In the spring of 2017, a European Union working group of environmentalists, academics and lobbyists was having a technical discussion on green farming practices when a map appeared on an overhead screen. In an instant, the room froze.

A farm lobbyist objected. Officials murmured their disapproval.

The map juxtaposed pollution in northern Italy with the European Union subsidies paid to farmers in the region. The overlap was undeniable and invited a fundamental question: Is the European Union financing the very environmental problems it is trying to solve?

The map was expunged from the group’s final reports, those in attendance say. But using the European Union’s own economic models, The New York Times created an approximation that confirms what European officials did not want seen: The most heavily subsidized areas had the worst pollution.

Finaly a smart move ...BREXIT is good for the british of white heritage

'Immortalists' say they have discovered how to slow and perhaps even reverse the ageing process - but is that really a good thing?
The scene last weekend at the Westgate, a Las Vegas mega resort, was like many others in Sin City. Alongside the one-armed bandits and craps tables, around 1,000 people milled around a mega convention centre. Many would have been close to pensionable age, and came from all corners of the Earth. But all the attendees at the event, RAADfest, were pursuing something out of the ordinary: immortality. 
“RAAD stands for Revolution Against Ageing and Death, and it happens once a year,” explains Neal VanDeRee, a 58-year-old who travelled to Las Vegas from his home in Hollywood,...

EU leaders have nominated two women to Brussels' most important jobs for the first time, picking Ursula von der Leyen, a German defence minister who supports a United States of Europe and an EU army, to be the next president of the European Commission and Christine Lagarde to lead the European Central Bank. 

Mrs von der Leyen’s selection as replacement for the outgoing Jean-Claude Juncker is a victory for Angela Merkel, who will have succeeded in placing a German member of her centre-Right European People’s Party (EPP) at the top of the EU’s executive for the next five years from Nov 1. But Germany abstained from the decision because Mrs Merkel's socialist coalition partners did not support the nomination.

Acute flaccid myelitis, a mysterious polio-like disorder, has been on the rise since 2014 and most often affects children, according to the CDC. Recent possible cases were reported in Maryland.

More possible cases of a rare, polio-like virus have been reported, according to health officials. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been investigating more than 360 cases of acute flaccid myelitis dating back to 2014. The disorder, which mainly affects children, can paralyze a child's arms and legs. Maryland health officials told WBAL-TV that there have been four possible cases of AFM in the state. Recently, the Minnesota Department of Health announced six cases had been reported in children under 10 years old in its state. 

The CDC reports the cause of most AFM cases is unknown, but some cases have been linked to poliovirus (polio) and West Nile virus. Symptoms of AFM are extremely similar to poliovirus, West Nile virus and adenoviruses, which makes it difficult for doctors to diagnose. 

Symptoms include drooping face and eyelids, difficulty moving eyes and swallowing, and slurred speech. In severe cases, children might have trouble breathing and need a ventilator because of muscle weakness. 

More: What is acute flaccid myelitis, the mysterious polio-like disorder affecting kids?

More: Rare, polio-like paralyzing disorder affecting children on the rise, CDC says

There is no specific treatment for AFM, and the long-term outcomes for AFM patients is unknown. 

While cases have been on the rise since 2014, AFM still affects a small population — less than one in a million people in the United States annually. 

The CDC recommends people follow normal disease prevention steps to avoid AFM, including staying current on vaccines, washing hands and avoiding mosquito bites. 

FUNYYYYY....

The world’s major economies are skating on dangerously thin ice and lack the fiscal, monetary, and emergency tools to fight the next downturn.

A roster of top crisis veterans fear an even more intractable slump than the Lehman recession when the current ageing expansion rolls over. The implications for liberal democracy are sobering.

“We have no ability to turn the economy around,” said Martin Feldstein, President of the US National Bureau of Economic Research.

“When the next recession comes, it is going to be deeper and last longer than in the past. We don’t have any strategy to deal with it,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

Professor Feldstein, a former chairman of the White House Council of Economic...

ROMANIA/THE BANKING SYSTEM - Given where we are today and how we got here, I think we can safely say that the Romanian banking system is ready for the challenges of the future. Over the last years, we have witnessed a consolidation of the banking system through many mergers and acquisitions between banks, a trend which follows, as a matter of fact, from the development of the regulatory framework, as well as from the financial coming of age of the clientele. The banking business can no longer be efficient on a small scale or in a niche area, and that will become increasingly obvious in the coming period.
We are also witnessing a profound change of the banking sector, which will only become more acute over time. What I am talking about is the need to align with the requirements of the digital era. The bank isn't just a provider of loans and deposits, it also wants to be a reliable partner and to develop complex financial solutions for its customers. This change in the way the relationship with customers is approached is visible in the new policies and products launched by banks. Banks of the future will have to be deeply digital, and communicate with the new generations of customers in their own language, through alternative channels. For us, the stake is the customer's comfort in the long run, and digitalization is a process of permanent technological transformation. Hence where we get the assumed effort of OTP Bank România to understand and anticipate the needs of the customer and to give them exactly what they expect.

 According to Eurostat, Romania has the biggest governmental deficit in the EU
The hike of some taxes, in the near future, is unavoidable, according to economic analyst Aurelian Dochia.  His statement comes as, in the first quarter, the government's deficit has seen an increase over the last quarter of 2017, according to data by the European Statistics Office (Eurostat). 
The economic analyst told us the following, on Friday: "In order to overcome this situation, there are a few solutions. On one hand, we can try and attempt to control the budget expenses, but we can't work with any of these expenses, especially since 2019 is an electoral year, and the other solution is the raising of some taxes (that measure isn't popular in an electoral year, but I think that somewhere it will be done, regardless of whether it is towards the end of 2019, or in 2020, after the elections. It is hard to believe there is another solution".

BUCHAREST - NBR: Placing gold operations arbitrage or speculative involve counterparty risk and it increased with the crisis gloală said Friday Mugur Isăescu Governor National Bank of Romania (BNR), a conference of press. "The gold held by the central bank to the account opened at the Bank of England, which is a custodian solid financially and reputation is always our gold, so there is NETeller through various operations and is available to us at any time. Placing gold operations arbitrage or speculative involve counterparty risk and it increased with the crisis gloală. an eventual recovery by operations, as suggested in some discussion in the media, through television, would involve a form of alienation, even if stock would remain deposited with the Bank England ", said Isarescu.  "We have not considered that such a period is better to resort to such operations for gains that otherwise are small. Not worth, so to speak.   Not only that but I did not, at least not us has it occurred to play gold in păcănele as suggest a character. "

He referred to the Romanian gold held by the Russians. "I see that Hungary has repatriated gold abroad. Well Hungary has three tons of gold. They held abroad or kept them in Budapest was the same thing, why would not we increased our stock of gold, enough big as Poland? If we take into account that we have a gold stock stored elsewhere with the relevant documents, but still unrecognized, I think our stock of gold is high enough but we are ready to buy at competitive conditions to be hereinafter yellow metal. As a proportion of gold in total international reserves, are beyond the means ", said BNR governor.

   Mugur Isărescu, about NBR policies :
     - The decisions of the Board of Directors of the NBR have targeted the behavior of the monetary policy in the context of the significant and quick increase of inflation;
     - the lack of reaction of the NBR would have led to inflation expectations being tethered to a new higher level, because economic operators would have interpreted the lack of reaction from the NBR as a tacit acceptance of the new inflation level;
     - The risk of depreciation of the leu would have increased, which could generate new inflationary pressures, because the NBR can't fight the pressures of the monetary market regardless of the circumstances, especially if they are accompanied by a change in the perception by investors;
     - The hike of the annual inflation rate was generated first and foremost by exogenous, temporary and statistical factors;
     - The monthly price increases also reflect fundamental inflationary factors, such as the accumulation of inflationary pressures on the demand side, the increase of wage costs and increased inflationary expectations in the short term;
     - The measures passed by the NBR represent the only correct, justified and proportionate reaction to the inflationary threats and to the growing imbalances in the economy;
     - we share the point of view of a good combination between the monetary policy and the government's economic policy;
     - Inflation and the exchange rate represent symptoms of the quality of the mix of economic policies, and the chain of causes - budget deficit - current account deficit - weakening of the leu - inflation must be viewed as in correlation not just with the monetary policy, but with the government's fiscal-budgetary and tax receipts policy;
     - the full management of the aggregated demand by the NBR involves the more intense use of monetary policy instruments, which would generate a larger rise of the interest rate, because the use of macroprudential instruments, to reduce demand by compressing credit, is not enough;
     - a potential intervention on the exchange rate would not only prove unsustainable and would lead to the pointless loss of the currency reserves, but it would also affect the credibility of the central bank;
     - the situation in Romania is different from the one in Czech Republic, Poland or Hungary, as the inflation rate is within the targeted range (mostly due to some prudent budget policies), and the pressures are on the strengthening of the currencies, unlike Romania, where the pressures are towards its weakening;
     - the announcing of risks to the balances of the economy does not amount to expressing suspicions concerning the government's policy;
     - The NBR has opted to use the annual inflation rate because the ratio allows the ongoing observation of the inflation in relation to the target, and what the average citizen feels is more the CPI inflation, rather than the one calculated based on the Eurostat methodology;
     - the demand surplus is an unobservable size and it is justifiable its more cautious approach, because when its effects manifest themselves through inflation and foreign deficit it is too late for an effective action of the monetary authority;
     - Regardless of the level of surplus demand, its very existence requires a prudent economic management, which relies on anti-cyclical policies, and the pro-cyclical policies from the public authorities do nothing but deepen the imbalances;
     - In this context, the measures taken by the NBR had as their goal minimizing the risks of a eventual forced adjustment when the economic cycle enters a negative slope.

Un sondaj Europa FM despre cum percep românii Justiția și amestecul politicului în dosare. Sondajul comandat de postul de radio Europa FM arată că un referendum organizat de Klaus Iohannis pe tema independenței Justiției ar strânge o prezență considerabilă la vot. Președintele, preferat să numească procurorii șefi de parchete. „Ați participa sau nu la un referendum convocat de președintele României pe tema justiției?”, este una dintre cele mai importante întrebări cuprinse în sondajul realizat de IMAS, la comanda Europa FM. Aproape 37% au răspuns că ar participa cu siguranță, peste 15,5% au spus că probabil ar participa, iar cei care cu siguranță nu ar participa se numără într-un procent de 34,7%. În condițiile în care pragul pentru validarea referendumului este de 30%, un astfel de referendum ar trece ușor peste acest procent. O altă întrebare se referă la numirea șefilor de parchete - cine ar trebui să-i numească? Aproape 22% consideră că numirile ar trebui făcute de Consiliul Superiro al Magistraturii, 35,3% au răspuns că Președintele României, iar ministurl Justiției a strând doar 17,2%, conform EurActiv.

Guy Verhofstadt declared on Tuesday the European Parliament would fight to ensure that Northern Ireland remains subject to EU law after Brexit and heaped yet more pressure on Mrs May in a crunch week for the Prime Minister.

British MEPs accused the parliament’s Brexit coordinator of "intolerable interference" in UK affairs and of trying to topple Theresa May’s government.

Mr Verhofstadt, the parliament’s Brexit coordinator, told MEPs in the Constitutional Affairs Committee that it was the only way to prevent a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

“It’s for us key that there will be in future, whatever the outcome of negotiations will be, no divergence in norms, rules or standards...

European stocks make modest rebound after US shares end a wildly volatile session on the rise last night

Futures indicate that US stocks will slide back into the red when markets open in New York

FTSE 100 claws back 1pc while the DAX and CAC 40 nudge up 0.7pc and 0.5pc, respectively, in early trading

Asian markets rebound but run out of steam

Why global stocks are sinking and what happens next

Fed will not rescue markets this time, and nor is it necessary

Market slump: previous biggest one-day falls and how the market fared in the aftermath

The income-producing shares and funds to buy in a stock market crash

European markets made a tentative recovery following yesterday's global stocks sell-off but futures contracts indicate that US stocks are set to tumble back into the red once again.

After tumbling 2.6pc to a nine-month low in yesterday's global sell-off, the FTSE 100 has clawed...

A cancer jab that can eliminate tumours even when they have spread throughout the body is about to start human trials.  Scientists at Stanford University in the US found that injecting tiny amounts of two drugs directly into a tumour not only kills the original cancer, but also triggers an ‘amazing bodywide’ reaction which destroys distant cancer cells.

The drug combination works by switching on immune cells inside the tumours which have been deactivated by the cancer, then boosting them so they can go to work killing the disease.

And once the immune cells have been reactivated, they recognise other cancer cells elsewhere in the body and set about clearing them out.

Scientists said the therapy worked ‘startlingly well’ in mice. Nine out of 10 animals were cured of cancer after just one jab, and the rest after a second injection.

With Brexit entering a critical phase, the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron in Britain tomorrow should give Theresa May a golden opportunity to begin work on building the new set of alliances Britain will need for life beyond the EU. Immigration issues are certain to dominate the agenda, as Mr Macron seeks to resolve the disruption caused by the hundreds of illegal migrants who have once again gathered in the Pas-de-Calais.   The French president has caused a degree of consternation in some circles with his suggestion that Britain should do more to resolve the seemingly perennial Calais issue by agreeing to take more migrants, as well as contributing more to the costs of cross-border security enshrined in the Le Touquet accords.  Such demands might appear presumptuous to committed Brexiteers, who take umbrage at the prospect of any foreign power telling the British government how...

Often, when a product is marketed as being 'for women', you can safely assume it will be a rip-off, covered in pink. See the ‘Bic for Her’ ballpoint pen, or women's razors. In fact, I have made it my policy to avoid anything that shouts about being made specially for us ladies.

The once exception, though, just might be porn. PornHub, one of the world's genre’s biggest websites, has released a deep dive into the search terms entered by people all over the world, combined with their location and gender. It might sound a bit like Big Brother is watching you masturbate, but it's a fascinating insight. Interestingly, the year's top search term was 'porn for women'. Combine that with 359 per cent increase in female users and you are faced with an undeniable truth: women like porn. Women watch porn. But is this sweeping generalisation - ‘porn for women’ - really good enough? Is there really a consensus...

New archaeological excavations at the ancient port of Corinth have uncovered evidence of large-scale Roman engineering. Named Lechaion, the port was one of a pair that connected the city of ancient Corinth to Mediterranean trade networks. Lechaion is located on the Gulf of Corinth, while Kenchreai is positioned across the narrow Isthmus of Corinth on the Aegean Sea. These two strategic harbours made Corinth a classical period power, but the Romans destroyed the city in 146 BC when conquering Greece. Julius Caesar rebuilt the city and its harbours in 44 BC, ushering in several centuries of prosperity. Recent excavations by the Lechaion Harbour Project have revealed the impressive engineering of the Roman Empire. Caesar’s Corinthian colony developed into one of the most important ports in the eastern Mediterranean. Ships filled Lechaion with international goods and Corinth became so well known for luxury and vice that a Greek proverb stated, “not everyone can afford to go to Corinth.” However, while ancient coins depict a formidable harbour with a large lighthouse, visible remains of Lechaion are scarce. Visitors to the coastline today can see the foundations of two large structures forming the outer harbour, but otherwise the remains are buried under centuries of sediment. The excavations are beginning to reveal the secrets of this largely forgotten port.