China’s environmental authority found 2,808 companies in violation of standards during the first round of air pollution inspection.

Inspection teams in 28 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and nearby areas found 2,808 of 4,077 companies breaking the rules, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said in a statement.

Problems included unlicensed production, inefficient dust prevention and lack of or malfunction of pollution treatment facilities, the statement said.

Inspectors also found that some enterprises which had been closed for violations illegally resumed production and some reported fake monitoring data.

Some companies refused the inspection or prevented inspectors from carrying out their duties, said the statement.

The statement said the first round of inspection ended as of April 20and the second round had already started. There will be a total of 25 rounds this year.

The share of days with good air quality in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei rose by 14.6 percentage points from a year earlier to 66.3 percent in March, even though the share declined in the first quarter, MEP data showed.

Police in southwest China’s Yunnan Province have arrested two suspects and seized 16.82 kg of heroin.

Police with the public security bureau of Longyang District of Baoshan City received reports on April 15 that two men had attempted to transport a batch of drugs to Kunming, capital of the province, according to the bureau on Saturday.

After investigation, police arrested the two suspects and seized the drugs in a car on a highway in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture at 7 p.m. on Monday.

The suspects confessed that they had obtained the heroin from Myanmar and planned to transport it to Kunming.

The investigation is ongoing.

Several officials in Dacheng County in North China’s Hebei Province were punished after media reports exposed the state of two sewage pits, local discipline inspection authorities said on Saturday.

Liu Guowang, director of the office of the county committee of the Communist Party of China(CPC), received an intra-Party warning, according to a statement by the Langfang Municipal commission for discipline inspection of the CPC.

From September 2013 to February 2017, Liu was the deputy head of the county in charge of the county’s environmental protection work. The county government failed to supervise or help Nanzhaofu Township deal with the sewage pits the statement said.

Liu Zenghuai, former secretary of the township committee of the CPC, who did not highlight the problem of the sewage pits and failed to deal with the pollution should be responsible for the problem, it said. Liu Zenghuai and Ma Donghao, head of Nanzhaofu Township, also received intra-Party warnings.

Deputy head of Dacheng County Xiao Jianjun, and director of the county’s environmental protection bureau Fan Junliang, and three other local officials receive a public notice of criticism since they have only been in their posts for a short time, according to the statement.

Pictures of the contaminated pools went viral on Tuesday after a report from an environmental organization exposed the pollution.

Two polluted pools — 170,000 square meters and 30,000 square meters — formed by years of digging and illegal dumping of waste acid in 2013, have contaminated water and soil in the area.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) has sent investigation teams to look at the pits and ordered local authorities to intensify monitoring of water and soil in and around the pools.

Dacheng authorities have started to treat the pollution and has set aside 38 million yuan ($5.59 million) to treat the pits in 2017.

Chinese President Xi Jinping inspected the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Friday and stressed building a strong army.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), urged all military personnel to resolutely safeguard the authority of CPC Central Committee and unswervingly follow the Party’s leadership.

He asked all military personnel to greet the 19th CPC National Congress scheduled for later this year with outstanding achievements.

Noting that 2017 is of great significance for the Party and the country, Xi urged the PLA to strengthen ideological building, combat preparation and reform implementation.

Xi urged PLA officers to eliminate the impact of Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, two corrupt former CMC vice chairmen, and strictly observe political discipline and rules.

“It must be ensured that the PLA resolutely follows the command of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC at any time, in any circumstances,” Xi said.

A campaign, which focuses on the study of the Party Constitution and rules, as well as the speeches by Xi, and calls for being qualified Party members, is required to be further launched in the army.

He vowed to fight corruption and enhance the “sense of gain” among officers and soldiers.

Xi asked military personnel to strengthen their awareness in preparing for war, closely follow changes of situations and make unremitting efforts to enhance combat capabilities.

Xi required an accelerated building of the theater joint combat command system, vigorous development of a new-type fighting force and simultaneous improvement of national defense strength and economic development.

He asked for stronger military management, while caring for and loving officers and soldiers and ensuring the stability of troops.

Andrew
Gwynne MP, Labour’s Campaigns and Elections Chair, in response to the Sunday Times
splash, said:

“The
Tories don’t stand for working people, their record is one of failure and
broken promises, letting ordinary people down at every turn.

"Under
the Tories working people have picked up the bill while those at the top have
has tax breaks. Wages have stagnated while in work support has been slashed.
And public services have suffered huge cuts, leaving our NHS in crisis with
longer waiting times, overcrowded ‎A&E departments and staffing
shortages.

"The Tories’ promises to deal with energy bills should be taken with a
huge pinch of salt. Time and again they’ve promised action but when it comes to
it they broke those promises. Under them energy bills have soared. At the last
election when Labour promised action the Tories opposed it, putting themselves
on the side of protecting the big energy companies’ profits rather the interest
of working people.

"Only
Labour can be trusted to deliver a country for the many rather than just the
few. All the Tories offer is broken promises and a record which has seen working
people worse off.”