Fish protein balance may be key to long life

Methionine, an amino acid that can be found in the proteins of fish, nuts, meat and wheat germ, could play a key role in people enjoying longer, healthier lives.

A team of researchers, led by Matthew Piper, of the Institute of Healthy Aging of the University College London, determined that the careful manipulation of methionine amino acid levels in the diet could extend life and be decisive in human fertility.

According to the study published in the scientific magazine Nature, this amino acid is one of the main elements of protein consolidation involved in the formation of cells and tissue.

The scientists who participated in the research project discovered that methionine has special qualities, and that using it as part of a low-calorie diet based on yeast, sugar and water increases fertility without reducing longevity.

Piper indicated that in the past “we tended to think that the amount of protein was what is important to our diet” and what it demonstrates now is that “the balance of amino acids in the diet can affect health in later life.”

“If this is the case for humans, then the type of protein will be important," the scientist added. "It's not as simple as saying ‘eat fewer nuts' or ‘eat more nuts' to live longer. It is about getting the protein balance right, a factor that might be particularly important for high protein diets.”

Ex-Gates Foundation exec named foreign aid chief

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer Matthew Lee, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 42 mins ago

SINGAPORE – The Obama administration will nominate a young former executive with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to run America's top foreign assistance program, ending months of speculation and complaints about who would take the vacant post, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

President Barack Obama has chosen Rajiv Shah, a medical doctor and currently a senior official at the Department of Agriculture dealing with food security, to run the U.S. Agency for International Development, the officials said.

The officials — some traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others at the White House — spoke on condition of anonymity pending notification to Congress and a formal public announcement of the choice.

Shah's selection, which must still be confirmed by the Senate, would end a 10-month leadership vacuum at USAID, which has been operating with an acting director since Obama took office despite his campaign pledges to have the agency play a greater role in foreign policy.

Obama and Clinton have said USAID is crucial to deploying their preferred "smart power" foreign policy strategy, which envisions more equal roles for diplomacy and development alongside defense. They plan to double the amount of foreign aid.

The agency will play a key role in the administration's efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where officials believe the civilian component must be strengthened.

But the top job at the agency has remained vacant until now, with several prime candidates withdrawing from consideration amid a White House vetting process that Clinton denounced in July as "ridiculous," "a nightmare," and "frustrating beyond words."

Shah, 36, whose family immigrated to the U.S. from India, is now the Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics and Chief Scientist at the Agriculture Department where he manages a budget of more than $2.6 billion and more than 10,000 staff around the world.

Before that, he had several positions at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, including managing its $1.5 billion contribution to a global vaccination fund and helping launch the foundation's Global Development program where he oversaw a $1.3 billion investment portfolio.

The lingering USAID vacancy, particularly after several leading candidates pulled out, had upset development experts and Congress. Some lawmakers had suggested that Obama choose someone who had already gone through the vetting process.

Shah fits that bill and has important political credentials, having worked with or for several leading Democratic politicians.

If confirmed, Shah will take over a weakened agency that has seen its staff cut and some functions folded into the State Department. Many in the development community worry that State plans to keep control of the aid agency's budget, with the new administrator answering to a deputy secretary of state.

Given that speculation, and the delay in appointing an administrator, David Beckmann, co-chair of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, said the administration needs to move quickly in defining Shah's responsibilities.

"They're going to need to give him some clear signals that he has real power," he said.

Associated Press Writer Julie Pace contributed from Washington.

Somali pirates: Western boats 'loot' Somali fish

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press Writer Mohamed Olad Hassan, Associated Press Writer – Sat Oct 31, 2:55 pm ET

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somali pirates who are demanding $7 million in ransom for a British sailing couple said Saturday that boats from other countries are plundering Somalia's fish-rich waters.

Ahmed Gadaf, who described himself as a spokesman for the pirates, said Western fishing vessels "harass" local fishermen and destroy their nets. Gadaf spoke to The Associated Press by satellite phone.

Gadaf says the British couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler, are safe and will not be harmed.

The British government on Saturday reiterated its refusal to ransom the pair, saying in a statement that officials would not make any "substantive concessions to hostage-takers, and that includes the payment of ransom."

The Chandlers were headed to Tanzania in their boat, the Lynn Rival, when a distress signal was sent Oct. 23. The British navy found their empty yacht on Thursday, and both have been in sporadic contact with the British media since.

Illegal fishing off the coast of Somalia stirs strong passions in the country. The country's prime minister, Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, said in a speech Wednesday that many countries are fishing illegally in Somali waters and have pushed formerly profitable Somali fishermen into the pirate trade.

He also said during Wednesday's appearance at London-based Chatham House think tank that many pirates are former fishermen "responding to the loss and disappearance of their livelihoods."

Helene Bours, an expert on fisheries in Africa who works as a consultant for non-governmental organizations in Africa and Europe, said she was skeptical that international overfishing in Somalia had a significant effect on the rise of piracy.

"The extent to which the piracy business has developed is way beyond a few fishermen turning (into) pirates," she said.

Bours most international ships operated far from the Somali coast in order to bring in deep-sea fish, and would not be competing with smaller Somali fishing boats working closer to shore. She cautioned however, that the lack of reliable information from the chaotic country made any assessment unreliable.

Sharmarke said he was aware of extensive foreign fishing off Somalia's coast.

"I shall not name names, but suffice to say many countries are fishing illegally in Somali waters," he said. "We estimate that the value of the fish being taken from our waters is perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars."

Pirate attacks have increased the last several weeks after the recent end of the monsoon season. An international armada is patrolling the region to try to stop the attacks.

Algae may be secret weapon in climate change war

by Ruth Morris Ruth Morris – Thu Oct 22, 2:56 am ET

MIAMI (AFP) – Driven by fluctuations in oil prices, and seduced by the prospect of easing climate change, experts are ramping up efforts to squeeze fuel out of a promising new organism: pond scum.

As it turns out, algae -- slimy, fast-growing and full of fat -- is gaining ground as a potential renewable energy source.

Experts say it is intriguing for its ability to gobble up carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, while living happily in places that aren't needed for food crops.

Algae likes mosquito-infested swamps, for example, filthy pools, and even waste water. And while no one has found a way to mass produce cheap fuel from algae yet, the race is on.

University labs and start-up companies across the country are getting involved. Over the summer, the first mega-corporation joined in, when ExxonMobil said it would sink 600 million dollars into algae research in a partnership with a California biotechnology company.

If the research pans out, scientists say they will eventually find a cost-effective way to convert lipids from algae ponds into fuel, then pump it into cars, trucks and jets.

"I think it's very realistic. I don't think it's going to take 20 years. It's going to take a few years," said chemical engineer George Philippidis, director of applied research at Florida International University in Miami.

One of the factors fueling enthusiasm is algae's big appetite for carbon dioxide -- a by-product of burning fossil fuels.

"We could hook up to the exhaust of polluting industries," Philippidis said. "We could capture it and feed it to algae and prevent that CO2 from contributing to further climate change."

California company Sapphire Energy has already fueled a cross-country road trip with algae-tinged gasoline.

The trip, meant to raise awareness, prompted the headline, "Coast to Coast on Slime". Another California company is looking at fattening fish on algae and then processing the fish for oil.

"Where algae is very nice is, it's prolific. It's everywhere... and you don't have to do much. Mother Nature has kind of figured it out," said Roy Swiger, a molecular geneticist and director of the Florida division of the non-profit Midwest Research Institute.

MRI began studying algae as an energy source three years ago. Swiger warned that algal fuels are not ready for prime time yet. Even though algae grows like gangbusters, it currently costs up to 100 dollars to make a gallon of algal fuel-- hardly a savings.

The rub is bringing cost down, and production up. To do this, scientists must find cheap ways to dry algae and extract the lipids, where energy is stored.

Swiger noted that it would not make sense to spend five dollars of electricity to run a centrifuge to dry out algae, that in turn would only produce one dollar of fuel.

If research goes well, Swiger thinks it will take five years to bring down production costs to 40 dollars per gallon.

But taking even a tiny chunk out of the energy market -- ethanol has eked out a 4.0 percent share, for example -- can shift the energy mix.

"Four percent is not a lot, and yet everywhere you look there's a pump," Swiger said. "So four percent of a gigantic number is a lot."

Some start-ups are more optimistic. Paul Woods, chief executive of Florida-based Algenol Biofuels, says his company will beat others to market.

He has patented a technology for "sweating" ethanol from algae, without drying it first.

"We see ourselves as a very cheap way to supplement (energy supply)," said Woods, "and the more cheap ethanol we have, the more we're winning in efforts to have independence from foreign fuel."

Woods announced a partnership with Dow Chemical in July to build a demonstration plant, and expects to launch commercial production by 2011.

Experts don't see algal fuel replacing fossil fuels completely, and some have become leery of hype.

The idea of harnessing algae for fuel has been around for decades, they say. Still, no one has been able to make it financially feasible.

"Any fantastic claims will eventually discredit the field if given much credence," said algae expert John Benemann.

Instead, he sees algae as a good source for animal feeds, chemicals and fertilizer.

Back at FIU, Philippidis agreed "there is no silver bullet" to reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

But he saw promise on the horizon, especially as larger companies become involved in algae research. "We are still at an early stage... but as we scale up (production) I think costs will come down very, very quickly," he said.

And if that works, he added, "there is a small Greek island I would like to buy."

LatAm natives protest Spanish conquest's 'genocide'

Mon Oct 12, 11:09 pm ET

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) – Tens of thousands of indigenous people took to the streets across Latin America on Monday to protest the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's 1492 discovery of the Americas.

Columbus Day is celebrated as the Day of Hispanic Heritage in Latin America, but protesters marked the holiday as a reminder of the atrocities Spanish conquistadors wrought on indigenous people throughout the region.

In Guatemala City, 19-year-old demonstrator Imer Boror was killed and two were wounded as Maya Indians blocked entry points into the capital to protest their government's mining policies.

Protesters were marching on what they called the Day of Dignity and Resistance of the Indian People, protest leader Juana Mulul told AFP, saying the movement "is purely in defense of Mother Earth and our territory."

In a gesture toward reconciliation with indigenous groups, a special roundtable appointed by President Alvaro Colom after the incident was to meet with 14 poor farmers late Monday to discuss their demands.

Aparicio Perez of the Farmers Union Committee (CUC) said representatives would ask the government to annul mining, hydroelectric and cement concessions because "multinational companies are taking over natural resources, which have long been the source of life for rural families."

According to government statistics, 42 percent of Guatemala's 12 million inhabitants are Indians, although some groups put the figure at over 60 percent.

In southwestern Colombia, some 25,000 people set out from several towns and cities in Valle del Cauca department to protest President Alvaro Uribe's environmental policies and his alleged broken promises to their communities.

They planned to join up Friday in a larger demonstration of some 40,000 in the department's capital of Cali.

"We're demonstrating against the degradation of the planet... against President Alvaro Uribe's neglect" of indigenous communities, National Indigenous Organization of Colombia member Feliciano Valencia told reporters.

Indigenous people, who represent three percent of Colombia's 45 million inhabitants, accuse the conservative Uribe administration of failing to enact social programs and release state funds it promised indigenous communities when it came to power in 2002.

They also protested being regular targets of guerrilla, paramilitary and drug trafficking violence, despite their professed neutrality in the country's ongoing internal conflicts.

During an extraordinary session held at the National Pantheon, the Venezuelan National Assembly passed a bill proposing a "Day of Indigenous Resistance" to be held throughout South America.

National Assembly Speaker Cilia Flores hailed the event as proof lawmakers were "working with all the people and with a revolutionary government to build a new nation."

At the National Pantheon, where the remains of Venezuelan heroes are buried, dozens of indigenous representatives gathered in a demonstration organized by the ruling Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) to protest the "genocide of the (Spanish) empire" 500 years ago.

A group of indigenous people kept the Panama-Costa Rica border closed for several hours in the morning at the Sixaola border crossing and later protested in front of the Spanish embassy.

Several thousand native activists were joined by environmentalists, farmers and students for protests across Panama demanding respect for their land rights and rejecting energy projects that "do not respect the autonomy of indigenous people" and cause "forced evictions."

"The arrival of the Spaniards in the Americas in 1492 brought about the destruction of the Indian way of life and broke a series of political and economic institutions that has since driven us into poverty," said Cecilio Guerra before burning a Spanish flag close to the presidential palace.

According to Guerra, over 21 hydroelectric concessions and nine mining projects are affecting indigenous communities.

AFP news

Greenpeace Faults Spanish Companies for Harmful Impact on Latin America

MADRID – Greenpeace has released a report denouncing “the arrogant attitude” and illegal practices of Spanish multinationals operating in Latin America and called on officials in Madrid to hold them accountable and ensure they work “at least with the same standards as in Spain.”

Greenpeace issued the request after analyzing the economic, social and environmental impact of the largest Spanish companies operating in Latin America.

The report – titled “The New Conquistadors: Spanish Multinationals in Latin America” and presented Thursday by the head of Greenpeace Campaigns in Spain, Mabel Gonzalez – states that despite “the impeccable image that Spanish multinationals project in our country,” the reality is “very different when they operate in South America.”

Eighty-five percent of the world’s 79,000 multinationals have their headquarters in the United States, the European Union or Japan, compared with just 15 percent in developing countries, the document notes.

Spanish companies are well represented among these giants, with 11 included in the Fortune Magazine’s Global 500, its annual ranking of the world’s largest corporations.

But the behavior of these companies when they take their operations to Latin America has come under fire by Greenpeace, which in the report accuses them of destroying the environment and showing blatant disregard for human and labor rights.

One of the Spanish companies responsible for the most flagrant abuses is energy company Repsol YPF, the environmental watchdog said.

In Ecuador, the company’s operations in the Yasuni National Park have resulted in oil spills that have contaminated rivers in that environmentally sensitive area, while Repsol also has a 25 percent stake in the OCP pipeline, which covers more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) of that country’s Amazon jungle and Andes mountains.

Oil spills caused by ruptures in the pipeline have affected 11 protected areas and more than 70 local organizations have called for the expulsion of Repsol from the Amazon, saying their negligence has caused the equivalent of 14,000 barrels of crude to be spilled in that region this year.

The case of electric utilities such as Endesa, Union Fenosa and Iberdrola is also of grave concern, according to Greenpeace, which says they are responsible for much of the environmental destruction in the Americas despite the “green and sustainable image” they carefully cultivate in Spain.

Union Fenosa and Iberdrola, for example, head a project to build five coal-fired power plants in Guatemala, “even though this technology is one of the most polluting and least efficient on the planet,” Gonzalez said.

Endesa is planning to build five large hydroelectric dams in Chile’s Patagonia region, which would involve flooding thousands of hectares of completely unspoiled wilderness and lead to the extinction of many species and the damming up of rivers in a region that – outside of the polar regions – is the world’s third-largest freshwater reserve.

The report also cites Spanish tourism companies for the destruction they have caused to the environment and the coastlines of Mexico and the Caribbean in particular, saying they are exporting “a model of mass tourism that has failed in Spain and is of little benefit to the local population,” Gonzalez added.

Greenpeace, which will be sending the report to the Spanish Foreign Ministry and Parliament, is calling on Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s government to act forcefully in demanding that these multinational companies act with transparency and holding them accountable for their activities abroad. EFE

RIGHTS-EL SALVADOR: Anti-Gay Reform Fails in Congress

By Edgardo Ayala

SAN SALVADOR, Sep 25 (IPS) - Constitutional reforms that would ban same-sex couples from marrying and adopting children in El Salvador failed to obtain the required number of votes in Congress.

The proposed amendments were backed by right-wing parties in Congress, but opposed by the governing leftwing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN).

During the weeks running up to the vote on Thursday, Catholic and evangelical churches in El Salvador joined forces with rightwing parties to try to push through the constitutional reforms.

Hundreds of Catholics and evangelicals carrying placards with messages like "Marriage is Sacred, Let's Defend It" marched through the streets of San Salvador on Saturday, Sept. 19 in support of the rightwing opposition bloc in parliament and to press the FMLN to ratify changes to three articles of the constitution.

The church groups held a permanent "prayer chain" and organised more street demonstrations early this week, in the hope that the reforms would be approved in the legislative vote on Thursday, Sept. 24.

Supporters of the reforms said they were defending public morality and the foundations of the family.

Changing the constitution in El Salvador requires approval of the amendments in one legislative period and ratification, by at least a two-thirds majority (56 votes), in the next parliamentary period. The current legislature, elected in January, was sworn in on May 1.

Amendments to articles 32, 33 and 34 of the constitution, closing off any possibility of marriage or civil union between homosexuals, or the adoption of children by same-sex couples, were introduced to Congress in 2006 and approved unanimously by the previous legislature in April 2009.

In the previous legislature, the FMLN supported the constitutional amendments, presumably to curry favour with voters at the centre. But during the campaign for the March 2009 elections in which President Mauricio Funes was elected, the party changed its position and now maintains that the changes violate the civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) community.

Votes from the FMLN, which holds 35 of the 84 seats in Congress, were needed to ratify the amendments, as the rightwing parties that support the changes do not have enough lawmakers to reach a two-thirds majority.

The National Republican Alliance (ARENA), which governed the country since 1989, has 32 seats, the National Conciliation Party (PCN) has 10 and the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) has five. The sole Democratic Change (CD) lawmaker also supports the reforms.

When the vote was taken late Thursday night, there were only 46 in favour - too few to ratify the proposed amendments.

Article 32, as it stands at present, states that the legal foundation of the family is marriage, based on the spouses' equality before the law. The state is to encourage marriage, but "its absence shall not affect the enjoyment of rights that are established in favour of the family."

The proposed reform would add a stipulation that only "men and women who were born so" are competent to enter into marriage. In addition, "Marriages between persons of the same sex celebrated or recognised under the laws of other countries, and other unions that do not fulfil the conditions established under Salvadoran law, will be null and void in El Salvador."

Article 33 says the law will regulate personal and financial relations between the spouses and between them and their children, establishing reciprocal rights and duties on an equitable basis. It will also regulate family relations resulting from a stable union between a man and a woman.

But with the proposed changes, the last sentence would read: It will also regulate family relations resulting from a stable union between a man and a woman who were born so, and who are not subject to legal impediments preventing them from entering into marriage.

Finally, Article 34 states that every under-age child has the right to live in family and environmental circumstances that allow their all-round development, and for this purpose they shall have the state's protection.

But the proposed reform adds: Adoption is recognised as an institution whose guiding principle will be the greater interest of the adoptee. Persons competent to adopt are those who fulfil the conditions laid down by law. Adoption by same-sex couples is prohibited.

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Salvador, José Luis Escobar, went to the lengths of suggesting on Sept. 13 that as a means of exerting pressure, the rightwing bloc could withhold their votes on bills that were crucial for the country's first-ever leftwing government.

"If one party is refusing to vote and the others are convinced (the measure) is for the common good, the good of the nation, they could oblige them by denying the government party their votes, for example (to approve international) loans or the national budget," Escobar told a press conference.

A Sept. 20 communiqué from the El Salvador Catholic Bishop's Conference expressed full support for Escobar's statements.

However, opposition parties stated officially that they would not condition their approval of other laws to the ratification of the controversial reforms, and the FMLN said it would maintain its stance towards the proposed amendments.

"The FMLN will not budge, we have taken a position and we will stick to it," lawmaker and party spokesman Sigfrido Reyes told IPS before Thursday's vote.

Formerly an insurgent guerrilla movement, the FMLN abandoned armed struggle and became a political party after the 1992 peace agreement put an end to 12 years of civil war in El Salvador.

Inheritance rights and social security and health benefits for homosexual couples would be denied if their unions are not recognised by the state.

LGBT organisations do not regard gay marriage as a matter of life or death, but they do want legal recognition of civil unions. A draft law to this effect was presented to Congress, but without success.

The reforms "would violate the principle of equality in article 3 of the constitution, which establishes that all persons are equal before the law," activist Ana Cisneros, of the Alliance for Sexual Diversity, an umbrella group for LGBT organisations, told IPS.

A latent danger is that the proposed reforms and the churches' campaign might encourage discriminatory attitudes in this country, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world: 55 per 100,000 people.

Since January, 20 homosexuals have been brutally murdered in apparent episodes of gay-bashing. None of the murders have been solved.

Ultra-conservative sectors want legislation based on religious prejudices, when El Salvador is a secular state, Cisneros said.

Because they are discriminatory, the proposed constitutional changes contravene international treaties signed by the state, like the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1993, which includes women belonging to sexual minorities, like lesbians, the activist said.

Discussion of the reforms extended beyond political circles and has triggered fierce ethical and religious debates in society and the media.

"This is a moral issue, not just a simple change in the law. We want the FMLN lawmakers, in the name of God, to make good their word and ratify the reforms," evangelical Pastor Numa Rodezno, of the Christian Community of Santa Tecla, in the southwestern province of La Libertad, told IPS.

Luis Cardenal, head of the conservative Family Network, said that gays, lesbians and transgender people could live with their partners, as in fact they do, but said this should not be called marriage.

"Marriage must be between a man and a woman. A union between persons of the same sex can be called anything else, but not marriage," Cardenal told IPS.

After the vote Thursday, the constitutional reform proposals were sent back for review by a commission. This saved them from being shelved for six months, and means they can be reintroduced at a later time during the current parliamentary period. (END/2009)