Year: 2017

The White House on Tuesday strongly denied that the special prosecutor looking into alleged Russian interference in last year’s election has asked a German bank for records relating to accounts held by Donald Trump and his family members. “We’ve confirmed this with the bank and other sources” that it is not true, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters during the daily briefing. “I think this is another example of the media going too far, too fast and we don’t see it going in that direction.” A member of the president’s legal team, Jay Sekulow, issued a statement that “no subpoena has been issued or received.” Deutsche Bank However, Deutsche Bank appears to be acknowledging there has been a related request, saying it “takes its legal obligations seriously and remains committed to cooperating with authorized investigations into this matter.” The bank received a subpoena from special counsel Robert Mueller several weeks ago to provide information on certain transactions and key documents have already been handed over, according to the German financial newspaper Handelsblatt. Similar details also were reported Tuesday by the Bloomberg and Reuters news agencies, as well as the Wall Street Journal. According to the Financial Times newspaper Deutsche Bank has begun sending information about its dealings with Trump to U.S investigators. A person with direct knowledge of the German bank’s actions told the newspaper this began several weeks ago. “Deutsche could not hand over client information without a subpoena,” said a second person with direct knowledge …

Paraguay Congress Legalizes Planting of Medical Marijuana

12/05/2017 sellheal

Paraguay’s Congress passed a bill Tuesday creating a state-sponsored system to import marijuana seeds and grow the plant for medical uses, a decision that followed other countries in Latin America. The landlocked South American nation had authorized the importing of cannabis oil in May, under control of the health ministry, and Tuesday’s decision was celebrated by patients and their loved ones for making it more readily available. “We are very happy because this will also allow for the import of seeds for oil production,” said Roberto Cabanas, vice president of Paraguay’s medicinal cannabis organization. His daughter has Dravet syndrome and the family was paying $300 a month for imported cannabis oil. Peru, Chile, Argentina and Colombia had already legalized marijuana for medical purposes. Uruguay has fully legalized growing and selling marijuana for any use. The bill will likely be signed into law by the executive as it was supported by the health ministry. Growing marijuana for recreational purposes in Paraguay is illegal, yet the country is a key source of illegal marijuana trafficked into Brazil and Argentina. …

Uzbekistan Seeks Eventual Sea Access With Afghan Railway Deal

Uzbekistan and Afghanistan signed an agreement Tuesday to extend a railroad connecting the two countries in a move that may eventually give Uzbekistan a direct link to seaports. Landlocked Uzbekistan’s access to marine shipping is very limited. In 2011, the Uzbek state railway company, Ozbekiston Temir Yollari, built a short link between Hairatan, a town on the Uzbek-Afghan border, and Mazar-i-Sharif, a major city in northern Afghanistan. Tashkent has since expressed interest in extending that line to Herat, another Afghan city in the northwest, and a gateway to Iran. Another link, already under construction, will connect Herat to Iran, which may eventually enable Uzbekistan to send cargoes to and from its Persian Gulf ports. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s office said in a statement that he and visiting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had signed an agreement on the construction of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Herat railroad. It provided no details, such as cost and funding. The original, short link was almost fully financed by the Asian Development Bank, which has also financed studies for the expansion project. Mirziyoyev and Ghani also signed 20 other deals, including an agreement on the construction of a new electric power line and deals for supplies of Uzbek agricultural products, medicines and other goods to Afghanistan. …

EU Names, Shames 17 States Deemed International Tax Havens

The European Union named and shamed 17 states that it accuses of being tax havens Tuesday, and put another 47 countries on notice that they risk being blacklisted, too, unless they start tackling tax evasion. The blacklist was agreed on after 10 months of investigations and diplomatic wrangling, but transparency activists say it doesn’t go far enough. After a meeting in Brussels, EU finance ministers announced the blacklist. The list doesn’t include any European countries, but does name several Caribbean islands, including former British colonies Barbados, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago — a reflection, analysts say, of Britain’s reduced political clout in the European Union. Completing the list are American Samoa, Bahrain, Guam, South Korea, Macau, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Namibia, Palau, Panama, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. Countries on the list could lose access to EU funds and face further as-yet-undetermined sanctions from the economic bloc. “To be on a blacklist is, in itself, bad enough and, of course, there will be consequences for these countries,” said Luxembourg’s finance minister, Pierre Gramegna. Immediate consequences will be felt by multinationals that do business with any of the blacklisted jurisdictions, as they will face additional and burdensome financial disclosure requirements. The EU move, part of a broader effort to tackle tax evasion, comes less than a month after the publication of the so-called Paradise Papers, an investigation by nearly 100 media outlets into a leak of 13.4 million files from two offshore service providers. British officials drew comfort …

Reports: Special Prosecutor Subpoenas Deutsche Bank’s Trump Loan Records

Special prosecutor Robert Mueller, investigating Russian meddling in last year’s U.S. election, is now also looking at the financial affairs of President Donald Trump. Mueller is examining records about hundreds of millions of dollars in loans Deutsche Bank made to Trump’s vast real estate empire, according to media reports. Mueller subpoenaed the records several weeks ago, according to Reuters and Bloomberg News. The bank said it complied with the request, but offered no details about its transactions with the U.S. leader. Mueller’s examination of the financial records appears to open a new path in his investigation of Trump campaign links to Russia and whether he obstructed justice by firing former Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey while he headed the Russia probe. That was before Mueller was appointed by a top Justice Department official to replace him. Trump said several months ago he would consider it a “a violation” of Mueller’s mandate to investigate Moscow’s interference in the election if he expanded the probe into Trump family finances beyond any connection with Russia. Trump has often complained about the congressional and Mueller probes into Moscow’s links with his campaign aides as a “witch hunt” and an excuse by Democrats to explain his upset win over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. After the one-time White House national security adviser, former Army general Michael Flynn, pleaded guilty last week to lying to FBI agents investigating his conversations with Moscow’s ambassador to Washington, Trump said he felt “very badly” for him. …

For Opioid Addicts, Recovery Is a Long Hard Road

12/05/2017 sellheal

The opioid crisis in the U.S. has destroyed the lives of thousands of people, tearing apart families and communities. For addicts, the road to recovery is long and hard and often fraught with many setbacks. It is estimated just three percent of substance abusers manage to stay clean for a lifetime. Jeff Swicord profiles one opioid user who is battling for her sobriety at a residential rehabilitation center in Miami, Florida …

Organic Baby Food Companies Enter Market Promising Healthier Meals

12/05/2017 sellheal

Market research estimates the U.S. baby food industry took in $53 billion in 2015. That market is expected to reach $75 billion by 2050. But baby food has not changed much in the past few decades, leading a small California startup to enter the market with what they say is a new choice for working families. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …

Lawmaker: Support for Brazil’s Pension Reform More Organized

The government of Brazil’s President Michel Temer is far from assembling the coalition needed to pass a landmark pension reform, but potential supporters of the measure are now more organized, a key legislator said on Monday. “We’re still enormously far (from having the needed votes), but we have a party leader committed, a party president committed, one party that’s set to commit,” Brazil’s lower house speaker, Rodrigo Maia, told journalists after an event in Rio de Janeiro. Pension reform is the cornerstone policy in President Temer’s efforts to bring Brazil’s deficit under control. But the measure is widely unpopular with Brazilians, who are accustomed to a relatively expansive welfare net. In order to curry support from Congress, Temer and his allies watered down their original proposal in November, requiring fewer years of contributions by private sector workers to receive a pension. According to several government sources, Temer’s allies have grown more optimistic in the last week about the reform’s chances. However, speed is essential for the bill’s passage. A congressional recess begins on Dec. 22, and lawmaking thereafter will be hampered by politics, as lawmakers ramp up their campaigns for 2018 elections. …

Two Illegal Drugs May Soon Be Legal Medicine in US

Doctors across the U..S could soon be prescribing formerly illegal drugs as therapy for two hard-to-treat diseases – childhood epilepsy and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. A growing body of scientific evidence is leading the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to take a closer look at cannabidiol, an extract of marijuana, and MDMA, an ingredient in the party drug ecstasy. The makers of a cannabidiol product named Epidiolex have now completed all three phases of FDA-approved clinical studies. The submission for FDA approval includes clinical data on 1,500 patients, 400 of whom had used it for more than a year. If it is approved, Epidiolex could be part of the legal arsenal for treating epilepsy within a year. MDMA The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is a non-profit organization focused on beneficial medical uses of psychedelics and marijuana. It funded six Phase 2 FDA-approved clinical studies of MDMA combined with therapy for treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The only PTSD medicines currently approved by the FDA usually don’t work well, says Boulder, Colorado, psychiatrist Will Vanderveer, “and leave millions of people still symptomatic and suffering. And dying from suicide.” Vanderveer worked with psychotherapist Marcela Ot’Alora, the study’s principal investigator, on the three-month long protocol, which included a monthly dose of MDMA and weekly therapy sessions. There were 28 participants. When they were given MDMA, therapists stayed with them during the eight hours the drug was active, helping them recall past traumas in a more effective way. Ot’Alora says the MDMA promoted …

NASA Nails Test on Voyager Spacecraft, 13 Billion Miles Away

NASA has nailed an engine test on a spacecraft 13 billion miles away. Last week, ground controllers sent commands to fire backup thrusters on Voyager 1, our most distant spacecraft. The thrusters had been idle for 37 years, since Voyager 1 flew past Saturn. To NASA’s delight, the four dormant thrusters came alive. It took more than 19 hours — the one-way travel time for signals — for controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, to get the good news. Engineers wanted to see if these alternate thrusters could point Voyager 1’s antenna toward Earth, a job normally handled by a different set that’s now degrading. The thrusters will take over pointing operations next month. The switch could extend Voyager 1’s life by two to three years. Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 is the only spacecraft traveling through interstellar space, the region beyond our solar system. Voyager 2 is close on its heels — nearly 11 billion miles from Earth. The thruster test worked so well that NASA expects to try it on Voyager 2. That won’t happen anytime soon, though, because Voyager 2’s original thrusters are still working fine. The Voyager flight team dug up old records and studied the original software before tackling the test. As each milestone in the test was achieved, the excitement level grew, said propulsion engineer Todd Barber. “The mood was one of relief, joy and incredulity after witnessing these well-rested thrusters pick up the baton as if no time had passed …

Report: Governments Must Act to Help Adolescents Tackle HIV Stigma

Governments must do far more to include the needs of young people in the global fight against HIV and AIDS, according to a new report. Despite progress in tackling the disease, it is estimated that 1,700 new HIV infections occur every day among young people around the world, and the problem is particularly acute in Africa. It is time policymakers recognized that HIV-positive adolescents face unique challenges, says the report from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, alongside the charity Sentebale. Among the recommendations are that young people receive adequate psychosocial support; a human rights-based approach to testing and care, and finding ways to sensitively discuss sex and relationships for adolescents living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Professor Rashida Ferrand, who co-authored the research, says too many barriers are in place. “We really need to be thinking about all the barriers at every step in that broad environment, both at facility level in clinics et cetera, but also recognizing the fact that most of the time young people do not spend in facilities. So, we have to think of modifying the environments and the barriers that those environments place,” Ferrand said. Campaigners say many adolescents in Africa are unaware of their HIV status and are afraid to get tested. ‘Every single day I face stigma’ Twenty-three-year-old Masedi Kewamodimo was born with HIV. Both her parents died from AIDS. Growing up in her native Botswana, Masedi grew frustrated with the barriers she faced and decided to reveal …

Apple, Google at China Internet Fest Shows Lure of Market

The high-profile attendance of the leaders of Apple and Google at a Chinese conference promoting Beijing’s vision of a censored internet highlights the dilemma for Western tech companies trying to expand in an increasingly lucrative but restricted market. The event in Wuzhen, a historic canal town outside Shanghai, marked the first time chiefs of two of the world’s biggest tech companies have attended the annual state-run World Internet Conference. Apple CEO Tim Cook told the gathering as the conference opened Sunday that his company was proud to work with Chinese partners to build a “common future in cyberspace.” His and Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s presence along with other business leaders, diplomats and other experts, some analysts say, helped bestow credibility on Beijing’s preferred version of an internet sharply at odds with Silicon Valley’s dedication to unfettered access. Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed, in remarks to the conference conveyed by an official, that “China’s door to the world will never close, but will only open wider.” As in previous years, organizers allowed attendees unrestricted access to the internet, contrary to official policy under which internet users face extensive monitoring and censorship and are blocked from accessing many overseas sites by the so-called Great Firewall of China. Since Xi came to power in 2013, he has tightened controls and further stifled free expression, activists say. Beijing’s restraints also extend to Western companies like Google, Twitter and Facebook, which have largely been shut out from the …

Гривня втратила щодо долара 16 копійок – НБУ

12/04/2017 sellbiz

Національний банк України послабив офіційний курс гривні щодо долара США на 5 грудня на 16 копійок – до 27,21 гривні за долар. Офіційний курс гривні до євро на 5 грудня складає 32,29. За квартал національна валюта втратила щодо долара США майже півтори гривні. 4 вересня НБУ оцінював долар у 25 гривень 75 копійок. Кабінет міністрів прогнозує курс гривні на кінець наступного року на рівні 30,1 гривні за долар США. Про це йдеться в тексті проекту держбюджету-2018, опублікованому на сайті Верховної Ради. На 2017 рік в бюджеті був закладений середній курс 27,2 гривні за долар. Національний банк України наприкінці листопада пояснив зниження курсу гривні сезонним чинником. «Головний сезонний чинник – закупівля енергоносіїв. Хоча «Нафтогаз» зараз валюту не закуповує, а більше є її продавцем… Але є учасники ринку, які валюту закуповують. Є закупівля сезонних товарів під Новий рік», – сказав заступник голови НБУ Олег Чурій. Заступник голови НБУ зазначає, що в цілому ситуація є сприятливою, тому що зростає експорт. Курс гривні 29 листопада вперше від початку квітня цього року опустився нижче рівня 27 гривень за долар. …

Two Illegal Drugs May Soon Be Legal Medicine

A growing body of scientific evidence is leading the U-S Food and Drug Administration to take a closer look at two illegal drugs that the federal government deems to have “no currently accepted medical use.” Now both are nearing the finish line for potential approval, as legal prescriptions for the treatment of childhood epilepsy and post-traumatic stress disorder. From Boulder, Colorado, Shelley Schlender reports. …

Indian Tycoon Calls Money-laundering Accusations ‘Baseless’

Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya insisted Monday that he was innocent of money-laundering accusations after an evacuation of the court building during a London hearing put him the in the center of a media scrum. The Westminster Magistrates Court session was interrupted briefly by a fire alarm, forcing Mallya outside amid the waiting media. Television crews from India pursued Mallya, while he tried to avoid them. “The allegations are baseless, unfounded, deliberate and you will see our submissions in court,” he said. But the media kept pursuing 61-year-old businessman and former politician, circling him on the sidewalk. “The answer will be given to the judge – you think you are going to conduct a trial by media?” he asked. India is seeking Mallya’s extradition to answer the allegations related to the collapse of several of his businesses. Mallya launched Kingfisher Airlines in 2005 and the carrier set new standards for quality and service, forcing competing airlines to improve. But it ran into trouble as it expanded. The Indian government suspended the airline’s license in 2012 after it failed to pay pilots and engineers for months. The case is expected to take roughly eight days and lead to a verdict on whether he will be sent back to India or allowed to remain in Britain. …

Trudeau: China Trade Pact Should Reflect ‘Canadian Values’

Canada hopes a trade agreement with China will reflect “Canadian values” in the areas of labor rights, environmental protection and gender equality, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday at the start of a four-day visit to China. Trudeau also said that he and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had agreed to a joint statement on climate change and clean growth laying out a blueprint for close collaboration, including regular ministerial-level meetings. Li said the two countries will continue to work on exploratory talks and feasibility studies for a trade agreement, and that their discussions had also touched on human rights and the rule of law. “Both sides should view that, due to the different national circumstances, it is only natural that we don’t see eye-to-eye on some issues. As long as we act on the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, then we can seek mutual understanding and further promote this bilateral relationship,” Li said. It’s not clear how close the countries are to a trade agreement, and Trudeau’s proposal that it incorporate issues of governance, the environment and gender equality runs against China’s inclination to keep such issues separate. “We believe that done properly, a trade agreement will benefit both countries, creating jobs, strengthening the middle class and growing our economies,” Trudeau said. “It’s an opportunity that makes sense for Canadian businesses. Canada is and always has been a trading nation, but the landscape of trade is shifting and we need to adjust to it.” He said Canada …

Facebook’s Sandberg Warns of Backlash Against Women

Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg warned of a potential backlash against women and urged companies to put into place clear policies on how allegations of sexual harassment are handled. In a Facebook post over the weekend, Sandberg said that she has experienced harassment while doing her job but never by anyone she’s worked for. She did note, however, that in each instance the harasser had more power than she did. “That’s not a coincidence,” the 48-year-old wrote. “It’s why they felt free to cross that line.” Sandberg said that the current movement taking place, following the high-profile sexual misconduct scandals of those including Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and Matt Lauer, is empowering victims to speak up but is not enough. The Facebook executive said “too many workplaces lack clear policies about how to handle accusations of sexual harassment.” She recommends every workplace start with clear principles and put in place policies to support them. That includes creating training sessions on proper workplace behavior, taking all claims seriously, establishing an investigation process and taking swift, decisive action against wrongdoing. “We have to be vigilant to make sure this happens,” Sandberg wrote. “I have already heard the rumblings of a backlash: “This is why you shouldn’t hire women. Actually, this is why you should.” …

Ongoing Labor Abuse Found in Pepsi’s Indonesian Palm Oil Plantations

Workers at several Indonesian palm oil plantations that supply Pepsi and Nestle suffer from a variety of labor abuses, including lower-than-minimum wages, child labor, exposure to pesticides, and union busting, according to a new report from the Rainforest Action Network (RAN). The report covers three palm oil plantations operated by Indofood, the biggest food company in Indonesia and the country’s only producer of PepsiCo-branded snacks, and follows up on previous reports from the same groups of plantation workers. Indofood remains certified as “sustainable” by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) despite ongoing labor abuses, which activists say raises the question of what possible incentives there are for a mega-corporation to reform its labor practices. “Since our first report in June 2016, which broke the scandal, to this one nearly one and a half years later, hardly anything has changed,” said Emma Lierley, RAN’s Communications Manager. “Pepsi hasn’t even issued a public response.” Pepsi Co., Indofood, and RSPO could not be reached for comment. Widespread abuse Workers at palm oil plantations on the islands of Kalimantan and Sumatra reported the same catalog of abuses that they suffered 17 months ago, such as exposure to dangerous pesticides with inadequate protective equipment. They also complain of withheld wages and unpaid overtime, as well as frequent use of daily contract workers and unpaid laborers (like workers’ wives), which the study authors say are all also risk factors for child labor. “We’re asking that Indofood reform labor practices on its plantations immediately,” said Lierley. …

Philadelphia Struggles with Fighting Massive Drug Epidemic

Anthony walks the streets of Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood looking for two competing things: His next heroin fix – and help in what he says is his struggle to end addiction. He traces the habit to one fateful day. “I shattered my leg and I was on oxycodone pain medication prescribed through my doctor,” recalls the 28 year-old, who asked for anonymity to share his story. “I withdrew so bad, a friend put me on heroin and it’s been a slippery slide for five years.” He ended up in Kensington, a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood where drug users can find some of the cheapest and purest heroin in the country. The area is also home to unscrupulous healthcare providers who continue to over-prescribe opioid medications. Open drug use occurs within easy view of storefronts. Teenagers riding their bikes pass addicts in zombie-like states on the sidewalks and porches. Kensington is a destination for heroin users from afar. Many end up staying to feed their addiction. “We have not only people from other parts of the state, we have people from other parts of the country who come here,” said Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Special Agent Patrick Trainor. “Unfortunately, it’s sparked a heroin tourism industry,” The drug epidemic is not a new phenomenon for Kensington. For decades, it’s contended with addicts. More than half the population lives below the poverty line, 2.5 times the rate of the rest of Philadelphia. The wide availability of prescription opioids from healthcare providers, along with the influx …

Philadelphia’s Battle Against Opioids Takes Aim at Hard-Hit Neighborhood

President Trump’s opioid commission is calling for more federal funding to battle addiction and deadly opioid drug-related overdoses in the United States. More than 175 Americans are dying every day and the Trump administration has declared the opioid crisis a “public health emergency”. VOA’s Chris Simkins takes us to a hard hit Philadelphia neighborhood where the opioid epidemic is on open display. …

Venezuela to Launch Cryptocurrency to Fight U.S. Sanctions

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says his government will launch a cryptocurrency, or digital currency, to circumvent what he called a financial “blockade” by the U.S. government. The new currency will be called the “petro,” the leftist leader said in his TV address Sunday. It will be backed by the socialist-run OPEC nation’s oil, gold and mineral reserves. That will allow Venezuela to advance toward new forms of international financing for its economic and social development, Maduro said. “Venezuela will create a cryptocurrency – the petro-currency, the petro – to advance in monetary sovereignty, to make its financial transactions, to overcome the financial blockade,” he explained. “This will allow us to move toward new forms of international financing for the economic and social development of the country. And it will be done with a cryptocurrency issue backed by reserves of Venezuelan riches of gold, oil, gas and diamonds.” Maduro did not give any details what the new currency’s value will be, how it will work or when it will be launched. The government also announced the creation of a “blockchain observatory” software platform for buying and selling virtual currency. Opposition leaders objected to Maduro’s announcement, saying the currency would need congressional approval. Some questioned whether the digital currency would even be introduced in the midst of turmoil. Venezuela’s traditional currency, the bolivar, has significantly declined in recent weeks as U.S. sanctions make it harder for the country to stay current on its foreign debt. …

Venezuela Maduro Gains Control Over Oil Contracts Amid Purge