AUTHOR:
TerrorismCentral Editorial Staff

TITLE:
TerrorismCentral Newsletter - September 23, 2007

SOURCE:
TerrorismCentral, September 23, 2007

TEXT:

News summaries range from discussions of global economic systems to the latest compromises of sensitive data and much more from around the world. Reports this week include medical safety for children, infrastructure investment in Canada, and organized crime in Australia. Recommended Reading this week provides the presidential finding for the Annual Report on the Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for fiscal year 2008 and the related press conference.

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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Canada's inquiry into the 1985 Air India bombing is raising questions of the use of registered charities to finance terrorism.
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=d8af3b33-c3b0-4d3b-961f-ef719719c1a2&k=42984
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=a2cc0f41-6a6d-45a2-bb20-8f34751f6aff

Colombia pressed the United States on Wednesday to hand over a $25 million fine against Chiquita Brands to victims of the paramilitary death squads the US fruit firm illegally paid for years.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N19349106.htm
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/19/america/LA-GEN-Colombia-Chiquita-Fine.php
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/March/07_nsd_161.html
http://www.uschamber.com/bclc/resources/newsletter/2007/chiquita_newsletter_april2007.htm

Colombian Francisco Javier Arellano-Felix, the former leader of the Arellano-Felix Organization (AFO), and one of his senior lieutenants, Manuel Arturo Villarreal-Heredia, pleaded guilty in US court to operating a continuing criminal enterprise and conspiring to launder monetary instruments.  At sentencing, under the terms of the plea agreement, the US and Arellano will jointly recommend a sentence of life in prison. Arellano also agreed to forfeit $50 million and other interests. Villarreal-Heredia pleaded guilty to operating an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity and conspiring to invest illicit drug profits.  He will be sentenced to 30 years in prison and forfeit $5 million.
http://sandiego.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/sd091707.htm

Michael Schoelardt, Preben Boerge Mikkelsen and five other Danes have gone on trial for selling T-shirts to aid the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC).
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=173937&version=1&template_id=39&parent_id=21

A Malaysian High Court has issued orders compelling four local and one foreign bank to produce documents showing how international terrorists used them to pay for arms purchased abroad.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/22/courts/18968281&sec=courts

Nigeria has recovered a total of $505.5 million from Swiss authorities being money stolen and stashed away by the late military ruler, General Sani Abacha,
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=89640

Rajia Iqbal and nine associates were jailed in the UK for laundering drugs through a newsagent' shop, using money transfers to relatives of the gang in Jamaica.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/south_yorkshire/7005535.stm

In Northern Ireland, the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) has been granted an Interim Receiving Order (IRO) at Belfast High Court on properties and other assets held by Wai Keung Cheung ("Nicky") estimated to be worth in excess of GBP2.75 million which it alleged to the Court were derived from the proceeds of trafficking controlled drugs, multiple fraud offences and tax evasion.
http://www.assetsrecovery.gov.uk/MediaCentre/PressReleases/2007/ARAFREEZESESTIMATED275MILLIONINSUSPECTEDDRUGSFRAUDCASE.htm

The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced the assessment of concurrent civil money penalties, each $10 million, against Union Bank of California, N.A. (Union Bank ) of San Francisco, California, for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. Union Bank, without admitting or denying the allegations, consented to payment of the civil money penalties, which will be satisfied by a single payment of $10 million to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Union Bank also consented to issuance of a Cease and Desist Order by the OCC.
http://www.fincen.gov/union_bank.html
http://www.uboc.com/about/main/0,3250,2485_11256_704211369,00.html

Alberto Valdes was sentenced in Florida court to 5 months' imprisonment and 5 months' home confinement, 2 years supervised release and was ordered to pay a special assessment of $100, for conspiring to structure currency transactions to evade reporting requirements.
http://miami.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/mm20070920.htm

Steven Abiodun Sodipo and Callixtus Onigbo Nwaehiri have been indicted in Maryland with illegally selling 9,936,075 pills or dosage units of hydrocodone over the internet, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, engaging in monetary transactions using the proceeds of the illegal drug sales, filing false tax returns and conspiracy to defraud the IRS. Ahmed Alhaji Abdulrazaaq was also charged in the conspiracy to defraud the IRS. The pharmacy owners laundered some $20 million in proceeds from the illegal online prescription drug sales.
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md/Public-Affairs/press_releases/press07/PharmacyOwnersChargedforIllegallySelling10MillionHydrocodonePillsonInternet.html

Also in Maryland, a federal grand jury has indicted 39 individuals and one business on charges arising from money laundering, conspiracy to bribe a public official, operating unlicensed money transmitting businesses and failing to file currency transaction reports.
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md/Public-Affairs/press_releases/press07/OperationCash-outCharges45DefendantsinInternationalMoneyLaunderingandBriberySchemes.html
http://baltimore.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/ba092007.htm
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-indict0920,0,773648.story
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0907/457092.html
http://www.wmdt.com/topstory/topstory.asp?id=2917

John I. Priscella pleaded guilty in March to four counts of money laundering. This week he was sentenced to two years in federal prison.
http://www.startribune.com/crime/story/1429031.html

Michelle Lynn Cleveland has been charged in Texas court on multiple counts of money laundering, felony theft and fraud.
http://www.heraldbanner.com/local/local_story_262005832.html

In Tennessee, 31 individuals were indicted on narcotics and money laundering charges in connection with acquiring large quantities of cocaine and marijuana in Mexico, distributing them in Tennessee, and laundering the funds thereof.
http://memphis.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/me092007.htm

Seventeen Zimbabwe police officers have been arrested for illegal diamond trades and corruption.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=319594
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AML/CFT Legislation and Regulation
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The World Bank and UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) launched the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) initiative to help developing nations recover assets stolen by corrupt leaders, and invest those funds in development programs. For example, in Nigeria, former President Sani Abacha, members of his family and accomplices who collectively stole between $3 billion and $5 billion of the country's public assets in five years. Developing countries often lack the institutional capacity to locate and repatriate stolen assets. StAR will provide financial and technical assistance, and strive to ensure there are no safe havens for the proceeds of corruption, and will endeavor to suppress the flow of such funds among countries.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/sgsm11161.doc.htm
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/news_and_publications.html
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,pagePK:34382~piPK:34439~theSitePK:4607,00.html

Over 80 countries have reported to the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions imposed against Iran. Since June, the committee has received 19 documents from Member States. 15 reported that they already have legislation in place regarding the sanctions while the remaining four gave details on measures that have been or will be taken to put the necessary legal framework into place, bringing the total number of reports under resolution 1737 to 81 and the total number of reports under resolution 1747 to 67.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/sc9118.doc.htm

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission tabled their report, "Future impact of serious and organized crime on Australian society". It discusses the character of organized crime group; future trends in serious and organized crime; strategies for countering future serious and organized crime; the cost of countering future organized crime; adequacy of legislative, administrative, and regulatory arrangements; and adequacy of cross-jurisdictional databases.
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/acc_ctte/organised_crime/report/c03.htm

Bulgaria has expanded those obligated to implement AML/CFT regulations to health insurance companies and other cases. Agency for Finance Regulation (AFR) director Vassil Kirov said that at the end of 2006, there were a total of five money laundering convictions, and for 2007 there are already have 12.
http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/bulgarias-money-laundering-law-changes/id_24845/catid_23

In "Drug Control: US Assistance Has Helped Mexican Counternarcotics Efforts, but Tons of Illicit Drugs Continue to Flow into the United States" the Government Accountability Office describes trends including:
* The estimated amount of cocaine arriving in Mexico for transshipment to the United States averaged about 275 metric tons per year. Reported seizures averaged about 36 metric tons a year.  
* The estimated amount of export quality heroin and marijuana produced in Mexico averaged almost 19 metric tons and 9,400 metric tons per year, respectively. Reported heroin seizures averaged less than 1 metric ton and reported marijuana seizures averaged about 2,900 metric tons a year.
* Although an estimate of the amount of methamphetamine manufactured in Mexico has not been prepared, reported seizures along the US border rose from about 500 kilograms in 2000 to highs of almost 2,900 kilograms in 2005 and about 2,700 kilograms in 2006. According to US officials, this more than fivefold increase indicated a dramatic rise in supply.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1018

The Russian government has approved an amendment to the Suppression of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism law to allow any cash transaction over 600,000 rubles to be monitored.
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/finances/26.html?id_issue=11861276

Singapore is proposing to raise the maximum fine against money laundering and terrorism financing by 10 times to S$1 million (US$660,000).
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-9-19/59939.html

US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jendayi E. Frazer said that regime change can enable Eritrea avoid going to the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, amid Eritrea's continuing and growing associations with international terrorists.
http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/7425
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AML/CFT Modalities
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Small deposits in ATMs bypass bank controls to become a handy way to launder dirty cash.
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119033266947734601.html/

Online money mule recruitment is the topic of this article:
http://www.securitypronews.com/insiderreports/insider/spn-49-20070921AppleUsedInMoneyLaunderingScam.html

Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report addresses the possibility that virtual worlds and massively multiplayer online games will be used for laundering money.
http://eval.symantec.com/mktginfo/enterprise/white_papers/ent-whitepaper_internet_security_threat_report_xii_exec_summary_09_2007.en-us.pdf

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission tabled their report, "Future impact of serious and organized crime on Australian society". The section on future trends in serious and organized crimes covers high tech, money laundering, identity crime, credit card fraud, financial crime, illicit drugs, and other aspects.
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/acc_ctte/organised_crime/report/index.htm

Specifically addressing money laundering, they report:
"3.20 Money laundering is a longstanding activity of organized crime groups that 'provides a cloak of legitimacy to wealth derived from crime and provides a funding base from which further criminal activity can be financed'.[25] The AIC submission notes:
The economic driver of serious and organized crime...remains a constant and this will continue to necessitate an understanding of money laundering typologies, both current and prospective.[26]
3.21 A range of criminal activities are undertaken by organized crime groups solely to facilitate money laundering. For example, while identity fraud and credit card fraud may be used to steal funds from individuals, they may also be utilized to legitimize illegally obtained funds. Of all organized crime activities, money laundering is perhaps the most consistently evolving activity.
3.22 The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) indicated that the estimated amount of money laundered globally in one year ranges between $500 billion and $1 trillion. The likely extent of money laundering in and through Australia has been estimated to be at least $3.5 billion and represents, among other consequences, a significant loss to taxation revenue. Furthermore, money laundering places a sizeable financial burden on associated regulatory and law enforcement response and control measures as well as on private sector companies.[27]
3.23 Much of the evidence received indicates a significant and growing nexus between money laundering and technology. For example, apart from money laundering opportunities through online banking and identity fraud, a range of new opportunities for organized crime groups to launder money are emerging:
One new prospective avenue for illicit transfer of money...is that of new payment methods (NPMs) such as internet payment systems, mobile payments and digital precious metals...Designed primarily to facilitate cross-border funds transfer they contain a number of potential risk factors:
* the distribution channel is the internet
* there is no face to face contact with the ‘customer’ (a process known as disintermediation)
* the NPM process operates through an open and accessible network.[28]
3.24 The AUSTRAC submission notes that developments in technology offer criminal groups anonymity, opacity and liquidity in their money laundering activities.[29] The committee considers that the migration towards electronic banking and funds transfer will see the continued escalation of this area of organized crime; it will provide an environment that will cloud financial trails and make the recovery of proceeds of crime by authorities difficult and protracted.
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/acc_ctte/organised_crime/report/c03.htm

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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The World Bank and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) launched the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) partnership to help developing nations to recover assets stolen by corrupt leaders and invest those funds in development program. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said, "Corruption undermines democracy and the rule of law. It leads to violations of human rights. It erodes public trust in government. It can even kill - for example, when corrupt officials allow medicines to be tampered with, or when they accept bribes that enable terrorist acts to take place". World Bank President Zoellick added, "Many developing countries are hemorrhaging money desperately needed to try to support the attack against poverty. Of course, the development impact of theft on such a massive scale is devastating". The proceeds from criminal activities, corruption and tax evasion worldwide is estimated to be between $1 trillion and $1.6 trillion, and one quarter of the gross domestic product of African States - or $148 billion - is lost to corruption yearly. Additionally, public officials from developing and transition countries collectively receive bribes worth between $20 billion and $40 billion every year, which is equivalent to 20 to 40 percent of flows of official development assistance.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/sgsm11161.doc.htm
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/news_and_publications.html
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,pagePK:34382~piPK:34439~theSitePK:4607,00.html
http://www.transparency.org/news_room/latest_news/press_releases/2007/2007_09_17_star

Switzerland is the first to back this initiative.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,506554,00.html

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) released "Guidance on Monitoring Internal Control Systems".
http://www.coso.org/Publications/COSO_Monitoring_discussiondoc.pdf

Chile's Supreme Court has ordered the extradition of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori to face charges of grave human rights abuses in Peru.
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/09/21/chile16918.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7007373.stm
http://www.transparency.org/news_room/latest_news/press_releases/2007/2007_09_21_fujimori

Ashish Halai and his associates have been convicted in Britain's largest drug counterfeiting case.
http://www.mhra.gov.uk/home/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&useSecondary=true&ssDocName=CON2032385&ssTargetNodeId=389
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article2477868.ece

British ministers are refusing to cooperate with the US criminal investigation into allegations of corruption against BAE, Britain's largest arms company. The UK denies this report and says it is still considering a US request for information.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/baefiles/story/0,,2173947,00.html
http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKL2175508520070921

Norman Hsu has been charged with defrauding victims nationwide of $60 million in a major Ponzi scheme and with violating federal campaign finance laws.
http://newyork.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/fraudscheme092007.htm
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ETM Economies and Financial Systems
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The German cabinet has approved plans to plug a shortage of skilled labor by relaxing work restrictions on engineers from new EU member states as well as lowering barriers for foreign students to work in Germany.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2789244,00.html?maca=en-bulletin-433-html

The Central Bank of Nigeria and most of the country's banks have signed agreements with foreign financial institutions to manage a portion of their $45.9 billion foreign reserves.
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=89745

Facing a continued run on Northern Rock bank account holders beginning to spread to other financial institutions, the British government has issued an explicit guarantee for all Northern Rock depositors. In the past, Bank of England assurances have been sufficient to stabilize such situations.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article2477847.ece
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/newsroom_and_speeches/press/2007/press_95_07.cfm
http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page13239.asp

On Thursday Parliament's Treasury Committee questioned bank regulators.
http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/treasury_committee.cfm
http://www.parliamentlive.tv/?Where=Cttees&When=This%20Week&Day=Thursday#Live
http://business.guardian.co.uk/markets/story/0,,2174036,00.html
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/982a589e-67b5-11dc-8906-0000779fd2ac.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/09/21/cnrock221.xml

The US Federal Reserve clashed its key lending rate 50 basis points to 5.75 percent.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/monetary/20070918a.htm
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/testimony/bernanke20070920a.htm
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fi-fed19sep19,0,1301132.story

A billion dollars is no longer sufficient to secure a place on Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans.
http://www.forbes.com/2007/09/19/richest-americans-forbes-lists-richlist07-cx_mm_0920rich_land.html

Zimbabwe's inflation fell to 6,592.8 percent in August from July's record level of 7,634.8 percent. The humanitarian crisis in the country has become the world's worst.
http://www.zimstat.co.zw/
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=319543
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ETM Environment and Climate Change
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UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer addressed the Carbon Finance World conference in Chicago with a call for the private sector to support industrialized countries' serious emission reduction commitments to curb climate change and maintain the momentum of the system of exchanging emissions on the "carbon market". Last year the international carbon market spawned by the Kyoto Protocol was worth more than $30 billion, and is expected to grow significantly. Emissions trading and other Kyoto-inspired and market-based systems, such as the clean development mechanism (CDM), which allows projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries to earn certified emission reduction credits, engage the business world and create low-cost opportunities to cut back emissions. CDM now has nearly 800 projects in 48 developing countries.
http://unfccc.int/files/press/news_room/press_releases_and_advisories/application/pdf/070919_pressrel_chicago.pdf

World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said that the debate on combating climate change must not only focus on mitigation, but also on adaptation. He called on the international community to step up support for countries without the necessary technology or resources to allow them to make the most optimal decisions on infrastructure building possible given the most current and accurate weather information.
http://www.wmo.ch/pages/index_en.html

WMO warns that increased atmospheric concentrations of global warming greenhouse gases (GHGs) could lead to more severe loss in the polar regions of ozone, the naturally occurring gas that filters out cancer- and cataract-causing ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun. While GHGs will lead to a warmer climate at the Earth's surface, at the altitude the ozone layer is found, the same increase is likely to lead to a cooling of the atmosphere. Lower temperatures enhance the chemical reactions that destroy ozone. At the same time, the amount of water vapor in the stratosphere has been increasing at the rate of about one percent per year. A wetter and colder stratosphere means more polar stratospheric clouds, which is likely to lead to more severe ozone loss in both polar regions.
http://www.wmo.ch/pages/mediacentre/press_releases/pr795_en.html

The European Commission has proposed a global alliance to help developing countries most affected by climate change.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1352

With Panama's signature, an anti-fouling convention will enter into force 17 September 2008. The International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-Fouling Systems on Ships (AFS Convention) bans the use of harmful organitins in anti-fouling paints used on ships' hulls.
http://www.imo.org/Newsroom/mainframe.asp?topic_id=1472&doc_id=8473

The European Commission is setting up a Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA) with developing countries, which foresees integrating the tackling of climate change into poverty reduction strategies.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2789737,00.html?maca=en-bulletin-433-html
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ETM Human Rights
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The International Day of Peace was marked on 21 September, from the ritual ringing of a bell at UN headquarters in New York to the furthest flung trenches of warfare across the world, where a record number of more than 100,000 peacekeepers are struggling to restore stability. In Afghanistan, the event has been the special focus of a 2-month campaign. Even warring factions honored the day by putting down their weapons so that 1.3 million children could be vaccinated against polio.
http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=2745
http://www.un.org/events/peaceday/2007/index.shtml
http://www.icj-cij.org/presscom/index.php?pr=1934&pt=1&p1=6&p2=1&lang=en

Many of the states in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) have seen a rise in hate crimes, and such incidents are becoming more violent.
http://www.osce.org/item/26357.html

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has made important progress since its creation five years ago, but the court continues to face major challenges, said Amnesty International, the German Red Cross, the United Nation Association of Germany and Human Rights Watch in a joint statement.
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/09/21/german16925.htm

UNICEF released "Education for Some, More Than Others". The report warns that education systems in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States comprising the now-independent former Soviet republics are excluding more than 14 million children each year in a region formerly known for its high-quality education. This situation will lead to intergenerational cycles of poverty, and undermine the capacity of governments to develop globally competitive economies based on skilled labor rather than cheap labor. Furthermore, the report found that public expenditure on education reinforced rather than counteracted social, ethnic and economic inequalities in access to and completion of basic education. Family background, mainly parents' income but also education, had increasingly become a determinant in enrolment and attendance, particularly at pre-school level. The report calls for governments to substantially increase spending on education to at least 6 percent of their gross domestic product as against a regional average of 3 to 4 percent, and move from a distribution of public expenditure that reinforces inequality to one that counteracts inequality.
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_40929.html
http://www.unicef.org/media/files/Regional_Education_Study_-.pdf

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has launched an inquiry into land tenure security, labor relations, and safety to determine conditions for workers in the agriculture sector.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=319592

US federal judge Aleta Trauger ruled that the state of Tennessee's use of lethal injection is illegal because it is a cruel and unusual punishment in which inmates are not properly anesthetized, presenting a substantial risk of unnecessary pain that violates constitutional rights. The governor believes the ruling was wrong, but a growing number of states are reaching similar conclusions.
http://www.tnmd.uscourts.gov/files/Harbison%20DE%20147%20Memorandum%20Opinion.pdf (Memorandum
http://www.tnmd.uscourts.gov/files/Harbison%20DE%20148%20Order.pdf (Order)
http://www.tnmd.uscourts.gov/files/Harbison%20DE%20150%20Motion.pdf( Motion)
http://www.tnmd.uscourts.gov/files/Harbison%20DE%20151%20Order.pdf (Order)
http://www.tnmd.uscourts.gov/files/Harbison DE 153 Order.pdf (Order)
http://www.wkrn.com/nashville/news/ap-ap-interview-governor-says-ruling-on-lethal-injection-wrong/119519.htm
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-execute22sep22,1,3833603.story

Claiming that a 2-year-old voter registration law will unfairly block minorities, including Hispanics, from registering to vote, the Florida (US) branch of the NAACP and a Miami-based Haitian group filed a federal lawsuit Monday that seeks to throw the law out.
http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/241359.html
http://www.brennancenter.org/press_detail.asp?key=51&subkey=50495&
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ETM Infectious Diseases
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The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released "Industrial Livestock Production and Global Health Risks". The policy brief warns that the risk of disease transmission from animals to humans will increase in the future due to human and livestock population growth, dynamic changes in livestock production, the emergence of worldwide agro-food networks and a significant increase in the mobility of people and goods. Excessive concentration of animals in intensive production systems should be avoided. http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2007/1000660/index.html

Five cases of typhoid fever have been confirmed in Kampungu, western Kasai Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where investigations for Ebola are ongoing.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=74403
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_09_20/en/index.html
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL20801216.html
http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?objectid=1DAA2EDF-15C5-F00A-252C43D5B5FB4969&component=toolkit.article&method=full_html

The cholera outbreak in northern Iraq continues to be a major threat to public health in the region with over 3.3 million people presumed exposed to the risk of an epidemic. Severe diarrhea cases now top 24,500, although confirmed laboratory cases of cholera number about 1,050, with 10 deaths, the same mortality figure reported a week ago when the diarrhea cases stood at 16,000.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LSGZ-777G4U?OpenDocument

Bird flu reports this week include:
"Africa alarmed by anti-bird flu funding slump"

"Bird flu outbreak exercise held"
http://www.news.gov.hk/en/category/healthandcommunity/070921/html/070921en05006.htm
"China Rushes to Halt Bird Flu Among Ducks"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/18/AR2007091801445.html

"Nigeria: Bird Flu - 1052 Birds Culled in Nasarawa"
http://allafrica.com/stories/200709200338.html
"Vietnam gets tougher on disease prevention"
http://www.nhandan.com.vn/english/life/220907/life_vn.htm
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2007/09/743615/

Two independent groups of scientists, one from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the other from the Tokyo Medical and Dental University, found that the rare immunodeficiency disorder known as Job's syndrome (hyperimmunoglobulin E syndrome, or HIES) is caused by a specific genetic mutation that both overstimulates and understimulates the human immune system, leading to harmful bacterial and fungal infections and the physical features characteristic of the syndrome.
http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2007/jobssyndrome.htm

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) researchers have solved the genetic code of the parasitic worm that causes elephantiasis.
http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2007/brugia.htm
--------------------------------------------------
ETM Legal Systems
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Police in Afghanistan face daunting hurdles.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0920/p04s01-wosc.html

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission tabled their report, "Future impact of serious and organized crime on Australian society", which included the following recommendations:
* that the Ministerial Council for Police and Emergency Management—Police consider a more strategic and national approach to recruitment and retention of sworn police officers across all jurisdictions; and that consideration be given to enhancing cross-jurisdictional mobility, including secondments, of sworn police officers and other police service personnel.
* that the Productivity Commission inquire into the cost effectiveness and benchmarking of law enforcement bodies and current national arrangements to address serious and organized crime.
* that the Commonwealth Government increase funding to the Australian Institute of Criminology.
* that a formal relationship be established between law enforcement agencies, government departments and the Australian Institute of Criminology to enhance the provision of data, information and research; and that particular emphasis be placed on the removal of any legislative impediments to the provision of data to the Australian Institute of Criminology by Commonwealth, state and territory departments and agencies.
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/acc_ctte/organised_crime/report/b02.htm

Germany's justice ministry plans to extend anti-terror laws to punish preparation or training for a terrorist act with up to ten years in prison.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2787103,00.html

The Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has dismissed thousands of policemen over alleged recruitment irregularities.
http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=126545
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7006155.stm

Nigeria's Controller General of Prisons reports that the prison system now prepares inmates for reintegration, rather than being punitive.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/north/nt320092007.html

In the UK, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics published "The Forensic Use of Bioinformation: Ethical Issues". Among their recommendations is a policy to remove DNA fingerprints of people not convicted of a crime from the national DNA database.
http://www.nuffieldbioethics.org/fileLibrary/pdf/The_forensic_use_of_bioinformation_-_ethical_issues.pdf
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ETM Natural Resources
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Russia's Natural Resources Ministry says that soil samples below the Arctic Ocean shows that Russia is linked to the Lomonosov Ridge, and that 1.2 million square km of Arctic seabed belongs to Russia.
http://www.kommersant.com/p807121/r_530/Russias_Nature_Ministry_proved_the_Lomonosov_Ridge_belongs_to_Russian_shelf/
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070920/80132806.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,507062,00.html

A conference on "Future policies for rural Europe 2013 beyond - delivering sustainable land management in a changing Europe" addressed the balance of agriculture and rural development. The Land Use Policy Group would like to replace the Common Agricultural policy with a "common rural policy". In the meantime, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, and Luxembourg have each submitted one or more rural development plans.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/07/558
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/370
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/372
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/373
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/368
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/369
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/371

China has signed an agreement to lend $5 billion for Democratic Republic of Congo infrastructure development in exchange for access to its rich natural resources. The controversial deal fuels suspicions that China will exhaust Africa's raw materials.
http://www.mineweb.net/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page67?oid=37183&sn=Detail
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4041108

Big oil companies are playing a waiting game over Iraq's reserves. Oil in Basra fuels the fight over control of Iraq's economic power.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4b6b89e2-6648-11dc-9fbb-0000779fd2ac.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0919/p12s01-wome.htm

Russia is torn over how to invest its oil riches.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/187ba59a-657f-11dc-bf89-0000779fd2ac.html

A rise in metal theft from churches has led to insurance claims worth more than GBP3.5 million.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,2172256,00.html
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ETM Populations
--------------------------------------------------
Almost 20,000 Iraqis applied for asylum in industrialized countries in the first half of this year, up 45 percent on the previous six months, reflecting the unrelenting violence in the strife-torn country. An estimated 2.2 million Iraqis are currently outside their home country, primarily in neighboring countries such as Syria and Jordan, which are not included in the industrialized country statistics. When all nationalities are taken into account, the United States was by far the largest recipient of new asylum claims during the first six months of 2007 with an estimated 26,800, some 1,200 more than during the second semester of 2006. Sweden remained the second largest with a total of 17,700, a 14 per cent increase over the second half of last year. Over the past few years, the overall number of asylum claims in the industrialized countries has decreased continuously, but the trend was reversed in the second half of last year when numbers started to rise. Assuming current patterns remain unchanged, it can be expected that asylum claims lodged in industrialized countries in 2007 might be between 290,000 and 320,000, the first annual increase since 2001.
http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/46f3908b4.html

Chinese urban planners want to merge Hong Kong, a city of seven million, with Shenzhen, with a population of 13 million, to create a mega-city that increases global economic competitiveness through improved flow of people, goods, information, and capital.
http://www.bauhinia.org/hongkongshenzhen.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6989473.stm

Two-thirds of women in Swaziland are beaten and abused before turning 18.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=74342

Tribal elders in California are working to preserve the Washo language.
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-washo21sep21,0,2906322.story
http://www.livingtongues.org/

Zambia's elderly population are faced with a double jeopardy: they are either shunned by communities as witchcraft practitioners or, with little or no understanding of the disease, are burdened with caring for HIV/AIDS orphans.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=74406
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ETM Social Responsibility
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Human Rights Campaigned released the 2008 Corporate Equality Index. It shows an unprecedented 195 major US businesses earned the top rating of 100 percent, up from 138 last year, a 41 percent increase. The Index rates employers on a scale from 0 to 100 percent on their treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors. The 195 businesses that met all of the criteria employ more than 8.3 million workers. When the Index was first released in 2002 only 13 companies, employing 690,000 workers, received the top rating.
http://www.hrc.org/documents/HRC_Corporate_Equality_Index_2008.pdf (report)
http://www.hrc.org/issues/workplace/7580.htm (employer comments)
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ETM Technology
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The European Commission is leading the drive for smarter cars that are safer, and better for the environment.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1342
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/358

Cardiologists at Duesseldorf University Hospital say they are the first in the world to use stem cell therapy to save a patient who suffered from a severe heart attack.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2786897,00.html?maca=en-bulletin-433-html

Note this Heritage Foundation report, "Nanotechnology and National Security: Small Changes, Big Impact".
http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/bg2071.cfm
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ETM Weapons (WMD, Proliferation)
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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that with global demand for nuclear energy increasing, it is important to minimize the proliferation risk and for IAEA to meet the challenges of rapid expansion.
http://www.iaea.org/About/Policy/GC/GC51/ScientificForum/sf_report.pdf

More work to curb the threat of nuclear terrorism is needed. Out of 128 States Parties, only 11 so far have accepted the International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Statements/2007/ebsp2007n014.html
http://untreaty.un.org/English/Terrorism/English_18_15.pdf

The US has proposed additional sanctions against Iran, including freezing bank assets and requiring cargo searches, and anticipates these will be in place in the near future.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20070920%5cACQDJON200709201602DOWJONESDJONLINE000919.htm&
http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=200-1663r
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/19/europe/EU-GEN-Turkey-US-Iran-Nuclear.php
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0920/p03s03-usfp.html
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23873&Cr=iran&Cr1=

IAEA has called for North Korea to continue denuclearization ahead of talks scheduled for next week.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/21/AR2007092100611.html

The UK stockpile of plutonium has doubled in the past decade to more than 100 metric tons, enough to build 17,000 Nagasaki bombs. The Royal Society recommends that once current contracts are filled there should be no further separation of plutonium.
http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/displaypagedoc.asp?id=27169

Russia and the US marked the 20th anniversary of the Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers (NRRCs).
http://www.state.gov/t/vci/rls/rm/92162.htm
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/sep/92151.htm

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, held a hearing on Nuclear Terrorism Prevention: Status Report on the Federal Government’s Assessment of New Radiation Detection Monitors. The Committee assailed the Department of Homeland Security's biased and flawed testing and certification of monitors before they are adequately tested, opening the risk that false negatives could permit nuclear material to enter undetected.
http://energycommerce.house.gov/cmte_mtgs/110-oi-hrg.091807.NuclearTerrorism.shtml
http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_110/110nr85.shtml
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1247T

A range of laboratory security issues complicates bioterrorism research.
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/14170252/detail.html
http://www.macon.com/220/v-print/story/141971.html
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Sep/21/ln/hawaii709210360.html
http://www.mercurynews.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?articleId=6949031&siteId=568
http://www.sunshine-project.org

Note this collection of Chinese experts views on bioweapons issues.
http://www.cns.miis.edu/pubs/week/070917.htm

Arms, including sophisticated weapons such as missiles, rockets and automatic machine guns, are proliferating rapidly in Bannu, locals say, mainly due to fighting between pro-Taliban extremists and government forces taking place in tribal areas located along Pakistan's North West Frontier Province's loosely demarcated border with neighboring Afghanistan.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=74398

Dutch aviation services company Aviation Services International, B.V., its owner, and two other firms have been charged in a criminal complaint in the District of Columbia with illegally exporting aerospace grade aluminum, aircraft components, and other equipment from the U.S. to Iran and the government of Iran in violation of US embargoes.
http://washingtondc.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/wfo091807.htm

Blackwater USA has denied allegations that it was involved in smuggling weapons into Iraq.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/09/22/blackwater.probe/index.html
http://www.blackwaterusa.com/

The International Association of Chiefs of Police released "Taking a Stand: Reducing Gun Violence in Our Communities", calling for a ban on assault weapons.
http://www.theiacp.org/documents/index.cfm?fuseaction=document&document_id=999

South Africa's Auditor General reports that police lost more over 1,500 firearms in 2006 compared to 2005, and that controls overall are poor.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=319643
http://www.agsa.co.za/

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 leaders of the European Bioethanol Fuel Association (eBio) and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) are calling upon the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to disavow a paper issued last week critical of world ethanol production.
http://www.ethanolrfa.org/objects/documents/1329/ebioletter.pdf
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/40/25/39266869.pdf

The prolonged drought in Australia has led the wheat production forecast to fall by a third, to 15.5 million tons, putting further pressure on global wheat prices.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/wheat-forecast-slashed-on-drought/2007/09/18/1189881476450.html

Floods in Burkina Faso have wiped out thousands of hectares of farmland, threatening immediate hunger for at least 3,000 households and are likely to cause long-term problems as subsistence farmers struggle to come to terms with the loss of tools, animals and seeds.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=74432

From 1 November China will require fruit exporters to keep records on origin, volume, and destination of each batch of fruit for at least two years. No exports from unregistered orchards or packaging plants will be permitted.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/6267935.html

The European Commission has closed the bluefin tuna fishery for the rest of the year to curb over-fishing, preserve the endangered species, and prevent under-reporting and unequal sharing.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1355

India's Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar believes that bio-nanotechnology will help food security.
http://newspostindia.com/report-15669
http://www.assocham.org/nanobio2007/

Tens of thousands of hectares of fertile farmland lie fallow in Sierra Leone, while tens of thousands of able-bodied men are unemployed. There are many ways to answer the question why, but for Peter Kagbo, project coordinator of a rural development association at the village of Masongbo near Makeni, it comes down to three simple words: "Lack of confidence."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=74399

Yemeni fishermen and their Somali counterparts from Puntland have reached a kind of unofficial agreement: The Yemenis send their vessels to Somalia and then either get the Somalis to fish for them and buy the catch off them, or are allowed to fish for themselves on payment of a hefty fee.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=74375

Public hearings into human rights violations on South African farms this week have lifted the lid on simmering tensions between farmers and farm dwellers. Illegal eviction is one of the challenges facing farm workers.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=74427
http://www.citizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=48584,1,22

More outbreaks of foot and mouth disease have been confirmed in the UK. For the first time bluetongue, a deadly animal disease that has devastates farms in continental Europe, has been found in Britain.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/latest/2007/animal-0919.htm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/22/nfoot122.xml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7007993.stm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/23/nbluetongue123.xml

Remaining grassland in the US has several important benefits, such as providing land for grazing and wildlife habitat for many at-risk species. However, over the past 3 centuries about half of the grassland has been converted to other uses, principally cropland. In addition to losing important grassland values, such conversions may result in increased spending on federal farm programs, such as crop insurance, especially in marginal areas. In "Agricultural Conservation: Farm Program Payments Are an Important Factor in Landowners' Decisions to Convert Grassland to Cropland" GAO recommends that the US
Department of Agriculture (USDA) track the annual conversion of native grassland to cropland to provide policymakers with more comprehensive and current information on such conversions, and study the extent to which farm program payments and conservation programs may be working at cross purposes and report findings to the Congress.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1054

This feature looks at the E. coli outbreak in spinach a year after it struck US consumers.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2007-09-20-spinach-main_N.htm

The amount set aside by the Zimbabwean government to feed at least four million people identified as food insecure is "a mere drop in the sea".
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=74340
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CIM Banking and Finance
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Humans are the cause of most breaches in banking security.
http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/press_release/0,1014,cid%253D171499,00.html

The CFA Institute Centre for Financial Market Integrity issued "Self-Regulation in Today’s Securities Markets: Outdated System or Work in Progress?" The white paper maintains that over the past decade, securities markets worldwide have encountered more rapid changes to structure, market participants and oversight than at any other time in their history. These changes have challenged several of the underlying premises of self-regulation, both in the US and as practiced elsewhere in the world. The paper also addresses the standards of securities markets worldwide, in a time of consolidating markets and mutual recognition. It recommends:
* Where self-regulation is practiced, establish an independent body to oversee the regulation of the securities market that is separate and distinct from exchange/market operations;
* Eliminate dual or wasteful oversight conducted by multiple regulatory offices, which add costs and duplication. For example, create one regional or national entity with regulatory authority over all broker dealers;
* Recognize a common framework for regulation, especially in keeping with International Organization of Securities Commissions principles; and
* Recognize an existing or new global organization that would rate each market in terms of compliance with this common framework.
http://www.cfainstitute.org/aboutus/press/release/07releases/20070920_01.html

Bourse Dubai is poised to acquire 20 percent of NASDAQ. US Senate Banking Committee chair Christopher Dodd has called for a careful review to ensure there are no negative national security implications. As part of the transaction NASDAQ and Bourse Dubai have agreed voluntarily to submit to full CFIUS review. This will be the first test of the revamped CFIUS review process.
http://www.nasdaq.com/newsroom/news/newsroomnewsStory.aspx?textpath=pr2007\ACQPMZ200709200402PRIMZONEFULLFEED127070.htm&cdtime=09%2f20%2f2007%20+4%3a02AM
http://www.ameinfo.com/132690.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/bankingfinancial-SP/idUSL2078501520070920
http://banking.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Articles.Detail&Article_id=194
http://www.nasdaq.com/newsroom/news/newsroomnewsStory.aspx?textpath=pr2007\ACQPMZ200709201611PRIMZONEFULLFEED127111.htm&cdtime=09%2f20%2f2007%20+4%3a11PM
http://public.cq.com/docs/cqt/news110-000002589305.html
http://www.borsedubai.ae/

The European Commission adopted a package of measures designed to strengthen the protection against counterfeiting of Euro banknotes and coins, proposes to make it mandatory for banks and related establishments to ensure the authenticity of Euro banknotes and coins before these are put back into circulation. The Commission also adopted a report that shows that Member States have largely satisfactorily implemented their obligations with regard to criminal penalties against Euro counterfeiting, and released its 2006 report on the protection of Euro coins against fraud and counterfeiting.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1353
http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/pages_euro/index_en.html

The European Financial Management and Marketing Association (EFMA) held its 2007 conference and exposition, focused on "Single Euro Payments Area: Crunch Time!" European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Charlie McCreevy addressed the conference, outlining three main benefits to the Payment Services Directive (PSD):
* Enhanced competition between national payment markets by opening up markets to all appropriate providers and ensuring a level playing field.
* Increased market transparency for both providers and users through a simplified and fully harmonized set of rules on information requirements, and
* Standardized rights and obligations for providers and users of payment services in the EU, with a strong emphasis on a high level of consumer protection.
http://www.efma.com/events_detailevent.php4?ref=1-9Z6ZY&rub=efma_events.gif
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/07/545

A man with a squeaky voice is unable to bank by phone because he keeps being identified as a woman.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=29&art_id=iol1190273618532A551

Bank of America and many others have jumped on the two-factor authentication bandwagon, but all of these schemes are vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9776757-7.html?tag=nefd.blgs

In "Securities and Exchange Commission: Additional Actions Needed to Ensure Planned Improvements Address Limitations in Enforcement Division Operations", the Government Accountability Office summarizes these key issues:
* In March 2007, Enforcement established a centralized process for reviewing and approving new investigations.  Unlike the previous decentralized approach, the new process is designed to better prioritize investigation staffing and to maintain quality control in the investigative process. However, Enforcement has not yet established written procedures and assessment criteria for reviewing and approving new investigations; such procedures and criteria are needed to help effectively manage the division’s operations and resources.
* By late 2007, Enforcement plans to update its current information system for managing investigations with a new system that could significantly enhance the division’s operations.  However, Enforcement has not taken sufficient steps to help ensure that data are entered into the new system on a timely and consistent basis to maximize the system’s usefulness as a management tool.
* In May 2007, Enforcement announced plans to better ensure the prompt closure of investigations that are no longer being pursued.  In the past, the division has not always promptly closed many such investigations, which may have resulted in negative consequences for individuals and companies no longer suspected of securities violations. While Enforcement’s plans to address this issue are positive, they will not fully resolve the potentially large backlog of investigations that have remained open for extended periods.
GAO made several recommendations, with which the SEC agreed.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-830
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CIM Chemical
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The Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission tabled their report, "Future impact of serious and organized crime on Australian society", which recommends that particular consideration should be given to explosives licenses and ammonium nitrate licenses.
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/acc_ctte/organised_crime/report/b02.htm

With Panama's signature, an anti-fouling convention will enter into force 17 September 2008. The International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-Fouling Systems on Ships (AFS Convention) bans the use of harmful organitins in anti-fouling paints used on ships' hulls.
http://www.imo.org/Newsroom/mainframe.asp?topic_id=1472&doc_id=8473

The US will no longer participate in the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety.
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/85/i39/8539notw3.html
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CIM Commercial Facilities
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In "From Roads to Rinks: Government Spending on Infrastructure in Canada, 1961 to 2005", Statistics Canada explains, "Recreational facilities provide important gathering places in society. They draw thousands of participants from every level of society to indoor and outdoor sports facilities such as arenas, skating rinks, stadiums, curling arenas, swimming pools and Olympic facilities. These facilities are also used as concert and meeting halls. Cultural facilities include public libraries, historical sites, museums and theatres". In terms of infrastructure investment, " Sports facilities and cultural capital are the asset types that increased the fastest in percentage terms (Table 2), rising 3.7% and 3.8% respectively per year between 1961 and 2005. While there may be a widespread impression that we are spending more time at work and that the leisure society is but an illusion, the population as a whole is working far fewer hours now than it did 40 years ago. Just since 1989, the average work week decreased by nearly 2 hours, from 35.7 to 33.9 hours a week. For the total population aged 15 or over, time spent alone increased by 34% between 1986 and 1998 (from 4.4 hours in 1986 to 5.9 hours per day in 1998) 11 and has continued to rise since then. Local governments played the biggest role by far in these infrastructure expenditures. The provincial contributions were much smaller than the municipal ones, and decreased over time. Overall, however, sports facilities represented a relatively small portion (5.5%) of total infrastructure capital. Per capita, their stock in constant 1997 dollars amounted to slightly more than $300 in 2005.  The capital stock in sports facilities decreases moving from west to east, from $422 per capita in British Columbia to $403 in the Prairies, $317 in Ontario, $311 in Quebec and $274 in the Atlantic provinces. The dollar amounts were higher out west, as international events such as the 1988 Olympic games in Calgary were relatively recent and, as a result, the facilities depreciated less than in the east, where they were older. Moreover, the Vancouver games already have started to accelerate their level in BC. The 1976 Olympic games in Montreal had increased Quebec’s capital stock. The Atlantic provinces are well behind the other regions in this regard, having never hosted a major international sports event. Also, the Atlantic provinces are the only ones in the country without a major sports team.
http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/11-010-XIB/00907/feature.htm

Hurricane Dean hit the Caribbean hard, showing the need for stringent building codes.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20070921T210000-0500_127598_OBS_HURRICANE_DEAN_SHOWS_NEED_FOR_STRINGENT_BUILDING_CODES_.asp

UN Special Representative Ashraf Qazi visited the Iraqi town of Al Qahtaniyah to talk to the survivor of coordinated bombings that killed some 500 people in a single day and injured many more. Accompanied by staff members from the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq and UN agencies, he met with the Governor and Deputy Governor of Mosul, the town mayor and a large section of the Yezidi population that had been directly affected by the attacks, to review reconstruction options for the region.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23848&Cr=iraq&Cr1=

In Baghdad, private contractors are doing brisk business in constructing blast walls.


Singapore's parliament has approved stiff new building rules and safety penalties in line with Hong Kong, California and New York.
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/212506.asp
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CIM Cybersecurity
--------------------------------------------------
Australian police are investigating the possible compromise of online florist Roses Only database following reports that credit card details were stolen and used for frauds around the world.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/thorny-issue-for-online-shopping/2007/09/17/1189881416842.html

A computer hacker promoting Turkish nationalism posted a video and message on a US Vietnam memorial web sites, blocking one of the site's search functions and defacing it with a statement against the US and Israel.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/19/AR2007091902172.html

Symantec's latest Internet Security Threat Report concludes that cyber criminals are increasingly becoming more professional – even commercial – in the development, distribution and use of malicious code and services. While cybercrime continues to be driven by financial gain, cyber criminals are now utilizing more professional attack methods, tools and strategies to conduct malicious activity.
http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20070917_01

In an "unfathomable" breach of security, a computer backup tape stolen in June from a car in Ohio contained bank account and other sensitive financial data for nearly all Connecticut state agencies. Governor M. Jodi Rell has ordered a number of immediate actions following the loss of this data, and taking steps to prevent future fraud or misuse. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is suing Accenture in connection with the breach, which has affected at least 58 state taxpayers. Connecticut is providing free credit protection for people whose information was on the laptop, and Accenture is paying for protection for the 57 whose information was lost in Ohio
http://www.ct.gov/governorrell/cwp/view.asp?Q=395918&A=2791
http://www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?Q=395430&A=2788
http://www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?Q=395906&A=2788
http://newsroom.accenture.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=4587
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/17/nyregion/17tape.html

Dedicated hosting company Layered Technologies is advising customers to reset account logins after an incident Monday night in which hackers were able to access a client support database.
http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2007/09/20/hackers_crack_layered_tech_database.html

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) has reported that stolen data from a third-party “business contact” information system that included ADP’s client information is being used for ongoing online phishing scams using a spoofed ADP email sender address.
http://www.investquest.com/iq/a/adp/ne/news/adp091407.htm

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports "Sale of Magnetic Data Tapes Previously Used by the Government Presents a Low Security Risk".
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1233R

On the other hand, "Information Security: Sustained Management Commitment and Oversight Are Vital to Resolving Long-standing Weaknesses at the Department of Veterans Affairs" describes continued vulnerabilities in the aftermath of the May 2006 exposure of millions of personal records.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1019
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1246T

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission tabled their report, "Future impact of serious and organized crime on Australian society", which included the following recommendations:
* that public education programs about emerging criminal activities, such as credit card fraud, banking fraud, identity theft and internet-based criminal activity, be given a higher priority and increased resources.
* that the Commonwealth Government seek to ensure the comprehensive and public reporting of online fraud, particularly within the banking and finance industry.
* that the Commonwealth, state and territory governments implement a national number plate recognition system.
* that the Australian Crime Commission give consideration to the extent to which its information handling protocols incorporate, and could be enhanced by, the principles of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/acc_ctte/organised_crime/report/b02.htm

Unisys released two studies of European consumers, finding that unethical business practices, consumer dissatisfaction and lack of innovation erode consumer trust, and that continental European consumers' attitudes toward data privacy and dependable IT are not in synch with the UK.
http://www.unisys.com/about__unisys/news_a_events/09208815.htm
http://www.unisys.com/about__unisys/news_a_events/09208816.htm

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) expressed concern about the agreement by the Council of the European Union on Tuesday to limit the scope of the Data Protection Framework Decision (DPFD) so that the text will only apply to the cross-border exchange of personal data. The EDPS emphasizes that a drive for agreement should not dilute the level of protection for personal data provided in police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=EDPS/07/10

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) released "Stop the Presses: How Paper Trails Fail to Secure e-Voting". The report warns that paper audit trails from e-voting machines do nothing to increase security, but a lot to increase cost. They recommend:
*  Congress and the states should allow the use of fully electronic ballots, not restrict electronic voting systems to those that create paper ballots.
* Congress and the states should require that future voting machines have verifiable audit trails, not require machines that create verifiable paper audit trails.
* Congress should provide funding for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to issue grants for developing secure cryptographic voting protocols and for pilot testing of new voting technology.
http://www.itif.org/files/evoting.pdf
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CIM Dams and Bridges
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International forces in Afghanistan are holding on the to Bui Dam and Kajaki to help defeat the Taleban.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/world/asia/18dam.html

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CIM Defense Industrial Base
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Private armies have become the world's fastest-growing industry, worth up to $120 billion annually with operations in at least 50 countries
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2984818.ece
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,506554,00.html
http://www.brookings.edu/scholars/fellows/psinger.htm

Germany's Federal Intelligence Agency (BND) chief Ernst Uhrlau has spoken out against war privatization.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2791119,00.html?maca=en-bulletin-433-html

Iraq revoked the license of security contractor Blackwater USA following a shooting in Baghdad in which 11 civilians were killed. Iraq said it would prosecute employees were involved in the incident on Sunday, when guards opened fire in western Mansour district. US Secretary of State Rice expressed regret and promised a fair and transparent investigation. However, the US embassy in Iraq already has resumed convoys under Blackwater protection.
http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-09-17T201140Z_01_L17538057_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-IRAQ-SHOOTING-COL.XML
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=85368
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DD807990-1CC9-410C-A67E-871454DFF64F.htm


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/21/iraq/main3284603.shtml
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1663937,00.html

Contracts worth $6 billion to provide essential supplies to US troops are under review by criminal investigators.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/washington/21contract.html

In "Defense Logistics: Army and Marine Corps Cannot Be Assured That Equipment Reset Strategies Will Sustain Equipment Availability While Meeting Ongoing Operational Requirements" the Government Accountability Office recommends that the Secretary of Defense  improve DOD’s reporting of obligations and expenditures within the procurement accounts, and assess the services’ approaches to equipment reset to ensure that their priorities address equipment shortages in the near term to equip units that are preparing for deployment. DOD did not agree with these recommendations. As a result, GAO is suggesting that Congress direct DOD to revise its Financial Management regulation pertaining to procurement funds. prioritize equipment needs of units preparing for deployment over longer-term.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-814
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CIM Emergency Services
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The Czech Republic, Portugal and Spain signed the eCall Memorandum of Understanding, while the Netherlands has announced its willingness to sign shortly. With their signature, they commit themselves to actively support the timely implementation of the pan-European in-vehicle emergency call system for road accidents that could save 2,500 lives annually when fully deployed in Europe. This brings to 12 the number of EU Member States that have committed themselves to eCall. Non-EU countries such as Switzerland, Norway and Iceland have also signed.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1346

Emergency room self-service kiosks help patients avoid long check-in lines.


The Renewable Fuels Association has provided "Responding to Ethanol Incidents", a video safety tool for first responders.
http://www.ethanolrfa.org/rfa_eerc.wmv (Windows Media Player)
http://www.ethanolrfa.org/rfa_eerc.mov (QuickTime)

The US House Committee on Homeland Security held a hearing on "Protecting the Protectors: Ensuring the Health and Safety of our First Responders in the Wake of Catastrophic Disasters", which found much work to be done.
http://homeland.house.gov/hearings/index.asp?ID=87

New York City Mayor Bloomberg and Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) President Aviles today announced that the World Trade Center (WTC) Environmental Health Center at Bellevue Hospital, the City-funded program offering free, high quality health services to people experiencing health problems as a result of 9/11, is expanding to two additional locations.
http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2007b%2Fpr335-07.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1
http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/pdf/2007/wtc_health_impacts_on_fdny_rescue_workers_sept_2007.pdf
http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/pdf/2007/guidelines_adults_exposed_wtc_disaster.pdf
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/09/21/nyc_opens_free_clinics_for_911_illnesses/

911 emergency service was out for seven hours in central Texas after a swarm of bees attacked a construction worker, causing him to accidentally sever a fiber optic cable.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA091907.04B.911Out.34134b0.html
http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stories/091807kvue911down-cb-mm.e7ed00ad.html
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CIM Energy
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European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso addressed "Energizing Europe: a real market with secure supply"
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/07/553
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1361
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/361
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/362

European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs addressed the EU Energy Law Conference on the topic of the new European energy market.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/07/562

Piebalgs met with his Kazak counterpart Sauat Mynbayev to discuss bilateral energy issues.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1375

Gazprom says it is ready for constructive discussions on Russia's reliability as a supplier of energy to Europe. The EU is taking steps to prevent foreign energy suppliers from buying EU gas and electricity networks.
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2172696,00.html
http://en.rian.ru/business/20070919/79693934.html

Former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said that the removal of Saddam Hussein had been essential to secure world energy supplies.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/16/AR2007091601287.html
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CIM Government Facilities
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Statistics Canada released "From Roads to Rinks: Government Spending on Infrastructure in Canada, 1961 to 2005". It reports, "In order of magnitude, the road and the environment and water systems are followed by office buildings, which represent 9.2 percent of the total value of government-owned capital. This type of asset dominates federal infrastructure, with 30.9 percent of its capital in 2005, ahead of institutional buildings (12.7 percent) and security (11.2 percent).... Federal office buildings have become a larger part of total federal capital, up strongly compared with 16.3% in 1961. This is one of the few types of federal asset to have risen steadily in absolute terms between 1961 and 2005, reaching $7.6 billion in 2005 out of a total of $24.5 billion (in constant 1997 dollars)". Regarding institutional and commercial construction, "the three levels of government share ownership of this type of capital more or less equally, here again the federal government slowed its capital outlays since 1961. Federal capital growth in institutional buildings (which include veterans’ hospitals, training and day care centres) rose only 0.3% annually, compared to 2.1% for all levels of government. Commercial capital (warehouses and garages) decreased by 1.1% annually". Finally, "Security-related assets include penitentiaries, detention homes and court–houses. They represent only 3.1% of the value of total government-owned capital. However, for all provincial and federal governments combined, security-related capital has been the main contributor to overall growth since 1961, after roads and office towers".
http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/11-010-XIB/00907/feature.htm
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CIM Information Technology
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The European Court of First Instance has upheld the European Commission's decision finding that Microsoft abused its dominant position in two ways. First, by refusing to supply its competitors with interoperability information and to authorize them to use that information to develop and distribute products competing with its own products on the work group server operating system market. Second, to tie Windows Media Player with the Windows PC operating system, a practice that affected competition on the media player market.
http://curia.europa.eu/en/actu/communiques/cp07/aff/cp070063en.pdf
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/359
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/sep07/09-17Statement.mspx
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,506331,00.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2786878,00.html?maca=en-bulletin-433-html
http://www.itif.org/index.php?id=76
http://www.thestar.com/article/259252
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-micro18sep18,0,3776900.story

IBM has released free office desktop software to foster collaboration and innovation - and challenge Microsoft.
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/22326.wss
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/technology/18blue.html

The US Senate Committee on Homeland Security held a hearing on High Risk IT: Is Poor Management Leading to Billions in Waste? (yes....)
http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=481
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CIM National Monuments and Icons
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Remote cloud forests in Vietnam, hundreds of atolls in Micronesia and mangroves in El Salvador are featured in the 23 ecosystems that were added today to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. It now has 529 sites in 105 countries, where local communities try to enhance their socio-economic development while promoting biodiversity conservation on a scientific basis. Community members contribute to governance, management, research, education, training and monitoring at the sites.
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=39480&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
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CIM Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste
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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference opened on 17 September.
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2007/dg_gcstatement.html
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5089&l=1
http://www.iaea.org/About/Policy/GC/GC51/#day-1
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5089&l=1

Originally developed in the 1990s by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) aims to consistently communicate the severity of reported nuclear and radiological events, with a scale ranging for 1 (anomaly) to 7 (major accident). The system is being upgraded to increase its functionality, consolidate and expand data, standardize terminology, and better address areas such as transportation and human exposure.
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2007/ines.html

The 2nd Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) Ministerial Meeting opened on 16 September. The GNEP is a US-led effort to increase international nuclear energy cooperation.
http://www.gnep.gov/gnepPRs/gnepPR091607.html (Opening remarks)

Japan's earthquake-damaged Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant suffered a fire, but there were no casualties or radioactive release. Assessments continue.
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-29639920070920
http://www.cctv.com/english/20070921/103698.shtml

Europe has the largest nuclear industry in the world and one third of its electricity comes from nuclear plants. To prepare for the future and maintain European leadership in this sector, a Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform has been launched, bringing together researchers and industry to define and implement a Strategic Research Agenda and corresponding Deployment Strategy. T
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1370n

Ukraine has approved a giant steel cover for Chernobyl.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/chernobyls-safety-shield/2007/09/18/1189881510148.html

The Royal Society says that Britain's stocks of plutonium are kept in unacceptable conditions and pose a severe safety and security risk.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2173838,00.html
http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/displaypagedoc.asp?id=27169

The US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will remove nine metric tons of plutonium from further use as fissile material and fabricate it into mixed-oxide fuel that can be burned in commercial nuclear reactors to produce electricity.
http://www.doe.gov/news/5500.htm
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CIM Public Health and Healthcare
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The World Health Organization (WHO) released "Promoting Safety of Medicines for Children". The report warns that the lack of thorough and reliable clinical data on the way medicines affect children, particularly side effects, requires strengthened safety monitoring and vigilance of medicinal products. A large proportion of side effects or adverse reactions to medicines in the adult population are due to irrational use or human error and are therefore preventable. In the case of children, even more factors come into play. The main challenge is the lack of clinical data, resulting in fewer medicines being developed, produced and marketed specifically for children. Often, children are given medicines that have only been tested in adults and are not officially approved for use in child populations. Non-availability of appropriate pediatric formulations forces health care providers to resort to administering portions of crushed or dissolved tablets or the powder contained inside a capsule without any specific indication of the required dosage. For that reason, potentially harmful medication errors may be three times more common in children than in adults. An appropriate format or structure for a child's medicine is also important. Small children sometimes choke or asphyxiate while trying to swallow big tablets. For instance, earlier this year four children under 36 months died from choking on albendazole tablets during a de-worming campaign in Ethiopia. The study proposes that all countries establish national and regional monitoring systems for the detection of serious adverse reactions and medical errors in children, and calls on regulatory authorities to make an effort to refine the science of clinical trials in children, create an active post-marketing surveillance program and develop public databases of up to date information about efficacy and safety in pediatric medicines.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/pr51/en/index.html
http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/essentialmedicines/Promotion_safe_med_childrens.pdf

The Lancet criticized the ways in which UN health agencies presented research data.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N20208875.htm
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607614512/fulltext

In the year since it was established, the international drug purchase facility UNITAID has managed to reduce the price of HIV treatments for children by almost 40 percent, and those for second-line antiretroviral (ARV) drugs by between 25 percent and 50 percent.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/unitaid01/en/index.html

Following last year's polonium-210 death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, companies and countries are refusing to handle thousands of radioactive isotopes that are used to diagnose and treat cancer, hurting doctors' abilities to treat patients in countries that need to import the material.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=auwTnZ.ZAXBo&refer=europe

Australia's Senate Community Affairs Committee released "Highway to Health: Better Access for Rural and Remote Patients". The inquiry addressed the operation and effectiveness of Patient Assisted Travel Schemes including:
* the need for greater national consistency and uniformity of Patient Assisted Travel Schemes across jurisdictions, especially the procedures used to determine eligibility for travel schemes covering patients, their carers, escorts and families; the level and forms of assistance provided; and reciprocal arrangements for inter-state patients and their carers;
* the need for national minimum standards to improve flexibility for rural patient access to specialist health services throughout Australia;
* the extent to which local and cross-border issues are compromising the effectiveness of existing Patient Assisted Travel Schemes in Australia, in terms of patient and health system outcomes;
* the current level of utilization of schemes and identification of mechanisms to ensure that schemes are effectively marketed to all eligible patients and monitored to inform continuous improvement;
* variations in patient outcomes between metropolitan and rural, regional and remote patients and the extent to which improved travel and accommodation support would reduce these inequalities;
* the benefit to patients in having access to a specialist who has the support of a multidisciplinary team and the option to seek a second opinion;
*. the relationship between initiatives in e Health and Patient Assisted Travel Schemes;
* the feasibility and desirability of extending patient assisted travel schemes to all treatments listed on the Medicare Benefits Schedule – Enhanced Primary Care items such as allied health and dental treatment and fitting of artificial limbs; and
* the role of charity and non-profit organizations in the provision of travel and accommodation assistance to patients.
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/clac_ctte/pats/report/index.htm
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CIM Telecommunications
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"Connect Africa" is an initiative to establish public-private partnerships to develop the continent's information and telecommunications infrastructure. African countries have registered the world’s highest mobile phone growth, ranging from 50 to 400 per cent in the last three years. Better information technology links can help Africa to unleash its economic potential.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23870&Cr=information&Cr1=technology
http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2007/Advisory-07.html

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission tabled their report, "Future impact of serious and organized crime on Australian society", which included the following recommendations:
* that the Commonwealth Government examine the cost of provision of telecommunications data by telecommunications companies, with particular reference to methods by which that cost can be met or controlled.
* that the Australian Customs Service continue to have access to telecommunications interception through law enforcement agencies, and that those agencies liaise to enhance the provision of telecommunications interception information to the Australian Customs Service.
* that the Commonwealth and Queensland governments collaborate to expedite the granting of telecommunications interception powers to the Queensland Police Service and the Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission.
* that the government seek to expedite the telecommunications industry's adoption of option B of the Telecommunications (Service Provider—Identity Checks for Pre-Paid Mobile Telecommunications Services) Determination 2000, so as to require 100 points of identity documentation upon activation of prepaid mobile phone services.
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/acc_ctte/organised_crime/report/b02.htm

The European Commission has proposed a number of measures to ensure the future of the Galileo satellite radio navigation program, funded entirely from the EC budget.
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/energy_transport/galileo/index_en.htm
http://www.esa.int/export/esaSA/navigation.html.

The US Department of Defense announced that it will stop procuring Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites with the Selective Availability (SA), the capability to intentionally degrade the accuracy of civil signals. This permanent removal eliminates a source of uncertainty in GPS performance that has been of concern to civil GPS users worldwide.
http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=11335
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CIM Transportation
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The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) opened its 36th session this week, calling for civil aviation, as an integral part of the global economy and a driving force for social development, to adapt to new realities. Civil aviation continues to be the safest means of mass transportation but some areas of the world continue to have numerous accidents, the industry is vulnerable to terrorist attacks, and it will be difficult to minimize aviation's impact on the environment. These problems are more difficult to address in light of sustained increases in traffic and worsening congestion.
http://www.icao.int/icao/en/pres/kobeh/20070918_A36_en.pdf
http://www.icao.int/icao/en/m_about.htm

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) proposes a worldwide shift from barcode baggage tags to radio frequency identification tags, a move that they claim could save the airline industry over $700 million a year.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22435325-15306,00.html
http://www.iata.org/stbsupportportal/rfid

German writer and professor for public law and legal philosophy Bernhard Schlink, politicians, and others offer reflections on German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung's recent remarks on the necessity of shooting down passenger airplanes hijacked by terrorists. Jung this week has called for legislation to settle the matter.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,506664,00.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2786130,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,,2172626,00.html http://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/flugzeugentfuehrung_aid_132959.html (in German)

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission tabled their report, "Future impact of serious and organized crime on Australian society", which recommends that CrimTrac be funded to examine the legislative, administrative and technical aspects to allow the inclusion of additional datasets to the Minimum Nation-wide Person Profile with particular consideration given to Aviation Security Identification Cards, and Maritime Security Identification Cards
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/acc_ctte/organised_crime/report/b02.htm

New Zealand's aviation security legislation passed parliament without dissent.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0709/S00313.htm

In 2005 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) CEO Bates Sule discovered that 95 percent of equipment was more than 20 years old and overdue for replacement. A hybrid public offering is under way to finance equipment replacement and ensure optimal service delivery.
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=89732

The first-ever type of cooperative mechanism envisaged by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea will be the voluntary Cooperative Mechanism under which the three littoral states if the Malacca Straits will jointly undertake projects and make monetary contributions. Under this mechanism, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore will address the navigational safety, security and environmental protection of the Straits, one of the world's most important shipping lanes, in a region rife with piracy and terrorism risks.
http://www.imo.org/Newsroom/mainframe.asp?topic_id=1472&doc_id=8471

The US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, held a hearing on Cruise Ship Security Practices and Procedures. The discussion focused on crimes at sea and how they can be better reported and prevented.
http://transportation.house.gov/hearings/hearingdetail.aspx?NewsID=305

In "Targeting Oceangoing Cargo Containers 2007 (Unclassified Summary)", the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) use of the Automated Targeting System (ATS) is reviewed. The audit found:
"CBP is not consistently monitoring entry data for all shipments, resulting in some high-risk containers being allowed to leave ports without mandatory examinations.  Furthermore, flaws in the Cargo Enforcement Reporting and Tracking System may result in improper container releases, and CBP still has not automated its integration of examination findings into ATS. We recommend that the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection develop a mechanism that will ensure that shipments designated as high-risk are not released from CBP custody without mandatory examination, strengthen procedures at the ports to prevent containers from leaving ports without undergoing required inspections, develop systematic procedures to extract oceangoing container examination results information and begin using it to refine existing targeting rules and developing new rules.  Also, we recommend that the Customs and Border Protection require field offices and their respective ports of entry to implement all the requirements of current policies, which deal with the accountability and control over high-security bolt seals.  CBP concurred and has taken action to implement the recommendations in our report.  Subsequent to the end of our fieldwork, CBP took actions to improve procedures for ensuring that high-risk containers are examined. Finally, some ports need to improve their controls over high-security bolt seals."
http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_07-72_Aug07.pdf

The US House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, held a hearing on Nuclear Terrorism Prevention: Status Report on the Federal Government’s Assessment of New Radiation Detection Monitors. The Committee assailed the Department of Homeland Security's biased and flawed testing and certification of monitors before they are adequately tested, opening the risk that false negatives could permit nuclear material to enter undetected.
http://energycommerce.house.gov/cmte_mtgs/110-oi-hrg.091807.NuclearTerrorism.shtml
http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_110/110nr85.shtml
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1247T

Statistics Canada released "From Roads to Rinks: Government Spending on Infrastructure in Canada, 1961 to 2005". They find, "Assets related to marine construction and other transportation and communications equipment accounted for most of the federal government’s investment slowdown between 1961 and 2005, and weighed heavily on the growth of all government-owned capital during the period under study. The federal government cut back by 1.5 percent a year on average its capital in this type of asset since 1961. Marine construction largely includes irrigation, wharves, docks, terminals, breakwaters, canals and works along shorelines. Other transportation equipment includes aircraft storage, railway tracks and passenger terminals. The infrastructure in these assets fell an average of 1 percent annually for the federal government. However, the other levels of government did not make up for these losses, and total government assets fell by less than 1 percent annually (part of the decline reflects the privatization of assets). This asset type accounts for less than 1 percent of total government-owned assets. The federal government also reduced its investments in communications, but the private sector stepped up its investments in this area, at least until the Internet bubble burst in 2000. Similarly, the development and operation of road infrastructure are essential to the movement of people and goods and drives a large proportion of the economy.  It falls mostly under the government’s responsibility. Thus, it is not surprising to see that roads and bridges make up the bulk (39.9 percent) of the government-owned stock of infrastructure. The provincial and municipal governments own the road system in about equal proportions. The stock of road infrastructure per capita (in 1997 dollars) increased significantly between 1960 and 1980, but has been eroding since then, falling to $2,511 in 2005 from its peak of $3,019 in 1979. From 1995 to 2000 it fell an average of $322 million a year. Governments have boosted the flow of investment in roads from $4.3 billion in 1998 to $7.3 billion in 2005, but this has barely offset the erosion of the road system.
http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/11-010-XIB/00907/feature.htm

The US National Transportation Safety Board calls for states to increase enforcement to reduce highway and recreational boating fatalities, including requirements for child restraints in cars and primary seat belt enforcement.
http://www.ntsb.gov/Pressrel/2007/091807.htm

The European Commission released its third report on certain third countries' maintenance of visa requirements in breach of the principle of reciprocity. The main conclusions of the report are:
* With 2 countries no reciprocity issue is involved: Brazil and Brunai
* As of 1 April 2007 Bolivia is on the negative list and therefore the reciprocity mechanism does no longer apply to Bolivia. Costa Rica notified the Commission that Bulgarian citizens may visit Costa Rica without a visa for 90 days.
* With 2 countries full reciprocity is now in place:
* Bulgaria notified the Commission that its citizens are exempt from the visa requirement for Mexico as from 11 March 2007. New Zealand waived the visa requirement for Bulgaria and Romania as from 30 July 2007.
* With 8 countries the steps to achieve reciprocity are ongoing
* With Australia further progress on reciprocity has been made
* No tangible progress has been achieved with the USA on visa reciprocity
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/360

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released "Border Security: Fraud Risks Complicate State's Ability to Manage Diversity Visa Program".
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1174
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CIM Water
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Statistics Canada released "From Roads to Rinks: Government Spending on Infrastructure in Canada, 1961 to 2005". The article explains, "environment and water systems represent over one-quarter of government-owned capital, with 14.5 percent for the environment (largely waste water treatment systems and garbage) and 10.8 percent for water systems (largely for the supply of drinking water). Canada has an abundance of water, ranking second to Finland in terms of the volume and diversity of its water riches per capita, according to a UN report. While Canada barely represents 0.5 percent of the world’s population, it has close to 20 percent of all freshwater reserves. While provincial and municipal governments share ownership of the roads, environmental management and the management of water systems mainly takes place at the local government level. Municipalities account for more than 80 percent of capital spending in these areas by supplying a wide range of government-owned infrastructure, mainly pumping and filtration systems and water storage and distribution networks. Environmental and water system assets, like roads, rose significantly between 1961 and 1981. Like roads, most regions experienced decreases thereafter. Investment in water systems has barely compensated for the ageing of existing equipment from 1993 to 2002.
http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/11-010-XIB/00907/feature.htm

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) held a 3-day meeting on intensifying water management co-operation between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan so that water resources shared by the two countries could be used effectively.
http://www.osce.org/item/26353.html

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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Incessant rain has killed 68 people in India.

Two more large earthquakes and 40 aftershocks hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra early this week, leaving more than a dozen dead, thousands homeless, and causing further devastating damage. This is the same region struck the week before.

Flooding in Ghana has killed at least 20 people and led to broad destruction of national infrastructures.

Uganda has declared a state of emergency for eastern and northern areas hit by floods and landslides that have left at least 18 dead, thousands homeless and hungry, and about a third of the country cut off.

The worst storm to hit China in a decade, Typhoon Wipha, hit the east coast, forcing the evacuation of more than two million people. Accurate forecasts and effective preparations limited the number dead to ten people.

In the US state of Pennsylvania, a massive natural gas explosion leveled a Philadelphia medical clinic, injuring nine people.

Officials in Peru are investigating reports that a meteorite crashed and emitted noxious gases, possibly released from the ground it struck. Some 600 people were treated for headaches, vomiting and nausea.

A school in Lanzhou, China, had more than 1,500 small hydrogen-filled balloons at the opening ceremony of a sporting event. They caught fire and exploded, injuring more than 60 students.
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DRM Response and Recovery
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The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has allocated additional resources and realigned its work program for the years 2008/2009 to help better face the challenges of natural and man-made disasters to a market that last year registered 842 million arrivals. The need for a more strategic approach to risk and crisis management has been confirmed by recent events such as the forest fires in Greece, hurricanes in Central America, and the earthquake in Indonesia
http://www.unwto.org/media/news/en/press_det.php?id=1336&idioma=E

Flooding in eastern Chad has "seriously hampered" aid agencies' assistance to tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees and displaced Chadians, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=74401

Thai officials report that Phuket airport wind shear alert systems were not working properly last weekend, when a One-Two-Go airline skidded off the runway, killing at least 89 people. Wind is one explanation for the crash, which is under investigation.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7000919.stm
http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/09/21/business/business_30049786.php
http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/index.asp?Id=5972

Thousands of school children have been forced to stay at home as schools remain closed due to flooding in eastern Uganda. More than 150 educational institutions failed to open at the beginning of the new term on 17 September after the floods washed away roads, homes, buildings and crops in the region.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=74333

The Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana and the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government released "Spending Federal Disaster Aid", an analysis of two major types of aid being used for reconstruction and economic recovery. Key findings include:
* The amount of federal aid provided to Mississippi and Louisiana is not proportional to the amount of damage each state suffered.
* The sluggishness of aid distribution continues to be the primary concern of state and local officials in both states.
* The reimbursement nature of the FEMA PA program generally means that local governments must pay for work out of their own pockets first. For those local governments left with little to no tax base or revenue sources, that means much of the recovery process is stalled because they do not have the money to start the federal aid flow. While both states now offer mechanisms for local officials to obtain advance payments to get work started, the effort required further slows the recovery process.
* The federal disaster aid programs now in place were never designed to handle the scale of catastrophic damage left behind by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. While the federal government has tried to adapt existing programs to get the money flowing to the affected areas, it is evident from the continuing slow pace of the recovery more than two years after the storms that other avenues need to be explored.
* The two phases of the aftermath of a disaster — response and recovery — involve different logistics and politics. Response and recovery needs differ throughout the Gulf region, and federal aid programs and policies need to be cognizant of these differences.
http://www.la-par.org/article.cfm?id=218&cateid=1

The first trial stemming from the 2005 BP Texas City refinery explosion, which killed 15 and injured 170, has ended in a settlement.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/091907dntexbp.e733f13e.html
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DRM Risks
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Quakes and aftershocks again struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra this week, but worse is yet to come.

UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) Chairman Callum McCarthy addressed the Lord Mayor's dinner in Mansion House. He said, "At present, there is a concerning lack of discrimination between different asset classes, and different institutions, which has led to the impact of the US subprime mortgage market being greater than should be the case. This needs to improve. I would hope - and expect - that there will be increasing discrimination in the approach of those extending credit: discrimination between asset classes, so that it is recognized that there are asset backed securities which are wholly untainted by any association with the US subprime mortgage market; discrimination within the mortgage backed securities market, based on more informed assessment of the quality of the underlying assets; and discrimination between possible short-term profit reductions and the fundamental ongoing credit worthiness of those institutions which, although their profitability may be reduced, remain well capitalized and good credit risks. It is clear that in recent weeks the process of discrimination between and within asset classes has not functioned very efficiently and price discovery has suffered - and, I would point out, as a consequence there must now be significant investment opportunities for investors with the ability to draw distinctions which are there to be discerned and acted on. I would hope that those who are seeking either credit or investment will assist this process by being clear about their exposure to particular asset classes. It is in everyone's interest – including their own – that this should happen: that firms indicate their exposure, direct or indirect, to the subprime market; and specify the nature and scale of their investment in complex instruments, whose valuations I fear may remain subject to uncertainty for some time to come."
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Communication/Speeches/2007/0920_cm.shtml

The US Office of Science and Technology has abandoned efforts to standardize government risk assessments intended to protect the public or the environment. Instead, they have followed National Academy of Science recommendations to follow generally accepted principles of risk analysis.
http://www.ostp.gov/html/m07-24.pdf
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=11811

"Dangerous Development: Wildfire and Rural Sprawl in the Sierra Nevada" is a new report from the Sierra Nevada Alliance. Two years of research found that between 1990 and 2000, the number of people living in extreme or very high fire threat areas of the Sierra increased by 16 percent. Sprawling patterns of growth are making it more dangerous to protect properties, with 94 percent of land slated for residential development is in areas considered extreme or very high fire threat.
http://www.sierranevadaalliance.org/news/newsreleases/profile.shtml?index=1190123635_28156&cat=&loc=&listpage=1
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DRM Mitigation
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Lloyd's Chairman Lord Peter Levene addressed the RUSI Annual Resilience Conference. He said that resilience requires a multi-layered approach involving raising risk awareness, encouraging risk management action, engaging in risk partnership, and investing in risk research.
http://www.lloyds.com/News_Centre/Briefings_and_speeches/Resilience_a_risk_management_perspective.htm

The Global Earth Observation System of Systems was expanded this week with additional buoys in the Indian Ocean.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2919.htm

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) and The Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters (CILA) have agreed to a new emergency protocol. The Strategic Coordinating Group, set up under The Civil Contingencies Act to coordinate response to a major incident, will notify ABI and CILA of the scale of damage. They will then alert their members to enable earliest possible access to the scene to help policyholder and provide more effective emergency response.
http://www.abi.org.uk/Newsreleases/viewNewsRelease.asp?nrid=15144
http://www.cila.co.uk/news-events/news/insurance-industry-now-able-respond-even-more-effectively-emergency-incidents

The Association of Insurance and Risk Managers (AIRMIC) published an updated Directors and Officers guide.
http://www.airmic.com/Downloads/PR/AIRMIC_PR_170907.pdf

7. Recommended Reading

On 14 September 14, 2007, US President Bush authorized Secretary of State Rice to transmit to Congress the annual report listing major illicit drug transit and drug producing countries, known as the "Majors List". It contains Presidential Determinations of the countries that have "failed demonstrably" to make substantial efforts during the previous 12 months to adhere to international counternarcotics agreements and to take measures specified in US law. The presidential memorandum and related press conference are reproduced below.


MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE
SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION ON MAJOR DRUG TRANSIT OR MAJOR ILLICIT DRUG PRODUCING COUNTRIES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008

Pursuant to section 706(1) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-228)(FRAA), I hereby identify the following countries as major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries:  Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela.

A country's presence on the Majors List is not necessarily an adverse reflection of its government's counternarcotics efforts or level of cooperation with the United States.  Consistent with the statutory definition of a major drug transit or drug producing country set forth in section 481(e)(2) and (5) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (FAA), one of the reasons that major drug transit or illicit drug producing countries are placed on the list is the combination of geographical, commercial, and economic factors that allow drugs to transit or be produced despite the concerned government's most assiduous enforcement measures.

Pursuant to section 706(2)(A) of the FRAA, I hereby designate Burma and Venezuela as countries that have failed demonstrably during the previous 12 months to adhere to their obligations under international counternarcotics agreements and take the measures set forth in section 489(a)(1) of the FAA.  Attached to this report are justifications for the determinations on Burma and Venezuela, as required by section 706(2)(B).  I have also determined, in accordance with the provisions of section 706(3)(A) of the FRAA, that support for programs to aid Venezuela's democratic institutions is vital to the national interests of the United States.

Although President Karzai has strongly attacked narcotrafficking as the greatest threat to Afghanistan, one third of the Afghan economy remains opium-based, which contributes to widespread public corruption, damage to licit economic growth, and the strengthening of the insurgency.  The government at all levels must be held accountable to deter and eradicate poppy cultivation, remove and prosecute corrupt officials, and investigate and prosecute or extradite narcotraffickers and those financing their activities.  We are concerned that failure to act decisively now could undermine security, compromise democratic legitimacy, and imperil international support for vital assistance.

In Afghanistan, one model for success can be drawn by comparing the marked differences in cultivation between the northern and southern provinces.  Several northern provinces contributed to a decline in poppy cultivation resulting from a mixture of political will and incentives and disincentives, such as public information, alternative development, and eradication.  Furthermore, several northern provinces with very low amounts of poppy are well on their way to becoming poppy free.

Despite the significant progress made in Afghanistan since 2001, the country continues to face tremendous challenges.  Our struggle to win hearts and minds, while confronting the insurgency, continues to directly hinge on our ability to help the Afghan government produce visible results.  We need to encourage a firm belief among the Afghan people that their national government is capable of delivering an alternative to the preceding decades of conflict.  Our reconstruction assistance is an essential instrument to achieve that goal.

Bolivian counternarcotics cooperation has been uneven.  The Bolivian government has cooperated closely on interdiction, and operations and seizures have reached record levels.  The government is on track to reach 5,600 hectares of eradication this year, surpassing its goal of 5,000 hectares.

However, these measures have been outstripped by replanting and expansion of cultivation in Bolivia, the world's third-largest producer of coca.  The Government of Bolivia's policy of "zero cocaine, but not zero coca" has focused primarily on interdiction, to the exclusion of its other essential complements, especially coca crop eradication.  We strongly encourage the Government of Bolivia to make its number one priority the reduction and eventual elimination of excess coca crops, a major source of illegal cocaine for the hemisphere, Europe, the United States, and increasingly, for Bolivian citizens.  In the area of drug control policy development, we urge the Government of Bolivia to revamp its national drug control strategy to eliminate permissiveness in licit cultivation, to abolish the so-called "cato" exemption, and to tighten controls on the sale of licit coca.  As a party to the three major United Nations drug conventions, we urge Bolivia to move quickly to adopt and implement a modern anti-money/counterterrorism financing law, and take concrete steps to strengthen and better enforce precursor chemical controls and its asset forfeiture regime.

The United States enjoys close cooperation with Canada across a broad range of law enforcement issues.  We remain concerned that the production of high-potency, indoor-grown marijuana for export to the United States continues to thrive in Canada in part because growers do not consistently face strict legal punishment. The marijuana industry in Canada is becoming increasingly sophisticated, with organized crime groups relying on marijuana sales as the primary source of income and using profits to finance other illegal activities.  The production of synthetic drugs such as MDMA/Ecstasy and methamphetamine, some of which are exported to the United States, appears to be on the rise in Canada.  The Government of Canada has made a serious effort to curb the diversion of precursor chemicals that are required for methamphetamine production to feed domestic and U.S. illegal markets and has worked productively with the United States in joint law enforcement operations that disrupted drug and currency smuggling operations along both sides of the border.

The Government of Ecuador has made considerable progress in combating narcotics trafficking destined for the United States. However, a dramatic increase in the quantity of cocaine transported toward the United States using Ecuadorian-flagged ships remains an area of serious concern.  Effective cooperation and streamlined maritime operational procedures between the U.S. Coast Guard and Ecuadorian Navy are resulting in an increase in the amount of cocaine interdicted.  Building on that cooperation, we will work with Ecuador to change the circumstances that make Ecuadorian-flagged vessels and Ecuadorian citizenship so attractive to drug traffickers.

Guinea-Bissau is becoming a warehouse refuge and transit hub for cocaine traffickers from Latin America transporting cocaine to Western Europe.  Narcotics traffic is becoming yet another hurdle for Guinea-Bissau as it emerges from civil conflict.  International donors and organizations are working to encourage and assist Guinea-Bissau in its efforts to confront organized cocaine trafficking networks that would use the country for warehousing and transshipment.  These efforts are certainly appropriate and should be supported and advanced to deter illegal drug activities in Guinea-Bissau.

India has an exemplary record on controlling its licit opium production and distribution process, despite formidable challenges to its efforts.  The Government of India can be correctly proud of its diligent law enforcement agencies and the introduction of high-tech methods, including "Smart Cards" for each licensed opium farmer.  Recently, Indian enforcement officials identified and destroyed substantial illicit opium poppy cultivation in areas thought to be free of illicit cultivation in the past.  Indian officials will want to investigate the circumstances of this surprisingly large illicit cultivation to identify those behind this disquieting phenomenon and arrest, prosecute, and convict them.

Nigeria has made progress on many narcotics control and anti-money laundering benchmarks. There is reason to be hopeful. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has seized millions in the proceeds of crime, anti-money laundering efforts have been successful, and Nigeria is cooperating with the international community to improve its efforts against money laundering even more. Still necessary are procedural reforms to streamline extradition procedures. For many narcotics criminals no sanction is more effective than the fear they could face ac court and jail time in the countries to which they have trafficked narcotics. Nigeria should also re-double its efforts to use its frequent apprehension of street criminals and couriers to identify and prosecute major drug traffickers.

You are hereby authorized and directed to submit this report under section 706 of the FRAA, transmit it to the Congress, and publish it in the Federal Register

GEORGE W. BUSH


BRIEFING ON RELEASE OF ANNUAL REPORT ON THE MAJOR ILLICIT DRUG PRODUCING COUNTRIES FOR FY 2008
Christy McCampbell , Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

MR. GALLEGOS: Good morning. Today we have Christy McCampbell, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement. She's going to be delivering remarks on the release of the Annual Report on the Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2008.

MS. MCCAMPBELL: Good morning, everyone. It's a pleasure to be here. Again, I'm Christy McCampbell and I'm the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs here at Department of State. I think as all of you know, each time at this part of the year, the President designates what we call the Majors list of illegal drug transit and drug producing countries. I really appreciate the opportunity to talk with you about this this morning. And some of -- and to talk with you a little bit about our international aspects of our efforts to combat illegal drugs.

The Majors list as you know, many nations are overwhelmed by drug related violence, crime and corruption and it truly takes a global effort on all of our parts to try to deal with these problems. Each year, the President is required under the Foreign Relations Act to notify Congress of countries that are considered either illegal transit countries or drug producing countries. And I want to make a very specific point here. Because a country is listed on the Majors list does not necessarily mean that that country supports narcotic trafficking or is lagging in its counter-narcotics efforts. The law stipulates that a major illicit drug producing country is defined as one that either cultivates or harvests at least a thousand hectares or more of coca or opium or also five thousand hectares of cannabis during a single year. Now, a country may be designated as a major drug transit country if it is a significant source of illicit narcotics or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances that affect the United States or also if it's a country through which drugs transit to the United States.

Now, according to the law, the President may also determine that a country has failed demonstrably -- these are the particular words that we used -- failed demonstrably, when it doesn't meet its obligations to counter – to the counter narcotic conventions and the international agreements. So such countries are then subject to sanctions and a country can also be determined to have failed demonstrably, but be given a waiver of these sanctions when there is a vital national interest in continuing assistance.

Now, the countries that are listed for this year's Majors list are the same as they have been for the last two years and real quickly, I'll just read them. I think they're in your press packets there, but let me just read them to you real quickly: Afghanistan, the Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela.

Now, the President determined that during this past year, two countries, Burma and Venezuela, have in fact failed demonstrably to cooperate with the United States and to make substantial efforts to adhere to their obligations under our UN agreements. Venezuela has been given a waiver to possible sanctions under U.S. law. The waiver will allow us to continue to support some of their democratic institutions and their society and to assist in small community development programs for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.

This is the third year that the President has determined that Venezuela has failed demonstrably. And this assessment comes as a result of the Government of Venezuela's insufficient action against drug trafficking. Although Venezuela has indicated that it has developed some new programs to fight increased drug trafficking and they say they are doing some seizures, and it definitely continues to be limited in their -- in what they're doing at their ports of entry and exit along -- and along their border of Colombia. Venezuela, no doubt, is a growing transshipment point for drugs bound for the U.S. as well as the European nations, and a situation that has both enabled and exploited by corrupt officials and created a weak judicial system and allows for organized crime.

In addition, Venezuela has not renewed formal counternarcotics cooperation agreements, what we call our LOA, our letters of agreement, with the United States including the signing of this letter of agreement that would make funds available for cooperative programs to fight the flow of drugs to the U.S.

Burma; it has also failed demonstrably. Burma is the largest source of methamphetamine pills in Asia and pill production continues to grow. The country's declining poppy cultivation has been matched by a sharp increase in methamphetamine production. Burma's military regime has not made the necessary efforts to curb production and has also been very lackluster in the areas of demand reduction that we think are important, interdiction that's very important and combating corruption.

Also, the President has identified certain countries where exceptional factors are at play including Afghanistan, Bolivia, Ecuador, India, and Nigeria. Canada and Guinea-Bissau, although not on the Majors list, were also identified for comment in the presidential determination. Now Canada has definitely made strides in curbing their precursor chemicals. However, there are still concerns about their frequent hydroponic homegrown marijuana that ends up in the U.S. Guinea-Bissau has also become a transit hub and a warehouse for cocaine traffickers from Latin America.

Now the Administration is aware of the difficult situation facing President Karzai in Afghanistan and he commends his government for establishing an overall counternarcotics strategy and seeking foreign donor assistance. President Karzai has strongly attacked the narcotrafficking as one of the greatest threats to Afghanistan. Opium accounts for one-third of their economy, according to UN statistics. This contributes, of course, to the widespread public corruption, to the damages of economic growth -- illicit economic growth, and it definitely strengthens the insurgency problems there. Additionally, according to recent figures from the United Nations, poppy cultivation has increased, there's no doubt, by 17 percent this year. The increase was almost exclusively, however, in some of the southern provinces that border Pakistan.

However, there is one model of success that can be drawn by comparing the marked difference in cultivation between the northern and southern provinces. Thirteen of the northern provinces are now poppy-free. That's seven more than last year that were poppy-free. In the north, sufficient security has allowed for alternative development programs to take effect and it's helped the farmers to improve their economic livelihood.

President Bush looks to the Government of Afghanistan to take further steps to combat poppy cultivation and corruption. Despite the significant gains the country has made since 2001, the country does continue to face tremendous challenges. Not addressing these challenges now could undermine security, compromise democratic legitimacy, and imperil international support for vital assistance to that country.

Now, I just want to speak a little bit on Bolivia. I'll take some questions at the end, so keep that in mind. In Bolivia, the Bolivian counternarcotics cooperation has been what we consider uneven. The government's policy of zero cocaine but not zero coca, which -- that is a direct quote. It has focused on interdiction there. The Bolivian Government has cooperated with us on some interdiction and some operations and seizures have reached fairly high levels, at least record levels recently.

The government appears to be on track to reach their cultivation -- or to reach the 5600 hectares of eradication this year. Nonetheless, coca cultivation has increased. We know that and Bolivia remains the third-largest coca producer in the world. The U.S. strongly encourages Bolivia to make reductions and eventual elimination of the excess coca crops and make that their number-one priority is what we ask of them. We also urge Bolivia to revamp its natural -- national drug control strategy and it's important that Bolivia adopt and implement a modern anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing law, take concrete steps to strengthen and better enforce precursor chemical controls, and they need to enhance asset forfeiture programs in their country.

Ecuador continues to be an important partner in combating narcotics trafficking destined for the U.S. However, we see a dramatic increase in the quantity of cocaine transported towards the U.S. using Ecuadorian-flagged ships and that remains a very serious concern to the U.S. Effective cooperation between the U.S. Coast Guard and Ecuadorian navy; we need to streamline maritime operational procedures that have resulted in an increase in the amount of cocaine interdicted.

Another country I just want to comment on is India. It produces significant amounts of opium poppy for legitimate pharmaceutical purposes. Although it maintains tight controls on the industry to deter the diversion of the legal narcotics and raw materials to illegal markets, the potential diversion of this crop for illicit purposes is a continuing concern to the United States. Recently, Indian law enforcement officials discovered and destroyed very large fields of poppy grown in areas where before, we thought there was no illicit cultivation. We encourage very much the Indian officials to investigate this matter and to prosecute those behind this surprisingly large and disquieting find.

As in the past, we have been concerned about coca in Nigeria, about official corruption there, although the country has taken steps to combat this corrosive problem. We encourage, very much, Nigeria to make more progress in the areas of extraditions and prosecutions of major drug traffickers.

Lastly, I just want to say that we understand very well that illegal drugs and transnational organized crime are a global threat to all of us across the world. We all have to work together to deal with these issues combining eradication and interdiction, alternative development, criminal justice modernization, anticorruption and demand reduction programs is essential for all of us to deal with this major problem of drugs across the nations. It will -- certainly, if we could ever get this completely under control, it will help in our political, economic, and social wellbeing to all of our countries. So with that, I'm -- I will certainly take some questions. Yes. Can you state where you're from?

QUESTION: Yes, sure. Elise Labott with CNN. I have two questions. You threw out a bunch of countries where there are extenuating circumstances. I understand Afghanistan being one of them, but a few of the other ones are close U.S. allies and in some cases, this is what Plan Colombia has been going on for many years. Why are there extenuating circumstances in these countries beyond the fact that they're U.S. allies?

And also, on the issue of Bolivia and the coca, last year at the UN, President Morales made quite clear that the Bolivians see coca as -- you know, a non-narcotic crop that they can use. And does the U.S. feel that -- is there any legitimacy to this? I mean, in this country, we use a lot of hemp which can also be used for marijuana -- as a crop.

MS. MCCAMPBELL: Okay. Well, first of all, let me go back to your questions about -- you mentioned Plan Colombia. Plan Colombia has absolutely been a success and a lot of that is because of the assistance that the United States has put in there. Now they are on the -- what we're -- Colombia is going on a downhill -- gradually moving downhill to take over all the eradication and the counternarcotics activities themselves. We call it nationalization. They have done a great job down there and because of Plan Colombia, they have amazing statistics. Their kidnappings are down by 76 percent. Their homicides are down by over 40 percent. There has been a great success rate there.

So when you talk about extenuating circumstances, they still are growing cocaine -- or coca. They still are producing cocaine. But in the overall picture, over the last years that we have helped them and worked with them as partners on Plan Colombia, it has been nothing but a success. So that's what I would say to you on Plan Colombia.

On Bolivia, as we said, it's definitely uneven there. They view -- under President Morales, they consider the coca something that they should be -- they can build their economy and build an industry on. Our belief is that if we could eradicate all coca, we could eradicate all cocaine, because it is the basic ingredient for cocaine. Bolivia does use coca for some traditional purposes. They make tea there, they do -- their culture calls for chilling the coca leaves. And so we acknowledge that and that's why we don't try to push the fact that they should eradicate all coca. We understand that they do have some use for it. We don't have use for that in this country, but we continue to work with that government to try to reach some kind of understanding so that their coca that turns into cocaine doesn't end up either here or in Europe.

QUESTION: Well -- but just to follow, I mean -- in addition to Plan Colombia, I mean, your whole Andean Regional Initiative, which was launched several years ago -- why are these countries still the major drug transit or producing nations? I mean, I understand that you say that there's been some success, but how can you claim it's a success when out of all the countries in the world, these are still the most major producing and transiting countries?

MS. MCCAMPBELL: Well, my answer to that is they are a success because they are absolutely working with the United States. Those governments are trying their best to keep the coca and the cocaine out of our country, and that's what we're striving for. And I have to tell you, I've personally been down to Colombia, as many of my staff has, and we've worked with them through UN agreements and just meeting with the Colombians. And I can tell you they are truly appreciative of the United States efforts. And when I hear -- when I can go down to that country and not be concerned about being kidnapped by narcotraffickers or I know that there's safety on the streets or there are alternative development crops there, we can certainly call that a success.

I had the opportunity to go out into the jungles where there are alternative development. They're growing pineapples. They're growing hearts of palm. And the pride that we see in the farmers that are out in those countries is amazing, and they really feel that they are working. We also see the eradicators that are of Colombian nationality in those countries working, and many know that they are trying to keep cocaine off the streets. Yes.

QUESTION: Yes, Maria with EFE News Services. You know, back a few weeks ago at the summit in Quebec, a lot of was made of the increased cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico in fighting drugs, and they kept saying that they're not yet ready to announce the details of a so-called Plan Mexico which would be somewhat similar to Plan Colombia without the presence of U.S. military personnel in that country.

Can you give us any headway as to where those talks are at this point?

MS. MCCAMPBELL: Well, the only thing I can tell you on that right now is that both the governments are working very hard and rapidly to come up with the equation where we will be working as partners together. Certainly, President Uribe has -- I'm sorry, I'm sorry, President Calderon has done an excellent job with his narcotrafficking, what he's doing in that country right now. I mean, he's put his military troops out. They have made some huge arrests there. They have made some great seizures. And we consider Mexico a partner and we don't have exact figures yet. We've sent teams down there to meet with Mexican officials and we will -- that will be announced sometime in the near future. I don't have the announcement here today. Yes.

QUESTION: Anything in the report about the Middle East? How's the cooperation between the United States and Middle Eastern states?

MS. MCCAMPBELL: Well, the Middle Eastern states -- I assume that you're talking about our drug eradication in Afghanistan. And Afghanistan, you know, we just rolled out the strategy --

QUESTION: You've already talked about Afghanistan, but the other states like the Gulf states or other Arab states.

MS. MCCAMPBELL: Well, our -- I think I would have to answer you on that is our major focus on drug eradication, of course, is in Afghanistan and partially Pakistan, but mostly Afghanistan is where our funds are going and where our efforts are, because that's where the most -- that is the country or the state that grows the poppy for opium. Yes.

QUESTION: Yes. Well, Richard Finney with Radio Free Asia. Is Laos mainly a producing or a transit country, and how would you rate the Lao Government's efforts to stamp out whatever problems they have?

MS. MCCAMPBELL: Well, the U.S.-Lao cooperation in counternarcotics efforts has been very good. We consider it excellent cooperation. Opium production there has been dramatically reduced and it's to a fraction of what it used to be. The reduction is the result, we consider, of U.S.-funded crop control programs there. They've been very good with us on that. Complementary assistance from the UN -- UNODCP -- or UNODC, the UN Office of Drug Control. That's their contributions and other donors. It's all worked well with the Laotians and we consider it excellent. So we continue to work with them, but it is -- definitely it's a transit country and they do some producing there, too.

QUESTION: Enough so that they're still on the Majors list?

MS. MCCAMPBELL: Yes.

QUESTION: What --

MS. MCCAMPBELL: And as we said, there's at least a thousand hectares in order -- they have to produce at least a thousand hectares in order -- that it has some significant effect to the U.S..

QUESTION: And the Laotian drug producers are producing that much in the country?

MS. MCCAMPBELL: Yes. And we're also concerned with Laos about the methamphetamine trafficking, and abuse there is also a problem that we're quite concerned about.

QUESTION: But that's a transit problem.

MS. MCCAMPBELL: Yes. So we consider it both there in that country. Yes.

QUESTION: Paul Eckert of Reuters. India -- did India get on the list of Majors because of it's licit or because of the discovery of the other fields you mentioned?

MS. MCCAMPBELL: No. The reason that India is on the Majors list is they do have a large problem of diversion of chemicals there and of opium production. Because of the diversion from their licit opium that they do grow, it's finding its way to the illicit market, and as much as 30 percent of their opium is being diverted that we believe. And so that is why that would be considered -- I guess you could consider that both a transit and a producing country because of the opium that is going into the diverted markets.

QUESTION: And if I might follow up. North Korea is not on the list, is it, because they fall below the amount or --

MS. MCCAMPBELL: Yes. It's not affecting -- North Korea is not affecting the United States as much as the requirements on the list. Yes.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) with Agence France Presse. Can you elaborate a little bit on the situation of Peru?

MS. MCCAMPBELL: Of Peru? Sure. Peru -- we consider Peru to be a very cooperating country. We put a lot of assistance in that country. They are the second largest producing country of the coca. They are a key partner in our counternarcotics efforts and cooperation, and President Garcia has publicly taken a very strong stance against the illicit coca production and he favors increased efforts to interdict precursor chemicals in that country as well. The government there, they've made significant progress in their police presence out in the drug-growing zones and in 2007 they've addressed maritime smuggling as well. So we are working as partners and, I mean, there's always more that can be done, but we consider them very much a cooperating country but they still are producing. Yes.

QUESTION: Jose Diaz with Reforma newspaper from Mexico.

MS. MCCAMPBELL: Yes.

QUESTION: One of the classic answers of the Mexican Government when coming with -- when asked about this question of being transit country of drugs is that the U.S. is also a transit country of drugs considering that many precursor chemical shipments stop by Long Beach in its way down to Mexico. Is the U.S. ready to take any action specifically on (inaudible) what to -- how to prevent shipments stopping in Long Beach down to Mexico, coming from Asia?

MS. MCCAMPBELL: Well, I will tell you this. The Combat Meth Act, which addresses the issues of precursor chemicals, is something that we have worked on very closely with Mexico. We certainly are trying our best to watch the shipments, and because of the Combat Meth Act we've identified who the five top countries are that export precursor chemicals and the top five countries who import those chemicals. And we're working on this year -- those countries have been named, and we're working together very closely with Mexico to try to work as partners in the flow of these chemicals.

And the problem is many of these precursor chemicals are used for legitimate use, so you don't want to just stop all transit of these chemicals because they're certainly used in -- you know, particularly in cold medicines and various cleaning chemicals and things like that. So we can't totally stop it; we just need to control it. And Mexico has certainly come out with some statements of strong support in this effort both the U.S. and Mexico wants to conduct.

MR. GALLEGOS: One last question.

QUESTION: Regarding Bolivia, you mentioned -- you had some positive assessment for them, but they did say even -- the Administration said even a year ago that they need to eradicate this crop. And currently -- the current report says they're just on track to eradicate. It's been a whole year. Why do you accept the delay on that?

MS. MCCAMPBELL: Well, they are meeting the minimal standards of cooperation, but they are -- they are working on it. They -- we think that they'll probably have managed to eradicate 5,600 hectares this year. That's less than what they've done in the past. But they are doing something. They are working. And we are working with their government on it. It's a new government. It's fairly new. And we definitely look to them for interdiction. They've gone way up in their stats on seizures and going out in the jungles. They're working very hard with their national police, their counter police, in taking down drug labs. So they're taking down labs, they're doing interdictions. Their coca eradication -- it needs work, but it is not -- it's not that they're not doing anything.

QUESTION: One more? I'm Dave Gollust from Voice of America. We have a rather difficult political relationship with Venezuela and the report says that they are not cooperating with us, not responding to requests. To what extent is their noncooperation on narcotics a factor of this rather odious relationship that we have with them?

MS. MCCAMPBELL: Well, first of all, we have tried very hard to work with them to draft up a letter of agreement so that we can, you know, continue our narcotic or our drug eradications with them. And they just can't seem to come to an agreement with signing a letter of agreement. They just won't do it.

And so that's part of the problem. I mean, DEA still does work there. We still do work with the police there and do eradication efforts. One of our greatest concerns, though, is the corruption there that -- with narcotrafficking and it is such a transit country. It's just becoming a real hub for drugs moving on through that country. A lot of it's going to Europe. It's not necessarily all coming to the United States, but we need to -- we need to come to an agreement with them.

QUESTION: Do you think this is an advertent or inadvertent phenomenon there? I mean, is the government, do you think, sort of, well, the United States gets all bent out of shape about drugs so we'll just let this -- let this go on? Is that a factor there?

MS. MCCAMPBELL: There is no doubt that the drug trafficking is going on through that country and a government that does not care about that is certainly not a cooperating government. And as I said, they do do some efforts and we have an embassy there and it's not like we're not in the country. There are some efforts to do things there. And as long as we can keep some sort of dialogue going on, I think it benefits every country in -- every country across the world and it benefits the United States as well to try to continue talks. You can't -- you don't want to just shut out any kind of attempts at diplomatic relations.

MR. GALLEGOS: Thank you.


SOURCES:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/09/20070917-1.html
http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/rm/92148.htm

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