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Redrow Redrow shows off home in its film for dog owners
 A Wrea Green business woman has taken the lead role in a new Redrow film offering top tips for making a house move smooth for homeowners and their four-legged friends,

Alison Gledhill runs the Blackpool and Preston franchise of Barking Mad, a national ‘home from home’ dog sitting service.

She says: “Moving house can be stressful for dogs, with a change in routine and environment, and so much going on with boxes being packed leading up to the move and the moving day itself.

“With people’s busy lifestyles, much as they love their dogs – most of whom are very much a member of the family nowadays – they can be forgotten until the last minute. But there are ways to make it less stressful and to ease the transition into their new home.”

Alison is no stranger to change herself.

She began her business 12 years ago after a career spent working for the Civil Service, for the Benefits Agency and HMRC. Alison says: “Maybe it was my mid-life crisis but I hit 40 and wondered whether I wanted to carry on in the Civil Service until I retired, and the answer was no.”

Alison, who has two dogs and a cat herself, had decided she wanted a career change but didn’t know what, until one day when she was looking to buy a book. She says: “When I opened the Yellow Pages looking for bookshops it fell open on the Barking Mad page and I thought it sounded interesting.

“I loved the idea and, when I looked further into it, the business locally was up for sale. It all fell into place.”

Now instead of sitting in an office every day, Alison matches host families with those looking for someone to look after their pets while they go away on holiday and transports them from and to their home-from-home.

“I have gone from sitting in a stressful office environment to speaking to people about their dogs and their holidays; I’m doing something I love. And the business is doing very well as people prefer to leave their dogs in another family home, being cared for and pampered while they go away.

“Host families are often retired people or widows and widowers who want the companionship of a dog and the pleasure of walking them and looking after them, without taking on the full-time commitment of having one.”

The film was shot in the show home at Redrow’s Ricksby Grange development, in Wrea Green, which offers a range of four-bedroom family homes from the homebuilder’s award-winning Heritage Collection, with prices from £299,995.

Claire Jarvis, sales director for Redrow Homes (Lancashire), said: “In the past we’ve focused on moving home with children but we realise that a lot of our customers have pets too, so thought it would be good to provide them with some help and advice.

“Wrea Green, with its lovely green spaces – including Lancashire’s largest village green – and the nearby beaches of Lytham St Anne’s and Blackpool, make it the kind of place that attracts dog owners looking for the perfect place to live, so Ricksby Grange was the ideal filming location.”

Output: A show home at Redrow’s Ricksby Grange development, in Wrea Green, Lancashire, serves as the backdrop for a Redrow film offering homeowners tips on how to make moving home less stressful for their dogs. The film is fronted by local woman, Alison Gledhill, who owns the Blackpool and Preston franchise of Barking Mad.


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BlackRock in one of Australia's biggest solar financing deals
 RCR Tomlinson has secured the $315 million contracts to build the Daydream and Hayman projects, adding to its rapidly growing line-up of solar construction contracts. Chief executive Paul Dalgliesh said RCR now has over half a gigawatt of large-scale solar projects on its order book and more than 1 GW in an earlier stage of development.

The CEFC is lending about $90 million to the two projects as part of a syndicated debt facility with CBA and French investment bank Natixis, BlackRock is providing equity towards the solar farms, one of which - Daydream - is underpinned by a 13-year power purchase deal with Origin Energy, while the second is being financed on a merchant basis.

The two projects will have the ability to incorporate storage down the track, supporting the flexibility and security of the power grid, according to Federal Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg.

For Edify, which will retain 10 per cent in the two plants, the deal extends its line-up of solar projects in Australia, where it is also pursuing storage ventures. Chief executive John Cole described the partnership with BlackRock as "a real coup" for Edify and said it is a major step towards bringing solar renewable power into the mainstream investment space in Australia.

While BlackRock has participated in more than 90 solar projects over the last few years, involving 1056 MW of capacity, the Queensland projects will be its first in Australia.

"The move into Australia represents a key part of the firm's long-term renewable power strategy, by which we continue to invest in attractive markets in order to provide a flow of addressable investment opportunities for our clients," global head Jim Barry said.

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BlackRock joins a host of other global investors such as Goldman Sachs that are backing renewables projects in Australia, although others such as Capital Dynamics see the risk around solar and wind projects still as too high because of the typically short duration of power sales contracts here.

The news comes as local battery producer Energy Renaissance confirmed it has selected Darwin for a planned large battery manufacturing plant in Australia, effectively giving the Northern Territory a mini "Gigafactory".

The Renaissance One factory will be the Southern Hemisphere's first lithium-ion battery plant, producing an annual capacity of 1 gigawatt-hours of systems to be sold into the Australian and south-east Asian markets. The first cells are set to come off the factory line by late 2018.

The selection of Darwin came after a two-year examination of potential sites around Australia, said Energy Renaissance, which is partly owned by CIMIC Group's UGL as well as the NT government and a US-based manufacturer. A final location has yet to be selected but it is likely to be at East Arm.

Tesla's Gigafactory being built in Nevada will eventually have a capacity to produce 150 GWh a year of batteries, while Boston Energy & Innovation, chaired by former Macquarie banker Bill Moss, is studying Townsville for a plant producing about 15 GWh a year.

Output: BlackRock Real Assets will buy 90% of two solar projects in Queensland from developer Edify Energy. The 150 MW Daydream and the 50 MW Hayman solar farms will include 2 million solar panels with work beginning immediately and production slated for next year. RCR Tomlinson has won $315m of contracts to build the two projects, giving it over half a GW of large-scale solar projects on its order book and more than 1 GW in an earlier stage of development.


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Redrow Redrow takes over from Miller Homes on Hackwood Farm site
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Designs have been submitted for the first phase of hundreds of new homes that are set to be built on farmland on the edge of a Derby suburb.

Redrow Homes East Midlands has submitted an application to Derby City Council containing details of the designs of the properties that it intends to build at Hackwood Farm, off Radbourne Lane, on the outskirts of Mickleover.

They cover a range of house types, including detached, semi-detached properties and townhouses.

According to the designs that have been submitted as part of the application, the properties make up Redrow’s “Heritage Collection” and have names such as Avon, The Richmond, The Marlborough and The Marlow.

In total, 370 properties will be built on this part of Hackwood Farm - with Redrow intending to build 89 homes, accessed from Starflower Way, in the first phase.

Outline planning permission for the development was granted by the city council in 2015 - despite strong opposition from local residents.

That successful application was lodged by Miller Homes - but, with Redrow submitting the designs for the properties, it would suggest that the developer leading the scheme has since changed.

Redrow Homes East Midlands came into being earlier this year after Radleigh Homes was sold to Redrow.

It retained Radleigh’s Pride Park base, which is now home to Redrow Homes East Midlands.

Miller’s first application for 370 properties at Hackwood Farm was turned down by the city council as the authority’s planning committee decided it would have a “severe impact” on local highways and would not be well connected enough to Mickleover district centre.

However, the developer returned with another application, which was passed after officers said that those issues had been addressed.

It is not the only housing scheme planned for Hackwood Farm. Successful applications have previously been lodged for hundreds more properties - and the total number that will be built is thought to be around 700.

Miller already has outline permission from the city council for 40 homes and a primary school and it has successfully applied to South Derbyshire District Council for permission for 290 homes.

Hackwood Farm is just one of a number of housing schemes planned for the outskirts of Mickleover.

Last month, work started on 288 homes on a development called Four Acres, a site next to the A516, which is accessed by a controversial new traffic island.

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Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes are the developers involved in that scheme, which is expected to be completed by 2020.

And, this week, Richborough Estates announced that it had sealed an £11.9 million deal to sell land on the edge of Mickleover, which has planning permission for 252 homes, to Bloor Homes.

As well as the properties, the 34-acre development, which will be accessed via Ladybank Road, will include a play area and an “extensive” public open space.

Output: Redrow has submitted design details to Derby Council as part of its application to build 89 homes in the first phase of its 370-property Hackwood Farm development, on the outskirts of Mickleover. Despite strong opposition, Miller Homes was granted permission to develop the site in 2015, hence the submission from Redrow suggests a change in the lead developer. In total, around 700 properties are thought to be planned for Hackwood Farm, after successful applications were lodged by several developers. Barratt Homes, David Wilson Homes and Bloor Homes are also planning other housing schemes on the outskirts of Mickleover.


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Google moves further into health monitoring with Senosis purchase
 Google CEO Sundar Pichai. AP

GeekWire reports that Google has acquired Senosis, a Seattle-based startup that's been making mobile apps to identify and monitor health conditions without the need for additional hardware.

Fronted by Shwetak Patel, a computer science and electrical engineering professor at the University of Washington, the company has developed tools to detect jaundice in infants and measure hemoglobin in your blood (to screen for diseases like anaemia) using just your phone's camera.

Another app uses the mic to help diagnose lung problems like asthma and cystic fibrosis. If approved by health regulatory agencies, these apps could make it easy to deploy wellness solutions in developing countries without the need for expensive hardware, testing labs and accompanying personnel.

The acquisition will likely help Google boost its efforts to tackle health issues as part of the company's plans for world domination. Its AI firm, DeepMind, has been working on machine learning tech to detect eye conditions and help fight blindness. The search giant also gathers fitness data on users' phones and from wearable trackers.

It's worth noting, though, that Google hasn't commented on the acquisition or said where it will place the Senosis team, which counts a little over a dozen people. GeekWire's source said that they might be retained in Seattle to work with Google and form the backbone of a digital health project.

Output: Senosis, a company that specialises in hardware-free health monitoring, has been purchased by Google. Seattle-based Senosis specialises in turning smartphones into monitoring devices that collect health data to diagnose and collate information about a range of medical conditions. The company's apps record data on metrics such as pulmonary function and haemoglobin counts. The acquisition supports Google's continuing push into digital health.


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Developers must be more open about new projects, says Shelter
 Regular readers of our blog – or followers of our work on housing supply – will have repeatedly heard our calls for increased transparency within housebuilding. One particular area where this is vital is when it comes to the murky world of viability assessments.

These assessments are used to reduce the affordable housing provision and other community contributions that a developer has to make on a scheme.

Recently we saw (and wrote about) a particularly egregious example of this in relation to Battersea Power Station, but sadly it’s also something we see all too often across the country.

However, despite viability assessments being used to take away community assets, communities themselves rarely see them as they are almost always kept confidential.

This is, quite clearly, a system that has no place in 21st century Britain, where openness and transparency are things we should be ensuring wherever possible.

The impact of a viability assessment can be severe. For example, it has recently come to light that the redevelopment of Hornsey Town Hall in Haringey, North London will – thanks to concerns over viability – potentially deliver no on-site affordable housing as part of the 149 home development. This is despite the London Borough of Haringey having a planning policy that targets 40% affordable housing. Had the developer met the local authority’s requirement, there would be 59 new, affordable homes for the local area.

As in most local authority areas, the reasons the developer provided to show why they can’t deliver any affordable homes in their viability assessment are confidential, and the version published on the council website is heavily redacted.

However, by copying and pasting into a Word document, it’s possible to produce the full version of the document, which reveals some of the incredible numbers involved.

For example, the proposed profit that the developer feels they need to make to take on the scheme is 19.05% – and their assessment is that they cannot do this while delivering any affordable housing.

This is on a scheme where 27 parking spaces will be sold at a price of £20,000 each, and where the overall sales value of the scheme is estimated at over £118 million (to save on the maths, that means the profit they are working to is over £22 million).

It is particularly disappointing that this is happening when the developer knew that the council’s policy was to include 40% affordable housing. Knowing this, they should have factored it into their plans from the very beginning – rather than seeing it as something to be reduced as needed.

Now, it is important to make two things clear:

Developers should be allowed to make a profit – of course they should, but in ensuring they make profit they shouldn’t be squeezing out affordable housing The developer’s assessment of the scheme’s viability might well be fair – it may be that redevelopment with the policy-compliant level of affordable housing isn’t possible. However, the evidence to support this should be public for the local community to understand and scrutinise. Where local people aren’t getting what they would otherwise reasonably expect, they have to know why, and be able to question it

What we want is for communities to be able to scrutinise developments in their area properly. This means making sure that viability documents are available without redaction.

The accidental release of the Hornsey Town Hall viability assessment also proves that scrutiny by local communities would take place. For example, the local councillors for the development have now sent an open letter to the developer asking for further information on some of the specific points. Having seen the viability assessment, they are now making sure that their community is getting the best outcome – and this is exactly what should be happening.

In addition, transparency over viability would help to restore public trust in housebuilding. While the development industry remains murky and hidden, we cannot be surprised when local communities are distrustful and unlikely to support new schemes.

Fortunately, the need for transparency in this area of development does seem to be gaining traction.

In the Housing White Paper, the government made good noises about increasing the level of transparency in the development industry. In addition, some councils have taken a lead in trying to bring this to viability. For example, in Greenwich where viability assessments are now made public with no redactions.

The Mayor of London is also taking positive action. The Homes for Londoners Supplementary Planning Guidance makes it clear that where developers won’t meet a 35% affordable housing threshold they must explain this through a viability assessment that – apart from in certain circumstances – will be made public.

We can still go further though. As set out in Shelter’s New Civic Housebuilding proposals, what we really need is a much clearer and more transparent national approach to viability. As we’ve outlined before, the current approach is far too flexible and discretionary. A more robust approach would provide more certainty for builders, local authorities, and communities – and help to restore desperately-needed trust in new home building.

Output: Property developers should have to publish the evidence they rely on in making viability assessments of how much affordable housing they can afford to include in new developments, according to a Shelter blog post. It also said that while developers should be allowed to make a profit that should not be at the expense of squeezing out affordable housing. In most local authority areas the reasons why developers cannot afford to deliver affordable homes in a given development are confidential. The comments were prompted by the accidental release of an unredacted viability assessment of the Hornsey Town Hall development in north London.


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Merck CEO quits Trump manufacturing council
 One of America's most prominent black CEOs quit President Trump's manufacturing council on Monday over Trump's initial failure to condemn white supremacists.

Kenneth Frazier of Merck (MRK) said in a statement: "America's leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy."

Within minutes, Trump attacked him on Twitter, saying Frazier's resignation will give him "more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!"

Later Monday, Trump targeted Merck in a second tweet.

".@Merck Pharma is a leader in higher & higher drug prices while at the same time taking jobs out of the U.S. Bring jobs back & LOWER PRICES!" he said.

.@Merck Pharma is a leader in higher & higher drug prices while at the same time taking jobs out of the U.S. Bring jobs back & LOWER PRICES! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2017

Frazier did not mention the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in his statement, but he did say that "as a matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism."

That appeared to be a reference to Trump's statement over the weekend blaming violence "on many sides" after neo-Nazis and white nationalists clashed with counter-protesters.

Following two days of criticism, Trump on Monday called out the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists as "evil" and "hate groups" that are "repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans."

Related: Merck CEO helped get black inmate off death row

Frazier is one of the country's most prominent black corporate executives and was the only black male CEO named to the council in January. Before joining Merck, Frazier was a lawyer who helped free a black death row inmate falsely accused of murder.

His exit marks another rebuke to Trump from corporate America. Trump's June 1 decision to leave the Paris climate accord led Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk to step down from the manufacturing panel as well as a separate business advisory council.

Disney (DIS) CEO Bob Iger similarly quit the business advisory council, and Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO Lloyd Blankfein used his first-ever tweet to slam Trump's Paris decision.

Paul Polman, the chief executive of Unilever, which owns the Dove and Axe brands, praised Frazier for standing up "for the moral values that made this country what it is."

Frazier appeared at the White House just last month to promote an agreement between Merck, Pfizer (PFE) and Corning (GLW) to create 1,000 jobs.

Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council,he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2017

Trump formed the manufacturing council a week after his inauguration as part of a push to create jobs. At the time, the White House hailed the council, including Frazier, as "some of the world's most successful and creative business leaders."

Related: CEOs keep turning on Trump

At the group's first meeting in January, Trump shook Frazier's hand after the CEO talked up efforts to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. for a cancer drug.

"That's very good," Trump said at the time.

Wall Street seemed unfazed by Trump's attack. A fund that represents biotech stocks climbed 1% on Monday morning. Trump has in the past caused drug stocks to drop by threatening to bring prices "way down."

--CNNMoney's Patrick Gillespie contributed to this report.

Output: Kenneth Frazier, CEO of pharmaceutical company Merck and one of the most high-profile black CEOs in the US, has resigned from Donald Trump’s manufacturing council, following the president’s failure to condemn the white supremacists involved in the weekend’s fatal violence in Virginia. Although Frazier did not specifically mention the events in Charlottesville, he stated that "as a matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism". Frazier’s departure follows previous resignations from the council by Bob Iger and Elon Musk, CEOs of Disney and Tesla respectively.


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Proptech Credas uses facial recognition for rent ID checks
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A new firm is using real-time facial recognition technology with the aim of helping letting agents meet their Right to Rent obligations.

Start-up company Credas claims its facial recognition software can speed up ID verification and is the first of its kind in the UK.

Agents can verify essential ID documents and match the photos on those documents with the actual person, in real-time, by using an app.

By texting or emailing a link to the app, potential tenants can verify themselves from anywhere, and at a time that suits them.

The technology can verify up to 4,000 types of ID, and records each verification on a secure cloud-based platform – also helping agents to comply with the new General Data Protection Regulations being introduced next May.

Credas has been set up Rhys David, former executive at Gocompare.com, who has more than 15 years’ experience in technology processes and innovation.

He said: “Since its implementation in 2016, the Right to Rent legislation has increased costs and time spent verifying tenants for many private landlords and letting agents. Having to physically check that the photo ID matches the tenant can be difficult if they are relocating from another part of the UK. Credas solves all of these problems in one handy app.

“Our pioneering technology puts the UK’s most accurate verification tool at our clients’ fingertips, for a fraction of the cost of building this kind of application in-house. The technology is incredibly flexible and we also offer integration options, to enable letting agents to hook up their own CRM to our verification engine.

“We believe that Credas will revolutionise the way landlords and letting agents verify potential tenants.”

The verification process consists of three simple steps – a selfie, a photo of the photo ID, and a ‘liveness’ test, to ensure that the person is actually present when the verification photo is being taken.

Costs to agents depend on the number of verifications required – the more there are the lower the price – but will range between £1 and £5.

Businesses can buy as required, or pay monthly subscriptions.

Output: Proptech start-up Credas, founded by ex-Gocompare.com executive Rhys David, has developed facial recognition technology that the firm said "will revolutionise the way landlords and letting agents verify potential tenants". The verification app, the first of its kind in the UK, matches photos on essential documents with a "live" picture of the prospective tenant, with all data stored on the cloud. "The technology is incredibly flexible and we also offer integration options, to enable letting agents to hook up their own CRM to our verification engine," said David.


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London land acquisitions up 48% on previous quarter
 Some £722 million of development land sales in London were completed in the second quarter of the year, a substantial increase of 48% on the previous quarter, new research shows.

It is the strongest quarter of sales since the vote to leave the European Union in June 2016 and indicates that investors, including those from overseas, are in the market and this is expected to continue, according to the report from real estate advisors CBRE.

The analysis report reveals that three deals in the second quarter were above £100 compared with none in the first quarter of the year. It suggests that political uncertainty acted as a drag on development land sales during 2016, but the rebound in activity during the first half of this year demonstrates the re-emerging appetite for development land in London.

The two most significant deals of the quarter were similar in nature, both were over £150 million and involve sites for mixed use development in Southbank. The first site, in the Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea opportunity area was purchased by Chinese developer R&F properties for a residential led mixed-use development.

This follows the company’s purchase of Queens Square Croydon in the first quarter for £59 million, another residential led development opportunity. The second site, One Waterloo, was purchased by the developer HB Reavis with planning permission for a 950,000 square foot speculative office led mixed use development.

Looking forward, the report says that the sales pipeline remains strong, with a substantial amount of land either under offer or exchanged. At the end of the second quarter it is estimated there is another £1.5 billion in the pipeline, significantly higher than the £602 million estimated at the end of 2016.

The sale of New Covent Garden Market, which recently exchanged contracts to Chinese conglomerate and property developer Dalian Wanda for £500 million, is expected to help define this year’s market when it completes.

As with the first three months of the year, almost all the land purchased in the second quarter is intended for mixed-use development, both office and residential, with many located in areas earmarked for large scale regeneration.

‘It also reflects greater caution in current market conditions, with developers looking for opportunities in a diverse range of sectors rather than focusing on one area in particular,’ the report says.

‘Looking forward, we expect land sales across London to remain above average for the remainder of 2017. Overseas investors will continue to take advantage of current market conditions whilst also capitalising on the current exchange rate,’ it points out.

‘Both international and domestic developers are seeking sites in central London, particularly in the West End where lot sizes are typically smaller, but supply is markedly constrained,’ it concludes.

Output: The second quarter of 2017 was the strongest for sales of development land since the Brexit vote in June 2016, with £722m ($793m) of sales in London completed, according to a report by property adviser CBRE. The figure was a 48% increase on the previous quarter. The two most significant deals for Q2 were both above £150m and located south of the river. The report said the land purchased was mixed use, reflecting "greater caution in current market conditions". The report also said deals in the pipeline amounted to £1.5bn, far beyond the £602m estimated at the end of 2016.


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Comparison Creator launches gadget insurance aggregation site
 Protect Your Gadget price comparison website has been developed to compare multiple brands.

Protect Your Gadget has been launched by Comparison Creator, a software development company which specialises in product comparison.

According to Comparison Creator the website is the only gadget insurance comparison website in the UK.

Brands

The firm explained that the service compares multiple brands and allows consumers to review policies based on the cover provided - including accidental damage, multi-gadget cover, mechanical breakdown and whether or not family cover is provided.

The

Output: Gadget insurance has entered the world of the aggregators, with Comparison Creator launching price comparison website Protect Your Gadget for customers to insure smartphones, tablets and other personal items. Developed by software writer Comparison Creator, the site will launch in the UK and has already been taken up by Gocompare.com, which carries a link for the site. The service will aggregate policies that offer accidental damage, multi-gadget cover, mechanical breakdown.


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Asian factory farms risking global health: FAIRR
 The use of antibiotics in factory farms in Asia is set to more than double in just over a decade, with potentially damaging effects on antibiotic resistance around the world.

Factory farming of poultry in Asia is also increasing the threat of bird flu spreading beyond the region, with more deadly strains taking hold, according to a new report from a network of financial investors.

Use of antibiotics in poultry and pig farms will increase by more than 120% in Asiaby 2030, based on current trends. Half of all antibiotics globally are now consumed in China alone. The Chinese meat and animal feed producers New Hope Group and Wen’s Group are now among the 10 biggest animal feed manufacturers in the world.

The growth of Asian meat production in intensive units is also producing a rise in greenhouse gas emissions from the food chain, with emissions likely to rise by more than 360m tonnes, the equivalent of running 100 coal-fired power plants for a year. There are knock-on impacts such as deforestation, as China’s need for animal feed is responsible for more than a third of Brazil’s soybean production.

The report, Factory Farming in Asia: Assessing Investment Risks, comes three years after a meat scandal in China, in which suppliers to McDonalds, KFC and others were found to be using dirty meat and products past their sell-by date. It also comes in the midst of a growing food scandal in Europe, which has required the recall of millions of eggs tainted with harmful chemicals, and as concerns have been aired over the impact of Brexit on imports of farm products to the UK.

Asian food companies have rapidly expanded their meat production in response to growing populations and the tastes of the rising middle class, but this expansion has come to the detriment of food safety.

Jeremy Coller, of Coller Capital, said: “Investors have a big appetite for the animal protein sector in Asia. But the growth is driven by a boom in factory farming that creates problems like emissions and epidemics, abuse of antibiotics and abuse of labour. Investors must improve the management of sustainability issues in the Asian meat and dairy industries if they want to avoid a nasty bout of financial food poisoning.”

However, the report also found that deploying modern techniques could assist in reducing the impact of factory farming – for instance, by using barcodes to enable consumers to check the provenance of eggs, by reducing greenhouse gases and improving the health of livestock.

Avian flu is an increasing threat, with the latest strain to take hold in China, H7N9, proving more deadly than previous strains. It has already killed 84% more people in the four years since its emergence than the H5N1 strain that came to public attention in 2006. Affected industries in China include suppliers to McDonalds and Walmart. An outbreak of bird flu in South Korea in 2016-17 resulted in the cull of a fifth of the country’s flock.

The growth of Asian meat production in intensive units is producing a rise in greenhouse gas emissions Photograph: China Photos/Getty Images

The authors of the study recommended that investors assess the risks of food production in the assets they hold, as financial firms can persuade the companies they fund to make improvements in their supply chain. But they said awareness among investors was currently too low and should be raised.

Previous food scandals have damaged the finances of multinational companiessuch as McDonalds and KFC. Jaideep Panwar, sustainability and governance manager at APG Asset Management Asia, said: “[This] reminds investors to keep a close eye on the long-term risks of food assets in Asia.

“The evolution of what are now early stage regulatory moves in Asia, supplier conditions introduced by international brands and import restrictions can have an impact on the productivity of Asian producers and their access to markets. Investors will assess the ability of companies in the meat supply chain to position themselves ahead of these risks.”

Melissa Brown, partner at Daobridge Capital in Hong Kong, added: “Few issues are as politically sensitive in Asia as food safety. Yet far too many food sector equities have been priced as if [these] risks don’t matter and that good risk management won’t be recognised in the market.”

The report was published on Monday by the international investment network FAIRR and the Asia Research and Engagement consultancy.

Output: Asian factory farms are expected to increase their use of antibiotics by over 120% by 2030, threatening a rise in global antibiotic resistance, according to a report from international investment network FAIRR and the Asia Research and Engagement consultancy. At present, half of all antibiotics consumed globally are used in China. The report, which calls on investors to assess the risks of food production in their assets, also claims that poultry farming in Asia is increasing the risk of bird flu epidemics. Intensive meat production in the region could also increase greenhouse gas emissions by over 360 million tonnes.


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Uber operations suspended for one month in Philippines
 The Philippines government on Monday ordered US company Uber to suspend its operations in the country for a month for continuing to accredit new drivers despite being ordered by the government to stop.

The transportation network company, which has a strong presence in the Philippines market, must halt the operation of its online booking application for a month starting Monday, the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board was quoted as saying by Efe news.

The measure comes after the state body ordered Uber on June 26 to stop accrediting new drivers amid attempts to regulate the thriving private sector transport industry in the country, where public transportation is poor.

Out of the approximately 120,000 private transport vehicles (most of which are operated by Uber and Grab) plying on the country's roads, barely 7,000 have proper accreditation.

The state agency's decision created a stir on the social media in the country, where several users complained that the measure could lead to overcrowded taxi services.

--IANS

Also Read Philippines' Army Chief named Secretary of Interior, Local Government Philippines government cancels peace talks with rebels Militants behead German hostage in Philippines Death toll in Philippines clashes climbs to 95 Children fighting for IS in Philippines conflict: Army Access to Heritage Line Metro stations to be limited Telephone subscribers in India grew 0.49% in June Inflation rises as food, fuel prices rise (Roundup) HCL launches AI-powered services for enterprises China warns of trade war with US

soni/dg

Output: Philippine regulator the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board has ordered Uber to cease trading in the country for a month. The government has accused the US ride hailing service of accrediting new drivers, despite orders to desist in June. Approximately 7,000 drivers out of 120,000 in the Philippine private transport sector have proper accreditation. Critics of the move have expressed concern that it could lead to a shortage of taxis.


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Thomson Reuters revamps Eikon with an eye on Mifid II
 Source: Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters has integrated and enhanced its robust research capabilities on its flagship financial desktop Eikon as part of its ongoing commitment to help financial institutions manage impending MiFID II research unbundling requirements set to be implemented in January, 2018.

These are part of a series of research unbundling enhancements that Thomson Reuters will continue to make in 2017 through new products and third-party partnerships.

The new Thomson Reuters MiFID II Entitlements Solution features upgraded entitlement granularity to meet brokers’ flexible segmentation requirements. It provides seamless entitlement request and response functionality for the sell-side and buy-side through our Research Management Console, and a comprehensive Research Entitlement API for contributor CRM integration. Furthermore, to support buy-side clients’ regulatory reporting requirements, Thomson Reuters has also enhanced its readership reporting systems with better usage tracking.

MiFID II imposes a series of new restrictions and structures on research use by financial institutions, specifically how research is paid for and managed by the institution. The rules effectively eliminate free research or research paid based on specific trading or investing decisions. To help clients navigate these research unbundling challenges, Thomson Reuters Eikon research solutions provide users the ability to objectively assess sell-side analyst quality, manage entitlements to external research, gain insights quicker through improved research discovery, and effectively evaluate a firm’s research team.

“The unbundling requirements are a game-changer with respect to the research segment of the financial services industry, forcing companies to radically alter what are long-standing business practices,” said Mahesh Narayan, head of portfolio management and research, Thomson Reuters. “Our established research capabilities make Thomson Reuters well-positioned to provide unbiased and powerful solutions that help clients navigate and comply with MiFID II research unbundling requirements. In addition to developing our own products, as an open platform, we are committed to partnering with third-parties that adds further value to our Eikon users.”

Powered by Thomson Reuters Intelligent Tagging, and using Eikon’s Advanced Research Search, and Search & Discover capabilities, Eikon users can quickly and easily find the most relevant and valuable research through analyst rankings, specific themes, companies, individuals, data points, keywords and other related search topics.

Thomson Reuters is one of the largest aggregators of real-time research in the world and offers a comprehensive portfolio of research-related products for both the buy-side and sell-side. Thomson Reuters Eikon provides unbiased sell-side analyst performance evaluation focusing on analyst accuracy as well as relative analyst ranking by security and sector. Through Thomson Reuters StarMine investment analytics, buy-side professionals can utilize an analyst score card and rankings to make and/or justify broker section decisions. As a leading provider of content distribution services to the sell-side Research community, Thomson Reuters is committed to continued improvement in research entitlements and controls, to ensure that research content is distributed to clients according to its contributors’ exact needs as market regulations evolve.

Thomson Reuters is committed to providing its clients with solutions to meet the full range of MiFID II regulations. Recently announced initiatives to help its clients achieve MiFID II compliance include: a partnership with BestX for FX transaction cost analysis; the launch of an enhanced analytics platform for best execution and SI determination (Velocity Analytics 8.0); plans to provide a holistic set of MiFID II services including multi-asset best execution, SI (Systematic Internaliser) determination, market data aggregation and bespoke reference data services; a collaboration with Tradeweb for APA (Approved Publication Arrangement) services; and enhancements to its Tick History feed.

Output: Thomson Reuters has revamped research capabilities on its Eikon financial desktop product with an eye on Mifid II, the suite of European Union regulations due in January that will require firms to unbundle research fees from transactions charges. The changes will enable buy-side and sell-side users to better manage their research usage, the company said. As part of the move, Eikon will support buy-side firms' reporting requirement.


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Reposit CEO quits proptech start-up, without a replacement
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One of the founders of deposit replacement scheme Reposit has left the proptech firm.

Curran McKay has stepped down as chief executive of Reposit just a year after launch.

He posted on LinkedIN last Wednesday: “Following a fantastic two years working with Reposit, I have made the decision to leave the business.

“I’ve learned a huge amount through co-founding the company and I’m excited for my next challenge. I’m very proud of what we have achieved with Reposit so far and I wish the team future success as they continue to make renting fairer.”

It is unclear where he is going or who his replacement will be.

His name was still displayed on the Reposit website on Friday but Companies House documents show he resigned as a director on August 4.

A spokesman for Reposit said: “Following two years as chief executive, Curran McKay has stepped down from Reposit for personal reasons, effective immediately.

“We are grateful for all Curran’s hard work building Reposit alongside co-founders Jude Greer and Brendan Short, and we wish him success in the future.

“Aside from that, July was our best month yet with a record number of Reposits processed, and August looks like it will be even better.

“We’re proud to be making renting fairer for the UK’s tenants and have some exciting new projects in the pipeline for the second half of 2017.”

Rather than a deposit, Reposit, which launched in August 2016, lets tenants pay a non-refundable fee of one week’s rent.

Reposit’s service then provides six weeks’ worth of cover to the landlord for damages, unpaid rent, cleaning costs and any other charges normally associated with deductions from a security deposit.

Output: Reposit CEO Curran McKay has quit the proptech start-up just a year after launch. Co-founder McKay, who is stepping down for personal reasons, had worked for the deposit replacement scheme for two years and said he was "very proud" of what it had achieved in making renting fairer. Reposit lets tenants pay a non-refundable fee of one week's rent instead of a deposit. It then offers six weeks' worth of cover to the landlord for unpaid rent, damages and any other costs associated with a deduction from a property rental deposit.


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Up to 35,000 barrels of crude oil leak into Kuwaiti sea
 Oil analysts estimate about 35,000 barrels of crude may have leaked into waters near a Kuwaiti-Saudi offshore oilfield.

Emergency workers battled on Sunday to contain an oil spill near a joint Kuwaiti-Saudi oilfield in the Gulf.

No official reports were available on the source or size of the leak in the waters off Kuwait’s southern coast, near the joint Kuwaiti-Saudi offshore Al-Khafji oilfield.

“Emergency oil teams are still struggling to put an oil spill near Kuwait’s southern Ras Al-Zour area under control,” said Kuwait Petroleum Corporation spokesman Talal al-Khaled in a statement carried by the official KUNA news agency.

READ MORE: The price of oil – It’s bad news for the Middle East

Kuwaiti media quoted local oil experts as saying the spill originated from an old 50-km pipeline from Al-Khafji.

They estimated as many as 35,000 barrels of crude oil may have leaked into the waters off Al-Zour, where Kuwait is building a massive $30bn oil complex that includes a 615,000-barrel-per-day refinery.

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, located south of Kuwait along the Gulf coast, said the spill had not reached their waters.

Saudi Arabia put into action a “crisis management plan” and was conducting an aerial survey of its oil plants along the coast, said a statement published by the official SPA news agency .

The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said teams from Saudi Arabian Chevron and Oil Spill Response Limited were cleaning the coastal waters.

Kuwait is a major producer of oil and gas, which make up about 95 percent of its export revenues.

Output: Emergency workers from Saudi Arabian Chevron and Oil Spill Response are battling to clean up an estimated 35,000 barrels of crude oil which leaked from a pipeline into into the waters off Al-Zour, according to a statement from Kuwait Petroleum Corporation spokesman Talal al-Khaled. The spill is at the site of a $30bn oil complex that includes a 615,000-barrel-per-day refinery. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain confirmed the leaked oil had not reached their waters.


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Mobile nano spectrometer identifies dangerous chemicals
 Credit: University of North Texas

Guido Verbeck, UNT associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, patented an algorithm that works with a high-tech tool to detect the location of chemical streams. Now, he's using it in technology that can detect not only chemicals, but biological threats. His newest device, a mobile nano spectrometer, can be used in a moving vehicle to investigate attempts at creating biological warfare, examine environmental concerns, find clandestine laboratory locations, protect military bases and determine the toxicity of HAZMAT spills.

"This device can target aromatic compounds such as biofuels, chemicals used in oil and gas procurement, drugs and even determine disease states," Verbeck says. "This is the first technology of its kind that can detect both chemical and biological threats at the same time."

Verbeck's latest version of the detection tool "breathes" the air through a sensor to detect dangerous compounds and can fractionate a plasma source to determine if biological weapons are present. He is testing the technology at a missile base to fine tune it for detection of everything from anthrax and ricin to deadly viruses that could decimate populations.

"We wanted to develop an instrument with a higher throughput," he says. "This version allows for rapid response ― three second detection of chemicals and biological agents. It's also made for ease of use. You don't have to be a scientist to operate it."

Verbeck's goal is to create a software for the system that prevents the need for viewing data and, instead, provides up front information that can be processed in real time. He's currently working with Thermo Fisher Scientific, a world leader in biotechnology product development that has provided a $2 million grant, to get this patent ― and two others ― executed.

"I currently hold 12 patents for modified mass spectrometers and my nanomanipulator," Verbeck says. "My goal is to have 50 percent of them active. At this time, three are. When Thermo Fisher puts these three into action, I will have met that goal."

Verbeck says he understands the potential for civil liberty concerns with this type of technology and is working closely with Kimi King, a UNT political science professor and civil rights expert, to pursue grants from the National Institute of Justice.

"I'm being proactive. I want to make sure this technology is developed in the best legal way possible," Verbeck says.

Verbeck has already received his first royalty check of $10,000 for his chemical detection algorithm patent.

"This is only the first check," Michael Rondelli, associate vice president for innovation and commercialization in the Office of Research and Innovation, says. "We expect a lot more as this exciting new technology gets to marketplace."

Verbeck says a strong partnership with the university's technology transfer team, which is led by Rondelli, was a major factor in the commercial success.

"As researchers, we can keep doing our work without losing any stride thanks to UNT's tech transfer office," Verbeck says. "Product output needs to continue to be a focus at UNT so our ideas can translate from the laboratory to the real world. We're still building up that profile."

Output: A University of North Texas professor of chemistry and biochemistry, Guido Verbeck, has developed a piece of technology that is capable of detecting environmental chemical and biological threats. The mobile nano spectrometer can be used in a moving vehicle to assess environments that may have hazardous materials (hazmat) in them. It targets "aromatic compounds such as biofuels, chemicals used in oil and gas procurement and can even determine disease states", says Verbeck. By "breathing" in the air, the detection tool is capable of sensing dangerous chemical compounds and can detect secret laboratories and assess the toxicity of hazmat spills.


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Political unrest in Kenya after allegations of electoral fraud
 Protesters burnt shacks to the ground in a Nairobi slum as violent demonstrations against Kenya's presidential election results flared for a second day

Kenya's defeated opposition faced mounting calls at home and abroad to calm their supporters Sunday after claims of election rigging sparked violent protests that left at least 16 people dead.

Odinga's flashpoint strongholds in western Kisumu and Nairobi's slums were quiet Sunday, with signs life was returning to normal after two days of running battles with police, who in some cases fired live ammunition to disperse protesters.

But UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged thwarted presidential candidate Raila Odinga to "send a clear message to his supporters urging them to refrain from violence", a message echoed by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

The anger erupted on Friday night after President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the victor by a large margin over Odinga following an election pollsters had described as too close to call.

Odinga's National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition has insisted their candidate is the rightful winner, saying he was robbed of victory through hacking and manipulation of an electronic vote tallying system.

However calls for them to take their grievances to court, while Kenya's foreign partners heap congratulations on Kenyatta, have left them isolated and under mounting pressure.

Odinga, 72, a mainstay of the Kenyan opposition since the 1980s, has been silent since his loss was announced, but was due to address supporters in Nairobi's Kibera slum on Sunday afternoon.

His party officials have said they will neither back down nor take their grievances to court, as they did in 2013 when Odinga also cried foul over his loss.

"We will not be cowed, we will not relent," NASA official Johnson Muthama told reporters on Saturday.

In Nairobi's Mathare slum, shops and markets slowly began opening and there was no sign of police or protesters on Sunday.

"We want to hear Raila. We want to hear what he has to say. It's him who will guide us. If he tells us to go on the streets, we will go on the streets. If he wants us to stay home, we will stay stay home," said 25-year-old hairdresser Humpfrey Songole in Mathare.

Kenya: post-electoral unrest

- 'Exercise restraint' -

According to an AFP tally, 16 people have died since the result was announced Friday.

Seven of those were in the west, which was also calm Sunday morning.

"We have three bodies that were taken to the main mortuary in Kisumu, we also have one in Homa Bay, and there's one in Migori and two in Siaya," a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity, as he is not permitted to speak to the media.

"These are people killed in the confrontations with officers since Friday night," said the officer.

Newly elected Kisumu governor Anyang' Nyong'o -- father of actress Lupita Nyong'o -- urged police to withdraw and allow people to peacefully protest the "stolen election".

Nine people have died in the capital, including a young girl whose family said she had been shot in the back while playing on a balcony in Mathare as police opened fire on protesters.

The Doctors without Borders (MSF) charity said on Twitter that it had treated 54 wounded people in its clinics.

The post-election violence is the worst since a disputed 2007 poll which Odinga claimed was stolen from him. That led to two months of protests and ethnic killings which left 1,100 dead and 600,000 displaced.

Raila Odinga has tried four times to win the Kenyan presidency

Britain's Johnson called on Kenya's opposition to "exercise restraint" to ensure calm.

The European Union's foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini urged the opposition "to respect the results and to use legal means available for appeals and complaints."

In another blow to the opposition, local election observer group ELOG, which deployed 8,300 observers and conducted a parallel tallying operation, determined Kenyatta had won with 54 percent -- the same figure given by the electoral commission.

- 'Zero-sum game'-

Kenyan media also urged Odinga to address his base.

"NASA must direct its supporters to stand down, no matter how justified it feels that the presidential tally was rigged," wrote the Standard newspaper in an editorial, while slamming the police response to protests.

Interior Minister Fred Matiangi denied that police had fired on "innocent protesters", saying officers had clamped down on "criminal elements" taking advantage of the tension to loot and rob.

Politics in Kenya is largely divided along tribal lines, and the winner-takes-all nature of elections has long stoked communal tensions.

Odinga's ethnic Luo supporters -- and their allies from other groups -- believe they have been denied political power by elites from the Kikuyus, the same ethnic group as Kenyatta, the country's biggest community.

"The reason elections have become a trigger for violence is the relationship between power and prosperity. It is a zero-sum game and winning becomes a life and death matter, hence losing is not an option," wrote the Daily Nation in its editorial.

Output: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson are among those calling for calm in Kenya following violent protests in the country after the defeat of Raila Odinga, leader of the National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition in the recent election. Sixteen people have died since the announcement of President Uhuru Kenyatta's 54% victory, while NASA party officials have refused to "back down nor take their grievances to court". It is the fourth time Odinga has lost a presidential race.


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13,000 Newham landlords don't declare rental income
 Up to 13,000 landlords in just one London borough have been identified as failing to declare their rental income, prompting estimates that unpaid tax in the capital is costing the public purse nearly £200m.

Newham council in east London, the first to introduce a compulsory borough-wide licensing scheme for landlords in 2013, shared their names and property addresses with HM Revenue & Customs. Newham, which has 27,000 registered landlords, said it understands that 13,000 had not registered for self-assessment, which is generally required if a property owner receives £2,500 a year or more in rent. HMRC would not confirm the figure.

The council estimated that unpaid tax by landlords is costing the public purse nearly £200m in London – and far more nationally.

In a letter sent to the chancellor, Philip Hammond, the mayor of Newham, Sir Robin Wales, said: “It is our understanding that, to date, up to 13,000 Newham landlords are of interest to HMRC, where there are discrepancies between declared income and our records, with potentially significant financial implication for the exchequer.”

Newham is battling with the Department for Communities and Local Government to have its licensing scheme renewed, following a 2015 clampdown by the government, which said licensing imposes “unnecessary additional costs” on landlords. Neighbouring borough Redbridge has already had its application for landlord licensing rejected.

Wales told the chancellor in his letter: “Our core grant funding has halved since 2010-11, that’s less money for our schools, less money for social care, and less money for housing. I urge you to assess the additional benefits of Newham’s licensing scheme in assisting the exchequer to address tax evasion by landlords.”

Newham said it understands that HMRC is currently contacting local landlords who have failed to register their rental revenues. The tax authorities have the power to claw back unpaid tax over 20 years, with penalties of up to 100% of the tax demanded.

In a statement, HMRC said: “We are working with the London Borough of Newham as part of the Let Property Campaign. This work has generated £115m in additional and previously unpaid tax and interest.”

The Treasury did not respond to a request for comment.

HMRC’s Let Property Campaign was launched in 2014 amid concerns that up to 1m buy-to-let landlords are not declaring their rental income. HMRC said at the time that it believed landlords were avoiding around £550m in tax, although Newham’s experience may suggest that the figure could be much higher.

Newham said it has instigated 1,135 prosecutions for housing crimes – 70% of all such prosecutions in London. It has banned 28 landlords, served 2,170 notices to improve properties, and recovered £2.6m in additional council tax.

Before Newham began mandatory landlord licensing, it had estimated that the borough had 30,000 private properties rented out by around 5,000 landlords. But as a result of the licensing process, it discovered 50,000 rental properties owned by 27,000 separate landlords.

Newham has among the highest levels of private renting in the UK. Between 2006 and 2016, the share of the total housing stock in the borough owned by private landlords leapt from 21% to 46%, with just 23% of homes now owner-occupied.

Liverpool, Waltham Forest, Barking and Dagenham, and Croydon have all introduced compulsory licensing schemes following Newham’s success, but other boroughs hoping to match them have run into opposition from central government.

Since 2015, local authorities have been forced to apply to the secretary of state for permission to license landlords if the scheme affects more than 20% of the homes in the borough or its geographical area.

Housing minister Brandon Lewis wrote to local authorities in March 2015 to warn them of an amendment to licensing rules. He said: “The blanket licensing approach adopted by some local authorities has major drawbacks. This is because it impacts on all landlords and places additional burdens on reputable landlords who are already fully compliant with their obligations, thereby creating additional unnecessary costs for reputable landlords which are generally passed on to tenants through higher rents.

“The vast majority of landlords provide a good service and the government does not believe it is right to impose unnecessary additional costs on them, or their tenants. Such an approach is disproportionate and unfairly penalises good landlords.”

However, Newham said its licensing had won the support of 90% of local residents, and that the the vast majority of landlords have had to pay just £150 for a five-year licence. However its fee for new landlords is planned to rise to £400. Liverpool charges £400 for the first property and £350 for each additional property.

Newham’s scheme comes to an end in December, and because of the restrictions imposed in 2015, it has been forced to apply for permission for another five-year period. The council made a formal application to the government to continue its scheme last month.

Output: As many as 13,000 landlords in the London borough of Newham have failed to declare their rental income, triggering estimates the UK is losing out on nearly £200m ($257m) across the capital in unpaid tax. Newham was the first local authority to bring in a compulsory borough-wide licensing scheme in 2013, with 27,000 registered landlords. Newham council shared names and addresses with HM Revenue & Customs, accusing 13,000 landlords of failing to register for self-assessment. HMRC have not confirmed the figure.


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Drought in Ethiopia kills two million animals
 The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said that two million animals have been lost to a “devastating” drought in Ethiopia.

The UN agriculture agency said that the drought had devastated herders’ livelihoods as it exhausted pastures and water sources.

It said the current food and nutrition crisis was significantly aggravated by the severe blow to pastoral livelihoods.

“For livestock-dependent families, the animals can literally mean the difference between life and death – especially for children, pregnant and nursing mothers, for whom milk is a crucial source of nutrition.

“With up to two million animals lost so far, FAO is focusing on providing emergency livestock support to the most vulnerable pastoralist communities through animal vaccination and treatment, supplementary feed and water, rehabilitating water points, and supporting fodder and feed production”.

FAO stressed that supporting the herders to get back on their feet and prevent further livestock losses was crucial in the Horn of Africa country, where hunger had been on the rise.

“The drought has led to a significant number of animals dying or falling ill, particularly in the southern and south-eastern regions of the country, as other areas recover from previous seasons’ El Niño-induced drought,” the UN agency warned.

It also said that drought-hit pastoralists were facing reduced milk production, rising malnutrition, and had limited income-earning capacity and severely constrained access to food.

READ: FADAMA III: 3 programmes executed in Anambra state –Coordinator

Abdoul Bah, FAO Deputy Representative in Ethiopia, said “Some 8.5 million people – one in 12 people – are now suffering from hunger; of these, 3.3 million people live in Somali Region.

“It is crucial to provide this support between now and October – when rains are due – to begin the recovery process and prevent further losses of animals. If we don’t act now, hunger and malnutrition will only get worse among pastoral communities.”

According to Bah, by providing supplementary feed and water for livestock, while simultaneously supporting fodder production, FAO seeks to protect core breeding animals and enable drought-hit families to rebuild their livelihoods.

In addition to FAO-supported destocking and cash-for-work programmes to provide cash for families, he said animal health campaigns would be reinforced to protect animals, particularly before the rain sets in – when they are at their weakest and more susceptible to parasites or infectious diseases.

Bah said FAO urgently required $20 million between August and December to come to the aid of Ethiopia’s farmers and herders.

“FAO has already assisted almost 500,000 drought-hit people in 2017 through a mix of livestock feed provision, de-stocking and animal health interventions,” he said.

The support was courtesy of the Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund, Switzerland, Spain and Sweden through FAO’s Special Fund for Emergency and Rehabilitation Activities, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, as well as FAO’s own Early Warning Early Action fund and Technical Cooperation Programme.

Output: The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has called for $20m in aid to help Ethiopia's farmers and herders, whose livestock have been devastated by droughts caused by El Niño. The UN agriculture agency said two million animals had been lost, putting vulnerable pastoralist communities at risk of hunger. "It is crucial to provide this support between now and October – when rains are due – to begin the recovery process and prevent further losses of animals. If we don’t act now, hunger and malnutrition will only get worse," said Abdoul Bah, FAO Deputy Representative in Ethiopia.


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The Sun scores with fast turnaround football video campaign
 In the increasingly competitive space of branded content, The Sun is trying to stand out with speed.

During the FA Cup between January and May this year, the News UK title ran a branded-content campaign with Procter & Gamble razor brand Gillette, publishing half a dozen videos, one for the best goal from each of the six rounds of the tournament, within hours of the goal. The videos were overlaid with football statistics and exclusive commentary from football commentators.

“We’re a newsroom — we have got a very quick turnaround; we’re set up for that,” said Derek Brown, head of video at News UK. “Branded content has always been a bit of a drawn-out process: You make it over two weeks, then you send it away, then you work on amends and you’re sick of it by the time it’s done.”

The top goal for each round was picked from dozens of matches and deliberated over through a few hundred messages on a WhatsApp group between Gillette, its agency Starcom and The Sun. Once chosen, the publisher’s data scientist pulled in feeds from sports data company Opta to overlay precision stats like the speed of the ball, the angle of the kick, the distance from defenders — “stuff football fans get off on,” said Brown.

Some of the videos were getting up to 2 million views, helped with some social boosting, and thousands of comments and shares. Gillette paid six figures for the campaign.

“It was one of our bigger video deals of the year, and we did well out of it,” said Brown, “both financially and from a learning point of view.”

This way of working is risky, however. Brown admits being nervous, particularly as the campaign relied on elements out of the publisher’s control.

In one instance, the matches in the round didn’t yield any captivating goals until 9 p.m. local time on March 13 when Chelsea’s N’Golo Kanté scored against Manchester United. The video was completed by 1 a.m. on March 14 and published on The Sun’s site, using News UK-owned ad tech company Unruly to serve the videos in relevant article pages and on Facebook by 6 a.m.

“A lot of stuff could have gone wrong,” said Brown. For instance, some goals were only caught by cameras positioned too high in the stadium to capture the shot in detail, and jumping fans obstructed the view of other goals.

For years, The Sun has paid for nonexclusive rights to show FA Cup match content on its site and mobile devices. The Gillette deal allowed it to monetize this content for the first time, rather than simply publishing it for audiences.

News UK is planning other quick-turnaround video brand campaigns. The publisher has offered video as branded content in earnest for a little over a year, and its video team has grown from about 10 to 30 people in the last six months.

“People still think of us as a print company,” said Brown. “News UK will be a video company sooner rather than later; in order to establish that, we need to win repeat business and have clients coming back for the second and third year.”

Image courtesy of News UK

Output: The Sun used this year's FA Cup to launch a quick-to-market branded content video campaign. The Sun published half a dozen videos, one for the top goal from each of the tournament's six rounds, as part of a campaign with Procter & Gamble razor brand Gillette. The videos included football statistics and exclusive commentary, and were published within hours of the goals. Some of the videos received up to 2 million views and marked the first time the Sun had managed to monetise its FA Cup content. Gillette is understood to have paid a "six-figure" sum for the campaign.


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Buzzfeed launches live weekday morning news show on Twitter
 BuzzFeed will be launching a weekday live morning show on Twitter, as part of the content deal signed with the microblogging platform in May.

AM to DM, launching on September 25, is aimed at reimagining the way that people consume news today, and will be produced and directed by BuzzFeed.

BuzzFeed’s reporters, editors, and special guests will give viewers the day’s top stories from all categories across the world – breaking news in real-time based on what’s being said on Twitter. The show – which is sponsored by Wendy’s, Bank of America, and Toyota – will be hosted by BuzzFeed Books editor Isaac Fitzgerald and BuzzFeed News’ executive editor of culture Saeed Jones.

“Twitter is where people turn to see what's happening in the world every morning and BuzzFeed News is a vital source of that information for many of our users,” said Anthony Noto, Twitter COO. “We are excited to collaborate with BuzzFeed to bring their fresh approach to a live morning show broadcast alongside the real-time conversation on Twitter.”

The live stream will be free globally to both logged-in and logged-out users on Twitter and connected devices. It will air weekdays from 8-9am ET via @BuzzFeedNews.

In addition to BuzzFeed’s deal with Twitter, it will also be producing shows for Facebook’s ‘Watch’ platform, which will be home to original programming created for the social network.

Don’t forget to enter the Effective Mobile Marketing Awards. We've extended the final deadline to 18 August, but time's running out. More details here.

Output: US media company BuzzFeed has partnered with Twitter to launch a daily news programme, called AM to DM, set to premiere on 25 September. The show will examine the day’s top stories, based on what's trending and being discussed on the social media outlet. The feed will air every weekday on the BuzzFeed News twitter page. Buzzfeed is also set to produce content for Facebook’s ‘Watch’ channel.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Solar panels may be susceptible to cyber attacks
 With the rise of internet-connected devices, it seems that the threat of any piece of our lives being hacked is growing exponentially. The prospect of a smart, interconnected energy grid being vulnerable to attack by malicious hackers has lead to many experts warning that safeguards should be put in place before we move too far in that direction, but a new study says that even the energy generating devices themselves could be vulnerable.

Dutch researcher Willem Westerhof found that the inverters in solar panels, the part that converts the electricity generated by the panels into electricity that can be used by the grid, had 17 different vulnerabilities that could be taken advantage of by hackers.

The issue is that the inverters are internet connected, which means that hackers could potentially remotely access and control the inverters, altering the flow of electricity which could overload the system and cause instability in grid. That instability could then cause power outages. A field study to test this idea found that it was indeed a possibility though Westerhof is not releasing the details of his findings lest any potential criminals are looking for inspiration.

The good news is that several inverters would have to be compromised at once to cause any significant issues in the grid and even then it would be unlikely to cause a total black out. The even better news is that this is preventable.

When new solar panels are installed, users should change any default passwords. The other really hack proof solution is to disconnect the inverters from the internet, which would remove the weakness completely.

"Solar producers should seek to isolate the products from the internet ASAP," said Dave Palmer, director of technology at cyber-security company Darktrace to the BBC. "And [they should] also review their physical access security to reduce the risk of a local attack from someone physically breaking into their facilities."

This is yet another example of how having everything connected to the internet, while really convenient, also introduces a host of new problems. For a clean energy smart grid to really take off, we'll need protections in place, even down to the lowly power inverter.

Output: Flaws within solar panel equipment may allow hackers to target national electricity grids, according to Dutch researcher Willem Westerhof. Westerhof warned that there are up to 17 vulnerabilities within internet-connected inverters, the devices that convert solar power to electricity for national power grids, that could be remotely targeted by malicious individuals. It would be possible for a hacker to control the devices and alter the flow of power which, if done on a large scale, would pose serious consequences to power grid stability, although it is doubtful that it could cause blackouts.


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Texas ready to require separate insurance for abortion
 Politics & Government Bill Requiring Separate Health Insurance For Abortions Close To Becoming Law In Texas Women would pay separate health insurance premium for coverage of non-emergency abortions, including those sparked by rape, incest. Reply

AUSTIN, TX — In their ongoing quest to make abortion in Texas prohibitive if not outright illegal, Texas conservatives controlling the state Legislature advanced a bill requiring women to pay a separate health insurance premium for coverage of non-emergency abortions.

Critics call the measure "rape insurance," and it's close to becoming law. The Senate last week gave initial approval to House Bill 214 toward requiring women to pay the additional premium if they choose a health plan to cover abortions outside of medical emergencies, as the Texas Tribune and numerous other media outlets reported. The proposed law doesn't include exceptions for instance of fetal abnormalities, incest or rape. The bill now awaiting the governor's signature is expected to become law this week.

Passed on a 20-10 vote, the bill is among three abortion-related priorities of Gov. Greg Abbott, who called a special summer session of the Legislature in compelling lawmakers to hammer out issues that didn't gain substantive steam during the regular session (along with a so-called "bathroom bill" to regulate which bathrooms transgender people are allowed to use). Once the measure secures final approval in the Senate, it goes to Abbott's desk for his signature. Another abortion-related bill requiring doctors and health care facilities to report amplified details about abortion complications to the state cleared both chambers on Friday, as the Tribune noted.

In justifying their "rape insurance" bill, Republican backers posit that abortion opponents shouldn't have to subsidize the procedure through their own insurance plans. The bill was authored by Rep. John Smithee, a Republican from Amarillo. Arguing the proposed law is likely to primarily affect low-income women, members of the minority Democratic party tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to include the aforementioned exceptions of fetal abnormalities, incest or rape. Their efforts were to no avail given the commanding control of the chamber by conservative lawmakers for whom opposition to abortion is a key political plank.

The measure is the latest initiative by state Republican lawmakers that amounts to a deterrent in getting abortions in Texas. Gov. Abbott championed an earlier measure that will require the burial or cremation of fetal tissue in lieu of sanitary disposal (at considerable financial cost to women). Texas also tried passing a stringent (many say draconian) set of requirements for abortion providers in Texas that would've led to the closure of three-quarters of the state's remaining women's health clinics offering abortions among their services. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately struck down the most restrictive parts of the Texas law pertaining to women's health clinics in June 2016 ruling.

Output: Conservative lawmakers in Texas are poised to pass legislation requiring women to pay a separate insurance premium for abortions. The state senate has given the nod to the move, which critics have called "rape insurance" as the proposal doesn't include exceptions for instance of fetal abnormalities, incest or rape.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Group practices find MIPS too complex, burdensome
 Dive Brief:

Nearly half of the group practices responding to a recent Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) survey said they spend more than $40,000 per full-time physician every year to comply with federal regulations.

The practices rated the Medicare Quality Payment Program (QPP) as most burdensome, followed by lack of electronic attachments for claims and prior authorization; audits and appeals; lack of EHR interoperability; and payer use of virtual credit cards.

MGMA said the main themes from the survey were regulatory and administrative burdens drawing resources from patient care; the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) is too complex and doesn’t give practices enough clinical benefit; and practices are increasingly dependent on third-party vendors that are not held to the same rules and mandates.

Dive Insight:

Healthcare leaders and physicians looking to loosen regulation requirements will certainly find a friendly ear in the current HHS. The CMS in June released a request for information asking for comments on reducing regulatory burdens of the Affordable Care Act, and has made examining and perhaps eliminating some regulations a priority.

The practices MGMA surveyed had particularly unfavorable opinions of MIPS, with 73% of them saying it “does not support our practice’s clinical quality priorities” and the same percentage rating it as either “very” or “extremely” complex. More than 40% said they are reporting the full set of MIPS data, about 30% are reporting some data and 20% are reporting the minimum required to avoid a penalty.

One respondent said: “The resources it will take to comply with MIPS are absurd, and the only thing the program measures is the ability to meet documentation requirements.”

The CMS is aware of concerns surrounding the QPP and has worked to ease the transition from the sustainable growth rate. In June, the agency proposed exempting more small providers and stated it will continue to focus on greater flexibility.

MGMA surveyed 750 group practices with between and six and 20 physicians last month. This is the first survey the organization has performed on overall regulatory burden. With a receptive audience in the current administration, it plans to continue the practice.

Output: Nearly half of the group practices responding to a recent Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) survey said they spend more than $40,000 per full-time physician every year to comply with federal regulations.


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Forget about single-payer healthcare. This California congressman has the real solution: Medicare for all
 Dreaming of a state-run single-payer healthcare system? Wake up and enter the real world. Want universal healthcare for all Americans? Medicare for all is the solution.

Not this year or next, but possibly in the future — when Democrats recapture the presidency and Congress.

That’s the clear-eyed, pragmatic fight to engage in, and one advocated by U.S. Rep. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove), a longtime healthcare warrior.

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“Medicare is far, far more efficient than private insurance companies,” he said. “Using the tax system to collect money for healthcare delivery is extremely efficient. No profits. No commissions. No advertising.”

Garamendi, 72, earned his healthcare credentials decades ago. He has been fighting for universal coverage since Jerry Brown was governor the first time.

The congressman, whose mostly rural district covers the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and spreads into eight counties, was first elected to the state Assembly in 1974. Later, he moved to the state Senate, where he headed the Health and Welfare Committee.

Garamendi became California’s first elected state insurance commissioner and won legislative passage of a bill to create a commission that would have devised a universal healthcare system. But Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed the measure. Garamendi’s reform plan, however, became the model for President Clinton’s ill-fated healthcare proposal in 1993.

In 1994, Garamendi ran for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, advocating a top-to-bottom healthcare overhaul. He lost to then-state Treasurer Kathleen Brown, Jerry’s sister.

After a stint as Clinton’s deputy Interior secretary, Garamendi again was elected insurance commissioner, later became lieutenant governor and left for Congress in 2009.

So Garamendi has paid his healthcare and political dues. A dawn-to-midnight workaholic who grew up on a cattle ranch in the Sierra gold country, he has won and lost but always spoken his mind.

And he believes California has virtually no chance of going it alone on a single-payer system with the state handling everyone’s healthcare coverage.

“It would be very difficult, particularly given the present federal government,” he told me.

That’s an understatement. It would require permission by the Republican-controlled Congress and President Trump for California to use federal Medicare and Medi-Cal money to finance its own healthcare system. That’s not possible.

Plus, let’s face it, there are about 6 million California seniors on Medicare. They’re frequent voters. Think they’re going to trust Sacramento to take over their Medicare coverage? Think again.

Dr. Steve Tarzynski, president of the California Physicians Alliance, agrees.

“The reality is that at the moment, a single-payer bill cannot pass” the Legislature, he wrote in a recent Times opinion piece. “Fighting for one in the immediate term is a waste of time.”

Maybe in the future, he continued. But for now “millions of California voters with relatively good insurance coverage and those on Medicare are fearful of a radical change in their protections.”

The state Senate blindly passed an exorbitantly expensive — $400 billion a year — single-payer bill June 1. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) wisely quashed it, calling the measure “woefully incomplete.” Now bellicose single-payer bullies are threatening to recall him.

Brown already had dismissed the measure.

“Where do you get the extra money?” the governor asked. “I don’t even get it.”

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is running for governor, called the bill “snake oil.”

Single-payer pushers in Sacramento — the California Nurses Assn. — tried to sell their skimpy proposal as Medicare for all. But in reality it was just the opposite. It would have wiped out Medicare in California, grabbed the federal money and forced seniors into the new state program.

Updates from Sacramento »

Garamendi wrote an op-ed piece for the Sacramento Bee advocating an eventual Medicare-for-all program nationally. It would be “by far the simplest solution” to achieving universal coverage, he said.

“Medicare is one of our most trusted and popular government programs,” he asserted. “For more than 50 years, Americans have trusted Medicare to provide care to the elderly and disabled, funded by the payroll taxes of American workers…. Medicare spending rises at a much slower rate than private insurance…. It could be modified and expanded to cover more people….

“It is an idea whose time is coming.”

It’s coming, but it’s not here yet — not with Trump and the GOP controlling Washington.

Unlike single-payer, Medicare for all would allow beneficiaries to buy supplemental private insurance, as many seniors do now.

Garamendi told me he wouldn’t attempt to increase current benefits. Nor would he try to cover immigrants here illegally. Those would be poison pills politically.

For people fearful of government-run healthcare — the old “socialized medicine” bugaboo — Garamendi notes that much of America already is covered by government insurance.

There are more than 46 million seniors and 9 million disabled on Medicare. About 75 million are enrolled in Medicaid for the poor, called Medi-Cal in California. Roughly 22 million federal, state and local government employees benefit from government-funded healthcare. So do 1.3 million military personnel. That totals almost half the population.

In California, the main focus should be on pressuring Congress to retain and patch up the Affordable Care Act, which has reduced the number of uninsured in this state from roughly 7 million to less than 3 million. The GOP’s repeal threat has been beaten back, but it isn’t dead.

The governor and Legislature can keep making incremental healthcare improvements in California by continuing to restore Medi-Cal benefits that were severely cut during the recession.

But forget about single-payer. Awaken from the midsummer night’s dream, truly a nightmare.

george.skelton@latimes.com

Follow @LATimesSkelton on Twitter

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Output: Dreaming of a state-run single-payer healthcare system? Wake up and enter the real world. Want universal healthcare for all Americans? Medicare for all is the solution.


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A Cancer Conundrum: Too Many Drug Trials, Too Few Patients
 With the arrival of two revolutionary treatment strategies, immunotherapy and personalized medicine, cancer researchers have found new hope — and a problem that is perhaps unprecedented in medical research.

There are too many experimental cancer drugs in too many clinical trials, and not enough patients to test them on.

The logjam is caused partly by companies hoping to rush profitable new cancer drugs to market, and partly by the nature of these therapies, which can be spectacularly effective but only in select patients.

In July, an expert panel of the Food and Drug Administration recommended approval of a groundbreaking new leukemia treatment, a type of immunotherapy. Companies are scrambling to develop other drugs based on using the immune system itself to attack cancers.

Output: With the arrival of two revolutionary treatment strategies, immunotherapy and personalized medicine, cancer researchers have found new hope — and a problem that is perhaps unprecedented in medical research.


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How the Trump administration is spending millions to shore up Obamacare
 The White House said Thursday it applauds the stabilization efforts even as Trump steps up the pressure on the Senate to resume efforts to try to pass legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare.

“We support the Secretary’s efforts to give states flexibility to create solutions to relieve the burden of Obamacare that has skyrocketed premiums and reduced coverage choices for the American people,” said a spokesman.

The Alaska waiver, drawn up late in the Obama administration in one of the reddest states in the country, was approved this summer under Trump’s HHS secretary, Tom Price.

State officials pioneered the idea of a stabilization fund when the only insurer in the state’s Obamacare market threatened to raise premiums by more than 40 percent or quit altogether because it was spending more money on sick people’s medical bills than it received from premiums.

A bill passed last year by the heavily GOP state legislature set up a $55 million state program, funded through an existing tax on insurers, to reimburse insurers for high-cost enrollees.

State officials went on to win federal funding this summer from the Trump administration through a provision of Obamacare that lets states develop their own health plans as long as they meet certain criteria, such as covering the same number of people and not adding to the deficit.

“The Alaska example was a microcosm for what could be a successful program,” said Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), noting that 2018 average premiums in that state are set to fall for the first time in five years even though his state has among the highest health costs in the country.

That program is likely to take on renewed importance now that GOP repeal efforts have foundered and more states undertake efforts to fix their insurance markets in the face of double-digit premium increases and declining insurer participation. The roots of those problems include GOP moves to undermine the law in ways that hit insurers’ bottom lines and Democratic overconfidence in the number of young and healthy people who would sign up for coverage.

Citing the Alaska model, Price encouraged states in March to stabilize their markets by channeling state and federal money to insurers to offset the costs of treating the most expensive patients — not unlike other risk-reduction programs built into the Affordable Care Act that conservatives derisively called “bailouts.”

Four other states — Oklahoma, Oregon, Minnesota and Iowa — now have waiver applications in the pipeline as a way to keep insurers in their markets and limit premium increases.

In addition, New Hampshire and Maine are considering similar programs.

“I think it is a recognition by many Republican policymakers … that some market stabilization programs can be a good thing,” said Aviva Aron-Dine, a former top Obama HHS official now with the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The state officials seeking approval for stabilization plans for 2018 — among them, Obamacare critics and supporters — are unified by their pragmatic approach.

“It’s not a political issue anymore,” said Lanhee Chen, a Republican health care adviser at the Hoover Institute who is a proponent of using Obamacare waivers to let states better tailor the health care law to fit their own needs.

“At least for the intermediate term, as many Republicans have said, Obamacare is probably going to be the law,” Chen added. “The administration has to figure out what its posture is.”

A handful of senators and a few dozen House members have also started discussions on a bipartisan national Obamacare fix, but it’s too soon to know whether legislation will come together this fall. But even Republicans in Congress who are wary of that effort support greater state flexibility — a hallmark of Price’s philosophy.

“There could be far greater flexibility for states to pursue innovative solutions,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), one of the Hill’s most determined Obamacare critics. But he’s made it clear his top priority is taking steps to lower premiums, not having Congress spend more money on insurers to stabilize Obamacare markets.

“As a component in a repeal of Obamacare and an expansion of consumer choices and competition, those stabilization funds have an appropriate place,” Cruz explained. “As a standalone, that’s the wrong solution.”

Other Republicans who praise Alaska’s approach favor making it simpler for other states to enact plans to bring down premiums.

“The waiver authorities already provided for in the ACA law, they were never really granted. They were never really used,” said Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, another critic of Obamacare who is open to state-initiated fixes. “So that might be one of those reforms that we could be looking for.”

Even blue states like Oregon that embraced the health law are seeking ways to prevent unsustainable price increases.

“It was a total no-brainer for us,” said Jake Sunderland, of Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services, which drafted a reinsurance program and estimates the state would receive $30 million a year in federal funds.

Oregon still has a competitive marketplace, but the state has seen insurers leave the market or scale back where they offer plans, in part because Obamacare patients were sicker than expected.

Average premium increases on Oregon’s individual market have topped 20 percent in each of the past two years, according to state regulators. Though seven insurers are expected to sell Obamacare-compliant plans in the individual market in 2018, state officials said they want to intervene now to prevent a mass defection of insurers.

“The reason why a year ago we started exploring how to stabilize the market is because we didn’t want to get to that point,” Sunderland said.

Minnesota found itself in a similar spot. The state saw competition among insurers decline, and health plans capped enrollment. The state, which committed roughly $540 million over two years to fund its reinsurance program, is asking HHS to provide between $138 million and $167 million for 2018.

State officials said the federal government has sent positive signals about the plan, which was the second to be submitted, behind Alaska’s. Oklahoma and Iowa are preparing to submit theirs to HHS in the coming weeks.

“I am not a big fan of the Affordable Care Act and the mandate,” said state Rep. Joe Hoppe, a Republican who sponsored the Minnesota legislation. “But we need to have a safety net for people.”

Output: President Donald Trump has threatened to blow up Obamacare. But his own administration is separately dangling hundreds of millions of dollars before states to bail out their insurance markets.


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China to take part in UN sanctions against North Korea
 China says it will stop importing North Korean coal, iron ore, fish and other goods in September as it implements UN sanctions.

The UN Security Council, including China, backed a new resolution last weekend imposing fresh sanctions on the rogue state in retaliation for its controversial nuclear programme.

The sanctions aim to block $1bn worth of North Korean exports - about a third of its total exports.

The Chinese government said the imports would stop on 5 September.

:: North Korea defector: We follow Kim Jong Un because we're scared

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 0:48 N Korea defector on Kim's brutal regime

It came as US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford said military options were being prepared against the North if diplomatic and economic sanctions failed.

The office of South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Mr Dunford had made the comments in a 50-minute meeting to discuss North Korean provocation.

Last week, President Trump said he was ready to unleash "fire and fury" if North Korea continued to threaten the United States.

Tensions have increased over fears North Korea is close to achieving its goal of putting the mainland US within range of a nuclear weapon.

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Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 1:39 What would happen if N Korea attacked Guam?

North Korea has threatened to fire missiles into waters off the coast of the US overseas territory of Guam, in the Pacific.

It said the launch would coincide with annual drills involving US and South Korean forces, taking place later this month.

The North's state news agency said about 3.5 million students and workers had volunteered to fight alongside the military to defend their country from the US.

China, meanwhile, has appointed a new special envoy for the North Korean issue.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 3:54 Trump: N Korea should be 'very, very nervous'

China is the country's closest ally, but has been angered by its missile tests and repeatedly pressured and berated by President Trump, who wants it to be far tougher on its neighbour.

President Xi has urged restraint and told Washington and Pyongyang to avoid words or actions that could worsen the situation.

South Korean President has also called for a peaceful solution, saying there must not be another war on the Korean Peninsula.

Output: China has revealed that from 5 September it will stop importing certain North Korean goods, including coal, iron ore and fish, as part of fresh sanctions backed by the UN Security Council. Aiming to block around one third of North Korea's exports, worth roughly $1bn, the sanctions come at a time of increased tension between the small dictatorship and US President Donald Trump, who threatened North Korea with "fire and fury" last week and has been critical of China's lack of action against its unpredictable neighbour.