'Fair fishing' manifesto calls for greater quota share for smaller boats
Alliance of environmentalists and fishermen advocates granting small boats priority access to cod, hake and monkfish
Hundreds of small British fishing businesses are facing financial ruin, according to campaigners who are calling for radical reform of European fishing rules. They say their case revolves around one key statistic: that although small fishing boats account for 77% of the UK's fishing fleet and 65% of full-time employment in the industry, they are allowed access to only 4% of the fishing quota.
The result of this apparent imbalance, says a new alliance of environmental activists and fishermen, is that the viability of boats under 10 metres long – and thereby classed by the EU as "inshore" operators – is increasingly under threat. Big fishing interests not only dominate the industry, but are also threatening fish stocks. This, they say, threatens the existence of fishing communities that go back centuries.
China's trial of a century: Getting away with murder?
The Gu Kailai trial may not establish the truth about Neil Heywood's death – but it promises to shine a light on the ruling elite
It is being hailed as China's trial of a century, with all the ingredients of a gripping courtroom potboiler: murder, money and intrigue, all played out in the secretive upper echelons of the Chinese Communist Party. But when Gu Kailai walks into the courtroom in rural Anhui province tomorrow accused of poisoning the British businessman Neil Heywood, the party will want to keep the secrets safely under wraps.
Reports yesterday suggested that a deal had been struck, paving the way for a discreet and carefully orchestrated day-long trial which will spare her the executioner's bullet in order to preserve the party's grip on power. This plays into what analysts have been saying all along: it may be Ms Gu in front of the Hefei Intermediate People's Court, but the story is all about her husband, the purged Communist Party princeling Bo Xilai.
The Irish Times - Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Unlikely insult that gives France's political class palpitations
RUADHAN MAC CORMAIC
PARIS LETTER: THE WORD is emphatically taboo, a flaming red rag no French minister with a handle on history or even the shakiest political antenna can dare speak, much less endorse.
When it recently fell from the mouth of a senior figure in François Hollande’s cabinet, she received a swift public reproach from the government’s spokeswoman. Members of Nicolas Sarkozy’s administration were banned from using it.
The word that gives France’s political class palpitations? Rigueur. It’s an unlikely slur.
Tell a pupil or an employee their work shows rigueur and they’ll take it as a compliment. For a scientist or a researcher, the term is a badge of professional honour.
Congo civilians killed in military tug-of-war
With Congo's army diverted to eastern Congo, new militia groups have arisen as older ones reassert themselves, killing hundreds of civilians.
"Vast swathes of the east have descended into chaos with no government or security presence," the British charity Oxfam's country director Elodie Martel said.
Underscoring the severity of the situation, UN humanitarian chief Baroness Valerie Amos arrived in Goma on Tuesday and is to visit some of the 280 000 people who have fled their homes since mutinying soldiers launched the M23 rebellion in April. But security is so poor that Amos was forced to cancel planned trips to the mining town of Walikale and the seat of the rebellion at Rutshuru town, 75km north of Goma.
The rebels now control huge swathes of mineral-rich eastern Congo.
Middle East
Bitter memories, little hope for Syrian refugees
By Erin Banco and Sophia Jones
MAFRAQ, Jordan - As the rate of defections increases and the battle intensifies in Aleppo, leading international powers are preparing for a new reality in Syria, one that will determine their political survival globally. But civilians who find themselves at the entrance of Jordan's Zaatri refugee camp are dealing with a reality disconnected entirely from the fighting they fled just days ago.
While Syrian President Bashar al-Assad solidified the country's alliance with Iran in a meeting on Tuesday in Damascus, representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) rushed to break up a skirmish outside the registration tent. Although most refugees in the camp say their alliances lie with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and support the
While Syrian President Bashar al-Assad solidified the country's alliance with Iran in a meeting on Tuesday in Damascus, representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) rushed to break up a skirmish outside the registration tent. Although most refugees in the camp say their alliances lie with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and support the
mission, their immediate concerns are not tied to politics. They worry about feeding their children and finding a decent place to go to the bathroom. Barefoot children walk on the hot gravel road and others wear face masks or scarves to cover their faces from the harsh, sandy winds.
Increasingly outspoken military alarms China's leaders
'Party authorities have come to realize that the military is encroaching on political affairs,' political scientist with high-level party ties says
By EDWARD WONG and JONATHAN ANSFIELD
During a holiday banquet for China’s military leadership early this year, a powerful general lashed out in a drunken rage against what he believed was a backhanded move to keep him from being promoted to the military’s top ruling body.
The general, Zhang Qinsheng, vented his fury in front of President Hu Jintao, according to four people with knowledge of the event. At the banquet, he even shoved a commanding general making toasts; Mr. Hu walked out in disgust.
No comments:
Post a Comment