Fears mount over migrants dying 'out of sight' in Mediterranean

AFP / PABLO GARCIA

Members of the Spanish NGO Mayday terraneo prepare to sail back to the Aita Mari rescue boat with around 90 migrants in February

More and more migrants are crossing, Europe is closing its ports and no humanitarian ships are carrying out rescues. As the coronavirus pandemic dominates headlines, activists fear the Mediterranean is the scene of an overlooked "tragedy".

A handful of migrant landings have taken place in recent weeks, including 79 people who arrived last weekend in Italy -- a country under fire even before the outbreak for refusing to allow private vessels carrying migrants to dock.

International organisations and NGOs say the situation is bleak, as all rescue operations were ceased as of last week.

"If there is no help at sea and countries drag their feet to rescue and allow people to disembark, we're going to end up with a fairly serious humanitarian situation," said Vincent Cochetel, special envoy for the central Mediterranean with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

He estimates that 179 people have died in the area since January.

Italy and Malta closed their ports at the beginning of April as the pandemic hit Europe hard. At that time, only two rescue boats were in operation -- the Alan Kurdi vessel run by the German NGO Sea-Eye, and Aita Mari chartered by the Spanish organisation Maydayterraneo.

Both have now been grounded by the Italian coastguard for "technical" problems, a move denounced as unjustified by campaign groups.

Meanwhile Malta's Prime Minister Robert Abela said last month that he was under investigation for his role in the death of at least five migrants who tried to sail from Libya to Italy. A Maltese patrol boat allegedly cut the cables of the migrant dinghy's motor.

- More departures -

sea-eye.org/AFP / Cedric FETTOUCHE

A picture released by German migrant rescue NGO Sea-Eye shows an operation to rescue people in distress off the Libyan coast in April


The situation is all the more dire, Cochetel said, as departures from the Libyan coast have nearly quadrupled compared with the same period a year ago, with 6,629 attempts to reach Europe between January and the end of April.

The number of departures from Tunisia had more than doubled, Cochetel said.

"Whether or not there are (rescue) boats at sea, it has no influence on departures -- this period of coronavirus has amply proven that," he said.

He said that "75 percent of migrants in Libya have lost their jobs since the lockdown measures, which can lead to despair".

Sophie Beau, general director of SOS Mediterranee, a French-based NGO that charters a rescue boat called the Ocean Viking, questions the motives behind the withdrawal of the two vessels.

"Two boats one after the other, it really raises questions about why they were seized," she said.

The Ocean Viking will return to sea "as soon as possible" despite the "criminalisation" of aid groups, Beau said.

"It's very dramatic... and counter to international maritime law, which requires us to help anyone in distress as quickly as possible," Beau said.

"Now, as there are no witnesses, we don't know the extent of the possible tragedy taking place" in the Mediterranean, she added.

- 'Invisible shipwrecks' -

The central Mediterranean "remains the most dangerous maritime migration route on Earth," the International Organization for Migration warned.

"In the current context, risks that invisible shipwrecks are occurring out of sight of the international community have grown," it said.

Beau warned that "managing the epidemic, closing ports and borders... in addition to these constraints, there is also the lack of a coordinated mechanism," referring to the agreement on the distribution of migrants between European countries after they have disembarked.

AFP / Pablo Garcia

Two migrants are pictured on board the Aita Mari vessel in February after their rescue in international waters

The agreement was drawn up in Malta at the end of 2019 but has been slow to materialise.

In a joint letter sent to the European Commission and reviewed by AFP, the French, Italian, Spanish and German interior ministers called for the establishment of a "solidarity mechanism" for "search and rescue" at sea.

"Currently, a handful of member states carry an excessive burden, which shows a lack of solidarity and risks making the whole system dysfunctional," they said in the letter.

Pending a European agreement, and in the absence of humanitarian vessels, 162 migrants are currently stranded at sea on two tourist vessels.

Last-ditch bid to save Oslo building with Picasso murals

AFP / Pierre-Henry DESHAYESProtesters are bidding to save a government building adorned with Picasso murals in Oslo

Face masks are rare and social distances vary but the human chain spreads out, braving the risk of infection, as activists in Oslo make a last-ditch bid to save a building adorned with artwork designed by Spanish master painter Pablo Picasso.

Damaged in rightwing extremist Anders Behring Breivik's July 2011 attacks, the "Y Block", a government building complex named for its shape and completed in 1969, is due to be demolished any day now.

On its grey cement walls are two Picasso drawings, sandblasted by Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar, who collaborated with the Spaniard.

On the facade facing the street, "The Fishermen" depicts three men hauling their oversized catch on board their boat. In the lobby, "The Seagull" shows the bird, its wings spread wide, devouring a fish.

Etched in the Spanish painter's childlike strokes, the two works will be cut out and relocated to new government buildings due to be built in the central Oslo neighbourhood.

But not everyone is okay with that plan.

AFP / Pierre-Henry DESHAYES

Activists form a human chain during a demonstration in a last-ditch effort to try to save Y block


"We're going to be kicking ourselves for years," blasts Erik Lie, one of the 200 or so Norwegians who have come to protest against the demolition on this freezing May morning, one link in the human chain in front of the building.

"I hope it's not too late," he says, his orange woolly hat reading "Let Y Stand", before adding fatalistically: "But this will probably be a pile of rubble soon."

- Symbol of democracy -

Because of the new coronavirus, protesters are linked by metre-long ribbons in a bid to keep them at a safe distance from one another.

Energised by their despair, they still harbour dreams of ripping the building from the bulldozers' claws.

But behind them, beyond the high fences, the sound of metal saws suggests the preparations are well underway.

According to Statsbygg, the public agency in charge of overseeing the demolition, the murals are to be dismantled before the end of spring.

SCANPIX NORWAY/AFP/File / STORLØKKEN, AAGENorwegian artist Carl Nesjar sandblasted the Pablo Picasso works into the concrete during the construction of the government building in Oslo, Norway in June 1958

The nearby "H Block" building, built in the late 1950s and which has three other Picasso murals, was home to the prime minister's offices until Breivik blew up a van loaded with 950 kilos (2,100 pounds) of explosives at its base.

"H Block" will be renovated and will continue to tower over the new ministry buildings.

For some, the symbolism is inevitable: these buildings remain standing, despite Breivik's attempts to bring them -- and democracy -- down.

"Y Block is an iconic building in Oslo that has survived a terrorist attack and now the government wants to tear it down. And nobody can actually give a good argument for why they should," says Tone Dalen, one of the figurehead of the protests.

The government meanwhile insists that the demolition of "Y Block" to make space for new buildings was a difficult but necessary decision.

"It will improve security and accessibility for cyclists and pedestrians, and will provide a more open and greener space, as well as offices suited to the future ministries," said Modernisation Minister Nikolai Astrup.

- Too late -

"The Fishermen" and "The Seagull" -- whose existence many Norwegians were unaware of until the question of their relocation arose -- are supposed to be made more visible to the public in their future location.

"A lot of people think that it's Picasso that deserves to be preserved but it's also the architecture and the interaction between 'Y Block' and 'H Block', the history that it represents," insists Erik Lie.

"These are monuments that illustrate the rebuilding of Norway after the war, and everything that I associate with the development of modern society," he says.

AFP/File / Odd ANDERSEN

Y Block was damaged in rightwing extremist Anders Behring Breivik's July 2011 attacks and is now set for demolition

With their drab appearance, the buildings' aesthetic qualities may be debated but supporters insist that you cannot destroy everything you don't like.

"Maybe we don't find it beautiful today, but perhaps in 30 years we'll think the opposite," notes Cecilie Geelmuyden, a 50-year-old civil servant and protest supporter.

Despite a growing number of protests in recent weeks, the demolition process now appear irreversible.

At the end of August, the Oslo district court is to consider a request to have the demolition declared illegal.

But that will be too late, in all likelihood.

As Lie predicts, by then, "Y Block" will probably be nothing more than a pile of rubble.

Awful data show US economy is in deep trouble



AFP/File / Paul RatjeOil and gas production posted its largest-ever decline in the Federal Reserve's April industrial production survey

Newly released economic data showed the US economy is in a terrible state and may not rebound quickly even when the devastating lockdowns imposed to stop the coronavirus pandemic are lifted.

Data tracking industrial production and the vital retail sector released Friday showed record declines in April, the first full month of lockdowns to stop the spread of COVID-19 virus that has killed nearly 86,000 people and caused around 36.5 million people to lose their jobs in the world's largest economy.


With millions of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits every week since the lockdowns began in mid-March, analysts fear the US faces a months-long slog out of the downturn, with no shortage of possible setbacks.

The consumer pullback was "truly staggering," Oxford Economics said in an analysis of the retail sales data.

"The combination of elevated unemployment, depressed income, frail consumer confidence will continue to weigh on consumer's appetite for spending."

- Record plunges -

Consumer spending has been a crucial part of the US economy, and the Commerce Department reported retail sales sunk by 16.4 percent in April, the largest one-month fall on record.

The decline reversed years of growth and brought the index back to approximately where it was in August 2012.


AFP/File / Angela WeissBusinesses built around getting shoppers to visit their stores were among the hardest hit in April retail sales data

The hardest-hit businesses were those that relied on shoppers at brick-and-mortar stores, like clothing, which collapsed 78.8 percent, electronics and appliances, which plunged 60.6 percent, and furniture, down 58.7 percent.

Non-store retailers, such as those doing business online, were one of the only bright spots, growing by 8.4 percent.

"Overall this is a dire set of numbers," said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail. "May will not be a month of celebration. Nor will June. Nor July. Nor probably the rest of this year."

"Retail's recovery will be slow and, in our view, it won't be until 2021 before trade starts to return to more normal patterns," he said.

On the other end of the supply chain, the Federal Reserve's industrial production index dropped a record 11.2 percent in April, the largest monthly fall in its 101-year history.

The auto sector took the biggest hit, plunging more than 70 percent, according to the report, while overall manufacturing output fell 13.8 percent in the month, putting it 18 percent below April of last year.

Oil and gas well drilling fell 28 percent, its largest drop on record dating back to 1972 as demand for energy collapsed, while decreases of around 20 percent were recorded in primary metal products, aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment, and furniture and related products.

- Scant optimism -
A New York Federal Reserve Bank survey of manufacturers in the New York region, home to one of the worst outbreaks of COVID-19, showed the index recovered by 30 points in May compared to April, but was still deep underwater at -48.5 percent.

Meanwhile, a nationwide industry poll showed majority of US manufacturing and services firms expect revenues to decline sharply this year amid the lockdowns, pushing any recovery back to 2021.

And many more companies in both sectors anticipate cutting employment this year than in the December survey, according to the Semiannual Economic Forecast by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

"It won't be a V-shaped recovery by any stretch," Timothy Fiore, head of ISM's manufacturing survey told reporters.



The changing nature of business, given social-distancing requirements, uncertain consumer sentiment and jobs outlook, all will weigh on the sector, he said.

One bright spot in the data was that consumers who have been central to the US economy were slightly more upbeat this month. The University of Michigan monthly survey released Friday showed sentiment improved slightly, ticking up to 73.7 percent from 71.8 percent in April.

The report said money paid directly to individuals and families by the massive $2.2 trillion CARES act passed by Congress in March improved consumers' situations.

But the survey's chief economist Richard Curtin warned personal financial prospects had fallen to their lowest level in six years, with higher-income households reporting significant drops.

In a separate survey, the Bureau of Labor statistics reported collapsing job openings and surging layoffs in March, the month during which lockdowns became widespread.

The number of people who were laid off, fired or forced out of employment jumped by a record 9.5 million that month, while job openings fell by 813,000. The largest share of the declines in both metrics was in the accommodation and food services sector.



Virus could cut up to 9.7 percent off global economy: ADB

]

AFP/File / Roslan RAHMANUp to 242 million jobs will be lost due to the virus that has battered the world economy, the Asian Development Bank said

The coronavirus pandemic could cut up to 9.7 percent off the global economy, the Asian Development Bank said Friday, doubling its previous estimate as the virus stifles trade and leaves millions jobless.

The estimated impact would cost as much as $8.8 trillion based on a range of scenarios, but ADB said government interventions could help offset the losses inflicted by the crisis.

Up to 242 million jobs will be lost due to the virus, more than seven times higher than the employment losses seen during the global financial crisis a decade ago. Foregone labour income could top $1.8 trillion.

"These will be difficult to recoup," the Manila-based lender said, warning it could not discount the possibility of a financial crisis if the pandemic was not contained quickly enough to prevent defaults and bankruptcies.

The coronavirus has killed 300,140 people worldwide, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.

The World Health Organization has said the virus may become just another endemic virus in communities and populations will have to learn to live with it.

Over 4.4 million cases have been officially recorded in 196 countries and territories, with the United States recording the most deaths at 85,906.

To stem the economic losses, governments have announced a range of stimulus measures such as payroll support to keep jobs, cash transfers and tax breaks.

"These helped counteract some of the adverse economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic," ADB said.

The bank noted the United States stands to lose up to $2.2 trillion or a tenth of its GDP while losses in China, where the virus first surfaced, could top $1.6 trillion or 11 percent of its economy.

Among industries, tourism and aviation were hit hard as countries closed borders and enforced lockdowns to contain the spread of the virus.

Many airlines have either retrenched staff or told their employees to take unpaid leave.

"The impact on employment was severe. Unskilled workers normally working on a casual or 'per piece; basis were hardest hit," ADB said.

Travel restrictions will cut global trade by up to $2.6 trillion, which is already reeling from trade tensions between the United States and China, a global growth slowdown and weaker business confidence.

FEMICIDE
Afghan hospital attackers 'came to kill mothers': MSF

AFP/File / STR

Two newborn babies who lost their mothers in an attack on a maternity ward in the Afghanistan capital Kabul

Gunmen who stormed a hospital in the Afghan capital this week had come to "kill the mothers" at the maternity ward, medical charity Doctors Without Borders has said.

At least 24 people were killed -- including newborns, mothers and nurses -- when three armed men rampaged through the maternity ward of the hospital in Kabul on Tuesday, in an attack that sparked international outrage.

The United States later said the deadly assault was carried out by the Islamic State group.

"What I saw in the maternity hospital demonstrates it was a systematic shooting of the mothers," said Frederic Bonnot on Thursday, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) head in Afghanistan, who visited the facility a day after the attack.

"They went through the rooms in the maternity, shooting women in their beds. It was methodical.

"Walls sprayed with bullets, blood on the floors in the rooms, vehicles burnt out and windows shot through," he said in a statement.

MSF, which runs the maternity ward, said at the time of the attack 26 mothers were being cared for at the Barchi National Hospital in west Kabul.

Eleven were killed, including three in the delivery room with their newborn babies while five others were wounded.

Ten others found shelter in safe rooms.

The assailants who entered the facility through the main gate moved straight to the maternity ward, MSF said.

When the attack began, shooting and explosions could be heard from the safe room where several had taken refuge, said Bonnot.

"They came to kill the mothers," he said.

"This country is sadly used to seeing horrific events. But what happened Tuesday is beyond words."

Officials said there were three attackers who were eventually killed in a lengthy clearance operation.

Heavily armed security forces were seen carrying infants -- at least one wrapped in a blood-soaked blanket.

IS has not claimed the attack but US Special Representative to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, said it was carried out by the Islamic State in Khorasan, the Afghan branch of IS.

The Islamic State group "opposes a peace agreement between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban, and seeks to encourage sectarian war as in Iraq and Syria," Khalilzad wrote on Twitter.

The Taliban has denied any involvement in the onslaught.

In another attack on Tuesday in the country's east, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a funeral, killing at least 32 mourners, with IS later claiming responsibility.

Leaders 'aren't even pretending to be in charge': Obama

AS CHEF EMERIL USED TO SAY "BAM"

AFP/File / Christof STACHE

Former US President Barack Obama has kept a low profile since leaving office in January 2017 and rarely speaks out publicly

Barack Obama indirectly criticized his successor Donald Trump during a virtual graduation ceremony Saturday, in rare public judgment from the former US president during the coronavirus pandemic.

"More than anything this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they're doing," Obama told graduates from several dozen historically black colleges and universities.

"A lot of them aren't even pretending to be in charge," he said as he discussed the implications of the pandemic during the online event, without naming any specific leaders.

Obama has kept a low profile since leaving office in January 2017 and rarely speaks out publicly.

On Saturday he also highlighted how the health crisis has underscored racial inequality in America, and expressed outrage at the shooting death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, killed on February 23 while out for a jog in Georgia.

"A disease like this just spotlights the underlying inequalities and extra burdens that black communities have historically had to deal with in this country," he said.

"We see it in the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on our communities. Just as we see it when a black man goes for a jog and some folks feel like they can stop and question, and shoot him, if he doesn't submit to their question," he continued, without naming Arbery.

Obama will speak at a second ceremony later Saturday, this one a star-studded prime-time event for high school students who are missing out on graduation pomp because of the coronavirus.

The commencement will feature an array of artists, athletes and musicians, and is being carried by major American TV networks.

Because of the global health crisis, traditional American high school and university graduation ceremonies, a popular rite of passage, are out of the question.

So virtual ceremonies are taking their place.

"I've always loved joining commencements -- the culmination of years of hard work and sacrifice," Obama wrote on Twitter earlier this month.

In keeping with tradition, America's first black president has up until now avoided publicly criticizing his successor, despite frequently being attacked by Trump.

But earlier this month, in remarks leaked from a web call with people who worked in his administration, he called Trump's handling of the pandemic a catastrophe. 

"It would have been bad even with the best of governments. It has been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset -- of 'what's in it for me' and 'to heck with everybody else' -- when that mindset is operationalized in our government," he said in that call.

 The US leads the world with coronavirus cases and deaths, at 1.4 million and nearly 90,000, respectively.

As this year's graduates enter a new chapter in life, they face a grim reality: the US unemployment rate has suddenly shot up to nearly 15 percent and more than 36 million people have filed for unemployment benefits as America grapples with the fallout from months of lockdown and business closings.

2020 list of UK's richest shows first fall in wealth in decade

THEY ARE STILL THE RICHEST MEN IN THE UK

AFP/File / Christophe ARCHAMBAULT

British inventor James Dyson, founder of the Dyson company, topped the Sunday Times rich list for the first time (AND HE LIVES IN SINGAPORE)

Britain's wealthiest people have lost tens of billions of pounds in the coronavirus pandemic as their combined annual wealth fell for the first time in a decade, the Sunday Times reported in its Rich List 2020.

The newspaper, which has produced the respected annual ranking of the country's 1,000 wealthiest people since 1989, found the past two months had resulted in the super-rich losing £54 billion ($65 billion, 60 billion euros).

More than half of the billionaires in Britain had seen drops in their worth by as much as £6bn, a decrease in their collective wealth unprecedented since 2009 and the financial crisis.

Inventor James Dyson bucked the trend to top the list for the first time, with an estimated wealth of £16.2bn.

The paper credited his rise from fifth place in 2019 to both the strong performance of his businesses and the plummeting fortunes of other billionaires in the top 10.

The Hinduja brothers, who topped last year's list with a £22bn fortune, saw among the biggest falls in worth -- £6bn -- and are now ranked jointly second with entrepreneurs David and Simon Reuben.

Jim Ratcliffe, boss of petrochemicals firm Ineos, who topped the rankings in 2018, also saw his worth slide by £6bn to £12.15bn.

Steel baron Lakshmi Mittal was another to see the steepest falls in his fortune -- nearly £4bn -- placing him 19th with a worth of £6.78bn.

In total, the 2020 list calculated the combined wealth of Britain's super-rich to be £743bn -- £29bn less than last year.

- Billionaire capital of the world -

Its number of billionaires dropped by four to 147 but London remains the billionaire capital of the world, with 89 born, living or with a significant chunk of their assets based in the city.

"The first detailed analysis of the super-rich's finances since the COVID-19 outbreak began will heighten concerns that Britain is entering a deep and long-lasting recession," the Sunday Times said.

AFP/File / STRThe Hinduja brothers Sri (L) and Gopi saw their fortune fall more than $7 billion


The paper noted at least 63 members of the list, including 20 billionaires, have sought to use a government-run furlough scheme which pays staff up to 80 percent of their salaries up to £2,500 a month during the crisis.

They include London-based Sri and Gopi Hinduja, owners of the sprawling Hinduja Group of companies, who have furloughed around 360 employees at Optare, their bus-making firm based in northern England.

Ratcliffe co-owns The Pig hotel chain, which has furloughed most of its staff, while he is also seeking an emergency loan from the government for a joint venture between Ineos and the Chinese state-owned PetroChina.

Carys Roberts, executive director of the Institute for Public Policy Research, told the Sunday Times their use of the taxpayer-funded schemes was highly questionable.

"Why can't they now dip into their own deep pockets instead of asking ordinary families to do so for them?" she said.

- Rich List 2020 top 10 -

£16.2bn -- James Dyson and family

£16bn -- Sri and Gopi Hinduja and family

£16bn -- David and Simon Reuben

£15.8bn -- Leonard Blavatnik

£12.2bn -- Jim Ratcliffe

£12.1bn -- Kirsten and Jorn Rausing

£11.7bn -- Alisher Usmanov

£10.5bn -- Guy, George and Galen Jr Weston and family

£10.3bn -- Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and Michel de Carvalho

£10.3bn -- The Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family

Spraying disinfectants can be 'harmful', says WHO    DUH OH

AFP/File / ISHARA S. KODIKARAFirefighters spray disinfectant to sanitize a road as a preventive measure against the coronavirus in Colombo, Sri Lanka on May 10

Spraying disinfectant on the streets, as practised in some countries, does not eliminate the new coronavirus and even poses a health risk, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Saturday.

In a document on cleaning and disinfecting surfaces as part of the response to the virus, the WHO says spraying can be ineffective.

"Spraying or fumigation of outdoor spaces, such as streets or marketplaces, is... not recommended to kill the COVID-19 virus or other pathogens because disinfectant is inactivated by dirt and debris," explains the WHO.

"Even in the absence of organic matter, chemical spraying is unlikely to adequately cover all surfaces for the duration of the required contact time needed to inactivate pathogens."

The WHO said that streets and pavements are not considered as "reservoirs of infection" of COVID-19, adding that spraying disinfectants, even outside, can be "dangerous for human health".

The document also stresses that spraying individuals with disinfectants is "not recommended under any circumstances".

"This could be physically and psychologically harmful and would not reduce an infected person’s ability to spread the virus through droplets or contact," said the document.

Spraying chlorine or other toxic chemicals on people can cause eye and skin irritation, bronchospasm and gastrointestinal effects, it adds.

The organisation is also warning against the systematic spraying and fumigating of disinfectants on to surfaces in indoor spaces, citing a study that has shown it to be ineffective outside direct spraying areas.

"If disinfectants are to be applied, this should be done with a cloth or wipe that has been soaked in disinfectant," it says.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, the cause of the pandemic that has killed more than 300,000 people worldwide since its appearance in late December in China, can attach itself to surfaces and objects.

However, no precise information is currently available for the period during which the viruses remain infectious on the various surfaces.

Studies have shown that the virus can stay on several types of surfaces for several days. However, these maximum durations are only theoretical because they are recorded under laboratory conditions and should be "interpreted with caution" in the real-world environment.

The exposome: When our environment drives health and disease

Take two: Science publishes two papers on effects of unknown chemicals

UNIVERSITY OF LUXEMBOURG

 

IMAGE: EXPOSOME ILLUSTRATION (ENGLISH). view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF LUXEMBOURG

Science, has published in its January issue two papers by Associate Prof. Emma Schymanski, Head of the Environmental Cheminformatics research group at the University of Luxembourg. This is a glowing acknowledgement of the relevance of the research focus of her team: developing methods to identify unknown chemicals and their effects on health and disease.

In the two contributions to Science, Prof. Schymanski and her co-authors present the exposome, a recent concept aiming to capture the diversity of environmental factors that can affect us. They also summarise new technological advances and analytical tools used to identify chemicals and understand their impact.

The sum of all environmental factors

The exposome is the sum of all the environmental drivers of health and diseases: a combination of external factors such as chemicals contained in the air, water or food, and of internal components produced by our organism in response to various stress factors. This very complex set of elements is continually evolving, and to map it fully is a challenging undertaking. A first paper1 describes recent progress that will help with this task, such as the development of high-resolution mass spectrometry, a technology that can detect tens of thousands of compounds in biological and environmental samples. Associated with growing databases on all known chemicals and powerful computational tools to analyse large amounts of data, these recent technological advances could revolutionise environmental monitoring.

A complex network of chemicals

This first paper also highlights that a network approach is needed to take into account the large number of chemical exposures in our daily lives and the complex way they interact with our cells. This is why the second review2 describes ways to characterise groups of chemicals in diverse samples, from water and soil to biological tissues, and to identify mixtures that pose a combined risk. "Innovative sampling techniques such as hand wipes or silicon bracelets can be used to measure personal exposure," Prof. Schymanski explains. "We also mentioned the importance of non-targeted analyses to identify unknown contaminants and showed the potential of in-vitro bioassays to assess the toxicity of complex mixtures, even if chemical identities remain unknown."

"Both papers are a call for a research effort at a scale comparable to what was done for the human genome, to get in-depth knowledge of the cocktail of substances we are exposed to and their intricate interactions with living organisms," Prof. Schymanski points out.

There are still many challenges ahead: databases have to be harmonised and made fully accessible, statistical tools need refining in order to account for the constellation of chemicals coming from related sources, and methodologies should be standardised. But despite the difficulties, the perspectives are tremendous.

Need for research on environmental quality and health

According to the European environment -- state and outlook 2020, we face environmental challenges of unprecedented scale. The number of new chemicals has risen from 20 to 156 million from 2002 and 2019. Pesticides, industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals can enter the environment and the food chain, possibly causing unwanted effects and disease. Medical research estimates that every year nine million deaths are related to pollution. This highlights the need for research to address the chemical complexity of our world and elucidate the multiple links between environmental quality and health.

Just like large scale genomic studies allowed the detection of many genetic variations linked to diseases, the implementation of exposome-wide association studies with hundreds of thousands of participants would help identify the strongest chemical risk factors and understand their impact on individual health. It will enable the establishment of environmental risk scores, which could be used to develop individual prevention and treatment strategies. "On top of providing crucial information for individual patients, research on the exposome will also support the necessary shift in existing policies," Prof. Schymanski says. By helping regulatory bodies to focus on the chemicals with the most adverse effect and elucidating their combined effect, it will help minimise the impact on our health and on the ecosystems we live in. LCSB director Prof. Rudi Balling concludes: "We are proud that with Prof. Schymanski, Luxembourg is now at the forefront of this exciting and significant research field."

###

1 The exposome and health: where chemistry meets biology: DOI: 10.1126/science.aay3164

2 Tracking Complex Mixtures of Chemicals in our Changing Environment: DOI: 10.1126/science.aay6636

Prof Emma Schymanski. Industrial chemical plant

New functions of a protein may improve biocontrol methods in sustainable agriculture

The study has been conducted at 'BacBio', a laboratory of the University of Malaga (UMA) that specializes in the research on bacteria-plant interactions

UNIVERSITY OF MALAGA

IMAGE: NEW FUNCTIONS OF A PROTEIN MAY IMPROVE BIOCONTROL METHODS IN SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF MALAGA

The laboratory of the UMA "BacBio" has proved that Bacillus subtilis cells, when deprived of an amyloid protein (TasA), exhibit a range of cytological anomalies and dysfunctions leading to their premature death. A discovery that enables progress to be made in understanding the role of these proteins, widely distributed in the microbial world, and helps improve biological control methods in sustainable agriculture. This research has been recently published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

The UMA research team has particularly evidenced how this amyloid protein TasA, required for the assembly of the bacterial communities known as "biofilms", also prevents bacterial cell death, but preserving cell membrane integrity. "That is: we observed a complementary role in these proteins in addition to their merely structural role", explains the main author of this study, the researcher Diego Romero, who is also a member of the Institute for Mediterranean and Subtropical Horticulture "La Mayora" (IHSM), a joint research institute of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the UMA.

According to the expert, this dual functionality is reflected in bacterial attachment to plant surfaces, where the protein contributes to combat pathogen attack and improve bacterial fitness. "We aim to boost its use in sustainable models of crop production and protection", says the Professor of the UMA Department of Microbiology.

Thus, this study has worked on the bacterium Bacillus subtilis placing emphasis on two aspects: the study of its molecular bases, that lead to the formation of bacterial communities known as "biofilms", and how these biofilms contribute to the beneficial activity of Bacillus as biocontrol agents in sustainable agriculture models.

The amyloids: dual functionality

Amyloids are proteins primarily known for its relation to degenerative diseases in human beings. In fact, "amyloidosis", an ailment caused by amyloid accumulation in organs or tissues, is named after them. However, as noted by this research, amyloid proteins (TasA among them) have the ability to adopt a great variety of purposes in nature, reason why they are called functional amyloids.

"The fact that these proteins are widely distributed in the microbial world entails the possibility that they might play a role in other bacterial species stabilizing cell integrity, or at least a different and complementary role to that initially observed in each of these systems", clarifies Romero.

The expert states that the importance of these results is twofold. From the agrobiotechnological point of view, it allows researchers to better understand the behaviour of beneficial bacteria, hence, improve and reinforce its use in sustainable production and protection programmes. On the other hand, from the microbial point of view, where amyloid proteins are highly distributed, a new target has been identified to be attacked should they wish to harm pathogenic microorganisms.

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The study has been supported by funding granted by the European Research Council (ERC-StG programme), which promotes top-quality research projects, and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.

BacBio Laboratory, located in the Bioinnovation building of the UMA, has been studying bacteria physiology and their interaction with the environment since 2013. Plants are another priority line of research, particularly, the Cucurbitaceae, a plant family which comprises melon and cucumber.

Bibliography:

Cámara-Almirón, J., Navarro, Y., Díaz-Martínez, L. et al. Dual functionality of the amyloid protein TasA in Bacillus physiology and fitness on the phylloplane. Nat Commun 11, 1859 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15758-z

Global spread of the multi-resistant pathogen Stenotrophomonas maltophilia

GERMAN CENTER FOR INFECTION RESEARCH

IMAGE: SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC IMAGE OF STENOTROPHOMONAS MALTOPHILIA. view more 

CREDIT: E. ABDA & I. ALIO/ MIKROBIOLOGIE, UNIVERSITÄT HAMBURG

S. maltophilia strains occur in several natural and human associated ecosystems. The bacterium was long regarded as relatively unproblematic but is now considered to be one of the most feared hospital pathogens, as it frequently causes infections and is resistant to a number of antibiotics. This can be particularly dangerous for immune-compromised patients or for patients with underlying inflammatory lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis. Although almost any organ can be affected, infections of the respiratory tract, bacteraemia or catheter-related infections of the bloodstream are the most common. In view of the increasing importance of this pathogen and the often-severe clinical consequences of an infection, knowledge about the virulence factors and about the local and global transmission of S. maltophilia bacteria is urgently needed.

Scientists from a total of eight countries initially established a genotyping method that enables the standardised analysis of the different genomes of S. maltophilia strains. The DZIF teams around Prof. Stefan Niemann (FZB), Prof. Jan Rupp, (Clinic of Infectiology and Microbiology, Campus Lübeck) and Prof. Ulrich Nübel from the Leibniz Institute DSMZ (German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH ) in Braunschweig were involved.

The scientists found that the S. maltophilia complex can be divided into a total of 23 lineages with different prevalence levels. One particular line of descent appeared worldwide and had the highest rate of human-associated strains. This "Sm6" strain was also characterised by the presence of key virulence genes and resistance genes. "This suggests that a specific gene configuration may promote the spread of different S. maltophilia subtypes in the hospital setting, i.e. under antimicrobial treatment," says Matthias Gröschel, lead author of the study.

Transmission analysis also identified several potential outbreak events of genetically closely related strains that were isolated within days or weeks in the same hospitals. "Combined with studies on other pathogens, our results show how systematic genome-based monitoring of S. maltophilia and other pathogens in hospital settings can help detect transmission pathways and improve infection control," Thom