Japan nuclear operator says not heard nationalisation plan

The so-called Fukushima 50, the group of approximately 300 technicians, soldiers and firemen who work in shifts of 50, have been exposed frequently to dangerously high radioactive levels as they effort to avert a nuclear tragedy.

The mother of one of the men has admitted that the group has discussed their state of affairs and has conventional that death is a strapping option.

“My son and his generation have discussed it at length and they have dedicated themselves to die if essential in the long-term.”

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, said the world needed international security standards on nuclear power by the end of the year as fears neighboring the point of radiation leaks in Japan continuous to grow.

Full Story

Gates calls for limited role aiding Libyan rebels

The U.S. should keep away from developing a closer association with Libyan antagonism forces, guard leaders said Thursday, telling an often hostile Congress that overseas nations have got to now take over air strike everyday jobs and any effort to train and give the rebels.

By means of the U.S. role in Libya at a rotating point, the next critical decision is how, if at all, the U.S. chooses to hold up the opposition forces, particularly in the face of the ongoing monetary plan crisis at home. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he is opposite to arming the rebels, a step his boss President Barack Obama has not lined out.

Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was time to turn the mass of the divergence more than to NATO.

Full Story

useful links: transport rankings

Harawira may not form a new party - if he does it won’t be supported

Hone Harawira says his electorate committee is going to decide on Sunday whether a new party is going to be formed to contest the 2011 election.

He has also revealed that calls for a new party are coming from disaffected Maori Party supporters who can’t accept what is going on within the Maori Party.

We don’t know whether he is referring to disaffected voters of Maori Party candidates, or Maori party supporters who voted the Maori Party as their party vote – or a mix of the two. Perhaps he is also referring to disaffected Maori Party supporters who voted Labour with the list vote?

Given that Harawira has stated that he will not stand candidates in the Maori seats one wonders who he expects these disaffected Maori in the Maori electorate should seek as their constituent representatives. Will Harawira’s electorate committee conclude that a party is not worth forming as no one from the party is likely to enter parliament - or will they box on and do it anyway?

Even if well over half the supporters of those who list-voted the Maori Party in the Maori seats changed their 2008 vote to Harawira’s party, that will not be enough to get any more than one MP in parliament – meaning if Harawira does not retain his seat the party won't be represented in parliament.

Gadhafi: Leaders of airstrikes should go, not me

Moammar Gadhafi struck a disobedient posture Thursday after two high-profile defections from his government, saying he's not the one who should go — it's the Western leaders who have destroy his military with air strikes who should leave right away.

Gadhafi's note was weaken by its delivery — a scroll cross ways the bottom of state TV as he stay out of sight. The White House said the strongman's internal circle was clearly breakdown with the loss of Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, who flew from Tunisia to England on Wednesday.

Ali Abdessalam Treki, a previous foreign minister and U.N. General Assembly president, proclaimed his departure on several resistance websites the next day, saying "It is our nation's right to live in freedom and democratic organization and take pleasure in a good life."

Full Story

useful links: transport rankings

Don’t blame MMP for Labour’s problems

The NZ Herald has said that Louisa Wall is the most suitable candidate to replace Darren Hughes on Labour’s list. Why? Not because of any of her qualities, but because she is the next on the party list who will also be on the list prior to the 2011 election. Wall is several places below Judith Tizard, the next on the list.

Had Pansy Wong been a list MP, Conway Powell would have been an MP upon her resignation as he is next on the National party list. Does that mean he is the most suitable candidate, or would former Act MP Stephen Franks and former United Future MP Marc Alexander, the next two on the list, be more suitable, given their parliamentary experience?

Legislation does not determine which MP comes into parliament based on their suitability, but on their position in the party list. If an MP is deemed unsuitable or unwanted – as Tizard obviously is – it is not because of the vagaries of MMP, as the Herald would have you believe, it is due to an ill thought out list selection.

Labour, and the Herald, may well say Louisa Wall intends to resume her political career if she is leapfrogged by the party into Parliament. But she will stay in Parliament as long as Tizard would if she does not get a low enough list place to get into Parliament after the election. Labour has not indicated that Wall will be high enough on the list for her to return in November.

I'm hoping to stand for parliament

I've always been a supporter of Peter Dunne. He is my MP and has done great things for the electorate in Ohariu. So when I read this I was interested:

Expressions of interest are sought from interested UnitedFuture members and supporters for selection as Parliamentary candidates for the General Election. Please contact secretary@unitedfuture.org.nz outlining whether you wish to be considered for both an electorate and a place on the party list, or for an electorate or list position only. Expressions of interest should be submitted by 15 April.

I think it would be good experience standing for Parliament. Having worked at Parliament, I know a bit about the place.I have no doubt that Peter Dunne will retain his seat after the election - probably with an increased majority - and so it is the party vote that will determine how many seats the party gets.

So I expressed my interest earlier this week. I encourage people to join UnitedFuture - its only $5.00

Five Dynamic Views of My Blog - Cool Stuff!

 I hope you can see this! 

Update: newer post - Finally figured it out - See the URL address at the top? Type in the word 'view' next to the slash sign and hit enter. You should be able to access all the different views as seen here: COOL LOOKS

Basically this is how the URL will look: http://low-carb-news.blogspot.com/view

Five different ways to view my blog.  One might need one of the newer computer features, like Chrome, to view them, but how neat!  Enjoy if you have that ability to view the Splendid Low-Carbing blog in different ways.  Thanks to my readers for coming back again and again to visit my blog.  I'm grateful.  I will have some giveaways of my books at some point to say thanks, so keep an eye open for that.

By the way, I really wish my blog looked a little less braggy, if you know what I mean. Ian, my sweet hubby, set it up for me (I'm not technologically clever like that).  In addition www.low-carb.us is also his doing.  That is a painting at the top of my blog.  Ian commissioned paintings of me (at a much younger age - ha!) from a well-known Canadian artist, Jonathon Bowser (he calls his art "goddess art", a name I personally don't care for at all - I just look at them as pretty paintings) without my knowledge.  He likes doing things like that.  :)  Anyhow if anyone thinks I'm full of myself - nothing could be further from the truth. I'm very down-to-earth, a bit impulsive by nature (bad-bad), friendly but quite a private person in real life who loves God and her small family of 3 and few friends so much.  I'm quite aware of my faults, so I don't think of myself as better than another person.  That is the truth. 

GI News—April 2011

• GL outperforms carb content in predicting BGLs and insulin levels
• The scoop on the FODMAP diet for IBS
• Kellogg's join the GI Symbol program
• Why traffic light labels miss the wood for the trees
• Do you need to eat every few hours to lose weight?
  

Food labels are in the news. The focus is giving shoppers clear and simple icons on the front of the pack to help make healthier choices easier. In the US, thanks to First Lady Michelle Obama’s urging, a voluntary ‘Nutrition Keys’ system covering calories, saturated fat, sodium and sugars is being introduced. Here in Australia, a government panel appointed to conduct an independent review of food labelling recommends switching to a traffic light system highlighting fat, salt and sugars. We believe that if governments are serious about dealing with obesity and type 2 diabetes, any changes must move beyond the current front-of-pack focus on sugars and include the glycemic impact of the product’s available carbohydrates (sugars and starch).

Good eating, good health and good reading.

Editor: Philippa Sandall
Web management and design: Alan Barclay, PhD

Food for Thought

Why count the foods you love
In business there’s a saying: ‘you can’t manage what you don’t measure.’ Dietitian Dr Penny Small has come up with a really simple way to help us apply this golden rule and measure and manage our total food intake and energy expenditure. ‘By keeping track of the food you eat even for a few days, you learn where the big energy-in amounts come from and you get a sense of what’s working well and what’s not,’ she says.



The following edited extract from The Food Lover’s Diet (Allen & Unwin) is reprinted with permission.

‘As a dietitian I have learnt that if we take a holistic approach to what we eat, we can manage food and our weight without depriving ourselves of the things we love. It’s about learning to love food and live life in a new way – a way that’s good for your body and good for your soul.’

Seven things I wish my mother had told me:

• For a healthy weight, kilojoules (calories) in and kilojoules out is what matters.
• Fat has double the kilojoules of protein or carbohydrate. Water has none. So foods high in fat tend to have more kilojoules and foods high in water tend to have less. This means that energy is the ultimate policeman of fat and sugar content.
• Food is to be enjoyed – all food – there’s no single food that one needs to feel guilty about eating. What matters is how much you eat and how often. There are many ways to achieve balance, and how you do it is your own choice.
• Life skills like time management and personal development have a part to play in all aspects of our lives including our health. Good planning and making good choices help you buy and eat food in a way that enables you to manage your weight.
• Less is more. Small mouthfuls of food eaten slowly taste the best and give the greatest pleasure.
• Food is one to way to cope with the ups and downs of life, but it’s not the best way. Seeking out good emotional management techniques that don’t include food is a better option.
• A bad habit is just a behavior or way of acting that has become routine or ingrained. Learning a new behavior is like learning any new skill. Every time you practise it, it becomes more familiar.

To achieve a happy weight – a balance between eating wisely and not going without, and between self acceptance and an eating pattern you can maintain, not just for a week, but for a lifetime, you need to discover new ways of supporting yourself. Here are a few tricks to help you on your healthy weight journey.

Trick 1: It’s about making small changes.
Trick 2: It’s how much you eat that matters. Portion size and moderation matter.
Trick 3: It’s how often you eat. You can eat the foods you like (including that square of chocolate) because it’s how much and how often you eat them that matters.
Trick 4: Swap this for that. Substituting better choices for the foods you eat most often, such as choosing lean meats and low-fat milks, and yoghurts will help you achieve your weight and shape goals. And making clever swaps with your everyday foods can leave a little room for the treats you love.



Dr Penny Small (BSc. MNutrDiet. GCertPop Health. PhD. APD) is Head of Corporate Nutrition Nestlé Oceania. The book was created by Penny and her team of dietitians with Nestlé donating 50% of royalties to Royal Far West, a charity providing a range of essential health care services to meet the needs of country children and their families in NSW, Australia.

News Briefs

GI Labs Service Mark



GI Labs in Toronto has introduced the ‘GI Labs Service Mark’ for use by GI Labs clients. The mark identifies products that have been in clinical nutrition trials at GI Labs, clearly demonstrating that such products have been independently tested. To find out more about the service mark and its applications contact:
Atarah Grysman
Manager, Sales and Marketing
Email: agrysman@gilabs.com

Nutrition Keys – US front-of-pack labelling
US food and beverage manufacturers and retailers at the urging of First Lady Michelle Obama have joined forces to develop and implement a voluntary ‘Nutrition Keys’ front-of-pack labelling system. The four basic icons were chosen as they represent key nutrients most of us need to limit in our diets –calories, saturated fat, sodium and sugars (but they haven’t separated added sugars from natural ones). The saturated fat and sodium icons include %DV.




It’s a step in a helpful direction. What’s a bit mystifying to us here at GI News is that with the very real concern about diabetes numbers in the US, the key numbers missing on this front-of-pack system are the key numbers people with diabetes actually need to know if they are going to make healthy food choices to manage their BGLs and reduce the risk of complications – total available carbohydrate (sugars and starch) plus the GI value for carb-rich foods like breads and breakfast cereals.

A new study published in Nutrition Reviews concludes that ‘The combined collective data from long-term epidemiologic studies and randomized trials using metabolic indicators of glucose metabolism as endpoints provide strong evidence that optimizing dietary carbohydrates (i.e. choosing the low GI ones) will reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, age-related macular degeneration, and, probably, cataract.’

So if anyone knows Michelle Obama, can you ask her to do a bit more urging …

Traffic light labelling
The panel conducting an independent review of food labelling has presented its Labelling Logic report to the Australian parliament. It has come up with 61 recommendations, four (numbers 51–54) relate to traffic light labels for food packaging and menus in chain food service outlets.



Here at GI News we understand why many consumers find the idea of ‘traffic lights’ on the front of packaged food so appealing. They stand out. They are easy to read. A real no-brainer. Buy Green not Red. Or be an Amber gambler …

However, there’s a very big question on whether they actually work better than the current %DI front-of-pack labelling scheme (already on some 2000 foods), which is essentially the same as the new US 'Nutrition Keys'. The first Australian study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health to measure how consumers respond to the traffic light labels found traffic lights make no difference to decisions on purchasing food. Research from the UK has also shown that they are no better understood than GDAs (like Australia’s %DI or the US %DV).

There’s no labelling silver bullet that’s going to solve obesity and other related health problems and save governments billions in health care costs. And it certainly is unlikely to be traffic light labelling because although it gives us some important information about fat, sugar and salt, it doesn’t give us some key stuff (that’s already on %DI labels) that can make a real difference.

• We all need to know about energy – calories/kilojoules
• People with diabetes or at risk of diabetes want to know total available carbs – sugars and starch.

We all want life and the daily choices we make in the supermarket to be simple. But, that’s not going to happen – certainly not in the supermarket. Life isn’t simple, nor is the best nutrition science. Things change. New discoveries are made and sometimes they tell us that yesterday’s villain may not be quite such a bad guy after all. The low fat story is a good example of this. We now know it’s not how much fat you eat, it’s the type of fat that counts. ‘It’s fair to say many people are scared of fat these days and try to avoid it,’ says dietitian Nicole Senior.

‘However, failure to eat the right kinds of fat is a primary reason why our national average cholesterol level has not improved in over 25 years. This is due in no small part to well-intentioned but misleading public health education aimed to reduce the risk of heart disease. Health authorities didn’t think regular folks would understand the difference between saturated fat and unsaturated fat, so they went for the simple message to ‘eat less fat’. As a consequence, food industry went into overdrive in the quest to drive down fat levels, and low fat claims became the most sought by shoppers in the supermarket. Rather than being a good thing for our growing waistlines, eating low fat foods didn’t make any difference and we just grew fatter. Some healthy fat is good, but we’ve thrown the baby out with the bath water. While dietary guidelines around the world have now changed their emphasis towards reducing saturated fat and not total fat, the damage has been done.

It should be said there is a place for low fat foods – in the dairy aisle. Because dairy foods are a major source of saturated fat, lower fat versions of these nutrient-rich foods are a change for the better and recommended for everyone, including children from 2 years of age. Lower fat dairy foods such as milk and yoghurt are also satisfying and low GI, making them a heart and waistline friendly food.

The traffic light system aims to make something very complex into something very simple, and we lose a lot in the translation.

• What about highly nutritious foods rich in good fats from nuts, avocado, seeds and olive oil. Will these attract a big fat red spot despite their obvious health benefits?
• What about puffed up, high GI, alternatively sweetened refined cereal products. Will these get the green light when they are a nutritionally poor choice?

Reducing the complexity of food down into three adverse nutrients is missing the wood for the trees, and without solid evidence that it will make any difference to public health or your health.’

Eat to beat constipation with low GI prunes
Grandma was right. A daily dose of prunes (dried plums) will do it. The findings of a randomised, crossover clinical trial published in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics found prunes more effective than psyllium in 40 volunteers with chronic constipation. Fifty grams of prunes, providing a daily fibre dose of 6g, outperformed an equal fibre dose from psyllium for constipation relief over three weeks according to the study’s findings.

‘The fibre in prunes helps but there’s something else as well,’ says dietitian Catherine Saxelby. ‘Prunes have long had a reputation as a gentle laxative and digestive aid. Nutritionists believe it’s due to a combination of the fibre plus two unusual prune components – high levels of sorbitol (a natural sweetener found also in pears and apples) and polyphenols such as chlorogenic and neochlorogenic acid. All three have an ability to stimulate intestinal movement.

A serve of 5 or 6 unpitted prunes (around 50 g or nearly 2 oz) makes a quick healthy nibble. They have virtually no fat and 22 g carbohydrate and a low GI of 40 so they’ll help you manage your blood glucose levels. You also get a healthy dose of beta-carotene, which is converted to vitamin A in the body, plus a number of minerals notably potassium and boron, plus a little iron. Prunes score high for antioxidants too – at least equal to that of well known antioxidant-rich blueberries.’

Get the Scoop with Emma Stirling

The Low FODMAP diet – the scoop on advances in treating irritable bowel syndrome


Emma Stirling APD

It wasn’t that long ago that sufferers of a regular ‘upset tummy’ or ‘grinding guts’ were told simply to learn to live with it or ‘stress, less’. Today however, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a recognised condition with some highly technical diagnostic and therapeutic approaches including the Low FODMAP diet.

It’s estimated that as many as one in seven adults have IBS with common symptoms including abdominal bloating, wind, abdominal pain and changes in bowel habits such as diarrhoea, constipation or a combination of both. Symptoms of IBS can be caused by physical problems like altered gastric motility or the muscle contractions that occur in your gut. However, there are now clearly identified dietary triggers in many, but not all people with IBS.

Food culprits Dietary triggers that may induce symptoms of IBS can include naturally occuring food chemicals (eg. salicylates, amines, glutamates), gluten, caffeine, excess fat and excess alcohol. Attention has recently been drawn to new scientific research showing that poorly absorbed, small, carbohydrate molecules (sugars) in foods can also be a major cause of symptoms. These are given the technical term of FODMAPs, which stands for Fermentable Oligo-saccharides, Di-saccharides, Mono-saccharides And Polyols. So you can see why an acronym was needed.



FODMAPS can trigger a number of unwanted symptoms in people with IBS. Firstly they can increase the amount of water in the bowel and lead to diarrhoea. They also can be poorly absorbed in the small intestine and then fermented by bacteria in the large bowel, which releases gas. These gases can build up in people with IBS and cause bloating, abdominal pain, wind and changes to bowel habits.

Testing times The good news is that with all this new dietary research, comes a whole new set of diagnostic tests including breath testing. Like a glucose tolerance test, you swallow a measured amount of sugars. But instead of blood samples, you breathe into a breathalyser like bag after an assigned time. The gases produced from malabsorption of FODMAPS are absorbed across the intestine, carried through the bloodstream to the lungs and can be measured in exhaled breath. You can read more about breath testing here.

Where to find FODMAPS:

• Excess fructose – fruits, honey, juices
• Lactose – milk and milk products
• Sugar polyols – such as sorbitol and mannitol
• Fructans – found in foods like wheat, rye, onions and garlic
• Galacto-oligosaccharides – found in foods like legumes

Wait just a minute though. Before you go skipping off to cut down on fruit or dairy, you need to see an expert. And if you are on the FODMAP diet it’s even more important to make sure the starchy foods you eat are low GI ones like grainy breads, muesli and low GI starchy veg like carrots, butternut pumpkin (winter squash), parsnips and Carisma potatoes.

Where to get help? It’s important to talk to your doctor if you experience gastrointestinal symptoms and not self-diagnose. There are many other gastrointestinal conditions and diseases including coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease and bowel cancer that need proper investigation.

It’s essential to see an Accredited Practising or Registered Dietitian in order to correctly follow the low FODMAP diet and still achieve nutrition balance for well-being, especially if you have other considerations like type 2 diabetes. In Australia, many dietitians work with a handy booklet developed by the expert team, at Monash University. The Low FODMAP Diet – reducing poorly absorbed sugars to control gastrointestinal symptoms is available to order using this form. And we’ve got a low FODMAP recipe from the book this month, suitable for all to enjoy, even if you swear you’re not irritable.

Emma Stirling is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and health writer with over ten years experience writing for major publications. She is editor of The Scoop on Nutrition – a blog by expert dietitians. Check it out for hot news bites.

In the GI News Kitchen

Frittata
This tasty frittata made just with eggs (no milk) is packed with vegetables to help you get those five serves a day if you are on a low FODMAP diet. Reproduced from The Low FODMAP Diet with permission. Serves 6.

1 carrot, peeled and cut into ½cm (1/4in) rounds
1 red capsicum, sliced into strips
1 small eggplant, sliced ½cm (1/4in) thick
1 zucchini cut into 1cm (½in) slices
6 cherry tomatoes cut in halves
½ cup grated parmesan
8 whole eggs, whisked
½ tsp polyunsaturated margarine
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
4 leaves basil, shredded

Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F. Steam or blanch the carrots. Pan-fry the capsicum, eggplant and zucchini in a small non–stick pan. Whisk eggs in a bowl, add all vegetables and parmesan and seasoning to taste.
Place ½ tsp of margarine in an oven-safe pan and heat over low heat. When margarine is melted, add egg mixture. Sprinkle with parsley and basil over low heat until bubbles form on the top. Place in pre-heated oven on middle shelf and cook until set (20 minutes). Allow to cool a little before turning out onto chopping board. Slice and serve.

Per serving
Energy: 630 kJ/ 150 cals; Protein 12 g; Fat 9.5 g (includes 3.5 g saturated fat and 260 mg cholesterol); Available carbs 3 g; Fibre 2 g

American dietitian and author of Good Carbs, Bad Carbs, Johanna Burani, shares favourite recipes with a low or moderate GI from her Italian kitchen. For more information, check out Johanna's website. The photographs are by Sergio Burani. His food, travel and wine photography website is photosbysergio.com.

Grandma’s stuffed artichokes
Artichokes, especially from Sicily, start appearing in green grocer markets all over Italy by early spring. Their hearty green leaves and full bodied shapes invite shoppers to bring them home for the day’s lunch or dinner menu. They can be fried, boiled, cut up into a pasta sauce or added to a fritatta. My Sicilian grandmother always lightly stuffed them. Artichoke stuffing could include cold cuts, fresh or aged cheese, anchovies and eggs. My grandmother’s recipe was very plain and simple – and scrumptious. Here it is. Servings: 4 (as side dish)

NOTE: There is little stuffing in this recipe because it is prepared as a side vegetable dish. If used as an entree, use multiples of the stuffing ingredients and oil.

1 lemon
2 jumbo artichokes (about 450g/1lb each)
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
4 tsp pecorino romano cheese
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 large sprigs fresh parsley, finely chopped (1 tbs)
2 large sprigs fresh mint, finely chopped (1 tbs)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil



Squeeze juice from the lemon into a large bowl of water. Set aside.
Prepare the artichokes as follows. Cut off the stalks very close to the base so that they can easily stand upright. Discard outer tough leaves near the base. Using a serrated knife, remove the top 1/3 of each artichoke and discard. Turn the artichokes upside down and apply some pressure to open up the leaves, especially at the center. Remove the entire choke from the center. (A serrated grapefruit teaspoon works wonders here.) Place artichokes in acidulated water and set aside.
Add the next five ingredients (breadcrumbs through mint) to a small bowl and mix thoroughly.
Using a small teaspoon (demitasse, if you have one), gently stuff the layers of leaves with the stuffing, making sure to divide it equally between the two artichokes.
Place the artichokes in a small pan (for these two jumbos, I used a bread loaf pan), drizzle the oil over the tops, loosely cover with aluminum, and simmer for 50–60 minutes. Cooking time will depend on the size. Serve hot or lukewarm.

Per serving
Energy:630 kJ/ 150 cals; Protein 4g; Fat 9g (includes 1g saturated fat and less than 1mg cholesterol); Available carbohydrate 10g; Fibre 5g

Cut back on the food bills and enjoy fresh-tasting, easily prepared, seasonal, satisfying and delicious low or moderate GI meals that don’t compromise on quality and flavour one little bit with Money Saving Meals author Diane Temple. For more recipes check out the Money Saving Meals website.

Beef and prune (dried plum) tagine
If you are going to the effort of cooking a casserole, make enough for two meals. Enjoy half and freeze the rest. Serve with couscous or rice. Second time around, freshen it up with more parsley and perhaps serve with something different. Overseas readers, remember, the Australian tablespoon = 4 teaspoons. Makes 8 servings

2 tbs olive oil
2 large-ish onions, chopped
900g (2lb) trimmed gravy beef, chopped into 3–4cm (1–1½in) cubes
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbs ground cumin
1 tbs ground coriander
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon chilli flakes, or more to taste
400g (14oz) can diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
450 g (1lb) sweet potato, peeled, chopped into 2 cm chunks
3/4 cup pitted prunes (dried plums), halved
150g (5oz) green beans, trimmed, sliced into 3
400g (14oz) can chick peas, drained and rinsed
80g (3oz) baby spinach leaves
3 tbs chopped parsley

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan and cook onion for about 4–5 minutes over a medium-low heat until softening. Add remaining oil and brown the beef on high, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, add the garlic and all the spices and stir for a few seconds to coat the meat.
Add tomatoes and stock, stir, then bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 1½ hours. Add sweet potato and prunes and simmer for another 30 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Add chick peas and beans, cover and cook for another 5 minutes. Add spinach and parsley and stir until spinach has just wilted..

Per serve
Energy: 1660kJ/ 395cals; Protein 29g; Fat 18g (includes 4g saturated fat and 38mg cholesterol); Available carbs 28 g; Fibre 8g

Busting Food Myths with Nicole Senior

Myth: You need to eat every few hours to lose weight


Nicole Senior

Fact: To lose weight you need to eat less over the day and constant snacking may impede your efforts
I’ve read many websites, books and diet programs that say you must eat every few hours or the body will go into ‘starvation mode’ which slows the metabolism and encourages weight regain. This is incorrect. I’m all for eating regular balanced meals, but insisting everyone snack every few hours is simply not necessary and may actually encourage overeating and weight gain.

When it comes to weight loss, the total amount of food you eat is what matters not how often you eat. I’m not recommending it, but you could eat one large meal a day and still lose weight if the energy contained in the meal was less than your needs. ‘Starvation mode’ is a non-scientific term but perhaps describes ketosis: the state of burning fat instead of carbohydrate (glucose). Rather than something to be avoided, this is the end goal of reducing body fat. Very Low Calorie Diets (VLCDs) invoke ketosis quickly and that’s why they work. These have been used by health professionals for very large patients when rapid weight loss is needed for health reasons. Every successful weight loss diet must have a little ‘starvation mode’ for it to work.

Your metabolism does not become permanently slowed by eating less food, or eating less often. Metabolic derangement is not why many people regain weight after dieting, but rather they slide back into old habits and fail to eat less to suit their smaller body weight. Your metabolic rate goes up and down relative to body size, lean muscle mass, energy (food) intake and exercise. It’s an unfortunate fact that once you’ve lost weight on a diet, you need to eat less than you did before; you need a new normal to maintain the loss. You can minimise this effect by exercising to maintain or increase your muscle mass because muscle is ‘hungrier’ than fat and demands more metabolic energy.

Individuals vary in their need to snack, and this can change over a lifetime. I remember as a young adult experiencing quite debilitating hunger (I called it ‘cotton wool head’) if I didn’t eat between meals, yet now I find I don’t need to. If I feel peckish between meals the reason is often boredom or because food is there, not because I’m actually hungry. Does this sound familiar?

The practical downside of the ‘you must snack’ advice is that it’s hard to find suitable snacks. Easily available snacks are usually nutrient-poor and oversized. In this day and age our demand for convenience means it is too easy to snack unwisely.

To lose weight you need to eat less and move more. If you perform better snacking between meals, make sure they are nutritious foods and fit within your daily kilojoule budget – you may need to reduce the size of your meals to achieve this. If you don’t need to snack between meals, don’t.

If you’d like more common sense nutrition advice, check out Nicole’s website HERE.

GI Symbol News with Dr Alan Barclay

Dr Alan Barclay

Kick start your day with a healthy low GI breakfast
Breakfast does just that. As the first meal of the day, it breaks the overnight fast, jump-starts your metabolism and generally gets you going. After an overnight fast your body’s energy stores are starting to run low, so a good breakfast replenishes your vital reserves of carbohydrate, fat and protein, along with vitamins and minerals, to energise your day.

There’s a large body of research that has proven that breakfast eaters perform better than those who regularly skip breakfast. For adults, this translates into improvements in the work environment. With children and teens, it’s been well established that breakfast eaters show improved cognitive skills in the classroom compared with skippers.

Skipping breakfast on the other hand, by both children and adults, is associated with a significant increase in the risk of becoming overweight, being obese and developing type 2 diabetes.

Other breakfast benefits include appetite regulation, better blood glucose, cholesterol and free fatty acid levels, insulin sensitivity. Eating breakfast is also associated with healthier overall dietary patterns – breakfast eaters tend to have reduced intakes of fat and cholesterol, and higher dietary fibre intakes compared with skippers.

Making that healthy breakfast low GI delivers additional benefits like decreased feelings of hunger and subsequently lower kilojoule (calorie) consumption at lunch time.

8 easy, healthy low GI breakfasts
In the following list I’ve included products that carry the GI Symbol so you know that they are healthy low GI choices. I appreciate that these aren’t going to be available to all our readers around the globe. Check the GI database or The Shopper’s Guide for your local low GI options.

• Natural muesli (e.g., Morning Sun) with reduced or low fat milk (e.g., Dairy Farmers Skim)
• Wholegrain, low GI breakfast cereals (e.g., Kellogg’s Sustain or Guardian) with reduced or low fat milk and fruit
• Fruit bread (e.g., Burgen Fruit and Muesli) with a teaspoon of quality (low saturated and trans fat) margarine and a little of your favourite spread (jam/marmalade)
• Other quality wholegrain and low GI breads (e.g. Tip Top 9 Grain) with a teaspoon of margarine and your favourite spread (jam/marmalade/vegemite/peanut butter/etc…)
• Quality wholegrain and low GI bread with baked beans
• Quality wholegrain and low GI bread with margarine and a poached or non-stick pan fried egg
• Fresh, canned or dried fruit
• Plain or diet yoghurt with fruit

Kellogg's join the GI Symbol Program
We are delighted that one of the world's leading breakfast cereal producers, has joined the GI Symbol Program. The first products GI tested according to the International Standard and meeting our Program’s stringent nutrient criteria are Kellogg’s Guardian (GI=34) and Sustain (GI=55).



The GI Foundation will be working with Kellogg’s to develop a more comprehensive range of healthy low GI breakfast cereals.



Help us get the GI Symbol on more foods
To help bring more healthy low GI foods to your local supermarket:

• Buy products that carry the Certified Low GI symbol. They are delicious and healthy, and their sales support us.
• Write a thank you email to the manufacturers’ of healthy low GI foods customer care departments to help ensure that they continue to bring healthy products to market.
• Call or email manufacturers encouraging them to join the GI Symbol Program.

For more information about the GI Symbol Program
Dr Alan W Barclay, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Glycemic Index Foundation (Ltd)
Phone: +61 (0)2 9785 1037
Mob: +61 (0)416 111 046
Fax: +61 (0)2 9785 1037
Email: alan@gisymbol.com
Website: www.gisymbol.com

GI Update

Professor Jennie Brand-Miller answers your questions

Does the carbohydrate content on a food’s nutrition label have any relationship to its blood glucose-raising capacity?
Yes, but only to some extent. We can make a few generalisations. If a food has less than 5 grams of carbohydrate per serving, then it won’t have a marked effect on your blood glucose levels. If it has 10 or more grams it’s likely to have a substantial effect, depending on the food’s GI value. So all the label can tell you is whether the food is high or low in carbohydrate. If the food is high in carbohydrate, then its GI is much more relevant. A food that’s both high in carbohydrate and has a high GI could be contributing to high blood glucose readings.

Studies tell us that diets based on frequent consumption of high GI value carbohydrates will put us at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer. It’s not the amount of carbohydrate that matters, it’s the source. High carbohydrate diets from high GI sources spell trouble, especially for people with insulin resistance, which is one of the underlying causes of type 2 diabetes. That’s why we believe that any changes to front-of-pack food labelling schemes must move beyond the current focus on added sugars and include the glycemic impact of the food’s carbohydrates if our government health departments are really concerned about reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.

In our most recent paper published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, we showed that the glycemic load of food may be more effective than the available carbohydrate content in calibrating how much insulin patients with type 1 diabetes should take before meals. In two studies, glycemic load repeatedly outperformed carb content in predicting the increase in blood glucose and insulin levels up to two hours after eating in 10 healthy young people who consumed 121 types of single foods (study 1) and 13 mixed meals (study 2).

GI testing by an accredited laboratory
North America
Dr Alexandra Jenkins
Glycemic Index Laboratories
20 Victoria Street, Suite 300
Toronto, Ontario M5C 298 Canada
Phone +1 416 861 0506
Email info@gilabs.com
Web www.gilabs.com

Australia
Fiona Atkinson



Research Manager, Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service (SUGiRS)
Human Nutrition Unit, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences
Sydney University
NSW 2006 Australia
Phone + 61 2 9351 6018
Fax: + 61 2 9351 6022
Email sugirs@mmb.usyd.edu.au
Web www.glycemicindex.com

See The New Glucose Revolution on YouTube

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This website and all information, data, documents, pages and images it contains is copyright under the Copyright Act 1968 (Commonwealth of Australia) (as amended) and the copyright laws of all member countries of the Berne Union and the Universal Copyright Convention.

Copyright in the website and in material prepared by GI News is owned by GI News, Human Nutrition Unit, University of Sydney. Copyright in quotations, images from published works and photo libraries, and materials contributed by third parties including our regular contributors Alan Barclay, Jennie Brand-Miller, Johanna Burani, Diane Temple, Emma Stirling and Nicole Senior is owned by the respective authors or agencies, as credited.

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Kazakhstan towards definitive abolition

March 28, 2011: Kazakhstan took another step towards the abolition of the death penalty. The Presidential Commission for Human Rights in Astana asked the government to abolish capital punishment, press agency Interfax reported.

Commission head Tastemir Abishev, in announcing the request for abolition, reminded that Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbaiev imposed an unlimited moratorium on the death penalty from 2003 onwards and that Astana is an active member of the International Commission for the Abolition of the Death Penalty.

Since 2007, after a constititional modification, the death penalty in Kazakistan is only allowed for those who commit terrorist attacks that cause death and for serious war crimes.

Source: TMNews, March 28, 2011

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Hamas court orders execution of 'collaborator'

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — A Gaza military court has condemned a man to death and sentenced another to forced labour for collaborating with Israel, the Hamas interior ministry said on Wednesday.

"The permanent tribunal on Tuesday sentenced the accused to death by hanging for treason and complicity with murder," the ministry said in a statement which identified the condemned man only as a resident of the central Gaza Strip.

The second man was sentenced to 15 years of forced labour, the statement said, adding that both judgements were subject to appeal.

In April, Gaza's Hamas rulers executed two alleged "collaborators" in the first executions to be carried out since the Islamist movement seized power in June 2007.

It was also the first time executions had been carried out in the coastal enclave for five years.

Palestinian law defines collaboration with Israel, murder and drug trafficking as capital crimes.

It says the president must approve all execution orders before they can be carried out, but Hamas no longer recognises the legitimacy of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose four-year term ended in 2009.

Israeli security forces routinely use Palestinian informers to thwart militant attacks and assist in the assassinations of top militants.

Source: AFP, March 31, 2011

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Texas caught illegally dispensing lethal injection drugs under the name of a hospital that closed 30 years ago

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has today been reported to the US Attorney General Eric Holder for illegally purchasing and dispensing lethal injection drugs under the name of a hospital that closed in 1983.

In a letter to Holder and to the Texas Department of Safety, lawyers for death row prisoner Cleve Foster describe how the state's prison agency has been purchasing controlled substances – including drugs used for lethal injections – under a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration certificate assigned to Huntsville Unit Hospital, which has not existed for 30 years. "[A]s a result, we believe that TDCJ is unlawfully in possession of and unlawfully dispensing controlled substances," the lawyers write.

Under US drug laws, DEA registration numbers must be renewed every three years. Yet Foster's legal team, Maurie Levin and Sandra Babcock, have discovered that the TDCJ “has failed to advise the DEA for the past twenty-eight years of the fact that the Huntsville Unit Hospital no longer exists," or to admit that what actually exists at that location is a prison unit with a warden "purchasing and dispensing controlled substances".

The lawyers further report that Texas’s drugs are not kept at a pharmacy or by a DEA-registered handler: "At no point is an appropriately licensed or authorized practitioner involved in the dispensing process, and at no point is a prescription written to transfer the controlled substances to a member of the execution team”.

Levin and Babcock have asked Attorney General Holder to direct the DEA to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation, noting "the potential for abuse is rampant." If violations are found, they request the immediate revocation of agency registration and seizure of the ill-obtained drugs. Any such action would disrupt Texas’s busy execution schedule; seven executions are slated for August, with Cleve Foster due to die on April 5.

Reprieve Director Clive Stafford Smith said:

“Every day, the US capital punishment system looks more ridiculous. If the Texas Department of Criminal Justice can’t even manage to obey the law, why on earth should they be granted the extraordinary power to kill prisoners?”

For more information please contact Katherine O’Shea at Reprieve’s Press Office katherine.oshea@reprieve.org.uk / 020 7427 1099 / 07931592674.

Reprieve, a legal action charity, uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantánamo Bay. Reprieve investigates, litigates and educates, working on the frontline, to provide legal support to prisoners unable to pay for it themselves. Reprieve promotes the rule of law around the world, securing each person’s right to a fair trial and saving lives. Clive Stafford Smith is the founder of Reprieve and has spent 27 years working on behalf of people facing the death penalty in the USA.

Reprieve has represented, and continues to represent, a large number of prisoners who have been rendered and abused around the world, and is conducting ongoing investigations into the rendition and the secret detention of ‘ghost prisoners’ in the so-called ‘war on terror.’

Source: Reprieve, March 31, 2011

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Death Penalty Opponents Assail Troy Davis Ruling

Troy Davis

Anti-death penalty activists criticized the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reject without comment death row inmate Troy Davis’ appeals seeking to delay his execution while he attempts to prove he was wrongfully convicted of killing a white police officer in 1991.

Without another appeal, commutation or pardon, Monday’s decision likely will allow the state of Georgia to set another execution date for Davis. There may be a slight delay in scheduling because of questions over the state’s supply of a key lethal injection drug.

Federal regulators seized the entire stockpile of sodium thiopental earlier this month after questions arose about the way the state obtained the drug.

“We are deeply shocked and disappointed because we think that [Davis] has made a compelling case of innocence and that there are too many questions to go forward with his execution,” Diann Rust-Tierney, executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

Davis was convicted in 1991 of killing Mark MacPhail, an off-duty Savannah, Georgia police officer, largely on the basis of eyewitness testimony, but 7 of the 9 witnesses who implicated Davis have since recanted, and other witnesses have come forward to say another man confessed to killing MacPhail. Further, there has been no physical evidence linking Davis, who had no prior criminal record, to the killing.

Restrictions on federal appeals prevented Davis from having a hearing in federal court on the reliability of the witness testimony used against him. The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles also rejected Davis’ application for clemency. An appellate court stayed Davis’ execution date so that his lawyers could file the appeals to the Supreme Court.

Davis was granted a stay of execution by the U.S. Supreme Court 2 hours before he was to be put to death in 2008, and the court in 2009 ordered the federal District Court to take another look at the case.

After holding a hearing to review evidence, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled earlier that Davis "failed to show actual innocence" in the case. The District Court suggested that, for procedural reasons, Davis should take his appeal of its ruling directly to the Supreme Court.

In January, Davis’ lawyers filed two pleas. One sought review of the Georgia federal judge's rejection of the innocence claim, and the other asked for a test of the 11th Circuit's refusal to review the case.

"Nobody walking out of that hearing could view this as an open-and-shut case," Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, told WSAV-TV after Monday’s Supreme Court ruling.

"The testimony that came to light demonstrates that doubt still exists, but the legal bar for proving innocence was set so high it was virtually insurmountable," said Cox. “It would be utterly unconscionable to proceed with this execution, plain and simple."

“I think the position of the state has been the burden of proof is on the defense since there’s been a determination in the process,” Rust-Tierney said. “But when all the legalese is pushed aside, the question is is there enough confidence in this conviction to go forward with an execution?”

Davis' sister told CNN Monday that she was "very disappointed" by the Supreme Court's rejection.

Martina Correia-Davis said Davis' attorney told her they would continue to pursue all possible legal options, including a possible repetition of the Georgia State Board of Parole.

MacPhail’s son, Mark MacPhail, Jr. told WSAV-TV in Savannah that the High Court’s ruling proved what the evidence has always shown and what his family has known all along: that "Troy Davis is guilty."

MacPhail, Jr., who was just a few months old when his father was slain, told the television station he had been getting somewhat frustrated and nervous and "wondering what was taking so long."

But Davis’ case has received broad support from entertainment, social and political figures, including former President Jimmy Carter and Pope Benedict XVI. There also have been calls for the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole to commute Davis’ sentence.

It is unclear what Davis’ lawyers' options are, but defense attorney Jason Ewart told The Associated Press the likeliest route is appealing to the pardons and parole board, a five-member board that rarely postpones executions.

"The Troy Davis case is emblematic of everything that is wrong with capital punishment," Laura Moye, director of AIUSA's Death Penalty Abolition Campaign, told WSAV. "In a system rife with error, mistakes can be made.

“There are no do-overs when it comes to death," said Moye. “Lawmakers across the country should scrutinize this case carefully, not only because of its unprecedented nature, but because it clearly indicates the need to abolish the death penalty in the United States."

Source: BlackAmericaWeb.com, March 30, 2011

Why the war to save Troy Davis isn't over

On March 28, 2011 I woke up elated about my 10 year anniversary as a cancer survivor. I looked outside and it was cold and gloomy, the sun was nowhere to be found. It's about 9:30 a.m. and the phone rings, it's my brother Troy Davis' lawyer and from the tone in his voice I knew, it was not good news.

My heart sank to a heavy place as I listened to his monotone voice saying, "We just received news that the United States Supreme Court has denied Troy's appeal." Knowing that the appeals for Troy have always been an uphill battle and the lawyers have always stated that from a legal standpoint. Yet today I also heard optimism in the statement, "We will seek and exhaust all legal means available to us." I know from a legal standpoint denial by the Supreme Court is nothing a lawyer finds optimism in, yet I felt the readiness for yet another battle.

My first concern was my mother and my brother Troy. I cannot imagine facing three execution dates and the possibility of a fourth. I knew Troy would be more concerned about our family than himself, but I also knew that as much faith and spirituality as my mother has, she is still a mother and we are fighting for my brother's very existence. In this fight Troy is no longer voiceless and my family is no longer invisible, yet the court still refuses to hear what we have to say. Innocence does matter and beyond a reasonable doubt should be of utmost.

One thing for certain is that the global concern about this case is growing and yet the highest court in the United States is not willing to address the issue of innocence and new evidence. We live in country that is supposed to promote democracy and human rights for other countries yet it is not unconstitutional for us to execute innocent people in the U.S. if the courts feel they received a fair trial.

I am both enraged and empowered, for this battle to save Troy is a war of life and death for me! Until there is no breath left in my body I will fight for Troy, fight against the injustice of the death penalty, because this battle is bigger than Troy it is a war against a system is not impartial, a system that cares less for fairness and more for finality. In no way have we ever diminished the loss and hurt of the McPhail family, yet both families have been victimized. Being a mother and having Stage 4 cancer I understand the importance of life and I am willing to give my life to spare my brother's. No matter the final outcome of this case, my war against the death penalty is far from over and I will no longer be a victimize by this system in the United States, that justice depends on your ability to pay for it.

The hearing held in June 2010 in Savannah was like a puppet show, it was entertaining to some, upsetting to others, yet once the judge opened his mouth and looked at my brother with disgust I knew that no matter what Troy's lawyers had to present the judge had already made his decision to deny Troy, so he was just going through the motions like a puppeteer. I saluted the witnesses, even though they were criminalized by the state prosecutor for recanting their trial testimony. When they testified against Troy all those years ago, the police treated them like heroes, even though they had the same criminal history in 1989. It also seemed amazing that all the police who testified had amnesia about their role of misconduct with the witnesses, yet the judge chose to believe them over recanted testimony of the very witnesses they used to secure a conviction and death sentence for my brother.

The Georgia Parole Board said they will not execute when there is doubt. The case of Troy Anthony Davis is full of doubt.

As Troy said to me, "It's not over 'til God says it's over, this fight for justice did not begin with me and will not end with me."

The battle for Justice and the War to save Troy wages on! My name is Martina Correia and I am on Death Row because that is where my brother lives, our lives intertwined. If Troy is executed he will become even more powerful, because people all around the world are saying, "I AM TROY DAVIS," and his story will be heard.

Source: Opinion, Martina Correia, The Grio, April 3, 2011
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URGENT APPEAL for Sherko Moarefi due to be executed in Iran on May 1, 2011

A Kurdish man, Sherko Moarefi, is scheduled to be executed on 1 May, in the western Iranian province of Kordestan. He was convicted of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) for his purported membership of a proscribed Kurdish opposition group.

Sherko Moarefi was detained in October 2008, after which he was sentenced to death for “acting against national security” and “enmity against God”. In October 2009, he and two other Kurdish political prisoners, Ehsan Fattahian and Habibollah Latifi, were at imminent risk of execution after a judge in the capital of Kordestan, Sanandaj, ordered that they be executed. This was possibly a reprisal in response to a spate of attacks on Iranian officials in September 2009, for which the authorities blamed the Party For Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), a Kurdish armed group, although the group denied responsibility. Ehsan Fattahian, was executed on 11 November 2009.

Sherko Moarefi’s death sentence was upheld first by an Appeal Court and then by the Supreme Court. His court-appointed lawyer stated in an interview on 18 October 2009 that his request to the Amnesty and Clemency Commission had been rejected and that he had applied for a judicial review. This, too, was denied.

Habibollah Latifi, an industrial engineering student at Ilam University in western Iran was later scheduled to be executed on 26 December 2010, but this was not carried out due to international pressure, from Amnesty International and others. He remains at risk, although no new date is known to have been set for his execution (see UA 271/09, 8 October 2009 and follow up). At least 14 other Kurdish political prisoners are known to be on death row.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Kurds, who are one of Iran’s many minority groups, live mainly in the west and north-west of the country, in the province of Kordestan and neighboring provinces bordering Kurdish areas of Turkey and Iraq. They experience discrimination in the enjoyment of their religious, economic and cultural rights (see: Iran: Human rights abuses against the Kurdish minority, (Index: MDE 13/088/2008), 30 July 2008 at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/088/2008/en ). For many years, Kurdish organizations such as the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and the Marxist group Komala conducted armed struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran. An alleged member of the KDPI, Farhad Taram, was reported by Kurdish sources to have been executed in secret in February 2011. A further group, the Party For Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), was formed in 2004, and carried out armed attacks against Iranian security forces, but declared a unilateral ceasefire in 2009, although it still engages in armed clashes with security forces in what it terms “self-defense”. Hossein Khezri, a member of Iran’s Kurdish minority, is feared to have been executed on 15 January 2011 in north-western Iran after being convicted of “enmity against God” on account of his membership of the Party for Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK). The authorities have announced that a PJAK member was executed on 15 January 2011 but without naming the individual. On 16 January 2011, PJAK issued a statement pledging an “appropriate response” to what they clearly believe to have been Hossein Khezri’s execution and calling for a week of “resistance” to Iran.

Amnesty International condemns without reservation attacks on civilians, which includes judges, clerics, and locally or nationally-elected officials, as attacking civilians violates fundamental principles of international humanitarian law. These principles prohibit absolutely attacks on civilians as well as indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks. Such attacks cannot be justified under any circumstances.

The scope of capital crimes in Iran is broad. The death penalty is one of four possible punishments for those convicted of moharebeh, a charge often brought against those accused of armed opposition to the state. Other capital crimes include other national security offenses such as espionage. At least 13 other Kurdish men and one Kurdish woman are believed to be on death row in connection with their alleged membership of and activities for proscribed Kurdish organizations. They include Sami Hosseini, Jamal Mohammadi, Rashid Akhkandi, Rostam Arkia, Anvar Rostami, Mostafa Salimi, Mohammad Amin Abdollahi, Ghader (or Aziz) Mohammadzadeh, Hassan Talai, Habibollah Golparipour, Abdollah Sorouri, Loghman (or Loqman) Moradi, Zaniar Moradi (who was only 17 when arrested) and Zeynab Jalalian. Some have had initial prison sentences increased to death sentences.

December 2010 and January 2011 saw an alarming rise in executions, mainly of individuals convicted of offenses related to trafficking and possession of illegal drugs. Officially announced executions declined in February and March possibly in advance of a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council calling for a Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran to be created. Human rights activists in Iran have expressed concern that the rate of executions may resume after the Nowrouz (New Year) holiday which ends in early April. Reports suggest that dozens of prisoners from Qezel Hesar Prison, including many on death row, have been transferred to Evin Prison. A prison riot broke out in Qezel Hesar Prison in mid-March in which at least 14 people were killed, according to official media sources. The cause of the riot was said to include protests at attempts by the authorities to remove some death row prisoners for execution (for further information see Deaths in Iranian prison must be investigated, 17 March 2011,http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/deaths-iranian-prison-must-be-investigated-2011-03-17)

In 2010 the Iranian authorities acknowledged the execution of 252 people, including five women and one juvenile offender. Amnesty International received credible reports of more than 300 other executions which were not officially acknowledged, mostly of alleged drugs offenders in Vakilabad Prison, Mashhad.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:

- Urging the Iranian authorities to halt the execution of Sherko Moarefi, scheduled for 1 May;

- Calling on them to commute the death sentences of Sherko Moarefi, Habibollah Latifi and all other Kurdish political prisoners;

- Stating that Amnesty International recognizes the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice, in conformity with international standards of fair trial, those suspected of criminal offenses, but opposes the death penalty as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

APPEALS TO:

Leader of the Islamic Republic

Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei

The Office of the Supreme Leader

Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street

Tehran

IRAN

Email: info_leader@leader.ir

via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)

Twitter: @khamenei_ir (please add #Iran in the body of the message which cannot exceed 140 characters,

including spaces and punctuation)

Salutation: Your Excellency

Head of the Judiciary

Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani

[care of] Public relations Office

Number 4, 2 Azizi Street

Vali Asr Ave., above Pasteur Street intersection

Tehran

IRAN

Email: bia.judi@yahoo.com (In subject line: FAO Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani)

Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:

Secretary General, High Council for Human Rights

Mohammad Javad Larijani

High Council for Human Rights

[Care of] Office of the Head of the Judiciary, Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave. south of Serah-e Jomhouri,

Tehran 1316814737

IRAN

Email: info@humanrights-iran.ir (subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)

Salutation: Dear Sir

Iran does not presently have an embassy in the United States. Instead, please send copies to:

Iranian Interests Section

2209 Wisconsin Ave NW

Washington DC 20007

Phone: 202 965 4990

Fax: 1 202 965 1073

Email: requests@daftar.org

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.

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US economy outpaces rivals even as job growth lags

The United States is out of step with the take it easy of the world's richest developed nations: Its wealth is growing faster than theirs other than create far fewer jobs.

The motivation is U.S. workers have become so fruitful that it's harder for anyone with no a job to get one.

Companies are manufacturing and profiting more than when the depression began, notwithstanding fewer workers. They're hiring again, save for not fast enough to substitute most of the 7.5 million jobs lost since the collapse began.

Exact in growth, the American economy has outperformed those of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan — every Group of 7 developed nation not including Canada, according to The Associated Press' new Global Economy Tracker, a quarterly analysis of 22 countries in lieu of more than 80 percent of worldwide output.

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Gadhafi's forces adapt to airstrikes, pound rebels

Libya – Moammar Gadhafi's land forces recaptured a planned oil town Wednesday and moved within arresting distance of one more main eastern city, nearly reverse the gains rebels made because international airstrikes began. Rebels plead for more help, while a U.S. official said government forces are making themselves harder to goal by using civilian "battle wagons" with makeshift weapons instead of tanks.

Western powers kept up the heaviness to energy Gadhafi out with new airstrikes in other parts of Libya, hints that they may arm the disagreement and intense consultation following the scenes to find a country to give sanctuary to Libya's leader of more than 40 years.

Too on Wednesday, an American official and former U.S. astuteness officer told The Associated Press that CIA functioning were sent to Libya this month following the agency's position in the assets was forced to close.

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More Ship Passenger lists

Some 227,000 names of Ship Passengers have been added to the Irish Family History Foundation's website www.RootsIreland.ie.

These records, via the Centre for Migration Studies in Omagh, Co Tyrone, are of passengers, mostly of Irish origin, on ships travelling from Irish and British ports to ports in North America (United States and Canada) from 1791 to 1897.

CIA sends teams to Libya; US mulls aid for rebels

The CIA has sent small teams of effectives into Libya and helped save a crew member of a U.S. warrior jet that not working and the White House said Wednesday it was charging "all types of support" for rebels battling Moammar Gadhafi's troops.

Combat zone setbacks are hardening the U.S. view that the poorly prepared opposition in all probability is incapable of established without critical Western intervention, a senior U.S. astuteness official told The Associated Press.

Lawmakers, in private briefings with top Obama supervision officials, asked tough questions about the cost of the military operation and uttered apprehension about the makeup of the rebels.

Members of upper house quoted officials as saying the U.S. military role would be limited and heard President Barack Obama's director of national intelligence compares the rebel forces to a "pick-up basketball team."

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