More than 150 international buyers and investors from Europe, the Middle East and Asia will travel to Victoria as part of a major inbound trade mission that showcases its diverse wine industry. Meet the Winemaker, will introduce international buyers to over 100 key winemakers from 21 diverse winemaking regions around Victoria, allowing the industry to develop new export opportunities and giving the world an insight into Victoria’s unique winemaking capabilities.

[Premium Times] Mr Jega alleged that some legislators attempted to influence budget allocations and secure contracts, undermining public officials' efforts to maintain integrity.

mexico city — Legislators from Mexico's ruling party reelected the head of the National Human Rights Commission on Wednesday despite widespread opposition and her failure to call out the government for abuses.  The reelection of Rosario Piedra Ibarra in a party-line Senate vote appeared to be another example of the ruling Morena party's attempts to weaken independent oversight bodies. Morena has proposed eliminating a host of other oversight, transparency and freedom-of-information agencies, claiming they cost too much to run.  Mexico's civic and nonprofit rights groups have been almost unanimous in their criticism of Piedra's reelection.  "This is an undeserved prize for a career marked by inaction, the loss of independence and the weakening of the institution," the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez human rights center wrote on social media.  Piedra is a committed supporter of former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who left office on September 30. She once affirmed that none of the deaths caused by the armed forces under his administration were illegal or unjustified, and she shared the former president's delight in attacking and criticizing other independent human rights groups.  Commission issues few recommendations Since her first election in 2019, Piedra has done little to investigate allegations of massacres or extrajudicial killings by soldiers and members of the militarized National Guard, to whom Lopez Obrador gave sweeping powers.  Despite receiving over 1,800 citizen complaints against the armed forces between 2020 and 2023, her commission issued only 39 recommendations, and most of the few military cases her commission did follow up on involved abuses committed under previous administrations.  The rights commission has the power to make non-binding recommendations to government agencies. If they do not agree to follow the recommendations, they are at least required by law to explain why.  Piedra has almost exclusively focused the commission's work on issuing recommendations in cases where people have not received proper health care at government-run hospitals. Those recommendations accomplish little, because they don't address the underlying problem of underfunded, poorly equipped hospitals forced to handle too many patients.  At times Piedra acted as if human rights violations no longer existed under Lopez Obrador. In 2019, she expressed disbelief when asked about the killing of journalists, despite the fact that almost a dozen were killed in Lopez Obrador's first year in office.  "Are they killing journalists?" she said with an expression of disbelief.  'Her actions appear to support impunity ' Piedra comes from a well-known activist family: Her mother founded one of Mexico's first groups to demand answers for families whose relatives had been abducted and disappeared by the government in the 1960s and '70s. But even her mother's group, the Eureka Committee, did not support Piedra's reelection.  "Her actions appear to support impunity for the perpetrators of governmental terrorism, and the government's line of obedience and forgetting" rights abuses, the committee wrote in a statement.  Piedra broke with two important traditions: she was a member of the ruling party up until she was elected to her first term in 2019. The job has usually gone to nonpartisan human rights experts.  And she has openly endorsed and supported government policies and actions. Previous heads of the commission had a more critical relationship with the government.  Piedra also failed to make the final cut for candidates for the post this year in a congressional examination of their qualifications, but was put on the ballot anyway.  That's important because similar evaluation committees will decide who gets on the ballot in judicial reforms that make federal judges stand for election next year. Activists worry that the same kind of favoritism will come into play in the election of judges.  "This decision comes after a selection process in which she (Piedra) wasn't found to be the most qualified," a coalition of rights groups said in a statement. "That reveals the political, partisan considerations that put her onto the ballot."  She also apparently falsified a letter of recommendation; a bishop and human rights activist said a letter she presented to support her reelection had not been signed by him.  Piedra will serve under new President Claudia Sheinbaum, another devoted follower of Lopez Obrador, who took office October 1. On Sheinbaum's first day in office, the army killed six migrants near the Guatemalan border; 10 days later, soldiers and National Guard killed three bystanders in the northern border city of Nuevo Laredo while chasing suspects.  Sheinbaum's third week in office was capped by the killing of a crusading Catholic priest who had been threatened by gangs, and a lopsided encounter in northern Sinaloa state in which soldiers killed 19 drug cartel suspects, but suffered not a scratch themselves. That awakened memories of past human rights abuses, like a 2014 incident in which soldiers killed about a dozen cartel suspects after they had surrendered.  The purportedly leftist government has been quick to criticize human rights groups and activists who expose abuses.  In June, an outspoken volunteer advocate for missing people found an apparent body dumping ground with human remains in Mexico City, embarrassing ruling party officials who had done little to look for such clandestine grave sites. City prosecutors lashed out at her, claiming "the chain of custody" of the evidence had been manipulated, which could lead to charges. 

Three-star hotels have shown resilience in Malta’s hotel industry, combining lower costs and their appeal to budget-conscious tourists, as a way to remain profitable

A similar hearing last year brought extraordinary moments, including a retired intelligence officer alleging that the U.S. government has recovered nonhuman "biologics" from crash sites.

Trump intends to nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general and former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, surprising many lawmakers who will have to confirm them.

India hosted senior cancer physicians and policymakers from BIMSTEC countries during the annual meeting of National Cancer Grid (NCG) held at Mumbai's Tata Memorial Hospital.

'On the big screen, we focus on hope for your dreams whereas OTT is the bitter reality.'

In a nation filled with tribal tension, OM works toward reconciliation through youth conferences, relief outreaches and a bookshop filled with Bibles.

Four Indian-Americans, including two women, elected to House of Representatives and the Senate in the historic US general elections are here for their first official Congressional orientation meeting to find out how they can work collectively.

'On the big screen, we focus on hope for your dreams whereas OTT is the bitter reality.'

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[Nile Post] Filmmakers have contributed Shs 57,600,000 to Parliament to support the Parliamentary Forum in revising the National Culture Policy.

From Burmese mopeto to Saidapet vada curry, some of Chennai’s iconic foods trace the growth of a young city’s culinary character. We learn the stories behind these dishes as a run up to The Hindu’s Food and Music Festival this weekend

Bobby Maddex interviews Chris Vlahonasios, the founder of the Orthodox Filmmakers and Artists blog, as well as the Byzanfest film festival.

There is no excuse for non-disclosure agreements about public spending

IOC presidential candidate Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. has urged European lawmakers to regard investing in sport as a public health policy in his first keynote speech of a six-month Olympic leadership campaign.

A joint WP2/3/4/6/7 workshop took place on 23-24 November 2015 in Cambridge, UK. The overall goal of the workshop was to identify synergies and overlapping objectives across WP3/4 and 6/7 and beyond and to thereby identify applications of EU BON’s tools to decision-making, including at the policy level.

The idea for this small, focused workshop emerged as a result of the popularity and outreach achieved by the Aquamaps North-Sea fisheries infographic, developed under WP6. This infographic has demonstrated how the AquaMaps modelling tool can help answer a clear policy or question relevant to decision-making.

Under EU BON, WP3 and WP4 have developed some powerful tools, and more are in the making. The next challenge for EU BON is to use these tools to address policy-relevant issues/questions and to link EU-BON’s modelling capacity to policy needs. Producing cutting-edge innovations is important, but their implementation for policy and decision-making needs is what has real impact.

This is what the Cambridge workshop was about - bringing different players together to identify the right ways to make EU BON innovation policy relevant.

Outcomes of the meeting:

• An improved vision of how to ‘market’ EU BON’s products for end-users;

• A better understanding of the end-users and the barriers that they face in accessing and using biodiversity data tools; and

• Improved collaboration between EU BON Work Packages and a coherent vision for future synergies.

President-elect Donald Trump has encouraged him to “go wild on health” but has not made clear what role Kennedy will play.

The post Robert F. Kennedy Jr., foe of drugmakers and regulators, is poised to wield new power appeared first on Boston.com.

Washington — Five Senate Democrats are imploring the Mine Safety and Health Administration to lower its exposure limit for crystalline silica – a carcinogen found in sand, stone and artificial stone.

Washington — A group of Democratic lawmakers is pressing OSHA for the “fastest possible implementation” of a standard on protecting workers from extreme heat exposure.

Arlington, VA — Top-ranking Democrats in the House Education and the Workforce Committee and the Workforce Protections Subcommittee are questioning the legality of a Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission decision to remove a Sophia, WV, mine from Mine Safety and Health Administration Pattern of Violations status.

Washington – Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress are proposing legislation that would prohibit children younger than 18 from working directly with tobacco plants or dried tobacco leaves.

Washington – OSHA will delay enforcing a new interpretation of its Process Safety Management Standard, prompting a bipartisan group of lawmakers to call for the agency to withdraw that interpretation.

Washington — Legislation introduced in both chambers of Congress is aimed at enhancing the safety of the air supply on commercial aircraft to protect crew and passengers.

Washington — A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging the Federal Aviation Administration to make the aviation industry safer by taking “decisive actions to reduce the stigma around mental health care.”

Washington — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning of “an emerging public health threat” after researchers identified an increase in cases of silicosis – an incurable lung disease – among workers who handle engineered stone used to make household countertops.

Redondo Beach, CA — Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization President Linda Reinstein is asking lawmakers to make a federal ban of asbestos – a known carcinogen – “a priority” during Congress’ current lame-duck session.

Washington — A group of 19 congressional Democrats is urging, “in the strongest possible terms,” the Department of Transportation to deny a recent American Trucking Associations petition on California’s meal and rest break rules for commercial truck drivers.

Washington — Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) have reintroduced bipartisan legislation that would require the secretary of transportation to create a working group to determine obstacles to safe operation for livestock, insect and agricultural haulers in an effort to reform federal hours-of-service and electronic logging device regulations.

Washington — Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) is among four lawmakers calling for Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta to address their concerns over OSHA’s responses to a Government Accountability Office report, issued in November, on the health and safety of meat and poultry industry workers.

Washington — Legislation reintroduced March 11 by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) would prohibit line speed increases in meat and poultry-processing plants during the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.

Washington — Bipartisan legislation recently introduced in the House would extend OSHA protections to public sector employees.

Washington — A pair of House Democrats are requesting a Department of Labor investigation into potential risks of child labor and occupational safety and health violations in youth workforce programs.

Washington — Claiming the Environmental Protection Agency is “rushing forward” with various regulations while much of the nation is focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, Reps. Bobby Scott (D-VA), Jerry McNerney (D-CA) and Mike Quigley (D-IL) recently sent a letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, calling on the agency to extend all comment periods for matters related to public and environmental health at least 45 days past the end of the declared national emergency.

Washington — OSHA will prioritize rulemaking for a standard on preventing workplace violence in health care and social settings, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh testified during a May 17 House subcommittee hearing.

Washington — Physical assaults on health care workers in hospitals could lead to federal penalties and up to 20 years of jail time, under new bipartisan legislation.

Washington — A bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers have introduced a joint Congressional Review Act resolution to repeal the National Labor Relations Board’s recently revised joint employer rule.

Washington — New bipartisan legislation is intended to better protect workers and visitors in federal buildings.

Providence, RI — Rhode Island lawmakers have reintroduced legislation intended to protect workers from psychological abuse – such as bullying – on the job.

Washington — A pair of House Democrats have introduced legislation that would “prohibit, or require disclosure of, the surveillance, monitoring and collection of certain worker data by employers.”

Springfield, IL — Legislation intended to protect workers from retaliatory conduct by employers, as well as strengthen current protections under Illinois state law, is awaiting approval from Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D).

Grain Valley, MO — The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and 12 other organizations have sent a letter to lawmakers urging them to oppose two House bills that would allow drivers younger than 21 to operate interstate commercial motor vehicles.

Washington — The National Employment Law Project and the Economic Analysis and Research Network recently released a policy brief intended to advise incoming governors and state legislators on best practices “to protect workers in their states so that all communities can thrive and grow.”

Washington — A pair of House Democrats are calling on acting Labor Secretary Julie Su to address recent allegations that officials from two State Plan agencies are giving employers advance notice of workplace safety inspections.