Democracy Now! | Headlines for September 6, 2007

Democracy Now! | Headlines

BBC Cancels Climate Change TV Special
Environmentalists are criticizing the BBC for canceling a TV special on climate change called Planet Relief. Executives at the BBC said they scrapped plans for the show because it was not the role of the BBC to lead opinion on global warming. Newsnight editor Peter Barron recently said: "It is absolutely not the BBC's job to save the planet."

Ban Ki Moon Shocked By Conditions in Darfur Refugee Camps
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says he is shocked by the level of poverty and hardship at refugee camps in the Darfur region of Sudan. Ban Ki-moon asked for international help to alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese. He told journalists he had made good progress in organizing a date and venue for long-promised peace talks expected to take place in October. Meanwhile former Irish President Mary Robinson has launched a campaign to raise awareness about the suffering of women in the African nation of Chad where many Sudanese refugees have fled. She spoke yesterday about her recent trip to Chad.

• Mary Robinson: "We believe that somebody must focus on gender based violence and the extent of the rape and currently on the lack of security in the camps and the surrounds and that's one thing that the European Union force can do a great deal to address but it also needs a wider political solution both in Chad and Darfur."

Air Force Flies B-52 Bomber Loaded With Nukes Across U.S.
Military officials have revealed the Air Force mistakenly flew a B-52 bomber loaded with five nuclear warheads across part of the country last week. Each of the five nuclear warheads has about 10 times the destructive force of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The B-52 took off from the Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and landed at Barksdale Air Force base in Louisiana. It took the military hours to realize the nuclear weapons were missing. The incident was first reported in the Navy Times.

• Pentagon spokesperson Geoff Morrell: "Well, I think as you all know it's longstanding policy of this department not to talk about nuclear weapons, so I can't confirm or deny that indeed nuclear weapons were involved in the incident which you rely to me. I can however tell you that the Air Force is currently investigating an error made last Thursday in the transfer of munitions, as you mentioned, from Minot Air Force Base to Barksdale Air Force Base aboard a B-52 Stratofortress."

Sydney in Security Lockdown Ahead of Asian-Pacific Summit
Sydney Australia is in a state of lockdown as Asian-Pacific leaders, including President Bush, gather for a major summit. A four mile, nine-foot high steel and concrete fence has been erected around the site of the gathering. Police have been given special powers to detain anyone on the streets. Police are also conducting ID and bag searches and preventing tourists from taking photographs at sensitive sites. On Saturday, over 20,000 people are expected to take part in a march against President Bush and the Iraq war.

• Australian protester Sandra Sue: "My concerns are about this week in particular about the lockdown in Sydney which I think has been totally unjustified I think for global warming we do need more action and we need it now, not next week, not the week after. I'm incredibly concerned about the free trade agreement between the U.S. and Australia because I think if they come in here and want to play around with our health system we could be doomed."

A new poll finds 52 percent of Australians believe George W. Bush is the worst U.S. president ever.