Politico: Are Europe’s eggs safe to eat?

Supermarkets took precautionary measures by withdrawing some cartons, and Aldi in Germany even stopped selling eggs outright. The chemical is completely banned for use on farm animals: Researchers link fipronil to a range of human health problems and point to a particular danger for children. [...]

“The German federal minister is denying the health threats and speaks of an average German consumption,” Meyer said. “If a child only eats as many eggs as Germans eat on average per month, then that would not be dangerous. But if the child eats … one egg a day, then there’s already a breach of the acute threat level for children regarding that poison — so you see I believe we have to state clearly that there is a possible threat to children’s health.”

The full scale of the problem is still unclear as results of Belgian and German tests are expected in the coming days. It also remains to be seen whether the scandal is limited to eggs, or whether fipronil will transpire to be a risk in cakes and pasta too, as well as chicken itself. [...]

The issue exploded into a major scandal this week. The NVWA closed 180 farms — which together produce some 40 million eggs a week — and said it had found one farm producing such high levels of fipronil that they posed an “acute danger to public health.” The Netherlands warned on Thursday that eggs from 59 producers should not be served to children.

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Motherboard: Young Iranians Are Using These Apps to Bypass Government Oppression

In a country where 60 percent of the 80 million population is under 30 years old, the mobile-savvy, VPN-using youth in Iran have been resisting government control. Telegram, the encrypted messaging service, has become a popular form of communication for political expression, for example. But young people are also up against internet censorship, moral policing and fundamental religious clerics. Even with a relatively more liberal leader like Rouhani, Facebook and Twitter are still banned. [...]

One app that sparked success upon its release was Gershad, which helps users protect themselves from the Gasht-e Ershad (guidance patrol), the so-called "morality police" of Iran. This de facto police force identifies and arrests anyone deemed to be inappropriately dressed, or in violation of Islamic cultural values, as reported by Iran Wire. Inevitably, women are more persecuted than men, as one of the main responsibilities of the morality police is to make sure women wear the hijab according to Islamic law. [...]

Sandoogh96, which translates to Vote17 (2017 is 1396 in the Iranian calendar), is an app that was launched just before the elections last May. The app is inspired by the infamous dating app Tinder, which allows users to swipe right on another user if they're interested, or swipe left if they're not. But instead of swiping right or left for a date, Sandoogh96 users swipe to find out which politician is more in line with their ideas. [...]

HamDam includes the usual ovulation and period tracking features, but contains additional information about reproductive and legal rights for Iranian women. This is especially important because sexual education in Iran is very limited to young, straight couples getting married, according to the HamDam project lead Soudeh Rad. [...]

In Iran, approximately 63 percent of all women are subject to verbal, sexual, or psychological abuse, and most women do not report this to the authorities for reasons varying from guilt, or fear of economic hardship. But technology is trying to come to the rescue: Toranj mimics Circle of 6 to suit Iran's context, and has information similar to that present in HamDam.

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Al Jazeera: Do black lives matter in France?

At first, officials claimed that Adama had succumbed to heart disease. Later, they said that the young man died as a result of a "serious infection" affecting multiple organs. They also claimed that he had been drinking and smoking cannabis before his arrest. Adama's relatives immediately denied these claims, and asked for further investigation into the cause of his death.

Ten months later, a new expert, who assessed the case at the Traore family's request, did not find any signs of heart disease or infection. Toxicology reports for cannabis and alcohol also came back negative. He concluded that Adama Traore's cause of death was asphyxiation. [...]

Adama Traore is not the first person to die in police custody in France and the Traore family is not the first French family to break down as a result of police actions. There are many families all over the country struggling to get justice for their loved ones who died in similar circumstances. [...]

In January 2017, an investigation by the Defenseur des Droits, an independent constitutional authority, revealed that young men "perceived as Arabs or blacks" are 20 times more likely to undergo an identity check in France than the rest of the population. The same report also showed that 95 percent of these identity checks did not lead to an arrest. [...]

Amnesty International had already sounded the alarm about police brutality in France in 2009 and 2011 and warned of the dangers of the restraint techniques used by police officers. The prone restraint - or face-down restraint - involved the detainee being pinned on a surface and physically prevented from moving out of this position. Research has suggested that restraining a person in this position can lead to asphyxia and the technique has been banned in countries such as Belgium and Switzerland, as well as Los Angeles and New York in the US. In France, this is still a lawful and acceptable restraint technique. 

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Katoikos: Aviation after Brexit: Feathers fly, planes stay grounded

Take the case of aviation. There are no WTO rules to govern aviation. Aviation is mostly governed privately, and in the EU it’s a responsibility of the European Single Sky and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Since our old bilateral agreements are so out of date, they do not provide for an adequate coverage of modern aviation technology and safety measures. Airlines and airports alike would simply not risk scheduling flights, without the necessary legal certainty. [...]

Obviously, this would be disastrous primarily for the British economy (and tourists), but it would also hurt Europe. Many of Europe’s regional airports currently direct their flights to or through London airports, like Stansted or Luton. In most cases, these airports already run a deficit. With their primary flight connections cut off, they might need to close down.

Ireland will be affected by this particularly hard. Its economy is still recovering from the harsh austerity that came with the 2008 financial crisis, which makes this situation especially tough for them. Last month, Kevin Toland from Dublin Airport asked members of the European Parliament to support Ireland in the harsh times ahead. 78% of air traffic to and from Ireland happens through the UK. 53.7% of overall EU traffic is between the UK and the EU27. Of that 39.2% is between the UK and Ireland. [...]

It is now also the only English speaking country left in the EU. Routing intercontinental flights through Dublin airport rather than Heathrow might kill two birds with one stone. The EU’s financial support of the necessary expansion of the airport would prop up Ireland’s economy and bring more tourism. And American airlines would have to accept the change if they want to continue flying into the European Union, just like traders will have to accept Paris and Frankfurt as their new destinations for Euro currency trading. It is likely that European airlines like Lufthansa wouldn’t mind more direct flights between other European cities and US cities either.

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IFLScience: Loneliness And Social Isolation Could Be Deadlier Than Obesity

New research says that this widespread social isolation is a major threat to public health, perhaps even deadlier than obesity. The issue is only set to get worse too because of a decreasing number of children per household, declines in marriage, and an aging population.

“Being connected to others socially is widely considered a fundamental human need — crucial to both well-being and survival. Extreme examples show infants in custodial care who lack human contact fail to thrive and often die, and indeed, social isolation or solitary confinement has been used as a form of punishment,” Julianne Holt-Lunstad, professor of psychology at Brigham Young University, said in a statement. [...]

Using both of these studies, they concluded that social isolation, loneliness, or simply living alone had a significant and equal effect on the risk of premature death. They also found that greater social connection is associated with a 50 percent reduced risk of early death.

Everybody has felt lonely at some point in their life. However, chronic loneliness is a very different beast. Numerous other studies have shown a link between loneliness and physical health difficulties, from fragmented sleep and dementia to lower cardiovascular output and a weakened immune system. The mechanism is not exactly crystal clear, however, it is likely to be a combination of psychological factors taking their toll on physical health and the absence of a support network.

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