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Africa's economic expansion not strong enough to reach poverty MDG, U.N. report says

"Africa's economy expanded by 4.7 percent in 2010 and is expected to maintain similar growth over the next two years," according to the U.N.'s World Economic Situation and Prospects 2011 report, which was released Tuesday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Deutsche Presse-Agentur/M&C reports.

20 Jan 2011

Alcohol statistics in Australia: Beer low wine high

New statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistic (ABS) on alcohol and wine consumption released on Tuesday show beer consumption is now at its lowest level in 61 years. It is making up less than half of all the pure alcohol consumed in Australia.

19 Jan 2011

MU researchers offer tips to increase happiness and avoid wintertime woes

Frigid weather may seem like a good excuse to avoid workouts, stay inside and overindulge in comfort foods. However, health experts from the University of Missouri have found that these tendencies leave most people feeling less content during the winter months. MU researchers say people should establish new traditions to increase happiness and avoid wintertime woes.

19 Jan 2011

Stem cell exhibition to broaden debate on the issue

The topic remains complex and controversial, the technology innovative and promising, and the debate, on stem-cell research, continues unabated. And now, the subject is receiving the attention of a group not normally associated with scientific discoveries. University of Alberta printmaking professor, Sean Caulfield, along with U of A Health Law Institute research director and researcher, Tim Caulfield, have brought together a group of visual artists from Europe and North America to contribute to the stem-cell debate that often pits politicians, scientists, pundits and religious leaders against each other.

17 Jan 2011

Illegal breast & buttock implant woman busted

A woman from New York City was arrested on Friday with the charge of performing illegal breast and buttocks enhancement procedures in her home, sometimes charging more than $1,000 for injections of liquid silicone.

16 Jan 2011

Air Products, Linde enter 50-50 joint venture to supply high purity HCl

Linde Gas North America and Air Products today announced they have formed Hydrochlor, a 50-50 joint venture to supply high purity anhydrous hydrochloric acid (HCl) to the electronics and other industries.

13 Jan 2011

Vitamin drinks contain too much sugar: CHOICE review

According to consumer group CHOICE the available vitamin-enhanced water products, produced by such companies as Nutrient Water, Smart Water and Vitamin Water, often contain high levels of sugar and in some cases were branded in a way that suggested they contained ingredients that were non-existent.

11 Jan 2011

BiAqua, DSM enter partnership for strain and process development of BiAqua Ferritin

DSM BioSolutions, Royal DSM's microbial fermentation contract manufacturing business, and BiAqua B.V., an innovator in delivering bio-based solutions for serious water contamination issues, today announced that they have entered into an agreement for strain development, process development and production of "BiAqua Ferritin" for BiAqua's core technology to address bio-fouling and arsenic contamination in the water sector.

11 Jan 2011

Food price rise will affect 'millions,' FAO economist says

Abdolreza Abbassian, an economist with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), on Friday "warned of a 'worrying rise' in food prices which will affect millions of people following unexpected shortfalls in major cereals owing to bad weather in 2010," Agence France-Presse reports.

10 Jan 2011

Professor Puchta receives ERC's Advanced Researcher Grant

Tomatoes that resist pests and extreme weather while still tasting like tomatoes are among Professor Holger Puchtas long-term research goals. The molecular biologist develops techniques that will allow him to control inheritance in plants to selectively improve the properties of different species through nature's existing gene pool. For his fundamental research, Puchta now is awarded an Advanced Researcher Grant by the European Research Council.

10 Jan 2011

No smokers in Britain by 2050

According to a major investment bank there would be no smokers in Britain by 2050. According to Citigroup analyst Adam Spielman the decline is sharp and sure and would show up as no smokers in 30 to 50 years time. The analyses used data to reveal that the percentage of adult smokers in the UK has fallen from 53 per cent in 1960 to 21 per cent in 2008. Spielman said, “If these trends continue, then by 2050 many important tobacco markets will have gone to zero smoking.”

9 Jan 2011

Gigantism gene inherited by hundreds: Study

A gene that predicted gigantism in humans was identified in the DNA of the 18th-century man known as the Irish Giant, who was more than 7 feet 7 inches tall. Copies of the same mutation have been found in patients today who suffer from excessive growth, and scientists have concluded they all inherited the gene from a common ancestor.

9 Jan 2011

News outlets examine potential implications of record high food price levels

Though world food prices "jumped to a record high" in the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) latest index, the agency "is drawing comfort from the absence of widespread riots, usually the defining element of a food crisis," the Financial Times reports looking at the factors that have led some food prices to rise significantly without sparking international panic.

7 Jan 2011

Oxfam, Amnesty International release reports almost one year since Haiti's earthquake

"A new report from international aid agency Oxfam says reconstruction work has barely begun in Haiti following the country's catastrophic earthquake a year ago," RTE News reports (1/6).

7 Jan 2011

New York Times reports on rise, fall of microloans in developing countries

The New York Times reports on how microlending has "prompted political hostility in Bangladesh, India, Nicaragua and other developing countries." Such negativity "toward microfinance is a sharp reversal from the praise and good will that politicians, social workers and bankers showered on the sector in the last decade."

7 Jan 2011

Tobacco product regulations announced by FDA

This Wednesday the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released guidelines regarding agency approval for certain types of new products to be obtained by tobacco-product makers. FDA announced that products such as cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless products that were introduced or changed after Feb. 15, 2007 must be reviewed by the agency to show that they are “substantially equivalent” to products commercially available on Feb. 15, 2007.

6 Jan 2011

Report urges Minnesotans to protect, preserve water resources

The University of Minnesota's Water Resources Center has authored a first-ever, comprehensive report designed to protect and preserve Minnesota's lakes, rivers and groundwater for the 21st century and beyond.

6 Jan 2011

Reuters examines foreign aid's prospects in new Congress; Foreign Policy looks at Clinton's State Dept. staff memo

Reuters examines how the efforts of "budget-minded lawmakers [in the new U.S. Congress who will] seek to curb costs without undercutting military operations" could impact U.S.-backed aid programs, including those in Afghanistan.

6 Jan 2011

UFCW applauds President Obama for signing new food safety regulations

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union today applauded President Obama for signing into law a new overhaul of our nation's food safety system, which was passed by Congress last year. U.S. food safety regulations have been sorely in need of updating and this new law makes significant progress by strengthening oversight and consumer protection.

6 Jan 2011

Scientists devise new technique to make deuterium-depleted drinking water

Scientists in China are reporting development of a less expensive, more eco-friendly method for making deuterium-depleted drinking water, citing studies suggesting that it may be a more healthful form of water.

6 Jan 2011