Jul92017

Inner Mongolian forest fire extinguished

East Asia

About 4,000 firefighters from Inner Mongolia and neighboring Heilongjiang Province try to extinguish the lightning-induced fire.[Xinhua]

About 4,000 firefighters from Inner Mongolia and neighboring Heilongjiang Province try to extinguish the lightning-induced fire. [Xinhua]

A lightning-induced fire engulfing 1,500 hectares of forest in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in north China has been put out, local authorities said.

The fire broke out Thursday. About 4,000 firefighters from Inner Mongolia and neighboring Heilongjiang Province, together with a dozen helicopters were dispatched to extinguish the blaze.

All open fire had been put out by 8 p.m. Saturday. The firefighters continue to search for smoke points.

The forest is part of the Greater Hinggan Mountains in north and northeast China.

According to firefighters, the Greater Hinggan Mountains have seen a longer period with high temperatures and severe drought this year, which has made it difficult for preventing and putting out fires.

Jul92017

China pledges enhanced heritage protection cooperation

East Asia

A senior cultural official said Sunday that China should shoulder more responsibility for world heritage protection and promoting international cooperation.

With more inscriptions, comes greater responsibility and more duties, said Liu Yuzhu, head of China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

Liu’s remark came after the country’s Gulangyu historic international settlement was put on the UNESCO’s world heritage list Saturday.

China will work closely with international organizations, promote the protection of world heritage and share its experiences, according to Liu.

In the meantime, China will continue its participation in the practices of world heritage protection, including international protection of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and helping Nepal restore a temple in Kathmandu’s Durbar Square.

Liu also pledged further coordination and cooperation in protecting heritage sites with countries along the ancient Silk Road, the south Asia silk road and the ancient Maritime Silk Road.

In addition, Liu called for calm among Chinese regarding successful inscriptions, as the country still faces many problems in supervising, protecting and managing the heritage.

We should focus on improving our management, protection and preservation work, Liu said.

Gulangyu is the 52nd Chinese site inscribed on the list.

Jul92017

Discussions on the subjects of Crops, Seeds, Horticulture, Plan Protection, Integrated Nutrient Management etc. were organized so that the obstacles coming in the way of agricultural production can be removed.

India

Extension Division of Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare (DAC&FW), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (DAHD&F) have been organizing two pre seasonal interfaces every year, one each for Kharif & Rabi season, to work out joint strategy and technical coordination for research and development in the field of agriculture and allied sectors.

Jul92017

Young workers deserve a better deal

Scottish Labour

9 July 2017

Younger workers are being failed by the SNP and the Tories. Here’s why.

The SNP Business Pledge – a promise to pay the living wage and not use zero hour contracts amongst other things – has been signed by ZERO hospitality businesses, the government's own figures show.

In fact – so few businesses have signed the pledge that it only covers 0.2 percent of registered Scottish businesses.

 


Why does this matter?
Hospitality work has the highest levels of young people, on low pay and insecure work, in the Scottish economy. 

Almost a third of workers in hospitality are under 25

29% of those in employment in ‘Distribution, hotels and restaurants’ sector in Scotland are aged between 16-24. 

The hospitality sector has the largest use of zero hour contracts

7% of total employment in accommodation and food services is through zero hour contracts. That is the highest out of the aggregated jobs sectors in the Scottish economy.

The hospitality industry has the lowest median hourly pay across all industries in Scotland

This Scottish Parliament briefing about wages in Scotland shows that ‘accommodation and food service’ as having the lowest median hourly pay in Scotland in 2016 standing at £7.42.

What would Labour do differently?

We’ve got a plan for a better deal for younger workers – like a £10 minimum wage, and an end to exploitative zero hour contracts.

This week, we launched our industrial strategy, a plan to build an economy for the many, not the few.

Read and share it below:

 

Jul92017

A different take on the summit to the BBC

John Redwood MP

Last night the BBC summit report was bizarre. It was anti UK, anti Mrs May and anti the USA. It was from the Merkel fan club. So here’s some balance, reporting on Mrs Merkel as the BBC do on Mrs May and Mr Trump.

“Mrs Merkel chaired the summit badly hampered by her lack of authority at home. She failed to win a majority at the last election and has to govern in coalition with her main political enemies, the SPD, the German Labour party equivalent. She soon faces another election when she is widely expected to fail again to win a majority. She visibly lost control of the streets of Hamburg, the city hosting the summit, and had to break off from chairing the sessions to deal with the problem of many injured police and civil disturbance on a worrying scale.
Aiming for a diplomatic triumph, she had lectured the USA on the need to reach an agreement with the others and set the whole summit up as a device to tame Mr Trump. Instead she failed to get his buy in to her wishes.
Her main policy of promoting the end of carbon fuels was seen as burdening the world with dear energy. As a result China has insisted on being able to expand her carbon energy use and the USA has refused to join the Treaty to limit it.
It emerged from detailed questioning that the EU/Japan trade deal is far from agreed, with continuing rows over the enforcement mechanisms and limited progress on tariff reductions.
Meanwhile Mr Trump confirmed the work now underway to create a US/UK trade deal and expressed enthusiasm to get it through quickly.”