Amid the day-to-day issues that we all face, it can be difficult to face imminent threats, let alone those far in the future or in distant locations. We hope that this week's report from the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change is a wake-up call that will present an immediate opportunity to connect our daily challenges to the uncertain future we face in the light of the disastrous consequences of global warming that has been induced primarily by recent human activities. We will continue to cover this issue and measures to mitigate this threat, and look forward to hearing from our readers on this and other topics.

3. AML/CFT Monitor

Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism is not simply an issue of compliance with local regulations. It is a global crime that can only be understood by crossing national or regional boundaries. Subscribers to the monthly AML/CFT Monitor receive information and analysis of worldwide incidents, trends, legal and regulatory issues, modalities, and related topics such as financial fraud and narcoterrorism.
http://secure.netsolhost.com/573566.585211/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=TP
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AML/CFT Incidents/Cases
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In Operation Kolibra, Brazil's federal police and local forces in the states of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Para and Bahia targeted a global drug-trafficking and money-laundering cartel. At least 14 arrests were made in a series of raids. 54 people had been arrested in prior operations.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/30/america/LA-GEN-Brazil-Drug-Ring.php

The Dominican Republic opened the preliminary hearing against former colonel Pedro Julio Goico (Pepe Goico) on money laundering charges. Several other former military figures are also charged.
http://www.dominicantoday.com/app/article.aspx?id=21991

Egypt's public prosecutor has frozen assets of 29 Muslim Brotherhood members and their families for "money laundering and financing an illegal group". Money laundering charges were for the first time laid against six members last December, and this asset freeze is also the first time such measures have been taken against the Brotherhood.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/073FC332-7426-4732-A402-53F444187CD4.htm
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=7841

Kenya has held Abukar Omar Aden for more than a month without legal representation, on a misdemeanor charge of entering the country illegally. He is suspected of financing the ousted Somali Union of Islamic Courts, but has not been charged with this offense. A court is reviewing his continued detention.
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=90726

In England, former police officer Emma Wheatcroft has been charged with money laundering, willful misconduct, and illegally obtaining personal data. Her associate Matthew Nyack has been charged with drug offenses.
http://www.mk-news.co.uk/mknews/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=45920

English police arrested Daniel Lawrence, the director of Print Inspiration Ltd, in a money laundering investigation. Searches on the main office and three other addresses continue.
http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/headlines/display.var.1161213.0.six_houses_searched_in_money_laundering_probe.php

Two Indonesian men arrested in Guam have appeared in US court. Reinhard Rusli and Helmi Soedirdja pleaded guilty to money laundering and other charges in a US sting operation to sell arms to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels.
http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070201/NEWS01/702010312/1002
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.arms31jan31,0,5570491.story

A Philippine army division has identified local officials who received or paid New People's Army (NPA) extortion demands.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/cag/2007/02/02/news/army.lists.execs.giving.in.to.communist.rebels.html

Russian prosecutors are planning to file new money laundering charges against former Yukos chairman, Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6330411.stm

Saudi Arabia has arrested ten people on suspicion of funding the insurgency in Iraq.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/middle_east/6327665.stm

Boston, Massachusetts private equity firm Overland Capital is under federal investigation for alleged connections to groups financing Islamic extremists, through tax law violations.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/01/business/terror.php

Memphis Tennessee county commission candidate Joe Cooper has pleased guilty to money laundering involving drugs and cars.
http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=c6bd23e6-47e0-4196-bb07-8c0bb2ca5275

A Memphis police officer became the 15th officer caught in the FBI's Operation Tarnished Blue. Orlando Hebron has been charged with laundering money for an informant, and related activities.
http://www.wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=5990739

Defense Contractor Robert Stein pleaded guilty to charges of corruption, fraud and money laundering related to his siphoning money from Iraq reconstruction funds as treasurer for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Hillah. A US businessman in Romania helped move the money.
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/January/07_crm_051.html
http://english.hotnews.ro/Ex-US-official-in-Iraq-sentenced-for-laundering-money-in-Romania-articol_44220.htm

Barclay's Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and the insurance firm Old Mutual are reportedly helping to finance Robert Mugabe's corrupt and abusive regime in Zimbabwe.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2000349,00.html
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AML/CFT Legislation and Regulation
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The South America Financial Action Group (GAFISUD) has found Chile's money laundering measures deficient. It falls short of international standards in supervision and risk assessment of non-financial activity, does not cover all sectors, and fails to provide statistical information.
http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/index.php?nav=story&story_id=12859&topic_id=15
http://www.gafisud.org/actividades.asp (in Spanish)

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) released its opinion on the role of the European Central Bank in the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) case, which involved the transfer of financial information to US agents searching for terrorist financiers. EDPS finds that the European Central Bank (ECB) should be held jointly responsible for SWIFT's breach of data protection laws. ECB says that its responsibility is for financial stability and has no authority to oversee SWIFT's legal compliance, particularly in dealing with a US subpoena. It suggests that legislators should provide legal certainty in conflicting jurisdictions.
http://www.edps.europa.eu/EDPSWEB/webdav/site/mySite/shared/Documents/Supervision/Inquiries/07-02-01_Opinion_ECB_role_SWIFT_EN.pdf
http://www.ecb.int/press/pr/date/2007/html/pr070201.en.html
http://www.swift.com/index.cfm?item_id=61059

Indonesia's Attorney General's Office continues to find it difficult to handle money laundering cases.
http://www.tempointeractive.com/hg/nasional/2007/01/29/brk,20070129-92138,uk.html

Malta's government gazette has published the names and other identifying information of four people accused in a carousel money laundering case, despite the court banning the media from publishing the details.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2007/01/28/t5.html

North Korea has linked further discussions regarding its nuclear programs to US financial sanctions.
http://www.columbian.com/news/APStories/AP01312007news99122.cfm
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/187060.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/01/AR2007020100138.html

The UK parliament's International Development Select Committee has released a report on Development Assistance and the Occupied Palestinian Territories that criticizes the financial boycott of the Palestinian Authority, which is not only harming Palestinians, but also drawing them closer to Iran.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmintdev/114/114i.pdf
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmintdev/114/114ii.pdf

NASD has fined Banc of America Investment Services $3 million for failures to comply with AML rules regarding high-risk accounts.
http://www.nasd.com/PressRoom/NewsReleases/2007NewsReleases/NASDW_018404
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AML/CFT Modalities
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This, from the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses the need for a new approach to disrupting terrorist financing:
http://www.cfr.org/publication/12523/rethinking_terrorist_financing.html?breadcrumb=%2Fissue%2F135%2Fterrorism

"Illegal logging: Cut it Out" finds that only China and Japan import more illegal timer than the UK, and calls on ministers to push for EU and UK legislation to prevent the practice.
http://www.wwf.org.uk/news/n_0000003562.asp

This article, addressing militant training of British citizens, says, " Militant groups based in Pakistan have spent more than 20 years establishing and financing their links in Britain to ensure that the most promising British radicals can be smuggled to their camps for training".
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2580119,00.html

4. Emerging Threat Monitor

Climate change, pandemics, and global economic imbalances are just a few of the threats emerging in this 21st century. Subscribers to the Emerging Threat Monitor stay a step ahead with monthly analysis of trends and responses worldwide. It offers executives a heads-up of new risks, and details of the policies and best practices gleaned from every country around the globe.
http://secure.netsolhost.com/573566.585211/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=TP
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ETM Corruption and Transnational Crime
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Ahead of the World Bank's spring meeting in April, a poll of 47 developing countries affected by anti-corruption strategies finds support for governance and anti-corruption efforts.
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,date:2007-01-31~menuPK:34461~pagePK:34392~piPK:64256810~theSitePK:4607,00.html

Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) will investigate allegations against former communication minister Nazmul Huda and associates for alleged bribery and illegal commissions.

Israel's former Justice Minister Haim Ramon has been found guilty of sexually harassing a female soldier. This is one of several similar cases involving senior Israeli officials.

Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) arrested at least nine senior government leaders of Ebonyi state for an alleged N30 billion fraud. Nigerian President Obasanjo often uses corruption charges against political opponents and to garner international support.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/cover/january07/29012007/f229012007.html

Oil and corruption are both soaring in Nigeria. "Chop Fine: The Human Rights Impact of Local Government Corruption and Mismanagement in Rivers State, Nigeria" is a new report from Human Rights Watch that finds local government officials have squandered oil revenues that could provide basic health and education for some of Nigeria's poorest people. State officials deny the charges.
http://hrw.org/reports/2007/nigeria0107/
http://allafrica.com/stories/200702010120.html
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2201108.ece

Former Puerto Rican officials Rene Vazquez-Botet and Marcos Morell-Corrada have been sentenced to five years in prison for an extortion scheme connected to a construction project.
http://sanjuan.fbi.gov/pressrel/2007/sj013007.htm

Russia has launched a criminal investigation into alleged tax evasion by private oil company Russneft. A similar investigation caused the bankruptcy of Yukos.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9072-2573629,00.html

There have been more arrests in Britain's cash-for-peerages scandal, which is moving ever closer to Prime Minister Blair, who is being questioned further.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/funding/story/0,,2002249,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4812822.stm

The Serious Fraud Office is also investigating the sale of an air traffic control system to Tanzania. Prime Minister Blair was accused of pushing the useless system through, in a squalid and scandalous deal in which Barclay's Bank had colluded.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070130/debindx/70130-x.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6315799.stm

Zambia's anti-corruption drive is failing because the government has been concentrating its resources on investigating the corrupt practices of the previous regime, allowing present graft in the public service to flourish.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=57245
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ETM Economies and Financial Systems
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The World Bank has launched a $26 million investment using microfinance as part of a program to use technology to deliver banking services around the world.
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21198794~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html

The Crockett Report gives the findings of the Committee to Study Sustainable Long-term Financing of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They review a variety of issues, and recommend that IMF sell $6.6 billion of gold and invest the proceeds in higher-yielding assets, set off by equivalent sales among global central banks to offset the impact. IMF can no longer rely on profits from lending to finance all operations: many of the long-term loans extended during financial crises have been repaid.
http://www.imf.org/external/np/oth/2007/013107.pdf

The Travel Industry of America reports a nearly 20-percent drop in the US share of the overseas travelers since 2000, primarily due to the US's rating of having the world's worst entry process. This decline has caused serious economic damage:
* 58 million fewer visitors;
* 194,000 lost jobs;
* $25.9 billion in lost payroll;
* $94 billion in lost spending; and
* $15.6 billion in lost taxes to federal, state and local governments.
http://www.poweroftravel.org/release-1-23-07.aspx
http://www.poweroftravel.org/release-11-20-06.aspx

The Discover America Partnership released "A Blueprint to Discover America," outlining a series of policy changes to improve the entry process, address growing concerns with traveling to the U.S. among international travelers, and attract more visitors.
http://www.poweroftravel.org/pdf/DAP_blueprint.pdf
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ETM Environment and Climate Change
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The World Glacier Monitoring service reports that mountain glaciers are melting three times faster than in the 1980s, mostly attributable to human-induced climate change.
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=498&ArticleID=5502&l=en"

Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) reviewed the effects of climate change in the state of New South Wales (NSW). It portrays a doomsday scenario of life in Sydney, with rising heat and declining rainfall making the area unsustainable over the next 20 years if climate change is unchecked.
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2007/s1837611.htm
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/01/31/1169919346716.html (links to the report)

NSW's Department of Natural Resources reports that farmers have cleared 17,964 hectares a year, reducing canopy cover in woodlands to substantially less than 20 percent. Previously, the government had promised to end clearing. The NSW Wilderness Society says this land clearing is even worse than reported, and suggests that independent review would be valuable. The Society also says that this clearing is the equivalent of greenhouse gases from three million cars on the road year round.
http://www.nativevegetation.nsw.gov.au/reports/
http://www.wilderness.org.au/campaigns/landclearing/nsw/land-clearing-climate-change/

China has failed to progress in its efforts to protect the environment compared to other nations, ranking it 100th out of 118 countries evaluated. In "China's Modernization Report 2007", the Chinese Academy of Sciences offers ten suggestions for China's ecological modernization:
* Develop and implement a roadmap for ecological modernization at national and regional levels
* Curb new sources of environmental pollution by embarking on a road of green development
* Continue the efforts in pollution control and traditional industry transformation so as to wipe out the environmental pollution left by history
* Push forward the ecological engineering programs such as natural forest protection and carry out regular ecological assessment at the national level
* Actively promote the construction of ecological cities, communities, parks and countryside
* Develop ecological farming practice, environment-friendly industries, and circular industry
* Introduce systems for ecological compensation, environmental responsibility in key positions and environmental risk evaluation
* Launch programs on green homeland, green services and green consumption
* Formulate a national strategy for promoting the safety of resources, energy and environment
* Establish State ministries of environment, energy, and regional development.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-01/27/content_794469.htm
http://english.cas.ac.cn/eng2003/news/detailnewsb.asp?InfoNo=26392
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6306881.stm

The European Commission proposed new standards for transport fuels that will reduce their contribution to climate change and air pollution, including through greater use of biofuels. http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/120

French President Jacques Chirac has called on the US to sign both Kyoto and a future agreement, and warned that the EU carbon tax on non-signatories would harm the US economy. The EU is the largest export market for US goods.

As part of France's Lights Out public awareness campaign, lights across Paris dimmed for five minutes on Thursday.

Eyes On The Forest has asked Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry to cancel auctions for two logging concessions that would endanger Sumatran tigers and elephants and threaten the livelihood of the indigenous population.
http://eyesontheforest.or.id/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=95&Itemid=6

Milan, Italy, has banned 170,000 older vehicles that do not pass environmental controls, to help combat chronic pollution problems. The trial will last until mid-April.

In England, the Richmond Council has voted to charge parking fees based on carbon dioxide emissions from the vehicle.
http://www.richmond.gov.uk/press_office/press_releases/january_2007_press_releases/richmond_councillors_vote_for_co2_parking_charges.htm

The US Senate held a hearing on Senators'' Perspectives on Global Warming, in which each Senator was asked to provide views on the issue and the nation's response.
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_id=5584be8e-802a-23ad-499a-ea3c20ff687d

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing on Political Influence on Government Climate Change Scientists. The testimony indicated that the White House seriously distorted and suppressed reports of climate change science. The Senate will hold a similar hearing next week.
http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1162&Issue=Environment
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0131/p01s04-uspo.html

These findings are supported by research from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and the Government Accountability Project (GAP). UCS surveyed 1,600 climate scientists. Respondents reported at least 435 occurrences of political interference in their work over the past five years:
* 46 percent perceived or personally experienced pressure to eliminate the words "climate change," "global warming," or other similar terms from a variety of communications.
* 43 percent reported changes or edits during review of their work that changed the meaning of their scientific findings
* 46 percent reported new or unusual administrative requirements that impair climate-related work
* Scientists who are not federal employees, reported far fewer instances of interference
http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/investigation-reveals-0007.html

GAP conducted 40 in-depth interviews with climate scientists and a review of 2,000 agency documents. Their investigation revealed that agency media policies often unnecessarily hinder scientists' interaction with the media rather than facilitate public dissemination of their research.
http://www.whistleblower.org/content/press_detail.cfm?press_id=713
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ETM Human Rights
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The European Parliament has adopted a joint resolution with 591 votes in favor, 45 against and 31 abstentions for a universal moratorium on the death penalty.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/015-2614-031-01-05-902-20070130IPR02600-31-01-2007-2007-false/default_en.htm

Reporters Without Borders released its 2007 annual press freedom survey, which reviews journalists' rights and regional aspects of media and internet freedom in 98 countries. 2006 was the deadliest year for reporters in more than a decade, with 81 journalists and media staffers killed worldwide: most in Iraq. China jailed 32 journalists last year, the most of any country, out of a total of 871. Although countries like North Korea, Eritrea, Cuba and Turkmenistan are extremely repressive, democratic countries also need to improve, and stand up for their values. The controversy over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed illustrates this, with several democratic countries refusing to defend Denmark and its journalists.
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20843

The US Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division has launched a unit dedicated to human trafficking cases.
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/January/07_crt_060.html
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ETM Infectious Diseases
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Gambian President Yahya Jammeh claims that he can cure AIDS in three days, as well as asthma, using a secret mixture of medicinal herbs, and the Koran.
http://www.statehouse.gm/hiv-treatmnt-rsult_310107.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6323449.stm

Through 29 January there have been 270 laboratory-confirmed cases of human avian influenza H5N1 infections, of which 164 have been fatal. Since then:
* The EU has confirmed that H5N1 was found on a farm in Hungary
* Indonesia, where more than a third of global human deaths have occurred, is undertaking compulsory culling of thousands of backyard chickens, and plans to declare the epidemic a national disaster, which would release additional funds to combat the disease. The ban on backyard chickens has changed a whole way of life, providing a safety net against price rises and a way to earn a little extra money.
* Japan has confirmed a third outbreak this year
* Nigeria has reported its first human fatality from avian influenza
* Thailand announced a third outbreak and culled the affected flock
* H5N1 has killed tens of thousands of turkeys at a commercial farm in Suffolk, England, to try to contain the UK's first mass outbreak. The source of the infection has not been determined.

The World Health Organization has revised flu vaccine development guidelines.
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/guidelines/earlyrelease2007/en/index.html

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has released "Interim Pre-pandemic Planning Guidance: Community Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Mitigation in the United States - Early Targeted Layered use of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions". Because vaccines are unlikely to be available at the start of a pandemic, this plan suggests other measures to help reduce or delay the spread of the virus. This includes social distancing strategies such as closing schools, canceling public gatherings, planning for liberal work leave policies, telecommuting, and voluntary isolation and quarantine. In addition, pandemics would be characterized by degree, like hurricanes. There is no strategy to pay for these efforts, or to address prolonged absences from the workplace.
http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/community/community_mitigation.pdf
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/transcripts/%20t070201.htm

In Kenya Rift Valley Fever infections appear to be declining. Through 30 January, there have been 411 suspected cases, including 121 deaths. The outbreak has spread to Somalia, where 100 cases and 48 deaths are reported. Conflict in Somalia is interfering with control measures.

An international computing grid is analyzing drug compounds to find treatment for malaria.
http://www.cclrc.ac.uk/Activity/News2007;SECTION=9955;
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ETM Legal Systems
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In Nigeria's Delta State, the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR) has asked the Commissioner of Police to reduce congestion in police cells and improve sanitary conditions, calling the poor hygiene an eyesore and constitutes unjust suffering to prisoners.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/niger_delta/nd229012007.html

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons released its annual report. Chief Inspector Anne Owers warns that the jail system is in serious crisis. Overcrowding has increased risk, and hindered rehabilitation. There is particular concern over mentally ill inmates, and immigration detention centers.
http://inspectorates.homeoffice.gov.uk/hmiprisons/docs/Annual_Report_2005-2006.pdf
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6313561.stm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2575624,00.html
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_headline=free-the-women&method=full&objectid=18553685&siteid=94762-name_page.html
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/david_ramsbotham/2007/01/post_1028.html
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ETM Natural Resources
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Ivory Coast cocoa merchants are increasingly attractive targets for robberies.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L31521625
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ETM Populations
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A new report by the Legal Assistance Center entitled "Our Land They Took" highlights the San's dispossession of land and their status as the most marginalized ethnic group in Namibia.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=297819&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/

South Africa's Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said that South Africa is in danger of becoming an African country where its citizens cannot speak, read or write African languages, and called for students to be able to study in African languages.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=297691
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ETM Technology
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Rutherford Appleton Laboratory researchers are developing a laser-based technique to trace counterfeit drugs while sill in their packages.
http://www.cclrc.ac.uk/Activity/News2007;SECTION=9953;

The University of Edinburgh has developed prototypes of microscopic engines powered light that could in the future sort and move molecules.
http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/070130maxwell.html

Intel has announced plans to begin manufacturing processors just 45 nanometers wide. IBM has developed a transistor that can be incorporated in chips of this size.
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20070128comp.htm
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/20980.wss
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6299147.stm
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ETM Weapons (WMD, Proliferation)
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International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Mohammed ElBaradei has called for a timeout regarding the Iranian nuclear issue. The US rejected the suggestion and insisted that sanctions in place are not open to new interpretations. Iran dismissed the proposal as immature. Russia likes the idea. Increasing fears in Europe that the US plans to attack Iran are contributing to the failure to agree on a strategy for how to deal with Iran's nuclear program.
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2007/iran_timeout.html
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=tnBusinessNews&storyID=nL31729379
http://www.irna.com/en/news/view/line-22/0702011146010552.htm
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070201/60027123.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2002319,00.html

Failure to resolve US financial sanctions against North Korea could lead the latter to undertake a second nuclear test.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/31/AR2007013100554.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/30/america/NA-GEN-US-Koreas.php

News this week on the polonium-210 poisoning death of Alexander Litvinenko includes:
"Litvinenko file given to prosecutors"
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=UKNews1&storyID=2007-02-01T060148Z_01_L31720354_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BRITAIN-LITVINENKO.xml
"Lugovoi is 'most likely poisoner'"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6319935.stm
"Ex-FSB officer Litvinenko knew no secrets - Putin"
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070201/60041391.html
"Litvinenko Shooting Gallery"
http://www.kommersant.com/p738293/r_530/Litvinenko_Shooting_Gallery/
"Russia seeks UK Litvinenko probe"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6328875.stm

Australia has launched the National Center for Biosecurity.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/New-national-biosecurity-centre-opens/2007/01/31/1169919406681.html

The American Society for Clinical Pathology conducted a survey of clinical laboratory professionals. Their report, "Chemical Terrorism: How Prepared are the Clinical Laboratories?" finds that less than half believe their laboratory could effectively respond in a hazardous chemical emergency.
http://www.ascp.org/AboutUs/NewsRoom/NewsArticle.aspx?PrimaryCode=CHEM

The US Department of State released to Congress a preliminary report on its investigation into Israel's use of cluster bombs in civilian areas of Lebanon last summer, which finds it likely that Israel violated the terms of the Arms Export Act.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2007/79467.htm
http://www.pmddtc.state.gov/reference.htm

Following reports that Iran was obtaining spare parts from retired F-14 fighter jets, the US defense department has frozen all sales pending review.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1583715,00.html

5. Critical Infrastructure Monitor

The 21st century is the interdependent century. Understanding the implicit and explicit networks on which we rely, and the interdependencies among the sectors of the critical infrastructure is essential for business continuity, economic success, and our very survival. The Critical Infrastructure Monitor, published monthly, analyzes these sectors, regulatory frameworks, and issues of enterprise risk management in global supply chains.
http://secure.netsolhost.com/573566.585211/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=TP
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CIM Agriculture and Food
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International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas member states and regions agreed to cut the catch quota of bluefin tuna in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean for this year to 29,500 tons from 32,000 tons in 2006, and continue gradual reductions. This level of reduction is unlikely to help the species recover.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20070130a5.html
http://www.wwf.org.uk/news/n_0000003568.asp

China has banned some fishing along a stretch of the Yangtze River to protect fish stocks.
http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/161171.htm

The US Department of Agriculture has revealed details of the 2007 Farm Bill, which proposes to reduce payments to farmers by $10 billion over the next five years, and eliminate support entirely for those earning more than $200,000 per year. Such measures could accommodate World Trade Organization demands and help restart the stalled Doha trade talks.
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1UH?navid=FARM_BILL_FORUMS&navtype=SU
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CIM Banking and Finance
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Following last month's collapse of the Rebar Group, Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission's new chairman has promised to strengthen financial supervision to take into account market information and other details in addition to corporate financial statements.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/91fb367e-afef-11db-94ab-0000779e2340.html
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CIM Cybersecurity
--------------------------------------------------
IBM Internet Security Systems X-Force released its 2006 security statistics report. Key findings include:
* Within the last year, the volume of spam has increased by 100 percent over what ISS reported in 2005.
* The US, Spain and France are the three largest originators of spam worldwide.
* After English, German is the most popular language in which spam messages are written. (X-Force predicts that as computer users become more savvy at detecting and deleting spam, spammers will increasingly localize their messages in languages other than English to improve the rate at which they are opened.)
* The most popular subject line for spam in 2006 was "Re: hi."
* South Korea accounts for the highest source of phishing e-mails.
* The largest threat category of malware in 2006 was Downloaders, accounting for 22 percent of all malware. (A Downloader is a piece of low-profile malware that installs itself on machines for the purpose of later downloading a more sophisticated malware agent.)
* The most popular exploit used on the Internet to infect Web browsers with malware was for Microsoft's MS-ITS vulnerability (MS04-013), disclosed in 2004.
* The busiest month in 2006 for vulnerability disclosure was June, while the busiest week was the week before Thanksgiving and the most popular day of the week to disclose vulnerabilities was Tuesday.
http://www.iss.net/about/press_center/releases/us_ibm_report.html

Some of the personal GPS devices, Tom Tom GO 910s, shipped with a virus.
http://www.tomtom.com/news/category.php?ID=2&NID=349&Language=1

Microsoft's claim that Vista is more secure than other operating systems is both untrue and an open challenge to hackers.
* Secure operating systems
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6316253.stm
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/30/technology/30bugs.html
* Internet Explorer
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/01/windows_vista_security/
* Voice recognition vulnerabilities
http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=2148
http://blogs.technet.com/msrc/archive/2007/01/31/issue-regarding-windows-vista-speech-recognition.aspx
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=418

Javelin Strategy and Research released its 2007 Identity Fraud Survey. They found security improvements and a reduction in US identity theft losses, to $49 billion. They report that, 8.4 million adult Americans, or one in 27, learned last year that criminals committed fraud with personal data such as credit card or Social Security numbers. That’s down from 8.9 million in 2005 and 10.1 million in 2003. Adults under 25, African-Americans, and people who make more than $150,000 were among the groups most likely to suffer fraud. More than half of consumers spent nothing to clear up a fraud, but the average expense for those who did was $535.
http://www.javelinstrategy.com/2007/02/01/us-identity-theft-losses-fall-study/#more-607

Multinational retail giant TJX acknowledges that the security breach that affected hundreds of thousands or more customer accounts will affect their quarterly earnings. They have launched a major advertising campaign to deal with the fallout, including their month-long failure to notify of the breach. TJX also face a class action suit, bank lawsuits, local legal actions, and new regulations. Fifth Third Bank, which processes the TJX cards, is also facing legal action. More than 60 banks have reported compromised accounts. The government of Canada has launched its own investigation.
http://www.tjx.com/tjx_message.html
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2007-02-01T141828Z_01_N01287011_RTRIDST_0_TJX-OUTLOOK-UPDATE-1.XML
http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/01302007/business-ph-por-TJX.update.html
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/01/30/tjx_faces_class_action_lawsuit_in_data_breach/
http://www.javelinstrategy.com/2007/01/26/fraud-linked-to-tjx-data-heist-spreads/#more-601
http://sev.prnewswire.com/banking-financial-services/20070131/CLW15031012007-1.html
http://www.privcom.gc.ca/media/nr-c/2007/nr-c_070131_e.asp

Stephanie McLaughlan asked the Halifax Bank of Scotland for a statement and received 600 pages of confidential information on 75,000 clients. The bank is investigating.
http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149664&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149490&contentPK=16523463&folderPk=85696&pNodeId=149221

The agency of Human Services for the US state of Vermont has notified 70,000 people of a computer compromise that may have exposed personal data. Accounts at the New England Federal Credit Union may also be affected.
http://humanservices.vermont.gov/news-info/whats-new/frequently-asked-questions-regarding-computer-security-incident-involving-the-agency-of-human-services-and-the-child-support-office
http://www.nefcu.com/pdf/janletter.pdf

The Cyber Security Industry Alliance released its Federal Progress Report for 2006 and 2007. They gave US federal government a D grade.
https://www.csialliance.org/news/pr/view?item_key=d318795a670390bea4a352c8c578096535df6d0a

Voting machines used in the US have been found, in whole and in part, for sale on eBay.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/01/29/0130metvoter.html
http://www.examiner.com/a-536447~E_voting_components_found_in_old_furniture__sold_on_eBay.html
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CIM Dams and Bridges
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The US Army Corps of Engineers completed its assessment of dams across the nation, identifying 146 as structurally deficient.
http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepa/releases/leveesafety.htm

In the Puget Sound region of Washington state, dams on the Klamath River must be removed or modified to allow unfettered passage for salmon. Pacificorp, which owns the dams, will install fish ladders and screens and other necessary steps.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2783.htm
http://www.newportnewstimes.com/articles/2007/01/31/news/news03.txt
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/enviroreaderblog/archives/111075.asp
http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_50382.shtml
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CIM Defense Industrial Base
--------------------------------------------------
The US House Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities, held a hearing regarding current manning, equipping and readiness challenges facing Special Operations Forces. The exodus of skilled workers to the private sector is among many challenges facing US forces.
* Chairman Adam Smith's opening statement
http://armedservices.house.gov/apps/list/speech/armedsvc_dem/smith_openingSOCOM013107.shtml
* General Doug Brown, USA, Commander, US Special Operations Command
http://armedservices.house.gov/pdfs/TUTC013107/Brown%20testimony013107.pdf
* Lieutenant General Robert W. Wagner, USA, Commander, US Army Special Operations Command
http://armedservices.house.gov/pdfs/TUTC013107/Wagner%20testimony013107.pdf
* Rear Admiral Joseph Maguire, USN, Commander, U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command
http://armedservices.house.gov/pdfs/TUTC013107/Maguire%20testimony013107.pdf
* Lieutenant General Michael W. Wooley, USAF, Commander, U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command
http://armedservices.house.gov/pdfs/TUTC013107/Wooley%20testimony013107.pdf
* Major General Dennis J. Hejlik, USMC, Commander, U. S. Marine Corps Special Operations Command
http://armedservices.house.gov/pdfs/TUTC013107/Hejlik%20testimony013107.pdf

The same day, the Readiness and Air and Land Forces subcommittees met jointly on the topic of Army equipment reset. Testimony described the heavy toll military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq place on Army equipment, and the difficulties in monitoring equipment repair, replacement, and modernization to a degree that can effectively predict required funding.
* Chairmen opening statements
http://armedservices.house.gov/apps/list/speech/armedsvc_dem/ortiz_opening_reset013107.shtml
http://armedservices.house.gov/apps/list/speech/armedsvc_dem/aberc_opening013107.shtml
* Testimony
http://armedservices.house.gov/pdfs/joint013107/multi%20testimony013107.pdf
* Government Accountability Office, "Preliminary Observations on the Army's Implementation of Its Equipment Reset Strategies"
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-439T
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CIM Emergency Services
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The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a pandemic preparedness drill.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/01/health/01flu.html

New York's congressional delegation obtained $25 million of $250 million needed for care and treatment of 9/11 first responders who became ill from the toxic dust at Ground Zero.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/nyregion/31dust.html
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/wtc/
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CIM Energy
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Cyprus signed an agreement with Lebanon to delineate an undersea border to facilitate oil exploration. Turkey has protested this measure, and insists it will protect its interests in the area.
http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/02/cyprus_denounce.php
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/02/europe/EU-GEN-Cyprus-Turkey-Oil.php
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8N0E1400.htm

The European Commission adopted a Communication on the protection of critical infrastructure in energy and transport setting out criteria which can be used to identify European infrastructure in this area.
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/energy_transport/security/infrastructure/index_en.htm.

Germany plans to phase out its heavily subsidized coal mining industry, but there is a regional dispute over the timetable and the fate of the miners.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,463174,00.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aR5PXdLea.38

In his annual press conference, Russian President Putin denied using oil and gas resources to manipulate foreign policy.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7006328177

Russia has offered Ukraine access to its oil and gas fields, in exchange for access to Ukraine's pipelines that connect Russia to Europe. They are discussing this and other forms of energy cooperation and integration.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070202/60119504.html
http://www.regnum.ru/english/776664.html
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CIM Information Technology
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The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) hosted the Third Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy. Counterfeiting results in global economic losses of more than $100 billion each year, while pirated medicines endanger health.
http://www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/en/2007/wipo_pr_2007_475.html
http://www.interpol.int/Public/FinancialCrime/IntellectualProperty/Meeting/3rdGlobalCongress2006/Default.asp

The US Energy Policy Act moved the start and end of daylight saving time, requiring review of software and hardware systems that use timestamps to ensure this change is addressed.
http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=500587
http://www.dstinfo.com/site/2007/01/vendor_links_1.html

Sony BMG has agreed a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission regarding problems caused by hidden anti-piracy software.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/01/sony.htm

Microsoft has released its new Windows Vista system, which will be adjusted to accommodate EU requirements.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/default.mspx?pill=-1&WT.mc_id=?MSF601A
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9009780
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CIM Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste
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Russia and the US have begun efforts to improve security at a 9th, and final, Russian nuclear warhead site, under the 2005 Bratislava Agreement.
http://www.nnsa.doe.gov/docs/newsreleases/2007/PR_2007-01-31_NA-07-02.htm

The US House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on Continuing Security Concerns at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Committee members expressed intense frustration with continued security lapses that were deemed totally unacceptable. Energy Secretary Bodman insisted that arrogant scientists, not the unwieldy bureaucracy, are responsible for the endemic security problems.
http://energycommerce.house.gov/cmte_mtgs/110-oi_hrg.013007.LANL.shtml

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a related report, "National Nuclear Security Administration: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Management of the Nation's Nuclear Programs". It cites the following factors that contribute to continued cyber security weaknesses:
* Weak organization of headquarters security. Until recently, NNSA did not have consistent leadership or direction at the headquarters level for its security program.
* Security staffing shortages at NNSA site offices. Since NNSA became operational, five of its six site offices have not been staffed at the required levels, according to GAO's analysis. Site offices oversee NNSA contractor security operations.
* Inadequate security staff training. NNSA has not implemented a training program that provides federal security officials with the skills needed to effectively oversee contractor security programs.
* Incomplete security data. DOE's database for tracking security deficiencies identified by security oversight assessments is incomplete, and, as a result, NNSA lacks a comprehensive understanding of the overall effectiveness of its security program.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-36

A related hearing was undertaken by the House Armed Services Committee, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, regarding the Defense Department's implementation of the National Nuclear Security Administration Act of 2000. In addition to Energy Secretary Bodman, representatives from the GAO presented their findings, highlighting numerous management weaknesses.
http://armedservices.house.gov/apps/list/speech/armedsvc_dem/tauscher_openingNNSA013107.shtml
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-428T

The Department of Energy has awarded grants to support studies of possible nuclear fuel recycling plant sites.
http://www.energy.gov/news/4674.htm

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has rejected a petition to require nuclear plants protect themselves from air attacks.
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2007/07-012.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/29/AR2007012900572.html

NRC has scheduled a public meeting to discussed proposed physical security requirements for nuclear power plants, on 14 February.
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2007/07-017.html
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CIM Public Health and Healthcare
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The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, has launched a new policy to ensure that HIV-positive refugees and other displaced people around the world have access to life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) medication.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=57240

Clinical trials of a microbicide to prevent HIV transmission have been halted after finding a higher number of infections. Three other studies continue.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2007/s01/en/index.html
http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news02023.php

Chile's President Michelle Bachelet has signed a decree so that the morning-after contraceptive pill can be given to girls as young as 14 without their parents' consent, overriding the Constitutional Court.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2835577

A workplace smoking ban has come into effect across France.

Baghdad hospitals are in crisis from lack of security and a shortage of medicine.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=57224

The University of South Africa (Unisa) reports that the HIV/AIDS pandemic, often regarded as a disease of the poor, is rapidly increasing among the country's richest and best-educated people.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=297442

Thailand's health ministry has approved production of generic versions of anti-AIDS and heart drugs, to make them more affordable. Thailand has half a million HIV positive people, and says this represents a national public health emergency that makes manufacture of patented medicines permissible under international trade rules.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0131/p07s02-woap.html

The US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, held a hearing on "Private Health Records: Privacy Implications of the Federal Government's Health Information Technology Initiative". Testimony pointed to the critical importance of privacy in health information, and the lack of a comprehensive strategy from the Department of Health and Human Services responsible for new technology efforts.
http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=417
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CIM Transportation
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High security costs coupled with low demand has led El Al to stop flights between Cyprus and Turkey.

Senegal and South Africa have signed an Agreement on Civil Aviation Security Cooperation to share information about airport security and cooperate in counterterrorism and information sharing.
http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=374726

Thai airport authorities have halted repairs at the 4-month-old Suvarnabhumi airport pending a thorough investigation into the causes of cracks that have appeared on runways and taxiways. In the meantime, the old airport will be reopened.

Japan, Malaysia and Thailand held their first joint anti-piracy exercise in the Straits of Malacca.
http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BT/Monday/Nation/BT607271.txt/Article/

The US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held an oversight hearing on the Coast Guard's Integrated Deepwater System. Testimony focused on cost overruns and construction delays, as well as design flaws in new ships that are causing hulls to crack. The ambitious program has already forced several boats to be removed from service. Given such results, the program is at risk of cancellation, at a time when operational assets are in dire need of improvement.
http://transportation.house.gov/hearings/hearingdetail.aspx?NewsID=24
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CIM Water
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The Australian state of Queensland has cancelled plans to have a referendum on drinking water that contains recycled sewage because the water shortage is so severe they have no choice but to adopt the practice.

In Kenya, the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company began disconnecting customers in arrears from their water supplies, leading to a stampede as they rushed to pay.
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=90716

6. Disaster Reduction Monitor

Natural and manmade events are inevitable, but they need not become disasters. Subscribers to the monthly Disaster Reduction Monitor learn from past incidents to prevent future disasters. It includes analysis of historical events, emerging risks and risk mitigation, and features new techniques to address disaster reduction, ranging from technical advances to regulatory best practices and micro-finance.
http://secure.netsolhost.com/573566.585211/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=TP
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DRM Incidents
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Flooding in Jakarta has killed 20 and displaced 340,000 people and left many parts of the Indonesian capital under neck-deep water.

The governor of the US state of Florida declared an emergency, and President Bush named four counties disaster areas after powerful storms and tornadoes, most intense in the central part of the state, left at least 20 people dead.

Heavy rains and landslides in Bolivia have caused at least 17 deaths and affected some 94,000 people.

A gas explosion in China's southwestern Yile coal mine killed eleven miners and left five missing. The cause is under investigation.

The cause of a hotel fire in southern Chile that killed ten foreign tourists is under investigation.

The US Chemical Safety Board has deployed an investigative team to assess a fatal fuel tank explosion at the Flat Top Little General Store and Gas station in Ghent, West Virginia, while left four people dead, including emergency responders, and seriously injured nine.

In the Indian state of Gujarat, four people were killed and 18 injured when an oil refinery caught fire. Workers were welding near a naphtha pipeline, and its leakage caused the fire.

Landslides in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, killed three people.

Three miners died and 27 are trapped in a Colombian coal mine, following a gas explosion.
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DRM Response and Recovery
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Indonesia is struggling to recover the Adam Air plane or its black box, but has been unable to get the necessary international support for a recovery effort. A US ship located the black box, but would not recover it due to other obligations and lack of funding to engage in a 2000-meter recovery effort. Meanwhile, Adam Air is holding a ritual at sea to commemorate the 102 people who died on board.
http://www.tempointeractive.com/hg/nasional/2007/01/31/brk,20070131-92285,uk.html
http://www.tempointeractive.com/hg/nasional/2007/01/30/brk,20070130-92204,uk.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/30/news/adamside.php

The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency is continuing to remove oil and unload containers from the grounded MSC Napoli. The case has increased pressure for new safety standards.
http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-newsroom/incident.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/6325071.stm

A British court has agreed to hear a class action case against Trafigura, the international oil trader implicated in toxic waste dumping in Ivory Coast.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-02-02T194110Z_01_L02227138_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IVORYCOAST-TOXIC-TRIAL.xml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6324051.stm

The US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held a field hearing in New Orleans on the topic of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Outstanding Need, Slow Progress. Repairs and prevention were the focus of testimony from federal, state and local officials, and there was other lively participation from residents.
http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=415
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-418T
http://www.newschannel5.tv/News/Other/5647/
http://www.bayoubuzz.com/News/Louisiana/Hurricane_Rita/New_Orleans_Homeland_Security_Hearings_Shameful__2688.asp
http://www.cw.ua.edu/vnews/display.v/ART/2007/01/31/45c051be37d4b
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DRM Risks
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The US Army Corps of Engineers completed its assessment of dams across the nation, identifying 146 as structurally deficient.
http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepa/releases/leveesafety.htm
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DRM Mitigation
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New Orleans has developed a Unified New Orleans Plan for citywide recovery, requiring an infusion of some $14 billion over the next ten years.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1170228330319700.xml
http://recovery.blogs.nola.com/default.asp?item=465073

7. Recommended Reading

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis, produced by Working Group I. Working Group II on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability will be released in April, and Working Group III on Mitigation of Climate Change will be released in May. In addition to our reports on this topic, you can refer to IPCC's website:
http://www.ipcc.ch/

Also note the activities of these participating organizations:
* World Meteorological Organization
http://www.wmo.int/
* UN Environment Program
http://www.unep.org/

And these global initiatives:
* United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
http://unfccc.int/2860.php
* Kyoto Protocol
http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php

IPCC's last report was issued in 2001. The 2007 report reviews progress in understanding and attributing climate change; findings from observations of the atmosphere, oceans, sea level, snow and ice; how the climate has behaved in the last hundreds of thousands years; and projections of future changes. It's conservative assessment finds that human activities are warming the climate system at a dangerous rate of a minimum 4.5 degrees by 2100. Unless drastic changes are taken this change is irreversible within a human lifetime, and would take decades or centuries to reverse. The impact of rising temperatures includes massive extinctions, rising sea levels, drought, and other calamitous effects.

Here is the press announcement, which summarizes the findings:

EVIDENCE IS NOW "UNEQUIVOCAL" THAT HUMANS ARE CAUSING GLOBAL WARMING - UN REPORT

New York, Feb 2 2007 1:00PM

Changes in the atmosphere, the oceans and glaciers and ice caps now show unequivocally that the world is warming due to human activities, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in new report released today in Paris.

Welcoming the findings, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pointed to the "scientific consensus regarding the quickening and threatening pace of human-induced climate change" and called for the global response “to move much more rapidly as well, and with more determination.”

In a statement released by his spokesman, the Secretary-General said the new study and expected follow-up IPCC reports "will be critical guides for the UN's response to anthropogenic climate change," and will support action by those concerned globally, nationally and locally.
http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=2433

The IPCC, which brings together the world's leading climate scientists and experts, concluded that major advances in climate modeling and the collection and analysis of data now give scientists "very high confidence" - at least a 9 out of 10 chance of being correct - in their understanding of how human activities are causing the world to warm. This level of confidence is much greater than the IPCC indicated in their last report in 2001.

Today's report, the first of four volumes to be released this year by the IPCC, also confirms that it is "very likely" that humanity's emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gases have caused most of the global temperature rise observed since the mid-20th century. The report says that it is likely that effect of human activity since 1750 is five times greater than the effect of fluctuations in the sun's output.

Susan Soloman, co-chair of the IPCC working group that produced the report, said records from ice cores, going back 10,000 years, show a dramatic rise in greenhouse gases from the onset of the industrial era. "There can be no question that the increase in these greenhouse gases are dominated by human activity."

Three years in the making, the report is based on a thorough review of the most-up-to-date, peer-reviewed scientific literature available worldwide. IPCC Chair Rajendra Pachuari said the science has "moved on" and the extent of knowledge and the research carried is now several steps beyond what was possible for the last report.

The report describes an accelerating transition to a warmer world - an increase of 3 degrees C is expected this century - marked by more extreme temperatures including heat waves, new wind patterns, worsening drought in some regions, heavier precipitation in others, melting glaciers and Arctic ice, and rising global average sea levels.

"This report by the IPCC represents the most rigorous and comprehensive assessment possible of the current state of climate science and has considerably narrowed the uncertainties of the 2001 report,” said Michel Jarraud, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

"The 2nd of February, 2007 in Paris will perhaps one day be remembered as the day where the question mark was removed behind the debate on whether climate change has anything to do with human activity on this planet," said Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

"Momentum for action is building; this new report should spur policymakers to get off the fence and put strong and effective policies in place to tackle greenhouse gas emissions," he said.

The report also concludes that:
* The world's average surface temperature has increased by around 0.74 degrees C over the past 100 years (1906 - 2005). A warming of about 0.2 degrees C is projected for each of the next two decades.
* The best estimates for sea-level rise due to ocean expansion and glacier melt by the end of the century (compared to 1989 - 1999 levels) have narrowed to 28 - 58 cm, versus 9 - 88 cm in the 2001 report, due to improved understanding. However, larger values of up to 1 m by 2100 cannot be ruled out if ice sheets continue to melt as temperature rises.
* Sea ice is projected to shrink in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Large areas of the Arctic Ocean could lose year-round ice cover by the end of the 21st century if human emissions reach the higher end of current estimates. The extent of Arctic sea ice has already shrunk by about 2.7 percent per decade since 1978, with the summer minimum declining by about 7.1 percent per decade.
* Snow cover has decreased in most regions, especially in spring. The maximum extent of frozen ground in the winter/spring season decreased by about 7 percent in the Northern Hemisphere over the latter half of the 20th century. The average freezing date for rivers and lakes in the Northern Hemisphere over the past 150 years has arrived later by some 5.8 days per century, while the average break-up date has arrived earlier by 6.5 days per century.
* It is "very likely" that precipitation will increase at high latitudes and "likely" it will decrease over most subtropical land regions. The pattern of these changes is similar to what has been observed during the 20th century.
* It is "very likely" that the upward trend in hot extremes and heat waves will continue. The duration and intensity of drought has increased over wider areas since the 1970s, particularly in the tropics and subtropics. The Sahel, the Mediterranean, southern Africa and parts of southern Asia have already become drier during the 20th century.
* The number of tropical cyclones (typhoons and hurricanes) per year is projected to decline. However, the intensity of these storms is expected to increase, with higher peak wind speeds and more intense precipitation, due to warmer ocean waters.

The IPCC does not conduct new research. Instead, its mandate is to make policy-relevant assessments of the existing worldwide literature on the scientific, technical and socio-economic aspects of climate change. Its reports have played a major role in inspiring governments to adopt and implement the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, a binding pact on greenhouse gas emissions.

PRESS REPORTS AND ANALYSIS
* Al Jazeera (Qatar)
"The Pacific's Climate Refugees"
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C61077B9-6AE7-47FD-A7E9-63B6EC9B4B4A.htm
* BBC (UK/Worldwide)
"Climate paper prompts call to act"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6326667.stm
* Carbon Positive (Netherlands)
"IPCC report ups the Kyoto ante"
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=583
* Europa (EU)
"Climate change: New report from the world's leading scientists underlines the need for urgent global action"
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/128
* (Fox) News (Australia)
" Bosses heed climate warning"
http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,23636,21170993-462,00.html
* Guardian (UK)
"We cannot let the Kyoto debacle happen again"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2005608,00.html
* The Hindu (India)
"Global warming unstoppable for centuries"
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200702031131.htm
* Los Angeles Times (US)
"Deal with warming, don't debate it, scientists warn"
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-warming3feb03,0,7793146.story
* Mail and Guardian (South Africa)
"Minister urges action on climate change"
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=297815
* Malaysia Star (Malaysia)
"Mankind to blame for global warming say scientists"
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/2/3/worldupdates/2007-02-03T103132Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_-286068-10&sec=Worldupdates
* New York Times (US)
"Science Panel Calls Global Warming 'Unequivocal'"
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/03/science/earth/03climate.html
* Reuters (Global)
"Factbox: Global warming: impacts of temperature rises" (describes effects of one, two, three, four and five degree increases"
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L01701640.htm
* Sydney Morning Herald (Australia"
"We've Wrecked the Weather"
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/weve-wrecked-the-weather/2007/02/03/1169919583022.html
* Times Picayune (US)
"Global warming could hit New Orleans Hard"
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1170488524298180.xml
* Washington Post (US)
"Humans Faulted for Global Warming: International Panel of Scientists Sounds Dire Alarm"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/02/AR2007020201754.html

8. Asset Management Network News

NEW REPORTS:
* "The Interconnected Century: Critical Security Issues" describes the ways in which individuals, governments, and businesses rely for their very survival on networks, both explicit and informal. It raises the issues of how these networks interact, and provides examples of practical ways to address risks and opportunities in each sector of the critical infrastructure.
* "Trends in Terrorism 2006" provides statistical summaries and analysis of the trends in attacks, tactics, facilities, geographic distribution and other areas for 2006. It includes quantitative comparison over time, and compares these to trends over the past 40 years, and how they compare to natural disasters. This year has expanded to include a chronology of major incidents.