- Hitting Islamic State’s oil operations
BBC 25 September 2014
The US military's Central Command (Centcom) said the latest wave of air strikes by American, Saudi and Emirati jets and drones had targeted several small refineries in areas of Syria under the control of the Islamic State (IS).
These refineries and the fields supplying them with oil have played a vital role in fuelling IS military units and in generating an estimated $2m (£1.2m) in daily revenue for the group.
Damaging this infrastructure is clearly part of the wider strategy of the US and its allies of weakening IS's capabilities.
Centcom's statement suggested that the facilities it hit were producing between 300 and 500 barrels of refined petroleum per day. They were in Mayadin and Abu Kamal, in the southern part of the Euphrates Valley, and at al-Houl, in Hassakeh province, further to the north-east.
'Teapot refineries'
In the course of its dramatic offensives in Iraq and Syria in June, IS gained control of much of the oil infrastructure that had been relinquished by the Assad regime over the previous two years.
The prize assets were a cluster of fields in the Euphrates valley that had been operated by ventures including the Anglo-Dutch Shell and France's Total.
These fields - the largest of which are Omar and Tanak - produce light, low-sulphur, crude oil that is relatively easy to refine. Prior to the IS surge, the fields were controlled by the al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate, and local tribes.
However, the Euphrates Valley fields have been in steep decline since they peaked at about 400,000 bpd 10 years ago, and were only producing about 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) at the start of the uprising against the Assad regime in March 2011.
The geology in this area is complex, and the fields require the injection of large amounts of water to sustain production.
- Xi Jinping’s Pure Party
SEP 24, 2014
LONDON – China’s annual growth rate has recently increased from below 6% at the start of 2014 to around 7.5% in the second quarter, helped by a series of stealth stimulus measures. But the growth spurt is unlikely to last – and may reverse – as China seeks to control excessive credit expansion. And achieving longer-term sustainable growth will also depend on political factors – particularly the impact of President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, aimed at “purifying” the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Xi’s campaign is being carried out on a scale rarely witnessed in China’s recent history. So far, some 45 senior CCP officials, or “tigers,” have been disciplined or are under investigation. Aside from former Chongqing Party boss Bo Xilai, who is now serving a life sentence, Zhou Yongkang, a former head of internal security and member of the Politburo Standing Committee, and General Xu Caihou, a former vice president of China’s Military Commission, have also been targeted.
More high-profile heads almost certainly will roll. The CCP’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, whose secretary, Wang Qishan, is a Xi ally, is now investigating former President Jiang Zemin’s Shanghai network, whose protégés include Bo, Zhou, Xu, his successor Hu Jintao, and Xi himself. Corruption charges have already been brought against people close to Jiang and Hu.
Xi’s campaign is aimed at combating systematic corruption, which he claims is jeopardizing the CCP’s very survival. Even before becoming President, he spoke at length about the Marxist-Leninist concept of “Party purity” in an address to the Central Party School in Beijing in March 2012. The Party, he insisted, can command respect and maintain the legitimacy of its rule only if cadres are obedient, set an example of incorruptibility, and place the nation’s interests above their own. Without a “pure” Party, he said, China’s economic reforms would not succeed.
Two weeks later, Bo was removed from office, marking the start of Xi’s anti-corruption campaign. After becoming CCP leader later that year, Xi told a Party meeting in Guangdong that China must heed the lessons of the Soviet Union’s collapse, particularly its failure to maintain Leninist discipline, which had allowed “political rot, ideological heresy, and military disloyalty to undermine the governing party.”
The anti-corruption campaign reflects the CCP’s apparent determination to rid itself of vested interests. At its 2013 Third Plenum, the CCP announced 60 goals for economic and governance reforms. Many hope that these changes will help the CCP become more effective, strengthen the role of the market, and avoid the so-called middle-income trap that has ensnared many emerging countries.
However, the Party’s rhetoric reveals little about how these goals will be achieved.
- Brain repair 'may be boosted by curry spice'
BBC 25 September 2014
Previous studies have suggested turmeric may have cancer-fighting properties
A spice commonly found in curries may boost the brain's ability to heal itself, according to a report in the journal Stem Cell Research and Therapy.
The German study suggests a compound found in turmeric could encourage the growth of nerve cells thought to be part of the brain's repair kit.
Scientists say this work, based in rats, may pave the way for future drugs for strokes and Alzheimer's disease.
But they say more trials are needed to see whether this applies to humans.
Spice injection
Researchers from the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine in Julich, Germany, studied the effects of aromatic-turmerone - a compound found naturally in turmeric.
Rats were injected with the compound and their brains were then scanned.
Particular parts of the brain, known to be involved in nerve cell growth, were seen to be more active after the aromatic-turmerone infusion.
Scientists say the compound may encourage a proliferation of brain cells.
In a separate part of the trial, researchers bathed rodent neural stem cells (NSCs) in different concentrations of aromatic-tumerone extract.
NSCs have the ability to transform into any type of brain cell and scientists suggest they could have a role in repair after damage or disease.
Dr Maria Adele Rueger, who was part of the research team, said: "In humans and higher developed animals their abilities do not seem to be sufficient to repair the brain but in fish and smaller animals they seem to work well."
The research found the higher the concentration of aromatic-turmerone, the greater the growth of the NSCs.
And the cells bathed in the turmeric compound seemed to specialise into certain types of brain cells more rapidly too.
Dr Rueger added: "It is interesting that it might be possible to boost the effectiveness of the stem cells with aromatic-turmerone.
"And it is possible this in turn can help boost repair in the brain."
She is now considering whether human trials may be feasible.
'Complex disease'
Dr Laura Phipps at the charity, Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "It is not clear whether the results of this research would translate to people, or whether the ability to generate new brain cells in this way would benefit people with Alzheimer's disease.
"We'd need to see further studies to fully understand this compound's effects in the context of a complex disease like Alzheimer's, and until then people shouldn't take this as a sign to stock up on supplies of turmeric for the spice rack."
Aromatic-turmerone is the lesser-studied of two major compounds in turmeric that may have an effect on the human body.
Previous studies suggest the other compound, curcumin, could reduce inflammation in the body and have anti-cancer benefits.
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