asphyxia of the newborn | asphyxia neonatorum | birth asphyxia

F. whereas, according to various reports, nearly 1 900 people died in Syria as talks were being held in Switzerland, increasing further the dramatic death toll of more than 130 000 from the nearly three-year-old conflict that started in March 2011; whereas the conflict has escalated into a civil, or even sectarian, war with daily bloodshed accompanied by flagrant violations of humanitarian law amounting to war crimes; whereas, according to the UNHCR, around one third of the country’s population of 22 million is displaced, with 2 396 861 – half of whom are children – being registered refugees in neighbouring countries; whereas this num ...[+++]ber is estimated to reach 4 million by the end of 2014 if the situation remains unresolved, adding to the already enormous pressure on neighbouring countries, and particularly on Lebanon;

(Return tabled) Question No. 20 Mr. Alex Atamanenko: With regard to the horse slaughter industry in Canada: (a) what was the reason for the temporary halt, initiated by European Union (EU) officials, to horse meat imports from Canada on October 12, 2012; (b) has Canada participated in talks with EU officials regarding the safety of horse meat from Canada since that time, (i) if so, what topics were discussed, (ii) what conclusions were reached; (c) what restrictions effective in 2013 will be imposed upon the Canadian horse meat indu ...[+++]stry by the EU, (i) what is the anticipated impact of these restrictions on the frequency and type of drug residue testing on horse meat in Canada as well as on the data required on Equine Information Documents (EIDs), (ii) will the restrictions on prohibited/non-permitted drugs be further tightened; (d) is there any oversight by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on transport drivers and horse meat dealers listed on EIDs as current owners to check for a history of violations of the United States Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Transport, or CFIA transport regulations, (i) does the CFIA enhance its scrutiny of such violators or conduct follow-up investigations on those who have been flagged for violations, (ii) is this information shared with any other inter-connected government agency either in Canada or in the United States; (e) how often do CFIA inspectors do a visual inspection of the transports that arrive at the slaughter plants to ensure that the horses have been transported safely; (f) how many transport violations concerning horse slaughter transportation have been issued to transport drivers within the last five years, (i) how many warnings of violations have been issued, (ii) if the warnings have been ignored, how does the CFIA restrict or prohibit those transport drivers from conducting business in Canada; (g) how often does the CFIA conduct inspections of feedlots and how many warnings or violations were ...

Premier McGuinty of Ontario said that the Kelowna accord was “in a state of suspended animation at this point”.

Furthermore, I have tried three times to impress on the Ministers of Home Affairs in the Member States the importance of collaborating with the European Parliament temporary committee and with the Council of Europe, in other words of ensuring that enquiries and national checks make progress in countries where this has not yet happened.