BIOTECHNOLOGY AND CHEMICALS
Argentina Will Sue Monsanto in Spain Over GMO Soy
Planet Ark , 18 May 2006
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Argentina will sue US biotech giant Monsanto
Co. in Spain and possibly France for the company's detention of
Argentine soy shipments in Europe, stemming from a conflict over
biotech soy royalties, an Argentine official said on Wednesday.
More:
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36424/story.htm

CLIMATE CHANGE
Uncertainty Threatens China Kyoto Funds - Investor
Planet Ark , 19 May 2006
BEIJING - Frequent changes to rules governing green energy projects
funded under the Kyoto Protocol in China are creating a climate of
uncertainty that could deter foreign funds, a European investor warned
on Thursday.
More:
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36443/story.htm

La couche d'ozone en voie de guérison ?
La Presse (Canada) , 19 May 2006
Stabilisée depuis quelques années, l'enveloppe protectrice de la
Terre, la fameuse couche d'ozone, montre des signes de guérison. Cette
rare bonne nouvelle environnementale serait directement attribuable à
la mobilisation de la communauté internationale qui a signé, en 1987,
le protocole de Montréal.
More:
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20060518/CPACTUALITES/605180882/514...

Ottawa coïncé par Québec et les écologistes
La Grande Époque (Montreal, Canada) , 18 May 2006
Une coalition internationale d'écologistes s'oppose fermement à la
position du gouvernement minoritaire de Stephen Harper face au
protocole de Kyoto qui prône le retrait et un plan typiquement
canadien de réduction des gaz à effet de serre.
More: http://french.epochtimes.com/news/6-5-18/4272.html

Climate Expert to Lead Talks on Extending Kyoto Deal
Planet Ark , 18 May 2006
BONN, Germany - A UN conference picked a veteran Maltese climate expert
on Wednesday to lead talks about how to overcome deep policy splits on
global warming and extend the UN's Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012.
More:
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36418/story.htm

Transport a Black Spot for Global Warming - UN
Planet Ark , 18 May 2006
BONN - Transport is the worst offender for releasing greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere and governments must do more to cut emissions from
cars and trucks, the UN's climate change chief said on Wednesday.
More:
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36417/story.htm

Climate change hits Africa's Mountains of the Moon
SciDev.net , 18 May 2006
[KAMPALA] Glaciers in a fabled African mountain range are disappearing
because of climate change, say Ugandan and UK scientists who conducted
the first survey of the ice fields for ten years.
More:
http://www.scidev.net/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=readnews&itemid=2849&...

COMMUNICATION, EDUCATION AND PUBLIC AWARENESS
Science communicators 'must promote public debate'
SciDev.net , 18 May 2006
[SEOUL] Science communicators should encourage public debates about
science and technology, rather than simply tell people about the
subject, a conference has heard
More:
http://www.scidev.net/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=readnews&itemid=2848&...

ENDANGERED SPECIES
Rare Woodpecker Elusive as Search Season Ends
Planet Ark , 19 May 2006
WASHINGTON - The search for the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker in the
swamps of Arkansas has ended for the season with no confirmed sighting,
wildlife experts said on Thursday, but they plan to start looking again
in late autumn.
More:
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36456/story.htm

India Eyes Chinese Help to Protect Tigers
Reuters , 19 May 2006
MUMBAI - Chinese help is critical to protect India's tiger population
and Beijing needs to curb the market for big cat skins and body parts,
a leading Indian conservation official said on Wednesday.
More: http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=10480

La Fundación Biodiversidad y la SEO se unen para proteger el águila
imperial ibérica
El Mundo , 19 May 2006
MADRID.- La ministra de Medio Ambiente, Cristina Narbona, ha presidido
la firma del convenio suscrito entre la Fundación Biodiversidad y la
Sociedad Española de Ornitología (SEO/BirdLife) para contribuir a la
conservación del águila imperial ibérica. El proyecto implica la
mejora del hábitat de estas aves, con la participación de los
diversos sectores implicados, y especialmente los propietarios de
fincas.
More: http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2006/05/18/ciencia/1147961517.html

Deep-sea fish stocks 'plundered'
BBC News , 19 May 2006
Fish stocks in international waters are being plundered to the point of
extinction, a leading conservationist group has said.
More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4996268.stm

GENERAL
Green Goal for 2006 FIFA World Cup
UNEP News Centre , 18 May 2006
Frankfurt/Nairobi, 17 May 2006 - As global excitement over the 2006
FIFA World Cup reaches fever pitch, members of the Green Goal team met
today in Germany to review the projects of the most
environmentally-friendly football tournament ever.
More:
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=477...

GLOBAL TAXONOMY INITIATIVE
Découverte d'une nouvelle espèce de primate dans le nord-est du
Brésil
Le Monde , 18 May 2006
Une nouvelle espèce de primate au pelage doré a été découverte
dans le Pernambouc, au nord-est du Brésil, dans une zone de Forêt
Atlantique, une végétation de la côte brésilienne dont il ne reste
aujourd'hui que 28.000 km2.
More:
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/depeches/0,14-0,39-27336110@7-347,0.html

HUMAN HEALTH
Le programme d'éradication de la poliomyélite critiqué
Le Figaro , 18 May 2006
Trop long, trop coûteux, inadapté aux réalités du monde actuel, le
programme de l'OMS serait voué à l'échec. Mais il n'y a pas
d'alternative.
More:
http://www.lefigaro.fr/sciences/20060516.FIG000000114_le_programme_d_...

INLAND WATERS BIODIVERSITY
China Struggles to Stop its Largest Lake Shrinking
Planet Ark , 19 May 2006
ERLANGJIAN, China - A decade ago, Longben Cairao would have been in
deep water. Today he stands on firm ground on Erlangjian, a sandspit
named after a mythical sword in a classical Chinese tale that curves
about 4 km (2.5 miles) out into Lake Qinghai, China's largest expanse
of inland water.
More:
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36451/story.htm

China's controversial Three Gorges Dam nears finish
Reuters , 18 May 2006
YICHANG, China (Reuters) - China's Three Gorges dam draws a step nearer
to completion with the pouring of the last concrete on Saturday, but
debate rages over the environmental and social consequences of the
world's largest hydropower project.
More:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&story...

INTERNATIONAL BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY DAY
GreenFacts releases a popularised version of the Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment for International Biological Diversity Day
GreenFacts , 19 May 2006
The summary was produced in partnership with IUCN (the World
Conservation Union), Countdown 2010 and UNEP World Conservation
Monitoring Centre.
More: http://www.greenfacts.org/biodiversity/

International Day for Biological Diversity to be celebrated around the
world.
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity , 18 May 2006
19 May 2006 - Countries have planned a variety of celebrations for 22
May 2006, to mark the International Day for Biological Diversity and
it's theme: Protect Biodiversity in Drylands. Photo exhibitions, tours
of nature sites and other activities take place...
More:
http://www.biodiv.org/programmes/outreach/awareness/biodiv-day-2006-c...

MARINE AND COASTAL BIODIVERSITY
Governments Have Failed to Stop Overfishing - Study
Planet Ark , 19 May 2006
GENEVA - Governments worldwide have failed to prevent overfishing in
the oceans, where a proliferation of bottom-trawling threatens to wipe
out deep sea species, conservation groups WWF and Traffic said on
Friday.
More:
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36437/story.htm

PROTECTED AREAS / IN-SITU CONSERVATION
China's Far West to Ban Movie Shoots in Scenic Spots
Planet Ark , 19 May 2006
BEIJING - China's remote far western region of Xinjiang, where part of
Oscar-winning "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was filmed, is to ban
movie shoots at scenic spots for fear of damage to the environment,
state media said on Thursday.
More:
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36450/story.htm

RESEARCH AND TRAINING
Last chromosome in human genome sequenced
Reuters , 18 May 2006
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have reached a landmark point in one of
the world's most important scientific projects by sequencing the last
chromosome in the Human Genome, the so-called "book of life".
More:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&story...

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Kofi Annan aux prises avec les énergies renouvelables
La Grande Époque (Montreal, Canada) , 18 May 2006
Le secrétaire général des Nations Unies, Kofi Annan, demande « la
révolution » au niveau des économies d'énergies en accentuant les
recherches et l'exploitation des sources renouvelables d'énergie.
More: http://french.epochtimes.com/news/6-5-16/4256.html

Colombia Steps up Sales of Eco-Friendly Coffee
Planet Ark , 18 May 2006
NEW YORK - The head of Colombia's largest coffee growers' group vowed
Wednesday to make sure that 10 percent of its total coffee output will
be certified by social and environmental programs by 2007.
More:
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36426/story.htm

UNITED NATIONS
U.N. envoy in Myanmar to push rights, democracy
Reuters , 18 May 2006
YANGON, May 18 (Reuters) - A top U.N. envoy began a rare visit to
Myanmar on Thursday to press the military regime to improve human
rights and move faster to restore democracy.
More: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BKK3536.htm

UN labour agency set to endorse new code to enhance safety in coal
mines
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
18 May 2006 - With underground coal mining posing one of the highest
workplace risk activities in the world, as shown by a recent spate of
accidents from China to the United States, the United Nations labour
agency is set to endorse a new code of practice to improve the safety
and health of miners.
More: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18527&Cr=ILO&Cr1=

Europe is getting too fat and needs to eat more fruit and vegetables,
UN warns
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
18 May 2006 - With obesity posing one of the greatest public health
challenges of the 21st century, United Nations agencies warned today
that Europeans are in some ways eating worse now than 45 years ago,
although agriculture and the right farm policies can promote healthy
diets, such as eating more fruit and vegetables.
More: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18525&Cr=FAO&Cr1=

UN-chaired council on Georgia-Abkhaz conflict meets for first time
since 2001
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
18 May 2006 - The Coordinating Council of the Georgian Government and
Abkhaz separatist met this week for the first time in five years, with
the top United Nations envoy in the country calling on both sides to
use all existing mechanisms to resolve the conflict that flared into
open warfare 12 years ago and forced nearly 300,000 refugees to flee
their homes.
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18526&Cr=Georgia&Cr1=

UN's agricultural and educational agencies spotlight rural Caribbean
poverty
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
18 May 2006 - With rural poverty high and the level of rural education
low in Caribbean countries, the United Nations agricultural and
educational agencies today opened a two-day regional meeting in St.
Lucia on nutrition, education and HIV/AIDS.
More: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18529&Cr=MDG&Cr1=

Mary Fisher named UNAIDS Special Representative
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
18 May 2006 - Mary Davis Fisher, a prominent US-based writer, artist
and motivational speaker who travels around the world advocating for
those who share her HIV-positive status, has been appointed as Special
Representative for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
(UNAIDS).
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18528&Cr=HIV/AIDS&Cr1=

Angola: UN health agency sends in more international experts as cholera
toll rises
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
18 May 2006 - As Angola's worst cholera outbreak in almost two decades
continues to rage on with 546 new cases and 31 deaths reported in the
last 24 hours alone, the United Nations has sent six international
experts to reinforce the national team in coordination, water and
sanitation, logistics and epidemiological surveillance.
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18524&Cr=Cholera&Cr1=

UNESCO condemns attack on Christian radio station in Kenya
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
18 May 2006 - In its latest defence of freedom of expression and the
media, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) today condemned last week's attack on a Christian
radio station in Nairobi, Kenya, that left one person dead and two
others injured.
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18523&Cr=journalist&Cr1=...

Annan names coordinator to prepare UN in case of human outbreak of bird
flu
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
18 May 2006 - Aiming to shore up contingency plans for the operation of
United Nations offices in New York in case of an international outbreak
of bird flu among humans, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today named
Imelda Henkin of the Netherlands as the world body's new Pandemic
Influenza Preparedness Coordinator.
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18530&Cr=bird&Cr1=flu

UN workshop in Thailand helps prepare for conference on illegal gun
trafficking
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
18 May 2006 - Aiming to prepare for an upcoming United Nations
conference on illegal gun trafficking worldwide, some 70 participants
from governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across South
and Southeast Asia have gathered in Thailand for a two-day workshop on
specific aspects of the problem.
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18532&Cr=small&Cr1=arms

UN health agency provides safe water and disaster training in flooded
Suriname
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
18 May 2006 - The regional arm of the United Nations World Health
Organization (WHO) is helping the authorities in Suriname reduce the
health risks associated with the torrential rainfall and flooding this
month that have displaced up to 20,000 people and left large areas of
the country under water.
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18531&Cr=Suriname&Cr1=

World must deal now with dangers of nuclear proliferation, Annan warns
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
18 May 2006 - The world seems to be "sleepwalking" down a path in which
more and more States feel obliged to obtain nuclear weapons even as
militant groups seek the means to carry out nuclear terrorism, United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned today.
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18533&Cr=nuclear&Cr1=

DR of Congo: UN trains army officers on humanitarian principles
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
17 May 2006 - The United Nations today announced that it has completed
training 45 officers of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of
Congo (FARDC) in the eastern town of Bunia, Ituri Province, on
humanitarian principles and the protection of civilians.
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18522&Cr=democratic&Cr1=...

UNESCO chief hails first test of new tsunami warning system
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
17 May 2006 - Hailing the success of a new region-wide Tsunami warning
system in the Pacific Ocean, the head of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today
congratulated the nations that took part in the coordinated effort.
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18519&Cr=tsunami&Cr1=

Eritrea releases 1 local UN staff member of 11 held, UN mission says
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
17 May 2006 - The United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea
(UNMEE) monitoring the disputed border said today that one of the
Eritrean employees detained by the Eritrean authorities without
explanation for more than a week has been released without comment.
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18517&Cr=ethiopia&Cr1=er...

Global security demands human solidarity, not nuclear deterrence - UN
atomic chief
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
17 May 2006 - Noting that many of the world's ills could be eliminated
for less than a third of the global annual expenditure on armaments,
the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency has dismissed
the current global approach to security as dysfunctional and called for
a new emphasis on universal freedoms to eliminate extremism and
terrorism.
More: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18513&Cr=IAEA&Cr1=

UN agencies amass more goals ahead of soccer World Cup
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
17 May 2006 - It's a tale of two goals - soccer goals on the field and
United Nations social and humanitarian goals around the world, and how
the two can meet.
More: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18515&Cr=soccer&Cr1=

UN official spotlights success of Bangladesh centre treating childbirth
injuries
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
17 May 2006 - The Executive Director of the United Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA) was moved to tears today at a Bangladesh hospital as girls
as young as 15 spoke of their abandonment and infertility due to the
childbirth injury, obstetric fistula, resulting from prolonged,
obstructed and medically unattended labour.
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18520&Cr=fistula&Cr1=

UNESCO gives President Wade of Senegal the 2005 Houphouët-Boigny Peace
prize
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
17 May 2006 - With eight national presidents in attendance, Senegalese
President Abdoulaye Wade, co- founder of the New Partnership for
Africa's Development (NEPAD), today received the 2005 Houphouët-Boigny
Peace Prize from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura
and the jury president, former U.S. Secretary of State and Nobel peace
laureate Henry Kissinger.
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18518&Cr=senegal&Cr1=

UN agencies finish rebuilding over a dozen schools in Liberia
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
17 May 2006 - Two United Nations agencies today announced that they
have completed the rehabilitation and refurbishment of 13 government
schools in four Liberian counties.
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18521&Cr=liberia&Cr1=

Do sports, not drugs: new UN-backed anti-narcotics programme targets
youth
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
17 May 2006 - A United Nations-backed programme to use sport to prevent
drug use and criminal behaviour among young people was officially
launched today with both officials and sports stars stressing the
importance of a healthy, drug-free lifestyle.
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18511&Cr=drug&Cr1=abuse

Secretary-General calls for global security in cyberspace
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
17 May 2006 - From on-line banking to the benefits of telemedicine,
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on the world
community to enhance global security in cyberspace so as to realize the
full potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) and
accelerate the pace of development.
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18512&Cr=Internet&Cr1=

Security Council calls on Syria to take steps against arms movements
into Lebanon
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
17 May 2006 - The United Nations Security Council today called on Syria
to take measures against movements of arms into Lebanon, "strongly
encouraged" it to respond positively to Lebanese requests to delineate
their common border and establish full diplomatic relations, and called
for the disbandment of all militias inside Lebanon.
More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18514&Cr=middle&Cr1=leban

Annan discusses DPR Korea's nuclear programme with Japanese Prime
Minister
UN News Centre , 18 May 2006
17 May 2006 - On the third leg of a six-country tour, Secretary-General
Kofi Annan met in Tokyo today with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi, discussing issues ranging from United Nations reform to the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) nuclear weapons
programme.
More: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18516&Cr=japan&Cr1=

(Source: CBD News)