Beijing plans to establish an environmental police force by the end of March, amid tightened controls on air pollution, the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said after the capital and other northern cities are engulfed by a new bout of smog.

The smog descended on Sunday across northern and central regions, including Beijing and Tianjin as well as the provinces of Hebei, Shandong and Henan, with the pollution due to worsen, reaching hazardous levels on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to Li Jianjun, director of the environmental pre-warning department at China National Environmental Monitoring Center.

Read Also: Smog in northern China shuts highways, causes cancelled flights

The smog will begin to disperse on Thursday as winds arrive, Li added.

Beijing issued a yellow alert effective on Monday, while 14 other cities, including Shijiazhuang in Hebei province, issued red alerts based on a statement by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

In order to reduce air pollution, the capital has set an ambitious target of cutting average PM2.5 concentration levels to 60 micrograms per cubic meter, a 17 per cent reduction compared with the average level in 2016, which was 73.

The term PM2.5 refers to fine particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less that is hazardous to health.

In addition to strong measures to cut emissions of pollutants, the capital’s planned environmental police force will focus on reducing environmental crimes.

“By the end of the first quarter, the new police team will be set up,” said Fang Li, head of the bureau, adding that the new team will be a branch of the public security police.

“The police’s compulsory measures, including detention, will deter polluters, while co-operation between environmental and public security departments will improve efficiency in dealing with environmental pollution cases,” Fang said.

Guan Ping, chief scientist at Peking University’s Institute of Oil and Gas, said the environmental police force is needed as a matter of urgency to deal with violations effectively.

Guan said that research into environmental pollution uncovered the illegal trade of low-quality coal between shops and households.

“Without law enforcement, such violations are hard to stop,” he said, adding that the environmental police force should possess professional knowledge to make law enforcement more efficient.

Many provinces, such as Hebei and Guangdong, have already set up environmental police forces to strengthen the implementation of laws and regulations on environmental pollution.

SEOUL – North Korea denounced outgoing US President Barack Obama for blacklisting leader Kim Jong-Un’s sister over human rights abuses, urging him to concentrate on “packing” as he exits the White House.

The US Treasury Department last week added seven individuals – among them Kim’s younger sister Yo-Jong – to America’s growing list of North Koreans sanctioned for “serious” rights abuses.

The Treasury announcement came as the US State Department released a report on rights abuses in North Korea, which it said were among the worst in the world.

“Obama would be well advised not to waste time taking issue with other’s ‘human rights issue’ but make good arrangements for packing in the White House,” state news agency KCNA said in a commentary late Monday night.

Obama had created “the worst human rights situation in the US during his tenure”, it added. “He had better repent of the pain and misfortune he has brought to so many Americans and other people of the world.” Nuclear-armed North Korea has carried out a series of atomic tests and missile launches during Obama’s time in office, and been subject to increasingly strict United Nations sanctions as a result.

Washington has long pursued a policy of “strategic patience” – essentially a refusal to engage in any significant dialogue unless Pyongyang makes some tangible commitment to denuclearisation.

The KCNA commentary slammed the Obama administration’s “extreme hostile moves” against Pyongyang, which it said only bolstered the country’s “military capability to mercilessly wipe out aggressors”.

US president-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Friday, has never clearly stated his policy on the isolated state, although he has tweeted that Pyongyang developing ballistic missile capabilities to threaten the US mainland “won’t happen”.

In his New Year’s speech Kim did not specifically refer to the incoming US administration, but called on Washington to make a “resolute decision to withdraw its anachronistic hostile North Korea policy”.

Overuse of food additives and microbial contamination were the primary food safety problems facing China last year, according to the top food authority.

The two together accounted for more than 64 per cent of all food safety problems found in random inspections by the China Food and Drug Administration, Yan Jiangying, spokeswoman for the administration, announced on Monday.

“The overall situation remained stable compared with the previous year, as nearly 97 per cent of the food products inspected last year were up to standard,” Yan said.

About 257,000 samples of food products were tested nationwide by the administration last year.

For infant milk powder, 0.9 per cent failed to meet the national standards. Dairy products, in general, recorded satisfactory results, with 99.5 per cent up to standards.

In addition, food products manufactured and sold by large companies are less likely to be substandard, Yan said, suggesting consumers buy food from reputable outlets.

Additional food safety concerns revealed in the inspection last year included heavy metal contamination, and excessive amounts of pesticide residues and veterinary drugs, she added.

She attributed these problems to contamination of soil and water, and the overuse of pesticides and animal drugs, particularly antibiotics.

Guo Wenqi, deputy director of the administration, said, “These will also be the focus of our inspections in 2017.”

He pledged to further beef up random inspections of farm produce within the year and enhance co-operation with agricultural authorities to safeguard food safety and quality.

“Results of the inspections will be publicized in a timely manner to help consumers with food choices in the market,” he said.

Despite strengthened government efforts and improved food safety conditions, China still faces challenges, public health experts said.

In a case reported by Beijing News on Monday, a gang in Tianjin was caught making fake brand-name food, including sauces and seasonings, with industrial salt and leftovers.

The food can cause kidney and liver damage, the paper quoted Liu Shaowei, an expert at East China University of Science and Technology, as saying.

MANILA – Senator Manny Pacquiao empathizes with President Duterte in his desire to declare martial law to stop drug trafficking in the country.

President Duterte wanted to declare martial law, not to perpetuate himself in power, but to address the country’s problem on illegal drugs, said the senator in a press conference at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame on Monday.

“He won’t declare [martial law] if not for the country. He thought about it because of the severity of the problems of our country. Whatever his plans for the country, let’s support him,” Pacquiao said, after joining the flag-raising ceremony during the 38th founding anniversary of the PNP Intelligence Group.

He called on drug dealers and dependents not to be “hardheaded” and to mend their ways as the Philippine National Police continues with its campaign against illegal drugs.

“They should stop it. They’re so hard-headed, they go on with their ways despite the intensity [of the anti-drug campaign]. It’s nearly eight months since the campaign started and yet they’re so hard-headed. They’re the ones complaining, can you imagine that?” Pacquiao said.

In his speech, Pacquiao assured the PNP of his “continuing support,” adding that he would help the police in their fight against crime.

He said he has been pushing a bill to restore the death penalty in the country, not just for drug crimes but for other heinous offences such as corruption and terrorism.

“Terrorism is not just a crime against a country. Terrorism is a crime again the entire human race. They (terrorists) don’t choose their victims and they are even willing to be victims of their own crime. I cannot really understand why they even victimize the innocent ones,” he said.

The senator also defended his support for the restoration of the capital punishment.

“I want to explain to all, to the opposition, that death penalty is not against the law of God and the Constitution. Even the Bible says authorities have the authority to use capital punishment. The commandment against killing applies to individuals and not to states and nations,” he said.

Asked during the press conference if pro-death penalty lawmakers had the numbers to push for the approval of the death penalty bill, Pacquiao said that in the Senate, “There is, we don’t have a problem.”

He said he would work hard to make his fellow lawmakers and the public understand the importance of the death penalty. He also assured that the imposition of the death penalty would be “fair.”