Future

Cannes

US – Russian Relations

Clinton, Russian FM Agree to Improve US-Russian Relations
By Lisa Schlein  Geneva

 In their first face to face meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, have agreed to improve U.S.-Russian relations after months of tension between the two countries. 

Clinton and Lavrov were in a cheerful mood as they began their joint news conference here in Geneva. They clearly seemed to have warmed to each other after what they called a wonderful meal together and said they were hopeful this first meeting would lead to future significant U.S.-Russia discussions.

Clinton said the two countries shared a number of common interests. She said they promised to work constructively in areas of mutual interest such as arms control, nuclear non-proliferation, Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea.

“There is no time to waste on a number of these significant challenges, so we will begin working immediately to translate our words into deeds. In particular, we discussed at some length our top priorities, including the negotiation of a follow-on agreement of a START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) treaty and broader areas of cooperation to reduce the number of nuclear weapons and prevent further proliferation,” she said.

The first U.S.-Russia START treaty signed in 1991 placed a limit of 6,000 strategic or long-range nuclear warheads on each side. A second treaty signed in 2002 called for further deep cuts in each country’s nuclear arsenals. That treaty expires at the end of this year.

Lavrov agreed with Clinton’s position that it was important to get to work immediately on negotiating a new treaty. He spoke through an interpreter. “We will do everything to have this agreement reached. This treaty, present treaty has become obsolete. The limits in it have been implemented long ago and staying within the boundaries of that treaty would mean that the United States will have to increase these offensive strategic weapons, sending a very bad signal to the rest of the world, especially during the preparation for the review conference of the NPT (non-proliferation treaty) conference,” he said.

That conference is scheduled to take place in 2010. Both ministers said they believe they will conclude a new START treaty by the end of this year.

While Clinton and Lavrov spoke about their areas of common interest, they also acknowledged areas of differences, including the war in Georgia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia and ways of dealing with Iran’s nuclear program.

Voice of America

Asia

vs Davos

Registrations for the Alliances Day (6th Day)are already open
One particular day dedicated to convergences and alliances between the entities, organizations and their struggles in the World Social Forum 2009

The registrations for organizations and networks that want to offer assemblies for the Alliances Day (6th Day).

On February 1, 2009, the sixth and last day of the WSF Amazon, is the Alliances Day, which will be divided into two stages.

In the morning the assemblies will be held between the networks and entities with similar themes and struggles, which should lists concrete proposals on the campaigns, demonstrations or any other activity, action or reflection that should continue beyond the event of the WSF 2009.

In the afternoon, during the Assembly of the Assemblies, will be reading the proposals and referrals with the results of all the assemblies during the morning shift. It will be a public event scheduled to start at 3 P.M, giving visibility to the specific proposals of the participant movements of the WSF.

In the Assembly of the Assemblies the presentation of the results of convergence will be interspersed with artistic and cultural activities, marking the closure of the 2009 WSF Amazon.

http://www2.kenes.com/nano/pages/home.aspx

Dear Colleagues,

It is our great pleasure to invite you to join us at NanoIsrael 2009, to be held in Jerusalem on March 30-31, 2009. The conference will be held as part of the year-long celebrations of Israel’s 60th anniversary.

NanoIsrael 2009 is a unique event, bringing together a diverse group of elite dynamic speakers and participants. The central showcase for Israel’s excellence in the interdisciplinary world of nanotechnology, NanoIsrael 2009 will bring together industry, academia, investors, non-governmental organizations and government representatives to focus on current research, commercial endeavours and future opportunities in nanotechnology.

Gaza

No place is safe …

It’s urgent

Israel I

Will we be able to solve this 

The right to protect our citizens and the duty to respect the rights of the other side  …

Drip irrigation (ISRAEL)

Subject category: Agriculture 

Goal

Israel, with scarce agricultural land and precious little by way of fresh water supplies, needs to maximize its food output per unit of land while minimizing water use. As part of its drive to cut down on water use, the government chose to promote drip irrigation, which is more expensive than most other irrigation methods. However drip irrigation in terms of water use efficiency is a desirable irrigation method in a country like Israel, where desalination is used to distill fresh water from sea water . 

Description

Drip irrigation is the slow drop-by-drop, localized application of water at a grid just above the soil surface. There are also subsurface drip systems, in which drip irrigation laterals are buried 20-60 centimeters below the soil surface. Drip irrigation saves water by reducing the size of the wet soil surface, thus decreasing the amount of direct evaporation and excess percolation through the root zone. Unlike sprinklers, drip irrigation is practically unaffected by wind conditions, nor is it affected by soil surface conditions. Soil is maintained in a continuously moist condition. Nutrients can be applied through the drip systems, thus reducing use of fertilizers and improving the quality of returned water. Increases in water use efficiency in drip irrigation, compared to conventional basin/furrow irrigation, are attributed to both water savings and the increase in yields resulting from favorable soil moisture and nutrient regimes. 

Israel has achieved a modernization of irrigation techniques and increased irrigation efficiency by introducing drip systems and computerized automatic water control. The improvements over the past years have made it possible to significantly increase both the area under irrigation and agricultural production, without increasing water use. The accompanying table illustrates the significant reduction of water requirements per unit of production in 1984, due mainly to application of modern irrigation technologies, compared with conventional irrigation used in 1970. For example, the reduction of water demand is about 60 percent for the production of potatoes, apples and bananas and about 30 percent for avocados and cotton. 

__________________________________________________________________________________ 

Comparison of Water Requirements in Israel
(liters/kg yield)
__________________________________________________________________________________

__________ Potato_____Cotton_____Citrus______Avocado______Apple______Banana

1970_______250_______1400_______240________1220_________550________1700
1984_______100_______1000_______200_________800_________250________650
Reduction
(%)________60_________29________17__________34__________55_________62
___________________________________________________________________________________
Source: Schwarz, “Israel Sector Water Study”, 1991

Lessons learned

By choosing drip irrigation, Israel has incurred significant installation and maintenance costs. Although the initial investment cost of drip irrigation is relatively high compared to other irrigation methods, in Israel the unit cost of fresh water supply and the opportunity cost of water wastage is much higher than the rest of the world. Another reason why the high cost was justified was because the availability of high technology in the coutry enabled Isarel to apply drip irrigation widely with significant water savings that more than offsets these costs. 

Source

Xie et. al. Using Water Efficiently: Technological Options, World Bank Technical Paper Number 205, May 1993, pp. 20-21.

Propostas Israelitas em Camp David – Julho de 2000

 

 

Estado Palestiniano

 

Será estabelecido um Estado Palestiniano em territórios da WB e Gaza de acordo com as seguintes condições:

 

não terá um exército com armas pesadas

não fará alianças com outros Estados sem a aprovação de Israel e não permitirá a introdução de forças estrangeiras a ocidente do rio Jordão.

Israel manterá o direito a colocar tropas na WB se existir ameaça de invasão de Oriente

A aviação israelita manterá o direito a utilizar livremente o espaço aéreo palestiniano

Israel poderá instalar “early warning stations” nas montanhas em redor do vale do Jordão e também em outras áreas

O controlo de fronteiras será feito pelos palestinianos mas com a presença das forças de segurança israelitas

Israel manterá a gestão dos recursos hídricos  na WB e aprovará uma quota limitada para os palestinianos

Israel “alugará” algumas zonas no vale do Jordão ou manterá soberania temporária sobre estas por período até 25 anos

 

Refugiados

 

O problema dos refugiados palestinianos será resolvido da seguinte forma:

 

Israel não aceitará nenhuma responsabilidade civil ou legal na sua deslocação

Será permitido o retorno de 100.000 refugiados por “razões humanitárias” (reunião familiar) e isso significará o cumprimento da Res. 194 das NU

O nº de refugiados cujo regresso à Palestina será autorizado nunca será superior a 500.000

Um fundo internacional compensará os restantes e também refugiados judeus

…