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Friday, December 30, 2011

Is pizza your favourite vegetable?

Looking to Iran to cure Delta’s health blues 23.09, 18:37

Baptist Town, Mississippi is the home of blues — and one of the poorest communities in America.

AFP Photo / Peter Parks 18.10.2010, 23:04

American food policy has resulted in increasing rates of obesity, particularly among lower-class and minority populations.

17.10.2010, 08:49

Americans are the 'biggest' people in the world - the World Health Organization says over 60 per cent of the U.S. population is obese.

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Published: 17 November, 2011, 21:44

Is pizza your favourite vegetable? Is pizza your favourite vegetable?

TAGS: Health, USA, Education

What's in a name? Well quite a lot when it comes to designating which foods will be served at lunchtime in America's schools. Under pressure from the frozen foods industry, US lawmakers have decided to allow pizza sauce to be counted as a vegetable.


Pizza and French fries are among the foods which will stay on the menu after Congress voted to prevent them being restricted. The decision – which is a kick in the teeth to President Obama's hopes of making schools meals healthier – could be approved later this week.

Republicans in favour of the decision have lauded it as a victory over big government, praising the defeat of ‘overly burdensome and costly regulations’, hailing ‘greater flexibility for local school districts’.

Unsurprisingly, industry lobby the American Frozen Food Institute has come out in support of the move, saying the decision ‘recognises the significant amounts of potassium, fibre and vitamins A and C provided by tomato paste and ensures that students may continue to enjoy healthy meals such as pizza and pasta.’

But according to Margo Wootan, Director of Nutrition Policy at the Centre for Science in the Public Interest, this ruling puts pizza manufacturers ahead of kids’ nutrition. In her opinion ‘Pepperoni pizza is not a vegetable.’
So why has Congress said that the sauce on a pizza is enough to put a slice of Pepperoni on a par with asparagus? According to Ms Wootan, it’s all down to a ‘loophole’ which, although usually determining a serving of vegetables as 8 tablespoons, sets the amount as just 2 – which is what you will find on a slice of pizza. She says the vote shows ‘Congress basically stepped in to protect industry's ability to continue to sell two of the most unhealthy foods in the school lunch program: pizza and French fries.’
Why is a slice of Pepperoni bad for kids? One slice provides roughly half of the saturated fats a teenager should eat per day (5 grams), not to mention the 280 calories in each slice.
With childhood obesity at epidemic levels in the US, 14% of adolescents who choose pizza as an alternative to vegetables may prove to be a smart move for the frozen foods industry, but not for America's increasingly-diabetic youth.

Image from twitpic by jopauca 17.11, 20:20

RT’s New York crew has witnessed NYPD using LRADs, or sound cannons on Occupy Wall Street protesters. Eyewitnesses at the site have tweeted police fired as protesters sang the US national anthem .

Occupy Wall Street A picket to protest against the anti-austerity measures that hit Greece (AFP Photo / FRED DUFOUR) 17.11, 22:03

Masked youngsters have attacked police in Athens as tens of thousands poured onto the streets to protest the unity government’s public spending cuts and steep tax hikes.

Eurozone crisis

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Poland grants parole to Russian spy

06.01.2010, 17:40

A Russian citizen, allegedly working for Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate, has been detained in Poland, reports Dziennik Gazeta Prawna newspaper. The detainee has reportedly lived in Poland for 10 years illegally.

Russian national Ekaterina Zatuliveter (also known as Katia) arrives at special immigration appeals tribunal in central London, on October 27, 2011 (AFP Photo / Carl Court) 06.11, 22:23

The London-based suspected spy, Ekaterina Zatuliveter, 26, compromises another government official after a German Foreign Ministry employee sends hundreds of emails “to Russia with love”.

Former Soviet KGB officer Aleksandr Litvinenko 05.11, 12:57

The man behind the Rise of the Planet of the Apes, British director Rupert Wyatt, is set to shed some cinematic light on the mysterious case of the poisoned former Soviet KGB officer Aleksandr Litvinenko.

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Published: 17 November, 2011, 21:12

Poland grants parole to Russian spy

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TAGS: Russia, Europe, Prime Time Russia, Anya Fedorova, Neil Harvey

A Russian citizen convicted of espionage in Poland has been released on parole.

Tadeush Yukhnevich was arrested in 2009 and served two-thirds of his three-year sentence. He is accused of gathering information about Poland's military defenses.

The investigation was conducted in secrecy, so the story leaked into the mass media only in 2010.

Prior to his arrest, Yukhnevich had been doing business in Poland for over 10 years. Investigators say he was in regular contact with Moscow using special equipment disguised as home appliances.

Yukhnevich was also allegedly recruiting new agents.

At the trial, he denies all the accusations. In May 2011 the lawyers filed an appeal, but it did not succeed. According to the verdict Yuhnevich was to be released in the beginning of 2012.

It is yet unknown whether Yukhnevich will be deported from Poland after release.

Legal merry-go-round over prison death Today: 21:12

Russia’s investigative committee has brought charges against a doctor whose alleged negligence caused a high-profile death in prison.

Winter activities in Gorky Park of Culture and Leisure in Moscow (RIA Novosti/Valeriy Melnikov) Today: 22:13

Moscow looks to be in for a big chill, as the real Russian winter is back on track.


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US puts up $5 mln for info on Russia most wanted

01.05.2010, 16:22

Russian authorities are dismayed at the conspicuous absence of Doku Umarov, the architect of last month’s brutal attack on the Moscow Metro, on Washington’s annual list of terrorists.

image by yfrog-user varlamov 26.01, 02:03

Thirty-five people have been killed in an explosion at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport according to the airport spokesperson. Up to 180 are said to have been injured in what the Investigative Committee believes to be a terrorist attack.

Global terrorism Doku Umarov (AFP Photo / Ansar Aljihad) 24.06.2010, 02:39

The US has finally designated one of Russia's most wanted men, Doku Umarov, as a terrorist. He is the man who took responsibility for masterminding the deadly Moscow Metro bombings in March.

Published: 17 November, 2011, 16:02

Doku Umarov (AFP Photo) Doku Umarov (AFP Photo)

TAGS: Crime, Russia, Politics, Terrorism, Law, USA

The US has offered a $5 million reward for the information leading to the location of Russia’s most wanted Chechen terrorist leader, Doku Umarov.

“Proceeding from Russia’s Supreme Court ruling and under an appeal by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office on the acknowledgement of the so-called Caucasus Emirate, led by Doku Umarov as a terrorist organization, the US Secretary of State put him on the list of the most dangerous terrorists and announced a $5 million reward for the information about his whereabouts,” Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin said on Thursday, as cited by Interfax agency.

The Chechen warlord claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks on Russian soil, including the explosions at Moscow Domodedovo Airport and the Moscow Metro, as well as the Nevsky Express train attack.

Speaking at a Moscow conference on the suppression of extremism and terrorism, Grin noted that lately Russian courts have pronounced 27 organizations as extremist and 19 organizations as terrorist. He underlined that countering terrorism is a priority for Russian prosecutors.

In May this year, it was already reported that the US would pay a reward for information about Doku Umarov, who had been designated as a terrorist in America about a year before the announcement.

According to the US Department of State, Umarov “is the senior leader and operational commander of the North Caucasus-based Caucasus Emirate group, whose stated goal is to establish an Islamic emirate through violence in the North Caucasus, Southern Russia, and Volga regions of the Russian Federation, with Umarov as its Emir.”

Former Belarusian presidential candidate Andrey Sannikov Today: 12:58

A PACE rapporteur for Belarus has expressed concern over the fate of jailed ex-presidential candidate Andrey Sannikov, who has reportedly disappeared, and demanded that Minsk immediately clarify the situation.

Russian Chief of Staff, General Nikolai Makarov addresses the Public Chamber, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011. Today: 16:19

The danger of local armed conflicts along Russia's borders exploding into full-scale nuclear war has grown following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia’s chief of staff said on Thursday.

Russia-NATO relations

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Mass rallies and muzzled media: 2 months of OWS

Demonstrators with 'Occupy Wall Street' as they continue their protest at Zuccotti Park in New York on November 8, 2011 (Topshots / AFP Photo / Timothy A. Clary) 16.11, 02:52

You could say Occupy Wall Street started with a whisper - a call by Canadian activist group Adbusters that spread on Facebook to gather on September 17, 2011.

Occupy Wall Street Protesters carry copies of a court order outside Zuccotti Park after police removed the Occupy Wall Street protesters from the park early in the morning on November 15, 2011 in New York City (Mario Tama / Getty Images / AFP) 16.11, 01:51

Anger and disappointment is erupting from New York City this afternoon, after a judge ruled that Occupy Wall Street protesters must discontinue camping at Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park.

Occupy Wall Street A Monday morning raid on the Occupy Oakland encampment led to the evacuation of thousands of protesters. 14.11, 20:58

Nearly 60 days after the Occupy Wall Street movement began, cops across the country cracked down on encampments in Oakland, Albany and cities in-between over the weekend, in a series of events perhaps the most detrimental to the movement so far.

Occupy Wall Street U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) speaks. (Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP) 11.11, 01:12

While Republican attitudes towards Occupy Wall Street protesters have been largely negative, GOP hopeful Ron Paul aligned himself with those participating in the movement during last night’s televised presidential debate.

US Election 2012 Occupy Wall Street An Occupy LA protester dressed as the Monopoly game banker marches in the Move Your Money March on what is being called Bank Transfer Day (AFP Photo / David McNew) 08.11, 22:37

The Occupy Wall Street protests may have already spread to cities across the world, but the movement’s next major migration will be easy to see if you're on the East Coast anytime soon. Protesters are taking the movement on the road — literally.

Occupy Wall Street //

Published: 17 November, 2011, 10:37

A nearly empty Zuccotti Park November 16, 2011 as some Occupy Wall Street protesters return to the park in New York after being evicted early November 15 (AFP Photo / Stan HONDA)

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TAGS: Scandal, Protest, Politics, Human rights, Law, Mass media, USA, Cary Johnston, Economy, Lucy Kafanov

Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York have returned to the epicenter of the movement, Zuccotti Park, but without their tents and sleeping bags. Massive rallies are expected to resume throughout the United States.

­They were told they could stay, but they cannot camp, after police in riot gear evicted protesters on Tuesday night, citing health and safety issues.

It was part of a country-wide wave of raids on protesters, which activists say was a move to stifle their activities before the movement's two-month mark.

Radio host Alex Jones believes the apparent “health hazard” reasons given for the evictions was a set-up from the start, and an effort to demonize the very idea of protests in the US.

“I’ve discovered in Austin and in Detroit – as well as New York, we’ve confirmed – that when they let homeless people out, who’ve been arrested for being drunk in public or sleeping on the sidewalk, or they release people from prison or homeless shelters, or mental institutions, they tell them: ‘Go to Austin Occupy, go to New York Occupy – we won’t arrest you there’,” he told RT.

“So for the last month they’ve been sending all the homeless people and mentally ill people and prisoners there, so they can then demonize it and say: ‘Look, people are going to the bathroom on the ground, fights are breaking out, there are robberies,” Jones went on to explain. “Now, they are in the business of demonizing it, infiltrating it, to try to manufacture on dig up dirt on them as a way to generally demonize all forms of protest in the country.”

It is not yet clear whether protesters will be able to turn out in massive numbers across the country, given all the recent police raids. If they do, however, that would mean that the US authorities have to deal with a much stronger force than they might have expected.

RT’s producer Lucy Kafanov has spoken to several protesters in New York City, who said that they were prepared and even expecting to get arrested for non-violent civil disobedience. They are going to try to take over Wall Street around the New York Stock Exchange area and stage a mass sit-in.

More actions are planned throughout the day. By 5 pm local time (22:00 GMT), a massive rally with unions is expected to take place in the area, culminating in a march across the Brooklyn Bridge – the scene of last month’s dramatic events, when 700 protesters were arrested by police.

­The level of media clampdown related to the OWS protests seems to remain as high as it has been. The raid in Zuccotti Park saw several journalists arrested. Police reportedly ripped off the credentials of one NBC reporter and asked the CBS news helicopter to clear the airspace so that journalists would not capture images of the events.

RT’s Lucy Kafanov has witnessed personally or was told by fellow journalists about various incidents in which reporters were practically kicked off the scene, prevented from filming and deliberately targeted in some places in various cities throughout the country where OWS protests took place.

An RT crew has also managed to capture images of police officers using in certain instances high-power strobe lights in order to blind video-cameras and prevent journalists from fulfilling their professional duties.

Syrians wave national flags as they rally in central Damascus on November 16, 2011. (AFP Photo/Louai Beshara ) Today: 07:09

Russian lawmaker and foreign policy architect Konstantin Kosachev thinks that Russia is “probably one of the very few, or maybe the only country, which maintains dialogue both with Assad and with the opposition.”

Syria unrest Protesters burn fake bills as they still camp in front of the Beursplein 5 stock exchange building in Amsterdam (AFP Photo / VALERIE KUYPERS) Today: 11:43

Its hour has struck and the eurozone's second-most stable economy, the Netherlands, is beginning to feel the first hand effects of contagion, with the previous apathy among its taxpayers quickly giving way to animosity.

Eurozone crisis

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Car industry investors to be compensated for possible WTO-related losses

RIA Novosti / Vladimir Pesnya 15.11, 17:54

Russia’s largest car producer AvtoVaz is firing on all cylinders after posting a huge increase in its net income for the first nine months of 2011.

World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters in Geneva. (AFP Photo / Fabrice Coffrini) 14.11, 16:19

A new free trade agreement between most of the former Soviet republics will help Ukraine liberalize its trade with Russia and boost progress in talks on striking a similar agreement with the EU.

Russia and WTO

Published: 17 November, 2011, 01:40
Edited: 17 November, 2011, 11:23

The launch of new production line of Renault Sandero at Avtoframos factory. (RIA Novosti/Ruslan Krivobok)

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TAGS: Russian economy, WTO

Meeting WTO standards may come as a heavy burden to some industries, but the Russian government is ready to help deal with it to provide a smooth transition.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the government will help foreign investors in the country’s car making industry.
“We discussed for a long time during Russia’s WTO accession process how we should do this work in future in order not to let our investors down and keep all our promises, and at the same time to meet WTO car-making requirements,” he said at the meeting with German businessmen.

Putin says compromises have been reached and the government will take part of the burden to meet its obligations to investors. Foreign car makers currently enjoy tax benefits which may be revoked once Russia joins the WTO. This year the government promised tax benefits to several foreign car companies including Ford, Volkswagen and Renault. In exchange these companies agreed to assemble 300,000 cars a year in Russia using mostly locally made components. These benefits are expected to last until 2020 but may be lifted earlier because of Russia’s accession to the WTO.

Russia’s car market is a lure to investors. Car sales grew by 27 percent in the first nine months of the year.

RIA Novosti/Igor Zarembo Today: 01:12

Russia is planning to cancel fees for foreign airlines using airspace over Siberia, thus making flights from Europe to Asia cheaper.

Russia and WTO Millions dollars to create Alps in the heart of Siberia.<br /><br />Foto http://www.baikalresorts.com/ Today: 14:05

The Lake Baikal region wants to turn itself into the Alps of Central Asia with a billion dollar project to create a ski resort.


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Big powers ok watered-down IAEA Iran nuke paper

Tehran : Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili speaks during a press conference in Tehran. (AFP Photo/Atta Kenare) Today: 01:10

With the credibility of an IAEA report on Iran’s secretive nuclear activity being questioned, some experts say the Iranian people should ask their government why their country is still a member of the UN nuclear agency.

A picture dated October 26, 2010 shows the reactor building at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran, 1200 Kms south of Tehran (AFP Photo / MAJID ASGARIPOUR) 16.11, 10:52

America’s whipping up hysteria over the Iranian nuclear program, with the same figures that used to accuse Iraq of possessing chemical and nuclear weapons now repeating themselves with frenetic conviction.

Israel vs Iran A mock North Korean missile at the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul (AFP Photo / Kim Jae-Hwan) 16.11, 08:12

Two members of the ‘axis of evil’ conspiring to make nuclear weapons? Such a nightmare scenario would be dreadful indeed. But with unnamed sources claiming North Korea is helping Iran go nuclear, something about the plot seems dreamt up.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (AFP Photo/HO/Iranian Presidency Website) 14.11, 11:12

Despite the media buzz about a possible war between Israel and Iran, a military conflict between the two countries is unlikely, says Uri Avnery, Israeli peace activist and former parliament member.

Israel vs Iran Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (C) during a visit to a Tehran military college on November 10, 2011 where he said that Iran 11.11, 16:33

While media sources warn that Israel’s attack on Iran’s nuclear sites is imminent, US officials says sanctions would be just as effective as bombs in stopping Iran from building nuclear arms. Other say sanctions are no solution either.

Iranian women hold pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei outside the former US embassy in Tehran on November 4, 2011 (AFP Photo / Atta Kenare) 05.11, 16:30

Iran has made computer models of a nuclear warhead, says IAEA report on Tehran’s suspected nuclear activities, due to be published next week. Meanwhile, Iran is set to unveil documents accusing the US of links with terror groups.

Israel vs Iran //

Published: 17 November, 2011, 18:13

The first unit put into operation at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Iran (AFP Photo / Valeriy Melnikov) The first unit put into operation at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Iran (AFP Photo / Valeriy Melnikov)

TAGS: Arms, Military, Nuclear, UN, Politics, Iran

The UN nuclear watchdog’s latest resolution on Iran expresses "serious concerns" regarding Tehran's nuclear defiance, but stops short of overly critical language that could scare off Chinese and Russian support.

­Aimed at securing approval from all six major powers, the document expresses misgivings regarding Iran’s nuclear activities and calls on Tehran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).  

The resolution, widely viewed as a compromise by diplomats, was drafted with language moderate enough to allay concerns from China and Russia that the latest IAEA report would be used to justify economic sanctions against Iran.   

The text, agreed upon by the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, has revived hopes that a negotiated settlement to the Iranian nuclear dispute can be found.  

The resolution is expected to be put before the agency’s 35-member board of governors over the next two days.

Meanwhile, IAEA Chief Yukiya Amano hopes to send a special high-level mission to Iran as the resolution highlights growing concerns over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.  

Amano, who hopes a “suitable date” for the proposed mission could be agreed upon soon, said the visit was necessary as “clarifications” were still needed regarding any potential military dimension to Iran’s atomic program.  

In a report issued last week, the Vienna-based IAEA expressed “serious concerns” regarding Tehran’s nuclear program, which it believes is more ambitious and structured than previously thought.    

Speaking at the opening session of the Agency’s board of governors Thursday, Amano said:

"The Agency believes this information is likely to be credible… it indicates that Iran is engaged in activities relating to the development of nuclear weapons," RIA-Novosti cites.  

However, nothing in the report indicated that Iran had actually undertaken the decision to build a bomb, and Tehran for its part has dismissed the intelligence information regarding its nuclear program as being fabricated.

Police officers stand outside Zuccotti Park a day after it was cleared of Occupy Wall Street protesters in an early morning police raid on November 16, 2011 in New York city (AFP Photo / Mario Tama) Today: 16:35 A man is arrested as demonstrators with 'Occupy Wall Street' mark the two month anniversary of the protest November 17, 2011 in New York (AFP Photo / Stan HONDA) Today: 18:14

The peaceful Occupy Wall Street protest has turned violent yet again. At least 200 people have been arrested in NYC and an RT producer attacked by police. Rallies throughout the US are marking two months since the beginning of the movement.

Occupy Wall Street

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