France - strikes hit fuel supplies: Here is where France is hit hardest by fuel shortages

With 2,400 petrol stations across France either empty or running out of fuel, here's a look at which parts of the country are the most affected.

Key points 

- 2,400 petrol stations empty or running low

- PM warns the French not to panic

- Total says 509 of its 2,200 stations empty or running low

- Read also: What can the French do if there's no fuel?

Authorities have tried to quell all talk of any fuel shortages, but 2,400 petrol stations out of 12,000 petrol stations around the country - that's one fifth - had either run out of fuel or were running very low.

And as the map below shows, it's looking extremely grim.

French oil giant Total said 54 percent of its stations in Brittany, 46 percent in Normandy, and 43 percent in the Pays-de-la-Loire region are totally or partially out of fuel.

In Nantes it’s proving almost impossible to find fuel. Posters announcing that pumps are empty greet motorists at almost every station. It’s a similar case in Vannes, where almost all stations are out of fuel.  

Read more: Here is where France is hit hardest by fuel shortages - The Local

Austrian election: Unity call after close defeat for far right

Austria's new president has vowed to listen to the people's "fear and anger" after his far-right opponent narrowly missed out on a landmark victory.

Independent Alexander Van der Bellen beat the Freedom Party's Norbert Hofer by just 31,000 votes among the 4.64 million cast in Sunday's election.

The victor accepted there was a "rift" but said: "We are two sides of the same coin. Together we make up Austria."

Mainstream European politicians expressed relief at the result.

Read more: Austria election: Unity call after close defeat for far right - BBC News

Turkey: elects new AKP leader also designated as new PM

Turkey's Yildirim elected new AKP chief, set to be prime minister Binali Yildirim was elected the new leader of Turkey’s ruling AK Party at a special convention on Sunday in a move that is likely to consolidate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s powerbase. http://f24.my/1qCHQp0

Refugee Centers in Europe: "Turkey only sending lower qualified people to Europe"

The German weekly "der Spiegel" reported that most of the Syrian Refugees passed through to the EU, as part of the new agreement between Turkey and the EU,are either very poorly qualified or sick.

Prior to the deal between Turkey and the EU, when the UNHCR was handling the selection, the nunber of skilled and highly qualified people entering the EU was far higher.

"Now that Turkey is doing the selecting, the refugee election process has become quit nebulous", says the German advocay group Pro-Asyl.

Almere-Digest  

Linkedin Hacked: A hacker is selling 117 million LinkedIn logins on the Dark Web

It’s no surprise to anyone that emails and social media accounts are hacked every single day. And if you cast your mind back to 2012, you might remember how millions of LinkedIn users were left vulnerable after it emerged that a Russian hacker was offloading over 6 million of their login details online.

Well, he/she is back and this time there are 117 million email and passwords belonging to LinkedIn users up for grabs on an illegal Dark Web marketplace called The Real Deal for 5 bitcoin ($2,200 approximately).

Under the nickname Peace, the hacker has spoken to Motherboard and confirmed these logins come from the 2012 breach – proving that LinkedIn did not make it known just how widespread the hack was at the time.

The hacker added that while the majority of the passwords are encrypted or hashed with the SHA1 algorithm, over 90 percent have already been cracked. Motherboard also independently verified the email and passwords of some affected users.

While you might not have your bank details saved to your LinkedIn profile, the information that could be pulled from your account is still extremely private and could potentially allow someone to steal your identity. So, it’s probably best to change your password ASAP if you think you may have been affected and if you use the same password for multiple sites, I’d change those too.

Read more: A hacker is selling 117 million LinkedIn logins on the Dark Web

GMO Propaganda: "Genetically Modified Crops Are Safe" - US Report Says - by Maggie Fox

Genetically modified crops on the market are not only safe, but appear to be good for people and the environment, experts determined in a report released Tuesday.

But the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are not just asking people to take their word for it. They're putting the evidence up on a website so skeptics — and they know there are plenty of them — can check for themselves.

"You can't just continue to have an opinion without backing it up with data," said Fred Gould, distinguished professor of entomology and co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University.

"Part of our approach here was to make this not just a report," added Gould, who chaired the expert committee that released the report. "This is all on a website. We hope that this report will open a conversation, not make some kind of a proclamation."

"They really want somebody to say this is good or this is bad, we came to the conclusion that making any sweeping generalizations about genetically engineered crops is not appropriate," Gould told NBC News.

Perhaps surprisingly, given the huge debate over GMOs, only two types of genetically engineered crops are in wide use - one engineered to carry genes from a common bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis (or Bt for short) that kills insects that eat it, and one that makes crops resistant to weedkillers.

But more than 90 percent of corn, soybeans and cotton grown in the U.S. is genetically modified. 

Note EU-Digest: funding  for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine also includes a variety of donors from the Private Sector, including chemical companies involved in GMO development and the sale of GMO treated products.

Read mpre: Genetically Modified Crops Are Safe, Report Says - NBC News

EU-US TTIP trade deal under threat over the Feta factor (and much more)

TTIP: Putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank

A food fight between Europe and the US could block a massive free trade deal.

Products like Feta cheese, Gorgonzola, Champagne and Parma ham currently enjoy protection under which only they can be sold by that original name in the EU.

But with the controversial and much protested against Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) those products would not enjoy that protection in the United States.

In addition US companies would be able to sell their products in Europe under TTIP, even if they did not meet the same standards as local foodstuffs – for example Feta cheese from Greece can only be made with goat and sheeps milk.

The Americans say it is unacceptable protectionism and producers can use trademarks, though the US considers names like Feta to be generic and so not protectable by trademarks.

The Europeans say no protection means no trade deal.

With over 1,200 food products and close to 2,000 wine names having “so-called ‘geographical indicator’ status“https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographical_indication negotiations could be bruising.

Already Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan and French President François Hollande are threatening vetos if the issue is not resolved.

The matter is being discussed this week by the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council.

Note EU-Digest: in reality this massive trade proposal called TTIP is a threat to our climate, health and democracy. NAFTA proved to be a failure, and now the US is trying to shove TTIP, which has been negotiated with very little transparency, down the throat of the EU.  Come on EU,  show some "cojones", and tell the US where they can shove their TTIP proposal. 

Read more: TTIP trade deal under threat over the Feta factor | euronews, economy