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Missile Defense

Russian military leaders have expressed concern about US plans for a national missile defense system. Will defense technology be limited by possibilities for a strategic imbalance? Is this just SDI all over again?

lunarchick - 08:38am Jul 20, 2001 EST (#7274 of 7288)
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Leaders from the Group of Eight gather in the medieval Italian city of Genoa on July 20-22 amid an atmosphere of concern about the state of the global economy and trepidation about prospective anti-globalisation protests. The eight - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK and the US - have seen major economic and political change since they last met in Okinawa, with new administrations in the host country, the US and Japan. As the leaders seek ways of boosting world economic growth and rising to the challenge of globalisation, the FT reports on the summit and its context.

background

Who are the G8 and why are they important? The Group of Eight acts as a forum for discussion and consensus for the heads of state of major industrial democracies. The grouping comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US, alongside the G8's latest addition, Russia.

What are the major issues that will be covered at the G8 summit? The G8 summit in Genoa will review risks and challenges to the world economy in light of the economic slowdown in US, vulnerability in Argentina and Turkey and stagnation in Japan.

G8 security concerns With heads of state on the invite list and thousands of protesters expected to gatecrash, security concerns have given the city of Genoa the semblance of a city under siege.

A year on from Okinawa When the Group of Eight leaders last met in the Japanese city of Okinawa last year, the US economy was in a stable condition and the main item on the agenda was the 'Drop the Debt' campaign.

Kyoto split overshadows G8 summit Deep divisions between the US and European Union over the Kyoto climate change protocol are "so great" that this weekend's meeting of G8 leaders of industrialised nations is expected to produce nothing more than an agreement to disagree, a European official said on Wednesday. July 18, 2001 see www.ft.com

lunarchick - 07:37pm Jul 20, 2001 EST (#7275 of 7288)
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G8 Cavalcade:

Blair - limousine provided locally

Bwsh - Cadilac from White House

Putin - black cabriolet Zill 111 (second series)

The Times via diplomat, suggests that Putn is deliberately stressing the continuity of Russian History by emphasising one of the more enlightened periods of Soviet Rule.

lunarchick - 07:52pm Jul 20, 2001 EST (#7276 of 7288)
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Putin another Andropov? (18May2001)

When asked to compare President Vladimir Putin to a famous world leader, 18.4 percent of Russians polled said he was most like late Soviet leader Yury Andropov, the ROMIR agency said.

Out of 11 figures — from Russian emperor Peter the Great to ex-U.S. President Bill Clinton — the most commonly cited was Andropov. Like Putin, Andropov headed the country's secret police before landing the top job in the nation — in his case, serving as general-secretary of the Soviet Communist Party from 1982-84.

Some 37.5 percent said Putin did not resemble anyone, 6.8 percent compared him to predecessor Boris Yeltsin, and 4.9 percent likened him to Peter the Great. Only 2.4 percent said he was like Clinton.

ROMIR conducted the poll in April among 2,000 adults around the country. ~ see + Russia- Iraq + Russia-defence

lunarchick - 08:02pm Jul 20, 2001 EST (#7277 of 7288)
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"Whether we know it or not, history's isness can be seen and heard and felt in every scrap of our behaviour, our beliefs, our prejudices, our popular culture. For there is history in every note of music, in every word we utter, in every tool we use or artefact we own."

lunarchick - 08:57am Jul 21, 2001 EST (#7278 of 7288)
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Death Penalty

Great Gatsby of Moscow As for Jordan, ''He is positioning himself as a reincarnated Armand Hammer,'' a reference to the late California oil magnate who did business with the Soviet Union. ''Someone who gets most-favored-businessman status in exchange for services to the state.''

The ''service'' in question took place early this year. At the time, Gusinsky was under house arrest in Spain, fighting extradition to Moscow, in deep financial trouble and feverishly negotiating with Ted Turner for a last-minute bailout that would keep NTV from falling into the hands of its but this was still not enough to dethrone NTV's founder. Jordan, who had been following the situation closely, saw ''an incredible opportunity.'' He approached Gazprom and proposed breaking the impasse by brokering a deal with nother minority NTV investor, the Los Angeles-based Capital Research and Management Company.

Matthew Brzezinski is the author of ''Casino Moscow,'' published this month by The Free Press.

lunarchick - 09:51am Jul 21, 2001 EST (#7279 of 7288)
lunarchick@www.com

G8 Gu Thread

lunarchick - 10:15am Jul 21, 2001 EST (#7280 of 7288)
lunarchick@www.com

Halting global warming is cheapest option

Acting soon will cost less than letting the temperature rise - and delay will be catastrophic, UN expert says Wind and solar power, hydrogen, fuel cells and other clean technologies, adopted as they became viable, could produce 100% of the world's energy needs.

Already the Norwegians were pumping liquid carbon dioxide deep under the ocean bed, back into old oil and gas wells. It was a cost-effective system paid for by a carbon tax.

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