6 February 2017 – The top United Nations Middle East envoy today expressed concern about the scheduled vote by the Knesset, Israel’s legislative body, on a bill that would &#8220legalize&#8221 Israeli settlements on privately-owned Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.

&#8220I am concerned by the scheduled vote on the so-called ‘Regularisation Bill’ as it would enable the continued use of privately-owned Palestinian land for Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank,&#8221 said the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, in a statement.

&#8220If adopted into law, it will have far reaching legal consequences for Israel and greatly diminish the prospects for Arab-Israeli peace,&#8221 Mr. Mladenov added, noting that the bill has been deemed unconstitutional by the Attorney General of Israel and is in contravention of international law.

&#8220I urge Israeli legislators to reconsider this move,&#8221 he stated, stressing that all core issues should be resolved between the parties through direct negotiations on the basis of relevant Security Council resolutions and mutual agreements.

6 February 2017 – The scale of violence against the Rohingya community in Myanmar’s Rakhine state documented in a recent United Nations human rights report is a level of dehumanization and cruelty that is &#8220revolting and unacceptable,&#8221 the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide said today, underlining the Government’s responsibility to ensure that populations are protected.

In a statement, Special Adviser Adama Dieng said the flash report issued last week by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) gave further credibility to allegations that security forces were committing serious human rights violations against civilians in northern Rakhine state from the very beginning of the recent escalation of violence, which was precipitated by attacks on border posts in early October 2016 and the ensuing operations by those forces.

According to the findings contained in the OHCHR report, human rights violations committed by the security forces include mass gang-rape, extra-judicial killings &#8211 including of babies and young children, brutal beatings and disappearances.

&#8220If people are being persecuted based on their identity and killed, tortured, raped and forcibly transferred in a widespread or systematic manner, this could amount to crimes against humanity, and in fact be the precursor of other egregious international crimes,&#8221 said Mr. Dieng.

&#8220This must stop right now!&#8221 he declared.

Current panel not a credible option to undertake new investigation

Mr. Dieng also expressed concern that the commission previously appointed by the Government to investigate the allegations and which, despite having unhindered access to the region, found no evidence, or insufficient evidence, of any wrongdoing by Government forces.

&#8220[However,] OHCHR, which was not given access to the area, found an overwhelming number of testimonies and other forms of evidence through interviews with refugees who had fled to a neighbouring country,&#8221 the Special Adviser added. &#8220The existing Commission is not a credible option to undertake the new investigation.&#8221

&#8220I urge that any investigation be conducted by a truly independent and impartial body that includes international observers,&#8221 he noted, welcoming the Government’s commitment to open an immediate probe.

&#8220If the Government wants the international community and regional actors to believe in their willingness to resolve the matter, they must act responsibly and demonstrate their sincerity,&#8221 Mr. Dieng said.

&#8220There is no more time to wait. All of this is happening against the background of very deeply rooted and long-standing discriminatory practices and policies against the Rohingya Muslims and a failure to put in place conditions that would support peaceful coexistence among the different communities in Rakhine state,&#8221 he concluded.

A Kongming lantern, or sky lantern, caused delays at the Beijing Nanyuan Airport on Saturday night after becoming stuck in the engine of an airplane, the airport confirmed on Sunday.

Information about the incident was first released on the Sina Weibo account of a civil aviation maintenance forum on Saturday night, posted along with a photo showing a broken sky lantern on the engine vane of an airliner at the airport.

The airplane eventually took off after checks revealed there was no damage to the aircraft.

With the Lantern Festival approaching, the airport has warned people not to release Kongming lanterns or drones near its runway clear zone.

A Kongming lantern is a small hot-air ballon made of oil paper, which rises into the air due to a small flame warming the air inside and thus lowering the density of the lantern. People release the lanterns to make wishes, especially during the Mid-Autumn Festival and Lantern Festival celebrations.

An aviation professional who declined to be named told Beijing News that sky lanterns, drones and kites pose safety risks to aircraft in runway clear zones, as they can interfere with a pilot’s vision or come into contact with aircraft.

Changshui International Airport in Kunming released a statement on Sunday, saying that it had experienced numerous cases involving illegal unmanned flying objects in the airport’s runway clear zone recently, adding that its public security department is conducting an investigation into the issue.

According to Legal Evening News, an unmanned drone entered the runway clear zone at Mianyang Nanjiao Airport in Sichuan province on Feb 2, causing three airliners to be diverted and five flights to be delayed. The airport resumed regular services two hours later.

Meanwhile, unmanned flying objects caused delays to departures and arrivals at Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu on May 28 and Aug 2 last year, the paper reported.

According to China’s Civil Airport Regulation, it is illegal to release birds or fly unmanned balloons and other flying objects in an airport’s runway clear zone.

Many provinces and regions, such as Yunnan and Beijing, have released detailed aviation regulations banning the launching of fireworks or the flying of drones and balloons in airports’ runway clear zones. Those who violate laws may be fined between 20,000 and 100,000 yuan ($3,000 and $15,000).

In January, the Ministry of Public Security released a draft regulation to punish those who violate public orders, which states that those who ignore State regulations on flying all-purpose aircraft, including drones and powered paragliders, or other objects such as balloons, will be taken into custody for five to 10 days. In cases of gross violations, offenders will be taken into custody for 10 to 15 days.

The Chinese community has been shocked by an outrageous case of psychiatrists “running away” from a hospital, along with 64 patients over the weekend.

The Guihang 300 Hospital released an announcement on its official website Saturday, declaring that 64 patients being treated at the hospital had left, led by the director of psychiatry, Yang Shaolei, without informing the patients’ families or going through any formal procedures. Meanwhile, 11 other staff members of the psychiatry department had quit before getting official approval by the hospital, the announcement said.

The hospital immediately reported the incident to the police and later confirmed that the psychiatrists and patients had been transferred to Guiyang No.6 Hospital, according to the announcement.

“The hospital believes this is a planned incident that severely infringes on the patients’ guardians’ right to know and choose, maliciously offends the professional integrity of the medical staff, and tramples industry rules for healthy competition…” the hospital said, and it will “hold the involved medical staffers accountable according to the law”.

BBI Group, which is currently headquartered in Cardiff, has a number of manufacturing facilities in the UK. Following an internal consultation, the move to the Border Technology Park, Crumlin, will enable the company to centralise manufacturing and development activities from Blaenavon, Cardiff and Dundee under one roof, creating a Centre of Excellence for multiple technology streams and a new Global Headquarters for the Group. 

With a Welsh Government grant of £1.8m, the investment will see employment in Wales increase from 180 to 366 by 2020. It will provide excellent career opportunities in the South Wales Valleys region, foster closer links to the scientific and academic community, and provide a significant boost for the local economy.

Economy Cabinet Secretary Ken Skates welcomed the news today and said: 

“BBI Group is a made-in-Wales success story; a highly successful company and a strategically important player in the life science sector globally.

“I am particularly pleased WG support helped secure this significant investment for Wales. Founded in 1986 as a Cardiff University spin out, BBI Group has grown to become a £60m turnover company and this expansion project will secure the company’s long term sustainable future in Wales.

“It will not only create and safeguard a significant number of high quality jobs but will also support the local economy through an annual spend of more than £1m with supply chain companies. In addition, the fit out and alterations of the building will support around 75 FTE jobs in the construction industry.”

BBI Solutions operates in the global diagnostics market manufacturing enzymes and assays for use in diagnostics for a wide range of disease areas as well as the development of proteins for use in cell culture tissue. 

CEO Lyn Rees, said;

“This investment represents a significant step towards realising our strategic goals. Through investing in our manufacturing footprint in Wales we are increasing our capacity to support long term growth.

“Our new state of the art facility in Crumlin will allow us to operate more efficiently and to a higher regulatory standard, giving us the pedigree to compete more effectively in our expanding markets across Europe, USA and China.  It also has excellent links to the M4 corridor and Cardiff International Airport.”

“We’re excited to embark on this new phase in the company’s growth, and sincerely grateful for the assistance provided by Welsh Government, Cardiff Council and Caerphilly County Borough Council.” 

Skills and Science Minister, Julie James said: 

“The life science sector in Wales continues to go from strength-to-strength and is certainly gaining a very strong reputation both nationally and internationally as the place to do business.

“Increasing the amount of research, development and innovation undertaken in Wales is vital for economic growth and creating high quality jobs and our commitment to increasing Wales’ STEM capabilities is unwavering. 

“We already have a number of world class researchers and companies working in diagnostic and regenerative medicine and BBI’s expansion in Wales will undoubtedly be key to stimulating further growth and raising the profile of what Wales can offer this important sector.”