[ 26/05/2012 – 02:17 PM ]

CAIRO, (PIC)– The general assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday adopted unanimously a draft resolution submitted by Arab countries including Saudi Arabia condemning the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.

The assembly approved the resolution with 56 votes in favor, six against, 48 abstentions and 72 absent.

The resolution called on the Israeli occupation authority to immediately end the closure it is imposing on the occupied Palestinian territories especially at Gaza crossings, which caused a serious shortage of vital medical needs, and to reverse its policies that led to the deterioration of the health conditions of Palestinians and rendered many of them dead.

The resolution also demanded Israel to end its restrictions on the movement of medical personnel, vehicles, and patients and to enable them to reach health institutions in occupied Jerusalem and outside it.

WHO called for improving the health…

A recent presentation by the owner of UK fracker Cuadrilla reveals the company plans to inject tens of thousands of gallons of Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) into its frack sites in the UK.

The presentation – by AJ Lucas, 42% owner of Cuadrilla – reveal that Balcombe can expect sixteen thousand gallons of HCl to be pumped 800m under the village. Hydrochloric acid is typically used neat – its main function is to clean the tiny spaces between subsurface rocks at the start of the fracking process.

The presentation shows that of the fluids Cuadrilla intend to inject underground, 0.125% will be HCl (see p 21 of the presentation). A typical well uses 12.8 million gallons of fluids (based on 1.6 million gallons per frack and 8 fracks per site). For Balcombe this would mean a total of 16,000 gallons of pure hydrochloric acid forced into the ground.

The company…

This guest post, by Matthew Evans of Ipsos MORI,  is based on recent international research conducted by Ipsos MORI.

Delivering behaviour change is essential if we are to have a more sustainable society. Meeting the UK’s climate change targets will require action at an individual as well as governmental level.

There is a variety of ways in which these changes in behaviour can be achieved. These include top down legislation, providing information to enable people to make informed decisions, and offering incentives to ease the financial cost to people of making changes to the way they travel, heat their homes and choose more environmentally-friendly products. But what do the public think about these efforts to change the way they live?