Five activists from the Rainforest Action Network climbed a giant crane and unfurled a 2,000-square-foot banner just before dawn yesterday protesting the World Trade Organization’s anti-democratic policies, they said. The action marked the first day of the Seattle WTO ministerial meeting. The activists remained high over the skyline until just past noon, when they voluntarily surrendered to the Seattle police and were arrested.

International anti-WTO rally defies a permit denial. Despite being denied the permit by the city of Seattle to march and rally today, the International Day of Protest Against the WTO is still planning to march at 11:00. The People’s Assembly says it has invited delegates from around the world whose countries are facing the devastating impacts of the WTO to participate in the march under the catch phrase “Junk, junk WTO.”

Hoping to inject environmental issues into the political debate, the Sierra Club plans a series of advertisements taking aim at GOP front-runner George W. Bush’s record in Texas. The Washington-based environmental group will begin spending tens of thousands of dollars today to blanket New Hampshire’s television and radio news outlets with advertisements critical of the Texas governor’s record on air pollution. Earlier this month, environmental groups said coal-burning plants in Texas release more mercury into the air than those of any other state. And as the EPA reported last month that Houston has surpassed Los Angeles as the country’s smoggiest city, the Sierra Club says that, according to EPA data, Texas has the nation’s highest level of carcinogenic and toxic air emissions and is the third-worst state for water pollution.

President Clinton will meet with some of the groups protesting against the World Trade Organization talks here in Seattle, this according to the White House. Aides said Clinton was scheduled to meet farmers Wednesday morning and over lunch to address trade officials from the 135 nations expected to take part in the meeting. The president will also take time to meet with organizations who are fighting the tide of globalization. On Thursday, the White House says he’s scheduled to sign the child labor convention, an international agreement to ban the worst forms of child labor, like slavery and prostitution.

This news from Washington: Judge Richard Posner convenes representatives of Microsoft Corporation, 19 states and the Justice Department to determine the chances of mediating an agreement in the company’s landmark antitrust trial. Posner, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, is acting in a private capacity. He agreed to attempt to mediate the case at the request of the U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson in Washington, who is trying the case. Past attempts at mediation have gone nowhere. Jackson found that Microsoft abused monopoly power in the Windows operating system, using it to harm consumers, rivals and other companies. Jackson has yet to conclude whether the actions violated the nation’s antitrust laws, a decision that is expected in February.

U.S. regulators said yesterday they would conduct a special investigation of Seattle-based Boeing Corporation after a string of recent aircraft quality problems, including improperly tightened bolts and parts that failed federal flame tests. The Federal Aviation Administration said the inspection of production lines in Seattle and Boeing’s quality control procedures would begin December 2 and likely run through February. The FAA’s aircraft certification director did not rule out the possibility of fines for the Seattle-based aerospace giant.

Anti-globalization activists seized the limelight yesterday ahead of the global trade meeting in Seattle, protesting in front of a McDonald’s restaurant, marching through downtown and putting delegates from around the world on the defensive. Hundreds of protesters were attending a demonstration by the French farmer José Bové against “Frankenfoods.” We’ll have more on that in a minute.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission will vote on a pending $82 billion merger of Exxon Corporation and Mobil during a closed meeting set to begin today. Sources said the FTC would approve the merger, but would require Exxon and Mobil to divest more assets than originally wanted.