The Swiss daily explains the fury of farmers in the Surrey region, where the disease broke out. "There hasn't been a clear statement as to which of the companies is responsible. Merial [one of the two research institutes] has resumed the production of vaccines it had temporarily suspended. The country will certainly need vaccines, but it will be difficult to convince farmers of the necessity of vaccination when the virus is said to come from the very same laboratory that is supposed to be combating the disease. The virus is hitting British farmers all the harder because most of this year's harvest has been destroyed by the floods in Yorkshire and later in Western England. In Surrey, too, farmers have experienced their wettest summer for many years." (08/08/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Zdrowie, » Rynek konsumencki, » Rolnictwo, » Wielka Brytania

The daily underlines the importance of the economic stakes in this sanitary crisis. "The two cases of foot-and-mouth disease confirmed in the United Kingdom have obliged the British authorities to act fast and with determination, to identify the origins of the virus and avoid propagation. They thus hope to avoid repeating the mistakes that exacerbated the epidemic [of foot-and-mouth] in 2001. The scope of this crisis led to the sacrifice of 6 to10 million animals and caused 12 billion euro losses ... .The globalisation of markets obliges the reinforcement of regulations, inspections and preventative measures, facing the risks represented by illnesses with effects can cross boundaries, thus implying a coordinated battle of national and international authorities. ... Prudence must be maximal, because this time the epidemic has been detected within European limits and not beyond [the disease is widespread in Turkey]." (08/08/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, hiszpański)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Zdrowie / Medycyna, » Rolnictwo, » Wielka Brytania, » Europa

Microbiologist Alexander S. Kekulé picks up the trail of the foot-and-mouth disease virus O1/BFS/67. He points out that this particular strain of the virus hasn't occurred in a natural outbreak of the disease since 1967 and therefore must come from one of the research institutes located just a few kilometres from the place where the disease broke out. However, the research institutes in question are refuting the accusations: "This is only making matters worse. A virus that is clearly a laboratory virus, as unmistakable as a white mouse, turns up right next to what is supposed to be a high security laboratory complex - and the renowned operators are unable to find the weak spot in the security system. The regulations for protection against biological hazards are obviously far from being strict enough." (08/08/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Zdrowie, » Rynek konsumencki, » Rolnictwo, » Wielka Brytania
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Alexander S. Kekulé

Columnist Alice Miles considers the consequences of the latest outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease for farmers. "Fewer than 10 per cent of farmers have foot-and-mouth insurance, and even then it doesn't cover the cost of slaughtered cattle – the Government does that – but subsidiary costs such as wages, rent and bank charges. ... Farmers' leaders reacted furiously to suggestions that farmers should cover themselves. And still the animals are unvaccinated, because farmers believe it would make the meat less profitable, and so the taxpayer picks up the risk again. Arguably, this is right: we pay a proper price for our meat in the end. ... This outbreak of foot-and-mouth appears to be no fault of the farming industry and I am sorry for the devastated farmers. Their case for compensation is clear. It is obvious, as they lurch from one crisis to the next, that many farmers around the country are at breaking point." (08/08/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Zdrowie, » Wielka Brytania
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Alice Miles

On 1 January 2008, Poland and other states of Central Europe will join the Schengen zone, making border controls between these countries and Western Europe unnecessary. As a Ukrainian citizen, poet Mykola Rjabtschuk contemplates the move with a mixture of fear and hope. "For the first time in many years - or perhaps even decades - I was startled to find the Ukrainian-Slovak-Hungarian border crossing post at Cop completely empty... I became angry. Yet again they're trying to keep us out and barricade themselves off from Ukraine - that amorphous and politically schizophrenic entity in the East. Now we would really find out how distant those foreign countries are that once seemed so near... But it turned out that I was mistaken. I needed to make an urgent call to Kiev. I asked the cashier why all the telephones had disappeared from the walls. It's was being renovated. That's why everything had been taken away, she explained. My fears were calmed for the time being." (04/08/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, polski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Rozszerzenie UE, » Węgry, » Słowacja, » Ukraina
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Mykola Rjabtschuk

In an article published on the Project Syndicate website, the British sociologist Steve Fuller considers that despite having become a reference tool used across the planet, Wikipedia could still be improved. "Participation in Wikipedia might be made compulsory for advanced undergraduates and Master's degree candidates worldwide. The expected norms of conduct of these students correspond exactly to Wikipedia's content policy: one is not expected to do original research, but to know where the research material is and how to argue about it. Compulsory student participation would not only improve Wikipedia's already impressive collective knowledge base, but also might help curb the elitist pretensions of researchers in the global knowledge system." (08/08/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Media internetowe, » Belgia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Steve Fuller

Maltese artist and columnist Kenneth Zammit Tabona responds to an "alarming increase" of homophobic letters addressed to the paper he works for. "I was blissfully ignorant of the fact that there actually are people who are ready to put pen to paper spouting all sorts of quotations from the Bible. ... [These extracts] were written several thousand years ago with the sole aim of keeping an evolving nomadic people united and strong by the simple expedient of increasing and multiplying it at all costs. ... Oddly enough these correspondents were mostly women. ... Women's rights are still relatively new in the most enlightened parts of the world. ... These rights are non-existent in many others; far too many in fact. It is interesting to note that, while these backward bigoted communities still stone adulteresses and allow husbands to beat their wives and fathers to strangle disobedient daughters as a matter of course, homosexuals are hanged. We cannot accept this state of affairs in what we would like to call a 'civilised' world, can we? Of course not!" (07/08/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Mniejszości, » Malta
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Kenneth Zammit Tabona

Austrian Minister of Social Security Erwin Buchinger plans to follow in the footsteps of the Scandinavian countries and introduce a "Dads' Month" in an attempt to encourage fathers to participate more in childcare. Bernd Marin says this is a good idea but doesn't go far enough. He points to neighbouring Germany's new Elterngeld (parent's money) policy. "In Germany the transition from the pitiful Erziehungsgeld (child-raising allowance) to the income-related Elterngeld doubled the number of fathers staying at home in the first quarter of 2007, and for the first time in a decade the birth rate rose... Elterngeld would indeed cost a lot more than the child-raising allowance. And we'll also need a lot more money for nursery schools and afternoon childcare. But all this will cost a lot less than paying the Ersatzzeiten [periods during which no payments are made to state pension schemes but which nonetheless count towards pension entitlement]. Why can't the grand coalition for once stop its petty bickering and 'splash out instead of just dripping', as the Germans are doing?" (08/08/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Polityka finansowa, » Podatki, » Austria
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Bernd Marin

A missile bearing Russian lettering has hit Georgia. According to the Georgian government, this was a deliberate strike by Russia, but the Russian military is denying the accusations. The Estonian newspaper expresses concern that relations between the two countries, already tense owing to last year's spying affair, will deteriorate further. "It is the duty of Estonia and the rest of the Western states to make sure Georgia continues on the path to democracy and doesn't use this incident as an excuse to slow down the pace of reform. However, we also need to seriously look into whether Moscow hasn't indeed turned its weapons on Georgia because of the ongoing election campaign and because better relations with Georgia are not in the Kremlin's interest. After all, tense relations serve as an excellent distraction from Russia's internal problems." (08/08/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, estoński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Rosja, » Azja

"645,000 citizens and not one elected!", laments Mario Sessa, the weekly's assistant chief editor. He denounces the lack of political representatives that the Swiss living abroad suffer from. "The political weight of the Swiss diaspora has become an arithmetic reality that should be given the possibility to be expressed directly [There are around 7,5 million Swiss inhabitants] As we know, an expatriate can be represented in an election, but according to the federal rules, only by enrolling on a list in a specific canton. This procedure will never afford the slightest chance of being elected..." Mario Sessa suggests that the Organisation of the Swiss abroad "could form their own electoral circle and benefit from a certain number of reserved seats, in the Council of State governments as much as on a national level. Italy and France have already proposed such a system for their expatriates." (02/08/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Demografia, » Szwajcaria
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Mario Sessa

A polemic is raging through Italy, around the case of his Lordhip Pierino Gelmini, founder of a centre to help drug addicts. Accused of paedophilia, he is denouncing 'a radical Jewish conspiracy' against the Catholic Church. "His Lordship Gelmini has added one more page to the official  history of Italy and the world, one more case to a long list of conspiracies used to cover up truths", explains Lucia Annunziata. She indicates that "the political intelligentsia is very fond of conspiracy theories that run parallel to the official history. If, on the left, people are denouncing the secret services and a Mafia-Christian Democrat pact, the right is always going on about the Greens and Communist influence. ... Conspiracy theory is the tool that allows nothing to be explained and societies to remain opaque." (06/08/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, włoski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Włochy
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Lucia Annunziata

In its battle for a salary increase of up to 30 percent, the German train drivers' trade union GDL has announced strikes for the coming week. Stephan Hebel comments: "For a long time reports of train driver strikes in England, Italy or France sounded strange to German ears. Anyone piloting a train in Germany was a civil servant and as such part of a deal: strikes were taboo but your job was more secure than almost anywhere else... In the long term the train strike will be nothing more than an episode in a very fundamental battle being fought to ensure that globalised capitalism comes in a socially compatible form. If the Mehdorns [a reference to Deutsche Bahn boss Hartmut Mehdorn] of this world think they can have their profits, their stock market performance and their employees for dumping prices, sooner or later their business will explode in their faces." (07/08/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Infrastruktura / Komunikacja, » Przedsiębiorczość, » Niemcy
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Stephan Hebel

On Tuesday, August 7th, the daily disclosed the fact Dublin's first metro line will cost at least €5 billion, causing public outrage. The situation is analysed in an editorial. "The 17km route, much of it underground, would be the biggest single investment in public infrastructure in the history of the State. Yet the staggering price tag for Metro North has only surfaced because one of the figures in documents released to this newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act was not blacked out sufficiently to obscure it. ... it has never been adequately explained why a metro is needed at all rather than, say, an extensive light rail network - such as in Bordeaux, where the city has been transformed by a tramway system that will end up costing only €1 billion. ... the public is entitled to know, at least in ballpark terms, what major pieces of infrastructure are likely to cost. It is wrong for the Government to keep taxpayers in the dark." (08/08/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka finansowa, » Infrastruktura / Komunikacja, » Podatki, » Irlandia

At this year's Venice Biennial for the first time there's a pavilion dedicated to the art of a minority - the Roma, who live in several European countries. Among those whose work is on display is British artist Daniel Baker, who in an interview with Agnes Bihari talks about his identity and his art. "I am a Roma, there's no doubt about that, but at the same time I'm an Englishman. But that's the way it is for everyone, isn't it? Our identity is composed of several elements, one of which pushes itself to the fore... I paint on mirrors, not canvases. The mirrors point to an imaginary place which society has allocated to the Roma. We're never seen as we really are. We're perceived either as a social problem or as romantic, slightly mysterious figures holding violins or some other such prop." (08/08/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, węgierski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Sztuki piękne, » Migracja, » Mniejszości, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Daniel Baker

Melina Haritatou considers that Greek viticulture will reflect "the real effects of climate change. After the heat wave that swept across the country for two months, the north of the country has been flooded and temperatures are predicted to rise again next week. The disadvantages in everyday life are of course notable, but what we consume is much more affected. Thus the grape season has begun a month early. The same phenomenon is occurring in neighbouring countries, such as Italy, where wine tasters are licking their lips at the idea of being able to taste chardonnays, pinots gris, merlots and other wines earlier than usual. ... But in Italy [like in Greece], making up for losses may well be problematic, for the Italian production will be 45 million hectolitres this year, 5 fewer than last year." (08/08/2007)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, To Ethnos)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Środowisko, » Rolnictwo, » Włochy, » Grecja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Melina Haritatou