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us not in chemical safety forum: The US government in the third week of September pulled back from the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety. In a letter to the forum, the director of environmental policy at the US State Department, Daniel T Fantozzi, said that the country will no longer participate in the forum and is shifting its focus to another chemicals management accord, the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management.

hippos at risk: Conservationists are criticizing the construction work on a US $620-million hydroelectric dam in Ghana. The project will displace hundreds of Bui hippos inhabiting the Bui National Park along the Black Volta river and force them upstream where they will come into conflicts with farmers and won't get enough food. Bui hippos are one of the largest hippo groups in Ghana. The dam, once constructed, will inundate one-fifth of the park. It is feared that the Black Volta river, which is highly seasonal, may have negative impact on the dam.

energy dispute: Mozambique's energy minister on September 26 said that the country will pay its US $700 million debt to Portugal by December for Cahora Bassa hydro power project. This will allow the country to gain an absolute control over the dam. Portugal still holds 82 per cent of the hydropower project built during colonial rule. Dispute over control of the dam has raged on since the early 1970s. The project is seen as crucial resource to Mozambique which currently faces severe power crisis.

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