APSNet 6 April 2009
- Rudd calls missile launch ‘reckless’
- Yudhoyono backs down on nuclear power plans
- Japan to extend US14.5 billion in financial aid to Indonesia
- East Timor hit over ‘dirty’ power plants
- Time is short as U.S. presses Pakistan, a reluctant ally
- Sea change: Advancing Australia’s ocean interests
1. Rudd calls missile launch ‘reckless’, AAP, Age, 2009-04-05
Australia is urging the United Nations Security Council to consider taking action against North Korea, following the launch of a long-range rocket on Sunday. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd joined US President Barack Obama in condemning Pyongyang’s “provocative” act.
- U.N. Security Council Fails to Agree on N. Korea Statement, Colum Lynch and Blaine Harden, Washington post, 2009-04-05
- Examining North Korea’s satellite launch vehicle, David Wright, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, 2009-03-24
- North Korean Missile Launch Was a Failure, Experts Say, William J. Broad, NYT, 2009-04-05
2. Yudhoyono backs down on nuclear power plans, Tom Allard, SMH, 2009-04-06
Indonesia’s President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, yesterday backed away from longstanding and highly controversial plans to build a nuclear reactor in one of the world’s most seismically active countries, saying it would instead develop existing energy sources and explore renewable alternatives before pursuing the nuclear option.
- SBY promises not to build nuclear power plant in areas with public opposition, K. Yudha Wirakusuma, Okezone, 2009-04-05 [Indonesian language]
- Indonesian nuclear power proposals, Reframing Australia-Indonesia security, Nautilus Institute
3. Japan to extend US14.5 billion in financial aid to Indonesia, Antara, 2009-03-04
Japan has agreed to extend US$14.5 billion in financial assistance to Indonesia to help the latter deal with the impact of the global financial crisis. During the meeting President Yudhoyono and Prime Minister Aso also discussed Japan`s wish to maintain its cooperation in the field of energy with Indonesia.
4. East Timor hit over ‘dirty’ power plants, Lindsay Murdoch, Age, 2009-04-04
More than 600 non-government organisations have warned that three second-hand, polluting power plants under construction in East Timor may endanger the health and livelihood of the country’s 1 million people. The relocation of the more than 20-year-old plants from China to East Timor threatens to damage Beijing’s image in the country, where it has become one of the biggest foreign donors since independence in 2002.
- The heavy oil power deal – a dark cloud over East Timor’s bright future, Lee Bell, National Toxic Network, March 2009
5. Time is short as U.S. presses Pakistan, a reluctant ally, Jane Perlez, NYT, 2009-04-05
President Obama’s strategy of offering Pakistan a partnership to defeat the insurgency calls for a virtual remaking of this nation’s institutions and even of the national psyche, an ambitious agenda that Pakistan’s politicians and people appear unprepared to take up. Large parts of the public, the political class and the military have brushed off the plan, rebuffing the idea that the threat from Al Qaeda and the Taliban, which Washington calls a common enemy, is so urgent.
- Europeans offer few new troops for Afghanistan, Steven Erlanger and Helene Cooper, NYT, 2009-04-04
6. Sea change: Advancing Australia’s ocean interests, Sam Bateman and Anthony Bergin, ASPI, March 2009, [PDF, 2.4MB]
Direct threats include maritime terrorism, illegal activity at sea, and illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing. Indirect ones include food insecurity, energy insecurity, climate change, loss of marine biodiversity, marine pollution, ocean acidification, marine natural hazards, and the impact of the oceans on drought. We need to understand the relationship between climate change and the oceans, including adverse impacts on human welfare and sensitive ecosystems, and the role that the oceans can play as a source of renewable energy.
- White noise, Andrew Darby, Age, 2009-04-06
Nautilus Institute and affiliated information services
- Australian region (APSNet – this newsletter): Free subscription.
- Northeast Asia (NAPSNet): Free subscription.
- Climate change adaptation (AdaptNet): Free subscription.
For further information, please contact the APSNet editor, Arabella Imhoff.
Subscribe
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit:
https://nautilus.org/mailman/listinfo/apsnet
—
Richard Tanter,
Project Co-ordinator