Friday, 22 August 2014

The European Union Times

Posted: 21 Aug 2014 06:08 AM PDT

In a surprise U-turn, China’s Ministry of Agriculture has decided not to continue with a program which developed genetically-modified rice and corn. Some environmentalists say public concerns about GM crops played a key role in the decision.
On August 17, when these permits were up for renewal, the Ministry of Agriculture decided not to extend them. In 2009, the ministry’s Biosafety Committee issued approval certificates to develop the two crops, rice and corn.
Developed by the Huazhong Agricultural University, near Wuhan, it was hoped that the GMO strains would help to reduce pesticide use by 80 percent, while raising yields by as much as 8 percent, said Huang Jikun, the chief scientist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Reuters in 2009. It is illegal to sell genetically-modified rice on the open market in China.
However in July, GM rice was found on sale in a large supermarket in Wuhan, which is just across the Yangtze River from the Huazhong Agricultural University, where the product was developed, which caused a public outcry.
“We believe that loopholes in assessing and monitoring [GMO] research, as well as the public concern around safety issues are the most important reasons that the certifications have not been renewed,” Wang Jing, a Greenpeace official based in Beijing, wrote in an email to ScienceInsider.
According to the South China Morning Post, state television commissioned tests on five packets of rice, which were picked at random, and found three contained genetically-modified rice. It is illegal to sell or commercially grow GM rice in mainland China. The safety certificates issued in 2009 only allowed the rice to be planted for research purposes, but never for sale on the open market.
The strain, which was found, was one of two developed by Dr. Zhang Oifa, who is a professor at the Huazhong Agricultural University. He said, “it was not impossible” for the seeds to be put on to the open market.
“You can’t say [the seeds] were leaked on purpose. It’s possible the seed companies have taken away the seeds and reproduced them illegally,” he said, as reported by the South China Morning Post.
However, Huang Jikun also believes that public opinion was not the only reason why the project was shelved. He stated that China is reaching self-sufficiency in terms of rice production, so therefore there was no point in producing genetically modified versions. China exports very little rice as almost all of it is consumed within its domestic market. Huang also admitted, “rising public concerns [about the] safety of GM rice” likely also played a role.
Cong Cao, who is an associate professor at the University of Nottingham in the UK, was scathing of the decision. Writing in ‘The Conversation’ journal, he said the move “signals a major blow to the fight to establish GM food in China.”
Cao believes there is no logic behind the judgment adding that “Anti-Western sentiment has been judged more convincing than a raft of studies endorsing the merits of agro-biotechnology. Government support for GM food is dwindling fast, and it seems safe to say that the opportunity to commercialize GM rice – and with it the chance to help address some of China’s most urgent problems – is all but gone.”
The production of GM corn has not received as much skepticism, as it is mainly fed to livestock, according to Huang Jikun. Nevertheless, like rice, it has also not had its license renewed.
Source

Over 400,000 flee homes in east Ukraine

Posted: 21 Aug 2014 05:56 AM PDT

Ukrainian people sit inside a makeshift shelter in the town of Makiyivka on August 19, 2014.

The UN refugee agency says over 400,000 people have fled their homes due to the fighting in eastern Ukraine.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Wednesday that some 190,000 Ukrainians have been displaced within the country and 225,883 others have fled to Russia, Poland and Belarus.
It warned that the number of displaced peopled could be higher since there is no centralized registration system.
“We do recognize that the number of displaced could be higher as there’s no centralized registration system, and we know that some people are not registering,” said UNHCR spokesperson Ariane Rummery.
Rummery said that around 78,000 of the refugees who went to Russia have applied for refugee status.
Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Moscow forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence the pro-Russians.
Violence intensified in May after the two flashpoint regions of Donetsk and Luhansk held local referendums, in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine.
Local authorities said Wednesday that clashes in and around Donetsk had killed 43 civilians in the past 24 hours.
The UN says more than 2,000 people have been killed and 5,000 others wounded in the four-month conflict gripping the former Soviet state.
Source

US Congressman stonewalled by the CDC

Posted: 21 Aug 2014 05:46 AM PDT

As I get ready to post this article, I have a reply to a request I made to Florida Congressman Bill Posey. I asked for a statement regarding the growing charge that the CDC is covering up an autism-vaccine connection. Here is what Congressman Posey has to say on this subject:
“When it comes to our children, we must make sure that any intervention is as safe as possible, including vaccinations. Scientific integrity is a key component to giving that assurance. I will continue to press for a full understanding of the evidence in this situation. The CDC has refused for more than six months to hand over documents I requested concerning this issue. That is not the type of response we expect from our government.”
Congressman stonewalled. He asked the CDC for data and the CDC refused. Refusal=something to hide.
Why else would the CDC ignore Posey’s request? What right does the CDC have to conceal data about vaccines and autism?
In my previous article today, I highlighted a secret CDC whistleblower, who has anonymously asserted that the CDC intentionally covered up the vaccine-autism connection for a decade.
In the last few hours, I’ve discovered a few facts about him.
He is a research scientist.
Surprisingly, he still works for the CDC.
He is seriously considering coming forward soon, revealing his name, and speaking to the press.
The CDC hasn’t yet contacted him to explain himself, hasn’t yet fired him or taken any action against him.
But the CDC undoubtedly knows who he is. It’s no mystery. From what this whistleblower has revealed so far, the CDC would easily be able to identify him.
The whistleblower knows this.
He has an attorney. It’s not clear whether he can obtain whistleblower status and protection.
I urge him to come forward, reveal his name, and talk. I urge him to tell everything he knows. The public needs to hear his evidence.
And at this point, his best protection is disclosure. Stand up. Tell the whole truth.
There are other researchers at the CDC who would be severely impacted by his disclosure. Like the whistleblower, they covered up the vaccine-autism connection. Unlike him, they haven’t admitted it.
If this CDC scientist steps forward into the light, he could cause a firestorm. The CDC would immediately, of course, reject his claims.
They would say something like this: “Yes, it’s true that, ten years ago, we studied autism and the MMR vaccine, but the whole thrust and pattern of the data we compiled had to be considered, not just one piece. We did look at all the data, and we reached the correct conclusion. There is no evidence that the MMR vaccine causes autism.”
The CDC would count on their allies in the press to swallow this statement whole and treat the story as a minor blip on the radar.
They would count on their allies to ignore what the whistleblower is actually saying: that in a CDC 2004 study, a whole raft of significant and damning data was thrown out and ignored, thus making it seem there was no vaccine-autism connection.
It’s also quite possible that the CDC will try to personally discredit the whistleblower, through character attacks. Is he ready for this? Will he stand up to it?
He needs to come forward now, to allay any suspicion that he was prepped to release false information as if it were true, and then ensnare vaccine critics.
In this vicious game, anything is possible.
Half-admissions won’t carry the day. Half-light and half-shadow won’t work.
If he can deliver the goods in person, for all to see, the resulting scandal would travel up into the highest reaches of the CDC, hitting executives who have served there for the past 10 years.
It could move higher into the Department of Health and Human Services, and even the Congress and the White House, present and past.
And then there are the vaccine manufacturers. They too would face very specific questions.
Having written on these matters for many years, I’m not under the delusion that major heavy hitters would do jail time.
But once the match is lit, you never know what will happen.
The CDC has insisted, time after time, that they’ve proved vaccines have nothing to do with autism.
But out in the land of the Web, there are thousands and thousands of people who know better and can speak and write the truth.
It’s up to him now.
If as reported, he feels great shame and remorse for covering up the damning data and contributing to much human harm and damage, he has an option.
He can pull himself together, say his name, say what he knows, down to the last detail, and say who at the CDC insisted that lies be told.
He can burn down all those lies.
He can break through and acquaint the public with what it’s like to hear the truth from a government-agency employee.
Source

Australian students rally against education budget cuts

Posted: 21 Aug 2014 02:28 AM PDT

Hundreds of Australian students and union members have held nationwide protests against the government’s proposed plans to cut higher education budget.
Student protesters descended on the streets of Sydney’s city center on Wednesday, setting fire to an effigy of Australian Education Minister Christopher Pyne as a sign of protest against the government’s proposed changes to higher education.
“We know higher education today is not the same as it was 20 years ago…. We know this budget is aggressive. We know it attacks the poor, the weak, the sick, the elderly students. We know it supports and empowers the rich and the powerful. And we know we are going to continue to fight…[against it] until we bust it,” said a protester.
Hundreds of demonstrators held similar protests on the streets of other major cities, including Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.
The National Day of Action rallies were organized by the National Union of Students.
The so-called proposed reforms announced in May would allow universities to dictate the cost of degrees, following the same model adopted by the United States education system.
The protesters were particularly angry over a government proposal that lets universities set their own fees.
Students and union members are also protesting against the government’s proposals, including full deregulation of the higher education sector, a 20-percent cut to education funding and a rise in the interest rates of student loans.
Critics of the proposed model said it would leave students under the burden of crippling debts in future.
The students also denounced the recent government plans to slash healthcare and education budgets which are expected to have an impact on a large portion of the country’s population.
Source

Clashes erupt in Liberia as government instates Ebola quarantine

Posted: 21 Aug 2014 02:23 AM PDT

Liberian security forces stand in front of protesters after clashes at West Point neighbourhood in Monrovia August 20, 2014.

Four people were injured in clashes when soldiers opened fire and used tear gas on demonstrators in the quarantine zone in the Liberian capital, Monrovia. It’s as the world tries to contain the fatal outbreak and to find a cure for the deadly disease.
The death toll from the spreading virus mounted by 106 in just two days, and constituted 1,350 victims. In Liberia alone, 576 people have died from 972 cases, AFP reported.
The clashes broke out after the Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf quarantined the West Point and Dolo Town areas, to the east of Monrovia, and introduced a curfew.
Residents of West Point were outraged at the move, protesting, throwing stones and shouting at police. Witnesses also stated that the violence began after the security forces blocked roads to the neighborhood with tables, chairs and barbed wire. Locals told Al Jazeera they hadn’t been warned.
“I don’t have any food and we’re scared,” Alpha Barry, a local who has four children under age 13, said.
“It is inhumane,” resident Patrick Wesseh told AFP by telephone.
“They can’t suddenly lock us up without any warning, how are our children going to eat?” he added.
On Saturday, youths with clubs stormed an Ebola medical facility in West Point.
Liberia is one of the four worst-affected African countries, and fears are that the disease is spreading further: authorities in Asia said they had detained several people arriving from West Africa who are suspected to be ill with Ebola.
Currently, two Nigerian citizens who were going to Vietnam are undergoing tests in Ho Chi Minh City. In Myanmar, a local who arrived from Guinea was also being tested for Ebola.
On Tuesday, patients were also being tested for the deadly virus in the US and Spain.
Looking for a cure
No approved treatment or vaccine is now available for Ebola, while fatality rates can reach 90 percent, although in the current outbreak it is about 55 percent.
The WHO said that the majority of infections from Ebola are connected with the funeral practices or the unprotected care of those demonstrating symptoms. Those include high fever, diarrhea and vomiting, which turns into external hemorrhaging from the eyes and gums and then internal bleeding, which can lead to organ failure.
The WHO also green-lighted a few untested treatments, including ZMapp and the Canadian-made VSV-EBOV vaccine, whose possible side effects on humans are unknown.
On Wednesday, a research was published on an experimental drug treatment which can help monkeys survive a tropical virus called Marburg, similar to Ebola.
The findings appeared in the journal Science Translational Medicine, testing the treatment on 16 monkeys.
One group received the treatment 30-45 minutes after exposure to a lethal dose of the Angola strain of Marburg virus. Other groups were treated one, two and three days after they were infected.
“All treated animals in all four studies survived,” lead author Thomas Geisbert, professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, told South African Press Association.
It comes as the Wellcome Trust and the UK Department for International Development launched an initiative to develop the treatment, with the funds of $10.8 million available to make it happen.
Scientists are requested to submit their proposals for drugs, details on Ebola and how it spreads, as well as the strategies of prevention. All the proposals are to be checked immediately to ensure the urgent start of the work, should any of them prove successful.
“We are launching an emergency call for research to strengthen what we know about Ebola and how it spreads,” International Development Secretary Justine Greening said in a statement. “This will help us better equip those working on the ground so they can tackle the outbreak as effectively as possible and prevent more people contracting this terrible disease.”
A separate $66.5 million initiative has been taken up by Wellcome Trust to “develop the next generation of African health researchers.” The funds will be channeled to sub-Saharan scientists who study neglected tropical diseases, HIV, tuberculosis and other diseases, according to a press release.
Source