- US and China strike conciliatory tone as high-level talks begin in Beijing
Talks come amid tensions over cyber-espionage, currency manipulation and concern over China's territorial ambitions
John Kerry and Xi Jinping attend the opening ceremony of the 6th China-US security and economic dialogue. Photograph: Feng Li/Getty Images
Two days of high-level talks between Washington and Beijing began on Wednesday morning amid tensions over cyber-espionage, currency manipulation, and rising international concern over China's territorial ambitions in the South and East China seas.
Both Chinese and US officials, including the US secretary of state, John Kerry, and the treasury secretary, Jacob Lew, struck a conciliatory tone at the opening ceremony of the strategic and economic dialogue at the Diaoyutai guest house in western Beijing. China's president, Xi Jinping, remarked that confrontation between the two countries would be a "disaster".
"We welcome the emergence of a peaceful, stable, prosperous China that contributes to the stability and development of the region, and chooses to play a responsible role in world affairs," Kerry said in a speech.
"I can tell you that we are determined to choose the path of peace and prosperity and cooperation, and yes, even competition, but not conflict."
Experts say that the talks, now in their sixth year, mark an important reaffirmation of the US-China relationship, one of the world's most economically important – bilateral trade adds up more than $500bn (£290bn) a year. Yet owing to a host of political sticking points, from human rights to cyber-espionage, they are not likely to yield any significant agreements.
Clear differences between organic and non-organic food, study finds
Research is first to find wide-ranging differences between organic and conventional fruits, vegetables and cereals
Organic food has more of the antioxidant compounds linked to better health and lower levels of toxic metals and pesticides, according to the most comprehensive scientific analysis to date.
The international scientific team behind the new work suggests that switching from regular to organic fruit and vegetables could give the same benefits as adding one or two portions of the "five a day" currently recommended.
The team, led by Prof Carlo Leifert at the University of Newcastle, concludes that there are "statistically significant, meaningful" differences, with a range of antioxidants being "substantially higher" – between 19% and 69% – in organic food. It is the first study to demonstrate clear and wide-ranging differences between organic and conventional fruits, vegetables and cereals.
The researchers say the increased levels of antioxidants are equivalent to "one to two of the five portions of fruits and vegetables recommended to be consumed daily and would therefore be significant and meaningful in terms of human nutrition, if information linking these [compounds] to the health benefits associated with increased fruit, vegetable and whole grain consumption is confirmed".
The findings will bring to the boil a long-simmering row over whether those differences mean organic food is better for people, with one expert calling the work sexed up.
Tom Sanders, a professor of nutrition at King's College London, said the research did show some differences. "But the question is are they within natural variation? And are they nutritionally relevant? I am not convinced."
- WORLD CUP | GERMANY 7, BRAZIL 1
Goal, Goal, Goal, Goal, Goal, Goal, Goal, and Brazil’s Day Goes Dark
World Cup 2014: Host Brazil Stunned by Germany in Semifinal
The New York Times JULY 8, 2014
BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil — The fireworks began at dawn. All around this city, loud pops and bangs rang out as men and women and children, so many dressed in yellow, set off flares and beeped car horns. It was supposed to be a magical day. The Brazilian national soccer team, playing at home, was one game away from a World Cup final.
No one could have guessed the tears would come before halftime. No one could have imagined there would be flags burning in the streets before dinner. Certainly no one could have envisioned that any Brazilian fans, watching their team play a semifinal in a celebrated stadium, would ever consider leaving long before full time.
Germany’s Miroslav Klose, left, Toni Kroos (who scored twice) and Sami Khedira during Tuesday’s dismantling of Brazil in a World Cup semifinal.On Soccer: World Cup 2014: Brazil Left Humiliated by Germany’s DominanceJULY 8, 2014
2014 World Cup Semifinals Result Leaves Germany in AweJULY 8, 2014
Brazilian soccer fans at a live telecast at Copacabana beach watching their team, a five-time World Cup champion, lose to Germany in the semifinals.In Brazil, World Cup Loss to Germany Looms LargeJULY 8, 2014
It all happened. The 2014 World Cup, first plagued by questions about funding and protests and infrastructure and construction, then buoyed by scads of goals and dramatic finishes and a contagious spirit of joy from the local residents, will ultimately be remembered for this: the home team, regarded as the sport’s superpower, being throttled like an overmatched junior varsity squad that somehow stumbled into the wrong game.
The final score was Germany 7, Brazil 1. It felt like Germany 70, Brazil 1. By the end, the Germans were barely celebrating their goals anymore, and the Brazilians, starting with their coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, could manage little more than blank stares. In the stands, the Brazilian fans — the ones who stayed around, at least — passed the time by cycling through obscene chants about each player, as well as the Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff.
“I think,” Scolari said afterward, “that it was the worst day of my life.”
- This is thrilling life-extension news – for dictators and the ultra-rich
Longevity science may divide us into treated and untreated: the first living ever longer, the second dying even younger than now
'It’s not impossible to see how a thousand-year life could lead to a thousand-year reich.' Illustration by Daniel Pudles
Once it was a myth. Now it's a dream. And soon it will be an expectation. Suddenly the science of life extension is producing remarkable results. New papers hint at the possibility of treatments that could radically increase human longevity.
So much is happening that it's hard to know where to begin. But I'll pick just two of the gathering developments. The first concerns a class of enzymes called sirtuins. This month's Trends in Genetics states that the question of whether these enzymes could increase longevity in mammals "has now been settled decidedly in the affirmative".
Last month a new paper in the journal Aging Cell showed how synthetic small molecules (in other words, potential drugs) can stimulate the production of sirtuins in mice, extending their life span and improving their health. The results show, the paper says, that it's "possible to design a small molecule that can slow aging and delay multiple age-related diseases in mammals, supporting the therapeutic potential ... in humans".
The second development I've plucked from the tumult of extraordinary new science concerns an external hormone (a pheromone) secreted by nematode worms, called daumone. A new paper reports that when daumone is fed to elderly mice, it reduced the risk of death by 48% across five months. "Daumone could be developed as an anti-aging compound."
There are still plenty of missing steps, not least clinical trials and drug development, but there's a strong sense that we stand at an extraordinary moment. Who would not want this – to cheat the gods and mock the reaper? The benefits are so obvious that one recent article insists that political leaders who fail to provide sufficient funding for life-extension science should be charged with manslaughter. It's thrilling, dazzling, awe-inspiring. And rather alarming.
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