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George Mahuku, IITA plant pathologist and lead author of the paper.

By External Source
May 28 2020 (IPS-Partners)

A paper published by a team led by scientists from IITA was among the top 10% most downloaded of all papers published between January 2018 and December 2019 in Wiley’s Plant Pathology journal.

The research team received the news in a congratulatory message and an online certificate from the Journal. Part of the message stated: “We are excited to share that your research, published in Plant Pathology, is among the top 10% most downloaded papers! What it means: Among work published between January 2018 and December 2019, yours received some of the most downloads in the 12 months following online publication. Your research generated immediate impact and helped to raise the visibility of Plant Pathology.”

The open-source paper, “Sources of resistance in Musa to Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum, the causal agent of banana xanthomonas wilt” published on 17 September 2018, announced a breakthrough in the search for banana varieties that are resistant to the lethal bacterial banana wilt disease. It proved wrong the belief that all banana varieties in the Great Lakes region are susceptible to the condition and provided hope in the banana breeding efforts for varieties resistant to the disease—one of the most effective ways to control the disease.

Victor Manyong, the IITA hub director, congratulated the team, noting that this was an indication of the quality of science generated by the team and the potential impact of the work to address the challenges facing agriculture productivity for smallholder banana farmers in the region.

The findings of the paper are significant for smallholder farmers in the Great Lakes region of Africa where banana is an important food and staple crop as its production has been greatly affected by the bacterial banana wilt disease.

The bacterial banana wilt disease, which is regarded as the most devastating disease of banana in the region, is transmitted by insect vectors, contaminated garden tools, and infected planting material. The disease, which causes premature ripening and rotting of the fruits, wilting, and eventually death of the plant, has drastically affected the production of highland cooking banana in the region and the food and income of millions of farmers.

“This is exciting news for the team. We are extremely pleased with the recognition”, says George Mahuku, the IITA plant pathologist based at IITA Tanzania and lead scientist for the work.

“As a follow-up to this work, we are now screening a population made from one of the resistant varieties ‘Monyet’ and a susceptible variety ‘Kokopo’ to identify biological markers (quantitative trait loci – QTL) of genes associated with resistance. This information will be used to develop protocols for the rapid transfer of resistance genes to susceptible but farmer-preferred cultivars. We are also continuing with screening other banana types to identify more sources of resistance,” Mahuku said.

Other researchers in the team are drawn from the Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic, the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute at the University of Pretoria, South Africa as well as IITA banana researchers based in Uganda and Arusha.

The research was funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB).

The post IITA banana research paper in Wiley’s Plant Pathology journal among the most downloaded appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Igor Matovič (OĽaNO) kormányfő június 3-án indul majd első külföldi útjára. A hagyományokhoz híven Csehországba látogat elsőként.

AMI - Plusieurs partis politiques ont exprimé leur plein soutien à la commission parlementaire dans l’accomplissement de sa noble mission et...

Health workers applause back to the public applauding them. Madrid, Spain, 22 March 2020. Credit: Burak Akbulut

By Djaffar Shalchi
COPENHAGEN, May 28 2020 (IPS)

For the past few decades, many big corporations and very wealthy individuals have operated according to the myth that they are “self-made”, that their success owed nothing to anyone else.

From that narrative has come the notion that they are entitled and able to cut themselves off from others, contributing as little as possible in taxes and workers’ wages.

But now that the myth has run into the fact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s clear that none of us are independent; that we are, in fact, interdependent.

I am a one of those who gets highlighted as a self-made man. I am told that I fit the storyline: I am an immigrant son of a single mother from Iran; while my mum cleaned in hotels, I studied hard, worked hard, and went on to be a successful entrepreneur. I rose to be a multimillionaire – the American Dream, except in Denmark!

It has always been obvious to me, however, that I have not risen all by my own efforts: that I am not a self-made man, that the welfare state made me. Without the creche care and schooling and health care I received, I could not have flourished; and without Denmark’s strong public services, neither could my business.

That’s why, in real life, contrary to the Hollywood tale, kids are more likely to achieve the American dream in Denmark than in America. That’s why I recognise that it is my responsibility to help others rise, by giving back – not only as a philanthropist, but also, and preferably, as a taxpayer.

That’s why I am helping to lead an international campaign – Move Humanity – that is demanding that governments increase taxes on people like me.

A number of governments have shared that pressure from the richest individuals is a major obstacle in the way of key inequality-reducing reforms. Studies show that the super-rich have been avoiding as much as 30% of their tax liability. Poor countries have been losing $170 billion of tax revenues every year as a result of tax dodging.

Djaffar Shalchi. Credit: Move Humanity

Many corporations and wealthy individuals have lobbied against higher taxes, arguing that they would be anti-business. But, as we have seen, the fact is that tax is not anti-business, pandemics are anti-business.

A small number of plutocrats are profiteering in this crisis in obscene ways and appear to be planning for dystopia. But most businesses are ultimately threatened by the combination of health collapse, economic collapse, systems collapse and trust collapse that Covid-19 has wrought.

Progressive taxation – from corporate profits, and from personal income and wealth – is the only sustainable way to fund the public services and infrastructure on which restoration depends.

Public health, stability and trust are the platforms on which business viability stands. To do what is right is also to do what is practical.

It is time for millionaires to back redistribution. Over 175 millionaires signed the open letter launched at Davos in January 2020, “Millionaires against Pitchforks”, that called for higher taxes on people like themselves.

But these 175 were seen as outliers. Now, after the Covid-19 crisis, that could change, and must change.

The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted just how much society depends on frontline workers, these no longer hidden heroes. It has also highlighted, in the Financial Times’s words, that “radical reforms — reversing the prevailing policy direction of the last four decades — will need to be put on the table. Governments will have to accept a more active role in the economy. Redistribution will again be on the agenda.”

It is no surprise that countries which value public goods and the active role of the state like Denmark, Germany and South Korea, are holding up more strongly to the Covid-19 crisis than the more laissez-faire US and UK, or that, in India, Kerala is holding up more strongly than the states in the north of the country.

Across the world now, politicians of many stripes, economists of almost all stripes, and ordinary people of every stripe increasingly recognise the essential role of government action, funded by progressive taxation.

Experts say a 1% wealth tax on the world’s top 1% could bring in over $1.6 trillion.

Tackling inequality is central to restore consumer demand, strengthen human capital, ensure collective health security and prevent societal breakdown. If we allow inequality to rise any higher, we will all be in danger – of an even more intensified economic crisis and of violent instability.

For the rich to hide in bunkers, offends others’ dignity and their own, and is no way to truly thrive. Even before Covid-19, a multimillionaire whom I visited in Brazil could, when he looked out of his window, see only metal bars, as if he was caged in.

From my window in Denmark, the view is of flowers. As is noted in The Spirit Level, and in the yearly World Happiness Report, more equal societies are safer, healthier, happier, and more stable. They have longer-running growth, and higher social mobility. And they are much better able to cope with crises.

The Covid-19 pandemic is revealing not only how unjust the world’s inequalities are, but also how these inequalities have been rooted in a fallacy that denied the reality of our interdependence.

The difference between clinging to individualized and inward-looking approaches, and unleashing the power of collective action from the local to global, will be millions of lives saved and billions of lives improved.

Higher taxes on very wealthy few, and on the biggest corporations, are crucial to restoring trust and to funding the common services we all need to thrive. Through this we can put the world back in business, and reconnect business with the world. It’s worth every penny. Even millionaires should back it.

*This piece was co-authored with Ben Phillips, an advisor to governments and international institutions on how to tackle inequality.

The post Memo from a Multi-Millionaire: Covid-19 Proves Business Case for Taxing the Rich appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Djaffar Shalchi is an entrepreneur and business owner and founder of the Move Humanity campaign

The post Memo from a Multi-Millionaire: Covid-19 Proves Business Case for Taxing the Rich appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A Fővárosi Ítélőtábla évről-évre színvonalasabb, hatékonyabb, időszerűbb ítélkezésre törekszik; tavaly fél éven belül befejeződött a peres eljárások nyolcvan százaléka és a nem peres eljárások 97,1 százaléka – tudatta a bíróság sajtótitkársága.

A közlemény szerint az öt ítélőtáblára érkezett 12 485 ügy 51,3 százaléka, 6403 érkezett tavaly a Fővárosi Ítélőtáblára. A polgári, gazdasági, büntető és katonai szakágakban összesen 2316 peres ügyet kezelt a Fővárosi Ítélőtábla, ami az táblákhoz érkezett összes peres ügy 62,2 százalékát teszi ki.

Az ítélőtáblákon befejezett 12 720 ügyből a Fővárosi Ítélőtáblán az ügyek 50,7 százaléka, 6450 fejeződött be 2019-ben. A Fővárosi Ítélőtábla tavaly polgári ügyszakban fejezte be a legtöbb ügyet, az országosan befejezett polgári ügyek 51,7 százalékát. Az összes ítélőtáblán folyamatban maradt ügy 61,2 százaléka, azaz 1312 maradt folyamatban a Fővárosi Ítélőtáblán 2019. december 31-én.

A Fővárosi Ítélőtábla közlése szerint ítélkezési tevékenységük magas szakmai színvonalát tükrözi, hogy a tábláról a Kúriára érkezett fellebbezett határozatok 70,9 százaléka helybenhagyással, a felülvizsgálatok 43,2 százaléka hatályban tartással fejeződött be tavaly.

European Council President Charles Michel comments on the European Commission’s proposal for the Recovery Fund and the Multiannual Financial Framework.

The visa facilitation agreement will make it easier and cheaper for citizens to obtain a visa for short term travel. This is accompanied by an agreement on the readmission of persons residing without authorisation.

A press conference held following the video conference of ministers for space, 29 May 2020

A press conference held following the video conference of ministers for research, 29 May 2020

European Council President Charles Michel comments on the European Commission’s proposal for the Recovery Fund and the Multiannual Financial Framework.

Mit dem Visaerleichterungsabkommen wird es für Bürgerinnen und Bürger einfacher und kostengünstiger, ein Visum für kurzfristige Reisen zu erhalten. Dazu kommt ein Abkommen über die Rückübernahme von Personen mit unbefugtem Aufenthalt.

A press conference held following the video conference of ministers for space, 29 May 2020

A press conference held following the video conference of ministers for research, 29 May 2020

European Council President Charles Michel comments on the European Commission’s proposal for the Recovery Fund and the Multiannual Financial Framework.

A vízumkönnyítési megállapodásnak köszönhetően a polgárok könnyebben és olcsóbban juthatnak majd rövid távú tartózkodásra jogosító vízumhoz. A másik megállapodás pedig a jogellenesen tartózkodó állampolgárok visszafogadásáról szól.

A press conference held following the video conference of ministers for space, 29 May 2020

A press conference held following the video conference of ministers for research, 29 May 2020

Der Wind of Change weht heftiger denn je. Verankerte Tabus fallen weg, und Dinge, auf die seit mehr als 20 Jahren gewartet wurde, geschehen innerhalb von Tagen und Wochen. Wir müssen diese historische Chance nutzen.

Americas

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics won a $16 million deal, which procures support to manage diminishing manufacturing sources in support of the F-35 program for the Air Force, Navy and non-Department of Defense participants. The F-35 program has been supported by an international team of leading aerospace majors. Notably, Northrop Grumman NOC rendered its expertise in carrier aircraft and low-observable stealth technology to this program. BAE Systems’ BAESY short takeoff and vertical landing experience, and air systems sustainment supported the jet’s combat capabilities. These features have enabled F-35 jet to dominate the combat aircraft market buoyed by solid demand as evident from the program’s frequent contract wins, both from Pentagon and other US allies. For instance, this January, Lockheed clinched a reimbursable contract worth $1.93 billion for providing a consortium of services involving the F-35 program. Work under the new cost-plus-fixed-fee order will take place in Fort Worth, Texas. Estimated completion will be by June 2020.

The Department of Defense will lift the stop-movement order it issued earlier this spring in stages rather than keeping it in place through June 30. Officials announced this shift on May 26. Under this, some installation will be able to accept transfers immediately, according to Matt Donovan, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness. Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper had issued the order on travel in March and extended it in April. Moving forward, individual installations will be able to lift travel and moving restrictions depending on local conditions, Donovan said. Troops, families and other DoD personnel will now be able to travel within the United States and some other countries provided their destinations have removed shelter-in-place orders and shown a 14-day reduction in the number of COVID-19 cases, as well as reports of flu-like or COVID-like symptoms.

Middle East & Africa

Israel’s Elbit Systems reported its consolidated results for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. The company provided US-GAAP results as well as additional non-GAAP financial data to provide investors with a more comprehensive understanding of the company’s business results and trends. Bezhalel Machlis, president and CEO of Elbit Systems, commented: “In the first quarter, we witnessed positive momentum across our markets, receiving more than $1.8 billion in orders from customers around the world. These orders contributed to a record backlog of $10.8 billion, growing by 8% over the last quarter of 2019, and providing Elbit Systems with good revenue visibility.” He also mentioned the current pandemic: „As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, since March we have made significant changes to the way we work in order to protect the health and safety of our employees around the world, while at the same time maintaining business continuity in order to deliver our products and services to our customers as planned. This includes utilizing our healthy balance sheet to secure our supply channels and maintaining adequate levels of inventory to enable us to continue deliveries to customers“. Elbit’s net income totalled $63.5 million in the quarter ending on 31 March, up 25% from the same period last year. Increased sales of military aircraft equipment and last year’s acquisition of the Harris Night Vision business from L3Harris Technologies lifted Elbit Systems’ revenue by 5% to $1.1 billion in the first quarter of 2020

Europe

A US Navy P-8A flying in the Eastern Mediterranean on May 26 was intercepted by two Russian Su-35 fighters. The intercept was deemed unsafe by the Americans as the two fighters were flying close underneath the wings of the maritime patrol aircraft. Russian pilots flew in an unsafe and unprofessional manner while intercepting a US Navy P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance aircraft over the Mediterranean Sea, US 6th Fleet said. The intercept the third such incident in two months, Navy officials said. The US Navy P-8A was flying over international waters in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea when it was intercepted by two armed Russian Sukhoi Su-35 aircraft. For 65 minutes, the Russian pilots simultaneously flew close to each wing of the P-8A, restricting the P-8A’s ability to safely maneuver, according to a Navy statement.

Indra will enhance the ground-based air defense capabilities of the Spanish Air Force with a radar modernization contract received on May 27. The Ministry of Defense deal will see the company update the identification, friend or foe (IFF) systems of its Lanza 3D ground-based radars, as used by the EdAE’s aerial surveillance squadrons. “With this upgrade, the systems will comply with the most recent NATO interoperability standards, which will soon be mandatory for military aircraft and ground systems,” Indra said, adding, “These are systems capable of interrogating an aircraft over 470 km away to identify it, and determine whether or not it is a threat.” According to the company, its contract with the Spanish MoD will run for three-and-a-half years, and comes with the associated logistic support in the EdAE’s EVAs and in the Logistic Transmissions Center (CLOTRA, in Spanish). This ensures that the systems will be operational throughout their life-cycle of at least 15 years.

Asia-Pacific

A report by Korean Herald says Indonesia has failed to make its annual payment for the development of the KF-X fighter. The country was supposed to pay $405 million last month. Indonesia is responsible for 20 percent of the plane’s development cost and it has been delaying payments for a few years. Korea Aerospace Industries, the country’s only aircraft manufacturer, is currently co-developing next-generation fighters with Indonesia. Launched in 2016, the KF-X project aims to develop a next-generation fighter jet and mass-produce 180 units by 2026.

Today’s Video

Watch: GETTING READY – AMERICA’S ‘SUPER DUPER MISSILE’ WILL TAKE ON RUSSIA & CHINA !

Der Verband Hotelleriesuisse und das Institut für Tourismus der Fachhochschule Westschweiz Wallis haben Schweizer Hotels befragt, auf welchen Kanälen bei ihnen Buchungen reinkommen. Die Resultate liegen BLICK exklusiv vor.