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Iran would get trade and technology benefits if it halts enrichment work for a period possibly lasting years under the offer from the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- the U.N. Security Council permanent members -- and Germany.

The freeze would be required to establish trust that Iran wants nuclear energy only for electricity, as it insists, not arms as the West suspects. The offer leaves open the possibility of subsequent enrichment in Iran under strict monitoring.

Ahmadinejad condemned the proposal as it was being drafted as tantamount to Iran accepting "candies for gold" but said during a visit to China the offer was a "step forward."

"My colleagues are carefully considering the package of proposals offered by the six countries to the Islamic Republic of Iran and in due time they will give the response," he told a news conference in Shanghai through a translator.

In Washington, U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman told reporters that Ahmadinejad's comments were "encouraging."

Oil prices slid toward $69 a barrel on the Iranian president's comments as fears of a supply squeeze eased. Iran is the world's fourth biggest oil exporter.

NO TIMELINE FOR RESPONSE

European Union leaders, at a summit in Brussels, urged Iran to give "an early positive response" to the package.

But Ahmadinejad deflected queries about when Iran would respond and what its counter offers might be.

n Iran, final decisions on key matters of state rest with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, not the president. Khamenei said on Thursday that nuclear fuel development "is among (our) prominent and main objectives."

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi repeated that Iran would like to negotiate but not under the six powers' precondition that uranium enrichment stops first.

Western officials fear Iran may stall a decision past an unofficial July deadline to buy time to perfect enrichment technology and expand the program to make it a fait accompli.

In Washington, U.S. national security adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters that EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana did not threaten penalties when he presented the package to Tehran.

"The goal here is to try and show to the Iranians an affirmative path, if they will suspend and return to the negotiations," he said. "But I think it's also very clear that there is another path if they refuse to do so, and that is a path that will involve consequences for the government."

(Additional reporting by Lucy Hornby in Shanghai, Vivi Lin in Beijing, Mark Heinrich in Vienna, Maria Golovnina in Almaty and Carol Giacomo in Washington)

The first sign of the new balance on the IWC was expected to be revealed at a vote later Friday on the agenda for the five-day meeting.

Environmentalists were cheered by a rumor that swept the luxury hotel hosting the conference Friday that one nation likely to side with Japan, the Marshall Islands, had decided at an 11th-hour cabinet meeting not to attend.

In another blow for the pro-whaling bloc, it emerged late Thursday that Guatemala, thought to be another potential Japanese ally, was also likely to miss the talks.

Japan hoped to take a grip on the IWC at last year's meeting in South Korea, but several states expected to vote with the pro-whaling bloc did not appear or pay their annual dues, so they could not vote.

The moratorium itself is not under immediate threat -- it needs a 75 percent majority in the IWC to be overturned -- but whaling opponents fear its days could eventually be numbered.

Green campaigners accuse Japan of bribing small, developing states like Cambodia or Mongolia, which have little interest in whaling, to join the commission with foreign aid.

They fear a majority for pro-whaling states would allow Japan to start to chip away at the commercial whaling ban, throw environmental groups out of the meeting and introduce secret balloting.

Conservationists also fear a majority could allow pro-whaling nations to crush whale conservation efforts, revoke observer status for groups like Greenpeace which disrupt whales hunts and stifle transparency on the IWC.

"It would be a great reverse, no doubt about it," said John Frizell, a Greenpeace activist who has been a fixture of IWC events since the 1970s.

But there were signs that the last-minute diplomatic efforts by anti-whaling states and a publicity blitz by the environmental movement may be paying off.

Some activists lashed out at Japan, which they accuse of using foreign aid to bribe poverty-stricken Pacific and Caribbean nations to back its bid to turn the IWC back into a whalers' club.

"What they will look to do is take the IWC back to 1946," said Susan Lieberman, a senior WWF official, referring to the date when the body was set up to stop unchecked hunting which threatened whales with extinction.

"The world has moved on from 1946; we don't want to go back to 1946," she said.

Japan argues the moratorium has been so successful that whaling of certain species can now be carried out without harming whale stocks.

It conducts "scientific whaling," which is permitted by the IWC. In all, pro-whaling states take around 2,000 whales a year.

Tokyo denies claims that it bribes small states with aid, pointing out that it also supports nations which oppose whaling, such as India and Argentina.
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Energy-saving attire

Japanese men urged to cast off stifling business suits in summer Uncool clothing

The Japanese are being urged to loosen up and forget their formal dress code as part of the fight against global warming.

Jackets and ties, essential items in the Japanese businessman's wardrobe since they were adopted from western countries after the World War I, should not always be worn in warmer weather, say officials.

And if the occasion does require some formality, Japan's ministry of environment suggests that citizens should wear lighter ties and cooler jackets so that less energy is used for air-conditioning.

The ministry invited foreign ambassadors and their spouses to take part in a fashion show featuring energy-saving formal clothing and national attire.

Suvidhya Simasakul, the Thai ambassador, sported a smart open-neck shirt made of Thai silk, while his wife showed off her formal traditional dress, also made from Thai silk.

Other honorary models, joining the Cool Asia campaign to help combat global warming, included ambassadors of Cambodia, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and South Korea.

The Japanese government has also launched a campaign encouraging citizens to set their air con at 28C during summer.

 "It might be hard to ask people to change their dress and lifestyle, but it is the easiest way for everyone to join the campaign," said Toshiro Kojima, the minister for global environmental affairs.

He said people had long believed it was impolite not to wear a tie and jacket when they call on their clients, businesses or government agencies.

Even in summer, when temperatures rise above 30C, most Japanese males still have thick ties and jackets on. The big challenge is to change their attitudes.

In Japan, air-conditioning accounts for a major share of household and office energy consumption.

Household statistics for 2004 show that the proportion of electricity consumption of air conditioners was 24.4 per cent, 16.5 per cent belonged to refrigerators and lighting consumed 9.6 per cent.

Koike Yuriko, the environmental minister, said the campaign was well accepted by the majority of companies and citizens.

It helped reduce carbon emission by 460,000 tonnes last year by significantly cutting electricity consumption during the four summer months.

The ministry has asked for help from leading clothing brands and department stores to produce and promote the so-called Cool Biz fashion apparel.

Okada Yoichi, head of the men's department of Mitsukoshi, a high-end department store in Tokyo, said several brands had already introduced new lines of light ties and jackets made of cooler materials.

"A formal jacket is still needed by males since we do not carry handbags as women do. In my opinion, jackets do not only represent politeness, but they're also useful because of the many pockets," he said.

Yoichi said Cool Biz shirts made from lighter materials have also gained popularity, with about 2,000 pieces sold in May alone.

Cool Biz underwear is also available. This new product resembles the traditional Japanese underwear worn by Sumo wrestlers - it is only a piece of single plain cloth.

According to Yoichi, such underwear is normally used only by senior citizens but it's now "cool" for the new generation.

The store has been selling about 100 pieces of this energy-saving underwear monthly at a unit price of 1,575 yen (Bt526).

As a member country of the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement enforced last year to reduce global warming, Japan has committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emission by 6 per cent by 2012 from its 1990 emission rate.

As one of the world's major producers of greenhouse gases, Japan accounts for 8.5 per cent of global emissions.

Yuriko said the government also has campaigns promoting low-emission technology such as clean-energy vehicles and energy-saving appliances.

Tara Buakhamsri, a campaigner for climate change with Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said the Japanese government should also pay attention to sources of energy.

"Raising awareness among the public is a good thing if they can prove that it has significant impact on reducing greenhouse gases. However, it is better to review the sources of energy used to generate electricity," he said.

Though it relies mainly on nuclear energy, Japan still uses coal, considered a dirty fuel, to generate power, he noted.

Pennapa Hongthong

The Nation - TOKYO

Other concerns not considered as serious but needing solutions in the next 10 years are water management, education and social problems like corruption, said Gothom Arya, chairman of an NESDB advisory council.

Gothom said the 10th plan would be based mainly on human resource development and the self-sufficiency principle advocated by His Majesty the King.

Other key factors will be based on moderation and modernisation.

The entire scheme would include the public, state authorities, business sector and mass media.

Dr Worraphol Sokhatiyanurak, a council deputy leader, said a seminar would be held at Chulabhorn Institute next month to brainstorm ideas from NESDB policy-makers and officials from government agencies. Information will be used to develop a master plan and then the 10th national plan.

The draft of the 10th plan must be completed by the end of this month before evaluation and government approval. It is scheduled to take effect on October 1.

As for the national priorities, Worraphol said alternative fuels should be used to ease the oil-price crisis.

Household debts need to be reduced through good financial policies and state subsidies in the agricultural sector. Foreign trade needs to be boosted in order to achieve currency gains and to encourage the export sector.

Water management needs to improve in order to protect the environment while natural disaster management needs to be addressed nationally.

Anan Paengnoy

The Nation

Rangoon (dpa) - The Burmese ruling junta has "retired" nine cabinet ministers in an effort to make the government "more vibrant," news reports and analysts said on Saturday.

Among the ministers who were "permitted to retire" effective Friday were Deputy Defence Minister Major General Khin Maung Win and Supreme Court Justice Khin Maung Aye.

The other retirees include Deputy Information Ministers Thein Sein and Brig Gen Aung Thein, Deputy Mines Minister Myint Thein, Deputy Culture Minister Brigadier General Soe Win Maung, Deputy Border Affairs Minister Brig Gen Than Tun, Deputy Industry Minister Brig Gen Thein Tun and Deputy Transport Minister Pe Than, said state-run newspapers in their Saturday editions.

It was Burma's second major cabinet reshuffle since October and November 2004, when the regime's supreme military leader Senior Gen Than Shwe sacked Gen Khin Nyunt, former prime minister and head of military intelligence, along with his followers.

"Than Shwe is now trying to make a more vibrant cabinet, especially in the economic sectors," said Larry Jagan, a Bangkok-based analyst of Burma, which also is called Myanmar. "So he's just clearing out the dead wood," said Jagan.

Burma has been ruled by military men since 1962, when former strongman Gen Ne Win staged a coup d'etat to overthrow the elected civilian government under President U Nu.

The current military regime, the self-styled State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), has ruled Burma since 1988, when it took power in the aftermath of a brutal crackdown on nationwide pro- democracy demonstrations that left thousands dead.

CHINA: June 19, 2006 - BEIJING - Banner-wielding animal rights protesters swarmed into a restaurant serving cat meat in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and forced it to shut, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.

There were none in the building, as the owner had already moved them out, it said. But some burst into tears upon finding a skinned cat in a fridge.

"I cannot go on with my business, and I will not sell cat meat any more," the restaurant owner was quoted as saying, though he defended his trade by saying eating cat in Guangdong province was a tradition.

The organiser of the protest, identified only as Isobel, the founder of a cat protection Web site, said the restaurant had been chosen because it killed cats in the street and it was "very bad for the students from nearby schools".

A local beauty queen, Miss Shenzhen 2005, also took part, calling on people to "stop eating cats and dogs and become civilised", Xinhua said.

Many Chinese, particularly in the south, believe eating dogs and cats are good warming foods to eat during the winter.

But China is developing a nascent animal rights movement as more people raise pets, which during the country's Communist heyday was frowned upon as a bourgeois activity.

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

BEIJING - A toxic spill in north China has contaminated water supplies for 50,000 people and poses a threat to a reservoir supplying millions more, state media reported on Friday.

Water pollution has become a major national concern since a blast at a chemical plant in November released a toxic slick into the Songhua river, affecting drinking water supplies to millions in the northeast.

Sixty tons of coal tar carried by an overturned truck spilled into the Dasha river in the northern province of Shanxi on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The spill, moving at about one km per hour, is approaching the Wangkuai reservoir about 70 km from the accident site," Xinhua said, quoted environmental protection officials.

The Wangkuai is one of two key reservoirs supplying water to 10 million people in Baoding, a city in neighbouring Hebei province.

The spill had already reached Hebei's Fuping county on Tuesday, Xinhua said, contaminating water supplies for 50,000 people.

Clean-up efforts, initially delayed by the truck driver's cover-up of the toxic cargo, had included the building of 51 dams to intercept the coal tar "so as to win time for treating polluted water", Xinhua said.

A chemical plant blast in China's booming eastern province of Zhejiang injured one person and left two missing, Xinhua said in a separate report.

A 38-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman were missing after "numerous explosions" occurred on Thursday at the Longxin Chemical Plant, which primarily produces hydrogen peroxide, Xinhua said. Another person had been injured.

GUWAHATI, India - Floods and landslides caused by heavy monsoon rains have left more than 1.5 million people in northeast India and neighbouring Bangladesh marooned or homeless, and killed at least 17, officials said on Friday.

Officials on the Indian side said 12 people had been killed so far and almost half-a-million affected by the floods, with scores of villages in the state of Assam inundated by overflowing rivers, forcing residents to higher grounds.

"People have started moving to high lands because their houses are now knee-deep under water," Gautom Ganguly, an Assam government official said.

A 12-year-old boy drowned in flood waters and a woman died when a wooden boat carrying a group of people to safety capsized in southern Assam on Thursday, police said.

Earlier this week, 10 people died in western Assam and the neighbouring state of Tripura.

Roads and railway networks have also been disrupted in many places as gushing waters washed away bridges and rail tracks damaged by landslides, officials said.

In Bangladesh, about 10,000 people had been made homeless and a million others were marooned as floods spread in four northeastern districts over the last five days, officials said.

Five people were killed when boats sank or houses collapsed, they added.

Crops on 75,000 acres (30,000 hectares) of land and some 1,000 km (600 miles) of rural roads had also been damaged as the rivers Surma and Kushiara burst their banks at several places.

The flood situation was likely to deteriorate as there was more rain in the region and across the border in India, Bangladesh's Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said.

Floods kill hundreds of Bangladeshis and displace thousands of families in the country and large pockets of eastern, northern and central India during the June-September monsoon every year.

TOKYO - When it comes to saving the planet, Toyota Motor Corp. seems to be leaving no stone unturned. Nor, as it turns out, any pile of cow dung.

The world's number-two car maker said on Friday it had co-developed a cutting-edge composting ingredient and process that drastically reduce nitrous oxide, methane and other greenhouse gases, as well as offensive odours produced by livestock waste -- part of its efforts to clean the environment.

"We've always wanted to do more in the agricultural field," Yasumori Ihara, a managing officer at Toyota, told a news conference.

"This is a dream come true."

When mixed with cow manure, the ingredient -- developed jointly with Menicon Co., Japan's top maker of contact lenses -- speeds up the time it takes to convert the waste into compost, to 45 days from anywhere between 90 to 180 days. The resulting compost is also of a higher quality, containing less nitrate-nitrogen, a water pollutant, Toyota said.

"After using this formula, the neighbours stopped complaining about the pungent smell," a cattle farmer who tested the magic powder, appropriately named "resQ45" for Recycle, Eco, Speed, Quality and playing on the word rescue, said in a promotional video.

Japanese farmers are burdened with the disposal of 89 million tonnes of livestock manure annually, according to official figures. One dairy cow produces 50 kg (110 lb) of waste a day.

Toyota Roof Garden Co., a Toyota subsidiary charged with manufacturing the product, Menicon and trading firm Toyota Tsusho Corp. will begin selling the formula to cattle farmers in limited areas of Japan from July 1, with a view to spreading it nationwide and to other livestock such as poultry and pigs.

The three-way partnership expects annual sales of 2 billion yen (US$17.44 million) after five years.

Toyota Motor, a pioneer of fuel-saving hybrid cars, has been dabbling in biotechnology since 1998 to fight global warming and to promote the reuse and recycling of resources. It also develops bioplastics, which are derived from agricultural products, grows flowers, rooftop gardens and fertilisers using new technologies.

(US$1=114.69 Yen)

MANILA - About 40 families living on the slopes of an active volcano in the central Philippines will begin evacuation to safer areas this week, local government officials said on Sunday.

Casiguran town Mayor Edwin Hamor told reporters he had ordered local police units to start the evacuation of residents from Imlagadian village, which is inside a 4-km (2.5-mile) danger zone, as Mount Bulusan was showing increased activity.

"The residents there refused to leave their homes," Hamor said. "We were just obeying the orders of the president to move people on the volcano slopes to much safer areas. We don't want to sacrifice lives in case of a major eruption."

An estimated 50,000 people in six towns of Sorogon province would be evacuated in the event of a big eruption, Arnel Capili of the Office of Civil Defence said.

On Saturday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo toured three towns in the Bicol region, where falling volcanic ashes have damaged homes and crops. A river system in Irosin town has been contaminated by ashes and high levels of sulphuric acid.

Civil defence officials have held evacuation drills in three towns to test preparations for a major eruption.

The 1,559-metre (5,115-foot) volcano has erupted 15 times, most recently in November 1994, though seven minor eruptions have been recorded since March.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised its alert level on Bulusan to a precautionary 2 earlier this month and reminded residents on Thursday to stay away from the mountain after its crater belched clouds of ash.

At level 3 an explosion is considered possible, at level 4 it is seen as likely and at level 5, the highest alert, an eruption has occurred, with lava flows or ash columns reaching 6 km (3.75 miles).

Mount Pinatubo, on Luzon island in the northern Philippines, erupted in 1991 after lying dormant for 600 years. That eruption buried dozens of villages under tonnes of mud and more than 800 people died, mostly from diseases in crowded evacuation camps.

Story Date: 19/6/2006

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36867/story.htm

Sino Environment Rides on China's Pollution Woes

SINGAPORE - China's Sino Environment Technology Group Ltd., which makes equipment to treat industrial waste, is riding on the country's ambitious programme to clean up its poisoned air and water.

The group expects net profit to rise at least 57 percent in 2006 due to booming demand and sees revenue and profit nearly doubling in 2007, when the firm moves into a bigger plant that will more than double capacity.

"The results for the first quarter in terms of net profit earned are a good indication of our performance for the rest of 2006," David Tan, chief financial controller of Sino-Environment, told Reuters in an interview on Friday.

"Looking at our current order book, we expect to beat last year's performance of 57 percent (profit growth)," he added.

The company, which makes and sells waste treatment devices for textile factories, petrochemical plants and spray-painting companies, saw its first-quarter net profit triple to 44.7 million yuan (US$5.59 million) on the back of higher orders.

Net profit for 2005 was up 57.6 percent at 52.3 million yuan.

Tan said 2007 net profit will get a major boost when Sino-Environment moves into a bigger fabrication plant in the first quarter of next year.

"With the increased capacity, we expect to more than double our revenue, which would in turn about double our net profit," he said.

Sino-Environment, which has a market capitalisation of US$137.6 million, makes equipment to treat and recycle chemicals from industrial waste gases, in particular toluene -- a hazardous colourless liquid commonly used as a solvent in textile, synthetic leather and petrochemical industries.

It also builds plants to treat industrial and municipal waste, but the water treatment business makes up only about 10 percent of the group's revenue.

CHINA'S POLLUTION WOES

China's rapid industrialisation and urbanisation in the last two decades have brought severe damage to the environment. The emission of air pollutants and discharge of untreated waste water have turned Chinese cities into some of the most polluted in the world.

According to the World Bank, pollution is costing China an annual 8 to 12 percent of its US$1.4 trillion economy in direct damage, such as the impact on crops of acid rain and floods.

Tan said the firm plans to take advantage of China's tougher legislation on environmental issues and was diversifying its services to treat and manage other harmful industrial waste gases such as sulphur dioxide, which is commonly emitted by coal power plants.

The firm treats sulphur dioxide emissions using a technology that transforms sulphur into calcium sulphate -- also known as gypsum, which is used as construction material.

"The government has ruled that all new power plants need to be built with environmental systems and recently announced a deadline for the older plants. So there is a lot of growth potential in this area," Tan said, adding that the firm is close to reaching an agreement with two power plants, each with a deal size of at least 100 million yuan.

"The implementation of stricter laws and increasing awareness of environmental protection in China will be one of the major catalysts to drive Sino-Environment's growth," Lawrence Lye, analyst at UOB Kay Hian said.

The company, which was listed on the Singapore Exchange in April, raised about S$22.5 million in the initial public offering. Issued at S$0.33, the stock more than doubled in value on its first day of trading. It set an intraday high of S$0.935 in May but has since fallen back an now trades around S$0.75.

Story by Fayen Wong