25 February 2017 – The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the recent spate of violence in the south-central Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), calling on the Government to &#8220immediately dispatch a credible and impartial investigation.&#8221

In a press statement issued in New York yesterday evening, the Council expressed grave concern at the recent reports of serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by local militia in that region, including unlawful recruitment and use of child soldiers, and of killings of civilians by members of Congolese security forces, known as FARDC, &#8220all of which might constitute war crimes under international law.&#8221

Recalling that the DRC Government bears the primary responsibility to protect civilians within its territory, the Security Council urged the authorities to &#8220constantly exercise maximum restraint and proportionate lawful use of force in its efforts to restore order.&#8221

The Council also called on the Government to immediately dispatch an investigation and to bring to justice and hold accountable all those responsible. Welcoming the Government’s announcement in this regard, the Council encouraged the UN Stabilization Mission in the country, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, &#8220to provide support to the Congolese authorities, if requested, in the conduct of this investigation, developments in which they will follow very closely.&#8221

MONUSCO was further urged to monitor and report on violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law and to update its contingency plans in this regard. In the longer-term, the Security Council encouraged the DRC Government to continue its efforts for the extension of State authority throughout the vast central African nation, ensuring credible governance with capable institutions, especially in the security sector, to prevent and deter violence.

RELATED: UN mission in DR Congo strongly condemns persistent violence in Kasai Provinces

As for the political situation in the country, the Security Council reaffirmed its strong support for the 31 December 2016 political agreement, &#8220and its pursuit of peaceful, credible, free, fair and inclusive elections by December 2017, leading to a democratic transfer of power.&#8221

In this context, the 15-nation body said it is &#8220increasingly concerned&#8221 at the continuing lack of progress in the dialogue among the political stakeholders in DRC related to implementation modalities of the agreement. The Council expressed concern that, two months after the signing of the agreement, the appointment of a Prime Minister presented by the Rassemblement coalition, as well as the installation of a new transitional government and of the Comité National de Suivi de l’Accord (CNSA) have yet to take place.

As such, the Council stressed the need to maintain the political goodwill that led to the signing of the agreement in order to avoid further insecurity in the DRC. Further, the Council called on all stakeholders in the DRC, including President Joseph Kabila, the presidential majority and the opposition, to redouble, in good faith, their efforts towards a speedy conclusion of the ongoing talks on the &#8220arrangements particuliers&#8221 of the agreement, in order to urgently nominate a Prime Minister presented by the Rassemblement.

The Security Council reaffirmed the need for all parties to support and participate constructively in the mediation led by the Conférence épiscopale nationale du Congo (CENCO), and recalled that full and timely implementation of the 31 December agreement, in accordance with the Congolese Constitution and in line with Council resolution 2277 (2016), is critical in upholding the legitimacy of the transitional institutions until elections.

A fire broke out in a hotel Saturday morning in Nanchang, capital of east China’s Jiangxi Province, trapping an unknown number of people, authorities said.

The fire was spotted on the second floor of the HNA Platinum Mix Hotel in the Honggutan New District at about 8 a.m., firefighters said.

More than 10 construction workers were working on a decoration project on the second floor when the fire broke out, said a woman who escaped from the fire.

A man who broke the window to jump from the second floor was injured and rushed to hospital.

The four-story hotel is connected to a 24-story apartment building, where people are also found trapped, as Xinhua reporters saw on the site.

About 10 fire trucks are working to put out the fire.

Beijing should improve city planning and construction to build a “harmonious, world-class capital city” and better meet the demands of its residents, said President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Friday.

The city should take comprehensive measures to tackle problems that people care about most, such as air pollution, traffic jams, surging housing prices and too large a population, he said at a meeting after a two-day inspection.

Beijing should improve people’s livelihoods and provide better public services for the people, he said while presiding over a high-profile meeting in the Great Hall of the People to discuss how to improve Beijing’s city management and preparation work for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

“Whether its city planning and construction are good should be measured by how satisfied people are,” he was quoted by China Central Television as saying.

During the two-day inspection tour, Xi visited the construction site of Beijing’s new airport in the southern suburban district of Daxing and major stadiums that are to host Winter Olympics events.

He also visited Tongzhou district, the administrative sub-center of Beijing.

At the airport construction site, Xi urged workers and managers to adopt the strictest standards to ensure building quality.

Xi also stressed city planning and urged officials to study and devise effective policies to ensure Beijing’s sustainable development.

Beijing should stick to improving its core functions as the capital and move its non-capital functions out of the city to ease its population and environmental pressures, he said at the meeting.

On Thursday, Xi listened to a report by municipal departments on the traffic integration of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province.

The government put forward a national strategy in 2014 to promote coordinated development of the three regional economies so that the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region will grow into a major growth engine for the national economy.

Zhang Liqun, an economist of the State Council’s Development Research Center, said, “The government now emphasizes development of city clusters, and megacities must help neighboring regions develop.

“In the next stage, integration of traffic and water and power supply systems will pick up speed.”

Two nurses in Beijing are under administrative detention for putting their own locks on two publicly shared bikes.

“The two nurses who put private locks on public-use bikes disturbed the public order,” said Liu Lin, a lawyer at Beijing Shuangli Law Firm, because it prevented other people from using the bikes.

Those who intentionally damage property may face a five- to 10-day administrative detention, according to the Law on Public Security Administration Punishments.

Tang Ke from the publicity office of OFO, the company that owns the bikes, confirmed the news and said further investigation was underway.

The market for public-use bikes – which are stored along sidewalks and can be accessed through an app – has boomed in China since the middle of last year. The new mode of transportation has brought a greener and more convenient mode of urban transportation, but the model has also caused many problems including illegal parking, theft and vandalism. Parking violations are also a common problem, followed by violation of traffic rules.

“Once users scan the app and click ‘accept’ when they rent the bike, they have signed an agreement with the service provider and should follow the rules,” Liu said.

OFO has introduced a blacklist banning users who break its rules.

Many cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen are proposing draft regulations to manage the market for public bikes. The Shenzhen traffic police department has also announced fines for the illegal parking of bikes.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region will take six new measures to continue combating smog in 2017, said Zhao Yingmin, vice minister of environmental protection.

The concentration of PM2.5 — fine particulate matter that is hazardous to human health — decreased by 7.8 percent in the region in 2016, with Beijing reducing 9.9 percent, Tianjin 1.4 percent and Hebei 9.1 percent. But the region still needs to beef up efforts in improving its air quality, especially in winter, Zhao said.

The region will adopt the following six measures in 2017. First, a total of 28 “route” cities, or cities near the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region that can impact the air, should meet the requirement of reducing their steel capacity ahead of schedule, and the small yet heavily polluting plants scattered around the region should be closed down by the end of October. Second, the region will promote clean heating in winter, build “coal-free zones,” close down small coal-fired boilers, and make coal consumption in the 28 “route” cities realize a negative growth. Third, the region will enhance its comprehensive work in fighting industrial air pollution, with key industries meeting emission caps and the region taking the lead in issuing pollutant discharge permits. Fourth, while cement and casting industries in the region continue to halt production in winter, cities such as Shijiazhuang, Tangshan, Handan and Anyang will also slash half of their steel capacity during winter heating seasons. Fifth, car emissions will be controlled. Sixth, dust at construction sites should be reduced in 2017.