Euractiv, “Monsanto sounded out by Bayer’s massive cash offer”,  23 May 2016:

German pharmaceutical giant Bayer has announced its intention to offer $62 billion (€55 billion) in cash to takeover agrochemical company Monsanto, as the debate over the use of the pesticide glyphosate continues. EurActiv’s partner Milano Finanza reports.

Bayer AG, whose offer constitutes $122 a share, said that their proposal represented a substantial premium for Monsanto’s shareholders, as it is 37% higher than the American company’s closing share price on 9 May.

The German pharmaceutical and chemical group said that it intends to finance the deal with a mix of debt and equity, mostly through a rights offering. Bayer added that it predicts annual earnings from synergies totalling $1.5 billion within three years if its proposal were to be accepted.

Overwhelming majority of Germans contaminated by glyphosate

The herbicide glyphosate can enter the body through food or drinking water. A new study has shown that the majority of Germans have been contaminated by the compound. EurActiv Germany reports.

        EurActiv.com

Monsanto Protests Germany, France

France is a leading opponent of glyphosate

The EU’s decision to postpone the decision on the reauthorisation of the weedkiller glyphosate has been highly controversial, but nowhere is opposition to the chemical stronger than in France. EurActiv France reports.

Celtic Jewelry of the native Britons 2000 years ago

In England 2,000 years ago lived the “Celtic people”. They were the first Britons. They lived on small farms and in small tribal villages all over England. They often fought with other Celtic tribes.

Dieneke’s Blog, May 08, 2016

Natural selection in Britain during the last 2,000 years:

The latest ancient DNA studies from the British Isles (Schiffels et al and Martiniano et al. and Cassidy et al.) support continuity over the last 2,000 years. Sure, there were continued migrations like the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, but these were very similar groups in the grand scheme of things.

But, while ancestrally the modern Briton is probably a descendant of the Britons of 2,000 years ago with some admixture from similar continental European groups, he is not the same, as (apparently) substantial genetic adaptation has continued to operate in Britain over the same period. A new preprint by Field, Boyle, Telis et al. makes the case for adaptation in a variety of traits in the ancestors of Britons over this period. Mind you, the genetic underpinnings of many important human traits known to have high heritability are currently unknown, but there is little doubt that selection would have affected traits beyond those detected in this study. I am quite curious to see whether the striking efflorescence of cultural achievement in Britain over the last half millennium could have (at least in part) a genetic underpinning.

Depigmentation is a trait whose genetic architecture is as well as understood as any. The results of this study might surprise writers of decades and centuries past who supposed that the spectrum of pigmentation of modern Europeans was the result of admixture-in varying measure- between Xanthochrooi and Melanchrooi races of primordial antiquity. All indications seem to be that depigmentation of hair, skin, and eyes did not co-occur in such a hypothetical race, but rather in different parts of the Caucasoid range, only reaching a high combined frequency in northern Europe to form the distinctive physical type that is distinctive of the natives of that region. It would be quite interesting to see how these traits evolved in Fennoscandia and the Baltic, regions that sport an even higher depigmentation than the British Isles. Traditionally, these areas were viewed as refuges of the Xanthochrooi but it may very well turn out to be that for whatever reason selection has acted in that area as well, as it did in the Eastern European plain where rather dark Bronze Age steppe groups gave way to rather light pigmented living eastern Slavs.

bioRxiv doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/052084

Detection of human adaptation during the past 2,000 years

Yair Field, Evan A Boyle, Natalie Telis, Ziyue Gao, Kyle J Gaulton, David Golan, Loic Yengo, Ghislain Rocheleau, Philippe Froguel, Mark I McCarthy, Jonathan K Pritchard

Detection of recent natural selection is a challenging problem in population genetics, as standard methods generally integrate over long timescales. Here we introduce the Singleton Density Score (SDS), a powerful measure to infer very recent changes in allele frequencies from contemporary genome sequences. When applied to data from the UK10K Project, SDS reflects allele frequency changes in the ancestors of modern Britons during the past 2,000 years. We see strong signals of selection at lactase and HLA, and in favor of blond hair and blue eyes. Turning to signals of polygenic adaptation we find, remarkably, that recent selection for increased height has driven allele frequency shifts across most of the genome. Moreover, we report suggestive new evidence for polygenic shifts affecting many other complex traits. Our results suggest that polygenic adaptation has played a pervasive role in shaping genotypic and phenotypic variation in modern humans.

The New Observer, “Rome: Thousands Rally against Invasion” 21 May 2016:

Ten thousand Italian patriots turned out today to take part in an anti-invasion and anti-European Union protest march though the main thoroughfares of Rome, organized by the Casapound Italia organization.

The turnout, replete with flags and ordered formations, started at the main Rome “reception center” for invaders at the Piazza Vittorio square, before moving off in the direction of the Colosseum.

Along the way, the disciplined crowd chanted numerous slogans such as “Stop the invasion! This is my home.”

The crowd carried flags, let off tricolor flares, and carried banners reading “Italy rise, fight and win,” “First the Italians,” and “Defend Italy with the spirit of the heroes of the Piave.” (The latter slogan is a reference to the June 1918 World War I battle which resulted in a decisive victory for Italy.)

The rally, held under the slogan of “Casapound Defend Italy,” was completely peaceful. At the speeches which were made at the end point, near the Colosseum, movement leader Gianluca Iannone—sporting an impressive beard—said that the parade was being done in conjunction with similar events in other European cities.

“We want a strong state to take care of our citizens and our children, we are against privatization, we want priority for the Italian people, and we are against uncontrolled immigration,” Iannone said.

                        Viktor Orban and Premier Beata Szydło

Euractiv, “Polish premier says will never bow to EU ‘ultimatum” 20 May 2016:

Poland’s right-wing Prime Minister Beata Szydlo vowed Friday (20 May) that her government would never bow to any EU ultimatum and accused some members of the European Commission of trying to “destroy” the 28-member bloc.

Szydlo was responding to a Monday deadline (23 May) set by the Commission for Poland to reverse a controversial overhaul of the country’s top court that has set off a fiery dispute between Warsaw and Brussels.

“Poland will never succumb to any ultimatum,” Szydlo said during a stormy debate in parliament.

“There are some in the European Commission… who want to destroy the European Union rather than see it develop.”

Hungary, Poland and illiberal democracy

The EU’s problem is that others are following the illiberal regimes of Hungary and in Poland, and it is possible that among them be Germany, writes George Friedman.

The executive warned earlier this week it could take further action against Poland because of concerns over the commitment of the governing Law and Justice (PiS) to the rule of law.

“If there is no significant progress by 23 May, then the First Vice-President (Frans Timmermans) has been empowered to adopt the draft rule of law opinion,” the commission said in a statement on Wednesday.

The exact contents of the opinion are not known, but if Warsaw fails to address the issues raised, it could eventually face a suspension of voting rights in the European council of ministers, the EU’s most important decision-making body.

However, Poland’s regional ally Hungary is likely to torpedo any possible sanctions, which would require the unanimous approval of all 28 EU members.

In Friday’s parliamentary debate, leaders of Poland’s liberal opposition party the Civic Platform blasted Szydlo for “desecrating the constitution” and “burning more bridges with Europe”.

An MP from the conservative Polish Peasants’ Party went so far as to charge that the actions of her administration risked “civil war”.

Poles launch campaign against court reform

Tens of thousands of Poles took to Facebook Thursday (10 March) to support the country’s top court in a constitutional battle against the right-wing government.

Szydlo’s government plunged Poland into political crisis in December when it pushed through legislation to revamp the constitutional court and modify its decision-making rules.

The European Commission in January launched an unprecedented probe to see if the changes — seen by critics as endangering the court’s independence — violated EU democracy rules and merited punitive measures.

Since taking office in November, the PiS government has pushed through several pieces of controversial legislation, including strengthening state control over public broadcasters and seeking to tighten already limited access to abortions.

Poland’s rejection of refugees under an EU-wide plan to tackle Europe’s worst migrant crisis since World War II has also chilled ties with Brussels.

Poland and Hungary: Tactical alliance or strategic partnership? Commentary for New Eastern Europe…

READ MORE...

       
        US, Polish leaders break ground for missile defense site. President Duda to the far right of photo.

Sputnik, “Russia Has Last Seen Such Amassing of Hostile Forces on Its Borders in 1941”, 21 May 2016:

Russia has not seen such a major military buildup close to its borders since 1941 when the Third Reich sent the Wehrmacht to conquer the Soviet Union, Professor Stephen F. Cohen said in his recent interview on The John Batchelor Show, referring to NATO’s increasingly assertive strategy in Eastern Europe and the Baltics.

“We have been watching for nearly a month a steady buildup of American and NATO forces along near Russia’s borders – on land, on sea and in the air,” he said. “There has been nothing like this on Russia’s borders, such an amassing of hostile military force, since the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.”

Russia has been concerned with NATO’s overall strategy and its recent moves particularly. Last week the US completed its first land-based component of the Aegis missile shield at an air base near Deveselu, Romania. A day later, the alliance held a groundbreaking ceremony in Poland. The Aegis Ashore base is scheduled to be deployed in Redzikowo by 2018.

We still have serious work to do with regard to distinguishing who we are, who our friends are, and what alliance means.

News united, KENNETH SHINZATO, WORKER ON U.S. MILITARY BASE IN JAPAN ACCUSED OF DUMPING BODY OF LOCAL WOMAN RINA SHIMABUKURO, 20, RAISING ANTI-AMERICAN TENSIONS AHEAD OF BARACK OBAMA’S VISIT TO HIROSHIMA, 20 May 2016:

Kenneth Shinzato, worker on U.S. military base in Japan accused of dumping body of local woman Rina Shimabukuro, 20, raising anti-American tensions ahead of Barack Obama’s visit to Hiroshima news

A worker at a U.S. military base in Okinawa has been arrested on suspicion of dumping the body of a 20-year-old Japanese woman, police said Thursday - sparking outrage among locals.

                       
                        Rina Shimabukuro

RT, “Japanese PM ‘outraged’ over 20yo woman’s murder after US Okinawa base contractor arrested”, 20 May 2016:

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he’s outraged at the murder of a 20-year-old woman, following the arrest of a US man on suspicion of homicide in Okinawa. Japanese media later reported that the suspect admitted killing his victim.

“I feel extremely strong outrage,” Abe told reporters.

He added that he has no words “to express, considering how the family” of the victim feels.

“We urge the US side to take thorough measures to prevent the recurrence of such events.”

Kenneth Shinzato, a 32-year-old civil employee of the US military base in Okinawa, and former US Marine, has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the woman’s death. He allegedly admitted that he throttled and stabbed his victim, Kyodo News said, citing sources close to the police investigation.

Related Story: Okinawa rape incident.
                             

While the large-scale migration crisis has been shaking Europe for months, French politician Bernard Carayon has joined the chorus of those accusing US billionaire and speculator George Soros of masterminding the refugee influx via over a hundred of NGOs, which “whisper in the ear of the European Union to encourage the settlement of migrants.”

 

Sputnik, “Soros-Funded NGOs ‘Whisper Into EU’s Ear’ to Encourage Refugee Influx” 16 May 2016:

“One hundred NGOs advocate and encourage the settlement of these migrants in Europe,” former French politician and a former member of the French parliament said in an interview with French news website Atlantico.

A third of them are being subsidized by the European Union and the Open Society of George Soros, a “network of foundations, partners, and projects in more than 100 countries,” the political analyst explained.

The Hungarian-American billionaire and speculator, Carayon reminded, gained notoriety in the past for having broken the Bank of England in 1992 – earning $1.5 billion in just a single month by betting the British pound and several other European currencies were overpriced against the German deutsche mark.

He was the same very man to attack the Thai and Malaysian currencies in 1997 and to speculate against the franc in 1993.

His fortune is immense, valued at nearly 25 billion dollars, the politician says, and the income from his capital was and still is being used to fund “color revolutions” and NGOs, including those advocating the refugee influx into Europe (spending around one billion dollars per year for this purpose).

Carayon explains that The Open Society of George Soros and Washington-based US think tank “Migration Policy Institute” have published a joint report “Welcoming Engagement: How Private Sponsorship Can Strengthen Refugee Resettlement in the European Union.”

The report, he says, welcomes the European Commission’s engagement and encouragement of private sponsors and NGOs to resettle over-quota migrants in the EU member states.

Another NGO directly involved in the crisis is the Brussels-based “Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants” (PICUM), which has considerable influence within the European institutions.

It recently came up with a guide, following the directive of the European Union “on the rights of the victims,” on an advance access of undocumented migrants to protection services, and justice. This time again, Carayon says, the NGO is funded by the European Union and the Open Society.

The third organization is the NGO Oxfam, which regularly cooperates with the Open Society. Together they finance the “Enough is enough” movement in Senegal, which, in fact, is a “customary attempt” of Soros to launch a “color revolution” in the country.

Oxfam has also invested in the fight against coal, on the occasion of COP 21 (The 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) at the Paris Climate Change Conference in November 2015).

This NGO is particularly supported by the European Union, which paid it €75.3 million in the 2013-2014 financial year, the French political analyst states.

In October 2015, Oxfam published the report “Solidarity with the Syrian people” where it demanded France step up its resettlement programs, criticizing Paris for not contributing enough to the refugee programs and advocated the acceleration of procedures for family reunification, the acceleration of community sponsorship arrangements and opportunities for fellowship and pay based on work.

Another actor in support of immigrants is the “UNITED for Intercultural Action”, a network, composed of leftist activists and funded by the Council of Europe, the European Commission and the Open Society.

Another very influential think tank working on the issue is the US think tank” European Stability Initiative” which, in fact, is behind the October 2015 “Merkel Plan.” This plan recommends Germany welcome more migrants and issue them no-cost visas to move freely across the country.

“Behind this obscure think tank, we still find the Soros Open Society, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and other American financiers,” Carayon says.

And so everything brings us back to the very same man, George Soros, he concludes, who is also behind the so-called Panama papers scandal.

Through these NGOs he puts weight on European institutions and government programs, such as the one forced on Germany to host illegal migrants