Australian is 20th fatality in New Zealand volcano eruption

The Associated Press Published Monday, January 13, 2020

In this Monday, Dec. 9, 2019, file photo provided by Lillani Hopkins,
shows the eruption of the volcano on White Island off the coast of
Whakatane, New Zealand. (Lillani Hopkins via AP)


WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND -- An Australian man who was injured in a volcanic eruption in New Zealand more than a month ago has died, becoming the 20th victim of the disaster, officials said Monday.

Paul Browitt and his two daughters were caught in the Dec. 9 eruption on White Island. The body of Krystal Browitt, 21, was among six recovered from the island in the days after the eruption.

Paul Browitt and his daughter Stephanie Browitt, 23, survived the eruption and were transferred to Alfred Hospital in their hometown of Melbourne three days after the disaster.


Maria Browitt, the wife and mother of the victims, had remained on a ship while her family took a day trip to the island.A police statement confirmed Paul Browitt died on Sunday night as a result of injuries from the eruption. A hospital statement said he had been critically ill.

Of 23 victims who remain in hospitals in New Zealand and Australia, at least five are listed as in critical condition, health authorities said. Authorities won't comment on the conditions of two victims in Sydney at the request of relatives.

Alfred Hospital said it was continuing to give specialized burn care to two volcano victims transferred there. They are Stephanie Browitt and Lisa Dallow, 48, of Adelaide.

The hospital said one of the patients was in critical condition and the other was in stable condition. The hospital would not say which of the women was critical.

Dallow's husband Gavin Dallow, 53, and daughter Zoe Hosking, 25, were killed on the island.

White Island, also known by its Maori name, Whakaari, is the tip of an undersea volcano about 50 kilometres (30 miles) off New Zealand's North Island and was a popular tourist destination before the eruption. Many of those killed and injured were from the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Ovation of the Seas.

Many people have questioned why tourists were still allowed on the island after New Zealand's GeoNet seismic monitoring agency raised the volcano's alert level on Nov. 18 from 1 to 2 on a scale where 5 represents a major eruption, noting an increase in sulfur dioxide gas, which originates from magma.

New Zealand authorities are investigating the circumstances around the disaster.

The volcano remains at an alert level of 2, indicating moderate to heightened unrest.

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Major companies pledge not to ship along controversial Arctic routes

Environmental groups are applauding international shippers and shipping companies that have voluntarily promised to stay away from controversial Arctic routes.

Bob Weber The Canadian Press Published Sunday, January 12, 2020

Ice floats past a cargo ship and the hamlet of Pond Inlet Sunday

 August 24, 2014. (Adrian Wyld/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Environmental groups are applauding international shippers and shipping companies that have voluntarily promised to stay away from controversial Arctic routes.

"We were really excited to get this pledge together," said Dan Hubbell of the Ocean Conservancy, which is co-ordinating the campaign.

So far, 21 companies that either ship goods internationally or carry those goods have signed.

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That means signatories that produce consumer goods -- including Nike, Puma, Columbia and Ralph Lauren -- will ensure their products aren't shipped along routes that go through Arctic waters.

Shippers, which include global giants such as Kuehne + Nagel and Hapag-Lloyd, won't send their own vessels along those lanes or arrange for others to ply them.

Hubbell said the signatories control about one-third of the shipping industry by market share.

That's 1,366 ships and three of the top five shipping companies in the world.

That's worth celebrating, Hubbell said.

"The Arctic is both unique and uniquely vulnerable. We're still a long ways away from having any support infrastructure or rapid response if we have a spill."

The impact of shipping on Arctic ecosystems, animals such as beluga whales, narwhal and walrus, as well as Indigenous communities is largely unknown. Ice and periods of 24-hour darkness add to the hazards of northern seas.

Arctic shipping remains in its infancy, but it has been growing at a rate of about six per cent a year, said Greg Fiske, a researcher at the Woods Hole oceanographic institution in Massachusetts.

"Ships are increasing," he said. "Mostly, it's the Russians."

Just over half of all vessels in the Arctic are Russian, Fiske found. They are traversing the Northern Sea Route that Russia has been developing over recent years along its northern coast.

Fiske counted about 3,100 commercial vessels in Arctic waters in 2016, the vast majority on the Northern Sea Route. About half are cargo vessels of some type: from oil tankers to bulk shippers. The rest are for passengers, supplies or fishing.

"We also found that smaller ships are increasing faster than larger ships," Fiske said. "It's the smaller ships that are a big worry for policy-makers because they have a greater risk."

He expects it will be hard to persuade shippers to stay away from the Arctic as climate change shrinks the ice cover that has kept it in frozen isolation.

"You're opening up a brand new ocean and it's going to be pretty difficult to keep folks from using it."

Hubbell said the no-use promise can make a difference -- especially since it's part of a larger campaign against other environmental threats to the area such as heavy fuel oil, a big source of greenhouse gases as well as black carbon.

"I think it's important for us to send a signal," he said.

"It's exciting to see the narrative shift. Changes in the Arctic aren't some magical economic opportunity here -- it's evidence of a real tragedy.

"We hope other companies will sign on."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 12, 2020

ALL THINGS MELT INTO AIR
Things Engraved fires retail employees at stores across Canada
RETAIL ARMAGEDDON

Graham SlaughterCTVNews.ca Saturday, January 11, 2020 


A Things Engraved location is seen here. The company's CEO sent employees a letter on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2020 informing them that they were fired immediately, citing financial difficulties. (Source: Facebook, Things Engraved)

TORONTO -- A Canadian retailer that specializes in engraved gifts suddenly fired all of its store associates and most head office employees on Thursday, giving them less than 24 hours' notice and leaving customers with newly-engraved items in the lurch.

“I engraved an engagement ring last night. There’s a memorial plate for someone’s funeral,” said Syndey Bloom, 20, a manager at an Ottawa location who was terminated Thursday night.

“Some people were able to come by, some didn’t. Whatever was left there, I’m not too sure what’s going to happen to it.”

According to its website, Things Engraved has 73 locations at malls across Canada. It’s unclear how many employees were fired.

In letters sent to store associates and head office employees obtained by CTVNews.ca, CEO Shawn Brock wrote that they were being terminated immediately “as a result of financial difficulties over the last few years.”

He added that the company will work to “potentially re-organize and/or invigorate the business with new capital.” Brock thanked employees for their hard work and said he wished them well, adding that they would be paid severance.

The company’s next steps – including what will happen to leftover items -- remain unclear. Things Engraved has not replied to CTVNews.ca’s request for comment, and calls to head office went straight to voicemail.

CTVNews.ca called more than 20 Things Engraved stores in B.C., Alberta and Ontario. None of those calls were answered.

An employee who worked at the company’s head office in Kitchener, Ont. said there had been discussions for a few weeks about the possibility of closing 20 stores, but nothing about shutting down completely.

“That’s the only thing we had heard so far. That was literally all we were told. And then all of a sudden we were all gone,” said the employee, who withheld their name due to concerns about receiving their severance pay.

The employee said almost all head office employees were terminated on Thursday, but that a select few will stay on as the company takes its next steps.

“It really makes me feel like they don’t care about us. If they knew this was coming, they could’ve given us time to plan our next move. It was just, OK, you’re terminated.”

Bloom, who spent Friday handing out resumes, echoed that frustration.

“How much did they really care about us?” she said.

“Generally you think retail companies don’t care about their employees, but this made it hit home for us all that we give our all for this work, we give 110 per cent, and get nothing at the end.”

Nicholas Moreau worked at an Ottawa location for six months and said he and his co-workers were caught off guard.

“Thankfully Things Engraved was not my main source of income; however, there are many people company-wide of which that is not the case,” he said.

As for customers, Bloom raised concerns about items that had yet to be picked up from stores.

“People were able to come in and place orders to engrave things up until last night,” she said.

When she visited the store on Friday to help pack things up, many of those items – including an engagement ring and a memorial plate for a funeral – were still there.

“It’s just sitting in the store, waiting for whoever from head office to pick it up and try to contact that customer,” she said.

“If they’re not answering their phone, there’s not much more I can do.”

Katie Cameron, a student at Algonquin College in Ottawa, worked at Things Engraved as a seasonal employee. She said it’s not clear to her if she’ll be entitled to severance pay.

“I hope so, because I was given no notice and I don’t make a lot,” Cameron said.

Things Engraved opened in 1982 in a handful of malls and offered personalized engraving. Over the next three decades, the company expanded to more than 70 locations from coast to coast.

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‘Every day I was praying’: Detroit dad deported after 30 years returns home to US

Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press,USA TODAY•January 10, 2020


‘Every day I was praying’: Detroit dad deported after 30 years returns home to USMore
Jorge Garcia, 41, shares a laugh with his wife Cindy Garcia,47, after a press conference was held with Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, to welcome the once deported Jorge Garcia back to the U.S. and his family at the Lincoln Park Library Friday, Jan. 10, 2020.

DETROIT – After almost two years in Mexico, Jorge Garcia – whose deportation in January 2018 became a national story after a Free Press report – is back home in Michigan.

Garcia, 41, arrived at Detroit Metro Airport last month on Christmas Day, hugged by his two children and wife shedding tears of joy, his family members said.

"I'm really happy" to be back, Garcia, of Lincoln Park in suburban Detroit, said Friday. "The last year was very stressful, it got to the point where my blood pressure was very high, I was getting anxiety attacks. ... I see it like a nightmare ... something like a bad dream."

Garcia was granted two waivers by U.S. immigration officials with the Department of Homeland Security, said his attorney Mayra Lorenzana-Miles. He is now a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., getting his official card this week, and is on a path to U.S. citizenship in a few years, she said.

"Welcome Home Jorge," read a large banner inside a room at the Lincoln Park public library on Friday afternoon, where supporters gathered to celebrate his homecoming.

The Free Press reported on Garcia's deportation on Jan. 15, 2018, capturing his emotional farewell at Detroit Metro Airport as tearful family members hugged him one last time before he was escorted through security by a federal immigration agent. After 30 years living in the U.S. with no criminal record, he was kicked out of the country.

The Free Press story was picked up my numerous media outlets, prompting a national debate over immigration enforcement in the Trump administration. The Free Press later went to Mexico to report on Garcia's struggles in an unfamiliar country.

Garcia was born in Mexico and was brought to the U.S. when he was 10 years old by an undocumented relative. He was too old to qualify for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, missing the age requirement by just one year. Since 2004, he and his family have been trying to obtain legal status, hiring attorneys and following the law.

Garcia was previously ordered removed from the U.S., but had gotten stays of removal. That changed after Donald Trump became president as authorities toughened immigration enforcement. In November 2017, Garcia was ordered to leave.

ICE officials have defended his deportation, saying that Garcia was "an unlawfully present citizen of Mexico" who "was ordered removed by an immigration judge in June 2006."

Garcia had no criminal record, worked as a landscaper, and paid his taxes, said advocates and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich.

"He never got a traffic ticket," Dingell said at the homecoming celebration Friday. "He worked hard. ... He had never done anything wrong."
 

Jorge Garcia, 41, left, listens as his wife Cindy Garcia, 47 sparks before a press conference was held with Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, to welcome once deported Jorge Garcia back to the U.S. and his family at the Lincoln Park Library Friday, Jan. 10, 2020.More

Garcia got an interview in February at an American consulate office in Mexico, but was denied, said his wife, Cindy Garcia. His waivers were then approved in September, said his attorney.

Cindy Garcia was hoping he would be home in time for Halloween or maybe Thanksgiving, but authorities kept on asking for paperwork such as medical history, she said.

"The whole two years, we had PTSD, anxiety, depression," Cindy said.

"It was anxious not knowing when he could come home, your hopes resting on the timeline of government officials," she said.

"We just didn't know when" he could come home, she said.

Finally, he was approved just a few days before Dec. 25.

Cindy then bought him a plane ticket.

"I was on my way to the airport" in Mexico City, Jorge said, recalling his trip back to the U.S. "But I was in denial. I was thinking it wasn't true."

Deported after 30 years in US: Father still stuck in Mexico without wife and kids

It wasn't until he got the necessary stamp after arriving in Detroit Metro Airport and seeing his family greet him that he finally did breathe a sigh of relief.

Cindy Garcia said she had told the children they were going to the airport to pick up an uncle because she wanted it to be a surprise and because she was still uncertain whether he would make it.

"I was surprised," said his son, Jorge Garcia Jr., 14, recalling the Christmas Day scene. "I started crying when I saw him."

Being without a father at home for two years "felt weird," he said. "It's been hard, not having a dad."

His daughter, Soleil, said: "When I first saw him, I was crying because I was happy."

Ripped apart by deportation: The Garcia family struggles to cope

Soleil had to celebrate her quinceañera (15th birthday), a rite of passage for many Mexican American teenage girls, without her father. There's a traditional father-daughter dance she had to do instead with a grandfather.

"It was just very sad knowing that he wasn't here with us during certain events," she said.

The Garcias thanked Dingell and the UAW Local 600, which Cindy is a member of and which was supportive of them.

Dingell said "there are too many families that are being torn apart."

Too old for DACA: Man who spent 30 years of his life in U.S. is deported

Pastor Jack Eggleston of Unity Lutheran Church in Southgate spoke at the homecoming at the library, introducing the Garcias.

"This has been a long ordeal," he said. "But the community has been aching with them."

Cindy said the two years without Jorge was emotionally tough for the family, with her and the two kids going through tough moments.

"My children have suffered," she said. "We screamed and yelled" at times, "but we got through this."

Meanwhile, Jorge was living with an aunt about an hour from Mexico City but didn't have any social connections that could help him establish a new life.

Now, Cindy said she intends to continue fighting for others who were in her situation.

Cindy told the Free Press: "I am going to fight more than ever now for these broken immigration laws to be fixed so that no other family has to endure what we did because I know the feeling and I don't want any other children separated from their families because it's a hardship on the kids, on the parents, the whole family in general."
 

Jorge Garcia, 41, prayed every day he lived his two year deported life in Mexico. He shows a pendant with the Lady of Guadalupe on one side and Jesus on the other. A press conference was held with Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, to welcome once deported Jorge Garcia back to the U.S. and his family at the Lincoln Park Library Friday, Jan. 10, 2020.More

While in Mexico, Jorge bought a chain and medallion with an image on the front of Jesus Christ and on back of Our Lady of Guadalupe, an iconic figure for many Mexican Catholics.

He said his faith gave him strength over the past two years.

"Basically, every day I was praying," Jorge told the Free Press. "I was praying for something to change. And it did."

Follow Niraj Warikoo on Twitter: @nwarikoo

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Deported in 2018, Jorge Garcia is back home after two years in Mexico

'I am livid': Maple Leaf Foods CEO spouts off against U.S. over Iran crash

Maple Leaf Foods CEO takes aim at U.S. government over plane crash in Iran

Alicja Siekierska,Yahoo Finance Canada•January 12, 2020
 

Michael McCain, the CEO of Maple Leaf Foods.

The chief executive of Maple Leaf Foods ($MFI.TO) took to Twitter on Sunday night to spout off against the United States government, in the wake of the Iranian missile strike of Ukrainian International Airlines flight 752 that killed 176 people, including the relatives of a Maple Leaf Foods employe.

In a series of tweets published on Sunday on the Maple Leaf Foods official Twitter account, CEO Michael McCain expressed anger over the deaths of those aboard Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752, saying “Canadians needlessly loss their lives in the crossfire.”

I’m Michael McCain, CEO of Maple Leaf Foods, and these are personal reflections. I am very angry, and time isn’t making me less angry. A MLF colleague of mine lost his wife and family this week to a needless, irresponsible series of events in Iran...

— Maple Leaf Foods (@MapleLeafFoods) January 13, 2020

…U.S. government leaders unconstrained by checks/balances, concocted an ill-conceived plan to divert focus from political woes. The world knows Iran is a dangerous state, but the world found a path to contain it; not perfect but by most accounts it was the right direction…

— Maple Leaf Foods (@MapleLeafFoods) January 13, 2020

..A narcissist in Washington tears world accomplishments apart; destabilizes region. US now unwelcomed everywhere in the area including Iraq; tensions escalated to feverish pitch. Taking out despicable military leader terrorist? There are a hundred like him, standing next in line

— Maple Leaf Foods (@MapleLeafFoods) January 13, 2020

…The collateral damage of this irresponsible, dangerous, ill-conceived behavior? 63 Canadians needlessly lost their lives in the crossfire, including the family of one of my MLF colleagues (his wife + 11 year old son)! We are mourning and I am livid. Michael McCain.

— Maple Leaf Foods (@MapleLeafFoods) January 13, 2020

Janey Riley, the vice president of communications and public affairs at Maple Leaf Foods, confirmed the authenticity of the tweets on Sunday. In response to an interview request from Yahoo Finance Canada, Riley said that McCain “would prefer to let the messages in his tweets speak for themselves.”

“He felt the tragedy warranted his response,” Riley wrote in an email. She would not confirm the identities of the victims related to a Maple Leaf Foods employee, citing the family’s need for privacy.

An Iranian missile shot down the Ukrainian airline flight last Wednesday and killed all 176 people on board, including 57 Canadians. It was initially thought that 63 Canadians were killed on the flight, but Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne updated that number on Friday. Of the 176 victims, 138 were headed to Canada.

Iran admitted late Friday that its military “unintentionally” shot the plane down, and blamed “human error” for the strike.

McCain has been CEO of Maple Leaf Foods since 1999. The company is worth approximately $3.13 billion, based on market capitalization. It company is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario and operates in Canada, the United States and Asia, employing approximately 12,500 people.

With a file from the Canadian Press

                                                                                                    

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Australian Bushfires and Heat Are Killing Flying Foxes by the Thousands

2020 THE YEAR CLIMATE CHANGE WAS IN OUR FACE

Australian Bushfires and Heat Are Killing Flying Foxes by the Thousands

David Axe,The Daily Beast•January 11, 2020
Fly By Night Bat Clinic

Bushfires fueled by climate change that are raging across eastern Australia have burned millions of acres, destroyed thousands of buildings, and killed 25 people.

But there are other victims: Australia’s endangered flying foxes. These furry, doe-eyed, puppy-size migratory bats have died by the thousands in the fires and in the months of extreme heat that preceded the blazes.

While the bushfires have affected billions of animals and killed potentially millions of them, the flying foxes are uniquely vulnerable. Above a certain temperature, they can simply drop dead from the trees where they roost. Stressed adult bats that survive the heat often abandon their pups —a death sentence for the helpless babies. Fires have destroyed millions of the trees the fruit-eating bats rely on.

Despite desperate rescue efforts, as many as a fifth of Australia’s flying foxes have died in just a few months. And with the southern continent’s hot, dry summer in full flow and bushfires likely to continue, many more bats could perish.

Owing to runaway global warming, this season’s extraordinary temperatures and fires could become the new normal. In that case, flying foxes are almost certainly doomed to extinction.

“They’re the canaries in the coal mine for climate change,” Evan Quartermain, head of programs for the Washington, D.C.-based Humane Society International, told The Daily Beast.

Australia’s wildlife rescuers are panicking, but the country’s climate change-denying national leaders definitely aren’t. “This ecological nightmare should be sounding very loud alarm bells in the halls of parliament, but it’s not,” Lou Bonomi, a rescuer with the Fly By Night Bat Clinic in Melbourne, told The Daily Beast.

Fly By Night Bat Clinic volunteers—who are trained and vaccinated—are caring for flying foxes suffering heat stress.

Seven species of flying fox call Australia home. Three are classified as “vulnerable” or “endangered” by Australia’s Ministry of the Environment. Prior to the heat and fires, hunting and deforestation were the biggest threats. Two species, the gray-headed flying fox and the spectacled flying fox, live in large numbers in the eastern bushfire zone and have suffered the most in recent months.

As recently as early 2019, there were around 700,000 gray-headed flying foxes and around 100,000 spectacled flying foxes in eastern Australia, according to government surveys. Then the temperatures rose and fires broke out. 2019 was the hottest and driest year on record in Australia, according to government statistics.

The annual bushfire season that began in late 2019 also has broken records. Nearly 26 million acres have burned so far. That’s seven million more acres than burned in the Amazon’s own catastrophic fires last year.

Flying foxes suffer potentially fatal heat stress at temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit. “We have about 30 of us who will prepare to head out if we see the forecast is going to be 40 degrees Celsius or higher,” Bonomi said. “You can imagine our dread when we had forecasts of 44 and 43 degrees both in two weeks.”

Rescuers try to cool down the bats by gently spraying them with water. It’s easier said than done. There are hundreds of flying-fox colonies. Some are nearly a mile across and number tens of thousands of bats roosting high in the trees.

“We walk up and down with firefighting backpacks filled with water and quietly try to cool them,” Bonomi said. “They are so stressed and so flighty that you really have to go easy doing this, despite what your instinct tells you to do. Go too close or move in too soon and the bats will take flight. This can kill them as they’re already so hot and exhausted. Sometimes it's just too late, you reach them and they will drop dead at your feet.”

“Some of the younger ones you can offer water for them to lap, cool them down and keep offering water,” Bonomi added, “but honestly, you spend half an hour with one little one and in the meantime 20 around you die.”

Fly By Night Bat Clinic

Bonomi said 20 percent of the flying foxes in the biggest nearby colony have died in recent months. Conservationists are still tallying up the countrywide bat death toll. It could be in the tens of thousands in a total population that was already in decline owing to hunting and habitat destruction.

Rescue groups and animal hospitals have taken in thousands of abandoned pups for rehabilitation. Humane Society International is helping to supply rehabilitators with food for the pups. Fly By Night Bat Clinic is experimenting with sprinklers that could help keep colonies cool. Both groups are raising money for rescuers and rehabilitators.

But all these measures are short-term fixes to a long-term problem. Barring a global green-energy revolution, atmospheric carbon is likely to increase and temperatures will spike even higher. If you think 2019 and 2020 have been bad for bats, try to imagine 2021. Or 2030, for that matter.

“Given that extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and intense under climate change, the long-term prospects of the species must be considered as of serious concern,” Justin Welbergen, associate professor of animal ecology at Western Sydney University and president of the Australasian Bat Society, told The Daily Beast.

Hundreds of fires are burning out of control, imperiling wildlife.
Sam Mooy/Getty

The federal government under Prime Minister Scott Morrison has reacted with a veritable shrug. The Department of the Environment declined to comment for this story.

“We have a conservative government of climate skeptics, who prioritize wealth, big business and non-renewable energy sources that are ruining us faster than we can fix,” Bonomi explained. “While our beautiful country burns, our prime minister holidays. While entire species literally collapse around us, the government is investing in coal-mining and logging our old growth forests.”

“If governments at all levels don’t do everything they can to make Australia’s nature more resilient to climate change, I don’t think flying foxes, and in turn us humans, will stand a chance,” Quartermain said.

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How the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow stretch of water where ships carry $1.2 billion of oil every day, is at the heart of spiraling tensions with Iran

ama@businessinsider.com (Alexandra Ma), Business Insider•January 12, 2020

strait of hormuz jan 2020 MarineTraffic.com


Recent tensions between Iran and the US are threatening the safety of the world's ships and movement oil in the Strait of Hormuz.


The narrow strait is the most important chokepoint for the world's oil supply. Some 21 million barrels — or $1.2 billion worth of oil — pass through the strait every day.


One way Iran could exact its revenge on the US and its allies is by shutting or harassing tankers in the strait, which would disrupt oil supply and send prices shooting up.

Tensions between the West and Iran bubbled to a historic height in recent days after the assassination of top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and Tehran bombed two Iraqi bases that housed US troops.

They have sparked fears of wider US-Iran attacks in the greater region, which could take place in and around the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow body of water linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, which feeds into Arabian Sea and the rest of the world.

strait of hormuz map Google Maps/Business Insider

While Iran's leaders claim to have "concluded" their revenge for Soleimani's death — and President Donald Trump appears to believe them — many regional experts and diplomatic sources say Iran could unleash other modes of attack, which include unleashing allied militias to disrupt the Middle East.

One strategy could include Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz, which would stop oil tanker traffic, disrupt global oil supply, and send prices shooting up.

Here's what you need to know about this valuable strait.
Why is the Strait of Hormuz important?

Though the strait is tiny — at its narrowest point it is just 33 km (21 miles) across — it's a geopolitically and financially crucial chokepoint.

It's the world's busiest shipping lane, chiefly because there are limited alternatives to bypass the strait. Most of the oil that passes through the strait come from Saudi Arabia, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported.

Some 21 million barrels of crude and refined oil pass through the strait every day, the EIA said, citing 2018 statistics.

That's about one-third of the world's sea-traded oil, or $1.2 billion worth of oil a day, at current oil prices.
strait of hormuz oil tanker.JPG

Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters
How important is the strait to the US and its allies?

The US and many of its allies have billion-dollar reasons to protect the Strait of Hormuz.

The majority of Saudi Arabia's crude exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, meaning much of the oil-dependent economy's wealth is situated there. Saudi state-backed oil tanker Bahri temporarily suspended its shipments through the strait after Iran's missile strikes in Iran, the Financial Times reported.

The UK Royal Navy has also sent vessels to escort British ships to protect them from potential attacks amid the heightened tensions, the Press Association reported.

It has good reason to worry: last July, Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized two British oil tankers sailing in the strait's international waters and, according to the UK, attempted to harass another British tanker.
 

trump rouhani iran 2x1 Michael Gruber/Getty Images; 

Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Business Insider

Last June Iran shot down a US drone flying near the strait, and a month later a US warship — USS Boxer — also shot down an Iranian drone in the same area.

Shortly after Iran's drone attack, President Donald Trump questioned the US' presence in the region, and called on China, Japan, and other countries to protect their own ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump noted that much of China and Japan's oil flow through the strait, and added: "So why are we protecting the shipping lanes for other countries (many years) for zero compensation."

While a large proportion — 76% — of oil flowing through the chokepoint does end up in Asian countries, the US still imports more than 30 million barrels of oil a month from countries in the Middle East, Business Insider has reported, citing the EIA.

That's about $1.7 billion worth of oil, and 10% of the US's total oil imports per month.
soleimani funeral mourners

Ebrahim Noroozi/AP
How do US-Iran tensions affect it?

Oil prices swung wildly as news broke of Iran's missile strikes on US targets and the subsequent relief that neither lives nor energy infrastructure were harmed.

Iranian leaders, who have also vowed retaliation for the death of Soleimani, have threatened to close down the strait multiple times in the past.

If Iran followed through with these threats, it would likely cause huge disruption to the global oil trade. As the strait is so narrow, any sort of interference in tanker traffic could decrease the world's oil supply, and send prices shooting up.

Global oil prices have proven vulnerable to tensions between Iran and the West before. After the Trump administration said in April 2019 it would stop providing sanctions waivers to countries who purchase Iranian oil, prices rose to their highest level since November the year before, Axios reported.

And because the US would be affected by global oil prices, regardless of the origin of the oil, Washington would still have an interest in protecting the Strait of Hormuz.

Kenneth Vincent, an economist at the Department of Energy, told a 2017 conference, cited by The Atlantic: "The origin of whatever molecules are consumed in the United States does not matter."

"What matters is that if there's a shooting war somewhere in the Middle East, those molecules will cost more and that will harm the American economy," he said.
oil tanker gulf of iran fire

AP Photo/ISNA
How likely is Iran to shut down the strait?

Iran is more likely to disrupt traffic in the Strait of Hormuz than to engage in an all-out conventional war with the US, which is much stronger militarily.

But doing so comes with high costs to Iran.

To close down the entire strait, Iran would have to place at least 1,000 mines with submarines and surface craft along the chokepoint, security researcher Caitlin Talmadge posited in a 2009 MIT study. Such an effort could take weeks, the study added.

Disrupting oil traffic on the strait would also result in oil importers around the world looking beyond the Middle East for their sources, and further reduce reliance on the region.

Iran's oil industry is already suffering after the US imposed sanctions designed to stop countries from importing Iranian oil earlier this year.

As Michael Knights, a Middle East expert at the Washington Institute think tank, told The Atlantic last May: "They'd be cutting their own throat if they close the strait."

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India blows up luxury high-rises over environmental violations

Abhaya SRIVASTAVA,AFP•January 11, 2020



1 / 3

India has seen a construction boom in recent years but developers have often ridden roughshod over safety and other regulations
India has seen a construction boom in recent years but developers have often ridden roughshod over safety and other regulations (AFP Photo/Arun SANKAR )

Two luxury waterfront high-rises in southern India were reduced to rubble in controlled explosions Saturday in a rare example of authorities getting tough on builders who break environmental rules.

The 19-floor H2O Holy Faith complex of 90 flats -- overlooking Kerala state's famous lush backwaters -- was the first to go down, collapsing in just a matter of few seconds.

A thick grey cloud of dust and debris cascaded down after officials detonated explosives drilled into the walls of the building, which had been occupied for several years until the Supreme Court ruled last May that it was constructed in violation of coastal regulations.

Minutes later, the twin towers of Alfa Serene tumbled down with an ear-splitting noise. The remaining two complexes will be razed on Sunday.

A crowd of onlookers who flocked to nearby terraces and roads watched the demolition, after officials in helicopters conducted aerial surveys.

India has seen a construction boom in recent years but developers have often ridden roughshod over safety and other regulations, with the connivance of local officials.

The inhabitants of the apartment blocks in the well-off Maradu district of Kochi city had bought their 343 flats in good faith and now face a lengthy legal fight to recoup their money. Some had invested their life savings.

Sirens went off on Saturday warning people gathered for the demolition to remain at a safe distance while ambulances and fire engines stood on standby.

Ahead of the work, nearby residents told AFP they were worried about the impact of the demolition on their homes.

"When they were demolishing the swimming pool, some of the houses in our neighbourhood developed cracks, we are really worried," said Divya, who has moved into temporary accommodation.

Over 2,000 residents living in the neighbourhood were evacuated as a part of safety measures.

- Scenic and fragile -

The demolition capped a saga that began in 2006 when a local governing body granted permission to private builders to erect the high-rises.

But last year, the Supreme Court ruled that the builders were in breach of rules about construction in an ecologically sensitive coastal zone, calling it a "colossal loss" to the environment.

"It's a high-tide area and hundreds of illegal structures have come up in the coastal zone," the court ruled as it ordered the buildings razed.

On Friday the court also ordered the demolition of a resort in neighbouring Alappuzha district after its owners lost the appeal of a 2013 ruling that said the structure violated environmental regulations and must be demolished.

Kerala is famed for its brackish lagoons and lakes that run parallel to the Arabian Sea -- creating an environmentally fragile region.

In 2018, the state was battered by its worst floods in almost a century that killed more than 400 people.

Experts blamed the disaster on the government's eagerness to build houses, hotels and resorts with little regard for coastal planning regulations.

The residents of the Maradu apartments initially refused to vacate but moved out after local authorities cut water and power supplies.

They have been given interim partial compensation by the state government while the builders are in the process of providing a refund.

Shamshudeen Karunagapally, who bought a flat for $145,000, said his wife and children did not watch the buildings go down as it was "too painful for them to see their dreams shatter before their eyes".

"We are suffering without any fault," he told AFP.

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Republican senator backs Bernie Sanders’ plan to cut off Trump's funding for military action in Iran

Andrew Feinberg, The Independent•January 11, 2020
 

Mike Lee and Rand Paul, both Republicans, expressed concern with briefings from Trump administration: REUTERS

One of America’s most conservative senators has teamed up with the Senate’s only socialist to try to limit Donald Trump‘s ability to send US forces to war in the Middle East.

Utah Republican Mike Lee said he would co-sponsor Bernie Sanders‘ No War With Iran Act, which would prevent federal funds being used for military action against Iran without Congress’s express approval.

In a joint statement to The Independent, Mr Lee and Mr Sanders – a political independent who calls himself a democratic socialist and is running for the Democratic party’s presidential nomination – said that while they disagree on many issues, “standing up for the Constitution is not about partisanship”.

“The Founding Fathers were absolutely clear. They wanted to ensure that our country avoided needless conflict and they understood that presidential war-making would be harmful to our democracy,” they said.

“That is why Article I of the Constitution vests Congress—and only Congress—with the power to declare war and to direct government spending. The American people’s elected representatives have a duty to publicly debate and vote on military action before we send our brave service members into harm’s way or spend a penny on military hostilities.”

While it might appear unusual for a self-proclaimed socialist such as Mr Sanders to find common cause with a Republican who came to the Senate in the 2010 Tea Party wave, this senatorial odd couple has worked together to stop a US war in the Middle East before.

Last year, Mr Lee signed on to a Sanders-authoured bill to force an end to US involvement in Saudi Arabia’s war against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen. That effort passed both the House and Senate, but was vetoed by Mr Trump. An override attempt did not garner the two-thirds majority to force the bill into law over the president’s objections.

Opposition to American intervention in foreign wars has long been a pet cause for the Utah Republican, who on Wednesday erupted in anger after Trump administration officials failed to explain the nature of the “imminent threat” Mr Trump cited to justify his decision to kill Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Maj Gen Qassem Soleimani with a drone strike.

Speaking to reporters immediately after the briefing’s conclusion, Mr Lee called it "insulting”, "demeaning" and "the worst briefing I’ve seen, at least on a military issue” during his Senate tenure.

Mr Lee is not the only high-profile Republican to break with the president over the possibility of military action against Iran.

When the House passed a resolution declaring that Mr Trump did not have congressional approval to conduct any new military actions against Iran, one of the 3 Republicans voting for the legislation was Florida Representative Matt Gaetz.

Mr Gaetz has long been one of Mr Trump’s staunchest defenders, but on Thursday told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson that the Democrat-backed bill was worthy of support because it said Mr Trump – or any president – needs congressional approval ”to drag our nation into another forever Middle East war”.

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Canada PM Trudeau: Iran plane families will get answers

Associated Press•January 12, 2020

Iran must be held accountable for shooting down plane -Canada's Trudeau

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday it's been gut-wrenching to listen to stories from relatives of 57 Canadians who perished in the downing of a Ukrainian jetliner in Iran last week as he attended one of several memorials across the country.

Speaking at a memorial with a capacity crowd of 2,300 in Edmonton, Alberta, Trudeau said he has learned many of the victims came to Canada in search of new opportunities for their families, but those families are now consumed by grief and outrage.

The plane was shot down by an Iranian missile moments after taking off from Tehran on Wednesday. All 176 on board were killed, including 138 who were headed for Canada.

Iran has admitted the plane was mistaken for a hostile target amid soaring tensions with the United States.

Trudeau called it a Canadian tragedy.

“This tragedy should never have occurred," he said. “We will not rest until there are answers. We will not rest until there is justice and accountability.”

Other memorials were held Sunday across the country.

At the Vancouver Art Gallery, National Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan also called the crash a national tragedy. At the University of Toronto, many cried throughout the ceremony as speakers listed victims, including a one-year-old. People broke out in raucous applause several times when various speakers and politicians said Iran would be held accountable.

Fati Mortazavi, whose best friend died in the crash, said having a community come together helped her cope with the tragedy.

"It's so comforting for us," said Mortazavi. "As long as we know that someone cares for these people, that's so important for us."

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland attended the vigil in Toronto and said the loss goes well beyond the university.

"This is Toronto's loss, this is Ontario's loss and this is Canada's loss," an emotional Freeland told the vigil. “Nothing will ever replace these brilliant lives that have been cut short. We will always ... bear these scars.”

Three members of Canada's standing rapid deployment team arrived Saturday in Iran to establish a base of operations for the Canadian government in the wake of the crash.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Sunday that Iran has approved visas for six more members of the team, who are currently in Ankara, Turkey, as well as for two experts from the Transportation Safety Board.

The eight are to travel to Iran on Monday, Champagne said in a series of tweets.

A spokesman for Champagne said the officials "will be there to provide consular assistance to the families of the victims, including supporting repatriation of remains, to help identify victims and to assist in the investigation."

Canada's Transportation Board said Sunday it also plans to deploy a second team of investigators who specialize in aircraft recorder download and analysis.

Maple Leafs Foods chief executive Michael McCain, meanwhile, blamed U.S. President Donald Trump for the death of an employee's wife and family. McCain called Trump that “narcissist in Washington" and said the dead Canadians are collateral damage in a rare instance of a Canadian corporate leader making a strong political statement. He said he's still grappling with the death of his colleague's wife and 11-year-old son.

``We are mourning and I am livid,'' he wrote in tweets that were sent from the official Maple Leaf Foods account.

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