The state regulator is drawing up rules for hydraulic fracturing, lawmakers are consideration various regulatory bills, environmentalists are protesting drilling in the Monterey oil formation, and filmmakers are creating a movie about the debate. Many believe the concerns over fracking are well-founded, but some corporations plan to use a different method to extract oil or gas altogether.
“All this anti-fracking language misses the target and I am very concerned it is a diversion," Steve Shimek of the environmental group Monterey Coastkeeper told Reuters.
Venoco, a private oil and gas production corporation, has estimated that eight out of 10 of its Monterey wells can be completed without the use of fracking – a method which injects water, sand and chemicals into faults at high pressure to shatter rock formations and release oil or gas. Using an alternate method, chemicals such as hydrofluoric acid are pumped into the wells to melt rocks and other obstructions to extract oil. Occidental Petroleum Corp, a California-based oil and gas production company that leads the Monterey development, in 2011 announced that most of its shale was extracted using acid jobs – not fracking. This month, the company said that only one sixth of its wells are currently being fracked.
Only one of the 10 legislative fracking bills addresses acid jobs, which has some environmentalists concerned. Companies are not required to report their use of acid, which allows them to pump large quantities of this substance into the ground with no regulation.
“These are super-hazardous, poisonous chemicals and we have no idea what they are doing out there with it – how deep it is going, the volumes – nothing,” Bill Allayaud of the Environmental Working Group told Reuters. “Why shouldn’t our state agency be regulating it as we hope they’ll be regulating hydraulic fracturing?”
Earlier this month, Allayaud told Environment & Energy Publishing that regulation for acid use is desperately needed because it is unknown how much of the substance is being used and where. Damon Nagami, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said techniques that replace fracking – including gravel packing, water flooding, steam flooding and acidization – remain largely excluded from the public debate.
They “aren’t being talked about as much because of the spotlight on fracking,” Nagami told E & E Publishing. “We believe they could have as much of an impact or possibly more than fracking itself because of the widespread use and potential used in the future.”
With an estimated 15 barrels of oil in the Monterey shale, California is ranked fourth in the US for oil output. Fracking regulation in the state will take up to 16 months to write, and ruled on acid jobs could take longer than that, State Oil and Gas Supervisor Tim Kustic told Reuters. But with little emphasis on acid regulation in the debate on oil and gas extraction, companies will most likely be able to continue their processes undisturbed.
“Taking hydrofluoric acid and injecting it into the ground and changing the geology down there is a big concern,” Kassie Siegel, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, told Reuters. “We should not have this activity going on until we know those risks.”
Lawmakers are trying to address environmentalists’ fracking concerns, but acidization continues to remain a little-known process with unknown environmental effects.
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
Endangered whale used for Japan dog treats
Meat from endangered whales caught by Icelandic hunters is being sold in Japan as luxury dog treats, environmental campaigners said Tuesday.
Michinoku Farm, a Tokyo-based company, is offering chews made from North Atlantic fin whales on its company website, with the meat described as a "low calorie, low fat, high protein" snack.
A Peptide against Soluble Guanylyl Cyclase α1: A New Approach to Treating Prostate Cancer
by Shuai Gao, Chen-Lin Hsieh, Meenakshi Bhansali, Archana Kannan, Lirim Shemshedini
Among the many identified androgen-regulated genes, sGCα1 (soluble guanylyl cyclase α1) appears to play a pivotal role in mediating the pro-cancer effects of androgens and androgen receptor. The classical role for sGCα1 is to heterodimerize with the sGCβ1 subunit, forming sGC, the enzyme that mediates nitric oxide signaling by catalyzing the synthesis of cyclic guanosine monophosphate. Our published data show that sGCα1 can drive prostate cancer cell proliferation independent of hormone and provide cancer cells a pro-survival function, via a novel mechanism for p53 inhibition, both of which are independent of sGCβ1, NO, and cGMP. All of these properties make sGCα1 an important novel target for prostate cancer therapy. Thus, peptides were designed targeting sGCα1 with the aim of disrupting this protein’s pro-cancer activities. One peptide (A-8R) was determined to be strongly cytotoxic to prostate cancer cells, rapidly inducing apoptosis. Cytotoxicity was observed in both hormone-dependent and, significantly, hormone-refractory prostate cancer cells, opening the possibility that this peptide can be used to treat the usually lethal castration-resistant prostate cancer. In mouse xenograft studies, Peptide A-8R was able to stop tumor growth of not only hormone-dependent cells, but most importantly from hormone-independent cells. In addition, the mechanism of Peptide A cytotoxicity is generation of reactive oxygen species, which recently have been recognized as a major mode of action of important cancer drugs. Thus, this paper provides strong evidence that targeting an important AR-regulated gene is a new paradigm for effective prostate cancer therapy.
Among the many identified androgen-regulated genes, sGCα1 (soluble guanylyl cyclase α1) appears to play a pivotal role in mediating the pro-cancer effects of androgens and androgen receptor. The classical role for sGCα1 is to heterodimerize with the sGCβ1 subunit, forming sGC, the enzyme that mediates nitric oxide signaling by catalyzing the synthesis of cyclic guanosine monophosphate. Our published data show that sGCα1 can drive prostate cancer cell proliferation independent of hormone and provide cancer cells a pro-survival function, via a novel mechanism for p53 inhibition, both of which are independent of sGCβ1, NO, and cGMP. All of these properties make sGCα1 an important novel target for prostate cancer therapy. Thus, peptides were designed targeting sGCα1 with the aim of disrupting this protein’s pro-cancer activities. One peptide (A-8R) was determined to be strongly cytotoxic to prostate cancer cells, rapidly inducing apoptosis. Cytotoxicity was observed in both hormone-dependent and, significantly, hormone-refractory prostate cancer cells, opening the possibility that this peptide can be used to treat the usually lethal castration-resistant prostate cancer. In mouse xenograft studies, Peptide A-8R was able to stop tumor growth of not only hormone-dependent cells, but most importantly from hormone-independent cells. In addition, the mechanism of Peptide A cytotoxicity is generation of reactive oxygen species, which recently have been recognized as a major mode of action of important cancer drugs. Thus, this paper provides strong evidence that targeting an important AR-regulated gene is a new paradigm for effective prostate cancer therapy.
Realizan a mexicano primer trasplante de corazón artificial en AL
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, 27 de marzo.-Don José caminará con un corazón artificial de por vida. Es el primer mexicano y latinoamericano que tiene un dispositivo de su tipo.
En el mundo se han colocado alrededor de 13 mil principalmente en Estados Unidos y en Europa.
El doctor Moisés Calderón, director del Hospital de Cardiología del Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, dijo que "fue el primer implante de esta naturaleza en América Latina además de ser un implante exitoso fue el primero que se hizo".
Hace medio año que José fue diagnosticado con una cardiopatía isquémica, vive gracias al implante de un sistema que coloquialmente podría llamarse corazón biónico y que tras una operación se quedó como sustituto de su corazón humano.
"Cuando van mis nietos les causo gracia porque creen que tienen a su abuelo así como a un robot, ‘Iron Man’ me dicen", señaló José Salvador Pérez, paciente trasplantado.
El dispositivo colocado con éxito en el Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social es una especie de turbina de avión de propulsión eléctrica tan pequeño que pude quedarse dentro del cuerpo.
“Lo único que dale del cuerpo del paciente es el controlador de baterías, requiere de muy poca energía eléctrica para funcionar y es tan eficiente como el corazón de un atleta", señaló Moisés Calderón.
De acuerdo con los especialistas, el beneficio clínico de este corazón es similar al de un trasplante cardiaco.
“Gracias a Dios aquí estoy ya manejo mi equipo tengo todos los días que conectarme y desconectarme, bañarme, colocarme el chaleco, colocarme el portafolio, en fin ya se ha hecho parte de mi rutina", señaló Pérez tras ser intervenido.
Para los expertos a la hazaña médica lo púnico que le falta es terminar el desarrollo tecnológico de las baterías que hoy duran 20 horas a fin de que puedan estar completamente dentro.
jgl
En el mundo se han colocado alrededor de 13 mil principalmente en Estados Unidos y en Europa.
El doctor Moisés Calderón, director del Hospital de Cardiología del Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, dijo que "fue el primer implante de esta naturaleza en América Latina además de ser un implante exitoso fue el primero que se hizo".
Hace medio año que José fue diagnosticado con una cardiopatía isquémica, vive gracias al implante de un sistema que coloquialmente podría llamarse corazón biónico y que tras una operación se quedó como sustituto de su corazón humano.
"Cuando van mis nietos les causo gracia porque creen que tienen a su abuelo así como a un robot, ‘Iron Man’ me dicen", señaló José Salvador Pérez, paciente trasplantado.
El dispositivo colocado con éxito en el Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social es una especie de turbina de avión de propulsión eléctrica tan pequeño que pude quedarse dentro del cuerpo.
“Lo único que dale del cuerpo del paciente es el controlador de baterías, requiere de muy poca energía eléctrica para funcionar y es tan eficiente como el corazón de un atleta", señaló Moisés Calderón.
De acuerdo con los especialistas, el beneficio clínico de este corazón es similar al de un trasplante cardiaco.
“Gracias a Dios aquí estoy ya manejo mi equipo tengo todos los días que conectarme y desconectarme, bañarme, colocarme el chaleco, colocarme el portafolio, en fin ya se ha hecho parte de mi rutina", señaló Pérez tras ser intervenido.
Para los expertos a la hazaña médica lo púnico que le falta es terminar el desarrollo tecnológico de las baterías que hoy duran 20 horas a fin de que puedan estar completamente dentro.
jgl
Hack the hacker: US Congress urged to legalize cyber-attacks to fight cybercrimes
The commissioners - former US government officials and military men - say that the “scale of international theft of American intellectual property (IP) is unprecedented”. However, the US government response has been “utterly inadequate to deal with the problem.”
"Almost all the advantages are on the side of the hacker; the current situation is not sustainable," the commissions's report says.
“New options need to be considered,” the authors call, then adding that current laws are limited and “have not kept pace with the technology of hacking.”
Thus, the commission suggests allowing active network retrieving stolen information, “altering it within the intruder’s networks, or even destroying the information within an unauthorized network."
For example, locking down the computer of unauthorized users and forcing them to come out to police could be one of the options.
“The file could be rendered inaccessible and the unauthorized user’s computer could be locked down, with instructions on how to contact law enforcement to get the password needed to unlock the account,” the commission recommended.
In other words, authors suggest legalizing ransomware - an extortion tool used by organized criminals, when malware that blocks access to the computer system it infects, and demands a ransom paid to the creator to remove the restriction.
Such measures, the commissioners stressed, do not violate existing laws, but still might help to prevent attacks and even provide both time and evidence for law enforcement to investigate the cyber-crime.
As additional measures, the report recommends “physically disabling or destroying the hacker’s own computer or network,” implanting malware in the hacker’s network or photographing the hacker using his own system’s camera.
“The legal underpinnings of such actions taken at network speed within the networks of hackers, even when undertaken by governments, have not yet been developed,” the authors say.
So, if counterattacks against hackers were legal, companies could use a variety of techniques and cause severe damage to the capability of IP pirates.
"These attacks would raise the cost to IP thieves of their actions, potentially deterring them from undertaking these activities in the first place," the report concludes.
However, if counterattacks were legalized, this would not be just about companies and hacker. Some pirated movies or songs on private computers, could be deemed an IP theft and allow rights holders to do horrible things to suspected systems.
"Almost all the advantages are on the side of the hacker; the current situation is not sustainable," the commissions's report says.
“New options need to be considered,” the authors call, then adding that current laws are limited and “have not kept pace with the technology of hacking.”
Thus, the commission suggests allowing active network retrieving stolen information, “altering it within the intruder’s networks, or even destroying the information within an unauthorized network."
For example, locking down the computer of unauthorized users and forcing them to come out to police could be one of the options.
“The file could be rendered inaccessible and the unauthorized user’s computer could be locked down, with instructions on how to contact law enforcement to get the password needed to unlock the account,” the commission recommended.
In other words, authors suggest legalizing ransomware - an extortion tool used by organized criminals, when malware that blocks access to the computer system it infects, and demands a ransom paid to the creator to remove the restriction.
Such measures, the commissioners stressed, do not violate existing laws, but still might help to prevent attacks and even provide both time and evidence for law enforcement to investigate the cyber-crime.
As additional measures, the report recommends “physically disabling or destroying the hacker’s own computer or network,” implanting malware in the hacker’s network or photographing the hacker using his own system’s camera.
“The legal underpinnings of such actions taken at network speed within the networks of hackers, even when undertaken by governments, have not yet been developed,” the authors say.
So, if counterattacks against hackers were legal, companies could use a variety of techniques and cause severe damage to the capability of IP pirates.
"These attacks would raise the cost to IP thieves of their actions, potentially deterring them from undertaking these activities in the first place," the report concludes.
However, if counterattacks were legalized, this would not be just about companies and hacker. Some pirated movies or songs on private computers, could be deemed an IP theft and allow rights holders to do horrible things to suspected systems.
By Inserting Itself Into Syrian War, Hezbollah Makes Historic Gamble
Hezbollah is betting its prestige and security by taking its followers on a new mission to crush the Syrian rebellion, an effort that could bring more power or defeat.
World's First Privately Funded Lunar Telescope Will be Available to General Public for Space Observation
Something wonderful is happening in space. It’s not just a playpen for large government programs or ‘big science’ anymore. Today we are witnessing a revolution in access to space, made possible by innovation and entrepreneurship beyond Earth. In the last few years, lost cost spacecraft platforms called cubesats have been routinely launched into space by universities at a fraction of the cost of traditional space missions. Last month NASA successfully launched three smartphone satellites and showed the world that the supercomputers in our pockets make great spacecraft.
Syria fighting rages, more chemical attacks reported
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Heavy fighting raged around the strategic Syrian border town of Qusair and the capital Damascus on Monday and further reports surfaced of chemical weapons attacks by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on rebel areas.
Marine killed after Texas shooting spree
A Marine based in North Carolina died during a gun battle with police in Texas after authorities said he killed one person and wounded five others in a shooting spree.
Asciende a 30 el número oficial de afectados por una fuga radiactiva en Japón
Treinta investigadores fueron expuestos a radiación por una fuga de material en un laboratorio de física nuclear en Japón. Así lo afirmó este lunes la agencia japonesa de energía atómica tras revisar su saldo inicial de cuatro afectados.
El incidente se produjo el jueves pasado en el laboratorio de Tokaimura, a 120 km al noreste de Tokio, cuando 55 investigadores estaban trabajando en el lugar.
La agencia atribuyó el suceso a un sobrecalentamiento durante un experimento de aceleración de partículas.
El incidente se produjo el jueves pasado en el laboratorio de Tokaimura, a 120 km al noreste de Tokio, cuando 55 investigadores estaban trabajando en el lugar.
La agencia atribuyó el suceso a un sobrecalentamiento durante un experimento de aceleración de partículas.
Evacúan en California a más de 1.000 personas por un fuerte incendio forestal
Más de 1.000 personas fueron evacuadas en el estado estadounidense de California a causa de un fuerte incendio forestal, según informó el canal de televisión local KTLA.
El fuego, iniciado en el parque nacional de Los Padres, en el condado de Santa Bárbara, ya se extendió por un territorio de unas 400 hectáreas. Actualmente, cuatro aviones de bomberos y dos helicópteros están tratando de controlar el fuego.
De momento, no hay información sobre posibles víctimas o daños materiales causados por el incendio.
El fuego, iniciado en el parque nacional de Los Padres, en el condado de Santa Bárbara, ya se extendió por un territorio de unas 400 hectáreas. Actualmente, cuatro aviones de bomberos y dos helicópteros están tratando de controlar el fuego.
De momento, no hay información sobre posibles víctimas o daños materiales causados por el incendio.
Detienen a 13 personas en protestas contra musulmanes en Londres
Trece personas han sido detenidas en Londres tras una manifestación de nacionalistas y otra de antifascistas, provocadas por el asesinato de un militar la semana pasada.
Más de un mil de simpatizantes del grupo de ultraderecha británico English Defense League protestaron contra la inmigración musulmana frente a la residencia del primer ministro en Downing Street, al lado de la acción de unos cientos de antifascistas que se convocaron en su contra.
Aunque la Policía logró aislar las dos protestas, se produjeron enfrentamientos entre los grupos separados de los participantes que se dispersaron por el centro de Londres tras las manifestaciones.
El soldado británico Lee Rigby, de 25 años, murió a machetazos en el sur de Londres el miércoles pasado, asesinado por dos presuntos islamistas radicales.
Más de un mil de simpatizantes del grupo de ultraderecha británico English Defense League protestaron contra la inmigración musulmana frente a la residencia del primer ministro en Downing Street, al lado de la acción de unos cientos de antifascistas que se convocaron en su contra.
Aunque la Policía logró aislar las dos protestas, se produjeron enfrentamientos entre los grupos separados de los participantes que se dispersaron por el centro de Londres tras las manifestaciones.
El soldado británico Lee Rigby, de 25 años, murió a machetazos en el sur de Londres el miércoles pasado, asesinado por dos presuntos islamistas radicales.
Australian spy HQ plans stolen by Chinese hackers: report
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Chinese hackers have stolen the blueprints of a new multi-million-dollar Australian spy headquarters as part of a growing wave of cyber attacks against business and military targets in the close U.S. ally, a Australian news report said.
Electric Car Battery Swapping Startup Better Place Plans To Liquidate
Better Place, a well-funded startup that dreamed of making history as a pioneer in the electric car market, has asked a court to shut down the company and begin a liquidation process.
Suspendidas las clases en parte de Chile debido a las intensas lluvias
La ministra de Educación de Chile, Carolina Schmidt, ha ordenado suspender las clases en todos los colegios de la región metropolitana por las intensas lluvias, que están causando cortes de luz e inundaciones.
Los escolares de educación básica y media deberán quedarse en casa, como los niños de la mayoría de los jardines infantiles de Santiago.
Las escuelas también han sido cerradas en la región de Valparaíso, donde colegios municipales experimentaron filtraciones de agua.
Los escolares de educación básica y media deberán quedarse en casa, como los niños de la mayoría de los jardines infantiles de Santiago.
Las escuelas también han sido cerradas en la región de Valparaíso, donde colegios municipales experimentaron filtraciones de agua.
Vándalos pintan la palabra 'islam' en dos monumentos de guerra en el centro de Londres
La Policía de Londres está investigando dos actos de vandalismo en el centro de la ciudad, donde unos desconocidos han escrito la palabra 'islam' en dos monumentos. Se trata del Memorial a los pilotos de los bombarderos británicos durante la II Guerra Mundial, que se ubica cerca del Palacio de Buckingham, y el Monumento a los animales en la guerra, en Park Lane, cerca de Hyde Park. Las palabras escritas han sido cubiertas.
Las autoridades suponen que los grafiteros son musulmanes radicales.
Las autoridades suponen que los grafiteros son musulmanes radicales.
La grippe aviaire fait 17 morts au Venezuela
Le virus H1N1 de la grippe aviaire, qui a contaminé plus de 250personnes, a fait 17morts au Venezuela.
Chinese hackers 'access sensitive US weapons systems'
Designs for some of the United States' most important and sensitive weapons systems have been "compromised" by Chinese hackers according to extracts from a confidential report obtained by the Washington Post.
EU looks to curb youth unemployment
The economic crisis has doubled the unemployment rate among Europe's youth. The EU is urgently looking for solutions, but it's the member states that will have to act.
You can't blame big firms for avoiding tax
Britain's tax system is a complicated and unfair mess - a simpler, fairer system would benefit all, writes Matthew Sinclair
Monday, 27 May 2013
Rockets hit Beirut, Signalling Syrian Spillover
Rockets hit Beirut: Two rockets hit Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut on Sunday, tearing through an apartment and peppering cars with shrapnel, a day after the Lebanese group’s leader pledged to lift President Bashar Assad to victory in Syria’s civil war.
The strikes illustrated the potential backlash against Hezbollah at home for linking its fate to the survival of the Assad regime. It’s a gambit that also threatens to pull fragile Lebanon deeper into Syria’s bloody conflict.
Despite such risks, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah made it clear there is no turning back. In a televised speech Saturday, he said Hezbollah will keep fighting alongside Assad’s forces until victory, regardless of the costs.
For Hezbollah, it may well be an existential battle. If Assad falls, Hezbollah’s supply line of Iranian weapons through Syrian territory would dry up and it could become increasingly isolated in the region.
At the same time, Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim group, is raising the sectarian stakes in Lebanon by declaring war on Syria’s rebels, most of them Sunni Muslims.
Lebanon and Syria share the same uneasy mix of Sunnis, Shiites, Christians and Alawites, or followers of an offshoot of Shiite Islam. In trying to defeat the rebels, Assad relies on support from minority Shiites, Christians and his fellow Alawites.
On Beirut’s beach promenade, opinions about Hezbollah’s new strategy seemed to fall along religious lines.
Mahmoud Masoud, a Sunni, said he fears Lebanon will become more unstable. “I don’t want to see everything I’ve worked for and my country fall apart of because of a certain group’s interests,” he said of Hezbollah.
Tamam Alameh, a Shiite, sided with Hezbollah. “The Syrians helped Lebanon a lot. We should help them and rid them of the conflict in their country,” he said.
The rockets struck early Sunday in south Beirut, an unusual type of attack. In occasional sectarian flare-ups since the end of Lebanon’s 15-year civil war in 1990, rival groups have mostly fought in the streets.
One rocket hit a car dealership in the Mar Mikhael district, wounding four Syrian workers, badly damaging two cars, and spraying others with shrapnel. Part of the rocket’s main body was embedded in the ground, where a Lebanese soldier measured its diameter.
The second rocket tore through a second-floor apartment in the Chiyah district, about two kilometers (one mile) away. It damaged a living room, but no one was hurt.
Rocket launchers were later found in the woods in a predominantly Christian and Druse area southeast ofBeirut, security officials said.
There was no claim of responsibility, but the attack was widely portrayed as retaliation for Nasrallah’s defiant speech and Hezbollah’s participation in a regime offensive in the past week on the rebel-held Syrian town of Qusair, near Lebanon. The regime has pushed back the rebels in Qusair, but has so far failed to dislodge them.
In an amateur video posted online a few days ago, a rebel commander threatened to hit Hezbollah targets in south Beirut in retaliation for the militia’s part in the fight for Qusair.
Some said the rockets are just one sign that Lebanon is becoming a battleground.
“Nasrallah declared that he is part of the Syrian civil war,” said Nadim Koteich, a TV talk show host and frequent Hezbollah critic. “He did not tell the Lebanese people why he thinks this civil war will not come to Lebanon.”
In the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, Sunni opponents and Alawite supporters of the Assad regime have repeatedly fought with mortar shells, machine guns and grenades since the start of the Syria conflict.
The latest round in the past week, apparently sparked by the Qusair offensive, was the longest and deadliest so far, with more than two dozen killed and more than 200 hurt.
Lebanese Sunnis have also entered the Syria battle, joining rebel units, though in a less-organized way than Hezbollah.
Hezbollah remains the most powerful group in Lebanon, backed by a military wing armed with tens of thousands of Iranian missiles.
Despite the risk of a backlash over the involvement in Syria, Hezbollah appears to be banking on continued support from Lebanon’s Shiites, for whom it provides an extensive social support system.
Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, Hezbollah’s commander in south Lebanon, signaled a tough line Sunday. “If the rocketswere meant to terrorize us and pressure us into changing our position (on Syria), they have failed to do that,” he told a Hezbollah function.
The Arab world’s Sunni leaders were predictably harsh on Nasrallah.
In Bahrain, Foreign Minister Sheik Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa described the Hezbollah chief as a “terrorist” and said it was Lebanon’s “national and religious duty” to remove him from his influential position, according to the official Bahrain News Agency.
In Cairo, Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby condemned Sunday’s rocket attack but also urged Hezbollah to stop interfering in the Syrian civil war.
It is not known how many men Hezbollah has sent to Syria, but the militia’s trained fighters fill a dire need for Assad’s army.
Regime troops have been stretched thin, both because of defections at the start of the conflict and because only the most politically loyal have been sent into battle.
It is unclear how Hezbollah’s new strategy will play out, said Peter Harling of the International Crisis Group think tank.
“They do see this as something that can redefine the rules of the game region-wide, and they are mustering all the strength they have to win this,” he said of Hezbollah. “But it is doubtful strength alone can achieve this, as the regime itself has shown.”
The Assad government, meanwhile, confirmed Sunday that it has agreed in principle to attend U.N.-sponsored talks with opposition representatives in Geneva next month on ending the civil war.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said during a visit to Iraq that such talks present a “good opportunity for a political solution for the crisis in Syria.” He did not say under what terms Assad would dispatch representatives.
The date, agenda and list of participants for the conference remain unclear, and wide gaps persist about its objectives.
Syrian opposition leaders have said they are willing to attend the Geneva talks, but that Assad’s departure from power must top the agenda. Assad said this month that his future won’t be determined by international talks and that he will only step down after elections are held.
Al-Moallem’s statement puts more pressure on Syria’s fractured political opposition to signal acceptance as well. The main bloc, the Syrian National Coalition, met in Istanbul for a fourth day Sunday to come up with a unified position on the proposed peace talks, elect new leaders and expand membership.
Louay Safi, a senior member of the coalition, said participants were bogged down in talks about the expansion and won’t be able to issue a statement on the Geneva talks until membership issues are settled.
The post Rockets hit Beirut, Signalling Syrian Spillover appeared first on The Epoch Times.
The strikes illustrated the potential backlash against Hezbollah at home for linking its fate to the survival of the Assad regime. It’s a gambit that also threatens to pull fragile Lebanon deeper into Syria’s bloody conflict.
Despite such risks, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah made it clear there is no turning back. In a televised speech Saturday, he said Hezbollah will keep fighting alongside Assad’s forces until victory, regardless of the costs.
For Hezbollah, it may well be an existential battle. If Assad falls, Hezbollah’s supply line of Iranian weapons through Syrian territory would dry up and it could become increasingly isolated in the region.
At the same time, Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim group, is raising the sectarian stakes in Lebanon by declaring war on Syria’s rebels, most of them Sunni Muslims.
Lebanon and Syria share the same uneasy mix of Sunnis, Shiites, Christians and Alawites, or followers of an offshoot of Shiite Islam. In trying to defeat the rebels, Assad relies on support from minority Shiites, Christians and his fellow Alawites.
On Beirut’s beach promenade, opinions about Hezbollah’s new strategy seemed to fall along religious lines.
Mahmoud Masoud, a Sunni, said he fears Lebanon will become more unstable. “I don’t want to see everything I’ve worked for and my country fall apart of because of a certain group’s interests,” he said of Hezbollah.
Tamam Alameh, a Shiite, sided with Hezbollah. “The Syrians helped Lebanon a lot. We should help them and rid them of the conflict in their country,” he said.
The rockets struck early Sunday in south Beirut, an unusual type of attack. In occasional sectarian flare-ups since the end of Lebanon’s 15-year civil war in 1990, rival groups have mostly fought in the streets.
One rocket hit a car dealership in the Mar Mikhael district, wounding four Syrian workers, badly damaging two cars, and spraying others with shrapnel. Part of the rocket’s main body was embedded in the ground, where a Lebanese soldier measured its diameter.
The second rocket tore through a second-floor apartment in the Chiyah district, about two kilometers (one mile) away. It damaged a living room, but no one was hurt.
Rocket launchers were later found in the woods in a predominantly Christian and Druse area southeast ofBeirut, security officials said.
There was no claim of responsibility, but the attack was widely portrayed as retaliation for Nasrallah’s defiant speech and Hezbollah’s participation in a regime offensive in the past week on the rebel-held Syrian town of Qusair, near Lebanon. The regime has pushed back the rebels in Qusair, but has so far failed to dislodge them.
In an amateur video posted online a few days ago, a rebel commander threatened to hit Hezbollah targets in south Beirut in retaliation for the militia’s part in the fight for Qusair.
Some said the rockets are just one sign that Lebanon is becoming a battleground.
“Nasrallah declared that he is part of the Syrian civil war,” said Nadim Koteich, a TV talk show host and frequent Hezbollah critic. “He did not tell the Lebanese people why he thinks this civil war will not come to Lebanon.”
In the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, Sunni opponents and Alawite supporters of the Assad regime have repeatedly fought with mortar shells, machine guns and grenades since the start of the Syria conflict.
The latest round in the past week, apparently sparked by the Qusair offensive, was the longest and deadliest so far, with more than two dozen killed and more than 200 hurt.
Lebanese Sunnis have also entered the Syria battle, joining rebel units, though in a less-organized way than Hezbollah.
Hezbollah remains the most powerful group in Lebanon, backed by a military wing armed with tens of thousands of Iranian missiles.
Despite the risk of a backlash over the involvement in Syria, Hezbollah appears to be banking on continued support from Lebanon’s Shiites, for whom it provides an extensive social support system.
Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, Hezbollah’s commander in south Lebanon, signaled a tough line Sunday. “If the rocketswere meant to terrorize us and pressure us into changing our position (on Syria), they have failed to do that,” he told a Hezbollah function.
The Arab world’s Sunni leaders were predictably harsh on Nasrallah.
In Bahrain, Foreign Minister Sheik Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa described the Hezbollah chief as a “terrorist” and said it was Lebanon’s “national and religious duty” to remove him from his influential position, according to the official Bahrain News Agency.
In Cairo, Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby condemned Sunday’s rocket attack but also urged Hezbollah to stop interfering in the Syrian civil war.
It is not known how many men Hezbollah has sent to Syria, but the militia’s trained fighters fill a dire need for Assad’s army.
Regime troops have been stretched thin, both because of defections at the start of the conflict and because only the most politically loyal have been sent into battle.
It is unclear how Hezbollah’s new strategy will play out, said Peter Harling of the International Crisis Group think tank.
“They do see this as something that can redefine the rules of the game region-wide, and they are mustering all the strength they have to win this,” he said of Hezbollah. “But it is doubtful strength alone can achieve this, as the regime itself has shown.”
The Assad government, meanwhile, confirmed Sunday that it has agreed in principle to attend U.N.-sponsored talks with opposition representatives in Geneva next month on ending the civil war.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said during a visit to Iraq that such talks present a “good opportunity for a political solution for the crisis in Syria.” He did not say under what terms Assad would dispatch representatives.
The date, agenda and list of participants for the conference remain unclear, and wide gaps persist about its objectives.
Syrian opposition leaders have said they are willing to attend the Geneva talks, but that Assad’s departure from power must top the agenda. Assad said this month that his future won’t be determined by international talks and that he will only step down after elections are held.
Al-Moallem’s statement puts more pressure on Syria’s fractured political opposition to signal acceptance as well. The main bloc, the Syrian National Coalition, met in Istanbul for a fourth day Sunday to come up with a unified position on the proposed peace talks, elect new leaders and expand membership.
Louay Safi, a senior member of the coalition, said participants were bogged down in talks about the expansion and won’t be able to issue a statement on the Geneva talks until membership issues are settled.
The post Rockets hit Beirut, Signalling Syrian Spillover appeared first on The Epoch Times.
Reforestation study shows trade-offs between water, carbon and timber
Tempe AZ (SPX) May 27, 2013
More than 13,000 ships per year, carrying more than 284 million tons of cargo, transit the Panama Canal each year, generating roughly $1.8 billion dollars in toll fees for the Panama Canal Authority. Each time a ship passes through, more than 55 million gallons of water are used from Gatun Lake, which is also a source of water for the 2 million people living in the isthmus.
However, the ad
More than 13,000 ships per year, carrying more than 284 million tons of cargo, transit the Panama Canal each year, generating roughly $1.8 billion dollars in toll fees for the Panama Canal Authority. Each time a ship passes through, more than 55 million gallons of water are used from Gatun Lake, which is also a source of water for the 2 million people living in the isthmus.
However, the ad
Researchers Explain Magnetic Field Misbehavior in Solar Flares
Baltimore MD (SPX) May 27, 2013
When a solar flare filled with charged particles erupts from the sun, its magnetic fields sometime break a widely accepted rule of physics. The flux-freezing theorem dictates that the magnetic lines of force should flow away in lock-step with the particles, whole and unbroken. Instead, the lines sometimes break apart and quickly reconnect in a way that has mystified astrophysicists.
But in
When a solar flare filled with charged particles erupts from the sun, its magnetic fields sometime break a widely accepted rule of physics. The flux-freezing theorem dictates that the magnetic lines of force should flow away in lock-step with the particles, whole and unbroken. Instead, the lines sometimes break apart and quickly reconnect in a way that has mystified astrophysicists.
But in
Researchers reveal model of Sun's magnetic field
Leeds, UK (SPX) May 24, 2013
Researchers at the Universities of Leeds and Chicago have uncovered an important mechanism behind the generation of astrophysical magnetic fields such as that of the Sun.
Scientists have known since the 18th Century that the Sun regularly oscillates between periods of high and low solar activity in an 11-year cycle, but have been unable to fully explain how this cycle is generated.
I
Researchers at the Universities of Leeds and Chicago have uncovered an important mechanism behind the generation of astrophysical magnetic fields such as that of the Sun.
Scientists have known since the 18th Century that the Sun regularly oscillates between periods of high and low solar activity in an 11-year cycle, but have been unable to fully explain how this cycle is generated.
I
Decline in biodiversity of farmed plants, animals gathering pace
OSLO (Reuters) - A decline in the diversity of farmed plants and livestock breeds is gathering pace, threatening future food supplies for the world's growing population, the head of a new United Nations panel on biodiversity said on Monday.
EU regulator suspects BASF insecticide of harming bees
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Union's food safety regulator has added a BASF insecticide to the list of crop chemicals it suspects of playing a role in declining bee populations
Disentangling the Origins of Cultivated Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.)
by Caroline Roullier, Anne Duputié, Paul Wennekes, Laure Benoit, Víctor Manuel Fernández Bringas, Genoveva Rossel, David Tay, Doyle McKey, Vincent Lebot
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam., Convolvulaceae) counts among the most widely cultivated staple crops worldwide, yet the origins of its domestication remain unclear. This hexaploid species could have had either an autopolyploid origin, from the diploid I. trifida, or an allopolyploid origin, involving genomes of I. trifida and I. triloba. We generated molecular genetic data for a broad sample of cultivated sweet potatoes and its diploid and polyploid wild relatives, for noncoding chloroplast and nuclear ITS sequences, and nuclear SSRs. Our data did not support an allopolyploid origin for I. batatas, nor any contribution of I. triloba in the genome of domesticated sweet potato. I. trifida and I. batatas are closely related although they do not share haplotypes. Our data support an autopolyploid origin of sweet potato from the ancestor it shares with I. trifida, which might be similar to currently observed tetraploid wild Ipomoea accessions. Two I. batatas chloroplast lineages were identified. They show more divergence with each other than either does with I. trifida. We thus propose that cultivated I. batatas have multiple origins, and evolved from at least two distinct autopolyploidization events in polymorphic wild populations of a single progenitor species. Secondary contact between sweet potatoes domesticated in Central America and in South America, from differentiated wild I. batatas populations, would have led to the introgression of chloroplast haplotypes of each lineage into nuclear backgrounds of the other, and to a reduced divergence between nuclear gene pools as compared with chloroplast haplotypes.
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam., Convolvulaceae) counts among the most widely cultivated staple crops worldwide, yet the origins of its domestication remain unclear. This hexaploid species could have had either an autopolyploid origin, from the diploid I. trifida, or an allopolyploid origin, involving genomes of I. trifida and I. triloba. We generated molecular genetic data for a broad sample of cultivated sweet potatoes and its diploid and polyploid wild relatives, for noncoding chloroplast and nuclear ITS sequences, and nuclear SSRs. Our data did not support an allopolyploid origin for I. batatas, nor any contribution of I. triloba in the genome of domesticated sweet potato. I. trifida and I. batatas are closely related although they do not share haplotypes. Our data support an autopolyploid origin of sweet potato from the ancestor it shares with I. trifida, which might be similar to currently observed tetraploid wild Ipomoea accessions. Two I. batatas chloroplast lineages were identified. They show more divergence with each other than either does with I. trifida. We thus propose that cultivated I. batatas have multiple origins, and evolved from at least two distinct autopolyploidization events in polymorphic wild populations of a single progenitor species. Secondary contact between sweet potatoes domesticated in Central America and in South America, from differentiated wild I. batatas populations, would have led to the introgression of chloroplast haplotypes of each lineage into nuclear backgrounds of the other, and to a reduced divergence between nuclear gene pools as compared with chloroplast haplotypes.
Swedish riots: if instability can happen here, what might unfold elsewhere? | Aditya Chakrabortty
A stark rise in inequality has brought about unprecedented rioting in Stockholm. The omens for Britain are worrying
More than 20 cars torched in one night. School classrooms gutted by fire. Fifty far-right extremists chasing immigrants around a suburb.
You probably haven't seen much about it in the papers, but for the past week Sweden has been racked by rioting. The violence began in a suburb of Stockholm, Husby, and spread around the capital's edge before other cities went up in flames. Police have been pelted with stones; neighbourhoods have turned into no-go areas, even for ambulances. Such prolonged unrest is remarkable for Stockholm, as those few reporters sent to cover it have observed. Naturally enough, each article has wound up asking: why here?
It's a good question. Don't surveys repeatedly show Sweden as one of the happiest countries (certainly a damn sight cheerier than Britain)? Isn't it famous for its equality, its warm welcome to immigrants? Whatever happened to Stockholm, capital of progressivism, the Mecca towards which Guardianistas face for their daily five minutes of mindfulness?
We all know the cliches, but the reality is they no longer fit the country so well. Whether it's on the wealth gap, or welfare, or public services, Sweden is less "Swedish" than it has ever been. As in other continental capitals, the Stockholm version of the "European social model" is an increasingly tattered thing, albeit still appealed to by the political elites and still resonant in the popular culture. But the country seized by turbulence last week is becoming polarised, and is surrendering more of its public services over to private businesses (sometimes with disastrous effects). Those riot-scene correspondents ought not to be asking: why here? A better question, surely, is: if such instability can happen here, what might unfold elsewhere – including Britain?
The first thing to observe about Sweden is how rapidly a gulf is opening up between rich and poor. Between 1985 and the late 2000s, according to the OECD thinktank, Sweden saw the biggest growth in inequality of all the 31 most industrialised countries. It's important not to overstate this: the country remains one of the most egalitarian in the world – but it is taking big steps in the wrong direction. Swedes used to pride themselves on their sense of moderation, what they referred to as lagom. Prime ministers were supposed to live as modestly as school teachers. Compare that with the recent craze in for vaskning. It means sinking, and refers to a practice adopted by young, gilded Swedes of buying two bottles of champagne and then ordering the barman to pour one down the plughole. When Matilda von Sydow described it to me, I thought it was some urban legend, but no: she has seen it happen in Stockholm's swanky Stureplan. As she says: "Imagine being an unemployed teenager in Husby and hearing about such practices." And that's the other thing: while much of the initial rise in inequality was about rich Swedes getting richer, increasingly poor Swedes are getting pushed backwards, either by unemployment and incapacity benefits getting relatively meaner, or by the rise in joblessness. On some measures, one in four young Swedes are out of work. In some towns, they are handed money to emigrate to richer Norway. Von Sydow lives in Oslo and observes: "In any local cafe, the barista will be a Swede."
The second observation to make about Sweden is that parties of all persuasions have drifted rightwards over the past few years. It was the left that, in 2005, abolished inheritance tax, so that a Swede will now pay no duty on being left a million kronor, but will face a tax of 67% for starting their own business. And when it comes to privatising public services, Stockholm is way out in front of Westminster. Which is why Michael Gove adores their free school and voucher system; and why George Osborne enjoys being photographed alongside his Swedish counterpart Anders Borg. The Economist, that inflight magazine for the autodidactic plutocrat, recently wrote: "The streets of Stockholm are awash with the blood of sacred cows." It then went on to praise its school system as in the image of Milton Friedman. Except that as social-policy academic Joakim Palme observes, the school system has got worse on the Pisa international rankings.
Palme thinks there is now 10% of the Swedish population who are now unable to get a job and on comparatively mean benefits. They are more likely to be immigrants or their children, and to be living in suburbs such as Husby, where local services such as banks and post offices and youth clubs are also disappearing. Could they be what British politicians like to call an underclass? If the Swedish government doesn't spend more on schools and on benefits, Palme thinks they will be.
Now, think about Britain: vastly more unequal, and getting worse in the slump. To cap it off, Sweden's economy is still growing, while ours is going nowhere. The inferences we might draw for what could unfold here over the next few years are worrying.
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
More than 20 cars torched in one night. School classrooms gutted by fire. Fifty far-right extremists chasing immigrants around a suburb.
You probably haven't seen much about it in the papers, but for the past week Sweden has been racked by rioting. The violence began in a suburb of Stockholm, Husby, and spread around the capital's edge before other cities went up in flames. Police have been pelted with stones; neighbourhoods have turned into no-go areas, even for ambulances. Such prolonged unrest is remarkable for Stockholm, as those few reporters sent to cover it have observed. Naturally enough, each article has wound up asking: why here?
It's a good question. Don't surveys repeatedly show Sweden as one of the happiest countries (certainly a damn sight cheerier than Britain)? Isn't it famous for its equality, its warm welcome to immigrants? Whatever happened to Stockholm, capital of progressivism, the Mecca towards which Guardianistas face for their daily five minutes of mindfulness?
We all know the cliches, but the reality is they no longer fit the country so well. Whether it's on the wealth gap, or welfare, or public services, Sweden is less "Swedish" than it has ever been. As in other continental capitals, the Stockholm version of the "European social model" is an increasingly tattered thing, albeit still appealed to by the political elites and still resonant in the popular culture. But the country seized by turbulence last week is becoming polarised, and is surrendering more of its public services over to private businesses (sometimes with disastrous effects). Those riot-scene correspondents ought not to be asking: why here? A better question, surely, is: if such instability can happen here, what might unfold elsewhere – including Britain?
The first thing to observe about Sweden is how rapidly a gulf is opening up between rich and poor. Between 1985 and the late 2000s, according to the OECD thinktank, Sweden saw the biggest growth in inequality of all the 31 most industrialised countries. It's important not to overstate this: the country remains one of the most egalitarian in the world – but it is taking big steps in the wrong direction. Swedes used to pride themselves on their sense of moderation, what they referred to as lagom. Prime ministers were supposed to live as modestly as school teachers. Compare that with the recent craze in for vaskning. It means sinking, and refers to a practice adopted by young, gilded Swedes of buying two bottles of champagne and then ordering the barman to pour one down the plughole. When Matilda von Sydow described it to me, I thought it was some urban legend, but no: she has seen it happen in Stockholm's swanky Stureplan. As she says: "Imagine being an unemployed teenager in Husby and hearing about such practices." And that's the other thing: while much of the initial rise in inequality was about rich Swedes getting richer, increasingly poor Swedes are getting pushed backwards, either by unemployment and incapacity benefits getting relatively meaner, or by the rise in joblessness. On some measures, one in four young Swedes are out of work. In some towns, they are handed money to emigrate to richer Norway. Von Sydow lives in Oslo and observes: "In any local cafe, the barista will be a Swede."
The second observation to make about Sweden is that parties of all persuasions have drifted rightwards over the past few years. It was the left that, in 2005, abolished inheritance tax, so that a Swede will now pay no duty on being left a million kronor, but will face a tax of 67% for starting their own business. And when it comes to privatising public services, Stockholm is way out in front of Westminster. Which is why Michael Gove adores their free school and voucher system; and why George Osborne enjoys being photographed alongside his Swedish counterpart Anders Borg. The Economist, that inflight magazine for the autodidactic plutocrat, recently wrote: "The streets of Stockholm are awash with the blood of sacred cows." It then went on to praise its school system as in the image of Milton Friedman. Except that as social-policy academic Joakim Palme observes, the school system has got worse on the Pisa international rankings.
Palme thinks there is now 10% of the Swedish population who are now unable to get a job and on comparatively mean benefits. They are more likely to be immigrants or their children, and to be living in suburbs such as Husby, where local services such as banks and post offices and youth clubs are also disappearing. Could they be what British politicians like to call an underclass? If the Swedish government doesn't spend more on schools and on benefits, Palme thinks they will be.
Now, think about Britain: vastly more unequal, and getting worse in the slump. To cap it off, Sweden's economy is still growing, while ours is going nowhere. The inferences we might draw for what could unfold here over the next few years are worrying.
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
China calls time on import tariffs on Swiss watches
Free-trade deal will benefit Switzerland's watchmakers such as Swatch Group, whose timepieces are popular with consumers
China is to cut import tariffs on Swiss watches by 60% over 10 years as part of a free-trade agreement, as luxury watchmakers struggle to stem falling sales in the country.
Under the pact, to be signed in July, Switzerland will offer zero tariffs on 99.7% of the value of goods from China, while China will allow 84% of Swiss exports to be duty-free, the assistant minister of commerce, Yu Jianhua, said on Monday.
Switzerland will be the first continental European country to sign a free-trade deal with China; Iceland was the first European country to sign a free-trade pact with China in April.
The latest agreement will benefit Switzerland's watchmakers, notably Swatch Group and Richemont, whose timepieces are particularly popular with Chinese consumers. Swatch Group includes 19 brands of watches, ranging from the eponymous plastic-cased variety to prestige brands including Blancpain, Omega, Longines and rado. Richemont's brands include Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Piaget.
Sales of luxury watches have tumbled in recent months, hurt in part by a government crackdown on giving gifts to officials for favours, and as growth in the world's second-biggest economy falters. Chinese imports of Swiss-made watches were down nearly a quarter on 2012 levels in the first three months of this year.
"In the first year, we will cut import duties on Swiss watches by 18%, then 5% annually in the following years," Yu said. "They will be cut by 60% in 10 years."
Yu added that lower duties would reduce the price of Swiss watches sold in China, but noted it was difficult to calculate the amount by which prices would fall as there were other taxes also levied, including value-added tax and the consumption tax.
China is Switzerland's third-biggest trade partner after the EU and the US, and the free-trade deal covers industrial goods as well as agricultural products.
All industrial goods, including textiles, clothes, metal products, auto parts and components, from China to Switzerland will enjoy zero tariffs. More than 960 types of Chinese agricultural products will be on the list of duty exempt items, Yu said.
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Ultra-Orthodox army service splits Israeli coalition
A damaging split has opened up at the heart of Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition over ultra-orthodox army service after Israel's defence minister tried to water down flagship proposals to conscript religious seminary students.
Mississippi considers prosecuting women for stillbirths and miscarriages
Nina Buckhalter was indicted for manslaughter in 2009 after giving birth to a stillborn baby girl named Hayley 31 weeks into her pregnancy.
According to a Mother Jones report, those charges were based on the detection of methamphetamines in Buckhalter’s system, which led a grand jury in Mississippi to declare that the defendant "did willfully, unlawfully, feloniously, kill Hayley Jade Buckhalter, a human being, by culpable negligence."
Now the court is set to rule on whether the prosecution can move forward after hearing oral arguments on the case on April 2.
According to Farah Diaz-Tello, an attorney with National Advocates for Pregnant Women and part of Buckhalter’s legal defense, if her case goes forward it could well lead to a spate of similar prosecutions in Mississippi and other US states.
The fear now is setting a precedent that "unintentional pregnancy loss can be treated as a form of homicide," says Farah Diaz-Tello.
Mississippi's manslaughter laws were never intended to apply in cases of stillbirths and miscarriages, according to reporting by Mother Jones. However, Mississippi prosecutors believe that two state laws allow them to charge Buckhalter. One law defines manslaughter as the “killing of a human being, by the act, procurement or culpable negligence of another”, while the second includes “an unborn child at every stage of gestation from conception until live birth” as the state’s definition of human beings.
Mississippi is widely considered one of the most socially conservative states in the US, and as recently as 2011 a state ballot measure had sought to grant full rights to fertilized eggs, effectively making abortion illegal.
Lawmakers are also actively looking to shut down the state’s sole women's health clinic that performed abortions.
Diaz-Tello believes that the underlying motivation behind Buckhalter’s case is an attempt to establish “personhood” for fetuses, a central issue in the contentious arguments for banning abortions which rely on a legal definition of an unborn child’s “viability” or rather the state’s definition of life.
The definition of “personhood” could, in turn, allow the introduction of further laws regulating or banning the use of emergency contraceptives such as Plan B, or be used in further arguments in restricting access to abortion services.
Robert McDuff, a Mississippi civil rights lawyer also representing Buckhalter, argued to the state Supreme Court that the state’s law defining homicide as including the killing of a child includes an exemption for women seeking a legal abortion.
McDuff argues that, if women in Mississippi can legally terminate unwanted pregnancies, this should carry over to unintentionally ending a wanted pregnancy.
At least a dozen medical and public health groups have filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Buckhalter case, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians.
In that brief the group argues that threat of prosecution might actually lead to more abortions by women dealing with drug or alcohol addiction, or could raise the risk of miscarriage or stillbirth by women who fear they may be reported by medical professionals to the state.
Earlier in the year the state of Alabama set a precedent for prosecuting pregnant women for drug use when it upheld convictions against Amanda Kimbrough and Hope Ankrom for “chemical endangerment” of a child. As Mother Jones notes, that 2006 law was aimed to punish individuals who expose children rather than fetuses to illegal drugs, and as in the case of Buckhalter seems to have further defined “personhood.”
According to a Mother Jones report, those charges were based on the detection of methamphetamines in Buckhalter’s system, which led a grand jury in Mississippi to declare that the defendant "did willfully, unlawfully, feloniously, kill Hayley Jade Buckhalter, a human being, by culpable negligence."
Now the court is set to rule on whether the prosecution can move forward after hearing oral arguments on the case on April 2.
According to Farah Diaz-Tello, an attorney with National Advocates for Pregnant Women and part of Buckhalter’s legal defense, if her case goes forward it could well lead to a spate of similar prosecutions in Mississippi and other US states.
The fear now is setting a precedent that "unintentional pregnancy loss can be treated as a form of homicide," says Farah Diaz-Tello.
Mississippi's manslaughter laws were never intended to apply in cases of stillbirths and miscarriages, according to reporting by Mother Jones. However, Mississippi prosecutors believe that two state laws allow them to charge Buckhalter. One law defines manslaughter as the “killing of a human being, by the act, procurement or culpable negligence of another”, while the second includes “an unborn child at every stage of gestation from conception until live birth” as the state’s definition of human beings.
Mississippi is widely considered one of the most socially conservative states in the US, and as recently as 2011 a state ballot measure had sought to grant full rights to fertilized eggs, effectively making abortion illegal.
Lawmakers are also actively looking to shut down the state’s sole women's health clinic that performed abortions.
Diaz-Tello believes that the underlying motivation behind Buckhalter’s case is an attempt to establish “personhood” for fetuses, a central issue in the contentious arguments for banning abortions which rely on a legal definition of an unborn child’s “viability” or rather the state’s definition of life.
The definition of “personhood” could, in turn, allow the introduction of further laws regulating or banning the use of emergency contraceptives such as Plan B, or be used in further arguments in restricting access to abortion services.
Robert McDuff, a Mississippi civil rights lawyer also representing Buckhalter, argued to the state Supreme Court that the state’s law defining homicide as including the killing of a child includes an exemption for women seeking a legal abortion.
McDuff argues that, if women in Mississippi can legally terminate unwanted pregnancies, this should carry over to unintentionally ending a wanted pregnancy.
At least a dozen medical and public health groups have filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Buckhalter case, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians.
In that brief the group argues that threat of prosecution might actually lead to more abortions by women dealing with drug or alcohol addiction, or could raise the risk of miscarriage or stillbirth by women who fear they may be reported by medical professionals to the state.
Earlier in the year the state of Alabama set a precedent for prosecuting pregnant women for drug use when it upheld convictions against Amanda Kimbrough and Hope Ankrom for “chemical endangerment” of a child. As Mother Jones notes, that 2006 law was aimed to punish individuals who expose children rather than fetuses to illegal drugs, and as in the case of Buckhalter seems to have further defined “personhood.”
Rocket fired at Israel from south Lebanon
The rocket launch could be heard from an area about 10 kilometers from the Israeli border, Lebanese residents and security sources said. It was not clear where the rocket landed and there were no immediate reports of damage and casualties, Reuters reports.
An Israeli drone is hovering over the area from which the rocket was allegedly fired, Lebanese media reports.
The head of the northern Israeli town of Metula Regional Council, Herzl Boker, told Maariv newspaper that residents heard an explosion to the south of Metula.
“We haven't opened the bomb shelters, but we are ready,” he said, as cited by Haaretz.
The attack has prompted the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers to intensify patrols in the region, Jerusalem post reports. The IDF has started a search of the area for a potential rocket impact site.
It was not immediately clear who fired the rocket, Lebanon's state National News Agency reports.
Earlier on Sunday, two rockets were fired at the Hezbollah-controlled district of the Lebanese capital, injuring at least five people. It is still unclear who was behind that shelling, or whether the Lebanese militant movement was the actual target.
The attack in Beirut came hours after Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah pledged his support to the Syrian government and promised his fighters a “new victory” in Syria, during his speech on the 13th anniversary of Israel's military withdrawal from Lebanon.
An Israeli drone is hovering over the area from which the rocket was allegedly fired, Lebanese media reports.
The head of the northern Israeli town of Metula Regional Council, Herzl Boker, told Maariv newspaper that residents heard an explosion to the south of Metula.
“We haven't opened the bomb shelters, but we are ready,” he said, as cited by Haaretz.
The attack has prompted the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers to intensify patrols in the region, Jerusalem post reports. The IDF has started a search of the area for a potential rocket impact site.
It was not immediately clear who fired the rocket, Lebanon's state National News Agency reports.
Earlier on Sunday, two rockets were fired at the Hezbollah-controlled district of the Lebanese capital, injuring at least five people. It is still unclear who was behind that shelling, or whether the Lebanese militant movement was the actual target.
The attack in Beirut came hours after Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah pledged his support to the Syrian government and promised his fighters a “new victory” in Syria, during his speech on the 13th anniversary of Israel's military withdrawal from Lebanon.
Londres podría levantar el embargo a Siria para suministrar armas a los rebeldes
El Reino Unido está replanteándose los términos del embargo sobre Siria con la idea de que el suministro de armas a los rebeldes obligaría a las autoridades sirias a emprender las negociaciones con la oposición armada, según dijo el canciller británico, William Hague.
Londres expresará su propuesta en la reunión de los ministros de Asuntos Exteriores europeos que se celebra en Bruselas cuatro días antes de que termine la vigencia del embargo de armas sobre Siria.
El embargo de la Unión Europea prohíbe el suministro de armas a Siria aunque varios países europeos envían armamento a los rebeldes, lo que, según algunos analistas, prolonga el conflicto armado, que ya dura más de un año.
Londres expresará su propuesta en la reunión de los ministros de Asuntos Exteriores europeos que se celebra en Bruselas cuatro días antes de que termine la vigencia del embargo de armas sobre Siria.
El embargo de la Unión Europea prohíbe el suministro de armas a Siria aunque varios países europeos envían armamento a los rebeldes, lo que, según algunos analistas, prolonga el conflicto armado, que ya dura más de un año.
Rocket fired at Israel from south Lebanon
The rocket launch could be heard from an area about 10 kilometers from the Israeli border, Lebanese residents and security sources said. It was not clear where the rocket landed and there were no immediate reports of damage and casualties, Reuters reports.
An Israeli drone is hovering over the area from which the rocket was allegedly fired, Lebanese media reports.
The head of the northern Israeli town of Metula Regional Council, Herzl Boker, told Maariv newspaper that residents heard an explosion to the south of Metula.
“We haven't opened the bomb shelters, but we are ready,” he said, as cited by Haaretz.
The attack has prompted the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers to intensify patrols in the region, Jerusalem post reports. The IDF has started a search of the area for a potential rocket impact site.
It was not immediately clear who fired the rocket, Lebanon's state National News Agency reports.
Earlier on Sunday, two rockets were fired at the Hezbollah-controlled district of the Lebanese capital, injuring at least five people. It is still unclear who was behind that shelling, or whether the Lebanese militant movement was the actual target.
The attack in Beirut came hours after Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah pledged his support to the Syrian government and promised his fighters a “new victory” in Syria, during his speech on the 13th anniversary of Israel's military withdrawal from Lebanon.
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