Monday, October 31, 2016
2 billion children breathe toxic air worldwide, UNICEF says
NEW DELHI (AP) — As Indians awoke Monday to smoke-filled skies from a weekend of festival fireworks, New Delhi's worst season for air pollution began — with dire consequences.
A new report from UNICEF says about a third of the 2 billion children in the world who are breathing toxic air live in northern India and neighboring countries, risking serious health effects including damage to their lungs, brains and other organs. Of that global total, 300 million kids are exposed to pollution levels more than six times higher than standards set by the World Health Organization, including 220 million in South Asia.
For the Indian capital, the alarming numbers are hardly a surprise. New Delhi's air pollution, among the world's worst, spikes every winter because of the season's weak winds and countless garbage fires set alight to help people stay warm.
Even days before the city erupted in annual fireworks celebrations for the Hindu holiday of Diwali, recorded levels of tiny, lung-clogging particulate matter known as PM 2.5 were considered dangerous Friday at well above 300 micrograms per cubic meter. By Monday morning, the city was recording PM 2.5 levels above 900 mcg per cubic meter — more than 90 times higher than the WHO recommendation of no more than 10 mcg per cubic meter.
"My eyes are irritated, I'm coughing and I find it difficult to breathe," said 18-year-old Delhi student Dharmendra, who uses only one name as is common in India. Because of the pollution, "I don't go out so much nowadays."
New Delhi residents were advised to stay indoors on Monday, with health warnings issued for the young, elderly and those with respiratory or heart conditions. Officials said the high pollution levels were made worse by the ongoing burning of spent crops in agricultural fields in the neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana.
"Pollution levels every winter gallop, and we are already beginning to see the signs of it," said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director of the Centre for Science and Environment, a Delhi-based research and lobbying organization. Some local studies indicate up to a third of Delhi's children have impaired lung function and respiratory diseases like asthma, she said. "This really signals health disaster."
Children face much higher health risks from air pollution than adults. Children breathe twice as quickly, taking in more air in relation to their body weight, while their brains and immune systems are still developing and vulnerable.
"The impact is commensurately shocking," with 600,000 children younger than 5 across the world dying every year from air pollution-related diseases, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said in the report released Monday. "Millions more suffer from respiratory diseases that diminish their resilience and affect their physical and cognitive development.
Counting 2 billion children breathing unhealthy air — out of a total 2.26 billion world population of children — means the vast majority are being exposed to levels of pollution considered by the WHO to be unsafe.
Out of that 2 billion breathing toxic air, the report puts 620 million of them in South Asia — mostly northern India. Another 520 million children are breathing toxic air in Africa, and 450 million in East Asia, mainly China, according to the report, which combined satellite images of pollution and ground data with demographic patterns to determine which populations fell into the highest risk areas.
Since being identified as one of the world's most polluted cities in recent years, New Delhi has tried to clean its air. It has barred cargo trucks from city streets, required drivers to buy newer cars that meet higher emissions standards and carried out several weeks of experimental traffic control, limiting the number of cars on the road. But other pollution sources, including construction dust and cooking fires fueled by wood or kerosene, continue unabated.
Last week, the city launched a smartphone application called "Change the Air" inviting residents to send photos and complaints about illegal pollution sources, from the burning of leaves and garbage in public parks to construction crews working without dust control measures.
Sunday, October 30, 2016
War pushes Yemen to partition, thwarting peace efforts
Reuters) - Yemen has endured thousands of air strikes and the deaths of more than 10,000 people in a 19-month war that has also unleashed hunger on the desperately poor country - but its biggest challenge may be yet to come.
The conflict has led to Yemen's de facto partition, with rival armies and institutions in the north and south, and could mean the map of the Middle East will have to be redrawn.
A three-day truce to allow in more humanitarian aid and prepare a political settlement collapsed last week, reflecting deadlocked efforts to end the stalemated war.
But behind the combatants' disagreements over how to share power, Yemen's future as a unified state appears increasingly in doubt.
Such a possibility appeared remote when a coalition of Arab states began launching air strikes in March 2015 to restore to power President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi, driven from the capital, Sanaa, by the Iranian-allied Houthi movement in 2014.
It seems less fanciful now.
The Houthis' rise to power in the north has provoked a revival of southern separatism, a movement that sees the fracturing of state power as its moment to break away.
At the same time, the south and its major city, Aden, serve as a base for the internationally recognized government, which is trying to take back national control even as it manages an uneasy alliance with the secessionists.
Yemen was once split between a pro-Soviet state in the South and a republic buttressed by armed tribes in the North. A southern bid to secede failed in 1994 when the north restored unity by force.
Many southerners now believe their time has come after two decades of what they see as marginalization within the unified state, and the plundering of mostly southern oil reserves by corrupt northern tribal sheikhs and politicians
The conflict has led to Yemen's de facto partition, with rival armies and institutions in the north and south, and could mean the map of the Middle East will have to be redrawn.
A three-day truce to allow in more humanitarian aid and prepare a political settlement collapsed last week, reflecting deadlocked efforts to end the stalemated war.
But behind the combatants' disagreements over how to share power, Yemen's future as a unified state appears increasingly in doubt.
Such a possibility appeared remote when a coalition of Arab states began launching air strikes in March 2015 to restore to power President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi, driven from the capital, Sanaa, by the Iranian-allied Houthi movement in 2014.
It seems less fanciful now.
The Houthis' rise to power in the north has provoked a revival of southern separatism, a movement that sees the fracturing of state power as its moment to break away.
At the same time, the south and its major city, Aden, serve as a base for the internationally recognized government, which is trying to take back national control even as it manages an uneasy alliance with the secessionists.
Yemen was once split between a pro-Soviet state in the South and a republic buttressed by armed tribes in the North. A southern bid to secede failed in 1994 when the north restored unity by force.
Many southerners now believe their time has come after two decades of what they see as marginalization within the unified state, and the plundering of mostly southern oil reserves by corrupt northern tribal sheikhs and politicians
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Oregon Standoff: Ammon Bundy, All Defendants Found Not Guilty
(Beforeitsnews.com - Ammon Bundy and six co-defendants have been found not guilty of federal conspiracy and gun charges relating to a standoff at a wildlife refuge in Oregon that ended after one of the occupiers was killed by authorities during a chase.
The Oregonian reports that all seven defendants were found not guilty Thursday of conspiracy and gun charges. The jury was hung on Ryan Bundy’s theft of government property charge.
The Oregonian’s Maxine Bernstein reports Attorney Marcus Mumford was tackled by US Marshals in the courtroom after he continued to argue that Bundy should go free. A judge countered that there is a U.S. Marshal’s hold on Bundy relating to a pending trail for a federal indictment in Nevada.
“While I respect the jury’s decision, I am disappointed,” she stated via Twitter. “The occupation of the Malheur Refuge by outsiders did not reflect the Oregon way of respectfully working together to resolve differences. I appreciate the due diligence of our federal partners and stand with the communities of Harney County and residents of Burns.”
The standoff at Malheur eventually ended when several of the protesters were arrested. LaVoy Finicum, an Arizona man with ties to southern Utah, was shot and killed. (FullText)
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Related: Virtue Signalling Fajitas: The Bundy verdict proves the US is fine with armed *white* militants—but not Aboriginal activists
Friday, October 28, 2016
Original Emoticon Will Go on Display at Museum of Modern Art
- Before the "hearts-for-eyes" face, the praying hands and the notorious eggplant, there was the very first set of emoji — an assortment of small and now-primitive pictographs that include a green coffee mug, a blue airplane and a purple face with two carets for eyes and a tiny rectangle for a mouth. But now, these trailblazing symbols have the distinction of being modern art.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City announced yesterday (Oct. 26) that it has acquired the original 176 emoji for its permanent collection, reported The New York Times. MoMA will feature the emoji in the museum's lobby starting in December, as part of an exhibit that includes other graphics and animations.
The original emoji were designed by Shigetaka Kurita for the Japanese mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo. Kurita created the pictographs, which were released in 1999, on tiny grids measuring 12 pixels by 12 pixels.
When smartphones became ubiquitous, emoji became a staple of mobile communication.
"The transition from desktop to mobile platforms necessitated a further rethinking of the customs long associated with written correspondence," Paul Galloway, MoMA's Architecture & Design Collection specialist, wrote in a blog post on the museum's website. "This was especially true in Japan, where the cultural necessity of exacting salutations and complex honorifics made early devices impractical for widespread adoption. Emoji were an ingenious shortcut around this and other problems." (FullText)
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City announced yesterday (Oct. 26) that it has acquired the original 176 emoji for its permanent collection, reported The New York Times. MoMA will feature the emoji in the museum's lobby starting in December, as part of an exhibit that includes other graphics and animations.
The original emoji were designed by Shigetaka Kurita for the Japanese mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo. Kurita created the pictographs, which were released in 1999, on tiny grids measuring 12 pixels by 12 pixels.
When smartphones became ubiquitous, emoji became a staple of mobile communication.
"The transition from desktop to mobile platforms necessitated a further rethinking of the customs long associated with written correspondence," Paul Galloway, MoMA's Architecture & Design Collection specialist, wrote in a blog post on the museum's website. "This was especially true in Japan, where the cultural necessity of exacting salutations and complex honorifics made early devices impractical for widespread adoption. Emoji were an ingenious shortcut around this and other problems." (FullText)
Thursday, October 27, 2016
World wildlife 'falls by 58% in 40 years'
BBC - Global wildlife populations have fallen by 58% since 1970, a report says.
The Living Planet assessment, by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and WWF, suggests that if the trend continues that decline could reach two-thirds among vertebrates by 2020.
The figures suggest that animals living in lakes, rivers and wetlands are suffering the biggest losses.
Human activity, including habitat loss, wildlife trade, pollution and climate change contributed to the declines.
Dr Mike Barrett. head of science and policy at WWF, said: "It's pretty clear under 'business as usual' we will see continued declines in these wildlife populations. But I think now we've reached a point where there isn't really any excuse to let this carry on.
"We know what the causes are and we know the scale of the impact that humans are having on nature and on wildlife populations - it really is now down to us to act."
However the methodology of the report has been criticised.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Brazil: Rio to Fight Zika with Massive Release of Bacteria-Infected Mosquitoes
ScientificAmerican - Two major philanthropic organizations, along with the United States and Britain, announced on Wednesday an ambitious experiment to combat mosquito-borne diseases in cities by infecting the insects with crafty bacteria.
Researchers have used the bacteria, known as Wolbachia, in trials in places including Australia and Brazil in recent years. But those efforts were small, reaching areas with tens of thousands of residents.
The new trials will cover urban areas with millions of people. The goal: to see if the promising results from the early field trials can be replicated, and, possibly, to demonstrate that the approach can halt viruses like Zika and yellow fever.
“This is an order of magnitude bigger than anything that’s been attempted before,” said Mike Turner, acting director of science at the Wellcome Trust, one of the groups funding the effort. “That’s the question—can you do it to scale?”
The US and UK governments and the Gates Foundation are also contributing to the $18 million campaign. The group running the trials, the Eliminate Dengue Program, will be testing how loading Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with the Wolbachia bacteria affects cases of Zika, dengue, and chikungunya in cities in Brazil and Colombia over two to three years.
Wolbachia bacteria are found naturally in many insects, but not Aedes aegypti. When the bacteria are introduced to these mosquitoes, they take up residence in the insects’ cells, preventing viruses from multiplying and from being passed to people the insects bite. When mosquitoes with Wolbachia are released into the wild and breed, their offspring are born with the bacteria and can’t spread disease either.
Eliminate Dengue has run trials in Colombia, Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Australia over the past five years. The new trials will ramp up those efforts in Colombia and Brazil, the two countries hardest hit by the recent Zika outbreak.
In Colombia, the trial will take place in the city of Bello, and in Brazil, it will cover parts of the greater Rio de Janeiro area. Because lots of people and lots of mosquitoes live so densely in cities, urban areas are more vulnerable to mosquito-borne diseases than rural areas. Aedes aegypti only fly a few hundred yards in their lifetimes.
Researchers have used the bacteria, known as Wolbachia, in trials in places including Australia and Brazil in recent years. But those efforts were small, reaching areas with tens of thousands of residents.
The new trials will cover urban areas with millions of people. The goal: to see if the promising results from the early field trials can be replicated, and, possibly, to demonstrate that the approach can halt viruses like Zika and yellow fever.
“This is an order of magnitude bigger than anything that’s been attempted before,” said Mike Turner, acting director of science at the Wellcome Trust, one of the groups funding the effort. “That’s the question—can you do it to scale?”
The US and UK governments and the Gates Foundation are also contributing to the $18 million campaign. The group running the trials, the Eliminate Dengue Program, will be testing how loading Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with the Wolbachia bacteria affects cases of Zika, dengue, and chikungunya in cities in Brazil and Colombia over two to three years.
Wolbachia bacteria are found naturally in many insects, but not Aedes aegypti. When the bacteria are introduced to these mosquitoes, they take up residence in the insects’ cells, preventing viruses from multiplying and from being passed to people the insects bite. When mosquitoes with Wolbachia are released into the wild and breed, their offspring are born with the bacteria and can’t spread disease either.
Eliminate Dengue has run trials in Colombia, Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Australia over the past five years. The new trials will ramp up those efforts in Colombia and Brazil, the two countries hardest hit by the recent Zika outbreak.
In Colombia, the trial will take place in the city of Bello, and in Brazil, it will cover parts of the greater Rio de Janeiro area. Because lots of people and lots of mosquitoes live so densely in cities, urban areas are more vulnerable to mosquito-borne diseases than rural areas. Aedes aegypti only fly a few hundred yards in their lifetimes.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
E-cigarettes could be used to help combat obesity in smokers trying to quit: study
there goes the narrative..
Reuters) - Researchers in Britain and New Zealand have found a potential new use for electronic cigarettes in smokers who want to give up - controlling appetite and limiting the weight gain that often comes with quitting.
In a review published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research, the scientists found that it's the nicotine in cigarettes that makes smokers less likely to overeat, and suggested e-cigarettes, which contain nicotine but no tobacco, may help prevent them from eating too much when they quit.
E-cigarettes, which heat nicotine-laced flavored liquids into a vapor, have rapidly grown into a global "vaping" market that was estimated at around $7 billion in 2015.
Smoking tobacco, which can lead to fatal illness, is known to suppress appetite and smokers often say they smoke to keep their body weight in check. People who quit tobacco frequently say they put on weight after giving up, and the risk of getting fatter can deter smokers from trying to stop.
"Weight gain prevents some smokers from quitting, so we need to explore alternative ways of helping these (people) control their weight while removing the risks of tobacco," said Linda Bauld, a Stirling University health policy professor and deputy director of the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies.
Many public health specialists think e-cigarettes, or vapes, are a lower-risk alternative to smoking, but some question their long-term safety and note that they are not risk-free.
Bauld said "the benefits of e-cigarettes for smokers have been shown to far outweigh the harms, as vaping carries around 5 percent of the risk of smoking". But she but stressed that her team did not find evidence to support any promotion of e-cigarettes to non-smokers who want to stay slim.
For smokers trying to quit and prevent weight gain, however, the researchers said e-cigarattes with food flavorings may replicate some of the sensations of eating.
This coupled with the vapor in electronic cigarettes and the hand to mouth actions of vaping could play a role in helping potential quitters to eat less, they said in their review.
Health specialists not directly involved in the review said its findings were interesting but should be taken with great caution, particularly with regard to non-smokers and non-vapers.
Monday, October 24, 2016
To avoid SIDS, infants and parents should share a room, report says
(CNN) For at least the first six months of their lives, infants should be sleeping in the same room as their parents, but not the same bed, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The academy recommends children sleep on separate surfaces within the same room, such as a crib, but never on a soft surface, armchair or couch. Optimally, infants should sleep in the same room as parents up to age 1, the organization said.
The aim is to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, known as SIDS, and other forms of infant death that can occur when a baby is sleeping, such as suffocation. These types of death among infants are collectively known as sleep-related infant deaths, or sudden unexpected infant deaths.
"The whole phenomenon of SIDS implies that we don't know 100% what is responsible for the death, but we have theories," said Dr. Lori Feldman-Winter, member of the Task Force on SIDS and co-author of the report.
These theories include that a baby's brain may not be developed enough to regulate respiration combined with an environment -- such as soft furnishings -- that aid asphyxia or nasal obstruction and simply that certain infants may just be more vulnerable due to genetics or physical traits.
The AAP report, launched during the the AAP national conference in San Francisco this week, states that evidence shows parents sharing a room with their infant can reduce the risk of SIDS by as much as 50%.
"A baby that is within reach of their mother may have more comfort, or physical stimulation form being in an environment with another person," said Winter, adding that mothers being near their babies also facilitates breastfeeding, which in itself has been shown to reduce the risk of SIDS by 70%.
"Breastfeeding protects against many adverse outcomes," she said. (FullText)
The academy recommends children sleep on separate surfaces within the same room, such as a crib, but never on a soft surface, armchair or couch. Optimally, infants should sleep in the same room as parents up to age 1, the organization said.
The aim is to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, known as SIDS, and other forms of infant death that can occur when a baby is sleeping, such as suffocation. These types of death among infants are collectively known as sleep-related infant deaths, or sudden unexpected infant deaths.
"The whole phenomenon of SIDS implies that we don't know 100% what is responsible for the death, but we have theories," said Dr. Lori Feldman-Winter, member of the Task Force on SIDS and co-author of the report.
These theories include that a baby's brain may not be developed enough to regulate respiration combined with an environment -- such as soft furnishings -- that aid asphyxia or nasal obstruction and simply that certain infants may just be more vulnerable due to genetics or physical traits.
The AAP report, launched during the the AAP national conference in San Francisco this week, states that evidence shows parents sharing a room with their infant can reduce the risk of SIDS by as much as 50%.
"A baby that is within reach of their mother may have more comfort, or physical stimulation form being in an environment with another person," said Winter, adding that mothers being near their babies also facilitates breastfeeding, which in itself has been shown to reduce the risk of SIDS by 70%.
"Breastfeeding protects against many adverse outcomes," she said. (FullText)
Sunday, October 23, 2016
US: AT&T Reaches Deal to Buy Time Warner for $85.4 Billion
(wallstreetjournal- AT&T Inc. has reached an agreement to buy Time Warner Inc. for $85.4 billion in a deal that would transform the phone company into a media giant.
The wireless carrier agreed to pay $107.50 a share, evenly split between cash and stock. The companies said they expect the deal to close by the end of 2017.
AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson would head the new company. The companies said Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes would stay for an interim period following the close of the deal to help with the transition.
The combined business would pair the carrier’s millions of wireless and pay-television subscribers with Time Warner’s deep media lineup, which includes networks such as CNN, TNT, the prized HBO channel and Warner Bros. film and TV studio. It furthers AT&T’s bet that television and video can drive growth into a stalled wireless market.
“Premium content always wins. It has been true on the big screen, the TV screen and now it’s proving true on the mobile screen,” Mr. Stephenson, 56 years old, said in a release.
The companies said they aim to be the first U.S. wireless company to compete nationwide with cable companies by providing an online-video bundle akin to a traditional pay-television package. “It will disrupt the traditional entertainment model and push the boundaries on mobile content availability for the benefit of customers,” the companies said.
For Time Warner, the deal represents a victory for Mr. Bewkes, 64, who took some heat from investors for rebuffing a takeover bid two years ago from 21st Century Fox at $85 a share. (21st Century Fox and Wall Street Journal-owner News Corp share common ownership.)
Competitors are likely to sound alarms about the scale of the combined company to possibly extract concessions during the review. Walt Disney Co. Chief Communications Officer Zenia Mucha said Saturday that “a transaction of this magnitude obviously warrants very close regulatory scrutiny.”
Mr. Stephenson added that Time Warner had created an “amazing franchise” by distributing its content to many distributors, and “we don’t imagine that changing.”
The talks began in August, when Mr. Stephenson paid a visit to Mr. Bewkes at Time Warner’s New York offices. “He came to talk to me about his view of distribution going forward, and my view of content,” Mr. Bewkes said in an interview after the deal was announced late Saturday. “He said, ‘conceptually it might make sense for us to combine. Should we investigate?’ ”
The first hurdle was getting Time Warner interested in selling. The men continued discussing the possibilities with each other and talked to their boards, eventually concluding that a merger made sense, Mr. Bewkes said. (FullText)
The wireless carrier agreed to pay $107.50 a share, evenly split between cash and stock. The companies said they expect the deal to close by the end of 2017.
AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson would head the new company. The companies said Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes would stay for an interim period following the close of the deal to help with the transition.
The combined business would pair the carrier’s millions of wireless and pay-television subscribers with Time Warner’s deep media lineup, which includes networks such as CNN, TNT, the prized HBO channel and Warner Bros. film and TV studio. It furthers AT&T’s bet that television and video can drive growth into a stalled wireless market.
“Premium content always wins. It has been true on the big screen, the TV screen and now it’s proving true on the mobile screen,” Mr. Stephenson, 56 years old, said in a release.
The companies said they aim to be the first U.S. wireless company to compete nationwide with cable companies by providing an online-video bundle akin to a traditional pay-television package. “It will disrupt the traditional entertainment model and push the boundaries on mobile content availability for the benefit of customers,” the companies said.
For Time Warner, the deal represents a victory for Mr. Bewkes, 64, who took some heat from investors for rebuffing a takeover bid two years ago from 21st Century Fox at $85 a share. (21st Century Fox and Wall Street Journal-owner News Corp share common ownership.)
Competitors are likely to sound alarms about the scale of the combined company to possibly extract concessions during the review. Walt Disney Co. Chief Communications Officer Zenia Mucha said Saturday that “a transaction of this magnitude obviously warrants very close regulatory scrutiny.”
Mr. Stephenson added that Time Warner had created an “amazing franchise” by distributing its content to many distributors, and “we don’t imagine that changing.”
The talks began in August, when Mr. Stephenson paid a visit to Mr. Bewkes at Time Warner’s New York offices. “He came to talk to me about his view of distribution going forward, and my view of content,” Mr. Bewkes said in an interview after the deal was announced late Saturday. “He said, ‘conceptually it might make sense for us to combine. Should we investigate?’ ”
The first hurdle was getting Time Warner interested in selling. The men continued discussing the possibilities with each other and talked to their boards, eventually concluding that a merger made sense, Mr. Bewkes said. (FullText)
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Saturday, October 22, 2016
Internet outage swoops across the US
cnet.com) - Across the US on Friday, people screamed at their phones and computers and went a little crazy trying to figure out which of their favorite websites were still working.
At 7 a.m. local time, folks on the East Coast discovered that sites like Twitter, Spotify, Etsy, Netflix and software code-management service GitHub were knocked for a loop. Hackers had flooded Dyn, one of the biggest internet management companies in the country, with junk traffic -- effectively shutting down services and websites throughout the region.
The outages eased after two hours but returned with a vengeance at midday, affecting areas across the US and parts of Europe.
"The earlier issues have resurfaced & some people may still be having trouble accessing Twitter," the company tweeted. "We're working on it!" Meanwhile, the US Department of Homeland Security said it was "investigating all potential causes."
It wasn't until late in the day that Dyn said the issue had been resolved.
Hackers had used what's known as a distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) -- conscripting hordes of internet-connected devices like computers, routers and security cameras into a botnet -- to cripple Dyn's servers.
Based in New Hampshire, Dyn is both a DNS service provider -- translating URLs into IP addresses -- and an internet management company, helping website customers get the best-possible online performance. It also filters out bad traffic headed to the websites, and that's where things fell apart Friday. By overwhelming Dyn, the attackers were able to overwhelm many of its customers.
Last month, noted security expert Bruce Schneier said core internet companies were seeing people probing their networks to learn how well they could respond to DDoS attacks. The title of his blog post: "Someone is learning how to take down the internet."
DDoS attacks have been around since the dawn of the modern internet, but they've been getting more powerful. Last month, the website of security expert Brian Krebs was hit with 620 gigabits per second of traffic.
Cybersecurity company Flashpoint said Friday the botnet attacking Dyn was built with the same malicious software that launched the attack against Krebs and French website OVH -- the two most powerful DDoS attacks on record. Called Mirai, the malware works by "enslaving vast numbers of these devices into a botnet, which is then used to conduct DDoS attacks," Flashpoint researchers said in a statement.
Until now, successful attacks on sites as large and popular as Twitter, Reddit and Netflix have been rare.
Friday, October 21, 2016
US$47 billion offer to create world's biggest tobacco company
(ChicagoTribune - British American Tobacco has offered to buy out Reynolds American Inc. for $47 billion in an attempt to gain a strong presence in the U.S., a lucrative market where sales of electronic cigarettes are booming as traditional smoking fades.
The takeover would create the world's largest publicly traded tobacco company and combine BAT's presence in developing countries, where anti-smoking campaigns are not as strong as in the U.S. and Europe, with Reynolds' almost exclusive focus on the U.S.
BAT already owns 42 percent of Reynolds and sells Dunhill, Rothmans and Lucky Strike cigarettes. Reynolds controls about a third of the U.S. market with brands like Newport, Camel and Pall Mall.
Though smoking in the U.S. is declining, it remains "the largest global profit pool" outside of China, BAT said in a statement Friday. The U.S. is one of the biggest markets for e-cigarettes.
"BAT and Reynolds American have a strong existing relationship, and while cost savings will be relatively modest, the full access this acquisition would give BAT to the U.S. — a lucrative, consolidated market with high barriers to entry — means it makes eminent sense," Shane MacGuill, head of tobacco at Euromonitor International, said by e-mail.
The British company offered Friday to buy the Reynolds shares it doesn't already own for the equivalent of $56.50 each, 20 percent more than Thursday's closing price. Investors would receive $24.13 in cash and 0.5502 of a BAT share for each Reynolds share they own. That values Reynolds, based in Winston Salem, North Carolina, at $93 billion.
The takeover would create the world's largest publicly traded tobacco company and combine BAT's presence in developing countries, where anti-smoking campaigns are not as strong as in the U.S. and Europe, with Reynolds' almost exclusive focus on the U.S.
BAT already owns 42 percent of Reynolds and sells Dunhill, Rothmans and Lucky Strike cigarettes. Reynolds controls about a third of the U.S. market with brands like Newport, Camel and Pall Mall.
Though smoking in the U.S. is declining, it remains "the largest global profit pool" outside of China, BAT said in a statement Friday. The U.S. is one of the biggest markets for e-cigarettes.
"BAT and Reynolds American have a strong existing relationship, and while cost savings will be relatively modest, the full access this acquisition would give BAT to the U.S. — a lucrative, consolidated market with high barriers to entry — means it makes eminent sense," Shane MacGuill, head of tobacco at Euromonitor International, said by e-mail.
The British company offered Friday to buy the Reynolds shares it doesn't already own for the equivalent of $56.50 each, 20 percent more than Thursday's closing price. Investors would receive $24.13 in cash and 0.5502 of a BAT share for each Reynolds share they own. That values Reynolds, based in Winston Salem, North Carolina, at $93 billion.
Thursday, October 20, 2016
In PR China, Duterte announces split with US: 'America has lost'
(CNN) Rodrigo Duterte left no room for doubt about where his allegiance lies.
In a state visit aimed at cozying up to Beijing as he pushes away from Washington, the Philippine President announced his military and economic "separation" from the United States.
"America has lost now. I've realigned myself in your ideological flow," he told business leaders in Beijing on Thursday. "And maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world: China, Philippines and Russia. It's the only way."
Duterte didn't provide details about how he'd break away from the United States, or what the separation could entail.
US officials stressed the long history of diplomatic, military and financial ties between the two countries.
"We have not received any requests from officials to change our alliance," Deputy White House Press Secretary Eric Schultz told reports aboard Air Force One Thursday.
In China, leaders said they were ready to start a new chapter.
But now Duterte is taking a different tack, pushing that issue to the background as he tries to forge closer ties with China.
Will the gamble pay off?
So far, it seems to be, said Richard Javad Heydarian, a political science professor at De La Salle University, Manila.
The usually brash and outspoken Duterte appeared much more statesmanlike in China than he has on previous trips overseas, said Heydarian.
"Duterte has been careful not to slight his hosts, he's been very deferential to the Chinese. It's raised eyebrows in the Philippines but pleased people in China," he said. (FullText)
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RELATED - Philippine president says he won’t severe ties with U.S.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Hotdogs set for name change in Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - Food outlets in Muslim-majority Malaysia must rename hotdogs or risk being refused halal certification, a government religious authority said Tuesday.
The ruling, which also includes other food items whose name includes the word "dog", has garnered much ridicule on social media.
It follows complaints by Muslim tourists from overseas, said Sirajuddin Suhaimee, director of the halal division from the Department of Islamic Development.
"Any (halal) products that make consumers confused, we have to change," he said.
"In Islam, dogs are considered unclean and the name cannot be related to halal certification."
Numerous street vendors and halal restaurants sell hotdogs in Malaysia. Sirajuddin said checks would be made "step-by-step" when these outlets renew their two-year halal certification with the department.
US pretzel chain Auntie Anne's, which has 45 outlets in Malaysia with plans to expand further, told AFP it has no qualms about renaming its pretzel dogs -- sausages wrapped with pretzels -- following advice from religious authorities.
"It's a minor issue. We are fine with changing the name and are still working on it," said Farhatul Kamilah Mohamed Sazali, an executive at Auntie Anne's Malaysia.
Sirajuddin, who recommended pretzel dogs be called pretzel sausages, said Aunty Anne's halal certification application is currently being considered.
Among the many critics on social media, one Facebook user remarked: "Please stick to religion... don't be an English language adviser."
Another posted: "Pet shops please rename ur dogs as sausages."
Sirajuddin dismissed as "normal reaction" the online criticism. "We are doing our jobs, by the law," he said.
Under the concept of halal -- meaning "permissible" in Arabic -- pork and its by-products, alcohol and animals not slaughtered according to Islamic procedures are all "haram" or forbidden.
Malaysia has long practised a moderate form of Islam but conservative attitudes are rising.
The ruling, which also includes other food items whose name includes the word "dog", has garnered much ridicule on social media.
It follows complaints by Muslim tourists from overseas, said Sirajuddin Suhaimee, director of the halal division from the Department of Islamic Development.
"Any (halal) products that make consumers confused, we have to change," he said.
"In Islam, dogs are considered unclean and the name cannot be related to halal certification."
Numerous street vendors and halal restaurants sell hotdogs in Malaysia. Sirajuddin said checks would be made "step-by-step" when these outlets renew their two-year halal certification with the department.
US pretzel chain Auntie Anne's, which has 45 outlets in Malaysia with plans to expand further, told AFP it has no qualms about renaming its pretzel dogs -- sausages wrapped with pretzels -- following advice from religious authorities.
"It's a minor issue. We are fine with changing the name and are still working on it," said Farhatul Kamilah Mohamed Sazali, an executive at Auntie Anne's Malaysia.
Sirajuddin, who recommended pretzel dogs be called pretzel sausages, said Aunty Anne's halal certification application is currently being considered.
Among the many critics on social media, one Facebook user remarked: "Please stick to religion... don't be an English language adviser."
Another posted: "Pet shops please rename ur dogs as sausages."
Sirajuddin dismissed as "normal reaction" the online criticism. "We are doing our jobs, by the law," he said.
Under the concept of halal -- meaning "permissible" in Arabic -- pork and its by-products, alcohol and animals not slaughtered according to Islamic procedures are all "haram" or forbidden.
Malaysia has long practised a moderate form of Islam but conservative attitudes are rising.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Australia: Tasmanian devil milk fights superbugs
BBC) Milk from Tasmanian devils could offer up a useful weapon against antibiotic-resistant superbugs, according to Australian researchers.
The marsupial's milk contains important peptides that appear to be able to kill hard-to-treat infections, including MRSA, say the Sydney University team.
Experts believe devils evolved this cocktail to help their young grow stronger.
The scientists are looking to make new treatments that mimic the peptides.
They have scanned the devil's genetic code to find and recreate the infection-fighting compounds, called cathelicidins.
PhD student Emma Peel, who worked on the research which is published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports, said they had found six important peptides.
These appear to be similar to peptides in the milk of other marsupials, which means these animals are worth studying too.
"Tammar wallabies have eight of these peptides and opossums have 12," she said, adding that studies into koala's milk had now started.
Dirty devils
Experts believe marsupials are good to study because their babies have to thrive in a relatively dirty environment.
Tasmanian devil mothers give birth after only a few weeks of pregnancy. The tiny offspring then spend the next four months maturing in their mother's pouch.
The Sydney team recreated the six devil peptides that they found and tested them on 25 types of bacteria and six types of fungi.
One of the synthetic peptides - Saha-CATH5 - appeared to be particularly effective at killing the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA. (FullText)
Monday, October 17, 2016
Study: ‘Doc, this election is killing me’
(WichitaEagle - The presidential election is driving people to their wits’ end, according to a new poll from the American Psychological Association.
The poll found more than half of Americans adults are stressed – regardless of party affiliation – about the election. To be specific, the poll found 52 percent of Americans ages 18 and older said the election was a somewhat or very significant source of stress. And 38 percent of respondents said political and cultural discussions on social media caused them stress.
Lynn Bufka, executive director for practice research and policy at the American Psychological Association, said in a news release that social media exacerbated the election with arguments, stories, images and video that range from factual to hostile and inflammatory.
The survey found that people who used social media were more likely to say the election caused them stress.
The survey found that the youngest and oldest voters – millennials and “Matures,” who were born pre-1946 – reported being most stressed by the election, compared to baby boomers and Generation X.
MedlinePlus, a project of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, summarized the poll findings and offered tips to keep calm heading into the Nov. 8 election:
▪ Read just enough to stay informed, but turn off the news feed.
▪ Be aware of how often you discuss the election with family, friends or co-workers and avoid talking about the election, if there’s a risk it could escalate.
▪ Instead of worrying about the election, which is unproductive, take action on issues that matter to you. For instance, through volunteer work and community groups.
▪ And most important of all: vote. (Source)
The poll found more than half of Americans adults are stressed – regardless of party affiliation – about the election. To be specific, the poll found 52 percent of Americans ages 18 and older said the election was a somewhat or very significant source of stress. And 38 percent of respondents said political and cultural discussions on social media caused them stress.
Lynn Bufka, executive director for practice research and policy at the American Psychological Association, said in a news release that social media exacerbated the election with arguments, stories, images and video that range from factual to hostile and inflammatory.
The survey found that people who used social media were more likely to say the election caused them stress.
The survey found that the youngest and oldest voters – millennials and “Matures,” who were born pre-1946 – reported being most stressed by the election, compared to baby boomers and Generation X.
MedlinePlus, a project of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, summarized the poll findings and offered tips to keep calm heading into the Nov. 8 election:
▪ Read just enough to stay informed, but turn off the news feed.
▪ Be aware of how often you discuss the election with family, friends or co-workers and avoid talking about the election, if there’s a risk it could escalate.
▪ Instead of worrying about the election, which is unproductive, take action on issues that matter to you. For instance, through volunteer work and community groups.
▪ And most important of all: vote. (Source)
Sunday, October 16, 2016
China Amps Up Space Program in Race to Challenge U.S.
nbcnews) BEIJING — If the U.S.-Soviet space rivalry helped define the second half of the 20th century, China's drive to become a space superpower looks set to mark the first half of the 21st.
On Monday local time, China is set to launch a Shenzhou-11 into orbit from an isolated military launching pad in Inner Mongolia.
Scientists from around the world will travel to a remote military rocket base in the Gobi Desert to witness this latest volley in the intensifying U.S.-China space rivalry. The two-man vessel will rendezvous with a space lab launched September 15, where the crew will conduct experiments for a month — China's sixth and longest manned mission so far.
With the current U.S.-led International Space Station expected to retire in 2024, China could be the only nation left with a permanent presence in space. China is "on the rise and the U.S. is in very real danger of falling behind in the future," warned Leroy Chiao, a former NASA astronaut and veteran of four space flights, one of which included commanding the International Space Station.
Beijing is pouring money into funding the nation's ambitions — which include being the first to explore the dark side of the moon and sending a probe to Mars in 2020, the latter in direct challenge to U.S. and European space agencies.
According to 2013 estimates by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, China was the second-largest spender in space with annual budget of $13 billion — but still well behind the $40-billion U.S. space budget.
"China is building its own capability and their aim is clearly to become the world leader in space exploration," Chiao told NBC News. He was the first American allowed into the Astronaut Center of China in 2006 and has visited several times since.
Despite being decades behind the U.S. space program, China is clearly catching up and using what Chinese experts call the "latecomer's advantage" — exploiting the latest technologies to leapfrog space advancements.
Last year, the country carried out 19 successful space launches — the second highest number behind Russia's 26 and ahead of America's 18 — and it is on track to launch a record of more than 20 this year. As it is, the U.S. can only send crew aloft by renting space on Russian spacecraft after it ended its space shuttle program in 2011.
These advances have not been lost on American officials. A March 2015 congressional report warned that China intends "to become militarily, diplomatically, commercially, and economically as competitive as the U.S. is in space."
"We cannot resign ourselves to the remembrance of past achievements. It is time for the United States to reassert its leadership [in space]," Rep. Lamar Smith, who chairs the House committee on science, space and technology, warned on Sept. 27.
"Over the years, our focus has waned and now China's accomplishments in space have become commonplace. We cannot afford to ignore Chinese achievements and become complacent," he added. FullText
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Three Kansas men calling themselves ‘Crusaders’ charged in terror plot targeting Muslim immigrants
(WashingtonPost - Three Kansas men have been accused of plotting attacks targeting an apartment complex home, a mosque and many Muslim immigrants from Somalia, authorities said Friday.
Curtis Allen, Gavin Wright and Patrick Eugene Stein face federal charges of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, the Justice Department announced.
“These charges are based on eight months of investigation by the FBI that is alleged to have taken the investigators deep into a hidden culture of hatred and violence,” acting U.S. attorney Tom Beall said in a statement. “Many Kansans may find it as startling as I do that such things could happen here.”
According to the FBI complaint made public Friday, the investigation was prompted by a paid confidential informant who had attended meetings with a group of individuals calling themselves “the Crusaders” and had heard plans discussed for attacks on Muslims, whom the men called “cockroaches.”
The three men charged Friday were ultimately identified as the architects of the attack plan through a combination of recordings, social media and reporting from the confidential informant, according to the complaint.
The members of the group routinely expressed their hatred for Muslims, Somalis and immigrants. In one call, Stein allegedly said the country could be turned around only with “a bloodbath.” The individuals said they wanted to “wake people up” and inspire other militia groups to act.
The FBI says that as part of this alleged plot, the men conducted surveillance in Garden City, Kan., a small city about 200 miles west of Wichita, and other places in southwestern Kansas.
At one point, Stein was being driven around by the confidential informant, who told the FBI that Stein yelled and cursed at Somali women in traditional garb.
During the period of surveillance, Stein was armed with an assault rifle, extra magazines, a pistol, a ballistic vest and a night vision scope, the complaint said.
The three men had been plotting “to use a weapon of mass destruction” since February, according to the FBI complaint.
Curtis Allen, Gavin Wright and Patrick Eugene Stein face federal charges of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, the Justice Department announced.
“These charges are based on eight months of investigation by the FBI that is alleged to have taken the investigators deep into a hidden culture of hatred and violence,” acting U.S. attorney Tom Beall said in a statement. “Many Kansans may find it as startling as I do that such things could happen here.”
According to the FBI complaint made public Friday, the investigation was prompted by a paid confidential informant who had attended meetings with a group of individuals calling themselves “the Crusaders” and had heard plans discussed for attacks on Muslims, whom the men called “cockroaches.”
The three men charged Friday were ultimately identified as the architects of the attack plan through a combination of recordings, social media and reporting from the confidential informant, according to the complaint.
The members of the group routinely expressed their hatred for Muslims, Somalis and immigrants. In one call, Stein allegedly said the country could be turned around only with “a bloodbath.” The individuals said they wanted to “wake people up” and inspire other militia groups to act.
The FBI says that as part of this alleged plot, the men conducted surveillance in Garden City, Kan., a small city about 200 miles west of Wichita, and other places in southwestern Kansas.
At one point, Stein was being driven around by the confidential informant, who told the FBI that Stein yelled and cursed at Somali women in traditional garb.
During the period of surveillance, Stein was armed with an assault rifle, extra magazines, a pistol, a ballistic vest and a night vision scope, the complaint said.
The three men had been plotting “to use a weapon of mass destruction” since February, according to the FBI complaint.
Friday, October 14, 2016
Ancient Greeks may have helped design China's Terracotta Army, experts say
FoxNews) - Archaeologists have unearthed evidence that ancient Greeks may have helped design the famous Terracotta Army, which could shed new light on China’s early contact with the west.
The 8,000 warriors guarding the tomb of China’s First Emperor Qin Shi Huang date back to the third century B.C. and have long fascinated historians. Experts now believe that the life-size figures may have been influenced by Greek art and that ancient Greek sculptors were even involved in their design.
The discovery of ancient European DNA in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region could force a rethink of the statues’ history, according to Li Xiuzhen, senior archaeologist at the Emperor Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum Site Museum. “We now have evidence that close contact existed between the First Emperor’s China and the west before the formal opening of the Silk Road,” she said, in a statement. “This is far earlier than we formerly thought.”
The Silk Road was officially opened for trade with the west in the second century B.C. The European DNA discovered in Xinjian province also suggests contact between China and the West around 1,500 years before Marco Polo’s famous journey to the court of Kublai Khan.
Xian, the capital of China’s Shaanxi province, is located in northwestern China.
Greek influences can also be found in terracotta acrobats and bronze figures of ducks, swans and cranes from the Emperor’s tomb. Experts also note that there was no tradition of building life-sized figures before Qin Shi Huang’s tomb was built in Xian.
Professor Lukas Nickel, chair of Asian Art history at the University of Vienna, told FoxNews.com that sculpture was little used in China when the tomb of the First Emperor was built, and realistic sculpture was not known at all. "The massive employment of sculpture in the mausoleum is totally unprecedented in Chinese tradition," he said. "This makes it likely that the skills necessary came not from China but from the outside."
Given the Terracotta Army clues, Nickel thinks that a Greek sculptor may have been at the site to train locals. He also believes that the First Emperor was influenced by the arrival of Greek statues in Central Asia with Alexander the Great during the fourth century.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
GB Forever? Scotland Plans New Independence Referendum from U.K. Over Brexit
LONDON — Scotland is drawing up plans for a vote on independence from the rest of Britain over Brexit, deepening the political fallout from the U.K.'s decision to quit the European Union.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Thursday she would publish draft proposals for a new national ballot.
She told the annual conference of her ruling Scottish National Party that she wanted the bill in place to give her the possibility of calling another referendum before Britain is expected to formally leave the EU in March 2019.
Scots rejected independence by 55 to 45 percent in 2014, and opinion polls suggest there is still no clear majority in favor of a split.
However, Britain's decision in June to quit the EU may shift attitudes in Scotland, which voted to remain in Europe in now faces losing access to the single market because the U.K. as a whole voted to leave.
Sturgeon said she would press ahead with a new referendum unless British Prime Minister Theresa May kept Scotland's membership of the European single market.
"I am determined that Scotland will have the ability to reconsider the question of independence and to do so before the UK leaves the EU if that is necessary to protect our country's interests," she said.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Thursday she would publish draft proposals for a new national ballot.
She told the annual conference of her ruling Scottish National Party that she wanted the bill in place to give her the possibility of calling another referendum before Britain is expected to formally leave the EU in March 2019.
Scots rejected independence by 55 to 45 percent in 2014, and opinion polls suggest there is still no clear majority in favor of a split.
However, Britain's decision in June to quit the EU may shift attitudes in Scotland, which voted to remain in Europe in now faces losing access to the single market because the U.K. as a whole voted to leave.
Sturgeon said she would press ahead with a new referendum unless British Prime Minister Theresa May kept Scotland's membership of the European single market.
"I am determined that Scotland will have the ability to reconsider the question of independence and to do so before the UK leaves the EU if that is necessary to protect our country's interests," she said.
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Donald Trump Is ‘Dangerous’ for Global Stability, U.N. Rights Chief Says
GENEVA — A top United Nations official joined the criticism of Donald J. Trump on Wednesday, warning that his election would threaten international stability.
While much of the recent furor against Mr. Trump has focused on a 2005 recording in which he made exceptionally vulgar remarks about women, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, focused attention back on Mr. Trump’s comments about deporting undocumented immigrants, barring Muslims from entering the country and employing torture tactics.
“If Donald Trump is elected, on the basis of what he has said already, and unless that changes, I think it’s without any doubt that he would be dangerous from an international point of view,” Mr. al-Hussein told reporters in Geneva.
Mr. al-Hussein emphasized that his office tried to stay out of politics, but he added that if an election could lead to an increased use of torture or to the persecution of “vulnerable communities in a way that suggests that they may well be deprived of their human rights, then I think it is incumbent to say so.”
Mr. al-Hussein’s comments echoed a statement he delivered in The Hague last month in which he condemned “populists, demagogues and political fantasists” who exploited economic hardship and social tensions to fan racial and religious prejudice.
Mr. al-Hussein focused those remarks on the right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders, but he also mentioned others whom he called “nationalist demagogues,” including Mr. Trump; Nigel Farage, a leading advocate of Britain’s departure from the European Union; Marine Le Pen of the National Front party in France; President Milos Zeman of the Czech Republic; Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia; and Norbert Hofer, a candidate for the presidency of Austria.
Those politicians, he said, share with the Islamic State a fondness for “half-truths and oversimplification.”
The comments prompted Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly I. Churkin, to complain that by naming political leaders, Mr. al-Hussein had overstepped his authority.
Speaking to journalists in Geneva on Wednesday, Mr. al-Hussein said that he had no intention of toning down his remarks, given what he described as the prevailing permissive environment in which political leaders felt able to deliver speeches that moved beyond freedom of expression to incitement.
“When you fan resentment and seek as a political leader to pin blame on a specific community for deeper problems, real problems, this is highly regrettable,” Mr. al-Hussein said. “There are very real fears that are being stoked and exploited, and this is the point that I was trying to make.”
The high commissioner set those concerns in the context of a growing “mean spiritedness” of international political discourse, and he voiced alarm at the escalating attacks on international law particularly visible in the ferocious bombing of the eastern parts of Aleppo, Syria, in recent weeks and in the failure of the United Nations Security Council to end it.
“We look at historical experiences, and we find that we fast arrive at a point where we are unable to deal with the crises that we have in place,” Mr. al-Hussein said. “It’s as if we have now begun to forget the very real lessons drawn at the end of the Second World War about what it is we need to keep this world safe.”
United Nations officials have been fairly circumspect and have generally avoided discussing the American election cycle. Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general, said in May that he was “outraged by racism and hatred, especially when voiced by politicians and would-be leaders,” but he did not single out Mr. Trump. (FullText)
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Tax sugary drinks to fight obesity, WHO urges governments
(Reuters - Governments should tax sugary drinks to fight the global epidemics of obesity and diabetes, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, recommendations industry swiftly branded "discriminatory" and "unproven".
A 20 percent price increase could reduce consumption of sweet drinks by the same proportion, the WHO said in "Fiscal Policies for Diet and Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases", a report issued on World Obesity Day.
Drinking fewer calorific sweet drinks is the best way to curb excessive weight and prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes, although fat and salt in processed foods are also at fault, WHO officials said.
"We are now in a place where we can say there is enough evidence to move on this and we encourage countries to implement effective tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to prevent obesity," Temo Waqanivalu, of WHO's department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Health Promotion, told a briefing.
Obesity more than doubled worldwide between 1980 and 2014, with 11 percent of men and 15 percent of women classified as obese - more than 500 million people, the report said.
A 20 percent price increase could reduce consumption of sweet drinks by the same proportion, the WHO said in "Fiscal Policies for Diet and Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases", a report issued on World Obesity Day.
Drinking fewer calorific sweet drinks is the best way to curb excessive weight and prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes, although fat and salt in processed foods are also at fault, WHO officials said.
"We are now in a place where we can say there is enough evidence to move on this and we encourage countries to implement effective tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to prevent obesity," Temo Waqanivalu, of WHO's department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Health Promotion, told a briefing.
Obesity more than doubled worldwide between 1980 and 2014, with 11 percent of men and 15 percent of women classified as obese - more than 500 million people, the report said.
Monday, October 10, 2016
Believe it or not, the bees are doing just fine
- You've probably heard the bad news by now that bees were recently added to the endangered species list for the first time. But if you're part of the 60 percent of people who share stories without actually reading them, you might have missed an important detail: namely, that the newly endangered bees are a handful of relatively obscure species who live only in Hawaii.
The bees you're more familiar with — the ones that buzz around your yard dipping into flowers, making honey, pollinating crops and generally keepingthe world's food supply from collapsing? Those bees are doing just fine, according to data released by the USDA this year.
In 2015, there were 2.66 million commercial honey-producing bee colonies in the United States. That's down slightly from the 2.74 million colonies in 2014, which represented a two-decade high. The number of commercial bee colonies is still significantly higher than it was in 2006, when colony collapse disorder— the mass die-offs that began afflicting U.S. honeybee colonies — was first documented. (FullText)
Sunday, October 9, 2016
US turns up heat on Russia as ties deteriorate
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is turning up the rhetorical heat on Russia, accusing senior Russian officials of ordering the hacking of American political sites to try to interfere in the upcoming presidential election and suggesting that Russia's military is committing war crimes in Syria.
Friday's barrage of allegations from Washington — coupled with angry denials from Moscow — marked a descent to yet another low point in increasingly poor relations between the former Cold War foes, who are deeply divided over key international issues of war and peace and appear on a path of one-upsmanship perhaps not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The hacking allegations, made publicly for the first time since cyberattacks on the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee earlier this year, came amid pressure on the administration to call Russia out for the hacking, which has produced the release of embarrassing internal emails.
"We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities," the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a joint statement with the Department of Homeland Security. It said recent disclosures of alleged hacked emails on websites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks, and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona, are consistent with the methods and motivations of efforts directed by Russia, which has denied involvement.
"These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the U.S. election process," the statement said. "Such activity is not new to Moscow. The Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia, for example, to influence public opinion there."
The White House declined to say whether the formal attribution would trigger sanctions against Russia and senior officials said the U.S. would respond at a time and place of its choosing, but stressed that any retaliation may not take place in the open.
Friday's barrage of allegations from Washington — coupled with angry denials from Moscow — marked a descent to yet another low point in increasingly poor relations between the former Cold War foes, who are deeply divided over key international issues of war and peace and appear on a path of one-upsmanship perhaps not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The hacking allegations, made publicly for the first time since cyberattacks on the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee earlier this year, came amid pressure on the administration to call Russia out for the hacking, which has produced the release of embarrassing internal emails.
"We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities," the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a joint statement with the Department of Homeland Security. It said recent disclosures of alleged hacked emails on websites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks, and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona, are consistent with the methods and motivations of efforts directed by Russia, which has denied involvement.
"These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the U.S. election process," the statement said. "Such activity is not new to Moscow. The Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia, for example, to influence public opinion there."
The White House declined to say whether the formal attribution would trigger sanctions against Russia and senior officials said the U.S. would respond at a time and place of its choosing, but stressed that any retaliation may not take place in the open.
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Hoax or threat? Clown sightings fuel panic across the US
Many have been dismissed by law enforcement as pranks, but more than a dozen people have been arrested in connection with the sightings. Whether they are pranks, threats or actual sightings, police and other officials have to take them seriously as a potential threat to safety. That’s starting to drain resources from law enforcement agencies, who are also concerned about feeding into hysteria.
It seems as if a new report of a threatening clown pops up every hour.
This week, a 14-year-old in California was arrested when he threatened a middle and high school on an Instagram page called “Fontana’s Killer Clowns.” Police said the teen wanted to scare people and gain social media followers.
“We’ve heard that people were going to show up on campus but we haven’t seen anything,” said one student.
Police in Connecticut dealt with a similar social media threat targeting several schools in the New Haven area. While officials dismissed it as a hoax, they’re still taking it seriously.
“At this time we are considering this to be nothing more than a prank and harassment fueled by social media (with) upcoming Halloween. Working with the police department and our own security team, we have no evidence that there is a credible threat to students or schools in the district,” said Garth Harries, superintendent of New Haven public schools.
It appears to have been much more than a scare near San Francisco on Wednesday. A mother said she fought off a person dressed as a clown, who grabbed her one-year-old daughter.
“I thought he was going to kiss her hand. Instead, he pulled her arm literally, so I pulled her arm back and I kicked him,” said Tiffany Martin.
The phenomenon started in late August, when children in South Carolina reported seeing a clown beckoning them into the woods. But those sightings were never confirmed.
The clown scare was even brought up at a White House press briefing this week.
When asked if the president was aware of the troubling trend and for comment, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said, “I don’t know that the president has been briefed on this particular situation.”
Some are so upset by the perceived threats, they’re ready to take the law into their own hands. Hundreds of students at Penn State University launched a late night manhunt after a clown was reportedly seen on campus.
It’s that type of behavior that put some professional clowns on edge.
“I’ve been flipped off, I’ve been booed, I’ve had trash thrown at my car, I’ve been experiencing excessive profanity while performing,” said Justin Brodie, a professional clown.
So why are so many people playing into the panic?
“Hoaxes and attempts to frighten people and people buying into it have happened throughout history, but we’re ripe for this right now because social media, which allows a fear to propagate globally very quickly. And because right now, we are a country very anxious about otherness,” said psychiatrist Dr. Gail Saltz.
But in addition to the suspects accused of making online threats, some of those who have been arrested are charged with making false reports, making this whole situation even more frustrating for police officers all over the country.
Meanwhile, the trend appeared to be spreading, with similar reports to police in England this week.
Police in Gloucestershire, England, have now warned residents about people in clown suits acting suspiciously after receiving six reports of such behaviour. In some cases, the clown-suited individuals were reportedly acting in a threatening manner. Police officers have yet to see anyone in a clown suit in their responses to the calls.
The clown scare was even brought up at a White House press briefing this week.
When asked if the president was aware of the troubling trend and for comment, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said, “I don’t know that the president has been briefed on this particular situation.”
Some are so upset by the perceived threats, they’re ready to take the law into their own hands. Hundreds of students at Penn State University launched a late night manhunt after a clown was reportedly seen on campus.
It’s that type of behavior that put some professional clowns on edge.
“I’ve been flipped off, I’ve been booed, I’ve had trash thrown at my car, I’ve been experiencing excessive profanity while performing,” said Justin Brodie, a professional clown.
So why are so many people playing into the panic?
“Hoaxes and attempts to frighten people and people buying into it have happened throughout history, but we’re ripe for this right now because social media, which allows a fear to propagate globally very quickly. And because right now, we are a country very anxious about otherness,” said psychiatrist Dr. Gail Saltz.
But in addition to the suspects accused of making online threats, some of those who have been arrested are charged with making false reports, making this whole situation even more frustrating for police officers all over the country.
Meanwhile, the trend appeared to be spreading, with similar reports to police in England this week.
Police in Gloucestershire, England, have now warned residents about people in clown suits acting suspiciously after receiving six reports of such behaviour. In some cases, the clown-suited individuals were reportedly acting in a threatening manner. Police officers have yet to see anyone in a clown suit in their responses to the calls.
Friday, October 7, 2016
Scientist claims 115 is the hard limit on human lifespan, but it’s not that simple
(extremetech.com - Dr. Jan Vijg of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine has made a heavily qualified assertion that the maximum human lifespan is 115 years, plus or minus a bit. It’s a trend-based analysis, an examination of the global lifespan data as it stands. Since the data don’t show anyone living past about 115, with a very few notable exceptions, Vijg says that the data “strongly suggests” that 115 represents a hard limit to human longevity. He goes on to muse that human lifespan is “constrained by the myriad of genetic variants that collectively determine species-specific lifespan.” One hundred fifteen is a ceiling he doesn’t think we’ll break through.
I might be less bothered by Dr. Vijg’s claim if he had stuck with saying “Humans don’t live past 115,” rather than going on to imply that they can’t. Right up there with the inverse error and the availability heuristic, Vijg confuses correlation with causation, and in that way claims too much. Sure, we observe the trend that the shelf life of a human appears to top out at a century, plus or minus some depending on record-keeping. But that doesn’t mean we can say that genetics dictates humans can’t live longer than 115. We just don’t know why they don’t.
Vijg makes a classic logical error called cum hoc ergo propter hoc, just like the example of the relationship between ice cream sales and homicide rates. Ice cream sales and murder rates peak at about the same time each year. This means they’re correlated. But does ice cream actually have anything to do with murder? Not unless you get between me and my Cherry Garcia.
No, seriously, the reason is something else, a variable not accounted for when comparing only the two rates with respect by time. It’s awfully hot in the summer. Hot enough to get under your skin and make you uncomfortable, irritable, and sometimes downright irrational. Some people go buy ice cream. Some people go a-murderin’. Both rates hinge on how heat influences human behavior: a third, unseen factor, hiding in plain sight behind the date.
In this case, there appears to be at least one such unseen factor: DNA. Right now the human genome is “like a book elegantly bound, but in a language that you can’t read just yet.” There appear to be reasons in the human exome for the way we age, but they’re not programmed in; they’re more like the inevitable consequence of the way the system developed. Debris build up in cells over time until the cells die. Whenever DNA replicates, it appears to lose a bit of its end caps (telomeres) to the process. It’s called senescence. We don’t know how to stop it. We’re still fumbling our way through genomics, and while we’re zeroing in on telomeres to understand what they do and how they do it, we aren’t good enough at genomics yet to let our gene tech out in the wild. Gene therapy is still in its infancy, and telomeres aren’t a magic bullet for longevity either.
Ultimately, Dr. Vijg just doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to any of the recent research advances concerning human longevity, and he doesn’t attempt to present an explanation for the ceiling on longevity that he proposes — that is, beyond a hand-waving assertion that longevity is hard. What he says can be boiled down to “I see a trend in the data and have no explanation for why it’s there.” Again, this study is a trend-based analysis, which is more like what an umpire does — call the tableau as he sees it — than it is like any sort of prognostication or diagnosis. Speculation on why the trend is doing what it’s doing is just that: speculation.
Nevertheless, the study has a point.
The authors contend that the best way forward for our species, in terms of dignified and pleasant aging, is not necessarily to extend our life span. Vijg believes that extending the human health span is much more important. Instead of extending the human life span to 100 years and only having the first 65 or so being really good, the authors put forth the idea that the number of years is less important than how many of one’s years are healthy and enjoyable. There’s a valuable insight in the myth of Tithonus, who was granted immortality but not endless youth, and just withers away forever. It would be deeply unpleasant to just keep aging into a dessicated, Crypt Keeper-like husk, conscious and yet unable to participate. As the saying goes, it’s not about the years in your life; it’s about the life in your years.
I might be less bothered by Dr. Vijg’s claim if he had stuck with saying “Humans don’t live past 115,” rather than going on to imply that they can’t. Right up there with the inverse error and the availability heuristic, Vijg confuses correlation with causation, and in that way claims too much. Sure, we observe the trend that the shelf life of a human appears to top out at a century, plus or minus some depending on record-keeping. But that doesn’t mean we can say that genetics dictates humans can’t live longer than 115. We just don’t know why they don’t.
Vijg makes a classic logical error called cum hoc ergo propter hoc, just like the example of the relationship between ice cream sales and homicide rates. Ice cream sales and murder rates peak at about the same time each year. This means they’re correlated. But does ice cream actually have anything to do with murder? Not unless you get between me and my Cherry Garcia.
No, seriously, the reason is something else, a variable not accounted for when comparing only the two rates with respect by time. It’s awfully hot in the summer. Hot enough to get under your skin and make you uncomfortable, irritable, and sometimes downright irrational. Some people go buy ice cream. Some people go a-murderin’. Both rates hinge on how heat influences human behavior: a third, unseen factor, hiding in plain sight behind the date.
In this case, there appears to be at least one such unseen factor: DNA. Right now the human genome is “like a book elegantly bound, but in a language that you can’t read just yet.” There appear to be reasons in the human exome for the way we age, but they’re not programmed in; they’re more like the inevitable consequence of the way the system developed. Debris build up in cells over time until the cells die. Whenever DNA replicates, it appears to lose a bit of its end caps (telomeres) to the process. It’s called senescence. We don’t know how to stop it. We’re still fumbling our way through genomics, and while we’re zeroing in on telomeres to understand what they do and how they do it, we aren’t good enough at genomics yet to let our gene tech out in the wild. Gene therapy is still in its infancy, and telomeres aren’t a magic bullet for longevity either.
Ultimately, Dr. Vijg just doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to any of the recent research advances concerning human longevity, and he doesn’t attempt to present an explanation for the ceiling on longevity that he proposes — that is, beyond a hand-waving assertion that longevity is hard. What he says can be boiled down to “I see a trend in the data and have no explanation for why it’s there.” Again, this study is a trend-based analysis, which is more like what an umpire does — call the tableau as he sees it — than it is like any sort of prognostication or diagnosis. Speculation on why the trend is doing what it’s doing is just that: speculation.
Nevertheless, the study has a point.
The authors contend that the best way forward for our species, in terms of dignified and pleasant aging, is not necessarily to extend our life span. Vijg believes that extending the human health span is much more important. Instead of extending the human life span to 100 years and only having the first 65 or so being really good, the authors put forth the idea that the number of years is less important than how many of one’s years are healthy and enjoyable. There’s a valuable insight in the myth of Tithonus, who was granted immortality but not endless youth, and just withers away forever. It would be deeply unpleasant to just keep aging into a dessicated, Crypt Keeper-like husk, conscious and yet unable to participate. As the saying goes, it’s not about the years in your life; it’s about the life in your years.
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Paralyzing polio-like illness is striking more U.S. kids
(10tv.com - A rare condition that causes paralysis is on the rise in American children, health officials reported this week.
“We do have an uptick in cases of acute flaccid myelitis in 2016. Fifty confirmed cases reported to us in 24 different states,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pediatrician Dr. Manisha Patel told CBS News.Manisha Patel told CBS News.Manisha Patel told CBS News.
Ninety percent of those cases are in children, said Patel, the acute flaccid myelitis team lead at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC.
More commonly referred to as AFM, health officials said it can occur as a result of a variety of germs includingenteroviruses, West Nile virus and adenoviruses. It affects the nervous system, primarily the spinal cord, and its symptoms are likened to those caused by polio (which was eradicated in the U.S. thanks to the polio vaccine).
In the second half of 2014, the CDC received an increase in reports of AFM across the United States – 120 cases between August and December that year. In 2015, the number of cases dropped to 21, but now they’re back up again.
“The CDC is concerned about the increase in cases, so we’re actively investigating the cases and working really closely with health departments on it. We’re intensifying our efforts to find out what causes it – we don’t know what causes it,” said Patel.
Sudden limb weakness is a telltale sign of the illness, said Patel. “Children present pretty acutely within the first couple of days,” she explained, saying a limp might signal the condition.
In addition to weakness and loss of muscle tone and reflexes, some patients may experience difficulty moving their eyes, drooping facial muscles and eyelids, difficulty swallowing and slurred speech. Urination may be difficult. The most severe symptom of AFM is respiratory failure if the muscles involved in breathing weaken.
Scientists at the CDC are testing blood, nose, respiratory, and spinal cord specimens from patients to learn more and try to identify the source.
“We are looking at it quite broadly to better understand what might be causing it and why kids are coming down with this,” Patel said.
While cases are on the rise, Patel noted that AFM is still very rare, affecting less than one in a million people.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
US Feds set goal: No traffic deaths within 30 years
usatoday) - ARLINGTON, Va.—The Obama administration on Wednesday committed to a goal of eliminating traffic deaths within 30 years, setting a timeline for the first time on an ambitious agenda that relies heavily on the auto industry's development of self-driving cars.
The Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other agencies committed to the objective after a sharp uptick in roadway deaths.
2015 marked the deadliest year on American roads since 2008, an unsettling revelation that renewed efforts to combat distracted driving and encourage the development of safety systems. In the first half of 2016, deaths spiked 10.4% to 17,775, compared to a year earlier, according to preliminary NHTSA estimatesreleased Wednesday.
"All of a sudden we're losing ground," NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind said at an event in Arlington, Va. "We have an immediate crisis on our hands and we also have a long-term challenge."
Although U.S. auto-safety regulators had previously said their goal was to someday eliminate road fatalities altogether, Wednesday's announcement marks the first time they've identified a specific timeline. (FullText)
The Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other agencies committed to the objective after a sharp uptick in roadway deaths.
2015 marked the deadliest year on American roads since 2008, an unsettling revelation that renewed efforts to combat distracted driving and encourage the development of safety systems. In the first half of 2016, deaths spiked 10.4% to 17,775, compared to a year earlier, according to preliminary NHTSA estimatesreleased Wednesday.
"All of a sudden we're losing ground," NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind said at an event in Arlington, Va. "We have an immediate crisis on our hands and we also have a long-term challenge."
Although U.S. auto-safety regulators had previously said their goal was to someday eliminate road fatalities altogether, Wednesday's announcement marks the first time they've identified a specific timeline. (FullText)
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Bees added to the U.S. endangered-species list for the first time
(washingtonpost - For the first time in the United States, bees have been placed on the endangered-species list. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Fridaydetermined that seven species of yellow-faced bees, all native to Hawaii, should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
All seven species belong to the Hylaeus genus of bees. Together, the wasp-looking bees are more commonly known as "yellow-faced" or "masked" for their yellow-to-white facial markings.
These species are responsible for pollinating some of Hawaii's indigenous plant species, many of which are threatened themselves.
Karl Magnacca, a Hawaii-based entomologist, told the Associated Press that efforts to have the bees federally protected took nearly a decade.
"It's good to see it finally come to fruition," he told the AP, adding that yell0w-faced bees tend to favor the more dominant trees and shrubs in Hawaii, which helps "maintain the structure of the whole forest."
Magnacca did much of the initial research on the bees in support of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a nonprofit that aims to protect pollinators and other invertebrates. (The group says it takes its name from the Xerces blue butterfly, "the first butterfly known to go extinct in North America as a result of human activities.")
Monday, October 3, 2016
Want To Stand Out In A Crowd? Researchers Say Attractiveness Depends On Who You’re With
techtimes) - Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder, but it also depends on what else that eye is looking at.
In a study published in the journal Psychological Science, researchers showed that people's judgment on attractiveness varies based on who is near the subject and how good-looking they are in comparison. According to findings, a person is likelier to find someone attractive when that person is compared to another who is less attractive than when judged alone.
People have different ways of assessing attractiveness and researchers have found that context is key. Study author Nicholas Furl explained that appearance plays a big role in how one is judged as attractive, but measuring beauty is still a gray area.
"Until now, it's been understood that a person's level of attractiveness is generally steady ... However, this work demonstrates that the company we keep has an effect on how attractive we appear to others," said Furl.
For the study, participants were tasked to assess attractiveness in different people, rating pictures one by one. They were then asked to rate the same faces, this time placed alongside other people that have been generally perceived as undesirable.
When "distractor faces" were added to the mix, the researchers observed that original judgments of attractiveness from the first round of assessments changed. However, it's not as simple as subjects simply appearing more attractive when assessed side-by-side with the distractor faces.
According to Furl, participants changed their original assessments of attractiveness because the presence of distractor faces made them more critical of differences in appearance, making it appear they were more particular when judging attractiveness.
The researcher is also not surprised at their findings, pointing out that being judged in relation to those around you is pervasive. He says, however, that there are many ways by which people can decide to assess attractiveness, with using those in proximity as a gauge being just one. Furl is confident there will be more research on the subject of human interaction and is excited where their work will take the research team.
People will have varying opinions on the importance of attractiveness, but another study has shown that women who are attractive and well-groomed end up earning more compared to their counterparts who are average-looking.
Based on the research done by University of Chicago's Jaclyn Wong and University of California in Irvine's Andrew Penner, individuals who rated themselves as attractive earned 20 percent more compared to subjects who said they were of average attractiveness.
Interestingly, the study, published in the Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, showed that attractiveness in women had a lot to do with how well-groomed they are. In men, attractiveness is only about half of what they gain from grooming.
In a study published in the journal Psychological Science, researchers showed that people's judgment on attractiveness varies based on who is near the subject and how good-looking they are in comparison. According to findings, a person is likelier to find someone attractive when that person is compared to another who is less attractive than when judged alone.
People have different ways of assessing attractiveness and researchers have found that context is key. Study author Nicholas Furl explained that appearance plays a big role in how one is judged as attractive, but measuring beauty is still a gray area.
"Until now, it's been understood that a person's level of attractiveness is generally steady ... However, this work demonstrates that the company we keep has an effect on how attractive we appear to others," said Furl.
For the study, participants were tasked to assess attractiveness in different people, rating pictures one by one. They were then asked to rate the same faces, this time placed alongside other people that have been generally perceived as undesirable.
When "distractor faces" were added to the mix, the researchers observed that original judgments of attractiveness from the first round of assessments changed. However, it's not as simple as subjects simply appearing more attractive when assessed side-by-side with the distractor faces.
According to Furl, participants changed their original assessments of attractiveness because the presence of distractor faces made them more critical of differences in appearance, making it appear they were more particular when judging attractiveness.
The researcher is also not surprised at their findings, pointing out that being judged in relation to those around you is pervasive. He says, however, that there are many ways by which people can decide to assess attractiveness, with using those in proximity as a gauge being just one. Furl is confident there will be more research on the subject of human interaction and is excited where their work will take the research team.
People will have varying opinions on the importance of attractiveness, but another study has shown that women who are attractive and well-groomed end up earning more compared to their counterparts who are average-looking.
Based on the research done by University of Chicago's Jaclyn Wong and University of California in Irvine's Andrew Penner, individuals who rated themselves as attractive earned 20 percent more compared to subjects who said they were of average attractiveness.
Interestingly, the study, published in the Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, showed that attractiveness in women had a lot to do with how well-groomed they are. In men, attractiveness is only about half of what they gain from grooming.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
United Nations calls on countries to close down legal ivory trade
(Reuters - The United Nations on Sunday called for the shutdown of all legal domestic ivory markets as it looks to combat poaching and put pressure on countries that continue to trade in elephant tusks.
Member states of the U.N.'s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, known as CITES, agreed on a resolution that calls for legislative, regulatory and enforcement measures to be taken to close legal domestic ivory markets around the world.
"Today saw a historic moment toward tackling the illegal ivory trade that is killing 20,000 to 30,000 African elephants each year," said WWF-UK chief advisor on species, Heather Sohl.
Legal ivory markets, such as those in China and Japan, are often accused of fuelling elephant poaching because illegal ivory is sometimes sold through them.
"When there are legal markets for ivory it creates an opportunity for laundering of ivory into the country," said Wildlife Conservation Society vice president of international policy and head of delegation, Sue Lieberman.
Elephant numbers have continued to decline as poaching surges, with Africa's elephant population falling around 20 percent between 2006 and 2015, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said in a report.
"There's a crisis right now - ivory poaching and trafficking are really out of control and something has to be done to crackdown on trafficking," Lieberman said.
Despite applause during the announcement of the resolution, some have criticized the decision, saying that prohibiting the sale of legal ivory will not curb the illegal trade.
"In the history of mankind there is not one record of any prohibition action being a success. Most certainly any attempt to impose prohibition on the sale of ivory and rhino horn will fail," said Ron Thomson of non-profit organization the True Green Alliance.
The CITES resolution is not legally binding but can merely put pressure on countries to close their ivory trade because the convention only regulates international trade and not domestic trade.
"It becomes an issue of political will and puts pressure on countries to take action on the domestic ivory market. It is significant that they have made this statement," said Lieberman.
Saturday, October 1, 2016
It's officially been one year since you started using chip cards instead of swiping
Mashable) - It's been a long year. At least, it feels that way if you spent it waiting to pay for things with your chip card.
One year ago today, regulations surrounding liability for credit card fraud switched to encourage banks and stores to start using EMV (Europay, Mastercard, Visa) technology, also known as chip cards.
Since the liability shift hit on Oct. 1, 2015, 33 percent of merchants have started accepting chip cards, Mastercard spokesperson for safety and security Beth Kitchener told Mashable. Eighty-eight percent of US-issued Mastercard consumer credit cards are now equipped with EMV chips.
EMV technology is more secure than the traditional credit card swipe. But U.S. consumers are still complaining about the time it takes to wait for a chip card to process and the confusion over whether to swipe or insert your card.
Half of consumers think paying with a chip card is slower than swiping a credit card, according to a recent survey by the payment company Cayan. Sixty-two percent of shoppers say they've been frustrated in some way while waiting for chip cards to process.
Cards that use an EMV chip are more secure because each transaction creates a unique code between the chip on a card and the chip inside a card reader. That makes it easier to catch fraud sooner.
The liability shift last year put the responsibility for fraud on whichever party — the bank or the store — has more outdated technology. Banks have always been responsible for fraud, and they were quick to send their customers EMV-equipped credit and debit cards to avoid further liability. But stores have been slower to make the jump, even though they can now be held responsible if your credit card information is stolen when you swipe.
According to Cayan's survey, only 47 percent of consumers know that improved security is the reason for the switch that has them waiting longer in line while people fumble with their credit cards.
One year ago today, regulations surrounding liability for credit card fraud switched to encourage banks and stores to start using EMV (Europay, Mastercard, Visa) technology, also known as chip cards.
Since the liability shift hit on Oct. 1, 2015, 33 percent of merchants have started accepting chip cards, Mastercard spokesperson for safety and security Beth Kitchener told Mashable. Eighty-eight percent of US-issued Mastercard consumer credit cards are now equipped with EMV chips.
EMV technology is more secure than the traditional credit card swipe. But U.S. consumers are still complaining about the time it takes to wait for a chip card to process and the confusion over whether to swipe or insert your card.
Half of consumers think paying with a chip card is slower than swiping a credit card, according to a recent survey by the payment company Cayan. Sixty-two percent of shoppers say they've been frustrated in some way while waiting for chip cards to process.
Cards that use an EMV chip are more secure because each transaction creates a unique code between the chip on a card and the chip inside a card reader. That makes it easier to catch fraud sooner.
The liability shift last year put the responsibility for fraud on whichever party — the bank or the store — has more outdated technology. Banks have always been responsible for fraud, and they were quick to send their customers EMV-equipped credit and debit cards to avoid further liability. But stores have been slower to make the jump, even though they can now be held responsible if your credit card information is stolen when you swipe.
According to Cayan's survey, only 47 percent of consumers know that improved security is the reason for the switch that has them waiting longer in line while people fumble with their credit cards.
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