Genetically Modified Apples Newest GMO Creation to be Pushed on Consumers
USA - After setting sights on creating a heavily modified apple that ‘never browns’ and doing their very best to hide the fact that they are indeed genetically altered, a biotech corporation known as Okanagan Specialty Fruits is now pushing for their new genetically modified apples to hit the market.
One reason that some citizens are concerned is the fact that biotechnology researchers have openly admitted that while only one gene is necessary to be altered to prevent browning in the apples, the change could likely affect a multitude of other genes in the process. And with unknown gene changes comes unknown consequences. In case you’re skeptical, even Monsanto’s top PhD researchers have openly stated to former Monsanto employee and whistleblower Kirk Azevedo that during the genetic modification process “other proteins are being produced, not just the one we want, a byproduct of the genetic engineering process.”
Eventually leaving the company and coming out to expose their health-wrecking practices, Azevedo reports: “I saw what was really the fraud associated with genetic engineering. My impression, and I think most people’s impression with genetically engineered foods and crops and other things, is that it’s just like putting one gene in there and that one gene is expressed… But in reality, the process of genetic engineering changes the cell in such a way THAT IT’S UNKNOWN WHAT THE EFFECTS ARE GOING TO BE!”
As presidential campaign heads into final 100 days, undecided voters still struggle
TOLEDO, OHIO, USA - There are 100 days left in what, at times, has seemed like an endless presidential election. And these are the bewildered sounds of the Undecided American, trying to decide. “I’m definitely not voting for [Mr] Obama. Our country’s in the worst mess ever, and certainly he needs to take some responsibility,” said Bobbie Hodge, 71, a retired nurse from Iron County, Missouri. “And yet, I’m not sure about Romney.” In these next 100 days, President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney and their political allies will spend hundreds of millions of dollars trying to sway uncommitted voters in a few key states. These are the people they’re after.
Aurora shooting suspect was under psychiatrist's care
USA - The former University of Colorado graduate student accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 others in a shooting rampage at a cinema last week had been under the care of a psychiatrist who was part of a campus threat-assessment team. The disclosure came in court documents filed yesterday by lawyers for James Holmes, 24, who is accused of opening fire last Friday on a packed showing of the latest Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises," in the Denver suburb of Aurora.
Severe flooding hits North Korea, kills 88
NORTH KOREA - Severe flooding across North Korea has killed 88 people and left tens of thousands homeless, state media reported late on Saturday, threatening to make the poverty-stricken country's already chronic food shortage still worse. The floods caused by torrential rains and a typhoon this month caused "big human and material losses", North Korea's official KCNA news agency said, stranding nearly 63,000 people.
Drought, deluge and heat-wave blights pea crop
UK - Britain's families will pay more for peas this summer as the year of unpredictable weather leaves growers with a heavily reduced harvest. The drought conditions earlier this year followed by the record rainfall in April and June have harmed the prospects of this year's British pea crop. British shoppers consume 150 million kilos of frozen peas every year worth over £200 million at retail prices. Over 90 per cent of these are grown in the UK.
Powerful storms leave thousands without power across US
USA - Andrew M Cuomo, the governor of New York declared a state of emergency in Chemung County after a tornado reportedly touched down in Elmira, where author Mark Twain is buried. Most of the damage from yesterday's event occurred in New York and Pennsylvania where the weather front may have created a rare wind storm known as a derecho. A derecho is defined as an event that has wind gusts of at least 58 miles per hour and leaves a swathe of damage for a minimum of 240 miles, according to the US Storm Prediction Centre.
Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet: Short Term Event or Long Term Climate Change?
USA - What was measured was reflectivity of water on the surface of the ice that, in some cases, is thousands of feet deep. Surface ice melt happens every year. As soon as freezing temperatures return, the surface water will return to ice and so-called global warming will be over. Do not expect mainstream media to report it.
A mass shooting happens every FIVE days in America
USA - Last Friday's mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado, in which 12 people were brutally gunned down and more than 50 people injured, is only the latest tragedy involving rampant gun violence sweeping the nation, according to a prominent anti-gun group. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, has compiled an extensive list of the last 431 shootings with more than one victim since 2005. The organization's data says that since 2005, there has been a multiple-victim shooting every 5.9 days in the United States, with 87 people dying of bullet wounds each day.
Hollywood to 'look in the mirror' at how film violence affects real life after Colorado massacre
USA - A producer behind some of Hollywood's most violent films has called for a summit to discuss the impact of movies on real life in the wake of the Dark Knight Rises massacre. Harvey Weinstein says the industry needs to address how on-screen gore might be influencing viewers to commit similar atrocities. His comments come after 12 people were killed and 58 others injured when crazed gunman James Holmes opened fire during a midnight screening of the new Batman movie.
Spain concedes to full EU/IMF bailout
SPAIN - Spain has admitted for the first time it might need a full EU/IMF bailout worth €300 billion after its borrowing costs soared to a record 7.6 percent. The money would come on top of the €100 billion Spain has already received to prop up its banking sector. The issue was brought up by Economy Minister Luis de Guindos during a meeting with his German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble in Berlin last Tuesday.
London set for Olympic ceremony
LONDON, UK - The opening ceremony of the London Olympics is just hours away after seven years of preparations. The three-hour spectacle in the Olympic Stadium will be viewed by a global TV audience of around a billion people.
Speaking in Downing Street, Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain was ready to welcome "the greatest show on earth". "It's a great opportunity to show the world the best of Britain, a country that's got an incredibly rich past but also a very exciting future," he said.
Europe's largest bell will ring inside the Olympic stadium at 21:00 BST at the start of the £27 million extravaganza, featuring a cast of 10,000 volunteers and said to be a quirky take on British life. Some 15,000 square metres of staging and 12,956 props will be used, and the event will boast a million-watt PA system using more than 500 speakers.
The crowd of about 80,000 will include the Queen and a host of dignitaries and celebrities. As late as Thursday night, Games organisers said that the ceremony had not sold out and tickets in the two highest price categories - costing £2,012 and £1,600 - were still available.
'Muslim Brothers plotting overthrow of Gulf states'
DUBAI - Dubai's chief of police has warned of an "international plot" to overthrow the governments of Gulf Arab countries, saying the region needs to be prepared to counter any threat from Islamist dissidents as well as Syria and Iran.
The comments by Dahi Khalfan, one of the most outspoken security officials in the United Arab Emirates, follow the detention in the UAE since April of at least 20 dissidents, according to relatives of the detainees and activists. "There's an international plot against Gulf states in particular and Arab countries in general... This is preplanned to take over our fortunes," Khalfan told reporters at a gathering late on Wednesday marking the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
"The bigger our sovereign wealth funds and the more money we put in the banks of Western countries, the bigger the plot to take over our countries... The brothers and their governments in Damascus and North Africa have to know that the Gulf is a red line, not only for Iran but also for the Brothers as well." Most of the detainees since April are Islamists, targeted by an official clampdown amid concern they may be emboldened by the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in other Arab countries such as Egypt.
Barclays faces new probe, more US Libor lawsuits
UK - Barclays Plc faces a new regulatory probe and more US lawsuits, events that could make it harder for the British lender to repair the damage to its reputation caused by its role in the interest-rate rigging scandal rocking banks.
Barclays said on Friday that Britain's financial regulator has started an investigation involving the bank and four current and former senior employees, including finance director Chris Lucas. The Financial Services Authority is investigating whether the bank made sufficient disclosures about the fees it paid under commercial agreements related to its capital raisings in June and November 2008. The bank said it is satisfied with its disclosures, but refused further comment.
It also faces more US lawsuits after a record £290 million ($455.3 million) fine last month for rigging the Libor interest rate benchmark, sparking fierce criticism about its culture and risk-taking. More than a dozen other banks are expected to be drawn into the global Libor investigation and could also be fined.
The bank reported an underlying pretax profit of £4.2 billion ($6.6 billion) for the six months to the end of June, above an average forecast of £3.8 billion from analysts polled by the company and up 13 percent from a year ago. It said it faces a bill of £450 million to pay compensation to customers misled about interest-rate hedging products to small businesses. The figure is based on initial estimates and Barclays said the ultimate cost is uncertain. UK banks agreed last month to pay compensation to customers who were misled about the products.
The white elephants that dragged Spain into the red
SPAIN - Europe has already bailed out Spanish banks, now Spain's regions are clamouring for money from central government - and one of the reasons for this is their lavish spending on white elephant building projects, such as the airport at Ciudad Real, south of Madrid.
It has one of the longest runways in Europe but today there are no planes, only hawks and falcons gliding in the still heat over the arid yellow landscape of Don Quixote's Castilla La Mancha. Rabbits pop up around the state-of-the-art terminal, built of steel, glass and gleaming white concrete.
The airport of Ciudad Real opened in 2008 but it closed in April 2012. The luggage trolleys are now trussed together in the car park gathering dust and cobwebs. It is not the only white elephant to stomp across Spain's landscape. It is merely one of the herd, a monument to the country's burst construction bubble which brought down its banks.
"You might think the airport failed because of the crisis, but I am convinced that the shareholders never thought it (the airport) would work. The only profit in this airport was the building of it," says local investigative journalist Carlos Otto. The official bankruptcy report for the airport seems to back this up. It says: "The loans taken out were enough to cover the construction phase but no thought was given to the investment needed to make the airport function as a business."
Czech Republic: Church Property Seized Under Communism May Be Returned
ROME , ITALY - A restitution bill, which calls for the return of Church property seized during the 40 years of communist reign, passed the Czech Republic's lower house parliament earlier this month, but must yet pass the parliament's upper house for the bill to be enacted.
If the bill is successfully put into law, around half of all Church property nationalized by the communist government (worth about $4 billion) would be returned, and any property that cannot be returned would be compensated financially (around $2.8 billion), over the course of the next 30 years. Churches would, however, need to prove that they owned the property before February 25, 1948, the day of the communist revolt. The Catholic Church would receive 80% of the property.
The Church property had been seized by the communist government between 1948 and 1989.
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