Feb152017

25 arrested for dumping garbage into Yangtze River

East Asia
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Twenty five people have been arrested in two separate instances of fly-tipping, in which more than 100,000 tonnes of garbage was carelessly dumped last year, the People’s Procuratorate of Zhejiang Province in east China said Tuesday.

The 25 suspects have been implicated in two cases that occurred between May and December last year.

In one case, over 90,000 tonnes of household trash from Haiyan County, Zhejiang, was either dumped at sites across the provinces of Zhejiang and Anhui, or thrown into the Nantong section of the Yangtze River in east China’s Jiangsu Province.

In the other case, more than 10,990 tonnes of trash from Haining City, Zhejiang, was collected and 9,747 tonnes of it was dumped into the Yangtze River between November and December, causing serious water pollution and economic losses of over 300,000 yuan (about 43,725 U.S. dollars).

The investigation continues.

Feb152017

News story: Petunia Seaways and Peggotty report published

HM Government
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Collision between ro-ro freight ferry Petunia Seaways and historic motor launch Peggotty on the River Humber.

MAIB’s report on the investigation of the collision between the ro-ro freight ferry Petunia Seaways and the historic motor launch Peggotty on the River Humber, UK on 19 May 2016 is now published.

The report contains details of what happened and the subsequent actions taken.

Feb142017

Mob attack leaves 8 dead in Xinjiang

East Asia
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Local police officers shot and killed three rioters armed with knives that attacked and injured 10 people in a residential community in Pishan county in the southwest part of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on Tuesday evening, according to xjht.gov.cn, a news portal run by the local government.

Five of the 10 people injured by the mob died later in hospital. The rest are being treated. The rioters had earlier stormed the residential community and hacked randomly at residents. An investigation is under way.

Feb142017

UN chief Guterres announces steps towards reforming Organization’s peace and security architecture

UN – Top News Stories
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14 February 2017 – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the establishment of an internal review team that will take forward the reforms to the UN Secretariat peace and security strategy, functioning and architecture, which he outlined when he was appointed the Secretary-General last year.

According to a statement issued today by the UN chief’s office, the team will be led by Tamrat Samuel, an Eritrean national who held numerous senior UN appointments.

The review team has been tasked to submit recommendations to the Mr. Guterres by June this year, which will then initiate a process of consultations with UN Member States and other relevant entities.

In the statement, he further noted that pending those evolutions, the mandates of senior officials working in the peace and security pillar would be maintained for until 1 April next year.

“The mandates of Jeffrey Feltman, as Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, as Assistant-Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, and Atul Khare, as Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, will be extended for one year until the 1 April 2018,” the statement read.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, of France, takes helm of Department of Peacekeeping Operations

Also in the statement, Mr. Guterres announced his intention to appoint Jean-Pierre Lacroix, of France, as Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, for one year beginning 1 April. He is currently the Director for the UN and International Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France and has over 25 years of political and diplomatic experience, mostly handling multilateral organizations, UN activities and programmes.

Mr. Lacroix succeeds Hervé Ladsous, who informed Mr. Guterres that he would be unavailable for an extension at the end of its current term, until end-March.

“I would like to express my gratitude [to Mr. Ladsous] for his service to the United Nations, his tireless efforts and dedication to peacekeeping, especially in modernizing capacities both to address multidimensional crisis and protect civilian populations,” said Secretary-General Guterres.

Feb142017

Jean Lambert MEP: EU moving forward on whistleblower safeguards, as UK moves backwards

Green Party
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14 February 2017

Jean Lambert MEP: “While the European Parliament is moving forward on whistleblower safeguards, the UK appears determined to move backwards”

The European Parliament has today (Tuesday, 14 February) voted in favour of a report calling for the protection of whistleblowers across the EU.

At the same time, the Conservative government is desperately attempting to defending its proposals to launch a ‘full frontal attack‘ on whistleblowers in the UK.

Commenting after today’s vote, Jean Lambert, Green MEP for London and a member of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties committee, said:

“At a time when Theresa May is failing to convincingly defend her government’s proposals for a damaging and chilling attack on whistleblowers, the European Parliament has once again called for the EU to implement new protections for whistleblowers across the EU.”

“Green MEPs have long been pushing for EU-wide legislation that would protect whistleblowers in all areas of EU competence. This way, citizens across Europe will be able to speak up about environmental crimes, human rights violations, and other wrongdoing without fear of reprisal.”

“While the European Parliament is moving forward on whistleblower safeguards, the UK appears determined to move backwards; undermining freedom of the press and the fundamental principles of democracy along the way.”

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