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Yes, it's true: the banana we know and love is going the way of the dodo bird. An incurable strain of the fungal Panama disease known as TR4 is currently wiping out tens of thousands of acres of banana plantations, from Malaysia to Australia and Mozambique to El Salvador. But what's bananas is that this has all happened before! Is history doomed to repeat itself? Find out in the grand finale of our banana series. It's banana-pocalypse then *and* now, in this story of CIA subterfuge and human parakeets—plus we get to the bottom of the mystery of banana-flavored candy and meet the weird and wonderful candidates auditioning for the role of banana of the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In the headlines: The Project Implementation Unit hand over entomology lab equipmenrt to the Ministry of Health and; Efforts to improve readiness for TR4 continue. For details on these developments and more, visit: www.govt.lc
Efforts to improve readiness for Fusarium oxyspoum TR4 continue as the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Caribbean Plant Health Directors Forum hosted a regional workshop.
A killer fungus is ravaging plantations of the Cavendish banana worldwide. It travels through the soil at lightning speed and chokes the banana plant so its leaves shrivel up and die. The disease is known as Tropical Race 4, or TR4 for short, and it has spread across the globe from Australia, to the Philippines, Pakistan and Mozambique. Now TR4 is widespread across Latin America. In Colombia where 30,000 people are employed in banana plantations, the government declared a state of national emergency when the fungus first arrived on farms in 2019. An international community of scientists is experimenting with different techniques to try to halt the spread of TR4 whether that's through gene-editing, selective breeding or injecting microbes into the soil.
Die Banane ist süss und gesund, lässt sich gut schälen, ist günstig und hat das ganze Jahr über Saison. Die perfekte Frucht also und kaum vorstellbar, dass sie eines Tages in der Auslage des Früchtehändlers fehlen könnte. Wobei genau dieses Szenario gar nicht so aus der Luft gegriffen ist. Seit über 10 Jahren ist die Banane nämlich weltweit bedroht vom Pilz Fusarium oxysporum, beziehungsweise von dessen Stamm TR4. In Australien ist jetzt eine gentechnisch veränderte Banane zugelassen worden, die gegen TR4 resistent ist. Kommt jetzt Rettung für die Banane? Und weshalb eigentlich sind Bananen weltweit Opfer dieses Pilzes? Remco Stam, Phytopathologe und Professor an der Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel gibt Antwort.
Die Banane ist süss und gesund, lässt sich gut schälen, ist günstig und hat das ganze Jahr über Saison. Die perfekte Frucht also und kaum vorstellbar, dass sie eines Tages in der Auslage des Früchehändlers fehlen könnte. Wobei genau dieses Szenario gar nicht so aus der Luft gegriffen ist. Seit über 10 Jahren ist die Banane nämlich weltweit bedroht vom Pilz Fusarium oxysporum, beziehungsweise von dessen Stamm TR4. In Australien ist jetzt eine gentechnisch veränderte Banane zugelassen worden, die gegen TR4 resistent ist. Kommt jetzt Rettung für die Banane? Und weshalb eigentlich sind Bananen weltweit Opfer dieses Pilzes? Remco Stam, Phytopathologe und Professor an der Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel gibt Antwort.
As fungal disease Panama Tropical Race 4 (TR4) threatens the commercial cavendish variety, the new banana is the only 'back-up option' for Australia's $1.3 billion industry, but its unlikely to end up in your smoothie anytime soon.
The world's most common banana variety is facing possible extinction, stoking concerns of a worldwide shortage. A fungal disease called the Panama Disease tropical race 4, or TR4, is spreading to plantations across the world. It's a big threat to the Cavendish Banana, which around half of the world's population import and eat. Hugh Rose is a Northland banana grower and chair of Tropical Fruit Growers of New Zealand. Rose spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.
The TR4 Awareness Activities continue as the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security, and Rural Development partners with telecommunications companies Digicel and Flow to support TR4 awareness activities.
In todays's headlines: SLASPA reinforces their commitment To Secure Ports To Prevent the entry of TR4 and; The GGGI announces the successful applicants selected for the Eastern Caribbean Greenpreneurs Incubator Program .
Chris’ Links: Chris on Twitter. Raidercast on YouTube Raidercast Podcast The Astroholic Podcast Support the hosting of PAL KEYS on Substack. Raidercast 06 with Jenni Milward. Tomb of Ash’s TR4 document with thanks to Joby Wood for sending it. The Vault Podcast with ‘Phease’ and Jason. Interview with alumni of past TR dev teams by …
Chris’ Links: Chris on Twitter. Raidercast on YouTube Raidercast Podcast The Astroholic Podcast Support the hosting of PAL KEYS on Substack. Raidercast 06 with Jenni Milward. Tomb of Ash’s TR4 document with thanks to Joby Wood for sending it. The Vault Podcast with ‘Phease’ and Jason. Interview with alumni of past TR dev teams by …
Chris’ Links: Chris on Twitter. Raidercast on YouTube Raidercast Podcast The Astroholic Podcast Support the hosting of PAL KEYS on Substack. Raidercast 06 with Jenni Milward. Tomb of Ash’s TR4 document with thanks to Joby Wood for sending it. The Vault Podcast with ‘Phease’ and Jason. Interview with alumni of past TR dev teams by …
Die Cavendish-Banane ist in tödlicher Gefahr. TR4, der Pilz der Panama-Krankheit, rafft Bananen tonnenweise dahin. Werden wir bald ohne die leckere, gelbe Frucht auskommen müssen?
Bananen sind nahrhaft, lecker und - von einem Pilz bedroht, gegen den es kein Mittel gibt! Wichtig ist, seine Ausbreitung zu stoppen und eine neue, resistente Sorte zu züchten. Katharina Nickoleit über die Arbeit daran.
Agave lessons and Mexican gastronomy with Dr. Ana Valenzuela Zapata
¿Por qué un especialista en mejoramiento de plátanos es entrevistado en Agave Lessons? Las plantaciones de agave azul y de bananas sufren enfermedades de hongos (fungosis) conocidas como marchiteces. Es un honor tener en Agave Lessons a un científico colombiano como el Dr. Fernando A. Garcías-Bastidas, quien hace una estancia postdoctoral en Wageningen (Paises Bajos) en Kgen, haciendo mejoramiento genético en bananos contra el mal de Panamá. Como ustedes saben los hongos del género Fusarium son los causantes de marchitamientos también en agaves. Lo invité para que nos platique sobre el problema conocido como mal de Panamá que se ha convertido en una pandemia. El es un cientifico que ha trabajado toda su vida en mejoramiento genético clásico en otras palabras libres de transgénicos comenzando con cafeto y siguiendo con bananos. En su doctorado hizo una búsqueda de la biodiversidad de bananos que pudieran tener resistencia a la raza 4 del mal de Panamá. Las especies y razas de Fusarium han sido una histórica amenaza para el banano, vuelven a surgir y ademas es un problema recurrente para otros monocultivos. Las similitudes entre plátanos-bananos y agaves Las plantas como los agaves y bananos reproducidos por vástagos y con una baja variabilidad genética en grandes extensiones de monocultivos son especialmente vulnerables a estas plagas. Estoy de acuerdo con Fernando, necesitamos conocer mas sobre la historia de las pandemias en cultivos y actuar preventivamente. Además no solamente actuar desde el mejoramiento genético sino con estrategias multicanales que incidan en sistemas de manejo agronómico, organizaciones sociales y políticas para prevenir infestaciones y su impacto y desde luego una inversión equitativa entre actores de cadenas globales. BIO Postdoctoral Researcher at KeyGene Banana scientist an agronomist working with important crops in the area of plant health during the last 15 years. First in the Coffee Breeding Program at Cenicafe and then on the pathosystem Fusarium- Banana at Wageningen Plant Research, part of Wageningen University & Research. Currently, PostDoc at KeyGene, a crop innovation research and technology company in Wageningen. Working on the development of resistant banana varieties, especially to Fusarium wilt AKA Panama disease Tropical Race 4. Speaker and consultant on Panama disease of banana and specialist in diagnosis of Tropical Race 4 (Fusarium odoratissimum AKA Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense) and co-author of the reports of the first incursions of TR4 in: Jordan (2013) Pakistan (2015) Lebanon (2015) Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam (2018) Colombia (2019) Instagram and twitter: @ferchuckytoons @ferchuckygarcia #enfermedadMaldePanama #Panamadisease #TR4 #CultivosdeClonestropicales #Banano #agave #Mejoramientodeplantastropicales #Mejoramientogeneticoclasico #Mejoramientogeneticoclasicoenbananos --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ana-g-valenzuela-zapata/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ana-g-valenzuela-zapata/support
In this episode, Biologists Being Basic (B3) hosts Joe, Kelsey and Robyn are joined by our friend Sean to discuss Fusarium wilt, a fungus that threatens bananas as we know them. Listen as we explore the history of this pathogen and its relationship with the yellow tropical fruit that US residents love to eat. Further Resources: If you want to learn more about bananas and their history, check out Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World, by Dan Koeppel (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/299017/banana-by-dan-koeppel/). For more technical peer-reviewed articles on TR4 resistant Cavendish strains, we recommend the following: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01670-6 and https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1005197 For news articles that covered the primary research, check out: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/07/devastating-banana-disease-may-have-reached-latin-america-could-drive-global-prices https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/11/gm-banana-shows-promise-against-deadly-fungus-strain https://www.wired.com/story/fungus-could-wipe-out-banana-forever/ https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/08/16/751499719/devastating-banana-fungus-arrives-in-colombia-threatening-the-fruits-future https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49331286 If you have any questions or comments you can email us at biologistsbeingbasic@gmail.com or find us on twitter or instagram (@biosbeingbasic).
Banana growers set to pay more levy money to help fund battle against Panama disease TR4. Fresh NT fish donated to those in need over Easter.
Our virtue today is: Friendship! Join us as we travel to the future where robots do all the household chores. TR4 is just another robot and... he's very lonely. None of the other robots in the house want to talk or play with him, they are all busy doing their jobs. Will he ever find a friend? Find out in today's episode! Discussion questions for kids: 1) Who are some of your good friends? What do you like about each of those people? 2) What makes someone a good friend?
The Balonne River finally peaks at St George at 12.22 metres; a school run with a difference, as the Quilpie flood boat is deployed; and, confirmation suspect plants picked up on a Tully banana farm have Panama disease TR4.
Today is National Banana Lovers Day. Botanically speaking, the banana is a berry - a many seeded fruit. And, banana trees are not trees. The banana plant is a giant herb. Inside the guts of the banana tree trunk is a white tube. It may be cooked, and tastes like bamboo shoots. Under a black light (ultraviolet or UV), ripe bananas glow a beautiful bright blue. Scientists believe this is a signal to banana eating animals like insects and bats that can see UV light. In 1690, the first shipments of bananas reached Salem, Massachusetts. They tried boiling them with pork. Needless to say, it took another 200 years for bananas to catch on in North America. Today, average U.S. banana consumption is almost 30 pounds per year. Until the early 1800s in Hawaii, most banana varieties were 'kapu' - forbidden for women of Hawaii to eat, under penalty of death. Banana's are facing a huge threat in the form of a pathogenic fungus called Fusarium wilt tropical race 4 (TR4) or Panama Disease. TR4 was first discovered in Taiwan in the 1990s. It has slowly made its way around the world. Just this month, on August 8th, researchers confirmed that TR4 is infecting banana plants in Latin America - Columbia declared a national state of emergency. This may seem extreme or over-reactive to people who don't realize that the fungus, TR4, lives in the soil for decades, making the land unlivable for future banana crops. TR4 first attacks the roots before spreading through the rest of the plant. Unfortunately, fungicides do not work against the disease. Thanks to Sir Joseph Paxton, the English gardener, architect and politician, who cultivated the Cavendish banana - who named it after William Cavendish, the 6th Duke of Devonshire who fancied them. In November 1935, five years after receiving a specimen imported from Mauritius, Joseph Paxton's plant finally flowered and by the following May it was loaded with more than 100 bananas, one of which won a medal at that year's Horticultural Society show. Today, bananas still grow on the Devonshire estate and the Cavendish banana is the most-consumed banana in the western world - it accounts for 99.9% of bananas in the western world - it accounts or 99.9% of bananas traded globally. It replaced a tastier variety who was wiped out be a fungal disease in the 1950s. Today, work is underway to create a Cavendish banana replacement. Although, earlier this month, a scientist predicted, "Eventually, it will not be possible to produce the Cavendish banana variety for international trade." We eat the variety of banana known as the Cavendish banana. Brevities #OTD Today is the birthday of Maria van Oosterwijck who was born on this day in 1630. Oosterwijck was an incredible Dutch Golden Age painter, specializing in flower paintings and still life. Her art was rich, vividly detailed, and incredibly realistic. Her still lifes of flowers in ornate vases were often set against a dark background and featured flowers like sunflowers, roses, carnations, hyacinths, parrot tulips, berries and her most famous paintings included a red admiral butterfly. In her 40's, her studio was opposite another flower painter by the name of Willem van Aelst. He attempted to woo Maria, but her heart belonged really only to her art. When he kept asking her, she finally agreed to marry him if he could prove that he could match her work ethic - he needed to paint every day, for 10 hours a day, for a year... only then would she marry him. Well, he couldn't do it and Maria remained single throughout her life. Oosterwijck's paintings were purchased by Kings and Emperors after she smartly secured an agent to market her work. #OTD Today is the birthday of the botanist Edwin James who was born on this day in Vermont in 1797. As a young man, James compiled the very first Flora of Vermont plants. James went on one of the first expeditions of the American West from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains. He discovered the mountain Columbine, Aquilegia caerulea which ultimately became known as the Colorado Blue Columbine and the State Flower of Colorado. An account of James' climb of Pikes Peak on July 13, 1820, states: "A little above the point where the timber disappears entirely, commences a region of astonishing beauty . . . covered with a carpet of low but brilliantly flowering alpine plants. . ." James' phrasing, "a region of astonishing beauty," became the title of a 2003 book on the botanical history of the Rocky Mountains by Roger Lawrence Williams. After the expedition, James married and settled in Burlington, Iowa. His home was a stop on the Underground Railroad. James died in 1861 after an accident. A monument to James was installed on Pike's Peak and the Des Moines County Medical Society planted Rocky Mountain Blue Columbine on his grave in the Rock Springs Cemetery. Newspaper accounts said the location was in the most picturesque part of southeastern Iowa. #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of the botanist Emil Christian Hansen, who died on this day in 1909. Prior to Hansen, brewing was a volatile experiment and batches could easily get infected with disease. Hansen forever changed the brewing industry with his discovery of way to separate pure yeast cells from wild yeast cells. Hansen's method was created while he was working for the Carlsberg Laboratory. But, Carlsberg Labs did not patent the process. Instead, they decided to publish it; sharing all the details with brewers around the world Hansen named the yeast after the lab – Saccharomyces Carlsbergensis – and samples of Carlsberg No. 1 (as it was called) were sent to breweries around the world by request and free of charge. Within 5 years, most European breweries were using Carlsberg No. 1. By 1892, American breweries, Pabst, Schlitz and Anheuser-Busch, were manufacturing their beers with pure yeast strains. Emil Hansen was a renaissance man. In addition to his work in botany, he attempted careers an actor, a portrait artist, a teacher, an author, (he wrote under a pseudonym). And it was Emil Hansen who made the first Danish translation of Charles Darwin’s Voyage of The Beagle. #OTD Today is the birthday of the English botanist Brian Lawrence Burt who went by "Bill." Burtt died in 2008. He is remembered for his contributions to the family Gesneriaceae; the family that includes African violets. When Burtt started going on and plant expeditions in 1951, the Gesneriaceae family was poorly represented. Thanks to his work, plants were sent to Edinburgh which became the hub for the family. Burtt's collections started trends in England making both the African violet and the Streptocarpus household plants. The common name of Streptocarpus or "Streps" as they are called is the Cape primrose. If you look online, you will see a picture of Bill Burtt, standing in a forest in South Africa on one of his botanizing trips. In his hands, he is holding a very large Streptocarpus grandis leaf that looks to be about 4-feet tall. #OTD Today in 1971, restaurateur and local fresh food activist Alice Waters opened California’s Iconic Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California. Waters never intended to be a chef or to start a revolution. She just wanted to open a nice little restaurant that served fresh, good-tasting food. When the restaurant opened on this night in 1971, Alice Waters personally greeted her customers at the door. Unearthed Words "This was one of those perfect New England days in late summer where the spirit of autumn takes a first stealing flight, like a spy, through the ripening country-side, and, with feigned sympathy for those who droop with August heat, puts her cool cloak of bracing air about leaf and flower and human shoulders." - Sarah Orne Jewett, The Courting of Sister Wisby, 1887 Today's book recommendation: Nueva Salsa by Rafael Palomino Rafael Palomino is a world-famous chef, restauranteur, and cookbook author. This cookbook, Nueva Salsa, was published in 2003. Salsas offer tremendous flavor, variety, and spice. They are quick and easy to make at home. Nueva Salsa features over 60 fantastic recipes including tomato-based versions as well as salsas that are Asian-inspired. There's a decadent Fruit Salsa and Three Berry Salsa which is the perfect accompaniment to desserts, shortbreads, and ice creams. You can get used copies of Nueva Salsa on Amazon using the link in today's show notes for a little over a dollar! Today's Garden Chore Incorporate more tall herbs into your garden by utilizing the area in the back of your beds. Herbs like dill, comfrey, hyssop, fennel, and lovage work great in the back of your ornamental beds. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart 110 years ago today, a little article appeared in The St. John Weekly News out of St. John, Kansas. it was titled "Making Home Attractive" and it was written by Ruth Cameron. Here's what it said: "There ought not to be such thing as an unlovely home outside the city the next two months. For all the threadbare, barren spots of the poorest home may be covered and healed by the beauty brought in from outside. It takes but a very little time to bring some of the flowers that bloom In the fields and gardens into the house. And yet many a time I've seen the garden gay with rose and poppy, pansy and nasturtium, and the house flowerless or maybe illy decorated with one or two bowls of half decaying flowers. You haven't just the little time necessary? Then make it the children's daily 'task to keep the flower vases freshly filled. Teach them to have pride in it. Remember occasionally to comment in their presence to a visitor on some tasteful arrangement they have made, and you need never have an empty vase as long as the flowers last. And not only will you have beautified the house thereby, but you will also have curtailed Satan's proverbial chance of hunting up mischief for idle hands. If you can possibly manage it - and It's worth while to try to make the time even if you have to leave a few specks of dust on the mopboard behind the bookcase - go out occasionally with the children and help them gather the flowers. Teach them harmony of color and grace of arrangement. Perhaps in doing the latter, a principle [that] an artist friend taught me may help: "If possible never rearrange flowers," he said. "Just as you gather them is nature's arrangement and it Is best." And if you do manage to make some of these morning excursions with your children into the garden or field, the chances are that you will bring back to your work something even better than flowers. Don't be satisfied with a few vases. Have two or three in every room. Not just in the dining room and living room, but in every chamber and the kitchen for good measure. A vase of nasturtiums over the sink or a bowl of pansies on the kitchen table isn't going to make it any harder to do the dishes or fill the lamps. So many vases cost, you say? How much? For ten cents you can get a slim, tall glass vase that, filled with your peonies or roses, would be a fit ornament for a duchess' piano. For eleven cents you can buy a blue Japanese bowl that overflowlng with your nasturtiums, wouldn't look bad on a queen's breakfast table. And when you are picking the flowers that probably you've had too many of to half appreciate, don't forget the people who are unlucky enough to know how to appreciate a single flower. Probably, there is a flower mission handy ready to take anything you may give to these who need. If there isn't, try at least once or twice this summer being a flower mission to some poor shut-ins all by yourself." Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."
This week’s episode is Part 7 of "Affordable Vintage Watches" and it’s all freestyle. Mike and Kaz check out eBay in real time on air and explore fun, affordable vintage watches that you may never have considered. This episode wouldn't have been possible without our good friend and longtime listener DJ over at Heitis Watches. Check out this week's show to learn how you can save $100 on one of the super cool Okeanos Explorer divers - catch the special discount code during our talk in the beginning of the show! Show Notes Mike’s Picks: CWC G10: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR4.TRC2.A0.H0.Xcwc+g10.TRS0&_nkw=cwc+g10&_sacat=0 Caravelle Sea Hunter: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=caravelle+sea+hunter&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_sop=12&_odkw=caravelle+diver Seiko 7A28: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR3.TRC0.A0.H0.Xseiko+7a28.TRS1&_nkw=seiko+7a28&_sacat=0 Kaz's Picks Slava Travel Clocks: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=slava+travel+clocks Vintage Oris: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2323847.m570.l1312.R2.TR10.TRC2.A0.H0.Xvintage+.TRS2&_nkw=vintage+oris&_sacat=0 Vintage Invicta: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313.TR9.TRC1.A0.H0.Xvintage+invicta.TRS0&_nkw=vintage+invicta
Mike Bryce, WB8VGE, collects and restores the old Heathkit and Drake rigs that we remember from the 60s and 70s, works QRP on his favorite Ten-Tec transceivers, and has enough solar electric power to run everything. WB8VGE shares the background of all of these things and his current view of the state of ham radio in this QSO Today.
In this week’s episode, we’re doing something a little different. We sent one of our FAO officers into the field and asked him to document his week-long mission to help stem the spread of a crippling fungus troubling the world’s most-traded fruit. We follow FAO plant disease specialist Fazil Dusunceli to Mozambique and South Africa where he meets with banana farmers, disease experts and concerned government workers – who all share one interest: containing the disease. But what does that mean? And what’s at stake for the 36-billion-dollar industry? Not just for the banana companies, but for the local communities who find work on the plantations, and for producers elsewhere on the continent? Click here for a transcript of this week's episode.
Wir Deutschen sind Europameister im Bananenessen. Im Schnitt verputzt jeder gut 80 Bananen im Jahr, das sind zwölf Kilo! Nur die US-Amerikaner essen noch mehr. Kein geringerer als Alt-Bundeskanzler Konrad Adenauer hat übrigens dafür gesorgt , dass die Banane heute diesen Stellenwert bei uns hat. Als Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts in Zentralamerika Bananenanbau im großen Stile betrieben wird, ist ein Unternehmen besonders erfolgreich: die United Fruit Company – der Vorläufer von Chiquita. Mittlerweile gehört die Banane mit zu den billigsten Lebensmitteln überhaupt. Dies Kampfpreise haben schon lange nichts mehr mit dem wahren Preis dieser aufwändig angebauten und transportierten Tropenfrucht zu tun. Aber es geht auch anders: Die Sendung stellt einen Supermarkt in den Niederlanden vor, der bei diesem Preiskampf nicht mitmacht und fair gehandelte Bananen mit einem gut durchdachten Konzept erfolgreich verkauft. Und dennoch: Die Banane ist vom Aussterben bedroht! Schon Ende der 1950er-Jahre tobte ein Pilz durch die Bananenplantagen Mittelamerikas, der die großen Bananenkonzerne fast ruinierte. Die Rettung damals: eine resistente Sorte, die Cavendish-Banane, die heute weltweit als einzige Sorte angebaut wird. Doch seit einigen Jahren wütet ein neuer Pilz, TR4. Und diesmal gibt es keine resistente Sorte. Südostasien, Australien, der mittlere Osten und Teile Afrikas sind bereits betroffen. (Online-Signatur Medienzentren: 4986371)