Month: September 2018

Fatal drug overdoses increased to a record 4,854 last year in Ohio, a 20 percent rise compared with the previous year, according to information reported to the state. Data on unintentional drug deaths provided to the Ohio Department of Health show 2017 was the eighth year in a row that drug deaths increased, The Columbus Dispatch reported Sunday. Ohio’s county coroners logged 4,050 fatal overdoses in 2016. The newspaper’s review of the data shows the synthetic opioid fentanyl continued to fuel the drug epidemic, accounting for nearly three-fourths of last year’s overdose deaths and killing 3,431 people. That was 46 percent higher than in the previous year. Cocaine-related deaths increased 39 percent from 1,109 in 2016 to 1,540 last year. Positive news shown by the data included a 46 drop in heroin deaths to 987 last year for the fewest deaths in four years. Fatal overdoses from prescription opioids also fell in 2017 to 523. That was the lowest number in eight years, down from a peak of 724 deaths in 2011, the newspaper reported. Russ Kennedy, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health, says while review of the data confirms fentanyl is “driving overdose deaths in the state,” Ohio also is seeing “significant progress in reducing the number of prescription opioids available for abuse.” Kennedy confirmed Sunday that the health department expects to release its own analysis of 2017 drug deaths this week. He also noted that the information shows the number of unintentional overdose deaths in Ohio declined …

Pompeo: US Would Win Trade War with China

09/23/2018 selleco

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vows the United States will be victorious in any trade war with China, a day before the Trump administration’s latest tariffs on Chinese imports go into effect. Pompeo told Fox News on Sunday. “We are going to get an outcome which forces China to behave in a way that if you want to be a power, a global power… you do not steal intellectual property.” The Trump administration has argued tariffs on Chinese goods would force China to trade on more favorable terms with the United States. It has demanded that China better protect American intellectual property, including ending the practice of cyber theft. The Trump administration has also called on China to allow U.S. companies greater access to Chinese markets and to cut its U.S. trade surplus. Last week, the United States ordered duties on another $200 billion of Chinese goods to go into effect on September 24 (Monday). China responded by adding $60 billion of U.S. products to its import tariff list. The Untied States already has imposed tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods, and China has retaliated on an equal amount of U.S. goods. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump threatened more tariffs on Chinese goods — another $267 billion worth of duties that would cover virtually all the goods China imports to the United States. …

Rebel Attack in Congo Ebola Zone Kills at Least 14 Civilians

At least 14 civilians were killed on Saturday in a six-hour attack by rebels on the town of Beni in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local officials told Reuters, warning the unrest may hamper efforts to quash an Ebola epidemic in the area. The latest outbreak of the deadly disease has been focused in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, which have been a tinder box of armed rebellion and ethnic killing since two civil wars in the late 1990s. Militants believed to belong to the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan Islamist group active in eastern Congo, clashed with Congolese troops in Beni, a town of several hundred thousand people, local civil society leader Kizito Bin Hangi said by telephone. “Beni is ungovernable this morning. Several protests have been declared in the town where the people express their anger with consternation,” he said. In addition to the known fatalities, dozens of civilians were wounded as they fled the violence, which broke out in the early hours of Saturday evening and lasted until midnight, Bin Hangi added. A spokesman for the army declined immediate comment. The attack underscores the challenges the government and health organizations face in tackling Ebola in an area where years of instability has undermined locals’ confidence in the authorities. The violence “will have a considerable impact on the whole response to Ebola,” a local public health official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. “The general hospital which houses one of the Ebola treatment centers was the focus of …

Former Afghan Refugee Uses Telemedicine to Save Lives

A former Afghan refugee turned doctor in the United Kingdom is using technology and the web to save lives in war-torn and low income countries. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo has more on what the doctor has dubbed “Teleheal,” the charitable organization he recently founded. …

Plastic in World’s Oceans Killing Young Sea Turtles

Plastic pollution floating in our seas is creating huge environmental hazards, polluting our oceans and killing animals like seabirds and marine life. But a new study shows young turtles, in particular, are at a higher risk of dying from eating ocean-borne plastic because it doesn’t take a lot of plastic to kill them. VOA’s Deborah Block more. …

What Does the USDA Organic Seal Really Mean?

What makes food organic and what does the “USDA organic” label really mean? VOA’s Mariia Prus visited a certified organic farm in southern Maryland to find out more and spoke to some consumers about why they prefer organically grown products. Joy Wagner narrates for VOA reporter Mariia Prus in Saint Mary’s County. …

Comcast Outbids Fox With $40B Offer for Sky

09/22/2018 selleco

Comcast beat Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox in the battle for Sky after offering 30.6 billion pounds ($40 billion) for the British broadcaster, in a dramatic auction to decide the fate of the pay-television group. U.S. cable giant Comcast bid 17.28 pounds a share for control of London-listed Sky, bettering a 15.67 offer by Fox, the Takeover Panel said in a statement shortly after final bids were made Saturday. Comcast’s final offer was significantly higher than its bid going into the auction of 14.75 pounds, and compares with Sky’s closing share price of 15.85 pounds on Friday. Brian Roberts, chairman and chief executive of Comcast, coveted Sky to expand its international presence as growth slows in its core U.S. market. Owning Sky will make Comcast the world’s largest pay-TV operator with around 52 million customers. “This is a great day for Comcast,” Roberts said on Saturday. “This acquisition will allow us to quickly, efficiently and meaningfully increase our customer base and expand internationally.” Comcast, which also owns the NBC network and movie studio Universal Pictures, encouraged Sky shareholders to accept its offer. It said it wanted to complete the deal by the end of October. Comcast, which requires 50 percent plus one share of Sky’s equity to win control, said it was also seeking to buy Sky shares in the market. A spokesman for Fox, which has a 39 percent holding in Sky, declined to comment. The quick-fire auction marked a dramatic climax to a protracted transatlantic bidding battle waged since February, when Comcast gate-crashed Fox’s takeover of Sky. It is a blow to media mogul Murdoch, 87, and the U.S. media and …

UK PM’s Team Make Plans for Snap Election

09/22/2018 selleco

British Prime Minister Theresa May’s aides have begun contingency planning for a snap election in November to save both Brexit and her job, the Sunday Times reported. The newspaper said that two senior members of May’s Downing Street political team began “war-gaming” an autumn vote to win public backing for a new plan, after her Brexit proposals were criticized at a summit in Salzburg last week. Downing Street was not immediately available to comment on the report. Meanwhile, opposition Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn said Saturday that his party would challenge May on any Brexit deal she could strike with Brussels, and he said there should be a national election if the deal fell short. The British government said Saturday that it would not “capitulate” to European Union demands in Brexit talks and again urged the bloc to engage with its proposals after May said Brexit talks with the EU had hit an impasse. “We will challenge this government on whatever deal it brings back on our six tests, on jobs, on living standards, on environmental protections,” Corbyn told a rally in Liverpool, northern England, on the eve of Labor’s annual conference. “And if this government can’t deliver, then I simply say to Theresa May the best way to settle this is by having a general election.” Labor’s six tests consist of whether a pact would provide for fair migration, a collaborative relationship with the EU, national security and cross-border crime safeguards, even treatment for all U.K. regions, protection of workers’ rights, and maintenance of single-market benefits. …

US-China Tensions Rise as Beijing Summons US Ambassador

09/22/2018 selleco

Tensions between China and the United States escalated Saturday as China’s Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad to issue a harsh protest against U.S. sanctions set for the purchase of Russian fighter jets and surface-to-air missiles. The move came hours after China canceled trade talks with the U.S. following Washington’s imposition of new tariffs on Chinese goods. The statement on the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s website called the imposition of sanctions “a serious violation of the basic principles of international law” and a “hegemonic act.” The ministry also wrote, “Sino-Russian military cooperation is the normal cooperation of the two sovereign states, and the U.S. has no right to interfere.” The U.S. actions, it said, “have seriously damaged the relations” with China. China had earlier called on the U.S. to withdraw the sanctions, and speaking to reporters Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing had lodged an official protest with the United States. China’s purchase of the weapons from Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport violated a 2017 U.S. law intended to punish the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin for interfering in U.S. elections and other activities. The U.S. action set in motion a visa ban on China’s Equipment Development Department and director Li Shangfu, forbids transactions with the U.S. financial system, and blocks all property and interests in property involving the country within U.S. jurisdiction. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported that China had planned to send Vice Premier Liu He to Washington next week for trade talks, but canceled his trip, …

На фінансування парламентських партій у проект бюджету-2019 заклали 565,6 мільйона гривень – #Точно

09/22/2018 sellbiz

Національне агентство з питань запобігання корупції наступного року планує виплатити 565,6 мільйона гривень парламентським партіям на статутну діяльність. Така інформація міститься в проекті державного бюджету на наступний рік, передає #Точно, проект Радіо Свобода. Зокрема, у різних пропорціях гроші отримають «Народний фронт», «Блок Петра Порошенка», «Самопоміч», Радикальна партія Олега Ляшка, «Опозиційний блок» та «Батьківщина». У 2015 році Верховна Рада ухвалила закон, який передбачає фінансування партій з держбюджету і вимагає від партій звітувати про надходження і використання коштів. Наразі державне фінансування отримують лише парламентські партії, а з наступних виборів до Верховної Ради – всі політичні сили, які пройдуть бар’єр у 2% від всіх голосів виборців. Тобто партія може не потрапити до парламенту, але матиме можливість отримувати на розвиток кошти з держбюджету. Цього року стало відомо, що 900 мільйонів гривень виплатили партіям від початку державного фінансування. За останніми дослідженнями Комітету виборців України, партії витрачають мільйони гривень платників податків на свою рекламу. …

UNICEF: DRC Ebola Orphans Stigmatized

The U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports a growing number of children in eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo orphaned by the Ebola outbreak in the region are at risk of stigmatization and abandonment. UNICEF reports a number of children have died from the disease. Others, it says, have lost one or both parents to Ebola or have been left to fend for themselves while their parents are confined in Ebola treatment centers. UNICEF spokesman, Christophe Boulierac, says his and other aid agencies so far have identified 155 children who have been orphaned or separated from their parents with no one to care for them. He says these children are extremely vulnerable. “Children who lose a parent due to Ebola are at risk of being stigmatized, isolated or abandoned, in addition to the experience of losing a loved one or primary caregiver.” Boulierac says UNICEF worries about the physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing of these orphaned and separated children. He says his agency is tailoring its assistance programs to meet the specific needs of each individual child. “For instance, a new-born who has lost his mother has different needs than a school-aged child. Our support to an orphaned or unaccompanied child typically includes psycho-social care, food and material assistance, and support to reintegrate into school,” Boulierac said. Ebola was declared on August 1 in the DRC’s conflict-ridden North Kivu and Ituri provinces. This is the 10th outbreak in the DRC since Ebola was first identified in 1976. …

Studies: More Green Space, Less Crime, Depression in Poor Areas

Keith Green has an unusual fascination with vacant lots. Even on vacation. Out for dinner in Shanghai one recent night, he came across a sight that stopped him short. “Everyone else is taking pictures of the skyline,” he said. “I’m taking a picture of a vacant lot.” Scourge of abandoned property Abandoned properties don’t attract many tourists. In Green’s hometown of Philadelphia, vacant lots attract crime, from dumping trash, tires and broken appliances to stashing weapons and drugs. Green is leading an effort to rid Philadelphia of these blights in low-income communities. It’s a massive job. The city has an estimated 40,000 vacant lots. But Green is witnessing how a little green space can make a big difference in urban areas plagued with poverty and crime. Recent studies published in major scientific journals have documented how the program Green heads is helping drive substantial reductions in gun violence and depression in some of the poorest parts of Philadelphia. Before the shooting starts Gina South co-wrote those studies. She’s an emergency department physician at the University of Pennsylvania. Since her residency on the trauma unit, she has wanted to do more to help the people from these neighborhoods before they came to her on stretchers. “We took care of a lot of shooting victims and did a great job of treating their physical injuries,” she said, “but did little to nothing to think about what was causing them to come in as shooting victims to us in the first place.” Several …

Green Space Cuts Urban Crime, Depression

A little green space can make a big difference in blighted city neighborhoods, according to recent research from Philadelphia. It found that turning vacant lots into mini-parks reduced crime and cut rates of depression, especially in low-income areas. VOA’s Steve Baragona went to have a look. …

Scientists Fear Non-Pest Insects are Declining

Scientists are noticing that the numbers of beneficial flying insects like bees, ladybugs, fireflies and butterflies seem to be declining. They can’t be certain about what’s happening, but possible reasons include habitat loss, insecticide use, the killing of native weeds, single-crop agriculture, invasive species, light pollution, highway traffic and climate change. As Faith Lapidus reports, the potential causes seem to lead back to what humans are doing to the environment. …

Rising Oil Prices Haven’t Hurt US Economy

09/21/2018 selleco

America’s rediscovered prowess in oil production is shaking up old notions about the impact of higher crude prices on the U.S. economy. It has long been conventional wisdom that rising oil prices hurt the economy by forcing consumers to spend more on gasoline and heating their homes, leaving less for other things. Presumably that kind of run-up would slow the U.S. economy. Instead, the economy grew at its fastest rate in nearly four years during the April-through-June quarter. President Donald Trump appears plainly worried about rising oil prices just a few weeks before mid-term elections that will decide which party controls the House and Senate. “We protect the countries of the Middle East, they would not be safe for very long without us, and yet they continue to push for higher and higher oil prices!” Trump tweeted Thursday. “We will remember. The OPEC monopoly must get prices down now!” Members of The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, who account for about one-third of global oil supplies, are scheduled to meet this weekend with non-members including Russia. The gathering isn’t expected to yield any big decisions — those typically come at major OPEC meetings like the one set for December. Oil markets, however, were roiled Friday by a report that attendees were considering a significant increase in production to offset declining output from Iran, where exports have fallen ahead of Trump’s re-imposition of sanctions. OPEC and Russia have capped production since January 2017 to bolster prices. Output fell even below …

China Cancels Trade Talks with US After New Tariffs

09/21/2018 selleco

China has canceled trade talks with the United States following Washington’s imposition of new tariffs on Chinese goods. The Wall Street Journal reports that China had planned to send Vice Premier Liu He to Washington next week for the talks, but has now canceled his trip along with that of a midlevel delegation that was to precede him. US was optimistic Earlier Friday, a senior White House official said the U.S. was optimistic about finding a way forward in trade talks with China. The official told reporters at the White House that China “must come to the table in a meaningful way” for there to be progress on the trade dispute. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said while there was no confirmed meeting between the United States and China, the two countries “remain in touch.” “The president’s team is all on the same page as to what’s required from China,” according to the official. Trade imbalance The Trump administration has argued that tariffs on Chinese goods would force China to trade on more favorable terms with the United States. It has demanded that China better protect American intellectual property, including ending the practice of cybertheft. The Trump administration has also called on China to allow U.S. companies greater access to Chinese markets and to cut its U.S. trade surplus. Earlier this week, the United States ordered duties on another $200 billion of Chinese goods to go into effect Sept. 24. China responded by adding $60 billion of U.S. …

Мeй назвала неприйнятними пропозиції Євросоюзу щодо Brexit

09/21/2018 sellbiz

Прем’єр-міністр Великобританії Тереза Мей вважає неприйнятними пропозиції Європейського союзу щодо Brexit, повідомляє прес-служба Даунінґ-стріт, 10. Виступаючи з заявою в Лондоні 21 вересня, прем’єр зазначила, що непогодженими залишаються питання єдиного з Євросоюзом ринку та кордону між Північною Ірландією та Республікою Ірландія. Як розповіла Мей, за результатами саміту в Зальцбурзі 19–20 вересня Брюссель пропонує Лондону лише два варіанти. За першим Великобританія залишається в Європейській економічній зоні та митному союзі. Другий варіант передбачає укладення угоди про вільну торгівлю між Сполученим Королівством і Євросоюзом з запровадженням прикордонного контролю. За останнім сценарієм Північна Ірландія лишається в Європейській економічній зоні, тобто, фактично, з економічної точки зору буде відокремлена від решти країни, пояснила Мей. В свою чергу Британія пропонує ЄС третій варіант, за яким між ними залишається «безконтрольна» торгівля. «Вчора Дональд Туск зазначив, що наші пропозиції можуть підірвати єдиний ринок. Він не пояснив жодних деталей і не надав зустрічних пропозицій. Отже, ми перебуваємо в глухому куті», – зазначила прем’єр-міністр. Вона підкреслила, що Британія ніколи не погодиться на останні пропозиції Євросоюзу, які б могли нашкодити територіальній цілісності країни. «Ми викладемо нашу альтернативу, яка збереже цілісність Великої Британії. І це буде відповідати зобов’язанням, прийнятим у грудні минулого року, включаючи зобов’язання про те, що між Північною Ірландією та іншою частиною Великої Британії не буде створено нових регуляторних бар’єрів», – сказала Мей. Вона додала, що її уряд буде й далі працювати над підготовкою до можливого виходу з ЄС без угоди з Брюсселем. 20 вересня на саміті ЄС в австрійському Зальцбурзі лідери Євросоюзу зажадали від Мей якомога швидше викласти позицію з …

WHO: Progress Made Containing Ebola in Eastern DRC

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports substantial progress is being made in containing the spread of the Ebola virus in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It warns, however, that new hotspots are appearing. The WHO says the number of confirmed and probable cases of Ebola in the DRC stands at 143, including 97 deaths. WHO officials say they are pleased with the progress being made in limiting the spread of the Ebola virus, but that the outbreak of this fatal disease in Congo’s conflict-ridden North Kivu and Ituri provinces remains active and vigilance must be maintained. WHO reports the situation in Mangina, the initial epicenter of the epidemic in North Kivu, is stabilizing. WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told VOA there are no security problems there, so health workers are able to safely access the area and treat those affected by the disease. But there are exceptions. “Immediately to the east is an inaccessible area. This region is in a security level four, which is one of the highest in the U.N. security phasing system. For example, the road from Beni to Oicha is in the ‘red zone’… So, in some places, we are really able to move to work. In some other places, it is more difficult,” she said. Chaib said the cities of Beni and Butembo have become the new hotspots, noting that Butembo is in the red zone. The WHO spokeswoman said there is significant risk that Ebola could spread there, and health workers have …

WHO: Alcohol Responsible for One in 20 Deaths Worldwide

Alcohol kills three million people worldwide each year — more than AIDS, violence and road accidents combined, the World Health Organization said Friday, adding that men are particularly at risk. The UN health agency’s latest report on alcohol and health pointed out that alcohol causes more than one in 20 deaths globally each year, including drink driving, alcohol-induced violence and abuse and a multitude of diseases and disorders. Men account for more than three quarters of alcohol-related deaths, the nearly 500-page report found. “Far too many people, their families and communities suffer the consequences of the harmful use of alcohol through violence, injuries, mental health problems and diseases like cancer and stroke,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. “It’s time to step up action to prevent this serious threat to the development of healthy societies,” he added. Drinking is linked to more than 200 health conditions, including liver cirrhosis and some cancers. Alcohol abuse also makes people more susceptible to infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV and pneumonia, the report found. The some three million alcohol-related deaths registered globally in 2016 — the latest available statistics — account for 5.3 percent of all deaths that year. In comparison, HIV/AIDS was responsible for 1.8 percent of global deaths that year, road injuries for 2.5 percent and violence for 0.8 percent, the study showed. The latest numbers are lower than those in WHO’s last report on global alcohol consumption, published in 2014. There are “some positive global trends,” the …

Hurricane Scale Ignores Rain Dangers, Experts Say

Communities along the U.S. southeast coast are drying out after Hurricane Florence. The storm poured more than 80 centimeters of rain in parts of the Southeastern United States, causing catastrophic flooding. Hurricanes are categorized by their wind speeds. But that’s not always what does the most damage. Some experts say we should reconsider the scale. VOA’s Steve Baragona has more. …

NASA Telescope Discovers Two New Planets Five Months after Launch

A planet-hunting orbital telescope designed to detect worlds beyond our solar system discovered two distant planets this week five months after its launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, officials said on Thursday. NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, better known as TESS, made an early discovery of “super-Earth” and “hot Earth” planets in solar systems at least 49 light-years away, marking the satellite’s first discovery since its April launch. TESS is on a two-year, $337 million mission to expand astronomers’ known catalog of so-called exoplanets, worlds circling distant stars. While the two planets are too hot to support life, TESS Deputy Science Director Sara Seager expects many more such discoveries. “We will have to wait and see what else TESS discovers,” Seager told Reuters. “We do know that planets are out there, littering the night sky, just waiting to be found.” TESS is designed to build on the work of its predecessor, the Kepler space telescope, which discovered the bulk of some 3,700 exoplanets documented during the past 20 years and is running out of fuel. NASA expects to pinpoint thousands more previously unknown worlds, perhaps hundreds of them Earth-sized or “super Earth” sized — no larger than twice as big as our home planet. Those are believed the most likely to feature rocky surfaces or oceans and are thus considered the best candidates for life to evolve. Scientists have said they hope TESS will ultimately help catalog at least 100 more rocky exoplanets for further study in what has become one …

One in Three Gun-owning US Veterans Don’t Store Weapons Safely