• North Korea says it is scrapping all non-aggression pacts with South Korea, closing its hotline with Seoul and shutting their shared border point. S. Korea's Defense Ministry warns that North Korea would ""vanish from earth"" if they launched a nuclear strike.

•  The government of Norway invited all the nations of the world to a two-day conference to discuss the humanitarian effects of nuclear war and to begin the process to ban all nuclear weapons. Over 130 nations showed up.
• Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood sharply criticized an anticipated U.N. document on combatting violence against women, saying on Wednesday that it was “deceitful,” clashed with Islamic principles and undermined family values.

• Mobile money keeps Kenya economy moving
• Germany's anti-euro party is a nasty shock for Angela Merkel. A new party led by economists, jurists, and Christian Democrat rebels will kick off this week, calling for the break-up of monetary union before it can do any more damage.

• An Interesting infographic showing the systemic impacts of climate change
• Appalled about European horsemeat being passed off as beef? That's nothing. Donkey, puffin and even rat show up on continental dinner plates — and in vitro beef may soon follow.

• Gas-importing Japan pins hope on 'fire ice'. World's largest importer of liquefied natural gas eyes commercial exploration within six years.

• The Future of Nuclear Power Runs on the Waste of Our Nuclear Past

• Nanoparticles carrying a toxin found in bee venom can destroy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) while leaving surrounding cells unharmed, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown. 
• Strange phallus-shaped creature provides crucial missing link: Discovery pushes fossil record back 200 million years
• Mummies reveal that clogged arteries plagued the ancient world. Scans suggest that there’s more to heart disease than a modern diet.
• New results indicate that particle discovered at CERN is a Higgs boson

• Maria Damanaki, Europe’s crusading fisheries minister, is making major headway in changing a cozy, “old boys” network that over-subsidized the European fishing industry and brought about the severe overfishing of the continent’s marine bounty.
• The Netherlands’ system of dikes and sea gates has long been the best in the world. But as the country confronts the challenges of climate change, it is increasingly relying on techniques that mimic natural systems and harness nature’s power to hold back the sea.
• This sobering map shows you all of America’s food deserts

• Alien Worldships should be detectable by their infrared signature and a list of feasible interstellar travel methods
• Living with less makes more happy

This bi-weekly digest is made by assembling items from all of Except’s people. Have questions, comments, or news items to suggest? E-mail matthew.fraser@except.nl. Read past Wormfood global news reports here.