Month: July 2018

Egypt Targets Social Media With New Law

By Uponsil | | No Comments | Silicon Valley

Egypt’s parliament has passed a law giving the state powers to block social media accounts and penalize journalists held to be publishing fake news.

Under the law passed on Monday social media accounts and blogs with more than 5,000 followers on sites such as Twitter and Facebook will be treated as media outlets, which makes them subject to prosecution for publishing false news or incitement to break the law.

The Supreme Council for the Administration of the Media, headed by an official appointed by President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, will supervise the law and take action against violations.

The bill prohibits the establishment of websites without obtaining a license from the Supreme Council and allows it to suspend or block existing websites, or impose fines on editors.

The law, which takes effect after it is ratified by Sissi, also states that journalists can only film in places that are not prohibited, but does not explain further.

Supporters of Sissi say the law is intended to safeguard freedom of expression and it was approved after consultations with judicial experts and journalists.

But critics say it will give legal basis to measures the government has been taking to crack down on dissent and extend its control over social media.

Sherif Mansour, Middle East and North Africa program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said the vague wording of the law allows authorities to interpret violations and control the media.

“That power of interpretation has been a constant powerful legal and executive tool that was used to justify excessive aggressive and exceptional measures to go after journalists,” he told Reuters.

Hundreds of news sites and blogs have been blocked in recent months and around a dozen people have been arrested this year and charged with publishing false news, many of them journalists or prominent government critics.

 
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Lab-grown Meat Could Be in Restaurants in 3 Years

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

A Dutch company that presented the world’s first lab-grown beef burger five years ago said Tuesday it has received funding to pursue its plans to make and sell artificially grown meat to restaurants from 2021.

Mosa Meat said it raised 7.5 million euros ($8.8 million), mainly from M Ventures and Bell Food Group. M Ventures is an investment vehicle for German pharmaceuticals company Merck KGaA. Bell Food is a European meat processing company based in Switzerland.

Smaller investors include Glass Wall Syndicate, which supports several companies looking into cultured meat or meat substitute products aimed at consumers concerned about the environmental and ethical impact of raising and slaughtering animals.

Maastricht-based Mosa Meat, which has in the past also received 1 million euros from Google co-founder Sergey Brin, said it hopes to sell its first products – most likely ground beef for burgers – in 2021. The aim is to achieve industrial-scale production 2-3 years later, with a typical hamburger patty costing about $1.

Environmentalists have warned that the world’s growing appetite for meat, particularly in emerging economies such as China, isn’t sustainable because beef, pork and poultry require far greater resources than plant-based proteins. Cows in particular also produce large amounts of greenhouse gas that contribute to global warming.

The big challenge is making meat that looks, feels and tastes like the real thing. Mosa Meat uses a small sample of cells taken from a live animal. Those cells are fed with nutrients so that they grow into strands of muscle tissue. The company claims it could make up to 80,000 quarter pounders from a single sample.

With a number of startups and established players hoping to make cultured meat on a big scale in the coming years, a battle has broken out over the terms used to describe such products.

Some advocates have claimed the term – clean meat – while opponents in the traditional farm sector suggest – synthetic meat – is more appropriate.
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The Go-Go’s on Their Legacy and Advice for Other Rockers

By Uponent | | No Comments | Entertainment

Go-Go’s guitarist Jane Wiedlin has five simple words of advice for female rock bands — “Write. Write. Write. Write. Write,” she said.

 

“I think the world needs a lot more women that are really taking charge of their whole career and image, instead of women being picked by men and then songs get written for them and players played for them,” Wiedlin said. “I just would like to see a little bit more wholly, self-realized female artists. I know there’s some out there. But I want more.”

 

Wiedlin joined other members of her pioneering all-female band on a Broadway stage last week to welcome “Head Over Heels,” the musical based on the band’s infectious hits. They treated the audience to a two-song set at curtain call.

 

“Head Over Heels” weaves the Go-Go’s tunes — “We Got the Beat,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” and other hits with deep cuts and lead singer Belinda Carlisle’s subsequent singles — to tell an updated take on Sir Philip Sidney’s “Arcadia.” It’s an Elizabethan tale about a royal family trying to escape an oracle’s prophecy of doom, using Shakespearean conventions and reveals and mistaken identities.

“The fact that we actually made it to Broadway feels like it’s kind of a miracle. And also, super unlikely for a band that started 40 years ago as a punk rock band. So, it’s pretty thrilling,” Wiedlin said.

 

The Grammy-nominated Go-Go’s helped pave the way for future female artists and notably sang and played their own songs, but Carlisle stops short of feeling like a role model.

 

“I don’t like that term. I don’t think we’ve ever thought of ourselves as role models. We just did the work and got on with it,” she said. “It’s weird that there aren’t more Go-Go’s that have come along. I don’t know why, but for whatever reason.”

 

The Go-Go’s have no plans to tour, but Wiedlin claims it’s not the end of the band.

 

“In 2016, we did a no-more-touring tour, and basically, we announced we were not going to be touring anymore, which for some reason most people thought that meant we were breaking up. But we’re not broken up,” Wiedlin said.

 

She said the band will continue to work together, and separately, as well as perform in situations she deems, “exciting.” And having time can lead to cool projects, like the Broadway show.

 

“We were all to the point where touring is just a bit too much, so we are very happy to be focused on the musical ‘Head Over Heels’ right now,” she said. “There’s plenty of stuff in the future for us, both together and apart.”
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‘Mamma Mia!’ Sing-along Returns with Star-studded Sequel Premiere

By Uponent | | No Comments | Entertainment

Amid olive trees and plenty of ABBA tunes, the musical world of “Mamma Mia” took over a London theater on Monday for the film sequel’s world premiere with Oscar winner Meryl Streep and pop diva Cher among the attendees.

Ten years after the movie version of the hit theater musical, “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” sees old faces return and new ones join the ABBA sing-along set on a picturesque Greek island where stars belt out tracks by the hugely popular Swedish band.

The plot follows on from the first film, which grossed over $600 million at the box office, but this time has flashbacks explaining how Meryl Streep’s character Donna arrived in Greece.

While fans have highly anticipated the sequel, ABBA founding members Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus said they were not so keen on the idea at first.

“We were kind of protective of the first one because we were very proud of it, it was very good and it became kind of a cult movie … and we thought what’s the point of risking … taking away from that legacy, so we were reluctant,” Ulvaeus told Reuters.

But the film writers’ idea of making the movie a sequel and prequel at the same time helped change their minds, he said.

“I laughed out loud many times when I read (the script’s first draft). It was funny, it was moving so we said go ahead and here we are.”

Chanting “Waterloo,” “Super Trouper” and “Dancing Queen,” fans cheered as Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Amanda Seyfried and Christine Baranski – who starred in the 2008 film – arrived.

The sequel’s cast additions include Lily James, who plays the younger Donna, and Cher, who portrays Donna’s mother.

“I don’t know what I was expecting but I walked onto the set and I just thought everyone’s just having fun,” Cher said.

Like the first film, the sequel has plenty of colorful and comic scenes. It also has touching moments, cast members said.

“It’s a great time for this movie to be out in the world, because we’re all feeling a little down about the world right now,” Baranski said. “I think people are going to be transported to this beautiful Greek island with all these beloved characters and all these fabulous songs.”

“Mamma Mia!” the musical originated more than 20 years ago and has gone on to have productions around the world with generations of fans still singing and dancing to ABBA songs some 40 years after their release.

“It’s so humbling and I’m grateful but I cannot say I understand quite how that happened. It’s kind of a miracle,” Ulvaeus said of the band’s success. “Never in our wildest dreams did we think that these songs that we wrote would last for such a long time.”
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Mass Radio Campaign Saves Thousands of Children’s Lives in Africa

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

A mass radio campaign in Burkina Faso led to a significant rise in sick children getting medical attention and could prove one of the most cost-effective ways to save young lives in poor countries, researchers said Tuesday.

Publishing results of a trial involving a radio campaign in rural areas that promoted treatment-seeking for three of the biggest killers of children under five — malaria, pneumonia and diarrhea — researchers said around 3,000 lives were saved.

“What this study shows is that using mass media to drive people to health centers is actually more cost-effective than almost anything on earth in terms of saving children’s lives,” said Roy Head, who co-led the study.

“And that makes sense — it reaches millions of people at a time — but this is the first time it has been shown in a scientific trial.”

The radio campaign, which the researchers said used a “saturation” method of intensive radio transmissions over an extended period of time to promote behavior change in a population, was run in Burkina Faso between 2012 and 2015.

It was broadcast on seven radio stations at a radius of around 50 kilometers (30 miles), while seven other radio station areas did not broadcast the campaign and acted as controls for comparison.

Routine data from health facilities were then analyzed for evidence of changes in treatment-seeking, with data from over 1.1 million consultations and deliveries evaluated.

The results — published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Global Health on Tuesday — showed a significant increase in the adoption of life-saving behaviors for the specific diseases targeted.

Diagnosis rates for malaria, pneumonia and diarrhea rose significantly in all three years of the study, including a 107 percent rise in diarrhea diagnoses in year 3 and a 56 percent rise in malaria diagnoses in year 1. The researchers said there was no change in detection rates for illnesses not covered by the radio campaign, such as coughs and colds.

Using a mathematical modeling tool, the team estimated a mortality reduction of 9.7 percent in year 1, 5.7 percent in year 2 and 5.5 percent in year 3, translating into about 3,000 lives saved as a result of the campaign.

“Pneumonia, malaria, and diarrhea are three of the biggest killers of children in Sub-Saharan Africa,” said Simon Cousens, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who co-led the work. “This research provides evidence that mass media has an important role to play in persuading parents to seek life-saving treatment for children.”
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Classic 1965 Ford Mustang Given Self-driving Abilities

By Uponsil | | No Comments | Silicon Valley

Scientists from Cranfield University in Britain have teamed up with the engineering firm Siemens to retro-fit a classic 1965 Ford Mustang with driverless technology. They recently tested it on a racetrack at the Goodwood Festival of Speed — considered the largest motoring garden party in the world. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more.
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3-D Printing Helps Restore 18th Century Chinese Pagoda

By Uponsil | | No Comments | Silicon Valley

Twenty-first century technology has helped restore an 18th century Chinese pagoda in the heart of London. Faith Lapidus has the story.
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UN Envoy: 1.1B People Face Risks from Lack of Cooling

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

New data from 52 countries in hot climates reveals that over 1.1 billion people face “significant risks” — including death — from lack of access to cooling, a U.N. envoy said Monday.

Rachel Kyte told a press conference that “millions of people die every year from lack of cooling access, whether from food losses, damaged vaccines, or severe heat impact.”

The U.N. envoy, who is promoting the United Nations goal of providing sustainable energy for all people by 2030, said nine countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America with the biggest populations that face major risks are Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sudan.

Kyte stressed that “cooling for all” doesn’t mean “putting an air conditioner in every home.”

She said an urgent effort is needed to clarify cooling needs, engage governments and the private sector, and develop and test possible new solutions. 

Kyte spoke on the sidelines of this week’s high-level event assessing progress on six of the 17 U.N. goals adopted by world leaders in 2015 to combat poverty, promote development and preserve the environment by 2030. One of the goals is universal access to sustainable energy.

U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told the opening session that there has been progress on reducing maternal and child mortality, tackling childhood marriage, expanding access to electricity, addressing global unemployment, and cutting the rate of forest loss around the globe.

But Mohammed said in other areas “we are either moving too slowly, or losing momentum.”

“For the first time in a decade, the number of people who are undernourished has increased — from 777 million people in 2015 to 815 million in 2016 — fundamentally undermining our commitment to leaving no one behind,” she said.

Young people remain three times more likely to be unemployed than adults, most of the world’s extreme poor are projected to live in urban settings by 2035, and basic sanitation remains “off track,” she said. And “we are seeing alarming decline in biodiversity, rising sea levels, coastal erosion, extreme weather conditions and increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases” that cause global warming.

As for access to energy including renewable energy, Mohammed said the rate of progress “is not fast enough to meet our target.”

“We need to also double our efforts on energy efficiency,” she said. “250 million more people in Africa have no access to clean fuels for cooking compared to 2015.”

Kyte, who is also CEO of the nonprofit organization Sustainable Energy for All, stressed that without ensuring access to cooling for all people, the U.N. goal of universal access to energy will not be achieved.

She stressed that “access to cooling is not a luxury” but “a fundamental issue of equity. And as temperatures hit record levels, this could mean the difference between life and death for some.”

While 1.1 billion people lack access to cooling, Kyte said another 2.3 billion people present “a different kind of cooling risk.”

They represent “a growing lower-middle class who can only afford to buy cheaper, less efficient air conditioners, which could spike global energy demand and have profound climate impacts,” she said.

As examples of other hurdles that must be overcome in the next 12 years, she said, 470 million people in poor rural areas don’t have access to safe food and medicines and 630 million people in hotter, poor urban slums “have little or no cooling to protect them against extreme heatwaves.”

In India, Kyte said, “nearly 20 percent of temperature-sensitive health care products arrive damaged or degraded because of broken or insufficient cold chains, including a quarter of vaccines.”
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World’s Oldest Bread Found at Prehistoric Site in Jordan

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

Charred remains of a flatbread baked about 14,500 years ago in a stone fireplace at a site in northeastern Jordan have given researchers a delectable surprise: people began making bread, a vital staple food, millennia before they developed agriculture.

No matter how you slice it, the discovery detailed on Monday shows that hunter-gatherers in the Eastern Mediterranean achieved the cultural milestone of bread-making far earlier than previously known, more than 4,000 years before plant cultivation took root.

The flatbread, likely unleavened and somewhat resembling pita bread, was fashioned from wild cereals such as barley, einkorn or oats, as well as tubers from an aquatic papyrus relative, that had been ground into flour.

It was made by a culture called the Natufians, who had begun to embrace a sedentary rather than nomadic lifestyle, and was found at a Black Desert archeological site.

“The presence of bread at a site of this age is exceptional,” said Amaia Arranz-Otaegui, a University of Copenhagen postdoctoral researcher in archaeobotany and lead author of the research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Arranz-Otaegui said until now the origins of bread had been associated with early farming societies that cultivated cereals and legumes. The previous oldest evidence of bread came from a 9,100-year-old site in Turkey.

“We now have to assess whether there was a relationship between bread production and the origins of agriculture,” Arranz-Otaegui said. “It is possible that bread may have provided an incentive for people to take up plant cultivation and farming, if it became a desirable or much-sought-after food.”

University of Copenhagen archeologist and study co-author Tobias Richter pointed to the nutritional implications of adding bread to the diet. “Bread provides us with an important source of carbohydrates and nutrients, including B vitamins, iron and magnesium, as well as fiber,” Richter said.

Abundant evidence from the site indicated the Natufians had a meat- and plant-based diet. The round floor fireplaces, made from flat basalt stones and measuring about a yard (meter) in diameter, were located in the middle of huts.

Arranz-Otaegui said the researchers have begun the process of trying to reproduce the bread, and succeeded in making flour from the type of tubers used in the prehistoric recipe. But it might have been an acquired taste.

“The taste of the tubers,” Arranz-Otaegui said, “is quite gritty and salty. But it is a bit sweet as well.”
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Venezuela Pleads Guilty in US to Role in PDVSA Bribe Scheme

By Uponbiz | | No Comments | Business

A former official at a Venezuelan state-run electric company pleaded guilty on Monday to U.S. charges that he participated in a scheme to solicit bribes in exchange for helping vendors win favorable treatment from state oil company PDVSA.

Luis Carlos De Leon Perez, 42, pleaded guilty in federal court in Houston to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and to conspiring to commit money laundering, the U.S. Justice Department said.

He became the 12th person to plead guilty as part of a larger investigation by the Justice Department into bribery at Petroleos de Venezuela SA that became public with the arrest of two Venezuelan businessmen in December 2015.

The two men were Roberto Rincon, who was president of Tradequip Services & Marine, and Abraham Jose Shiera Bastidas, the manager of Vertix Instrumentos. Both pleaded guilty in 2016 to conspiring to pay bribes to secure energy contracts.

De Leon is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 24. His lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.

De Leon was arrested in October 2017 in Spain and was extradited to the United States after being indicted along with four other former Venezuelan officials on charges they solicited bribes to help vendors win favorable treatment from

PDVSA.

An indictment said that from 2011 to 2013 the five Venezuelans sought bribes and kickbacks from vendors to help them secure PDVSA contracts and gain priority over other vendors for outstanding invoices during its liquidity crisis.

Prosecutors said De Leon was among a group of PDVSA officials and people outside the company with influence at it who solicited bribes from Rincon and Shiera. De Leon worked with those men to then launder the bribe money, prosecutors said.

De Leon also sought bribes from the owners of other energy companies and directed some of that money to PDVSA officials in order help those businesses out, prosecutors said.

Among the people indicted with De Leon was Cesar David Rincon Godoy, a former general manager at PDVSA’s procurement unit Bariven. He pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Others charged included Nervis Villalobos, a former Venezuelan vice minister of energy; Rafael Reiter, who worked as PDVSA’s head of security and loss prevention; and Alejandro Isturiz Chiesa, who was an assistant to Bariven’s president.

Villalobos and Reiter were, like De Leon, arrested in Spain, where they remain pending extradition, the Justice Department said. Isturiz remains at large.
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US Launches Five WTO Challenges to Retaliatory Tariffs

By Uponbiz | | No Comments | Business

The United States launched five separate World Trade Organization dispute actions on Monday challenging retaliatory tariffs imposed by China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico and Turkey following U.S. duties on steel and aluminum.

The retaliatory tariffs on up to a combined $28.5 billion worth of U.S. exports are illegal under WTO rules, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement.

“These tariffs appear to breach each WTO member’s commitments under the WTO Agreement,” he said. “The United States will take all necessary actions to protect our interests, and we urge our trading partners to work constructively with us on the problems created by massive and persistent excess capacity in the steel and aluminum sectors.”

Lighthizer’s office has maintained that the tariffs the United States has imposed on imports of steel and aluminum are acceptable under WTO rules because they were imposed on the grounds of a national security exception.

Mexico said it would defend its retaliatory measures, saying the imposition of U.S. tariffs was “unjustified.”

“The purchases the United States makes of steel and aluminum from Mexico do not represent a threat to the national security,” Mexico’s Economy Ministry said in a statement.

“On the contrary, the solid trade relationship between Mexico and the U.S. has created an integrated regional market where steel and aluminum products contribute to the competitiveness of the region in various strategic sectors, such as automotive, aerospace, electrical and electronic,” the ministry added.

Lighthizer said last month that retaliation had no legal basis because the EU and other trading partners were making false assertions that the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs are illegal “safeguard” actions intended to protect U.S. producers.
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Stevie Nicks and LeAnn Rimes Share Heartbreak in New Duet

By Uponent | | No Comments | Entertainment

Stevie Nicks cried on her living room floor when she first saw LeAnn Rimes perform “Borrowed” on her TV in 2013.

 

The song, about an intimate, yet fleeting romance between Rimes and her lover, came out on Rimes’ “Spitfire” album when Nicks became enamored with it. The Fleetwood Mac singer knew then that she wanted to sing it with Rimes someday.

 

“It was very easy for me to try to be in that same sad, deeply tragic, passionate place where she was when she wrote that song because I had been there. I had lived there for a long time,” Nicks said in an interview with The Associated Press from Mexico, where she was on vacation.

 

Nicks heard from mutual friend and producer Darrell Brown, who co-wrote “Borrowed,” that Rimes was planning to touch up some of her hits for her “Re-Imagined” EP, and she jumped at the chance to record a duet version with Rimes.

 

“Being able to have another artist really kind of get you on so many levels in that authenticity and from that space is really magical,” said Rimes.

 

The new version, released last month, balances Nicks’ soft croon to Rimes’ striking vocals. Like in the previous version, a cool and fading steel guitar compliments the rhythmic melody and calming percussion.

 

Even though Nicks has been singing and recording long before Rimes was on the scene, she said working with her is like going to singing college.

 

“She doesn’t brush over anything,” said 70-year-old Nicks. “You have to sing every single word with her; otherwise it won’t be a good duet because she would leave you in the dust.”

 

Rimes, 35, became a star as a teen and launched hits such as “Blue,” “How Do I Live” and “Can’t Fight the Moonlight.” She won the best new artist Grammy at age 14.

 

Both singers come from different musical backgrounds. Nicks is a rock ‘n’ roll magnate from Phoenix and Rimes has country roots in Texas, but their voices reflect on a shared passion where heartbreak isn’t bound by place, time or genre.

 

Rimes said she came up with the idea for the song during an emotionally troubling moment on an airplane when she noticed someone reading a tabloid magazine with her on the cover. She started to cry when the stranger’s husband came to her comfort.

 

“I honestly feel like that guy was an angel,” she said. “Some things came over me at that moment and I just remember thinking that title (“Borrowed”) to myself.”

 

The first line of the song came to Rimes: “I know you’re not mine. Only borrowed.” From there, she took it to the studio where she fleshed out the rest of the tune.

 

“It’s a very honest, authentic moment and capturing a piece of me that I really didn’t know existed until I wrote this song,” said Rimes.

 

Rimes is currently on a summer tour and Nicks is hitting the road with Fleetwood Mac in the fall. Both singers said they hope to perform the song together someday.

 

“I would love to do a record with LeAnn,” said Nicks. “I’m hoping that for some reason we’ll get to go onstage and sing this song together.”
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Activists: Thousands of Congolese Threatened by National Park Oil Plans

By Uponbiz | | No Comments | Business

Democratic Republic of Congo’s plan to drill for oil in national parks could leave thousands of farmers and fishermen who rely on the land in a struggle to survive, rights groups said Monday.

The central African country announced last month that it was taking steps toward declassifying parts of Virunga and Salonga national parks, both recognized as world heritage sites by the United Nations, to allow for oil exploration.

The parks, which together cover an area about the size of Switzerland, are among the world’s largest tropical rainforest reserves and home to rare species including forest elephants.

Allowing drilling in the parks would cause a loss of biodiversity, release huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and pollute water that thousands of local people use for fishing and farming, according to several rights groups.

Congolese state spokesman Lambert Mende told Reuters that the government will study the potential impact of oil drilling on local communities before they proceed.

The government has previously defended its right to authorize drilling anywhere in the country and said it is mindful of environmental considerations, such as protecting animals and plants, in the two national parks.

“There are lake-shore communities, especially in Virunga, that are very dependent on fishing and on the park’s integrity,” said Pete Jones of environmental advocacy group Global Witness.

“That really needs to be taken into account and doesn’t seem to be part of the debate that’s happening, which is a shame,” he told Reuters.

Conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) also said it is concerned about the impact of oil drilling on at least 50,000 people who benefit from the fishing industry in Virunga, and tens of thousands more who farm on the outskirts of the parks.

“The risks of pollution are clear and present. The fishing industry would suffer considerably if it gets to that point,” said Juan Seve, WWF country director in Congo.

The oil industry would be unlikely to create local jobs since specialists would be brought in from abroad, he added.

The U.N.’s cultural agency UNESCO has previously said that oil exploration should not be conducted at world heritage sites.
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UN Envoy Says Reforms Needed to Resume Libyan Oil Production

By Uponbiz | | No Comments | Business

The U.N. envoy for Libya said Monday he fears the recent agreement to resume oil production in the conflict-torn country will not hold unless two issues are speedily tackled — distribution of wealth and “endemic plundering of resources.”

Ghassan Salame told the Security Council in a video briefing that unless the issues are addressed it will also “be difficult to advance the political process.”

Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed. The country is now split between rival governments in the east and west, each supported by an array of militias.

The Security Council has backed the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya this year but Salame warned that “without the right conditions, it would be unwise to conduct elections.”

He said national political consultations over the last 14 weeks that included more than 75 meetings in Libya and abroad and over 7,000 participants showed that “the Libyan people want clear and effective leadership by legitimate bodies, formed through elections.”

“However, a handful of people defy this popular desire,” Salame said. “The few who benefit from the status quo will, if left unchecked, do whatever they can to hinder elections. Unfortunately, they can do much, especially as they hold crucial, and too often lucrative, official positions.”

“Without clear and strong messaging to those who would attempt to stall or disrupt these elections, the conditions will not be met,” he warned.

In a statement after closed consultations following the open briefing, the Security Council “underlined support for the U.N.-facilitated, Libyan-owned political process, including the preparations for credible and inclusive elections.”

But the U.N.’s most powerful body made no mention of “spoilers” trying to thwart the elections.

The Security Council did welcome the National Oil Corp.’s announcement last Wednesday that it was in charge of the oil ports and would resume exports. The firm is controlled by the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, which is in the west.

The self-styled Libyan National Army allied with the east’s interim government and led by Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter seized the ports earlier this year from another militia led by Ibrahim Jadhran, a rebel commander opposed to Hifter who took part in the 2011 uprising that toppled Gadhafi.

The seizure prompted the National Oil Corp., with international support, to issue a “force majeure” to halt exports, which are Libya’s main source of income.

The LNA said it agreed to return the ports for a commitment by the Tripoli-based government in the west to investigate allegations that oil and gas revenues had been used to fund terrorist organizations.

The Security Council condemned attacks by Jadhran’s militia against the country’s oil infrastructure and said it now expects the National Oil Corp. “to continue its work unimpeded.”

Salame told council members the U.N. “will redouble its efforts to push for economic reforms, as the very stability and unity of the country are at stake.”

Libya is “in decline,” he said. “The crisis in the oil crescent gave us a glimpse of what is in store if tangible progress is not made now — economic collapse, the breakdown of public services, and more frequent and intense outbreaks of violence.”

“In a country where terrorists lurk, where criminals are waiting to traffic migrants, where foreign mercenaries are increasing in number, where the oil industry hangs in the balance, this should be of concern to all,” Salame said. 

He urged Libya’s rival leaders to stand by their commitment at a May 29 international meeting in Paris “to engage constructively to enable elections to take place by the end of the year.”
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Top US Official: China Overloading Poor Nations With Debt

By Uponbiz | | No Comments | Business

China is saddling poor nations with unsustainable debt through large-scale infrastructure projects that are not economically viable, the head of the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) said on Monday.

The criticism of Beijing — targeted by President Donald Trump in a trade war that has sent ripples through economies around the world — comes as Washington seeks to ramp up development finance in the face of China’s global ambitions.

Unveiled in 2013, President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road” initiative aims to build an infrastructure network connecting China by land and sea to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

China has pledged $126 billion for the plan, which has been praised by its supporters as a source of vital financing for infrastructure-starved partners in the developing world.

But in an interview with Reuters in Johannesburg, OPIC CEO Ray Washburne warned that the Chinese strategy created a debt trap for many poor nations.

“Just look at any project in these countries and they’re overbuilding the size,” he said. “We try to have countries realize that they’re indebting themselves to the Chinese.”

Washburne is not the first to warn of growing debt linked to Chinese infrastructure projects.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde in April cautioned China’s Belt and Road partners against considering the financing as “a free lunch.”

Sri Lanka formally handed over commercial activities in its main southern port in the town of Hambantota to a Chinese company in December as part of a plan to convert $6 billion of loans that Sri Lanka owes China into equity.

U.S. officials have warned that a strategic port in the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti could be next, a prospect the government there has denied.

Washburne also voiced concern over a $360 million expansion of the airport in Zambia’s capital Lusaka currently being carried out with financing from the Exim Bank of China.

“The local economy isn’t benefiting from that. It’s a much too large airport. They’ll have too much debt on it. At some point, someone’s got to pay. Pay or the Chinese take control,” he said.

Keeping pace

Lawmakers in the United States are advancing a new law — the BUILD Act – through Congress that Washburne says should bolster private U.S. investment in developing nations by doubling OPIC’s access to U.S. Treasury credit to $60 billion.

About a quarter of the active portfolio of OPIC, a government agency that helps U.S. businesses invest in emerging markets, is currently focused on Africa and it typically invests around $1 billion annually on the continent.

“With the right quality projects, it could double here,” Washburne said, adding that many investments would focus on the kinds of infrastructure projects Chinese firms are currently dominating.

“The Chinese are in with ports and railroads and highways, things that we need to be in as a competitor.”

OPIC this month launched an Africa-focused initiative that will earmark more than $1 billion over the next three years for projects supporting transportation, information and communications technology and value chains.

“Instead of giving them a fish, we want to teach them how to fish,” Washburne said. “They’ll have to stand on their own two feet. So we’re not in making loans or doing projects that don’t make economic sense.”
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Scarlett Johansson Film Exit Spotlights Lack of Transgender Actors on Screen

By Uponent | | No Comments | Entertainment

Scarlett Johansson’s decision to pull out of a film role playing an American gangster who was born a woman but identified as male could kickstart a drive to get more transgender actors on screen, film insiders and LGBT campaigners said on Monday.

Hollywood star Johansson had agreed to play Dante “Tex” Gill in the film Rub & Tug, but last week said she had decided to leave the role after realizing the casting was “insensitive.”

Her initial casting sparked a backlash on social media as the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community criticized the lack of opportunities for transgender actors.

“Trans exclusion in the media is endemic and not something that’s going to change without pressure on the industry,” said Lily Madigan, a transgender activist and women’s rights official for Britain’s opposition Labour Party.

“My hope is the attention brought to the issue by this recent event will be enough to kick-start a more diverse casting standard,” Madigan told Reuters.

Hollywood has long favored casting non-transgender actors in gender fluid roles, including Jared Leto who won an Oscar for playing a transgender woman in Dallas Buyers Club, and Jeffrey Tambor who has nabbed several awards for playing a father who transitions to a woman in the television series Transparent.

Juno Roche, an author and transgender rights campaigner, said there would be “absolute outrage” if a white actor was cast to play a black person.

“It just seems completely illogical,” she said of casting of Johansson as Gill, a real-life crime kingpin who used a massage parlor as a front for prostitution during the 1970s and 1980s.

None of the 109 movies released by Hollywood’s seven biggest studios in 2017 included a transgender character, according to data from U.S-based LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD.

“One of the issues we tend to have is people who are openly trans only being considered for trans role,” said Ian Manborde, equality and diversity organizer at Equity, a Britain-based trade union for actors and performers.

“The issue is that some people [who have transitioned] might not want to identify or self-identify as trans. There is still a stigma within the sector,” he said, adding that Equity planned to advise industry employers on how to treat transgender actors.

Filming has yet to begin on Rub & Tug and no replacement for Johansson was immediately announced.

“I can now only hope that the part goes to a trans person or — at the very least — someone who identifies as a member of the LGBTQI [queer and intersex] community,” said Rebecca Root, one of the only openly transgender actresses in Britain.

From the Johansson controversy to Chilean actress Daniela Vega becoming the first transgender presenter at the Oscars and a Cannes Film Festival award for Girl — about a transgender teenage girl’s quest to become a ballerina — this year has seen debates on transgender representation in film come to the fore.
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Cardi B Crowns Break-Out Year With Leading 10 MTV VMA Nominations

By Uponent | | No Comments | Entertainment

Rapper Cardi B earned a leading 10 nominations on Monday for the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA), reflecting a break-out year that has seen her become one of the industry’s most successful and sought-after performers.

The New York singer, 25, earned nominations in all the top categories, including both best artist and best new artist, as well as best video, collaboration and choreography mostly for her work with Bruno Mars on “Finesse.”

Cardi B, who shot to fame in August 2017 with her brash female empowerment song “Bodak Yellow,” led a VMA contenders field that included Drake, Camila Cabello, Beyonce and husband Jay-Z.

Performing as The Carters, the power music duo earned eight nominations for their “APES**T” video, which was shot inside the Louvre in Paris against the backdrop of some of the world’s most famous art works.

Childish Gambino, the music stage name of actor Donald Glover, earned seven nominations for his hard-hitting video “This Is America” about black identity and police brutality.

Cardi B and Bruno Mars, The Carters, and Childish Gambino will face off for the top prize — video of the year — against Ariana Grande’s “No Tears Left to Cry,” Camila Cabello’s “Havana,” and Drake’s “God’s Plan.”

Monday’s nominations reflected the popularity of rap, which in 2017 surpassed rock as the most dominant music genre in the United States, and R&B.

Pop singer Taylor Swift managed only three nominations, all in technical categories, for “Look What You Made Me Do,” despite her album “Reputation” being the biggest seller in the United States in 2017.

Britain’s Ed Sheeran got four nominations, including song of the year, for his romantic ballad “Perfect,” which was a worldwide hit.

The fan-voted, youth-oriented VMA awards ceremony with a reputation for irreverence and outrageous stunts will be broadcast live on MTV from New York City on August 20.
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Study: CRISPR Gene Editing Can Cause Risky Collateral DNA Damage

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

Scientists studying the effects of the potentially game-changing gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 have found it can cause unexpected genetic damage which could lead to dangerous changes in some cells.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology on Monday, have safety implications for gene therapies that are being developed using CRISPR/Cas9 — a type of molecular scissor technology that can be used to edit DNA.

They also add to findings published last month which suggested the CRISPR gene-editing tool may inadvertently increase cancer risk in some cells.

“We found that changes in the DNA have been seriously underestimated before now,” said Allan Bradley, a professor at Britain’s Wellcome Sanger Institute who co-led the research published on Monday.

Shares of gene-editing companies CRISPR Therapeutics AG, Editas Medicine, Sangamo Therapeutics and Intellia Therapeuticsc fell sharply Monday.

“We do not use the methods described in this Nature Biotech paper … nevertheless, in our work, we do not see similar findings,” CRISPR Therapeutics said.

“Intellia does not believe that these findings significantly impact the path forward for CRISPR-based therapeutics,” it said in a statement.

Editas said the company was “not specifically concerned” about the latest findings.

Sangamo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CRISPR/Cas9, one of the newest genome-editing tools, can alter sections of DNA in cells by cutting at specific points and introducing changes at that location and is seen by many as a promising way to create treatments for diseases such as HIV or cancer.

Experts say treatments like these could inactivate a disease-causing gene, or correct a genetic mutation, but much more research is still needed to ensure techniques are safe.

Bradley’s team carried out a full systematic study in both mouse and human cells and discovered that CRISPR/Cas9 frequently caused extensive mutations including large genetic rearrangements such as DNA deletions and insertions.

These could lead to important genes being switched on or off — as intended by the therapies — but could also have major unexpected implications, the scientists said.

They warned that some the changes seen in this study were too far away from the target site to be picked up with standard analysis and testing methods.

Commenting on the findings, Robin Lovell-Badge, a stem cell expert at Britain’s Francis Crick Institute, said the work highlighted the need for very careful work when using to genome editing “to verify that the alterations to the DNA sequence are those, and only those, that had been designed to occur.”

“But the results give no reason to panic or to lose faith in the methods when they are carried out by those who know what they are doing,” he added.
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