OECD work on the independence of regulators and how to protect them from undue influence. Information includes new data from a survey of 48 regulators across the world.

Whistleblowing is an essential element for safeguarding the public interest and for promoting a culture of public accountability and integrity. The majority of OECD countries have recently passed legislation protecting whistleblowers and yet, despite being high on the agenda, successful whistleblowing stories are rare.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery has just completed a review of Switzerland's enforcement of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and related instruments. The Working Group welcomes the significant level of enforcement by the Federal Office of the Attorney General. Switzerland has cracked down on the bribery of foreign public officials in recent years.

More people than even before now reach a level of educational attainment equivalent to upper secondary education. The available evidence is very conclusive: this level of education can be considered a minimum level to ensure a job and a living wage.

The insight that education is valuable both to individuals and to countries is not new. Using continuously improving data and statistical tools, we have come to understand and appreciate the magnitude of education’s impact on employment, income, health and life opportunities in general.

This report discusses the implications of the digitalisation of finance for financial education and relevant consumer protection issues and provides an overview of digital financial services around the world.

The aquatic life benchmarks (for freshwater species) are based on toxicity values reviewed by EPA and used in the Agency's most recent risk assessments developed as part of the decision-making process for pesticide registration. Each Aquatic Life Benchmark is based on the most sensitive, scientifically acceptable toxicity endpoint available for a given taxon of all scientifically acceptable toxicity data available to EPA.

This document presents the outcomes of the 3rd OECD Biopesticide Seminar, held in 2011, that focused on the topic of “botanicals” (also known as plant extracts). The Seminar reviewed a number of scientific and regulatory issues related to the “characterisation and analyses of botanicals for the use in plant protection products”.

This Bio-pesticides seminar report presents an overview of similarities and differences between species and strains within the Trichoderma genus. This fungus illustrates many general issues related to the use of micro-organisms for pest management.

What can you do to lower the chances of your motor being stolen

We give you the lowdown on those investment trusts where family money still influences the way that they are managed.

About 200 Australians will be evacuated from the Diamond Princess ship on a Qantas flight from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to Darwin Airport on Wednesday night.

Worrying clusters have emerged in recent days of Qantas cabin crew and their family being infected with COVID-19 - including 15 reported cases from a rescue flight from Santiago on March 29.

The new wave of high-spec suncreams are kind to skin - and the ocean

We give you the lowdown on those investment trusts where family money still influences the way that they are managed.

In clear disregard for the ongoing multilateral negotiations, the United States is attempting to protect its already heavily fortified agriculture further. The House of Representatives passed the US Farm Bill 2007 in July, proposing 286 billion dollars of support for American farmers over the next five years. Devinder Sharma on the implications.

Her coronavirus test came back negative two days after her death, but Branngard, who claims she died of neglect, says the nursing home staff lacked protective gear and were spreading the virus around the home. Sweden, whose softer approach to the coronavirus has garnered international attention, admits it has failed to adequately protect the elderly, with around half of Covid-19 deaths occurring among nursing home residents.

Archives, Room Use Only - HE7711.C66 1913

Archives, Room Use Only - HE336.E94 O74 1858

Computer-aided image processing technique to protect weavers

Should a 1979 law on migrant workers be retained or must it be subsumed under a proposed labour code?

Several oils were examined for use in the cleaning and cryoprotection of crystals in the lipidic cubic phase in terms of their effect on the crystal stability, the background scattering and the facilitation of the experiment.

The tiger reserves of Asia could support more than 10,000 wild tigers – three times the current number – if they are managed as large-scale […]

The post Tiger numbers could triple if large-scale landscapes are protected appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A groundbreaking study by Harvard University’s Harvard Forest and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute reveals that, if left unchecked, recent trends in the loss of […]

The post Sprawl threatens water quality, climate protection, and land conservation in Massachusetts appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Whales from both poles migrate long distances to breed in tropical waters. Smithsonian scientist Hector M. Guzman and Fernando Félix at the Salinas Whale Museum […]

The post Whale tagging in Southeast Pacific provides data for species protection appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Marine mammologist Matthew Leslie aims his crossbow from the bow of a moving boat at the dolphins riding the breaking waves below. A dolphin will […]

The post Some dolphins cross the Pacific more easily than others. Why that matters for protecting them appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

When a natural disaster strikes, it devastates lives and homes, and can even destroy a culture’s identity and history. After a disaster, humanitarian response is […]

The post Protecting Puerto Rico’s heritage from another disaster appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Very early on, cockroach moms found out maternal care gave their offspring a better chance at survival. The cockroach parenting method—which includes feeding, guarding and […]

The post Helicopter cockroach moms have protected their young for millions of years appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The post Belize’s South Water Caye Marine Reserve protects biodiversity of Belizean Barrier Reef appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Identifying and understanding the migratory connectivity of birds throughout an entire annual cycle (not just the times of year they are in your back yard), […]

The post Video: Protecting songbirds by Better Understanding their Migratory connectivity appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Windows Defender Browser Protection tech support scam is a fake web site alert that states that Windows Defender Browser Extension detected someone to hack your bank account.

This article was published first at Remove the Windows Defender Browser Protection Tech Support Scam

In the dark recesses of an underground fungus garden, a Panamanian leaf-cutting ant plucks a tuft of mycelia, the wispy part of the basidiomycete fungus […]

The post Mystery solved? Ants Protect Young From Infection By Cocooning Them in Fungus appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys guideline for protecting the public from a toxic form of mercury is justifiable based on the latest scientific evidence, some children of women who consume large amounts of fish and seafood during pregnancy may be at special risk of neurological problems.

No single approach -- technical, legal, economic, or educational -- will be sufficient to protect children from online pornography.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys standard for the maximum amount of fluoride allowed in drinking water -- 4 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water -- does not protect against adverse health effects.

Today the science academies of the G7 countries and seven additional academies issued three joint statements to their respective governments to inform discussions during the G7 summit to be held in May in Japan, as well as ongoing policymaking.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that examines the regulations governing federally funded research recommends that Congress authorize and the president appoint an independent national commission to examine and update the ethical, legal, and institutional frameworks governing research involving human subjects.

All stakeholders in the scientific research enterprise -- researchers, institutions, publishers, funders, scientific societies, and federal agencies – should improve their practices and policies to respond to threats to the integrity of research, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine identifies global health priorities in light of current and emerging challenges and makes 14 recommendations for the U.S. government and other stakeholders to address these challenges, while maintaining U.S. status as a world leader in global health.

The U.S. lacks icebreaking capability in the Arctic and Antarctic and should build four polar icebreakers with heavy icebreaking capability to help minimize the life-cycle costs of icebreaker acquisition and operations, says a new congressionally mandated letter report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine offers detailed recommendations to guide federal statistical agencies in creating a new entity that would enable them to combine data from multiple sources in order to provide more relevant, timely, and detailed statistics – for example, on the unemployment rate or the rate of violent crime.

Black lung disease cases in coal miners have been increasing since 2000 for uncertain reasons.

The current process for planetary protection policy development is inadequate to respond to increasingly complex solar system exploration missions, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Half-facepiece reusable elastomeric respirators are an effective and viable option for protecting health care workers from exposure to airborne transmissible contaminants or infectious agents — for example, influenza virus — during day-to-day work or with a sudden or rapid influx of patients, such as during a public health emergency, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Biotechnology has the potential to be a part of the solution in protecting forest trees against destructive pest and disease outbreaks