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GENEVA, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The UN migration agency said Friday that 111,514 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2017 by July 19, more than half the number for a similar period last year.

"Almost 85 percent arrived in Italy and the remainder divided between Greece, Cyprus and Spain," said IOM senior press officer Joel Millman at a media briefing for journalists.

This compares with 244,722 arrivals across the region up to July 16, 2016.

From Spain IOM had reported on July 20 that there have been 7,514 arrivals this year by sea, a number slightly lower than the 10,751 Spanish authorities released on Wednesday.

The statistic includes migrants and refugees arriving by land at Spain's twin enclaves on the African continent, Melilla and Ceuta.

The IOM in Libya had reported Thursday that the remains of one man were discovered close to Subratah, raising the total number of bodies retrieved this year to 349.

At the same time, the number of rescued in Libyan waters so far this year reached 11,122. Last year at this time the figure was slightly higher at 11,233.

The latest fatalities bring the Mediterranean total to 2,360 this year.

Although this figure is less than the number of deaths (2,996) recorded this time last year, it nonetheless marks the fourth consecutive year migrant deaths on the Mediterranean Sea have exceeded 2,350.

Worldwide, the IOM said its Missing Migrants Project (MMP) reports that there have been 3,269 fatalities in 2017 up to July 19 with the Mediterranean region accounting for the largest proportion of deaths -- almost three quarters of the global total.

China establishes green manufacturing alliance

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BEIJING, July 22 (Xinhua) -- A green manufacturing alliance was inaugurated Saturday to better support the country's green and sustainable development, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

Led by the ministry, members of the Green Manufacturing Association of China (GMAC) are from China's leading scientific research institutions and manufacturing enterprises, covering such industries as iron and steel, building material, energy, textile and finance.

More than 400 representatives from multinational enterprises, international institutions and foreign embassies attended the inauguration ceremony.

"China should eliminate backward production capacity with high energy consumption and high pollution and stick to the path of sustainable development," said Xin Guobin, vice minister of the MIIT.

According to the ministry, the alliance will serve as a platform for China's green manufacturing businesses to cooperate with financial institutions and multinational enterprises.

China supports nascent agro-processing initiatives in northern Ghana

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ACCRA, July 22 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government has handed over a support package for small-scale agro-processing initiatives in northern Ghana.

Through its grants for agricultural development in the West African country, the Chinese government Friday donated 13 sets of corn grinders, two sets of soya bean flour milling machines as well as one set of millet milling machine to the Development Authority in charge of the Northern Savannah zone.

Presenting the items meant to help initiate community-based agro-processing in the northern parts of the country, China's Ambassador to Ghana, Sun Baohong, stressed that her country's high achievements in agriculture had been a result of the high premium the Chinese government places on the sector, with advanced technology and effective policies.

She lauded the government of Ghana for launching such initiatives as "One District-One Factory"; "One Village-One Dam"; and "Planting for Food and Jobs", which she said demonstrated the government's great attention to agricultural modernization.

"Over the years, China and Ghana have conducted win-win and fruitful cooperation in agriculture. China provides a good number of training opportunities to Ghana for bringing up the agriculture talents," she noted.

About Chinese achievements in agriculture and food security, the ambassador said, with only about nine percent of the world's land, China produced 25 percent of the world's food to feed 20 percent of the world's population.

She said following the visit by Ghana's Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia to China, more credible Chinese enterprises were willing to come and explore investment opportunities in the West African country.

"A number of Chinese enterprises are also here investing in agriculture, from planting to processing. As an important partner, China will strengthen cooperation with Ghana in agriculture in the future," Sun pledged.

Receiving the donated items, Ghana's Minister for Special Development Initiatives Mavis Hawa Koomson observed that the arrival of the equipment was timely, since they would support the flagship programs of the government.

"The recent visit of Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia to China and the presence of senior leadership of the Chinese government during the inauguration of President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo signals a new era of win-win bilateral relationship between our two counties," the Ghanaian minister said.

Tanzania's plan to ban use of plastic bags

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DAR ES SALAAM, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania's imminent plan to ban use of plastic bags sparked a heated public debate on Saturday with some people supporting the ban and others rejecting it.

The discussion hosted in Dar es Salaam by the Vice-President's Office that oversees the environment docket was aimed at collecting views from the public on the impending ban on the use of plastic bans according to environmental laws.

Shortly after the discussions were opened by January Makamba, Minister of State in the Vice-President's Office responsible for Union and Environment Affairs, Tanzania Plastic Manufacturers Association (PMAT) said instead of banning the use of plastic bags the government should control the use of the bags.

PMAT chairman Joseph Wasonga said the association has submitted eight recommendations to the government requesting it to allow them to continue producing plastic bags with strong environmental protection controls, including recycling them after use.

Wasonga said the government should control imports of plastic bags which accounted for 70 percent of the market, hugely contributing to environmental pollution because they were substandard.

"The solution to this environmental problem is to produce bio-degradable plastic bags which are environmentally friendly," he suggested.

He said many countries in the word such as the United Arab Emirates have begun to enact laws that forced industrialists to start using raw materials that make bio-degradable plastic bags.

"We ask our government to imitate this example by asking every factory to use the same raw materials," said Wasonga.

He said if the ban on plastic bags was enforced the government will lose revenues because the association paid more than 23 million U.S. dollars in terms of annual taxes.

Wasonga added that PMAT employed about 6,000 Tanzanians, who were likely to lose jobs if business was shut down.

He said if the government went ahead with its resolve to ban the plastic bags manufacturers were likely to lose about 50 million dollars invested in a number of factories as most of the money was secured from bank loans.

On the other hand, Jumanne Mgoga, Chairman of the Union for Production of Alternative Bags, supported the government's decision saying plastic bags were hazardous to the environment and human health.

Mgoga appealed for stronger cooperation with the government to eliminate the risks posed by plastic bags.

"There is a need to change direction in order to save people's lives and to protect the environment," said Mgoga.

Said Mgoye, Secretary of the Association of Alternative Bags, said the use of plastic bags must be banned to protect both the environment and people's health.

Mgoye said available data showed that in 2050 there will be more plastic bags in the sea than fish, calling for serious actions to address the problem.

In August last year the government issued a notice of intention to impose a total ban on plastic bags by January 1 this year.

The notice said the government provided a four-month grace period to owners of plastic bags manufacturing factories to take specific steps by investing in an alternative bags and plastic waste recycling facilities.

In April, this year, Makamba told the National Assembly that the government would impose a total ban on plastic bags business by January, next year.

Plastic bags and sachets have for years been used for packing water, alcohol and other products.

The notice said inability of plastic bags to decompose affects soil quality, litters various parts of the country and contribute to the blockage of sewerage and drainage infrastructure.

Walesa supports Poland's new political struggle

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WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Latest on Poland's move to give politicians influence over Supreme Court (all times local): 3:30 p.m. Polish democracy icon and ex-President Lech Walesa has told a large crowd of anti-government protesters in Gdansk that he will always support their struggle.

(1 of 7) Opposition supporters shout slogans and raise candles as they protest in front of the Supreme Court, seen in the background, against a law on court control in Warsaw, Poland, Friday, July 21, 2017. The bill on the Supreme Court has drawn condemnation from the European Union and has led to street protests in Warsaw.

July 22, 2017

Walesa's address in Gdansk came amid mass nationwide protests over a plan by the ruling conservative Law and Justice party that would put the Supreme Court and the rest of the judicial system under political control.

The 73-year-old Walesa recalled the democratic changes he helped usher in more than 25 years ago, and said the separation of powers into three branches was the most important achievement of his Solidarity movement. He said the Law and Justice party had no right to destroy that achievement.

Walesa told the young people in the crowd: "You must use all means to take back what we achieved for you."

2:05 p.m.

Hungary's prime minister says his country will use all available legal means to protect Poland from the European Union's "inquisition campaign."

Prime Minister Viktor Orban says that the EU is targeting Poland and seeking to weaken individual member states.

Orban spoke a day after Poland's Senate approved new legislation that gives politicians significant influence over the nation's Supreme Court. The EU has criticized the legislation and has threatened to impose sanctions on Poland.

Orban said that "at this moment, the main target of the inquisition, the example of national governance to be weakened, destroyed and broken is Poland."

Orban says the EU leadership is encroaching on EU member states' rights and trying to apply policies, such as increased immigration, which are opposed by most Europeans.

12:55 p.m.

A pro-democracy movement in Poland says that former president and democracy icon Lech Walesa will join a protest they are holding against new legislation that gives politicians significant control of the nation's top court.

Despite mass peaceful protests, the legislation on the Supreme Court was approved by the Senate on Saturday and only requires the approval of President Andrzej Duda to become law. Opponents say it would destroy judicial independence and violate the rule of law.

A new round of street protests is planned by government opponents across Poland later in the day to urge Duda not to sign it.

One of the organizing groups, the Committee for the Defense of Democracy, says Walesa will join the protest in his hometown of Gdansk, on the Baltic coast.

12:10 p.m.

The spokesman for Poland's president says the leader sees flaws in contentious legislation adopted by the Senate that gives politicians significant influence over the nation's top court.

Andrzej Duda's spokesman, Andrzej Lapinski, stopped short of saying whether the president would reject the bill or seek the opinion of the constitutional court. Duda has 21 days to sign it into law.

The legislation, approved early Saturday, has drawn condemnation from European Union leaders and has led to major protests across Poland.

Proposed by the populist ruling party, it gives the justice minister and the president the power to appoint and assess Supreme Court judges. Critics say that will kill off judicial independence.

Lapinski said that Duda sees inconsistency between two articles regarding the appointment of the court's head.

Experts inspect Greek quake damage; islanders sleep outdoors

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KOS, Greece (AP) — Crews of experts on Saturday began examining the damage to infrastructure and cultural monuments on the eastern Greek island of Kos after a powerful earthquake killed two tourists and injured nearly 500 others in the Aegean Sea region that stretches to Turkey's sprawling coast.

(1 of 11) Tourist sleep on sun beds at a beach of the Greek island of Kos, on Saturday, July 22, 2017. Hundreds of residents and tourists on the eastern Greek island of Kos spent the night sleeping outdoors, on beach lounge-chairs, in parks and olive groves or in their cars, a night after a powerful earthquake killed two tourists and injured nearly 500 others across the Aegean Sea region, in Greece and Turkey.

July 22, 2017

In Kos, churches, an old mosque, the port's 14th-century castle and other old buildings suffered in the quake and were being checked by archaeologists and experts from Greece's Culture Ministry. Hundreds of residents and tourists spent the night sleeping outdoors on the island, too afraid to return to their homes or hotels after the quake that struck in early Friday. Many camped out in parks and olive groves, or slept in their cars or on beach and swimming pool lounge chairs.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake as being of magnitude 6.7, with Greek and Turkish estimates a fraction lower. Two men, a Turk and a Swede, were killed when a collapsing wall smashed into a popular bar in the Old Town of Kos.

The most seriously injured in Greece were airlifted to hospitals on the mainland and the southern island of Crete, and at least two were still in critical condition Saturday. The Turkish man's parents were on the island Saturday making arrangements to repatriate his body home by boat, possibly on Sunday.

Panagiotis Bekali, a 30-year-old who has lived on Kos for several years, spent the night sleeping in an olive grove with relatives while his 5-year-old son and 16-year-old nephew slept in the family car.

"There were cracks in the house (from the earthquake) so we went straight out," he said. "We were afraid to stay indoors, so the whole family slept outside." Dozens of aftershocks have shaken the island, further rattling residents and tourists.

John Grant, a 60-year-old tourist from Britain, said he felt safer sleeping outside. "I think coming from somewhere that doesn't have earthquakes, you don't understand," he said from his makeshift bed on a lounge chair. "So to me it was very frightening being in the building. But being outside, I know I'm safe."

About 350 of the injuries occurred in Turkey, in Bodrum and other beach resorts, as people fled buildings and as the sea swell flung cars off the road and pushed boats ashore. Seismologists said the shallow depth of the undersea quake was to blame for the damage.

In Kos, the quake damaged the island's main port, so ferries were being diverted to the smaller port of Kefalos on the island's southwestern coast. Serif Damadoglou Soukri, the imam of Kos, said the greatest damage to Kos mosques was sustained by the central 17th-century Defternatar Ibrahim Pasa mosque, whose minaret, restored a few years ago, collapsed completely. Ancient columns also toppled over in the southern part of the 2nd-century agora in the main town.

Greek Orthodox Priest Vassilis Hlampanis said one of the damaged churches was repairable. "The greatest damage was sustained mainly in part of the sanctuary, in the middle part which fell, but there are also other sections around the external brickwork and certainly also internally," he said.

Kos Mayor Giorgos Kyritsis said island's biggest infrastructure problem was the damage to the main port. Coast guard divers were on the scene inspecting the jetty. "Life on the island is returning to normal," Kyritsis said. "The infrastructure problems are being repaired."

The mayor said Kos hadn't seen many tourist booking cancellations as a result of the quake. "(Visitors) are touring the island with their tour guides. We don't have a big problem. The ferry connection has been restored with the port of Kefalos and we are waiting as soon as possible to repair the damage at the port," he said.

Gift shop owner Giannis Manoutkos said life on the island had returned to normal. "Everything is normal now. The situation was bad for two days ... we are coming to a normal life again," he said.

Elena Becatoros in Athens and Sylvain Plazy in Kos contributed to this report.

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