EU fails to agree on future weed killer use

Health

European Union nations failed on Thursday to agree on the continued use of one of the world’s most widely used weed killers, glyphosate, amid concerns about its possible links to cancer.

EU member nations met to discuss the issue Thursday following a European Parliament vote last month to limit an extension of the license for the weed killer -- used in chemical-giant Monsanto’s popular Roundup herbicide -- to five years.

The European Commission has proposed a licenseextension of 10 years.

Many of the 28 member states that voted -- 14 countries -- were in favor of the commission’s plan. Five countries abstained, and nine were against. But the votes weren’t enough to renew the license, which expires on December 15.

It’s at least the third time EU countries have failed to secure an agreement.

A farmer holds up a barley seed as he demonstrates the impact of using the weedkiller glyphosate on his arable farm. /Reuters Photo

Greens lawmaker Bart Staes said it’s time “for the European Commission to accept that support for their proposals is not there.”

He said: “The commission must do the right thing and ban this toxic substance.”

Environmentalists have been seeking to ban glyphosate, which the World Health Organization’s cancer agency said in 2015 is “probably carcinogenic to humans,” while the EU’s farmer’s union wants a 15-year extension.

Banning glyphosate outright would shake Europe’s agriculture sector to its foundations, so widely used is the product.

“Once again, we are left in a situation where no decision has been made on the re-authorization of glyphosate -- one of the safest plant protection products on the market which secures so much environmental benefit in terms of better soils and lower greenhouse gas emissions,” said Guy Smith, from the British National Farmers’ Union.

“We ask the commission to stand by its own science and regulatory procedure, and re-authorize glyphosate for the maximum period possible,” he added.

Glyphosate is one of the world’s most widely used weed killers. /AFP Photo

For the moment, the European Commission plans to push ahead with its proposal. An appeals committee made up of member nations is expected to rule on the vote before the end of November, just a few weeks before the license runs out.

France’s government has lobbied against a lengthy extension on use of the weed killer, despite protests from farmers who say it shouldn’t be banned until there’s a viable alternative.

French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot, who rose to fame as the star of a TV nature show, said Wednesday that France would vote against any extension longer than three years.

“We are applying the precautionary principle,” he said on BFM television. “We are not waiting for a list of tragic victims before we act.”

French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said Thursday on Radio Classique: “We absolutely must manage to abolish this pesticide. Research and development should find a less toxic substitute as quickly as possible.”

SourceAP

French man becomes world's first to undergo face transplants twice

Transplant

Jerome Hamon is getting used to his new soubriquet "the man with three faces".

He remains in a Paris hospital, three months after undergoing his second face transplant, but has quickly accepted his new "identity."

His new face remains smooth and motionless, with his skull, skin and features yet to be fully aligned, a gradual process reliant on immunosuppressant drugs which, hopefully, will prevent his body rejecting the transplanted material.

"I feel very well in myself," the 43-year-old transplant recipient told reporters last week as he continues his recovery from the surgery which was carried out on January 15 and 16.

"I can't wait to get rid of all this," he adds, speaking with difficulty of all the major treatment he has undergone to become the first man to have received two face transplants.

This unprecedented feat was painstakingly carried out by the staff at the Georges-Pompidou European Hospital in Paris, and Laurent Lantieri, a professor of plastic surgery, who led the team through the multi-step procedure.

It was a strange reunion for patient and doctor as it was Lantieri who carried out the world's first full face transplant, including tear ducts and eyelids, on Hamon at a hospital outside Paris in July 2010.

Doctors in a Paris hospital operate on Jerome Hamon, the first person in the world to twice undergo a face transplant. /AFP Photo

Two months without a face

Hamon suffers from neurofibromatosis type 1, a genetic mutation which causes severely disfiguring tumors and related complications.

His first face transplant in 2010 was a success. But that same year – in order to treat nothing more than a common cold – he was given an antibiotic incompatible with his immunosuppressive treatment.

In 2016 he began to display signs of transplant rejection, and his new face deteriorated.

Last summer Hamon was hospitalized and in November his face, suffering from necrosis, had to be removed.

He remained in hospital without a face for two months, a very difficult time, while a compatible donor was sought.

This exceptional case revealed an exceptional patient.

Everyone at the hospital "was blown away by Jerome's courage, his will, his strength of character in a tragic situation. While he was waiting he never complained, he was even in a good mood," recalled Bernard Cholley, an anesthetist.

Eventually, a face donor was found, a 22-year-old man who had died hundreds of kilometers from Paris. Lantieri heard the news on a Sunday in January and the massive logistical and medical operation was swiftly launched.

The donor face was transported as quickly as possible by road on the Monday to the Georges-Pompidou hospital in Paris.

By late morning the following day, Hamon was being wheeled back to his hospital bed following the ground-breaking surgery, with his medical team noticing encouraging signs of good color in his new face.

'It's good, it's me'

French medicine professor Laurent Lantieri (R) with members of his team and his patient Jerome Hamon /VCG Photo

The operation answers a key question for Lantieri and the rest of the medical world; "Can we redo a facial transplant? Yes, we can re-transplant and this is what you get!"

To avoid any rejection, the patient underwent three months of special blood treatment prior to the transplant, nephrologist Eric Thervet explained.

Despite all the anxiety and suffering, Hamon is a happy man again.

"The first transplant I accepted immediately. I thought 'this is my new face' and this time it's the same," he explained.

"If I hadn't accepted this new face it would have been terrible. It's a question of identity... But here we are, it's good, it's me."

There have now been around 40 face transplants throughout the world since the first was performed on Frenchwoman Isabelle Dinoire in northern France in 2005.

Source(s): AFP

Asia to lead world in economic growth in next 2 Decades - Experts

Picture By CGTN

Asia is expected to continue leading the world in economic growth for the next two decades, experts said at a panel at the annual Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) conference currently unfolding in Qionghai, south China's Hainan Province.

While the West is still struggling to achieve steady economic growth in the post-crisis era, Asia has increasingly become the engine of global economic development. In the past year, Asia has delivered around 60 percent of world economic growth. And economists attending the BFA this year predicted that Asia will continue contributing to the majority of world growth.

Given its strong momentum, the Asian economy will maintain a high-speed of development in the next 20 to 30 years, said Dai Xianglong, former governor of the People's Bank of China. "China's development helps this momentum a lot. India is also enjoying fast growth. Moreover, China, Japan and South Korea will ramp up cooperation."

The Belt and Road Initiative can bring about new opportunities and inject fresh vigor into regional development, Dai added.

But over past few weeks, the whole world has been rattled by the trade row between the two largest economies and there are worries about its potential ripple effects on the Asian economy.

Fan Gang, director of the National Economic Research Institute, believes that any trade friction between Beijing and Washington will affect the whole supply chain and consequently the Asian economy at large.

"Asia is an industrial chain which has [an] upstream and downstream,” said Fan. Panels from South Korea and accessories of Malaysia are all assembled or processed in China, he added.

Masaaki Shirakawa, former governor of the Bank of Japan, asserts that it’s more significant to discuss economic fundamentals than political issues. “We shall underscore the potential growth rate and stay cautious if the growth rate was lowered down, or there will be economic bubbles,” he noted. 

Copyright © CGTN.

UN elects Nigeria’s Emuze into rights panel after tough contes

Nigeria’s candidate, Ambassador Peters Emuze, has been elected to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in a keenly-contested election held at the UN Headquarters, New York.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Emuze was elected for a four-year tenure. He would be representing the African continent on the panel from 2019 to 2022.

His victory, in clinching one of the two Africa’s seats on the board of the committee for at least four years, is seen as a ‘feather’ for Nigeria.

Apart from signalling “prestige”, a member of the commission would also improve Nigeria’s future “diplomatic leverage”.

Emuze, who entered the race at the last minute, beat candidates of six other countries’ to clinch the first of the two seats for Africa.

While other countries and candidates had been campaigning for upward of one year, Nigeria’s candidate just jumped into the ring barely two months to the election.

Nigeria’s ambassador and deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Samson Itegboje, said it became impossible to get countries to step down for Nigeria, as all of them wanted to “go for broke."

Itegboje said: "The victory has raised our profile on the international stage. I don’t think there are many countries that can pull such outing, two months to the election. We can call it a miracle but it was a result of hard work, strategy and good relations.

“Also, we presented the best, as our candidate has got the required experience including being the former Charge d’Affaires at the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the UN Offices in Geneva.’’

Speaking with newsmen after the election, Emuze pledged to ensure that Nigeria complies with its treaties on economic, social and cultural rights of the citizens.

Emuze remarked: “Nigeria long signed the treaty and that means Nigeria is ready to comply with various international human rights instruments as a responsible member of the international community."

Meanwhile, the UN human rights office, had said that routine extensions of the state of emergency in Turkey had led to profound human rights violations against many people.

The UN office expressed concerns about arbitrary deprivation of the right to work and to freedom of movement, torture and other ill-treatment, arbitrary detentions and infringements of the rights to freedom of association and expression.

House of Reps set to criminalise electricity estimated billing system

The House of Representatives is set to pass a bill to criminalize the issuance of estimated bills to consumers by electricity Distribution Company (DisCos).

The bill, sponsored by the House of Representatives Majority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila and others has passed the second reading on the floor of the House.

The bill also proposed to criminalise non-provision of prepaid meter after application and illegal disconnection of consumer’s light among others with a fine of N500, 000, or six-month jail term.

Speaking on the reason for the bill, Gbajabiamila said: “The Electricity Regulatory body can direct that all consumers be provided with prepaid meters immediately and by the stroke of a pen, can also direct that the prepaid meter no longer be provided for one reason or another. So, if this is backed by law, such can no longer happen.”

Earlier home owners in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti state, on Wednesday, March 14, stormed the streets to protest for several hours against what they refered to as exorbitant bills from the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).

The protesters under the aegis of Ado Ekiti Landlords and Ladies Electricity Consumers Association of Nigeria (ALLECA) claimed that the BEDC officials were allegedly demanding N40,000 before giving them prepaid meters.

Why local government autonomy is imperative, says Saraki

Senate president, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has reiterated his support for local government autonomy in the country.

Saraki, according to a statement sent by his chief press secretary, Sanni Onogu, in Abuja, stated this during a visit by senior officials of NULGE, led by its national president, Comrade Ibrahim Khalil.

Saraki exchanging pleasantries with NULGE national president, Comrade Ibrahim Khalil, during the visit. Photo credit: SP media office

He said that the Senate and the National Assembly appreciate the importance of autonomous governance at the third tier of government and will continue to work towards its realization.

His words: “Here in the Senate and the National Assembly, we appreciate the importance of governance in the third tier of government - the local government. As such, it is very important that we strengthen local government administration.

“Part of strengthening local government administration is ensuring that there is autonomy. I also believe that strengthening local government administration means that we all do our best to increase the capacity at the local government.

“Sometimes, you find out that in developed countries, people who are competent, to contest at a level even as high as the Senate, would tell you that they don’t want to be at the federal level like Abuja or Washington, they prefer to stay at the local level.”

Saraki told the local government employees that it is also important to see that local governments are properly and independently funded, but added that “there must be a symbiotic relationship between the states and the local governments to ensure that the third tier of government is not placed at a disadvantage.”

According to him, “it is unfortunate that you observed that in the last constitution alteration exercise, we were not successful on this issue. Being a former governor, the Senate leader always reminds me that 'I have seen the light.' But on a serious note, we all have a role to play to strengthen our local government system.

“It is important that we see how local governments can be independent, how local governments can have more autonomy, and governors cannot interfere with what is due to local governments.

“In all of this, there must still be a cordial and symbiotic relationship. If we just say that local governments should just be on their own, it might have some disadvantages.

“We must also look at how we can ensure that local governments have funding of their own without any interference.”

Saraki also noted that following the last constitutional review exercise embarked on by the National Assembly, only nine states were in support of local government autonomy, stating that he would do more to ensure that further cooperation and collaboration is achieved to rectify the issue.

“If we look at the last constitution review exercise, unfortunately, I must say that we have a lot to do. I don’t think that we got up to nine states that were in support of local government autonomy.

“I will ensure that we do more to rectify this issue. I am proud to say that my home state, Kwara, was one of those 9 states that supported local government autonomy.

“It will happen. I assure you, it will happen. We are all in a hurry to see that it happens. The question though, is how soon? I always say that these kinds of things like the Constitutional amendment process, you cannot bully anybody. But you must ensure that there is cooperation and collaboration,” the Senate president said.

Earlier, Comrade Khalil lamented that local government administrations in the country have been rendered impotent over the years as a result of undue interference.

“Our visit is to rekindle efforts and bring all hands on deck to ensure that local governments become autonomous in this country.

“We recognize that the leadership of the National Assembly has a critical role to play in ensuring that local governments become autonomous in this country,” the NULGE president said.

Meanwhile, Saraki has explained why the Nigerian Senate suspended Senator Ovie Omo-Agege for 90 days.

Omo-Agege, an All Progressives Congress member representing Delta Central senatorial district, had openly opposed the red chamber's elections reordering bill and subsequently instituted a case against the Senate in court to avoid being punished for his actions.

Giving his thoughts on the decision of the Senate, Saraki emphasised on the need for serving senators to respect and preserve the integrity of the Senate.

Tension in Mid East as US, UK, France bomb Syria over chemical weapons attack

United States President Donald Trump has announced that he ordered a strike on Syria in response to last weekend’s chemical weapons attack, NAN reports.

 Trump, while addressing the nation on Friday night, April 13, said the joint strike with France and the United Kingdom was currently underway.

“A short time ago, I ordered the United States Armed Forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

“A combined operation with the armed forces of France and the United Kingdom is now underway,” Trump said.

Pentagon, at a press briefing on the strike at 10pm, said the strikes did maximum damages to Assad’s regime’s chemical weapons sites.

Trump said that the “massacre” last weekend in Syria “was a significant escalation in a pattern of chemical weapons use by that very terrible regime.”

“The evil and the despicable attack left mothers and fathers, infants and children thrashing in pain and gasping for air. These are not the actions of a man. They are crimes of a monster instead,” Trump said.

Trump also took a swipe at Russia and Iran, condemning their continued support to Assad’s regime.

“To Iran and to Russia I ask, what kind of a nation wants to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men, women and children?

“The nations of the world can be judged by the friends they keep. No nation can succeed in the long run by promoting rogue states, brutal tyrants, and murderous dictators,” Trump said.

“In 2013, President Vladimir Putin and his government promised the world that they would guarantee the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons.

“Assad’s recent attack and today’s response are the direct result of Russia’s failure to keep that promise.

“Russia must decide if it will continue down this dark path or if it will join with civilised nations as a force for stability and peace.

“Hopefully, someday we’ll get along with Russia and maybe even Iran. But maybe not,” the president stressed.

Trump however added that the U.S. “does not seek an indefinite presence in Syria”.

“We look forward to the day when we can bring our warriors home. We cannot purge the world of evil or act everywhere there is tyranny.

“No amount of American blood or treasure can produce lasting peace and security in the Middle East,”Trump said.

“We pray that God will bring comfort to those suffering in Syria. We pray that God will guide the whole region toward a future of dignity and of peace.

“And we pray that God will continue to watch over and bless the United States of America,” he said.

U.S. Secretary of Defence Gen James Mattis said U.S. and its allies struck harder this time than the 2017 strike against the country which did not seem to deter the Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Gen Joseph Dunford, the joint chief of staff, said the strikes were carried out on three Syrian chemical weapons infrastructures and the U.S. believed it would send al-Assad a strong message.

On Friday, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said analysis done by the U.S., U.K. and France proved the chemical attack.

In a statement Friday night, UK Prime Minister Theresa May called last weekend’s chemical attack “pure horror”.

“The Syrian regime has a history of using chemical weapons against its own people in the most cruel and abhorrent way.

“And a significant body of information including intelligence indicates the Syrian regime is responsible for this latest attack,” May said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the response was “limited to the Syrian regime’s capabilities to produce and use chemical weapons”.

“We cannot tolerate the normalisation of the use of chemical weapons, which is a direct threat to the security of the Syrian people and our collective security,” Macron said.

Perviously reported that Rep Ted Lieu of the United States hit at President Donald Trump after he put blame on former president, Barack Obama, following reports of the chemical attack in Syria.

Lieu took to Twitter on Sunday, April 8, to write: "Dear @realDonaldTrump: Remember when you launched cruise missiles at a largely empty field in Syria? That unconstitutional act didn't do very much. Remember when you said last week that US is leaving Syria in six months? So what is your plan? You're the president now. Remember?"

APC: Making a case for generational shift as party members elect new chairman

As Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), gets set to elect a new set of leaders in June to run its affairs for the next four years, all eyes are on the party’s highest office, the position of national chairman. Already, names of possible contenders for the post are already being bandied around among different interest groups in the party.

Among those who have been mentioned in the race is the current national chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, who is eligible to seek another four years in office, the former governor of Edo state Adams Oshiomhole, a former governor of Cross River state in the Third Republic, Clement Ebri and an ex-minister of petroleum under General Sani Abacha's regime, Don Etiebet.

Timi Frank's interest in the APC chairmanship is seen as a generational shift for the ruling party.

78-years Oyegun, was a former executive governor of Edo State between 1992 and 1993, during the aborted Nigerian Third Republic. He emerged the chairman of the party on June 14, 2014 as a consensus candidate for most of the senior chieftains of the party.

After he led the party to victory in the 2015 presidential election, analysts said Oyegun began to make certain moves that further polarized a party that was already struggling with various interests due to its merger before the elections. Activities in the last few months in the party, shows that Oyegun has lost the confidence of most members of the party and might be shown the way out of the party in June.

On his part, 66-years old Oshiomole, the immediate past governor of Edo state, is seen as a candidate of a certain bloc in the party. Critics say Oshiomole will only do the bidding of his sponsors if he gets the position. The former Edo state governor has also been described as one who hardly accepts criticisms, especially when they directly affect him.

For Ebri, he is seen generally as an unknown figure within the party and its structures nationally. Critics say he does not have the required national spread to appeal to the various political blocs within the ruling party. The question regarding his popularity and visibility nationwide is said to be a major obstacle to his ambition

As for Etiebet, his lack of consistency in terms of party loyalty might be his greatest undoing. He is also not in the thick of things in his home state of Akwa Ibom. Critics say Etiebet cannot be trusted with such a position even though he is said to be a close friend to the president. Many are of the opinion that, the president and other leaders of the party need someone who will tell them the truth to their faces.

One person whose name continues to spring up in this direction is the outgoing deputy national publicity secretary of the party, Comrade Timi Frank. Comrade Frank has been a consistent voice in the party, calling the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari and other national leaders to some of the injustices he had seen even before they became public knowledge. He has also cautioned the party severally on some moves that later backfired and came back to haunt its image.

A young but very experienced politician, Comrade Frank has seen it all in Nigeria’s politics having been a youth leader for the former ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for years. His experience in politicking spans almost two decades, and he has the ears of most political leaders spread across the six geo-political zones of the country.

In the last two years, there has been intense clamour from young Nigerians to occupy very senior political positions in the country. Comrade Frank is a perfect representation of this generational shift that young Nigerians seek to take them out of the present political quagmire across the country, that not only affect them presently, but also affects their future.

Comrade Frank’s disposition towards political party supremacy is also key to taking the party to the next level. Over time, political parties’ leaders in the country are not respected, and by extension the party’s rules. The ruling APC needs a leader with the political will to insist on doing things right, especially as the 2019 general elections draws near.

His insistence on standing by the truth at all times no matter whose ox is gored, is also a reminder for the APC delegates that will be part of the fortcoming national convention to key into the aspiration of the Bayelsa-born politician who have been on both sides of the divide and have constant interaction with members of the public. Indeed, politicians of his like are rare in these times.

It is good to note that Comrade Frank acceptability is not limited to young stakeholders of the party, he has been seen also to be acceptable even to the elderly. He has wined and dined with all categories of politicians and will surely harmonise the divided interests in the APC if given the opportunity to lead the party.

Comrade Frank has always stood on the side of the Nigerian people at all times even at the expense of hurting his own party. It is to his credit that the outgoing APC leadership has been kept on their toes to ensure financial transparency in the party affairs, respect for rule of law, discipline of party members, respect for party elders and the need to shun imposition through his constant but constructive criticisms. This is the kind of character the ruling party needs to sail its ship especially as we approach an election year.

Meanwhile, youths under the aegis of Younger Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress have called on Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to constitute a formidable team that will include them to help his reconciliation assignment in the ruling party.

They made the demand during a press briefing on Tuesday, March 13, in Abuja through one of the leaders, Dominic Alancha, on the outcome of their meeting.

Source: Naija.ng