Author: Himalaya Post

SAN FRANCISCO – A California jury ordered chemical giant Monsanto to pay nearly $290 million Friday for failing to warn a dying groundskeeper that its weed killer Roundup might cause cancer. Jurors unanimously found that Monsanto — which vowed to appeal — acted with “malice” and that its weed killers Roundup and the professional grade version RangerPro contributed “substantially” to Dewayne Johnson’s terminal illness. Following eight weeks of trial proceedings, the San Francisco jury ordered Monsanto to pay $250 million in punitive damages along with compensatory damages and other costs, bringing the total figure to nearly $290 million. Johnson, a California groundskeeper diagnosed in 2014 with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma — a cancer that affects white blood cells — says he repeatedly used a professional form of Roundup while working at a school in Benicia, California. “I want to thank everybody on the jury from the bottom of my heart,” Johnson, 46, said after the verdict. “I am glad to be here; the cause is way bigger than me. Hopefully this thing will get the attention it needs.” Johnson, who appeared to fight back sobs while the verdict was read, wept openly, as did some jurors, when he met with the panel afterward. The lawsuit built on 2015 findings by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the UN World Health Organization, which classified Roundup’s main ingredient glyphosate as...

MANILA – The US military said it had launched a search and rescue operation after reports a marine may have fallen overboard from an American warship as it sailed through Philippine waters. The US 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit said a member, who was not named, may have gone overboard Thursday morning. Aircraft on board the USS Essex are searching waters off the Sulu Sea and the Surigao Strait while multiple searches are also being made inside the ship itself, the unit said. The ship was conducting “routine operations in the Sulu Sea” at the time, the California based unit said in the statement, which was posted on its social media sites.”We remain committed to searching for and finding our marine,” the statement quoted its commander, Colonel Chandler Nelms as saying. “All of our sailors, marines and available assets aboard the USS Essex have been and will continue to be involved in this incredibly important search and rescue operation,” added the search commander, US Navy Captain Gerald Olin. In Manila, Philippine authorities said on Saturday they authorised US ships and aircraft to enter Philippine territory to join in the search, while dispatching their own military search aircraft.”A US marine fell from a US ship while traversing Philippine waters. We allowed the entry of rescue ships and aircraft,” Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters. “As of now there has been no...

DAMASCUS –  Syrian air defences engaged an “enemy target” near the border with Lebanon west of Damascus overnight, state news agency SANA reported on Saturday. “Our air defences confronted an enemy target that penetrated airspace above the area of Deir al-Ashair in the Damascus countryside,” SANA said.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said air defences reacted to “targets aiming at regime and loyalist positions in Deir al-Ashair” near the Lebanese border. The Britain-based monitor, which relies on sources inside Syria for its information, did not specify who was reponsible for the attack It said Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which has been backing the Damascus government in Syria’s seven-year civil war, was present in the area.The Russia-backed government often accuses Israel of targeting its military positions. Israel has carried out numerous raids in recent years, targeting government forces and their allies from Iran and Hezbollah. Last week, Syrian air defences confronted another “enemy attack” west of Damascus. Then too the Observatory said it was unable to determine who was responsible.Last month, Syria accused Israel of bombing a military post in the northern province of Aleppo, where the Observatory reported at least nine pro-regime fighters...

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday discussed a broad range of trade and security issues, including the situation in Iran and the broader Middle East, with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, on the phone, the White House said. The two leaders have reaffirmed their commitment to coordinating closely to address global challenges, the statement read. Trump tweeted that he had “a very good phone call” with Macron and “discussed various subjects, in particular Security and Trade.” Before Trump’s Monday decision to re-impose sanctions on Iran, which was once lifted under an Iran nuclear deal, the European Union (EU) and three of its heavyweight members, Britain, France and Germany, said they would maintain economic ties with Tehran and “are determined to protect European economic operators engaged in legitimate business with Iran.” After its withdrawal from the deal in May, Washington has worked to block Iran’s international financial transactions and reducing its oil exports to zero, both are said to undermine the interests of Europe. The EU’s updated Blocking Statute entered into force Tuesday as a countermeasure to Washington’s reimposition of sanctions on Iran.The trans-Atlantic ties have also been at odds over trade and sharing defense expenditure....