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Office of Pesticide Programs
Glyphosate Fact Sheet: Cancer and Other Health Concerns
Posted on October 1, 2020 by Stacy Malkan
Glyphosate, a synthetic herbicide patented in 1974 by the Monsanto Company and now manufactured and sold by many companies in hundreds of products, has been associated with cancer and other health concerns. Glyphosate is best known as the active ingredient in Roundup-branded herbicides, and the herbicide used with "Roundup Ready" genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Herbicide tolerance is the most prevalent GMO trait engineered into food crops, with some 90% of corn and 94% of soybeans in the U.S. engineered to tolerate herbicides, according to USDA data. A 2017 study found that Americans' exposure to glyphosate increased approximately 500 percent since Roundup Ready GMO crops were introduced in the U.S in 1996. Here are some key facts about glyphosate:
Most Widely Used Pesticide
According to a February 2016 study, glyphosate is the most widely used pesticide: "In the U.S., no pesticide has come remotely close to such intensive and widespread use." Findings include:
Americans have applied 1.8 million tons of glyphosate since its introduction in 1974.
Worldwide 9.4 million tons of the chemical has been sprayed on fields – enough to spray nearly half a pound of Roundup on every cultivated acre of land in the world.
Globally, glyphosate use has risen almost 15-fold since Roundup Ready GMO crops were introduced.
Statements from scientists and health care providers
Statement by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Reproductive and Environmental Health Committee: "We recommend that glyphosate exposure to populations should end with a full global phase out." (7.2019)
Essay in Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health: "Is it time to reassess safety standards for glyphosate based herbicides?" (6.2017)
Consensus statement in Environmental Health Journal: "Concerns over use of glyphosate-based herbicides and risks associated with exposures: a consensus statement" (2.2016)
Cancer Concerns
The scientific literature and regulatory conclusions regarding glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides show a mix of findings, making the safety of the herbicide a hotly debated subject.
In 2015, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans" after reviewing years of published and peer-reviewed scientific studies. The team of international scientists found there was a particular association between glyphosate and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
U.S. agencies: At the time of the IARC classification, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was conducting a registration review. The EPA's Cancer Assessment Review Committee (CARC) issued a report in September 2016 concluding that glyphosate was "not likely to be carcinogenic to humans" at doses relevant to human health. In December 2016, the EPA convened a Scientific Advisory Panel to review the report; members were divided in their assessment of EPA's work, with some finding the EPA erred in how it evaluated certain research. Additionally, the EPA's Office of Research and Development determined that EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs had not followed proper protocols in its evaluation of glyphosate, and said the evidence could be deemed to support a "likely" carcinogenic or "suggestive" evidence of carcinogenicity classification. Nevertheless the EPA issued a draft report on glyphosate in December 2017 continuing to hold that the chemical is not likely to be carcinogenic. In April 2019, the EPA reaffirmed its position that glyphosate poses no risk to public health. But earlier that same month, the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) reported that there are links between glyphosate and cancer. According to the draft report from ATSDR, "numerous studies reported risk ratios greater than one for associations between glyphosate exposure and risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or multiple myeloma."
The EPA issued an Interim Registration Review Decision in January 2020 with updated information about its position on glyphosate.
European Union: The European Food Safety Authority and the European Chemicals Agency have said glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans. A March 2017 report by environmental and consumer groups argued that regulators relied improperly on research that was directed and manipulated by the chemical industry. A 2019 study found that Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment report on glyphosate, which found no cancer risk, included sections of text that had been plagiarized from Monsanto studies. In February 2020, reports surfaced that 24 scientific studies submitted to the German regulators to prove the safety of glyphosate came from a large German laboratory that has been accused of fraud and other wrongdoing.
WHO/FAO Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residues determined in 2016 that glyphosate was unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans from exposure through the diet, but this finding was tarnished by conflict of interest concerns after it came to light that the chair and co-chair of the group also held leadership positions with the International Life Sciences Institute, a group funded in part by Monsanto and one of its lobbying organizations.
California OEHHA: On March 28, 2017, the California Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment confirmed it would add glyphosate to California's Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to cause cancer. Monsanto sued to block the action but the case was dismissed. In a separate case, the court found that California could not require cancer warnings for products containing glyphosate. On June 12, 2018, a U.S. District Court denied the California Attorney General's request for the court to reconsider the decision. The court found that California could only require commercial speech that disclosed "purely factual and uncontroversial information," and the science surrounding glyphosate carcinogenicity was not proven.
Agricultural Health Study: A long-running U.S. government-backed prospective cohort study of farm families in Iowa and North Carolina has not found any connections between glyphosate use and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but the researchers reported that "among applicators in the highest exposure quartile, there was an increased risk of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) compared with never users…" The most recent published update to the study was made public in late 2017.
Recent studies linking glyphosate to cancer and other health concerns
February 2020 paper in Environmental Health, "A comprehensive analysis of the animal carcinogenicity data for glyphosate from chronic exposure rodent carcinogenicity studies," reviewed chronic exposure animal carcinogenicity studies of glyphosate and reported toxicologically plausible pathways for why glyphosate may cause various cancers in rodents.
April 2019: the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry issued its draft toxicological profile for glyphosate, which reports an increased cancer risk from glyphosate exposures. Emails released via court proceedingsshow officials at EPA and Monsanto tried to hinder the ATSDR report.
March 2019 study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology analyzed data from more than 30,000 farmers and agricultural workers from studies done in France, Norway and the U.S., and reported links between glyphosate and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
February 2019: A meta-analysis published in Mutation Research/Reviews in Mutation Research reported a "compelling link" between glyphosate-based herbicides and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Three of the study authors were members of the EPA's scientific advisory panel on glyphosate who have stated publicly that the EPA failed to follow proper scientific practices in its glyphosate assessment.
January 2019: An analysis published in Environmental Sciences Europe argues that the U.S. EPA's classification of glyphosate disregarded substantial scientific evidence of genotoxicity the negative impact on a cell's genetic material) associated with weed killing products such as Roundup.
Endocrine disruption, fertility and reproductive concerns
October 2020 paper in Chemosphere journal, Glyphosate and the key characteristics of an endocrine disruptor: A review, is the first comprehensive review consolidating the mechanistic evidence on glyphosate as an endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC). The paper concludes that the world's most widely used herbicide meets at least eight of the 10 key characteristics of EDCs, as proposed in an expert consensus statement published in 2020.
New research adds evidence that weed killer glyphosate disrupts hormones, by Carey Gillam, USRTK (11.13.2020)
July 2020 paper published in Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, Are glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides endocrine disruptors that alter female fertility?" summarizes the endocrine-disrupting effects of exposure to glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides at low or "environmentally relevant" doses in the female reproductive tissues. Data suggesting that, at low doses, glyphosate-based herbicides may have adverse effects on the female reproductive tract fertility are discussed.
June 2020 paper published in Veterinary and Animal Science, Glyphosate-based herbicide formulations and reproductive toxicity in animals," concludes that some ingredients of glyphosate-based herbicides appear to act as reproductive toxicants, having a wide range of effects on both the male and female reproductive systems, including endocrine disruption, tissue damage and dysfunction of gametogenesis.
June 2020 paper published in Environmental Pollution, Neonatal exposure to a glyphosate-based herbicide alters the uterine differentiation of prepubertal ewe lambs, finds that neonatal exposure to glyphosate-based herbicides decreased cell proliferation and altered the expression of molecules that control proliferation and development in the uterus, potentially affecting the female reproductive health of sheep.
July 2020 study in the journal Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, Ovarian mitochondrial and oxidative stress proteins are altered by glyphosate exposure in mice, found indications that "chronic low-level exposure to glyphosate alters the ovarian proteome and may ultimately impact ovarian function."
September 2020 study in Food and Chemical Toxicology, Perinatal exposure to glyphosate or a glyphosate-based formulation disrupts hormonal and uterine milieu during the receptive state in rats, reports that perinatal exposure to a glyphosate-based herbicide or glyphosate "disrupted critical hormonal and uterine molecular targets during the receptive state, possibly associated with the implantation failures."
A 2018 ecological and population study conducted in Argentina found high concentrations of glyphosate in the soil and dust in agricultural areas that also reported higher rates of spontaneous abortion and congenital abnormalities in children, suggesting a link between environmental exposure to glyphosate and reproductive problems. No other relevant sources of pollution were identified.
A 2018 rat study by Argentinian researchers linked low-level perinatal glyphosate exposures to impaired female reproductive performance and congenital anomalies in the next generation of offspring.
A birth cohort study in Indiana published in 2017 – the first study of glyphosate exposure in US pregnant women using urine specimens as a direct measure of exposure – found detectable levels of glyphosate in more than 90% of the pregnant women tested and found the levels were significantly correlated with shortened pregnancy lengths.
2011 study in Reproductive Toxicology reported that glyphosate impairs male offspring reproductive development by disrupting gonadotropin expression.
2009 study in Toxicology found that glyphosate-based herbicides are toxic and endocrine disruptors in human cell lines.
A 2017 study associated chronic, very low-level glyphosate exposures to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in rats. According to the researchers, the results "imply that chronic consumption of extremely low levels of a GBH formulation (Roundup), at admissible glyphosate-equivalent concentrations, are associated with marked alterations of the liver proteome and metabolome," the biomarkers for NAFLD.
Microbiome disruption
November 2020 paper in the Journal of Hazardous Materials reports that approximately 54 percent of species in the core of the human gut microbiome are "potentially sensitive" to glyphosate. With a "large proportion" of bacteria in the gut microbiome susceptible to glyphosate, the intake of glyphosate "may severely affect the composition of the human gut microbiome," the authors said in their paper.
New glyphosate papers point to "urgency" for more research on chemical impact to human health, by Carey Gillam, USRTK (11.23.2020)
A 2020 literature review of glyphosate's effects on the gut microbiome concludes that, "glyphosate residues on food could cause dysbiosis, given that opportunistic pathogens are more resistant to glyphosate compared to commensal bacteria." The paper continues, "Glyphosate may be a critical environmental trigger in the etiology of several disease states associated with dysbiosis, including celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome. Glyphosate exposure may also have consequences for mental health, including anxiety and depression, through alterations in the gut microbiome."
A 2018 rat study conducted by the Ramazzini Institute reported that low-dose exposures to Roundup at levels considered safe significantly altered the gut microbiota in some of the rat pups.
Another 2018 study reported that higher levels of glyphosate administered to mice disrupted the gut microbiota and caused anxiety and depression-like behaviors.
Harmful impacts bees and monarch butterflies.
A 2018 study reported that glyphosate damaged the beneficial gut bacteria in honeybees and made them more prone to deadly infections. This followed research from China showing that honeybee larvae grew more slowly and died more often when exposed to glyphosate, and a 2015 study that found field-levels of exposure impaired the cognitive capacities of honeybees.
Research from 2017 correlated glyphosate use with reduced populations of monarch butterflies, possibly due to reductions in milkweed, the main food source for monarch butterflies.
Cancer lawsuits
More than 42,000 people have filed suit against Monsanto Company (now Bayer) alleging that exposure to Roundup herbicide caused them or their loved ones to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), and that Monsanto covered up the risks. As part of the discovery process, Monsanto has had to turn over millions of pages of internal records. We are posting these Monsanto Papers as they become available. For news and tips about the ongoing legislation, see Carey Gillam's Roundup Trial Tracker. The first three trials ended in large awards to plaintiffs for liability and damages, with juries ruling that Monsanto's weed killer was a substantial contributing factor in causing them to develop NHL. Bayer is appealing the rulings.
Monsanto influence in research: In March 2017, the federal court judge unsealed some internal Monsanto documents that raised new questions about Monsanto's influence on the EPA process and about the research regulators rely on. The documents suggest that Monsanto's long-standing claims about the safety of glyphosate and Roundup do not necessarily rely on sound science as the company asserts, but on efforts to manipulate the science.
More information about scientific interference:
"The Monsanto Papers: Poisoning the Scientific Well," by Leemon McHenry (2018)
"Roundup litigation discovery documents: implications for public health and journal ethics," by Sheldon Krimsky and Carey Gillam (June 2018)
Letter to Nature by Stéphane Horel and Stéphane Foucart (March 2018)
Sri Lankan scientists awarded AAAS freedom award for kidney disease research
The AAAS has awarded two Sri Lankan scientists, Drs. Channa Jayasumana and Sarath Gunatilake, the 2019 Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility for their work to "investigate a possible connection between glyphosate and chronic kidney disease under challenging circumstances." The scientists have reported that glyphosate plays a key role in transporting heavy metals to the kidneys of those drinking contaminated water, leading to high rates of chronic kidney disease in farming communities. See papers in SpringerPlus (2015), BMC Nephrology (2015), Environmental Health (2015), International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2014). The AAAS award had been suspended amidst a fierce opposition campaign by pesticide industry allies to undermine the work of the scientists. After a review, the AAAS reinstated the award.
Desiccation: another source of dietary exposures
Some farmers use glyphosate on non-GMO crops such as wheat, barley, oats, and lentils to dry down the crop ahead of harvest in order to accelerate the harvest. This practice, known as desiccation, may be a significant source of dietary exposure to glyphosate.
Glyphosate in food: U.S. drags its feet on testing
The USDA quietly dropped a plan to start testing food for residues of glyphosate in 2017. Internal agency documents obtained by U.S. Right to Know show the agency had planned to start testing over 300 samples of corn syrup for glyphosate in April 2017. But the agency killed the project before it started. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration began a limited testing program in 2016, but the effort was fraught with controversy and internal difficulties and the program was suspended in September 2016. Both agencies have programs that annually test foods for pesticide residues but both have routinely skipped testing for glyphosate.
Before the suspension, one FDA chemist found alarming levels of glyphosate in many samples of U.S. honey, levels that were technically illegal because there have been no allowable levels established for honey by the EPA. Here is a recap of news about glyphosate found in food:
October 2018: FDA issued its first-ever report showing the results of its glyphosate residue in food testing. The FDA said no residues of glyphosate were found in milk or eggs, but residues were found in 63.1 percent of corn samples and 67 percent of soybean samples, according to FDA data. The agency did not disclose in that report the findings of glyphosate in oatmeal or honey products.
April 2018: internal FDA emails indicated the agency had trouble finding food sample without traces of glyphosate.
Sept. 2016: FDA found glyphosate in US honey at double the levels allowed in the EU, and FDA tests confirm oatmeal and baby foods contain glyphosate.
Nov. 2016: FDA chemist found glyphosate in honey in Iowa at 10X higher levels than allowed in EU. Also in November, independent testing by consumer group Food Democracy Now found glyphosate in Cheerios, oatmeal cookies, Ritz crackers and other popular brands at high levels.
Pesticides in our food: Where's the safety data?
USDA data from 2016 shows detectable pesticide levels in 85% of more than 10,000 foods sampled, everything from mushrooms to grapes to green beans. The government says there are little to no health risks, but some scientists say there is little to no data to back up that claim. See "Chemicals on our food: When "safe" may not really be safe: Scientific scrutiny of pesticide residue in food grows; regulatory protections questioned," by Carey Gillam (11/2018).
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Collusion or Coincidence? Records Show EPA Efforts to Slow Herbicide Review Came in Coordination with Monsanto
Posted on August 17, 2017 by Carey Gillam
Newly released government email communications show a persistent effort by multiple officials within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to slow a separate federal agency's safety review of Monsanto's top-selling herbicide. Notably, the records demonstrate that the EPA efforts came at the behest of Monsanto, and that EPA officials were helpful enough to keep the chemical giant updated on their progress.
The communications, most of which were obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, show that it was early 2015 when the EPA and Monsanto began working in concert to stall a toxicology review that a unit tied to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was conducting on glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto's branded Roundup herbicide products. The details revealed in the documents come as Monsanto is defending itself against lawsuits alleging that it has tried to cover up evidence of harm with its herbicides.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a federal public health agency that along with the CDC is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is charged with evaluating the potential adverse human health effects from exposures to hazardous substances in the environment. So it made sense for the ATSDR to take a look at glyphosate, which is widely used on U.S. farms, residential lawns and gardens, school playgrounds and golf courses. Glyphosate is widely used in food production and glyphosate residues have been found in testing of human urine.
The ATSDR announced in February 2015 that it planned to publish a toxicological profile of glyphosate by October of that year. But by October, that review was on hold, and to this date no such review has yet been published.
The documents reveal this was no accident, no bureaucratic delay, but rather was the result of a collaborative effort between Monsanto and a group of high-ranking EPA officials.
For Monsanto, the timing of the ATSDR review was worrisome. In March 2015, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) had declared glyphosate to be a probable human carcinogen, and Monsanto feared ATSDR might have similar concerns about the chemical. Previous reports have described how one EPA official, Jess Rowland, communicated to Monsanto in April 2015 his willingness to try to kill the ATSDR review. Rowland, who retired in 2016, was the deputy division director within the health effects division of the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP). Allegations of collusion between Rowland and Monsanto have prompted a probe by the EPA's Office of Inspector General.
But the trove of documents newly obtained from within EPA and HHS demonstrate that the assistance to Monsanto came not only from Rowland but also from even higher-level EPA officials. Rather than encourage and assist the toxicology review of glyphosate, Monsanto and EPA officials repeatedly complained to ATSDR and HHS that such a review was unnecessarily "duplicative" and should take a back seat to an EPA review also underway.
The following timeline shows how the events unfolded:
May 19, 2015 – Michael Dykes, who at that time was Monsanto's long-time vice president of government affairs, wrote directly to the EPA's Jim Jones, the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety & Pollution Prevention. Jones had oversight of the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) and was a presidential appointee who carried significant clout. The afternoon was waning when the email came in at 3:28 p.m. Dykes reminded Jones that they had recently discussed the HHS' ATSDR glyphosate review at a meeting. "You were not aware of their review. Did you learn anything more about their efforts?" Dykes asked.
Jones did not waste time. Roughly an hour later he forwarded the message to OPP Director Jack Housenger, writing "Monsanto thinks atsdr is doing a glyphosate Assessment. Could you guys run that down?" Housenger responds quickly: "Yes. Jess checked with them…. It has been difficult to get information."
Within an hour Jones instructed a member of his staff to get him contact information for the head person responsible for ATSDR. She replied the next morning that Dr. Patrick Breysse was the point person. Breysse joined the CDC in 2014 as director of its National Center for Environmental Health, overseeing the NCEH's ATSDR.
May 20, 2015 It was only a little after 8:30 a.m. but Jones told the staff member to instruct Housenger to get in touch with Breysse, and within two hours Housenger had penned an email to Breysse explaining that an EPA's own re-evaluation/risk assessment of glyphosate was nearing completion, and asking Breysse if "you would still feel the need to do your assessment." Housenger told Breysse that he already had reached the individual assigned to the ATSDR assessment and she had indicated she would "coordinate" with EPA, but that was not sufficient. Housenger did not mention Monsanto's outreach to EPA on the issue, but instead questioned "whether this is a good use of government resources" for ATSDR to continue with its review. Breysse responded that he would "look into this" and Housenger thanked him for his quick response. Breysse then reached out to an ATSDR division director named James Stephens to arrange a discussion about the EPA request.
May 21, 2015 James Stephens wrote back to Patrick Breysse that the ATSDR team thought the EPA work "overlaps but isn't totally duplicative…" and stated that the ASTDR team has not been able to see draft copies of the EPA's work. "I think we would all welcome further discussion with EPA but would hope to use it to help us find out more about what they are doing, " he told Breysse. After hearing from Stephens, Breysse wrote back to Housenger saying ATSDR staff would be in touch to discuss. Housenger replied with his reiteration that the ATSDR review would be a "duplicative government effort" and that the EPA draft would be out in July of 2015. (As of this writing, that EPA preliminary risk assessment still has not been released, though in 2016 the EPA did release a cancer assessment report that declared glyphosate was not likely to cause cancer.)
June 4, 2015 Pressing the issue, EPA's Housenger wrote again to Breysee to say he had not heard from anyone yet. The ATSDR's Stephens wrote back promising to make sure "someone gives you a ring." Internal Monsanto emails show that at the same time, Monsanto was also pushing the "duplicative" narrative with HHS, meeting on June 4 with HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Global Health Mitchel Wolfe to ask him to help repudiate the IARC classification and to recognize that a review of glyphosate was "not the primary role" for his agency. "Dr. Wolfe said he would follow up on what was going on with ATSDR and he was encouraged to have discussions with EPA staff, as well," a Monsanto memo detailing the meeting states.
June 9, 2015 Henry Abadin, an ATSDR supervisory scientist, reported to Stephens that he had talked with Housenger and explained that the agency did not believe it was "duplicating efforts." Nevertheless, he said he told EPA, "we did not have a problem with putting the glyphosate profile on hold, pending the OPP final report."
June 19, 2015 To further ensure the ATSDR review didn't move forward, Monsanto's Dykes talked again with HHS's Wolfe, asking for an update on ATSDR. "I explained… our question was about the purpose and scope of such a duplicative review by ATSDR. I also told him that we were concerned that ATSDR may come out any day with a report. I again stressed that we were concerned that they were even reviewing glyphosate as were the people we talked with at EPA," Dykes wrote to colleagues.
June 21, 2015 It was a Sunday, but Monsanto's Dykes was still concerned enough about the ATSDR review to copy multiple colleagues on a late night email to report that he had continued to press the "duplicative" point with ATSDR but was concerned about a "glyphosate review coming any day." In a text message sent that same day, Monsanto scientist Eric Sachs reached out to a former EPA toxicologist named Mary Manibusan asking for contacts at ATSDR. "We're trying to do everything we can to keep from having a domestic IARC occur w this group. may need your help," Sachs wrote. The text messages were among certain internal Monsanto records obtained by cancer victims who are suing Monsanto alleging Roundup caused their diseases.
June 23, 2015 By Tuesday, Monsanto's Jenkins had good news: He had heard from Housenger that the EPA official had been successful in garnering a promise from ATSDR to put its report "on hold." The review was not dead, however, he wrote: ATSDR argues "that their process is distinguishable and not duplicative. They look at different endpoints and told EPA they don't "make a call on cancer", but I think we should continue to be cautious."
On June 24, 2015 Monsanto's chief scientist William Heydens responded:"'Distinguishable and not duplicative'? Seriously? And I will believe the not 'making a call on cancer' part when I see it. Anyway, at least they know they are being watched, and hopefully that keeps them from doing anything too stupid…" Jenkins wrote back, acknowledging that Monsanto had much more to fear from ATSDR than EPA as the two agencies had arrived at "different conclusions" on other issues. He reported he had been told ATSDR was "VERY conservative and IARC like…"
By October 23, 2015 EPA and Monsanto had the ATSDR review fully on hold. EPA's Housenger wrote to update Monsanto's Jenkins: "They are waiting for our glyphosate RA. And they agreed to share what they do."
That same month, the EPA's Cancer Assessment Review Committee (CARC), which was chaired by Rowland, issued an internal report stating that contrary to IARC, the EPA's review of glyphosate found it "not likely to be carcinogenic to humans."
The EPA still has yet to issue the overall new risk assessment it said would be out in 2015. The agency has offered ever-changing timelines for the assessment, but now says its intends to release a draft risk assessment sometime this year. That will be followed by a 60-day public comment period. After the public comment period the EPA will determine whether any risk management is needed. In the meantime, Monsanto has cited the EPA's backing of glyphosate safety as repudiation of the IARC finding both in court and with regulators in Europe who are also looking at glyphosate safety issues.
The EPA did not respond to a request for comment about its efforts to delay the ATSDR report or communications with Monsanto regarding that effort.
But Brent Wisner, a lawyer representing many of the cancer victims who are suing Monsanto, said the documents offer damning evidence of improperly close ties between the EPA and the chemical company.
"I think it's very clear… that EPA officials and Monsanto employees worked together to accomplish a goal of stopping that analysis at ATSDR. That is collusion. I don't know what else you'd call that," said Wisner.
For its part, the ATSDR said this week that the review it started in 2015 "is not complete" but that it anticipates a draft glyphosate toxicological profile to be issued for public comment by the end of this year. A spokesperson for the agency declined to discuss the circumstances surrounding the delay in the review.
And Jones, whose EPA job ended when the Trump administration took over, defended his responsiveness to Monsanto's concern about the ATSDR review, saying it had only to do with the "efficient use of government resources."
"Had any party contacted me and informed me that another agency within the Administration was simultaneously assessing a chemical as my organization, I would have intervened," Jones said. "There is no value to the same government investing limited resources to work on the same issue. As you know resources at the federal level were and are scarce which made duplication even more problematic." Jones said additionally that "when two organizations assess the same chemical, it is very likely there will be differences in their assessments. Even when these differences don't matter from a public health perspective, an enormous amount of energy is spent attempting to resolve these differences" and that is not ultimately in the "public interest."
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Questions about EPA-Monsanto collusion raised in cancer lawsuits
Posted on February 14, 2017 by Carey Gillam
Now it's getting interesting.
A new court filing made on behalf of dozens of people claiming Monsanto Co.'s Roundup herbicide gave them cancer includes information about alleged efforts within the Environmental Protection Agency to protect Monsanto's interests and unfairly aid the agrichemical industry.
The filing, made late Friday by plaintiff's attorneys, includes what the attorneys represent to be correspondence from a 30-year career EPA scientist accusing top-ranking EPA official Jess Rowland of playing "your political conniving games with the science" to favor pesticide manufacturers such as Monsanto. Rowland oversaw the EPA's cancer assessment for glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto's weed-killing products, and was a key author of a report finding glyphosate was not likely to be carcinogenic. But in the correspondence, longtime EPA toxicologist Marion Copley cites evidence from animal studies and writes: "It is essentially certain that glyphosate causes cancer."
Attorneys for the plaintiffs declined to say how they obtained the correspondence, which is dated March 4, 2013. The date of the letter comes after Copley left the EPA in 2012 and shortly before she died from breast cancer at the age of 66 in January 2014. She accuses Rowland of having "intimidated staff" to change reports to favor industry, and writes that research on glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup, shows the pesticide should be categorized as a "probable human carcinogen." The International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World Health Organization, declared as much – that glyphosate was a probable human carcinogen – in March 2015 after reviewing multiple scientific studies. Monsanto has rejected that classification and has mounted a campaign to discredit IARC scientists.
The communication, if authentic, could be an explosive development in the snowballing multi-district litigation that now comprises more than 60 plaintiffs from around the United States accusing Monsanto of covering up evidence that Roundup herbicide could cause cancer. The plaintiffs, all of whom are suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) or lost a loved one to NHL, have asserted in recent court filings that Monsanto wielded significant influence within the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), and had close ties specifically to Rowland, who until last year was deputy division director within the health effects division of the OPP. Rowland managed the work of scientists who assessed human health effects of exposures to pesticides like glyphosate and he chaired the EPA's Cancer Assessment Review Committee (CARC) that determined glyphosate was "not likely to be carcinogenic to humans." Rowland left the EPA in 2016 shortly after a copy of the CARC report was leaked and cited by Monsanto as evidence that the IARC classification was flawed.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs want the federal judge in the case to lift a seal on documents that detail Monsanto's interactions with Rowland regarding the EPA's safety assessment of glyphosate. Monsanto turned the documents over in discovery but marked them "confidential," a designation plaintiffs' attorneys say is improper. They also want to depose Rowland. But Monsanto and the EPA object to the requests, court documents show. Rowland could not be reached for comment, and the EPA declined to comment about the court matters.
"The Plaintiffs have a pressing need for Mr. Rowland's testimony to confirm his relationship with Monsanto and EPA's substantial role in protecting the Defendant's business…" plaintiff's attorneys wrote in the Feb. 10 filing in the multi-district litigation, which has been consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. "Mr. Rowland operated under Monsanto's influence to cause EPA's position and publications to support Monsanto's business."
The EPA has spent the last few years assessing the health and environmental safety profile of glyphosate as global controversy over the chemical has mounted. The agency had planned to finish its risk assessment on glyphosate in 2015; then said it would be completed in 2016; then said it would be finished by the first quarter of 2017. Now the agency says it hopes to have it completed by the end of the third quarter of 2017.
MONSANTO WANTS DOCUMENTS KEPT SECRET
In a bid to stop the release of further damning documents, attorneys for Monsanto on Monday asked the federal judge in the Roundup litigation to block plaintiffs' attorneys from including copies of documents they've obtained through discovery as exhibits in the court filings because members of the public and the media can see them. They argued that plaintiffs' attorneys were unfairly attempting to "try this case in the court of public opinion." Monsanto specifically complained that the organization I work for, U.S. Right to Know, was monitoring the court docket looking for confidential materials to report to the public. The company said reporting on "cherry-picked documents" could be "potentially prejudicial" to its business and to the fairness of the litigation, potentially tainting a jury pool. "Litigation in the press is not in the public interest," Monsanto's filing states.
The company asked Judge Vince Chhabria to order that discovery materials not be filed as exhibits or other types of filings that could be visible to the public.
Monsanto also made a new filing in the litigation on Friday, laying out its assertion that there is no evidence Roundup and glyphosate products are "defective or unreasonably dangerous" and said the products complied with "all applicable government safety standards." There is no evidence of carcinogenicity in glyphosate or Roundup, Monsanto said in its filing.
In a separate filing made on Feb. 8, Monsanto submitted a court brief arguing that the IARC classification of glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen is not relevant to the question of whether or not Roundup caused the plaintiffs' cancers. IARC's approach is "less rigorous" than EPA's in evaluating scientific evidence, and IARC's conclusions are "scientifically unreliable," according to the brief. Monsanto told the court that neither the views of IARC or EPA are necessarily relevant to the general causation issue of the litigation because plaintiffs will need to present admissible expert testimony showing the company's products in fact caused their cancers.
As the litigation drags on, legislation that could potentially benefit Monsanto and numerous other companies facing consumer class action lawsuits was proposed on Feb. 9. The "Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017" (H.R. 985) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA.) Business interests backing the law say it would reduce frivolous suits and ensure that plaintiffs receive the bulk of any damage awards rather than enriching the attorneys who bring such lawsuits. But opponents say it would make it nearly impossible for individuals with limited financial resources to challenge powerful corporations in court. The bill would apply both to pending and future class action and multi-district litigation.
"The bill is designed to ensure that no class action could ever be brought or litigated for anyone," said Joanne Doroshow, executive director of the Center for Justice & Democracy. "It would obliterate civil rights, antitrust, consumer, essentially every class action in America."
Food For Thought, Pesticides Bob Goodlatte, cancer, Cancer Assessment Review Committee, EPA, Food, glyphosate, Jess Rowland, Monsanto, Office of Pesticide Programs, pesticides in food, RoundUp
Monsanto, EPA Seek to Keep Talks Secret On Glyphosate Cancer Review
By Carey Gillam
Monsanto Co. and officials within the Environmental Protection Agency are fighting legal efforts aimed at exploring Monsanto's influence over regulatory assessments of the key chemical in the company's Roundup herbicide, new federal court filings show.
The revelations are contained in a series of filings made within the last few days in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California as part of litigation brought by more than 50 people suing Monsanto. The plaintiffs claim they or their loved ones developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) after exposure to Roundup herbicide, and that Monsanto has spent decades covering up cancer risks linked to the chemical.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs want the court to lift a seal on documents that detail Monsanto's interactions with former top EPA brass Jess Rowland regarding the EPA's safety assessment of glyphosate, which is the key ingredient in Roundup. Monsanto turned the documents over in discovery but marked them "confidential," a designation plaintiffs' attorneys say is improper. They also want to depose Rowland. But Monsanto and the EPA object to the requests, court documents show.
The EPA has spent the last few years assessing the health and environmental safety aspects of glyphosate as global controversy over the chemical has mounted. The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared in March 2015 that glyphosate is a probable human carcinogen, with a positive association found between glyphosate and NHL. Monsanto has been fighting to refute that classification.
Rowland has been key in Monsanto's efforts to rebut the IARC finding because until last year he was a deputy division director within the health effects division of the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs, managing the work of scientists who assessed human health effects of exposures to pesticides like glyphosate. And, importantly, he chaired the EPA's Cancer Assessment Review Committee (CARC) that issued an internal report in October 2015 contracting IARC's findings. That 87-page report, signed by Rowland, determined that glyphosate was "not likely to be carcinogenic to humans."
The EPA finding has been highly valued by Monsanto, helping bolster the company's defense against the Roundup liability lawsuits, and helping shore up market support for a product that brings in billions of dollars in revenues to the company annually. The EPA's stamp of approval for the safety of glyphosate over the last few decades has also been key to the success of Monsanto's genetically engineered, glyphosate-tolerant crops, which have been popular with farmers.
But the handling of the CARC report raised questions when it was posted to a public EPA website on April 29, 2016 and kept on the site for only three days before being pulled down. The agency said the report was not final and that it should not have been posted, but Monsanto touted the report as a public affirmation of its safety claims for glyphosate. The company also brought a copy of the report to a May court hearing in the Roundup litigation as a counter point to the IARC cancer classification. Shortly after the CARC report was removed from the EPA website, Rowland left his 26-year career at the EPA.
Plaintiffs' attorneys have asked to depose Rowland to learn about that situation and other dealings with Monsanto. But, along with Monsanto's objection to releasing the documents that relate to its conversations with Rowland, the EPA has specifically refused the deposition request, saying it would "not clearly be in the interests of EPA" to allow attorneys to question Rowland about the cancer review and interactions with Monsanto.
Monsanto has so far turned over six million pages of documents through the court-ordered discovery process, but has designated roughly 85 percent of the information as "confidential," meaning plaintiffs' attorneys must black out information from those documents in any court filings that could be accessed by reporters or other members of the public. That designation is improper for many of the documents, especially ones dealing with the company's interactions with, and influence attempts over, EPA officials, plaintiffs' lawyers argue.
The lawyers say that the documents obtained through discovery show that "Monsanto has been confident all along that EPA would continue to support glyphosate, whatever happened and no matter who held otherwise." According to the court filings by plaintiffs' attorneys, the documents show "it is clear that Monsanto enjoyed considerable influence within the EPA's OPP, and was close with Mr. Rowland… The documentary evidence strongly suggests that Mr. Rowland's primary goal was to serve the interests of Monsanto."
The EPA is a taxpayer-funded, public agency and its dealings with Monsanto should be subject to public scrutiny, particularly given the widespread use of glyphosate herbicide products and the ongoing international debate over the safety of the chemical, they claim.
"The health and safety of millions of U.S. citizens is at stake," states a Jan. 16 plaintiffs' filing. "Decisions affecting the public health should not be based on secret conversations between Monsanto and EPA officials. If Monsanto wants to advocate on behalf of glyphosate to EPA employees, they should have to do it publicly, so that concerned citizens have equal opportunity to advocate for their health and the health of their families. This issue is too important to allow Monsanto to improperly influence the EPA, and then hide such communication behind an improper 'confidential' designation."
"The health and safety of millions of U.S. citizens is at stake. Decisions affecting the public health should not be based on secret conversations between Monsanto and EPA officials."
Monsanto is adamant that its documents not be made public, arguing that releasing them would be "premature and improper." Allowing public dissemination "of a few select internal corporate documents taken out of context… would be prejudicial to Monsanto and could cause reputational harm," the company's attorneys wrote in their response.
The plaintiffs' attorneys say at least four specific documents they have obtained are clearly in the public interest and "illuminate that one of Monsanto's chief business strategies is its secret and untoward influence on EPA." The documents include both internal memos and email chains, according to descriptions of the documents.
"Since Monsanto's communications with the EPA remain secret, these known lobbying efforts are only the tip of the iceberg of Monsanto's collusion with the EPA. Monsanto's bad acts in violating U.S. regulations through secret communications with the EPA should not by rewarded by allowing them to keep these communications secret by merely stamping them 'Confidential,'" the plaintiffs' attorney state in the filings. "These documents summarize communications with EPA which are not elsewhere memorialized; they are not trade secrets and the public has a compelling interest in disclosure."
Monsanto argues otherwise, saying the four documents at issue "contain sensitive, non-public commercial information, relate to a motion seeking to obtain discovery from a non-party, and bear only a tangential, at best, connection to the questions at issue in this litigation; hence, any public interest "is minimal.'"
U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, who is overseeing the Roundup litigation, is expected to rule on the matters within the next few days.
In a separate case, Monsanto and California environmental regulators face off Jan. 27 over plans by state regulators to list glyphosate as a carcinogen. The state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) said it would add glyphosate to its list of known carcinogens after the IARC classification. Monsanto has sued to prevent the listing. The upcoming hearing takes up OEHHA's motion to dismiss Monsanto's lawsuit.
Carey Gillam is a veteran journalist and research director for U.S. Right to Know, a non-profit consumer education group. This article first appeared in the Huffington Post.
Food For Thought, Our Investigations, Pesticides Cancer Assessment Review Committee, EPA, glyphosate, IARC, Monsanto, Office of Pesticide Programs, Roundup liability lawsuits, Rowland


Specialist and experienced physiotherapists working in many different fields, aiming to deliver the best service possible to patients.
Stary in Honeysuckle Barn for a peaceful break midday Friday to midday Monday. Breakfast provided.


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Avisens 9. årgang, søndag den 17. januar 2021, opdateret kl. 5:00. Redigeret af Maja Hagedorn Hansen
udvikling udvikling
Bæredygtig business
Human rights organizations, groups and defenders in Euro-Mediterranean
The Euro-Mediterranean Foundation of Support to Human Rights Defenders (EMHRF) is an independent regional foundation led by human rights defenders and experts in the affairs of the Arab region and acting for local human rights defenders, groups and NGOs from the region.
Se mere på Legatbogen
Beløb:
11.380.000 DKK
Small human rights organizations, groups and defenders by reinforcing their operations and human capacities in order to enable them to create structures or implement innovative activities effectively in the region
Human rights defenders/activities in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Israel only. If applicants based outside these countries has made a positive impact on one or several of those countries these may be supported
The applicant, when it is facing risks or working within a difficult context, and no other donor has agreed to support the request (or it only receives occasional support for project but no core funding that would help sustaining its/his/her activity)
In the context of the standard support provided by the Foundation, special attention is paid to innovative thematic areas that have priority importance for the region, such as:
Economic, social and cultural rights, empowerment of women and young people, protection of minorities and refugees, fight against impunity, rehabilitation and reintegration, etc.
Initiatives aimed at allowing human rights defenders to increase the visibility of their action and consolidate their prospects for pursuing their activities in promoting and protecting human rights
On the basis of a significant consideration, which will also be placed on innovative means, as alternatives to traditional activities, to reach out to the youths (cultural, artistic and media activities as examples
With a maximum duration of support being 12-18 months
With a right to demand further explanation and documentation, as well as certain demands: It is possible to read these on the "Overview" page in "Nødv. dokumenter"
Støtter ikke
Applicants supported under the same conditions by another national, regional or international organisation
: Legat emner
Alle emner
Almenvelgørenhed
Frivilige
Humanitære formål
Klima & miljø
Rejsestipendier
Sociale forhold
Adgang til dette indhold kræver abonnement på udvikling
‹ Fortsæt med at læse det åbne indhold på udvikling

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Could You Be at Risk for Hepatitis C?
Related Condition Centers
Many people have no idea they're infected.
By Korin Miller
Design by Stephanie Indrajo
Hepatitis C is one of those illnesses you know exists, but you're not sure if it's something you need to worry about. So what is hepatitis C? It's a liver infection caused by the hepatitis C virus, and it infects more people than you realize. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were an estimated 30,500 new cases of hepatitis C reported in 2014, and up to 3.9 million people in the U.S. have chronic hepatitis C.
For some people, hepatitis C is a short-term illness, the CDC says, but for up to 85 percent of people who contract the disease, it's a chronic infection that can cause long-term health problems and even death.
Unfortunately, about half of people don't know they're infected with hepatitis C, according to the Mayo Clinic.
That's because the infection is usually silent for years, meaning a person can have it and not realize it. Once they do develop symptoms, they typically include bleeding easily, bruising easily, fatigue, a poor appetite, jaundice (i.e., yellow discoloration of the skin and eyes), dark-colored urine, itchy skin, weight loss, and swelling in the legs, the Mayo Clinic says.
Luckily, you're not likely to just contract hepatitis C from walking down the street. According to the World Health Organization, hepatitis C is a bloodborne virus, meaning it's contracted from being exposed to small quantities of blood. That can happen through injection drug use, unsafe injection practices, unhygienic health care, and unscreened blood transfusions.
The biggest risk factor for hepatitis C today is injection drug use.
"This is a virus that's spread very efficiently through contaminated needles that are used to inject drugs," Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., senior associate at the John's Hopkins Center for Health Security, tells SELF. That's why the CDC recommends that all injection drug users be screened for the infection, even if someone only injected once several years ago.
But injection drug users aren't the only ones who should be screened for hepatitis C. The CDC also recommends that health care workers who have been stuck with a needle that contained blood that was positive for hepatitis C get tested, as well as people with symptoms of liver disease, those who had a blood transfusion or organ transplant before July 1992 (when screening wasn't as thorough), children born to mothers who have hepatitis C, and those with HIV. (Hepatitis C is common among people with HIV, who could get incredibly sick if they contract the liver infection, Dr. Adalja explains, which is why the screening is recommended for them.)
The CDC also recommends that baby boomers (those born between 1945 and 1965), get tested for hepatitis C. Baby boomers are five times more likely than other adults to have hepatitis C, the CDC says, which may be due to health care they received years before widespread screening practically eliminated the virus from the medical blood supply in 1992.
Luckily, advances in health care have made it possible to cure chronic hepatitis C with oral medications taken daily for two to six months. Still, medication can't help if you don't know you have an infection in the first place.
"Hepatitis C is a silent epidemic," Dr. Adalja says, which is why he urges people to get tested if they fall into one of the high-risk groups. If you're concerned about your risk, talk to your doctor: He or she can give you a simple blood test and recommend next steps from there.
This Is How Often You Need to Get Tested for STDs, Based on Your Relationship Status
10 Things Everyone Should Understand About HIV and AIDS
Drug Overdoses May Now Be the Leading Cause of Death for Young People
You May Also Like: I Have a Pre-Existing Condition: Real People Share Their Health Conditions
Korin is a former New Yorker who now lives at the beach. She received a double B.A. in International Relations and Marketing from The College of William & Mary (which she doesn't use at all now) and an M.A. in Interactive Journalism from American University. Korin has been published in... Read more
Topicshepatitis cHIVsubstance abuse
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Home | New Arrival | Nintendo Switch Lite Turquoise Bundle with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Game Disc - 2019 Best Game!
Nintendo Switch Lite Turquoise Bundle with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Game Disc - 2019 Best Game!
Handheld Nintendo Switch gaming at a great price
For every member of your family, there's a member of ours
Optimized for personal, handheld play, Nintendo Switch Lite is a small and light Nintendo Switch system
Features a sleek, unibody design with fully integrated controls and a built-in +Control Pad
Compatible with all physical and digital Nintendo Switch games that support Handheld mode
Introducing Nintendo Switch Lite, a new version of the Nintendo Switch system that's optimized for personal, handheld play. Nintendo Switch Lite is a small and light Nintendo Switch system at a great price. With a built-in +Control Pad, and a sleek, unibody design, Nintendo Switch Lite is great for on-the-go gaming. Nintendo Switch Lite is compatible with most of the popular games on Switch. If you're looking for a gaming system all your own, Nintendo Switch Lite is ready to hit the road whenever you are.
Size Approximately 3.6 inches high, 8.2 inches long, and .55 inches deep
Weight Approx. .61 lbs
Screen Capacitive touch screen / 5.5 inch LCD / 1280x720 resolution
Wireless / LAN Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 4.1 / NFC (near field communication)
Video output Up to 720p via built-in screen
Audio output Build-In Speaker, Bluetooth
Used for charging only.
microSD card slot Compatible with microSD, microSDHC and microSDXC memory cards.
*Once the microSDXC card is inserted, a system update will be necessary. An Internet connection is required to perform this system update.
Sensor Accelerometer / gyroscope
Internal battery Lithium ion battery / battery capacity 3570mAh
Battery life Model number: HDH-001
Approx. 3.0 to 7.0 hours
*The battery life will depend on the games you play. For instance, the battery will last approximately 4 hours for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Charging time Approx. 3 hours


Okay, I know I do a lot of pizza posting, but pizza is so good and there's so many ways to make it and I just get so excited every time I create something that tastes amazing and really shows off the flavors of the season. I kept the toppings really simple because I wanted each individual ingredient to really stand out, especially the morels.
I always use this pizza dough recipe with 100 percent whole wheat flour. It tastes even better the next day after sitting in the fridge overnight.
Oven: 500. If you have a pizza stone heat it in the oven while you prepare everything else, for about 20 minutes. Sauté the shallots, garlic and morels in butter on medium-high heat for a few minutes. Then spread this mix onto rolled out dough. Place the asparagus, tomatoes and mozzarella on top, grind some salt & pepper on top, and cook for 8 minutes or so. I usually broil for a minute at the end. Top with a dash of olive oil and Parmesan.
I like trying to put something together when I don't have the typical ingredients for that dish on hand. My brother wanted me to make lasagna last night, so this is what I came up with. Make sure to cut the vegetables into small pieces. Serve with nice wine, and some Parmesan crusted bread.
Oven 375. Cook the pasta according to package instructions. As the water heats, sauté the onions in about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat. After a few minutes, add the garlic. Add the goat meat and quickly sear it, then add the tomato, cover, and let the mix cook down for a few minutes. Stir in the broccoli and kale, season with lemon juice, salt & pepper and cover for a few minutes on high heat. Add olive oil as needed. When the veggies are wilted and a little browned remove from the heat.
Mix the ricotta with ½ cup cheddar, ¼ cup Parmesan, ¼ goat cheese, lemon juice, egg, salt & pepper, oregano and basil.
Place a layer of pasta in a buttered pan, layer with the vegetable mix and cheese mixture. On the top layer spread the remaining cheddar, Parmesan and goat cheese. Grind some sea salt & pepper, basil & oregano on top and bake for about 30 minutes. Broil on high for the last minute or until the cheese is browned.


Pink- white shade of covering is perfectly developed and mainly known as yard pergola tent. It is delivered easily in the yard and seaside side. This covering is made from quality raw materials; pre-fabricated camp tents can actually hold up against all the weather circumstances.


As you may have noticed, we have made a few changes to our apps for the 2017 season to bring you a smoother and quicker experience while also adding more advanced and customizable views.
Most visibly, we moved the apps to Shiny so we can continue to build on our use of R and add new features and improvements throughout the season. We expect the apps to better handle high traffic load this season during draft season and peak traffic.
In addition to the ability to create and save custom settings, you can also choose the columns you view in our Projections tool. We have also added more advanced metrics such as weekly VOR and Projected Points Per Dollar (ROI) for those of you in auction leagues. With a free account, you'll be able to create and save one custom setting. If you get an FFA Insider subscription, you'll be able to create and save unlimited custom settings.
Up next is the ability to upload custom auction values to make it easier to use during auction drafts.
We are also always looking to add new features, so feel free to drop us a suggestion in the Comments section below!
Quick Question – seems like an issue with the projections – it has Jalen Collins ATL as the top IDP player – and it looks like he might not even play this season due to suspension – just thought someone might look into it – makes me question the other projections as well. — Thanks guys love the site and used it for the past 3 years and will continue to use it going forward.
Specifically for suspended players: If you disagree with a projection, you might look at the individual projection sources using our webapps to see which one(s) you disagree with, and you can exclude them or give them less weight. For example, one of the sources of our projections might not account for a player being injured or suspended.
Do you need a paid account to sign in to the projections app?
Nope, you can view seasonal data with a free account! However, you do need a paid account for the weekly lineup optimizer.
Amazing work, thank you for sharing! I'll be using the projections for the first time in my auction draft this year.
Looking at the lineup optimization, I've got a strategy related question for the developers or anyone else who has used the FFA apps or another optimization method for an auction (Excel Solver, etc.). It seems like optimization will always produce a lineup heavily weighted to the top players, i.e. "Studs and Scrubs" — the lineup with my league settings suggest drafting David Johnson, Le'Veon Bell, and Russell Wilson, then a handful of mid-range starters. This maximizes the projected point total but seems susceptible to injury or underperformance from a top player.
Sorry if this is discussed elsewhere and I've missed it, but would be great to get others' thoughts/experiences. Does the massive point potential of the top players simply outweigh the risk? Or would it be better to shoot for a more balanced draft with a lower projected point total?
That's why we allow you to 1) set your risk tolerance in the app to remove higher injury risk players, and 2) examine the lineup with the highest "floor" (in addition to the highest projected points and ceiling).
In general, do you recommend going with the "floor" lineup?
An idea to strengthen your IDP projections especially (would help w/ offense too): can you guys add an "FFA Composite" stat source that is some kind of proprietary weighted average of various paid subscription projections? My sense is that this would add to the overall accuracy still; I understand you can't include single-source subscription projections but you could provide your own composite as an "in-house projection," right?
Even with IDP turned off and all my league's specific settings inputted, Jalen Collins is still one of the top selections for snake draft in the apps. I don't see a single projection you have pulled your data from that thinks he will be a top 5 players with defensive players turned off.
Obviously someone accidentally coded it so that Jalen is somehow appearing in the list.
I think this might be an issue with the Yahoo scrape — Yahoo projections for Jalen Collins are also bonkers.
I extract and load the CSV projections download into a Sqlite database and use it in a custom-built auction draft application. While checking the data after import, I noticed that "Kasen Williams" has 6 entries in the projections. He is a free agent in two of them and with Seattle in four of them. His playerID in all of them is the same – 2554138.
One other item – Firefox warns that the login prompt is not over HTTPS; however, when I click "Login" with Developer Tools monitoring, I can see a call to https://ffashiny.shinyapps.io/, which leads me to believe it *IS* over HTTPS. Can you confirm/explain what could be happening here?
My settings don't seem to be saving. When I log out and log back in, they are back to the default settings. In addition, I don't see a way to recall the saved settings. It seems to only let me delete the name of the custom settings but I don't see the actual custom scoring or where to click on them. Please advise. Thanks.
I dont think the ESPN scrape is getting all the players. I see a few per team missing. ie. Patrick Mahomes (KC), Cory Harkey (LAR)….
I still see these players are missing.
Are you expecting to have the custom auction values done this year?
Getting an blank website when I load the page. I see "loading data" blank for a seconds and nothing happen after that.
I'm having difficulty adding players to the "Other Players Drafted" section in the Lineup Optimizer. I can add players to the "Players You Drafted". We run a keeper league and I would like to eliminate the players on the other teams to get an idea of my best lineup before the draft. Thanks for everything you do here.
You can click on the player in the projections app to "Exclude" if it is a keeper and it will re-calcuate remaining values. Good luck with your draft!
I was having the same issue. I finally figured it out. You have to click on the Player Name, then put in a price and it goes to the "Other Players Drafted" section. I really appreciate all the work that went into putting this together and offering it for free, you guys rock! The Other Players Drafted feature could be a little more user friendly for those of us in keeper leagues.
Any chance you'll include more customization to the scoring settings in the app? For instance, I'm in a league that rewards offensive players for first downs, as well as other big plays.
This is in addition to errors when trying to include certain analysts in the runScrape function, and certain adp sources in getProjections. I've also gotten some strange results in the output of getProjections when I have managed to get it working (such as the Lions DST being one of the highest ranked players).
Hi Joe, we would definitely consider adding other fields if we can get reliable projections on them. We do offer the ability to score more for big plays (40+ yards) under scoring settings.
Is it possible to save draft progress under Lineup Optimizer? I Save under Settings but all progress and values are blank if I refresh the page. My draft takes 2 weeks is why I ask. Thanks!
Not at the moment, just league settings. The app is currently only set up for live drafts.
Hi Isaac – the download raw projections within the app isnt giving good data. Shows Lev Bell with 188.87 Rush TDs. I dont think he is going to do THAT well! Seemed to be working on Sunday – so not sure what happened in that time.
Hi Andy, should be fixed now. There was an issue with the Yahoo scrape.
Why does the app not work on iPads and iPhones?
It is currently only built for desktop use but we'll definitely look to add mobile options in the future if possible!
Having a timeout issue since update. Attempted all steps to correct outlined in FAQ, no luck. Any ideas?
Why am I seeing Tyler Lockett as the number 1 projected with 8591.43 points?
Also, when I press 'back to blog' from the projections app, it doesn't change the URL from apps.fantasyfootballanalytics.net and the page just freezes.
Now that this is a paid service, is there a better way to contact some support instead of just posting comments?
You can always contact us at [email protected] with support questions.
I am also getting the issue jphussey is getting. When I try to change from FFA Analytics to Yahoo League settings I get a really weird ranking and projections, with tyler lockett on top. Do you know what the issue is?
Any idea why the custom download does not include the player names?
I saved a Custom Setting in the app, but now cannot edit it (or delete it to enter a new one). Do you have advice on this functionality?
What is the difference between AAV and Cost in the app?
Same question as Robert Pearson – custom download just includes playerID in the first column, but no names (unless I'm missing them somewhere). Early draft tomorrow night, so would love a quick answer if possible!
Looks like there is a "server problem" when trying to download the raw projections.
Still happening today – can someone take a look?
We are aware of this issue and will have a fix up this weekend!
So I can exclude players in the projections piece but it seems that choice doesn't get taken into account in the Lineup Optimizer. Or am I missing something? I put in keepers to exclusions in the projections – is there a way to upload that set of players for the Lineup Optimizer?
This is great! If I enter players drafted and then get disconnected from the server, I notice all those players are wiped and I have to start over. Anyway around this?
Is there any way of using this app in offline mode?
Also have an issue where setting D/ST under general settings to 0 and under league settings to 0 under starter by position, I get "No data available in table". We only have IDP, no D/ST in our league.
Hey Rick, there is currently no way to use the app in offline mode. First you need to set the "Starters by position" to 0 for DST in League Settings and then unselect the DST position from General Settings.
3. Saving options is confusing. Have saved options apply to all settings and put the option in the global menu.
7. What is Mark Ingram ranked so high? I used regular averages from ESPN, Yahoo, CBS and he's nowhere about #50, yet somehow with these rankings he's in the high 20s to low 30s.
Overall the app is great! Keep up the good work!
We appreciate the feedback, we will add these suggestions to our list!
I'm in a keeper league and really enjoy the features of excluding a player which causes all the position-specific stats like VORP and Drop-Off to update. I wish when I do that, I could then download that new table when I click Download -> Custom Rankings. Instead it downloads all of the original projections. This would be very valuable for keeper leagues if possible!
Is there an issue with the Yahoo settings? I changed AAV from AVG to Yahoo and it's showing a $1 cost for all players.
Are there any other settings you changed to get this output? Its working for me.
I tried this test to verify the issue, both from Firefox and Chrome.
Great app btw, very impressive!
Can someone tell me is the return yards scoring in the custom scoring accounting for kick and punt return yards? Need to figure out a way to just calculate 1pt per 10 punt return yards for individual skill players.
Yes, thats the scoring section in question. Does "Returns" cover all return yards or just punt return yards?
Sorry to re-post, but neither of the download options appear to work. Download Custom gives me a csv with no player names. It'd be difficult to draft without names. Download Raw attempts to download dlRawProj and yields Failed – Server problem. Can you offer any assistance?
When I drop down to my saved league settings and select Save, I get a "Disconnected from the server." error.
The app has worked great for me up until this morning. I tried all the troubleshooting steps, and the issue persists. I am using Chrome Version 60.0.3112.113 on Windows 10 Pro.
Interestingly, I can get the default settings for ESPN, Yahoo, NFL, etc. to load just fine. I only encounter the error when I attempt to load any of my 3 saved league settings.
It looks like selecting "Impute Replacement-Level Points for Missed Games?" is leading to the error. I can change any other settings without any problems, but when that box is checked, the error occurs. I checked that box in all of my saved settings, so I assume that is why none of them will load.
The issue has been resolved. Thanks!
How did you fix this issue? My draft is in a few hours and I cannot get my custom settings to load. Did you have to re-enter?
Great work as always. I have a concern about how up to date the scraped data may be. While the app shows the date of the latest update, this does not tell me how up to date the various sources' data may be. Can this be exposed somehow? Or is it available somewhere already? We need to trust the underlying sources to trust their aggregation.
Is there any way to see how up to date the scraped sources' data are? We can tell when the app scraped the data, but how up to date is the scraped data itself?
Similarly, how can we ensure the app is pulling the ADP from sources using the right scoring system (e.g. PPR vs non)?
Hi guys, I love the app. Today though I've encountered a problem that won't let me load the projections. For a while now I haven't been able to load my league settings as there was a "disconnected from server reload error" anytime I tried to save using those settings. It was not a big deal though as I just put them in manually and used the NFL settings option (just updated the the team size, VOR baseline, and changed Flex from WR/RB/TE to WR/RB) but now when I go to general settings and deselect DL, LB, DB and select impute missed games that same error comes up even though it never did before when I saved general settings with the above choices. If you can fix this, I'd really appreciate it as I prefer you guys to FP but these error messages make it tough.
Item 1 has no length. Provide at least one item (such as NA, NA_integer_ etc) to be repeated to match the 1 rows in the longest column. Or, all columns can be 0 length, for insert()ing rows into.
After that I can't add DST to my projections.
Also, the app frequently forces me to reload, usually after making several settings changes. For example, trying to choose other settings after getting the error described above I am disconnected and have to reload.
when I go to the auction draft optimizer and sign in I get a message to verify my email. When I use the link in my email I get an error message that the site can't be reached. I am using a Chrome browser.
I suggest you add scoring settings for pass completion percentage, average yrds per rush, and average yrds per reception (given there are say at least X attempts). These can be implemented perhaps through the same input the app currently has available for "Total Points Allowed". It will help with projections that more accurately reflect my leagues scoring rules.
Sorry if I'm missing it, but how can I mark off "Other Players Drafted" in lineup optimizer?
Thanks for all the hard work the past few years, really amazing information you guys have been putting out. My question is, right now when I go to Projections > General Settings > and change "Season" to "Week 1", it shows "Error: missing value where TRUE/FALSE needed"… does this mean the analysts sites haven't posted Week 1 projections yet? I really utilized the weekly projections last year so I'm hoping those will be back this year.
Hi Caleb, they will be live shortly. You're correct, a lot of our sources don't have Week 1 projections up yet.
I am unable to edit the custom settings currently. Any idea what may be causing this issue?
I get a "Disconnected from the server" message when I click Save on the League Settings menu. This just started happening today. Any ideas?
I'm also experiencing this issue. In the League Settings menu I choose my custom league in the dropdown, update WR/RB/TE from 1 to 0, click save, and then get a "Disconnected from server" error.
The Projections tool seems now to default to Week 1. Is there still somewhere to get the projections for the entire 2017 season?
I am also trying to understanding how to use the weekly optimizer since I am not in an auction draft. If there a way to pull all of the players out of the system who are already on teams in my league and then evaluate waiver wire options to pick up from week to week?
If you click on the player's name you can exclude them from the optimizer, you can also use the projections tool to evaluate waivers and pick starters for a given week.
For "season" projections, are those from the current week forward to the end of the season, or are they from Week One to Week Seventeen?
"Item 1 has no length. Provide at least one item (such as NA, NA_integer_ etc) to be repeated to match the 1 rows in the longest column. Or, all columns can be 0 length, for insert()ing rows into.
This occurs after setting the projections to Week 2 under General Settings, using a custom league rule.
Also, my saved league settings appear to have reverted to default. They were working the past 2 weeks.
Unsubscribing at this point. I really love this tool but I just feel like every week I'm fighting with something different. Hopefully this product keeps improving; will check back next season.
Good morning Val — I am trying to use the Lineup Optimizer, I am logged in with my subscribed username and log in, when I go to settings to Select Week 2 i can't get it to load or work — when I go to it in incognito mode (chrome) i keep getting an error saying disconnected from the server and if I try it in regular chrome the screen just goes Grey and doesn't load…I have done everything in the troubleshooting section, cleared my cache, restarted my computer and even tried a different browser. Am I the only one having this issue, and how can I fix and load week 2 lineups for Fan Duel – week 1 is loading fine.
Two situations that seem to result in automatic failure of the app.
Week 3 projections are up now!
Is the 2018 information available?
I am using chrome, have allowed popup access to this site and also tried turning popup blocker off – but still get disconnected from database everytime I change the settings. I can load one saved setting, but if i try to change from week to season or load a different saved setting I get database disconnected error after a minute or so. This resets out of my saved settings so i have to change that first and then encounter the same problem trying to change fromw week to seasons. very frustrating as I can only download current week data.


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Sabres host the Senators to begin 2022 season
Ottawa Senators vs. Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo, New York; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: The Buffalo Sabres open the season at home against the Ottawa Senators.
Buffalo went 32-39-11 overall and 8-14-4 in division games last season. The Sabres committed 262 total penalties last season, averaging 3.2 per game and serving 8.1 penalty minutes per game.
Ottawa went 33-42-7 overall and 11-12-3 in division games a season ago. The Senators had a -40 goal differential last season, scoring 224 goals while giving up 264.
INJURIES: Sabres: None listed.
Senators: Shane Pinto: out (shoulder), Cam Talbot: out (upper-body).


04/19/13 We are having a salad bar for 300. I noticed on your salad bar for 100 or more, you indicated you would have 4+ pounds of lettuce, romaine, and spinach. If you had all of these at the bar, would you still plan on 4+ pounds of each one/100 people?
04/19/13 Yes. It takes 12-15 pounds of greens per 100 unless you are planning a cold plate luncheon with very little greens.
If you didn't see these general tips for all self service bars, they might also be useful.


text:
HD Heads-Up: July 10
➢ The ITV documentary, Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, will premiere later this month on Three. Made by Oxford Film and Television (Our Queen at 90) to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Princess' death, it is built around HRH The Duke of Cambridge and HRH Prince Harry talking openly about their mother and how her influence has shaped their lives …
➢ "This is the first time that the two of us have ever spoken about her as a mother," Prince Harry says in the doco that normally you would have expected to air on TVNZ 1 or Prime because of those broadcasters' relationship with ITV. "She was our mum. She still is our mum. And of course, as a son I would say this, she was the best mum in the world. She smothered us with love, that's for sure" …
➢ Three reports that last week it won four out of seven nights in the key ratings demographic of 25-54: Monday (25-54, 18-39, 18-49), Wednesday (25-54), Thursday (25-54, 18-49) and Sunday (all four demographics). Week two of The Block NZ scored timeslot wins on Monday (25-54, 18-39, 18-49), Tuesday (25-54, 18-49), Wednesday (25-54, 18-39, 18-49) and Sunday evening (all four demos). The show hit a ratings high on Sunday with a 10.6 and 32.4% audience share …
➢ More good news for Three: Newshub Live at 6pm won its slot across all four demos on Thursday with an 8.0 rating and 30.3% audience share. It was helped by Family Feud hitting a year-to-date high in 25-54 (4.4 rating) and led to The World Is Not Enough winning its slot in 25-54 …
➢ On Friday The Graham Norton Show won with 25-54 and Live at the Apollo in all four demos while Sunday's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes topped 25-54, 18-49 and household shoppers …
➢ Once Upon a Time alert: TVNZ 2 will premiere season six on Saturday in a 1.30 slot following new episodes of The Fosters as part of a new-look weekend afternoon line-up that includes the season premiere of The Bachelorette (12.30 Sunday) and re-runs of Ugly Betty (2.25 Sunday) …
➢ Appearing this week and next on Prime's The Late Show With Jimmy Fallon:
Derek Jeter, Katherine Langford and Father John Misty (10.50 tonight)
Gal Gadot and musical guest Barry Manilow (11.25 tomorrow)
Musical guest Miley Cyrus (10.35 Wednesday)
Amy Poehler, Zendaya and musical guest Imagine Dragons (10.30 Thursday)
Will Ferrell, Alison Brie and musical guest Shawn Mendes (11.55 Friday)
Kate McKinnon, John Cena and musical guest Mac DeMarco (10.45 Monday).
Diana, Featured, Once Upon a Time, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, The Block NZ
Critical Condition: Claws
Critical Condition: Poldark
3 Responses to "HD Heads-Up: July 10"
Hi Phil – any insight into the return of the latest season of Scandal to late-night TV2?
Philip July 13, 2017 at 4:24 pm
Hi Rosco. TVNZ's just confirmed Scandal won't resurface until late November …
Hi Phil – Thanks for the feedback and timeline. November eh? That kind of sucks! Ah well, at least it IS scheduled to come back (even late at night) and not been binned without an explanation. That happens all too often!


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WRG2019 - Scooter: Thrilling finals
The Scotter competition has ended after three days of competition in the WRG Barcelona 2019 and finished being the biggest skating event in the world. The only one of the 11 disciplines that was not held in Nanjing 2017 has surpassed his debut at Palau Sant Jordi with a note and has had the best possible culmination this Sunday with an amazing final in the WS-ISA Scooter World Championship.
The separation between the winner of the competition with the second and third place riders was as little as less than half points.The American Jonmarco Gaydos (90.80) has finally achieved the gold medal and world title by beating his compatriot Chris Farris (90.60) and the Australian Dylan Morrison (90.40) in a very exciting final.
The women's competition has also been resolved by a short margin of advantage in favor of the American Rebeca Ortiz, who has added 78.60 points. Second was the New Zealand Alexandra Madsen (77.20) and third, the Australian Bianca Dilworth (76.40).
Finally, in the Park Men's Junior World Cup, the British James Gellatly won followed by the Danish Hjalte Langebek Hansen and the Spanish Álex Pérez Ortuño. The local Álex González also grazed the podium in fourth place.
PHOTOS: M. Casanovas/WRG


Yankees closer receives all 425 votes. Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina and Roy Halladay also are elected.
Mariano Rivera made history again.
The iconic Yankees closer, whose lethal cutter helped him amass a record 652 saves over 19 seasons, on Tuesday became the first National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee to be unanimously voted in by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, appearing on all 425 ballots.
Pitcher Roy Halladay, who died in a plane crash in November 2017 at age 40, earned 85.4 percent of the vote in his first year on the ballot. Also honored were designated hitter Edgar Martinez, who barely missed last year but received 85.4 percent in his 10th and final year on the ballot, and former Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina, who got 76.7 percent in his sixth year.
Seventy-five percent is required for induction.
Andy Pettitte, in his first year of eligibility after a career in which he won a record 19 postseason games, got 9.9 percent (a candidate must receive 5 percent to stay on the ballot). Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, whose association with PEDs have kept them from induction, received 59.1 and 59.5 percent, respectively.
There was never any doubt about Rivera's induction – really, never a doubt by the halfway point of his career. The only question was whether the closer, signed by the Yankees for $3,000 in 1990 out of the tiny Panamanian fishing village of Puerto Caimito, would attain 100 percent of the vote.
The statistics still jump off the page. Among the most impressive, in addition to the saves: a 2.21 career regular-season ERA and 1.000 WHIP, numbers that became otherworldly in the postseason: a 0.70 ERA and 0.76 WHIP in 141 innings.
Derek Jeter used to say "being consistent" year after year was the hardest part of being a major leaguer. In a role that lends itself to inconsistency – "bullpens are volatile" is a go-to phrase of Cashman's – Rivera was remarkably consistent.
In 1997, his first season as closer, he saved 43 games with a 1.88 ERA. In 2013, his last, when he was 43, he had 44 saves with a 2.11 ERA. After posting a 3.15 ERA in 2007 at age 37 – by far his worst single-season ERA as a closer – he posted ERAs of 1.40, 1.76, 1.80, 1.91, 2.16 and 2.11 over his final six seasons.
Lefty or righty, it made no difference. Righties hit .215 off Rivera and slugged .320; lefties hit .209 and slugged just .267.
Joe Girardi was Rivera's manager from 2008-13. In March 2013, shortly after Rivera announced his intent to retire at season's end, Girardi said: "At times, it seemed like it wasn't fair." That was largely because of a cutter that flummoxed hitters and shattered bats throughout Rivera's career.
One of the few to have prolonged success against Rivera was Martinez, who went 11-for-19 with three doubles and two home runs.


John Litzler, an attorney with a heart for the church, shares his background and thoughts on following Christ in the marketplace.
Tom Donaldson, a minister turned professional coach, shares his background and thoughts on following Christ in the marketplace.
Lee Welch, the executive director of the Dogwood Trails Baptist Association in Jacksonville, Texas, shares his background and thoughts on church and associational ministry.
Ferrell Foster, the director of ethics and justice for the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, shares his background and thoughts on denominational ministry.
Steve Doyle, the director of missions for the Creath-Brazos Baptist Association in Bryan/College Station, shares his background and thoughts on church and associational ministry.
Eric Small, executive director of Pineywoods Baptist Encampment, shares his background and thoughts on camp ministry.
In celebration of Black History Month, Kathryn Freeman, director of public policy for the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, describes ministry from her vantage point.
In celebration of Black History Month, Rev. Dr. Dennis W. Young, pastor of Missouri City Baptist Church in Missouri City and chair of the Executive Committee of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, describes ministry from his vantage point.
In celebration of Black History Month, Rev. Dr. Michael Evans, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield and president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, describes ministry from his vantage point.


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Turkey must convince Iran over Iraq: VP
March 12 2012 00:01:00
Deniz Kilislioğlu CNNTürk - ARBIL
CNN reporter Deniz Kilislioğu (R) interviewed with Iraqi VicePresident Tariq Al-Hashemi in Iraq. Al-Hashemi hints that Turkey could potentially impose pressure on Iran, as the latter needs Turkish support over its nuclear program.
Iraq's exiled Sunni leader, Tariq al-Hashemi, has urged international and regional countries to take tangible measures to stop the judicial process launched against him by the Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, ahead of the first hearing set for May 3. He particularly focused on Turkey, asking it to try to pressure Iran against interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq.
"I expect tangible measures. Steps should be taken to stop this illegal judicial process. Everyone should admit this is a strategically important case," al-Hashemi said in an interview in northern Iraq, where he has been hosted by Iraqi Kurdish leaders following Maliki's attempt to arrest him for his alleged links to terrorist acts. The move, which came only days after American troops withdrew from Iraq, ignited the Sunni-Shiite tension in Iraq and exposed Iranian influence in Iraq's fragile political landscape.
Although al-Hashemi did not detail the tangible measures that could be taken, he hinted that Turkey could potentially impose pressure on Iran, as the latter needs Turkish support over its controversial nuclear program. "I am expecting a change in Iran's policies. I think Iran is very much in need of Turkey. Turkey is the only mediator over its nuclear case," he said.
"Turkey should convince Iran to leave Iraq alone and to not interfere in Iraq's internal affairs. No one is trying to make conditions more difficult for Iran, but it should be aware of Iraq's sovereignty and respect Iraq's dignity," al-Hashemi said.
Expressing thanks for the support he has received from Turkey so far, al-Hashemi underlined that this support was not lent just because he was a Sunni politician, but because Turkey wanted a stable Iraq in which all different political groups can coexist. "The support Turkey gives is not for nothing. Turkey would also defend al-Maliki if he faced similar injustice," he stated. "I hope that Turkey and other regional countries will take this issue within the frame of respect for the Office of the Vice President and legal values, rather than as my personal problem."
The role Americans played in the eruption of the Sunni-Shiite crisis is also significant, al-Hashemi suggested, criticizing Washington for turning Iraqis adrift and for not accomplishing the mission it launched.
Hearing set for May 3
Unable to leave the residence provided to him by Iraqi Kurds, al-Hashemi is now waiting for May 3, the first hearing of his case. His earlier appeals to be tried in a city other than Baghdad were refused by the court. Although his political career is at stake, he now declares that, under current conditions, he will not set foot in the capital.
"I exercise my entire freedom without any restrictions, without any constraint. But al-Maliki destroyed my entire structure in Baghdad. All my bodyguards have been arrested, my possessions have been taken," he said.
Not seeking refuge outside Iraq
The Sunni leader talked warmly about the hospitability he received from Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and from the President of Iraqi Kurdistan's regional Government, Massoud Barzani. The duration of his stay in northern Iraq depends on the case, he underlined, denying that he has plans to flee Iraq. Both Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu are encouraging him to stay in Iraq, but he does not leave the door closed for a brief visit to Turkey in the near future.
The "lonely man" of Iraq appears to be resentful and sad, but al-Hashemi is still trying to appear powerful, and lives in the hope of returning to Baghdad one day. "I am still the vice president of Iraq," he said.
İYİ Party leader Akşener tests positive for COVID-19
CHP leader postpones visit to Diyarbakır
Erdoğan files criminal complaint against CHP lawmakers
Three opposition leaders meet to discuss return to parliamentary system
Turkey soon to leave currency volatility behind: Erdoğan
İYİ Party leader criticizes govt's economic policies
Parliament commission to examine summary of proceedings against HDP MP