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NEWS November 09 2001
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| Around the Web... US clothing manufacturers on trial for alleged labour abuses A suit over alleged sweatshop conditions on the island of Saipan is to go to trial after a judge overruled complaints from major U.S. retailers, who said they were not responsible for working conditions in factories that made their clothing. From: National Post, 31/10/01, featured on tranationale.org http://www.transnationale.org/anglais/forums/tiersmonde__zones_franches/showmessage.asp?messageID=394 Nuclear plant faces legal challenge Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace are challenging the UK Government's decision to let the Mox (mixed oxide) nuclear plant at Sellafield in Cumbria begin work. The Irish Republic has also started legal action and Norway is believed to be considering bringing a case of its own. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1641000/1641543.stm Enron set to leave India The US energy giant Enron is set to abandon India’s biggest foreign investment project in the western state of Maharashtra, following disagreements over electricity prices and bills. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_1641000/1641011.stm China plans ‘Special Economic Zone’ for Tibet China is creating a new ‘development’ zone around the Tibetan capital Lhasa, accompanying the building of a new railway to the city. The plans have come under fire as yet another attempt to impose Chinese influence on Tibet and attract further Chinese migrants into the area. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_1638000/1638820.stm Shell accused of mismanaging toxic waste in Brazil The Brazilian state of Sao Paulo on Tuesday accused a subsidiary of Anglo-Dutch group Royal Dutch/Shell of exposing at least 156 people to toxic pesticides in a rural town in the interior of the state. http://money.iwon.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?section=news&news_id=reu-n02298602&feed=reu&date=20011002&cat=INDUSTRY Bayer pesticides in toxic dump in Nepal Greenpeace activists have completed the containment of a stockpile of highly toxic obsolete pesticides in Nepal. The pesticides were exported to Nepal by multinationals such as Bayer, Sandoz, Shell, Rhone Poulenc, Du Pont, Union Carbide (Dow) and Monsanto and abandoned there after they reached their expiry date or were banned. http://uk.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=14812&group=webcast Blair attempting to fast-track Ilisu Dam project Recent reports tell how Tony Blair is trying to push through approval for the Ilisu Dam Project, in order to ensure Turkey's support in the Afhgan conflict, despite opposition to the dam from within the government. http://uk.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=15186&group=webcast US Groups Protest Post-September 11 Corporate Stance Big corporations are using the ‘war against terrorism’ to push billions of dollars in tax breaks and other benefits through the United States Congress, according to a growing number of civic, environmental and consumer groups. In addition to aUS$15 billion bailout of the airline industry and a pending "economic stimulus" bill that would cost the U.S. Treasury more than US$200 billion over the next three years, Congress has approved a major increase in the defense budget and is being pushed hard to adopt an energy program that threatens sensitive ecosystems and would expand nuclear power, the groups say. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/oneworld/20011106/wl/groups_protest_post-september_11_corporate_stance_1.html Diary date - No Sweat Conference Conference to plan campaigning against child and sweated labour, with Indonesian trade unionist Dita Sari, Saturday 24th November http://www.nosweat.org.uk |