As the Trump administration reviews a government report that contradicts its views on climate change, another report confirms that humans have pushed the planet to record-setting temperatures. VOA’s Steve Baragona reports.
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From: MeNeedIt

Four U.S. Senate Republicans from oil-refining states Thursday urged the Trump administration not to block oil shipments from Venezuela as part of U.S. sanctions against the country, saying it could raise costs for U.S. fuel consumers.

The United States sanctioned President Nicolas Maduro and other Venezuelan officials after Maduro established a constituent assembly run by his Socialist Party loyalists and cracked down on widespread opposition. It has not placed sanctions on the OPEC member’s oil industry.

Four senators

Senators John Cornyn of Texas, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, and Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker of Mississippi said in the letter, which was seen by Reuters, that unilaterally blocking oil exports could harm the U.S. economy and the Venezuelan people.

The United States imports about 740,000 barrels per day of oil from Venezuela.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the letter, which was addressed to President Donald Trump.

“We believe it is critical to consider the role the U.S. energy industry and refining sector play in our economic and national security interest,” the senators wrote. “Blockading imports could inflict great harm on this industry and burden U.S. taxpayers with the cost.”

Effects on Venezuela

The senators said sanctions on shipments of Venezuelan oil to the United States could also increase the likelihood of a disorderly default by Venezuela, given the oil business is its main source of revenue. Creditors could then seize Venezuelan oil assets and cut off the government’s remaining sources of financing.

They also noted that such sanctions could expand the interests of China and Russia in Venezuela’s oil business. Both countries have invested in Venezuela for years.

Sources have said the United States could use heavy crude from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve held in caverns along the Gulf Coast, to relieve any short-term supply pressure if Venezuela’s shipments were blocked. Nearly 680 million barrels of oil are in reserve.

A drilling boom in the United States has allowed the government to store more oil than it needs to meet international spare supply agreements. 
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From: MeNeedIt

A historical film about the last Russian czar’s affair with a ballerina has been cleared for release, the Culture Ministry said Thursday, despite passionate calls for its ban.

“Matilda,” which describes Nicholas II’s relationship with Matilda Kshesinskaya has drawn virulent criticism from some Orthodox believers and hard-line nationalists, who see it as blasphemy against the emperor, glorified as a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Russian lawmaker Natalya Poklonskaya, who previously had served as the chief regional prosecutor in Crimea following its 2014 annexation by Moscow, spearheaded the campaign for banning the film. She even asked the Prosecutor General’s office to carry out an inquiry into “Matilda,” which is set to be released on the centennial of the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.

The lavish production, filmed in historic imperial palaces and featuring sumptuous costumes, loosely follows the story of Nicholas II’s infatuation with Kshesinskaya that began when he was heir-apparent and ended at his marriage in 1894.

The czar and his family were executed by a Bolshevik firing squad in July 1918. The Russian Orthodox Church made them saints in 2000.

“Matilda” opponents have gathered signatures against the film, and earlier this month several hundred people gathered to pray outside a Moscow church for the movie to be banned.

The film’s critics were recently joined by Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed regional leader of Chechnya, and authorities in the neighboring province of Dagestan, who argued that “Matilda” should be barred from theaters in the mostly Muslim regions in Russia’s North Caucasus.

Director Alexei Uchitel has rejected the accusations and prominent Russian filmmakers have come to his defense. The film’s critics and its defenders both have appealed to the Kremlin, but it has refrained from publicly entering the fray.

On Thursday, the Russian Culture Ministry finally announced that the film has received official clearance.

Vyasheslav Telnov, the head of the ministry’s film department, said it checked “Matilda” and found it in full compliance with legal norms.

Asked to comment on statements from Chechnya and Dagestan, Telnov said that the film has been cleared for release nationwide, but the law allows regional authorities to make their own decisions.

“There is no censorship in Russia, and the Ministry of Culture stays away from any ideological views of beliefs,” he said. “A feature film can’t be banned for political or ideological motives.”

Disputes over the movie reflect the rising influence of the Russian Orthodox Church and the increasing assertiveness of radical religious activists.

Russia’s growing conservative streak has worried many in the country’s artistic community. A Moscow art gallery recently shut down an exhibition of nude photos by an American photographer after a raid by vigilantes, and a theater in the Siberian city of Omsk canceled a performance of the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” following a petition by devout Orthodox believers.
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From: MeNeedIt

Egypt’s official statistics agency says the country’s inflation rate has jumped to 33 percent in July – up from 29.8 percent in June.

The announcement comes as Egyptians struggle in the face of steep price hikes as part of the government’s economic reform plan.

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics made the announcement Thursday.

Economists believe the hike is driven by an increase in fuel prices. They expect inflation to remain above 30 percent over the next two months, especially after an increase in electricity, transportation and drinking water prices.

Egypt raised fuel prices in June by 55 percent for the commonly used 80-octane gasoline and diesel. It also doubled the price of the butane gas canisters, used in the majority of Egyptian households for cooking.
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From: MeNeedIt

The Japanese summer delicacy of roasted eel, braised with a tangy sauce and sprinkled with prickly mountain pepper, is in question as the creatures with their mysterious migrations become increasingly endangered. 

Soaring demand for Japanese eel, or Anguilla japonica, helped put the creatures on the International Union of Conservation of Nature’s “Red List” of endangered species in 2014. It’s spurring poaching of similar species off the U.S. East Coast. 

But Katsumi Tsukamoto, “Dr. Eel” of the only “Eel Science Laboratory” at Nihon University in Japan, thinks he’s unlocked the secrets to eventually farming the eels, known as unagi, sustainably and profitably. Tsukamoto found out where the eels are spawning, and that helped researchers study conditions needed to raise them from the egg stage to adulthood. 

​Secret life of unagi

The possibility of extinction, and soaring prices for grilled eel believed to help build stamina for enduring sweltering summer days, have dismayed many Japanese gourmands and the restaurants that specialize in the dish.

Despite their important role in Japanese food culture, until recently very little was known about the life cycles of eels, such as where they spawned and how tiny, nearly transparent glass eels manage to travel back to their freshwater habitats in Asia and elsewhere. 

Supplies depend on wild-catching the juveniles and farm raising them until adulthood, a practice that has spread from Japan to Taiwan and mainland China as demand has surged. 

Tsukamoto says his discovery of Japanese eel larvae and spawning adults west of the Mariana Ridge, near Guam, in 2009 has enabled him and other researchers to figure out the right diet and environmental conditions for spawning eels and their offspring. 

Eel farming

Despite skepticism about the potential for such farming to work, Tsukamoto says three Japanese state-owned laboratories are able to raise the eels from the larval stage and get them to spawn, completing their life cycle. But for now each lab can raise only about 3,000-4,000 a year. A lack of funds is hindering construction of the infrastructure needed to make such operations commercially viable by producing tens of thousands of eels a year.

The complete farming of eels and some other endangered species as a way to help them survive by relieving the pressure from soaring demand.

Depending on the restaurant, Yuta Maruyama, an intermediate wholesaler who handles wild blue eel at Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji Fish market, says a multi-course menu including grilled blue eel can cost up to 30,000 yen ($270) per person at exclusive restaurants, mainly in the flashy Ginza shopping and dining district. 

The choice eels are often served in different styles to the traditional “kabayaki” eels, which are grilled in a coating of dark soy sauce marinade. Restaurants that specialize in kabayaki, often handed down generation to generation, may offer both wild and farmed eels — with supply depending on what is available that day at the market. 

​Wild-caught, farm-raised

At Hashimoto, a Michelin one-star kabayaki restaurant in Tokyo that first opened in 1835, the eels are all farm-raised the conventional way on the southern island of Kyushu, after being caught as glass eels. 

Like farmed salmon, the farmed eels raised from wild-caught glass eels tend to be fattier. “They have a flavor that is preferred by most customers,” said Shinji Hashimoto, the sixth-generation owner.

Hashimoto said his kabayaki sauce is “light,” to allow the eel’s flavor to come through. 

“The Tokyo palette has traditionally disliked sweet flavors,” he said.

To manage with fewer catches and higher prices, Hashimoto tries to get two servings out of larger eels. 

After cleaning and slicing them open, the cooks skewer them to ensure they will stay together while cooking. They are grilled directly over hot charcoal, then steamed to soften the flesh. Afterward they are coated in a sauce of soy sauce boiled with sweet rice wine, or mirin and then returned to the grill and basted three times before being served as “unajyu,” steaming hot over rice in a neat lacquer box. 

The busiest days tend to be the Day of the Ox in the lunar calendar, the first of which in 2017 was Tuesday, July 25th. Hashimoto served about 150 customers that day. 

“Even if the price rose to 10,000 yen (about $90) for one box of unajyu, Japanese people would still eat it once a year,” Tsukamoto said. “Why do Japanese people like unagi? Because we like soy sauce. The salty-sweet sauce, made from a mixture of soy sauce and mirin, is brushed on, is singed and grilled on the eel over charcoal — and that smell makes it irresistible.”
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From: MeNeedIt

The exchange of threats and harsh rhetoric between North Korea and Donald Trump has rattled many investors. Stock prices fell in Asia, Europe and the United States, while demand rose for safe-haven investments like gold.

Key stock indexes in Hong Kong, Germany, and France were down by one percent or more. U.S. stocks were down as much as four-tenths of a percent in Wednesday’s mid-day trading. Before Tuesday’s angry exchange of words, U.S. stocks had been setting a series of record highs.

Demand for gold, a traditional way of protecting assets in troubled times, pushed up the price for the precious metal by about one percent in Wednesday’s trading. Oil prices also posted gains.

South Korea is home to more than 50 million people and major companies like Samsung and Hyundai. World Bank data show South Korea has a $1.4 trillion economy, which is nearly two percent of global economic activity.
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From: MeNeedIt

A former Google software engineer, who wrote an internal memo criticizing the company’s diversity policies, has filed a labor complaint, saying he was wrongfully fired.

In a statement emailed to news agencies, James Damore said he filed the complaint with the National Labor Relations Board prior to his termination and that, “It’s illegal to retaliate against the NLRB charge.”

Damore said he was subjected to “coercive statements” while working at Google. According to the Associated Press, a Google spokesperson said the company could not have retaliated against Damore because it was not aware of the complaint until hearing about it in the news media after he was dismissed.

Damore caused an uproar after the website Gizmodo published a leaked copy of the memo he wrote, encouraging Google to “treat people as individuals, not as just another member of their group,” and questioning the effectiveness of diversity programs at the company.

Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive officer, criticized Damore’s memo in an email for “advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace.”

In the 10-page internal memo, titled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber,” Damore asserted that fewer women are employed in the technology field because they “prefer jobs in social and artistic areas,” while men are more inclined to become computer programmers — a fact he said was due to “biological causes.”

Danielle Brown, Google’s new vice president for diversity, integrity and governance, said the memo “advanced incorrect assumptions about gender” and promotes a viewpoint not encouraged by the company.

“Part of building an open, inclusive environment means fostering a culture in which those with alternative views, including different political views, feel safe sharing their opinions,” she said. “But that discourse needs to work alongside the principles of equal employment found in our Code of Conduct, policies, and anti-discrimination laws.”

The controversy comes as Silicon Valley faces accusations of sexism and discrimination. Google is in the midst of a Department of Labor investigation over allegations women there are paid less than men.
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From: MeNeedIt

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is calling for rapid action to prevent a cholera epidemic in South Sudan from spiraling out of control as the rainy season in the country progresses.

More than 18,000 cases of cholera, including 328 deaths have been reported in South Sudan since June 2016. The International Organization for Migration warns the number of cases and deaths is likely to grow as the rainy season this year will leave as much as 60 percent of the country inaccessible by road.

IOM spokeswoman, Olivia Headon, tells VOA a combination of factors including the ongoing crisis, the rainy season and the movement of displaced people across the country is making it extremely difficult to contain this deadly disease.

“So, if you are maybe infected with cholera or someone in your family if you come in contact with this and then you move to a different part of the country, you are also bringing the infection with you,” she said. “We hope that it does not spiral out of control and IOM with other partners in the U.N. and NGO [non-governmental organization] implementers on the ground are working so it does not.”

IOM reports the scale of needs in this conflict-ridden country is unprecedented, with more than 7.5 million people dependent on humanitarian aid. The agency says disease outbreaks, such as cholera, are particularly dangerous for displaced and vulnerable populations. This includes children under five, thousands of whom are severely acutely malnourished and at risk of dying without therapeutic help.

Headon says IOM and partners are leading oral cholera vaccination campaigns across South Sudan. She says they are distributing cholera kits, including jerry cans, water treatment supplies and soap. She says aid workers also are repairing boreholes and conducting hygiene promotion in cholera-affected areas across the country.

 
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From: MeNeedIt

The World Health Organization in Myanmar says a recent outbreak of H1N1 in the country is not unusual for the time of the year, and while there may be more cases in the future the available data suggests it is not a cause for panic.

Myanmar’s state media reported on Wednesday that since July 21 there have been 166 confirmed cases and 17 deaths from the virus, known commonly as swine flu after a global pandemic in 2009 was found to have originated in infected pigs. The respiratory infection is now considered a normal human flu.

Seasonal event

Dr. Stephan Paul Jost, WHO’s country representative in Myanmar, said in an interview the consensus based on the evidence so far is that “this is a seasonal event, it’s a seasonal influenza, and there are likely to be also more cases because it is seasonal. And it is not in itself a cause for alarm.”

“Influenza of course can be a serious disease and people can also die from it,” he added. “It happens in every country in the world in the flu season and sometimes even outside it.”

The damp and slightly cooler conditions of Myanmar’s rainy season are also favorable for the influenza virus.

But Jost said the numbers are generally in line with what WHO is seeing in countries in the region.

“It is not in itself an unusual event. Of course we are keeping a close eye on it,” he said.

Monitoring

Dr. Than Htun Aung, the deputy director of the public health department with Myanmar’s Ministry of Health and Sports, said the government is in the process of stepping up monitoring and that it’s too early to say whether the virus has tapered off.

“Now we’re controlling. We are waiting [for] more information from the surveillance. We can’t say now,” he said. “I think we can control like other countries did. USA was the same, they had more patients than we had. Now we’re learning what they have done and planning procedures.”

WHO is providing technical support in terms of specific guidelines, consulting with regional experts, and facilitating samples to be sent to laboratories abroad.

It has also worked with Facebook representatives in the region and locally to look at various messaging and discussion about H1N1 on social media, which some believe contributed to an unnecessary panic over the outbreak, with large numbers of people in the commercial capital Yangon donning surgical masks as a main line of defense.

“We’re looking at the different terminology used in Facebook for influenza and for this particular outbreak to see whether we can work together to get more systematic and authoritative messages out that are quite simple but … recommended by WHO,” Jost said, adding it was an ongoing process. “We are still working together on this to actually find the best way forward.”

A representative for the social media platform in Singapore was not immediately available for comment as August 9 is a public holiday in the country.

Surgical masks

Jost described the use of surgical masks in Myanmar as perhaps a “bit overdone,” in particular N95 masks, which are not recommended for the public as they are difficult to wear and better for hospital environments and health workers.

However, light surgical masks that fit easily on the face can be useful in some situations, he said, especially if you know you have the flu. They may even cut down on transmission in crowded places like buses.

“Influenza is transmitted by a fine droplet. It’s not airborne, you don’t get it just by breathing air. It’s fine droplets, by sneezing and coughing, that are dispersed, that’s transmitted, and that’s usually then also by hand, either by shaking hands or it lands in your hand and you rub your eyes and it enters your system,” he said. “So even masks would not protect from that. You could have a mask and you are rubbing your eyes and you are still getting it.”

“But if you are sick [and wearing a mask] you are preventing then the dispersal of these fine droplets to others. That is definitely helping. That is good,” he added.

One of the other issues that arose in response to the outbreak was a lack of past data that could help authorities assess the scope of the problem.

Jost said WHO had suggested health officials could strengthen the surveillance of cases so “a picture would really emerge that is more consistent, more complete than what is currently available and would give us a better idea historically, what is the historical activity of the influenza viruses in the country.”

He said Myanmar had a lot of cases in 2010, the year after the worldwide outbreak, and also in 2014.

“But how complete this information is we are not as sure as perhaps we could be. And that’s true for many countries,” he said.

Jost also complimented Myanmar’s health officials and government partners on the outbreak response, saying it was “very encouraging.”

Aung Naing Soe contributed to this report.

 
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From: MeNeedIt

U.S. President Donald Trump says the United States had no alternative but to defeat an epidemic of opioid drug use, which kills more than 100 Americans daily. Speaking from New Jersey, Trump promised measures to combat the “scurge,” including tougher prosecution of drug-related crimes, better controls at the southern U.S. border. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has a report.
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From: MeNeedIt

President Donald Trump vowed Tuesday that the U.S. would “win” the battle against the heroin and opioid plague, but he stopped short of declaring a national emergency as his handpicked commission had recommended.

Trump spoke at an event he had billed as a “major briefing” on the opioid crisis during a two-week “working vacation” at his private golf club in New Jersey. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, senior counselor Kellyanne Conway, senior adviser Jared Kushner and first lady Melania Trump were among the attendees.

“The best way to prevent drug addiction and overdose is to prevent people from abusing drugs in the first place,” the president said at his golf club in Bedminster. “I’m confident that by working with our health care and law enforcement experts, we will fight this deadly epidemic and the United States will win.”

He said federal drug prosecutions had dropped but promised he would “be bringing them up rapidly.”

Last week, the presidential opioid commission, chaired by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, urged Trump to “declare a national emergency” and noted that “America is enduring a death toll equal to September 11th every three weeks.”

It recommended, among other things, expanding treatment facilities across the country, educating and equipping doctors about the proper way to prescribe pain medication, and equipping all police officers with the anti-overdose remedy Naloxone.

Trump did not address any of the recommendations. Instead, the president repeated that his administration was “very, very tough on the Southern border, where much of this comes in.”

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioids were involved in more than 33,000 U.S. deaths in 2015, the latest year for which data are available, and estimates show the death rate has continued rising.

But a new University of Virginia study released Monday concluded the mortality rates were 24 percent higher for opioids and 22 percent higher for heroin than had been previously reported.

Some information for this report came from AP.
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From: MeNeedIt

A call by Republican Governor John Kasich for scientific breakthroughs to help solve the opioid crisis is drawing interest from dozens of groups with ideas including remote-controlled medication dispensers, monitoring devices for addicts, mobile apps and pain-relieving massage gloves.

The state has received project ideas from 44 hospitals, universities and various medical device, software and pharmaceutical developers that plan to apply for up to $12 million in competitive research-and-development grants. The grant money is being combined with $8 million for an Ohio Opioid Technology Challenge, a competition similar to one spearheaded by the National Football League to address concussions.

Research grant-seekers in Ohio, which leads the nation in opioid-related overdose deaths, proposed solutions aimed at before or after an overdose.

Tactus Therapeutics, for example, seeks $2.2 million to develop an improved tamper-resistant opioid, while other applicants seek money to pursue technological advances in the administration of naloxone, a drug used as an overdose antidote. One is a “rescue mask.”

Other grant-seekers propose migrating away from pills altogether to find new ways of fighting pain.

In the Ohio city known for innovations in rubber and plastics, the University of Akron is looking to polymers. It seeks $2 million to advance development of implantable therapeutic meshes loaded with non-opioid pain medications capable of alleviating postsurgical pain for up to 96 hours.

Another company, Cleveland-based Innovative Medical Equipment, seeks $810,000 to make engineering improvements to a medical apparatus that uses heat to fight head pain, headaches, muscle and joint pain, and pain after surgery.

Neural therapies, virtual reality

Additional proposals look to neural therapies, electrical impulses, even virtual reality as ways to overcome or outwit pain. Osteopath Benjamin Bring, of suburban Columbus, seeks $75,000 to develop a prototype of a special glove that helps relieve chronic muscle pain through massage therapy.

Some proposals are specific to particular medical issues, such as chronic low back pain or amputations; others are focused on specific groups, including mothers, children, veterans and dental patients.

Many applicants propose ways of using smart technology to prevent overdose deaths by approaching the problem through the patient, doctor or community.

Ideas include apps for better coordinating medical treatment or addiction care and wearable devices that would speed help in cases of a potential overdose by linking people at risk of addiction with family, emergency workers and other caregivers.

Ascend Innovations seeks $1.5 million to develop an app and sensor system using technology contributed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. The app would allow patients to regularly report their medications, pain levels and states of mind, while the sensor would be gathering health indicators, including respiration, heart rate, eye tracking and pupil dilation, and sending them to a central location.

Another firm, iMed MD, seeks $150,000 to continue development of a secure, programmable medication dispensing system that allows doctors or hospitals to remotely limit the amount of medication a patient can receive at any one time.

The Third Frontier Commission selected NineSigma on Tuesday to manage the technology challenge. The Cleveland firm has managed similar competitions at the federal level for NASA and the Department of Homeland Security.
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From: MeNeedIt