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Monday, June 29, 2020

Canadian visa program may lure tech workers blocked by Trump

YOU'RE LOSS OUR GAIN TRUMP MAKES HEAD HUNTING EVEN EASIER

"NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK" AMERICA PROVERB
TORONTO/OTTAWA (Reuters) - A fast-track visa program that Canada launched in 2017 has attracted a growing number of tech workers, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest immigration crackdown is set to further boost intake once COVID-19 restrictions ease, lawyers say.

FILE PHOTO: Marco Mendicino poses with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after being sworn-in as Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship during the presentation of Trudeau's new cabinet, at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada November 20, 2019. REUTERS/Blair Gable

The number of successful applicants to Canada’s Global Skills Strategy (GSS) program rose five-fold over its first three years, with more than 23,000 workers approved under the top five tech categories, data provided to Reuters by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) shows.

More than 2,300 applications for those same top five tech roles were approved from January to March 2020, ahead of the COVID-19 shutdowns that led to border closures and a sharp drop in immigration. The program boasts a two-week processing time.

Immigration lawyers told Reuters they were broadly in favor of the program, which some described as transparent and consistent, and an example of how Canada has been able to take advantage of Trump’s immigration stance since he entered the White House in 2017.

“There are employers who have non-U.S. employees in the U.S. who are definitely looking seriously at Canada,” said Kyle Hyndman, a partner with McCrea Immigration Law in Vancouver, who was contacted this week by a “major” company about bringing employees to Canada.

On Monday, Trump issued a presidential proclamation that temporarily blocks foreign workers from entering the United States on certain visas, which a Trump administration official said would create 525,000 jobs for U.S. workers.

“The fact that people started contacting me pretty much the next day is perhaps a suggestion that there are going to be more people interested,” Hyndman said.

U.S. technology companies including Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc, Facebook Inc and Netflix Inc have in recent years expanded their Canadian operations, although most companies declined to comment on their GSS usage or how Trump’s recent announcement will impact their hiring plans.

Tobi Lutke, the chief executive officer of Canadian e-commerce company Shopify, was quick to tout the Canada’s attraction following Trump’s immigration move.

The program “has made it possible to hire top talent beyond our borders,” said Sandeep Anand, senior lead on the global mobility team at Shopify, adding that it has helped relocate employees to Canada.

The majority of approved applicants to the fast-track visa program were computer programmers and interactive media developers, followed by information systems analysts and consultants, the IRCC data shows.

Indian citizens accounted for 62.1% of successful applicants to the fast-track program, followed by Chinese citizens. Nearly 1,000 U.S. citizens also have seen their applications approved.

The GSS data only covers the period up to March of this year, just before broader immigration in Canada fell off a cliff due to border closures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. Lawyers, however, don’t expect it to last.

Betsy Kane, one of the founding partners of Capelle Kane Immigration Lawyers in Ottawa, said the program is going to see a surge of applications.

“Whenever one door shuts, the other door is sought.”

Reporting by Moira Warburton in Toronto and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Additional reporting by Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Editing by Denny Thomas and Paul Simao

Dead dolphins wash up on France's shores in record numbers
CANCALE, France (Reuters) - Dead dolphins are washing up on France’s Atlantic coast in such high numbers that local populations of the mammals are at risk, marine biologists say.

The overwhelming majority drowned in the nets of fishing trawlers. Post mortems often show fractures, broken tails and flippers and deep incisions cut into their skin by the nets. Some have been mutilated as fishermen release their bodies.

“We’re reaching mortality rates that threaten the survival of the dolphin population in the Bay of Gascony,” said Morgane Perri, a marine biologist in Brittany, western France.

“For the last three years, we’ve seen more than 1,000 deaths (dolphins and porpoises) over a four-month period each winter.”

Common dolphins are the hardest hit. Scientists believe those found on beaches represent a small fraction of the total number dying in fishing nets off the coast of France. The real number is likely to be five to 10 times higher, they estimate.

Dolphins have for decades been caught in fishing nets in the Atlantic waters off western Europe. But marine scientists say the spike in numbers in recent years is a result of shifting fishing practices, and in particular the fishing vessels that trawl in pairs for sea bass.

French law requires fishermen to declare all cetacean by-catch. But Perri said this rarely happened.

The National Committee of Maritime Fishermen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The slow reproduction rates of dolphins, which are mammals and need to surface in order to breathe, means they are particularly vulnerable to sharp falls in numbers, according to the Pelagis Observatory in La Rochelle.

Population models show numbers are stable, said Helene Peltier, a researcher at the observatory. “But once you see the decline, it’s too late.”

Activist group Sea Shepherd wants trawlers to be banned from fishing in sea bass spawning grounds and better monitoring of fisheries. Acoustic ‘pingers’ designed to repel dolphins are also being trialled on some fishing boats.

“There is no single miracle solution,” Peltier said.

In West Bank, Israeli settler leaders complicate annexation plan

ITAMAR, West Bank (Reuters) - Jewish settler leaders who resist the creation of a Palestinian state are complicating Israel’s plans to annex scores of settlements in the occupied West Bank under U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace blueprint.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet is due next month to discuss the annexation plan, under which Israel would apply sovereignty over 30% of the West Bank - in areas where most of its about 130 settlements are located.

The plan is opposed by the Palestinians, who seek a state in all of the West Bank, as well as in the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as a capital. Most world powers agree.

The plan also faces resistance from settler leaders who oppose Trump’s calls for a future Palestinian state that would envelop at least 15 Jewish settlements - despite U.S. guarantees of protection for, and access to, the future “enclaves”.

“We’re talking about strangling a community,” said Hananel Elkayam, mayor of Itamar settlement, one of the 15 named in the plan.

In misgivings echoed in the other 14, Elkayam predicted residents would be unable to commute to jobs through territory that would be in a new Palestinian state, would by denied construction and would be at greater risk of attack than now.

“I would tell (Trump): Thanks very much for the plan, thanks very much for the great affection for the Jewish people (but) we’ll set our own destiny,” Elkayam said.

KEEPING DOOR TO DIPLOMACY OPEN

U.S. officials will this week discuss whether to give Israel the green light for annexation moves seen by the Palestinians and many other countries as illegal land-grabs.

Israel’s West Bank settlements were built by successive governments on land captured in a 1967 war. More than 400,000 Israelis now live there, with another 200,000 in East Jerusalem, which was also taken in 1967.

A Direct Poll survey last week found 56.8% of settlers support the Trump plan, more than the Israeli average.

Elkayam and other settler leaders say that backing is for annexation - on condition that plans for Palestinian statehood are scrapped.

Israeli and U.S. officials want to be seen as keeping a door open to diplomacy. Where that door might lead worries Yochai Damri, head of a regional council that includes four of the 15 listed settlements.

Damri sees Palestinian statehood becoming more likely if the Republican president is defeated by Democrat Joe Biden in November’s U.S. election, and if, or when, Netanyahu is succeeded by centrist Benny Gantz, the Israeli premier’s partner in a fragile unity government.

The Trump plan says residents of the future enclaves can stay put “unless they choose otherwise”. Damri and other settlers hear in that a hint that they should quit to make way for Palestinian territorial contiguity.

Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Timothy Heritage

Kremlin dismisses Japan's objection to geological survey in Okhotsk Sea
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Friday it had a sovereign right to carry out work in the Sea of Okhotsk off Russia’s far eastern coast after a Japanese official objected to Moscow conducting a geological survey there.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga described Russia’s survey as unacceptable and in conflict with Tokyo’s position on four Russian-held islands claimed by Japan, the Japan Times cited him as saying.

“Russia has a sovereign right to carry out any research on its territory,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov during a conference call on Friday.

The geological survey in the Sea of Okhotsk, near the disputed islands, began on June 18 and is set to last for three months, Russian news agencies reported.

Japan calls the four Russian-held islands, off its main northern island of Hokkaido, the Northern Territories. Known in Russia as the Southern Kuriles, the islands were seized by Soviet forces in the closing days of World War Two.

The territorial issue has blighted relations between Russia and Japan for decades and has prevented them from signing a formal peace treaty ending World War Two.

Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Gareth Jones

Outgoing U.S. ambassador to Germany defends troop withdrawal plan

FILE PHOTO: Richard Grenell U.S. Ambassador to Germany attends the "Rally for Equal Rights at the United Nations (Protesting Anti-Israeli Bias)" aside of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 18, 2019. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) - The United States is planning to withdraw troops from Germany because Americans are against “paying too much” for other countries’ security, the outgoing U.S. ambassador said late on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. military to remove 9,500 troops from Germany, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.

The move would reduce the U.S. contingent to 25,000.

Richard Grenell, who resigned as U.S. ambassador to Germany on June 1, told Bild Live late on Wednesday: “American taxpayers no longer feel like paying too much for the defence of other countries.”

“There will still be 25,000 soldiers in Germany, that’s no small number,” he added, according to a German translation of his remarks.

The troop move is the latest twist in relations between Berlin and Washington that have often been strained during Trump’s presidency. Trump has pressed Germany to raise defence spending and accused Berlin of being a “captive” of Russia due to its partial reliance on Russian energy.

Trump’s decision to cut U.S. troop levels in Germany blindsided a number of senior national security officials, according to five sources familiar with the matter, and the Pentagon had yet to receive a formal order to carry it out, Reuters has learned.

Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Tom Brown

Full text of Philonise Floyd's statement to U.S. Congress

(Reuters) - Here is the text of the prepared testimony to a U.S. congressional hearing on Wednesday of Philonise Floyd, whose brother George Floyd’s death under the knee of a white police officer roused worldwide protests against racial injustice:

George Floyd's brother Philonise Floyd is joined by civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump during a recess in the hearing on the House Judiciary Committee on Policing Practices and Law Enforcement Accountability at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, U.S. June 10, 2020. Michael Reynolds/Pool via REUTERS

“Chairman Jerrold Nadler and members of the Committee:

“Thank you for the invitation to be here today to talk about my big brother, George. The world knows him as George, but I called him Perry. Yesterday, we laid him to rest. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I’m the big brother now. So it was my job to comfort our brothers and sisters, Perry’s kids, and everyone who loved him. And that’s a lot of people. I have to be the strong one now, because it’s what George would have done.

“And me being the big brother now is why I’m here today. To do what Perry always did for us – to take care of the family and others. I couldn’t take care of George the day he was killed, but maybe by speaking with you today, I can help make sure that his death isn’t in vain. To make sure that he is more than another face on a T-shirt. More than another name on a list that won’t stop growing.

“George always made sacrifices for his family. And he made sacrifices for complete strangers. He gave the little that he had to help others. He was our gentle giant. I was reminded of that when I watched the video of his murder. He was mild mannered; he didn’t fight back. He listened to the officers. He called them ‘sir.’ The men who took his life, who suffocated him for eight minutes and 46 seconds. He still called them ‘sir’ as he begged for his life.

“I can’t tell you the kind of pain you feel when you watch something like that. When you watch your big brother, who you’ve looked up to your whole life, die. Die begging for your mom.

“I’m tired. I’m tired of the pain I’m feeling now and I’m tired of the pain I feel every time another black person is killed for no reason. I’m here today to ask you to make it stop. Stop the pain. Stop us from being tired. George’s calls for help were ignored. Please listen to the call I’m making to you now, to the calls of our family, and to the calls ringing out in the streets across the world. People of all backgrounds, genders and race have come together to demand change. Honor them, honor George, and make the necessary changes that make law enforcement the solution – and not the problem. Hold them accountable when they do something wrong. Teach them what it means to treat people with empathy and respect. Teach them what necessary force is. Teach them that deadly force should be used rarely and only when life is at risk.

“George wasn’t hurting anyone that day. He didn’t deserve to die over twenty dollars. I am asking you, is that what a black man’s life is worth? Twenty dollars? This is 2020. Enough is enough. The people marching in the streets are telling you enough is enough. Be the leaders that this country, this world, needs. Do the right thing.

“The people elected you to speak for them, to make positive change. George’s name means something. You have the opportunity here to make your names mean something, too.

“If his death ends up changing the world for the better. And I think it will. I think it has. Then he died as he lived. It is on you to make sure his death isn’t in vain. I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to Perry while he was here. I was robbed of that. But, I know he’s looking down on us now. Perry, look at what you did, big brother. You’re changing the world. Thank you for everything. For taking care of us when you were on Earth, and for taking care of all of us now. I hope you found mama and can rest in peace and power.”

Compiled by Scott Malone

Coronavirus lockdowns increase poaching in Asia, Africa

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL and MICHAEL CASEY

June 21, 2020

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This November 2014 photo provided by the Wildlife Trust of India shows a leopard caught in a trap in a forest in Karnataka, India. Authorities in India are concerned a 2020 spike in poaching not only could kill more endangered tigers and leopards but also species these carnivores depend upon to survive. (WTI via AP)

NEW DELHI (AP) — A camera trap photo of an injured tigress and a forensic examination of its carcass revealed why the creature died: a poacher’s wire snare punctured its windpipe and sapped its strength as the wound festered for days.

Snares like this one set in southern India’s dense forest have become increasingly common amid the coronavirus pandemic, as people left jobless turn to wildlife to make money and feed their families.

Authorities in India are concerned this spike in poaching not only could kill more endangered tigers and leopards but also species these carnivores depend upon to survive.

“It is risky to poach, but if pushed to the brink, some could think that these are risks worth taking,” said Mayukh Chatterjee, a wildlife biologist with the non-profit Wildlife Trust of India.

Since the country announced its lockdown, at least four tigers and six leopards have been killed by poachers, Wildlife Protection Society of India said. But there also were numerous other poaching casualities — gazelles in grasslands, foot-long giant squirrels in forests, wild boars and birds such as peacocks and purple morhens.

In many parts of the developing world, coronavirus lockdowns have sparked concern about increased illegal hunting that’s fueled by food shortages and a decline in law enforcement in some wildlife protection areas. At the same time, border closures and travel restrictions slowed illegal trade in certain high-value species.

One of the biggest disruptions involves the endangered pangolin. Often caught in parts of Africa and Asia, the anteater-like animals are smuggled mostly to China and Southeast Asia, where their meat is considered a delicacy and scales are used in traditional medicine.

In April, the Wildlife Justice Commission reported traders were stockpiling pangolin scales in several Southeast Asia countries awaiting an end to the pandemic.

Rhino horn is being stockpiled in Mozambique, the report said, and ivory traders in Southeast Asia are struggling to sell the stockpiles amassed since China’s 2017 ban on trade in ivory products. The pandemic compounded their plight because many Chinese customers were unable to travel to ivory markets in Cambodia, Laos and other countries.

“They are desperate to get it off their hands. Nobody wants to be stuck with that product,” said Sarah Stoner, director of intelligence for the commission.

The illegal trade in pangolins continued “unabated” within Africa but international trade has been disrupted by port closures, said Ray Jansen, chairman of the African Pangolin Working Group.

“We have witnessed some trade via air while major ship routes are still closed but we expect a flood of trade once shipping avenues reopen again,” Jansen said.

Fears that organized poaching in Africa would spike largely have not materialized — partly because ranger patrols have continued in many national parks and reserves.

Emma Stokes, director of the Central Africa Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society, said patrolling national parks in several African countries has been designated essential work.

But she as heard about increased hunting of animals outside parks. “We are expecting to see an increase in bushmeat hunting for food – duikers, antelopes and monkeys,” she said.

Jansen also said bushmeat poaching was soaring, especially in parts of southern Africa. “Rural people are struggling to feed themselves and their families,” he said.

There are also signs of increased poaching in parts of Asia.

A greater one-horned rhino was gunned down May 9 in India’s Kaziranga National Park -- the first case in over a year. Three people, suspected to be a part of an international poaching ring, were arrested on June 1 with automatic rifles and ammunition, said Uttam Saikia, a wildlife warden.

As in other parts of the world, poachers in Kaziranga pay poor families paltry sums of money to help them. With families losing work from the lockdown, “they will definitely take advantage of this,” warned Saikia.

In neighboring Nepal, where the virus has ravaged important income from migrants and tourists, the first month of lockdown saw more forest-related crimes, including poaching and illegal logging, than the previous 11 months, according to a review by the government and World Wildlife Fund or WWF.

For many migrants returning to villages after losing jobs, forests were the “easiest source” of sustenance, said Shiv Raj Bhatta, director of programs at WWF Nepal.

In Southeast Asia, the Wildlife Conservation Society documented in April the poisoning in Cambodia of three critically endangered giant ibises for the wading bird’s meat. More than 100 painted stork chicks were also poached in late March in Cambodia at the largest waterbird colony in Southeast Asia.

“Suddenly rural people have little to turn to but natural resources and we’re already seeing a spike in poaching,” said Colin Poole, the group’s regional director for the Greater Mekong.

Heartened by closure of wildlife markets in China over concerns about a possible link between the trade and the coronavirus, several conservation groups are calling for governments to put measures in place to avoid future pandemics. Among them is a global ban on commercial sale of wild birds and mammals destined for the dinner table.

Others say an international treaty, known as CITES, which regulates the trade in endangered plants and animals, should be expanded to incorporate public health concerns. They point out that some commonly traded species, such as horseshoe bats, often carry viruses but are currently not subject to trade restrictions under CITES.

“That is a big gap in the framework,” said John Scanlon, former Secretary-General of CITES now with African Parks. ”We may find that there may be certain animals that should be listed and not be traded or traded under strict conditions and certain markets that ought to be closed.”
___
Casey reported from Boston. Associated Press writer Christina Larson contributed from Washington.

On Twitter follow Ghosal: @aniruddhg1 and Casey:@mcasey1
___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

A cash cliff spells trouble for U.S. unemployed, and everyone else
Jonnelle Marte, Ann Saphir

(Reuters) - Judith Ramirez is bracing for July. That’s when the hotel housekeeper and her electrician husband - who have both been out of work for three months - expect their combined unemployment benefits to drop by more than half, and their deferred $1,500 monthly mortgage payment on their Honolulu home to come due.

Judith and Jose Ramirez, a housekeeper and an electrician who were both temporarily laid off from their jobs at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel due to the business downturn caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, pose with their daughters Mary Amber, 1, and Mary Ashley, 5, outside their home in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. April 29, 2020. REUTERS/Marco Garcia
It’s a cash cliff millions of Americans face this summer as the emergency benefits — which lifted U.S. consumer incomes by a record 10.8% in April — expire. The loss of that safety net looms in the weeks ahead, well before a sustained recovery is likely to take hold from the sudden and deep recession brought on by the novel coronavirus. Personal income dropped 4.2% in May, data Friday showed.

The $600 supplement Congress added to weekly unemployment benefits is due to expire July 31.

Without new support, recipients face a substantial loss of income - particularly devastating for those like the Ramirez family who worked in hard-hit sectors like hospitality where new jobs are scarce. During high unemployment and a still-raging pandemic, the end of enhanced jobless benefits could drag on consumer spending, set off a wave of missed rent and mortgage payments and translate to a slower recovery, economists said.

That’s a great concern for Rachel Finchum, 55, who lost her job at a Nashville-based T-shirt printing company after 18 years. She has sought forbearance on her mortgage but is worried about what will happen when the government programs run out.

“I’m very scared to think I may not be able to make my bills,” Finchum said. “With my future so uncertain, I have a house payment and bills based on 18 years of what I was making.”
BENEFITS LIFTED SPENDING

As the novel coronavirus pandemic exploded in March and local authorities shut down large parts of the U.S. economy, the Trump administration and Congress softened the blow by moving quickly to roll out a patchwork of emergency aid.

The centerpiece: stimulus checks for most households and more generous unemployment benefits for tens of millions of newly jobless Americans.

The combined cash aid provided $3 in support for every $1 in lost income in April, Oxford Economics’ Gregory Daco estimated. And until it expires on July 31, the extra $600 weekly unemployment payment on average makes up for income lost due to unemployment and reduced hours, he said.

Indeed about two-thirds people eligible for unemployment benefits can collect more in benefits than they earned while working, researchers from the University of Chicago found.

For low-wage workers like Ramirez, the help was particularly critical. Households across the board slashed spending as coronavirus-related restrictions began in March. But after the government began issuing stimulus checks, lower-income households resumed spending much faster than higher income households, with much of the cash going to basics like utilities and groceries, said Michael Stepner of Harvard University’s Opportunity Insights.

Outlays by low-income households are now only about 3% below pre-crisis levels, versus minus 13% for high-income households.

When the extra benefits run out, jobless benefits will revert to their typical pre-pandemic levels, low by design to encourage people to look hard for work. In 15 states, the maximum unemployment benefit would replace less than half of the median earnings for a worker with a high school diploma, according to Kathryn Anne Edwards, a labor economist for the RAND Corporation.

That may pressure some people short on cash to risk their health to take a low-paying job at a restaurant or delivery company, which may expose them to the virus, said Julia Coronado, president of MacroPolicy Perspectives and a former Federal Reserve economist. “That’s a very terrible choice for our policymakers to be telling people they need to make,” she said.

Slideshow (13 Images)

And with unemployment expected to stay high and businesses in some sectors unable to open, many won’t be able to find even those jobs, she said.

The drop-off in support is also a problem for the economy as a whole, reducing GDP by 2.5% in the second half of 2020, estimated Jason Furman, a Harvard professor who ran the Council of Economic Advisors under President Barack Obama.

Congress may consider at least a partial extension of the benefits, but the uncertainty is making some families cautious about their spending, said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics.

“Lower-income households are worried that the pandemic will re-intensify and disrupt their incomes further,” said Zandi. “They are also unsure of how much - if any - more help is coming from Washington D.C.”

Ramirez, 40, spent a month chasing down her unemployment benefits after she stopped working in late March. When the payments finally started arriving, Ramirez banked them to build a cushion.

Knowing that the benefits are going to be reduced dramatically and unsure of when they’ll get back to work, Ramirez and her husband are living frugally. To save money on groceries, they wake up at 5 a.m. about once a week to get in line at a nearby food bank.

Ramirez will likely have reduced hours if she gets her job back in August, her manager told her. The hotel that employed her husband is still shut down.

“We need to have a backup,” said Ramirez, whose daughters are ages 1 and 5. “I have children to feed.”

For Finchum in Nashville, there is no prospect of a return to her old job. Her employers were nearing retirement so decided to close the business down when the pandemic struck.

“The stimulus package has been a life saver,” she said.

SOME Scientists can't find the G-spot either!

SOME Doctors say there's no evidence the elusive zone actually exists

SOME Doctors say there's no proof of a region that could create powerful orgasms

TELL THAT TO PORN STAR CYTHEREA

The erogenous zone was named after German gynaecologist Ernst Gräfenberg

Medics from Istanbul said evidence for its presence was ‘scant, insufficient and weak’

WHAT IS SCANT INSUFFICIENT AND WEAK IS THEIR RESEARCH ON ONLY 17 WOMEN

By STEPHEN ADAMS MEDICAL EDITOR FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

PUBLISHED: 27 June 2020

It has proved frustratingly elusive for more than 70 years, but scientists say they have finally worked out why men can’t find the ‘G-spot’ – it isn’t there.

Doctors say there’s no proof women have a small, super-sensitive region that could create particularly powerful orgasms when aroused.

The erogenous zone was named after German gynaecologist Ernst Gräfenberg, who first suggested the existence of a dense network of nerve endings in the 1950s. But a new study of 17 middle-aged women has found no evidence of such a spot, but ‘a fairly even distribution’ of nerves instead.

SOME Doctors say there’s no proof women have a small, super-sensitive region that could create particularly powerful orgasms when aroused (file photo

Writing in the International Urogynaecology Journal, a team of medics from Istanbul said the ‘anatomical evidence for the presence of the G spot’ was ‘scant, insufficient and weak’.

lthough Dr Gräfenberg – who also invented the IUD coil contraceptive – suggested the existence of the zone, he was too modest to name it after himself.

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The expression was coined by American sexologists in the 1980s and quickly gained popularity – as well as spawning a new way of marketing sex toys and treatments.

Even though it had been discussed for decades, the first evidence for the existence of the G-spot came just eight years ago, following the examination of a single 83-year-old woman. The man who published that discovery subsequently invented a procedure dubbed a ‘G-spotplasty’ intended to increase sexual satisfaction, despite scepticism from some colleagues.

The erogenous zone was named after German gynaecologist Ernst Gräfenberg, who first suggested the existence of a dense network of nerve endings in the 1950s

Although G-spot therapies have become a multi-million dollar business, Devan Stahl, from Michigan State University, has said there is ‘virtually no evidence that these therapies work outside a placebo effect’.

And those who believe the G-spot is a myth say the notion makes women feel needlessly insecure. A survey for Cosmopolitan magazine found half of women feel inadequate or frustrated feeling others can orgasm in a way they can’t.

It also found that 22 per cent of men said finding the woman’s G-spot is the number one goal of sex.

Since the 2012 report, several other studies have failed to produce conclusive evidence a single G-spot exists.

Barry Komisaruk from Rutgers University in New Jersey, who led one study, said: ‘It’s not like pushing an elevator button or a light switch. It’s not a single thing.’