Friday, July 04, 2003

Farooq Prefers Mandela as Facilitator for J&K Talks 05 Jul 03 NEW DELHI. In a sharp break from a long-held Indian position, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has suggested that South African leader Nelson Mandela could act as a facilitator between India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir question, which, he said, was the 'core' issue... Former Prime Minister I. K. Gujral and Congress MP Natwar Singh, who also participated in the programme, however, completely disagreed with Abdullah. They said that there was no question of any third party mediation, a stand consistently taken by India. [The Times of India] 5:40:55 PM  Google It!

Sugar Giants Shove Their Sweetener by Chris Tenove Jul/Aug 2003 Issue What does anybody know about the sugar industry? The people who put the frosting on the frosted flakes keep a low profile and are happy when folks are too busy eating to ask a lot of questions. Now, though, a dust-up with the World Health Organization (WHO) has flushed them into the limelight, where they're pitting profits against public health. The conflict was inflamed by a new set of dietary guidelines drawn from two years of research by the WHO and the UN Food and Agricultural Organization. The guidelines are part of a worldwide strategy to tame the swelling epidemic of obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases. One recommendation is that free sugars (i.e. sugar added to foods) should make up no more than 10 percent of our daily caloric intake. The sugar lobby reacted to that suggestion like a toddler asked to hand back his Halloween booty... 'It was particularly stupid for them to put in writing that they're going to try to get Congress to take away WHO's money,' says Michael Jacobsen, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. 'It gave consumers a chance to see the kind of bullying that is usually done behind closed doors.' [Adbusters] 1:51:26 PM  Google It!