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Brazil confirms investigation into reports of NSA spying

“Brazil is to investigate reports of US electronic spying on its citizens, with President Dilma Rousseff saying that, if proven, such action would constitute a violation of sovereignty. Her comments came after the daily O Globo reported Sunday that the US National Security Agency spied on Brazilian residents and companies as well as people traveling in the country. The newspaper cited documents leaked by the fugitive former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Rousseff confirmed that the National Telecommunications Agency and federal police have been ordered to probe the reports.” Continue reading →

White House dodges questions of Egyptian ‘coup’ as military aid continues

“The Obama administration attempted to sidestep questions over the legality of military aid to Egypt on Monday, claiming it was not in its ‘best interests’ to decide yet whether the armed overthrow of the country’s elected president amounted to a coup or not. US law prevents any administration providing support to the leaders of a military coup, but the White House announced it will not suspend foreign aid to Egypt for now, pending further review. ‘We have had a long relationship with Egypt and the Egyptian people and it would not be wise to abruptly change our assistance programme,’ said spokesman Jay Carney.” Continue reading →

UK moves forward with three-parent IVF treatment

“The British government has said it will pursue a radical fertility technique that uses DNA from three parents to create an embryo. The IVF-based technique is designed to avoid serious mitochondrial diseases inherited on the maternal side, such as muscular dystrophy. Mitochondria are the structures within cells that convert energy from food into a form that the body can use. The technique would replace some of the unhealthy DNA with healthy DNA from the so-called ‘third parent’. Politicians are due to debate the regulations in parliament next year, setting the stage for Britain to become the first country to offer the treatment.” Continue reading →

‘Simplified’ IVF procedure could cost just $256

“A simplified lab can slash the cost of in-vitro fertilisation treatment to around 200 euros ($256), offering hope to millions of infertile couples in the developing world, a conference heard on Monday. The cost would be just 10 to 15 percent of western-style IVF programmes, according to the Belgian team behind the project. Their approach uses a scaled-down version of the typical IVF lab, using a simple two-tube system to replace special carbon dioxide (CO2) incubators, medical gas and air purification systems in which to culture the embryo in a lab dish. So far 12 healthy ‘low-cost’ babies have been born.” Continue reading →

Archaeologists excited by discovery of eight ‘startlingly well-preserved’ Bronze Age boats

“The vessels, all deliberately sunk more than 3,000 years ago, are the largest group of bronze age boats ever found in the same UK site and most are startlingly well preserved. One is covered inside and out with decorative carving described by conservator Ian Panter as looking ‘as if they’d been playing noughts and crosses all over it’. Another has handles carved from the oak tree trunk for lifting it out of the water. One still floated after 3,000 years and one has traces of fires lit on the wide flat deck on which the catch was evidently cooked. They were preserved by the waterlogged silt in the bed of a long-dried-up creek which buried them deep below the ground.” Continue reading →

Telegraphing the Turnaround in Gold

“While the current correction hasn’t been as deep as that of the mid-’70s, the decline is already longer, and it’s the most prolonged of the current cycle. It is thus reasonable to expect gold to take two years or more to regain the $1,900 level and continue beyond. Barring a black swan event, gold will likely log its first annual loss since 2000 this year. However, it’s not all bad news, as the chart shows: gold nearly doubled in the two years from its ’76 low to its ’78 return to former highs. The message here is obvious: add to your inventory at depressed levels. And don’t worry about missing the bottom.” Continue reading →

De-Postal Monopoly: Feinstein’s Sweetheart’s Deal

“Senator Diane Feinstein is married to the CEO of the largest commercial real estate services firm in the U.S. The U.S. Postal Service is going bust, because it can no longer compete. It has a monopoly, but it’s market is shrinking. The U.S.P.S. is selling off 41 post offices and 11 other properties. Always before, it hired multiple firms to do this. That made sense. Real estate is local. It has over 500 more properties scheduled for sale. This time, the U.S.P.S. awarded an exclusive contract to one firm to unload these post offices. Amazing as it may seem, Feinstein’s husband’s firm got the contract. It was just one of those things, just one of those crazy things.” Continue reading →

Proposed U.S. law could be a Snowbird tax timebomb

“The good news is that the JOLT Act, (Jobs Originated through Launching Travel), would allow Canadian retirees to spend up to eight months, or 240 days, each year in the U.S. without a visa. That’s almost two months longer than the current 182-day annual limit. The bad news is that snowbirds who spend that long in the U.S. may be required to pay U.S. taxes. ‘It looks like a great deal. I can be in Palm Springs for 240 days., but they didn’t tell you that it comes with a very high tax cost,’ Roy Berg, international tax lawyer at Moodys Gartner Tax Law in Calgary, said in an interview.” Continue reading →