EU rethinks biofuels guidelines

Palm plantations are replacing the original forest in some areas

Europe's environment chief has admitted that the EU did not foresee the problems raised by its policy to get 10% of Europe's road fuels from plants.

Recent reports have warned of rising food prices and rainforest destruction from increased biofuel production.

The EU has promised new guidelines to ensure that its target is not damaging.

EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said it would be better to miss the target than achieve it by harming the poor or damaging the environment.

Clampdown promised

A couple of years ago biofuels looked like the perfect get-out-of-jail free card for car manufacturers under pressure to cut carbon emissions.

Instead of just revolutionising car design they could reduce transport pollution overall if drivers used more fuel from plants which would have soaked up CO2 while they were growing.

Fuel made from plants like corn are driving up food prices

The EU leapt at the idea - and set its biofuels targets.

Since then reports have warned that some biofuels barely cut emissions at all - and others can lead to rainforest destruction, drive up food prices, or prompt rich firms to drive poor people off their land to convert it to fuel crops.

"We have seen that the environmental problems caused by biofuels and also the social problems are bigger than we thought they were. So we have to move very carefully," Mr Dimas told.

"We have to have criteria for sustainability, including social and environmental issues, because there are some benefits from biofuels."

He said the EU would introduce a certification scheme for biofuels and promised a clampdown on biodiesel from palm oil which is leading to forest destruction in Indonesia.

Some analysts doubt that "sustainable" palm oil exists because any palm oil used for fuel simply swells the demand for the product oil on the global market which is mainly governed by food firms.

US expansion

Mr Dimas said it was vital for the EU's rules to prevent the loss of biodiversity which he described as the other great problem for the planet, along with climate change.

On Monday, the Royal Society, the UK's academy of science, is publishing a major review of biofuels. It is expected to call on the EU to make sure its guidelines guarantee that all biofuels in Europe genuinely save carbon emissions.

In the US the government has just passed a new energy bill mandating a major increase in fuel from corn, which is deemed by some analysts to be useless in combating rising carbon dioxide emissions.

The bill also foresees a huge expansion in fuel from woody plants but the technology for this is not yet proven.

Russia summons UK envoy over row

Two British Council offices defied a Russian closure order by re-opening

The Russian foreign ministry has summoned the UK ambassador amid an escalating row over the reopening of two British Council offices.

The Council's branches reopened on Monday despite a government ban.

Russia called the move a "provocation" and said it would not issue new visas to British Council staff.

The offices were ordered to shut last month in the latest clash over the fatal poisoning of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko in London.

The branches which reopened are in St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. The ban does not apply to the British Council's Moscow office.

'Inflaming tensions'

A statement on the Russian foreign ministry's website said: "Russia views such actions as an intentional provocation aimed at inflaming tensions in Russian-British relations.

UK-RUSSIA ROW Nov 2006: Alexander Litvinenko dies in London May 2007: UK accuses ex-KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi of murder July: Russia refuses UK request to extradite Mr Lugovoi July: UK expels four Russian diplomats July: Russia expels four British embassy staff December: Russia tells British Council to shut two offices Jan 2008: British Council re-opens both offices

"The Russian side will not issue visas to new employees sent to work in the (British) consular offices of St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg to carry out British Council work."

The UK embassy in the Russian capital declined to comment on the schedule of the ambassador, Sir Tony Brenton.

But BBC Moscow correspondent Richard Galpin says the envoy will appear at the Russian foreign ministry on Monday afternoon.

He says the escalating diplomatic crisis between the two countries is now coming to a head and it is not clear if either side is willing to back down.

The British Council, which aims to promote cultural and educational ties, was accused of violating Russian tax rules.

A spokesman for the Council insisted on Monday that its activities were "fully compliant with Russian and international law".

"We believe we're caught up in a political matter," the spokesman told the BBC News website.

'Valuable work'

The British Council's chief executive, Martin Davidson, said they would continue talking to the Russians in the hope of continuing their work.

He told the BBC: "We have to understand the issues, the problems they have with our work, but we believe [our work] is enormously valuable.

Russia has linked its action to wider British-Russian tensions

"We know ordinary Russian people believe it is of real value to them, as well of course to us here in the UK, to have that relationship with Russia."

The offices in Yekaterinburg are on the premises of the UK consulate-general.

The row came on top of continuing tensions over the death of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko in London in November 2006. He had been given a fatal dose of radioactive polonium 210.

The UK wants Russia to hand over businessman Andrei Lugovoi, whom UK investigators suspect of murdering Mr Litvinenko.

When Russia refused to extradite Mr Lugovoi, Britain expelled four Russian diplomats and Moscow followed suit.

Russian officials have described the action against the British Council as a retaliatory measure.

EU reform treaty goes to signing

European leaders will be signing the treaty in a 16th-century monastery.

EU leaders are preparing to sign a treaty in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, that will greatly alter the way members govern themselves.

The treaty creates an EU president and a vastly more powerful foreign policy chief for the Union's 27 nations.

At the same time the document scraps veto powers in many policy areas.

It is a replacement for the EU constitution abandoned following French and Dutch opposition. EU leaders insist the two texts are in no way equivalent.

But the Lisbon treaty incorporates some of the draft constitution's key reforms, and several governments face domestic pressure over the document.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has chosen not to attend the ceremony, citing a prior engagement in the British parliament.

However, he will sign the treaty separately, later on Thursday.

The UK's opposition Conservatives accused Mr Brown of "not having the guts" to sign the treaty, which is politically controversial in Britain, in public.

Mid-life crisis

Having started this year with a celebration of its 50th birthday, the EU hopes the signing of the Lisbon treaty will end the serious mid-life crisis brought about by the death of the constitution, the BBC's Oana Lungescu reports.

There will be a lot of relief, said a senior European diplomat, but also some apprehension about what happens next.

Ireland is the only country planning to hold a referendum, but most voters there seem either undecided or indifferent.

Parliaments in Britain, the Netherlands and Denmark are also expected to give a turbulent reception to the 250-page text.

However, Germany, France and Poland have pledged to be among the first to ratify it, so that the new reforms can come into force in 2009 as planned.

Slimmed-down

The treaty is a slimmed-down version of the European constitution, with a more modest name and without any reference to EU symbols such as the flag and anthem.

It is meant to ease decision-making, by scrapping national vetoes in some 50 policy areas, including sensitive ones such as police and judicial co-operation.

There will also be the foreign policy chief, controlling a big budget and thousands of diplomats and officials, and the permanent EU president appointed for up to five years.

But some already fear that instead of giving Europe a strong single voice in the world, the new posts will only generate more rivalry, Oana Lungescu adds.

Swap girls return to real parents

The girls were brought up by the wrong mothers for almost a year

Two babies in the Czech Republic who were accidentally swapped at birth have been returned to their real parents.

The parents decided to swap the girls back after DNA tests showed they had taken the wrong babies home. They then had weeks of counselling.

They brought forward the date of the planned return after psychologists said it would harm the girls to delay.

The hospital where they were born has sacked two nurses and disciplined five other staff members over the mix-up.

Intense preparation

The two girls, Nikola and Veronika, were born in Trebic, some 165km (100 miles) south-east of the capital, Prague, on 9 December last year.

But the hospital staff's mistake did not come to light until nine months later, when one of the fathers - who had dark hair and dark eyes - thought his blonde and blue-eyed daughter did not look like him.

The interests of the adults have been cast aside, to the children's benefit Milan Smejkal, relative

DNA tests showed she was not related to him - or to his partner.

After deciding to swap back, the two sets of parents underwent an intensive process of preparation. They had sessions with social workers and psychologists, and began paying frequent but short visits to each other.

The original plan was to do the exchange in the New Year, but the parents decided to bring it forward after psychologists warned that the girls were starting to become very aware of their surroundings, and were forming strong attachments to the parents.

"The interests of the adults have been cast aside, to the children's benefit," a relative of one of the couples, Milan Smejkal, was quoted as saying in the Prague Daily Monitor.

Now the girls will celebrate their first birthday on Sunday with their biological parents.

EU 'blue card' to tempt skilled

The European Commission is set to unveil a Blue Card for skilled immigrants, based on the US Green Card.

The card would allow suitably qualified people and their families to live and work within the EU.

The EU says it needs 20 million skilled immigrants over the next 20 years, and is very short of expertise in engineering and computer technology.

Correspondents say another aim of the proposal is to deter the best brains from emigrating to the US to find work.

The plan is controversial and some countries are sure to oppose it.

Critics also fear that Europe's attempt to take the best and leave the rest will only encourage a brain-drain from poorer nations.

Creating 'EU magnet'

The UK, Ireland and Denmark could opt out, but the other EU members will have to take part.

UK ministers say officially they are studying it, but our correspondent says they are not keen on the idea, preferring to develop a points system.

Under the proposals, due to be unveiled on Tuesday afternoon, a Blue Card would enable holders and their families to live, work and travel within the EU.

To be eligible for the card, new immigrants would need to show a recognised diploma, have at least three years professional experience and the offer of a job which could not be filled by an EU citizen.

"To maintain and improve economic growth in the EU, it is essential for Europe to become a magnet for the highly skilled," the European Commission said in a statement.

"...To do so, the EU must present a united front, rather than emphasise the different immigration policies of each member state."

The plan will need the approval of all member states to come into force.

Some politicians in the Netherlands and Germany are hostile and the Austrian government has condemned the plan as "a centralisation too far".

There is a real tension between politicians all over Europe, who know their voters are worried about immigration, and businesses which say they will not be able to function without the skills of graduates from India and China, our correspondent says.

World’s first osmotic power plant planned

OSLO: Norway plans to build the world’s first osmotic power plant, a renewable energy source that makes use of the pressure built up between sea water and fresh water, Norwegian energy group Statkraft said on Wednesday. Osmotic power is based on the natural process of osmosis.

In an osmotic power plant, sea water and fresh water are separated by a membrane. The sea water draws the fresh water through the membrane, thereby increasing the pressure on the sea water side. The increased pressure is used to produce power with a turbine, Statkraft said.

“Osmotic power is a very promising technology,” the head of Statkraft, Baard Mikkelsen, said in a statement.

“It is clean and (greenhouse gas) emission-free, and could become competitive within a few years.” According to Statkraft, the technology could produce some 1,600 terawatt hours (TWh) worldwide.

The prototype of the osmotic power plant is being built in Hurum in southeastern Norway and could produce between two and four kilowatt hours (KWh).

Correa 'to shut' Ecuador Congress

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa has said he will dissolve the national Congress after claiming victory in constituent assembly elections.

Preliminary results show Mr Correa's Alianza Pais party with a strong majority in the assembly, which is to write a new constitution.

Mr Correa says the opposition-controlled Congress is corrupt and inept.

But critics say the reforms will focus more power in the president's hands.

A final tally of votes could take days to determine given the complexity of the vote, but an early official count has given Alianza Pais 80 seats, many more than the 66 needed to control the 130-seat assembly.

The final allocation of seats may take days, if not weeks, given the complicated nature of the poll.

'Strong mandate'

More than 3,200 candidates and a complex voting system left many voters undecided or simply confused, the BBC's South America correspondent Daniel Schweimler says.

"It's very difficult to deal with Congress and I believe the Ecuadorian people's statement was resounding: Congress must go home," he said.

Earlier he told supporters: "We accept this triumph with great humility and total responsibility," he said. "We know we cannot fail."

The impoverished Andean nation has thrown out three previous presidents in the last 10 years, and successive governments have been roundly criticised.

Referendum

Mr Correa says the proposed constitutional reforms will make Ecuador a more just society and tackle the endemic political instability.

The president's critics say he will use the assembly to entrench his hold on power and this will frighten off foreign investors.

The Constituent Assembly is due to start work on 31 October and is scheduled to last 180 days, with a possible extension of up to 60 days.

The constitution the assembly drafts will then be put to a national referendum for approval.

British PM considers cut in Basra troops

The British prime minister has been told by advisers the number of British troops in southern Iraq could be cut by 2,000 by spring.

Plans for a complete UK withdrawal from Basra have been rejected.

But Gordon Brown has been advised that once the focus of troops is largely on training and mentoring Iraqi forces, numbers could drop from 5,000 to 3,000.

The cut, yet to be decided on, could be announced in a statement on Iraq due when the Commons sits again next week.

It is thought British forces are likely to stay in Basra for up to two further years.

They are currently heading towards "overwatch", which involves mentoring and training the Iraqis and not actually going on patrols.

Meanwhile, Britain's consul general in Basra, Richard Jones, has told the BBC that local people are scared that all-out war could break out between rival militias once Britain has handed over security to local forces.

Handover due

News of possible cuts in troop levels will lead to more speculation that Gordon Brown is on the verge of calling a snap election.

Mr Brown has prepared for many weeks to announce that British troops will finally be able to hand over the last of four provinces to Iraqi forces to control.

The Ministry of Defence has already said the handover of Basra province is due this autumn.

BBC political editor Nick Robinson said he understood that ministers had discussed a number of radical options in recent weeks.

One was to withdraw British forces from Basra altogether and move them to the relative safety of a US and an Australian base elsewhere.

Another was to withdraw troops to a base inside Kuwait.

Both would have allowed significant troop reductions and, politically, would have signalled a significant break in UK policy, our correspondent added.

But both options were rejected.

As a result, British forces are likely to stay in Basra for a significant period of time - possibly for as long as two years.

But our correspondent said a cut was being considered because fewer British troops would be required for force protection and they would be facing fewer dangerous situations.

Such a reduction would not take place immediately but in the foreseeable future, he added.

Last base

At the end of August, Mr Brown ruled out setting a timetable for withdrawing UK troops from Iraq, saying it would undermine their "important job" there.

The prime minister has always said that decisions on the future size and strength of British forces in Iraq would "continue to depend on conditions on the ground".

He was speaking ahead of the September handover by 550 soldiers of Basra Palace to Iraqi control.

Those soldiers joined 5,000 troops at the airport - the UK's last base in the city - and 500 soldiers have since been withdrawn from the country.

Meanwhile, civilians in Basra have described the city as a place of fear where assassination and intimidation are common.

They described the parties and militias now vying for control of the city as resembling "Shia Taleban".

Academics are killed or intimidated into silence and women threatened with death if they do not wear conservative Islamic dress, they say.

Mr Jones, the consul general, said "dark forces" had infiltrated the police but insisted a new security chief would be able to purge their ranks.

He said that, as residents contemplated the handing over of security this autumn, they also feared all-out war between rival militias.

Britain has plutonium for 17,000 Nagasaki bombs

LONDON, Sept 21(Reuters): Britain has amassed a stockpile of more than 100 tonnes of plutonium -- enough for 17,000 bombs of the size that flattened Japan's Nagasaki in 1945, a report from the country's top science institution said on Friday.

The toxic stockpile, which has doubled in the last decade, comes mainly from reprocessing of spent uranium fuel from the country's nuclear power plants, so to stop it growing the practice must end, the Royal Society said.