Worrying trend for USA, as Trump administration tends to isolate from America’s international allies
Think Progress 25th May 2018 , The events of the past few days signal a worrying trend for the administration of President Donald Trump: The world will not hold its breath for the United States on issues of international politics and
security.
In trying to isolate his targets — Iran and North Korea — what Trump has so far done is push his allies away from the United States and closer to states he views as hostile. First, North Korea: That the talks in the lead up to the now-cancelled June summit to negotiate Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missiles weren’t going well for the past week was obvious. North Korea balked at comments made by National
Security Adviser John Bolton (who called for the “Libya model” of denuclearization) and Vice President Mike Pence (who flat out said North Korea might end up like Libya).
https://thinkprogress.org/iran-north-korea-nuclear-issues-world-moves-on-without-us-4a380e4047d9/
Yet another failure for Australian uranium company Paladin – Namibia uranium mine mothballed
Paladin mothballs Namibia uranium mine Crreamer Media’s Mining Weeekly 25TH MAY 2018
BY: ESMARIE SWANEPOEL CREAMER MEDIA SENIOR DEPUTY EDITOR: AUSTRALASIA ERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed Paladin Energy on Friday confirmed that its Langer Heinrich uranium mine, in Namibia, was being placed under care and maintenance, but said that the low-cost openpit operation would be one of the first to resume production when the uranium market normalised.
Paladin in April said that it was unlikely to resume physical mining activities at the mine despite the medium-grade ore stockpile currently feeding the processing plant set to be exhausted before mid-2019.
The ASX and TSX-listed company on Friday said that it had received consent from all the relevant stakeholders to place the operation under care and maintenance, and had now stopped presenting ore to the plant.
There would be a run-down phase of up to three months where various stages of the plant would be progressively suspended and cleaned, and during this time, there would be some continued production of finished uranium.
Paladin noted that once the run-down phase was complete, operations would have been completely suspended and Langer Heinrich would be under care and maintenance. ……http://www.miningweekly.com/article/paladin-mothballs-namibia-uranium-mine-2018-05-25
International talks recognising the coming wave of climate refugees
The Coming Wave of Climate Displacement https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/climate-change-global-compacts-migration-refugees-by-kumi-naidoo-2018-05,
Not since 1951 has the international community produced a treaty to protect the legal status of the world’s refugees. Now, two agreements are currently under discussion at the United Nations, and each offers a rare opportunity to protect global migrants from the biggest source of displacement today.
Workers evacuated at USA nuclear waste dump site, due to problem with a container
Container problem spurs evacuation at nuclear waste site http://www.kristv.com/story/38282972/container-problem-spurs-evacuation-at-nuclear-waste-siteMay 26, 2018 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Workers had to evacuate the U.S. government’s only underground nuclear waste repository after finding a container of waste misaligned inside its packaging, but officials confirmed Friday that no radiation was released.
It marked another problem for the New Mexico facility where a drum of radioactive waste leaked in 2014 and shut down operations for nearly three years. The leak highlighted safety concerns and resulted in a costly recovery and sweeping changes in the way low-level nuclear waste destined for the dump is treated and handled.
In the latest incident, the contractor that runs the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant activated its emergency operations center after discovering the misaligned container Thursday night. Officials later determined conditions were stable and deactivated emergency operations.
Donavan Mager, a spokesman with Nuclear Waste Partnership LLC, said Friday that officials are investigating how the problem occurred.
In disposing the waste, seven 55-gallon drums are wrapped together in a tight formation to go deep inside the ancient salt formation where the repository is located. The idea is that the shifting salt will eventually entomb the waste.
Workers found one drum wasn’t aligned with the six others that made up the waste package. Work was immediately halted.
Procedures call for officials to develop a plan to re-enter the underground portion of the repository to deal with the pack of drums. It was not immediately known how long that would take.
“The plan is developed with extreme conservatism to ensure workers are protected,” Mager said.
Shipments to the repository resumed in 2017 following the lengthy closure stemming from the container of waste that was improperly treated at Los Alamos National Laboratory, also in New Mexico.
The repository has been receiving several shipments a week of waste that includes gloves, clothing, tools and other debris contaminated by plutonium and other radioactive elements. The Cold War-era waste was generated over years of bomb-making and nuclear weapons research.
The shipments are coming from Los Alamos lab and installations in Idaho, Tennessee, South Carolina and Texas.
The danger of nuclear diplomacy being treated like Reality-TV
White House–watchers feared a move toward the “preventive war” National Security Adviser John Bolton is on the record favoring. And war on the peninsula, with a predicted 300,000 Korean casualties in the opening days alone, even if nuclear weapons were not used — plus the deaths of American soldiers, plus the prospect of a nuclear launch — is decidedly real life, not a movie.
What Happens When You Treat Nuclear Diplomacy Like a Reality-TV Show http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/05/trump-nuclear-diplomacy-is-like-a-reality-tv-show.html Recently, a reader asked why my columns often compare Trump administration moves to TV shows. The reason is simple — Trump’s actions often seem inexplicable or counterproductive if viewed through a traditional national security lens. Seeing them as moves to promote a media narrative often makes them easier to understand — and offers a way to predict what comes next. Trump’s reality-TV approach to foreign and domestic policy has served him well — getting him elected and keeping his base closely enough bound to him that members of his own party do little to challenge him. Continue reading
Adani coal mining company to pay for Isaac council staff working on Carmichael mine activities
Adani to pay for Isaac council staff working on Carmichael mine activities, ABC News 28 May 18 
, By Josh Robertson and Emilia Terzon
Activists take to the streets to Stop Adani
~ MargaretGleeson Sydney May 25, 2018
‘On May 18, activists in Ballarat protested outside the local MPs office and
on May 19 more than 200 gathered outside the Camberwell office of
environment minister Josh Frydenberg.
Rallies were also held in Brisbane and Adelaide.
‘In the Sydney rally, about 400 people rallied at Marrickville Town Hall on May 19,
before marching along the main street past Labor’s infrastructure spokesperson Anthony Albanese’s office.
‘The rally was addressed by Stop Adani Sydney members Gillian Reffell and Isaac Astill
and featured a brass band and a life-size cardboard cut-out of Albanese. …. ‘
www.greenleft.org.au/content/activists-take-streets-stop-adani%C2%A0
North Korea’s dismantling of nuclear weapons site is a positive step
N Korea’s Destroyed Nuke Site Lays Basis for Denuclearization Talks – Expert https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201805261064829259-north-korea-site-destruction-talks-prospect/ WASHINGTON 27 May 18, – North Korea’s dismantling of its nuclear weapons test site should be seen as a positive step towards resolving the crisis on the Korean peninsula, Institute for Science and International Security President David Albright said in a statement on Friday.
“North Korea’s action should not be trivialized but viewed as an important step to reduce tensions and lay the basis for denuclearization negotiations,” Albright said. “It is not fair to portray it as part of an effort to hide or disguise its nuclear weapons capabilities.”
North Korea’s action, he added, is even better than a freeze because it represents a permanent disabling of the site. Three minutes of film footage taken by a journalist makes it clear that major buildings and tunnel entrances were destroyed, according to Albright.
But like many disabling steps, North Korea could likely resume nuclear weapons tests within a few months by digging tunnels in nearby mountains, Albright said. Moreover, the action does not affect North Korea’s existing stockpile of nuclear bombs and its ability to make additional weapons, even if the lack of a test facility could inhibit the nation’s ability to field reliable and deliverable warheads, according to the release.
On Friday, Trump signaled that the meeting with Kim may actually go forward after the US president received a “warm” letter from Pyongyang. In comments published by North Korea’s state-run news agency KCNA, Kim said on Friday that he wanted the United States to know Pyongyang wants to sit down at “any time” to solve problems with Washington.
Before founding the institute, Albright worked with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1992 to 1997 and was the first non-governmental inspector of the Iraqi nuclear program. He was also a Senior Staff Scientist at the Federation of American Scientists.
A year on, the key goal of Uluru statement remains elusive
‘The statement is a proposal of constitutional reform that would establish
a constitutionally enshrined First Nations representative body to advise parliament
on policy affecting Indigenous peoples and
commit Australia to a process of truth-telling of its colonial history
through the establishment of a Makarrata commission.’
Calla Wahlquist
@callapilla 26 May 2018
‘While politicians have been demeaning it,
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been having their own discussions.
‘The Uluru statement canvas, escorted by Uluru delegate and
Torres Strait man of Badhulgau and Kulkalaig heritage Thomas Mayor,
has traversed the northern half of the country and made its way down the east coast to Melbourne,
stopping in at community meetings, festivals, morning teas and business gatherings. …
‘It’s a slow, grassroots process, funded thanks to Mayor’s role as the
NT branch secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia
– although strictly it’s outside the union’s remit
– but the reception has been overwhelmingly positive.
‘“I still have hope because I’ve been travelling around with the Uluru statement
and everywhere I go there’s more and more support,” he said.
‘“I see momentum building.
And when you explain to people how many similar moments of hope
there have been throughout our history and how we have continued to struggle,
and how this particular time we’re not going to take no for an answer,
and how this statement is just going to keep travelling until we get what we seek,
I think that we can get enough pressure there so that
those aspirations can be achieved.”
‘Other working groups have been convened across the country.
On Saturday the statement and Mayor will be in Turnbull’s Sydney harbourside electorate of Wentworth,
one of the wealthiest in Australia, for a door-knocking campaign aiming to convince people to
lobby their local member to change his mind.
‘They will also aim to counter misinformation about the proposal,
which Mayor said is easily done once people hear the true intent
behind the proposed reforms. … ‘
Read more of Calla’s extensive, thought-provoking & interesting article:
www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/may/26/a-year-on-the-key-goal-of-uluru-statement-remains-elusive
Novel Method of Quantifying Radioactive Cesium-Rich Microparticles (CsMPs) in the Environment from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs
Novel Method of Quantifying Radioactive Cesium-Rich Microparticles (CsMPs) in the Environment from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant” has been published in the journal of Environmental Science: Highly radioactive cesium-rich microparticles (CsMPs) were released from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (FDNPP) to the surrounding environment at an early stage of the nuclear disaster […]
CWP brings in Partners for 1,300MW of wind, solar and batteries — RenewEconomy
Australian renewable energy developer CWP Renewables has joined forces with global private markets investment manager Partners Group to build a total of 1,300MW of wind, solar and battery projects that they say will beat coal power on price and reliability. The commitment from Partners Group will see the 135MW Crudine Ridge project south of Mudgee…
via CWP brings in Partners for 1,300MW of wind, solar and batteries — RenewEconomy
May 27 Energy News — geoharvey
Opinion: ¶ “The Silence of the Bugs” • Fifty-six years after Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” warned of bird die-offs from pesticides, a new biocrisis may be emerging. A study published last fall, showing a 76% decline in the total seasonal biomass of flying insects netted at 63 locations in Germany over the last three decades, […]
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 
JOHANNESBURG – Governments around the world are engaged in a series of talks that could fundamentally alter how the movement of people across borders is managed. One dialogue is focused on the protection of refugees; the other on migration.
These discussions, which are being led by the United Nations, will not re sult in legally binding agreements. But the talks themselves are a rare chance to forge consensus on contemporary migration challenges. And, most importantly, they will offer the international community an opportunity to plan for the impact of climate change, which will soon become a key driver of global displacement and migration
At last count, there were some 258 million migrants worldwide, with 22.5 million people registered as refugees by the UN Refugee Agency. These numbers will be dwarfed if even the most modest climate-related predictions are borne out. According to the International Organization for Migration, climate change could displace as many as one billion people by 2050. And yet no international treaty covers climate-induced migration – a gap that must be addressed now.
Not since 1951 have international standards for refugee protection received so much attention. That year, with more than 80 million people displaced after World War II, UN member countries ratified a comprehensive framework to standardize their treatment of refugees. The Global Compact on Refugees that is currently under discussion builds on this framework with strategies to empower refugees and assist host governments. Most significantly, it would commit signatories to protecting “those displaced by natural disasters and climate change.”
The second agreement is even more consequential for the management of climate-induced displacement. There has never been a global treaty governing migration, and past bilateral efforts have focused almost exclusively on violence and conflict as root causes of displacement. The proposed Global Compact for Migration goes beyond these factors, and notes that climate change is among the “adverse drivers and structural factors that compel people to leave their country of origin.”
This type of regulatory language reaffirms what at-risk populations around the world already know: droughts, natural disasters, desertification, crop failure, and many other environmental changes are upending livelihoods and rendering entire communities uninhabitable. In my country, South Africa, a record drought is forcing major cities to consider water rationing. If water shortages persist, migration is certain to follow.
Resource scarcity is particularly dangerous in politically unstable states, where climate change has already been linked to violent conflict and communal upheaval. For example, disputes over fertile land and fresh water fueled the war in Darfur, and even the current crisis in Syria – one of the greatest sources of human displacement today – began after successive droughtspushed Syrians from rural areas into cities. It is not a stretch to predict that climate change will produce more bloodshed in the coming years.
The two UN frameworks could serve as a basis for planning how to manage the coming climate-induced migrations. With scientific modeling to guide decision-making, states could draft orderly, dignified, and equitable relocation strategies. This is certainly a smarter approach than the ad hoc responses to date.
But history tells us that governments are reluctant to seek out collective solutions to forced migration. This failure is visible today in the haunting and inexcusable plight of refugees around the world.
As we enter the final months of the Compact talks, what should we expect of those negotiating the global plan for managing unprecedented movements of people? The causes and consequences of climate change demand close attention. Displaced people must be able to get on with their lives in dignity. The test of world leaders will be whether the global compacts on refugees and migrants can achieve this.