Copyright © 2016 - 2021, The Troy Press
Copyright © 2016 - 2021, The Troy Press
Copyright © 2016 - 2021, The Troy Press
Hurricane Matthew: In Haiti the death toll stands at 877 but the US media does not seem to care
Four minutes before 10am on Friday morning, Reuters provided an update on the death toll in Haiti. At a minimum, the news agency said, 572 people had lost their lives as a result of Hurricane Matthew.
At almost precisely the same time, CNN was broadcasting live footage of the storm as it passed northwest along the coast of Florida, from where more than two million people had fled. The winds were strong, the waves powerful and there was genuine concern about the potentially deadly impact of the storm surge.
But at that moment, the number of US fatalities as a result of the category four storm was zero. The Haitian death toll barely made a mention in the network's rolling coverage.
The production and consumption of natural Andean and Amazonian ancestral products in Peru is threatened by the "biopiracy" of foreign companies who have filed over 11,690 patents for the domestic produce of the region, effectively poaching the natural heritage of the country. The resources are said to be rich in nutrients and vitamins and range from those with anti-aging properties to those that act as natural aphrodisiacs.
Small farmers could be among those worst affected if foreign companies obtain the patents. "Campesinos have been guardians of seeds and diversity generation after generation, from our ancestors to our fathers we have inherited the seeds," said Director of the National Association of Ecological Products of Peru Moises Quispe.
"We campesinos are very conscious about it. These seeds are part of our lives, and if there's a new owner who patents them for their own economic interests, it's a very worrying situation."
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