The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Hiroshima marks anniversary of US atomic bombing
- New Zealand's clean, green image under scrutiny with dairy scare
- NZ worries about China dairy bans as Fonterra hit by more recalls
| Hiroshima marks anniversary of US atomic bombing Posted: HIROSHIMA, Japan: Tens of thousands gathered at a peace memorial park in Hiroshima on Tuesday to mark the 68th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the city, as anti-atomic sentiment runs high in Japan. The annual ceremony came as radioactive water leaks at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant have stoked renewed fears about the plant's precarious state, and underscored broader worries about atomic power following Japan's 2011 nuclear crisis. In Hiroshima, ageing survivors, relatives, government officials and foreign delegates observed a moment of silence at 8:15 am (2315 GMT Monday), the time of the detonation which turned the western Japanese city into a nuclear inferno. "We offer heartfelt consolation to the souls of the atomic bomb victims by pledging to do everything in our power to eliminate the absolute evil of nuclear weapons and achieve a peaceful world," Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui told the ceremony. An American B-29 bomber named Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima August 6, 1945, in one of the final chapters of World War II. It killed an estimated 140,000 by December that year. Three days later, the port city of Nagasaki was also bombed, killing an estimated 70,000 people. The Allied powers have long argued that the twin attacks brought a quick end to the war by speeding up Japan's surrender, preventing millions more casualties from a land invasion planned for later in the year. Later Tuesday, Japanese officials will be unveiling Tokyo's biggest naval ship since World War II, as the government moves to beef up Japan's self-defence forces, jangling nerves in neighbouring China and South Korea. Tokyo said the timing of an annual peace ceremony and the helicopter carrier unveiling was coincidental. Among the attendees in Hiroshima last year was Clifton Truman Daniel, grandson of former US president Harry Truman, who authorised the bombings. He was the first Truman relative to attend the annual anniversary in Japan. Many atomic bomb survivors, known as "hibakusha", oppose both military and civil use of nuclear power, pointing to the tens of thousands who were killed instantly in the Hiroshima blast and the many more who later died from radiation sickness and cancers linked to the attack. Anti-nuclear sentiment flared in Japan after an earthquake-sparked tsunami left some 19,000 dead or missing and knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant two years ago. Meltdowns at the crippled site spread radiation over a large area and forced thousands to leave their homes in the worst atomic disaster in a generation. Concerns about Fukushima have remained high since the accident. In recent weeks, the plant's operator Tokyo Electric Power admitted for the first time that radioactive water had leaked into the ocean as it struggles to contain the toxic buildup. "Eastern Japan is still suffering the aftermath of the great earthquake and the nuclear accident," Hiroshima's mayor said Tuesday. "The people of Hiroshima know well the ordeal of recovery. We urge the national government to rapidly develop and implement a responsible energy policy that places top priority on peoples' safety and livelihood." The administration of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was among the attendees at Tuesday's memorial event, has advocated restarting Japan's switched-off nuclear reactors if their safety can be assured, a plan opposed by many in the disaster-struck nation. Abe's conservative Liberal Democratic Party has also said it wants to upgrade Japan's self-defence forces into a full-fledged military, which would mean overhauling a pacifist constitution imposed on the country by the US and its allies after WWII. Later Tuesday, the forces' naval arm was due to hold a ceremony marking the launch of a 248-metre (810-foot) helicopter carrier which can accommodate nine aircraft. Officials said the ceremony was scheduled for the same day as the Hiroshima anniversary due to favourable ocean tides and an auspicious date. -AFP |
| New Zealand's clean, green image under scrutiny with dairy scare Posted: WELLINGTON/SYDNEY (Reuters) - For a country that markets itself to the world with the slogan "100% Pure", New Zealand's environmental credentials are not as impeccable as many would think. The majority of its rivers are too polluted to swim in. Its record on preservation of natural environments is among the worst in the world on a per capita basis. And it is the only OECD country that does not produce a regular national report on its environment. The discovery by dairy giant Fonterra of a bacteria that can cause potentially fatal food poisoning in ingredients sold to eight countries exposes New Zealand's vulnerability to food safety scares and the fragility of the clean, green image underpinning its farming- and tourism-based economy. Agricultural exports, including dairy, meat, fruit and wine, command high premiums internationally thanks to New Zealand's reputation as a producer of safe, natural and high-quality food. "It was only a matter of time before our dirty little secret came out," said Jill Brinsdon, brand strategist at Radiation, a brand agency in Auckland. "Fonterra is our largest exporter and they're completely intertwined with New Zealand's image and also they're the absolute biggest benefactor of the '100% Pure' brand. When you're coming out with something that presents itself as fact, or 100% pure, then you have to be 100% pure and we've proven that we're not." PURE? New Zealand's primary sector, which includes fishing and forestry, accounts for some 60 percent of exports and 18 percent of the country's $160 billion GDP, among the highest proportions in the developed world. Tourism makes up another 10 percent or so of GDP. The country has long marketed itself internationally with the "100% Pure" slogan in print and TV ads, drawing millions of visitors each year to experience its national parks, beaches and lakes. With barely 4.5 million people spread over a mountainous area larger than the United Kingdom or California and more than a quarter of that set aside for reserves and national parks - the backdrop for the popular Lord of the Rings movie trilogy - New Zealand has no shortage of unspoilt natural attractions. But the marketing overlooks a dark side to the country's environmental credentials. More than 60 percent of New Zealand rivers monitored by the Environment Ministry had "poor" or "very poor" water quality and were rated as unsafe for swimming due to pollution. Dairy farming, which has a lot riding on New Zealand's strong environmental reputation, has been a significant cause of poor river quality due to fertiliser and effluent runoff. Unlike many other countries, New Zealand cows are kept on grassy pastures year-round, a major selling point for its $9 billion annual global dairy trade. "Because we've had a lack of regulation on farm waste for 20 years it's been a free for all, so farmers have done what they can to produce more milk - which is to put more cows on pastures," said Mike Joy, an ecology and environmental sustainability scientist at Massey University. Prime Minister John Key, who has been previously criticised for saying the 100% pure marketing should be taken with a pinch of salt, said New Zealand would always be reliant on dairying, with its natural competitive advantage and global demand rising. "The right answer is not for New Zealand to sell less dairy. The right answer is for New Zealand to be absolutely sure that the safety standards are met," he said on Tuesday. FOOD SAFETY While separate from its environmental credentials, New Zealand's food safety record is also not without stain. Until the late 2000s, New Zealand had the highest rate in the developed world of food-borne campylobacteriosis, a serious and sometimes deadly disease caused by a bacteria often found in uncooked chicken. By 2011, even after a major government initiative to control the epidemic, New Zealand still reported incidents of the disease at more than double the rate of nearby Australia and 12 times the rate of the United States, according to the University of Otago. The botulism scare at Fonterra was the company's second contamination issue this year after it earlier found traces of dicyandiamde, a potentially toxic chemical, in some products. Even so, New Zealand has one of the most stringent food safety regimes in the world and the recent dairy product scares only turned up with the sophisticated and sensitive testing available. Fonterra expects the current contamination issue to be resolved within days. A protracted, major animal health incident, rather than a localised contamination issue, could wreak havoc on the New Zealand economy. A decade ago, at the height of a foot and mouth epidemic in Europe, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand modelled the impact of a limited outbreak of the livestock disease - estimating an immediate 20 percent hit to the currency, as well as a 12 percent fall in exports and an 8 percent hit to GDP in two years. "We've got to wake up and look more closely at our green credentials, and work harder to create a pristine environment so consumers can get a product which matches the story," said a consultant to New Zealand companies operating in Asia. "We can't be complacent." (Editing by Ian Geoghegan) |
| NZ worries about China dairy bans as Fonterra hit by more recalls Posted: WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Dairy giant Fonterra was hit by fresh infant formula recalls in China and Hong Kong on Tuesday, while New Zealand's government fretted that the widening contamination scare would prompt China to extend a ban on whey protein powder to other dairy products. Government officials rapped Fonterra, the world's biggest dairy exporter, for dragging its feet in identifying whey protein products containing a bacteria which can potentially cause botulism. New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser said there was a risk that China, a major importer of New Zealand dairy ingredients including powder used in infant formula, may block more products. "So far, (there has been) very limited action. But this is likely to change, and it would change in the direction of wider, not narrower," Groser told reporters. There have been no reports of illness resulting from the affected products so far, but the contamination caused by a dirty pipe at one of Fonterra's New Zealand plants has damaged the country's "clean green" image and threatens to scar its dairy export trade. Groser's comments come one day after Fonterra Chief Executive Theo Spierings said that the company was not facing a ban on its products in China, only restrictions on whey protein concentrate. He added that he expected the curbs would be lifted early this week as soon as Fonterra provides Chinese regulators with a detailed explanation of what went wrong. China's consumer quality body on Tuesday said it had ordered a recall of two batches of milk formula brands marketed by Abbott Laboratories, a day after some of the U.S. healthcare company's products were recalled in Vietnam. In addition, Cow & Gate has recalled 80,000 cans of one type of its stage-three baby formula in Hong Kong and Macau. It said there were no signs of contamination in any of the products sold in the two regions. More infant formula tins were also cleared from New Zealand supermarkets after Nutricia, a Danone subsidiary which manufactures the Karicare brand, announced a blanket ban on two of its infant products late on Monday. "We've got an issue of confidence here (with) Fonterra," Economic Development Minister Stephen Joyce told Radio New Zealand. "It's certainly pretty frustrating." Products containing the contaminated whey protein also have been sold to Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. Groser said Russia had not announced a ban on dairy imports from New Zealand. Media reports late last week said that the major dairy consuming country had blocked New Zealand products. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Standing in Beijing and Anne-Marie Roantree in Hong Kong; Editing by Edwina Gibbs) |
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