Colgate Total® has been the trusted choice for healthy teeth and gums for more than 20 years. Worldwide, it’s the brand recommended most by dentists

 Colgate Total® toothpaste is uniquely formulated with 0.3% of the antibacterial ingredient triclosan to fight harmful plaque germs, which are the cause of most common oral health problems.

 There are more published, peer-reviewed clinical studies of Colgate Total ® than of any other toothpaste in the world. The efficacy and safety of Colgate Total® is supported by more than 90 clinical studies, involving over 20,000 people, and a broad set of safety evaluations. Our research has been shared with regulatory agencies around the world who have accepted triclosan’s safe and effective use in toothpaste.

 Colgate Total® is clinically proven to work better than other toothpastes in reducing the germs that can cause gum disease. It is clinically proven to provide 12-hour protection against plaque germs that can lead to gingivitis, an early form of gum disease. Over 75% of American adults suffer from gingivitis. Plaque and gingivitis, if unchecked, can progress to periodontitis, a more serious and damaging stage of infection that can result in tooth and bone loss. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost half of American adults age 30 and over have serious periodontal disease.

 Brushing with regular fluoride toothpaste does not provide the antibacterial protection of Colgate Total® toothpaste. On the US FDA’s website, updated as of September 2, 2016, the FDA states as follows regarding Colgate Total® toothpaste: "For some consumer products, there is evidence that triclosan provides a benefit." The FDA notes that it has “reviewed extensive effectiveness data on triclosan in Colgate Total toothpaste" and that the "evidence showed that triclosan in that product was effective in preventing gingivitis."

 Additionally, only Colgate Total® toothpaste provides both antibacterial protection and direct anti-inflammatory action, which is notable given the importance of good oral health and the emerging scientific research associating oral health with overall health.

 A thorough independent review was conducted and published by the Cochrane Oral Health Group on the oral health benefits of triclosan/copolymer, the active antibacterial system in Colgate Total® toothpaste. The Cochrane Review evaluated 30 studies dating from 1990 to 2012 and involving 14,835 participants (Riley & Lamont 2013). The resulting data highlighted the many clinical benefits of using a fluoride toothpaste containing triclosan/copolymer and concluded there was no evidence of any harmful effects associated with the use of triclosan/copolymer toothpastes in studies up to three years in duration. Among other things, the Cochrane Review found that after six or more months of use, fluoride toothpaste containing triclosan/copolymer provided:

 22% reduction in plaque and gingivitis as compared with traditional fluoride toothpaste

 22% reduction in plaque and gingivitis as compared with traditional fluoride toothpaste 41% reduction in plaque severity as compared with traditional fluoride toothpaste

 41% reduction in plaque severity as compared with traditional fluoride toothpaste 48% reduction in gum bleeding as compared with traditional fluoride toothpaste

 View the full text of the Cochrane Review

 More questions about Colgate Total®? Ask Here

 Learn More About Colgate’s Ingredient Safety Policy links ||||| Español

 Subscribe: FDA Consumer Health Information

 When you buy soaps and body washes, do you reach for products labeled “antibacterial” hoping they’ll keep your family safer? Do you think those products will lower your risk of getting sick, spreading germs or being infected?

 According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there isn’t enough science to show that over-the-counter (OTC) antibacterial soaps are better at preventing illness than washing with plain soap and water. To date, the benefits of using antibacterial hand soap haven’t been proven. In addition, the wide use of these products over a long time has raised the question of potential negative effects on your health.

 After studying the issue, including reviewing available literature and hosting public meetings, in 2013 the FDA issued a proposed rule requiring safety and efficacy data from manufacturers, consumers, and others if they wanted to continue marketing antibacterial products containing those ingredients, but very little information has been provided. That’s why the FDA is issuing a final rule under which OTC consumer antiseptic wash products (including liquid, foam, gel hand soaps, bar soaps, and body washes) containing the majority of the antibacterial active ingredients—including triclosan and triclocarban—will no longer be able to be marketed.

 Why? Because the manufacturers haven’t proven that those ingredients are safe for daily use over a long period of time. Also, manufacturers haven’t shown that these ingredients are any more effective than plain soap and water in preventing illnesses and the spread of certain infections. Some manufacturers have already started removing these ingredients from their products, ahead of the FDA’s final rule.

 “Following simple handwashing practices is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of many types of infection and illness at home, at school and elsewhere,” says Theresa M. Michele, MD, of the FDA’s Division of Nonprescription Drug Products. “We can’t advise this enough. It’s simple, and it works.”

 The FDA’s final rule covers only consumer antibacterial soaps and body washes that are used with water. It does not apply to hand sanitizers or hand wipes. It also does not apply to antibacterial soaps that are used in health care settings, such as hospitals and nursing homes.

 What Makes Soap ‘Antibacterial’

 Antibacterial soaps (sometimes called antimicrobial or antiseptic soaps) contain certain chemicals not found in plain soaps. Those ingredients are added to many consumer products with the intent of reducing or preventing bacterial infection.

 Many liquid soaps labeled antibacterial contain triclosan, an ingredient of concern to many environmental, academic and regulatory groups. Animal studies have shown that triclosan alters the way some hormones work in the body and raises potential concerns for the effects of use in humans. We don’t yet know how triclosan affects humans and more research is needed.

 “There’s no data demonstrating that these drugs provide additional protection from diseases and infections. Using these products might give people a false sense of security,” Michele says. “If you use these products because you think they protect you more than soap and water, that’s not correct. If you use them because of how they feel, there are many other products that have similar formulations but won’t expose your family to unnecessary chemicals. And some manufacturers have begun to revise these products to remove these ingredients.”

 How do you tell if a product is antibacterial? For OTC drugs, antibacterial products generally have the word “antibacterial” on the label. Also, a Drug Facts label on a soap or body wash is a sign a product contains antibacterial ingredients.

 Triclosan and Health Concerns

 Triclosan can be found in many places today. It has been added to many consumer products—including clothing, kitchenware, furniture, and toys—to prevent bacterial contamination. Because of that, people’s long-term exposure to triclosan is higher than previously thought, raising concerns about the potential risks associated with the use of this ingredient over a lifetime.

 In addition, laboratory studies have raised the possibility that triclosan contributes to making bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Some data shows this resistance may have a significant impact on the effectiveness of medical treatments, such as antibiotics.

 The FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been closely collaborating on scientific and regulatory issues related to triclosan. This joint effort will help to ensure government-wide consistency in the regulation of this chemical. The two agencies are reviewing the effects of triclosan from two different perspectives.

 The EPA regulates the use of triclosan as a pesticide, and is in the process of updating its assessment of the effects of triclosan when it is used in pesticides. The FDA’s focus is on the effects of triclosan when it is used by consumers on a regular basis in hand soaps and body washes. By sharing information, the two agencies will be better able to measure the exposure and effects of triclosan and how these differing uses of triclosan may affect human health.

 The EPA reevaluates each pesticide active ingredient every 15 years. The EPA’s Final Work Plan for the triclosan risk assessment can be found in docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-0811.

 More on the FDA’s Rule

 The FDA’s rule doesn’t yet apply to three chemicals (benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium chloride and chloroxylenol). Manufacturers are developing and planning to submit new safety and effectiveness data for these ingredients.

 With the exception of those three ingredients that are still under study, all products that use the other 19 active ingredients will need to change their formulas or they will no longer be available to consumers. Manufacturers will have one year to comply with the rule.

 This rule doesn’t apply to hand sanitizers. In June 2016, the FDA issued a proposed rule requesting additional scientific data from manufacturers showing that the active ingredients in hand sanitizers are generally recognized as safe and effective to reduce bacteria on skin. To learn about the difference between consumer hand sanitizers and consumer antibacterial soaps, visit our consumer information page.

 Consumers, Keep Washing with Plain Soap and Water

 So what should consumers do? Wash your hands with plain soap and water. That’s still one of the most important steps you can take to avoid getting sick and to prevent spreading germs.

 September 2, 2016

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Write a summary.

– The FDA last week banned the use of a chemical from soap, but not from the nation’s top-selling toothpaste. Why? The New York Times reports it was because Colgate-Palmolive convinced the FDA that the benefits of triclosan are greater than the risks. Toothpaste containing the chemical "demonstrated to be effective at reducing plaque and gingivitis," an FDA spokeswoman said. The decision came after the agency announced that there was not enough evidence to prove that antibacterial soap containing triclosan was any better "at preventing illness than washing with plain soap and water." Worse, long-term use of the soap, the agency said in a statement, "has raised the question of potential negative effects on your health." Scientists have long raised concerns that prolonged exposure to germ-fighters could result in strains of resistant bacteria. The only toothpaste in the US that contains triclosan Colgate Total, the Times reports. Colgate-Palmolive insists that rigorous testing has shown the toothpaste is safe. "The full weight of scientific evidence amassed over 25 years continues to support the safety and efficacy of Colgate Total," spokesman Mike DiPiazza told the paper. But critics questioned the FDA’s logic. "We put soap on our hands, and a small amount gets into our body," said Rolf Halden, an expert at Arizona State University who has studied triclosan. He said that with exposure through the gums "chemicals get rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream." (The feds have also targeted fluoride.)


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Entertainment

 Some musicians complain about how little money they make from streaming services. Others do something about it.

 Vulfpeck, a small-time funk band with a couple of retro-styled albums under its belt, recently released Sleepify, an album made up of nothing but silence. This isn’t a completely new concept: Anyone with a pompous theory streak will insist that it’s really the silence between the notes that matter—and congratulations if you’re already thinking of John Cage’s 4’33,” a composition performed by sitting there without playing.

 But Vulfpeck’s latest album is a business experiment, not a musical one. The idea behind the project is for fans to stream the “songs” constantly, generating royalties for the band in their spare time. Vulfpeck plans to use the proceeds to go on tour. It’s an ingenious publicity stunt and, if you squint hard enough, a commentary on the way music is valued in the digital age.

 Plus, if you want to get nerdy about it, Sleepify is a clever form of donation by distributed computing. There are precedents here, for both good and evil. Scientists at Stanford have more than a quarter-million people helping them study diseases by running software on their computers; when you get an e-mail suggesting you click on a suspicious link, it’s often really a request to use your computing power to send more spam.

 The 10 tracks on the all-silence album are already the most popular music that Vulfpeck has released on Spotify, with about 1,115,000 plays in total. Spotify pays between 0.6¢ and 0.84¢ per track, according to data released by the company in December, which means Vulfpeck has made somewhere between $6,700 and $9,400. You’re not setting up something like the Watch the Throne tour with this, but it’s nothing to scoff at if what you’re after is gas money and Slim Jims. Jack Stratton, who plays drums and keyboard for Vulfpeck, says he has no idea how much he’s made from Sleepify or, for that matter, what a life on the road costs. “We haven’t toured,” he says. “We’ve only played twice in three years.”

 Stratton isn’t a streaming malcontent. He says that Spotify does a great job of presenting his music to fans and believes that about 10 percent of new fans come to the band through the service. The rest of the people who find Vulfpeck online come from YouTube (GOOG), he says, and “frankly, we make less on YouTube.” The silent tracks have also inspired a big bump in traffic to the band’s actual music. (By my count, the band made about 6¢ from me as I wrote this article.)

 Spotify seems to smile on Vulfpeck’s stunt. A spokesperson, in an e-mail, called it clever, with a caveat: “We prefer Vulpeck’s early albums. Sleepify seems derivative of John Cage’s work.”

 If the band wants to get serious about making digital dollars for not playing, it would do better to stop asking humans not to listen. Bots would be the ideal nonaudience for the nonmusic. Writing programs to drive traffic is already big business in digital advertising, where so-called impression fraud is a widely acknowledged problem. Last year researchers from the firm Broadcast Interactive Media estimated that brands lose $180 million annually paying to advertise to robots, whose sole purpose is to game the system.

 Spotify didn’t want to talk about whether it has ever had to deal with bot-driven traffic. Doing so would probably be possible, although there would be some technical barriers. You’d have to create many accounts and automatically log in using them, since Spotify keeps a single user from listening to more than one track at a time. Any scheme large enough to be very lucrative would also potentially capture the attention of the company.

 Another problem has to do with the way Spotify pays for music. While streaming royalties are often discussed on a per-listen basis, Spotify actually uses a slightly more complicated model. The company pays out about 70 percent of its revenue to labels, artists, and music publishers, and it calculates who gets what by determining what proportion of overall Spotify plays accrued to a given artist. By gaming the system, you end up gaming not only a tech company but also other honest bands just trying to make a buck. And that would be a bummer. ||||| The interactive transcript could not be loaded.

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– Lots of musicians—notably Thom Yorke of Radiohead—hate Spotify because it pays out a tiny fraction of a cent for every track played. But now a funk band out of Ann Arbor called Vulfpeck has come up with what Quartz calls an "ingeniously simple" way to actually make some money off the online streaming service. The group has put out a new album called Sleepify that consists of 10 tracks of absolute silence. Vulfpeck asks fans to stream the album overnight while they sleep, on repeat, figuring it could make about $4 per listener per night. The band promises to use the money for a fall tour in which shows would be free. Guardian music blogger Tim Jonze does some more math and observes that diligent fans could join together to help their favorite groups "make a load of money from this scheme." (Jonze also reviews the album in tongue-in-cheek fashion: "Opening track 'Z' certainly sets the tone, a subtle, intriguing work that teases the listener as to what may come next.") At Businessweek, Joshua Brustein is impressed. "It’s an ingenious publicity stunt and, if you squint hard enough, a commentary on the way music is valued in the digital age." Spotify, meanwhile, seems to be taking it in good spirit, with a spokesperson calling it a "clever stunt." As of now, the company doesn't plan to crack down on the musical silence. (Click to read about how YouTube is planning a service to rival Spotify.)


Article:
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota restaurant owner upset over what happened in St. Cloud posted a controversial sign Monday morning.

 The sign outside Treats Family Restaurant in Lonsdale, Minnesota, reads “Muslims Get Out.” A second line reads “In Support Of St. Cloud,” reports CBS Minnesota.

 On Saturday, a man stabbed several people at a St. Cloud mall, allegedly asking victims if they were Muslim before attacking them.

 Restaurant owner Dan Ruedinger says the sign has led to some backlash, but he says business is up so much that he had to call in three extra workers Monday.

 “It’s time that people started standing up, not worrying about the PC crowd and do what is right,” Ruedinger said. “And I feel what we’re doing is right. We are not targeting the Muslims in general, just the extremists. And that’s all I can say. It’s my right and I’m going to stand up, and I wish more people would do it.”

 Payten Estepp was part of a group protesting the sign Monday night.

 “I get it, it’s his right to say what he wants to say,” Estepp said. “But that’s giving Lonsdale a bad rap to everyone that drives by on 19, which is a very busy road, so people are going to see that and they’re going to think Lonsdale as a whole, as a community, is as crass as that sign.”

 Ruedinger says he has no plans to take down or change the sign. ||||| Lonsdale, MN (55046)

 Today

 Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 76F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

 Tonight

 Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 76F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. ||||| 13

 (507) 744-4945

 I live in Lonsdale, so have been here a few times. I'll start with the positive: I quite like the ice cream selection, er, it's actually more of an "ice milk" than cream, like Dairy Queen, but we're all used to that by now. Typical soft serve, nothing to phone home about, but it's fine. They've got all the stuff you'd expect to find at DQ, so not bad a bad stop for an ice cream fix. However, I'd veer away from the cooked food. They claim the burgers are hand made, not frozen, and I'm sure that may be true...there's plenty of butchers nearby that could be providing fresh meat. The only issue is, they're screwing the burgers up...they're super gritty, greasy, and don't have any seasoning/flavor to speak of. You can put toppings on which makes it ok, but really nothing worth stopping for. Most other items on the menu are just defrosted, deep fried, and awful. The cheese curds could be good...but they don't drain the oil off so by the time they get to you they're all stuck together and soggy. One thing I do kind of like is the Sloppy Joe, or "Sloppy Dan" as it's referred to here, which I believe is also supposed to be an in-house recipe. It's decent. My mom's is better...but hey, she's hard to beat. Also, there's something odd about the third-rate non-name-brand fountain soda they have, it seems the syrup was frozen or something, as it tastes freezer-burnt. Why would you freeze syrup? Something isn't quite right there, maybe it's just really bad soda. What keeps me from going back at all even for the decent ice cream is the service, frankly. Customer service skills are lacking in everyone who works here, from the young kids they hire all the way to the owners - except maybe the wife as an exception, she's usually pretty nice. No one else seems to be enjoying their time there. This isn't a cheap political shot since the owner is very political, you'll see lawn signs all over the place and while I think whatever floats your boat, it shows a lack of business know-how (who would alienate half their customers) and makes me wonder how the judgement is in the rest of his business decisions. It's genuinely true that the environment isn't pleasant. Most importantly, if there's more than one person in the restaurant, it can also take a long time to be served or for your food to be made. Should you decide to try for yourself, my recommendation is to call ahead, and just pick it up through the drive thru window....as there's nothing special about the decor or hospitality. I believe the owner delivers the food locally as well, but you'd have to call and ask if that's still the case. |||||Summary:

– Muslim families won't be offered any treats at the Treats Family Restaurant in Lonsdale, southern Minnesota: Owner Dan Ruedinger has arranged the sign board outside to read "Muslims Get Out." The sign says it is in "suport" of St. Cloud, where a Somali-American man stabbed nine people in a mall last weekend. Despite what his sign says, Ruedinger says he's not against all Muslims, only extremists. "It’s time that people started standing up, not worrying about the PC crowd and do what is right,” he tells CBS. "And I feel what we’re doing is right." Ruedinger, whose Yelp page has been inundated with negative reviews, says putting up the sign is his First Amendment right. Ruedinger says Islam is a "religion of hatred that preaches violence"—and the Muslims who are "good people" should "hold the others accountable." The Lonsdale News-Review reports that Muslim leaders, including Jaylani Hussein of the state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, met Ruedinger for what Hussein describes as a "short conversation." A witness says Ruedinger became agitated and started shouting about his son's service in Iraq. Hussein says thousands of Muslims were "shocked and appalled" by the St. Cloud attack and they will continue to try to reach out to Ruedinger.


Article:
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Cindy Sui reports from Taiwan on the moves to end betel nut use

 It is used by almost a tenth of the world's population. It gives people a buzz equivalent to six cups of coffee and is used variously as a symbol of love, marriage and a cure for indigestion and impotence.

 But it is also leading tens of thousands to an early grave.

 The culprit? The humble betel nut.

 Found across Asia, these nuts are harvested from the Areca palm and are chewed for their warming glow and stimulating properties.

 Such is its effectiveness, that alongside nicotine, alcohol and caffeine, betel nuts are believed to be one of the most popular mind-altering substances in the world.

 Although used by women and children, the nuts are especially popular among working-age men, who chew to stay awake through long hours of driving, fishing or working on construction sites.

 But the short-lived benefits come at a terrible cost.

 High rates of oral cancer are destroying the lives of many who buy betel nuts, often decades after their first taste.

 Now in Taiwan, where the nuts are affectionately known as 'Taiwan's chewing gum', the government is taking action to curb this centuries-old habit and reduce the thousands of lives lost each year.

 Dangerous combination

 Image copyright Science Photo Library Image caption Regular betel nut chewers stand out from the crowd with their red-stained lips and teeth

 The betel nut is a key part of many Asian cultures and can be consumed dried, fresh or wrapped up in a package known as a quid.

 Although the exact preparation varies across countries and cultures, the quid is usually a mixture of slaked lime, a betel leaf and flavourings such as cardamom, cinnamon and tobacco.

 Worryingly, the International Agency for Research on Cancer lists each ingredient, with the exception of cardamom and cinnamon, as a known carcinogen - or cancer-causing agent.

 The slaked lime is seen as a particular problem as it causes hundreds of tiny abrasions to form in the mouth. This is thought to be a possible entry point for many of the cancer-causing chemicals.

 "About half of the men here still don't know that betel nuts can cause oral cancer," says Prof Hahn Liang-jiunn, an oral cancer specialist at the National Taiwan University Hospital.

 "[This is despite] Taiwan's incidence or mortality rates for oral cancer ranking among the top two or three in the world."

 'I started chewing because everyone else did'

 Image caption Qui Zhen-huang now warns others about the dangers of betel nuts.

 Like most people, Qiu Zhen-huang, 54, was completely unaware of the risks.

 A former gravel company worker, he chewed for ten years. Twenty years after quitting, he developed the disease.

 "I started chewing betel nut because everyone at work did it," says Mr Qiu.

 "We shared it with each other to build good relations."

 Three years ago, a small hole developed in his left cheek and in just three months, the tumour grew to the size of a golf ball and completely changed his life.

 "Whatever I ate flowed out. I had a gauze pad over it. It hurt," he said.

 "It affected me a lot. I was so ashamed I avoided going out."

 Each year, 5,400 Taiwanese men like Mr Qiu are diagnosed with oral cancer or pre-cancerous lesions and an estimated 80 to 90% of those also chew betel nuts.

 An early symptom includes white or red lesions inside the mouth, but this can rapidly progress to grotesque flesh-eating tumours.

 Unlike other cancers, these are difficult to hide, leaving sufferers physically and psychologically devastated.

 "It's miserable for them," says Prof Hahn.

 "Sometimes, even after surgery, they still can't perform basic functions, including expressing emotions through their face because the lower jaw also has to be cut depending on the scale of the cancer."

 Tackling the scourge

 Image caption The Taiwanese government is offering subsidies in return for cutting down betel nut palms

 Luckily for Qiu Zhen-huang, his cancer was treated and his cheek reconstructed.

 But the Taiwanese government is helping people detect the disease more quickly by providing around one million free screenings and funding programs to help people quit betel nuts for good.

 In 2013, these measures helped cut the usage rate among men by nearly half.

 Critics argue that action should have been taken much sooner as the cancer risk of betel nuts has been known since 2003.

 However, pressure from those working in the industry has provided strong opposition to change.

 Now the government is trying to reduce the domestic supply of betel nuts by offering subsidies to farmers to cut down their trees and plant alternative crops.

 Other countries such as India and Thailand have also launched campaigns to discourage betel nut chewing.

 But there is still a way to go. At a recent presentation to elementary school children of fishing industry workers, nearly all raised their hands when asked whether their parents or relatives chewed betel nuts.

 And as the cancer can take up to 20 years to appear, the current changes will have come too late for many people - a fact that Mr Qiu keeps close to his heart.

 "I'm one of the luckier ones." ||||| BBC has reported on the dangerous affliction hitting Taiwan—the chewing of Betel Nuts, which is believed to be responsible for its oral-cancer epidemic.

 The deadly habit has been around for centuries in Taiwan, and is especially popular with blue-collar workers for its stimulating effect—the tiny nut gives the same buzz as six cups of coffee.

 The Taiwanese government is now seeking to curb the prevalence of the Betel Nut due to its dangerous side-effects. Consumers of the nut are easily spotted by their red-stained lips and teeth, but it is the link between Betel Nut chewing and serious illness which is more worrying than the vampire-like appearance it causes. 80 to 90 percent of the 5,400 men who are diagnosed with oral cancer or lesions in Taiwan admit to chewing Betel Nuts. It is highly likely the custom of chewing Betel Nuts (also regarded as a cure for indigestion and impotence) has contributed to Taiwan ranking in the world's top three for incidence of and mortality rate from oral cancer.

 The innocuous looking nut is harvested from the Areca palm and can be eaten dried, fresh, or in a 'quid'—wrapped up in Betel leaf and mixed with slaked lime, cardamom, cinnamon and tobacco. Indeed, it is this combination which exacerbates the danger, since all of these ingredients are also known cancer-causing carcinogens.

 The Taiwanese government has responded by providing free programs aimed at convincing people to quit Betel Nuts, as well as offering incentives to Betel Nut farmers to cut down their Betel palms and grow other crops. However, Betel Buts still remain legal.

 This is not the first time a popular snack has been found to cause cancer in Taiwan: millions of packets of contaminated dried fruit and fruit juice were recalled in 2011 once it was revealed they could cause cancer as well as liver and kidney damage.

 Disconcertingly-high rates of cancer have also been reported on mainland China, with a 2014 survey revealing that one in 60 Shanghai residents had been diagnosed with cancer. ||||| What is betel nut? A deep red or purple smile is a common sight in many parts of Asia and the Pacific. But what’s behind it? This red residue is the telltale sign of the betel nut, which is chewed by millions of people across the globe. In its most basic form, betel nut is a seed of the Areca catechu, a type of palm tree. It’s commonly chewed after being ground up or sliced and wrapped in leaves of the Piper betle vine that have been coated with lime. This is known as a betel quid. Tobacco or flavorful spices may also be added.

 History of a habit Betel nut has a long history in South and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Basin. In Guam and other Pacific islands, its use can be traced back as far as 2,000 years. A habit passed down through generations, chewing betel nut is a time-honored custom for 10–20 percent of the world’s population. Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 600 million people use some form of betel nut. It is one of the most popular psychoactive substances in the world, in fourth place after nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine. But while betel nut is an important cultural and social tradition in many countries, growing evidence points to serious health effects from regular use.

 A burst of energy Many people chew betel nut for the energy boost it produces. This is likely due to the nut’s natural alkaloids, which release adrenaline. It may also result in feelings of euphoria and well-being. Some traditional beliefs hold that it may offer relief for a range of ailments, from dry mouth to digestive problems. However, the drug has not been well tested in clinical trials, and evidence of any health benefits is limited. According to one study published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, betel nut has cancer-fighting properties. An Indian study suggests it may help with cardiovascular and digestive issues and have anti-inflammatory and wound-healing properties. However, a study in the South East Asia Journal of Cancer points to the lack of follow-up studies. It also says that more research is needed to confirm any of the betel nut’s benefits. A medical review of the nut’s effects published in the Indian Journal of Medical and Paediatric Oncology concludes that it’s an addictive substance with many more harmful effects than benefits.

 Oral cancer and other dangers Research has revealed some serious health risks of betel nut. The WHO classifies betel nut as a carcinogen. Many studies have shown a convincing link between betel nut use and cancer of the mouth and esophagus. A study in the Journal of the American Dental Association reports that betel nut users are at a higher risk for oral submucous fibrosis. This incurable condition can cause stiffness in the mouth and eventually the loss of jaw movement. Regular chewing of betel nut can also cause gum irritation and tooth decay. Teeth may become permanently stained deep red or even black. An early study published in the American Society for Clinical Nutrition found a strong connection between betel nut and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and obesity. Betel nut may interact with other drugs or herbal supplements. It could cause toxic reactions in the body or reduce the effects of medications. More testing is needed to determine just how betel nut affects other drugs. Regular betel nut use may also lead to dependency and withdrawal symptoms. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not consider betel nut safe for chewing or eating. It has placed the nut on its Poisonous Plants Database. A fact sheet on betel nut with tobacco issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns of the following medical conditions associated with betel nut use with tobacco: oral submucous fibrosis

 oral cancer

 addiction

 reproductive issues, including low birth weight in newborns

 Raising awareness Health organizations and governments around the globe are taking steps to increase awareness of betel nut risks. Taiwan has declared an annual “Betel Nut Prevention Day.” City officials in Taipei now fine anyone seen spitting betel nut juice and require them to attend withdrawal classes. In 2012, the WHO released an action plan designed to reduce betel nut use in the Western Pacific. It calls for a combination of the following measures to curb the practice: policy

 public awareness campaigns

 community outreach |||||Summary:

– Nicotine. Caffeine. Betel nuts. You may never have heard of them, but nuts from the Areca palm are hugely popular as a chewable stimulant: Almost a tenth of the global population enjoys them, the BBC reports. A millennia-old tradition, they're the world's fourth-most-popular psychoactive substance, Healthline adds. Their effect is similar to that of drinking six cups of coffee, and many workers engaged in lengthy physical tasks chew them to maintain alertness. Trouble is, they're incredibly dangerous. Potentially leading to oral cancer and terrible mouth lesions, they're likely responsible for tens of thousands of early deaths, the BBC notes. In Taiwan, about 5,400 men receive oral cancer diagnoses each year; as many as 90% of them are betel nut chewers. The situation is only made worse by the way betel nuts are often packaged: in what are called quids, which can be made using known carcinogens like tobacco and slaked lime. The latter can generate small abrasions in the mouth that may help the carcinogens get into the body. Despite the dangers, betel nuts are called "Taiwan's chewing gum," and about half the country's men aren't aware of the cancer issue, an expert says—even as people like Qiu Zhen-huang develop holes in their cheeks. Decades after he quit the stuff, he ended up with a golf ball-sized tumor. The FDA doesn't consider betel nuts safe, Healthline notes, and in recent years, Taiwan has been fighting their use—though it remains legal, Shanghaiist reports. Free screenings and other programs helped cut men's chewing rates in half two years ago, the BBC notes. (As for smoking: Keep doing it, and there's a 67% chance you'll die from it, a study finds.)


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Subscriber Content Read Preview Beijing, U.S. Unveil New Korean Sanctions

 The U.S. and China introduced a new round of sanctions against North Korea at the United Nations that the U.S. said would significantly impede the development of Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs, in response to its test last month of an atomic bomb. ||||| GMO corn falls prey to bugs it was supposed to thwart

 CHICAGO — A voracious pest which has long plagued corn farmers is devouring a widely-used variety that was genetically modified to thwart the rootworms, raising fears of a new superbug.

 So far, there is no evidence that a significant number of rootworms have developed a resistance to the corn's protective toxin.

 However, experts warn that farmers may be forced to resume the heavy use of pesticides if resistant bugs become widespread.

 They also caution that farmers may be using genetically modified crops in ways that hasten the development of resistant bugs.

 "The western corn rootworm is one of the most significant insect pests of corn in the United States and has a potential to become a very significant insect in Europe," said Michael Gray, a crop scientist at the University of Illinois.

 Farmers used to be able to manage the pests by rotating which crops they planted in their fields.

 But rootworms started to lay their eggs on soybeans -- the most common substitute -- which meant farmers had to use pesticides to get rid of them. The hardy and adaptive bugs have also developed resistance to some pesticides, Gray said Monday.

 Monsanto released the first seeds that were genetically-modified to protect themselves from rootworms in 2003. US farmers used this type of seed for 45% of the US crop in 2009.

 Evidence of the first resistant rootworms was found in four Iowa fields that suffered extensive damage from the pests in 2009.

 Gray is currently investigating whether rootworms which devoured genetically modified corn in Illinois this year have also developed a resistance.

 Laboratory testing published last month confirmed that the bugs collected from the Iowa fields were able to pass a resistance to the crop's toxins on to their offspring.

 "These results suggest that improvements in resistance management and a more integrated approach to the use of Bt crops may be necessary," wrote lead researcher Aaron Gassmann of Iowa State University.

 The fields where the resistant rootworms were found had been planted with the genetically modified seeds for at least three consecutive years.

 That could have helped the bugs develop a resistance, Gassmann wrote.

 Another contributor could be the insufficient use of "refuges," he concluded.

 Farmers are supposed to plant 20 percent of their fields with corn that doesn't have the genetic modification so that if resistant bugs develop they will end up breeding with non-resistant rootworms drawn to the unprotected plants and lessen the chance of passing resistance on to the next generation.

 Monsanto is already working to make it easier for farmers to comply with these government-mandated "refuges" by selling bags that contain a mix of unprotected and protected seeds.

 It also has several other products already on the market which could work as a substitute if significant resistance develops and has several new products in the pipeline, said spokesman Lee Quarles.

 But while Monsanto is taking the study results "seriously" there is no reason for farmers to stop using the current seeds, he said.

 "Today's products work," Quarles told AFP. "They continue to provide tremendous performance to farmers and we're seeing that performance on greater than 99% of all acres planted."

 Copyright © 2013 AFP. All rights reserved. More » ||||| The second involved crop-eating insects. We've isolated the toxic gene of a commonly used bacterial pesticide called Bt, Monsanto announced, and spliced it directly into crops. Along with corn and soy, you will literally be growing the pesticide that protects them. Plant our seeds, and watch your crops thrive while their pests shrivel and die.

 The first involved weeds. Leave the weed management to us, Monsanto insisted. We've engineered plants that can survive our very own herbicide. Just pay up for our patented, premium-priced seeds, spray your fields with our Roundup herbicide whenever the fancy strikes, and—voilà!—no more weeds.

 Over the past decade and a half, as Monsanto built up its globe-spanning, multi-billion-dollar genetically modified seed empire, it made two major pitches to farmers.

 Monsanto focused its technology on three widely planted, highly subsidized crops: corn, soy, and cotton. Large-scale farmers of these commodities, always operating on razor-thin profit margins, lunged at the chance to streamline their operations by essentially outsourcing their pest management to Monsanto. And so Monsanto's high-tech crops essentially took over the corn/soy- and cotton-growing regions of the country.

 But now the pitches are wearing thin. Dumping a single herbicide onto millions of acres of farmland has, predictably enough, given rise to weeds resistant to that herbicide. Such "superweeds" are now galloping through cotton and corn country, forcing farmers to resort to highly toxic herbicide cocktails and even hand-weeding. More than 11 million acres are infested with Roundup-resistant weeds, up from 2.4 million acres in 2007, reckons Penn State University weed expert David Mortensen.

 And now insects are developing resistance to Monsanto's insecticide-infused crops, reports the Wall Street Journal. Fields planted in Monsanto's Bt corn in some areas of the Midwest are showing damage from the corn rootworm—the very species targeted by Monsanto's engineered trait. An Iowa State University scientist has conclusively identified Bt-resistant root worms in four Iowa fields, the Journal reports.

 The findings are not likely isolated to those fields—just like spotting a cockroach on your kitchen floor probably signals an infestation, not that a lone cockroach randomly stumbled in for a visit. Sure enough, farmers in Illinois are also seeing severe rootworm damage in fields planted in Monsanto's Bt corn. And it's not just in the United States: In 2010, Monsanto itself acknowledged that in industrial-agriculture regions of India, where Monsanto's Bt cotton is a dominant crop, a cotton-attacking pest called the bollworm had developed resistance.

 Just as Roundup-resistant superweeds rapidly bloomed into a major problem after first appearing in the mid-2000s, Bt-resistant superinsects may be just getting started. Colleen Scherer, managing editor of the industrial-ag trade magazine Ag Professional, put it like this: "There is no 'putting the genie back in the bottle,' and resistance in these areas is a problem that won't go away."

 So what does all of this mean for Monsanto? If its main attraction for farmers—the promise of easy pest management—is turning to dust in a quite public way, should we expect the company be on the verge of getting crushed under the weight of its failures?

 To get a glimpse of how the publicly traded company is faring, I looked at how its stock has been performing over the past year, compared to the broader stock market. Early Monday afternoon, Monsanto's shares were trading at about $71—a more than 25 percent gain over the past 12 months. Over the same period, the S&P 500—a broad gauge of US stocks—is up just over 10 percent. That means investors have high hopes for Monsanto going forward, despite the high-profile failures. Like weeds and bugs in farm fields, Monsanto shares have developed resistance to toxic tidings.

 What gives? The Wall Street Journal article provides a clue:

 The [Bt-resistance] finding adds fuel to the race among crop biotechnology rivals to locate the next generation of genes that can protect plants from insects. Scientists at Monsanto and Syngenta AG of Basel, Switzerland, are already researching how to use a medical breakthrough called RNA interference to, among other things, make crops deadly for insects to eat. If this works, a bug munching on such a plant could ingest genetic code that turns off one of its essential genes.

 In other words, Monsanto claims it has the answer to the trouble it's cooking up on corn, soy, and cotton fields: more patent-protected GM technology. It has managed to shove US farmers on a kind of accelerating treadmill: the need to apply ever more, and ever more novel, high-tech responses to keep up with ever-evolving pests. And while farmers run ever faster to stay in place, Monsanto just keeps coming up with highly profitable "solutions" to the problems it has generated.

 Investors have embraced Monsanto's pitch. Large-scale farmers, battered and desperate for relief, probably will too. But the broader citizenry, in the form of the regulatory agencies that ostensibly guard the public interest, should start asking hard questions.

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What is a summary?

– Farmers in Iowa who planted corn seeds genetically modified to fend off the dreaded corn rootworm are seeing a troubling sign: The rootworm is apparently developing a resistance to the Monsanto seeds and gobbling up cornfields again, say Iowa University researchers. It's still just a small percentage of rootworms that have adapted, reports AFP, but the development is renewing fears that biotech crops will create superbugs. "These are isolated cases, and it isn't clear how widespread the problem will become," an Iowa State entomologist tells the Wall Street Journal. "But it is an early warning that management practices need to change." At Mother Jones, blogger Tom Philpott thinks Monsanto has put farmers on a "treadmill" of sorts: "the need to apply ever more, and ever more novel, high-tech responses to keep up with ever-evolving pests."


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– A day after being accidentally introduced as "President Clinton," Hillary seems to be taking pains to kill talk of a future run in New Zealand's media, reports Reuters. Asked whether she'd "ruled out" running through 2016, she replied, "Oh yes, yes. I'm very pleased to be doing what I'm doing as secretary of state." Asked in another interview whether she could be the first female president, she answered, "Well, not me. But it will be someone ..." The significance? Probably not much, writes Laura Rozen in Politico, noting how one of Clinton's answers is tied to her being secretary of state—a post she likely won't hold in 2016. On another front, Clinton said the midterm losses were "big—but not out of the pattern of historical political elections." She added, "I think the president made very clear was he made decisions which were essential for the well-being of the American people."

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand |

 CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ruled out running for president in 2012 or 2016 on Friday, saying the United States should be ready for a woman president but it would not be her.

 In interviews in New Zealand, the failed 2008 presidential candidate made clear she had no plans to run again despite talk -- fueled partly by her fellow Democrats' losses in Tuesday's U.S. mid-term elections -- she might embark on a new race.

 Asked by TV3 New Zealand whether she ruled out standing for the top U.S. office through 2016, Clinton, according to a U.S. reporter, replied: "Oh yes, yes. I'm very pleased to be doing what I'm doing as secretary of state."

 In a separate interview with TV New Zealand, Clinton said she hoped the United States was ready for a female president, adding "it should be."

 Asked if it might be her, she replied: "Well, not me. But it will be someone and it is nice coming to countries that have already proven that they can elect women to the highest governing positions that they have in their systems."

 New Zealand -- whose former prime ministers include Helen Clark and Jenny Shipley -- is the second-to-last stop on a nearly two-week Asia-Pacific tour that Clinton wraps up in Australia, whose current prime minister is Julia Gillard.

 In Tuesday's election, Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives, where the Republicans gained at least 60 members. As of Thursday, Democrats held on to the Senate with a 51-seat majority but the Republicans gained six seats there.

 The Democrats' poor showing has been widely interpreted as a referendum on U.S. President Barak Obama, raising questions about who the party may field as its candidate in 2012, when he would be expected to run for re-election, and 2016.

 (Editing by Sugita Katyal) ||||| Secretary of State Hillary Clinton aimed to defuse speculation about another presidential run Friday, telling New Zealand television that she's very pleased to serve as Secretary of State.

 Asked by New Zealand TV3's Duncan Garner Friday, "Just looking long term, do you still rule out standing for top office, for president?"

 "Yes," Clinton said.

 Garner continued: "Even as going as far as 2016?"

 "Oh yes, yes," Clinton reiterated. "I’m very pleased to be doing what I’m doing as Secretary of State."

 Does that constitute Clinton ruling out a 2016 run, as the Reuters' take on her comments suggests?

 Not necessarily. Clinton says she's enjoying her job as Secretary of State too much to get into the presidential race. But in 2016, she almost certainly will not be Secretary of State anymore.

 (Clinton may also have been even more careful than usual to try to squelch political speculation about herself given the fact that New Zealand Prime Minister John Phillip Key accidentally introduced her yesterday as "President Clinton" before correcting himself.)

 In the interview Friday, Clinton also sought to defend President Barack Obama and put the Democrats' losses in the midterms Tuesday in perspective.

 Asked if this was a bigger than normal midterm rout such as that her husband experienced in 1994, Clinton acknowledged, "It's big," but added, "but it is not out of the pattern of historical political elections."

 "But what I think the President made very clear was he made decisions which were essential for the well-being of the American people," Clinton continued.

 "It may not have been popular to do what had to be done with the stimulus and some of the other actions he took on the economy, but many of us believe it prevented even worse economic consequences," Clinton said. "So these things take a while for people to feel them, and I think the President recognizes that we’re just all going to have to redouble our efforts." ||||| POLITICO's Patrick Gavin reports on "President" Hillary Clinton's visit to New Zealand Thursday:

 We all know that Hillary Clinton came close to winning the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in 2008. She wasn't successful, but some people clearly haven't forgotten about what could have been.

 The secretary of state joined New Zealand Prime Minister John Phillip Key and New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray Stuart McCully for remarks Thursday at Wellington's Parliament Theatrette, and the prime minister made a little slip-up.

 "And we, in a purely bilateral basis, have concerns about the fact that Australia" has a free-trade agreement, began Key. "They’re a very important part of our market in New Zealand, so we see Trans-Pacific Partnership as a very important item to be completed if at all possible. So, President Clinton ..." ...

 Laughter — and applause — ensued, according to the State Department's transcript, and Key was forced to correct himself.

 "I’m sorry. Secretary Clinton — great," he said. "I thank you for your time here in New Zealand, and I look forward to seeing President Obama when he is here in Japan next week." |||||


News article:

Steven Aftergood, who directs the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists, said he suspected that if there had been no fuss and a researcher or journalist had sought all of Mrs. Clinton’s emails under the Freedom of Information Act, the answer might have been different.

 “It would have been a real surprise if none of it was withheld on the grounds of classification,” Mr. Aftergood said. To start with, he said, “they’d have to say there’s no ‘foreign government information’ in the chief diplomat’s email.”

 But Mr. Aftergood also noted that as secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton was the top classification authority for the entire State Department, with broad discretion to determine which department documents were classified and which were not. “There’s zero chance that she’ll be charged with unauthorized retention of classified information, because she decides what’s classified,” he said.

 Clinton aides pointed out other factors that reduced the need to use the personal email account for sensitive matters. As secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton was almost always accompanied by one or more aides with secure government BlackBerrys, laptops or other devices that could be used to send classified material at her direction.

 “Classified information was viewed in hard copy by the secretary while in the office,” according to a statement from her office Tuesday. “While on travel, the department had rigorous protocols for her and traveling staff to receive and transmit information of all types.”

 Her office said that while serving as secretary, Ms. Clinton “communicated with foreign officials in person, through correspondence and by telephone.” Her staff’s review of her emails “revealed only one email with a foreign official,” one from the United Kingdom, the statement said.

 It is rare but not unheard-of for a government official to be punished for storing classified information on a personal device. John M. Deutch, a former C.I.A. director, was pardoned by President Bill Clinton in 2001, sparing him a guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge for keeping classified information on personal, nongovernment computers. Mr. Deutch had already been stripped of his security clearance. ||||| A review of the broader set of roughly 55,000 pages of Clinton emails is expected to take several months. | AP Photo Some Hillary Clinton emails set for speedy release

 Under pressure to move quickly on the release of Hillary Clinton’s emails, the State Department intends to speed release about 900 pages of Benghazi-related e-mails sent by the former Secretary of State on her private e-mail account, officials said Tuesday.

 Democrats on the House Select Committee on Benghazi sent the State Department a letter Tuesday asking the agency to prioritize disclosure of the set of Clinton e-mails sent to the panel last month, but a State Department spokeswoman said later that an early release of those records was already under discussion and would go forward.

 Story Continued Below

 “Those will be reviewed and released prior to the completion of the entire set,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. She said she could not offer an estimate of when the approximately 300 Libya-related messages will be disclosed.

 Psaki said the review of the broader set of roughly 55,000 pages of Clinton emails is expected to take several months. She said State does not plan any incremental releases beyond the Benghazi-related one.

 “We will review the entire 55,000-page set and release in one batch at the end of that review to ensure that standards are consistently applied throughout the entire 55,000 pages,” Psaki said.

 Clinton said at a news conference at the United Nations in New York Tuesday that she welcomes State’s decision to release the records and is eager to see them made public soon.

 “I heard just a little while ago the State Department announced they would begin to post some of my e-mails, which I’m very glad to hear, because I want it all out there,” the former secretary said.

 Psaki also appeared to acknowledge for the first time Tuesday that State’s review of the documents will include checking them for classified national security information that is exempt from release under the Freedom of Information Act.

 “Specific FOIA redaction criteria has included and would include, since we’re following the same standards: national security, personal privacy, privilege and trade secrets, among others,” Psaki said. “As per our regular practice, we will identify the basis for any redactions.

 Clinton said flatly Tuesday that she never discussed classified information in emails she sent through her private account.

 “I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material,” she said. “So, I’m certainly well-aware of the classification requirements and did not send classified material.” |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Hillary Clinton may say she never sent any classified information using her personal email account, but experts and former government officials aren't so sure. As the New York Times reports, both Democrats and Republicans believe the government tends to err on the side of "overclassification" when it comes to making documents secret—more than 80 million documents were classified in 2013—making it difficult to believe that Clinton somehow managed to avoid sending information considered sensitive. "As a longtime critic of the government's massive overclassification, I thought it was a refreshing touch that the secretary of state conducted all her email in unclassified form," says the director of George Washington University's National Security Archive with what the Times calls "a hint of sarcasm." Clinton's staff has identified more than 30,000 emails as pertaining to government business, and a former senior State Department official says it's "hard to imagine" none of those were classified. By his estimate, he says, “I would assume that more than 50% of what the secretary of state dealt with was classified." And another expert notes that, had a journalist made a FOIA request for all of Clinton's email before news of her personal account broke, "it would have been a real surprise if none of it was withheld on the grounds of classification." But, he adds, "there's zero chance that she'll be charged with unauthorized retention of classified information, because she decides what's classified." Clinton also traveled with aides who could have sent classified material from their accounts on her behalf. Politico reports that about 900 pages of emails relating to Benghazi will be released soon.


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Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko: "We are very close to the point of no return"

 EU leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, threatening to impose fresh sanctions against Russia.

 EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton accused Russia of "direct aggression" in eastern Ukraine.

 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said his country was "close to a point of no return - full scale-war".

 Russia denies that its forces are backing rebels, who have been gaining ground on Ukrainian forces.

 Baroness Ashton said there was "deep concern" over "direct aggression by Russian forces". She called on Russia to stop the flow of arms, equipment and personnel into Ukraine.

 As she arrived at the talks in Brussels, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said Russia was "practically in a war against Europe".

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite says Russia is "practically in a war against Europe"

 She said: "We need to support Ukraine, and send military materials to help Ukraine defend itself. Today Ukraine is fighting a war on behalf of all Europe."

 UK Prime Minister David Cameron said the EU faced "a completely unacceptable situation of having Russian troops on Ukrainian soil. Consequences must follow if that situation continues".

 Image copyright AFP Image caption The Ukrainian army has been fighting pro-Russian separatists for months

 Image copyright AP Image caption Pro-Russian rebels have mounted a counter-offensive in recent days

 French President Francois Hollande said the Ukraine crisis was the biggest since the end of the Cold War.

 He said: "What's happening in Ukraine is so serious that the European Council will be obliged to react by increasing the level of sanctions if things remain as they are."

 The EU and the US have already imposed sanctions against dozens of senior Russian officials, separatist commanders and Russian firms accused of undermining Ukrainian sovereignty.

 However, the BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels says there are still divisions within the EU on how to deal with the Ukraine situation.

 Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb said the "jury is still out" on whether sanctions had worked, adding: "We need to find a ceasefire, a peace plan."

 Image copyright AP Image caption Petro Poroshenko meets David Cameron in Brussels ahead of the summit

 Mr Poroshenko, who is at the summit, said Ukraine was a victim of "military aggression and terror" involving "thousands of foreign troops and hundreds of foreign tanks".

 He said that new EU sanctions against Russia would be prepared and would be implemented depending on the success of his peace plan.

 He said he hoped to publish a draft of the peace plan next week.

 Mr Poroshenko also said that he would discuss the possibility of a ceasefire at a meeting in Belarus on Monday of the Contact Group, which includes Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

 'Ordered to retreat'

 Government forces have lost ground in recent fighting.

 A Ukrainian military spokesman said on Saturday that Russian tanks had attacked the town of Novosvitlivka near Luhansk and "destroyed virtually every house".

 Spokesman Andriy Lysenko said troops had been ordered to retreat from Novosvitlivka.

 Troops are also reportedly trying to evacuate Ilovaisk in the Donetsk region. It has been surrounded by rebels.

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Cars queue to leave Mariupol, from where Yuri Vendik reports

 Rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko told the Russian News Service radio station a new offensive was being planned to create a corridor between Donetsk and Luhansk.

 In south-eastern Ukraine, people have been leaving the port city of Mariupol, after advancing rebels captured Novoazovsk to the east.

 Western and Ukrainian officials say this offensive has been substantially helped by Russian regular troops, opening a new front. Russia denies the accusation.

 Some 2,600 people have died in fighting in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions since April.

 The conflict erupted following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula a month before.

 War in eastern Ukraine: The human cost ||||| European leaders, he added, had long stated that any further escalation of the conflict would set off additional sanctions, and they would “be ready to take some more measures” at the meeting in Brussels.

 President François Hollande of France also backed new measures against Russia, telling journalists in Brussels that “what is happening in Ukraine is so serious” that European leaders were obliged to increase sanctions.

 But France is expected to block calls by some leaders to extend an existing ban on future military sales to Russia to include already signed contracts. France has resisted pressure from Washington and some European capitals to cancel a contract for the sale of two naval assault ships to Russia, a deal worth 1.2 billion euros, or about $1.6 billion.

 Arriving Saturday for the summit, Dalia Grybauskaite, the president of Lithuania, demanded that existing and future military contracts with Russia be prohibited. Europe, she said, could not “listen to the lies that we are receiving from Putin” and should offer military support to Ukraine. Russia, she added, was “in a state of war against Ukraine and that means that it is in a state of war against countries that want to be closer to the European Union and that means practically that Russia is in a state of war against Europe. That means we have to help Ukraine battle back, to defend its territory and its people, to help militarily.”

 Fighting in eastern Ukraine has been going on for months, mostly around rebel-held Donetsk and Luhansk. But the conflict expanded last week after the rebels — backed by Russian forces, according to NATO — opened a front along a coastal road leading to the industrial port city of Mariupol.

 Ukrainian military units and the civilian population were preparing on Saturday to defend the city against any assault by the Russian-backed militias, Ukraine’s military spokesman, Col. Andriy Lysenko, said in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital.

 “We are very grateful to the Mariupol residents, who have also helped in the fortification of the city against the armored vehicles of the enemy,” Colonel Lysenko said. The city fell briefly under the control of pro-Russian fighters earlier this year, but after they were driven out it had been firmly in the hands of Ukraine. The governor of the Donetsk region, forced from his headquarters in the city of Donetsk, decamped there to maintain a formal, if largely impotent, government presence. ||||| KIEV/BRUSSELS Ukraine said Russian tanks had flattened a small border town and pro-Russian rebels had made fresh gains in its east, as EU leaders signaled on Saturday they would threaten more sanctions against Moscow over the crisis.

 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, attending an EU summit in Brussels, said he was hoping for a political solution, but warned that his country was on the brink of full-scale war.

 Russia has repeatedly dismissed accusations from Kiev and Western powers that it has sent soldiers into its neighbor, or supported pro-Russian rebels fighting a five-month-old separatist war in Ukraine's east.

 But Ukraine military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told journalists in Kiev that Russian tanks had entered the small Ukrainian town of Novosvitlivka on the border with Russia and fired on every house.

 "We have information that virtually every house has been destroyed," Lysenko added, without giving details on when the reported attack took place. Ukraine's daily military briefings typically cover the previous 24 hours.

 Lysenko said the rebels had made new gains just east of the border city of Luhansk, one of the rebels' main strongholds, after opening up a new front in another area last week.

 "Direct military aggression by the Russian Federation in the east of Ukraine is continuing. The Russians are continuing to send military equipment and 'mercenaries'," Ukraine's defense and security council said in a separate Twitter post.

 Kiev and Western countries say recent rebel gains were the result of the arrival of armored columns of Russian troops, sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin to prop up a separatist rebellion that would otherwise have been near collapse.

 There was no immediate fresh comment from Russia on Saturday. Putin on Friday compared Kiev's drive to regain control of its rebellious eastern cities to the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in World War Two.

 "NO TIME TO WASTE"

 EU leaders meeting in Brussels appointed Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk as president of the European Council, giving hawkish Kremlin critics in Eastern Europe new influence in the bloc.

 According to a draft statement from the summit, the EU leaders were set to ask the European Commission and the EU's diplomatic service "to urgently undertake preparatory work" on further sanctions that could be implemented if necessary.

 French President Francois Hollande stressed that a failure by Russia to reverse a flow of weapons and troops into eastern Ukraine would force the bloc to impose new economic measures.

 "Are we going to let the situation worsen, until it leads to war?" Hollande said at a news conference. "Because that's the risk today. There is no time to waste."

 European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU was prepared to toughen sanctions against Russia but also that it wanted a political deal to end the confrontation.

 "We are ready to take very strong and clear measures but we are keeping our doors open to a political solution," Barroso said at a news conference with Ukraine's president.

 Poroshenko said the crisis was close to a tipping point.

 "I think we are very close to the point of no return. The point of no return is full-scale war, which already happened on the territory controlled by separatists," he said.

 He added, however, that a trilateral meeting on Monday involving representatives of Kiev, Moscow and the European Union could produce a ceasefire.

 SHOTS FIRED

 The crisis started when Ukraine's Moscow-backed president was ousted by street protests in February after he ditched a pact with the EU that would have moved the ex-Soviet republic firmly toward Europe and away from Russia.

 Russia denounced the pro-Western leadership that took over as "a fascist junta" and went on to annex Ukraine's Crimea peninsula. Pro-Russian separatists then rebelled in Ukraine's mainly Russian-speaking east in April, setting up 'people's republics' and declaring they wanted to join Russia.

 A senior U.N. human rights official said on Friday nearly 2,600 civilians, Ukrainian government forces and rebels had been killed in a conflict which has led to the biggest Russia-West crisis since the Cold War.

 In Kiev, Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said a group of pro-Ukrainian fighters had broken out of encirclement by pro-Russian rebels near Donetsk early on Saturday, though other reports suggested many remained trapped.

 Defense Minister Valery Heletey also ordered a clamp-down on information coming out of Ilovaysk, a town to the east of Donetsk.

 Indicating government forces were being pulled back from the area, Heletey said on his Facebook page: "As soon as the danger for Ukrainian units has passed, all open information for the current period relating to the withdrawal of forces from Ilovaysk will be published."

 Last week pro-Russian rebels opened a new front in a separate, coastal territory along the Sea of Azov and pushed Ukrainian troops out of the town of Novoazovsk. They are now threatening the strategic port city of Mariupol.

 Several shots were fired on Saturday at a car carrying Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic, but he escaped unscathed, another separatist leader, Sergei Kavtaradze, told Reuters.

 "Zakharchenko wasn't hurt. His driver was wounded and is being operated on," Kavtaradze said, adding that an operation was under way to catch whoever had fired the shots.

 (Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kiev and Anton Zverev in Donetsk; Writing by Richard Balmforth; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Robin Pomeroy) ||||| BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Saturday warned that the apparent incursion of Russian troops on Ukrainian soil pushes the conflict closer to a point of no return, with new economic sanctions being drawn up to make Moscow reconsider its position.

 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, right, talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during an European People's Party summit ahead of the EU summit in Brussels, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014. EU leaders,... (Associated Press)

 Comrades and Crimea's self-defense fighters carry the coffin of former paratrooper Alexander Gusev, 46, covered by Russian paratroopers flag, who was killed during clashes with Ukrainian troops in eastern... (Associated Press)

 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, left, shakes hands with British Prime Minister David Cameron, prior to a bilateral meeting, ahead of an EU summit in Brussels, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014. EU leaders,... (Associated Press)

 Captured Russian paratroopers are seen in this image taken from video in Kiev on Wednesday Aug. 27. 2014. Ten Russian paratroopers were captured this week in Ukraine, adding to a growing body of evidence... (Associated Press)

 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who briefed a summit of the 28-nation EU's leaders in Brussels, said a strong response was needed to the "military aggression and terror" facing his country.

 "Thousands of the foreign troops and hundreds of the foreign tanks are now on the territory of Ukraine," Poroshenko told reporters in English. "There is a very high risk not only for peace and stability for Ukraine, but for the whole peace and stability of Europe."

 French President Francois Hollande and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said upon their arrival for the summit in Brussels the leaders will make a political decision and then ask the EU's executive arm to finalize the fine print of new sanctions.

 However, because several EU nations fear the fallout of sanctions on their own economies, it wasn't immediately clear whether the required unanimity would be reached for immediate punitive measures, or whether the leaders would set Russia another ultimatum.

 But Lithuanian leader Dalia Grybauskaite insisted Russia's meddling in Ukraine, which seeks closer ties with the EU, amounts to a direct confrontation that requires stronger sanctions.

 "Russia is practically in the war against Europe," she said in English.

 NATO estimates that at least 1,000 Russian soldiers are in Ukraine even though Russia denies any military involvement in the fighting that has so far claimed 2,600 lives, according to U.N. figures.

 British Prime Minister David Cameron also warned that Europe can't be complacent about Russian troops on Ukrainian soil.

 "Countries in Europe shouldn't have to think long before realizing just how unacceptable that is," he said. "We know that from our history. So consequences must follow."

 Conceding ground in the face of a reinvigorated rebel offensive, Ukraine said Saturday that it was abandoning a city where its forces have been surrounded by rebels for days. Government forces were also pulling back from another it had claimed to have taken control of two weeks earlier.

 The statements by Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the national security council, indicate that Ukrainian forces face increasingly strong resistance from Russian-backed separatist rebels just weeks after racking up significant gains and forcing rebels out of much of the territory they had held.

 Poroshenko, meanwhile, said Ukraine would welcome an EU decision to help with military equipment and further intelligence-sharing.

 The office of the Donetsk mayor reported in a statement that at least two people died in an artillery attack on one of Donetsk's neighborhoods. Shelling was reported elsewhere in the city, but there was no immediate word on casualties.

 In Brussels, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said "sanctions are not an end in themselves," but a means to dissuade Russia from further destabilizing Ukraine.

 "We may see a situation where we reach the point of no return," Barroso warned. "If the escalation of the conflict continues, this point of no return can come."

 He provided no specifics about which sanctions the heads of state and government might adopt to inflict more economic pain to nudge Russia toward a political solution.

 The U.S. and the EU have so far imposed sanctions against dozens of Russian officials, several companies and the country's financial industry. Moscow has retaliated by banning food imports.

 Grybauskaite said the EU should impose a full arms embargo, including the canceling of already agreed contracts. France has so far staunchly opposed that proposal because it has a $1.6 billion contract to build Mistral helicopter carriers for Russia.

 The EU's requirement for a unanimous agreement among the 28 nation has in the past blocked or softened decisions since some nations fear the economic fallout.

 Russia is the EU's No. 3 trading partner and one of its biggest oil and gas suppliers. The EU, in turn, is Russia's biggest commercial partner, making any sanctions more biting than similar measures adopted by the U.S.

 Barroso said that the EU — a bloc encompassing 500 million people and stretching from Lisbon to the border with Ukraine — stands ready to grant Kiev further financial assistance if needed. The bloc will also organize a donors' conference to help rebuild the country's east at the end of the year, he added.

 Ukrainian forces had been surrounded by rebels in the town of Ilovaysk, about 20 kilometers (15 miles) east of the largest rebel-held city of Donetsk for days.

 "We are surrendering this city," Ukraine's Lysenko told reporters. "Our task now is to evacuate our military with the least possible losses in order to regroup."

 Lysenko said that regular units of the military had been ordered to retreat from Novosvitlivka and Khryashchuvate, two towns on the main road between the Russian border and Luhansk, the second-largest rebel-held city. Ukraine had claimed control of Novosvitlivka earlier in August.

 Separately, Ukrainian forces said one of their Su-25 fighter jets was shot down Friday over eastern Ukraine by a missile from a Russian missile launcher. The pilot ejected and was uninjured, the military said in a brief statement.

 ___

 Jim Heintz reported from Kiev. Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow contributed reporting.

 ___

 Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz ||||| The European Union has warned that the apparent incursion of Russian troops on Ukrainian soil pushes the conflict closer to a point of no return, with new economic sanctions being drawn up to make Moscow reconsider its position.

 The Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, who briefed a summit of the 28-nation EU's leaders in Brussels, said a strong response was needed to the "military aggression and terror" facing his country.

 "Thousands of foreign troops and hundreds of foreign tanks are now on the territory of Ukraine," Poroshenko told reporters in English. "There is a very high risk not only for peace and stability for Ukraine, but for the whole peace and stability of Europe."

 However, because several EU nations fear the fallout of sanctions on their own economies, it wasn't immediately clear whether the required unanimity would be reached for immediate punitive measures, or whether the leaders would set Russia another ultimatum.

 Lithuanian leader Dalia Grybauskaite insisted Russia's meddling in Ukraine, which seeks closer ties with the EU, amounts to a direct confrontation that requires stronger sanctions. "Russia is practically at war against Europe," she said, also in English. Calling on EU countries to supply Kiev with military equipment, she went on: "That means we need to help Ukraine to … defend its territory and its people and to help militarily, especially with the military materials to help Ukraine defend itself because today Ukraine is fighting a war on behalf of all Europe."

 Nato estimates that at least 1,000 Russian soldiers are in Ukraine even though Russia denies any military involvement in the fighting that has according to the UN claimed 2,600 lives.

 David Cameron also warned that Europe cannot be complacent about Russian troops on Ukrainian soil. "Countries in Europe shouldn't have to think long before realising just how unacceptable that is," he said. "We know that from our history. So consequences must follow."

 Poroshenko told reporters that he believed efforts to halt the violence were "very close to a point of no return," warning that failure could lead to a "full-scale war."

 Conceding ground in the face of a reinvigorated rebel offensive, Ukraine said Saturday that it was abandoning a city where its forces have been surrounded by rebels for days. Government forces were also pulling back from another it had claimed to have taken control of two weeks earlier. The Ukrainian military also reported that one of its fighter jets had been shot down by Russian anti-aircraft fire, although the pilot managed to eject to safety.

 The statements by Col Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the national security council, indicate that Ukrainian forces face increasingly strong resistance from Russian-backed separatist rebels just weeks after racking up significant gains and forcing rebels out of much of the territory they had held.

 The office of the Donetsk mayor reported in a statement that at least two people died in an artillery attack on one of Donetsk's neighborhoods. Shelling was also reported elsewhere in the city.

 Poroshenko said Ukraine would welcome an EU decision to help with military equipment and further intelligence-sharing.

 In Brussels, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said "sanctions are not an end in themselves," but a means to dissuade Russia from further destabilising Ukraine.

 "If the escalation of the conflict continues, this point of no return can come."

 He provided no specifics about which sanctions the heads of state and government might adopt to inflict more economic pain to nudge Russia toward a political solution.

 Grybauskaite added that an arms embargo on Russia should be tightened by including a halt on sales under existing contracts – a thinly-veiled swipe at France, which has resisted calls to cancel a deal to sell Moscow a strategic new warship. This came after the German vice-chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, told journalists: "It is clear that after this intervention by Russia in Ukraine … EU leaders will certainly task the European commission with preparing the next level of sanctions."

 "We see regular Russian army units operating offensively on the Ukrainian territory against the Ukrainian army. We must call a spade a spade," said the Swedish foreign minister, Carl Bildt.

 All options except military action will be considered to punish Russia for pursuing "the wrong path", said Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg's foreign minister.

 According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Putin held late-night discussions about Ukraine with the French president, François Hollande, and Barroso.

 Kiev and Moscow had agreed to hold high-level discussions between army leadership and border control agencies, and an official told AFP that heads of border control will meet on Saturday. "They will discuss measures to protect Ukrainian territory from breaches by militants and equipment," Sergiy Astakhov, an aide to the head of Kiev's border service, said.

 UN figures suggest that fighting between Ukrainian military forces and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine has already claimed at least 2,200 lives.

 Nato estimates that there are at least 1,000 Russian soldiers in Ukraine, while Kiev claimed this week that Russian tanks and armoured vehicles entered the country as rebels opened a new front along the Azov Sea coast. Russia consistently denies that its forces are in Ukraine and allegations that it is supplying the rebels.

 Until this week, the fighting had been concentrated inland. But rebels have taken control of the town of Novoazovsk, with the apparent aim of pushing further west along the coast connecting Russia to the Crimean peninsula. |||||

– Today's key phrase on the Russian-Ukraine situation is the "point of no return." The leader of the European Commission warned today that Moscow has brought the world to the brink of that point with its aggression toward its neighbor, reports the BBC. Jose Manuel Barroso spoke as EU leaders gathered in Brussels. With Russia showing no sign of letting up, or even admitting that it's helping pro-Russian separatists despite mounting evidence to the contrary, it's not clear what happens after the point of no return, though European leaders are threatening more sanctions. Also: Ukraine leader Petro Poroshenko used similar language to Barroso, reports the New York Times. "We are too close to a border where there will be no return to the peace plan," he said, asserting that "thousands of foreign troops and hundreds of foreign tanks are now on the territory of Ukraine, with a very high risk not only for the peace and stability of Ukraine but for the peace and stability of the whole of Europe." (Russia says any of its troops there are fighting of their own accord while on leave.) Lithuanian leader Dalia Grybauskaite said this, in English, reports AP: "Russia is practically in the war against Europe." Jet shot down: The Ukraine military said one of its fighter jets was shot down over eastern Ukraine by a Russian missile yesterday, reports the Guardian. The pilot ejected safely. Marching on: Pro-Russian rebels backed by Russian soldiers made more gains in the east, reports Reuters. Ukraine's military said tanks entered the small border town of Novosvitlivka and opened fire on houses.


Article:

Adventurer Johnny Strange, who grew up in Malibu, was killed Thursday when he crashed while wingsuit BASE jumping in the Swiss Alps.

 Strange, 23, crashed a few seconds after taking off from Mt. Gitschen about noon, according to a statement from Swiss police on Friday.

 Police were investigating the crash, but Swiss officials told the Associated Press that strong winds had been reported on the mountain that day.

 NEWSLETTER: Get the day's top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >>

 Just days before the incident, Strange talked about his trip to Switzerland on KROQ-FM’s Kevin and Bean show. After the interview, he jumped off a Swiss mountain and filmed himself flying.

 The video shows Strange in a wingsuit soaring through the sky above a lush green mountainside, then traversing over a rocky peak until he finally releases his parachute to break his fall.

 It was the last video he posted to YouTube. In his last Instagram photo, Strange wrote, “Which tree should we bring home for Christmas?” The photo shows Strange flying over a tree-topped mountainside.

 Model Gigi Hadid said she went to Malibu High School with Strange, whom she described as having an adventurous spirit.

 “He lived more in 23 years than many do their whole life,” she said on Twitter.

 Strange was best known for daredevil and risky stunts. Wingsuit BASE jumping was one of them. Like BASE jumping, athletes leap from a mountains, ledges and buildings. But the difference is in the wingsuit, which allows them to the extend their flight range and time.

 The inherent dangers of BASE jumping intensify when an athlete dons a wingsuit.

 Rock climbers Dean Potter and Graham Hunt were wearing wingsuits when they leaped off Taft Point at Yosemite National Park in May and died. Park officials said their parachutes never deployed.

 Potter addressed the dangers in a blog post.

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 “Though my body is warm inside the nylon suit I start to shiver and wonder if what we’re doing is right,” Potter wrote. “Wingsuit BASE-jumping feels safe to me but 25 wingsuit-fliers have lost their lives, this year alone. There must be some flaw in our system, a lethal secret beyond my comprehension.”

 Strange acknowledged the dangers of wingsuit BASE jumping on his social media accounts and mourned the deaths of fellow jumpers.

 After Potter died, Strange wrote, “You were one of my favorite BASE jumpers and getting to fly Wingsuits with you off Via F the next year made me beyond proud to know I had gotten to BASE jump with someone who I regarded as a legend. Thanks for your Wingsuit advice, I'm sorry to hear you died flying. See you on the other side.”

 At 17, Strange became the youngest person to climb the world’s highest mountains in seven continents, known as the “seven summits.”

 For breaking news in California, follow VeronicaRochaLA.

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 Overturned truck spills hot asphalt on 71 Freeway, blocking southbound lanes for hours ||||| Johnny Strange Famed Adventurer Dies At 23 ... Wingsuiting Accident

 Johnny Strange -- Famed Adventurer Dies At Age 23 ... Wingsuiting Accident

 EXCLUSIVE

 Johnny Strange -- who became famous for climbing the world's 7 tallest summits by the age of 17 -- has died in a wingsuiting accident in Europe ... TMZ Sports has confirmed with a family member and multiple people close to him.

 Multiple sources connected to Strange tell us Johnny was in Switzerland -- where something went wrong during his jump ... and Strange was killed as a result.

 Strange called in to "Kevin & Bean" on KROQ on Monday from Switzerland and said he was shooting a dangerous wingsuit proximity video where "we fly super close to stuff."

 After the K&B interview, Strange shot a video doing some wingsuiting, which he posted to social media.

 Johnny made national headlines as a teen -- appearing on "Conan O'Brien", CNN and CBS News when he became the youngest person to ever climb the "7 summits."

 Strange climbed his first "world class peak" when he was 12 -- conquering Mt. Vinson Massif in Antarctica. Since then, he traveled the world doing extreme sports ... including base jumping into the Grand Canyon. |||||
What is a summary?

– It's been a deadly year for those who jump from extreme heights in nothing more than a wingsuit, a grim trend that continued last week with the death of Johnny Strange, an American adventurer who plunged to his death while BASE jumping in the Swiss Alps. As the Los Angeles Times reports, the 23-year-old Malibu native died seconds after leaping off Mt. Gitschen on Thursday amid reported high winds in the area. Strange's death was mourned by model Gigi Hadid, who said they attended Malibu High together. "RIP my friend, # JohnnyStrange — one of the most loving & adventurous spirits I've ever known. Bigger mountains to climb in heaven," she tweeted. Strange was acutely aware of the dangers of his sport, having BASE jumped with Dean Potter, who died during a jump at Yosemite earlier this year. "I'm sorry to hear you died flying," Strange wrote of Potter's death. "See you on the other side." Strange first achieved fame by becoming the youngest person to scale the world's seven tallest peaks at age 17. He climbed his first at 12, notes TMZ. A police investigation into his death is underway.