good reminder," said Constantine, "of how large the oceans are, and of how little we know about them."

2nd white pointer caught off Taiwan's east coast in a week

Want China Times, CNA 2012-11-04

The large great white shark on sidplay in Hualien
county. (photo/CNA)

A great white shark measuring six meters and weighing one ton was captured only 300 meters off the shore of Taiwan's Hualien county, according to local fishermen Friday.

The fishermen said the great white shark was the biggest they had ever caught in waters off Shihtiping Harbor, about 35 kilometers south of the county capital Hualien. The shark was later sold for NT$100,000 (US$3,420) at a fish market in northern Taiwan.

Local fisherman Lin Kuo-tung said the presence of a great white shark so close to shore was very rare for the area, but it was the second time in a week that a great white had been caught off Taiwan's east coast after one was caught in waters off Yilan county on Oct. 28.

Coast Guard officials said the frequent sightings of white sharks in the area recently was a phenomenon worth studying. They cautioned people enjoying water activities in the region to remain vigilant when entering the water.

Another, rarer, shark was also netted off the east coast recently. A megamouth shark weighing 800 kilograms was caught off Hualien County on Oct. 17.

Because megamouth sharks are rarely spotted and only 50 have ever been captured, the shark was sold for NT$60,000 to researchers.

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North Bali Finds a Shocking Way to Replenish Its Coral

Jakarta Globe, Olga Amato, November 04, 2012

Customized steel structures are part of the Biorock process, which uses
 low-voltage direct current to grow new coral. (Photo Courtesy of Divemag
Indonesia)

  

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Science is giving the coral reef in Pemuteran, north Bali, a jolt. But don’t worry, it’s low-voltage direct current meant to bolster growth and reverse decades of destruction caused by reef bombing, cyanide fishing and global warming.

“Pemuteran right now is a popular scuba diving destination because its marvelous array of corals have created a haven for the ocean’s most colorful fish,” says Bramantyo Samodra Sier, head of marketing and promotions at Divemag Indonesia, the country’s most popular diving magazine. “But in the past it has been devastated by the bombing or cyanide fishing methods used by the many fishermen attracted to Pemuteran’s tranquil waters. Ruining the corals puts the whole underwater ecosystem at risk and that’s why Divemag Indonesia is so concerned about saving the corals.”

Using technology to help nature

Invented by marine scientists, Biorock is a process that uses low-voltage direct current electricity to grow solid limestone rock structures in the sea and accelerate the growth of corals.

Biorock projects can be found all over the world, including in the Pacific, Caribbean and Indian oceans, but the Biorock project in Pemuteran, installed in June 2000 and stretching 300 meters situated in an area of two hectares, is the largest Biorock center in the world.

But being the world’s biggest Biorock project isn’t cheap.

Luckily, ANZ Bank pitched in and helped give Pemuteran’s Biorock a financial boost.

Each steel structure costs Rp 5 million ($519) and ANZ’s corporate social responsibility program has donated four structures.

“It’s great to see companies willing to use their corporate social responsibility program to focus on Biorock,” said Tom Goreau, the Biorock co-founder, who was in Pemuteran on the day the ANZ-sponsored structures were installed. “With Biorock, the corals succeed to grow up to 50 times faster and can recover from physical damage.”

Goreau, who also serves as president of the Global Coral Reef Alliance, is now focused on training local people about Biorock to ensure the structures’ sustainability.

“Local people need proper detailed training so they can keep developing and maintaining the program. It’s the key to keep the Biorock project successful,” he said. “That’s the reason why we often have workshops and the next one is going to be from Nov. 12 to 18.”

Added benefits

Komang Astika, operational manager of the Biorock center, said word of the structures is spreading, and tourists are traveling to north Bali to see if electricity can really grow coral reefs.

“Bio rock is attracting tourists from all around the world,” Komang said. “Snorkeling and diving have been two of the most popular activities for tourists coming to Pemuteran. There are at least 50 tourists who come to Pemuteran every week just to see the Biorock.”

One of those tourists is Sue Dufall, a 51-year-old Australian who has visited Bali on numerous occasions.

“The first time I came to Pemuteran was just for sightseeing, but as soon as I found out about the Biorock I became passionate about it,” said Sue, who is planning to move to Bali when she retires. “I’m thinking about contributing to the Biorock by donating a structure. I love the atmosphere here, it seriously is a piece of paradise.”

Lending a helping hand

Divemag Indonesia, which is helping spread the news about Biorock to domestic divers and tourists, is excited about helping ANZ with their project.

“We’re excited about supporting ANZ’s initiative,” said Wening Nurtiasasi, a project liaison between Divemag Indonesia and ANZ. “The main purpose of Divemag is to let as many people as possible know about Biorock and how it is helping the environment here in Bali.”

ANZ is also very proud of their work to help restore the coral reefs.

“We are very supportive of these kind of projects, first of all, because we care about nature,” said Wira Budi Hartawan, ANZ regional head of eastern Indonesia. “Also, I believe that if we preserve more locations such as Pemuteran, it can help attract more tourists.”

And now everyone with a passion for the sea can contribute to the Biorock project.

For Rp 5 million, you can purchase a 2-meter-square structure, which you can design yourself, and two years of maintenance on the structure.

People who have designed their own structures have certainly been creative and now structures in various shapes from bicycles to goddesses can be seen.

The coral growing on the structures are certainly a beautiful phenomenon that can’t be missed.

Alternatively you don’t have to buy a whole structure. And for a Rp 350,000 donation, the Biorock team will put your name on a structure.

Biorock

www.biorockbali.webs.com

Obama critic praises his "wonderful" storm response

Channel News Asia, AFP, 30 October 2012

Destroyed sections of an an old boardwalk are seen in an area that flooded
by the  beach on October 30, 2012 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (Mario
Tama/Getty Images/AFP)

   

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama won glowing praise for his "wonderful" handling of superstorm Sandy Tuesday from a fierce foe who backs Mitt Romney, as political reverberations of the storm began to be felt.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a blunt critic of the president and a key Romney ally, produced a glowing character reference for Obama.

"The president's been great... I spoke to him three times yesterday, he called me for the last time at midnight last night, he asked me what I needed," Christie told MSNBC.

Christie, a brash political brawler known for cutting take-downs of opponents including Obama, said he had asked the president to cut through bureaucratic "mumbo jumbo" and help New Jersey, and he "got on it."

"The president has been all over this, he deserves great credit ... He gave me his number at the White House, told me to call if I needed anything, and he absolutely means it.

"It's been very good working with the president, and his administration has been coordinating with us great -- it's been wonderful."

The praise from Christie, who is mentioned as a possible 2016 Republican presidential candidate should Romney lose, represented the kind of publicity that a campaign, for all the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on it, simply cannot buy.

"I don't give a damn about Election Day after what has happened here. I am worried about the people of New Jersey," the outspoken governor tweeted later.

Sandy, which dominated news coverage and drowned out the normal frenzy of the last week of an election campaign, amounted to an "October Surprise" -- the kind of unpredictable event that can reshape late stages of elections.

Its impact on voting next week was unclear. But the storm allowed Obama to leverage the power of incumbency by marshaling the full force of the US federal government to help those in need.

Romney meanwhile will likely struggle to get news coverage. And he had to turn scheduled political events in Wisconsin and Ohio into storm relief efforts to collect donations for storm victims.

US President Barack Obama (R) is greeted by New Jersey

 Governor Chris Christie (AFP, Jewel Samad)

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HMS Bounty: Woman killed in tall ship's sinking loved the sea
HMS Bounty crew member dies and captain missing in stormy seas
Dramatic Video of Tall Ship Rescue During Sandy

The HMS Bounty, a 180-foot sailboat, submerged in the Atlantic
Ocean during Hurricane Sandy approximately  90 miles southeast
of Hatteras, N.C., Monday.  (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard, Petty 
Officer 2nd Class Tim Kuklewski)

This Election Will Clear the Way for Obama  – Nov 5, 2012 (Archangel Michael channeled by Linda Dillon) - New

"... GW: Okay. That’s wonderful. Now, I was going to ask this question earlier, but since it appears to be tied into what you have just shared, Michael, I think I’ll go to this question.

One of the states that was hit hard was the state of New Jersey. The governor of that state, Chris Christie, is a Republican and has historically been a very strong and very vocal critic of Obama. Yet in the last week he has been showering praise to no end upon Obama, and doing it publicly.

I don’t wish to spend much time on this, but is this merely two humans demonstrating their true humanity ahead of politics, or is this potentially a sign connected to a larger change that will unfold within the political structures?

AAM: It is actually both. It is a governor seeing and moving away from simple rhetoric and the rhetoric of party politics, of alignment in terms of self-interest and the desire for power, to a place of actually entering into his own humanitarian heart and seeing that the reason that he got involved in the political arena in the first place wasn’t for reasons of power or greed or control.

It brought him back to his own first principles, which was he really cared about people. He really cared about people within his geographic area, the state. And then what he has witnessed and what he has seen is that there is a camaraderie with the President and that in fact there is no difference and, the rhetoric aside, that they both care about the same things.

But in the bigger picture, as you have asked, what you are also seeing is that people are going to put away many of the labels. There has been a huge emphasis on labels, rather, “I am this,” “I am that,” whether it is political power or not. The shift is to, “I am a human. I am a galactic human. I am part of my community. I am part of this family,” and the need for the labels is dissipating.

Because when you see someone drowning, whether it is emotionally, physically or mentally, you do not call out and say, “What is your political affiliation?” Do you? No, from the core of your heart and from your physical body you reach out your hand and you assist however you can. And that in fact is exactly what the gate-keepers, the showers of the way, are doing. They are reaching out their hands and helping others to a higher realm, to a different understanding.

So what you are seeing is a catalyst, yes, a very dramatic — what one would say — very devastating catalyst that is opening people’s hearts. ...."

SaLuSa: November 5, 2012 – (Channelled by Mike Quinsey)

“The Storm Sandy was a natural occurrence needed by Mother Earth to prepare for her Ascension, and will take place wherever there are deep-rooted negative energies. On another level you are aware that this type of cleansing is going to happen, and when as a result people pass on it is not accidental in the way you normally perceive it. We say again that nothing happens by chance but all is pre-ordained. The raising of the collective consciousness has overcome the need for a more drastic cleansing, so you are to be congratulated for bringing it about. What you now understand is a clear example of your power to create your own reality.”

Matthew message (Channeled by Suzanne Ward, Nov 1, 2012)

“... The storm named Sandy that flooded the northeast coast of the United States was not manmade.  Mother Earth was cleansing herself by releasing negativity that was especially deeply entrenched in and around New York City and Washington, DC, and transmuting it into light. The Illuminati no longer have access to the technology that for many years they misused to initiate earthquakes and major storms. ....”

"Gaia’s Message: Each of You have Responded”  – Oct 31, 2012 (Gaia channeled by Linda Dillon)

“… Because I am anxious. I am already underway and they are needed, no, not in violence, but in love for a little cleanup. And the purpose of this hurricane is more profound and more deep than you imagine.

There are several layers that are taking place and we bless and we thank those who offered and are sacrificing their homes, their energy, their jobs, and their security in order to allow this cleansing to take place.

St. Germain stands with me and as you know this is the country, the nation of freedom and yet so many are still enslaved, in illusion, delusion, poverty, and hunger in the richest place on Earth.

This density cannot be. This is a starting point of our travels together. Yes, I know that the channel speaks that it is not of levels, that it is a circle of vibrations. But I say that your vibrations are rising with mine, in tandem with me. And I thank you, not only for hearing my death pleas, but the intermittent pleas I put out urgently. …”

“… I ask that each of you that greet them stay calm and smile a lot and extend to them all over the planet this greeting. I finish by telling you that those who have been affected by this being called [Hurricane] Sandy will be attended to in ways of love, responsibility, accountability and effective action. It will mean a great deal. …”

Source: 2012 Scenario

You are already in a state of liberation from the old systems - Oct 29, 2012 (Constant Companions channeled through Aisha North)

"The N in Kundalini" – Oct 20, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)