Japan seeks UNESCO heritage list recognition for traditional architectural craftsmanship

Abstract: Japan has decided to nominate traditional architectural craftsmanship used in timber-framed structures for addition to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in the fall of 2020, officials said Monday. The government will submit nomination documents to the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization by the end of March. The centuries-old traditional style of craftsmanship covers techniques in 17 areas essential for repairing and restoring shrines, temples and old houses. Japan nominated the methods last year, but UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee decided not to consider them in 2019 due to the number of requests from member countries exceeding its limit. If successful, the nomination would be Japan’s 22nd listing. Domestically, Japan has designated the craftsmanship as one of dozens of Selected Conservation Techniques. The skills, spanning roofing to decorations, are used in wooden structures such as Horyuji, a World Heritage Buddhist temple in Nara Prefecture. Despite using fragile natural materials such as wood, weeds and soil, the techniques have made it possible to build resilient structures in a country frequently hit by powerful earthquakes and strong typhoons. The U.N. body’s Intergovernmental Committee holds a session each fall to assess requests from countries for inclusion of their cultural elements. This year’s session will be held in Colombia. Last year, a set of Japanese folk rituals featuring Raiho-shin ritual visits by deities, in which people dress up as gods and visit homes, was approved for addition to the list. One of the most popular Raiho-shin rituals is the Oga no Namahage in Akita Prefecture.

architecture
temples
unesco
intangible cultural heritage
shrines
heritage


After strong 'no' vote, Okinawans look to highlight case against Henoko base plan in Tokyo and Washington

Abstract: NAHA, OKINAWA PREF. - A prefecture-wide referendum in Okinawa on Sunday demonstrated overwhelming opposition, at least among those who voted, to relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from Ginowan to Henoko, in the northeastern part of the main island. But with the central government vowing to continue the project, already under construction, Okinawans opposed to the move remain committed to fighting on, both within Japan and also through making their case to the U.S. “Now that the clear opposition of the Okinawa people has been conveyed it’s up to individuals in the rest of Japan to consider our wishes, and have a debate on national security and the relocation of Futenma outside of Okinawa Prefecture and Japan,” Jinshiro Motoyama, who spearheaded the referendum, told reporters after the vote. Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki, who supported the referendum and opposes the Henoko move, must now convey the results of the referendum to both Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the United States. He plans to visit Tokyo later this week, and said he would move “body and soul” to keep the new base from being completed. Landfill reclamation work at Henoko began last December. In Tokyo on Monday, Abe emphasized the need to reduce Okinawa’s burden in hosting U.S. military bases. But the central government had already said before the referendum, which is not legally binding, that its result would not impact the Henoko plan. Speaking to reporters Monday, Abe said, “the Henoko relocation can’t be postponed.” Results showed that 434,273, or 72.2 percent, of Okinawan voters cast their ballots against the Henoko plan. A total of 114,922, or 19 percent, supported it. Some 52,682 people, about 8.8 percent, chose the “neither” option. That option was added after five Okinawan cities with close ties to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito threatened to opt out of the referendum if the only choices regarding the Henoko project were to “support” or “oppose.” One of the cities that demanded the “neither” option be included was Ginowan, where Futenma is located. As the referendum was supported most strongly by Okinawans opposed to the Henoko project, the result was not unexpected. But the 52.48 percent turnout rate was lower than the 63.24 percent turnout rate for Tamaki’s election last September, and was only achieved after a final push during the last couple of days by referendum proponents to get people to the voting booth. How the remaining 48 percent of voters who avoided the referendum feel about the Henoko issue is now a key question for the anti-base movement in Okinawa and for the ruling coalition which, even as it insists the Henoko project will continue, needs prefectural cooperation to complete it as soon as possible and faces the task of winning over Okinawan voters in this summer’s Upper House election. Okinawan leaders said late Sunday that concluding opposition to Henoko has lessened because the referendum turnout rate was about 10 points lower than the turnout rate for the governor’s election would be a mistake. “The reason the final turnout rate was not higher was due to a referendum boycott by the LDP. There are, in fact, many people in the LDP who are opposed to the Henoko project, but they didn’t want to say so in a public referendum,” said Okinawa Upper House member Yoichi Iha. “While it’s true Sunday’s turnout was less than the governor’s election, you have to look at how people voted,” said Morimasa Goya, one of the referendum leaders and a strong supporter of Tamaki. He noted there were over 430,000 votes opposing Henoko. In the 2018 election, Tamaki, running on an anti-Henoko platform, won with about 397,000 votes against an LDP candidate who didn’t mention Henoko, emphasizing instead only the need to close down Futenma. “When the issue is just Henoko, you see a larger number of people voting no,” Goya said. The outcome also strengthened calls among the opposition for the United States to recognize the results of Sunday’s referendum. “From Okinawa’s viewpoint, attitudes (toward Henoko) aren’t changing at the national level. But the Trump administration also needs to understand that Sunday’s results show the will of the people is against Henoko,” said Upper House member Keiko Itokazu, from Okinawa, on Sunday night. “If the U.S. says Henoko is not needed, the project will immediately halt,” Goya said, who added that Trump and Abe could discuss Henoko and the referendum when the president visits in May, or with Abe on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Leaders’ Summit in Osaka in June.

okinawa
u.s. bases
futenma
nago
henoko
referendums
u.s.-japan relations
denny tamaki


Russia's Sergey Lavrov asks why Japan PM Abe is confident of ending row over islands off Hokkaido

Abstract: MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has questioned why Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is confident of resolving the long-standing territorial dispute between Japan and Russia over four Russian-held Pacific islands known as the Northern Territories. Abe expressed his resolve to advance the post-World War II peace pact negotiations, which have long been stalled over the territorial dispute, saying, “It is not easy to settle an issue that has remained unsolved for more than 73 years after the end of the war. But we have to accomplish this.” Lavrov said in an interview with Vietnamese and Chinese media that he does not know where Abe’s conviction comes from, according to an announcement Sunday by the Russian Foreign Ministry. The ministry quoted Lavrov as saying that neither he nor Russian President Vladimir Putin has provided a basis for Abe’s remarks. Russia has not set any deadline for bilateral talks on concluding a World War II peace treaty and there is no planned framework for an agreement, Lavrov said. He added that he does not understand what the Japanese side means to say by Abe’s remarks. The territorial dispute over four Russian-held Pacific islands, which were seized from Japan by Soviet troops in the closing days of World War II, has prevented Japan and Russia from concluding a peace treaty to put a formal end to wartime hostilities. Putin said in a speech Wednesday that Russia is ready to work with Japan to explore mutually acceptable conditions for concluding a peace treaty. On the remarks, Lavrov said that although Russia is working carefully on the issue, such conditions are totally absent at present, according to the ministry.

shinzo abe
vladimir putin
russia
disputed islands
northern territories
hokkaido
russia-japan relations
sergey lavrov


North Korea alleges 'nuclear weaponization' by Japan as Trump-Kim summit draws near

Abstract: In the latest jab at perennial foe Japan, Pyongyang has blasted Tokyo over its alleged “nuclear weaponization” just days ahead of a second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump. In a commentary published Saturday in the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North’s ruling party criticized what it claimed were “voices for the revision of the constitution and increased military spending and nuclear weaponization” from within the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The commentary said that under Abe, Japan “can go nuclear anytime after giving up ‘three non-nuclear principles.’ ” Consequently, it claimed, “peace in the Asia-Pacific region will be exposed to a great danger.” Japan, the only country to have endured a nuclear attack, has long maintained that it adheres to its three nonnuclear principles of not possessing, not producing and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons. However, the government admitted in 2010 that previous administrations had lied to the public for decades about atomic weapons, after a government-appointed panel confirmed the existence of secret Cold War-era agreements allowing the U.S. to bring them into the country. The Rodong Sinmun commentary said that if Japan ditches its three nonnuclear principles, there would be “unimaginable” and “catastrophic consequences.” “All the countries that truly want global peace and security should keep close watch over Japan’s nuclear weaponization.” Japan has ramped up military spending and the acquisition of sophisticated weapons in recent years, spending around 1 percent of its gross domestic product on the Self-Defense Forces — which, given the size of its economy, makes it one of the world’s biggest military spenders. Still, it was unclear what spurred the commentary, though in recent years some lawmakers, including Shigeru Ishiba, former secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, have said that Japan should at least discuss rethinking its stance on nuclear weapons. Experts say Japan, with its civilian nuclear program, fissile materials and existing weaponization technology, could probably develop a small arsenal of nuclear devices within a year if there was motivation to do so. There is currently little public or political appetite for such a move, but some experts have warned that sentiment could shift if the U.S. under Trump pulls back from the region, especially as it comes to grips with a nuclear-armed North Korea. Trump is due to meet Kim for their second summit Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the North’s denuclearization, and White House talk of a possible deal that eliminates the threat to the U.S. first — part of Trump’s “America First” policy — has left exposed Asian allies concerned about Washington’s commitment to the region.

shinzo abe
u.s .
military
kim jong un
weapons
nuclear weapons
north korea-japan relations
donald trump


Parisian museum hosts Japanese tea ceremony and talk by grandson of former grand master

Abstract: PARIS - Visitors at a Parisian museum were treated to Japanese tea ceremonies and a talk on the history of the practice Sunday by members of the Urasenke school, one of the top three schools practicing the art in Japan. More than 500 people attended tea ceremonies held Saturday and Sunday at the Petit Palais as part of the “Japonismes 2018” celebration to mark the 160th anniversary last year of friendship between Japan and France. Visitors drank green tea and ate traditional sweets. They also listened as Reijiro Izumi, deputy curator of a tea ceremony museum in Japan, explain how tea culture — originally introduced from China — flourished and developed in Japan as its own tradition, after being influenced by tea masters such as Sen no Rikyu, who emphasized simplicity in his wabi style. “The Japanese culture of clothing, food and living can all be summarized in the art of the tea ceremony,” emphasized Izumi. He explained that the art is expressed not only through ceremony itself but by other aspects such as the traditional small plates, the tea room’s architecture and kimonos worn. “That the tea ceremony’s customs have endured feels mysterious,” said a 65-year-old who participated in a tea ceremony for the first time. “I can’t say that I like the taste of green tea but it was a fantastic discovery,” said another participant. “We would like to introduce the tea ceremony in various ways so that people will not have a fixed image of what it is,” said Izumi, grandson of the former grand master Sen Genshitsu.

paris
green tea
tea
tea ceremony
matcha
urasenke
japonismes 2018


Bhutanese exchange students face extortion, threats and hard times in Japan, families say

Abstract: Bhutanese exchange students are being extorted by overseas employment agencies and threatened into silence, according to representatives who spoke to the press Monday on behalf of the Parent’s Committee of the Learn and Earn Program. The exchange program gives students from Bhutan the opportunity to go to school and find a job in Japan. More than 700 Bhutanese students have come to Japan thanks to the program, which was introduced by Bhutan’s Ministry of Labor and Human Resources. However, the alleged suicide in December 2018 of a student in the program — a 24-year-old Bhutanese man named Sonam Tobgay — exposed its many problems. Now, many participants are saying it’s a scam and that students are being forced to repay loans by working longer hours than is legally allowed. Bhutan Employment Overseas, or BEO, is responsible for sending the students to Japan after which they’re taken in by a Japanese agency called Support for New Departure, or SND. BEO “gave very beautiful dreams. They have promised a lot” to the students, said Nagwang Tobgay, legal officer of the Parent’s Committee of the Learn and Earn Program. “Despite knowing everything, they misguided, misrepresented, misled our youths.” Many of the students in the program, according to Tobgay, come from poor families and need to send money home to repay their loans, but can’t because they can barely afford life in Japan. A number of students in the program work two jobs and share rooms with five or six people so they can afford rent and tuition. According to Yumiko Kan, a representative of an nongovernmental organization called Nature and Humans Japan, more than 20 students in the program have tuberculosis due to their immune systems having been weakened by poor living and working conditions. In many cases, Kan said, the students have been told to work beyond the legal limit of 28 hours a week in order to pay back their loans. Tobgay traveled to Japan with Sonam Dhendup, president of the Parent’s Committee, to speak with students in the program to gauge the severity of the situation. Both BEO and SND claim the students are doing okay, according to Kan. “But they are not doing okay,” she said. “That’s why we are here. The Bhutanese student is having really hard times.” According to Kan, four schools — one each in Chiba, Kobe, Osaka and Fukuoka — have taken passports from Bhutanese students who couldn’t pay tuition. “Which is illegal,” Kan said. The students “are in despair,” she added. “They were threatened by the agent and the Japanese language school and then even through the government. They were threatened and then that’s why they cannot speak up.” Tobgay intends to represent a group of students seeking to file a lawsuit against Jurney Tshewang, who created the Learn and Earn Program at Bhutan’s Ministry of Labor and Human Resources. Asked whether they will file a lawsuit against SND or the Japanese language schools who took the students’ passports, Tobgay said he doesn’t have jurisdiction in Japan. For that, they have elicited the help of Shoichi Ibuski, a Japanese lawyer known for his outspoken support of foreign laborers. “These agencies that take in and send abroad foreign workers make a lot of money off them,” Ibuski said. “Foreign workers are becoming meals.” Ibuski said it is possible that he will file a lawsuit against the Japanese agency SND, but that nothing is certain yet. For now, he said he would continue dialogue with the Parent’s Committee and wait for the results of their survey with the students. During the news conference, Kan raised concern over the impending arrival of foreign workers in Japan over the next few years. “We are talking about the Bhutanese students today but this same problem is happening for Vietnam, Myanmar, Nepal, other countries,” she said. “There are very few officials and also NGOs to take care of foreign workers in Japan.”

abuse
foreign students
foreign workers
study abroad
bhutan
black companies
students
shoichi ibuski


Japan's Emperor Akihito to be addressed with 'emeritus' after abdication

Abstract: Emperor Akihito will be called “emperor emeritus” and Empress Michiko “empress emerita” following his abdication in April, the Imperial Household Agency said. Their Japanese titles to be used after the abdication have already been decided as jōkō and jōkōgō, respectively. But the agency had continued discussions about their English titles with the Foreign Ministry while studying those used by overseas royal families. The agency said Monday it picked the word “emeritus” to “express admiration and respect for the accumulation of experiences and achievements.” The 85-year-old Emperor will abdicate April 30, becoming the first living monarch in Japan to do so in about two centuries. He will be succeeded by his eldest son, the 59-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito, on May 1.

royalty
emperor akihito
imperial family
empress michiko
abdication


Power failure halts JR Chuo Line trains between Tokyo and Shinjuku throughout rush-hour period

Abstract: Sections of major train lines in Tokyo were shut down for over four hours Monday morning due to a power outage, affecting some 280,000 rush hour commuters and forcing some universities to delay annual entrance exams. The power went out between Kanda and Yotsuya stations on the Chuo Line in central Tokyo at around 4:55 a.m., forcing East Japan Railway Co. to temporarily suspend all train services on the line that runs to the western suburbs. The Chuo and Sobu line services passing through the area and stretching toward the capital’s eastern suburbs were also impacted. While some services quickly resumed, delays and cancellations of rapid and regular train services on the lines affected other connecting lines. Crowds of commuters formed at many stations and more than 10 stations, including Ochanomizu and Yotsuya, temporarily closed ticket gates and stopped people from entering to avoid overcrowding. Police said a fire burned cables near tracks close to Suidobashi Station at around the same time as the power outage, and authorities are investigating whether it was at the root of the trouble. The incident coincided with nationwide entrance exams held for national and public universities. Those located along the affected lines, including Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and Chiba University, delayed the start of their entrance exams for an hour. “I panicked after learning that the train schedules were disrupted, but there was no problem because the JR Yamanote Line (encircling central Tokyo) was operating as usual,” said an 18-year-old high school student. “I had been planning to use the Sobu Line, but I made it in time using other lines,” said a student who came from neighboring Chiba Prefecture to take an exam in Tokyo. “Now I want to calm down before I take the exam.”

tokyo
transportation
rail
trains
jr east
chuo line


North Korea unable to receive information on Tokyo Olympics participation due to 'network issue': sources

Abstract: North Korea’s Olympic committee has been unable to receive information required for the country to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, sources said Sunday, due to what has been described as a technical problem. The North Korean organization, like other nations’ bodies belonging to the International Olympic Committee, is intended to be able to access information from the Tokyo Organising Committee through a dedicated network. But the North Korean committee has not been issued with the identification name and password needed to access the network, leaving them unable to get information on registering athletes and media accreditation, the sources said. An IOC official said the Tokyo organizing committee is aware of the problem and is making efforts to address it, blaming the issue on a technical problem relating to Web accessibility between Japan and North Korea. A Tokyo Organising Committee official said a technical issue was also preventing some other national committees from accessing the network. The North Korean committee has asked to be sent paper copies of the information but the request has not been granted, according to the sources.


In revenge killing, man stabs to death head of Tokyo foster home where he used to live, police say

Abstract: The head of a Tokyo foster home was stabbed to death Monday by a man who said he used to live there and wanted revenge, according to the police. Hitoshi Tahara, 22, was arrested at the scene on Monday after the police received an emergency call from the facility at around 1:50 p.m. The home’s chief, Shinya Omori, 46, was confirmed dead after being taken to a hospital. The suspect has admitted to stabbing Omori, telling investigators he resented the time he spent at the foster home and wanted to attack anyone working there, according to the police. When police rushed to the scene, Omori was found with multiple stab wounds, and what appeared to be the blade of a kitchen knife was still stuck in his body, investigators said Tuesday. Police believe Tahara stabbed Omori several times, as the wounds were deep and the handle of the knife had come off. Tahara lived at the Wakakusaryo facility in Shibuya Ward for three years through March 2015. Tahara told police that he bought the knife at a ¥100 shop in the city of Saitama a few weeks before the attack. Recently, he had been staying at an internet cafe near the ¥100 shop, according to the police. Police also revealed that a male staff member at the facility had been hit by Tahara and sustained a light injury. Surveillance camera footage shows Tahara entering the building through an unlocked door on the first floor at around five minutes before the emergency call to police. The police believe he headed directly to Omori’s room on the same floor. The children at the facility were safe as they were in their rooms on the second and third floors, the police said. About 30 children live at the facility, which has about 30 staff, according to its website. It provides foster care to children under 18. There are about 600 such foster homes nationwide, housing about 25,000 children. After moving out of Wakakusaryo, Tahara lived by himself in an apartment in Tokyo introduced by the facility. But he told police he was kicked out of the apartment in September last year due to delays in rent payments. Omori co-authored a book about supporting the independence of children raised in foster homes that was published in 2015. “(Omori) always thought about children seriously,” said Somei Muto, a longtime friend who manages similar facilities. “I can’t accept his death at all. I can’t believe it.”

murder
foster care
police
hitoshi tahara


'I killed a cat with poisoned food': Message board post leads Japanese police to serial feline killer

Abstract: YOKOHAMA - A 29-year-old man who has admitted to poisoning cats in Kanagawa Prefecture last November said he was driven by his long-standing hatred of felines. “I always disliked cats,” police officers quoted the man as saying. The case was referred to prosecutors on Monday. The Sagamihara man is suspected of killing three cats by placing poisoned cat food near the Sagami River on Nov. 17 and 24. Five cats were found dead in the area that month, along with cat food laced with methomyl, a powerful insecticide. The man emerged as a suspect after police tracked an online message board post that read, “I killed a cat with poisoned food.” The police searched his home in January and found images on his computer and smartphone of cats that ate the poisoned food, investigators said.


Tesla shares tank on price cut, disappointing Model 3 deliveries

Abstract: BANGALORE, INDIA - Shares in Tesla Inc. dropped as much as 9 percent on Wednesday on worries of future profitability, after the electric car maker cut U.S. prices for all its vehicles to offset lower green tax credits, while falling short on quarterly deliveries of its mass-market Model 3 sedan. Analysts questioned whether the $2,000 price cut on all models signaled lowered demand in the United States, and ultimately whether the move would undermine nascent profitability at the Silicon Valley automaker, which has never posted an annual profit. “In our view, this move could suggest that what many bulls assume to be a substantial backlog … for Tesla may be less robust,” wrote Bank of America analyst John Murphy in a client note. Chief Executive Elon Musk, who has often set goals and deadlines that Tesla has failed to meet, surprised investors by delivering on his pledge to make Tesla profitable in the third quarter, for only the third time in its 15-year existence. But the company is unprofitable for the first nine months of 2018, and cash flow remains a concern for investors. Musk has been under intense pressure to deliver on his promise of stabilizing production for the Model 3, which is seen crucial for easing a cash crunch and achieving long-term profitability. It said it was churning out almost 1,000 Model 3s daily, broadly in line with Musk’s promises but slightly short of Wall Street expectations. The company said it would begin delivering Model 3s to Europe and China in February. The price cut of $2,000 beginning on Wednesday on the Model 3 — as well as on its higher-priced Model S and Model X — took the market by surprise and weighed on the stock, pushing it down 9.4 percent in morning trade. Shares were last down 6.7 percent at $310.48. The price cut comes as automakers expect U.S. new vehicle sales to weaken in 2019, and increased competition from new electric vehicle entrants. Tesla sales benefited from a $7,500 federal tax credit on electric vehicles throughout 2018, but that full credit expired at the end of 2018, and new buyers will now receive only half that amount. Under a major tax overhaul passed by the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress in 2017, tax credits that lower the cost of electric vehicles are available for the first 200,000 such vehicles sold by an automaker. The tax credit is then reduced by 50 percent every six months until it phases out. “The price cut is what’s driving the stock lower, as it openly acknowledges the sunset of subsidy dollars is a material headwind,” said Craig Irwin, an analyst with Roth Capital Partners. But some said fears of eroded demand were overblown. Gene Munster of Loup Ventures calculated that the lowered tax credit equaled, on average, to a 3-percent discount on a Tesla. If Tesla had a demand issue, therefore, the company would have cut its prices by more than 3 percent, he wrote in a note. Also on Wednesday, General Motors said it had sold its 200,000th electric vehicle in 2018, similarly triggering a phase-out of the federal tax credit, according to a source. Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Nicholas Hyett estimated in a client note that if Tesla continues to deliver cars at the current rate, the price cut will mean $700 million in lost revenue in 2019. Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives, meanwhile, said the price cut was “a potential positive” for demand, “but not what the bulls wanted to hear on the impact to profitability and ultimately the bottom line.” Tesla delivered 63,150 Model 3s in its fourth quarter, falling short of FactSet estimates of 64,900. Tesla said that based on its own compilation of analysts’ forecasts, its delivery numbers were in line with market expectations. Bank of America analyst John Murphy wrote that the numbers were in line with market consensus, though below the bank’s estimate of 71,500 Model 3s. Total deliveries rose from the third quarter to 90,700 cars, but missed forecasts, which had been influenced by analysts’ expectations of a surge in buyers looking to cash in on the tax credit before year-end. The automaker’s third-quarter pre-tax profit was around $3,200 per vehicle delivered, but for the first nine months of 2018 the company suffered a third-quarter loss per vehicle delivered of $8,019, according to Reuters calculations. Overall, total production rose 8 percent to 86,555 vehicles. The company churned out 61,394 Model 3s, up from a total of 53,239 Model 3s in the third quarter. “Tesla disappointed the market. The deliveries are below our estimates and the consensus estimates. I don’t expect that Tesla operates in the black in 2019,” said Frank Schwope, an analyst with NORD/LB.

u.s .
gm
electric vehicles
tesla
shares
model 3


Paddle-wheelers stage Mississippi River revival as Big Easy tourism rebounds

Abstract: NEW ORLEANS - Few experiences capture old New Orleans and the Mississippi River quite like a paddlewheel riverboat coming round the muddy bend with its tooting whistle horn, towering smoke stacks and water-churning propeller. This month the first new riverboat in more than a decade is set to launch in this Louisiana port city. A plunge in tourism after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 forced the New Orleans Steamboat Company to sell off one of its two boats, but the arrival of the City of New Orleans is a sign of the steadily rising tide of tourists each year to this Southern city of Mardi Gras fame. “People come from all over the world. It is astonishing. They really want to see the river,” said Adrienne Thomas, marketing director for the company, which also owns another riverboat, the Natchez. A century ago, countless paddlewheel riverboats plied the Mississippi and its tributaries. Today, New Orleans has two: the Natchez and the Creole Queen, which is operated by New Orleans Paddlewheels. Now the City of New Orleans is coming full circle, back to the state where it was built in 1991. For years it operated as a casino boat in Rock Island, Illinois, until the mid-1990s. But after that state legalized onshore casinos, the boat became obsolete, said Matthew Dow, project manager heading the vessel’s renovation. The then-named “Casino Rock Island” sat unused for years until it was purchased by the New Orleans Steamboat Company in 2016. “We instantly fell in love with the boat,” Dow said. “We saw the potential in her and knew that we could do her justice and bring her back not only to her former glory but well beyond that.” Dow said the vessel already looked the part of a New Orleans riverboat, with its curved decks, plentiful windows, decorative fleurs de lis and giant paddlewheel. Initially it was brought to a dry dock for hull repairs, then towed to New Orleans for a makeover. “We had to rip all of the walls out, all the ceilings, a lot of the insulation,” Dow said. “Basically, we had to strip this boat down to the superstructure, to bare bones, and everything had to go back new.” There were additions, too. A dumb waiter was added to connect the galley to all three decks for food transport, along with passenger elevators and handicapped-accessible restrooms. The Associated Press was given the first look at the new riverboat recently. Dow says the company is aiming to have the boat ready for tours by Jan. 21, when the Natchez goes into its annual service and maintenance layup. After that, both boats will operate simultaneously. The two riverboats look similar, both painted red and white with giant red paddlewheels and exterior deck space for close-up views by passengers of the giant propeller. But the new boat has more indoor space. The Natchez was built in the 1970s for sightseeing with a lot of open deck space, and its main deck is occupied mostly by the boat’s vintage 1925 steam engines, an attraction for passengers. The Natchez is one of only six commercially-operated steamboats left in the U.S. The new boat is run with a modern diesel-electric system. It takes up less room, allowing for more indoor space for dinner seating, jazz brunches and special events. “Even though we don’t have the steam engines, we do have the working paddlewheel, and we want to show that off,” Dow said. As with the Natchez, cruises on the City of New Orleans will include narration about the city and shoreline sights such as the port, historic Jackson Square, the Chalmette Battlefield, which marks the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812, and the Chalmette National Cemetery. And there will be plenty of live band music as the boat plies the Mississippi. Cyndi Gruenberg of Houston, Texas, rode the Natchez with her husband and two daughters recently and said they learned much about the city. “It was a great trip, a little bit of history along the river and just a fun ride,” said Gruenberg. “It’s pretty cool. It brings nostalgia back.” Tourism officials say they don’t expect a shortage of passengers, as the number of visitors to New Orleans has surpassed pre-Katrina levels in recent years. Stephen Perry, head of New Orleans & Co., which promotes tourism, says the city is “back in every way” with increased hotel and restaurant bookings. Riding a paddlewheel is part of the New Orleans experience, he noted. “This is one of the most eclectic, authentic places left in America,” Perry said. “People don’t come here only for food and music. What they like is other experiences. “A paddlewheeler is just one of the great added attractions of imagining yourself in a time gone by.”

tourism
new orleans
hurricane katrina
riverboats


Qatar Airways buys 5% stake in China Southern Airlines

Abstract: DOHA - Qatar Airways said on Wednesday that it had acquired a 5 percent stake in China Southern Airlines, as it seeks to establish itself in the Asian aviation market. The state-owned airline said in a statement the deal was part of its “strategy to invest in the strongest airlines around the world,” but did not specify the cost of the transaction. China Southern Airlines is one of China’s “big three” carriers. Qatar Airways also owns a 20 percent stake in International Airlines Group — which holds British Airways under its umbrella — as well as shares in LATAM Airlines Group, Italy’s Meridiana and Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific. The latest deal comes as Qatar seeks new partners and routes for the national airline due to an ongoing diplomatic dispute in the Gulf. Since June 2017, Qatar has been politically and economically isolated regionally by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. These Gulf peers continue to impose a blockade, after accusing Doha of supporting “terrorists” and being too close to Saudi Arabia’s Shiite arch-rival Iran — charges Qatar denies. The aviation deal follows warming relations between Doha and Beijing. Government officials in Qatar said in November that China is now Doha’s third-largest trade partner, as bilateral exports and imports totaled more than $10 billion in 2017. Qatar chose China Railway Construction Corporation to help build the $45 billion Lusail Stadium, an 80,000-seat arena that is meant to host the opening and final games of the 2022 World Cup finals.

saudi arabia
asia
qatar airways
china southern airlines


Anticipating dip in demand after October sales tax hike, fewer Japanese firms expect economic growth in 2019

Abstract: Some 63 percent of major companies expect the country’s economy to grow moderately in 2019, showing less optimism than a year ago, as they brace for a likely drop in consumer demand following a consumption tax hike in October, a Kyodo News survey shows. In the survey of 115 companies including Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp., conducted between late November and mid-December, 33 percent predicted the economy to be flat while 3 percent said it would retreat slightly. None of the companies predict strong economic growth. In last year’s survey, 82 percent said the nation’s economy would grow moderately or strongly in 2018. Responding to a multiple-choice question, with multiple answers allowed, 79 percent of the firms expecting an economic expansion said that a pickup in corporate capital spending would lead the growth, followed by 46 percent that expect an expansion to be supported by an increase in consumer demand before the consumption tax hike to 10 percent from 8 percent on Oct. 1. As for the companies with more pessimistic views, some 56 percent cited concerns about an anticipated drop in consumer spending from October, while 54 percent said they were concerned about the possible effects of U.S. President Donald Trump’s hard-line trade policies. Regarding Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government, 57 percent said it had their support. While only 2 percent said they did not support the current administration, 39 percent did not provide an answer to the question. Two percent answered “other.” Regarding Abe’s policies, 33 percent picked promotion of free trade as most important in a multiple-choice question. Some 43 percent said they were concerned or disappointed with fiscal consolidation efforts, while 30 percent said Abe is not doing enough with regards to social security reform to address the challenges posed by the nation’s aging society and swelling costs to support it. Expectations were generally high for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact, which came into force on Sunday, with 48 percent saying they expect the accord to have a positive impact on their earnings, while 37 percent expect no immediate impact. The 11-member trade agreement, dubbed the TPP-11, covers 13 percent of the global economy. It is intended to counterbalance China’s might-is-right approach to commerce in the Asia-Pacific region. As well as binding countries into a tougher legal framework for trade, lowering tariffs and opening markets, the pact will also introduce new labor standards and force some governments to introduce competition in sectors long dominated by insiders and political influence.

gdp
japanese economy
consumption tax
surveys


Grim start: Treasury yield curve, market's favorite recession indicator, flattens

Abstract: NEW YORK - Traders return to their desks in the new year with a familiar warning signal flashing even more strongly than before — the Treasury yield curve got even flatter, feeding the market’s worst suspicions about the U.S. economy. Market watchers noted a dramatic compression in what is arguably the most reliable indicator of recession — the gap between the 3-month and 10-year Treasury yields. This spread hit a post-crisis low of just 18.6 basis points in early New York trading Wednesday, barely half the intraday peak it reached on Dec. 31. The gap has since pulled back toward its opening level for the day of around 24 basis points, but the narrowing trend is hard to ignore as U.S. economic data deteriorate and traders start pricing in the possibility of a Federal Reserve rate cut in 2020. Interest-rate strategists at BMO Capital Markets point out that the slide in this indicator just made Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s job “that much harder.” While central bank officials have warned against over-interpreting flattening of the widely watched two-year to 10-year curve, BMO points to “a great deal of academic research” around the curve from 3 months to 10 years, and “it is generally accepted as being a better recession predictor.” They cite, in particular, analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, whose own model indicated back in mid-December about a 24 percent chance of recession in the coming year. At that point the spread between 3-month and 10-year yields was considerably wider and BMO strategists reckon that “the next recalculation of this model in two weeks will surely show a material increase in the chance of a recession.” The strategists draw particular attention to the 20-basis-point level for the spread, which they say has worked as a gauge for Fed policy in the past few decades. They note that crossings of that threshold in 1989 and several times in the 1990s preceded by a matter of months either a rate pause or cut from the Fed. One outlier was in 2006, when officials carried out four more rate hikes before embarking on an easing cycle.

economy
u.s. treasury
interest rates
recession
yield curve


Drug companies greet 2019 with U.S. price hikes despite Trump call to keep them level

Abstract: NEW YORK - Drug-makers kicked off 2019 with price increases in the United States on more than 250 prescription drugs, including the world’s top-selling medicine, Humira, although the pace of price hikes was slower than last year. The industry has been under pressure by U.S. President Donald Trump to hold their prices level as his administration works on plans aimed at lowering the costs of medications for consumers in the world’s most expensive pharmaceutical market. During a White House meeting with members of his Cabinet, Trump on Wednesday said he expected to see a tremendous decrease in drug prices. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar was at the meeting. The overall number of price increases was down by around a third from last year, when drug-makers raised prices on more than 400 medicines, according to data provided by Rx Savings Solutions, which helps health plans and employers seek lower cost prescription medicines. Allergan PLC was particularly aggressive. It raised list prices on more than 50 drugs, and more than half of those by 9.5 percent, according to the Rx Savings data AbbVie Inc. increased by 6.2 percent the list price of its blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis treatment Humira, which is on pace to record about $20 billion in sales in 2018. Allergan said in a statement that its average list price increase across its portfolio is around 3.8 percent this year. It said it does not expect to realize any net benefit from the increases this year because of higher rebates and discounts it expects to make to payers. AbbVie did not immediately respond to request for comment. More price increases are expected this month. Reuters reported late last year that nearly 30 drug-makers had notified California agencies they plan to raise list prices of their drugs. Not all of those increases have been announced yet. The United States, which leaves drug pricing to market competition, has higher prices than in other countries where governments directly or indirectly control the costs, making it the world’s most lucrative market for manufacturers. HHS has proposed policy changes aimed at lowering drug prices and passing more of the discounts negotiated by health insurers on to patients. Those measures are not expected to provide relief to consumers in the short-term, however, and fall short of giving government health agencies direct authority to negotiate or regulate drug prices. “It’s business as usual” for drug-makers, said Rx Savings Solutions Chief Executive Michael Rea, who said he believes there has to be meaningful changes to the marketplace, rather than new regulations in order for drug prices to drop.

prices
donald trump
u.s. drug firms
humira


JFE Steel and Chugoku Electric scrap plan for coal-fired power plant near Tokyo

Abstract: JFE Steel Corp. and Chugoku Electric Power Co. abandoned plans to develop a coal-fired power plant near Tokyo that had drawn scrutiny from a government official. The companies will consider building a natural gas-fired power plant instead, they said in a statement Thursday. The originally planned 1.07-gigawatt coal-fired plant drew criticism last year from the environment minister at the time, Koichi Yamamoto, who urged the companies to review the plan citing environmental concerns. “The company and its partners decided to cancel the project because construction costs would increase more than originally anticipated,” a spokesman for JFE Steel told reporters Thursday. “Coal-fired power generation itself isn’t a reason for canceling the project.” Scrutiny of Japan’s coal use is growing amid a broader global move away from fossil fuels.

chugoku electric power co .
jfe steel corp .
coal power plant


U.S.-China trade war, demand slump taking toll on global manufacturing

Abstract: LONDON/HONG, KONG - Factory activity weakened across much of Europe and Asia in December as the U.S.-led trade war and a slowdown in demand hit production in many economies, offering little reason for optimism as the new year begins. A series of purchasing managers’ indexes for December released on Wednesday mostly showed declines or slowdowns in manufacturing activity across the globe. “We are really seeing a global slowdown into this year, and in Asia, particularly, export-oriented countries are hurting,” said Irene Cheung, Asia strategist at ANZ. “Our expectation for central banks is that most of them won’t change policy in 2019 and these numbers coming out on the weak side won’t change that outlook.” Eurozone manufacturing activity barely expanded at the end of 2018, providing disappointing reading for European Central Bank policymakers, just after they ended their €2.6 trillion asset-purchase scheme. Earlier PMI surveys showed Italy remained in contraction territory and was joined by France, where data showed a first deterioration in operating conditions for 27 months. Manufacturing growth in both Germany and Spain was modest, easing to the weakest in around 2½ years. British factories, however, ramped up stockpiling as they prepared for possible border delays when Britain leaves the European Union in less than three months’ time. The U.K. manufacturing PMI rose to a six-month high, stronger than all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists. Survey compiler IHS Markit cautioned the improvement did not herald a big change in the outlook for Britain’s stuttering economy — it was caused in large part by manufacturers stockpiling inputs and finished goods. “Despite the headline index rising to a six-month high in December, the manufacturing PMI still suggests that the sector stagnated in Q4,” said Andrew Wishart at Capital Economics. Later on Wednesday, surveys are expected to show U.S. activity was a tad slower, but still expanding, in a sign China has suffered more from trade frictions than the United States. But world shares started 2019 on a downbeat note, oil prices and bond yields slid, and the Japanese yen strengthened on Wednesday as the factory survey data confirmed the picture of a global economic slowdown. In China, the Caixin/IHS Markit PMI slipped into contraction territory for the first time in 19 months, broadly tracking an official survey released on Monday. China’s weakness spilled over to other Asian economies. Malaysian manufacturing slowed to its weakest pace of expansion since the survey began in 2012, and Taiwan fell to its lowest since September 2015. Meanwhile, official economic data out of Singapore showed its gross domestic product grew more slowly than forecast in the fourth quarter as the city-state’s manufacturing contracted on a quarterly basis. With growth slowing and inflation below or barely within target in most countries, Asian central banks are unlikely to continue their tightening cycle this year, barring any shocks in currency markets. The world’s two largest economies agreed at the start of December to a 90-day truce following tit-for-tat tariffs that have disrupted the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars of goods between the two countries. Tariffs are not the only drag on China’s economy. Beijing’s sustained drive to reduce debt risks in the economy has cooled the property market and curbed credit flows to the private sector. Meanwhile, the government’s intensified crackdown on pollution has dented industrial activity. In a key annual conference last month, China’s top leaders said they would boost support for the economy in 2019 by cutting taxes and keeping liquidity ample, while promising to continue negotiations with Washington. China’s economic growth slowed to 6.5 percent in the third quarter of last year, the weakest since the global financial crisis. Reuters reported government advisers had recommended a growth target of 6.0 to 6.5 percent for this year at the annual meeting, though the final figure won’t be made public until parliament’s annual meeting in early March. A drop in crude-oil prices at the end of last year has helped sentiment in Asia’s oil-importing economies, where trade deficits are a key vulnerability. Indonesia’s PMI, although still weak historically, rose. India’s declined but capped the strongest quarter for the country’s manufacturing since late 2012. But Malaysia, which relies heavily on oil revenues, saw its weakest reading ever. Taiwan and South Korea, which are heavily focused on tech production, also saw activity shrink. The U.S.-China trade war affects chip orders and coincides with a slowdown in demand for smart phones globally.

china
u.s .
oil
manufacturing
tariffs
donald trump
trade war


Free TV!: Hundreds of cargo ship's lost containers bring windfall to Dutch isle treasure hunters

Abstract: AMSTERDAM - Dozens of containers with items including flat-screen televisions have washed up on Dutch islands in the North Sea after a ship lost part of its cargo in heavy seas, bringing a windfall for local treasure hunters. The Dutch Coast Guard said up to 270 containers had fallen off the Panamanian-flagged MSC ZOE, one of the world’s biggest containerships, in rough weather near the German island of Borkum and floated southwest toward Dutch waters. Containers broke open on the shores of the Dutch islands of Terschelling and Vlieland. Others were floating or stranded off the coasts of Ameland and Schiermonnikoog, part of a chain of islands that guard the Dutch coast. The Coast Guard warned ships in the area to beware of floating containers. Three containers holding hazardous materials have not yet been located, the Coast Guard said. Dutch media reported that local treasure hunters had found an array of items from containers whose contents had spilled, including light bulbs, car parts, Ikea furniture, clothing and toys. Local media carried pictures of groups of people congregating around beached blue containuers and one carrying off what appeared to be a flatscreen TV still packed in foam. Such material is considered flotsam, and residents of the islands have a centuries-old tradition of collecting it. It was unclear if the goods were water-damaged. The mayor of the island of Vlieland, Tineke Schokker, said that the municipality doesn’t mind scavenging. “It’s just really nice of people,” she told local news agency ANP. “Processing it would cost more than the stuff is worth, and anyway with the two officers we have it would be impossible to guard, the stuff is littered over the whole beach.” A spokesman for the ship’s operator, MSC, had no immediate comment.

storm
holland
marine accidents
containership


Spain rescues 325 migrants at sea over start of new year, searches for more

Abstract: MADRID - Spanish coast guard elements rescued 325 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean over the first two days of the new year, they said Wednesday. The news comes just days after a charity rescue vessel carrying 311 mainly African migrants plucked off the coast of Libya docked in Spain, ending a traumatic journey which saw them spend Christmas at sea. A spokeswoman for Spain’s coast guard told AFP they had rescued 111 migrants on Tuesday in the Strait of Gibraltar and Alboran Sea. She added 214 more were rescued on Wednesday, and coast guard units were searching for another boat in distress. Spain has become Europe’s main entry point for migrants, overtaking Greece and Italy. According to the International Organization for Migration’s latest figures, more than 56,000 migrants arrived in Spain by sea from Jan. 1 to Dec. 19, 2018, and 769 died trying. The Spanish Committee for Refugee Aid says the number of victims is the highest since 2006.

africa
eu
libya
spain
migrants
mediterranean
marine accidents


NASA says icy faraway world Ultima Thule shaped like 'snowman'

Abstract: WASHINGTON - NASA scientists announced Wednesday that Ultima Thule, an icy celestial body floating in the far reaches of the solar system, formed from a soft collision between two clouds of pebbles — and is aptly shaped like a giant snowman. The first detailed images beamed back from the U.S. agency’s New Horizons mission 4 billion miles (6.4 billion km) away allowed scientists to confidently determine the body was formed when two spheres, or “lobes,” slowly gravitated toward each other until they stuck together — a major scientific discovery. The New Horizons spacecraft on Tuesday flew past Ultima Thule, which was discovered via telescope in 2014 and is the farthest and potentially oldest cosmic body ever observed by a spacecraft. Before that flyby, the only image scientists had was a blurry one showing Ultima Thule’s oblong shape, resembling a bowling pin or a peanut. “That image is so 2018. … Meet Ultima Thule!” said lead investigator Alan Stern, doing little to hide his joy as he revealed a sharper image of the cosmic body, taken at a distance as close as 17,000 miles (27,000 km) with a resolution of 140 meters per pixel. “That bowling pin is gone — it’s a snowman if anything at all,” Stern said during a NASA briefing. “What this spacecraft and this team accomplished is unprecedented.” Ultima Thule’s surface reflects light about as much as “garden-variety dirt,” he said, because the sun’s rays are 1,600 times fainter there than on Earth. The body is roughly 19 miles (30 km) long and completes its own rotation in about 15 hours. NASA dubbed the larger lobe Ultima, and the other, which is about three times smaller, Thule. “This is the first object that we can clearly tell was born this way” Stern said, instead of evolving as a sort of “bi-lobe.” “This really puts the nail on the coffin now. We know that this is how these kinds of objects in many cases form.” Some 4.5 billion years ago, a cloud of frozen pebbles began to join forces, gradually forming two bodies — Ultima and Thule. Slowing turning, they eventually touched at each other at what mission geology manager Jeff Moore called an “extremely slow speed” — maybe just 1 to a few miles per hour. If such a meeting occurred between two cars in a parking lot, he said, no driver would bother writing it up. The lobes, according to Moore, are really just “resting on each other.” “New Horizons is like a time machine, taking us back to the birth of the solar system,” Moore said. “We are seeing a physical representation of the beginning of planetary formation, frozen in time.” Carly Howett, another researcher of the mission, noted that “we can definitely say that Ultima Thule is red,” perhaps due to irradiation of ice. NASA researchers promised fresh announcements would drop Thursday, including on the composition and atmosphere of Ultima Thule, because new images with even more precise resolution have come through.

nasa
space
pluto
new horizons
ultima thule


U.S. ambassador gets access to American held on espionage charges in Russia

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman met in Moscow on Wednesday with a Michigan man who has been detained on espionage charges as the American government seeks answers about his arrest. Huntsman said he offered support and assistance to Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive and former Marine, and later spoke to the man’s family by phone, but he would not discuss the case in detail. The ambassador said the U.S. complained to the Russian government about the length of time it took them to grant consular access to Whelan, who was arrested Friday. Russian Federal Security Service said Whelan was caught “during an espionage operation,” but gave no specific information about why he was detained. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier Wednesday, while in Brazil, that the U.S. hoped to gain access soon to the former Marine and that “if the detention is not appropriate, we will demand his immediate return.” Whelan, 48, was in Moscow to attend a wedding when he disappeared, his brother, David Whelan, said Tuesday. He arrived Dec. 22 and was scheduled to stay through Sunday. Pompeo said the Trump administration has “made clear to the Russians our expectation that we will learn more about the charges and come to understand what it is he’s been accused of.” Whelan’s family, in a statement that David Whelan posted on Twitter, said: “We are deeply concerned for his safety and well-being. His innocence is undoubted and we trust that his rights will be respected.” The Russian spying charges carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years. The Marine Corps on Wednesday released details of Whelan’s service record. He served in the Marine Corps Reserves from 1994 to 2008 and was convicted of larceny in a special court-martial in January 2008. The Marine Corps did not immediately provide details of the court-martial conviction beyond saying it was based on “several charges related to larceny.” Whelan attained the rank of staff sergeant in December 2004 after the first of two deployments in Iraq. He was an administrative clerk and administrative chief. He was given a bad-conduct discharge in December 2008 at the rank of private. His last place of duty was at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California. David Whelan said in an interview that his brother had been to Russia several times previously, so when a fellow former Marine was planning a wedding in Moscow, he was asked to go along to help out. David Whelan said that it was while searching the internet Monday that he learned of his brother’s arrest. “I was looking for any stories about dead Americans in Moscow, so in a way it was better than finding out that he had died,” he said. David Whelan said he has no idea why his brother was targeted by the Russian security services. Paul Whelan had traveled to Russia in the past for work and to visit friends he had met on social networks, his brother said. “I don’t think there’s any chance that he’s a spy,” David Whelan told CNN. Paul Whelan lives in Novi, Michigan, and is director of global security for BorgWarner, where he has worked since early 2017. “He is responsible for overseeing security at our facilities in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and at other company locations around the world,” company spokeswoman Kathy Graham said in a statement. She said BorgWarner does not have any facilities in Russia. Paul Whelan previously worked for Kelly Services, which does maintain offices in Russia, his brother said.

u.s .
russia
espionage
michigan
u.s. marine corps
john huntsman
paul whelan


U.K. crime agency arrests two over arranging illegal migrant crossings of English Channel

Abstract: BENGALURU, INDIA - The U.K.’s National Crime Agency has made two arrests on suspicion of arranging illegal movement of migrants across the English Channel into Britain. A 33-year-old Iranian and a 24-year-old Briton were arrested in Manchester, the NCA said in a statement late on Wednesday. The statement did not give further details. Britain’s interior minister, Sajid Javid, said recently that there had been an increase in the number of migrants crossing the English Channel from France. Last week he declared the situation a “major incident.” More than 200 migrants had made attempts to cross one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes in December, although nearly half were stopped from leaving France, Javid said on Monday. The number is a tiny fraction of those regularly attempting to reach European Union territory by crossing the Mediterranean from northern Africa and Turkey. Many of them are fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East and Africa. The attempts to cross into Britain have attracted extensive domestic scrutiny amid a highly charged political atmosphere less than three months before Britain is due to leave the EU in the aftermath of a referendum in which immigration was a major theme. Britain is deploying extra patrol boats to help deal with the situation, the interior minister said earlier this week. Javid has also written to British Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson requesting aerial surveillance, dozens of sailors and a military patrol vessel for help, the Telegraph newspaper reported.


Bolsonaro's first order of business: Strip FUNAI agency of right to decide Brazil's native lands

Abstract: BRASíLIA - Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has stripped an agency of the responsibility to demarcate indigenous lands in a move that has unsettled native rights groups and even some farm businesses that will benefit. The decree published late Tuesday marked Bolsonaro’s first order since taking office earlier that same day. It stipulates that the FUNAI agency in charge of indigenous affairs will no longer have a say over creating and defining the boundaries of lands occupied by indigenous people in Brazil. Instead, the agriculture ministry will take over those functions. Bolsonaro has said he intends to loosen regulations holding back farming and mining interests in Brazil, including those relating to nature preservation and indigenous lands. Part of his proposed reform is to bring FUNAI under the ministry in charge of human rights, instead of the justice ministry, where it is currently placed. He had planned to merge the agriculture and environment ministries but backtracked when that provoked an outcry. Bolsonaro, a far-right veteran lawmaker, won election in October by promising a pro-business, anti-crime agenda. To pass legislation, he will rely on lobbies in Congress representing the interests of agribusiness and a burgeoning evangelical movement, instead of reaching out to the leaders of other parties. Indigenous rights groups deplored the new order. “You see? The dismantlement has already started. FUNAI is no longer responsible for the identification, delimitation and demarcation of indigenous lands,” a far-left indigenous leader, Sonia Guajajara, tweeted. Agribusiness lobbyists also expressed concern, fearing that trade sanctions could end up being slapped on Brazilian agricultural exports by countries in favor of nature preservation.

agriculture
brazil
jair bolsonaro
funai
indigenous lands


White House calls Democratic plan to end shutdown 'nonstarter' ahead of key talks with Congress leaders

Abstract: WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump invited Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress to the White House for a border security briefing on Wednesday, the 12th day of a partial U.S. government shutdown triggered by his demand for $5 billion in border wall funding. Department of Homeland Security officials will brief the congressional leaders, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said, on the last day that Trump’s fellow Republicans will control both chambers of Congress. The meeting is set for 3 p.m. (2000 GMT) in the White House Situation Room, generally used for high-level security concerns such as military planning. Democrats take charge of the House of Representatives from Trump’s fellow Republicans when the new 2019-2020 Congress convenes on Thursday. Led by presumptive House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, they have scheduled votes on their first day in power on legislation that would end the shutdown without providing the wall funding Trump wants. Republicans retain control of the Senate. “The Pelosi plan is a nonstarter because it does not fund our homeland security or keep American families safe from human trafficking, drugs and crime,” Sanders said in a statement late on Tuesday. Roughly a quarter of the federal government and 800,000 federal employees are affected by a shutdown, which was caused by a lapse in funding for the agencies. The shutdown, which began on Dec. 22, was precipitated by Trump’s demand as part of any federal funding measure for $5 billion to help build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border that was a centerpiece of his 2016 presidential campaign. The project’s total price tag is estimated at $23 billion. It was unclear if Wednesday’s meeting, arranged by Trump on Tuesday, would lead to a breakthrough. Democrats oppose the wall and Trump’s funding demand. Prospects for the two-part Democratic spending package that will be voted upon in the House appear grim in the Senate. The measure sets up the first major battle of the new Congress between House Democrats led by Pelosi and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. McConnell has said Senate Republicans will not approve a spending measure Trump does not support. The visit by Pelosi and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer would be their first to the White House since their sharp exchange with Trump in the Oval Office on Dec. 11 during which the president told them, “I am proud to shut down the government for border security.” He has since blamed Democrats for the shutdown. The Democrats’ two-part package includes a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security at current levels through Feb. 8 and provide $1.3 billion for border fencing and $300 million for other border security items including technology and cameras. The second part of the package would fund the other federal agencies that are now unfunded including the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, Transportation, Commerce and Justice, through Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year. Trump has called the wall crucial to curbing illegal immigration and combating drug trafficking. Democrats disagree, with Pelosi calling the wall immoral, ineffective and expensive. Trump made the border wall a key part of his presidential campaign and said Mexico would pay for it. Mexico has refused. If they spurn funding bills for departments unrelated to border security, Republicans could be seen as holding those agencies and hundreds of thousands of affected employees hostage to Trump’s desire for a wall, part of his hard-line immigration policies that appeal to his conservative political base.

white house
u.s. congress
mitch mcconnell
nancy pelosi
donald trump
chuck schumer
sarah sanders


Trump tweets return fire after incoming GOP Sen. Mitt Romney blasts his character

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday cautioned fellow Republican Mitt Romney to be a “team player” after the former presidential candidate and incoming U.S. senator sharply criticized the president’s actions and questioned his character. In a Washington Post essay published late on Tuesday, Romney suggested the U.S. leader had “caused dismay around the world” and said his presidency had “made a deep descent in December.” “On balance, his conduct over the past two years … is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office,” said Romney, who starts his new role representing Utah on Thursday. “The appointment of senior persons of lesser experience, the abandonment of allies who fight beside us, and the president’s thoughtless claim that America has long been a ‘sucker’ in world affairs all defined his presidency down,” he wrote. The White House did not respond to a request for comment, but Trump fired back in a tweet on Wednesday taking aim at Romney’s failed 2012 White House bid. “Here we go with Mitt Romney, but so fast! Question will be, is he a Flake? I hope not. Would much prefer that Mitt focus on Border Security and so many other things where he can be helpful. I won big, and he didn’t. He should be happy for all Republicans. Be a TEAM player & WIN!” Trump wrote on Twitter, appearing to reference retiring U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, one of the few Republican lawmakers who publicly spoke out against Trump, at the cost of drawing the president’s wrath. It is unclear whether any other Republican lawmakers will feel emboldened to criticize Trump ahead of his presumed 2020 re-election bid or whether Trump will face any serious challengers for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination. Romney’s move to stake out a more independent position highlights divisions within the party, since Trump, a real estate developer and television reality star who had never held public office before winning the 2016 election, upended many conservatives’ long-held positions on foreign policy and deficits, among others. Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel also criticized Romney on Twitter, calling his essay an “attack” on Trump that was “disappointing and unproductive.” McDaniel is Romney’s niece. Representatives for Romney could not be immediately reached for comment on the tweets by Trump or McDaniel. Romney and Trump traded barbs during the 2016 presidential campaign, with Romney calling Trump a “fraud” and Trump slamming Romney’s 2012 loss to Democrat Barack Obama. The two later appeared to bury their bitterness, with Trump briefly considering Romney for secretary of state after he won the White House and endorsing Romney’s 2018 run for the Senate. In his essay on Tuesday, Romney vowed to speak his mind in Washington, which now includes a divided Congress as Democrats take control of the U.S. House of Representatives following their November election gains. “I will speak out against significant statements or actions that are divisive, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, dishonest or destructive to democratic institutions,” he wrote.

gop
twitter
mitt romney
u.s. senate
donald trump
jeff flake


Mitt Romney launches blistering attack on Trump's character, says president 'has not risen to the mantle of the office'

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Incoming U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney said Wednesday he was unsure who to endorse for the White House in 2020, saying he would consider “the alternatives” to Donald Trump, whose presidency he said is falling short. The comments on CNN came hours after the 2012 Republican presidential nominee published a scathing op-ed targeting Trump, saying he “has not risen to the mantle of the office” and his actions have alienated America’s allies. Concerning the endorsement, Romney said “I think it’s early to make that decision and I want to see what the alternatives are.” As a senator, he vowed to “vote with my conscience,” even if it meant going against Trump and his party. But Romney — who is preparing to take up his seat in the new Congress — shut down any notion that he was considering another presidential bid, saying “I’ve had that experience.” “And, by the way, I acknowledge the president was successful. And I was not.” Romney’s earlier comments seemed to suggest he is positioning himself to take over the role of Jeff Flake, a departing senator who was a vocal critic of Trump. “With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable,” Romney wrote in his op-ed piece in The Washington Post on Tuesday. “And it is in this province where the incumbent’s shortfall has been most glaring.” He added that Trump’s actions had caused “dismay around the world” and alienated traditional allies in Europe. The U.S. leader responded the next morning in a relatively restrained tweet. “Here we go with Mitt Romney, but so fast! Question will be, is he a Flake? I hope not,” he wrote. “Would much prefer that Mitt focus on Border Security and so many other things where he can be helpful. I won big, and he didn’t. He should be happy for all Republicans. Be a TEAM player & WIN.” It is the latest twist in a relationship that has run hot and cold for years. Romney called presidential candidate Trump a fraud and a phony in 2016 — but last year, he thanked Trump for his endorsement as Romney ran for a senate seat from Utah. In the op-ed piece, Romney noted he had not supported Trump as the Republican Party’s nominee in 2016. Romney said he had hoped the Trump campaign would refrain from name-calling and had not. He welcomed Trump’s initial inclusion of steady-hand figures in his cabinet like Jim Mattis as defense secretary and John Kelly as chief of staff. “But, on balance, his conduct over the past two years, particularly his actions this month, is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office,” Romney wrote. The incoming senator said that last month — when Trump abruptly announced he was pulling U.S. troops out of Syria, and Mattis resigned in protest — was particularly disturbing. “The Trump presidency made a deep descent in December,” Romney wrote. Romney said he will treat Trump as he would any president, either in or outside his party. “I do not intend to comment on every tweet or fault,” he wrote. “But I will speak out against significant statements or actions that are divisive, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, dishonest or destructive to democratic institutions.”

u.s .
congress
republicans
mitt romney
donald trump


Acting Pentagon chief says he is focusing on 'China, China, China' as he gets primer on Trump's world view

Abstract: WASHINGTON - On his first working day in charge of the Pentagon, Pat Shanahan declared his focus to be “China, China, China.” But he also got a taste of President Donald Trump’s more scattershot way of looking at the world. As Shanahan sat to Trump’s left at a Cabinet meeting at the White House, the president denounced U.S. allies as freeloaders, expressed disgust with U.S. warfighting strategy in Afghanistan, mused about his own potential to be a great general, dismissed Syria as “sand and death,” spoke encouragingly of a second North Korea summit, and falsely claimed he had fired former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. It was a very public reminder of the challenges that Shanahan, as acting defense secretary, will faces as he navigates the complex terrain that led to the early end of his predecessor’s tenure. At one point, Trump turned to Shanahan with an unusual demand. The commander in chief said audits of Pentagon war spending must be “private” — an apparent reference to reports produced by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. Trump asserted that the reports give away too much information and should not be publicly released, although the law that created that watchdog’s office says its reports must be made public. Trump wished Mattis well in the retired Marine general’s return to private life after two tumultuous years leading the Pentagon. But Trump also took a swipe at the man he had approvingly called “Mad Dog Mattis” when he hired him shortly after winning election in 2016. “What’s he done for me?” Trump asked. “How has he done in Afghanistan? Not too good.” Trump did not explain his complaint about Mattis’ approach to the war. But Trump hinted that he had irreconcilable differences with Mattis on what Trump views as an unfair defense relationship with allies such as NATO. Trump suggested that Shanahan, who took over as acting defense secretary when Mattis ended his tenure Monday, agrees with him on this. “We have some great allies, but a lot of our allies were taking advantage of our taxpayers and our country,” Trump said. “We can’t let that happen, and Pat Shanahan agrees with that and he’s agreed with that for a long time. And that was very important to me. I couldn’t get other people to understand it,” Trump said, apparently referring to Mattis, who argued for higher defense spending by NATO allies but did so in a nonconfrontational way. In a resignation letter that amounted to a rebuke of Trump’s view on how to treat alliances and adversaries, Mattis wrote: “My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues.” Mattis submitted his resignation on Dec. 20 after a series of policy disagreements with Trump, including the president’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria. Mattis said he would stay until the end of February, but on Dec. 23 Trump announced that Shanahan would take over Jan. 1, speeding up Mattis’ departure. In his Cabinet meeting remarks with reporters present, Trump said he was in no rush to get U.S. troops out of Syria but did not clarify a timetable. Mattis and other Trump advisers tried unsuccessfully to persuade Trump to stay in Syria long enough to ensure that the Islamic State group, which has largely been defeated on the battlefield, cannot regroup. Nor did the president clarify plans in Afghanistan, where he has ordered a troop reduction on an unspecified timetable. Shanahan, who had served as deputy to Mattis since July 2017, is a career business executive with no prior government or military experience. His views on alliance relations and other key defense issues are not well known. As the deputy secretary he had focused the budget as well as a Trump favorite topic: development of a Space Force. At a morning meeting at the Pentagon with the military service secretaries and other top civilian officials, Shanahan said he was focused on the defense strategy developed during Mattis’ tenure. It emphasizes the importance of great power competition with Russia and China, after America’s many years of fighting insurgent wars in the Middle East. In that context, Shanahan said the Pentagon leaders should remember, “China, China, China,” according to one official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss internal defense meetings and spoke on condition of anonymity. The Trump administration has had a rocky relationship with China. Like the Obama administration, Trump’s government is concerned by what it calls China’s militarization of disputed areas in the South China Sea and by its advances in certain high-tech weaponry. Separately, Shanahan’s spokesman, Lt. Col. Joe Buccino, said that as part of Shanahan’s ethics agreement he had stepped aside himself “for the duration of his service” at the Pentagon from “matters in which the Boeing Company is a party.” Shanahan had worked for Boeing for 31 years, including in positions overseeing big defense programs. With Shanahan moving up from deputy secretary to acting secretary, the Pentagon’s budget chief, David Norquist, has been chosen to fill in temporarily as the deputy secretary, according to Pentagon spokesman Tom Crosson. Shanahan, a native of Washington state, holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington and two advanced degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

china
u.s .
russia
pentagon
donald trump
jim mattis
pat shanahan


On Capitol Hill, no give and take

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Washington faced a new era of divided government Thursday with Democrats set to take control of the House of Representatives, aiming to serve as a check on U.S. President Donald Trump’s presidency — at least until the 2020 election. Just a day earlier, Trump and congressional leaders who met at the White House refused to budge on the funding of a wall along the border with Mexico, ensuring the partial government shutdown will persist until Friday, when they will try again. Trump said ahead of the session with the congressional leaders that the partial shutdown will last “as long as it takes” to get the funding he wants. Democrats are taking command during a period of American political upheaval, and with a caucus riding high after a very strong midterm election showing last November. Thursday is set to bring an end to Trump’s one-party rule in Washington, a massive boost for Democrats who felt deflated after Trump’s 2016 victory. Progressives will be eager to push back with greater effect against an administration they believe has overstepped its authority and abused power in the nearly two years since Trump’s inauguration. They will have that opportunity. Congressional panels will be led by chairs who have pledged to probe topics such as Trump’s income taxes, his firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the president’s ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Incoming chairs have signaled that Trump will face a barrage of probes that could bog down a White House already besieged by special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia collusion probe, draining energy from the administration’s agenda and foiling Trump’s message. “It’s on,” Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, a new member of the House leadership who is seen by some as a potential future House speaker, tweeted Wednesday. “Tomorrow, we seize the majority. Then, we pass legislation to end reckless #TrumpShutdown,” he added. “Next, we fight to lower health care costs and enact a progressive agenda.” While the “blue wave” swept dozens of House Republicans out of Congress last November, Trump’s party managed to modestly expand its majority in the Senate to 57-43, meaning Washington gridlock is almost certain to deepen. Among the first tasks of the 116th Congress will be ending the nearly two-week government shutdown, which has left one quarter of federal agencies shuttered due to lapsed funding. Trump has said he would not sign a spending bill that does not include $5.6 billion for construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, but Democrats appear uninterested in appeasing him. Pelosi has introduced new measures that would fund the agencies, but she noted that they “contain no new wall funding,” a move the White House — and leaders in the Republican-controlled Senate — dismissed as a nonstarter. “Democrats will have to get serious about border security so that a government funding agreement may be reached that can pass the House, earn 60 votes here in the Senate, and receive a presidential signature,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement. “All three of these things are needed. One partisan vote in the House tomorrow won’t solve anything.” The partial government shutdown began on Dec. 22. Funding for the wall has been the sticking point in passing funding bills for several government departments. Trump, making his case for the wall ahead of the afternoon session with Democratic and Republican leaders, said the current border is “like a sieve” and noted the tear gas “flying” to deter arrivals. “If they knew they couldn’t come through, they wouldn’t even start,” Trump said at the meeting, joined by Cabinet secretaries and top advisers including Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Trump complained that he had been “lonely” at the White House during the holiday break, having skipped his getaway to Mar-a-Lago in Florida. He claimed his only companions were the “machine gunners,” referring to security personnel, and “they don’t wave, they don’t smile.” He also criticized Pelosi for visiting Hawaii. At the Capitol on Wednesday, Pelosi said she hoped Republicans and the White House “are hearing what we have offered” to end the shutdown. Trump contended the Democrats see the shutdown fight as “an election point” as he celebrated his own first two years in office. He promised “six more years of great success.” The new Congress will be one of the most diverse in history. One hundred House freshmen will take the oath of office, including trailblazers like New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who at 29 was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. The first two Native American women and first two Muslim women were also elected. The House and Senate will each have a record number of female members come Thursday. Democrats will move early to protect coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, a popular feature of the Affordable Care Act that a judge in Texas recently struck down. House Democrats are thumbing their nose at Trump by establishing a special committee on climate so the government can better respond to the urgency of global warming. Hovering in the background in Washington will be the threat of impeachment, and it is almost certain that some Democrats will introduce proceedings to remove Trump from office. Even if Democrats believe some of Trump’s actions clear the threshold of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” Pelosi has downplayed the prospects of impeachment. “It would be very divisive,” she told Elle magazine. “It’s not something that I’m stirring the pot on.”

gop
democrats
nancy pelosi
donald trump
chuck schumer


Filthy parks, closed museums: U.S. government shutdown grinds on

Abstract: WASHINGTON/NEW YORK - Walking across Washington’s National Mall on Wednesday, Ralph Snake kept stopping to pick up pieces of garbage, which have littered the grassy corridor since a budget showdown closed one quarter of the federal government almost two weeks ago. “I decided to clean up this one section, because that’s what Americans will do,” said Snake, a 64-year-old member of the indigenous Hochunk Nation, who was in town from his Wisconsin home to see Sharice Davids get sworn in as one of Congress’ first two women of Native American descent. “Just because this thing is shut down, our hearts aren’t shut down.” The partial shutdown, which has cut off numerous government services, entered its 12th day on Wednesday, with no end in sight to the impasse over President Donald Trump’s demands for $5.6 billion in congressional funding for a border wall. National parks, including California’s Joshua Tree and Yosemite, have closed campgrounds after toilets threatened to overflow with human waste. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees are working without pay. The immigration court system, already suffocating under a massive backlog, is largely shuttered. The prospects for an end to the showdown remained unclear. Democrats, who will take control of the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, have scheduled votes that day to fund the government without money for a border wall, one of Trump’s key priorities. The president, who said during his campaign that Mexico would pay for the wall, has already rejected the Democrats’ legislation. In Washington, the 17 museums run by the Smithsonian as well as the National Zoo closed their doors on Wednesday after running out of emergency funding, leaving tourists frustrated with both Trump and Congress. “It’s stupid,” said Laura Vanbragt, a 20-year-old student from Grand Rapids, Michigan. “There should just be more communication between the two, more give on both sides, a willingness to just talk.” In California, Joshua Tree National Park said it would close its campgrounds at noon on Wednesday because its camp toilets, which cannot be emptied due to a lack of staffing, have reached capacity. California’s Yosemite National Park closed numerous areas this week for similar reasons. Unlike in some previous shutdowns, including a 16-day impasse in 2013, many national parks have remained open, though without staff to collect trash and service restrooms. Advocates have voiced alarm that an extended shutdown could cause environmental damage. “We’re very concerned about the reports we’re seeing of human waste in inappropriate places,” John Gardner, senior director of budget and appropriations for the National Parks Conservation Association. “Trash is a serious concern for wildlife.” Hundreds of judges in the nation’s 62 immigration courts have been furloughed, and only cases of immigrants in detention are currently being heard. The Trump administration has expanded the system, which is run by the U.S. Department of Justice, aiming to cut down on the backlog of more than 800,000 cases, but the shutdown will complicate that effort, said Ashley Tabaddor, the president of the national immigration judges’ union. “To reschedule these cases can take several years because the judges are all booked,” she said. A Justice Department spokesman said he could not respond to a request for comment because of the government shutdown. With the National Zoo closed, the “Panda Cam,” a popular live video stream of the zoo’s three giant pandas, also went offline, causing consternation among fans of Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Bei Bei. “Oh, so the panda cam at the zoo isn’t an ‘essential government group’?! I BEG TO DIFFER,” wrote a Twitter user named Lindsay Boling.


50 killed as Syria clashes between rebels and jihadis intensify, spread to Idlib

Abstract: BEIRUT - Clashes between jihadis and rebels in northwestern Syria have killed almost 50 people over two days, a war monitor said Wednesday. Clashes flared Tuesday between al-Qaida-linked coalition Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and an alliance of rebel groups in western Aleppo province. On Wednesday the fighting spread to the neighboring province of Idlib, the country’s last opposition bastion, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. “The fighting intensified and spread to the north and southeast of Idlib province,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Observatory. He said that 48 people have been killed, updating Tuesday’s toll of 19. HTS had on Monday accused rebel group Nureddine al-Zinki of killing five of its fighters, and launched an offensive against rebel positions. Nureddine al-Zinki is a major player in the National Liberation Front (NLF), a Turkish-backed rebel alliance. Abdel Rahman said Wednesday that other NLF factions had now joined the fighting, while the jihadis had advanced into seven areas. Those killed include 24 HTS jihadis and 19 Nureddine al-Zinki fighters, the war monitor said. HTS and other jihadi groups control more than half of Idlib province, while the NLF holds most of the rest. The area sees frequent clashes between factions, including targeted assassinations and bomb attacks. The NLF on Wednesday announced a “general mobilization” to “counter (HTS) aggression. HTS meanwhile said it had arrested “dozens” of Zinki fighters. Syria’s conflict flared with anti-government protests in 2011 that were brutally repressed, sparking a complex multifront civil war involving a myriad of jihadi groups and foreign powers. It has left more than 360,000 people dead and displaced millions.

conflict syria turkey al-qaida aleppo idlib


Six killed on train after wind apparently blows load off opposite-bound freight on Danish bridge

Abstract: KNUDSHOVED, DENMARK - Six people were killed Wednesday after debris apparently from a cargo train smashed into a passenger train in high winds on a bridge connecting two islands in Denmark, the rail operator and officials said. The passenger train appeared to have struck an empty truck trailer that had blown off a cargo train travelling in the opposite direction, as strong winds lashed the region. The passenger train braked suddenly, survivors said. “An empty truck trailer on a carriage seems to have fallen off. It either hit the train, or the train hit it,” accident investigator Bo Haaning told Danish public broadcaster DR. He said it was too early to know why or how the trailer fell off. “All I can say is that there is a trailer missing on the cargo train and there’s a trailer involved in the accident.” Sixteen other passengers were hurt in the accident, but police said none had life-threatening injuries. Police said the drivers of both trains were being questioned and video surveillance footage of the bridge was being examined to determine the cause of the accident. Divers were also searching the waters under the bridge for debris that might provide clues. Images from the scene showed the cargo train standing still on the tracks, the tarpaulin covers of its carriages torn open in places to reveal jumbled cases of beer, while the metal tracks appeared mangled in places. An unidentified object — presumably the truck trailer — could be seen lying across the front of the passenger train on another track. Rail operator DSB said six people died in the accident, which occurred around 7:30 a.m. (0630 GMT) on the Great Belt Bridge connecting the islands of Zealand, where Copenhagen is located, and Funen. There were 131 passengers and three crew on board. Passenger Heidi Langberg Zumbusch had just boarded the train and taken her seat when the accident happened. “There was a loud crash and the windows started smashing onto our heads. We went flying down onto the floor, and then the train stopped,” she told DR. “We were lucky. The people in the carriage in front of us were not so lucky,” she said, adding that her fellow passengers told her they saw the side of that carriage had been ripped off. Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen sent condolences to the families of the victims. “Regular Danes on their way to work or on their way home after the holidays have had their lives torn apart. It’s deeply saddening. My thoughts are with the victims and their families,” he said. A Funen police spokesman told reporters he could not provide details of the accident, but added: “We know that an object hit the train.” Another passenger, 19-year-old Simon Voldsgaard Tondering, told the daily Politiken that the train suddenly began to shake violently. “I looked out the window and there were sparks flying up the side of the train. And then all the windows broke and shards of glass flew over us and panels broke loose. And then everything went black,” he said. “We had to walk over dead bodies lying under the wreckage to help” survivors get out. Strong winds were reported across Scandinavia overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, causing power outages, bridge closures and ferry cancellations. Water levels near Funen were 1.4 to 1.65 meters (4.5 to 5.4 feet) above normal on Wednesday, according to the Danish meteorological institute DMI. The Great Belt link consists of a road suspension bridge and a railway tunnel between Zealand and the small island of Sprogo, with a bridge for both road and rail traffic between Sprogo and Funen. It is the third-longest suspension bridge in the world, measuring 1.6 km (1mile) along its main span, and the longest outside Asia. The bridge was closed for several hours due to the accident. Car traffic later resumed while rail traffic was to remain shut in both directions for the rest of the day. Wednesday’s accident was Denmark’s deadliest train incident since 1988 when eight people were killed and 72 injured when a train derailed at high speed in Soro, on Zealand.


Death toll in Russian apartment building collapse jumps to 37, with four still missing

Abstract: MOSCOW - The number of confirmed dead from a New Year’s Eve gas explosion in a Russian apartment block jumped to 37 on Thursday as rescuers recovered more bodies from the rubble of the partially collapsed building. Six children were among the dead, the emergency situations ministry said in a statement, and four people were still unaccounted for. Rescuers have been braving temperatures as low as minus 27 degrees Celsius (minus 16 degrees Fahrenheit) to search through mangled concrete and metal at the site in the Ural mountains city of Magnitogorsk. Six people including two children have been rescued at the site, but no survivors have been found since Tuesday, when a 10-month-old boy was found in what officials described as a “New Year’s miracle.” The explosion tore through the 10-story building in the industrial city nearly 1,700 kilometers (1,000 miles) east of Moscow in the early hours of Monday. The Soviet-era block was home to about 1,100 people and the explosion destroyed 35 apartments, leaving dozens homeless. The emergencies ministry said work was continuing at the site on Thursday, with nearly 900 people involved in rescue and recovery efforts. A bridge had been built to reach higher areas and one of the building’s walls was taken down as it was threatening to collapse on rescue workers. On Thursday residents of other parts of the building would be allowed to enter their apartments, in half-hour stretches, to recover some belongings, the ministry said. All the survivors were in a stable condition, said the office of Chelyabinsk regional governor Boris Dubrovsky, who visited several of them in hospital on Thursday. Dubrovsky’s office said he had also approved new financial assistance to the victims, including payments of 1 million rubles ($14,500, €12,700) to the families of those killed and 400,000 rubles for those injured. Families who lost their apartments would receive payments of up 500,000 rubles, as well as being provided with new homes. Financial assistance was also to be provided to help pay for funerals, the first six of which were to be held on Friday, the governor’s office said. The explosion, which officials have said was likely caused by a gas leak, happened as most of the building’s residents were asleep. Witnesses described a “wave of fire” and said the blast was strong enough to shatter windows in nearby buildings. Investigators have launched a probe, but have said there is no reason to suspect foul play. Gas explosions are relatively common in Russia, where much of the infrastructure dates back to the Soviet era and safety requirements are often ignored. Located in the mineral-rich southern Urals, Magnitogorsk, with a population of more than 400,000, is home to one of Russia’s largest steel producers.

gas
russia
building disaster
magnitogorsk


U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters seen quitting flash-point Syrian area near Manbij

Abstract: BEIRUT - A convoy of Syrian Kurdish fighters has pulled out of the flash-point area of Manbij in northern Syria, close to territory controlled by Turkey, Syria’s defense ministry said on Wednesday. Some 30 km (20 miles) from the Turkish border, the town occupies a critical spot on the map of the Syrian conflict, near the junction of three separate blocks of territory that form spheres of Russian, Turkish and — for now — U.S. influence. “According to information, approximately 400 Kurdish fighters have left Manbij so far,” the Syrian defense ministry said. Their departure was in line with an agreement “for the return of normal life to the area of northern Syria,” it said. The ministry showed online a video of dozens of vehicles traveling along an unmade road carrying armed fighters, some waving the flags of the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia and its female counterpart, the YPJ. The YPG is the strongest element in the Syrian Defense Forces (SDF), a coalition of militias that the United States has backed in its campaign against Islamic State, helping it capture swathes of north and east Syria. Fearing an attack by Turkey after a U.S. pull-out from Syria, the YPG asked Syrian government forces to deploy in the area around Manbij. There was no immediate comment from the YPG or the SDF on the withdrawal or on how many fighters might remain in Manbij. Turkey regards the YPG as a terrorist group tied to the PKK inside its own borders, and has staged incursions into Syria in support of Syrian rebels to push it from the Turkish frontier. As a result of one of those incursions, Turkish-backed forces have held an area bordering Manbij since 2016, and Ankara has repeatedly demanded that the YPG leave the area and cross to the east bank of the Euphrates. The YPG previously announced it had pulled its forces out of Manbij and has said fighters still in the area belonged to a local militia allied to the SDF. U.S. forces have underpinned stability in Manbij since Islamic State’s defeat there in 2016, and have conducted joint patrols with Turkish forces since November in an effort to allay Ankara’s security concerns.