To βακτήριο αποφράσσει τα αγγεία του φυτού και σταδιακά τα απονεκρώνει -εικόνα αρχείου
Η Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή βρίσκεται σε «απόλυτη επαγρύπνηση» για ενδεχόμενη εξάπλωση ενός ξενόφερτου βακτηρίου που προσβάλλει ελαιόδεντρα στη νότια Ιταλία, με αποτέλεσμα να τεθεί σε κατάσταση έκτακτης ανάγκης μια περιοχή 2,4 εκατομμυρίων στρεμμάτων.
Το βακτήριο Xylella fastidiosa προέρχεται από τις ΗΠΑ και πρωτοεμφανίστηκε στην περιοχή της Απουλίας στη νότια Ιταλία το 2013.
«Η εδραίωση του βακτηρίου και η εξάπλωσή του στην Ευρώπη είναι πολύ πιθανή» προειδοποίησε τον Ιανουάριο η Ευρωπαϊκή Αρχή Ασφάλειας Τροφίμων (EFSA), κάνοντας λόγο για «μείζονες επιπτώσεις» αν ο παθογόνος μικροοργανισμός εξαπλωθεί σε άλλες χώρες της ΕΕ.
Εκτός από τα ελαιόδεντρα, ο εισβολέας προσβάλλει δεκάδες ακόμα είδη φυτών, όπως αμπέλια, εσπεριδοειδή, αμυγδαλιές και ροδακινιές, καθώς και καλλωπιστικά είδη όπως η πικροδάφνη.
Το Χ. fastidiosa μεταδίδεται από έντομα που απομυζούν το λεγόμενο ξύλωμα, τα αγγεία που μεταφέρουν νερό από τις ρίζες στα φύλλα. Εγκαθίσταται στα αγγεία αυτά και τα αποφράσσει, απονεκρώνοντας σταδιακά το φυτό.
Περίπου 1,1 εκατομμύρια ελαιόδεντρα, ή το 10% του συνόλου, εκτιμάται ότι έχουν μολυνθεί στην Απουλία, και η Επιτροπή συνιστά την προληπτική εκρίζωσή τους.
Η Ιταλία είναι σήμερα ο δεύτερος μεγαλύτερος παραγωγός ελαιόλαδου μετά την Ισπανία, και το βακτήριο θα μπορούσε να προκαλέσει μεγάλη οικονομική ζημιά. Γαλλία, Ισπανία και Πορτογαλία ζητούν την αυστηροποίηση των προληπτικών μέτρων, αναφέρει το Γαλλικό Πρακτορείο Ειδήσεων.
Ο λιθουανός επίτροπος Υγείας της ΕΕ Βιτένις Αντριουκαΐτις ανακοίνωσε ότι θα επισκεφθεί σύντομα την Ιταλία προκειμένου να εξεταστεί η αποτελεσματικότητα των μέτρων που λαμβάνονται για να σταματήσει η επιδημία.
Επιτροπή ειδικών που συστήθηκε από την ΕΕ θα εξετάσει τη λήψη νέων μέτρων στην επόμενη συνάντησή της το διήμερο 26-27 Μαρτίου.
Σύμφωνα με το Γαλλικό Πρακτορείο, ευρωπαίοι αξιωματούχοι κατηγορούν την Ιταλία ότι επιδείνωσε την κατάσταση λόγω της απροθυμίας να ξεριζώσει αιωνόβια άρρωστα δέντρα.
Μάλιστα η ιταλική περιβαλλοντική οργάνωση Peaclink έστειλε επιστολή στον Αντριουκαΐτις με την οποία του εφιστούσε την προσοχή για επιστημονικές μελέτες που ενοχοποιούν έναν μύκητα για την επιδημία στους ελαιώνες, αντί το X.festidiosa.
«Η Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή κινδυνεύει να καταδικάσει σε θάνατο ολόκληρο το οικοσύστημα της Απουλίας βασιζόμενη στα αποτελέσματα ελέγχων οι οποίοι δεν έχουν καν επιβεβαιώσει την παθογένεια του Xylella σε αυτά τα δέντρα» υποστηρίζει η οργάνωση.
“The trip to the South Pole was not the most extraordinary experience of my life, but it had to be done. In the same way that people visit Aghios Gerasimos to fulfill a pilgrimage, I felt it was my duty, as a Greek, to raise the blue-and-white flag there,” said Babis Bizas, 61, talking about one of his recent journeys.
The planet’s most traveled person, according to the Guinness Book of Records, Bizas is a daring explorer who has set foot in each of the world’s 195 countries. He also became the first Greek to leave his mark on both Poles – he visited the North Pole in 1995 and the South Pole a few weeks ago.
Recently back from his two-week mission on the Antarctic mainland, Bizas was speaking about his adventure on the sixth continent in great detail.
He recalled the 100-ton Russian army helicopter on which he flew from Patagonia in Chile to Union Glacier Camp, as well as the chopper which took him 2,000 kilometers from the shore to the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth. He talked about a group of about 100 scientists at the US Station who welcomed him to their state-of-the-art facilities (including kitchens, showers and storage areas, among others), as well as his 12 Russian fellow travelers (thanks to whom the mission was covered financially). He described living conditions in minus 36 degrees Celsius, including thermal sleeping bags and walking on 3,000 meters of accumulated ice – “like being on the tip of Mount Olympus” – which moves three centimeters every day.
“Similarly to the Strait of Magellan, the South Pole is not particularly attractive. In terms of tourist attractions you’ve seen it all in four hours. The rest is about emotion, history and human achievement – the importance of standing on the exact spot where Norway’s [Roald] Amundsen became the first man to set foot on in 1912 and where Britain’s [Robert Falcon] Scott died that same year,” noted Bizas.
Back home at his Halandri apartment, in northern Athens, Bizas was already planning his next adventure.
“There is a Greek starting point and return, but I can only last in Athens a few days, just the time I need to organize the next escapade,” said Bizas. Sitting next to him was his wife, Pinelopi, his life partner and travel companion. Their list of upcoming travel plans runs through March 2016 and includes exploring the Seychelles atolls of Alphonse, Farquhar and Aldabra – home to giant tortoises weighing around 150 kilos each – Annobon island of Equatorial Guinea and its Lago A Pot crater lake and Colombia’s Malpelo.
“The current trend is discovering unpolluted ecological havens and observing nature prior to human intervention,” noted Bizas. Just as well for he has never been a fan of luxury travel. “I don’t enjoy all-inclusive hotels and I find conventional holidays terribly boring, including swimming in shallow waters and sunbathing. I need action, chasing seabirds and chameleons. What’s the point of going somewhere if you’re not prepared to go on the street to meet local people and shake their hand?”
Forever a restless spirit, Bizas was raised in a five-member family in Arta, northern Greece. There was not much to trigger his imagination back then, but his curiosity was genuine. His father insisted on his son following in his own footsteps and getting a job at a bank. “There are those who want a career, others who want a family. I wanted to discover the world with a backpack,” said Bizas.
He was issued with his first passport at the age of 22, the year he traveled abroad for the first time, visiting Bulgaria, Romania and Istanbul. His next trip was a 40-day tour of Scandinavia. While studying political science at Panteion University in Athens, he took off on a six-month journey with just 250 dollars: He traveled by road to Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh and worked as a deckhand on a merchant marine vessel which took to him to South Africa. He returned to Athens in time to sit a constitutional law exam.
How did he make ends meet? “Have you ever slept under a bridge or at the Calcutta train station next to the police precinct to feel safe? Did you ever spend a week eating your Aunty Mary’s biscuits? Have you been a stowaway on a train? I made plenty of sacrifices, but the excitement of exploration always prevailed and I felt that nothing could stop me,” said Bizas.
What started out as a hobby soon turned into a profession. His travel experience and fluency in five languages led him to work as a travel planning director with major travel agent organizations. He made bold travel choices, but clients trusted him and he soon developed a passionate following, organizing the kind of trips which had never taken place before. He accompanied a group to El Salvador during the country’s civil war, another to Nicaragua during the rise to power of the Sandinistas, while he was among the first travelers to visit Vietnam at the end of the war in 1977. The risk taking culminated in 1988: He was arrested in Libya when the Gaddafi regime took him for a Israeli spy.
What would he describe as the highlights of 40 years of traveling? New York, his favorite destination; Azerbaijani cuisine; the thrilling journey tracing the footsteps of Alexander the Great; the temperate climate and diversity of the Greek landscapes; and the world’s happiest people on the African island of Sao Tome, who although living below the poverty line are never caught brooding because they’re content with very little. “This is why I follow the 1-2-3 mantra, traveling only with the bare essentials: one pair of shoes, two pairs of trousers and underwear, three shirts.”
We have been chatting for four hours, but Bizas is happy go on. He now has 40 passports in his drawer, never lets go of his three-time-zone wrist watch and is set on spending most of his days on airplanes for as long as he can.
What else is left to see? I wonder. “When I first started traveling, at the age of 22, I used to say that if I managed to go on 30 trips in my lifetime I would have seen the world. When I exceeded 80 trips, I felt I was still missing 200. Now that I’ve been on over 1,000 trips I know that what remains to be seen is more than what I have seen. That’s the way it goes: The more you travel, the more you discover. The feeling of ‘going further’ cannot be taught through documentaries.”
Greece and the European Union could reach a deal as early as this week to allow the release of badly needed aid funds for Athens, European Parliament President Martin Schulz said Tuesday.
“In my opinion, by the end of the week we will reach a new understanding that will be enough to unblock the most urgent funds,” Schulz said in an interview published in Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper.
Greece is desperately seeking the last tranche of a 240-billion-euro ($255-billion) EU-IMF bailout, amounting to about 7 billion euros but Brussels is refusing until it first approves Athens’s new package of reforms to its crisis-ridden economy.
A Greek government spokesman said Athens would submit a new list of reforms “by Monday at the latest” to its creditors.
New Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says the budget cuts and structural reforms demanded over the last five years in exchange for two massive bailout programs have not helped, but instead brought his country to its knees.
However, creditor institutions say Greece needs to pursue stringent fiscal reforms to put its financial house in order after years of mismanagement led to crisis and fears that the country will have to exit the euro single currency.
Brendan Rodgers looks at his pad with plenty to think about
There is never a desirable time to have the season interrupted by an international break, but it’s particularly unwanted after a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United.
Liverpool must now wait nearly a fortnight to put right the wrongs of their Anfield defeat as they send their players across the globe. They can only hope they all come back free of injury.
And Brendan Rodgers can only hope his Liverpool side can return fresh, ready to peg back the five-point defect to Manchester United in the final eight games to qualify for the Champions League.
Last week, Rodgers told of how he stayed awake into the early hours devising a way to turn around his side’s fortunes in the bleak mid-winter. Their situation is not as drastic now, granted, but after two difficult league games and a goalless draw at Blackburn, there would be little harm in re-assessing a few things.
Here is what the Reds boss must contemplate over the next two weeks.
HOW TO BEAT ARSENAL
The game at the Emirates is must-win for the Reds. They now sit six points behind the third-placed Gunners and, perhaps more importantly, five adrift of fourth-placed Manchester United. After setting his sights on second after beating Swansea, Liverpool could finish the Easter weekend in seventh.
And with Manchester United hosting Aston Villa, Liverpool could find themselves eight points off fourth, just weeks after being primed as favourites to take the final Champions League spot. Even a draw, a good result in isolation, leaves the Reds potentially seven points away.
For now, that is not for contemplation. A win over Arsenal puts them to within three points, and would put pressure on United. A pity, then, that Arsenal have won six consecutive league games, and just two in the past 15. Olivier Giroud is in great form in front of goal, while Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla have contributed to some lovely attacking play. With 22 goals in their previous 10, murmurings of a late title charge – a la Liverpool last season – have surfaced.
But if Monaco can beat Arsenal, Liverpool will feel confident. They simply have to, or the optimism of early March will be washed away in April.
Philippe Coutinho celebrates his goal in the 2-2 draw against Arsenal
TO 3-4-2-1 OR NOT TO 3-4-2-1?
Talk of Rodgers’ formation change, rightfully, dominated the build-up to the game. It was the manager’s shift to the three-man defence, four-man midfield and attacking trident which has brought them back into top four contention.
But it has proved fallible in the past two league games. Swansea’s first half display, with a diamond playing up-tempo football, swamped the two central midfielders – and the game was only won with a change in the second half, bringing Steven Gerrard on.
That tactic didn’t work against Manchester United, of course – Gerrard’s 48-second stamp saw to that – but Louis van Gaal put on a clinic in the first half, nullifying every main danger in the side. Joe Allen wasn’t allowed time to move the side up the field; Emre Can and Mamadou Sakho were given time on the ball but with little options ahead; Raheem Sterling was forced into a right back position.
It would be wrong to say the 3-4-2-1 has been found out – the positive results before these two games should be enough to retain some faith – but both Garry Monk and van Gaal have worked out its weaknesses, and the worry is they will both serve as the blueprint for others.
Over the next two weeks, Rodgers must decide how to combat that – or whether it’s once more time for a tactical tweak on the training ground.
THE STERLING/STURRIDGE CONUNDRUM
The crowd’s treatment of Sterling continues to bemuse. A pass cannot be misplaced, or a shot misfired, without a grumble over his current contract situation. His current difficult run of form, it is hypothesised, is down to his desire for £150,000 a week.
Perhaps, instead, it is something to do with the 20-year-old playing in every position bar goalkeeper in recent weeks. He starts deeper, then moves further up the field; he begins on the right, then is moved to the left-hand side or down the middle. He has recently become a victim of his adaptability, the roundest peg fitting in wherever the team needs him.
It’s understandable from Rodgers, and admirable from Sterling. But the youngster is one of the club’s best players and the team, now more than ever, need his best. It is for the manager to figure out how – and where – that happens.
Of course, the continuing conundrum surrounding Daniel Sturridge complicates matters. He scored yet again on Sunday – his fourth since returning from injury – but has not recaptured his fluid best from last season. His pressing is not as sharp as Sterling’s and he is still figuring out both fitness and form. A partnership of Sterling and Sturridge could be the next logical step, getting Sterling higher up the pitch and pace alongside Sturridge.
Raheem Sterling, Mario Balotelli and Daniel Sturridge
DOES BALOTELLI DESERVE ONE LAST CHANCE?
Balotelli has been drinking in the last chance saloon for so long that he sits there, slumped on a bar stool, wearing a pink cowboy hat on with kiss me quick on the front.
But still, despite his Anfield career being seemingly written off, he came on as a substitute as Liverpool sought a goal against United with 10 men. Rickie Lambert remained on the bench, and Fabio Borini’s whereabouts have been unknown for some time. Mario, it seems, is second-choice.
He did well enough when he came on. Purposeful with the ball, powerful without it. He didn’t have a direct impact for Sturridge’s goal on 69 minutes, but once again Sturridge profited from the presence of someone alongside him, creating space.
Had the Reds come back against United, the snapshot of him being held back by the front row of the Centenary Stand – as he was primed to give Chris Smalling an earful or worst – would have become iconic. As it was, and as it has been for his Anfield career so far, it was merely a nearly moment.
Balotelli still has worth, if only as a potential partner to Sturridge. That would force Rodgers to change shape or system, but it clearly helps the Reds’ no.15 to score. With eight league games to go, it could be worth giving the Italian a final chance to prove his worth in the squad.
HOW TO MAKE LOVREN LOOK £20M
News of Martin Skrtel’s FA charge, and a potential three-game ban if found guilty, leads to the imponderable question: Dejan Lovren or Kolo Toure?
Much of the success surrounding the 3-4-2-1 has come from the consistency of the three at the back. Can, Skrtel and Sakho have gained an understanding through playing together; it is a relationship set to be disrupted if Skrtel is suspended.
Lovren had stepped in for Sakho during his absence last month, and would be favourite to do so again ahead of the experienced Toure. His performances were good enough – or, more accurately, disaster-free – to be considered as Skrtel’s replacement.
He is currently an injury doubt having withdrawn from Croatia’s Euro 2016 qualifiers, but that will allow Rodgers and his staff to get him primed for the run-in. He still remains the outfield player to have committed the most defensive errors in Europe this season – despite his reduced playing time since the turn of the year.
Rodgers must help him eradicate that, because Liverpool will likely need him in the next month. He cost the club £20m, but a place in the Champions League could be worth around £50m next season. He could still become a gamble which pays off, but there is work still to be done.
Man in the middle: Tom Juric is in Europe with the Socceroos despite being injured. Photo: Getty Images
Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic has expressed dismay after the Socceroos went against the wishes of his club’s medical staff and included Tomi Juric in their squad to travel to Europe for this week’s friendlies.
Despite being deemed unfit to play against Germany on Wednesday (Thursday morning AEDT) and only considered an outside chance to play against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on Monday night [Tuesday morning AEDT] in Skopje, Juric was still selected by Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou.
The decision angered Popovic, who has nine players on the injured list and is battling through a congested schedule.
The Wanderers coach says Juric was never a chance of playing against Brisbane Roar on Wednesday and was unlikely to be risked against Perth on Saturday. He is nonetheless disappointed the striker was made to travel to Europe.
Irrespective of his fitness, Juric will now likely miss the Wanderers match against Melbourne City on Friday April 3 as he is not scheduled to return until Thursday morning.
Speaking for the first time since Juric departed, Popovic informed Football Federation of Australia that Juric was battling a groin injury.
“He’s injured, he’s not fit for the Germany game unless he’s made a miraculous recovery overnight on the flight,” Popovic said.
“I’m disappointed that he’s gone because he’s travelled as an injured player, whether or not he’s fit for the Macedonia game is another question but he’s travelled injured. That’s disappointing from our point of view but that’s the decision they’ve made.”
The decision to select Juric will compound the frustration of the struggling club especially after Tim Cahill was allowed to withdraw from Australia’s friendlies to recover from a minor injury in China.
“They know that we preferred for him not to travel. There’s a chance he could be fit for that game [in Skopje], we can’t deny that but from our point of view, we can’t see him being 100 per cent in terms of playing a full 90 minutes.
“We believe there’s an element of risk but we’re assured their medical staff will ensure he doesn’t come back injured,” Popovic said.
The Wanderers remain anchored to the bottom of the table as they prepare to face Brisbane Roar on Wednesday and are eager to avoid the embarrassment of a first wooden spoon.
In a sign of the lack of stability and the hefty toll of this season’s schedule, the Wanderers have used 34 players this season, more than any club in A-League history.
However, Popovic believes the club’s problems began much earlier, with their preparation during the last Asian Champions League knock-out stages.
“There are a whole range of issues, but the issues really start back when the season began. It’s not that the issues have arisen now, this is an accumulation,” Popovic said.
“We’ve been playing three games a week since the season began and now that has all caught up with us.”
Captain Nikolai Topor-Stanley described this season as the worst of his career and said there had been aspects of the team’s preparation and performance earlier this season that he would have changed.
“I’m sure a lot of things could’ve been done better,” he said.
“A lot of things have gone wrong and a lot of things haven’t gone our way either but we take responsibility. At the end of the day, we haven’t performed well enough but obviously there’s a lot of overriding factors that contribute to that.”
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 