Agrotechnicians' hard work helps increase cotton yield, quality in Egypt

A man collects harvested cotton at a farm in Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, Sept. 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

With agrotechnicians' great efforts, Egypt sees another harvest of cotton that has further improved in both quantity and quality.

by Mahmoud Fouly

KAFR EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Bathed in the warm sun and pleasant breezes of the Mediterranean, cotton bolls bloomed on the research farm of Sakha Agricultural Research Station in Kafr El-Sheikh in the Nile Delta region of northern Egypt, turning the land into a white blanket.

A dozen of cotton pickers were hard at work, removing the bolls from cotton plants and putting them into small bags. On the side of the field, huge burlap sacks of cotton piled up like a small hill.

Two varieties of cotton were grown on the research farm, Giza 97, one of the most cultivated cotton varieties in Egypt, and Giza 93, one of the best cotton varieties in the world in terms of quality.



A woman harvests cotton at a farm in Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, Sept. 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

This year's harvest on the farm will provide Egyptian agrotechnicians with the information to further improve the breeding and cultivation of the two cotton varieties.

Salah Saber, leader of the cotton seed breeding team at the research farm, said that agrotechnicians' hard efforts have made a significant contribution to the production of top-quality cotton, on which Egypt takes great pride.

"We have succeeded in breaking the negative correlation between the cotton yield and quality, and managed to get both at the same time," he said.

He explained that a feddan (0.42 hectare) of cotton, which used to produce about 7 to 8 kantars (a kantar equals 45.02 kg) of seed cotton, now produces about 12 to 13 kantars, thanks to the cotton breeding research.

Egypt's Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) reported that the export of Egyptian cotton in the previous cotton season, which started in September 2020 and ended in August 2021, reached 1.7 million kantars.



A woman carries harvested cotton at a farm in Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, Sept. 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

The CAPMAS data also showed that cotton production in the Arab world's most populous country reached 2.3 million kantars in the 2020/2021 season, a 31-percent increase over the 2019/2020 season.

Saber said that the boom in cotton production is driven by both Egypt's plans to expand the cultivation of the cash crop and improve cotton breeding and cultivating technologies.

Egypt's agrotechnicians have been seeking to create cotton varieties that satisfy the demands of farmers in terms of yield, those of merchants in terms of the quantity of lint produced, and those of the global market in terms of quality, staple length, fiber strength and softness, Saber added.


A woman shows harvested cotton at a farm in Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, on Sept. 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

Samar Salem, a cotton picker, said she was happy to work in the farm, whose research will bring benefits to the country's cotton industry and improve the living condition of millions of Egyptian farmers. ■

Slovakia LGTBI pub attacker aimed to kill prime minister, say police

The perpetrator of an attack on a pub in Slovakia's capital, Bratislava, which left two people dead, had originally intended to kill the country's prime minister, Eduard Heger, police said.


Demonstration in Bratislava, Slovakia, denouncing the attack on an LGTBI pub that resulted in the death of two people.

- Dano Veselsk/TASR/dpa© Provided by News 360

The chief of the Police, Stefan Hamran, has advanced this information to the television channel JOJ, emphasizing that the attacker, a young man of 19 years, had been in the vicinity of Heger's home the same night of the event.

The perpetrator of the attack, who was carrying a firearm, approached the Prime Minister's private residence on several occasions, but when he realized that Heger was not there, he decided to change his target and went to the Bratislava pub, frequented by members of the LGTBI community.

According to Harman, the attacker had intended to kill Prime Minister Heger for some time.

The attack took place on the night of October 12 in a bar defined by its owners as "close to the gay community in the center of Bratislava".

After shooting two people and wounding a third, the perpetrator, identified as Juraj K., was found dead the next day near the headquarters of the Ministry of Education after committing suicide.

Previously, the young man had posted several messages on social networks that included homophobic and neo-Nazi hate speech.

The event sparked unrest among the Slovak population, which called for demonstrations the following day. Criticism even extended to Heger's own party, the conservative Common People, for having in its ranks members of parliament critical of the homosexual community.

OCCUPIED PALESTINE

4 arrested for murder of Arab journalist Nidal Aghbariya

Four suspects were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in the murder of Nidal Aghbariya, an Arab journalist who ran the Bldtna news site, according to Israel Police.


Police at the scene of where Arab-Israeli journalist Nadal Ijbaria was shot dead in his car in the northern Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm, September 4, 2022.

© (photo credit: FLASH90)

The police's central unit, Border Police, canine units and additional forces arrested the suspects after conducting an undercover investigation. They are all residents of Umm el-Fahm between the ages of 20 and 30 years old. A pistol was found in the home of one of the suspects.

Police will request an extension of their arrest on Wednesday.

Murder sparked outrage among Israeli Arabs

Aghbariya was shot to death in his car in Umm el-Fahm in early September. The murder sparked outrage among Israeli Arabs.

The Union of Journalists in Israel said at the time it was “shaken” by the murder and expressed condolences to Aghbariya’s family.

“Israel Police must act immediately to locate the murderers and bring them to justice, and act more vigorously in order to eradicate the epidemic of violence in Arab society,” the union said.

The Hadash Party also responded to the murder, stating, “The police had known for a year that the criminal organizations had marked Nidal Aghbariya’s house. A year ago, his house was shot up when he and his family were at home, but the police did not act to arrest the criminals.

“Nidal was murdered today due to the incompetence of Israel Police,” the party said. “The murder of a journalist is an attempt to silence the voice of the Arab protest against violence and crime. The Israel Police must put an end to the neglect of Arab society, take the weapons off the streets and bring the vile murderers to justice.”

The Mossawa Center expressed outrage at the murder, stressing that Aghbariya had been shot at before “and the police were silent.”

“Tonight, they killed him so that every Arab journalist would know that he had better not deal with crime and corruption,” said the center. “It is unfortunate that the Arab journalists were left alone. On the one hand, they suffer from the violence of the police, and on the other hand, from the violence of the criminal organizations.”

The Umm el-Fahm Municipality eulogized Aghbariya, saying, “The late, the slain and the deceased media figure... was known for nothing but goodness, honesty, good morals, [he was] a generous and religious person, loved by all who knew him; a great loss for Umm el-Fahm.”

The municipality condemned the murder and called on the police to take action.

Germany finalizes its law to legalize the possession and sale of cannabis

The Government is finalizing the details of the reform that aims to legalize the possession and sale of cannabis, which will authorize the possession of up to 20 grams for those over 18 years of age and will generally prohibit the advertising of the product.

The draft also includes a specific regulation for young people, according to the media conglomerate RND, although the government prefers not to make an official statement for now, waiting for the project to be fully agreed.

The text would authorize the domestic cultivation of up to two plants and would limit to 15 percent the proportion of THC in legal cannabis. For people between 18 and 21 years of age, this percentage will be reduced to 10 percent, with the aim of avoiding brain damage.

The "controlled distribution of cannabis to adults for consumption in authorized stores" is among the commitments of the "traffic light" coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals. The Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach, has predicted a definitive text by the end of the year and foresees for 2023 the start of the parliamentary procedures.

The government estimates that some four million adults consume cannabis in Germany and, according to Lauterbach, its moderate and safe use "is part of a modern society".

THE GRIFT

Eric Trump's Remarks About Secret Service Resurface Amid New Revelations

Gerrard Kaonga - 

A video where Eric Trump, son of former President Donald Trump, said Secret Service officers were charged discounted rates while staying at Trump-owned hotels while they were protecting Trump has resurfaced following new revelations.


Eric Trump attends the Veterans Day Parade opening ceremony on November 11, 2019 in New York City. A member of the Secret Service is seen in front of the home of former President Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida on August 9, 2022. A video where Eric Trump, son of former President Donald Trump, said Secret Service officers were given discount while staying at hotels to protect Trump have resurfaced following new revelations.© Getty

An investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform said that despite claims by the Trump Organization that Secret Service agents traveling with Trump to Trump-owned properties stayed for free or at cost, the service was allegedly charged rates as high as $1,185 per room, per night, on dozens of trips.

In total, agents were reportedly charged as much as five times over the average governmental rate for hotel stays while on protection details for President Trump and his family.

The total bill came to approximately $1.4 million, according to records newly obtained by Congress.

Following this, a video of Eric Trump speaking at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit on 10 October 2019 has gone viral on Twitter.

The video has so far amassed more than 150,000 views since being posted on Monday night.

"On the day we learned that Trump charged the Secret Service 5x the standard government rate to stay at his properties, here's video proof from Eric Trump that the Trumps are lying grifters." Twitter user Eric Chapnella wrote as he shared a clip of the video Eric Trump and a news broadcast on the newly obtained records.

"This is another thing that people don't ever give us credit for," Eric Trump said in the clip.

"Anytime the government comes...they stay at our properties for free, meaning cost for housekeeping effectively, because you have to legally charge the government something.

"So everywhere that he goes, if he stays at one of our places, [the government saves] a fortune, because if they were to go across a hotel across the street they would be charging $500 a night whereas we charge them like $50," he said.

During his presidency, Trump reportedly visited his properties 547 times, including 145 visits to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, while retaining ownership in his properties.

Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, wrote a letter earlier this week to Kimberly Cheatle, director of the United States Secret Service requesting compliance with the committee's investigation request.

Maloney said members have "been seeking a full accounting of the Secret Service's expenditures at Trump Organization properties for more than two years" but still lack information.

"The exorbitant rates charged to the Secret Service and agents' frequent stays at Trump-owned properties raise significant concerns about the former President's self-dealing and may have resulted in a taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump's struggling businesses," Maloney wrote.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump's office for comment.

Ancient DNA gives rare snapshot of Neanderthal family ties

NEW YORK (AP) — A new study suggests Neanderthals formed small, tightknit communities where females may have traveled to move in with their mates.



The research used genetic sleuthing to offer a rare snapshot of Neanderthal family dynamics — including a father and his teenage daughter who lived together in Siberia more than 50,000 years ago.

Researchers were able to pull DNA out of tiny bone fragments found in two Russian caves. In their study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, they used the genetic data to map out relationships between 13 different Neanderthals and get clues to how they lived.

“When I work on a bone or two, it’s very easy to forget that these are actually people with their own lives and stories,” said study author Bence Viola, an anthropologist at the University of Toronto. “Figuring out how they’re related to each other really makes them much more human.”

Our ancient cousins, the Neanderthals, lived across Europe and Asia for hundreds of thousands of years. They died out around 40,000 years ago, shortly after our species, the Homo sapiens, arrived in Europe from Africa.

Scientists have only recently been able to dig around in these early humans' DNA. New Nobel laureate Svante Paabo — who is an author on this latest study — published the first draft of a Neanderthal genome a little over a decade ago.

Since then, scientists have sequenced 18 Neanderthal genomes, said lead author Laurits Skov, a geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. But it's rare to find bones from multiple Neanderthals from the same time and place, he said — which is why these cave discoveries were so special.

“If there was ever a chance to find a Neanderthal community, this would be it,” Skov said.

Related video: Pioneer Who First Sequenced the Neanderthal Genome Awarded Nobel Prize
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The caves, located in remote foothills above a river valley, have been a rich source of materials from stone tools to fossil fragments, Viola said. With their prime view of migrating herds in the valley below, researchers think the caves might have served as a short-term hunting stop for Neanderthals.

Archaeologists excavating the caves have found remains from at least a dozen different Neanderthals, Viola said. These remains usually come in small bits and pieces — “a finger bone here, a tooth there” — but they’re enough for scientists to extract valuable DNA details.

The researchers were able to identify a couple of relatives among the group. Along with the father and daughter, there was a pair of other relatives — maybe a boy and his aunt, or a couple of cousins.

Overall, the analysis found that everyone in the group had a lot of DNA in common. That suggests that at least in this area, Neanderthals lived in very small communities of 10 to 20 individuals, the authors concluded.

But not everyone in these groups stayed put, according to the study.

Researchers looked at other genetic clues from mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down on the mother’s side, and the Y chromosome, which is passed down on the father’s side.

The female side showed more genetic differences than the male side — which means females may have moved around more, Skov said. It’s possible that when a female Neanderthal found a mate, she would leave home to live with his family.

University of Wisconsin anthropologist John Hawks, who was not involved in the study, said the research was an exciting application of ancient DNA evidence, even as many questions remain about Neanderthal social structures and lifestyles.

Figuring out how early humans lived is like “putting together a puzzle where we have many, many missing pieces,” Hawks said. But this study means “somebody’s dumped a bunch more pieces on the table.”

———

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.

Maddie Burakoff, The Associated Press

Genetic twist: Medieval plague may have molded our immunity

Our Medieval ancestors left us with a biological legacy: Genes that may have helped them survive the Black Death make us more susceptible to certain diseases today.


Genetic twist: Medieval plague may have molded our immunity© Provided by The Canadian Press

It's a prime example of the way germs shape us over time, scientists say in a new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

“Our genome today is a reflection of our whole evolutionary history" as we adapt to different germs, said Luis Barreiro, a senior author of the research. Some, like those behind the bubonic plague, have had a big impact on our immune systems.

The Black Death in the 14th century was the single deadliest event in recorded history, spreading throughout Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa and wiping out up to 30% to 50% of the population.

Barreiro and his colleagues at the University of Chicago, McMaster University in Ontario and the Pasteur Institute in Paris examined ancient DNA samples from the bones of more than 200 people from London and Denmark who died over about 100 years that stretched before, during, and after the Black Death swept through that region.

They identified four genes that, depending on the variant, either protected against or increased susceptibility to the bacteria that causes bubonic plague, which is most often transmitted by the bite of an infected flea.

They found that what helped people in Medieval times led to problems generations later — raising the frequency of mutations detrimental in modern times. Some of the same genetic variants identified as protective against the plague are associated with certain autoimmune disorders, such as Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. In these sorts of diseases, the immune system that defends the body against disease and infection attacks the body's own healthy tissues.

“A hyperactive immune system may have been great in the past but in the environment today it might not be as helpful,” said Hendrik Poinar, an anthropology professor at McMaster and another senior author.

Past research has also sought to examine how the Black Death affected the human genome. But Barreiro said he believes theirs is the first demonstration that the Black Death was important to the evolution of the human immune system. One unique aspect of the study, he said, was to focus on a narrow time window around the event.

Monica H. Green, an author and historian of medicine who has studied the Black Death extensively, called the research “tremendously impressive,” bringing together a wide range of experts.

“It’s extremely sophisticated" and addresses important issues, such as how the same version of a gene can protect people from a horrific infection and also put modern people — and generations of their descendants — at risk for other illnesses, said Green, who was not involved in the study.

All of this begs the question: Will the COVID-19 pandemic have a big impact on human evolution? Barreiro said he doesn’t think so because the death rate is so much lower and the majority of people who have died had already had children.

In the future, however, he said more deadly pandemics may well continue to shape us at the most basic level.

“It's not going to stop. It’s going to keep going for sure.”

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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.

Laura Ungar, The Associated Press

DENIAL OF THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS

El Salvador’s government assures that imprisoned gang members have no right to reintegration

The Vice Minister of Justice and General Director of Penal Centers of El Salvador, Osiris Luna, has assured this Tuesday that not all prisoners have the right to reintegration into society, maintaining that some of those detained under the exception regime declared by the Government will remain in prison forever.


Archive - Gang members arrested in El Salvador - 

POLICÍA NACIONAL CIVIL DE EL SALVADOR© Provided by News 360

"These people who are being detained, these terrorists (...), are going to be held in a more severe regime. Anyone who is proven to be a gang member, who is part of these terrorists, should not hesitate for a single moment, these people will not be released from prison again", said Luna in declarations to Cadena Megavisión.

The Salvadoran Vice Minister of Justice assured that in countries like the United States or Spain, terrorists are not given the opportunity to reintegrate into society, but rather "they are put in the gas chamber and given a death sentence".

Likewise, Luna affirmed that the country's project promoted by the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, "is comprehensive", since "nobody wants to break the law".

However, he assured that the deaths of prisoners in Salvadoran jails reported by some human rights organizations are due to their refusal to receive medical treatment or because they have previous health problems.

Luna said that the growing number of deaths among inmates is due to the fact that El Salvador's prisons receive people who "have up to four morbidities and arrive with a series of very complicated illnesses", in addition to the fact that there are people who do not want to undergo medical tests, as he said in the interview with Cadena Megavisión.

"Up to this moment, no death has been verified for any other reason than the health issue, and I can guarantee that. We are within the corresponding instances carrying out the clinical analyses (...), despite the fact that it is an extremely large population", Luna assured.

However, Luna's statements are contrary to what has been reported by human rights organizations and family members who have denounced the deaths of up to 73 people in the country's prisons who were detained under the legal framework of the emergency regime implemented to combat gangs.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) or the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) have expressed their concern about the imposition of the state of exception in El Salvador, to which Bukele has responded that these organizations "defend the gang members". Meanwhile, the United Nations has also expressed concern over the wave of homicides in the Central American country.

Following a historic spike in homicides in March, Bukele asked Congress to authorize a state of emergency, which suspends some constitutional rights, to launch an offensive against the gangs that plague the Central American country.

During this period, the Salvadoran government is empowered to suspend certain freedoms and guarantees to facilitate the deployment of military and police in the streets and municipalities where these homicides occurred.

AFTER BITCOIN BUKELE'S  NEXT PROJECT

AMERICAN HEGEMONY

Petro accuses US of ruining «all the economies of the world».

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has accused the United States of ruining "all the economies of the world" while making decisions aimed at protecting itself in the face of an economic crisis that is already "unquestionable".


Colombian President Gustavo Petro - S. Barros/LongVisual via ZUMA Pr / DPA© Provided by News 360

In this sense, he has criticized that, with its latest decisions, such as the increase in interest rates, the world economy has suffered, especially that of Latin American countries, for which he has urged the creation of a block of countries in the region to face the recession.

"The Russians, the Ukrainians, the Europeans in the first place, have unleashed a war in their own continent: a war for gas, for energy", he explained, adding that "Latin America is being plundered", as reported by Blu Radio.

On the other hand, Petro has also charged against Washington in the migratory field, affirming that "they have put machine guns", "jails" and "walls" so that migrants do not enter through their border. "(So) they are treated and mistreated when they arrive there, if they arrive alive," he said.

Thus, he has stressed that "more prosperity must be achieved" in Latin American nations. "How many Colombians have already died in that exodus, that country that does not want them", he pointed out, adding that the United States "should understand" that in order to stop the migratory crisis it does not have to destroy Latin American economies, but help them, as reported by RCN Radio.

Norway intel agency takes over probe into drone sightings


Wed, October 19, 2022 




COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway's domestic security agency on Wednesday took over investigations of drone sightings near key infrastructure sites hours after the airport in the country's second-largest city briefly closed due to area residents spotting at least one drone nearby.

Bergen Airport, which is near Norway’s main naval base, shut down at around 6:30 a.m. when the area's air space was closed and reopened 2 1/2 hours later. Bergen police spokesman Ørjan Djuvik said several drone sightings were reported near the airport.

“There can also be observations that could be other phenomenon, for instance weather,” Djuvik said. “We are sure that there is at least one.”

North of Bergen, a drone was reported near the small, domestic Foerde airport, which also closed temporarily, Norwegian news agency NTB said.

Numerous drone sightings have been reported near offshore oil and gas platforms and other Norwegian infrastructure in recent months, Hedvig Moe, deputy chief of the Norwegian Police Security Service, said.

“We believe (the drone flights are) carried out in a way that makes it difficult to find out who is really behind it,” but Norwegian authorities suspect Russian involvement in operating unmanned aerial vehicles that “can be used for espionage or simply to create fear,” Moe said.

“Russia simply has more to gain and less to lose by conducting intelligence activities in Norway now compared to the situation before the war," she said during a news conference. "It is simply because Russia is in a pressed situation as a result of the war (in Ukraine) and is isolated by sanctions.”

”We are in a tense security-political situation, and at the same time a complex and unclear threat picture that can change in a relatively short time,” she said.

At least seven Russian citizens were detained over the past few weeks for flying drones or taking photographs of sensitive sites in Norway.

A 47-year-old man with dual Russian and British citizenship was jailed Wednesday for two weeks on suspicion of flying drones on Norway’s Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, NTB reported. He is accused of breaching sanctions which came into force after Russia went to war against Ukraine, Moe said, declining to elaborate.

Under Norwegian law, it is prohibited for aircraft operated by Russian companies or citizens “to land on, take off from or fly over Norwegian territory.” Norway is not a member of the European Union but mirrors its moves.

“It is not acceptable that foreign intelligence is flying drones over Norwegian airports. Russians are not allowed to fly drones in Norway,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said, according to Norwegian broadcaster NRK. “We do not want anyone to fly this type of craft over important installations in Norway.”

Airport operator Avinor told NRK on Tuesday that 50 possible drone observations have been reported at Norway's civilian airports so far this year, 27 of them since July.

NTB said 17 and 14 drone sightings were reported in 2021 and 2020, respectively, while the number was 44 in 2019.

The Norwegian Police Security Service, known by the acronym PST, plans to work closely with local police agencies which have conducted investigations, Moe said.

Other European nations heightened security around key energy, internet and power infrastructure following last month’s underwater explosions that ruptured two natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea that were built to deliver Russian gas to Germany.

The damaged Nord Stream pipelines off Sweden and Denmark discharged huge amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the air.

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Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Jan M. Olsen, The Associated Press