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world news Diahuebs 17 Maart 2022

US holds Chinese goods, cites possible North Korean labor

(AP) — The U.S. customs Chinese Olympic gymnast of
agency says it is holding the same name, is one of Chi-
imported goods from Chi- na’s most prominent athletic
nese sports brand Li Ning shoe and clothing brands.
after an investigation in-
dicated they were made by Phone calls Wednesday to
North Korean labor. its Beijing headquarters and
investor relations office in
U.S. law prohibits imports of Hong Kong weren’t an-
goods made in North Korea swered.
or by North Korean citizens
without proof they weren’t When asked, a Chinese For-
made by forced labor, accord- eign Ministry spokesman,
ing to a notice from the U.S. Zhao Lijian, said he was not
Customs and Border Protec- aware of that “specific situa-
tion in Washington. tion.”

The goods will be forfeited “China is firmly opposed to
if Li Ning Co. cannot pro- any form of long-arm juris-
vide “clear and convincing diction and unilateral sanc-
evidence” within 30 days that tions,” Zhao told reporters at
it wasn’t made by convict, a briefing.
forced or indentured labor,
the agency said. Li Ning is among a group
of Chinese and foreign shoe
It gave no details of the inves- and clothing brands that Xinjiang. There, the ruling abuses. the “unacceptable risk that
tigation, what goods were af- have been caught up in con- Communist Party is accused the company contributes to
fected or their value. troversy over using materi- of detaining Muslim ethnic This month, Norway’s sover- serious human rights viola-
als and labor from China’s minorities and engaging in eign wealth fund announced tions” in Xinjiang.
Li Ning, founded by a former northwestern region of forced abortions and other it sold Li Ning shares due to

Saharan dust storm covers Spain, spreads out across Europe

(AP) — A huge dust storm swirl- ange-hues in the Swiss Alps, caused While Spain is bearing the brunt of
ing over Europe from the Sahara by the tiny particles that had traveled the storm, dust was flung far beyond, The area of Spain rated by its national
desert made it hard to breathe in thousands of kilometers across the dumping ochre-colored blobs on air quality index as “extremely un-
large parts of Spain for a second Mediterranean Sea. cars in a rainy Paris and sifting a fine favorable” — its worst rating — ex-
straight day on Wednesday and powder down on a huge swath of the panded from the start of the Europe-
gave cleaning crews extra work The European Union’s Copernicus continent. an event on Tuesday to include most
as far away as Paris, London and Atmosphere Monitoring Service said of the nation’s southern and central
Belgrade to remove the film of it was tracking the large mass of dust Experts, including Spain’s national regions, including Madrid and other
dirt falling on cars and buildings. that has “degraded air quality across weather service, described the event major cities like Seville.
large parts of Spain, Portugal and as “extraordinary” for the amount of
Europeans woke up to eerie skies, France.” dust in the air but noted that it had Authorities recommended for people
from the grimy gray in Madrid to or- not broken any records. to wear face masks — still in wide use
because of the pandemic — and avoid
outdoor exercise, especially for those
people suffering respiratory diseases.
Emergency services for Madrid told
the AP that so far there had been no
increase in calls for care to people
with breathing problems.

Visibility was reduced for a large part
of Spain. Municipal cleaners swept
up the dust from city streets. In
Spain’s south, the dust mixed with
rain to produce mud.

Curious photos and videos of the dust
popped up on social media, including
snowboarders cutting beautiful white
lines through the red-tinged snow in
the Pyrenees Mountains.
Rubén del Campo, spokesman for
Spain’s weather service, said that larg-
est quantities of air-born dust will ac-
cumulate on Wednesday afternoon in
Spain’s southeast and central regions.

“The air will then begin to clear little
by little, although some floating dust
will reach the Canary Islands (in the
Atlantic Ocean) over the weekend,”
Del Campo said.