Because according to current EU rules, Monsanto & Co. can keep their industry studies secret – studies which independent experts could potentially use to show the substance is carcinogenic, if they had access to them. If there is proof a substance could cause cancer, the EU wouldn't allow it on the European market. Now the Commission wants to increase transparency in our food system. It’s proposing new rules which could force industry to disclose its secret studies. But industry is pushing back hard, and as a result, the new rules could be rendered meaningless, or worse: they could leave us with even less information than we have access to now.
2018/08/31
2018/08/30
Hidden but not forgotten: Int’l Day of the Disappeared shines light on Tibet’s dark prison secrets
Tibetans and Uyghurs who defend their culture, Chinese dissidents and activists in Hong Kong are all at risk under Chinese Communist Party rule. Official state figures reveal a conviction rate of 99.93 percent; of the 1.16 million people placed on trial last year, Chinese courts returned a guilty verdict for all but 825 of them.
Like Tashi Wangchuk, many of these people will have never have committed a recognisable crime. His charge, “inciting separatism”, is one of a number of catch-all “state security crimes” contained in the Chinese penal code.
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a Tibetan monk named Thardhod Gyaltsen was sentenced to 18 years in prison after a police raid allegedly found him to be in possession of images and recordings of the Dalai Lama.
2018/08/27
2018/08/26
Arctic Wintertime Sea Ice Extent Is Among Lowest On Record
The Arctic has gone through repeated warm episodes this winter, with temperatures climbing more than 40 degrees above average in some regions. The North Pole even experienced temperatures above the freezing point for a few days in February.
John McCain dies aged 81
McCain’s first brush with death came in July 1967 when, as a a navy pilot in the Vietnam war, a missile exploded near his fuel tanks, causing a ship fire that killed 134 troops. Three months later he was shot down over Vietnam, breaking both arms and a leg, and was captured by the North Vietnamese.
McCain was offered early release because his father was a four-star admiral but rejected it until his fellow PoWs were also freed. During five years in captivity, including more than two in solitary confinement, he suffered beatings and torture almost daily.
McCain is dying of cancer but he won’t leave this earth without one more fight. The Restless Wave is his latest book, and Vladimir Putin’s Russia is his latest foe.
McCain is dying of cancer but he won’t leave this earth without one more fight. The Restless Wave is his latest book, and Vladimir Putin’s Russia is his latest foe.
2018/08/25
Bergoglio out! Vatican shutdown!
Francis marked the first papal visit to Ireland in 39 years by acknowledging that the failure of Church authorities to adequately address “repugnant” clerical child abuse crimes there remains a source of shame for the Catholic community.
Old wounds have never healed for millions of Spaniards
While Franco has lain in splendour 37 miles (60km) outside Madrid, until recently, an estimated 140,000 of his opponents lay in unmarked graves around the country, buried where they were summarily executed during and after the civil war. The last of these executions was carried out in 1975.
2018/08/24
Cleaning Cash Amid Slovakia’s Peaks
Journalists were about to publish an investigation into the Vadalas in Slovakia when Jan Kuciak, a member of the reporting team, was murdered.
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One never fully investigated angle involved Fruitpoint BV, a Dutch fruit importer from whose docks the Aquinos picked up some of their drug-laden containers.
New evidence for cyclic universe
Unexpected hot spots in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) could have been produced by black holes evaporating before the Big Bang.
2018/08/23
How Tourists Are Destroying the Places They Love
residents of the cities and regions affected are perhaps the biggest losers. When, for example, it becomes more lucrative for property owners to rent their apartments out to tourists on a daily or weekly basis than to locals who need an affordable place to live.
2018/08/20
9 Female Painters of the 19th Century You Need to Know
The women who bravely paved the way for the modern-day counterparts are largely forgotten, mere footnotes in the art history textbooks. “Women Artists in Paris” seeks to change that, shining a light on 37 women from 11 countries who studied art in Paris in the second half of the 19th century.
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“Every single one of these artists could have a powerful monographic exhibition,” she added, noting that she hopes the current show will be a stepping stone for further recognition for its subjects. “It is the responsibility of institutions to continue this dialogue in a sustained way, not just having the exhibition and forgetting about these artists again, but to really keep seeking out opportunities to highlighting this work, encourage art historical inquiry, and to engage our public with the work of these women.”
2018/08/15
Aretha Franklin died
the undisputed Queen of Soul, died Thursday at her Detroit home, the Associated Press reports, surrounded by family and friends. She had been battling various undisclosed illnesses for years, and, in recent weeks, was receiving hospice care. Franklin was 76.
Catholic Priests Abused 1,000 Children in Pennsylvania
Bishops and other leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania covered up child sexual abuse by more than 300 priests over a period of 70 years, persuading victims not to report the abuse and law enforcement not to investigate it
New study raises red flags on tax haven role in environmental destruction
An analysis of Brazilian central bank data from 2000 to 2011 revealed that at least nine of the world’s largest producers of soy and beef, two industries considered to be main drivers of deforestation, use offshore subsidiaries to finance their operations in the Amazon forest, which Galaz called “a sleeping giant” in the climate change system. Scientists agree that deforestation is one of the main causes of global warming as the carbon dioxide that is typically absorbed by trees gets released in the atmosphere when they are cut or burnt.
2018/08/13
Chinese delegates try to play down and suppress evidence of Beijing’s repression in Tibet
On 25 July, Free Tibet was contacted by a staff member at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights informing them that the Chair of CERD had requested that their submission be removed from the session’s website. The decision to remove the submission was based on the fact that the submission contained a footnote referring to Tibet being invaded and occupied in 1950, and that Free Tibet’s mission statement again referred to China’s occupation of Tibet.
The decision for a UN human rights body to remove a NGO submission is rare. Given China’s long track record of trying to subvert efforts to scrutinise its human rights record in international forums, Free Tibet and Tibet Watch have strong grounds to believe that the decision to remove the submission was taken after the Chinese government put pressure on the Chair of CERD.
The decision for a UN human rights body to remove a NGO submission is rare. Given China’s long track record of trying to subvert efforts to scrutinise its human rights record in international forums, Free Tibet and Tibet Watch have strong grounds to believe that the decision to remove the submission was taken after the Chinese government put pressure on the Chair of CERD.
2018/08/12
Tibet: A Glossary of Repression
The agency in charge of propaganda, the Propaganda Bureau, is one of the highest-level offices in the Chinese Communist Party (the “Party”) and reports directly to the Central Committee, the Party’s senior leadership. Its task is to persuade populations both at home and abroad of the correctness of the Party’s rule and of its policies, as well as to use censorship and other means to deter or prevent criticisms of the Party.
Heat: the next big inequality issue
The deadly global heatwave has made it impossible to ignore: in cities worldwide, we are now divided into the cool haves and the hot have-nots
“Justice, not corruption”
Massive crowds gathered in downtown Bucharest on Saturday night, watched by security forces as they chanted: “Down with the government” and “Justice, not corruption”.
Naipaul died (but the immortals do not die)
Immortals do not die. So the greatest of the XX century "neo-realist" novelists did *. When I read "The Bend in the River" I start to wonder that that would happen with me. Waiting in some crazy country's border until the official gave me, after many hours, an affordable price to allowd me to cross the border with my very old veichle. Automatically I felt a deep connection with VS Naipaul and I did read everything I got from him. If the moving "A House for Mr Biswas" is, perhaps, the most "famous" of his creations, everything comming from his pen is a great "image", sucesion of images, or whatever, of the "human been", grasping the "essence" of it, in a interesting, acute and funny way. I have two great-great masters among the great masters of the literature: one is VS Naipaul, the other one is Marguerite Yourcenar (and, again, less because of her most famous work, "Memoires of Hadrian", than of the total of his creations). Styles completely differents coming from genius completely differents **. Immortals never die. Rest in Pace Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul because you will keep alive forever.
* after all he was an human been with (human) socio-cultural contextualized mistakes... like his misogyny, which, pretty obviously, is comming from his "native" culture, that he despised to much...
** Naipaul had an approach based in what he saw. Yourcenar's approach was completely detached from her own experiences, founded in hers great erudition, namely in ancient and medieval history. Most of the Nobel prizes just can dream on writing as Naipaul did. The great Marguerite Yourcenar never got the Nobel. And... what that matters?
* after all he was an human been with (human) socio-cultural contextualized mistakes... like his misogyny, which, pretty obviously, is comming from his "native" culture, that he despised to much...
** Naipaul had an approach based in what he saw. Yourcenar's approach was completely detached from her own experiences, founded in hers great erudition, namely in ancient and medieval history. Most of the Nobel prizes just can dream on writing as Naipaul did. The great Marguerite Yourcenar never got the Nobel. And... what that matters?
2018/08/10
2018 Is Shaping Up to Be the Fourth-Hottest Year
Temperatures are still rising, and, so far, efforts to tame the heat have failed. Heat waves are bound to get more intense and more frequent as emissions rise, scientists have concluded. On the horizon is a future of cascading system failures threatening basic necessities like food supply and electricity.
2018/08/09
What is PM2.5?
when scientists talk about air pollution, they’re generally thinking about those sources and variants that arise from human activity: things like sulfur dioxide from power plant and other emissions, nitrogen dioxide from vehicle exhaust, and ground level ozone — as well as particulate matter. That last category is crucial, because it’s the microscopic stuff that can actually slip past the respiratory system’s defenses and cause both acute, short-term impacts, and over time, chronic diseases that kill.
Saudi-led air strike on bus kills 29 children
The health ministry run by the rebel Houthi movement said put the death toll at 43, and said 61 people were wounded.
The coalition, which is backing Yemen's government in a war with the Houthis, said its actions were "legitimate".
2018/08/08
U.S. imposes sanctions on Russia for nerve agent attack in UK
Washington said on Wednesday it would impose fresh sanctions on Russia by the end of August after it determined that Moscow had used a nerve agent against a former Russian agent and his daughter in Britain.
Quantification of drought during the collapse of the classic Maya civilization
We modeled the data and conclude that annual precipitation decreased between 41 and 54% (with intervals of up to 70% rainfall reduction during peak drought conditions) and that relative humidity declined by 2 to 7% compared to present-day conditions.
Facebook wants to know your bank balance
The tech mogul’s Facebook has been quietly lobbying some of the biggest US banks to sign partnerships that would have the financial institutions share customer data — including account balances and recent purchases.
Researchers suggest that global warming will have severe consequences for the planet
They paint a picture of boiling hot climates and towering seas in years to come if temperatures rise by just 2C.
2018/08/03
Women speak out on France's harassment problem
“It’s not about harassment, it’s about women being treated as objects in society and the new law won’t change anything. The police don’t have the money to train officers effectively about what constitutes harassment and often they are part of the problem. “If you call them and say a guy behaved weirdly towards you, often the first reaction is they laugh. The answer is having more women in charge of the institutions, the police, the fire services, other bodies. Then we might have real changes.”
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