Month: May 2015

By Chris Arsenault ROME (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – A new picture book aims to help show the nearly 100 million children who labor on farms how best to handle the toxic pesticides many are exposed to in their work. "The colorful illustrations are built on local knowledge and refer to very concrete and real situations," Food and Agriculture Organization official Christine Fuell said in a statement. "They also appeal to children, raising their own awareness of the risks posed by pesticides." The English title of the book is "Protect Children from Pesticides." Nearly 100 million boys and girls between the ages of five and 17 work on farms, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Agriculture Department has developed a new government certification and labeling for foods that are free of genetically modified ingredients.

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By Estelle Shirbon LONDON (Reuters) – Is the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" a rebellious anthem to wild drug-taking or a touching tribute to a child's imagination? The question, which has exercised Beatles fans since the song appeared in the seminal 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", could soon form part of an exam curriculum for British teenagers. Exam board AQA, which sets and marks papers for about half of all GCSE exams taken by British 16-year-old high-school pupils, plans to introduce three songs from Sgt. Pepper into the music curriculum from September 2016. "Pop music began in this country with The Beatles in the swinging sixties, so what better band to look to for the study of contemporary music than the Fab Four," said Seb Ross, head of AQA's music department.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. authorities brought criminal charges on Thursday against an investment banker and his father for allegedly engaging in insider trading ahead of five health care mergers. Sean Stewart, who worked at two different unnamed investment banks during the period at issue, tipped Robert Stewart, his father, about the mergers, enabling him and a business associate to make $1.16 million, according to a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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By Eric M. Johnson SEATTLE (Reuters) – Occasional crystal meth smoker Richard Russell ambles up to a church storage garage in a Seattle alley and a recovering drug addict hands him two brand new meth pipes, no questions asked. Inject." The theory behind the handout program is that giving meth pipes to drug users may steer some away from needles, which are far riskier than smoking, especially if the user is sharing with another person infected with HIV or hepatitis C. There is little scientific evidence to support that claim, but The People's Harm Reduction Alliance, a privately funded needle-swap group run by drug users, said it has distributed more than 1,000 pipes in Seattle in a matter of weeks and could expand to other cities in Washington state and Oregon. Its program also draws addicts from society's fringes into its compassionate fold, with links to treatment and housing services, Executive Director Shilo Murphy said.

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