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Every country in this world has different cultures and traditions- and as a result different <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=harvest+festival">festivals</a>, but sometimes all of them do end up having festivals with the same themes.<br />
<br />
One of that is the theme of a harvest festival. A harvest festival is generally a celebration of an annual harvest, which generally happens during the time of the main harvest of the particular region.<br />
<br />
As <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=india">India</a> celebrates its harvest festival in the form of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=makar+sankranti">Makar Sankranti </a>on January 15, we round up seven other countries that also have their version of a harvest festival and dig deep into how they are celebrated.<br />
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Hop on this journey across the world, with <strong>Business Insider</strong>!<br />

As India celebrates Makar Sankranti, here are how 7 countries across the world celebrate harvest festivals

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11894211" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="police" source="Orion">Police</keyword> arrested a man in connection with the <keyword id="12033943" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="stabbing" source="Orion">stabbing</keyword> death of a <keyword id="11896021" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hong-kong" source="Orion">Hong Kong</keyword> <keyword id="44434" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="taxi" source="Orion">taxi</keyword> driver on Tuesday.</li><li>A woman <a href="https://hongkongfp.com/2021/10/14/alarm-bells-rang-how-a-lamma-island-resident-alerted-police-after-realising-drinking-partner-was-murder-suspect-on-the-run/">told the Hong Kong Free Press</a> that she recognized the man after having a beer with him and called police.<a href="https://hongkongfp.com/2021/10/14/alarm-bells-rang-how-a-lamma-island-resident-alerted-police-after-realising-drinking-partner-was-murder-suspect-on-the-run/"></a></li></ul><p>Police arrested a man accused of going on the run for two days after killing a Hong Kong taxi driver after a woman he got a beer with recognized him and reported him to the authorities, according to reports.</p><p>Matthew Choi was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the stabbing death of a cab driver, which sparked a two-day manhunt in Hong Kong in the middle of a typhoon, <a href="https://hongkongfp.com/2021/10/14/alarm-bells-rang-how-a-lamma-island-resident-alerted-police-after-realising-drinking-partner-was-murder-suspect-on-the-run/">according to the Hong Kong Free Press</a>. </p><p>Choi didn't resist <keyword id="42737" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="arrest" source="Orion">arrest</keyword> and was not carrying a weapon when he was arrested, although he did deny killing the taxi driver, <a href="https://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news/section/11/235094/Murder-suspect-caught-while-drinking-beer">according to The Standard</a>, an English publication in Hong Kong.</p><p>A woman who spoke to the Free Press using the name Tracy said she spotted Choi on Tuesday at the Man Loon store on Lamma Island, off the coast of Hong Kong, around lunchtime. She told the <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">news</keyword> outlet that she spoke to Choi while having a beer before they both left to avoid the incoming typhoon.</p><p>"He was lovely, gentle and we had a really good chat," she told the Free Press.</p><p>When the woman returned to the store at around 6:30 p.m., she noticed Choi still sitting alone in an outdoor seating area wearing wet clothes, which she told the Free Press she found strange.</p><p>"Then I remembered a news report I had read that morning and thought 'Oh my God, is this him?,'" she said.</p><p>The woman excused herself to the bathroom to check the mugshot that police released of the person wanted for the cab driver stabbing, according to the Free Press. Upon realizing that Choi was the wanted man, she called authorities and went back to sit with him until they arrived.</p><p>"He was chatting to me about regular life stuff," she told the news outlet. "And I'm smiling and nodding, whilst at the same time thinking 'I've just called the police on you.'"</p><p>Police are still searching for a motive in the case, according to The Standard. Chief Inspector Terrence Tse Tsz-kwan told the news outlet that while it appears Choi acted alone and didn't have any relation to the victim, police are still investigating if he had accomplices.</p><p>Choi had a YouTube channel where he talked about being "brainwashed by the microwave" and said he was being followed by someone for a few years, The Standard reported. Investigators told the news outlet they found it unlikely that an argument occurred in the short time that Choi was in the taxi and believe the attack was random.</p>

A man accused of killing a Hong Kong taxi driver and going on the run was caught after having a beer with a woman who recognized him

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>PA/PA Images via Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Brits go to the polls for a crucial set of local elections on Thursday.</li><li>It is the first time that the country has gone to the polls since Theresa May delayed Brexit. </li><li>Candidates from the Conservatives, Labour and other parties will contest 8,200 seats.</li><li>The Conservatives are bracing themselves for huge losses.</li><li>Labour figures believe that their party will underperform.</li><li>Turnout is expected to be really low amid growing public disillusionment with Westminster.</li></ul><p>LONDON - Both the Conservative party and Labour fear a disappointing set of results as voters go to the polls in the first major set of elections since Theresa May's decision to delay Brexit.</p><p>The country will on Thursday elect candidates to 8,200 seats covering 259 councils in England and Northern Ireland. Six directly-elected mayor positions are up for grabs in regions across England, too.</p><p>For Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, the results will provide a clear insight into how the country feels about their handling of an extremely turbulent period in British <keyword id="6358883" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="politics">politics</keyword>.</p><p>Theresa May's party have been predicted to lose hundreds of councillors across the country. However, Labour fear such predictions are overstated and expect the Liberal Democrats to gain most from any collapse in Conservative support.</p><p>The polls opened at 07:00 (BST) and will close at 22:00, with most results expected to be announced in the early hours of Friday morning and continuing through until late on Friday afternoon. Here's everything you need to know.</p><h2>Angry Brexiteers are set to abandon the Conservatives</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Ollie Millington/Getty Images</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The Conservatives' biggest concern is that significant numbers people who have almost always voted for them past elections are going to ditch them on Thursday out of frustration with May's handling of Brexit.</p><p>Most Conservative supporters voted for the UK to leave the EU and recent opinion polls suggest that many of them have already abandoned the party over the prime minister's failure to deliver Brexit on March 29 as promised.</p><p>Robbie Lammas, a Conservative candidate in Brexit-voting Medway, southeast England, said that he hadn't had time to focus on winning new voters due to the risk of lifelong Tories refusing to back for them and instead staying at home.</p><p>"We have been visiting only people we know have voted for us in the past. It's a game of holding your voters rather than getting new ones," he said, adding "apathy is a real threat - if people stay at home, Labour will win."</p><p>Lammas added that the Tories would be in even "more trouble" had Nigel Farage's Brexit Party been standing in his ward, as "so many people have said they will vote for Farage" in his conversations with lifelong Conservative voters.</p><p>"There is unanimity that Brexit is a disaster in how it is handled. Farage's narrative is turning this into a debate about democracy, honesty and respect and it has worked so well."</p><p>Another Conservative candidate in the southeast said that while the local anger over the government's handling Brexit was "nowhere near" what they had been expecting, they predicted that around twenty per cent of residents who had voted for the Conservatives in the past would stay at home this time around.</p><p>"It's more traditional Tory voters who aren't going to turn out. The people the party used to be able to rely on every year. The people who you didn't even have to knock on in the past and they'd vote for you," they told Business Insider.</p><p>"People who say they've voted Tory all their lives have turned around to me and said 'I'm just not going to go out and vote… I'm really sorry but I feel like I need to send out some sort of message'."</p><p>Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley in north east England, was more optimistic.</p><p>He told Business Insider that while people were "angry" and "very disatisfied" with May's handling of Brexit, "I don't think we are going to go backwards. I don't think we are going to lose many if any seats."</p><p>"The honest answer is had we sorted out Brexit already, I think we'd be seeing some really, really positive results. I think we will still a positive local result - but it won't be as positive as it might have been."</p><h2>Will Labour capitalise on Conservative losses?</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Dinendra Haria/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>It's not just the Conservatives who are bracing themselves for a disappointing set of results on Thursday.</p><p>Although the mood within Labour is not as gloomy as it is within the Conservatives - one Tory activist told Business Insider that their party was "absolutely f*****" - Labour are not relishing the local elections either.</p><p>Corbyn's party should make big gains across the country on Thursday.</p><p>However, activists do not detect that many voters who are deserting the Conservatives over Brexit are switching to Labour, meaning the party probably won't enjoy the sort of surge in council seats they might otherwise have expected at a time when the government is in such disarray.</p><p>"Local elections haven't been that kind to us in recent years and given the chaos of the government and complete mishandling of Brexit I would expect a strong showing for Labour - but it's not clear to me that what will happen," Labour MP Bridget Phillipson told Business Insider ahead of voting getting underway.</p><p>Another Labour MP added: "We should be soaring ahead [of the Conservatives] given the abject failure of the government to solve Brexit, which is a much bigger issue for the Tories than it is for Labour."</p><p>They added: "Both parties [Conservatives and Labour] will be able to say they've made progress in some areas and point it some some successes but it will be pretty poor for both to be honest."</p><p>Labour is also at risk of some of its more pro-European Union supporters switching to support candidates from the anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats and The Green Party over Corbyn's refusal to explicitly back a new referendum.</p><p>Privately senior Labour sources are playing down their chances. One told Business Insider that reports that the Conservatives would suffer big losses had been overstated.</p><p>"While we hope to make progress, these are going to be a tough set of elections in predominately shire and rural areas," the source said.</p><p>They added that they expected public dissatisfaction with Brexit to hurt both parties.</p><p>"People are fed up of Brexit overshadowing everything, making it harder to focus on local issues like cuts to schools and the police."</p><p>"Brexit has made voters of all parties fed up with a bit of a 'plague on both your houses'."</p><p>They added that the Liberal Democrats could be the main winners on the night, as they regained support from their low-point at the end of the coalition government.</p><p>"When these seats were last fought in 2015, it was their worst ever council performance, so they are clearly going to have a good evening," the source predicted.</p><h2>Both parties fear very low turnout</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Oli Scarff/Getty Images</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Pretty much everybody you speak to about Thursday's local elections predicts one thing: turnout will be really low.</p><p>Average turnout for UK local elections is around 35%. Members of Parliament and activists across all the political parties believe that it will probably be lower than this time, due to swathes of Brits feeling so disillusioned.</p><p>The Labour Party has long faced a bigger challenge in getting their supporters to vote compared to the Conservatives.</p><p>However, swathes of pro-Leave voters who have previously backed the Conservatives but intend to ditch them this time around are more than likely to stay at home and not vote at all. </p><p>That's because in many regions, there isn't a pro-Leave party for disenchanted Tory supporters to go to, with UKIP contesting a limited number of seats, and Farage's Brexit Party not contesting the local elections at all.</p><h2>The seats you should keep an eye on</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Getty</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Not every council seat in the country is being contested today. For example, there will be no action in London, Scotland, and Wales, as these regions adhere to a different local elections cycle.</p><p>Nonetheless, there are still a number of key battlegrounds which will tell us a lot about the state of the Conservative party, Labour, and other political parties ahead of the next general election - which could be earlier than scheduled.</p><p>One region to keep your eye on is the northeast of England. </p><p>In Scarborough, the Conservatives are just one seat away from winning overall control of the council, but could be stunted if swathes of past Tory voters ditch the party over its handling of Brexit.</p><p>There are similarly fine margins fifty miles away in Redcar and Cleveland. Labours need just two seats to take overall control of this council in the northeast, and failure to do so would be a disappointing result for Corbyn's party.</p><p>Another one is the Midlands.</p><p>In Walsall, which returned one of the biggest votes for Brexit in 2016, the Conservatives have the exact number of council seats (30) as the coalition involving Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and independent candidates.</p><p>A small shift in the vote either way could tip the scales of this council.</p><p>It is a very similar situation less than ten miles away in Dudley. The Conservatives have 36 council seats here - just one more than the Labour Party - but could easily lose it if there is a Brexit backlash among their voters.</p> <p class="tagline">Our Brexit Insider Facebook group is the best place for up-to-date news and analysis about Britain's departure from the EU, direct from Business Insider's political reporters. Join <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/267178180471848/">here.</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reporter-calls-out-claim-that-fbi-was-happy-comeys-firing-sarah-huckabee-sanders-white-house-press-briefing-2017-5">This video shows the moment Sarah Sanders lied to a room full of reporters about FBI agents telling her they were happy Trump fired Comey</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Conservatives and Labour fear 'plague on both your houses' as Brexit anger dominates local elections

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Tyrone Siu/Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Hundreds of millions of nurdles were knocked off a vessel during a  typhoon in Hong Kong in 2012.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Small <span>plastic pellets called "nurdles" are a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ways-you-hurt-the-oceans-2019-5">major source of pollution</a> around the world. </span></li><li><span>Each year, around 250,000 tons of nurdles <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-pollution-microplastics-pervade-surface-deep-ocean-2019-6">leach into the ocean</a>, where they're at risk of getting <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microplastics-ending-up-in-creatures-in-the-deepest-parts-of-the-ocean-2019-3">ingested by marine animals</a>.</span></li><li><span>A new Shell facility north of Pittsburgh intends to produce 80 trillion nurdles each year.</span></li><li><span>The nurdles will be sent to manufacturing facilities to be turned into plastic items like car parts and food packaging.</span></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more.</a></li></ul><p>When heavy winds swept through Hong Kong during a storm in July 2012,<span> hundreds of millions of tiny, plastic pellets - each one no bigger than a lentil - fell off a freight ship. </span></p><p><span> The particles, known as "nurdles," spread through the water around Hong Kong and blanketed the shore. A local cleanup volunteer <a href="https://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/10/for-hong-kong-beaches-a-scourge-of-plastic-pellets/">told the New York Times</a> that she'd waded through knee-deep piles of plastic.</span></p><p><span>The incident was a stark reminder of this common, yet little known, form of pollution. </span><span>Each year, around <a href="https://www.eunomia.co.uk/marine-plastics-we-should-fight-them-on-the-beaches/#gallery">250,000 tons of nurdles</a> leach into the ocean. Researchers are <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1018034/pellets-spill-during-typhoon-sparked-big-volunteer-clean-hong-kong">concerned that</a> marine animals could <a href="https://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/10/for-hong-kong-beaches-a-scourge-of-plastic-pellets/">mistake these particles for food sources</a> like fish eggs</span>. Scientists have <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X18300523">found nurdles in the digestive tracts</a> of birds and fish, though they're still working to determine the health risks for these species.</p><h2>Nurdles can spill on their way to becoming 'virgin' plastic</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Rick Loomis/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Charles Moore, founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, cleans up nurdles that spilled from railroad cars in the town of Vernon, California.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span>Manufacturing companies use nurdles to make virgin plastic - plastic that hasn't previously been recycled. The particles are deliberately small (around 2 to 5 millimeters in diameter), which makes them easier to transport and</span> mold into plastic products like food packaging, containers, phone cases, or car parts. These virgin-plastic items are generally <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/low-oil-prices-hurt-plastics-recycling-2016-4">cheaper to make and sell</a> than recycled plastic, and they aren't as vulnerable to degrading over time the way recycled plastic products are.</p><p><span>But during transit, there's always a risk that nurdles could fall from railroad cars or spill out of <a href="https://baynature.org/article/tiny-plastics-have-become-big-problem-in-coastal-cleanup/">production facilities</a> and make their way into nearby waterways. </span></p><p><span>In 2018, <a href="https://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-nws-plastic-pollution-poconos-20180403-story.html">thousands of pounds of nurdles</a> wound up in a stream in Pennsylvania after a semi-truck that was carrying them crashed along a highway. </span><span>The following year, piles of nurdles <a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/news/charleston-plastic-company-cited-for-pollution-after-nurdle-spill-on/article_8479e74a-b467-11e9-a589-fbf9673347a0.html">washed up on Sullivan's Island beach</a> near Charleston, South Carolina. The state's Department of Health and Environmental Control later attributed the pollution to a spill from a local shipping company. </span><span></span></p><p><span>After the nurdle spill in Hong Kong, the government <a href="https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201208/05/P201208050570.htm">warned people</a> to wash their fish thoroughly in case the animals had ingested the particles, which led to a dip in fish prices. The plastic also washed up during the spawning season of green sea turtles, whose environment was supposed to be protected from June to October. </span></p><p><span><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-pollution-magnetic-coils-could-break-down-microplastics-2019-8">Scientists have created magnetic coils thinner than a human hair that could break down plastic in the ocean</a></em></span></p><h2><span>Shell is building a new 'nurdle' plant in Pittsburgh</span></h2><h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">President Donald Trump and energy secretary Rick Perry tour the Shell Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex with Shell executives on August 13, 2019.</p></div><p></p></div></div></h2><p><span>In the US, oil and gas companies have plans to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/12/business/energy-environment/plastics-shell-pennsylvania-plant.html">build more than a dozen new facilities</a> that support the virgin plastic industry. </span><span>That includes a new Shell facility north of Pittsburgh, which <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/12/business/energy-environment/plastics-shell-pennsylvania-plant.html">President Donald Trump recently visited</a>. (The facility gained national attention after <a href="https://www.post-gazette.com/business/powersource/2019/08/16/Trump-speech-union-crowd-Shell-ethane-plant-natural-gas-beaver-county-pennsylvania-attendance-pay-overtime/stories/201908160113">the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</a> reported that its contractors were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-shell-workers-pennsylvania-told-attend-donald-event-get-paid-2019-8">required to attend a Trump speech</a> in August in order to receive their paychecks.)</span></p><p><span>Construction on that facility <a href="https://www.hydrocarbons-technology.com/projects/shell-pennsylvania-petrochemicals-complex/">could take another 8 years</a>, but once complete, the </span>plant is slated to produce around <a href="https://www.shell.com/about-us/major-projects/pennsylvania-petrochemicals-complex.html">1.8 million tons of plastic</a>, or <span>around <a href="https://qz.com/1689529/nurdles-are-the-biggest-pollution-disaster-youve-never-heard-of/">80 trillion nurdles</a>. </span></p><p><span>It is also slated to have</span><span> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/12/business/energy-environment/plastics-shell-pennsylvania-plant.html">its own rail system</a>, with 3,300 freight cars to transport the pellets to manufacturing centers. Production facilities like Shell's typically use vacuum-like hoses to carry the pellets to these cars. But Miriam Gordon, the director of the advocacy group <a href="https://qz.com/1689529/nurdles-are-the-biggest-pollution-disaster-youve-never-heard-of/">Upstream</a>, told Quartz that process can result in spills at the attachment point between the hose and the freight car.</span></p><p><span>If nurdles were to be released into the environment in Pittsburgh, there's a risk that they could travel to nearby waterways like the Ohio River. (Shell <a href="https://www.shell.com/inside-energy/pittsburgh-pennsylvania-beaver-county.html">has organized yearly cleanups</a> there to remove litter.)</span></p><p><span>"When we start producing product, we will commit to zero pellet, flake, or powder loss into the environment from handling operations," Shell said i</span><span>n a statement to Business Insider. The company added that it is collaborating with local groups in the Pennsylvania community to encourage more plastics collection and recycling.  </span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Tyrone Siu/Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Plastic pellets gathered during a clean-up of a bank along Hong Kong's Lamma island in August 2012.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span><a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200720080AB258">California is the only state with a law</a> that identifies nurdles as a pollutant, which allows it to penalize nurdle producers under the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-water-act">Clean Water Act</a>, a federal law that makes it illegal to discharge pollutants into waterways.</span></p><p><span>However, as researchers learn more about how nurdles affect human health and marine life, that information could inform how states decide to target such pollution in the future.</span></p><p><span>For now, scientists suspect that the small bits of plastic that people ingest through food or drink could <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/toxic-chemicals-in-your-home-2018-11">carry toxic chemicals</a> like phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA) <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/22/health/microplastics-land-and-air-pollution-intl/index.html">into our bodies</a>. Nurdles can also <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/plastic-pellets-nurdles-pollute-oceans/593317/">absorb contaminants</a> like mercury or the insecticide DDT from rivers and oceans. </span><span>But the risks to human health are still unknown. </span></p>     <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/better-way-recycling-plastic-environment-reuse-sustainable-upcycling-2019-8">This company turns shredded plastic and clothing into new bottles for Pepsi, Evian, and Coca-Cola</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Tiny pellets called 'nurdles' are leeching into the ocean. A new Shell plant could produce 80 trillion of them a year.

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Philippe Lopez/AFP/File" title_caption="This picture taken on January 9, 2013 shows a high speed ferry entering Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong" class="zoomin" href="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5297c5866bb3f73050cb0de0-960/hong-kong-ferry.jpg"><span class="click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source">Philippe Lopez/AFP/File</p><p class="caption">This picture taken on January 9, 2013 shows a high speed ferry entering Victoria Harbour in <keyword id="24349" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Hong-Kong">Hong Kong</keyword></p></div><p></p></div></div>Eighty people were injured early Friday when a high-speed ferry travelling from Hong Kong to Macau hit an "unidentified object" in the water, according to Hong Kong's marine department.</p>
<p>"Information received from the Marine Department suggested that 80 people on the ferry were injured. Among them four were classified as seriously injured," a spokesman for the Hong Kong government told AFP.</p>
<p>It comes just a month after Hong Kong marked the one year anniversary of a sea collision which claimed 39 lives, the city's worst maritime disaster for over 40 years.</p>
<p>Friday's accident happened at around 1:20 am (1720 GMT) near one of Hong Kong's small outlying islands Hei Ling Chau, the spokesman said.</p>
<p>There were 105 passengers and 10 crew members aboard, with no reports that anybody was missing, he added.</p>
<p>"There was suddenly a loud bang. The ferry was thrown upwards. Then many passengers were thrown out from their seats," one passenger, named as Mr Wong, was quoted as saying by Hong Kong's Apple Daily news website.</p>
<p>After the accident the ferry sailed back to Hong Kong Island's downtown Sheung Wan terminal where a dozen of ambulances were waiting to tend to the injured, he said.</p>
<p>RTHK news website showed a passenger on a stretcher surrounded by emergency staff. A government spokesman said there were no further details on passengers' injuries.</p>
<p>Local television footage appeared to show the ferry being towed back to the terminal.</p>
<p>"We only know that it sailed back but how it did so we are not sure," a government spokesman said.</p>
<p>The safety of Hong Kong's waters was called into question after the fatal October 1, 2012 crash which saw the Lamma IV launch -- carrying more than 120 people -- collide with the high-speed Sea Smooth ferry near Lamma Island.</p>
<p>The launch was carrying employees of the Hong Kong Electric utility and their family members and friends to watch a fireworks display to celebrate China's national day.</p>
<p>A subsequent inquiry found a "litany of errors" contributed to the accident.</p>
<p>It described how the bow of the Sea Smooth crashed into the main passenger cabin on the Lamma IV, crushing people as water rushed in. The launch partially sank within two minutes.</p>
<p>The two captains have each been charged with 39 counts of manslaughter and are awaiting trial.</p>
<p>The tragedy shocked the Asian financial hub, one of the world's busiest ports, which prides itself on its good safety record.</p>
<p>The marine department has tightened inspections to ensure boats meet safety requirements including adequate lifejackets and watertight fittings.</p>
<div class="nc_footer">
<p>Copyright (2013) AFP. All rights reserved.</p>
</div>
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80 People Injured In Hong Kong High-Speed Ferry Accident

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Mike Mozart/flickr</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>PetSmart has appointed Rob Anderson as the company's new <keyword id="53346" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="CFO">CFO</keyword>. Anderson will take over the role on October 5. He previously served as the CFO at Save-A-Lot since 2011.</p><p><span>Anderson was also the principal accounting officer, controller, and executive director of finance for Chipotle Mexican Grill prior to the company's initial public offering. He also spent more than 10 years with McDonald's in leadership roles, primarily in finance and also encompassing distribution and purchasing. Anderson began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers.</span></p><p>Anderson's placement arrives less than a week after <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/cfo/2015/09/24/cfo-moves-petsmart-dorman-products-fairmount-santrol/">The Wall Street Journal</a> reported that the private-equity owners of rival Petco Holdings Inc. are pursuing potential bidders as an alternative to Petco's planned IPO.</p><h3>Other CFO assignments and moves:</h3><ul><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Michael Zechmeister was named CFO at </span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">United Natural Foods</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> effective mid-October. He will be replacing Mark Shamber. Zechmeister joined the team from General Mills, where he served as vice president of finance for the company's Yoplait USA division. </span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Himanshu Patel has been promoted to chief financial officer for </span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">First Data</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">. He joined the team in 2013 and previously served as the </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">vice president of strategy, planning, and business development.</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Marcia Dall has taken on the role of CFO for </span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Churchill Downs Inc.</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, owner of Churchill Downs racetrack. She will take over the lead finance role on October 12. Dall is replacing Bill Mudd, who in a rare CFO to CEO move, took over the lead position in 2014. </span></li><li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Public Service Enterprise Group</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> has named Daniel Cregg to the CFO role effective October 8. Former CFO Caroline Dorsa recently announced she would retire. She was named to our <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/top-female-cfos-in-america-2015-9">top female CFO list early this month</a>. Cregg served since 2013 as vice president of finance for subsidiary Public Service Electric and Gas.</span></li><li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">LaQuinta Holdings</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> has named CFO Keith Cline as its new interim president and CEO. The company is currently searching for a full-time replacement for former CEO Wayne Goldberg. </span></li><li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Four Oaks Fincorp</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> in Four Oaks, North Carolina, has named Deanna Hart chief financial officer of the company and its bank. The 37-year-old CFO has been acting as chief financial officer of the $722 million-asset company since the beginning of the month. Hart will become CFO for the holding company and Four Oaks Bank &amp; Trust on October 1.</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Mark Lammas is adding the role of chief operating officer to his resume at </span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Hudson Pacific Properties</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">. That role will be added to his CFO and treasurer roles, which he has held since the company's 2010 initial public offering. </span></li><li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">MicroTech</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> announced David A. Hinson as its new CFO and chief of mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining MicroTech, Hinson was the national director of the US Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency. He also served on the White House Business Council and the president's Interagency Taskforce on Small Business Contracting.</span></li></ul>

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PetSmart hires CFO Rob Anderson and other finance moves

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