AUTHOR:
TerrorismCentral Editorial Staff

TITLE:
TerrorismCentral Newsletter - July 1, 2007

SOURCE:
TerrorismCentral, July 1, 2007

TEXT:

"It will get worse before it gets better" is the determination of Britain's top terrorism advisor John Stevens. Iraq and Bali style car bombs in London indicate rising sophistication among militants that justifies the UK government's decision to increase the terror threat level to the highest ever, with the critical rating warning that an attack is believed imminent. This happens only two days after Gordon Brown replaced Tony Blair as the new Prime Minister. Coverage of both political and terrorist risk and the implications to critical infrastructures is typical of the news coverage, which also includes comprehensive details of emerging threats and mitigation techniques gleaned from around the globe. Recommended Reading this week features the 2007 World Drug Report. Don't forget that our global team of experts is always available to offer further assistance.

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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There are unconfirmed reports that Thailand's Anti Money Laundering Office was contacted by a British law enforcement agency to ask what action to take with funds that deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra wants to use to take over the Manchester City football (soccer) team.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2007/06/30/sfnmac130.xml

Athif Sarwar has been sentenced to three years in British prison for a GBP 850,000 money laundering scam.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6249052.stm
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,,2113889,00.html

US Army Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Hopfengardner was sentenced in district court to 21 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $144,500 forfeit for laundering money involving bribery for Iraq reconstruction contracts.
http://washingtondc.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/wfo062507.htm

Trinh Tuyet Vu was sentenced in US district court in Seattle, Washington (state) to five months in prison for laundering the proceeds of marijuana and ecstasy smuggling. She is the eighth to be sentenced in the smuggling ring.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Laundering_Sentence.html
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AML/CFT Legislation and Regulation
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The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) held a plenary meeting in Paris 27-29 June. Key outcomes of the meeting include:
* Guidance for the private sector and governments on AML/CFT
* Reports on the AML/CFT systems of China, Greece and the United Kingdom
* Two new studies on money laundering and terrorist financing through real estate and related to drug trafficking in Central Asia
http://www.fatf-gafi.org/dataoecd/13/31/38877832.pdf

Canada's finance ministry has published final regulations to strengthen AML/CFT efforts including:
*  Enhanced customer due diligence measures, such as new requirements to identify the beneficial owners of corporations and other entities.
* Special due diligence measures including identification and monitoring of correspondent banking relationships and politically exposed persons.
* A requirement to report attempted suspicious transactions.
* Enhanced information sharing among the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), law enforcement and other domestic and international agencies.
* The establishment of a registration regime for money service businesses.
http://www.fin.gc.ca/news07/07-054e.html
http://investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=39915&cat=8&IdSection=8&PageMem=&nbNews=&IdPub=

The Cayman Islands Financial Reporting Authority (FRA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to facilitate the exchange of information with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC).
http://www.caymannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000160/016041.htm

China has joined the Financial Action Task Force.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-06/29/content_906727.htm

Following a joint undertaking by the European Commission and the Council Presidency, the EU has got a set of unilateral commitments ("Representations") of the United States Treasury Department regarding their handling of EU originating personal data received from SWIFT in the United States under compulsion of administrative subpoenas. These "Representations" take account of EU data protection concerns:
Commitments by the US Treasury to use any data received from SWIFT exclusively for counter terrorism purposes – an obligation which applies also where such data are shared with other U.S. agencies and with third countries. Any other use of SWIFT data is therefore excluded, including for example use of those data for commercial or industrial purposes.
* The US Treasury commit to analyze data subpoenaed from SWIFT on an on-going basis in order to identify and delete any data which are not necessary for counter terrorism investigation.
* The Representations impose strict data retention obligations, namely to retain dormant data (i.e. data subpoenaed by US Treasury which have not been identified as necessary for counter terrorism purposes) for no more than five years from the date of receipt of data or, in the case of data received before publication of the Representations, to retain those data for no more than five years from the date of publication of the representations. This means for example that if the Representations are published on 1st September 2007, data that might be received on 15th September 2007 and which remain dormant would have to be deleted by no later than 15th September 2012.
* The Representations further provide for appointment of an "eminent European" who will carry out annual oversight of the U.S. Treasury commitments contained in the Representations. The eminent person will be appointed by the Commission in consultation with the President of the Committee of Permanent Representatives and of the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee. The eminent person will report to the European Commission which will report to Parliament and Council.
* To ensure transparency and legal certainty the Representations, together with U.S. and EU letters of transmission and receipt, will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union in all official languages. In the United States the Treasury Department will endeavor to ensure publication of the Representations in the U.S. Federal Register.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/968
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/266

SWIFT is creating a new system architecture that will allow intra-European messages to be stored only in Europe, and has applied to join the EU-US Safe Harbor Agreement, as well as taking other data privacy steps.
http://www.swift.com/index.cfm?item_id=62413

Russia tracked some 2,680 money laundering incidents between January and May of this year, a 14 percent increase year on year, involving losses of some $16 million. More than 850 people were criminally charged with money laundering so far this year.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070626/67830860-print.html
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11662850&PageNum=0

US President Bush has issued a proclamation banning Lebanese and Syrian officials that he accuses of undermining the Lebanese government from entering the US.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/06/20070629-5.html

The US House Foreign Affairs committee passed the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act to tighten economic sanctions on Iran.
http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/press_display.asp?id=379
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djhighlights/200706261106DOWJONESDJONLINE000508.htm

The US House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight and Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere held a hearing on  " Protection and Money: U.S. Companies, Their Employees, and Violence in Colombia". Testimony alleged serious US corporate involvement with paramilitaries in Colombia.
http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/hearing_notice.asp?id=853
http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/110/engel062807.htm
http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/110/woolsey062807.htm
http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/110/mcf062807.pdf
http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/110/guz062807.pdf
http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/110/ram062807.pdf
http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/110/rei062807.pdf
http://international.edgeboss.net/real/international/jc_6-28-07.smi (VIDEO)

John Werner, Managing Director of Merrill Lynch's Monetary and Financial Control Group, addressed the Washington Institute on US efforts against terrorism financing.
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2627
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AML/CFT Modalities
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Refer to Recommended Reading, below, for information about the UN Office on Drugs and Crime "World Drug Report 2007".

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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Bangladesh officials have arrested several forest officials and suspended others during an investigation of wealth obtained through corruption in their official positions.
http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/06/26/d7062601033.htm
http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/06/27/d7062701097.htm

In Canada, Ontario Energy Minister Dwight Duncab announced they are accepting all panel recommendations on Electricity Agency Executive Salaries, including:
* Compensation that reflects the mixed commercial and public interest nature of jobs at these agencies.
* Using a more appropriate model for setting executive compensation that will result in reduced compensation for top executives at Ontario Power Generation and Hydro One in the order of 25-30 percent.
* Setting Ontario Energy Board executive salaries at a rate similar to other Ontario regulatory organizations.
* Further enhancing the executive salary disclosure system to make it more accessible and transparent by including the rationale for executive compensation decisions.
* Discouraging the use of perks to executives.
http://www.energy.gov.on.ca/index.cfm?fuseaction=english.news&body=yes&news_id=158

Now that former French President Jacques Chirac is no longer granted immunity, judges will question him over corruption allegations during his 18 years as the mayor of Paris.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/26/news/chirac.php

Israeli President Moshe Katsav has resigned following a plea bargain in which he pled guilty to several sexual offenses, but two charges of rape were removed. There have been several demonstrations protesting the plea bargain.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3419000,00.html
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1183053061628&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) has withdrawn its ten years of Yukos oil firm audit reports. PWC says the reports were withdrawn because they could not ensure that management provided true information, but there are strong suggestions that they came under pressure from the Russian government.
http://www.pwc.com/extweb/ncpressrelease.nsf/docid/FB66FD4D8CBB5640802573050019EB74
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article1980662.ece
http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9414571

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) released the findings from a study they commissioned on the current state of corporate governance of SGX-listed companies in Singapore.
http://www.mas.gov.sg/news_room/press_releases/2007/Joint_Press_Release_by_MAS_and_SGX_on_Corporate_Governance_Report_and_Upcoming_Initiatives_to_Strengthen_Corporate_Governance_Practices_for_Listed_Companies.html

The US Department of Justice has launched a corruption investigation of Britain's BAE Systems, focused on its dealings with Saudi Arabia. Following the announcement BAE shares fell nearly nine percent, knocking GBP1.3 billion off its market valuation.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/26/business/EU-FIN-COM-Britain-BAE-Saudi.php
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/97c8d824-240f-11dc-8ee2-000b5df10621.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/baefiles

James Steven Griles, former Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior (DOI), has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for obstructing the US Senate's investigation into the corruption allegations surrounding former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $30,000, and serve a term of three years of supervised release.
http://washingtondc.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/wfo062607.htm
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ETM Economies and Financial Systems
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The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has released its annual report. In summary, they report "The favorable global economic performance seen in recent years extended into the period under review. Global growth was strong and there were even welcome signs of better balanced demand. The US economy slowed somewhat, largely due to a weaker housing sector, while domestic demand in Europe, Japan and a number of emerging market economies picked up. Although output in many countries seemed to be close to potential, and commodity prices rose still further, overall inflation pressures remained muted. In this environment, there was a moderate tightening of monetary policies in many countries, although overall monetary and financial conditions remained highly accommodative. In part this was due to real policy rates remaining rather low, with associated effects on long-term interest rates. But it was also due to an increased willingness of lenders to advance credit to high-risk borrowers with less onerous conditionality than in the past. While the credit cycle has peaked in the subprime mortgage market in the United States, the expansion has continued in most other areas. As a result, global asset prices either continued to rise or were maintained at unusually high levels. Moreover, financing for the US current account deficit, as well as private capital outflows from the United States, continued to be available at terms that seemed to factor in expectations of only a very moderate further depreciation of the dollar."
http://www.bis.org/publ/arpdf/ar2007e.htm

The World Bank's executive board has confirmed Robert Zoellick as the new president.
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21385723~menuPK:34463~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html

The World Wealth Report finds that a strong global economy has increased the wealth of the world's wealthiest by 11.4 percent, to $37.2 trillion last year. The number of high worth individuals increased 8.3 percent to 9.5 million, and the number of ultra-hi-worth individuals grew 11.3 percent to 94,970.
http://www.ml.com/index.asp?id=7695_7696_8149_74412_79272_79918

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says that public mistrust of globalization is rooted in legitimate concerns over income inequality and other issues, but the threats are overrated.
http://www.oecd.org/document/12/0,3343,en_2649_201185_38792716_1_1_1_1,00.html
http://www.oecd.org/document/22/0,3343,en_2649_201185_38847702_1_1_1_1,00.html

In a similar vein, the Financial Services Forum released "Succeeding in the Global Economy: A New Policy Agenda for the American Worker".
http://www.financialservicesforum.org/site/c.mtJ2J7MKIsE/b.2871097/k.6C47/Succeeding_in_the_Global_Economy_A_New_Policy_Agenda_for_the_American_Worker.htm

Zimbabweans are switching to barter, payment in kind and the use of foreign currencies, such as neighboring South Africa's rand, instead of the local dollar to survive hyperinflation and the accelerating economic meltdown. The government's response is to order prices immediately to be cut by half, and to set out proposals to ensure that Zimbabweans have a majority stake in all businesses.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=72913
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2710586.ece
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6240636.stm
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ETM Environment and Climate Change
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Chatham House has published a series of five papers highlighting the connections between climate change, foreign and security policy, energy policy, trade and investment.
http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/index.php?id=189&pid=403

UN University researchers urge governments to overhaul policy approaches to desertification, which is not just one of the greatest environmental challenges, but which could lead to mass migration that poses imminent threats to international stability.
http://www.inweh.unu.edu/inweh/drylands/IYDD_Policy_Brief.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/world/28deserts.html

The European Commission has published a Green Paper on climate change, calling for Europe to address the double challenge of not only making deep cuts in its greenhouse gas emissions but also taking measures to adapt to current and future climate change in order to lessen the adverse impacts of global warming on people, the economy and the environment.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/979

Note this series on Surviving in a Warmer World:
http://www.csmonitor.com/adaptation

Limits to food-based biofuels are already in sight, as noted in "Ethanol Demand Outgrows Corn".
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=219881

Jurgen Hambrecht, CEO of the largest chemical company in the world, BASF, says he has a problem with the term "climate change". Read why in this Der Spiegel interview.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,491075,00.html

The UK has launched a consultation on the implementation proposals of the Carbon Reduction Commitment.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/carbon-reduc/index.htm
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ETM Human Rights
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The International Day Against Torture was marked on 26 June. UN Secretary General Ban has called for all countries to ratify the Convention against Torture: 174 states have signed but not ratified the pact.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23040&Cr=&Cr1=
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/254

Amnesty International released "The Last Executioner of Children". The new report says that although "executions of child offenders are few compared to the total number of executions in Iran, they highlight the government’s disregard for its commitments and obligations under international law, which prohibits in all circumstances the use of the death penalty for child offenders. The executions also gravely undermine the particular obligation that all states have relating to the protection of children - one of the most vulnerable groups in society." They call on Iran to take immediate steps to end the practice.
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE130592007

In a 5-to-4 decision, the US Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of a delusional Texas murderer, Scott Louis Panetti, who believed that he was being executed for preaching the Gospel.
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/06pdf/06-6407.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/washington/29execution.html

China has jailed for life the mine owner who ordered the beating death of journalist Hou Zhenrun, outside an illegal coal mine. The five who carried out the attack were sentenced to terms of up to 15 years, and another man was sentenced to a year for harboring the suspects.
http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=5068&Language=EN

Sri Lanka's government wants to reintroduce criminal defamation laws. This move comes as the country has been identified as the deadliest place for journalists after Iraq.
http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullstory.php?newsID=936537345&no_view=1&SEARCH_TERM=33
http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=5077&Language=EN

The UK Parliament Constitutional Affairs Committee found no evidence that the Freedom of Information Act should be limited.
http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/conaffcom/cac35_240607.cfm

Continuing their phased assault against legal precedents, the US Supreme Court this week, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that race cannot be used to determine where a child will be sent to school.
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/06pdf/05-908.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/washington/29scotus.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/us/29assess.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/28/AR2007062800896.html?\
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6252206.stm
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ETM Infectious Diseases
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Food and Agriculture Organization Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech reports that H5N1 response has improved significantly in the past three years, but it is entrenched in several countries and will continue to spread. Recent outbreaks in Bangladesh, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ghana and Togo are a reminder not to be complacent, particularly since as long as the virus continues to exist in poultry a potential human pandemic cannot be ruled out. There are particular concerns with Egypt, Indonesia, and Nigeria.
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2007/1000615/index.html

In "Avian Influenza: USDA Has Taken Important Steps to Prepare for Outbreaks, but Better Planning Could Improve Response", the Government Accountability Office (GAO) warns that the US Department of Agriculture H5N1 planning is incomplete and they are not fully prepared to cope with an outbreak. Furthermore, USDA and the Department of Homeland Security have not coordinated their roles, and 14 of 19 state plans reviewed were incomplete.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-652

Other H5N1 avian influenza news this week includes:
* There was another breakout in Bangladesh
http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/06/28/d70628013120.htm
* Germany reported new infections in two states
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,490500,00.html
* Laboratory tests confirmed that the H5N1 avian flu virus caused the sudden deaths of 2000 chickens at a farm near Togo's capital Lome.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=72898

"The Tail End of Guinea Worm - Global Eradication without a Drug or a Vaccine" describes this unprecedented accomplishment. The only disease previously eradicated was smallpox, which is not parasitic, and it was achieved through a grassroots public health initiative led by the Carter Center.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/356/25/2561
http://www.cartercenter.org/health/guinea_worm/index.html

University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy researchers' meta-analysis found that the herbal remedy echinacea can reduce the odds of catching the common cold by 58 percent and reduce duration of a cold by a day and a half.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W8X-4P24W6Y-S&_user=10&_coverDate=07%2F31%2F2007&_rdoc=22&_fmt=summary&_orig=browse&_srch=doc-info(%23toc%236666%232007%23999929992%23661541%23FLA%23display%23Volume)&_cdi=6666&_sort=d&_docanchor=&_ct=25&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=dc1c7b2192acb12a9c3551b3d72a92b1

Albany Medical College researchers report that for the first time antibodies have been shown to provide protection against tularemia.
http://www.jimmunol.org/cgi/content/abstract/179/1/532

The June issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases focuses on waterborne diseases.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/index.htm?s_cid=eidindex_e
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ETM Legal Systems
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Nobel Peace prize-winning lawyer, Shirin Ebadi, has complained to Iran's judiciary that criminals are treated better than political prisoners. For example, bail for a detained reporter was 50 times higher than for a rapist.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6237338.stm

The US Congress continues to investigate the case of eight attorneys summarily fired for apparently political reasons. This week the White House rejected subpoenas for related documents, citing executive privilege. Further investigation reveals that Gonzales has often overruled US Attorneys' arguments against capital charges.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/06/20070628-2.html
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200706/062907.html
http://judiciary.house.gov/Printshop.aspx?Section=345
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/27/AR2007062702310.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6480349.stm
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ETM Natural Resources
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The UN Security Council discussed the many cases in which illegal exploitation of natural resources has triggered, exacerbated and prolonged armed conflict, but if natural resources are effectively managed they can also contribute to post-conflict recovery.
http://www.un.org/ga/president/61/statements/statement20070625.shtml
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/26/news/UN-GEN-UN-Resource-Conflicts.php
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ETM Populations
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The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) released its "State of World Population 2007: Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth". The report finds that in 2008 more than half of the world population - 3.3 billion people - will for the first time in history be living in urban areas. This will swell to nearly five billion by 2030.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reports that international migration to OECD countries continued to rise in response to demand for labor.
http://www.oecd.org/document/39/0,3343,en_2649_201185_38835943_1_1_1_1,00.html

Australia's controversial program to crack down on child abuse in Aboriginal communities has begun, and local communities have become terrified that their families will be broken apart.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/terrified-families-flee-in-panic/2007/06/26/1182623909275.html

In Bangladesh, members of the long-neglected Muslim minority Rohingya community gained attention following recent disasters that have driven the government to move some 10,000 people from the Naaf river bank to higher ground.
http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/06/26/d70626011612.htm
http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?objectid=805DDD85-5056-AA77-6C3222AC3273C756&component=toolkit.article&method=full_html

On Friday, aboriginal groups across Canada held a day of marches and protests to highlight the economic and social issues they face.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6252218.stm
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=80f830b1-f459-4b54-a9d5-50d281784ec5
http://www.thestar.com/article/231171
http://www.afn.ca/nda.htm

The Hmong minority in Laos had hoped to resettle in the US, but the recent arrest of General Vang Pao has interfered with that goal. Now, a Thai paramilitary task force has moved more than 7,000 of the hill tribe refugees to a new holding area.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/270607_News/27Jun2007_news11.php

Nomads in Malaysian Borneo are struggling to preserve their way of life, while logging companies push further into the interior forests of Sarawak.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C5DFE30E-8E57-4220-A68E-F814C44F582B.htm

US Comptroller General David M. Walker addressed the Center for Productive Longevity's National Conference on "The New Human Resources Frontier: Utilizing Older Workers for Competitive Advantage".
http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d071061cg.pdf
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ETM Technology
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University of California Berkeley researchers have developed a nanowire-based laser that is small enough to probe cells.
http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/18989/
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ETM Weapons (WMD, Proliferation)
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The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) was created in 1999 and concluded its work this week.
http://www.unmovic.org/
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/sc9064.doc.htm
http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/1563/unmovic-passes-into-the-night

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors visited North Korea this week. They have agreed on the terms for monitoring and verification.
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/PressReleases/2007/prn200709.html
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/IaeaDprk/index.shtml

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei held a positive meeting with Iran's nuclear negotiator Dr Ali Larijani, in which IAEA was invited to send a team to Iran to develop an action plan. Several options are under consideration.
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/PressReleases/2007/prn200710.html
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/IaeaIran/index.shtml
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19491135/site/newsweek/page/0
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/29/america/NA-GEN-US-Iran.php
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6252088.stm

IAEA is providing technical cooperation to secure millions of tons of uranium tailings in abandoned sites in Central Asia.
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2007/tajikistansites.html

Pakistan and the US Department of State have rejected Congressional accusations and a report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies that claim the A Q Khan nuclear supermarket is still operating.
http://www.dawn.com/2007/06/29/top4.htm
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/47000.pdf
http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/hearing_notice.asp?id=851
http://www.iiss.org/publications/strategic-dossiers/nbm

Russia and the US are continuing nuclear security cooperation efforts.
http://www.doe.gov/news/5186.htm

Toxic, radioactive dust released from armor-piercing depleted uranium shells lingers for decades in the environment and contaminates land far from where it is used.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,2112248,00.html
http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/news.asp?id=2526
http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/page.asp?id=1247

China's ministry of science and technology announced plans to establish a biological security system in 20 years.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-06/27/content_6295350.htm

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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The international NGO GRAIN promotes sustainable management and use of agricultural biodiversity. In a special issue of their journal Seedling, they focus on biofuels (agrofuels), pointing to the extensive environmental and social damage they cause, for little or no carbon savings.
http://www.grain.org/seedling/?type=68

Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda, the UN, regional bodies, donors, international financial institutions, research organizations, the private sector and non-governmental organizations met this week to discuss addressing the root causes of rising food insecurity across the drought-plagued region, which threatens more than 20 million people. They developed a roadmap including a list of 170 successful projects that can be scaled up and expanded throughout the region, including growing trees, rehabilitating land, and digging water wells and irrigation systems.
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2007/1000613/index.html
http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2545

Uganda's agriculture minister has called for agricultural zoning to ensure food security.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200706280066.html

China has cracked down on domestic food producers and food imports, strengthening both its standards and its enforcement efforts. It has closed and seized a number of US shipments.
http://english.people.com.cn/200706/27/eng20070627_388004.html
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PEK242861.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6742439,00.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSPEK26083120070627

This week the US dispute over China's product safety moved from food to tires.
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/nhtsa_static_file_downloader.jsp?file=/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/Communication & Consumer Information/Articles/Associated Files/RCDNN-07T003-4981.pdf
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/nhtsa_static_file_downloader.jsp?file=/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/Communication & Consumer Information/Articles/Associated Files/FTS letter from Dan Smith.PDF
http://www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?Q=385134&A=2788
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/business/worldbusiness/27tires.html

About 45 percent of notifications to the EU's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) in 2006 concerned products from third countries, which were blocked at the border by EU control authorities when the risks were identified. The 2006 annual report on (RASFF shows that notifications on risks to food safety fell by 5 percent in 2006 compared to 2005. This is the first time since the establishment of this food safety tool that there has been a decrease in the number of notifications. The drop can be explained largely by effective measures taken to address illegal dyes and the application of new European criteria for certain pathogenic microbes, replacing the diverse national criteria that were in place until then. In total, 6840 notifications of food and feed risks were received through the RASFF last year, compared to 7170 in 2005. The category for which the most alerts were sent was fishery products (21 percent), followed by meat and meat products (13 percent) and cereals and bakery products (12 percent). The 2006 RASFF report also looks at some of the bigger food safety incidents of that year and outlines the measures taken to address the problems.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/966
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CIM Banking and Finance
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The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) discussed the risk of market manipulation in commodity derivatives and other index products. These concerns follow the collapse of the Amaranth hedge fund, which built up such big positions in the US natural gas derivatives markets last year that they produced abnormally high consumer gas prices.
http://www.isda.org/press/press062007.pdf
http://www.isda.org/press/pdf/isda_foa_efet_en.pdf
http://www.senate.gov/~govt-aff/index.cfm?Fuseaction=PressReleases.View&PressRelease_id=1493
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19405521/

India's Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) is investigating the nexus between banks and recovery agents, who threaten or harass defaulting customers, following the murder of a defaulter.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Banks_recovery_tactics_under_scanner/articleshow/2158914.cms

The New Zealand Bankers' Association Code of Banking Practice 2007 has added a new section on internet banking that requires customers to meet personal computer security requirements - which may be audited - lest they become responsible for losses in the case of a breach:
http://www.nzba.org.nz/pdfs/Code of Banking Practice 2007.pdf

Nigeria's banking sector has undergone significant consolidation in the last year. This article addresses the security and internal controls that will help combat fraud in the new environment.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200706251320.html

The 2007 Unisys Trusted Enterprise research report found that British consumers now put poor customer above security as their primary concern. The new survey also found:
* 82 percent of respondents attributed respect for customers as a key trust builder, with a bank’s attitude to its clients as a major influencer when deciding which institution to bank with.
* Respondents cited the most positive attributes to building trust as respect for customers, customer satisfaction, profitability, asset protection, fiscal management, quality of service and community investment.
* The attributes most cited for eroding trust are disrespectful attitudes, poor privacy, weak IT, such as websites, poor corporate governance and a lack of investment in the local community.
* Online banks fared worse than High Street banks, with the two worst rated banks both being internet based, with no High Street presence.
http://www.unisys.com/about__unisys/news_a_events/06218790.htm

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has released the 2006 Mortgage Fraud Report.
http://www.fbi.gov/publications/fraud/mortgage_fraud06.htm
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CIM Chemical
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This article describes the painstaking forensic research to examine the chemicals used in the failed London car bomb this week.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6253274.stm

The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) found that unspent aircraft oxygen generators contributed to the rapid spread of fire at the EQ Industrial Services hazardous waste facility in Apex, North Carolina, on 5 October 2006. As the result of this finding, CSB issues a Safety Advisory concerning the dangers of transporting and handling unspent aircraft chemical oxygen generators. This equipment is used in commercial aircraft to supply supplemental oxygen to passengers in drop-down masks should the cabin depressurize. They have a limited useful life and must be periodically replaced, but even after their expiration they remain hazardous. The recommendations have been sent to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Transportation (DOT), and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
http://www.csb.gov

North Carolina's Governor Easley has signed into law a chemical safety bill that would require first responders to have the necessary information to prepare for a response to incidents such as the Apex fire, above.
http://www.governor.state.nc.us/News_FullStory.asp
http://ftp.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=1995E2&BillID=H36

The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) and Grain Elevator and Processing Society (GEAPS) have called on the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to make substantial revisions to a list of agricultural chemicals it proposes to use to determine whether facilities potentially are regulated under its chemical facility antiterrorism rule. They believe that DHS had erred in listing chemicals and setting threshold quantity trigger levels for those chemicals, that would require most grain, feed, processing, and export facilities, and most farmers, to evaluate whether they constitute a high-risk chemical facility under DHS regulations, a result they believe is beyond the scope of what Congress intended.
http://www.ngfa.org/article.asp?article_id=8648
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CIM Commercial Facilities
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The European Commission launched court proceedings against Greece for failure to notify its implementing measures on the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive[1] adopted in 2002. Reasoned Opinions (the last step before a formal complaint to the Court of Justice is lodged) were also sent to Estonia and Poland for failure to notify the necessary measures. The aim of the Directive is to reduce energy consumption in buildings by laying down national minimum energy performance standards for new buildings and major renovations of larger existing buildings. By failing to implement this important Directive Greece, Estonia and Poland miss an opportunity to realize cost effective energy savings.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/900

High security at the Securitas Depot in England did not protect from an insider who helped bypass bunker style physical protection including no windows, a high steel fence, air locks, and surveillance systems.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKL2779899520070627
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CIM Cybersecurity
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A bogus Microsoft security bulletin actually installs a Trojan horse.
http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/news/articles/2007/06/bogusmspatch.html
http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=3054&dshield=a0d80d75c302fe7191cd6d5ed0fe3ba1

Two British policemen who moonlighted as private detectives have been convicted of conspiracy to intercept phone calls or emails and false accounting in connection with hacking into systems and planting Trojans to find confidential data on behalf of wealth clients.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6766841.stm

France has banned the use of Blackberries in government ministries for fear of spying, since the data is held on British and US servers.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3297622
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007730635

Spanish police have arrested a man suspected of creating a virus that affects Bluetooth-enabled phones that run on the Symbian operating system.

In the US state of Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, finding that additional personal data was on a computer backup stolen earlier this month, has changed security procedures and extended services to those potentially affected.
http://governor2.ohio.gov/News/June2007/News62007/tabid/313/Default.aspx
http://www.ohio.gov/idprotect/
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/17417450.htm

The New York Assembly and Senate have left in place strict escrow provisions that require electronic voting software source and related code in escrow for the Board of Elections in case it needs to be evaluated.
http://nyvv.org/blog/bolipariblog.html
http://www.elections.state.ny.us/NYSBOE/download/law/2006NYElectionLaw.pdf

Last week the US Department of Defense took some 1500 computers offline after they were hacked. Few details of the attack were released, but the attack reportedly focused on unclassified email.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070622-pentagon-e-mail-pwned-by-hackers.html
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1636002,00.html

This timely article discusses government preparations for a potential cyberwar.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/weekinreview/24schwartz.html
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CIM Dams and Bridges
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Australian researchers describe "A tool to aid emergency managers and communities in appraising private dam safety and policy". Here is the abstract:
"Issues concerning dam safety and equitable sharing of catchment run-off are receiving more attention throughout the world. This paper assesses these matters in the context of Australia, and the need for policy responses. Landholders often overlook the common law obligation to review/design dams to current standards because of high costs, leaving them vulnerable to litigation if their dam fails. The paper reports on an innovative spillway design/review procedure, applicable to southeast Australia, but transferable to any region worldwide. Dam safety policy models and guidelines derived from international best practice are linked to the procedure and intended to aid government decision-making. The procedure minimizes costs to landholders and provides an acceptable level of safety assurance to downstream communities. Also discussed are recent surveys testing community attitudes to the procedure and implemented dam safety and water allocation policies. These further guide any government wanting to implement this 'integrated engineering and community partnerships' approach to preventing potential disasters due to private dam failure and achieving sustainable and safe water storage and use."
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-7717.2007.01003.x

Australians in Sydney are also concerned that even while water spills over the Warragamba Dam, residents will still have to pay for desalination.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/no-stopping-desalination-even-if-dam-spills-over/2007/06/26/1182623909324.html

China has completed the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, the world's longest sea-crossing bridge, at 22 miles. It has been designed to last for 100 years, and has already faced 17 potential disasters, including typhoons, sea tides, and geological problems. It will open next year, after feeder roads and tollbooths are completed, reducing travel distance between Shanghai and Ningbo by 120 km.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-06/26/content_6294416.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6242454.stm

In the continuing dispute between the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala over the Mullaperiyar Dam, Tamil Nadu insisted that a Central Industrial Security Force is necessary, and Kerala insists it is not.
http://www.newkerala.com/news5.php?action=fullnews&id=42829

Mozambique is proposing to build another giant dam on the Zambezi River in the hope of boosting development, but which environmentalists believe will add to the damage caused by the existing Cahora Bassa dam, one of the largest hydroelectric schemes in Africa.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=72996

Pakistan has increased security for the 25 Chinese engineers working on the Gomal Zam Dam project.
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=114174

A civil grand jury in San Mateo County, California, finds that at least 12 dams or levees pose a high or significant risk of failure. Among these is the levee protecting East Palo Alto from San Francisquito Creek, and three others between Brisbane and East Palo Alto, where there is potential for significant loss of life. Nineteen dam owners do not have emergency plans.
http://www.sanmateocourt.org/grandjury/2006/reports/DamLeveeFinal.pdf
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=5335
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=5433992
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CIM Defense Industrial Base
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The Pew Research Center reports that although news coverage of events in Iraq regularly includes information about the 150,000 US military personnel, there is only limited and intermittent reporting of some 30,000 contractors, which augment the number of troops in Iraq by 20 percent, often in firefights that occur as they are attempting to protect people, facilities, and convoys.
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/520/missing-in-action-news-coverage-of-private-contract-forces-in-iraq

Special Operations Command's (SOCOM) duties have greatly increased since 9/11, and its acquisitions budget has more than doubled. The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) assessed SOCOM acquisition programs and recommends that the Secretary of Defense takes steps to ensure that SOCOM establishes a sound business case when starting programs, has the workforce size and composition to match its acquisition workload, and improves its management information systems.
Defense Acquisitions: An Analysis of the Special Operations Command's Management of Weapon System Programs. GAO-07-620, June 28.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-620

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released two reports related to defense contracting and military base closures.
"Military Base Closures: Projected Savings from Fleet Readiness Centers Likely Overstated and Actions Needed to Track Actual Savings and Overcome Certain Challenges"
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-304
"Defense Contracting: Improved Insight and Controls Needed over DOD's Time-and-Materials Contracts"
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-273

Facing intense competition for scarce contracts, defense contractors are filing more bid protests with the GAO.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118308185361752472.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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CIM Emergency Services
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Efforts to introduce a universal defibrillator pad instead of dozens of incompatible manufacturer-specific models have made little progress.
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local//index.php?ntid=198546

Emergency response to flooding in the UK has emerged as the largest effort in peacetime, involving 3,500 rescues and 7,300 reported incidents.
http://www.fbu.org.uk/newspress/pressrelease/2007/06_28.php

The US Congress held two hearings on the 9/11 emergency response. The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Subcommittee on Superfund and Environmental Health heard testimony on "EPA's Response to 9-11 and Lessons Learned for Future Emergency Preparedness". The House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties held an oversight hearing on "The US Environmental Protection Agency's Response to Air Quality Issues Arising from the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001: Were There Substantive Due Process Violations?" In both cases, congressional questioning was very critical, pointing to findings on the Government Accountability Office report "World Trade Center: Preliminary Observations on EPA's Second Program to Address Indoor Contamination", which found that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had misled the public in their assurance that the air was safe.
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_id=2acd0554-802a-23ad-4488-6423daa414dc
http://judiciary.house.gov/oversight.aspx?ID=341
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07806t.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/26/nyregion/26whitman.html
http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/NATION/106260051/1002

The family of Glenn Winuk, a volunteer firefighters who died in the World Trade Center disaster, has been awarded the public safety death benefit after a US judge rules that the Justice Department's decision to deny the claim was arbitrary.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/22/america/NA-GEN-US-Attacks-Death-Benefits.php

The American Medical Association has launched the first medical journal devoted to the science of disaster planning and response. The first issue of the peer-reviewed quarterly "Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness" features articles about Hurricane Katrina, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 2004 tsunami.
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/17711.html

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) and US Fire Administration (USFA) released an in-depth guide on "Retention and Recruitment for the Volunteer Emergency Services: Challenges and Solutions (Second Edition)".
http://www.nvfc.org/pdf/2007-retention-and-recruitment-guide.pdf

The Spill of National Significance (SONS) oil spill response exercise took place this week to test the response of US federal, state and local agencies to major oil and hazardous substance releases in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, as well as separate oil and hazardous substance releases in the Great Lakes as a result of a tornado.
https://www.sons-program.org/
http://www.epa.gov/oilspill/index.htm
http://www.uscg.mil/d8/sector/umr/Sectornewsletterjun2007.pdf
http://www.uscg.mil/proceedings/winter06-07/winter06-07articals/63.pdf

University of Cincinnati researchers have developed new guidelines to reduce medical errors and improve patient care in local hospital emergency departments.
http://healthnews.uc.edu/news/?/5078/
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CIM Energy
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Belgium's Commission on Energy 2030 has completed its final report. It calls for a balanced mixture of contributing elements, starting with energy savings and passing the full cost of energy on to the consumer. It calls for a review of offshore wind and nuclear policies, and continued use of carbon-based sources. Regarding security of supply, it focuses on diversity, a stable investment climate, network operation expansion, and a portfolio approach to the appropriate energy mix.
http://www.ce2030.be/finalrep_publ.htm

Bolivia and Argentina are promoting energy cooperation.
http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B5A18FF63-D59C-448A-8B01-546500960F9A%7D&language=EN

Bolivia has taken over two oil refineries from Brazilian state-owned Petrobras to further nationalize key assets. Bolivia claims that Petrobras must pay a fine for alleged irregular exports, but they have refused to do so.
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djhighlights/200706251102DOWJONESDJONLINE000367.htm
http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/8391/1/

India and Pakistan have agreed on principles to calculate a transportation fee for piping Iranian gas but must negotiate the transit fee.
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2007-06-28T200531Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_India-282245-2.xml

Italy's Eni and Russia's Gazprom have agreed to a joint gas pipeline project for Europe, but there are concerns that this could further increase Russian control of European energy supplies. Turkey is also concerned that this plan could threatens the Nabucco scheme that would link Caspian fields to Europe via Turkey.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/24/business/pipeline.php
http://www.turks.us/article~story~TurkeyworriedbyGazprom-ENIdeal.htm
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/1c25098e-228b-11dc-ac53-000b5df10621,_i_rssPage=4e612cca-6707-11da-a650-0000779e2340.html

The US has enormous wind power capacity, and presents the fastest growing global market for wind power, but turning wind into electricity delivered to those who need it remains a challenge.
http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199906112
http://www.energy.gov/news/5091.htm

Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips rejected Venezuela's deal to continue extracting oil even after Venezuela has nationalized current ventures in the Orinoco River region.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/06/25/venezuela.nationalisation.reut/index.html
http://www.conocophillips.com/newsroom/news_releases/2007+News+Releases/062607.htm
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/26/business/oil.php
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CIM Government Facilities
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The European Court of Auditors released an information note concerning the EU's administrative expenditure on buildings
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=ECA/07/9

The Kaiserslautern Military Community Center ("K-Town") is the largest single-facility project under construction for the US Department of Defense. The  House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing to review preliminary findings of a Government Accounting Office (GAO) investigation into the K-Town construction, which involves building a hotel and retail facility on the grounds of the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. GAO reports that the project has encountered cost, schedule and performance problems, including construction flaws, vandalism, work stoppages and slowdowns, and ongoing criminal investigations. There are numerous flaws and the risks were not efficiently mitigated. Furthermore, the project is funded primarily with non-appropriated funds, so it is likely that substantial cost increases will be borne by military service members, civilians and their families. Absent improved management controls, future projects could experience the same problems.
http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1385
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1039T

Following a deadly shooting incident in Utah, University Hospital is working with Department of Corrections and police to improve security measures when treating inmates. These include increased use of telemedicine to avoid transporting inmates.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_6258784
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CIM Information Technology
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Gartner predicts that worldwide PC shipments will increase 11 percent, with manufacturers leveraging emerging markets.
http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=508391

IBM's Blue Gene/P supercomputer is three times faster than the current Blue Gene/L, and continues to be the fastest in the world.
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/21796.wss

Here is the most recent list of the top 500 fastest supercomputers in the world.
http://www.top500.org/lists/2007/06

Hew Griffiths, a Briton living in Australia, ran the DrinkorDie piracy group. He was extradited to Australia to face trial on conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. This week he was convicted and sentenced to 51 months in prison.
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/June/07_crm_444.html
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CIM National Monuments and Icons
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has added 22 new sites to the World Heritage List. For the first time a site was removed: the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman, because the state failed to protect it.
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=38732&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6248244.stm

The Galapagos (Ecuador), and Niokolo-Koba National Park (Senegal) have been added to UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger.
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=38625&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Poland’s request to change the name of Auschwitz has been approved. UNESCO’s World Heritage List has changed "Auschwitz Concentration Camp" to "Auschwitz Birkenau: German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945)". Poland, which was subjected to brutal Nazi occupation, sought the name change to ensure that people understood it had no role in the site of more than a million murders.
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=38722&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/28/AR2007062800115.html
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CIM Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste
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Brazil's National Energy Policy Council has recommended that construction of the third reactor at the Angra nuclear power plant resume. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the nuclear power commission must decide whether to approve the recommendation.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/25/america/LA-GEN-Brazil-Nuclear-Power.php

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has released its annual report on the Safety Performance of the Canadian Nuclear Power Industry. During 2006, no worker at any nuclear power station or member of the public received a radiation dose in excess of the regulatory limits.  Emissions from all plants were also below regulatory limits. In general stations had adequate programs in place for ongoing safe operation and the industry has developed and implemented programs for the Emergency Preparedness, Environmental Protection, Radiation Protection and Safeguards safety areas.  There remains room for considerable improvement in the area of Performance Assurance, particularly at Bruce A and B and Point Lepreau.
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/pubs_catalogue/uploads/NuclearPowerIndustryReport2006_E_PDF.pdf

Canada's environment minister John Baird has referred the proposed Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) for Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Wastes project in Tiverton, Ontario, east of Lake Huron, in Canada, for an environmental assessment by a review panel.
http://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/DocHTMLContainer_e.cfm?DocumentID=22074

A fire broke out in the coolant system of a Krummel nuclear reactor power transforming substation in northern Germany. There were no injuries, no radiation leak, but the reactor was stopped and is too hot as yet to examine. Two hours before this fire broke out a second site was shut down because of overload caused by a short circuit in a switching unit.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2649562,00.html
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28889258.htm
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/pictures/MMM104.htm

Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) has determined the cause of the 25 June stoppage of the 2nd unit of Kursk NPP was a cooling gas leak from turbine generator N4, which was caused by depressurization in the flange pipe that feeds gas to the generator. The problem was fixed and the unit restarted on 27 June.
http://www.rosatom.ru/en/press-releases/5258_29.06.2007

The UK has opened a consultation on the safe management of radioactive waste. The consultation document sets out proposals for:
* the technical program and aspects of design and delivery of a geological disposal facility; and
* the process and criteria to be used to decide the site of that facility, including development of a voluntarism/partnership approach; and  the assessment and evaluation of potential disposal sites, including the initial screening-out of areas unlikely to be suitable for geological disposal.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/radwaste-framework/index.htm

The Scottish government has declined to endorse plans to consult on proposals to bury nuclear waste in deep geological facilities in Scotland, for they do not accept this is the right way forward.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/06/25101822
http://www.corwm.org.uk/

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has accepted recommendations to speed new reactor license reviews, including:
* Conducting the hearing on uncontested matters, referred to as the mandatory hearing, by the Commission itself while retaining the authority to request that the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) Panel conduct that hearing in a particular case. Hearings on contested issues are not affected and would continue to be held by the ASLB.
* Expanding the acceptance review for a COL application from 30 to 60 days to ensure completeness and technical sufficiency before the NRC dockets the application and starts the safety and environmental reviews. This would mark the date to begin the review process rather than the date the application is submitted.
* Using Environmental Impact Statements by other governmental agencies for COL reviews where appropriate and applicable.
* Maximizing the use of electronics (e.g., NRC’s Web site) to quickly provide information and documents to the public in advance of the publication of bound reports such as safety evaluations.
* Seeking legislative authority from Congress to eliminate the statutory requirement to conduct a mandatory hearing if no one has asked for one.
* Pursuing rulemaking to resolve issues that are generic to COL applications so that resolution is through the public rulemaking process rather than in individual contested proceedings.
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2007/07-080.html

NRC has introduced the Unplanned Scrams with Complications (USWC) performance indicator, which tracks events that can increase the risk associated with a reactor’s unplanned manual or automatic shutdowns.
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2007/07-081.html
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CIM Public Health and Healthcare
--------------------------------------------------
Phase I of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Research Into Global Hazards of Travel (WRIGHT) project finds that people seated and immobile for four hours or more on long travel, whether by car, bus, train or plane, are at higher risk of developing venous thromboembolism, but the absolute risk still remains relatively low
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/pr35/en/index.html

A new study of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) survivors in Toronto, Canada, shows that nearly half sought psychological care, and many continue to have lingering problems associated with the stigma of a new disease and separation from their support systems during quarantine.
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/167/12/1312

The American Medical Association (AMA) voted to approve a set of strategies to contain costs and achieve greater value. The four broad strategies are to reduce the burden of preventable disease; make health care delivery more efficient; reduce non-clinical health system costs that do not contribute to patient care; and promote value-based decision-making at all levels.
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/17722.html

University of Cincinnati researchers have developed new guidelines to reduce medical errors and improve patient care in local hospital emergency departments.
http://healthnews.uc.edu/news/?/5078/

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) released the results of its Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Prevalence Study. The data shows that 46 out of every 1,000 patients in the survey were either infected or colonized with MRSA (34=infected, 12=colonized). This rate is between 8-11 times greater than previous MRSA estimates (which were more limited in scope and used different methodologies.)  
http://www.apic.org/Content/NavigationMenu/ResearchFoundation/NationalMRSAPrevalenceStudy/MRSA_Study_Results.htm

Wisconsin State Journal reporter David Wahlberg has written a series on medical errors:
"How Many Medical Errors?"
http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/2007/06/24/0706250238.php
"How Tubes Get Mixed Up"
http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/2007/06/24/0706250244.php
http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/2007/06/24/0706250245.php
"Color-Coded Chaos"
http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/2007/06/24/0706250239.php
"How Heart Attack Rescues Can Go Wrong"
http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/2007/06/25/0706250205.php
http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/2007/06/25/0706250204.php
--------------------------------------------------
CIM Telecommunications
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The European Court of Justice has ruled that mobile phone companies are not entitled to claim tax refunds for sums paid for expensive licenses when the British government sold licenses for new services in 2000. Companies including O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone said that since customers were the ultimate beneficiaries of third generation licenses they were entitled to tax refunds of some GBP 3.3 billion, but the court ruled that awarding licenses in itself did not constitute an economic activity on which tax is paid. The decision is final.
http://curia.europa.eu/en/actu/communiques/cp07/aff/cp070044en.pdf

The European Union (EU) Regulation on international mobile roaming comes into force in the 27 EU Member States this week, meaning that consumers will be able to benefit from Eurotariff rates from August 2007.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/251

In Indian-administered Kashmir, stringent background information and documentation, including witness validation, is required before getting a mobile connection. Extra scrutiny is required for prepaid applications. These steps are taken to minimize the risk that the phones will be used anonymously as detonators.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Want_a_mobile_connection_in_JK_N-E_You_need_a_witness/articleshow/2152148.cms

Britain's National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) has called for mobile phones to be classed as potentially offensive weapons, and has called on the government to take urgent action on the issue of cyber bullying, to protect the interests of those teachers and other school staff who are the victims of bullying and abuse.
http://www.nasuwt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=73523

Consumer Reports and others have suggested that AT and T Wireless (formerly Cingular) may prove to be the weak link in the success of the iPhone.
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/technology/29phone-web.html

The Communication Workers of America released the first state-by-state report on internet connection speed, finding that the US is falling behind other industrialized nations. Median real-time download speed in the US is 1.9 mbps compared to 7 in Canada, 15 in France, 45 in South Korea, and 61 in Japan.
http://www.cwa-union.org/news/page.jsp?itemID=28663094

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled that large phone companies cannot block calls to avoid the high fees small phone carriers charge to complete calls to free services, such as conference calling or chat lines. FCC has suspended the rates that 39 rural carriers have charged, pending investigation into the rates.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-274687A1.pdf (news release)
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-2863A1.pdf (ruling and order)
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-2862A1.pdf (order)
--------------------------------------------------
CIM Transportation
--------------------------------------------------
The African Civil Aviation Agency (ACAA) has been launched in Namibia. It will coordinate policy, train pilots, and improve safety standards. Although Africa accounts for about four percent of global air traffic it is responsible for 17 percent of fatal air crashes, most often the result of pilot error.
http://www.afro-caa.com/
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3016&art_id=nw20070628220109628C769973

Australian air freight remains vulnerable to terrorist attack and criminal infiltration.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/how-a-bomb-could-get-on-your-plane/2007/06/28/1182624083276.html
http://www.dotars.gov.au/transport/security/cargo/index.aspx

Canada's privacy and information commissioners have called for comprehensive changes to the new no-fly list program.
http://www.privcom.gc.ca/media/nr-c/2007/nr-c_070628_e.asp (press release)
http://www.privcom.gc.ca/nfl/res_20070628_e.asp (resolution)
http://www.privcom.gc.ca/nfl/fs_20070627_e.asp (fact sheet)

The Indonesian government completed its internal safety audit and has revoked the operating licenses of nine airlines.
http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/3a8a80d6f705f8cc/id/259642/cs/1/

The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has issued an urgent Safety Advisory that calls on aircraft maintenance companies to revise or develop procedures to ensure that aircraft oxygen generators are expended before shipping, revise as necessary procedures for assuring hazardous waste is correctly described on shipping manifests, and that the company communicate to all of its waste brokers and waste facilities that the incorrect shipping name and code was or might have been used for unspent oxygen generators shipped from its facility. The warning follows the discovery that unspent aircraft oxygen generators contributed to the rapid spread of fire at the EQ Industrial Services hazardous waste facility in Apex, North Carolina, on 5 October 2006. CSB has apprised the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Transportation (DOT), and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of these findings.
http://www.csb.gov

Also note an edited version of a 1997 NTSB ValuJet investigation fire test involving unspent chemical oxygen generators.
ftp://ftp.csb.gov/EQ62707.

The International Maritime Organization Council has agreed further action to address piracy and armed robbery against ships sailing off the coast of Somalia, particularly those carrying humanitarian aid.
http://www.imo.org/home.asp?topic_id=1613
http://uk.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUKL28206810._CH_.242020070628

Discussions are proceeding to build a complex of above-ground tunnels at Colorado's Transportation Technology Center to experiment with rail and underground security systems.
http://cbs4denver.com/topstories/local_story_176152834.html
http://www.aar.com/

The US House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism, held a hearing on "US-VISIT Exit: Closing Gaps in Our Security". The program has run into major difficulties, and it is unclear that the problems can be solved.
http://homeland.house.gov/hearings/index.asp?ID=67
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1044T
--------------------------------------------------
CIM Water
--------------------------------------------------
Egypt and Sudan have refused a proposal for equitable sharing of Nile water.
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article22633

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
--------------------------------------------------
DRM Incidents
--------------------------------------------------
Severe weather in South Asia continues to cause chaos. The Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and other areas in the south and west saw at least 140 deaths, while at least 235 people died in Karachi - the largest city in Pakistan, where power and water also failed. A million people have been left homeless. On Tuesday, Cyclone Yemyin struck Pakistan's southern coast. Another 21 or more people were killed, and 250,000 displaced.

All 22 people on board a PMT Air flight that crashed in Cambodia died. Although bad weather may have contributed to the crash, South Korean authorities have ordered a maintenance review of the new airline.

Massive flooding across England and Wales has claimed six lives, injured 600, and displaced thousands. Insured losses may reach $2 billion.

Floods in Bangladesh have inundated about 100 villages, leaving two children dead. Thousands have been displaced, water supplies disrupted, and new crops damaged.

A record-breaking heatwave in southeastern Europe has caused grievous problems. In Greece dozens of fires have broken out. Two fire fighters died, and at least nine others died from the intense heat. In Romania the heat has killed about 30 people. In Istanbul, Turkey, 317 fires were reported on Wednesday and Thursday alone. The heat is associated with at least nine deaths.
--------------------------------------------------
DRM Response and Recovery
--------------------------------------------------
Australian engineers are considering pumping water into the sand under the stranded Pasha Bulker tanker, to create quicksand that could reduce friction and position tugs for salvage.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/quicksand-could-be-a-way-to-float-tanker-engineers/2007/06/27/1182623992559.html
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21980337-2,00.html
http://www.azom.com/details.asp?newsID=9049

In Australia's Victoria state, emergency services are using satellite to map flooding.
http://www.ag.gov.au/agd/WWW/MinisterRuddockHome.nsf/Page/RWP228282D6937A141ECA257309001F9144

Bangladesh officials are reviewing ten train accidents in the space on ten weeks.
http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/06/27/d70627070493.htm

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spent three days in Sidoarjo, East Java, to better understand the effects of the unending mudflow. Compensation has been very slow, but he promised that a new compensation plan would help. However, the victims themselves were disappointed because they did not actually meet with the president. Meanwhile, geysers have started spraying through the mud, sometimes containing toxic elements.
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2007-06-27T112008Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_India-281955-1.xml
http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/6/27/govt-to-asks-for-additional-rp600-b-for-sidoarjo-infrastructure-rehabilitation/
http://nationmultimedia.com/worldhotnews/read.php?newsid=30037370

Pakistan and other areas of South Asia are struggling to recover from unprecedented storms, as continued bad weather hampers rescue efforts.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6239808.stm
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=72908
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6239104.stm

UK Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister David Miliband in a statement to the House of Commons reported on this weeks flooding. It involved unprecedented rainfall that exceeded the volume for which flood defenses were designed, but there were no structural failings. He emphasized, "it is also vital to prepare for any further wave of extreme weather". Lessons will be learned after the immediate response is completed.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/ministers/statements/dm070626b.htm

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released two reports related to post-Katrina reconstruction:
"Hurricane Katrina: EPA's Current and Future Environmental Protection Efforts Could Be Enhanced by Addressing Issues and Challenges Faced on the Gulf Coast"
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-651
"Energy Efficiency: Important Challenges Must Be Overcome to Realize Significant Opportunities for Energy Efficiency Improvements in Gulf Coast Reconstruction".
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-654
--------------------------------------------------
DRM Risks
--------------------------------------------------
Risk Management Solutions has launched an extensive new earthquake risk model for Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, and Switzerland.
http://www.rms.com/NewsPress/PR_062707_EUEQ.asp

In Tajikistan the impact of climate change is mostly observed on the melting glaciers in the eastern Pamir mountains.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=72916

The US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing on wildfire management to consider the preparedness of federal land management agencies for the 2007 Wildfire season, and to consider recent reports on the agencies’ efforts to contain the costs of wildfire management activities. Testimony demonstrated little progress.
http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=1634
http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=235328&Month=6&Year=2007
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-655
--------------------------------------------------
DRM Mitigation
--------------------------------------------------
UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Director Salvano Briceno cited heavy rains in Pakistan, India and northern England, and heat waves in Greece, Italy and Romania as indications of what might happen more frequently and severely due to global warming. Without trying to scare people, he urges all governments to make disaster risk reduction a top priority. No country is immune to the increased rainfalls and higher temperatures resulting from global warming. Countries can undertake such steps as devising early warning systems, building flood shelters, establishing contingency plans to evacuate people quickly and protecting homes and key buildings and infrastructures such as hospitals, schools, water supplies, electricity installations and transport systems.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LSGZ-74KFRG?OpenDocument
http://www.unisdr.org/
http://www.ipcc.ch

The Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress drafted severe penalties for falsifying or spreading false information on emergencies.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-06/26/content_6290256.htm

The annual Spill of National Significance (SONS) oil spill response exercise took place this week to test the response of US federal, state and local agencies to major oil and hazardous substance releases in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, as well as separate oil and hazardous substance releases in the Great Lakes as a result of a tornado.
https://www.sons-program.org/
http://www.epa.gov/oilspill/index.htm
http://www.uscg.mil/d8/sector/umr/Sectornewsletterjun2007.pdf
http://www.uscg.mil/proceedings/winter06-07/winter06-07articals/63.pdf

7. Recommended Reading

This week the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released the 2007 World Drug Report.

Here is the press release:

UN drug agency reports "significant and positive changes" in world drugs markets. Countries urged to provide greater health care to drug addicts.

VIENNA, 26 June 2007 (UNODC) - Whereas a few years ago the world appeared to be heading for an epidemic of drug abuse, growing evidence suggests that the problem is being brought under control, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, said on Tuesday.

"Recent data show that the run-away train of drug addiction has slowed down," he said in a statement marking the launch of UNODC's 2007 World Drug Report.

The Report shows global markets for illicit drugs remained largely stable in 2005-06.  "For almost all drugs - cocaine, heroin, cannabis and amphetamines - there are signs of overall stability, whether we speak of production, trafficking or consumption," Mr Costa said.

Coca cultivation in the Andes continues to decline and global cocaine consumption has stabilised, although the reduction in the United States is offset by alarming increases in Europe.

The market for amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) such as ecstasy has also been contained, with levels of production and abuse stable in many countries.  For the first time in decades, global statistics do not show an increase in world production and consumption of cannabis.  "The much greater number of pot smokers seeking treatment shows that the new strains of high-potency cannabis make people sick, not just high," the UNODC Executive Director said.

While there are growing signs that both the supply of and demand for drugs are broadly stable and greater efforts are being made to reduce the harm they cause, the situation could easily deteriorate again. "We cannot take our foot off the brake. Drug prevention and effective health care for addicts remain vital," Mr Costa said.

Opium production in Afghanistan remains a major problem: cultivation increased dramatically in 2006, offsetting remarkable successes in eliminating other sources of opium supply, especially in South-East Asia. "In Afghanistan opium is a security issue, more than a drug issue," said the UN's drugs chief.

"The Helmand province, severely threatened by insurgency, is becoming the world's biggest drug supplier, with illicit cultivation larger than in the rest of the country put together and even than entire nations such as Myanmar or even Colombia," he added. "Effective surgery on Helmand's drug and insurgency cancer will rid the world of the most dangerous source of its most dangerous narcotic and go a long way to bringing security to the region."  

Globally, coordinated drug law enforcement has driven up the volumes of drug seizures. More than 45 percent of the cocaine produced in the world is now being intercepted (up from 24% in 1999) and more than a quarter of all heroin (against 15% in 1999).  

Traffickers are seeking new routes, for example through Africa. "Africa is under attack, targeted by cocaine traffickers from the West (Colombia) and heroin smugglers in the East (Afghanistan)," Mr Costa said. "This threat needs to be addressed quickly to stamp out organized crime, money-laundering and corruption, and to prevent the spread of drug use that could cause havoc across a continent already plagued by many other tragedies."

Seizing cannabis and ATS is proving difficult because of short supply routes. "Police should be on the look out for drug labs and indoor cannabis plantations, even in the middle of wealthy cities," Mr Costa warned.

If the drug problem is to be reduced in the longer term, there must be more preventive interventions and the problem must be treated at its source - the drug users. "The lives of at least one out of every 200 people in the world are ruled by drugs," Mr Costa said.  "Drug addiction is an illness that must, and can, be prevented and treated. Early detection tests, better therapies and the integration of drug treatment into public health and social services programs can free people from their dependence on drugs. Treating those who suffer from drugs is an investment in the health of our nations as much as treating HIV, diabetes or TB," he said.

Mr Costa urged the world to change the way it looks at the drugs problem and focus as much on defending people's health as on destroying illicit crops and criminal networks. This is a shared responsibility: internationally - between producing and consuming states; regionally - among neighboring countries; and nationally - among all sectors of society.

http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press_release_2007-06-26.html


Here is news coverage:
"48 percent Afghan heroin routed through India"
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/48_Afghan_heroin_routed_through_India/articleshow/2162926.cms
"Afghanistan: Demand for narcotics outstrips available treatment"
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/d536eb963e1565e222cc68b237bedf76.htm
"No security in Afghanistan until drug production tackled: UN"
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/26/1962752.htm
"Opium production hits new high"
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2007/06/27/2003367033
"Quiet Spanish city is Europe's coke capital"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/spain/article/0,,2114648,00.html
"Taleban heartland becoming 'world's largest drug supplier'"
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10448033
"UN Drug Report Omits Discussion of Policies' Negative Impact"
http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/062807unreport.cfm
"UN Report: Global Drug Abuse Under Control"
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-06-25-voa61.cfm
"US is world's top cocaine consumer, Europe catching up"
http://www.newkerala.com/news5.php?action=fullnews&id=43077
"West Africa a drug haven for Latin American smugglers"
http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=africa&item=070630151145.oyuwya2l.php


The full report can be obtained here:
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/world_drug_report.html

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