15 February 2017 – Access to food is becoming harder in eastern Ukraine as prices are outpacing incomes, the United Nations emergency food agency today said, warning that without longer-term intervention, more people will need humanitarian aid in the months and years to come.

&#8220Food prices are increasing at a time when household incomes are impacted by unemployment, and we see many families resorting to negative coping strategies in the face of economic hardship,&#8221 said the World Food Programme (WFP) in Ukraine, Dorte Ellehammer.

The UN agency said there are about 70,000 people in eastern Ukraine considered &#8220most vulnerable.&#8221 This group includes the elderly, families headed by a single mother, people with chronic illnesses or disabilities, and people who do not receive other humanitarian aid.

In addition, there are up to 150,000 people considered &#8220moderately food-insecure,&#8221 meaning that they struggle to find or buy enough food on a daily basis, according to WFP.

&#8220As the conflict has continued, many Ukrainians have become more vulnerable due to the lack of sufficient social benefits to cover food and other living expenses,&#8221 the agency said in a press release.

To help Ukrainians cope, WFP said that it would scale up its use of cash-based transfers in areas where the banks are functioning properly and there is food in the stores.

During the coming spring and summer, the agency said that it plans to implement small-scale early recovery projects to increase incomes, diversify crops and help to inject some money into local businesses.

WFP has urgently requested more than $30 million to provide much-needed food aid to eastern Ukraine through the end of 2017.

15 February 2017 – Using smartphones, laptops and other technology to work from home can be a blessing &#8211 it does away with rush hour traffic, for example &#8211 but it also diminishes personal space and contact with colleagues, according to a new study released today by the United Nations labour agency and a private sector partner, which recommends how to address these work-life disparities.

&#8220This report shows that the use of modern communication technologies facilitates a better overall work-life balance,&#8221 said the Jon Messenger, co-author of the joint report by the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) and Eurofund.

The study, Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work is based on interviews with workers and experts in 10 European Union member states, Argentina, Brazil, India, Japan and the United States.

It highlights positive effects of teleworking, such as greater autonomy on working time and better work-day organization, and reduced commuting time resulting in a better overall work-life balance and higher productivity.

On the down side, teleworking &#8220blurs the boundaries between work and personal life, depending on the place of work and the characteristics of different occupations,&#8221 Mr. Messenger said.

People teleworking have a tendency to work longer hours, and have higher levels of stress as a result of overlapping paid work and personal life.

As telework becomes more prominent so too has the need to disconnect in order to separate paid work and personal life, with France and Germany beginning to look at arrangements at the company level, and at existing and new legislation, such as the &#8220right to be disconnected&#8221 (le droit à la déconnexion) in the most recent revision of the French Labour Code.

According to the report, there are distinctions between home-based teleworkers who seem to enjoy better work-life balance and ‘high-mobile’ workers who are more at risk of negative health and well-being outcomes.

The report recommends promoting formal part-time teleworking so that people working from home can maintain their ties with co-workers and improve their well-being.

Zhou Benshun, former Party chief of northern China’s Hebei Province, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for corruption, a court in southeast China’s Xiamen city said Wednesday.

According to Xiamen Municipal Intermediate People’s Court, Zhou’s personal assets, worth 2 million yuan (US$291,545), will be seized, along with other illegal gains and property.

The court found that Zhou took advantage of his official posts from 2000 to 2015 to seek benefit for others in real estate development, project payments, fire control project approval, bank loans and personnel promotions.

He accepted bribes of over 40 million yuan directly for himself or through his family.

The court decideded to hand down a lighter penalty to Zhou as he confessed to his crimes, expressed remorse and cooperated in returning the bribes.

Zhou said he would not appeal.

A huge polar-themed ocean park will open in July 2018 in the Lingang area in Shanghai’s southeast — part of a Pudong master plan to revamp the area.

As well as a skiing park and planetarium, the master plan will see two new universities opening and other colleges setting up campuses, officials said.

With these new facilities, the Lingang area in the Pudong New Area aims to attract 450,000 residents and 10 million tourists annually by 2020, according to the Lingang management committee.

Shanghai Polar Ocean World, which is planned to cover 300,000 square meters, will include four marine animal interactive programs, three theaters and a further 15 entertainment facilities, its developer said. Upon completion, the park aims to showcase a broad range of Arctic and Antarctic wildlife. It’s a 90-minute drive from People’s Square in the city center.

Land preparation work has started on the skiing park named WinterStar near the polar park, which is planned to become one of the world’s largest indoor skiing resorts, according to the committee.

Construction has also started on Shanghai Planetarium, which is scheduled to open in 2020 to become the world’s largest planetarium.

Several universities will open campuses in the Lingang area, and two new ones are setting up shop — the Sino-French arts and design management school of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, and the Sino-British International Low-carbon College. Both will start enrollment in September.

Construction is under way for a new campus for the Shanghai University of Electric Power.

A yacht training base has also been planned in Lingang, the committee added. Construction has also begun on modern office buildings, hotels, shopping malls and convention centers.

The port area of the city aims to develop itself into a new town featuring science and technology, culture, finance, trade and tourism.

The committee has announced that professionals in the area will be encouraged to apply for local hukou, or household registration, in a move aimed at attracting talented personnel to help to realize its ambition.

Such professionals will also enjoy preferential housing prices, low rents and accommodation subsidies.

In the future, Lingang will promote an 18.9 kilometer, medium-capacity traffic system, along with electric buses, as well as vehicle and bicycle sharing programs to create a green and efficient public transport system, the committee said.

China’s second aircraft carrier is scheduled to be launched later this year and is expected to enter the service by 2020, Xu Guangyu, a retired Chinese military officer and consultant to the China Arms Control and Disarmament Assn, said in an interview with Beijing Media Network.

China’s first home-made aircraft carrier, designed to be a base for fighter jets and helicopters, is now near completion. The aircraft carrier is the first of the Type 001A class, and represents an important step in advancing China’s naval power.

“The aircraft carrier is being built as planned. Most of its major construction and design work has been completed. Its hull has already been assembled in a shipyard. The ship will soon be equipped with aviation, radar and other facilities,” said Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesperson Wu Qian in October 2016, when he was responding to media inquiries on alleged aircraft carrier images circulating online.

Yin Zhuo, a Chinese naval expert, also confirmed in a CCTV interview that China’s first home-made aircraft carrier is expected to be launched in water in early 2017.

There is still a large amount of work to do at the carrier’s outfitting stage after its launching. It will take about one to two years to carry out functional debugging for its devices as well as weapons and equipment. The new aircraft carrier could begin its sea trial by early 2019, Xu said.

Xu also mentioned in the interview that Chinese carrier pilots are also under training, with an expectation of forming two aviation units.