....Lagarde spoke recently and in emphasising her unhappiness
with the development of sustainability in the marketplace, declared that ‘climate
risks are not adequately priced’. The article in Bloomberg’s Quint offering
suggests that she may lead the ECB in a new direction, with the decisions on
which companies and industries to lend support to would be tied to compliance
to EU policies on the issue of tackling climate change. The suggestion is that
Lagarde could take the ECB down one of two paths; the soft path being to urge
companies to better disclose climate risks that they face, and the more extreme
path of judging who should benefit from the ECB’s mammoth bond-buying programme
in relation to their compliance with EU regulations on non-financial
informational disclosure, and the wider Action Plan that will contribute to the
eventual goal contained within the European Green Deal. There are a
number of arguments against this more extreme approach, mostly consisting of
the lack of authority for the ECB to do this. Furthermore, the EU is seeking to
become a ‘less is more’ style institution, which goes against the concept of
the ECB becoming the enforcement vehicle for the Action Plan. However, analysts
from Hermes have been cited as saying ‘the ECB has been very vocal about its intentions
to continue to fight the climate crisis… its ambitions are very serious’. For
Lagarde, she has rightly bemoaned the understanding that information that is
currently being declared is ‘at best inconsistent, largely incomparable, and at
times unreliable’. Whilst the ECB does have the mandate to support the EU’s
economic policies, it rarely does so in such an explicit manner. Options that have
been suggested range from introducing adjusted ‘haircuts’ that could be applied
to securities after their climate risk has been assessed, to outright exclusion
from purchasing programmes. If the ECB does decide to take a more direct
approach, the credit/sustainable rating environment could be impacted.
This is because the disclosure of non-financial information
is of, arguably, crucial importance for the development of the two
interconnected industries...
Australian special forces killed up to 10 unarmed
Afghan civilians during a 2012 raid in Kandahar Province, ABC
Investigations can reveal.
The
raid is believed to be the worst one-day death toll uncovered to date
of alleged unlawful killings by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Afghan
witnesses and Australian sources have told the ABC that the Special Air
Service Regiment (SAS) operation left a number of Taliban dead.
But both say civilians were also shot during the frenzied raid, including a group of unarmed villagers near a tractor.
Australian
sources confirmed a number of civilians were killed that day, but could
not determine the precise number, telling the ABC there were up to 10
suspicious killings with another five Taliban dead.
ABC Investigations has obtained a list of names of 11
civilians that the villagers of Sara Aw say were killed in the December
2012 operation led by Zulu 1 and Zulu 2 patrols of the SAS.
The SAS was accompanied by Afghan special forces known as the Wakunish.
"It was 11:00am, three [helicopters] landed," said farmer Mohammad Nassim.
"There
were three Taliban in nomad houses [near the village]. They resisted
and were killed. But then they killed other people — civilians.
"Civilians were terrified when the shooting started, because they were mass shooting people," he said.
Villager Rahmatullah confirmed that three Taliban were hiding in a nearby nomad hut.
"But no-one [from the village] knew they were there," he said.
"They
started resisting [the soldiers], then people learnt that they were
killed. The rest of [those killed] were all civilians. One was Mohammad
Azam, my brother."
ABC Investigations has been told by sources that the
Taliban fighters were killed by the Zulu 2 patrol and weapons were
recovered.
But a number of civilians were then killed near a tractor in what appears to be a mass shooting.
This
account is backed by villagers interviewed separately by an Afghan
journalist engaged by ABC Investigations who travelled to Sara Aw.
Abdul Qadus says his brother Abdul Salim was driving the tractor when he was shot dead.
"At
the time he was carrying a load of onions, he was taking them to the
city. There were some other people with him as well," Abdul Qadus said.
"The
two other people who were near the Taliban in the area, I saw them
being shot and killed and they didn't have anything with them.
"Another one was my cousin who was sitting and packing onions when they shot and killed him there."
Rahmatullah was irrigating his field when the Australians jumped off the helicopters and engaged the Taliban.
"First,
when the helicopters landed, they started with the Taliban. They also
shot other people who were there as well. The tractor moved from the
area because they were scared."
"[They] shot them at the tractor. They were shooting people intentionally. They were mass shooting," Rahmatullah said.
"Then
some people busy with irrigation were shot, some were shot near the
onions. Some people went in the tractor and they were shot in the
tractor," Mohammad Nassim said.
ABC Investigations
understands the Zulu 1 patrol was involved in the shooting at the
tractor where at least five Afghans were killed and that some members of
the SAS patrol were unhappy about what happened.
There were no weapons found on the victims after the shooting.
Abdul Qadus was wounded in the raid and later evacuated by the Australians.
"When I got injured, they took me to the Afghan National Army hospital at Kandahar airbase," he said.
"I was there two days and nights."
The
Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) has spent the
past four years investigating rumours and allegations of war crimes
committed by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.
Investigators are looking into more than 55 separate incidents of alleged breaches of the rules of war between 2005 and 2016.
More than 330 people have so far given evidence to the inquiry.
The IGADF report is expected to be delivered in the coming weeks.
When
contacted for a response to this story, an Australian Defence Force
spokesperson said: "It is not appropriate for Defence to comment on
matters that may or may not be the subject of the Afghanistan Inquiry."
The three images below are screenshots taken from the Public Health Wales tableau on the 17th October, 2020.
The
first is #PHW figures which show nearly one million tests for #Covid19
have been carried out on 641,367 people in Wales and reports 1,708
deaths due to suspected Covid19.
The second is a graph showing the 'Cumulative deaths by Health Board of residence' -
The
third screenshot has been taken from a page which can be found when
pressing on the ONS deaths tab (Office for National Statistics) and
shows that there have been 900 more deaths than reported by Public
Health Wales.
The Public Health Wales tableau can be found here - https://public.tableau.com/profile/public.health.wales.health.protection#!/vizhome/RapidCOVID-19virology-Public/Headlinesummary
Copy and paste the address into your browser.
More - https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.com/
n 2018, the BBC reported that staff at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle in Penygroes, had contacted their Trade Unions - NASUWT, NEU and UCAC with concerns about how the school was being run. The statement from Gwynedd council insisting good progress was being made held no water with the
staff who wanted to discuss their concerns with an 'independent' party.
The joint letter from the unions repeated previous concerns teaching staff had with the school's management. Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle was placed in special measures in 2015 which lasted until 2017 after 'robust' improvements had been made.
The BBC article from the 18th May, 2018 with the headline 'staff issue strike ballot threat' can be found
here -https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-44165753
Sadly,issues with the school continue. A recent article published on the 7th October, 2020, by the Local Democracy reporter, Gareth Wyn-Williams, reports on an internal review commissioned by Cyngor Gwynedd council and compiled in February.
From the Daily Post article headlined - Staff morale 'extremely low' at North Wales secondary school, damning report finds -
Despite an acceptance that general pupil behaviour had improved, the report revealed that some staff remained negative about "concerning" aspects relating to a "small core."
With staff confidence in the leadership of the headteacher "needing to be restored," it reported
staff openly admitting they were "afraid of some pupils" with some feeling that Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle was "sometimes used as a dumping ground for troublesome pupils from other schools".
Among findings was that governors "did not have a firm grasp" of how the school was operating, with a danger of the body becoming "factionalised"into those who supported the headteacher and those who didn't, while also being "slow to act" on performance issues.
Many staff including the Head have been off sick for long absences which has simplyadded to the many problems the school has faced.
Whilst the school, the governors, the council, the GwE, tom cobley and all scrambleto protect their own reputations, the well being of the children and their education for their futures appear to be last on the list of priorities.
Caernarfon has been an area of deprivation since forever. Millions of pounds has been thrown at the area by UK government(s), the Welsh Assembly and the European Union over the years but the people remain poor. Poor quality housing and high rents exacerbate the issues. In the 80's, heroin, poor wages and unemployment were the problem. Now it is cocaine, poor wages and unemployment..
The local children in the area suffer the consequences that such deprivation has on the mental health of their parents and the local communities yet the council pull youth clubs and support services and local businesses either close or reallocate. A vicious cycle over and over...
A 2018 FOI request revealed that 21% of the pupils at the school were recognised as having Additional
Learning Needs. If the Head and staff are off sick what happens then ? How are these children being supported ?
Pupil Referral Units (PRU's) were until 2013 held in separate buildings away from school premises, now they are run on site within the schools. The PRU's in Gwynedd were highly regarded but closed due to the cuts imposed by the council. Have the closures lead to the dumping of these children back
into schools who can not cope to the detriment of all ?
The figures for those recognised with ALN are even higher in other schools in Gwynedd.
ADYaCH Behaviour Support link for those who have an interest -
The Behaviour Support Service seeks a positive change in the behaviour of young people who experience behavioural, emotional and social development difficulties. The aim is to improve behaviour and reduce the risk of exclusion from school.
It is now October - one full year of Cyngor Gwynedd council being in non compliance of the Ombudsman for Wales recommendations -
"71. The Council should (within three months) seek specialist input to
develop a plan for dealing with future assessment and support requests
from/for those suffering with Autism."
Nick Bennett has given the
council chance after chance and even expressed to the family, his
frustrations over the situation with the council - all to no avail it
seems.
The council's CEO, Dilwyn Williams, appears to blame the SS
departments for the 'slippage' whilst doing nothing to take control of
the situation, himself. Whilst the Director of SS, who has no social
work background blames the recent pandemic (that doesn't explain what
happened to compliance before that time)
What to do now ?
Putting in yet another complaint to the council means placing
'independent investigators' in the firing line to be bullied amd
overwhelmed by senior officers and I am not prepared to do that.
Raise
yet another complaint with the Ombudsman ? What is the point ? Mr
Bennett is not respected by anyone in this corner of North Wales and
appears powerless to hold councils to account and so it would be a waste
of public resources to do so.
The complaints system in Wales is
not fit for purpose and Judicial Review appears to be the only way to
hold any public organisation to account. But there is no legal aid and
what family can afford the £25K+ - minimum - that is required to bring
such a case ? Local authorities as we know have an unlimited amount of
money at their disposal from public funds.
The Ombudsman wrote to
say that the autism specialist commissioned by the council promised to
present their draft report to the council by the end of September 2020.
Not
quite what the the recommendation called for, but, as Mr Bennett says,
it is up to him to accept any variation on recommendations - as he sees
fit.
No mention is made of the Ombudsman even receiving a copy
of the draft report himself and even so draft reports can be
changed.......
What next ? An email from the ombudsman later on today ?
Something is very, very wrong within Gwynedd council.
