GI News—August 2011

• Prof Jennie Brand-Miller on protein power from low GI plant foods
• Nicole Senior on why meat should be a tasty side-show on our plates and not the main event
• Julian Cribb's new book on how to feed a growing planet
  
• 3 delicious low GI ‘plant-based’ recipes from the GI News Kitchen
• Too much potato, sugary drinks and meat linked to greatest weight gain
• New GI values for breakfast cereals and Naked Pizza
  

‘We must think sustainably for our bodies, our wellbeing and our environment’ writes Red Lantern chef Mark Jensen in the introduction to his book The Urban Cook: Cooking and eating for a sustainable future. We agree. And we believe that a low GI diet with its emphasis on ‘slow’ carbs to fuel your body and power your life will help you do just that. We also know from very large epidemiological surveys that low GI diets are flexible, liveable, and family friendly. They also help you optimise your insulin sensitivity and decrease your insulin levels over the whole day. With their emphasis on minimally processed plant foods and moderate amounts of protein foods, they are also better for the environment. Sustainable nutrition all-round we say.

Good eating, good health and good reading.

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

Food for Thought

Nicole Senior on why meat should be a tasty side show on your plate and not the main event


Nicole Senior

Some believe that eating meat was the reason modern man evolved to have such a large brain and occupy the top of Earth’s food chain. While we can survive without it, meat is a highly nutritious food that provides essential nutrients more difficult to obtain from plant foods.

While it’s true that livestock do contribute to environmental problems, the environmental argument against meat has been infused with emotion and ideology as to whether human beings should eat meat at all. The picture has also been muddied by the rampantly excessive consumption of meat in rich countries and the environmentally damaging effects of factory farming and here in Australia the scandal in recent weeks over the cruel slaughter methods of live cattle exported to Indonesia.

But we need pragmatic solutions for a world hungry for protein. It is unrealistic to think we will stop eating meat to save the environment, however we can produce meat in a more sustainable and ethical way, and eat less to minimise our environmental impact.

Meat from any source is nutrient-rich, however red meat – which attracts the most criticism – is rich in iron necessary for healthy blood, zinc required for immunity and vitamin B12 for healthy DNA and cell division.

Sure there are vegetarians who thrive on a meatless diet, but there are also those who don’t and have to take nutrient supplements to make up the shortfall. The degree of difficulty of a meatless diet is much higher than an omnivorous diet. In poor countries where people cannot afford to eat meat, iron-deficiency anaemia is one of the most common childhood diseases. Large nations undergoing economic development are also demanding more meat, so it is more urgent than ever to build sustainability into meat production systems around the world.

Avowed carnivores and vegans are dietary extremes while health is so often found in the happy medium. If we ate according to health guidelines (Australia's Guide to Healthy Eating; USA's My Plate), both our own health and the health of the planet and all the people living on it could be improved!



Credit: Warm beef salad from Eat to Beat Cholesterol by Nicole Senior and Veronica Cuskelly (New Holland)

So, although serious meat-lovers would do well to take a leaf out of the vegetarian book by including more protective plant foods, there’s no need to banish meat from your dinner plate – just cut back so it’s a tasty side-show filling no more than a quarter of the plate rather than the main event taking over the whole plate as served up in some steakhouses.

Luckily the amount of red meat recommended for health fits in nicely with the amount suggested for environmental sustainability. Check out the figures.

A model healthy diet according to Australia’s National Health & Medical Research Council, contains 65g a day of red meat (455g/1lb per week) and the American Institute of Cancer Research: World Cancer Research Fund says to limit red meat to no more than 500g (1lb 2oz) to reduce the risk of cancer.

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Professor Tony McMichael and colleagues from the Australian National University have suggested we limit red meat to no more than 90g (3oz) a day (630g/1lb 5oz a week), based on the idea people in developed countries currently eat more than double this.

My takeout message is this – meat is nutritionally important, but we in rich countries should eat less. Eating less red meat (you don’t need to eat it every day as there is fish, chicken, pork with smaller environmental footprints as well as excellent – and low GI – plant sources of protein that we should be eating more of) will send a message to producers that they can use less intensive and more sustainable methods to produce beef. We need to focus on farming animals (and crops) more sustainably and with minimal environmental impact.

In 2010, Dietitian Nicole Senior won a DAA Outstanding Contribution Award which recognises her contribution to DAA’s Corporate Nutrition and Food and Environment Interest Groups. She played a leading role in the highly successful educational events on food and the environment called ‘Is our food costing the earth?’ held in Sydney in February in 2010 and ‘What a waste’ held in April 2011.

News Briefs

Potato, sugary drinks and meat linked to long-term weight gain

‘An average adult (in the US) gains about one pound (0.5 kg) per year. Because the weight gain is so gradual and occurs over many years, it has been difficult for scientists and for individuals themselves to understand the specific factors that may be responsible,’ says Associate Prof Dariush Mozaffarian.



In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine Harvard researchers report that modest changes in specific foods and beverages, physical activity, TV-watching, and sleep duration were strongly linked with long-term weight gain. Changes in diet, in particular, had the strongest associations with differences in weight gain.







The foods associated with the greatest weight gain included potato chips, other potatoes, sugar-sweetened beverages, unprocessed meats and processed meats. Foods associated with less weight gain when their consumption was actually increased included vegetables, whole grains, fruits, nuts and yogurt. The most useful dietary changes to focus on for preventing long-term weight gain appeared to be:

• Improving carbohydrate quality.
• Eating more minimally processed foods.

‘Small dietary and other lifestyle changes can together make a big difference – for bad or good,’ said Mozaffarian. ‘This makes it easy to gain weight unintentionally, but also demonstrates the tremendous opportunity for prevention. A handful of the right lifestyle changes will go a long way.’



In Australia we are lucky enough to have the Carisma potato which has a low GI and is lower in total carbohydrate than most other varieties of potato. It's an important innovation that may help turn the global obesity pandemic around. However, you still have to be moderate with portion size (remember, it's a quarter of your dinner plate), say no thanks to fries and hold the sour cream and butter.



Better BGLs in low GL vs low fat weight loss diet





Dr David Ludwig



The findings of randomised trial comparing lifestyle modification programs for weight loss in adults with type 2 diabetes in Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice reports that ‘prescribing a calorie restricted low-GL diet to overweight and obese adults with type 2 diabetes resulted in greater glycemic control than was achieved with a diet with the same amount of Calories/kilojoules but that was low in fat. The advantage of the low-GL diet for improving HbA1c was apparently not attributable to weight change or calorie restriction, as these were equivalent between groups. These results add to a growing literature on the benefits of following a low-GL diet for diabetes control.’



Better HbAIc follows better weight loss in vegan vs ADA diet study





Dr Neal Barnard



Decreasing intake of high GI foods can help reduce body weight, according to a study conducted by PCRM in the Journal of Nutrition. In the 22-week randomised trial, 99 adults with type 2 diabetes were placed on either a vegan diet or the 2003 American Diabetes Association (ADA) diet. The vegan group proved better at controlling BGLs and cholesterol and achieved a greater reduction in the overall GI of their diet. After adjusting for fibre, fat, and calorie intake etc., dietary GI predicted weight loss, which in turn predicted lower HbA1c levels. ‘A low-GI diet appears to be one of the determinants of success of a vegan or ADA diet in reducing body weight among people with type 2 diabetes,’ conclude the authors.



How to feed a growing planet





Julian Cribb



Julian Cribb’s The Coming Famine: The Global Food Crisis and What We Can Do to Avoid It covers the major threats to our food supply. Cribb urges rebalancing our diets toward foods with a smaller carbon footprint and advocates ‘increased consumption of vegetables, fruits and grains and decreased consumption of high energy foods in a balanced healthy diet of the sort your great-grandmother would probably have approved of.’ In The Elephants in the Kitchen he writes: ‘As we approach the mid-century peak in food demand it becomes ever more vital to … find ways to moderate our consumption in line with what the Earth, and our own bodies, can support.’ Yes, it’s a ‘wake-up call’ book packed with facts and figures, but it also comes with some practical ‘What can I do?’ suggestions – simple things such as eating less meat, reducing waste and educating our kids about the value of food. Read more about it on the CSIRO and Amazon websites.



Online update





Lisa Taylor



#1 A new blog that’s just the recipe for women with GDM After having gestational diabetes (GDM), Lisa Taylor, the Mum behind Gestational Diabetes Recipes, created the site (with dietitian Natasha Jo Leader) because she loves food. With this recipe blog, she hopes women are able to turn their diagnosis of GDM into a more positive experience that allows them to continue to enjoy delicious food and their pregnancy but be mindful of the importance of healthy eating and lifestyle for the long term for both themselves and their children.

Try Lisa’s recipes here.



#2 www.diabeteschoices.org.uk is a round-up of diabetes news and research that’s updated every weekday. Founder/editor, Christine Michael, had the idea for this website after many years’ experience as a journalist, editor and author writing about weight management, health and diet. More recently she has specialised in writing about diabetes attending conferences, patient groups and diabetes education sessions, as well as meeting and talking with many people with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Choices provides healthy eating information, recipes and food ‘best buys’ and summaries of the latest research.

Get the Scoop with Emma Stirling

The scoop on berries


Emma Stirling APD

Strawberries and cream may be a perfect match, but there are so many better ways to reap the health benefits of berries. From delicate raspberries to tart cranberries, there’s a variety to please every meal, snack or drink, not just dessert.

Apart from strawberries (GI 40), most berries actually have so little carbohydrate content it’s difficult to test their GI. Their low carbohydrate content means their glycemic load will also be low, so you really can enjoy them by the bowlful without concerns about their blood glucose impact.

Berries are also low in kilojoules and a good source of vitamin C and fibre. But it’s their potent phytochemicals that continue to make nutrition news. Blueberries have deep purple anthocyanin antioxidants which have been studied for their potential protection from Alzheimer’s disease and brain aging. And then there are vibrant red cranberries, with proanthocyanidins which may help prevent urinary tract infections (UTI’s) and bacteria from attaching to the cell lining of the bladder. I have the scoop on cranberries on my blog here.

How far do you have to travel to pick a winning berry? In recent times home grown berries have taken a back seat as exotics from around the globe like acai, goji and the new, incaberries stole the headlines. Let’s take a closer look at dried goji berries which hail from the Himalayas and claim anti-aging, weight loss and cancer fighting protection. Traditional folk medicine is able to offer up a long list of ‘guarantees’, but you need to look past these anecdotal claims and uncover any hard evidence. To date, the published scientific studies on goji berries are lacking and we do not know how bioavailable and active their antioxidants are in the body. So for daily eating rest assured, that sticking to locally grown fresh berries (or frozen out of season) will definitely enhance your antioxidant intake.



Photo credit : 'Berry Pudding', Ian Hofstetter, The Low GI Vegetarian Cookbook

Berry prep Robust berries like strawberries can be tossed under cold running water to clean. But raspberries and other delicates like blueberries, are best carefully tipped into a large bowl of cold water to bob around for a few seconds and then be scooped up with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel.

Berries are beautiful eaten fresh, scattered on breakfast cereal, added to salads or whipped into a low GI smoothie. When supplies are bumper, freeze berries in zip lock bags, or make homemade fruit spreads and coulis sauces. Try these GI News recipes:

• Lemon semolina pudding with berry coulis
• French toast with berry compote

Ripe for the picking Berry picking is one of the best ways to teach children about food and nutrition. It’s fun, tasty and not too time consuming. Just take a look at my family’s adventures berry picking in Australia here.

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 and a healthy serve of what’s in flavour.

In the GI News Kitchen

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.

Barley risotto with mushrooms and thyme
I’ve just returned from our summer visit to our home in Friuli, Italy. As always, I spent loads of time with my friend, Vanda. When we are together we inevitably start talking about food – new recipes, seasonal ingredients and things like that. This time was no different. Since Vanda is not a pasta enthusiast (silly girl!), we discussed the different ways we use barley in our homes. She uses it in place of arborio rice because, being diabetic, she’s found that her blood glucose levels are much better with barley consumption. On the plane ride home, I started thinking about this recipe. I made it for dinner the other night and we liked it. I hope you will too. Serves 4

120g (4oz) mushrooms (cultivated, baby bella, cremini), halved or sliced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 stalk celery (no leaves), finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup pearl barley
4 cups stock/broth (vegetable or chicken), heated
2–3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked



Warm a medium sized non-stick fry pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.
Pour olive oil into a large non-stick fry pan. Heat on medium-high for 30 seconds, then add the garlic and vegetables and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
Add the prepared mushrooms minus any water that resulted from their cooking. Add the barley and stir the entire mixture thoroughly. Pour 2 cups of broth into the barley-vegetable mixture, reduce heat to medium and allow to cook for about 10 minutes or until the broth has been absorbed. Stir occasionally. Slowly add in the remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, until all has been used and barley is cooked. This will take another 20 minutes.
Remove from heat, season to taste, sprinkle on the thyme and serve immediately.

Per serve
Energy: 690kJ/165cals; Protein 6g; Fat 3g (includes less than 1g saturated fat); Available carbohydrate 24g; Fibre 6g

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 these Money Saving Meals recipes from two books recently published. For more recipes check out the Money Saving Meals website.

Spicy Caramelised fennel, valencia orange, tomato & olive ragout
Chef Mark Jensen wants us to eat more greens for our health and the planet’s which is why the vegetable chapter in The Urban Cook contains the greatest number of recipes. ‘I’ve done this deliberately,’ says Mark. ‘Traditionally, when we conceive of a meal we first decide on the meat protein component and then we choose the accompanying vegetables. I want to challenge this notion by encouraging you to choose the vegetables first. Draw inspiration from the seasonal produce in your greengrocer’s window and only then decide on the protein.’ Serves 6 as a side dish.

2 fennel bulbs, about 600g (1lb 5oz) each
4 Valencia oranges
1/3 cup olive oil
2½ tbsp white wine vinegar
200g (7 oz) cherry tomatoes, halved
100g (3½ oz) black olives
handful parsley, roughly chopped



Trim the fennel tops, reserving any smaller stems. Trim off the bottom core of the fennel bulb, then slice it in half. Continue to slice the bulb in half until you have eight pieces about 1.5cm (5/8in) wide at the thickest edge. Repeat for the second fennel bulb.
Cut the top and bottom off two of the oranges, then remove the rest of the skin by following the contour of the orange, working from top to bottom, with your knife. Work around the orange until all the skin and pith have been removed. To segment the orange, lay it on its side and slice in between the white pith towards the middle of the orange until all the flesh has been removed. Reserve the segments and place in a bowl. Squeeze the juice from the remaining two oranges, reserving the juice.
To cook the fennel, heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the fennel and fennel stems, taking care to lay the pieces flat in the pan, without overcrowding. You may have to fry the fennel in batches. Cook for 4 minutes, or until the fennel takes on a nice caramel colour, then turn and caramelise the other side.
Add the reserved orange juice and vinegar and continue to cook until the liquid has reduced by a third.
Add the tomatoes, olives and orange segments and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir through the parsley. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and serve. This dish can be served hot or cold.
– Reproduced from The Urban Cook by Mark Jensen (Murdoch Books)

Per serve
Energy: 800 kJ/ 190 cals; Protein 2 g; Fat 13 g (includes 1.8 g saturated fat); Available carbohydrate 15 g; Fibre 4 g

Kathmandu stew
We always say that ‘people with diabetes should learn to love fabulously low GI lentils’. Did you know that they are a good source of plant protein too? You’ll be coming back for seconds with this mildly curried, mildly sweet red lentil and sweet potato stew from Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health (published by The Experiment). It’s satisfying served alone or with a simple raita made with soy yogurt, toasted cumin seeds, and cucumbers. Serves 4.

1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp fennel seeds
3 tsp curry powder
½ tsp coriander powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
pinch cinnamon
2 cups organic red lentils, rinsed
1 medium orange-fleshed sweet potato, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 medium red onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1–2 tsp sambal oelek or dried red chillies
4 cups water
1 small bunch of fresh cilantro (coriander), chopped

Toast the cumin seeds and powder, fennel seeds, curry powder, coriander, turmeric, and cinnamon in a cast iron frying pan on high heat until the cumin seeds start to pop.
Add the red lentils and stir until the spices are mixed in. Add a splash of water and continue cooking and stirring. Add the sweet potato, carrots, onion, sambal oelek, and 4 cups water.
Stir, cover, and bring to a boil, then stir again, turn down the heat, and simmer for about 20 minutes until the sweet potatoes and lentils are cooked. Add salt to taste, and serve garnished with fresh cilantro.
– Recipe is reproduced by kind permission of Moira Nordholt.

Energy: 1400 kJ/ 335 cals; Protein 25 g; Fat 3 g (includes 0.4 g saturated fat); Available carbohydrate 46 g; Fibre 17g

Busting Food Myths with Nicole Senior

Myth: Sustainable food is only a greenie’s issue.

Fact: Sustainable food should be on everyone’s shopping list if we want quality of life for our children and grandchildren. World population is exploding and we’re starting to run out of the raw materials to grow food: land, soil, water, fossil fuel and fertiliser.

Farming We’ve done a great job in producing more food and quite cheaply, but we failed miserably in feeding everyone and feeding ourselves in a healthy way: just look at the dual-scourges of hunger and over-nutrition. We have also done terrible damage to the environment while doing it. Our food systems have simply failed to account for the environmental costs of deforestation, soil erosion, salinity, residues of artificial fertilisers and pesticides, rivers drained for irrigation and severe losses of biodiversity: an awful case of short term-ism that is now starting to bite, and hard. We only have a small amount of arable land and fertile soil which we are losing at such a rate there are new terms to describe these dual disasters: ‘peak land’ and ‘peak soil’: Some experts say we only have 60 years of topsoil left.

Climate change is the big fat blow-fly in the ointment, adding further pressure to a system already under extreme stress. Changes in temperature, rainfall, carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and increased extreme weather events all add uncertainty and variability to growing food the way we always have. Water is another precious resource to grow food, yet our rampant over-use, inefficiency and waste is compromising future food supplies: you can add ‘peak water’ to the list. Innovative sustainable agriculture is our best hope, but many governments around the world are complacent and not funding the research needed.

People The global food system is under pressure from exploding population growth and the ‘nutrition transition’ whereby people emerging from poverty start to eat a more Western (higher protein) diet. We will have more mouths to feed, and more of them will want meat. And why shouldn’t they? Iron deficiency anaemia is one the most common childhood illnesses in the developing world and eating a little meat will fix it. And yet here we are ordering 500g (1lb 2oz) steaks in restaurants for lunch or dinner (enough meat for others for a whole week).

Choices We are lucky enough to be able to choose what we eat. Many people are already choosing better for a more equitable and sustainable food system. But there are also folks who don’t know where to start to make an impact on such huge complex problems. Here are my small but positive steps you can take to ensure you’re eating a fair share of the earth’s bounty, and moving our food system toward sustainability:

• Respect and appreciate your food: it is precious and life-giving – you are lucky to have it
• Base your meals on plant foods and use meat as a nutritious garnish: meats from smaller animals and eggs are nutritious and have a smaller environmental impact
• Choose local, seasonal, organic produce and ‘fair trade’ when you can
• Try not to overeat, and eat less highly processed ‘junk’ food
• Teach your children where food comes from and how to cook healthy meals
• Grow whatever vegetables, fruit and herbs you can (in a window-box if necessary)
• Avoid food waste by only buying what you need and managing leftovers wisely
• Recycle food packaging and compost green waste (or get a worm farm)

There are those who will read this and say I’m simplifying and moralising. Maybe they’re right. I have fallen into the abyss of over-thinking and despair but have climbed out the other side clasping at the thought that doing something is better than doing nothing. My hope is you do the same.

Want to know more? If you are interested in finding out more, hop over to my website – www.nicolesenior.com.au – for further reading tips.

Nicole Senior is an Accredited Practising Dietitian, nutrition consultant, author and food enthusiast with an interest in food and environment issues. She believes healthy food need not cost the earth.

GI Symbol News with Dr Alan Barclay

Dr Alan Barclay

Is salt reduction the only answer to reducing the risk of dying of a heart attack or stroke?



“Cutting down on the amount of salt has no clear benefits in terms of likelihood of dying or experiencing cardiovascular disease (CVD).” reports a new Cochrane Review. Part of the reason for this discouraging result is the simple fact that large enough trials have not been run for long enough periods of time to prove that sodium reduction really does reduce the risk of heart attack and strokes (CVD).

To date, the evidence suggests that cutting back on dietary sodium may help reduce blood pressure by 1.1–4.1 mmHg in people with normal and high blood pressure, respectively. But salt reduction is not the only way of lowering blood pressure and therefore reducing the risk of death from a heart attack or stroke.

• Losing 10 kg of excess body weight will reduce blood pressure by 5–20 mmHg
• Consuming a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products with a reduced saturated and total fat content (i.e., the DASH diet) will lower blood pressure by 8–14 mmHg
• 30 minutes a day of regular physical activity (a brisk walk will do) will lower it by 4–9 mmHg.

And focusing on sodium reduction alone often doesn’t work as the makers of Cambell’s Soup recently found out. If you lower the salt content of certain foods too much people simply won’t buy them anymore because they don’t like the taste …

What we need to remember is that there are many risk factors for the development of CVD (heart disease and stroke) including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high blood glucose levels. For example, another mineral, potassium, also affects our blood pressure – high potassium intakes lower blood pressure which is why it’s important to eat more fruits, vegetables and wholegrains. And the type and amount of fat we eat has a powerful affect on our blood cholesterol levels.

Few people realise that the amount and type of carbohydrate that we eat also has an effect on our blood pressure. Dr Reaven was the first to describe the role of insulin resistance in the development of high blood pressure in the 1990s. Put simply, the kidney does not develop insulin resistance like the liver and muscles do, and as insulin levels get progressively higher in the blood, the kidneys increase their retention of sodium (in other words, we excrete less sodium in our urine), leading to higher blood pressure.

This is why an overall healthy diet that’s moderate in sodium, and lower in kilojoule/calories, saturated fat and high GI carbohydrates is the best way to reduce your risk of having a heart attack or stroke – not simply reducing the amount of salt or salty foods that you eat. And this is where front-of-pack labelling schemes like the GI Symbol can help. We developed category specific nutrient criteria for energy (calories/kilojoules), carbohydrate, fat, saturated fat, sodium, and where appropriate, fibre and calcium for the low GI Symbol to help make all-round healthy food choices in the supermarket easier for everybody, every day.





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



I have read that we should be basing our diet mostly on plant foods for good health. But I have also read that a moderate protein diet will keep us feeling fuller for longer and help us maintain a healthy weight. What plant foods have protein and which ones are low GI?
Protein is found in many plant foods, and the good news is that many are low or lower GI foods – check the GI Database (www.glycemicindex.com) for your favourites. To give you an idea how much protein you can get from plant foods, I have selected the following foods (with their sample serving sizes) from The Shopper’s Guide to GI Values – 2011 Australian edition.



Legumes (pulses)

• ½ cup (150g) baked beans in tomato sauce (GI 49) provides around 7g protein
• ½ cup (130g) canned, drained cannellini beans (GI 31) provides around 8g protein
• 2/3 cup (125g) cooked red lentils (GI 26) provides around 9g protein
• 1 cup (180g) cooked split peas (GI 25) provides around 12g protein
• 1 cup (170g) cooked soy beans (GI 18) provides around 23g protein
• 100g (3½oz) tofu (raw) provides around 12g protein (GI not relevant)
• 1 cup (250ml) So Natural light soy milk (GI 44) provides around 5g protein

Breakfast cereals, breads and grains

• ¾ cup (30g) Kelloggs Special K original (GI 56) provides around 6g protein
• ¾ cup (45g) Kelloggs All-Bran (GI 44) provides around 7g protein
• ¼ cup (30g) raw traditional rolled oats (GI 57) provides around 3g protein
• 1 slice (35g) Tip Top 9-grain Original bread (GI 53) provides around 4g protein
• 1 slice (40g) Burgen Soy-Lin bread (GI 52) provides around 6g protein
• 1 cup (170g) cooked brown rice (GI 59–86, so check the tables and choose a low GI one) provides around 5g protein
• 1 cup (170g) cooked basmati rice (GI 58) provides around 4g protein
• 1 cup (180g) cooked pasta (GI 35–54) provides around 7g protein
• 1 cup (180g) cooked fresh rice noodles (GI 40) provides around 3g protein
• 1 cup (180g) cooked soba/buckwheat noodles (GI 46) provides around 9g protein
• 1 cup (190g) cooked pearl barley (GI 25) provides around 6g protein
• 1/2 cup (90g) cooked Nature First Organic quinoa (GI 53) provides around 4g protein

Nuts and seeds

• A small handful (30g/1oz) of most nuts or seeds will deliver around 5g protein (GI not relevant)

New GI Values from SUGiRS
‘Be Natural’ low GI breakfast cereals




SUGiRS tested these Be Natural breakfast cereals with water (after all, you can't ask volunteers to chow down dried cereal). The serving sizes used are those recommended by the manufacturer. Served with a little reduced fat milk or a dollop of fat-free yoghurt, the GI would be a little lower.

• Be Natural Cashew, Almond, Hazelnut & Coconut Muesli GI 54 – 27g available carbs and 5g protein per 2/3 cup (45g) serving
• Be Natural Multi-Grain Porridge GI 53 – 22g available carbs and 4.8g protein per sachet (40g) serving
• Be Natural Pink Lady Apple & Flame Raisin Muesli GI 51 – 31g available carbs and 4.3g protein per 3/4 cup (45g) serving

Naked Pizza
Pizza is basically a flat bread (the crust) with toppings. That's why it's great to see a low GI grainy crust (it's over to YOU to choose the healthier toppings on offer). We have to say there was no shortage of volunteers when GI Labs in Toronto were testing Naked Pizza’s Original grainy pizza crust. Co-founder Jeff Leach says they set out ‘to create a better-for-you pizza without additives and with fewer calories, more protein and fibre and less fat that people can enjoy as part of a healthy lifestyle.’ The multigrain crust includes 10 grains and seeds plus prebiotic fibre from agave plants and added probiotics (for digestive health). A gluten-free crust is also available. ‘Our number one seller is the Superbiotic, followed by the Mediterranean and then the Omnivore,’ says Jeff.

• 1 slice medium-sized Naked Pizza Original crust GI48 – 9g available carbs, 5g fibre and 3g protein plus sauce, cheese and toppings
  

Remember: pizza is for sharing! That means enjoy a slice or two with friends or family: don't eat the whole pizza on your own.

You can read more about Naked Pizza (what’s on the menu, what's in it and where you can buy it) HERE.

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

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Update from Osirisnet.net

Dear friends,

We are glad to announce that we have launched a special page :
the funerary chamber of the mastaba of Mereruka.

http://www.osirisnet.net/mastabas/mererouka/e_mereruka_07.htm

So now, the presentation of this gigantic mastaba is complete, with its three different sections:
* The mastaba of Mereruka himself :
http://www.osirisnet.net/mastabas/mererouka/e_mereruka_01.htm
to which we have added the big and well preserved funeral chamber.
* The mastaba of his wife Watetkhetor :
http://www.osirisnet.net/mastabas/watetkhethor/e_watetkhethor_01.htm
* The mastaba of his son, Meryteti:
www.osirisnet.net/mastabas/meryteti/e_meryteti_01.htm

Pentobarbital Manufacturer Says Drug is Not Safe for Lethal Injections

A split Florida supreme court has ordered a hearing on a new drug to be used as part of the lethal injection cocktail for convicted killer Manuel Valle, according to a Palm Beach Post report.

Department of Corrections officials in June replaced the anesthetic sodium thiopental, the first of three drugs used in lethal injections, with pentobarbital sodium. The manufacturer of sodium thiopental stopped making the drug early this year, part of a nationwide drug shortage that is affecting hospitals as well as correctional facilities.

Lundbeck, the Danish manufacturer that produces pentobarbital, announced the drug is untested and unsafe for use in lethal injections. The company has since stopped selling the drug to those who intend to resell it for lethal injections. The drug is not FDA-approved as an anesthetic, thought it has been used in at least 15 executions in other states.

Read the Palm Beach Post report on lethal injections.

Source: ASCREVIEW, Anesthesia News and Analysis, July 27, 2011

Iran state media: Man spared punishment of blinding by acid

Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- A man convicted of blinding a woman in an acid attack was spared an eye-for-an-eye punishment Sunday, minutes before the sentence was to be carried out, Iranian state media reported.

The Fars News Agency reported that the victim had a sudden change of heart and decided to stop the punishment.

A physician was to drop acid -- under legal supervision -- into the eyes of Majid Movahedi on Sunday, according to Fars News Agency, to punish him for throwing acid in the face of Ameneh Bahrami seven years ago. The act disfigured her face and blinded her.

Bahrami had previously insisted on the vengeful punishment after her attacker's conviction in 2008.

"However in the last minute, Ameneh changed her mind and asked the proceeding to be halted," the Islamic republic's Fars state news agency reported.

This week marks the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan in the Islamic world, and pardons and commuted sentences commonly occur as a show of compassion leading into the holiday.

An Iranian court convicted Movahedi in 2008 of pouring a bucket of acid on Bahrami, after she had rejected his unwanted advances for two years.

Bahrami had demanded at the time that the court sentence the man to suffer the same fate he had inflicted upon her, and the court agreed, citing provisions in Islamic law.

The sentence was to be carried out in May 2011, but a court postponed it after Amnesty International protested against it on the grounds of cruelty.

Bahrami forgave her attacker in part for her country, she told state news agency ISNA, "since all other countries were looking to see what we would do." She "has called for blood money for her injuries", ISNA said.

The victim of the acid attack said life has been very difficult for her ever since.

Bahrami says she first met Movahedi in 2002 when they attended the same school.

She was a 24-year-old electronics student. He was 19. She never noticed him until he sat next to her in class and brushed up against her. Bahrami says she knew it wasn't an accident.

"I moved away from him," she said, "but he brushed up against me again."

Bahrami said that over the next two years, Movahedi harassed her and made threats, even asking her to marry him.

"He told me he would kill me. He said, 'You have to say yes.' "

On a November afternoon in 2004, his threats turned to violence when he followed her from the medical engineering company where she worked.

As she walked to the bus stop, she sensed someone behind her.

She turned around and was startled to see Movahedi, who threw something over her. What felt like fire on her face was acid searing through her skin.

"I was just yelling, 'I'm burning! I'm burning! For God's sake, somebody help me,' " she said.

The acid seeped into her eyes, and streamed down her face into her mouth. When she covered her face with her hands, streaks of acid ran down her fingers and onto her forearms.

In 2009, Bahrami told CNN that she had undergone more than a dozen surgeries on her badly scarred face, but still imagined that in the future she would have a wedding day.

"I always see myself as someone who can see and sometimes see myself in a beautiful wedding gown, and why not?" She said.

Source: CNN.com, July 31, 2011

Iranian sentenced to blinding for acid attack pardoned

An Iranian man who was ordered to be blinded for carrying out an acid attack on a woman has been pardoned by his victim, state television has said.

Ameneh Bahrami had demanded qisas, [...], but the report said she had foregone that right at the last minute.

A court had backed Ms Bahrami's demand in 2008 that Majid Movahedi be blinded.

He attacked Ms Bahrami in 2004 after she had refused his offer of marriage, leaving her severely disfigured.

Rights group Amnesty International had lobbied against the sentence, calling it "cruel and inhuman punishment amounting to torture".

Mother's praise

The state television website reported: "With the request of Ameneh Bahrami, the acid attack victim, Majid (Movahedi) who was sentenced for 'qisas' was pardoned at the last minute."

The Isna news agency quoted Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi as saying: "Today in hospital the blinding of Majid Movahedi was to have been carried out in the presence of an eye specialist and judiciary representative, when Ameneh pardoned him."

Isna quoted Ms Bahrami as saying: "I struggled for seven years with this verdict to prove to people that the person who hurls acid should be punished through 'qisas', but today I pardoned him because it was my right.

"I did it for my country, since all other countries were looking to see what we would do."

Ms Bahrami was quoted on Iranian TV as saying: "I never wanted to have revenge on him. I just wanted the sentence to be issued for retribution. But I would not have carried it out. I had no intention of taking his eyes from him."

Mr Dolatabadi told Isna that Ms Bahrami had demanded "blood money", or compensation, for her injuries.

He praised her "courageous act" of pardon, adding: "The judiciary was serious about implementing the verdict."

Ms Bahrami said she had never received any money from the man's family, saying she was seeking only compensation for medical fees, which she put at 150,000 euros ($216,000: £131,000).

She said: "He wont be freed. He has a sentence, which he has to serve for 10-12 years of which he has done seven. Unless the full compensation is paid, he won't be freed."

Isna quoted Ms Bahrami's mother as saying: "I am proud of my daughter... Ameneh had the strength to forgive Majid. This forgiveness will calm Ameneh and our family."

Source: BBC News, July 31, 2011

Iranian acid attack victim pardons culprit

An Iranian man convicted of throwing acid in the face of a female student has been pardoned from being blinded himself as punishment, a state-run television website has said.

Majid Movahedi was sentenced in February 2009 to be blinded in both eyes after being convicted of hurling acid in the face of university classmate Bahrami when she repeatedly spurned his offer of marriage.

"With the request of Ameneh Bahrami, the acid attack victim, Majid, who was sentenced for 'qesas' ['eye for an eye' justice] was pardoned at the last minute" after she decided to forgo her right, the website said.

The court-ordered blinding of Movahedi was originally postponed at the 11th hour in mid-May, with no official reason given.

Bahrami told the ISNA news agency she pardoned her attacker because "God talks about 'qesas' in the Koran but he also recommends pardon since pardon is greater than 'qesas'".

"I struggled for seven years for this verdict to prove to people that the person who hurls acid should be punished through 'qesas', but today I pardoned him because it was my right.," she said.

"I did it for my country, since all other countries were looking to see what we would do."

Pardon hailed

Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, a Tehran prosecutor, hailed Bahrami's decision, but also said that the judiciary would have carried out the blinding sentence.

"Today in hospital the blinding of Majid Movahedi was to have been carried out in the presence of an eye specialist and judiciary representative, when Ameneh pardoned him," the ISNA news agency quoted Jafari Dolatabadi as saying.

"However, she demanded blood money for her injuries," Jafari Dolatabadi said, referring to compensation allocated to the victims of violent crimes when they suffer serious injuries, without elaborating.

"The judiciary was serious about implementing the verdict, and Ameneh by her courageous act pardoned the 'qesas' of this man," Jafari Dolatabadi said.

In mid-May, Arman newspaper quoted Bahrami as saying: "I want two million euros to guarantee my life and my future, not for treatment.

"It is only then that I will give up 'qesas' against Majid, although they said - and I hope it is true - that the sentence will be carried out next week."

ISNA on Sunday quoted Bahrami's mother as saying she was proud of her.

"I am proud of my daughter ... Ameneh had the strength to forgive Majid. This forgiveness will calm Ameneh and our family," she said.

'Cruel punishment'

Amnesty International said in a statement on Sunday that the case highlighted the need for legal reforms in Iran as the "cruel punishment which amounts to torture [is] prohibited under international law".

Iran's Islamic sharia law code provides for retributive justice, most commonly for murder or for those convicted of causing intentional physical injury.

Bahrami, who was 24 when she met Movahedi in 2002, has been undergoing medical treatment for her disfigurement for years in Spain.

She is blind in both eyes and still has serious injuries to her face and body.

Several acid attacks have been reported in Iran in recent years.

The press has been generally supportive of Bahrami, publishing sympathetic interviews with her and photographs of her face before and after the attack.

In December 2010, the supreme court upheld another sentence of blinding handed down against a man convicted of an acid attack against his wife's lover that deprived him of his sight, but there has been no reported confirmation of it being carried out.

Source: Al Jazeera, July 31, 2011              

Acid blinding punishment stopped in Tehran

Iran Human Rights, July 31: The retribution sentence of a man convicted of throwing acid in the face of a woman was set to take place this morning in Tehran but it was not implemented. Majid Movahedi was pardoned by Ameneh Bahrami, according to a report by the Iranian state-run news agency ISNA.

“By the request of the acid attack victim Ameneh Bahrami, Majid (Movahedi), who was sentenced to ‘qesas’ (an ‘eye for an eye’-style justice), was pardoned last minute after Ameneh Bahrami decided to forgo her right [to retribution]," said the report.

Majid Movahedi was sentenced by a Tehran court to blinding by ten drops of sulfuric acid in 2008. His crime was splashing acid on Ameneh Bahrami four years earlier because she had allegedly spurned his marriage proposals. The acid had severely burned Ameneh Bahrami’s face and blinded her. The retribution sentence was approved by the Iranian Supreme Court in February 2009.

Ameneh Bahrami told ISNA in an interview today that she pardoned Majid Movahedi because, “God talks about qesas (retribution) in the Qur’an but he also recommends pardon, because it is greater than qesas.”

“I did it for my country, since all other countries were looking to see what we would do,” she added.

Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi hailed Ameneh Bahrami’s decision but also said that the Judiciary would have carried out the acid blinding punishment.

The sentence was about to be carried out once before in May 2011, but it was halted by the Iranian authorities without any official reason(s) given. It is believed that the massive international pressure the case received was instrumental in the decision by Iranian authorities to postpone the punishment.

According to knowledgeable sources who wanted to stay anonymous, the acid blinding case had become a headache for the Iranian authorities because of the growing international condemnations. They did not want to lose face by giving in to the pressure.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of Iran Human Rights (IHR) welcomed the decision of cancelling the acid blinding sentence. "We ask for the removal of barbaric punishments like stoning, blinding and amputations. These medieval sentences are currently a part of the Iranian penal law," he said.

IHR congratulates Ameneh Bahrami for not taking part in the grotesque punishment and urges the Iranian authorities to help Ameneh Bahrami so she may receive the needed medical treatment and economic compensation.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said, "We express our compassion with Ameneh Bahrami. As an Iranian citizen, Ameneh Bahrami deserves to get her medical treatment covered by the Iranian government and receive economic compensation for losing years of her life."

Source: Iran Human Rights, July 31, 2011

Related article:

"Iranian Man’s Retribution Acid Blinding Punishment Set for Sunday, July 31, in Tehran", Iran Human Rights, July 30, 2011

Man hanged in southern Iran

Iran Human Rights, July 30: One prisoner was hanged in the city of Minab, southern Iran, reported the state run Iranian news agency Fars.

According to the report the prisoner who was identified as "H.D." was convicted of trafficking 49,5 kilograms of heroin and was arrested in 2008.

The report didn’t mention age of the prisoner, nor the exact time and place of the execution.

Source: Iran Human Rights, July 30, 2011

Iranian Man’s Retribution Acid Blinding Punishment Set for Sunday, July 31, in Tehran

Iran Human Rights, July 30: According to reports from Iran, the blinding sentence of Majid Movahedi will be implemented in Tehran early Sunday morning. Acid is set to be dripped in both his eyes.

In November 2008, a court in the Iranian capital Tehran sentenced Majid Movahedi to “blindness in both eyes” by ten drops of sulfuric acid for splashing acid on Ameneh Bahrami’s face in 2004. She had allegedly spurned his marriage proposals. Ameneh Bahrami’s face became disfigured and she lost the sight in both eyes as a result of the injury. The sentence was approved by the Iranian Supreme Court in February 2009.

The sentence was scheduled to be implemented on May 14th but was postponed, probably due to the massive international attention the case received.

According to Alarabiya, Iranian authorities have decided to implement the verdict before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins on August 1st. The news has also been confirmed on the Ameneh Bahrami Facebook page. It stated: “Ameneh’s retribution sentence will be implemented at 6:00am tomorrow.”

The sentence was approved by the Iranian Supreme Court in February 2009.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of Iran Human Rights (IHR) strongly condemned what he called a “barbaric and grotesque” punishment. He said, ”The international community must not let this barbaric punishment to happen.” He added, ”Leaders of the Iranian regime should be held responsible for the barbaric and grotesque punishment of dripping acid in Majid’s eyes. These types of sentences are only meant to spread fear among the people and will, without a doubt, promote even more violence in the Iranian society.”

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam has asked the assigned doctors to not take part in the barbaric act of retribution because, if they do, they will be breaking their professional oath.

Regarding the discriminatory laws against women in Iran, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said, “By being a woman, Ameneh is also a victim of the Iranian regime’s gender apartheid politics. Iranian authorities encourage violence against women. According to the Iranian laws, a woman who is not covered properly can be lashed up to 74 times, so the authorities are also responsible for the growing violence against women in the Iranian society, like Ameneh’s case.”

Background:

In 2004, Majid Movahedi was convicted of pouring acid on the face of Ameneh Bahrami, 27, a young woman he allegedly wished to marry.

As a result of the injuries, Ameneh Bahrami lost her sight in one eye and most of her sight in the other eye. She has been going through numerous surgical operations on her face and eyes to reverse the damage.

In 2008, a court in Tehran sentenced Majid Movahedi to Qesas (retribution, eye-for-an-eye). He was sentenced to lose the sight in both his eyes and to provide Ameneh Bahrami with economic compensation.

The Iranian Supreme Court approved the sentence in February 2009. According to the sentence issued by the court, ten drops of sulfuric acid will be dripped into each of Majid Movahedi’s eyes.

The punishment is set to take effect on the morning of July 31st.

Source: Iran Human Rights, July 30, 2011 - [فارسى]

Acid blinding sentence of the man who attacked with acid to be carried out tomorrow

Majid Movahed, the defendant in the acid attack case, has been transferred from the Rjaei Shahr Prison to the central investigation unit of the Police Station.

The Prosecutor has informed Majid Movahed’s lawyer that his sentence has to be carried out before the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. One more day is left until the sentenec is carried out.

According to the Human Rights House of Iran, the sentenec is to be carried out tomorrow at 6 am and the man is to be blinded in both eyes.

Movahed had thrown a jar of acid in the face of Ameneh Bahrami after she refused his marriage proposal. She lost both her eyes in the incident.

Recently, Parliament member Soleiman Zaker had said that “blinding with acid is is the application of the sharia’s “eye for an eye” laws.” He had added that “delay in the execution of the sentence and the ignorance of victims and their families has led to more acid attacks.”

He had requested that the victims of acid attacks should not ignore the Qisas sentence.

Ameneh Bahrami has retuned to Iran last week in order to carry out the sentence.

Persian Article: http://www.rahana.org/archives/42927

Source: rahana, July 30, 2011

Jul 31, 2011 UPDATE

"Iranian State Media: Man spared punishment of blinding by acid", CNN.com, July 31, 2011

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iranian to be blinded with acid for doing same to woman

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Capital punishment has drug problem, will eventually die

Harvard Medical School professors, Danish pharmaceutical companies, four members of the Florida Supreme Court and attorneys for condemned cop killer Manuel Valle are poking their collective noses into the state of Florida’s business, namely its — and our — business of death.

As a result, Valle won't be executed Tuesday as scheduled by the death warrant Gov. Rick Scott signed in June.

The Florida Supreme Court stayed Valle’s death sentence last Monday and ordered an evidentiary hearing about the efficacy of pentobarbital to knock him unconscious so he doesn’t feel the effects of the next two drugs his executioners would administer to paralyze him and stop his heart.

Justices Barbara Pariente, Peggy Quince, Jorge Labarga and James Perry voted to stay Valle’s execution, writing that a report from Dr. David Waisel, a pediatric anesthesiologist and associate professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical School included in Valle’s lawyer’s arguments, merited a further look at pentobarbital, a new drug in Florida’s execution process.

Dissenting were Chief Justice Charles Canady and Justices Fred Lewis and Ricky Polston. “Based on speculation and conjecture, Valle claims the right to judicial micromanagement of the execution process,” Canady wrote in the dissenting opinion.

An evidentiary hearing was held in Miami on Thursday. The question will end up back before the state’s high court.

Florida’s use of pentobarbital is new. Previously, Florida used sodium thiopental as the first drug. But the state’s supplier of sodium thiopental stopped manufacturing it. Corrections Secretary Ed Buss approved new protocols for lethal injection, including pentobarbital, June 8.

Staffan Schuberg, president of Lundbeck Inc., the manufacturer of pentobarbital with the brand name Nembutal, wrote to Scott on May 16 and June 8 and also sent a June 8 letter to Buss.

“We are adamantly opposed to the use of Nembutal to execute prisoners because it contradicts everything we are in business to do — provide therapies that improve people’s lives,” Schuberg wrote in his May 16 letter to Scott.

Schuberg admits there’s nothing he can do to stop the state of Florida.

Of the 30 states that use lethal injection for executions, a number have already switched to pentobarbital after supplies of sodium thiopental went away. Oklahoma, Texas and Georgia have executed prisoners this year using pentobarbital as part of lethal injections.

Those three drugs — to anesthetize, paralyze and kill — have been sanctioned by the U.S. Supreme Court as constitutional. It’s used by so many states because to vary the procedure would invite further court review. The magical mix was developed essentially by chance by Oklahoma’s chief medical examiner in 1977, Jay Chapman, according to years of litigation about the procedures.

Though states, including Florida, argue the procedure is designed to provide a humane and pain-free death for the condemned. Death sentences are carried out with the antiseptic regimentation of a government bureaucracy that also makes for a less messy and disturbing experience for executioners and witnesses.

Lethal injection became the first option for Florida executions in 2000, following a series of electric-chair-caused fires and unseemly writhing by the condemned.

State-sponsored executions are going away. This is not a hope, it is an objective fact as fewer and fewer death sentences are carried out in the United States, itself an outlier in the community of nations. Not this year, not this decade even, probably, but it’s slipping toward its inevitable end. The more we take ourselves away from the reality of state-sponsored death with debates about the efficacy of anesthesia, the more self-evidently ludicrous the arguments become and unsupportable its practice.

This societal evolution is evident.

Did the power company ever object to the state using its electricity for unintended purposes?

Source: Paul Flemming is the state editor for the Tallahassee Democrat and floridacapitalnews.com.; The News-Press, July 29, 2011

3 Saudis beheaded for murder

3 Saudis were beheaded on Saturday in the western city of Taef after being convicted of killing fellow citizens in 2 separate incidents, state news agency SPA reported.

Mahfoudh bin Ali al-Kenani was beheaded by the sword for stabbing to death Ali Saeed al-Khazmari because of a feud between them, SPA said.

Meanwhile, 2 brothers, Mohammed and Saud al-Jaeed were also executed for shooting dead fellow citizen Hilal bin Sayel al-Harthi, SPA said in another statement.

Saturday's executions bring to 37 the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia this year, according to an AFP tally based on official and human rights group reports.

On June 10, London-based watchdog Amnesty International called on Saudi Arabia to stop applying the death penalty, saying there had been a significant rise in the number of executions in the previous 6 weeks.

It said 15 people were executed in May alone.

In 2009, the number of executions reached 67, compared to 102 in 2008.

Rape, murder, apostasy, homosexuality, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.

Source: Yahoo News, July 30, 2011

UK: "We’ll force MP vote on noose"

MPs could vote on whether to bring back the death penalty, it emerged yesterday.

Campaigners plan to use an online petition scheme launched by the Government to press their case.

They want capital punishment - banned in Britain in 1965 - to be restored for those who kill kids or police officers.

And any petition which receives more than 100,000 names must be considered for debate in Westminster.

The bid to bring back hanging is being spearheaded by Right-wing blogger Guido Fawkes and its supporters hope to launch it next week.

Fawkes wrote on his website: "Even if we don't win the vote on the floor of the House, we shall see which MPs put the welfare of child killers above the wider community. Let them be counted." MPs last night said they would welcome a debate on the controversial issue.

Tory MP Philip Davies said: "It's something where once again the public are a long way ahead of the politicians.

"I'd go further and restore it for all murderers."

His fellow Conservative MP Priti Patel, who also backs the death penalty, added: "It's about time the public had a greater say on the issues that we debate. I'm not surprised that this issue has been raised.

"We need strong deterrents to make people think twice about the crimes they commit." Labour introduced online petitions on the No10 website.

They were often used to embarrass the Government - with one petition calling for Gordon Brown to quit as PM receiving widespread support.

House of Commons leader George Young said the new e-petition system was "a step towards a more accessible and transparent" Parliament.

He said: "The public has many opportunities to make their voices heard. This system could give them a megaphone."

The last two executions in the UK were carried out at two different prisons at the same time on August 13, 1964.

Gwynne Owen Evans and Peter Allen were hanged at Liverpool's Walton jail and Strangeways in Manchester for the murder of Jack West.

Source: The Sun, July 29, 2011

Shifting values give Bali Nine duo hope: lawyer

Myuran Sukumaran (left)
Andrew Chan (right)

A lawyer for two of the Bali Nine Australians facing the death penalty says a shift in attitudes in Indonesia may offer a glimmer of hope for the men.

Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan have exhausted all their legal avenues and have about 12 months to plead for presidential clemency.

If Indonesia's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono does not grant clemency, the pair will face the firing squad.

Lawyer Julian McMahon says the death penalty debate has remained dormant in Indonesia for many years, but now it is on the national agenda.

He says it could be an opportunity for Indonesia to emerge as a leader in the region and get rid of the law.

"Indonesia is a country where there's been tremendous reform since 1998," he said.

"It's a country where there's vital debate, the press is free and vigorous, there's room for people to argue the point on any important issue.

"In that environment there's a great deal of hope, because the time has passed for the death penalty law."

Chan and Sukumaran are in jail in Bali for their roles in a plan to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia in 2005.

Melbourne University Asian Law Centre director, Tim Lindsey, says there is a growing trend towards human rights for offenders in Indonesia - except for drug smugglers.

He says this makes the Bali nine case more difficult, but not impossible.

He says the new debate in Indonesia should initiate ASEAN countries to commit to a regional agreement not to execute people from abolitionist countries.

"We need to find some sort of regional protocol, I don't think it will be easy to do," he said.

"Hopefully countries that execute will see their citizens facing the death penalty in protocol countries, while citizens of abolitionist countries will escape it and hopefully that will put pressure on death penalty countries to do something about that."

Source: ABC News, July 30, 2011

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