Cloning ban deferred
As expected, proposals for a UN treaty to ban human cloning have yet again been put on hold. On 6 November member states voted 80 to 79, with 15 nations abstaining, to postpone a decision for two years.
Five go whaling
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Five Japanese whaling ships set sail on 7 November to catch up to 410 minke whales in the Antarctic. Japan鈥檚 Fisheries Agency says the expedition is purely for research, and that data on whale populations will be sent to the International Whaling Commission. Opponents of commercial whaling, which was banned in 1986, point out that most meat from 鈥渟cientific whaling鈥� is sold to finance the research.
On course for eradication
A disease that blinds some of the world鈥檚 poorest people could be eradicated by 2020, says the International Trachoma Initiative. In Morocco, childhood trachoma has fallen by 90 per cent since the programme began in 1997. Under the scheme, the drug company Pfizer will donate 135 million extra doses of its antibiotic Zithromax.
Ebola strikes again
A suspected outbreak of Ebola in the Congo, Brazzaville, has killed nine people so far. According to a report from the news agency AFP, it began after a family found and ate a dead 鈥渨ild boar鈥� (probably a giant forest hog, Hylochoerus meinertzhageni).
Nuclear bomb liability
Insurance companies will be unable to pay full compensation for the effects of a terrorist 鈥渄irty bomb鈥�, says company Swiss Re. In a report on Monday it called on all countries to ensure that insurance companies are not liable for 鈥減otentially ruinous risks鈥�. It wants governments to agree to step in once compensation from private insurance has reached a pre-agreed threshold, as happens in the UK, France and Germany.