The ASEAN BIODIVERSITY UPDATES are published by the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) to keep stakeholders informed of news about biodiversity concerns and efforts that are relevant to the ASEAN region. In its latest issue the newsletter provides an overview of the 2016  World Environment Day, as well as gives information about  the new ACB headquarters at the University of the Philippines Los Baños and the organization's training programs.

A special feature gives insights on the Nusa Penida Marine Protected Area in Indonesia, followed by country-specific biodiversity news from accross Southeast Asia.

The full issue is available here.

The Final EU BON Meeting is scheduled to take place from 14-16 March 2017 at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels and at the stunning backdrop of Botanic Garden in Meise.

EU BON invites all interested parties to mark the dates in their diaries and come to learn about the project’s results and outputs some of which are presented in this newsletter and some are yet to come.

More information is available on the Conference website: http://symposium.eubon.eu

​SeaLifeBase in CA server (www.sealifebase.ca) has been updated to date.

www.fishbase.ca and ​www.sealifebase.ca have been updated.

On the 1st of April, between 9:30 and 16:30, the BiodiversityKnowledge project organises a conference where outcomes will be presented and widely discussed with policy makers, science and other stakeholders at the European parliament in Brussels. As final result, BiodiversityKnowledge will present a stakeholder’s document outlining a recommended design on how such a Network of Knowledge could operate and produce added value.

EU BON will be also presented at the confernce as one of the knowledge providers of the Network of Knowledge.

To counteract biodiversity loss, efforts have considerably increased over the past years to strengthen the science-policy-society interface on biodiversity and ecosystem services. There is indeed an active landscape of projects, institutions, organisations and individuals in Europe involved in this interface, all aiming to improve the knowledge flow so that decisions at different policy levels (from European, to national and local levels) are based on the best available knowledge.

With the 7th Environmental Action Programme and the start of Horizon2020 and its focus on innovative solutions for society, the need for more concerted activities in this context become even more important.

In this context, BiodiversityKnowledge (FP7 KNEU), an EU-funded coordination action has been set up to help to map, mobilise and organise this landscape focusing on the knowledge holders’ community. For this the project has been developing and testing a prototype Network of Knowledge since 2011 with more than 300 active participations of representatives of the biodiversity and ecosystems services knowledge community. Stakeholders involved ranged from practitioners and researchers to policy-makers.

Please find the conference agenda attached below.

Crochet, 25, was one of the top starting pitchers in the American League last season, posting a 3.58 ERA.

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Patriots fans might not enjoy the reference.

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Interview: Imprisoned politician Josep Rull awaits trial for rebellion

THE IRISH TIMES

By GUY HEDGECOE

Decembre 20, 2018

In early November 2017, Josep Rull, the former Catalan minister for territory and sustainability, posted the following on his Twitter account: “If you see this tweet then I’ve been jailed for being loyal to the ballot box.”

More than 13 months later, Rull (50) is still in prison, although he was released on bail for several weeks earlier this year. He and 17 other pro-independence leaders are awaiting trial for their alleged role in Catalonia’s failed bid for independence last year and nine of them are in custody. At the beginning of December, Rull and three others – Jordi Sànchez, Jordi Turull and Joaquim Forn – began a hunger strike at Lledoners prison where they are being held.

Their protest is driven by the fact that they remain in jail even though their trial has no scheduled date. They also argue that the Spanish judiciary has deliberately blocked appeals they have made in order to prevent their complaints from reaching the European Court of Human Rights.

“I want my case – and those of my colleagues – to reach the European courts,” Rull told The Irish Times, in a written interview carried out via email. “But the Spanish courts put up obstacles because they fear being undermined by a truly impartial and independent judiciary.”

The Catalan government says Rull has lost 7kg since beginning the strike. Yet the quartet who are carrying out the action appear to have embarked on it with caution. Jordi Sànchez told a radio interviewer recently: “I don’t want to be the Catalan Bobby Sands.” He added: “We haven’t gone crazy. We’re not going to immolate ourselves.”

Reoffending

The supreme court says it was keeping Rull and the other prisoners in custody in order to prevent them from reoffending and from fleeing the country, as former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and several others did.

The independence movement has sought to place the nine imprisoned leaders, who also include former Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras, at the centre of Spain’s ongoing territorial crisis. It argues they are political prisoners being punished for their views, not their actions.

Rull says that he is “in jail for fulfilling the mandate expressed by Catalan society in democratic elections: calling a referendum and applying its result”, a reference to the outlawed independence vote held in October 2017, during which police attacked many Catalans as they attempted to cast their vote.

As for the upcoming trial, Rull says that the guilt of the defendants is a foregone conclusion. If he is found guilty, he could face a jail sentence of up to 16 years for rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds. Junqueras faces a possible 25-year sentence.

“Our trial does not have the objective conditions necessary to make it trustworthy,” Rull says, adding that after the verdict he will appeal to the European judiciary. “I want to take the opportunity to show how this trial is designed [by Spain] to serve as a lesson to those who want independence, with the aim of making them give up their desire for freedom.”

Recent controversies

A string of recent controversies within the Spanish judiciary – including some affecting the supreme court – has helped fuel such criticism, despite the insistence of the central government and others that the trial will be fair.

Yet while the hunger strike seeks to draw international attention to the Catalan issue, it also seems to have underlined divisions within the independence movement. The four prisoners carrying out the protest are all members of the Together for Catalonia (JxCat) parliamentary group, whose relationship with the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), which represents four of the other prisoners, has been deteriorating.

On Wednesday, five former Catalan presidents, including Carles Puigdemont, were among those who appealed to the hunger strikers to call off their action in order to safeguard their health.

Rull, however, denies that the strike could make relationships within the independence movement worse.

“The movement is broad and diverse,” he says. “It’s not necessary for us all to do the same thing because we all respect the peaceful actions of others.”  

Yet the movement’s unity is clearly under pressure and the Catalan president, Quim Torra of JxCat, is struggling to balance the political demands of his post with the need to remain popular among grassroots activists. His recent praise for the Slovenian route to independence, which saw dozens of people killed in 1991, has been seen as a mistake by many, including some allies.

Unimpressed

But Rull insists that blame for the lack of improvement in relations between Madrid and Catalonia lies squarely with Spain’s Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez. His efforts to reduce tensions by taking a series of measures aimed at normalising the relationship with the region have left pro-independence Catalans unimpressed.

“[The] Spanish government should take much bolder steps in order to be able to embark on an effective process of political dialogue, which is the only way of finding solutions to the conflict,” Rull says.

Yet it is the political right that appears to have been emboldened, demanding that Sánchez reintroduce direct rule in Catalonia. Meanwhile, the leader of the conservative Popular Party (PP), Pablo Casado, has dismissed the hunger strike as a “high-protein diet”.

Reckless response

There is speculation in many quarters that if Spain’s political turmoil continues, resulting in a reckless response to the Catalan crisis by Madrid, it could benefit the independence movement, which already casts itself as the victim of an undemocratic state.

“There are, without a doubt, pro-independence Catalans who think like that, but I’m not one of them,” says Rull.

“Anyway, the ones who benefit most from the tensions between Catalonia and Madrid are not the Catalan [pro-independence] parties but rather the Spanish parties which share the vision of Spain that the Franco regime had.”

© 2018 irishtimes.com

The contemporary dating scene might, at times, resemble TS Eliot’s wasteland or, worse, a post-apocalyptic landscape punctuated by primeval beings who shy away from light. Apps like ... Read more

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"We're getting there. It's a long journey, it's a long season. Taking care of your body is important."

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Educators in Beverly, Gloucester, and Marblehead are fighting for increased wages and paid parental leave.

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The newly added "show discovery through AI" (now renamed to Smart show suggestions) got smarter and more useful through a couple of additions: Now it remembers the whole conversation session, so you can iterate on it It knows your ratings so you can use that for more specific recommendations I've added details in the instructions, highlighting more strengths and limitations of the feature You can now find it in the Top section along with the rest of the discovery top chartsI'm still tinkering with it, trying to make it better and faster. Let me know how it works for you now.

I mentioned movies will get the streaming services availability - and it's now done. Here's what's new:streaming services availability was added in all Movies lists (my movies, browse, hot, trending, search)you can now filter these lists by streaming services or "my streaming services" availabilityAlong with these specific updates regarding the Movies section, there are a few general improvements as well:when filtered by a streaming service, what you filter by is first and highlighted - the rest is grayed outmany new countries are now supported so if yours wasn't there before - check again - it most likely is nowPlease let me know how these work for you and if something looks weird on your device/browser. Next - I plan to focus on improving how My Movies looks and works (both on desktop and mobile)

As 2020 drew to a close, the U.S. Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, a massive $900 million coronavirus relief bill combined with a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill.

Early November saw the end of one of the most contentious political presidential elections in quite some time.

The International Code Council suite of I-Codes are perhaps the most robust building codes in the world. Protecting life and property—the goal of the I-Codes—requires ongoing maintenance. 

Every three years, in alignment with the building code cycle, the Gypsum Association issues new editions of the Association’s three code-referenced publications: GA-600 Fire Resistance and Sound Control Design Manual, GA-216 Application and Finishing of Gypsum Panel Products, and GA-253 Application of Gypsum Sheathing.

The racial justice charity accepts the wording and statistics used in posts about the Chris Kaba case ‘were not as carefully expressed as they should have been’

Keep up to date with all the latest coronavirus-related news affecting the charity sector. Please refresh for the latest updates

Bon’s line of contractor-grade hand tools and materials for the building trades has been expanded to nearly 6,000 products and includes more than 200 new items in the company’s 2013 Master Catalog.

On Sept. 24, Shirley Wodynski marked a significant milestone, celebrating 16 years of dedicated service as executive director of the Ceilings and Interior Systems Construction Association.

Washington — OSHA is reviewing comments on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking aimed at protecting workers from extreme heat exposure, administrator Doug Parker said during a Feb. 25 meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health’s work group on heat injury and illness prevention.

Washington — The National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health’s work group on heat injury and illness prevention is set to meet virtually in April.

Honolulu – Injured public employees in Hawaii must complete a return-to-work program before receiving vocational rehabilitation benefits, under a new state law.

Washington – A recently released OSHA fact sheet on preventing amputations from food slicers and meat grinders incorporates findings from the agency’s new injury reporting requirements.

Trenton, NJ — Calling it the first state law of its kind, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) on June 11 signed a bill intended to help protect hotel housekeeping and room service workers against assault and harassment.

Silver Spring, MD — Claiming the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is “once again responding to political pressures from those desperate to remove any safety protocols during this deadly pandemic that is still causing unacceptable numbers of infections, hospitalizations and deaths every day,” the nation’s largest union and professional association of registered nurses is calling on the agency to reverse its most recent COVID-19 guidance.

Washington — The National Labor Relations Board has pushed to Feb. 26 the effective date of its revised “joint employer” rule, saying the move will “facilitate resolution of legal challenges.”

Tyler, TX — The National Labor Relations Board’s joint employer rule, originally set to go into effect Feb. 26, has been put on hold until at least March 11.

These six-point suspension hard hats offer wearers two additional support straps for improved comfort. They also feature a comfortable, swinging ratchet for quick adjustment and better comfort. 

Earplug fit-test software VeriPRO 4.0 has been updated. Using a simple test administered under headphones, VeriPRO helps employers determine proper fit and aids in the selection of hearing protection.

Tumwater, WA — A proposed update to Washington state’s permanent rules on worker heat exposure would set the “temperature action level” at 80° F for most outdoor workers.

Washington – In response to recent worker deaths at demolition sites, OSHA has updated its webpage and safety resources addressing common hazards in the construction demolition industry.

Washington – April is National Workplace Violence Prevention Month, and OSHA hopes to raise awareness by releasing updated guidance for health care and social service workers.

Washington – All of OSHA’s training requirements can be found in a newly updated guidance document.

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Washington — OSHA has issued a proposed rule to update design and construction requirements in its powered industrial trucks standards for general industry and construction.

The latest apps, websites, white papers and everything online in the security industry.

Washington – NIOSH recently issued an update to its strategic plan for protecting workers from safety and health hazards associated with nanotechnology.

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Washington — OSHA is revising its Site-Specific Targeting inspection program to update the Form 300A data it requires.

Columnist Roy Pollack challenges professionals to test their knowledge in the latest 5 Minute Tech quiz.

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Washington — The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, in conjunction with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, is calling on the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration to begin enforcing a year-old law that mandates airlines provide flight attendants with a rest break of 10 consecutive hours between periods of duty lasting up to 14 hours.

Washington — The Senate on Sept. 29 confirmed the nominations of Mary Lu Jordan and Timothy Baker to serve as members of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.