Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE US IS rethinking its position on whether it will arm the Syrian rebels.
The news comes on the same day as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad had killed at least 50 people in Baida, with the death toll expected to exceed 100.
“Witnesses from the village say no less than 50 civilians were killed, including women and children,” the rights group said.
At a news conference with his British counterpart Philip Hammond, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel was asked if the US government was rethinking its opposition to arming the rebels and replied: “Yes.”
The Pentagon chief was quick to add that no decision had been reached, however, and declined to say whether he himself was in favour of arming the opposition.
I’m in favor of exploring options and seeing what is the best option in coordination with our international partners.
After last week’s acknowledgement by the White House that US intelligence agencies believed the Syrian regime may have used chemical weapons on a small-scale, speculation has mounted that President Barack Obama could reverse his opposition to arming the rebels.
At the same press conference, Hammond said Britain had not ruled out arming the rebels or other military options but that his government had to abide by a European Union prohibition on sending weapons to the opposition.
“Certainly in our case, for the UK, we have been subject to an EU ban on supplying armaments to the rebels,” Hammond said.
We will look at the situation when that ban expires in a few weeks’ time. We will continue to keep that situation under review. But we will do what we are able to do within the bounds of legality, and we regard that as very important.
- Additional reporting by AFP
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
We’ve known for decades that Mediterranean diet is very healthy especially in older age. Why do we keep researching things where we already know the answer?
@Gavin: It’s about finding out why and how.
@Gavin: a lot of things we “know” are urban legends or old wives tales.
Important that knowledge is verified and understood.
No mention of beef? What about the pooooooor hard done by farmers, surely we’re not suggesting that the government should subsidise the production of healthier, more sustainable foods like vegetables instead of continuing to spend millions on beef subsidies.
@: 1. Beef is healthy in moderation. 2. The Beef industry is a big Irish exporter, so basically a strong economic resource.
There is also research that states that a carnivore diet that’s very heavy on red meats like beef is very healthy and provides many benefits over a normal diet.
I personally wouldn’t go for this but I think that what diet works best depends very much so on the individual and we shouldn’t go writing off certain foods because it doesn’t fit our narrative
@milton friedman:
If it’s such a strong economic resource why does it rely on subsidies? The EU is phasing out beef subsidies for a reason. Why should we be subsidising the production of something with taxpayer money?
As for the “carnivore diet” being “healthy”, that’s fringe stuff that goes against the consensus. Saturated fat is linked to heart disease, the science on that is pretty solid. Most of our micronutrients come from fruit & veg rather than meat.
Not saying for a second we should ban beef or anything, I’m just challenging this ridiculous idea that subsidising beef is the duty of our governments. If we’re going to subsidise the production of food (which is a good thing to prevent reliance on other countries), we should be subsidising healthy, economic foods. Beef is expensive to produce, produces far more CO2 and methane than the alternatives, and is largely unhealthy at the levels people eat it. You’ll find far more people eating too much beef than too little.
@: I don’t disagree with anything you have said; in fact I basically wholly agree.
I was just outlining why beef receives subsidies, mainly for the second reason. I’m not sure the power it has now, surely diminished, but Ireland was making agreements with countries based on supplying beef (Libya and China for example) in the past, so it is seen as a benefit to subsidize beef production opposed to other produce.
@John Black: The carnivore diet reduces all gut bacteria immensely, both good and bad. So while it lowers inflammation from the bad gut bacteria that live off things like carbs,it also reduces your much needed good gut bacteria and likely causes bad long term affects.
@John Murphy:
It also lacks vitamin C, a deficiency of which, causes scurvy. It’s a dangerous diet peddled by crackpots.
I wouldn’t call it a crack pot diet because it does show beneficial effects on a short term. But I agree it’s very dangerous for the average person to try.
I’d stick with a low carb high fibre diet instead.
Living in a Mediterranean climate boosts chances of ‘healthy’ ageing among older people as well
@Fergus O’Connor: absolutely and you get brown and wrinkly and can rock about in the sun naked as the day god made you all those years ago..
Did someone forget to mention the cheap glass of wine, the warm climate ,proper health system and early pension might also have something to do with it ?
@Ken Bramley: D’accord. C’est la vie!
Eating Mediterranean fish in the Mediterranean will prolong your life even longer
@Shane Cormican: An underwater eating session in the Med could drown you!!!
A BIG factor is climate they are more healthy because outside more therefore more active and its warm so helps with arthritis, would get a lot of vitamin D
Well seeing as fish now consist or varying degrees of plastic you’d probably be better on a Mediterranean vegetarian diet with an omega 3 supplement.
Just living in a Mediterranean environment would prolong your life, the fish unfortunately like everywhere else are probably Toxic
Yea,the price of fish in this country.The spanish hoovering up all the fish and we live on an island and we cant afford to eat fish every day.
Knowing (and practising) this since I was 5 (months), I couldn’t agree more.
Also, it’s importat to enjoy food, and prepare yourself. That’ll keep you healthy too.
Load o’ bollocks
More Fiber, moderate meat, less processed fat like margarine or oil for 3 Euro, less sugar – it causes inflammation, that’s it. Of course most important is exercise.
have your say