Newswire

The first in depth national study of wild bees in the US has established that several species have suffered a severe decline in population and range. Honey bees are important for commercial crop pollination of fruit, nut, vegetable and seed production in the United States, indeed globally.

American diplomats proposed Japan reduce whaling in exchange for US help in cracking down on the anti-whaling activists Sea Shepherd, leaked cables reveal.

Japan and the US proposed to investigate and act against international anti-whaling activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as part of a political deal to reduce whaling in Antarctic waters.

Dear Radio Friend,
The latest Shortwave Report (January 7) is up at the website
http://www.outfarpress.com/outfarpress/shortwave.shtml in both broadcast quality (13.3MB) and quickdownload or streaming form (4.9MB) (28:59)
(NEW! If you have access to Audioport.org there is a higher quality version posted up there {26.7MB} http://www.audioport.org/index.php?op=producer-info&uid=904&nav=&)

This week's show features stories from China Radio International, Spanish National Radio, Radio Havana Cuba, and Radio Deutsche-Welle.

German regional governments have closed 4,709 chicken, turkey and pig farms as a precaution after a scare over dioxin contamination of animal feed.

Most of the farms involved are in Lower Saxony, northwest Germany, and most of them raise pigs.

Until they've been checked and found clear of contamination, they will not be allowed to make any deliveries.

It was in Lower Saxony that 2,500 out of the 3,000 tonnes of contaminated fatty acids at the center of the alert were delivered in November and December, where they were used as animal fodder.

Have you noticed that no-one in the media is discussing Climate Change and the devastating Queensland floods? Floods that are directly affecting over 200,000 people, closing down three quarters of the coal mining industry in the state, plus major highways, rail links and public airports. Estimates of the damage are now running into the billions of dollars with at least 10 people killed so far.

Related: FoE: Heavy metals released into flood waters
Brisbane flood warnings, Great Barrier Reef lasting impact

An Aboriginal political party ascribed a good chance of becoming kingmaker in the Northern Territory is set to be registered by the middle of the month.

The First Nations Political Party (FNPP) is being launched by Maurie Japarta Ryan, grandson of stockman Vincent Lingiari, who led the 1966-75 walk-off from Wave Hill station, then owned by British Lord Vestey.

The Roberta Sykes Scholarship Foundation and the Harvard Club of Australia
are offering a scholarship to provide talented Indigenous Australians with
the opportunity to undertake up to two years of postgraduate study at Harvard
University.

The scholarships are directed at Indigenous Australians who have the potential
to become leaders in their field of study and in their communities. The inaugural
scholarship will be offered for study at Harvard commencing in September 2011.

The value of the scholarship will be at least $60,000 per annum to be paid over

Cables released by wikileaks on January 1st, 2011 reveal Japan was pressuring the US Government to remove Sea Shepherd's tax exemption status as a sweetener to negotiating a compromise deal in the International Whaling Commission that would have reduced whale quotas but legitimated commercial whaling. The US Government and Japan were deeply involved in a compromise deal on whaling which would legitimate a commercial catch quota for Japan. Australia remained steadfast against any moves to legitimate whaling in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary or Australian Antarctic Territory.

Related: Sea Shepherd on the wikileaks revelations

Cattle were removed from the Alpine National Park in 2005 by the government of Steve Bracks. This was an important step forward for good land management in our state. Since then, some of the long term damage caused by decades of grazing have started to heal. However, the Victorian Coalition announced in the build up to the November election that it would return cattle grazing to Victoria's alpine national parks as a tool to reduce fire risk.

Related: Alpine National Park... or cow paddock? | Victorian National Parks Association: opinion piece | Report: Science, credibility and alpine grazing | Cattle grazing in the Alps FAQ