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January
Japan quake toll rises to 62 as weather hampers rescuers
Written by nuke
Firefighters inspect collapsed wooden houses in the city of Wajima on Japan's Noto Peninsula, the area hardest hit by the New Year's Day earthquake (Photo: AFP/Kazuhiro NOGI) -
Voinews, Jakarta, WAJIMA: Japanese rescuers scrambled to search for survivors on Wednesday (Jan 3) as authorities warned of landslides and heavy rain after a powerful earthquake that killed at least 62 people.
The 7.5-magnitude quake on Jan 1 that rattled Ishikawa prefecture on the main island of Honshu triggered tsunami waves more than a metre high, sparked a major fire and tore apart roads.
The Noto Peninsula of the prefecture was most severely hit, with several hundred buildings ravaged by fire and houses flattened in several towns, including Wajima and Suzu, as shown by before-and-after satellite images released on Wednesday.
The regional government announced on Wednesday that 62 people had been confirmed dead and more than 300 injured, 20 of them seriously.
The toll was expected to climb as rescuers battle aftershocks and poor weather to comb through rubble.
More than 31,800 people were in shelters, the government said.
"More than 40 hours have passed since the disaster. We have received a lot of information about people in need of rescue and there are people waiting for help," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday after an emergency task force meeting.
The number of military personnel sent to the area on rescue missions has been doubled, with more rescue dogs also deployed, he added.
The operation was given extra urgency as the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued a heavy rain warning in the region, advising people to be on alert for landslides until Wednesday evening.
There were "almost no houses standing" in one town in the Suzu area, said municipal mayor Masuhiro Izumiya.
"About 90 per cent of the houses (in that town) are completely or almost completely destroyed ... The situation is really catastrophic," he said, according to broadcaster TBS//CNA-VOI
December
Saudi Asks the World to Cease Military Operations in Gaza
Written by Rama Shidqi P.
VOINews.id, Jakarta: Saudi Arabia calls on the international community to assume responsibility for immediately stopping Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip, rejecting collective punishment methods targeting civilians in the Gaza Strip, Palestine and attempting to evict its residents forcibly.
December
California approves rules for converting sewage waste to drinking water
Written by nuke
A landscaper drinks water in temperatures that have reached well above triple digits in Palm Springs, California, US, July 20, 2022. (File photo: Reuters/David Swanson) -
LOS ANGELES: California regulators on Tuesday (Dec 19) cleared the way for widespread use of advanced filtration and treatment facilities designed to convert sewage waste into pure drinking water that can be pumped directly into systems feeding millions of household taps.
Proven technologies capable of recycling wastewater for human consumption, a concept once derided by critics as "toilet to tap", have gained greater credence in recent years as water-conscious California faces worsening drought cycles from climate change.
More than a decade in the making, the regulations adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board represent a landmark in the quest to reclaim some of the hundreds of millions of gallons of waste discharge that flows out to sea unused each year, supporters say.
"Today heralds a new era of water reuse," Patricia Sinicropi, executive director of the recycling trade group WateReuse California, said in a statement.
A number of communities have for years been blending highly purified wastewater into aquifers and reservoirs before people can drink it, a practice known in the parlance of engineers and resource managers as "indirect potable reuse".
In the sprawling Orange County suburbs south of Los Angeles, home to Disneyland and upscale beach towns, much of the drinking supply for 2.5 million people comes from highly distilled waste that is used to recharge the groundwater basin and eventually is drawn back to the surface.
The 69-page document approved on Tuesday provides a legal and regulatory framework for "direct potable reuse", allowing the end-product of advanced purification to be fed straight into drinking water systems, without first making a stop in some kind of environmental buffer.
The foundation of the technology, used for more than a decade in Orange County, puts pre-treated waste discharge through intense microfiltration, reverse osmosis and disinfection by ultraviolet light and hydrogen peroxide.
The new regulations mandate an additional ozone disinfectant process and biological carbon filtration. Greater pathogen removal and stricter monitoring is also required.
Darrin Polhemus, deputy director of the state board's drinking water division, said it would likely take at least five years before the first direct potable reuse plant is operating.
Los Angeles and San Diego also have plans to develop direct potable recycling, as does the Santa Clara Valley Water District in the San Francisco Bay area.
Texas is the only US state to have previously approved direct potable recycling, with two small-scale systems that went online in 2014 to serve towns stricken by a drought-caused water emergency. Colorado also has developed relatively limited guidelines for such projects.
The technology for purifying wastewater is similar to that used in desalination, the seemingly more palatable process of converting salt water to fresh//CNA-VOI
December
Paris 2024 has contingency plans for opening ceremony
Written by nuke
Members of the Paris police bomb squad intervene on the Champs Elysees avenue near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris as the bomb-disposal team gear up for heightened security operations for Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, France, December 4, 2023. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo -
PARIS: Paris 2024 organisers admitted that there were contingency plans for the Olympics opening ceremony on Thursday (Dec 21) after French President Emmanuel Macron revealed the event could be moved from the River Seine in case of a major security alert.
"Given we're professionals, there obviously is a Plan B, Plan C et cetera," Macron said on Wednesday when asked if heightened security across Europe over tensions in the Middle East could thwart plans to hold the ceremony as planned.
France raised its security threshold in October when a man with a knife killed a teacher in a school in northern France.
Earlier this month, however, the sports minister and Paris 2024 organisers ruled out a change of plans after a man armed with a knife and hammer killed a German tourist and left two people wounded near the Eiffel Tower.
"There is no single fallback plan, but rather a variety of adaptation measures - what we call in our jargon contingency plans - which are not intended to be public in any other way," Paris 2024 said in a statement to Reuters.
"We have contingency plans for all identified risk scenarios: heatwaves, cyber attacks, and the ceremony is no exception."
France expects up to 600,000 visitors when 160 boats are due to set off on Jul 26 from the Pont d'Austerlitz in central Paris for a 6km journey to the Pont d'Iena.
"The President referred to these adjustment variables by taking an extreme scenario: a series of attacks, for example, but above all he reaffirmed his confidence in the collective ability of those involved to organise the ceremony as announced, emphasising that the event would take place with the highest standards of security and support," the statement said//CNA-VOI
December
Polish president denounces Tusk's state media overhaul as 'anarchy'
Written by nuke
Police stand outside the television building as protesters and Law and Justice politicians gather inside the headquarters after the management of Polish public television, radio and news agency PAP have been dismissed by new culture minister in Warsaw, Poland, on Dec 20, 2023. (Photo: Dawid Zuchowicz/Agencja Wyborcza.pl via REUTERS) -
WARSAW: The new Polish government led by Donald Tusk is implementing reforms of state media that amount to "anarchy", the president said on Thursday, amid rising tensions between the head of state and a new pro-European Union administration.
The swearing-in of a government led former European Council President Tusk this month marked the beginning of a period of cohabitation with President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the previous nationalist administration. It has seen a turbulent first few days.
On Wednesday, the new government took a public news channel off the air and dismissed executives from state media in a move its said was designed to restore impartiality.
State media, and in particular news channel TVP Info, were accused of having become outlets for propaganda under the rule of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party.
Duda told private broadcaster Radio Zet that the sudden way the changes had been implemented broke the constitution as they skipped the appropriate parliamentary procedures.
"These are completely illegal actions," he said. "This is anarchy."
Meanwhile Former Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski and his deputy from PiS were sentenced on Wednesday to two years in prison for abuse of power in previous posts. In 2015, weeks after PiS came to power, Duda issued them with a pardon.
"I told them that if they were put in prison, they would be the first political prisoners in Poland since 1989," Duda said, referring to the year when communist rule ended.
Responding to an appeal on Wednesday from Duda to respect the law when implementing media reforms, Tusk said the actions were aimed at "restoring legal order and common decency in public life".
The new government considers Duda himself to have been involved in multiple violations of the constitution during PiS's eight years in power//CNA-VOI
December
Court rules UEFA, FIFA breached EU Law over Super League
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO: A metal figure of a football player with a ball is seen in front of the words "European Super League" and the UEFA logo in this illustration taken April 20, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo -
BRUSSELS: Soccer bodies UEFA and FIFA contravened EU law when they prevented the formation of the European Super League (ESL), the European Court of Justice said on Thursday (Dec 21).
The EU's top court ruled that FIFA and UEFA abused their dominant position by forbidding clubs outright to compete in a ESL, but added that the competition may still not be approved.
Sports development company A22, formed to assist in the creation of the ESL, had claimed UEFA and global soccer governing body FIFA held a monopoly position which was in breach of the EU's Competition and Free Movement Law.
"We have won the right to compete. The UEFA-monopoly is over. Football is free," said A22 CEO Bernd Reichart.
"Clubs are now free from the threat of sanction and free to determine their own futures," Reichard added in a statement//CNA-VOI
December
Japan's new industry minister pledges chip sector support
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO: Japan’s incoming Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ken Saito arrives at Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official residence in Tokyo, Japan December 14, 2023. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo -
TOKYO : Japan's new industry minister on Wednesday pledged to continue supporting efforts to revitalise the country's chip manufacturing base, which have included subsidies for Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC and foundry venture Rapidus.
"The speed of policymaking and execution, which could be called the world's fastest, has led to concrete results beginning with the decision on the location for TSMC," industry minister Ken Saito told reporters.
"It is my job to continue and expand upon the sense of speed that former minister Nishimura has built up," Saito said, referring to his predecessor Yasutoshi Nishimura.
Japanese premier Fumio Kishida last week appointed Saito to lead the powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) after purging his cabinet to contain the damage from a financial scandal.
The government's efforts to regain Japan's faded chip glory include financial support for Rapidus, which is led by chip industry veterans and aims to mass manufacture 2-nanometre logic chips.
TSMC, the world's leading contract chipmaker, views the Japanese government as easy to deal with and generous with subsidies and is considering further expansion in Japan beyond its first fab, Reuters has reported.
"Ongoing support for Rapidus will be necessary. Discussions with TSMC regarding next projects are also ongoing," Saito said.
"We will not blindly continue our support but strictly manage progress and the necessity of backing," he added//CNA-VOI
December
President Tharman congratulates Egypt’s Sisi on re-election
Written by nuke
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a meeting at the Ittihadia presidential palace in Cairo on Nov 15, 2023. (File photo: AFP/Khaled Desouki) -
SINGAPORE: Singapore’s President Tharman Shanmugaratnam has written to Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to congratulate him on his re-election as president, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said on Wednesday (Dec 20).
Mr Sisi took 89.6 per cent of the vote during Egypt’s Dec 10 to Dec 12 presidential election to win a third term in office.
“Please accept my congratulations on your re-election as president of the Arab Republic of Egypt,” Mr Tharman said in his letter.
“The strong mandate that you received is especially important in the midst of the conflicts in the region and the key role that Egypt plays in both coordinating humanitarian aid into Gaza and in the pursuit of peace.”
Mr Tharman noted that Singapore and Egypt enjoy a “warm and long-standing partnership” that is “underpinned by strong political, economic and people-to-people ties”.
He added that cooperation between the two countries continues to deepen and has expanded into areas like capacity building, civil aviation and tourism.
“I look forward to continuing to work with you to further enhance bilateral ties,” said Mr Tharman//CNA-VOI
December
Holiday travel peaks in Europe despite security warnings
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO: People stroll past Christmas lights and decorations at the outdoor Christmas market at Humboldt Forum in central Berlin, Germany, on Dec 11, 2023. (Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner) -
LONDON/MUNICH: Travel within Europe in the busy holiday season is exceeding 2022 levels, despite security warnings from authorities around Europe as consumers remain determined to enjoy holidays, prolonging the post-pandemic travel boom.
Christmas markets and popular tourist sites in cities such as Munich and Paris have been bustling lately, albeit with strong security presences, as holiday travel within the European Union and including Britain was set to climb 22 per cent above 2022 levels, according to travel data firm ForwardKeys.
The spike has been driven by continued post-pandemic demand, executives and analysts said, with some people only travelling to see their families for Christmas this year for the first time since the pandemic.
But security warnings remain in the back of tourists' minds. In late November, European security officials warned of a growing risk of attacks tied to the Israel-Hamas war, with the biggest threat from potential "lone wolf" assailants.
Two militant attacks in France and Belgium in October killed three people, and these two countries, Austria, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina have raised their terrorism threat alert levels. Italy has reimposed border controls with Slovenia, citing the risk of militants entering the country.
There was a slight spike in ticket cancellations over the Christmas period between Dec 21 and 31, ForwardKeys said, from 2.4 per cent to 3 per cent since Nov 24.
"Although this number is small, this could be an impact of the terrorism warning sent throughout Europe since the start of the recent conflict in Israel," said Juan Gomez, an analyst at ForwardKeys.
But tourists continued to swarm popular destinations, displaying an increased trust in the security apparatus in place across European hubs.
"I feel very safe and very conscious of the state of the world. And it's certainly something I think about every day, both conflicts in Europe, conflicts in the Middle East," said Gwen Fitzgerald, who visited a Christmas market in Munich this week from Boston.
"But I also really am desperate for joy at the same time."
Christmas arrivals to places such as Italy, Austria and Sweden have also grown by 25 per cent or more year-on-year.
Tourists said that, with the rise in warnings in recent years and the reinforced security around Europe tied to them, there was more of a sense of calm and they felt comfortable not calling off their travel plans.
"When we are here and we stay just one day in the downtown, we see a lot of police and security, we feel safe," said Danny Sanchez, a tourist from Villareal, Spain, visiting the Munich market//CNA-VOI
December
UN vote on Gaza delayed another day amid talks to avoid US veto
Written by nuke
Egypt's current Permanent Representative of Egypt to the UN Osama Abdekhalek, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia, Palestinian UN envoy Riyad H. Mansour, and Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun interact on the day of a meeting of Members of the United Nations Security Council for voting on a proposal to demand that Israel and Hamas allow aid access to the Gaza Strip at UN headquarters in New York on Dec 19, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton) --
UNITED NATIONS: A United Nations Security Council vote on a bid to boost aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip has been delayed by another day as talks continue to try and avoid a third US veto of action over the two-month long Israel-Hamas war, diplomats said on Tuesday (Dec 19).
The 15-member council was initially going to vote on a resolution - drafted by the United Arab Emirates - on Monday. But it has repeatedly been delayed as diplomats say the UAE and the US struggle to agree on language citing a cessation of hostilities and a proposal to set up UN aid monitoring.
When asked if they were getting close to an agreement, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters on Tuesday: "We're trying, we really are."
The draft resolution would demand Israel and Hamas allow and facilitate land, sea and air deliveries of aid to and throughout the Gaza Strip and ask the United Nations to monitor humanitarian assistance arriving in the Palestinian enclave.
Diplomats said the United States wants to tone done language that "calls for the urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and for urgent steps towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities."
The United States and Israel oppose a ceasefire because they believe it would only benefit Hamas. Washington instead supports pauses in fighting to protect civilians and allow the release of hostages taken by Hamas.
Washington traditionally shields its ally Israel from any Security Council action. It had already twice vetoed Security Council action since an Oct 7 attack by Hamas that Israel says killed 1,200 people and saw 240 people taken hostage.
Israel has retaliated against Hamas by bombarding Gaza from the air, imposing a siege and launching a ground offensive. Nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza health officials. U.N. officials warn of a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza with the majority of the coastal Palestinian enclave's 2.3 million people driven from their homes.
Diplomats said that Washington is also unhappy with a proposal in the UAE draft resolution that asks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish a monitoring mechanism in Gaza "to exclusively monitor all humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza provided through land, sea and air routes of those states that are not parties to the conflict."
Limited humanitarian aid and fuel deliveries have crossed into Gaza via the Rafah crossing from Egypt, subjected to monitoring by Israel, but UN officials and aid workers say it comes nowhere near to satisfying the most basic needs of Gazans.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday that on Sunday 102 aid trucks and four tankers of fuel had entered Gaza via the Rafah and 79 trucks entered Gaza via Kerem Shalom.
"This is well below the daily average of 500 truckloads (including fuel and private sector goods) that entered every working day prior to 7 October," it said in a statement.
Earlier this month the 193-member UN General Assembly demanded a humanitarian ceasefire, with 153 states voting in favour of the move that had been vetoed by the United States in the Security Council days earlier.
A seven-day pause - during which Hamas released some hostages, some Palestinians were freed from Israeli jails and there was an increase in aid to Gaza - had ended on Dec 1//CNA-VOI