Researchers are baffled as the sun has gone quiet during a time in its 11-year-cycle when it should be at its most active.
Just a few weeks ago it was bursting with sunspots but now it seems to be going days without even developing a single dark spot.
Solar physicist Tony Phillips has named it an 'All Quiet Event.'
Sunspots attract attention because they highlight the part of the sun where solar activity, such as this solar flare, originates
'It is weird, but it's not super weird,' he told The Los Angeles Times. 'To have a spotless day during maximum is odd, but then again, this solar maximum we are in has been very wimpy.'
Phillips is an expert about such activity and writes about it on his site, SpaceWeather.com.
Sunspots attract attention because they highlight the part of the sun where solar activity originates.
That can mean solar flares or even coronal mass ejections, which happen when material from the son shoots into space.
The phenomena occur by high;y concentrated magnetic fields which are slightly cooler than the surface of the sun.
Energy builds up as the fields become tangled, and when that energy is released in an explosion it results in a solar flare.
+2
Just a few weeks ago it was bursting with sunspots but now it seems to be going days without even developing a single dark spot
Phillips noted that hit solar maximum seems to be the weakest of the past century, making spotless days to be expected.
Back on Aug. 14, 2011, the sun was completely free of spots and that year still managed to have a high rate of solar activity overall. Phillips described it as a case of 'temporary intermission.'
It's still unknown if this period will be similar.
'It all underlines that solar physicists really don't know what the heck is happening on the sun,' he said. 'We just don't know how to predict the sun, that is the take away message of this event.'
Alex Young, a a heliophysicist at Goddard Space Flight Center, echoed that sentiment.
'We've only been observing the sun in lots of detail in the last 50 years,' Young said. 'That's not that long considering it's been around for 4.5 billion years.'
By Fredrik Dahl and Louis Charbonneau
VIENNA (Reuters) - Major powers appear to have made only limited headway in making sure Iran will not be able to build an atomic bomb any time soon, underlining the uphill task they face after talks that began in February were extended by four months.
Western officials say some progress was achieved during the most recent round of negotiations with Iran - enough to justify continuing the high-stakes diplomacy.
Crucially, they said they believe Iran's negotiators genuinely want to reach an agreement in order to win relief from sanctions that have severely damaged its oil-dependent economy, rather than trying to gain more time for nuclear advances.
"I am convinced that they are committed," a senior Western diplomat said, after Iran and the six world powers failed to meet a self-imposed July 20 deadline for a comprehensive accord and decided to prolong the talks until late November.
But it is unclear to what extent that is shared by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who wants an end to sanctions but is seen as wary of a detente with the West.
On the most contentious issue in the decade-old standoff - Iran's capacity to make nuclear fuel that has military uses as well as the civilian ones Tehran argues for - positions remain far apart.
The United States, France, Germany, Russia, China and Britain want Iran to scale back its nuclear program. Iran says it is entirely peaceful and wants sanctions lifted quickly.
"We still have a considerable way to go," a U.S. administration official said.
Kelley Hall, a University of Washington graduate student, brings up some dirt from the bottom of the hole where a seismometer will be placed on June 20, 2014, near Mount St. Helens in Washington state. Meanwhile, during the July 19-20 weekend, geophysicists were back at the mountain boring more holes for a study they're doing there. (Associated Press)
SEATTLE — Washington's volcanoes are getting some enhanced — and high-tech — scientific scrutiny this summer.
This weekend (July 19 and 20), a group of about 75 geophysicists from around the world is gathering at Mount St. Helens to bore 23 holes into the mountain so they can create seismic waves with small explosions equivalent to a magnitude 2 earthquake.
They also will be locating some 3,500 new seismic sensors all around the volcano.
The new measuring devices mark the final preparation for a big new volcano mapping project that scientists say will enable the equivalent of an ultrasound and CAT scan of the volcano's internal plumbing.
"Mount St. Helens and other volcanos in the Cascade Range threaten urban centers from Vancouver to Portland, and we'd like to better understand their inner workings in order to better predict when they may erupt and how severe those eruptions are likely to be," said Alan Levander of Houston's Rice University, who is the lead scientist for the experiment.
Meanwhile, a study of Mount Rainier's internal plumbing system was published this week in the science journal Nature.
Researchers from Utah, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Norway used seismic imaging as part of an effort to look at the ways rocks and liquids affect magnetic fields in the Cascade Range, Seattlepi.com reported.
The "images" they made captured the way magma is fed into a reserve 5miles under Mount Rainier that will be tapped eventually for eruptions, said geophysicist Phil Wannamaker of the University of Utah.
"But it does not provide any information on the timing of future eruptions from Mount Rainier or other Cascade Range volcanoes," he said.
Wannamaker said the magma reserve appears to be 5 to 10 miles deep and 5 to 10 miles wide from east to west. The north-to-south dimensions can't be determined because the researchers took only a sliced view of the system.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon speaks during a session of the UNHRC
AFP/File
The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) said it will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss Israel's ongoing self-defense operation in Gaza, according to AFP.
Monday's announcement followed the deadliest day of fighting between Israel and Hamas in six years, with more than 150 Palestinian Arabs and 13 Israeli soldiers killed on Sunday.
The meeting was requested by Egypt on behalf of Arab states, as well as Pakistan on behalf of the the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Palestinians.
The UN Security Council held an emergency session on the Gaza conflict on Sunday and appealed for an immediate ceasefire.
So far, Palestinian figures show 509 Gazans have been killed - mostly Hamas terrorists - and more than 3,150 wounded since the start of the Israeli campaign to stamp out cross-border militant rocket fire on July 8.
On the Israeli side, 20 people have died, including two civilians.
The UNHRC is infamous for its tunnel vision against Israel, a stance which has reared its ugly head multiple times over the past month.
In June, the UNHRC skewered Israel at a meeting to discuss the operation to find abducted (and murdered) Israeli teens Naftali Frenkel (16), Gilad Sha'ar (16), and Eyal Yifrah (19), hy"d, in a hearing comprised almost entirely of anti-Israel testimonies.
Wild accusations made included claims that Israel is occupying both Syria and Lebanon, that Israel imprisons Palestinian children and the elderly, and a pro-Palestinian NGO's claim that Israel has "kidnapped Palestinian mothers" in comments just after the emotional speech of the mother of kidnapped teen Naftali Frenkel.
Then, UNHRC High Commissioner Navi Pillay attacked Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas's rocket fire earlier this month, claiming that there is "no legitimate reason" for Israel to fight Hamas and implying that doing so "violates international law."
President Barack Obama
Flash 90
Israel must "do more" to protect civilians caught up in the crossfire of its assault on Hamas in the Gaza, the White House said Monday.
"We would like the Israelis to take even greater steps to ensure the protection of civilians," spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. His comments came as US Secretary of State John Kerry headed to the region to push for a ceasefire.
Reaffirming Israel's right to defend itself, Earnest said it was "unacceptable" for Hamas "to continue firing rockets squarely at Israeli
civilians."
"At the same time, we also want to make sure that Israel is doing everything that they can to live up to their own standards related to protecting the welfare and well-being of innocent civilian bystanders," he added.
US President Barack Obama said earlier that he had dispatched Kerry, who was en route to Cairo, to push for an "immediate" ceasefire in a conflict.
Obama also said that while Israel has the right to defend itself against a barrage of Hamas rockets, Washington has "serious concerns about the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths and the loss of Israeli lives."
"That is why it now has to be our focus and the focus of the international community to bring about a ceasefire that ends the fighting and that can stop the deaths of innocent civilians, both in Gaza and in Israel," he said.
Approximately 550 Palestinians - mostly Hamas terrorists - and 27 Israelis have died since the operation began two weeks ago. Twenty-five of them were IDF soldiers.
It is unclear what else the US believes can be done to prevent the civilian casualties, after the IDF has proven over and over again that Hamas has been encouraging Gazans to become human shields.
Hamas has openly boasted about the "success" of its strategy of using civilians as human shields during Operation Protective Edge, which is now ending its tenth day, and the IDF has published extensive evidence of the practice.
Hamas has in the past urged Gazans to ignore warnings from the IDF about upcoming strikes, in remarks caught both on Hamas-sponsored television and on the radar of international media outlets.
Hamas's "Public Security Ministry" in Gaza even made official statements Thursday encouraging more civilians to refuse to heed IDF warnings ahead of a possible ground offensive.
In addition, several of the rockets fired from Gaza have never made it on to Israeli soil, and may be partially responsible for Palestinian Arab deaths from within Gaza itself.
By contrast, the IDF has dropped leaflets, sent phone messages, and issued general warnings to all civilians within range of upcoming airstrikes to prevent further harm.
To complicate matters, a close look at the casualties recorded on the Hamas side reveals that most of those "civilians" are likely terrorists, according to a report released last week by CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.
However, the evidence has not swayed international media from presenting a skewed view of the conflict.
Obama Turns Focus on Ceasefire
Jul 21st, 2014
Daily NewsDebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues
While upholding Israel’s right to self-defense against rockets and terrorists in tunnels, US President Barack Obama said Monday: "It now has to be our focus and the focus of the international community to bring about a ceasefire that ends the fighting and that can stop the death of innocent civilians."
President Barack Obama. (AP)
President Barack Obama plans to sign executive orders Monday prohibiting discrimination against gay and transgender workers in the federal government and its contracting agencies, without a new exemption that was requested by some religious organizations.
Obama's action comes on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in the Hobby Lobby case that allowed some religiously oriented businesses to opt out of the federal health care law's requirement that contraception coverage be provided to workers at no extra charge. Senior administration officials said Friday that ruling has no impact on non-discrimination policies in federal hiring and contracting.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plans publicly.
Since Obama announced last month that he would sign the orders, he's faced pressure from opposing flanks over the religious exemption and given no indication of where he would come down. Many religious leaders and conservative groups wanted him to exempt religious organizations from the order, while liberal clergy and gay advocacy groups adamantly opposed such an exemption.
Until last month, Obama long resisted pressure to pursue an executive order for federal contractors in hopes that Congress would take more sweeping action banning anti-LGBT workplace discrimination nationwide. A bill to accomplish that goal — the Employment Non-Discrimination Act — passed the Senate last year with some Republican support, but has not been taken up by the GOP-controlled House.
The senior officials said Obama's action planned for Monday at the White House would amend two executive orders. The first, signed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965, prohibits federal contractors from discriminating based on race, religion, gender or nationality in hiring. Obama plans to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protections, and order the Labor Department to carry out the order. The officials said that means the change will probably take effect by early next year.
Gay rainbow flag. (AP Photo)
President George W. Bush had amended Johnson's order in 2002 to allow religious groups to hire and fire based upon religious identity. Churches also are able to hire ministers as they see fit. The senior administration officials said Obama will not change those exemptions.
The second order Obama will amend was signed by President Richard Nixon in 1969 to prevent discrimination against federal workers based on race, religion, gender, nationality, age or disability. President Bill Clinton added sexual orientation, and Obama will include gender identity in a change to immediately take effect.
Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said: "With two strokes of a pen, the President will have a very real and immediate impact on the lives of millions of LGBT people across the country."
The administration officials said the change for federal contracting will impact some 24,000 companies with 28 million workers, or one-fifth of the U.S. workforce. Many large federal contractors already have employment policies barring anti-gay workplace discrimination, as do 21 states. However, the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School estimates that the executive order would extend protections to about 14 million workers whose employers or states currently do not have such nondiscrimination policies.
While few religious organizations are among the biggest federal contractors, they do provide some valued services, including overseas relief and development programs and re-entry programs for inmates leaving federal prisons.
Iraq's prime minister on Sunday condemned ISIS's actions targeting Christians in territory it controls, saying they reveal the threat the jihadists pose to the minority community's "centuries-old heritage."
The comments from Nouri al-Maliki come a day after the expiration of a deadline imposed by ISIS, which also goes by the name the Islamic State, calling on Christians in the militant-held city of Mosul to convert to Islam, pay a tax or face death. Most Christians opted to flee to the nearby self-rule Kurdish region or other areas protected by Kurdish security forces.
"What is being done by the Daesh terrorist gang against our Christian citizens in Ninevah province, and their aggression against the churches and houses of worship in the areas under their control reveals beyond any doubt the extremist criminal and terrorist nature of this group," al-Maliki said in a statement released by his office, using the Arabic acronym for the extremist group.
"Those people, through their crimes, are revealing their true identity and the false allegations made here and there about the existence of revolutionaries among their ranks."
At the Vatican, Pope Francis expressed his concern Sunday for Mosul's Christians, offering prayers in his traditional Angelus blessing for Iraqi Christians who "are persecuted, chased away, forced to leave their houses without out the possibility of taking anything" with them.
UN statement
A gunman watches an Iraqi police truck burn in front of the provincial government headquarters in Fallujah, Iraq, in January. (The Associated Press)
In New York, the office of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon issued a statement condemning ISIS attacks on all religions, not just Christians.
"The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms the systematic persecution of minority populations in Iraq by Islamic State (IS) and associated armed groups," the statement said. "He is particularly disturbed by reports of threats against Christians in Mosul and other IS-controlled parts of Iraq, including an ultimatum to either convert, pay a tax, leave, or face imminent execution. Equally repugnant are reports that Turkoman, Yazidis and Shabaks are facing abductions, killings or the destruction of their property, and that the homes of Christian, Shia and Shabak residents in Mosul have been marked."
And after noting that "minority communities that have lived together for thousands of years" in the region, the statement warned "that any systematic attack on the civilian population, or segments of the civilian population, because of their ethnic background, religious beliefs or faith may constitute a crime against humanity, for which those responsible must be held accountable."
Residents in Mosul also say ISIS's fighters recently have begun to occupy churches and seize the homes of Christians who have fled the city.
These actions stem from the harsh interpretation of Islamic law the group seeks to impose on the territory it controls in Iraq and neighbouring Syria. Already in Mosul, the extremist group has banned alcohol and water pipes, and painted over street advertisements showing women's faces. It has, however, held off on stricter punishments so far.
ISIS gunmen on patrol in Fallujah. (File/Associated Press)
Iraq's Christian communities date back to the first centuries of the religion. Before the 2003 U.S-led invasion, around 1 million Christians called Iraq home. But since then, the community has been a frequent target for militants, and attacks on churches, worshippers and clergymen has prompted many Christians to leave the country. Church officials now estimate the community at around 450,000.
The UN special representative to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, condemned the persecution of all minority religious communities, including Christian, Shabak, Yazidi and Turkmen, in Mosul and the surrounding province of Ninevah. Mladenov said the UN will provide humanitarian assistance to the displaced.
Under pressure to resign
Al-Maliki also tried to rally support for those uprooted from their homes, calling on government agencies to provide "all the necessities for a decent life" for them. He also took the opportunity to urge "the whole world to tighten the siege on those terrorists and stand as one force to confront them."
The prime minister, who has ruled the country since 2006, is under pressure to step aside and not seek a third consecutive term. Many in Iraq accuse al-Maliki's Shia-led government of helping fuel the crisis by failing to promote reconciliation with the Sunni Muslim minority, and say he has become too polarizing a figure to unite the country and face down the militant threat.
Armed men stand guard beside people in Najaf, south of Baghdad, shouting slogans in support of the call to arms by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most senior Shi'ite Muslim cleric. Sistani urged followers to take up arms against Sunni militants. (REUTERS)
So far, Iraq's security forces have struggled to claw back any of the ground they have surrendered to the militants over the past five weeks. The only major counteroffensive has failed to make major headway in retaking the northern city of Tikrit.
The insurgents, meanwhile, have not made any further major gains since overrunning the majority of Iraq's predominantly Sunni areas. But they continue to attack government forces across several fronts, while also carrying out smaller scale attacks in Baghdad.
ISIS claimed responsibility late Saturday for four bombings in Baghdad which were among a string of attacks that killed at least 27 people earlier in the day. The violence was among the most significant in Baghdad since the Sunni militant offensive began.
Hamas's Mashaal with Mahmoud Abbas
Flash 90
Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal issued a joint appeal for an end to "Israeli aggression" in Gaza during talks in Doha on Monday.
Meeting for the first time since the start of Operation Protective Edge on July 8, the two men also called for Israel to lift its blockade of the
Hamas-controlled territory.
They "underlined the necessity of an end to the Israeli aggression and a lifting of the blockade", chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said.
He said the two men also "decided to hold further consultations with different Palestinian factions and contacts" on ceasefire efforts.
Azzam al-Ahmed, a senior official in Abbas's Fatah party, is to travel to Egypt, which last week proposed a ceasefire plan supported by the Arab League but rejected by Hamas, Erekat said.
According to Ahmed, "it was decided that there should be a ceasefire first, and we will continue discussions with Egypt and all regional and international sides until we crystallise the content of a final peace agreement."
"Hamas and Abbas agreed that all Palestinian factions should work as a team towards a ceasefire," he told AFP.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived Monday in Cairo, where US Secretary of State John Kerry was also due later the same day, as international efforts to secure a ceasefire gathered pace.
Hamas categorically rejected attempts for a cease-fire in multiple statements, insisting that the terms of the agreement 'did not apply' to them.
Later, Hamas officials reportedly set a series of unprecedented demands on Israel to accompany a ten-year truce - before threatening Israelis if the government refused to accept.
The Palestinian Authority has supported these demands.
"These are not conditions but engagements that Israel must honor," Erekat said Monday.
Last week, Abbas encouraged Hamas to accept internationally-brokered ceasefire efforts - if not in the name of Palestinian Arab unity, then at least specifically to hurt Israel.
"Israel accepted the ceasefire proposal. We (the Palestinians) must also accept it so that we can put the Israeli side at unease," Abbas told a news conference with Turkish President Abdullah Gul in Istanbul in comments translated from Arabic into Turkish.
Magnitude 6.2 Earthquake Hits Off Japan
Jul 21st, 2014
Daily NewsSky News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues
A 6.2-magnitude earthquake has struck off Japan's northeast coast.
The US Geological Survey says the quake struck at 02:32am (0332 AEST) on Monday in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 70km north east of Japan's Hokkaido island, close to the disputed Russian-administered Kuril Islands.
There were no immediate reports of damage. USGS had earlier given the quake a slightly higher 6.6 magnitude and a shallower 60km depth reading.
The epicentre lay closest to Russian territory, 94km from the town of Kuril'isk. The nearest Japanese city, Nemuro was located 291km away from the epicentre.
The Kuril islands are at the heart of a long running territorial dispute between Japan and Russia.
They were seized by Soviet troops in the final days of World War II. Tokyo has insisted on the return of all four islands, which are known as the South Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan.
Japan's islands are situated at the conjuncture of several tectonic plates and experience a number of relatively violent quakes every year.
But thanks to strict building codes, even powerful quakes that might wreak havoc in other countries frequently pass without causing much damage.
In May, a strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake shook buildings in the Japanese capital Tokyo, injuring 17 people.
Let the Headlines Speak
Jul 21st, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues
Texas Gov. Perry to Deploy 1,000 National Guard Troops to Border
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said on Monday he planned to send 1,000 Texas National Guard troops to the Mexican border to boost security during a surge in illegal immigration by children, a move that could increase pressure on.. Obama.
Fiji Earthquake Today 2014: 6.9 Strikes Off the Coast
Officials tell news that the Fiji earthquake today started at a significant depth. It posted a depth of three hundred eighty-three miles below sea level.
Whistleblower: IRS in cahoots with NSA
“Do you think the IRS partnered with the NSA potentially, to target the tea party?” “I already know they have access to it,” Binney responded. “One of the answers that came from some of the testimony in Congress by people who are being asked those questions kind of implied that that’s exactly what they were doing.”
Earthquake measuring 6.6 magnitude hits Japan’s North-East coast
The agency said that the quake struck at 02:32am in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 60 kilometres north east of Japan's Hokkaido island, close to the disputed Russian-administered Kuril Islands.
French minister decries ‘anti-Semitic’ Gaza protests
“When you head for the synagogue, when you burn a corner shop because it is Jewish-owned, you are committing an anti-Semitic act,” Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters outside the Sarcelles synagogue.
‘Test it on Brits:’ Snowden says GCHQ even worse than NSA
Taking that into account, Snowden is sure the UK citizens could be ones on whom intelligence techniques could be tested to then be used by all of the other so-called Five Eyes partners – Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Fighting flares in Ukraine as crash investigators arrive
Fighting flared in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Monday as investigators began to inspect the bodies of victims of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 last week.
The Caliphate Means Constant War on us on a Scale Not Yet Seen
The very existence of a caliphate would usher a state of constant hostility: Both historically and doctrinally, the caliphate is obligated to wage jihad, at least annually, to bring the “disbelieving” world under Islamic dominion and enforce sharia law. Most of what is today called the “Muslim world”-from Morocco to Pakistan-was conquered, bit by bit, by a caliphate begun in Arabia in 632.
The ‘Big One’ is coming: L.A. long overdue for mega-quake that could kill thousands of people, experts say
The southern section of the San Andreas Fault that runs near the city has not had a “mega-quake” of more than 7.5-magnitude since 1680 and it is, according to seismologists, more than a century overdue. A flurry of lesser earthquakes in recent months has refocused attention on whether America’s second city can withstand the “Big One.”
Transplanting gene into injured hearts creates biological pacemakers
Cardiologists have developed a minimally invasive gene transplant procedure that changes unspecialized heart cells into “biological pacemaker” cells that keep the heart steadily beating. The laboratory animal research is the result of a dozen years of research with the goal of developing biological treatments for patients with heart rhythm disorders who currently are treated with surgically implanted pacemakers. genes are used not only to correct a deficiency disorder, but to actually turn one kind of cell into another type,".
Ebola virus spreads in four more Liberian counties
Ebola has spread through several West African countries, including Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, since its latest outbreak in February. The death toll from the virus has surpassed 600 despite efforts by regional and international health experts to contain the epidemic.
WHO can't fully deal with Ebola outbreak, health official warns
Efforts to address the deadliest outbreak of Ebola in 40 years also have been hindered by the failure of some countries to implement the WHO's International Health Regulations, which went into effect in 2007, Dowell said. The regulations require countries to report outbreaks of certain diseases, including smallpox, polio and new strains of influenza, to the organization.
Deadly mosquito virus reported in eastern Mass.
...Mosquitoes: we’ve talked about them for months, and for the first time this year mosquitoes have infected someone in Massachusetts with eastern equine encephalitis, or triple E. The Massachusetts Department of Health just confirmed that a July 15th laboratory test in Plymouth County has tested positive for EEE, a dangerous virus that can cause inflammation of the brain and in one third of cases, death.
MH17 plane crash: Kerry points finger at Russia
US Secretary of State John Kerry has said there is overwhelming evidence of Russian complicity in the downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane in Ukraine. Mr Kerry called on Russia to take responsibility for the actions of the rebels, saying their handling of the dead had been "grotesque". All 298 people on flight MH17 died when it was reportedly hit by a missile.
China 'spy ship' at US-led navy exercise off Hawaii
China says it has the right to send a surveillance ship to monitor a US-led naval exercise, after US media reported the vessel's presence off Hawaii over the weekend. Navy ships had the right under international law to operate in "waters outside of other countries' territorial waters", the defence ministry said. China is also taking part in the drill.
Report: Alleged Israeli strike on Sudanese weapons arsenal
Sources in Khartoum claimed on Monday that Israeli forces struck a weapons arsenal which held long range missiles for Hamas. ...Sudan is not confirming the incident in order to cover up relations with the terrorist organization in Gaza. Such ties could entangle the country's president Omar al-Bashir with an accusation of supporting terrorism from the US and Western nations.
Putin blames others for exploiting Ukraine crash
Russian President Vladimir Putin has lambasted those who use the downing of a passenger jet in eastern Ukraine for "mercenary objectives," the Kremlin said Monday. In a statement posted on the Kremlin website, Putin again lashed out at Ukraine for ongoing violence with pro-Russian rebels in the eastern part of the country.
Early HIV drugs 'may not stop virus'
HIV can rapidly form invulnerable strongholds in the body, dashing hopes that early treatment might cure the virus, according to new research. A baby was thought to have been cured with treatment hours after birth, but the virus emerged years later.
Two soldiers killed fighting for Israel were U.S. citizens
Two American men were among the 13 Israeli soldiers killed in the conflict in Gaza on Sunday, the U.S. State Department said, the bloodiest day of the conflict, in which about 100 Palestinians were also killed.
Why Hamas Fires Those Rockets
Many Gazans, not just their leaders in Hamas, think they have little to lose by fighting on. For one thing, the spotlight has been switched back onto them since the Israeli campaign began earlier this month.
Hamas military wing claims abducted Israeli soldier
The armed wing of the Palestinian Hamas group claimed on Sunday night that it had kidnapped an Israeli soldier, prompting celebrations in the streets of Gaza City.
Iraq Catholic leader says Islamic State worse than Genghis Khan
The head of Iraq's largest church said on Sunday that Islamic State militants who drove Christians out of Mosul were worse than Mongol leader Genghis Khan and his grandson Hulagu who ransacked medieval Baghdad.
MH17 black box recovered?
US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that "enormous amounts of evidence" indicated a Russian missile was used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, while Britain said Moscow faced "pariah" status and the threat of further economic sanctions.
US Secretary of State John Kerry says there is an "enormous" amount of evidence suggesting the missile that downed MH17 was Russian. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin
At the crash site, meanwhile, emergency workers started bagging dozens of bodies on Saturday; the remainder were removed on Sunday, with rescue workers using a crane to move wreckage to reach human remains trapped beneath. Empty, bloodstained military stretchers that had been used to carry the bodies lay beside the road.
Moscow denies involvement in shooting down the airliner and has blamed the Ukrainian military, but Washington and its allies point the finger at the pro-Russian separatists who have Moscow's backing and have been accused of obstructing access to the crash sites.
In a blitz of US morning news shows, Mr Kerry demanded that Russia take responsibility for actions of allied separatists suspected of shooting down the passenger plane and he expressed disgust over the rebels' "grotesque" mishandling of victims' bodies at the crash site.
A part of the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 near Hrabove in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Photo: Reuters
He also threatened "additional steps" against Moscow and called on European allies, who have lagged behind Washington in imposing sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, to take Thursday's tragedy as a "wake-up call" to take a tougher stand against Russia.
While stopping short of placing direct blame on Moscow for the disaster, Mr Kerry put forth the most pointed and detailed US accusations so far that Russia provided pro-Moscow insurgents with the sophisticated anti-aircraft systems used to down the aircraft.
He said the US had seen supplies moving into Ukraine from Russia in the past month, including a 150-vehicle convoy of armoured personnel carriers, tanks and rocket launchers given to the separatists.
Work at the crash site. Photo: Reuters
The US had also intercepted conversations about the transfer to separatists of the Russian radar-guided SA11 missile system it blames for the downing of the Boeing 777, he said.
"It's pretty clear that this is a system that was transferred from Russia."
US authorities also have seen a video of a missile launcher – with a least one rocket missing from its battery – moving back into Russia from a rebel-held area.
Members of the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry and medical personnel at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. Photo: Reuters
"There's enormous amount of evidence, even more evidence that I just documented, that points to the involvement of Russia in providing these systems, training the people on them," Mr Kerry said.
Britain, meanwhile, said Moscow could find itself isolated if it did not use its influence to ensure safe access to the crash sites and co-operate with international investigators.
"Russia risks becoming a pariah state if it does not behave properly," Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said.
The downing of the airliner has sharply escalated the crisis in Ukraine, and may mark a pivotal moment in international efforts to resolve a situation in which separatists in the Russian-speaking east have been fighting government forces since protesters in Kiev forced out a pro-Moscow president and Russia annexed Crimea.
Economic sanctions
European Union ministers should be ready to announce a fresh round of sanctions at a meeting of the EU's Foreign Affairs Council this week, said a statement from British Prime Minister David Cameron's office, issued after telephone calls with French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"They ... agreed that the EU must reconsider its approach to Russia and that foreign ministers should be ready to impose further sanctions on Russia when they meet on Tuesday," the statement said.
The leaders also agreed to press Russian President Vladimir Putin to ensure investigators had free access to the crash site.
While Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko issued a renewed appeal for backing from the international community, some European nations, with an eye to their trade links with Russia, have been less enthusiastic about confronting Moscow.
The United Nations Security Council was considering a draft resolution to condemn the attack, demand armed groups allow access to the crash sites and call on states in the region to co-operate with an international investigation.
The Netherlands, whose citizens made up two-thirds of the 298 on the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, said it was "furious" about the manhandling of corpses strewn over open country and asked Ukraine for help to bring "our people" home.
US President Barack Obama said the disaster showed it was time to end the Ukraine conflict, while Germany called it Moscow's last chance to co-operate.
European powers seemed to swing behind Washington's belief that Russia's separatist allies were to blame. That might speed new sanctions on Moscow, without waiting for definitive proof.
'Hiding evidence'
As Ukraine accused separatist rebels of hiding evidence relating to the downing of the airliner, a pro-Russian separatist leader said items thought to be the stricken Boeing's "black boxes" were now in rebel hands.
With Western anger rising at the apparently disrespectful treatment of the bodies by the rebels controlling the widely spread crash sites, nearly 200 corpses were taken to be stored on a refrigerated train at Torez, 15 kilometres away.
"It's corpses. They brought the bodies overnight," a duty officer at the town's station said.
Officials from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe were able to inspect some of the railway wagons.
Israel kills militants entering from Gaza, death toll tops 500
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Crispian Balmer
GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinian militants who slipped across the border from Gaza through hidden tunnels on Monday, the military said, as the death toll from the two-week conflict passed 500 amid growing international calls for an end.
Defying a U.N. Security Council appeal for an immediate ceasefire, Israeli jets, tanks and artillery continued to pound the Gaza Strip, killing 28 members of a single family near the enclave's southern border with Egypt, medics said.
The Islamist group Hamas and its allies fired multiple missiles across southern and central Israel, and heavy fighting was reported in the north and east of Gaza.
Non-stop attacks lifted the Palestinian death toll to 496, including almost 100 children, since fighting started on July 8, Gaza health officials said. Israel says 18 of its soldiers have also died along with two civilians.
Despite worldwide calls for a cessation of the worst bout of Palestinian-Israeli violence for more than five years, Israeli ministers ruled out any swift truce.
"This is not the time to talk of a ceasefire," said Gilad Erdan, communications minister and a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's inner security cabinet.
"We must complete the mission, and the mission cannot end until the threat of the tunnels is removed," he told reporters.
For its part, Hamas, weakened by the loss of Egypt and Syria as allies, voiced determination to fight on to break Israel's economic siege of Gaza.
Hamas terrorist in Gaza (file)
Reuters
Several international powers called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on Monday, calling for an "end to violence."
"The new dangerous cycle of violence has shown with absolute clarity the need for a ceasefire," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement as the United States and the United Nations demanded an immediate ceasefire.
"Now we need to urgently bring an end to the suffering of peaceful Palestinians and Israelis and the destruction of civilian infrastructure,"
Moscow said on the 14th day of Israel's self-defense operation, Operation Protective Edge.
"The scale of the losses and the affliction of the people calls for urgent concerted action by the international community."
Russia said it would work with both sides in the conflict and with the Middle East Peace Quartet to deescalate the situation.
It also said it "confirms support for the efforts of Egypt" to end the conflict as Egypt has taken the lead in trying to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas.
French President Francois Hollande later Monday called for urgent measures to stop the suffering in Gaza after a phone conversation with UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
"Everything must be done to put an immediate end to the suffering of the civil population in Gaza," a statement from Hollande's office said.
It quoted Ban, who is now in Cairo, as saying that he was working to try and "bring about a truce as soon as possible and an end to the crisis."
The "violence must stop, it must stop now," he said at a news conference.
Kuwait also called on Ban on Monday to urge the international community to put an end to the Israeli "aggression" in Gaza as well, as a representative of the Arab world's insistence on siding with Hamas.
The call came in a meeting between Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah and Ban who arrived in Kuwait on Monday in the second leg of a regional tour aimed at pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The UN chief was separately received by Kuwait Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the official KUNA news agency reported.
The foreign minister "renewed Kuwait's support for the Palestinian people and condemned all Israeli acts of aggression," KUNA said following the meeting.
"He called on the UN Secretary General to urge the international community to shoulder responsibility to put an end to this dangerous aggression," it said.
The foreign minister also reiterated Kuwait's support for the Egyptian truce proposal, which Hamas publicly rejected.
Hamas categorically rejected attempts for a cease-fire in multiple statements, insisting that the terms of the agreement 'did not apply' to them.
Later, Hamas officials reportedly set a series of unprecedented demands on Israel to accompany a ten-year truce - before threatening Israelis if the government refused to accept.
Over the past week, terror group has made a point of flaunting not one, but two humanitarian cease-fires - one brokered by the UN, and one brokered by the International Red Crescent.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
Flash 90
In a recorded speech broadcast on Hamas television, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh on Monday announced that Hamas would not agree to a cease-fire unless Israel agreed to its terms.
“Our resistance is bravely holding back the Zionist murderers,” Haniyeh said. “Our fighters are defending the Palestinian nation.”
Haniyeh listed ten demands that Israel would have to agree to if it was interested in a cease-fire.
The conditions include an “immediate end to Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza on land, in the air, and by sea;” an end to targeted elimination of Hamas terrorists; a cessation of the policy of destroying terrorists' houses; a halt to the flyovers by the Israel Air Force over Gaza; the reopening of land crossings, and the rehabilitation of the Gaza seaport; the free flow of goods into Gaza; a guaranteed supply of fuel and building materials; an end to “collective punishment” of Gazans; and continued supply of electricity.
Both US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon are on their way to the region and are likely to present frameworks for a cease-fire. Egypt on Monday said that it was willing to adjust its cease-fire proposal in order to get Hamas to agree to it. On Monday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that the operation in Gaza was likely to expand further.
In his speech, Haniyeh said that his special units “were punishing the enemy, and attacking them over and over. We are striking at them underground and on the sea. The ground campaign by the enemy is an admission that their air war against us failed.”
IEC workers fixing electrical outages
Flash90
Among the demands Hamas has demanded that Israel fulfill in exchange for a cease-fire is the continued unlimited supply of free electricity by Israel to terrorists-run Gaza.
The electricity demand was one of “ten commands” Hamas has put forth, the terror group said.
Hamas owes the Israel Electric Company (IEC) hundreds of millions of shekels, part of the 1.4 billion shekel electricity bill that the Palestinian Authority owes. Neither the PA nor Gaza have paid for electricity for at least a decade.
On Monday, Hamas top terrorist Ismail Haniyeh again reiterated that the terror group would fight “until the last drop of blood” in its attempts to destroy Israel. “We will continue the struggle until we liberate the land, Jerusalem, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and return the 'refugees' to their homes,” he said.
With that, Haniyeh said that if Israel was interested in a cease-fire, it needed to fulfill Hamas' conditions, which include an “immediate end to Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza on land, in the air, and by sea;” an end to targeted elimination of Hamas terrorists; a cessation of the policy of destroying terrorists' houses; a halt to the flyovers by the Israel Air Force over Gaza; the reopening of land crossings, and the rehabilitation of the Gaza seaport; the free flow of goods into Gaza; a guaranteed supply of fuel and building materials; an end to “collective punishment” of Gazans; and continued supply of electricity.
Israelis around the country took to the streets last week demanding that the government turn off the electricity in Gaza. While a number of political figures and security experts in recent days have said that the only way Israel can end the threat of future rounds of rocket warfare by Gaza terrorists was to destroy Hamas, by entering Gaza and cleaning it out of Hamas influence, protesters in cities and major junctions said that cutting off power to Gaza was a non-lethal way to bring Hamas to its knees.
“Gaza has not paid for its electricity for a long time, and now owes Israel NIS 220 million in unpaid power bills,” said one protestor. "If you or I miss a month or two of payments, they turn off the electricity in our house, but Hamas chisels its way out of the Gaza bill with no consequences.”
Would you like to have a digital identity card that is automatically issued to you at birth? In one European nation, residents use such a card when they go to the hospital, when they do their banking, when they go shopping and even when they vote. This card has become so popular that this particular European country actually plans to start issuing them to millions of non-citizens all over the planet who request them. Never heard about this? Neither had I before this week. The Economist, a well-known mouthpiece for the global elite, is calling for the entire planet to adopt this “national identification system” that the little nation of Estonia has adopted. The Economist is touting all of the “benefits” of a “national identification card”, but are there dangers as well? Could adopting such a system potentially open the door for greater government tyranny than we have ever known before?
The Economist article about this national identification scheme went largely unnoticed because it had a very boring title: “Estonia takes the plunge“. But the content of the article is absolutely startling. The Economist article calls the Estonian national identification system a “cyberdream” and makes it sound like it will solve all of our problems…
There is one place where this cyberdream is already reality. Secure, authenticated identity is the birthright of every Estonian: before a newborn even arrives home, the hospital will have issued a digital birth certificate and his health insurance will have been started automatically. All residents of the small Baltic state aged 15 or over have electronic ID cards, which are used in health care, electronic banking and shopping, to sign contracts and encrypt e-mail, as tram tickets, and much more besides—even to vote.
If this was just limited to Estonia, it would be disturbing enough. But according to the Economist, the Estonian government plans to start issuing these cards to millions of “satellite Estonians” all over the world…
That has left a gap in the global market—one that Estonia hopes to fill. Starting later this year, it will issue ID cards to non-resident “satellite Estonians”, thereby creating a global, government-standard digital identity. Applicants will pay a small fee, probably around €30-50 ($41-68), and provide the same biometric data and documents as Estonian residents. If all is in order, a card will be issued, or its virtual equivalent on a smartphone (held on a special secure module in the SIM card).
Some good ideas never take off because too few people embrace them. And with just 1.3m residents, Estonia is a tiddler—even with the 10m satellite Estonians the government hopes to add over the next decade. What may provide the necessary scale is a European Union rule soon to come into force that will require member states to accept each others’ digital IDs. That means non-resident holders of Estonian IDs, wherever they are, will be able not only to send each other encrypted e-mail and to prove their identity to web-service providers who accept government-issued identities, but also to do business with governments anywhere in the EU.
The Economist hopes that Estonia will become a model that the rest of the world will follow.
But do we really want government to have that much control over our lives?
If we need this “digital identity card” to go shopping, do banking or get health care, it would also give the government the power to revoke those “privileges” in a heartbeat.
Already there are countless examples of how governments around the world are using information databases in abusive ways. For instance, one new lawsuit in the U.S. alleges that average citizens have been put in a ‘terror database’ for doing such things as buying computers and waiting for family members at train stations.
Do we really want to go even further down this road?
And of course “identity cards” can be lost, stolen and forged. The next logical step would be to permanently implant our identity cards.
To many older Americans, such a notion sounds ludicrous, but many younger Americans are so eager to adopt this kind of technology that they are actually doing it to themselves. Just check out the following excerpt from a recent NBC News article about “biohackers”…
In tattoo parlors and basements around the world, people are turning themselves into cyborgs by embedding magnets and computer chips directly into their bodies.
They call themselves biohackers, cyborgs and grinders. With each piece of technology they put beneath their skin, they are exploring the boundaries — and the implications — of fusing man and machine.
Welcome to the world of biohacking.
It’s a niche community at the literal bleeding edge of body modification, and it attracts fervent fans from a variety of schools of thought. Some simply enjoy experimenting with new tech. Others use the magnets and chips for utilitarian purposes.
Does that sound creepy to you?
It should.
But it isn’t just people on the fringes of society that are interested in these kinds of technologies.
For example, electronics giant LG says that it wants to put an electronic tracking device on your child…
Various tech companies have introduced wearable devices over the last few years that track your steps or heartbeat and even deliver your e-mails to your wrist.
Is electronically tracking your kid the next frontier?
LG announced a new device Wednesday morning, the KizON wristband, designed to let parents keep track of their child’s whereabouts. The KizON uses GPS, WiFi and mobile Internet signals to identify the user’s location in real time and sends the information to an Android app.
And billionaire Bill Gates is helping to develop an implant that “acts as a contraceptive for 16 years”…
Helped along by one of the world’s most notable billionaires, a U.S. firm is developing a tiny implant that acts as a contraceptive for 16 years — and can be turned on or off using a remote control.
The birth control microchip, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, would hold nearly two decades worth of a hormone commonly used in contraceptives and dispense 30 micrograms a day, according to a report from the MIT Technology Review.
The new birth control, which is set to begin preclinical testing next year with hopes of putting it on shelves in 2018, can be implanted in the buttocks, upper arm or abdomen.
Whether you are ready or not, these technologies are coming.
For now, they are voluntary.
But eventually a day may come when you will be required to have an “identity chip” in order to buy, sell, conduct banking, have a job or go to the hospital.
When that day arrives, what will you do?
DONETSK Ukraine (Reuters) - Fighting flared in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Monday as investigators began to inspect the bodies of victims of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 last week.
The fighting in Donetsk served as a reminder of the dangers the experts face working in a war zone. International inspectors got access to the remains of hundreds of victims stored in refrigerated railway wagons near the crash site but governments expressed concern over broader access to the rebel-held area.
The government in Kiev denied sending the regular army into the center of Donetsk, which pro-Russian separatists captured in April, but said small "self-organized" pro-Ukrainian groups were fighting the rebels in the city.
Three people were killed in clashes near the railway station and close to the airport outside Donetsk, health officials said.
Artillery fire sent plumes of smoke skywards near the Donetsk railway station, around 60 km (40 miles) from the crash site, in what the separatists said was an attempt by government forces to enter the city they seized in April. The clashes quickly subsided.
Donetsk is at the heart of a rebel uprising against rule by Kiev, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has vowed to retake the city as part of what Kiev calls its "anti-terrorist operation" against the separatists.
By Barbara Lewis
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - For all the tough talk, Europe is not likely to punish Russia over last week's downing of an airliner over Ukraine beyond speeding up the imposition of already agreed individual sanctions when the bloc's foreign ministers meet on Tuesday.
The severity of future European Union sanctions could depend on the Netherlands, which suffered the greatest loss of life when the Malaysia Airlines flight was brought down.
U.S. President Barack Obama has piled pressure on Europe for a more forceful response and the three leading EU powers - Britain, France and Germany - said they should be ready to ratchet up sanctions.
Britain, in particular, said it was willing to suffer the economic consequences.
But diplomats said Tuesday's meeting was not expected to go further than agreeing on companies and people to be hit with asset freezes under a more aggressive framework agreed last week. Previously, they had only said they would decide on the list by the end of July.
Several diplomats said moving towards more sweeping economic sanctions could only be decided by heads of government. The attitude of the Netherlands, which lost 193 people in the incident, would be critical, diplomats said.
The next scheduled summit of EU leaders is on Aug. 30, although EU members could call for another emergency meeting.
"The impulse must come from The Hague because they have the moral mandate to demand a resolute, firm reaction. Everything depends on that," one EU diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - For all the tough talk, Europe is unlikely to punish Russia over last week's downing of an airliner over Ukraine beyond speeding up the imposition of already agreed individual sanctions when the bloc's foreign ministers meet on Tuesday.
The severity of future European Union sanctions could depend on the Netherlands, which suffered the greatest loss of life when the Malaysia Airlines flight was brought down.
U.S. President Barack Obama has piled pressure on Europe for a more forceful response, and the three leading EU powers - Britain, France and Germany - said they should be ready to ratchet up sanctions.
But demonstrating the difficulty of getting agreement from 28 member states, London clashed with Paris over France's decision to press ahead with the sale of warships to Russia.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday such an order had become "unthinkable".
"We need to put the pressure on with all our partners to say that we cannot go on doing business as usual with a country when it is behaving in this way," Cameron said.
He also said the European Union should consider hard-hitting economic sanctions and that Russia could not expect access to European markets, capital and technical expertise.
Diplomats said Tuesday's meeting in Brussels was still not expected to go much further than agreeing on the people and possibly companies to be hit with asset freezes under a more aggressive framework agreed last week. Previously, they had only said they would decide on the list by the end of July.
Markets can play an important role in providing future water security
Photo: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Telegraph
Britain, as the rest of the world, is facing a water crisis, leading some experts to predict that by the end of the decade H2O will be traded on financial markets like other finite commodities such as crude oil, or iron ore.
Although the Environment Agency says the past six months have been the wettest on record, summer hosepipe bans remain a possibility, partly because of historic inconsistencies in infrastructure investment. However, changing weather patterns and rising demand for water resources spell a potentially more nightmarish scenario within the next 20 years.
Britain is not alone in facing what could become a catastrophic deficit in fresh water. Unless radical steps are taken to ensure the global economy has enough water to meet all our needs then draconian measures such as rationing cannot be ruled out in the future.
Globally, the problem of water scarcity is growing at an alarming rate. By 2050, experts predict a 55pc increase in the amount of water required to meet demand from rising populations, food production and industry. To avoid serious shortfalls the world will need to invest an estimated $1.8 trillion (£1.05 trillion) over the next 20 years that could ultimately deliver $3 trillion in benefits for the global economy, according to estimates by the United Nations.
Markets can play an important role in providing future water security. The City can help to fund vital water infrastructure and the creation of a futures market to trade water would help to create a baseline pricing mechanism against which regional water tariffs could be fairly set.
Traditionally, the main concerns surrounding water resources have focused on rapidly developing regions in Africa, Asia and the Middle East but supplies in developed nations such as the US and UK are now coming under similar stresses.
The World Economic Forum has warned: “The future security of fresh-water resources around the world is of increasing concern. Because of our interlinked global economy, water scarcity in many parts of the world could harm the global economy in ways we hadn’t thought of. Shortfalls in crop yields and more variable food prices could be an early impact.”
“Water will become something that is traded, there will be a market for it and this could happen in the next decade,” said Usha Rao-Monari, chief executive officer of Global Water Development Partners – an affiliate of New York-based investment giant Blackstone, the world’s largest private equity firm with a reported $280bn under management.
As the draw on natural water supplies from industry and agriculture intensifies then the amount of clean drinkable water that will need to be produced by sea-water desalination will increase exponentially, further pushing up the cost. In such a scenario, the creation of a futures market for water would work more effectively than government-controlled regulators such as Ofwat to protect consumers and prevent the formation of pricing cartels dominated by countries and regions that have a surplus of water resources.
The fear is that water scarcity could eventually see water-rich countries form into a group similar to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) even though water isn’t a commodity that can be easily traded across borders at this point.
“Water will become a commodity – but a very different commodity because it is also a basic human need. If you track economic growth and you agree that water is a vital input then it will eventually become a commodity,” said Rao-Monari. Set up in March this year, Global Water Development Partners is aiming to provide investment for water projects around the world.
“Although people are realising that water is a finite resource, they are reluctant to put a price on it,” Rao-Monari observed. “We need to get real money – large money – into this sector otherwise we’re going to hit a wall.”
English farmland presents a golden investment opportunity
The value of farmland in the UK has continued to rise and now ranks alongside gold as one of the best long-term investments over the past decade.
According to Knight Frank, land values have increased by an average of 208pc over the past 10 years, compared with a return of 254pc for gold, which has been one of the hottest assets for investors over the same period.
Spurred on by growing interest from foreign investors and pension funds, farmland values in England continued to rise in the second quarter, a survey by the estate agent has revealed.
Knight Frank said average values for English farmland rose by 3pc in the second quarter to £7,515 per acre but that fewer landowners were placing estates on the market than a year earlier.
“Potentially there could be more pension fund and institutional buyers in the market,” wrote Tom Raynham, head of Knight Frank’s agricultural investment team. “There are some good deals happening off market.”
The agent said that the acreage which has been advertised this year for sale publicly has fallen 17pc but anticipates that values will increase by a further 6pc over the next 12 months.
Despite concerns over the outcome of the Scottish referendum, land values also grew by 2pc in the first half north of the border.
Coal
The latest cost for British investors from green taxes kicked in last week when the profitability of coal-fired power stations fell below natural gas burning plants. A near doubling of Britain’s carbon price floor in April and a 25pc drop in the wholesale price of gas since the first quarter has hit coal-fired generators.
The UK depends on coal-fired plants, which are approximately 2.3 times more carbon intensive than natural gas for generation. Broker Macquarie says: “If this trend continues, UK baseload coal-fired generation could fall significantly later this quarter and in turn have a negative impact on thermal coal demand in Europe’s second-largest thermal coal importer.”
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron warned Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin on Monday that the European Union was ready to impose tougher sanctions on Russia after separatists downed a Malaysia Airlines plane with the loss of 298 lives.
"Russia needs to know that action will follow if there isn't a radical change in the way they behave," Cameron said. "The EU will be ready to take further steps."
Cameron, who spoke by telephone to French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday, said sanctions could hit advanced industrial goods that might have dual uses for defence purposes. He gave no further details.
Cameron said President Putin should ensure Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine gave full access to the site where the plane hit the ground but also bluntly told the Kremlin to stop supplying weapons to the rebels.
He added in a broadcast TV clip: "We need no more weapons crossing the border, no more troops crossing the border, no more support for the separatists - respect for the Ukrainian territorial integrity, that is what is required and that is what must be pushed for."
