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South Korea using smartphone app to curb military leaks

"The ministry said that, from Monday, its 1,500 staff are no longer allowed to bring smartphones into their offices without installing the app, called 'Mobile Management Device'. Ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told reporters that the app, which restricts the use of cameras and audio recording, prevents leaks through smartphones and stops outsiders from hacking into the devices of defence ministry officials. About 70 percent of South Korea’s 50 million people have smartphones — the world’s highest penetration rate." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSouth Korea using smartphone app to curb military leaks

Wine producers go hi-tech to protect against fraud

"Making sure a glass of wine is everything it promises on the label was once a relatively simple process: hold against the light, tilt and observe the shade, swirl a little and give it a good sniff. But with the ever-increasing global consumption of wine now attracting the attention of fraudsters, wine drinkers are soon just as likely to be advised to whip out their smartphones. A quick scan can give the consumer a direct link to the supplier’s website to verify the label, trace the wine’s journey from vineyard to glass and provide information about the winery. New technology and international cooperation are now enabling producers to outsmart the fraudsters." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWine producers go hi-tech to protect against fraud

USDA skeptical of Monsanto sabotage claim in ‘zombie wheat’ probe

"The Department of Agriculture, which is conducting a secretive investigation into the renegade GM wheat outbreak, maintains the GM wheat remained confined to a single 125-acre field on a single farm in eastern Oregon. Officials said there was no evidence the contaminated wheat was in the marketplace. The stakes are high for America’s wheat exports, with Japan and South Korea cancelling shipments; for Monsanto, which faces lawsuits from farmers for falling wheat prices and a consumer backlash against GM products; and for the US government, which must shore up confidence in the safety and integrity of the food supply." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUSDA skeptical of Monsanto sabotage claim in ‘zombie wheat’ probe

Monsanto unapproved GMO wheat was in Colorado government storage facility until 2011

"Monsanto Co’s unapproved, experimental genetically engineered wheat, which is feared to have potentially contaminated U.S. wheat supplies after it was found growing in an Oregon field this spring, was kept in a U.S. government storage facility until at least late 2011, according to documents obtained by Reuters. The revelation that the seed for the controversial genetically engineered wheat was kept viable in a Colorado storage facility as recently as a year and a half ago comes as the U.S. government is investigating how the strain of experimental wheat wound up growing in an Oregon field this spring." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMonsanto unapproved GMO wheat was in Colorado government storage facility until 2011

Maine Gov. Says He Intends to Sign GMO Labeling Bill – But not Right Now

"Citing 'strong public support' yesterday in a letter to the bill's sponsors, LePage officially indicated that he intends - eventually - to sign LD 718. 'But he is proceeding with caution because the legal effort required to defend this law will be complex and very costly,' says his press secretary, Adrienne Bennett. LePage says he agrees that 'consumers should have the right to know what is in their food.' But he also alludes to concerns over the constitutionality of labeling requirements, and according to Bennet, the Governor expects that other states that pass labeling laws now will be on the front lines for legal attack." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMaine Gov. Says He Intends to Sign GMO Labeling Bill – But not Right Now

Fracking could ruin German beer industry, brewers tell Angela Merkel

"The Brauer-Bund beer association is worried that fracking for shale gas, which involves pumping water and chemicals at high pressure into the ground, could pollute water used for brewing and break a 500-year-old industry rule on water purity. Under the 'Reinheitsgebot', or German purity law, brewers have to produce beer using only malt, hops, yeast and water. 'The water has to be pure and more than half Germany's brewers have their own wells which are situated outside areas that could be protected under the government's current planned legislation on fracking,' said a Brauer-Bund spokesman." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFracking could ruin German beer industry, brewers tell Angela Merkel

Germany drops fracking law until after September’s election

"The German government has suspended plans to regulate fracking until after September's election, prolonging the uncertainty that has hampered development of the gas extraction technology in Europe's biggest economy. Angela Merkel's centre-right government had drawn up legislation laying out the conditions for exploration and imposing restrictions on where drilling could take place, but that has now been put on hold. 'The fracking law has failed,' Horst Meierhofer, a member of the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) who share power with Merkel's conservatives, told Reuters. Senior conservatives also said the plans had been put on hold." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGermany drops fracking law until after September’s election

Fracking ban halts first shale gas project in Spain

"Spain’s richest shale gas reserves have been determined to exist in the northern region of Cantabria, but back in April the local Cantabrian government implemented the country’s first fracking ban, worried that such activities may pollute the local sources of drinking water. The Spanish fossil fuel trade group, Aciep, has made claims that Spain boasts enough prospective natural gas resources to meet the country’s domestic demand for more than 70 years. The Spanish government has worked to reduce barriers to energy for any international oil and gas companies trying to develop shale gas in the country." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFracking ban halts first shale gas project in Spain

French president vows no fracking while he is president

"President Francois Hollande said on Sunday that France would maintain its ban on the exploration for shale gas throughout his five-year term. 'As long as I am president, there were will be no exploration for shale gas,' Hollande said during a Bastille Day interview with top television channels. He said the fracking technique used to extract shale gas presented too many 'risks to groundwater'. 'We can see some consequences in the United States' from the technique, Hollande said. Energy companies have been banned since 2011 from exploiting shale gas in France over fears of environmental risks from the potential air and water pollution involved in fracking." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrench president vows no fracking while he is president

Greenpeace activists break into French nuclear power plant

"Several dozen Greenpeace activists broke into a nuclear plant in southern France early on Monday, unfurling banners against atomic power, the organisation and police said. They hung banners reading 'Tricastin: a nuclear accident' and 'Francois Hollande: president of a catastrophe?' in reference to the French leader, according to Isabelle Philippe, a Greenpeace spokeswoman. Activists from the environmental anti-nuclear group have staged several break-ins in French nuclear plants in recent years in an effort to highlight what they say are dangers of atomic power and to expose security problems at the power stations." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGreenpeace activists break into French nuclear power plant