U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday criticized NASA for aiming to put astronauts back on the moon by 2024 and urged the space agency to focus instead on “much bigger” initiatives like going to Mars, undercutting his previous support for the lunar initiative. “For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon – We did that 50 years ago,” the president wrote on Twitter. “They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!” Trump’s statement, tweeted from Air Force One as he returned from Europe, appeared at odds with his administration’s recent push to return humans to the lunar surface by 2024 “by any means necessary,” five years sooner than the previous goal of 2028. Space outpost NASA plans to build a space outpost in lunar orbit that can relay astronauts to the lunar surface by 2024, part of a broader initiative to use the moon as a staging ground for eventual missions to Mars. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Trump was only reaffirming NASA’s space plan. “As @POTUS said, @NASA is using the Moon to send humans to Mars!” he said on Friday in a tweet referring to the president of the United States. The accelerated timetable to land humans on the moon by 2024 ran into early trouble when the Trump administration asked a skeptical Congress in May to increase NASA’s 2020 budget proposal by $1.6 billion as a “down payment” to accommodate the accelerated goal. The accelerated timetable for going to the moon was a key recommendation in March …
US Legislators Seek Answers on Boeing 737 Max Defect
Two key U.S. legislators want answers from Boeing and federal regulators about why the company waited more than a year to disclose that a safety alert in its 737 Max plane wasn’t working properly. U.S. Reps. Peter DeFazio of Oregon and Rick Larsen of Washington sent letters to Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration seeking details on what they knew when, and when airlines were told. The feature is designed to warn pilots when a sensor provides incorrect information about the pitch of the plane’s nose. Boeing admitted in May that within months of the plane’s 2017 debut, engineers realized that the sensor warning light worked only when paired with a separate, optional feature. The sensors malfunctioned during flights in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Both planes crashed, killing 346 people in all. …
US Jobs Growth Slows Sharply
U.S. job growth slowed sharply in May and wages rose less than expected, suggesting the loss of momentum in economic activity was spreading to the labor market, which could increase calls for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year. The cool-off in hiring reported by the Labor Department on Friday was even before a recent escalation in trade tensions between the United States and two of its major trading partners, China and Mexico. Economists have warned that the trade fights could undermine the economy, which will celebrate 10 years of expansion next month, the longest on record. The economy thus far has been largely resilient to the trade war with China. President Donald Trump in early May slapped additional tariffs of up to 25% on $200 billion of Chinese goods, which prompted retaliation by Beijing. Last week, Trump said he would impose a tariff on all goods from Mexico in a bid to stem the tide of migrants across the U.S.-Mexican border. Talks are ongoing to prevent the duties from kicking in at 5% on June 10. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 75,000 jobs last month, the government said in its closely watched employment report, falling below the roughly 100,000 needed per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population. The economy created 75,000 fewer jobs in March and April than previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls rising by 185,000 jobs last month. May’s disappointing job growth was flagged by a report on Wednesday …
How Communities Can Survive Floods, Major Storms, Wildfires
The 2019 Atlantic hurricane season is officially underway, yet many people haven’t recovered from some of last year’s storms. Meantime, tornados have torn up swaths of several U.S. states in the past few weeks, and floodwaters have wreaked even more damage. Across the U.S. and elsewhere, tornados, flooding and fires have destroyed homes, sometimes entire communities. Victim after victim describes the trauma. Preston Black in Oklahoma says a tornado threw his trailer home several meters into the air. His parents, wife and children were all inside. Then, he saw his wife in the debris. “To see her like that. … It was awful,” he said. “The worst thing I could ever see.” She survived. But they lost everything they had. Hurricane Michael Last October, Hurricane Michael destroyed entire towns in Florida. Some people are still living in tents. Janelle Crosby lives in a trailer home full of health hazards. “Rats. Critters. It’s disgusting. Mold. This they put up to try to contain the mold. It was pink, it’s now black.” Natural disasters affect everyone differently. In California, Gwen Oesch found that the immediate impact of loss can’t always be anticipated. “I didn’t realize how much my home means to me,” she said, with a sigh. Solace in numbers When a community is hit by a disaster, it can be less traumatic than an individual disaster like an accident, according to Dr. John Lauriello, a psychiatrist at the University of Missouri Health Care. “I think there’s a shared understanding of the …
Floods, Major Storms, Wildfires Take Psychological Toll on Survivors
The 2019 Atlantic hurricane season is officially underway, yet people haven’t recovered from some of last year’s storms. Meantime, tornados have torn up swaths of several U.S. states in the past few weeks, while flood waters wreaked even more damage. All of this has a psychological toll, as VOA’s Carol Pearson reports. …
Seaweed Could Help Produce Biodegradable Plastic
Efforts to recycle discarded plastic have not reduced piles of single-use products from landfills, and China will no longer import plastic waste for recycling. The United Nations says more than 8 million tons of plastic enters the ocean every year. Plastics are increasingly killing marine life and birds, threatening ecosystems and harming humans. Researchers are working to develop biodegradable materials to replace the durable plastic. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports on one such project in Israel. …
WHO: 1 Million STD Cases Diagnosed Every Day
More than 1 million people across the world are diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections (STI) every day, the World Health Organization said. In a study released Thursday, the U.N. health agency said 1 in every 25 people globally has at least one of four infections: chlamydia, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis and syphilis. Some people have more than one STI, also called sexually transmitted disease. “These infections indicate people are taking risks with their health, with their sexuality and with their reproductive health,” said Dr. Melanie Taylor, lead author of the report. The WHO said there were more than 376 million new cases of STIs among men and women aged 15 to 49 in 2016, the latest year for which data is available. The WHO report broke down the infection rates in 2016 to: 127 million new cases of chlamydia, 87 million of gonorrhea, 6 million of syphilis and 156 million of trichomoniasis. STI’s are transmitted through unprotected vaginal, anal and oral sex. In some cases, the diseases are passed from mother to child during pregnancy. Syphilis can also be transmitted through contact with infected blood. If left untreated, STIs can cause infertility, stillbirths, ectopic pregnancy and an increased risk of HIV. Syphilis alone causes more than 200,000 newborn deaths and stillbirths each year. “This is a wake-up call for a concerted effort to ensure everyone, everywhere can access the services they need to prevent and treat these debilitating diseases,” WHO official Dr. Peter Salama said. …
NASA: Just Binoculars Needed to See Jupiter’s Largest Moons
Keep an eye on the sky this month as the mighty Jupiter puts on a show. NASA says Jupiter will make its closest approach to Earth in June — so close that skywatchers will be able to see it with the naked eye, and even some of its largest moons using simple equipment. “The solar system’s largest planet is a brilliant jewel to the naked eye, but looks fantastic through binoculars or a small telescope, which will allow you to spot the four largest moons,” the U.S. space agency posted on its website. Some might also “glimpse a hint of the banded clouds” that surround the planet, NASA said. The best opportunity will be Monday when Jupiter, Earth and Saturn all fall into a straight line, an annual event called “opposition.” From June 14 to 19, amateur astronomers can see a “beautiful lineup” of the moon, Jupiter and Saturn, which will change each night as the moon orbits Earth. “While you’re out marveling at this trio, there’s a really neat astronomy observation you can attempt yourself, just by paying attention to the moon’s movement from night to night,” the agency added on its website. For those who would like an even closer look at the largest planet in our solar system, NASA suggests visiting its website for images sent back by Juno, the spacecraft currently orbiting Jupiter. …
Fiat Chrysler Drops Renault Merger Idea
Italian-U.S. carmaker Fiat Chrysler on Thursday pulled the plug on its proposed merger with Renault, saying negotiations had become “unreasonable” because of political resistance in Paris. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, or FCA, had stunned the markets last week with a proposed “merger of equals” with the French group that would — together with Renault’s Japanese partners, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors — create an auto giant spanning the globe. The French government, which controls 15 percent of Renault, gave the deal a conditional green light, with analysts suggesting it wanted more control over the combined group alongside Fiat’s Agnelli family. FCA said late Wednesday that it “remains firmly convinced of the compelling, transformational rationale” of the tie-up, which it said was “carefully balanced to deliver substantial benefits to all parties.” “However it has become clear that the political conditions in France do not currently exist for such a combination to proceed successfully,” it said in a statement. On Thursday, FCA chief John Elkann stood by the decision to start, and then leave, the merger talks. “When it becomes clear that the conversations have been brought to the point beyond which it becomes unreasonable to go, it is necessary to be equally brave to interrupt them,” Elkann wrote in a letter to employees published by Italian media. Renault expressed its “disappointment” at the turnabout. “We view the [Fiat] opportunity as timely, having compelling industrial logic and great financial merit, and which would result in a European-based global …
IMF: US Trade Wars Are Risk to America’s Economy
The U.S. economy could be weakened by escalating trade wars or a sudden downturn in global financial markets, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns. In an annual review of the U.S. economy, the IMF said it was on a 2.6 percent growth track this year, greater than the 2.3 percent growth rate forecast in April. But the report also said the U.S. economy appears to be increasingly vulnerable amid investor concern over America’s trade wars, noting they could trigger worsening global financial conditions. The IMF criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration for efforts to remake global trade relationships through higher tariffs and said it was “especially important” to resolve the trade dispute with China. The report said the U.S. economy has recovered from the financial crisis that began in 2008, but millions of Americans did not benefit from the recovery. Household income increased a meager 2.2 percent from the end of the last century, the report said, while the U.S. economy expanded 23 percent per capita during the same period. “The poorest 40 percent of households have a level of net wealth that is lower today than it was in 1983,” the report said. The report called on the Trump administration to avert an economic slowdown by adopting measures to cut public and corporate debt and address inequality. On Wednesday, the IMF warned the U.S.-China trade war could cut world economic growth next year. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Trump’s threat to tax all trade between the two countries …
Doctors Alarmed that Flu Killed Detained Migrant Teen
A 16-year-old from Guatemala died of complications of the flu while in U.S. Border Patrol custody, according to preliminary autopsy findings, alarming doctors who questioned whether immigration authorities missed warning signs or chances to save his life. Carlos Hernandez Vasquez contracted bacterial infections in addition to the flu, as well as sepsis, which can lead to tissue damage and organ failure, according to a report released by Hidalgo County authorities this week. He died May 20. A full autopsy is pending. Carlos is the sixth child in the last year to die after U.S. border agents detained him, and the second known to have died of the flu, after 8-year-old Felipe Gomez Alonzo died on Christmas Eve. As border crossings surge to historic highs, the Trump administration’s treatment of migrant children and the detention of families in overcrowded facilities has come under harsh criticism. The administration is asking Congress for $4.5 billion to respond to the surge of families, but Congress has yet to act. Flu deaths among children are rare in the U.S. The number of annual flu-related deaths in kids has bounced from 37 to 186 since the 2004-2005 flu season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Doctors usually expect the youngest children, not teenagers, to be more at risk of severe complications and death from flu. “Flu is uncommon at this time of the year,” said Dr. Dawn Nolt, an infectious diseases expert at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon. …
Vietnam Businesses Push for Green Economy
Liz Hung supports a lot of the imaginative concepts being discussed to make Vietnam “greener” economically and in terms of urban planning. Consider traffic lights. Hung described how government authorities could collect smartphone data to see which streets are crowded, and then calibrate the stoplights to optimize traffic flow. Hung and others in the private sector are giving Vietnamese officials their wish list for a green economy, from more renewable energy to buildings that collect rain water for use. “Road congestion costs us at least 2 to 5% of our [gross domestic product] growth every year because of the time we lost or the high transportation cost, so that is why being smart [in] mobility is very crucial,” said Hung, who is CBRE associate director of Asia Pacific Research. Hung’s comment highlights the link between good city planning and economic benefits. Emulating China, Australia There is also a larger debate about whether the economic benefits outweigh the costs of going green. There is a financial cost of technology to make Vietnam more efficient. But there also is a security cost, as “smart devices,” like lights connected to the internet, have looser security settings that make them easier to hack. In looking for inspiration for Vietnam’s future, Hung looked at places from Hangzhou, China, where she heard about the traffic data, to Adelaide, Australia, where authorities installed smart sensors in trash bins, which alert garbage collectors when the bins are nearly full. If …
US Productivity Grew at Solid 3.4% Rate in First Quarter
U.S. productivity grew at a strong 3.4% rate in the January-March quarter, the best showing in more than four years, the Labor Department reported Thursday. It was an encouraging sign that productivity may finally be improving after a long stretch of weakness. The first quarter gain was more than double the 1.3% increase in the fourth quarter, although it was slightly lower than an initial estimate of 3.6% made a month ago. Labor costs fell during the first quarter, declining by 1.6% following a 0.4% drop in the fourth quarter. Productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, is a key factor determining an economy’s growth potential. If the current rebound continues, it would provide support for President Donald Trump’s efforts to achieve sustained 3% growth rates. The slight downward revision in productivity reflected the fact that overall output, as measured by gross domestic product, was revised down from an initial estimate of 3.2% growth to 3.1% growth in the first quarter. The 3.4% advance in productivity was the strongest increase since a 3.7% rise in the third quarter of 2014. Productivity has risen 2.4% over the past four quarters, the best performance since a 2.7% four-quarter gain in 2010. Productivity gains over the past decade have been lackluster, averaging just 1.3% annually from 2007 through 2018. That was less than half the 2.7% gains seen from 2000 to 2007, a period when the economy was benefiting from technology improvements in computers and the …
Poll: Some Younger US Workers Not Happy With Graying Workforce
A rising share of older Americans is forgoing the concept of a traditional retirement at the age of 65, a trend that some younger workers aren’t particularly thrilled to see. A recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that workers under the age of 50 were significantly more likely to view America’s aging workforce as a negative development when compared with their older counterparts. About 4 in 10 respondents ages 18 to 49 and 44% of the youngest respondents ages 18 to 29 said they consider the trend to be a bad thing for American workers. Just 14% of those age 60 and over said the same. “I don’t think in things like IT and medicine you’re as effective a worker (at 65 years old) as you are at 50,” says Katie Otting, a 29-year-old living in Southern California. “If some 65-year-old is in a position that he’s not ready to quit because he wants a better pension and there’s someone else ready to take that job, they’re not going to replace him.” An aging population, elevated health care costs and lingering financial uncertainty following the Great Recession all are believed to be contributing to America’s steadily graying workforce. Nearly 20% of Americans over the age of 65 were employed or actively looking for work last year, up from less than 12% two decades prior, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the increased prevalence of older workers has led some to believe seniors …
US Trade Deficit Smaller in April, but Gap With China Grew
The U.S. trade deficit shrank in April, but the politically sensitive deficit with China moved higher. The Commerce Department said Thursday that the gap between the goods and services the U.S. buys and those it sells abroad fell 2.1% to $50.8 billion in April from March. Exports fell 2.2% to $206.8 billion on a big drop in orders for civilian aircraft, a category that is often volatile. Imports dropped 2.2% to $257.6 billion on tumbling purchases of semiconductors, chemicals and diamonds. The deficit in the trade of goods with China rose 29.7% to $26.9 billion. Merchandise exports to China dropped 24.3%, and imports climbed 11.6%. President Donald Trump has sought to reduce America’s persistent trade deficit, which he sees as a sign of economic weakness and the result of bad trade agreements crafted by naive U.S. negotiators. He has slapped tariffs on foreign steel, aluminum, dishwashers, solar panels and on thousands of Chinese goods. Mainstream economists say the trade gap is the product of an enduring economic factor that doesn’t respond much to changes in trade policy: Americans buy more than they produce, and imports fill the gap. Trump has escalated trade hostilities over the past month. In May, he more than doubled import taxes on $200 billion in Chinese goods and prepared to extend tariffs to the $300 billion in imports from China he hasn’t already targeted. The world’s two biggest economies are locked in a dispute over U.S. allegations that China steals American technology and forces foreign companies …
Гривня продовжує зміцнюватися на міжбанку
На міжбанківському валютному ринку другий день поспіль триває тенденція до зміцнення гривні, пропозиція долара переважає попит на американську валюту. Ці тенденції відбив Національний банк України, встановивши опівдні довідкове значення курсу на рівні 26 гривень 85 копійок за долар (офіційний курс на 6 червня становить 26 гривень 93 копійки). На міжбанківському ринку гривня зміцнилася відчутніше, котирування на 12:00 складали 26 гривень 82-84 копійки, інформує сайт «Мінфін», який відстежує перебіг торгів. Фахівці не прогнозували 6 червня суттєвих змін на валютному ринку, оскільки ситуацію врівноважують кілька різноспрямованих чинників. Зокрема, на користь гривні впливають позитивні для національної валюти результати аукціону Міністерства фінансів з розміщення ОВДП». У травні офіційний курс двічі показував річний максимум – 26 гривень 11 копійок за долар. …
Ebola Listening Projects Take Cues from Community to Improve Response
Working in Liberia during the Ebola outbreak in 2015, researcher Katherina Thomas noticed that while experts and aid workers had lots to say, no one was listening to ordinary people affected. She and a team set about interviewing patients and community members about their experiences, creating an oral history archive which she believes could help responders struggling to gain the trust of Ebola-hit communities in Congo today. Ebola has been spreading in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since August in the world’s second biggest outbreak, which has killed 1,354 people and surpassed 2,000 cases this week, according to government figures. Struggling to contain outbreak Aid workers have said they are struggling to contain the outbreak because of community resistance, with people refusing vaccines, concealing symptoms and attacking treatment centers. “People are asking why community members don’t trust the responders, but I think we should be asking, why aren’t we trusting them?” said Thomas, currently a writer-in-residence at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in the United States. “They don’t have a seat at the table, but their voices and insights are so crucial,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Reasons for resistance Community resistance was also a problem during the West Africa outbreak, which hit Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and the reasons were sometimes surprising, said Thomas. She and her colleagues interviewed the young men who attacked an Ebola quarantine center in Liberia in 2014 and found they believed they were saving their community, she said. Although the …
Insys, Maker of Fentanyl Spray, to Pay $225 Million Settlement
Insys Therapeutics Inc. agreed to pay $225 million and an operating unit will plead guilty to fraud to settle probes into their payment of kickbacks to induce doctors to prescribe highly addictive opioids, the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday. Prosecutors said Insys used kickbacks and other illegal marketing practices to boost sales of Subsys, an under-the-tongue spray meant to treat pain in adult cancer patients and which contains fentanyl, an opioid 100 times stronger than morphine. The settlement followed the May 2 conviction by a federal jury in Boston of five former Insys executives, including founder and former billionaire John Kapoor, of racketeering charges for contributing to the nation’s opioid epidemic. Wednesday’s settlement calls for the operating unit, Insys Pharma, to plead guilty to five mail fraud counts. Profits over health The Chandler, Arizona-based company will pay a $2 million fine, forfeit $28 million, and pay $195 million to settle charges it defrauded the government under the False Claims Act. “For years, Insys engaged in prolonged, illegal conduct that prioritized its profits over the health of the thousands of patients who relied on it,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling in Massachusetts said. “Today, the company is being held responsible.” Insys did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The company has been exploring whether to divest its Subsys business, and had on May 10 said the probes could prompt it to seek bankruptcy protection. Insys’ share price has fallen 93% since late August. Bribes and kickbacks Prosecutors accused Insys of …
World Bank: Iran Likely to Suffer Worse Recession Than Previously Thought
This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service. WASHINGTON —The World Bank says Iran is likely to experience an even worse recession this year than previously thought, as U.S. sanctions largely choke off oil exports that have been Tehran’s main revenue source. In its latest Global Economic Prospects report published Wednesday, the Washington-based institution that provides loans to countries said it expects Iran’s Gross Domestic Product to shrink by 4.5% this year, a steeper contraction than its earlier estimate of negative 3.6% GDP growth for 2019. “The oil industry is an important part of Iran’s economy, and its oil production is clearly going to drop because of the new U.S. sanctions,” said Patrick Clawson, research director for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, in a VOA Persian interview on Wednesday. The Trump administration imposed a total, unilateral ban on Iranian oil exports on May 2 as part of its campaign of “maximum pressure” on Iran to negotiate an end to its perceived malign behaviors. It had issued sanctions waivers to eight of Iran’s oil customers in November to allow them to keep importing Iranian crude for six months, but later said it would not renew those waivers and would require those customers to reduce such imports to zero. U.S. economist Steve Hanke of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore told VOA Persian in another Wednesday interview that Iran’s internal economic problems also are to blame for its worsening recession. “Iran is very corrupt, has very little economic freedom, and it’s hard …
Amazon Says Drones Will Be Making Deliveries In Months
Amazon said Wednesday that it plans to use self-driving drones to deliver packages to shoppers’ home in the coming months The online shopping giant did not give exact timing or say where the drones will be making deliveries. Amazon said its new drones use computer vision and machine learning to detect and avoid people or laundry clotheslines in backyards when landing. “From paragliders to power lines to a corgi in the backyard, the brain of the drone has safety covered,” said Jeff Wilke, who oversees Amazon’s retail business. Wilke said the drones are fully electric, can fly up to 15 miles and carry packages that weigh up to five pounds. Amazon has been working on drone delivery for years. Back in December 2013, Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos told the “60 Minutes” news show that drones would be flying to customer’s homes within five years. But that deadline passed due to regulatory hurdles. The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates commercial use of drones in the U.S., did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. In April, a subsidiary of search giant Google won approval from the FAA to make drone deliveries in parts of Virginia. …
In Haiti, World Environment Day Means Planting Trees
Ahead of World Environment Day, a group of Haitian young professionals put into practice a famous line uttered by former U.S. president John F. Kennedy in his 1961 inaugural address: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” With the help of the local Rotary Club’s Rotaract group, 6,000 trees were given to the town of Beret, a community in Haiti’s south that suffered heavy damage during Hurricane Matthew in 2016. “We’re all responsible for the environment, so we are taking the lead. We’re not waiting for government to do it,” Justin Ovid, president of the Rotaract club, told VOA Creole. “We have our own role to play in the process, so that’s why we launched this initiative.” The International Rotary Club, founded in 1905, has over a million members across the globe with a mission of creating “lasting change” in their communities. Ovid said the demand for charcoal has had negative consequences on the community’s tree population. “Deforestation, especially people cutting down trees to make charcoal, has a huge impact. So, (that’s why) we wanted to make our own contribution to the effort to reforest the country,” he said. Haiti lost 9.5% of its forest foliage between 1990 and 2005, according to the environmental website Mongabay.com, which measures global deforestation. A survey by the nonprofit conservation group Societe Audubon Haiti warned the country could lose its forest cover in the next two decades if nothing is done to halt current …
IMF Warns US-China Trade War Could Cut Global Economic Growth
The trade war between the United States and China could cut world economic growth next year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Wednesday. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to tax all trade between the two countries would shrink the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by one-half of one percent. This amounts to a loss of about $455 billion, larger than the size of South Africa’s economy,” Lagarde said in a briefing note for the Group of Twenty (G-20), a collection of the world’s largest advanced and emerging economies. “These are self-inflicted wounds that must be avoided… by removing the recently implemented traded barriers and by avoiding further barriers in whatever form,” she added. The warning came as G-20 finance ministers and central bankers prepare to meet in Japan this weekend. They will gather just weeks after U.S.-China talks collapsed amid claims of broken promises and another round of punishing tariffs. Lagarde urged governments to adopt policies that support economic growth to avoid a global economic decline. “Should growth substantially disappoint,” she wrote, policymakers must do more, including “making use of conventional and unconventional monetary policy and fiscal stimulus.” The GDP is a monetary measure of the value of all goods and services produced in an economy during a specific period of time. …
US Officials: Arctic Thawing Poses National Security Concern
Senior U.S. officials warned Wednesday that climate change is an increasing threat to national security, a message at odds with a broader Trump administration effort to downplay the threat from global warming. Military and intelligence officials outlined a range of long-term threats arising from climate change, including food and water shortages that can produce political turmoil and land disputes, as well as melting ice in the Arctic that Russia and other adversaries could exploit for commercial gain. “Climate change effects could undermine important international systems on which the U.S. is critically dependent, such as trade routes, food and energy supplies, the global economy, and domestic stability abroad,” Rod Schoonover, a senior State Department analyst focusing on global issues, told members of the House Intelligence Committee. “Most countries, if not all, are already unable to fully respond to the risks posed by climate-linked hazards under present conditions.” The assessments laid bare the disconnect between senior officials who regard climate change as a long-term, global threat and the views of President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly broken from that message and even belittled his own government’s views. “I believe that there’s a change in weather, and I think it changes both ways,” Trump said in an interview on “Good Morning Britain” that aired on Wednesday. “Don’t forget it used to be called global warming. That wasn’t working. Then it was called climate change. Now it’s actually called extreme weather, because with extreme weather, you can’t miss.” Peter …
WHO: Fighting Air Pollution Key to Living Longer
Activists marking World Environment day are calling for action to tackle air pollution, which researchers say kills millions of people every year and impoverishes societies struggling to reduce its harmful effects. “We are walking on” is a World Environment Day song inspired by childhood memories of a Japanese town fighting air pollution — and winning. The young, enthusiastic performers express their love for the environment. Through their artistry, they hope to raise awareness of the dangers threatening the planet and to promote action to preserve its natural beauty. The World Health Organization considers air pollution the world’s largest single environmental health risk, killing about seven million people every year. Millions more suffer long term health problems, such as asthma, stroke, lung cancer, and heart disease. The World Bank estimates the global economic cost of breathing in dirty air at more than five trillion dollars every year. Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, Olga Algayerova called the human and economic costs arising from air pollution staggering. But she said her agency has shown that effective action can be taken to combat this scourge. She noted that in 1979, 51 countries in Europe and North America signed the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, familiarly known as the Air Convention or CLRTAP. The convention was reached under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE.) “For instance, emissions of harmful substances including particulate matters and sulfur have been cut by 30 to 80 percent since 1990 in …