Science News-Many Happy Returns

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Medical News Study Offers Insights on How to Decrease the Discard Rate of Donated Organs • From 2008-2015, the number of kidneys donated after circulatory death that were obtained by the country’s 58 donor service areas varied substantially. • The outcomes associated with these organs were generally excellent. • The use of thes... – American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Journal of the American Society of Nephrology Embargo expired on 05-Oct-2017 at 17:00 ET New Findings On Mechanisms For Body Temperature Regulation By Fat Tissue New discoveries about the mechanism responsible for heat generation in the body related to fat tissue oppose classical views in the field and could lead to new ways to fight metabolic disorders associated with obesity, according to a study led by Geo... – Georgia State University Cell Metabolism Embargo expired on 05-Oct-2017 at 12:00 ET Fight Against Top Killer, Clogged Arteries, Garners Acclaimed NIH Award No disorder appears to kill more people than atherosclerosis, and hopeful experimental treatments with "good cholesterols" have failed. New research reapproaches them with carefully designed cholesterols in an organ-on-a-chip in highly reproducible e... – Georgia Institute of Technology DP2 HL142050 Embargo expired on 05-Oct-2017 at 10:00 ET Study Highlights 10 Most Unnecessary and Overused Medical Tests and Treatments Unnecessary medication. Tests that don’t reveal the problem, or uncover a “problem” that isn’t really there. Procedures that have more risk than benefit. A new study highlights some of the most egregious examples of medical overuse in America... – University of Maryland School of Medicine JAMA Internal Medicine 'Khamisiyah Plume' Linked to Brain and Memory Effects in Gulf War Vets Gulf War veterans with low-level exposure to chemical weapons show lasting adverse effects on brain structure and memory function, reports a study in the October Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. – Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Scientists Develop “Body-on- a-Chip” System to Accelerate Testing of New Drugs Being able to test new drugs in a 3-D model of the body has the potential to speed up drug discovery and also to reduce the use of testing in animals. – Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Scientific Reports (Nature) Scientists Find New RNA Class in Kidneys Is Linked to Hypertension Researchers from the University of Toledo (Ohio) College of Medicine and Life Sciences have discovered more than 12,000 different types of noncoding RNA (circRNAs) in the kidney tissue of rats. This type of genetic material, previously thought to hav... – American Physiological Society (APS) Physiological Genomics Researchers Identify Genetic Drivers of Most Common Form of Lymphoma An international research effort led by Duke Cancer Institute scientists has been working to better understand the genetic underpinnings of the most prevalent form of this cancer -- diffuse large B cell lymphoma – and how those genes might play a r... – Duke Health Cell New Research on Sperm Stem Cells has Implications for Male Infertility and Cancer New research from scientists at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah and collaborators at University of Utah Health (U of U Health) sheds light on the complex process that occurs in the development of human sperm stem cells. – Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah Cell Stem Cell; P30 CA042014 Identifying Ways to Minimize the Harm of Energy Drinks Because many countries allow the sale of energy drinks to young people, identifying ways to minimize potential harm from energy drinks is critical. A new study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior provided unique insights into... – Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior Good-Guy Bacteria May Help Cancer Immunotherapies Do Their Job Individuals with certain types of bacteria in their gut may be more likely to respond well to cancer immunotherapy, researchers at the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center found in a study of patients with metastatic melanoma. – UT Southwestern Medical Center Neoplasia, Oct-2017 Discovery Advances Understanding of Inflammatory Bowel Disease The findings could help guide doctors to determine how best to treat patients with Crohn's disease. – SUNY Upstate Medical University PLOS One Sensory Loss Can Be a Warning Sign of Poor Health Outcomes, Including Death A long-term study spanning five years and including more than 3,000 nationally-representative older US adults has found that a natural decline of the five classical senses (vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch) can predict a number of poor health ... – University of Chicago Medical Center Journal of the American Geriatrics Society CRI Study Challenges Long-Standing Concept in Cancer Metabolism Scientists at the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) have discovered that lactate provides a fuel for growing tumors, challenging a nearly century-old observation known as the Warburg effect. – UT Southwestern Medical Center Cell, Oct-2017 Regenerative Medicine Restores Movement After Paralysis Four of six people with paralyzing spinal cord injuries who were treated with a new cell therapy have recovered two or more motor levels on at least one side, new study results show. – Rush University Medical Center New Insights on the Addictions of Tumors Stromal tissue may provide novel targets to disrupt tumor supply lines – Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute Cell Metabolism, Oct 2017 First Whole-Brain Map of Inhibitory Neurons Reveals Surprises Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine have collaborated on the first-ever quantitative whole-brain map of inhibitory interneurons in the mouse brain. – Penn State College of Medicine Cell The Medical Minute: Scoliosis Screening Key to Timely Treatment One out of every 25 children will develop scoliosis, or curvature of the spine. While some are babies or toddlers when diagnosed, most cases occur during the pre-teen years. – Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center includes video Many Happy Returns One-year-old Elias will never remember all the doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals who took care of him for the first five months of his life, but his parents, Gabriela and Rogelio Ramirez, will never forget them. – UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland Care Could Improve for Dialysis Patients with Development of Bionanomatrix Gel with $2 Million Grant A university spinoff has received a stage two grant to test a potential solution for malfunctioning vascular access. – University of Alabama at Birmingham Clearing the Air of Confusion About Mammography Guidelines Published mammography guidelines differ on this and similar topics. With 1 in 8 U.S. women developing invasive breast cancer over the course of their lifetimes, knowing when to have this potentially lifesaving screening is critical. – Beaumont Health Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Studying Drug's Potential to Prevent Alzheimer's A researcher at the University of Kentucky is exploring whether low doses of Rapamycin, a drug commonly used as an immunosuppressant for organ transplant recipients, can restore brain function before the disease changes in the brain affect a person's... – University of Kentucky includes video Want To Help A Loved One Coping With Cancer? Stay Positive San Diego State University Professor Dr. Wayne Beach explains how positive, frequent communication by family members can truly help cancer patients. Expert Available – California State University (CSU) Chancellor's Office Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine Receives Grant to Administer Area Health Education Center Programs Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine has been awarded the first of a five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to administer three Area Health Education Center programs. When completed, funding for the award wil... – Rowan University Hackensack Meridian Health Bayshore Medical Center Foundation to Host Second Annual Benefit for Bayshore Oktoberfest Celebration Hackensack Meridian Health Bayshore Medical Center Foundation will host the second annual Benefit for Bayshore Oktoberfest Community Celebration on Friday, October 13 from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and invites all members of the community to register t... – Hackensack Meridian Health Cancer Immunologist Andrea Schietinger of Sloan Kettering Institute Honored with Prestigious NIH Director’s New Innovator Award Cancer immunologist Andrea Schietinger, PhD, of the Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI) at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) has been honored with the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s New Innovator Award. – Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center NIH Grant Number: DP2-CA-225212 SNEB Announces Winners of the Inaugural Korean Society of Community Nutrition and Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior International Awards SNEB announces the 2017 award recipients. – Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior Harvard Medical School Scientists Receive NIH Director's Awards Four Harvard Medical School scientists are among 86 recipients nationwide honored by the National Institutes of Health High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program. – Harvard Medical School GW Researcher Receives More Than $2.3 Million to Study Cocaine’s Influence on HIV Following studies showing that cocaine influences the transcription and replication of HIV, Mudit Tyagi, PhD, at GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, will lead a team researching the underlying mechanisms of that influence. – George Washington University 1R01DA041746-01 NIH Awards Wayne State $2M to Analyze 20 Years of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Data The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health has awarded Wayne State University $2,063,188 for a new study that will analyze longitudinal data spanning 20 years collected from five U.S. cohorts, includin... – Wayne State University Division of Research National Institutes of Health, AA025905 College of American Pathologists (CAP) Recognizes Doctors for Dedicated Service Northfield, Ill.—The College of American Pathologists (CAP), the world’s largest organization of board-certified pathologists, will honor five physicians for their service to the CAP organization that helps ensure safety and accuracy within the m... – College of American Pathologists (CAP) Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Receives Prestigious Magnet® Recognition for Clinical Excellence For The Third Time For the third consecutive time, the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) has bestowed Magnet® recognition for clinical excellence to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). – Childrens Hospital Los Angeles NIH Selects Wistar Scientist Kavitha Sarma, Ph.D., for New Innovator Award The Wistar Institute, an international leader in biomedical research in the fields of cancer, immunology and infectious diseases, announces Kavitha Sarma, Ph.D., assistant professor in Wistar’s Gene Expression and Regulation Program, has been award... – Wistar Institute Ministry of Health and Prevention of the United Arab Emirates and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Partner on Visiting Specialty Consultant Program The Ministry of Health and Prevention of the United Arab Emirates (MOHAP) and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) today entered into a memorandum of understanding regarding a pediatric specialty consultation program to provide clinical and e... – Children's Hospital of Philadelphia First Randomized Trial to Determine Most Effective, Least Toxic Treatment for Babies with SCID Investigators plan to determine the lowest dose of chemotherapy needed for babies with severe combined immunodeficiency undergoing bone marrow transplant. The goal is to restore the immune system safely and effectively with less toxicity than the hig... – Children's Hospital Los Angeles Saban Research Institute U01AI126612 Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Nurse to be Inducted as American Academy of Nursing Fellow Long-time Seattle Cancer Care Alliance oncology nurse will be inducted as a Fellow by the American Academy of Nursing on October 7. – Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Science News Columbia Engineers Invent Breakthrough Millimeter-Wave Circulator IC Researchers at Columbia Engineering and UT-Austin continue to break new ground in developing magnet-free non-reciprocal components in modern semiconductor processes. They have built the first magnet-free non-reciprocal circulator on a silicon chip th... – Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science Nature Communications 6 October 2017 Embargo expired on 06-Oct-2017 at 05:00 ET includes video Lack of Compatibility in Admixtures Could Harm Concrete Durability Test results show that interactions between admixtures can reduce air-void stability, contributing to lowered freezing-and-thawing durability and scaling resistance. – American Concrete Institute (ACI) ACI Materials Journal, September/October 2017 Embargo expired on 05-Oct-2017 at 15:00 ET Liverwort Genes and Land Plant Evolution An international team including DOE Joint Genome Institute researchers analyzed the genome sequence of the common liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha) to identify genes and gene families deemed crucial to plant evolution and have been conserved over mil... – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Cell Embargo expired on 05-Oct-2017 at 12:00 ET Decision to Rescind Waters of the United States Rule Based on Flawed Analysis, Virginia Tech Economist Finds New evidence suggests that the Trump Administration’s proposal to rescind the 2015 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule that would limit the scope of the Clean Water Act inappropriately overlooks wetlands-related values. – Virginia Tech Science Embargo expired on 05-Oct-2017 at 14:00 ET Mineral Content of Soils Key to Physical and Chemical Behavior Many aspects of the physical and chemical behavior of soils are directly related to the minerals present. The “Soil Mineralogy” symposium at the Managing Global Resources for a Secure Future ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting in Tampa, ... – American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) Embargo expired on 06-Oct-2017 at 09:00 ET WVU Awarded $1 Million Grant From NSF for New High Performance Computing Cluster A three-year National Science Foundation grant totaling nearly $1 million will let West Virginia University develop its next-generation High Performance Computing, or HPC, cluster to advance computationally intensive research in a wide array of field... – West Virginia University Embargo expired on 06-Oct-2017 at 09:00 ET Story Tips from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, October 2017 A method developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory could protect connected and autonomous vehicles from possible network intrusion. A new ORNL technique makes ultrafast measurements using atomic force microscopy. – Oak Ridge National Laboratory New ‘Molecular Trap’ Cleans More Radioactive Waste From Nuclear Fuel Rods A new method for capturing radioactive waste from nuclear power plants is cheaper and more effective than current methods, a potential boon for the energy industry, according to new research published in the journal Nature Communications. – Wake Forest University Nature Communications Paper-Based Supercapacitor Uses Metal Nanoparticles to Boost Energy Density Using a simple layer-by-layer coating technique, researchers from the U.S. and Korea have developed a paper-based flexible supercapacitor that could be used to help power wearable devices. The device uses metallic nanoparticles to coat cellulose fibe... – Georgia Institute of Technology Nature Communications Researchers Get Straight to the Heart of Piezoelectric Tissues While some studies have supported the idea that the walls of the aorta are piezoelectric or ferroelectric, the most recent research finds no evidence of these properties. Researchers investigated by testing samples of pig aorta using a traditional se... – American Institute of Physics (AIP) Applied Physics Letters Old Faithful’s Geological Heart Revealed University of Utah scientists have mapped the near-surface geology around Old Faithful, revealing the reservoir of heated water that feeds the geyser’s surface vent and how the ground shaking behaves in between eruptions. The map was made possible ... – University of Utah Geophysical Research Letters; YELL-2015-SCI-0114; CyberSEES-1442665; OCRF-2014-CRG3-2300 Segregation-induced ordered superstructures at general grain boundaries in a Ni-Bi alloy A team of researchers found that randomly selected, high-angle, general grain boundaries in a nickel-bismuth (Ni-Bi) polycrystalline alloy can undergo interfacial reconstruction to form ordered superstructures, a discovery that enriches the theories ... – University of California San Diego Science Bringing Visual “Magic” to Light Scientists create widely controllable ultrathin optical components that allow virtual objects to be projected in real environments. – Department of Energy, Office of Science Scientific Reports 7 (2286), 1-8 (2017). [DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-02167-4] S&T Testing Provides a Better Understanding of How Chlorine Spreads The results of these tests can help emergency managers better prepare for different scenarios depending on the direction of chlorine release. – Homeland Security's Science & Technology Directorate New Technology Uses Mouth Gestures to Interact in Virtual Reality Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York have developed a new technology that allows users to interact in a virtual reality environment using only mouth gestures. – Binghamton University, State University of New York 2017 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo, July-2017 Myopia: A Close Look at Efforts to Turn Back a Growing Problem Several studies indicate that the prevalence of myopia is increasing in the U.S. and worldwide, and researchers project that the trend will continue in the coming decades. Otherwise known as nearsightedness, myopia occurs when the eye grows too long ... – NIH, National Eye Institute (NEI) U10 EY023204, U10 EY023210, R01 EY003611, U10 EY023208 Professor on NMSU-UCLA Team Working on Augmented Reality, New Networks A New Mexico State University professor is working with researchers from UCLA to integrate augmented reality into new wireless edge networks thanks to a grant from the National Science Foundation and Intel Corporation. Satyajayant Misra, NMSU associa... – New Mexico State University (NMSU) World-Leading Expert on Humanitarian Logistics From Rensselaer To Discuss Puerto Rico’s Supply Chain Struggles To Disperse Aid Two weeks after Hurricane Maria wrecked devastation on Puerto Rico, destroying the power grid and leaving millions without access to necessities, distributing aid remains an issue. Extreme events pose serious logistical challenges to emergency and ai... Expert Available – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) UC San Diego Scientists Garner National High-Risk, High-Reward Awards Emma Farley, an assistant professor at UC San Diego’s Division of Biological Sciences and School of Medicine, has been awarded the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. Melissa Gymrek, an assistant professor in the School of Medicine and Department... Expert Available – University of California San Diego Missouri S&T Metallurgical Engineer Named ASM International Fellow A Missouri S&T professor known for both his teaching acumen and research portfolio has been named an ASM International fellow, a top honor in materials science and engineering. Dr. David Van Aken, a Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor of ... – Missouri University of Science and Technology MTRAC Awards Spark Biomedical Innovation at Wayne State University Three Wayne State University (WSU) research teams were recently awarded funding from Wayne State’s Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization (MTRAC) program. The goal is to accelerate the translation and commercialization of their innov... – Wayne State University Division of Research Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization Program Jefferson Lab Completes 12 GeV Upgrade Nuclear physicists are now poised to embark on a new journey of discovery into the fundamental building blocks of the nucleus of the atom. The completion of the 12 GeV Upgrade Project of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at th... – Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility Sustainable Financing of Conservation Just Got a Major Boost The Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA) announced today that the French Facility for Global Environment / Fonds Français pour l'Environnement Mondial (FFEM) and the MAVA Foundation have jointly awarded 701,114 Euros (822,315 USD) to support CFA. – Wildlife Conservation Society Entrepreneurial Fellows Announced in New New Ppostdoctoral tTraining pProgram Four postdoctoral researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have been named Entrepreneurial Fellows as part of a new joint initiative of the University of California and Los Alamos. – Los Alamos National Laboratory Matthew Latimer Receives 2017 Lytle Award A staff member at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Acceleratory Laboratory, Matthew Latimer is in charge of seven spectroscopy beamlines at SSRL. He was recently selected for the 2017 Farrel W. Lytle Award, established by the SSRL Users’ ... – SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Lifestyle & Social Sciences Beyond Bullying: Study Shows Damaging Affects of Multiple Forms of Victimization On School Climate School officials focused exclusively on bullying prevention efforts might want to consider the findings of a new study showing the highly damaging effects of multiple forms of victimization on school climate. – University of Vermont Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma ​Perpetrators of Genocide Say They’re ‘Good People’ The men who were tried for their role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed up to 1 million people want you to know that they’re actually very good people. That’s the most common way accused men try to account for their actions in testimony be... – Ohio State University Social Problems UA Researcher: Changes Needed to News Coverage of Mass Shooters Criminology researchers suggest news media refrain from publishing names and images of mass shooters to possibly deter future offenders who seek the fame and notoriety many rampage shooters admit to seeking. – University of Alabama American Behavioral Scientist, Sept.-2017 Interpreting Hurricane Forecast Displays Can Be Difficult for General Public The 2017 hurricane season has highlighted the critical need to communicate a storm's impact path and intensity accurately, but new research from the University of Utah shows sig

Need for Inclusive Peace Efforts in South Sudan

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An Oxfam staffer helps a woman at UN House in Juba carry home some of the emergency supplies she has just received. Credit: Anita Kattakhuzy/Oxfam

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 4 2017 (IPS) - “Peace is not a one-day affair or event, it requires our collective effort,” said South Sudan’s Vice President, General Taban Deng Gai, while addressing the General Assembly at the UN.

South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, celebrated its six-year anniversary on July 9 this year, with its president, Salva Kirr, marking 2017 as the ‘Year of Peace and Prosperity.’

A mere two years after its split from Sudan, a country plagued by decades-long of ethnic-based civil war between Arab and non-Arab tribes, the independent state of South Sudan erupted in conflict when President Kiir, a Dinka, accused his then vice president, Riek Machar, a Nuer, of attempting a coup.

Amid heightening political tensions, violent skirmishes flared up in the nation’s capital of Juba in mid-December 2013 between loyalist soldiers from both parties. South Sudan has been mired in conflict ever since – much to the dismay of its citizens who hadn’t imagined they would carry the torch of war into their new republic.

Three months into a peace agreement signed by both parties in August 2015, the conflict reached a boiling point in December 2015 when President Kiir dissolved South Sudan’s 10 regional states and established 28 new states, resulting in a surge of violence beyond the capital, to several areas of the country.

A transitional government formed by both parties in April 2016, with the peace agreement as a precursor, failed to temper the violence as clashes continued country-wide. Further, President Kiir’s appointment of General Gai, Machar’s political ally, as his new vice president inflamed Machar and his loyalists, resulting in a split within the opposition – thus fueling the conflict.

A government ceasefire, declared after Machar fled the capital, crumbled shortly thereafter.

With lengthy, arduous peace efforts failing and confidence in ending the conflict flailing, South Sudan is facing its gravest humanitarian situation in years.

“This is the last chance of salvaging the peace agreement in South Sudan…we must resolve now, both individually and collectively, to do more to end this conflict,” said Ambassador Nikki Haley, the U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN, while addressing the UN Security Council last week.

More than 2.5 million people have been displaced by the South Sudan conflict. An estimated 830,000 have fled to neighboring countries, mainly Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda, according to Oxfam America.

Harassment and arbitrary detention of journalists, forced recruitment of child soldiers, widespread sexual violence and restricting movement of UN peacekeepers by both sides characterize the conflict in South Sudan, according to prominent human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

“In over 30 years working in South Sudan, Oxfam has never responded to such dire needs under such difficult conditions,” said Oxfam America’s president, Abby Maxman, speaking on South Sudan at the UN.

Asked about the country’s grim situation, Noah Gottschalk, Oxfam’s Senior Policy Advisor for Humanitarian Response, told IPS that, “with the conflict hitting many parts of the country simultaneously, with more access to advanced firepower, with a collapsing economy, with food insecurity and famine on the rise and, most especially, with no resounding commitment from the international community, South Sudan is more vulnerable than it has ever been.”

The suffering of communities in South Sudan has reached unprecedented levels.

“The situation is South Sudan is dire but not hopeless…when a situation is seen as hopeless and when the rhetoric surrounding it makes it seem ‘too complex’ and diminishes on-the-ground efforts, compassion fatigue arises,” said Gottschalk.

Though it is the responsibility of the significant parties in South Sudan to root out the source of the problem, it is the duty of the international community to navigate a peaceful outcome for the sake of 12 million South Sudanese who have not given up.

“We have not given up on them and we have not forgotten them…they have a friend and advocate in the US,” said Haley.

The UN, African Union (AU) and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) recently agreed to pool their efforts to support the revitalization of the political process in South Sudan.

The primary goal in mind, for this joint communiqué, is to adequately represent all significant parties and encourage them to focus on the full implementation of the August 2015 Peace Agreement, under a permanent ceasefire.

“This is the last chance at salvaging the peace agreement in South Sudan…the different parties to the conflict must use the next several weeks to commit themselves to this process and to conclude it,” said Haley.

Before undertaking these well-intended collective measures, it is important to understand the nature of the conflict in South Sudan.

“To get the country back on its feet, we must first recognize this conflict for what it is and what it isn’t…it’s not a tribal conflict, because ethnic identity doesn’t determine allegiance on the ground, it’s not a military conflict, because civilians, not soldiers, are bearing the brunt of the violence…in many ways it’s not even a political conflict, because that would imply that it’s about competing visions for governing this nation…what it is, is a hostage situation,” said Maxman.

In July this year, the AU Commission, South Sudanese officials, and UN representatives met in Juba to discuss the establishment of an independent Hybrid Court for South Sudan, envisioned under the 2015 Peace Agreement, and agreed on plans to finalize the court’s statute by August, according to Human Rights Watch.

Notably, South Sudan is not a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC). As such, its leaders can only be held accountable by the ICC through a request from the Sudanese government or a referral by the UN Security Council.

Though a lack of accountability is a conflict-accelerant, a more immediate focus is required in the inclusive peace efforts geared towards helping the people in South Sudan.

“It’s high time we throw our lot in with the hostages, not the hostage-takers,” said Maxman.

Ghana Aims to Regain Top Spot in Cocoa Production

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Professor of Food Science and Technology at the University of Ghana, Emmanuel Afoakwa, and other researchers at a cocoa farm. Credit: Kwaku Botwe/IPS

ACCRA, Oct 5 2017 (IPS) - Ghana is home to the world’s favourite cocoa beans. They’re bigger in size, have a higher butter content and superior flavour – all qualities which make Ghana’s cocoa the world standard against which all cocoa is measured.

But while cocoa used to be the biggest foreign exchange earner for the West African country, contributing about 45 percent of the total foreign exchange earnings, now the commodity barely provides 25 percent.

“They [farmers who sell their lands] don’t know what they are doing because cocoa is a legacy that can be left to children, unlike one-time cash.” --Nana Kwasi Ofori of the Cocoa Farmers Association

Farmers in Ghana follow a strict routine in the planting, harvesting and drying of cocoa, supported and monitored by the government regulator, the Ghana Cocoa Board.

They employ natural drying of the beans in the sun (instead of heating), turning the beans at regular intervals for not less than a week. This natural and painstaking means of drying ensures the beans turn out their characteristic golden brown. The layers of monitoring at the time of purchase are all part of government’s intervention.

The country is the second biggest supplier of cocoa worldwide, beaten only by its West African neighbour, Cote D’Ivoire. But Ghana was once the world champion. It lost the first spot to its neighbour in the 1970s after government reduced the price given to farmers, thereby discouraging many from going into the venture.

Exchanging Golden Pods for Golden Nuggets

Several factors have contributed to the shortfall. Distribution of free or subsidized farm inputs such as fertilizers or chemicals have been fraught with several challenges.

“Not all of us were given the free fertilizers. And they were politicizing it. Someone with a small farm of four acres could be given 50 bags of fertilizer while others with very big farms were given less,” Abusuapanyin Kwabena Amankwaa, a cocoa farmer, told IPS.

Central Regional Chief Cocoa Farmer Nana Kwasi Ofori also said that “farmers who are not cultivating cocoa were given some of the inputs”.

CEO of the Cocoa Board Joseph Baidoo has said his interactions with farmers revealed that Ghana’s fertilizers – which are not supposed to be for sale – were in fact being sold in Nigeria, Gabon and other neighbouring African countries, adding that this meant the free fertilizers were given to political party loyalists who were not cocoa farmers.

Diseases such as black pod, swollen shoot, and capsids have had a field day as a result.

• 
  

The new government decided to discontinue the free fertilizer programme following what it says were complaints from farmers. Instead, it wants to sell the fertilizer at subsidized prices.

Ghana has an annual cocoa production target of one million tonnes. That target was achieved in 2011. Since then government has struggled to maintain the target, with annual production hovering around 800,000 tonnes.

In previous years, government decided to absorb the cost and technical assistance needed to apply the right chemicals and fertilizers to cocoa farms nationwide – initiatives called the Mass Spraying Exercise and the Hi-tech Programme, respectively.

Government also created the Rehabilitation Programme where old, less productive trees were felled and replaced with new, more-yielding hybrid seedlings for free. This saw a big dividend in cocoa bean output, with the country recording its highest cocoa output of over 1 million tonnes in 2011. But government has not been able to sustain the programme.

Probably the biggest threat to hit the cocoa industry in recent times is illegal mining, locally called galamsey. The upsurge in the search for gold between 2012 and 2016 has threatened the livelihoods of several cocoa farmers as galamsey takes over cocoa farms.

“Some chiefs are part of the problem which we are facing. They sell the land to the miners and collect the money so sometimes farmers are not even compensated,” said Nana Kwasi Ofori, an executive member of the Cocoa Farmers Association.

Most farmers are tenant farmers who work on lands owned by chiefs or families. Fifty-three-year-old Adwoa Oforiwaa, a cocoa farmer in the Central Region, says she was only given 500 cedis (about 112 dollars) as compensation when galamsey operators took over a good part of her farm.

“When they [galamsey operators] come, they tell you they have orders from the chiefs or even government, and they start the destruction,” she added.

A journalist in the Western Region – the leading cocoa-producing region in Ghana – Yaw Obrempong says some farmers willingly sell off their cocoa farms for ready cash.

“If the galamsey operator is here with a bag full of cash, why won’t I sell my land instead of staying in a queue for over two weeks only to be given a bag of fertilizer?” Obrempong noted.

He says some farmers claim they had to pay bribes in order to get farm inputs from the government. Other farmers sold their lands when the much-needed labour to work on the cocoa farms shifted into illegal mining.

But Nana Kwasi Ofori says, “They [farmers who sell their lands] don’t know what they are doing because cocoa is a legacy that can be left to children, unlike one-time cash.”

The galamsey invasion has affected a good part of the 1.7 million hectares of cocoa farms in the country.  The Government has launched an anti-galamsey crusade to flush out illegal miners. With the help of a taskforce including the military, several arrests and confiscation of galamsey equipment have been carried out.

The launch of the Media Coalition against Galamsey has also given government a shot in the arm. Government has moved the crusade a notch higher with the announcement by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources of its intention to procure drones at the cost of 3 million dollars for surveillance.

Guaranteed Pricing

Nonetheless, cocoa remains the most important economic crop for Ghana, raking in about 2 billion dollars annually, contributing to some 4.22 percent of the country’s GDP.  Such a feat has been achieved through government interventions such as price stability. For instance, the world price of cocoa beans has plummeted from about 3,122 dollars per tonne last year to about 1,900 dollars this year, yet the Cocoa Board maintained s producer price of 7,600 cedis per tonne (1,700 dollars).

The Board is able to cushion farmers with a Stabilization Fund established some ten years ago, as well as other sources of funds. This presents a big advantage for cocoa farmers in Ghana over other cocoa-producing countries on the continent this year.

For instance, the Ivorian government has slashed the prices of cocoa almost by a third, to 700 CFA per kg (about 1,300 dollars per tonne). Some Ghanaians have expressed concern that the development is likely to reverse the dreaded cross-border smuggling of cocoa (Ghana has in the past seen a lot of its cocoa smuggled to their neighbor countries because of price differences).

But professor of Food Science and Technology at the University of Ghana, Emmanuel Afoakwa says “it is not likely because Ghana is bent on protecting its premium quality and so there is tight security to ensure cocoa does not move from Cote D’Ivoire and other countries into the country”.

He adds that “farmers must cherish that government is interested in their welfare because government now loses about 500 dollars on every tonne of cocoa bought from them”.

The Ghana Cocoa Board also has an arrangement to pay for the felling and replanting of old and diseased cocoa trees. The board has announced that it will be giving away about 60 million seedlings to farmers for replanting. The exercise, called rehabilitation, is meant to boost output.

The Government also has a programme to woo youth into the sector to replace aging cocoa farmers. The Board is providing support for all young cocoa farmers by giving them hybrid pods, improved seedlings, free fertilizer and inputs, a farmer business school programme, as well as extension support to boost cocoa production. Cocoa farmers are also pushing for a Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme which they believe will help attract the youth.

Cocoa Processing

To maximize revenue from cocoa, the government has its eyes on adding value to the cocoa it exports. The global cocoa market has an estimated value of 9 billion dollars for unprocessed cocoa beans, about 28 billion dollars for semi-processed/intermediate products and a whopping 87 billion dollars for fully processed/final products. In an attempt to get its share of the 87-billion-dollar cake, government has set a target of processing 50 percent of its exported cocoa.

Currently, the seven processing companies operating at various levels of value-addition process about 25 percent of the county’s exported cocoa. But most of the processed cocoa are exported in semi-processed form of cocoa paste.

Prof. Afoakwa says the huge capital requirement involved in processing cocoa into finished products fit for export could be a big hurdle for Ghana. Moreover, there are high tariff walls with regards to the export of processed products. For example, the European Union levies no duties on the import of raw cocoa beans, but levies a 7.7 percent and 15 percent duty on cocoa powder and cocoa cake, respectively.

He believes heightening the campaign on the consumption of cocoa products would be one way of tackling the issue.

“I’m working with Ghana Cocoa Board to conduct the cocoa product processing competition and we are bringing together ten different polytechnic institutions to develop new products using cocoa. We are going to invite high schools to come witness it. What we are trying to do is to advocate for higher consumption of cocoa products and this can be done when we know the kind of different products that we can make out of cocoa,” he added.

'Kleptocracy Tour' Spotlights Nigerian Corrupt Money Funneled Through Britain

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LONDON — 

Anti-corruption activists hoping to shine a light on the hundreds of millions of dollars funneled through London every year are organizing tours of properties allegedly bought with dishonest money.

The "Kleptocracy Tour" is billed as a journey to the dark side of globalization. This is the first such tour which focuses on Nigeria.

"The international community, specifically the United Kingdom, the United States, other financial centers, are playing a huge role in facilitating elite corruption in Nigeria, through offshore corporate tax havens, lax banking and property laws," said tour guide Matthew Page, a former U.S. State Department Nigeria analyst, now with Transparency International.

The tour's first stop is the capital's wealthy Belgravia district. Tax papers leaked from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca suggest two multi-million dollar properties are linked to Nigerian Senate President Bukola Saraki. He has denied the allegations.

FILE - Nigeria's Senate President Bukola Saraki looks from the dock at the Code of Conduct Tribunal at Darki Biu, Jabi Abuja, Nigeria, Sept. 22, 2015.

Also among the several tour stops are lavish properties that have been subjected to asset forfeiture proceedings by a court in Houston, Texas. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating allegations they were received as bribes by Diezani Alison-Madueke, the former Nigerian Oil Minister and OPEC Secretary.

Nigeria analyst Clementine Wallop says Nigeria's president is following through, though slowly, on pledges to crack down on corruption.

"It contributes to poverty. It contributes to poor education. It contributes to terrorism," Wallop said of corruption. "You have communities where the young men are compelled to or driven into the arms of organizations like Boko Haram as a result of the depravation which results from corruption."

Nigeria's Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, told VOA the West must do more to help repatriate corrupt money.

"The government will not relent in pursuing these people," Mohammed said. "But we also need the cooperation of many foreign countries, because sometimes we are hampered by the foreign jurisdictions."

An estimated $100 billion of corrupt money passes through London each year. Activists say fears over the economy in a post-Brexit world are stalling government efforts to clamp down on global corruption, an industry with the British capital at its core.

Large Numbers of Opposition MPs Fly out of Cambodia

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If there is no democracy and if there is only intimidation and arrest, I think we must find alternative means to push, to promote, and to save democracy in our country”

PHNOM PENH — 

Almost half of Cambodia’s opposition lawmakers have left the country or are in jail, including most of its leadership, as proceedings to dissolve the party move forward.

It was no longer possible to “save democracy” from inside Cambodia, said Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader Mu Sochua — who fled on Tuesday saying she’d been tipped off her arrest was imminent.

“If there is no democracy and if there is only intimidation and arrest, I think we must find alternative means to push, to promote, and to save democracy in our country,” she said from an undisclosed location abroad.

Opposition on the run

It was better to advocate outside the country than be jailed under a co-opted legal system, said Sochua, who has called for targeted international sanctions on ruling party leaders.

A complaint requesting the dissolution of her party was filed by the Cambodian Youth Party yesterday - citing the widely decried “treason” charge CNRP leader Kem Sokha was arrested on in September.

FILE - Opposition party Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) President Kem Sokha addresses party supporters during the party's political congress in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 2, 2017.

A controversial recent legislative amendment allows the dissolution of a party found to undermine the security of the nation.

Treason charges

On Monday, Prime Minister Hun Sen warned the treason case against Sokha would be extended, potentially resulting in the arrest of other opposition lawmakers.

“We are conducting further activities. [I] want to send a message that it will not just be done with the arrest of only one person… because this is a preparation and a systematic act,” he said.

FILE - Prime Minister Hun Sen of the Cambodian People's Party shows off his ballot paper before voting in local elections at Takhmau polling station in Kandal province, southeast of Phnom Penh, June 4, 2017.

“So, I just said this, and other people can understand and they have been conducting rude activities in the three-province already,” he said, referring to Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, and Siem Reap, all of which Mu Sochua had recently visited.

CNRP chief whip Son Chhay, who is one of the last remaining party leaders in the country, told VOA last week prior to Sochua’s departure that 22 opposition lawmakers had flown to different countries to brief their overseas constituents on the present crisis.

“I think it is beyond what we call the red line. But I know that the alternative for the future of Cambodia must lay in the election, must hang on the practice of democracy,” he said.

“Inside we feel that it’s unacceptable. This crisis is serious against the democracy in our country,” he said, adding the party would continue to wait and observe rather than pull out of the elections completely yet.

At the time he said he was confident many of the lawmakers oversees would come back in October.

Opposition leaders have left country

Those abroad include deputy party president Eng Chhay Eang, spokesman Yim Sovann, deputy public affairs head Kem Monovithya (a daughter of Kem Sokha), spokesman Yem Ponhearith and president of the party’s youth wing, Hing Soksan.

Kong Sophea and Nhay Chamroeun, who were brutally assaulted by members of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Bodyguard Unit outside the National Assembly in 2015, are also outside the country.

Pol Ham, who is also one of the few remaining senior CNRP leaders left in Cambodia, declined to comment yesterday.

Mao Monyvann, who also sits high in the party hierarchy, said the party would stay strong at the grassroots level even in the absence of many leaders.

“To me, I decided already that I continue to stay with the men and women activists, particularly the 5,007 commune councilors and other leaders. The important thing is that the party president is placed in jail. So, I continue to lead and maintain the sustainability of the party,” he said.

He added that no matter how tense the political situation got, there would eventually be a compromise between the opposition and ruling parties with international pressure just one factor in that process.

Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, told VOA Wednesday that no new arrest warrants had been issued in connection with Kim Sokha’s treason case, although he alleged Mu Sochua had broken the law by installing banners calling for her party leader’s release.

Sochua, is among at least seven lawmakers who are still under criminal prosecution for their role in a violent demonstration that took place in July 2014.

CNRP Senator Hong Sok Hour is serving seven years and lawmaker Un Sam An faces up to five for charges related to statements or postings they have made about Cambodia’s contentious border with Vietnam.

China backs the government

Sebastian Strangio, author of "Hun Sen’s Cambodia," said trying to ramp up international pressure against Hun Sen from abroad was unlikely to prove an effective strategy for CNRP leaders while the prime minister enjoyed such strong support from China.

“This, of course, is precisely Hun Sen’s aim. With most of its senior leaders now exiled, in hiding, or behind bars, it is hard to see how the party can mount an effective campaign at the 2018 election,” he wrote in an email.

“CNRP leaders would obviously be better off campaigning from within Cambodia, but the government’s repression is making that nearly impossible for the time being. Given recent events, it is unclear whether the CNRP will even exist by the time of the election,” he added.

David Boyle contributed to this report.

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