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Scientists have discovered the world's largest known bacteria, reaching up to one centimetre (0.4-inches) in length. The species, called Thiomargarita magnifica, was discovered on sunken leaves in the waters of a mangrove swamp in Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. It appears as thin white filaments like vermicelli pasta, and contains microscopic sulphur granules that scatter light, giving it a pearly gleam. T. magnifica is a sulphur-oxidising prokaryote, meaning it derives energy from the oxidation of sulphur compounds. Large sulphur bacteria have been shown to be hot spots for symbionts – an organism living in symbiosis with another. Another species...

Scientists have discovered the world's largest known bacteria, reaching up to one centimetre (0.4-inches) in length. The species, called Thiomargarita magnifica, was discovered on sunken leaves in the waters of a mangrove swamp in Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. It appears as thin white filaments like vermicelli pasta, and contains microscopic sulphur granules that scatter light, giving it a pearly gleam. The 'giant' organism is thousands of times larger than most bacteria and can therefore be seen by the naked eye. Thiomargarita magnifica 'challenges the prevailing view of bacterial cell size' and the assumption that microbes are only visible...

It's been called the "health passport" but the French government is now moving to bring in a "vaccine passport". The health passport allowed vaccination, recent recovery from COVID and a recent negative test to be valid. But the vaccine passport will only allow for vaccination or recent recovery to be valid. The government's plan is to have the new system in place two weeks from today on January 15th. Outdoor mask rules imposed including the region in and around Paris. An intensification of the vaccine conflict in the French Caribbean. December 31st was the new vaccine mandate deadline there. This...

French President Emmanuel Macron visitng the money rich Gulf Arab countries this weekend as he faces the Presidential elections in just over four months. The United Arab Emirates agreeing to buy 80 Rafale fighter jets. 12 French helicopters also part of the 19.2 billion US dollar deal. A bit of a boost following the debacle of the 90 billion submarine deal with Australia falling apart under the weight of the AUKUS security alliance to counter China in the "Indo-Pacific". Today President Macronmeeting Saudi Arabia's de-facto ruler Mohammed Bin Salman. France and Saudi Arabia with a 'joint initiative" on Lebanon where...

A tumultuous week in France, COVID and more on the plate. The rising number of positive tests bringing in new measures this week. Masks ordered indoors and outdoors. Third-dose "booster shots" also rolled out for all adults in France. On Wednesday, the migrant issue came to the forefront as a migrant boat sank off the French coast in the English Channel with 27 deaths. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron that France should take back migrants if the UK catches them. France then shut the British out of meetings to discuss the...

Authorities in the French Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe have extended a nightly curfew until Sunday as police attempt to restore calm after several nights of protests and violent clashes that were triggered by Covid-19 regulations but are rooted in long-running concerns over the high cost of living, low wages, youth unemployment and mistrust of the Paris government. Gunfire has targeted police over the past few days, a general strike has entered its second week and many stores remained closed ... ..In nearby Martinique there were gunshots fired at police for a second night running, French media reported on Wednesday... ...The...

The first day of the mobilization of Martinican unions, Monday November 22, 2021, began with a rally at the House of unions and a parade in Fort-de-France. Several blockages are visible in the economic activity zones of the island. 1300 people (according to the police) marched in the main arteries of Fort-de-France this Monday morning (November 22,2021) The demonstrators chanted which dates from the social events of 2009, "Matinik leve! Se pou la viktwa ka ale". The procession made a symbolic stop in front of the village of the arrival of the Transat Jacques Vabre for speeches and en emphasis...

Several fires and looting were counted in the night from Saturday to Sunday in Guadeloupe in the continuity of the social movement that began at the beginning of the week. The night from Saturday to Sunday was again turbulent in Guadeloupe, which has been facing a large-scale social movement for a week, between fires and looting that led to 38 arrests in the night. "Our area has been marked by the looting of shops, especially in the commune of Lamantin, where a small shopping center was attacked with a backhoe", said the command of the gendarmerie of Guadeloupe. The spokesman...

Anniversary events this weekend commemorating the shock wave that went through France in November of 2018 as hundreds of thousands even a million people at a time took to the streets and highways of France in a nationwide protest movement. The Yellow Vest is an item required of all French motorists by law and it became a symbol of a protest aimed at rising gasoline prices as the government of President Emmanuel Macron imposed new taxes and planned more as a "Green" policy. The Yellow Vests occupied toll booths on French highways that had been sold by the government... Much...

The Minister of the Interior spoke following an interministerial crisis unit held in Beveau this Saturday evening. Guadeloupe will benefit in all from a reinforcement of 2,200 police and gendarmes announced Gerald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, this Saturday evening at the exit of the interministerial cell convened after several days of violence in Guadeloupe, which originates from the anti-health pass mobilization. They "arrive in the next few hours" specified Gerald Darmanin. Among them will be present "in particular about fifty agents of the GIGN and the Raid", he added. The intermissional cell, chaired by Gerald Darmanin, took place alongside...

Hurricane Jose has been hanging around, waiting for attention in the wake of Hurricane Irma. Newcomer Maria threatens to impact the Caribbean Islands already devastated by Hurricane Irma, and brushed by Jose. Hurricane Jose threatens to brush or impact New England. Lee appears to be a fish storm at this time. Mash images for larger or more info! All info updates automatically Jose Maria > > Public Advisories Public Advisories Forecast Discussions Forecast Discussions

POINTE-A-PITRE, Guadeloupe – Protests that have nearly shut down the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique are not just about demands for lower prices and higher wages: For demonstrators they are no less than a battle against the vestiges of slavery. Afro-Caribbean islanders — most of whose forbears toiled in the sugarcane fields under the yoke of slavery more than 160 years ago — not only resent France's handling of the global economic crisis, they have long resented that slaveholders' descendants control the economy on both islands. They also suspect that businesses earn too high a profit on goods,...

Britons flee French island of Guadeloupe as rioters turn on white families ...Trouble broke out on the island earlier last month after protesters began rioting over high prices and low wages. ...the situation escalated this week after protesters began turning on...white families.... Guadeloupe descends into full-scale urban warfare... ... protesters turn... attention to...white families...they blame for...poor standard of living ...France describing the situation as virtual civil war'... ...hundreds of protesters are roaming the streets of the capital Point-a-Pitre, looting shops and restaurants, burning cars and vandalising.... Protesters ransacked shops and torched cars... .... the neighbouring...island of Martinique...where protests are also...

Britons flee French island of Guadeloupe as rioters turn on white families By Mail Foreign Service Last updated at 3:17 PM on 19th February 2009 Britons are among thousands of tourists fleeing Guadeloupe after full scale urban warfare erupted on the French Caribbean island. Trouble broke out on the island earlier last month after protesters began rioting over high prices and low wages. But the situation escalated this week after protesters began turning on rich white families as they demanded an end to colonial control of the economy. The troubles come at the height of the holiday season, with thousands...

FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique -- Strikes that have nearly frozen everyday life on France's Caribbean islands burst into clashes on Monday as police battled protesters angry at high prices and resentful of a tiny white elite on lands better known for beach-side vacations. Police detained about 50 people after coming under a barrage of stones as they tried to take down barricades on the island of Guadeloupe, said Nicolas Desforges, the island's top government official. Strikers were sprayed with tear gas and several, including union leader Alex Lollia, were injured, France's leftist NPA party said in a statement. The leader of the...

PARIS, Nov 19, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Counter-terrorism agents this week arrested a man suspected of links to the assassins of anti-Taliban military commander Ahmed Shah Massood, France's interior minister said Wednesday. The suspect, not identified by name, was arrested Monday, Nicolas Sarkozy told lawmakers during a question and answer session. Sarkozy said the suspect "was in liaison with the assassins of Commander Massood," the western-backed head of the northern alliance opposed to the Taliban. Massood was slain on Sept. 9, 2001 in northern Afghanistan, two days before the terror attacks in the United States, by two men...

Terror suspect linked to Afghan assassination October 28, 2003 - 9:11AM A Frenchman under investigation in Australia and France for possible terrorist activities was also suspected of links to the assassination of an Afghan leader, authorities said. Willie Virgile Brigitte, 35, is in custody in a Paris area jail where he is being held on suspicion of association with a terror group, French police and justice officials said. Investigations are under way in France and Australia into Brigitte's alleged links to the al-Qaeda terror network, French officials said today. A judicial official said that Brigitte was also suspected of running...