September, 13 2013, 01:20pm EDT
Over 200k Worldwide Demand Bayer Drop Bee-Killing Lawsuit and Help "Save the Bees"
Citizens Outraged As Bayer Sues the European Commission to Protect Bee-Killing Pesticides
WASHINGTON
More than 200,000 people from around the world have signed onto a new petition by SumOfUs.org, a global consumer watchdog organization, urging Bayer to immediately drop its lawsuit against the European Commission in defense of its bee-killing pesticide products.
VIEW THE PETITION HERE: https://action.sumofus.org/a/bayer-bees-lawsuit/?sub=pr
Bayer, one of the world's largest chemical corporations, claim that the ban is "unjustified" and "disproportionate," but clear scientific evidence shows their products, containing neonicotinoid, or neonic, are behind the massive bee die-off that puts entire food chains in peril. The European Union banned these bee-killers in May of 2013, after a massive public campaign and a clear scientific finding from the European Food Safety Authority that neonics pose huge risks to bee populations.
"Bayer is using the same tried-and-true tactics of climate-change denialists and Big Tobacco. The evidence clearly points to neonics as one of the major causes of bee die-off. Instead of adjusting their product line-up to protect our food supply, Monsanto, Syngenta, and Bayer have bought up bee research labs in order to churn out their own biased studies to cloud the data. With a third of our food supply dependent on bees at risk, over 200,000 people across the globe have denounced Bayer's sham-science delay tactics and demanded the company respect sound science. It's time for Bayer and Syngenta to listen up, and respect the European Commission's decisions."
SumOfUs is a community of people from around the world committed to curbing the growing power of corporations. We want to buy from, work for and invest in companies that respect the environment, treat their workers well and respect democracy. And we're not afraid to hold them to account when they don't. Barely a day goes by without a fresh corporate scandal making headlines. From polluting the environment to dodging taxes - when left unchecked, corporations don't let anything stand in the way of bigger profits. In an age of multinational companies that are bigger and richer than some countries, it can be easy to feel powerless. But there is a chink in their armor. The biggest corporations in the world rely on ordinary people to keep them in business. We are their customers, their employees, and often their investors. When we act together, we can be more powerful than they are. Together, our community of millions act as a global consumer watchdog - running and winning campaign
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UN Chief Warns of Israel's Syria Invasion and Land Seizures
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United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Thursday that he is "deeply concerned" by Israel's "recent and extensive violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity," including a ground invasion and airstrikes carried out by the Israel Defense Forces in the war-torn Mideastern nation.
Guterres "is particularly concerned over the hundreds of Israeli airstrikes on several locations in Syria" and has stressed the "urgent need to de-escalate violence on all fronts throughout the country," said U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
Israel claims its invasion and bombardment of Syria—which come as the United States and Turkey have also violated Syrian sovereignty with air and ground attacks—are meant to create a security buffer along the countries' shared border in the wake of last week's fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and amid the IDF's ongoing assault on Gaza, which has killed or wounded more than 162,000 Palestinians and is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case.
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Israel conquered the western two-thirds of the Golan Heights in 1967 and has illegally occupied it ever since, annexing the seized lands in 1981.
Other countries including France, Russia, and Saudi Arabia have criticized Israel's invasion, while the United States defended the move.
"The Syrian army abandoned its positions in the area... which potentially creates a vacuum that could have been filled by terrorist organizations," U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a press briefing earlier this week. "Israel has said that these actions are temporary to defend its borders. These are not permanent actions... We support all sides upholding the 1974 disengagement agreement."
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—a co-sponsor of Sanders' Medicare for All Act—similarly toldHuffPost in a Tuesday interview, "The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the healthcare system."
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Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) 2024 roundup, which was published Thursday, found that at least 54 journalists were killed on the job or in connection with their work this year, and 18 of them were killed by Israeli armed forces (16 in Palestine, and two in Lebanon).
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