12 dead, 15 injured in China oil tanker explosion

Rescuers clean the accident site of a truck collision and explosion on the highway linking cities of Zhangjiakou and Shijiazhuang in Laiyuan, north China’s Hebei Province, May 23, 2017. Twelve people were killed and 15 others injured in the truck collision. The accident happened at around 6:20 a.m., when an oil tanker rear-ended a coal truck in a tunnel of the highway linking cities of Zhangjiakou and Shijiazhuang, according to the government of Laiyuan County. [Xinhua/Zhu Xudong]

Twelve people were killed and 15 others injured in a truck collision in north China’s Hebei Province Tuesday morning, local authorities said.

The accident happened at around 6:20 a.m., when an oil tanker rear-ended a coal truck in a tunnel of the highway linking cities of Zhangjiakou and Shijiazhuang, according to the government of Laiyuan County.

The collision caused an explosion and fire, killing 12 and injuring three on the site. Another 12 people were slightly injured when the explosion damaged their homes nearby.

Further investigation and response work are underway.



Discours d’ouverture du Commissaire Moscovici lors de la conférence de presse de l’Eurogroupe

Cette journée a été longue. Nous n’avons pas conclu mais le travail qui a été fait est utile et a marqué d’excellents progrès.

Faisons un état des lieux. Sur la mise en œuvre des réformes : nous parlons d’un ensemble d’engagements considérables composé de mesures législatives et d’autres engagements.

Ce paquet d'”actions prioritaires” représente 140 mesures qui sont  des réformes amples et profondes. Elles touchent tout le spectre: fiscal, social, administrations publiques, administrations fiscale, stabilité financière, marché de produits, industrie de réseaux et privatisations.

Aussi les mesures budgétaires additionnelles qui entreront en vigueur dès 2019 et qui représentent 4 points de PIB y compris des mesures difficiles comme sur les retraites.

Où en sommes-nous: le parlement grec a voté la semaine dernière un projet de loi “omnibus” sur 45 de ses actions.

D’autres ont été complétées en parallèle. Certaines sont en train d’être finalisées. Au total: 104 des 140 mesures sont déjà complétées. Leur nombre a encore augmenté, des progrès ont été faits: environ 110 actions sont maintenant complétées. Les autorités grecques ont pris leurs responsabilités. La Grèce a fait d’importants progrès. Je suis confiant que nous serons vite à même de conclure que la Grèce a respecté la totalité de ses engagements, ce qui doit mener à la conclusion de la revue. C’est le résultat souhaité du prochain  Eurogroup.

Nous sommes dans la finalisation de ce travail et nous avons toute confiance. Cela sera fait.

Sur la dette: de longues discussions aujourd’hui dans plusieurs formats avec Jeroen, menées avec beaucoup de détermination et de minutie. Nous n’avons jamais eu une discussion sur la dette aussi détaillée et profonde. Nous n’avons pas conclu mais nous avons avancé.

Nous allons maintenant travailler pour conclure un bon accord le 15 juin. Je suis convaincu que les avancées faites ne doivent pas être perdues. C’est une très bonne base de départ pour la prochaine rencontre. La Commission reste disponible pour contribuer à ce travail et reste confiante dans les avancées qui ont été réalisées et que nous allons encore réaliser pour aboutir à l’accord que chacun attend.



Statement by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker following the attack in Manchester

“It was with great sadness and profound shock that I learnt of the brutal attack that struck Manchester.

It breaks my heart to think that, once again, terrorism has sought to instil fear where there should be joy, to sow division where young people and families should be coming together in celebration.

I would like to convey my deepest sympathies to Prime Minister May and to the British people.

Today we mourn with you. Tomorrow we will work side by side with you to fight back against those who seek to destroy our way of life. They underestimate ours and your resilience – these cowardly attacks will only strengthen our commitment to work together to defeat the perpetrators of such vile acts.”



AlphaGo beats top Go player in first of three games

Battle between China's Go champion and computer begins

Ke Jie is playing Go with AlphaGo. [Photo/Chinadaily.com.cn]

Google’s AlphaGo prevailed in the first game out of three against Ke Jie, the world’s No 1 Go player on Tuesday.

The victory seems to further underline that AlphaGo is virtually unbeatable in the ancient board game. Go was previously thought as being beyond the reach of algorithms due to its notorious complexity, but artificial intelligence has made major progress in self-learning.

Ke, who holds multiple world titles, played black in the first game, with AlphaGo taking the white stones. During the competition, Ke looked as if he was feeling a mounting pressure, with strong expressions and fidgeting, when pondering his next moves against AlphaGo.

The competitors will play two more games, one on Thursday and Saturday. The winner of the match will win $1.5 million.

This is the latest showdown between elite human Go players and AlphaGo, which defeated South Korean Go master Lee Se-dol 4-1 at a match in March 2016.



Greens suspend campaigning / Leader's statement

23 May 2017

*Jonathan Bartley: “Our country will never be divided by terror“

The Green Party has suspended campaigning today after last night’s terrorist attack in Manchester. 

All national campaigning events, including the billboard launch and Welsh Green Party manifesto launch are cancelled. 

In a statement following the attacks, the Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley said: 

“Our thoughts are with those affected by this appalling incident in Manchester. For young people to be targeted in this way is utterly atrocious. 

“As ever our emergency services have done us proud – and we pay tribute to the police, firefighters and paramadics who stepped up in this time of need. 

“Our country will never be divided by terror. The people of Manchester showed last night just how strong the bond of friendship is between the people who live on these islands – and in the coming days and weeks we’ll show that we won’t let terrorism tear us apart.”

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