It was scandalous that Tony Blair was able to suborn his pliable attorney general Lord Goldsmith in December 2006 to put pressure on the SFO to do his dirty work.
It was even more of a scandal that not a single member of his Cabinet was prepared to speak out and, if necessary, to resign in protest at this blatantly political interference in judicial proceedings, making them all equally culpable.
Fortunately, campaigners Corner House and the Campaign Against Arms Trade were more principled and determined to ensure that this stinking can of worms was brought to public attention.
Gordon Brown yesterday won Conservative backing for a move that would allow the government to block future criminal investigations such as the corruption case against the arms company BAE Systems: here.
Endangered Saddleback Birds Released on Predator Free Island Off New Zealand
April 2008. Thirty nine endangered saddleback/tieke are nowsettling into a new home on a predator-free island in New Zealand’s Fjordland thanks to the combined efforts of a winery with a special interest in these unique birds and the Fiordland Conservation Trust.
Peregrine Wines staff and supporters of their company joined DOC staff late last month capturing the birds from South Passage and Breaksea Islands and releasing them onto Te Kakahu o Tamatea/Chalky Island as part of a programme to extend populations of tieke back over their original range. …
Last Island Refuges
Tieke who nest and spend much of their lives foraging on the ground were thought to have become extinct on the mainland quickly following the introduction of mammalian predators. They survived only on Big South Cape Island up until the 1960’s when rats were accidentally introduced to the island. They were almost wiped out on the island, but ….birds were rescued by the Wildlife Service (a predecessor of DOC) and transferred to a predator free island. They have since been transferred to a few predator free islands in Fiordland. Their survival now depends on these island sanctuaries free of predators. …
Te Kakahu (Chalky Island)
The Tieke transfer to Te Kakahu (Chalky Island) is part of the ongoing programme to restore native species to islands after removal of introduced pests. Te Kakahu has never had rats, mice, possums or deer present and as a result of this is an incredibly intact ecosystem. The island is already home to other threatened species including Mohua, Orange Fronted Parakeets (which have been transferred to the island during the past 5 years) an endemic species of lizard as well as other threatened invertebrates.
The final story I want to tell in the extinctions of New Zealand is that of Big South Cape Island. It is off Stewart Island, which is itself south of South Island. While Stewart Island escaped many of the feral introductions that devastated South island, it did have rats. In 1963, however, Big South Cape didn’t, and like several such islands around New Zealand, it had many birds no longer found on the mainland: here.
March 2011: Thanks to the efforts of the Department of Conservation and with funding from the Mohua Charitable Trust, the transfer of 69 endangered mohua, or yellowhead, as the birds are otherwise known, to mainland New Zealand in October last year has proven highly successful. The results are just in from the monitoring team and they are thrilled with how the recent breeding season has gone: here.
Biodiversity conservation works… but more is needed
10-04-2008
Conservation efforts have slowed the rate that species are slipping towards extinction, argues a paper published online today in Conservation Biology by scientists from BirdLife International and Cambridge University. Direct conservation action has saved 16 bird species from extinction since 1994 and has substantially slowed the rate of population decline for an additional 33 Critically Endangered bird species. …
The Endangered Norfolk Island Parakeet Cyanoramphus cookii is an example of an extinction averted. Forest clearance had reduced habitat upon which the birds relied, and competition with other birds and predation by rats had taken a severe toll. By 1994 the global population of this colourful bird was estimated to be 32-37 birds, including just four breeding females, all found on the tiny Norfolk Island (Australia). Nest site protection, a captive breeding programme and control of predators resulted in the population growing to between 200 and 300 individuals within ten years.
Researchers at the European Light Source (ESRF) in Grenoble, France, used intense X-rays to confirm that a creature imprinted on a rock, and with one visible leg, had another appendage buried just under the surface of the slab.
“We were sure he had two legs but it was great to see it, and we hope to find other characteristics that we couldn’t see on the other limb,” said Alexandra Houssaye from the National Museum of Natural History, Paris.
This video is called Sadr City, the forbidden city.
From Associated Press:
April 10, 2008 – 4:51am
By HAMID AHMED
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD – Iraqi police say an airstrike by U.S. helicopters on Baghdad’s Sadr City district has killed four people and wounded six.
Police say two of those killed in the strike late Wednesday were brothers aged seven and nine. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
In Haiti, hungry workers and youth stormed the presidential palace on Tuesday, throwing rocks and demanding the resignation of President Rene Preval over soaring food prices.
UN soldiers opened fire with rubber bullets and tear gas. Meanwhile, hungry workers are looting shops and stores. …
In Egypt, the price of bread is up 35% and cooking oil 26%, and the government recently proposed ending food subsidies. The plan has produced revolutionary developments. ‘A revolution of the hungry is in the offing,’ said Mohammed el-Askalani of Citizens Against the High Cost of Living, a group established to campaign against the ending of subsidies.
Workers in Sri Lanka are now going hungry along with their families, after a doubling of the price of their staple rice diet. Many Sri Lankan workers cannot now afford rice, and a major clash with the Rajapaksa military dictatorship is on the way.
In the EU, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Slovenia’s capital on Saturday to denounce low pay and corporate greed across Europe as politicians and central bankers called for wage cutting to combat inflation.
These are the same politicians and central banks that are handing out tens and even hundreds of billions to the bankers, whose anarchic practices have been at the root of the inflationary phenomenon. At a time of surging food and energy prices worldwide, the European Trade Union Confederation organised the demonstration, describing it as a show of anger and determination to improve on the ‘poverty wages’ of more than 30 million workers across the Continent.
From 
Dear Kitty. Some blog 