'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Food security, consumer rights and biodiversity groups are protesting Kenya's reversal of a ban on genetically modified foods, saying the public wasn't consulted on an issue key to the East African country's economy and safety.
Kenya's new President William Ruto earlier this week announced that the Cabinet had effectively lifted the decade-old ban on openly cultivating and importing genetically modified crops. The decision came after pressure by the United States government, which had argued that the ban affected U.S. agricultural exports and food aid.
In a joint statement on Thursday, the groups including the Kenya-based Consumer Grassroots Association, Route to Food, Greenpeace Africa and the African Biodiversity Network said the abrupt decision "essentially curtails the freedom of Kenyans to choose what they want to eat." They called for the ban to be reinstated immediately and for an "inclusive participatory process" to look into food security issues.
Ruto took office last month promising a transparent government, the statement said. It also argued that the introduction of genetically modified organisms hurts the growing organic export market and creates an unfair situation for Kenyan farmers, 80% of whom are farming on a small scale.
Agriculture is a main driver of Kenya's economy and about 70% of the rural workforce is in farming. Ruto, a former agriculture minister, seeks greater agricultural productivity.
"GMOs will put at risk our indigenous seed and plant varieties," the statement said, adding that the National Biosafety Authority that's meant to regulate GMOs lacks the capacity to take on this expansion. Kenya's Cabinet in 2019 made a limited step by approving the commercialization of a genetically enhanced variety of cotton to resist the African bollworm pest.
Many African countries have bans on genetically modified agriculture, amid concerns about potentially harmful effects on smallholder farms, existing crops, the environment and people's long-term health.
Following Kenya's decision, neighboring Tanzania's agriculture minister told local newspaper The Citizen that "we will put in place extra measures so as to make sure there aren't any GM-related seeds that enter the country."
A spokesman for Kenya's president didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday's statement.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.