Jul102017
Rescuers are searching for eight people missing after a fishing boat sank early Monday morning in the waters off east China’s Zhejiang Province, according to local maritime police.
The boat, with 24 people onboard, sank around 2 a.m. at sea near the city of Zhoushan, said police, who received a report of the accident at 4:30 a.m.
Jul102017
Last Tuesday the Communities Secretary of State made a speech about the need to build more homes and to provide more affordable accommodation. His intention to get many more homes built was clear. His local government audience had mixed feelings about the message and the means to bring it about.
Some local authorities do not have up to date local plans. The Minister was right to stress to them the continuing need to do this. Developers and owners of property look to the Council to set out in a plan which areas are protected, where development may occur, and how the Council will provide infrastructure to support new development. There is a need for some new development in most communities, and a need to relate this to the roadspace, public transport, schools, health facilities and the rest that are available.
The problems come more when there is an extant local plan. The Council may decide to concentrate the development of new homes in a limited number of places. This makes it easier to provide the services and transport links, and protects more residents elsewhere from additional development they may not want. A Council may set out enough space for the likely or required build rate.
If the developers who own or control these chosen sites do not then build at a fast enough rate to meet the targets, they or others may put in for planning permission elsewhere in the area. The Council will turn it down as against the plan. Then the Inspector on appeal may grant it on the grounds the Council is not hitting its build rate!
Because we have created such artificial scarcity by inviting in many migrants and not building enough homes, this gaming of the system can be profitable. The conversion of brownfield or greenfield to development land usually results in a big uplift in values, so why wouldn’t a developer want to exploit it?
The UK is both wedded to a planning system, and very critical of its results. This is another difficult disagreement between developers and Councils. I am exploring ways that we can reconcile these differences of view and approach between Councils, Inspectors and developers. We need to control development in a sensible way and bring demand and supply for new homes into better balance.
Jul102017
This week's selection comes from Holly Gilbert, Cataloguer of Digital Multimedia Collections.
Mother and daughter, Jan and Ama, talk about why they both have dreadlocks. This is the first time they have told each other their reasons for choosing to wear their hair in this way and their motivations are quite different, though Jan’s hair definitely inspired Ama’s choice and they both really like the way that dreadlocks look and feel. They discuss how other people react to their hair and how this makes them feel as well as how their hair connects with their self-identity, their appearance and their blackness. Later in the conversation they talk about how fighting for racial and gender equality has evolved over time and is different for their respective generations, how their hair is part of being active in those fights and how choosing dreadlocks is a way of defining their own idea of beauty.
The Listening Project_Choosing dreadlocks
This recording is part of The Listening Project, an audio archive of conversations recorded by the BBC and archived at the British Library. The full conversation between Jan and Ama can be found here.
Follow @CollectingSound and @soundarchive for all the latest news.
Jul102017
Chinese science ship “Xiangyanghong 10” Sunday returned to China after a voyage to the southwest Indian Ocean that lasted more than 200 days.
The ship docked at a port in Zhoushan, east China’s Zhejiang Province.
The voyage was to explore the polymetallic sulphide at a seabed ore covering 30,000 square meters, under a contract signed between China and the International Seabed Authority, said Li Huaiming, a scientist involved in the project.
Scientists used China-developed unmanned submersible Qianlong 2 to conduct eight dives, reaching maximum 3,320 meters at depth. Qianlong 2 spent 170 hours, traveling 456 km for the research, proving that it was able to work on complicated terrains underwater, Li said.
Other advanced Chinese technologies in exploring polymetallic sulphide were also used, Li said.
Xiangyanghong 10 is the first Chinese ocean science survey ship built with the participation of a private company.
Jul102017
The birth of South Sudan in 2011 was marked by hope for a peaceful and prosperous future. The American people, like many around the world, celebrated as the South Sudanese forged a free and independent nation following years of strife. Six years later, on the occasion of South Sudan’s independence, the promise of 2011 has been supplanted in 2017 by a continuing civil war and devastating humanitarian crisis affecting millions.
The conflict that broke out in December 2013 set South Sudan on a precarious course, causing immense suffering, creating divisions and holding the country back. We deeply regret that the second chance made possible by the formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity in April 2016 was squandered. Following the collapse of the permanent ceasefire in July 2016, the armed conflict expanded across the country and the parties to the conflict remain unwilling to return to the negotiating table. The consequences have been dire: two million people displaced inside South Sudan, nearly two million people displaced as refugees outside of South Sudan, and six million people facing life-threatening hunger.
The United States remains deeply committed to a stable and inclusive South Sudan, and stresses once again that there is no military solution to this conflict. On this day meant to celebrate South Sudan’s creation, we call upon South Sudan’s leaders and all parties to end this self-destructive violence, to return to political dialogue, and to help South Sudan realize its full potential.
We extend our best wishes to the people of the Republic of South Sudan on the sixth anniversary of the nation’s independence. The United States will stand with the people of South Sudan and with all leaders who are working for peace, stability, and justice.