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A UN study says that in financial
terms currently the loss of forest
equals some US$2- US$5 trillion every
year. Who is going to do something about
all this? Indonesian authorities have pledged
to stop the loss of forests and species
in Sumatra, one of the world's most
ecologically important islands.
Representatives of the island's 10
provinces, national government and the
environment group WWF launched the deal
at the World Conservation Congress.
Sumatra has lost about half of its
forest cover in the last 20 years. It is
home to a number of important and iconic
species such as the tiger, orangutan,
rhinoceros and elephant. The island has
suffered floods and forest fires in
recent years that have been widely
attributed to illegal forest clearance.
Two years ago, President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono was forced to apologise to
Singapore and Malaysia when smog from
burning Sumatran forest covered the
neighbouring countries. The need to deal
with these issues appears to have played
a big part in persuading the authorities
to act. "In the rainy months, we are
seeing landslides and flooding more
often, and it is time to make a real
change," said Indonesia's deputy
environment minister Hermien Roosita at
a news briefing here. "Every governor
from the 10 provinces and four
(national) ministries have signed this
monumental commitment to ecosystem
restoration of the island and protecting
the remaining natural forest." More than
13% of the island's forests lie on peat,
which contain vast amounts of carbon
that would be lost to the atmosphere if
the trees were removed, accelerating
climate change. "When you look at the
flora and fauna in this area and the
rate of loss that's going on, this is a
substantial commitment to protect and
restore forests," said Gordon Shepherd,
WWF's director of global policy. The
government has already regulated to stop
clearance of virgin forest for palm oil
plantations - grown for food, industry
and biofuels - but the government
acknowledges the ban may not be
completely effective . Good planning
As well as protecting and restoring
forest, the authorities have pledged to
make development on Sumatra obey
principles of "ecosystem-based
planning", where any projects
detrimental to the island's ecological
health would be banned.
However, the vice-governor of the province of West Sumatra,
Marlis Rahman, said help from the west
would be needed to help meet the
commitments. |
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RUSSIA, IRAN AND
VENEZUELA TAKE HIT |
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Buoyed by
petrodollars,
Russia, Iran and
Venezuela
hectored the
West as they
extended their
reach abroad,
backing
separatists in
Georgia,
Islamists in the
Middle East and
Leftists around
the world. Now
those
oil-producing
powers may be
forced to draw
in their horns
as crude prices
tumble. They
face austerity
budgets that
could force them
to scale back
their military
spending and
foreign
assistance even
as falling oil
prices fuel
domestic
dissent. “All
countries
heavily
dependent on
petroleum
revenue are
nervously
watching oil
prices as they
drop not just
far, but
quickly,” said
Jonathan Elkind,
a senior Fellow
at the Brookings
Institution in
Washington.
“That price
adjustment is
raising
questions in all
these capitals
about the
suitability of
the economic
model that has
been making them
feel so full of
themselves in
the recent
period. |
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With a
massive
spike in the
number of
foreclosures
and
evictions
over the
past two
years,
communities
throughout
the U.S.
have
witnessed
the
sprouting of
tent cities
-- many of
them home to
once
middle-class
citizens
fallen
victim to
the economic
downturn.
Encampments
have formed
in or near
large urban
areas
including
Reno, Los
Angeles,
Chattanooga,
Columbus,
St.
Petersburg,
Seattle and
Portland.
Starting
about four
years ago,
there has
been an
outbreak of
tent cities
popping up
across the
country.
Today, we
observe a
slow but
steady
increase in
homeless
people,"
said Michael
Stoops,
acting
executive
director of
the National
Coalition
for the
Homeless .
According to
a report by
NCFTH,
almost 61
percent of
local and
state
homeless
coalitions
say that
they have
seen a
growth in
homelessness
since the
foreclosure
crisis --
now at
10,000 homes
per week --
began in
2007.
The
phenomenon
is similar
to the
social
upheavals of
the Great
Depression
of the 1930s
-- an era
frequently
referenced
these days
-- when "Hooverville"
ad-hoc
shanty
towns, some
as big as
15,000
people, were
erected
around the
country,
named after
the
president at
the time,
Herbert
Hoover.
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READ DEATH OF A
FINANCIER |
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Tom Barton, a City
mortgage broker, decides
to quit his business in
the wake of the subprime
crisis and arrives in
Kovalam, in the south of
India. In the Maharaja
Palace he finds himself
in the company of
holiday makers from the
UK, Scandinavia and
Russia. Stephen Parkly,
the CEO of a successful
City bank, and his young
wife Emma are taking a
well earned year end
break. Parkly falls
gravely ill with a
mysterious infection,
whilst back in the City,
unknown to him his
mortgage and investment
bank, West Mercian
Finance is in grave
difficulties. Ryan
Kavanagh, a doctor,
comes to Emma’s aid with
the help of Barton,
after an attempted
cover-up by the Indian
authorities, who fear
for their tourist
industry and more
especially medical
tourism, as the disease
threatens the resort
with the tourist season
in full swing. Thousands
of British tourists
enjoying the sun are
unaware of the pending
disaster, many are
equally unaware their
savings about are to be
wiped out in the West
Mercian collapse. |
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Bond's new adventure in
Quantum of Solace has
edgy close-ups of Daniel
Craig's granite features
give way to a spectacular
high-speed chase around an
Italian coastal road.
Bullets fly, glass
splinters, cars crunch, in a
scene that - like many of
the film's best - owes much
to the quick-fire editing of
the Bourne thrillers. By the
time the opening credits
come along, playing out to
Jack White and Alicia Keys's
punchy title song, you
realise you've barely
breathed for five minutes.
Thereafter, Craig's second
outing as the famous
so-called "spy" - actually,
when you think about it, an
assassin - turns out to be a
tale of revenge. And not for
the first time in the
franchise: Timothy Dalton
spent the whole of 1989's
Licence to Kill in pursuit
of the man who murdered the
wife of his CIA chum Felix
Leiter. In this much darker
film, picking up from where
Casino Royale left off, 007
finds himself after two
people: the man who fatally
betrayed Vesper Lynd, the
woman he loved; and Dominic
Greene (bullfrog-eyed
Mathieu Amalric), a big
player in the sinister
organisation that
blackmailed her, now
striking a shady deal in
some Bolivian desert. |
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QUEEN LIZ VISITS GOOGLE |
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WHO'S
GOING DOWN
THE TUBE |
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LAID
OFF TRADERS QUIT BANK |
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'Lord' Mandelson,
the billionaire and a growing mystery |
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Peter Mandelson faced
new questions today over his relationship with
Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. The
newly-appointed Business Secretary is at the
centre of a row over a potential conflict of
interest, the Evening Standard can reveal, after
two European companies sought his help following
allegations that Deripaska's company cheated
them over a $1 billion deal in Moscow. Mandelson, then European Trade Commissioner,
took up their case. To their surprise, the two
companies then learned that Mandelson was
enjoying lavish hospitality aboard the Queen K,
the yacht owned by Deripaska, the man they
blamed for defrauding them. The revelation comes at an awkward time for
Mandelson. The Business Secretary, now Lord
Mandelson after his ennoblement yesterday, was
parachuted into the Government by Gordon Brown
at a time of grave crisis. Mandelson had already
resigned from the Cabinet twice and this new
disclosure yet again raises questions about his
judgment. Why, it was asked, did he not declare
a personal interest when his role as
commissioner clashed with a friendship? |
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