1 Hong Kong leader rejects protesters’ demand (San
Francisco Chronicle) Hong Kong's embattled leader attended a flag-raising
ceremony Wednesday to mark China's National Day after refusing to meet
pro-democracy demonstrators despite their threats to expand the street protests
that have posed the stiffest challenge to Beijing's authority since China took
control of the former British colony in 1997.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying took part
in the ceremony — marking the anniversary of the founding of communist China in
1949 — as thousands of protesters watching from behind police barricades yelled
at him to step down.
China took control of Hong Kong under an arrangement
that guaranteed its 7 million people semi-autonomy, Western-style civil
liberties and eventual democratic freedoms that are denied to Chinese living on
the communist-ruled mainland.
The protesters want a reversal of a recent decision
by China's government to screen all candidates in the territory's first direct
elections, scheduled for 2017 — a move they view as reneging on a promise that
the chief executive will be chosen through "universal suffrage."
The growing protests have attracted worldwide
attention, with British Prime Minister David Cameron saying he planned to
summon the Chinese ambassador to discuss the dispute, saying it is essential
that Hong Kong's people have a genuine right to choose their top leader. Chinese
President Xi Jinping, who has taken a hard line against any perceived threat to
the Communist Party's hold on power, vowed in a National Day speech to
"steadfastly safeguard" Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.
2 Catastrophic decline in world wildlife population
(Johannesburg Times) The World Wildlife Fund has released its Living Planet
Report 2014, revealing catastrophic declines in the world's wildlife
populations. The numbers of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish have
fallen by an average of 52% over the last 40 years. The worst hit are freshwater
fish species, which have seen declines of 76% since 1970.
The culprits for this are habitat loss, degradation,
fishing, hunting and climate change. The Living Planet Report tracked the
populations of over 10000 vertebrates from 1970 to 2010. The report stated that
where habitat loss and the pressure of wildlife hunting were added, the effects
on a species' numbers could be devastating.
3 California gets tough on grocery bags (Garrett
Hering in The Guardian) There’s something about the act of sewing that is
therapeutic for traumatized veterans, says Jim Cragg, a former US Army officer
turned needlecraft entrepreneur. He should know: he’s the founder of Green Vets
Los Angeles, a nonprofit sewing enterprise that makes T-shirts, medical kits,
and reusable cloth shopping bags. Since 2009, the company has employed more
than 100 former soldiers, some of them homeless and suffering from
combat-related injuries.
“We have found that sewing is uplifting, like a form
of therapy, and it makes vets feel like part of a team,” Cragg says. “To help
people and to keep the environment clean gives them a sense of service. It
brings value to their work.” The future looks bright for Cragg’s sewing
therapy: on Tuesday, California governor Jerry Brown signed a bill enacting the
nation’s first statewide ban on single-use plastic bags.
When it takes effect – in July for large retailers
and in 2016 for small businesses – retailers will be barred from distributing
lightweight, single-use plastic bags and will have to charge at least 10 cents
each for paper bags. The ban covers the two-thirds of California’s population
not already covered by 127 local ordinances.
“The new law
is a game-changer for the state,” says Cragg, whose Green Vets was one of
several reusable bag producers to officially support the measure. “It is as
much about new employment and business opportunities and new fashion
accouterments as it is about the environment.”
The new law offers $2m in grants to in-state plastic
bag producers to retool their equipment to manufacture reusable bags. Rather
than seeking to profit from the new law, grocers are educating consumers on the
importance of bringing their own reusable bags from home, he said. “The
toughest part is changing consumer behavior, but it’s interesting to see it
happening,” he said. “Customers are embracing the concept of reusable bags.” In
other words, California’s plastic bag ban could bode well both for sewing – and
shopping – therapy.
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