1. East Timor: Guns Still Missing as PM Changes
2. East Timor: The Story We Weren’t Told
3. Troop Boost on Cards for Afghanistan
4. China Wants Pyongyang Stronger, Not Weakened
5. Burma Seeks Nuclear Weapons Alliance with N Korea
6. Australia: PM Rules Out Nuclear Waste
7. Australia: The Nuclear Option
8. Environment: The Threat to the Planet

1. Guns Still Missing as PM Changes, Tom Hyland, Age, 2006-07-09

   Australian peacekeepers are being frustrated in efforts to account for thousands of weapons belonging to East Timor’s police force, a key issue in restoring stability in the country. Despite repeated promises by the country’s political leaders, officials have yet to give Australian troops a list of serial numbers of more than 4000 firearms – many of them military automatics – originally issued to police.

   • Troops must stay until E Timor Poll, Stephen Fitzpatrick, Australian, 2006-07-10

      

2. East Timor: The Story We Weren’t Told, John Martinkus, Age, 2006-07-10

   Three weeks ago senior members of the East Timorese military confirmed what the now deposed prime minister, Mari Alkatiri, has been saying all along: that there had been three attempts since April last year to get senior army commanders to carry out a coup against his government. In light of what has happened since, it seems obvious. An orchestrated campaign has brought down the government.

    

3. Troop Boost on Cards for Afghanistan, John Kerin, AFR*, 2006-07-08

   Australia may be forced to boost troop numbers in Afghanistan after a resurgence in Taliban and al-Qaeda attacks raised concerns reinforcements were needed to tackle the insurgency. Defence sources say there are fears Australia’s 200-strong special forces and commando force in the lawless Oruzgan province lack the resources for the task.
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4. China Wants Pyongyang Stronger, Not Weakened, Hamish McDonald, SMH, 2006-07-08

   Thanks to the infrared sensors aboard spy satellites and the data they sent to the Pine Gap earth station near Alice Springs, US and Australian officials knew almost immediately of North Korea’s missile launches this week. However, what is probably the key reaction to the missile tests that of the upper echelons of the Chinese Communist Party and its People’s Liberation Army, is an almost impenetrable secret.

   • Stop Hyperventilating, Start Talking, Peter Hayes, NAPSNet Policy Forum Online, 2006-07-07

      

5. Burma Seeks Nuclear Weapons Alliance with N Korea, Greg Sheridan, Australian, 2005-07-05

   Burma’s military junta has attempted to buy nuclear weapons technology from North Korea’s rogue regime in an alliance that presents a frightening new threat to regional security. The US issued a heavy-handed warning to Burmese military dictator Than Shwe to cease and desist all such activities after discovering Rangoon’s bid late last year.

   • Burma’s North Korean Gambit: A Challenge to Regional Security? Andrew Selth, SDSC*, ANU, March 2006
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   • Burma and Weapons of Mass Destruction, Andrew Selth, SDSC*, ANU, 1999
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6. PM Rules Out Nuclear Waste, Adrian Rollins, AFR*, 2006-07-07

   John Howard has ruled out accepting nuclear waste from other countries, pre-empting the findings of a taskforce he established to investigate nuclear energy issues. But it is unclear whether the PM’s comments would apply to arrangements under which Australia could lease its uranium to other countries on the understanding that it would accept back the waste product, similar to an agreement between the US and India.
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7. The Nuclear Option, John Quiggin, johnquiggin.com, 2006-07-06

   What is necessary is a commitment to increase the cost of CO2 emissions over time. The result may be a shift to nuclear power, development of alternative energy sources or improvements in conservation and energy efficiency. The important point is that in broaching the question of nuclear power, Howard has opened up the central policy issues that have, until now, been off the table.

    

8. The Threat to the Planet, Jim Hansen, New York Review of Books, Volume 53, Number 12, 2006-07-13

   If emissions of greenhouse gases continue to increase at the current rate-“business as usual”-then the rate of isotherm movement will double in this century to at least seventy miles per decade. If we continue on this path, a large fraction of the species on Earth, as many as 50 percent or more, may become extinct.

   • Top Ten Tipping Points on Climate Change, Report Summary, The Climate Institute (Australia), July 2006 [PDF]

   • Top Ten Tipping Points on Climate Change: An Analysis of How the Fundamental Trends of Climate Change Have Shifted And Why Australia Is Adrift, The Climate Institute (Australia), July 2006 [PDF]

   • First Progress Report on the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, Justin Sherrard and Alan Tate of Cambiar and Clive Hamilton, Climate Institute (Australia), April 2006 [PDF]

      

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