A key committee of EU experts was meeting on Monday to mull a two-year ban on pesticides blamed for a sharp and worrying decline in bee populations. European Union sources have told AFP that a decision to suspend the use of certain pesticides is likely following the closed-door talks between…
Sharp bee population decline forces EU to consider ban on pesticides
A key committee of EU experts was meeting on Monday to mull a two-year ban on pesticides blamed for a sharp and worrying decline in bee populations. European Union sources have told AFP that a decision to suspend the use of certain pesticides is likely following the closed-door talks between…
Without honeybees, we may cease to be
If you like almonds, then 2013 brought some bad news. Each year, honeybees from across the country make the trek to California, which grows 80 percent of the world’s almonds, to pollinate the almond crop. But bees have been dying in unusually large numbers for several years now, and this year appears worse than most.The problems we face if we don’t have healthy populations of pollinators, particularly honeybees, extend beyond almonds. Three fourths of the top crops grown in the world require animals – mostly insects – for pollination. Odds are that most of your favorite fruits, nuts and melons are pollinated by honeybees.Across the pond, the European Union has made major strides in shedding light on the role of certain pesticides in honeybee deaths. In fact, the European Commission has proposed a two-year ban on these pesticides. Meanwhile, at home, beekeepers remain frustrated that the U.S. government is not as forward-thinking. And, for another year, the saga of bee deaths continues.Continue Reading… … Read More
Pastor politely asks KKK to postpone rally
A pastor in Memphis, Tenn., is hoping the Ku Klux Klan would at least wait until after Easter before marching down the street. According to 14 News, the KKK has plans for an Easter Day rally through a city with one of the largest black populations in the country. And Pastor Daniel Moore, of…
Can Big Data From Epic Indian Pilgrimage Help Save Lives?
A team of doctors, epidemiologists and quantitative analysts are at the Kumbh Mela, a gathering of up to 100 million religious pilgrims in India, to study when, where and how they fall ill. The data will be used to build new ways of measuring epidemics among large transient populations. … Read More
‘Immigrant areas have fewer social problems’
Areas with larger populations of immigrants generally have fewer social problems than towns with lower levels of immigration, a new report based on the UN Human Development Index shows. … Read More
French capture last major Islamist held Mali town
SEVARE, Mali (AP) — French forces met no resistance Wednesday in Kidal, the Islamists’ last major town, as the two-week-old mission scored another success in its effort to dislodge the al-Qaida-linked militants from northern Mali.
The capture of Kidal came just days after French and Malian forces retook two other provincial capitals – Gao and Timbuktu – that also had been under harsh Islamic rule for nearly 10 months.
“Nobody questions France’s rapid deployment but the ability to hold on to the cities and territory is an immense challenge. It is not clear how they will be able to sustain the recent gains,” said Alex Vines, head of the Africa program at Chatham House.
“The Islamist extremists have not been defeated; they have melted into the heat haze of the desert.”
Many fear the Islamists now will attempt to hide among civilian populations in small outlying villages, only to return and attack the weaker African forces once the French are gone.
The Islamists are believed to have an elaborate system of caves and other desert hideouts that they have constructed over the last year as momentum for a West African regional military intervention stalled.
