Snippets
• The EU announced on April 25, 2005 that it has approved a method for testing the Bt10 variety of genetically modified corn. The move might end an EU ban on the import of US corn gluten and brewer's grain based on the fear they might be contaminated by Bt10.
• Thousands of people were recently rendered homeless in Tanzania's Zanzibar island following the heaviest rainfall there in over three decades. Zanzibar's chief minister Shamsi Vuai Nahodha has called for international aid.
• Australian scientists have announced the discovery of new coral reefs spread over 100 kilometres in the Gulf of Carpentaria, off the country's north coast. Geoscience Australia said the reefs are at least 100,000 years old. They couldn't be found earlier because they were about 20 metres under water, and thus invisible on satellite images.
• Colgate-Palmolive Company's Colgate Total toothpaste is trapped in controversy following new research that says products containing triclosan, that fights bacteria, can expose consumers to chloroform, a probable human carcinogen. The study dealt with triclosan in dishwashing soaps. The company has responded by saying that the "research did not involve toothpaste in any way and its conclusions have no applicability to Colgate Total...'.
• Hong Kong's fisherfolk staged a protest on April 27, 2005 against fishing restrictions proposed by the government. They argued that pollution, not overfishing, had decreased fish catches and said the move will destroy their livelihood.