WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland’s ruling conservatives announced a major government reshuffle on Tuesday, in an apparent effort to mend relations with the European Union and moderate voters at home.

Following are details of new appointments.

Incoming ministers:

Teresa Czerwinska, finance

A former deputy finance minister responsible for the budget and a loyalist to Morawiecki. Her main task will be to secure money for the government’s broad welfare spending agenda, maintaining efforts to improve tax collection, and to negotiate Poland’s chunk of the EU’s next seven-year budget.

Jacek Czaputowicz, foreign affairs

A political scientist with little hands-on diplomatic experience, who headed the ministry’s legal department, Czaputowicz will oversee Poland’s efforts to maintain close ties with allies in Washington.

Joachim Brudzinski, interior

A confidante of PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski who goes with him on fishing trips and is responsible for maintaining party loyalty among local officials. He will oversee migration policy, a major source of disagreement between PiS and Brussels.

Mariusz Blaszczak, defense

Previously interior minister, Blaszczak was a leading voice within the PiS government opposing EU migration quotas and arguing that Poland’s security would be at risk if it let Muslim migrants in.

Poland’s NATO allies are likely to watch closely his efforts to modernize the army, which had faced delays under the outgoing defense chief, Antoni Macierewicz.

Blaszczak will have to complete talks on a multi-billion-dollar contract with the U.S. firm Raytheon on the purchase of eight missile defense systems as well as a deal to buy submarines equipped with long-range missiles that the defense ministry said recently would be announced in January.

Henryk Kowalczyk, environment

A long-time PiS lawmaker, Kowalczyk will oversee Poland’s disputed coal policy. The country’s reliance on coal has put it on collision course with EU policies on reducing carbon emissions.

Jerzy Kwiecinski, investment

An engineer by training, Kwiecinski is a former deputy economic development minister.

Jadwiga Emilewicz, entrepreneurship

Will oversee technology policy.

Lukasz Szumowski, health

A cardiologist with limited political experience.

Outgoing ministers:

Antoni Macierewicz, defense

The PiS’ investigator into the 2010 plane crash over Russia that killed President Lech Kaczynski, a founder of the party, army top brass and dozens of other officials, Macierewicz once said it was caused by a thermobaric bomb.

He has repeatedly asserted that the plane disintegrated in mid-air and accused Russian air traffic controllers of willingly misdirecting it, although an official investigation by Poland’s centrist government at the time blamed the crash on pilot error due to thick fog.

A vocal anti-Russian hawk, Macierewicz had promised to double defense spending and add 100,000 personnel. But critics said his plans lacked financial details and followed “outdated” military thinking.

Witold Waszczykowski, foreign affairs

Seen by many observers as having had little impact on Polish foreign policy, Waszczykowski is best known for his many gaffes. Last year he mistakenly told reporters at the United Nations that he had met with representatives of the made-up nation of San Escobar.

He also told a German newspaper that the previous centrist government wanted a world full of “bike riding vegetarians who only use renewable energy and fight all forms of religion”.

Konstanty Radziwill, health

Widely criticized by the opposition in Poland over his handling of a protest by young doctors over work conditions, as well as a decision to eliminate maternity ward standards and comments disparaging concerns over air pollution.

Jan Szyszko, environment

An avid hunter, Szyszko had angered many in Poland for easing limits on hunting and felling of trees on private property. He approved tripling of the quota of wood that can be harvested in an ancient forest, a UNESCO World Heritage site, triggering EU court action.</s>WARSAW/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Poland’s new Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki fired several senior ministers and visited Brussels on Tuesday in an effort to patch up relations with the European Union, but said he would not unwind the country’s most-contested judicial reforms.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker poses with Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki ahead of talks at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, January 9, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

Facing unprecedented EU legal action over accusations of backsliding on democracy by politicizing Polish courts, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party may seek to ease tensions in other areas like environmental policy or defense.

Shortly after announcing the government changes, Morawiecki left for his first face-to-face talks with officials in Brussels, the second foreign capital he has visited so far as prime minister after Budapest.

“Our intention is to make the system more effective, more just, more objective,” Morawiecki told a news conference defending PiS moves on the courts after nearly three hours of talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker Jean-Claude Juncker.

A joint statement with the EU’s executive said the dinner was “friendly” and included a “detailed discussion” on the rule of law issues in Poland. The two leaders would meet again “with the view to making progress by the end of February.”

The Polish government changes also come as the EU embarks on negotiations on a new seven-year budget that will decide which member states get what out of the bloc’s coffers - with Poland currently the biggest net recipient.

Among those who lost their posts on Tuesday was the staunchly conservative Environment Minister Jan Szyszko, who has spearheaded large-scale logging in an ancient forest that prompted action by the European Court of Justice.

Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz, a former anti-communist crusader facing criticism over delays in modernizing the army as well as conflicts with top generals, and Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski - seen as petulant and ineffective in Brussels - were also dismissed.

The reshuffle follows the appointment of former banker and finance minister Morawiecki as prime minister last month at the midpoint of the parliamentary term. PiS faces local elections in late 2018 and legislative and presidential ballots in 2019-20.

“The new (government) should help us build a sovereign Poland within a strong Europe, a Europe of homelands,” Morawiecki said earlier in Warsaw in announcing the new appointments.

Related Coverage Factbox: Poland reshuffles its government

The feud between Brussels and Warsaw’s eurosceptic government is a key element in mounting tensions between wealthier western EU members and the ex-communist east, amid a wider debate over the bloc’s future provoked by Brexit.

WARMER TONE MAY NOT BE ENOUGH

Many Westerners are keen for EU countries to integrate further in the wake of Britain’s decision to leave, but this is strongly opposed by eastern members like Poland and Hungary.

Despite the warmer tone, Morawiecki made clear he would not give up on the courts overhaul, which, together with Warsaw’s refusal to host refugees, is central in the row with Brussels.

Rights groups, western EU states and Poland’s political opposition say the government is undercutting the courts’ independence. PiS says the reforms are needed because the country is steeped in power structures dating from the post-war communist era.

In another sign that government policy is unlikely to change, Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro kept his job on Tuesday, and new rules give him powers to appoint the heads of lower-level courts as well as oversight over prosecutors.

EU states will on Feb. 27 look into whether Poland is backsliding on democracy, though the top sanction of suspending Poland’s EU voting rights is unlikely to materialize, as Hungary has said it would block any such punishment.

The 27 are likely to ask Warsaw to make amends, issuing recommendations echoing those by Brussels that the PiS has so far ignored, and giving it some time to react.

France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy are among EU states saying Warsaw should be not allowed to get away with what they see as an assault on the bloc’s core values.

Szyszko had attracted widespread criticism domestically over moves to lift limits on hunting as well as for allowing massive logging in areas of Poland. The dismissed health minister has struggled to contain protests by medical staff in recent months.

Slideshow (6 Images)

The outgoing, hardline defense chief has been the PiS investigator into the 2010 plane crash over Russia that killed President Lech Kaczynski - the twin brother of current party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski - and dozens of other senior Polish officials.

Kaczynski and Macierewicz believe the crash may have been caused by foul play and not pilot error, which was the official cause returned by a investigation by the previous centrist government.</s>10 JANUARY 2018 | NAIROBI - UN Environment and WHO have agreed a new, wide-ranging collaboration to accelerate action to curb environmental health risks that cause an estimated 12.6 million deaths a year.

Today in Nairobi, Mr Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment, and Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, signed an agreement to step up joint actions to combat air pollution, climate change and antimicrobial resistance, as well as improve coordination on waste and chemicals management, water quality, and food and nutrition issues. The collaboration also includes joint management of the BreatheLife advocacy campaign to reduce air pollution for multiple climate, environment and health benefits.

This represents the most significant formal agreement on joint action across the spectrum of environment and health issues in over 15 years.

"There is an urgent need for our two agencies to work more closely together to address the critical threats to environmental sustainability and climate – which are the foundations for life on this planet. This new agreement recognizes that sober reality," said UN Environment’s Solheim.

"Our health is directly related to the health of the environment we live in. Together, air, water and chemical hazards kill more than 12.6 million people a year. This must not continue," said WHO’s Tedros.

He added: "Most of these deaths occur in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America where environmental pollution takes its biggest health toll."

The new collaboration creates a more systematic framework for joint research, development of tools and guidance, capacity building, monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals, global and regional partnerships, and support to regional health and environment fora.

The two agencies will develop a joint work programme and hold an annual high-level meeting to evaluate progress and make recommendations for continued collaboration.

The WHO-UN Environment collaboration follows a Ministerial Declaration on Health, Environment and Climate Change calling for the creation of a global "Health, Environment and Climate Change" Coalition, at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP 22 in Marrakesh, Morocco in 2016.

Just last month, under the overarching topic "Towards a Pollution-Free Planet", the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), which convenes environment ministers worldwide, adopted a resolution on Environment and Health, called for expanded partnerships with relevant UN agencies and partners, and for an implementation plan to tackle pollution.

Priority areas of cooperation between WHO and UN Environment include:
• None Air Quality - More effective air quality monitoring including guidance to countries on standard operating procedures; more accurate environment and health assessments, including economic assessment; and advocacy, including the BreatheLife campaign promoting air pollution reductions for climate and health benefits.
• None Climate - Tackling vector-borne disease and other climate-related health risks, including through improved assessment of health benefits from climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. Water – Ensuring effective monitoring of data on water quality, including through data sharing and collaborative analysis of pollution risks to health.
• None Waste and chemicals – Promotion of more sustainable waste and chemicals management, particularly in the area of pesticides, fertilizers, use of antimicrobials . The collaboration aims to advance the goal of sound lifecycle chemicals management by 2020, a target set out at the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
• None Ministerial Declaration on Health, Environment and Climate Change –WHO/UN Environment announcement at COP22
• None BreatheLife campaign has engaged countries, regions and cities in commitments to reduce air pollution for climate and health benefits, covering more than 120 million people across the planet, including Santiago, Chile; London, England; Washington DC, USA, and Oslo, Norway, with major cities in Asia and Africa set to join.
• None Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) - which has included effective past actions to phase out lead paint, mercury emissions and persistent organic pollutants.

For more information, please contact: Sarah Cumberland Communications Officer, WHO Mobile: +41 79 206 1403 Email: cumberlands@who.int</s>Chiteme replaces Mulusa as Malanji goes to Foreign Affairs

President Edgar Lungu has appointed Nkana PF Member of Parliament Alexander Chiteme as Minister of National Planning Development.

President Lungu has also appointed Kwacha PF Member of Parliament Joseph Malanji as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

President Lungu also revoked the nomination of Mr. Mulusa as a nominated Member of Parliament.

Five days ago, Harry Kalaba resigned as Foreign Affairs Minister saying he cannot continue in government and watch those who are expected to end corruption, in the forefront of looting public resources.

The Head of State has sworn the duo at State House this morning urging them to get down to work quickly.</s>New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) UN Environment and WHO today agreed to a new collaboration to accelerate action to curb environmental health risks that cause an estimated 12 million deaths a year, mostly in developing nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The agreement will step up joint actions to combat air pollution, climate change and anti-microbial resistance, as well as improve coordination on waste and chemicals management, water quality, and food and nutrition issues.

Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment, and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of WHO, signed the agreement in Nairobi, according to a WHO statement released in New Delhi.

The collaboration also includes joint management of the 'BreatheLife' advocacy campaign to reduce air pollution for multiple climate, environment and health benefits.

"There is an urgent need for our two agencies to work more closely together to address the critical threats to environmental sustainability and climate Â– which are the foundations for life on this planet. This new agreement recognises that sober reality," Solheim said.

This represents the most significant formal agreement on joint action across the spectrum of environment and health issues in more than 15 years.

"Our health is directly related to the health of the environment we live in. Together, air, water and chemical hazards kill more than 12.6 million people a year. This must not continue," Tedros said.

"Most of these deaths occur in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America where environmental pollution takes its biggest health toll," he added.

The statement said the new collaboration creates a more systematic framework for joint research, development of tools and guidance, capacity building, monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals, global and regional partnerships, and support to regional health and environment fora.

"The two agencies will develop a joint work programme and hold an annual high-level meeting to evaluate progress and make recommendations for continued collaboration," it said.

The priority areas of cooperation between WHO and UN Environment include more effective air quality monitoring, including guidance to countries on standard operating procedures, more accurate environment and health assessments, including economic assessment among others.

On the climate front, it would give priority to tackling vector-borne disease and other climate-related health risks.

The WHO-UN Environment collaboration comes after a ministerial declaration on health, environment and climate change called for the creation of a global Health, Environment and Climate Change Coalition, at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change-COP 22 in Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2016. PTI TDS ABH .

This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.
New ministers of defence, finance, interior, health, environment and foreign affairs, amongst others, are appointed.