ICC prosecutor: Leaders fuelled Kenya violence
11 March 2010 - Kenyan political leaders organized and financed post-election attacks against civilians in 2008, the International Criminal Court's prosecutor told judges on Wednesday, as they consider whether to launch an investigation. Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who asked judges last November to approve an investigation into the violence, said senior political and business leaders from Prime Minister Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and President Mwai Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) were 'guided by political objectives to retain or gain power'. 'They utilized their personal, government, business, and tribal networks to commit the crimes,' Moreno-Ocampo said in a filing with pre-trial judges in The Hague. (more)
Police clash with protesters as Greeks fight cuts
11 March 2010 - Police clashed with stone-throwing youths in Athens on Thursday as tens of thousands of strikers protested against draconian cutbacks aimed at pulling Greece out of a debt crisis shaking the euro zone. In one central square hundreds of protesters hurled sticks and stones at riot police, who responded by baton-charging the crowd and firing several rounds of teargas. The clashes came after more than 20,000 protesters marched through Athens beating drums and chanting slogans such as 'Plutocrats must pay for the crisis'. Groups of anarchists threw petrol bombs, smashed shop windows, damaged cars, set garbage containers on fire, and hurled lumps of marble torn from steps of the Bank of Greece. The 4.8 billion euro (4.3 billion pound) package of cutbacks set by the government is viewed by many as hitting the wrong people in a country with widespread corruption and tax evasion. (more)
South Africa's GM crop area up, growth seen for Africa
11 March 2010 - South Africa saw faster growth in its genetically modified (GM) crop area in the 2009/10 season, amid softening perceptions about food from gene-altered crops on the continent, industry experts said on Tuesday. The country, the world's No.8 producer of GM crops but Africa's biggest, has seen a rapid increase in gene-altered crop output since it started growing GM farm produce in 1998. 'More than 70 per cent of South Africa's total maize plantings for 2009/10 season are GM,' independent biotechnology consultant Wally Green said. Cumulative for the 10-year period 2000 to 2009, nearly 8 million hectares of biotech maize (white and yellow) were planted in South Africa. In addition, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, and Mali are in an advanced stage of conducting research and field trials with numerous GM crops, including maize, rice, wheat, cassava, bananas, sorghum, and cotton. (more)
US: Pharmaceutical group spent $6.3 million lobbying in Q4
11 March 2010 - The pharmaceutical industry's main trade group spent $6.3 million in the fourth quarter lobbying Congress, the White House, and multiple government agencies on health care provisions and related issues, according to a quarterly disclosure report. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America include drug giants Pfizer Inc, Merck and Co, Johnson and Johnson, and more than two dozen other US and foreign companies. PhRMA lobbied on multiple aspects of the health care overhau. Besides Congress, PhRMA lobbied the Department of Health and Human Services and several of its agencies, including the FDA, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The trade group also lobbied the White House, Congressional Budget Office, Office of Management and Budget, Patent and Trademark Office, Federal Trade Commission, US Trade Representative, and the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, and State. (more)
