How a South African billionaire is turning a corner of Somerset into ‘one man’s estate’ pred 8 urami in 19 minutami Koos Bekker’s Newt estate encompasses luxury hotels, pubs and high street business, with local concerns including floodingWhen South African billionaire Koos Bekker bought an old country estate in a sleepy corner of Somerset to turn it into a luxury hotel, residents thought it was a sign their area was on the up.Walking through his peaceful manicured gardens, which feature a maze of apple trees twisted into perfect shapes using the espalier method, it’s easy to feel that all is well in this quiet, picturesque pocket of England. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
FDA may allow some toxic chemicals to be added to food without safety review. Experts are alarmed pred 9 urami in 19 minutami Regulator looks to expand loophole to allow dangerous compounds in food as long as they’re not carcinogenicThe US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing to expand a controversial loophole to allow some of the world’s most toxic chemicals to be added directly to food without a safety review.The “threshold of regulation” (TOR) exemption currently allows dangerous compounds to be used without review in food contact materials, such as packaging or processing equipment, if they are not carcinogenic, and are added at levels below 0.5 parts per billion (ppb). Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Study explores links between 19th-century Manchester workers and enslaved Africans in Caribbean pred 9 urami in 19 minutami Global Threads research project reveals how slavery hung ‘like a spectre’ over the Peterloo massacre and other Mancunian struggles for equalityThey were the killings that changed Britain, paving the way for working-class people’s right to vote, as well as leading to the founding of the Manchester Guardian. In the Peterloo massacre of 1819, peaceful protesters were shot and trampled to death by the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry at St Peter’s Field in the city.A study by Global Threads, a public history project, has examined how the exploitation of Africans enslaved in the Caribbean was linked with the struggles of cotton workers at Peterloo. Though these workers were divided by thousands of miles and led different lives, they were exploited by the same forces – as Robert Wedderburn, a Black abolitionist in London, said at the time. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Candidate named Hitler Mussolini elected mayor in Peru pred 9 urami in 20 minutami Leftwing Hitler Mussolini Simeon Flores beats far-right candidate in election in remote district of AndesA businessman called Hitler Mussolini Simeon Flores has been elected the mayor of a remote district in the Peruvian Andes, according to local election data.The 45-year-old, who shares two of his names with the notorious European dictators, won the race for mayor of Queropalca, in Peru’s central Huánuco region, and will take office on 1 January. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Greens must avoid ‘capture by extremists and racists’, says party MP pred 9 urami in 34 minutami Ellie Chowns says vote for ‘Zionism is racism’ policy by 0.4% of members shows party processes are not workingA Green Party MP has said she wants to make sure her party is not “vulnerable to capture by extremists and racists” amid the continuing fallout from the “Zionism is racism” vote.The party faces a political maelstrom over its policy decision last week to treat Zionism, the movement for a Jewish state, as any other form of racism, and to back a single Palestinian state over a two-state solution. The motion was passed at the annual party conference with just over 1,000 votes, approximately 0.4% of the total membership. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
