Month: September 2008

Pre-packed salad will lead to increased food poisoning

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The increasing popularity of supermarket sold pre-packed salad could lead to a rise in food poisoning, scientists warned today.


Prof Frankel said just because some labels claimed food was pre-washed did not necessarily make it safe to eat Photo: JOHN TAYLOR

Researchers have discovered how salmonella and E.coli germs – more commonly associated with chicken and bovine products – can spread to salad and vegetable leaves.

A salmonella outbreak in the UK last year was traced back to imported basil while an E.coli outbreak in America in 2006 was linked back to pre-packed baby spinach.

Professor Gadi Frankel, from Imperial College, said consumers needed to be aware of the risk of contaminated salad to avoid potential food poisoning.

Read morePre-packed salad will lead to increased food poisoning

Ron Paul – Rally for the Republic

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Ron Paul at Rally For the Republic in Minneapolis, September 2, 2008

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Scotland launches schoolgirls’ anti-cancer health programme

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A PROGRAMME to vaccinate schoolgirls against the virus that causes cervical cancer begins today.
Schools in several Scottish areas will begin vaccinating pupils aged 12 and 13 from this week.

They will be the first in the UK to receive the jab as part of a nationwide programme announced last year.

Read moreScotland launches schoolgirls’ anti-cancer health programme

Genetically ‘improved’ oysters behind France’s shellfish plague

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Genetically “improved” oysters could be behind the worst plague of the shellfish to hit France in 40 years, it has been reported.

Last month farmers around France announced that they had lost between 40 and 100 per cent of their oysters aged one to two years old.

According to oysters farmers cited by weekly magazine Marianne, the culprit is the triploid oyster, which is modified to give it three pairs of chromosomes instead of two, as is the case with common oysters.

“It’s the triploid’s fault”, one was quoted as saying. “But one mustn’t say that because the scientific and financial stakes are considerable”.

Read moreGenetically ‘improved’ oysters behind France’s shellfish plague

US: Citrus Crops Under Siege From Unknown Bacterium

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(NaturalNews) Citrus greening is blazing through the Florida citrus groves like wildfire. Scientists don’t know how long it will take to find a treatment or cure for this contagious bacterial disease. One scenario projects that within nine to ten years, all the citrus trees currently in the ground will be dead.

Citrus greening, caused by a bacterium yet unnamed, is one of the most serious citrus diseases in the world, destroying the economic value of the fruit while compromising the tree. The disease has significantly reduced citrus output in Asia, Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Brazil. Now trees grown in the U.S. are in jeopardy.

Read moreUS: Citrus Crops Under Siege From Unknown Bacterium

Massive Canada Arctic ice shelf breaks away

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The northern section of Ellesmere island is seen in a 2003 photo from NASA.

OTTAWA (Reuters) – A huge 19 square mile (55 square km) ice shelf in Canada’s northern Arctic broke away last month and the remaining shelves have shrunk at a “massive and disturbing” rate, the latest sign of accelerating climate change in the remote region, scientists said on Tuesday.

They said the Markham Ice Shelf, one of just five remaining ice shelves in the Canadian Arctic, split away from Ellesmere Island in early August. They also said two large chunks totaling 47 square miles had broken off the nearby Serson Ice Shelf, reducing it in size by 60 percent.

Read moreMassive Canada Arctic ice shelf breaks away

Scramble for cash as central banks dry up

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British banks soon could be scrambling for short-term funding once more amid reports that supplies from Threadneedle Street and from Frankfurt may be drying up.

The Bank of England explicitly ruled out extending its Special Liquidity Scheme (SLS), while the European Central Bank is reportedly considering tightening its lending criteria.

The two central banks have been huge suppliers of liquidity to British banks. The SLS is thought to have provided £50 billion or more, while the ECB has lent banks €467 billion (£378 billion) – much of it thought to have gone to UK institutions.

Read moreScramble for cash as central banks dry up

Russia may push forward with S-300 sales to Iran

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MOSCOW, September 1 (RIA Novosti) – Russia may proceed with plans to sell advanced S-300 air defense systems to Iran under a secret contract believed to have been signed in 2005, a Russian analyst said on Monday. (Russian mobile surface-to-air missile systems – Image gallery)

Commenting on an article in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper saying Russia is using the plans as a bargaining chip in its standoff with America, Ruslan Pukhov, director of Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, said: “In the current situation, when the U.S. and the West in general are stubbornly gearing toward a confrontation with Russia after the events in South Ossetia, the implementation of a lucrative contract on the deliveries of S-300 [air defense systems] to Iran looks like a logical step.”

Read moreRussia may push forward with S-300 sales to Iran

Google to launch browser to compete with Microsoft

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Chrome intensifies the battle between the tech giants and continues Web software’s drive to supersede the operating system.

SAN FRANCISCO — Bidding to dominate not only what people do on the Web but how they get from site to site, Google Inc. plans to release a browser today to compete with the likes of Internet Explorer and Firefox.

It’s yet another salvo in the company’s intensifying battle with Microsoft Corp., which last week released a beta, or test, version of Internet Explorer 8 that makes it easier to block ads from Google and others.

“This is the first truly serious threat that Microsoft has faced from a well-funded platform,” said technology analyst Rob Enderle, president of the Enderle Group.

Read moreGoogle to launch browser to compete with Microsoft

Mobile Phone Radiation to Unleash Epidemic of Brain Tumors

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(NaturalNews) A new review of more than 100 studies on the safety of mobile phones has concluded that cellular devices are poised to cause an epidemic of brain tumors that will kill more people than smoking or asbestos.

The review was conducted by neurosurgeon Vini Khurana, who has received more than 14 awards in the past 16 years, who made headlines worldwide with his warnings. He called upon the industry to immediately work to reduce people’s exposure to the radiation from mobile phones.

Read moreMobile Phone Radiation to Unleash Epidemic of Brain Tumors

South Africa: 500,000 people die of HIV/AIDS each year now…

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A friend who had been in military intelligence many years ago told me that he heard the following on the news yesterday:

According to the IEC (Independent Electoral Commission), 1 million voters “disappeared” from the voters rolls in the period 2004-2006.

Then he saw a news item about new statistics released from Stats SA. (NB: Stats SA is also not shy to hide and downplay figures to some degree – so their figures tend to be very conservative). According to Stats SA 40,000 people between the ages 25-49 die in South Africa per month, MOSTLY FROM HIV/AIDS AND RELATED DISEASES.

So, a quick calculation shows that that means close to 480,000 people die each year in South Africa from AIDS related diseases.

Read moreSouth Africa: 500,000 people die of HIV/AIDS each year now…

EU, Dependent on Russian Energy, Balks at Georgia War Sanctions

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Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) — European Union leaders refused to impose sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Georgia, acknowledging their reliance on Russian oil and gas at a time of faltering economic growth.

EU leaders took the symbolic step yesterday of suspending talks over expanded trade ties with Russia, fearing that tougher measures would expose the energy-dependent bloc to Russian retaliation.

Russia is the 27-nation bloc’s main supplier of oil and gas and third-biggest trading partner, giving it leverage at a time when the European economy threatens to tip into recession. Europe’s determination to maintain business links also undercuts U.S. efforts to line up allies against the reassertive Russia.

Read moreEU, Dependent on Russian Energy, Balks at Georgia War Sanctions

Korea Development’s Min Confirms Talks With Lehman

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A man walks past the Korea Development Bank headquarters in Seoul on Aug. 24, 2008. Photographer: Nasha Lee/Bloomberg News

Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) — Korea Development Bank is in talks to buy a stake in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-biggest U.S. securities firm.

Chief Executive Officer Min Euoo Sung confirmed the discussions in an interview in Seoul today. “I cannot comment further,” said Min, who headed Lehman’s Seoul branch before joining the Korean bank in June. Matthew Russell, a Hong Kong- based spokesman for Lehman, declined to comment.

Read moreKorea Development’s Min Confirms Talks With Lehman

Sun Makes History: First Spotless Month in a Century

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The record-setting surface of the sun. A full month has gone by without a single spot (Source: Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO))

Drop in solar activity has potential effect for climate on earth.

The sun has reached a milestone not seen for nearly 100 years: an entire month has passed without a single visible sunspot being noted.

The event is significant as many climatologists now believe solar magnetic activity – which determines the number of sunspots — is an influencing factor for climate on earth.

Read moreSun Makes History: First Spotless Month in a Century

Thailand Declares State of Emergency

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Thai protesters face riot police inside the Government House compound in Bangkok on Aug. 29, 2008. Photographer: Udo Weitz/Bloomberg News

Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) — Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej declared a state of emergency in Bangkok after street clashes early today left one dead and 43 injured, authorizing the army to help end four months of protests against his government.

``We can’t let the protests go on,” Samak said at a press briefing at military headquarters in the Thai capital. “I am acting to defuse the problem.”

Pro-government demonstrators wielding knives, swords and metal bars earlier marched to Government House to confront the People’s Alliance for Democracy, which has occupied Samak’s office compound for a week. Samak’s supporters broke through two lines of unarmed police before reaching the anti-government protesters, who charged at them with weapons and fired gunshots.

Read moreThailand Declares State of Emergency

U.S. Stocks at 25.8 Times Earnings Means Rally Can’t Continue

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Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) — The best already may be over for the U.S. stock market this year.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, which had the worst first half since 2002, added 0.2 percent this quarter, the only gain among the world’s 10 biggest markets in dollar terms. Shares in the benchmark index for American equity climbed to an average 25.8 times reported profits, the highest valuation in five years. The last time that happened, the S&P 500 fell 38 percent.

Read moreU.S. Stocks at 25.8 Times Earnings Means Rally Can’t Continue

Alarm as nurse and dog are treated for bovine TB

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A veterinary nurse and her dog have contracted bovine TB, raising fears that the high level of disease in some parts of the country could spread to more humans and pets.

The woman, from Cornwall, has been treated for the respiratory infection. Her daughter has also been tested for the disease and has received medication, The Times has learnt.

Read moreAlarm as nurse and dog are treated for bovine TB

Home Office: Recession will bring big rise in crime and race hatred

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Ministers are bracing themselves for a rise in violent crime and burglaries and a shift to far-right extremism as the effects of the economic downturn take their toll, a leaked Home Office report to the Prime Minister says.

In a series of warnings, the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, says that Britain also faces a “significant increase” in alcohol and tobacco smuggling, hostility towards migrants and even a potential rise in the number of people joining terrorist groups.

Read moreHome Office: Recession will bring big rise in crime and race hatred

Supermarkets go high-tech to combat shoplifters

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Cheese theft is on the rise, but razor blades, confectionary and oysters are still the top shoplifting targets. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Supermarkets are introducing electronic tags on items popular with shoplifters and other thieves.

The Source Tagging Alliance, set up by leading retailers, is encouraging suppliers to use radio frequency identification (RFID) and source tagging on grocery product packaging at the point of manufacture.

Read moreSupermarkets go high-tech to combat shoplifters

UK: Housing sales sink to worst for 30 years

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· Estate agents average one deal a week as prices fall
· Rics calls for tax-free cash help for first-time buyers

The government is being urged to act swiftly to help drag the ailing property industry up off its knees as housing sales slow to their worst level in three decades and prices continue to decline.

Read moreUK: Housing sales sink to worst for 30 years

Joe Biden: Israel should accept ‘nuclear’ Iran

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Senator Joe Biden

The US Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden has advised senior Israeli officials to come to terms with a ‘nuclear’ Iran.

In a clandestine meeting with unnamed Israeli officials, which was partially covered by the US Jewish Army Radio, Barack Obama’s vice-presidential nominee said, “Israel will have to reconcile itself with the nuclearization of Iran.”

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Biden, a six-time Delaware Senator and chairperson of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told the “amazed” officials, “It’s doubtful if the economic sanctions will be effective, and I am against opening an additional military and diplomatic front.”

Read moreJoe Biden: Israel should accept ‘nuclear’ Iran

Pakistani women buried alive for choosing husbands

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A Pakistani politician has defended a decision to bury five women alive because they wanted to choose their own husbands.

Israr Ullah Zehri, who represents Baluchistan province, told a stunned parliament that northwestern tribesman had done nothing wrong in first shooting the women and then dumping them in a ditch.

“These are centuries-old traditions, and I will continue to defend them,” he said.

“Only those who indulge in immoral acts should be afraid.”

The women, three of whom were teenagers and whose “crime” was that they wished to choose who to marry, were still breathing as mud and stones were shovelled over their bodies, according to Human Rights Watch.

The three girls, thought to be aged between 16 and 18, were kidnapped by a group of men from their Umrani tribe and murdered in Baba Kot, a remote village in Jafferabad district.

Read morePakistani women buried alive for choosing husbands

Legal bid to stop CERN atom smasher from ‘destroying the world’

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The world’s biggest and most expensive scientific experiment has been hit by a last minute legal challenge, amid claims that the research could bring about the end of the world.


Opponents fear the machine may create a mini-black hole that could tear the earth apart Photo: PA

Critics of the Large Hadron Collider – a £4.4 billion machine due to be switched on in ten days time – have lodged a lawsuit at the European Court for Human Rights against the 20 countries, including the UK, that fund the project.

Read moreLegal bid to stop CERN atom smasher from ‘destroying the world’