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| Netherlands to use body scanners Body scanners are to be used on all passengers flying from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport to the US, the Dutch government has announced. news.bbc.co.uk |
Japanese whaling boat clash likely to ignite row over activists' tactics Sea Shepherd's Paul Watson locked in feud with Greenpeace, which has labelled him an eco-terroristThe damage inflicted to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) boat the Ady Gil in a collision with a whaling ship is likely to reignite the row over the environmental group's tactics.Paul Watson, who helped set up Greenpeace in 1972, and now heads the SSCS has been labelled an eco-terrorist and dangerous extremist by his former comrades, with whom he is locked in a long-running feud.While both groups have targeted the Japanese whale hunts in the Southern Ocean, Greenpeace refuses to co-operate with SSCS by sharing information on the whereabouts of whaling fleets because it says SSCS uses violent tactics. Watson counters this, saying his methods yield results and SSCS has sunk 10 whaling ships, with no injuries caused.Watson was membership number 008 in Greenpeace. He founded SSCS's forerunner, the Earth Force Society, in 1977, the same year he was voted off Greenpeace's board of directors. There were concerns within Greenpeace over his methods, including an incident when he pulled a club from a sealer's hand and threw it in the water, but Watson claims he left on good terms. However, his departure only highlighted the groups' ideological differences.In 1986, on being asked what he thought of being labelled an eco-terrorist by Greenpeace, Watson responded by calling them "the Avon Ladies of the environmental movement", something he says they have never forgiven him for. Five years later they agreed to refrain from criticising each other but the truce failed to hold, with each blaming the other for violating it.The gloves really came off towards the end of 2008. In November of that year, Watson labelled his former organisation "Yellowpeace" for deciding not to send a ship to counter the Japanese whaling fleet. Greenpeace said its campaign had reached the "endgame" and it would instead concentrate on changing public opinion in Japan.The following month it published a 2,672-word missive on Watson entitled Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace: Some Facts. The article noted that "stories of divisiveness within the ranks of environmental groups distract from the real issues," but then went on to attack Watson on a variety of fronts, even challenging the idea that he was a founding member of Greenpeace, describing him instead as an "early member".Watson hit back by issuing an even longer rebuttal. In response to Greenpeace's analysis that Japanese whaling would be stopped "by a domestic decision within the Japanese government to do so", he compared the group's attitude to that of "Jewish leaders in the Warsaw ghetto that resulted in the Holocaust".Before the Ady Gil set sail for Antarctica in December, Watson told the Guardian that Greenpeace's claim he was not a founder member was "Bolshevik revisionism" and said his old organisation was bitter about the success of SSCS. "I think they're angry with us because of the success of Whale Wars [the hit TV series following SSCS in its Antarctic campaign in 2008], because we have actually made a difference," he said."We're not a protest organisation … we intervene against illegal activities and as far as we're concerned Japanese whalers are poachers."Despite – or perhaps because of – his outspoken opinions, Watson has won the support of luminaries including the Dalai Lama, Mick Jagger, Daryl Hannah and Uma Thurman. SSCS even earned the dubious honour of being parodied in the US animated comedy South Park in an episode entitled Whale Whores, where its activists were depicted as "vegan pussies" posing as pirates and Watson got a harpoon through the head. Nevertheless, he proclaimed himself happy with the publicity.At the beginning of Operation Waltzing Matilda, Watson talked up the impact the Ady Gil, formerly known as Earthrace, would have in confronting whalers. He said the boat, with a top speed of up to 50 knots (58mph) and able to dive under waves completely, would "give us the speed we need to intercept the harpooners. This vessel is twice as fast as a harpoon vessel".But instead the $1.5m biodiesel-fuelled boat has come a cropper and the incident is likely to provide ammunition for those who criticise his methods.WhalingGreenpeaceActivismMarine lifeJapanAntarcticaHaroon Siddiqueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Mexican Drug Lord Is Arrested Mexican federal police captured Teodoro García Simental, a drug trafficker famed for his gang's alleged brutality, in an early morning raid. online.wsj.com |
Piñera wins Chile presidency Chilean right steps out from shadow of Pinochet to win power democratically for the first time since 1958The billionaire Sebastián Piñera won Chile's presidency yesterday to become the country's first democratically elected rightwing ruler in 52 years, vowing to make Chile "the best country in the world".Piñera's triumph over the former president Eduardo Frei ended over two decades of rule by the centre-left coalition that followed Augusto Pinochet's brutal dictatorship, and marked a tilt to the right on a continent dominated by leftist governments.In his victory speech, Piñera vowed to hire the "best, most prepared, most honest and most dedicated" people for his government, and called on a new generation of Chileans to meet his challenge."Chile isn't the biggest, richest or most powerful country in the world, but we should dedicate ourselves to transforming it into the best country in the world," he said. "We don't have a single minute to lose."Piñera earned 52% of the votes to 48% for Frei with 99% of the ballots counted in Sunday's runoff election.Piñera ran on a platform of creating jobs and boosting economic growth in the world's top copper producer. He asked for unity and dialogue with his opponents, saying: "We need not only a good government but a good opposition, working constructively to build a better country".Frei had warm words for Piñera but credited the outgoing president, Michelle Bachelet, and the ruling coalition for making Chile "much better than the country we received in 1990".Frei, who remains a senator, also vowed to be "guardians of liberty and of all our social victories" while the right is in power.Piñera's lead narrowed after Frei and Bachelet repeatedly invoked the legacy of Pinochet, stirring fears of a retreat on human rights if the parties that supported the dictatorship regained power.But after two decades with the same politicians in power, many leftists have become disenchanted with the government, enabling the right to win at the voting booth for the first time since Jorge Allessandri Rodriguez won the presidency in 1958."The people have democratically elected you to be president of the republic, and I hope that Chile can continue on the path of justice and social progress that we have developed during these 20 years," Bachelet told Piñera in a nationally televised telephone call.Piñera responded by asking for her help "to continue many of the good things that have been done during your government, and of course to confront other challenges".Piñera promised to create 1 million jobs and double Chile's per-capita annual income of $12,000 (£7,300) by expanding growth to 6% a year.But the candidates agreed on most issues, reflecting the remarkable economic, social and political success that has given Bachelet nearly 80% approval ratings. Analysts predicted Piñera would make no radical moves to shake up this consensus.The biggest change may be in foreign affairs. Bachelet tried to defuse tensions with Chile's neighbours, putting Bolivia's long-held desire for access to the sea on their bilateral agenda and avoiding direct criticism of the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez.But Piñera, a friend of Colombia's conservative president, Alvaro Uribe, has been more outspoken, criticising populism as a failed approach. Piñera has said that Venezuela "is not a democracy" and Cuba is a "dictatorship", and he has vowed never to concede Chilean territory.With congress evenly divided, Piñera will need leftists to get anything done, and for the first time since Pinochet's 1973 coup, this group includes several Communist party lawmakers whose votes could become tiebreakers.Piñera put his Harvard University PhD in economics to use popularising credit cards in Chile, growing a fortune that now includes a large share of Chile's main airline, a leading television channel and the country's most popular football team.This was Piñera's second run for the presidency. He lost by nearly seven points to Bachelet in 2006 and has remained in permanent campaign mode since then.His promises include privatising 20% of state-owned Codelco, the world's biggest copper producer, and hiring 10,000 new police officers and pushing for renewable energy and improvements in public education.Socially, he has said he will expand legal rights for gay and lesbian couples, but has drawn the line at same-sex marriage or adoption. He is also against euthanasia and abortion, which remain illegal in all cases in Chile.ChileVenezuelaBoliviaHugo ChávezCubaguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Haiti 'can lead quake recovery' Haiti's government can lead efforts to rebuild the quake-hit country, its prime minister tells a conference in Canada. news.bbc.co.uk |