Analysis-Ukraine lacks viable plan B to boost grain exports via rail, road or river

By Pavel Polityuk, Marek Strzelecki, Maytaal Angel

KYIV/WARSAW/LONDON (Reuters) - Ukraine has few viable options currently to boost grain exports by rail, road or river barge anytime soon if a United Nations-brokered deal with Moscow to export by sea runs into trouble.

 Asl Tia, a cargo vessel carrying Ukrainian grain, transits the Bosphorus, in Istanbul, Turkey November 2, 2022. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo

Ukraine is one of the world’s leading grain and oilseed exporters and a Russian blockade of its ports after Moscow invaded its southern neighbour in February triggered higher global prices for basic foods.

The UN-brokered deal reached in July allowed grain shipments to resume. But Russian support for the pact has wavered in recent weeks and Moscow even temporarily withdrew at the end of October. This has put the deal’s long-term future in doubt even after it was extended on Thursday for 120 days.

Moscow said it expected all its concerns related to Russian exports of food and fertilisers to be addressed in that period.

Kyiv had sought a one-year extension.

Ukraine has shipped grain by truck and train via its western border and through small Danube river ports in the south west. But the capacity on those routes is much smaller than from its sea ports - meaning there is no significant plan B if the sea corridor falters.

The maximum export capacity via these routes is 2.7 million tonnes per month, data from industry group Coceral shows, versus around 6 million tonnes that were exported via Ukraine’s Black Sea ports before the invasion.

Ukraine Grain Association (UGA) head Nikolay Gorbachov said exports via the Danube River could perhaps be increased by a third to 2 million tonnes per month but, beyond that, significant gains including via rail and truck are not feasible.

“Rail and truck capacity can maybe be increased 3-5% but no more, because the infrastructure of Europe can’t absorb our grain. They are not ready on truck, on rail, on river barge, on storage, to accept this grain at volume,” he said.

There has been some progress since the conflict began, with grain exports via rail, truck and river barge reaching 7.1 million tonnes between July and September versus 4.25 million between March and June, data issued by UGA showed.

The figures also show exports via river barge to Romania nearly doubled over the period, rising from 2.55 million tonnes to 4.7 million and far exceeding the increases via rail and truck.

Those initial increases were however based mostly on improving the efficiency of the existing logistics system - not on building new routes or equipment.

Danube ports would not attract large investments, as logistics through Black Sea ports are much cheaper and so if and when those ports reopen, they could quickly make new capacity on the Danube obsolete, Gorbachov said. The same applies to truck and rail infrastructure, he added.

Ukraine more than doubled its exports of grain via rail before the sea corridor was agreed, peaking at 940,000 tonnes in July, said Valeriy Tkachev, deputy head of the commercial department of Ukraine railways company Ukrzaliznytsia. Rail exports dropped back down after cheaper sea shipments resumed under the deal.

Industry analysts and experts say transporting grains via rail from Ukraine to neighbouring Poland is slow and expensive for several reasons: cumbersome border controls, the need to reload trains due to different rail gauge sizes, inadequate re-loading equipment, limited border storage and rail fleet capacity, and slow rail cargo traffic.

“At present we are shipping some 0.5 million a month from Ukraine and if we don’t get technical assistance from the European Union (as) promised, we can’t really do more,” Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister Henryk Kowalczyk told Reuters.

SOLIDARITY LANES

In May, the EU proposed a “solidarity lanes” initiative to streamline and prioritise the passage of grains via Ukraine’s western borders.

The plan involved pooling rail cars and logistics equipment, simplifying customs and inspections, scrapping import duties and concluding a road transport agreement with Ukraine. But problems remain, industry experts said.

“They don’t have (enough) wagons (for transporting grain), they have limited capacity of the network itself,” said Tkachev.

Before the grain export agreement, attention was fixed mainly on expanding loading terminals on Ukraine’s western border, he said. But Tkachev said this could not solve the core problem of lack of port capacity in the countries closest to Ukraine.

“We went the wrong way – we all focused on our border crossings, (without understanding) how this cargo will be absorbed,” he said, referring to the lack of capacity to move the grain once it had arrived in neighbouring countries.


Additional reporting by Anna Koper and Luiza Ilie, Editing by Veronica Brown and Jane Merriman

'Jeopardy!' Great; Amy Schneider, Testifies Against Major Ohio Transgender Care Ban

By Madison Dudley
11/17/22 

Watch Final 'Jeopardy!' Question That Ended Amy Schneider's Historic Winning Streak

"Jeopardy!" champion Amy Schneider testified Wednesday in front of the Ohio legislature in opposition to a proposed bill limiting gender-affirming healthcare for Ohio youth.

Schneider, who is from Dayton, is the game show's first transgender contestant to qualify for the Tournament of Champions." Earlier this year, she became the show's top female winner, earning over one million dollars over a 40-game run.

House Bill 454, also known as the Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act, would prohibit types of gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The bill would prohibit people under 18 from using puberty blockers or receiving gender reassignment surgeries.

If the bill is signed into law, doctors and medical practitioners will face professional punishment for providing gender-affirming medical care to minors. The bill also bans the use of public funds for all transgender treatment. It prohibits public and private schools from withholding from a child's parent or guardian if that child is experiencing gender identity issues.

Those in support of the bill say that puberty blockers are not safe and that practicing genders affirming medical care could do irreversible damage.

The legislation is sponsored by Republican state Reps. Gary Click and Diane Grendell and cosponsored by 23 other representatives. Click has been vocal on Twitter, advocating for the bill. He has tweeted that gender and sex are determined at conception and "children don't come with optional equipment packages."

During Schneider's testimony on Wednesday, she said the ban would not protect children but harm transgender youth seeking help.

"Far from protecting children, this bill would put some of them in grave danger and danger that not all of them would survive," Schneider said.

During her testimony, Schneider shared that while she has experienced great success in life, including her marriage to partner Genevieve Davis in May, if she lost access to hormone therapy, Schneider does not know if she could continue living.

"I hope that I would. I hope I'd find a way to do it, but I really believe that I might not survive," Schneider said.

Schneider was one of 12 people to testify on Wednesday and shared that in her experience with hormone therapy and gender-affirming care, she has been able to experience peace and safety in her life that was not there before.



"Please don't force them to go back to that constant feeling of wrongness and danger. I'm not asking anyone here to change your personal views on trans people. I'm not here to scold anyone about pronouns," Schneider said. "I'm not asking you to do anything except to not pass a ban that is expanding the government's reach, to not restrict the freedom of families and doctors and communities to decide for themselves what their children need."

After listening to more testimony, a substitute bill was adopted, allowing physicians to prescribe puberty blockers and hormone therapy under specific conditions.

Those conditions include permission from the parent or guardian, the child receiving two years of therapy or counseling concerning their transition, and that the medications would not "result in an increased risk of vaginal atrophy, penile atrophy, testicular atrophy, permanent loss of libido, sterility, endometrial carcinoma, or polycystic ovary syndrome."

Ohio is one of many states attempting to pass bills limiting gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Earlier this month, the Florida Medical Board voted to restrict physicians from providing gender-affirming care to minors or risk losing their licenses.

The Texas legislator has introduced multiple bills this week, Transgender awareness week, including legislation that would label gender-affirming care to minors as "child abuse."

In Japan, pets win over parenthood

In Japan, there are more number of pets than children below 16 years of age, as per data by Japan Pet Food Association.

Anuja Jha
New Delhi,UPDATED: Nov 18, 2022

A Tokyo clothing manufacturer created a portable fan for dogs and cats in Japan. (Image: Reuters)

They do yoga, attend parties, wear designer clothes, and accompany their “parents” around in Japan. And no, “they” do not refer to children here. They refer to cats and dogs as more and more people in Japan choose pets over parenthood.

In a country that is dealing with an ageing population and plummeting birth rate, many Japanese people favour pets over children. According to the Japan Pet food Association, the country has just 17 million children under the age of 16, yet almost 20 million cats and dogs.

Dogs travelling in train in Japan. (AFP photo)

But why are pets replacing children?

One of the possible reasons why more people are opting to adopt pets is because they are relatively easy to handle. They don't seem to demand constant care and attention.

A Chihuahua-Pomeranian mix and a teacup poodle sit in a pram next to a baby at a park in Tokyo. (Reuters file)

In Japan, people splurge on their pets and take excellent care of them. From top quality food, to making sure their vaccination status are up-to-date, to tours on weekends, pets in Japan are given the best life that their parents can afford.

And major international brands, always one to expand their markets, have started making designer clothes for pets in Japan.


The owners also tend to splurge on designer clothes for their pets. (Reuters file)

Obsession with work and lack of time are also among reasons why Japanese people are shying away from having children. And if they need a companion or ever feel lonely, pets are always there to fill the gaps.

In fact, pets help in relieving stress. There is a separate business aspect of this as well. In Japan, a client can pay to keep dogs for a period of time. They only need to guarantee their safety.
In life and in death, Japanese people care for their pets

A report published by Reuters in 2017 said that in Japan, people who follow Buddhism spend huge amounts on the funeral of their pets. in fact, there are categories of last rites- basic, intermediate, and deluxe. Basic is the simplest funeral, which costs over Rs 67,000 while luxury funerals can cost owners crores of Rupees.

Not just pets, but robotic pets

For Japan's Shich-Go-San ceremony, usually celebrated by parents for their children's health and good fortune, a shrine in Tokyo hosted the ceremony for pets. And not just any pets, but robotic pets.

One Tokyo shrine hosted a celebration for the Sony Aibo robotic dog, as per a report by Reuters.

Owners of Sony's robotic dog 'Aibo' attend a ritual ceremony Sichi-Go-San. (Reuters)

Aibo robotic dogs, roughly the size of a domestic cat, have become part of the family. For others, the robots are a practical response to the tight restrictions many Japanese landlords place on pet ownership.

Do Iran’s Women Protesters Have the Power to Topple the Regime?


By Kali Robinson

CFR
November 17, 2022 

Despite limits to their political and social power, Iranian women are leading protests that could jeopardize the regime.

Since Iran’s 1979 revolution, women have had limited roles in government while men have held the highest positions of power. Yet women have regularly challenged the regime and incrementally won some rights. Since coming to power in 2021, President Ebrahim Raisi’s government has been especially hostile toward women, and it now is struggling to subdue anti-government protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish Iranian woman.

View the Photo Essay
Protests Over Iranian Woman’s Death

How much political power do Iranian women have?

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Very little. Women have been parliamentarians, diplomats, and cabinet-level ministers, but they are far outnumbered by male officials and have never reached Iran’s highest offices. Iran’s supreme leader must be male, and no woman has been approved as a presidential candidate.

While high-ranking women officials are usually conservative on gender issues, some have successfully led reforms benefiting women. Outspoken women risk being pushed out of government, though some ousted officials have maintained ties to the regime that help them continue to support women’s rights with less risk of repercussions, says Mona Tajali, a scholar of women’s and Middle East studies at Agnes Scott College.

But Iran’s hard-liners, including Raisi, have hamstrung reformists both within and outside the regime, Tajali says. Hard-liners won control of parliament in a 2020 vote that saw record-low turnout. The number of women lawmakers remained at 17 out of 290, but conservatives replaced most of the incumbents. Most parliamentarians have denounced the current protests.



Women also face significant inequality outside government. They lost rights after the 1979 revolution, and Raisi’s government and its predecessors have passed laws further limiting their freedoms. They are barred from certain jobs, though they have increasingly entered male-dominated roles in recent decades. Although women comprise 60 percent of university students, their unemployment rate was twice that of men in 2021, and on average they earned less than half the wages of men in the same jobs, according to the U.S. State Department.

Why is the regime worried about the current protests?

Women have protested regime ideology since the beginning of the Islamic Republic, often at great risk: Iran stands out for its high number of executions, of both men and women, and many formerly incarcerated women report being sexually threatened or assaulted in detention. But women’s involvement in the ongoing protests exceeds that seen in previous periods of unrest, even the 2009 Green Movement or the 2017 street protests, in which women also played central roles. Young women and girls are especially prominent in the current demonstrations: the average age of those arrested at the protests is fifteen.

An Iranian woman flashes a victory sign as she walks along a street in Tehran without wearing her headscarf in October 2022. 

Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Getty Images

The protesters want to abandon Iran’s theocracy rather than reform it, and the women-focused demonstrations chip away at the regime’s legitimacy. Chants of “woman, life, freedom” and calls to end mandatory hijab-wearing challenge the Islamist ideology that Iran’s government is based on. These protests have unusually widespread support, unbound by class, ethnicity, or gender.
Can foreign powers support the protesters?

Some Western countries have condemned Iran’s violent repression of the protests and imposed sanctions on officials involved in the crackdown. The United States is seeking Iran’s removal from the UN Commission on the Status of Women, while Germany and Iceland are expected to request a probe into Iran’s rights violations during a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in November.

An Inside Look at Iran

Many analysts say supportive governments can help protesters get around internet restrictions that limit their access to social media. Washington is currently trying to make it easier for tech companies to facilitate internet access. Tajali emphasizes the importance of providing Iranians access to media platforms “so that they speak for themselves.”
What’s next?

Many experts say the strict hijab policy is likely to remain in place, as Iran’s hard-liners fear that compromise will lead to further concessions. The government hasn’t acknowledged what’s at the roots of these protests and instead blames interference from the West, Saudi Arabia, and exiled Kurdish groups in Iraq. It has already launched missile attacks on the latter, and those are likely to continue, the Brookings Institution’s Suzanne Maloney tells The President’s Inbox podcast. The domestic crackdown could also intensify, particularly in border regions with large populations of ethnic minorities such as Kurds and Baloch. This could already be in the works, Tajali says, as the government likely feels it can target these areas with impunity.

However, the protests show signs of longevity. The regime isn’t sure how to deter protesters who aren’t afraid of it, Maloney says. Though the protests seem leaderless and unorganized, they can be fueled by the mistreatment of any woman who flouts hijab laws. “The security forces will have to decide to arrest and potentially abuse one of those women, precipitating yet another round of protests, precipitating yet another potential situation of martyrdom, which itself creates a self-sustaining momentum to the gatherings and demonstrations,” Maloney says.

Experts agree that Iran is at a crossroads, but there’s no consensus that the regime will fall. The 1979 revolution was the culmination of unrest that became more organized and formidable over many months, and some analysts say these protests could too.

Creative Commons: Some rights reserved.

International monkey smuggling ring busted in US state of Florida

2 Cambodian government officials, 6 foreign nationals from Hong Kong-based primate company indicted

Darren Lyn |17.11.2022


HOUSTON, United States

An international monkey smuggling ring was busted in the US state of Florida with eight people indicted Wednesday for their involvement.

Two Cambodian wildlife officials and six foreign nationals from Hong Kong-based Vanny Resources Holdings primate supply company were charged with the illegal smuggling of the crab-eating macaque monkeys, also known as long-tailed macaques.

The monkeys are an endangered species used in medical testing that requires special permits to be exported to the US.

Prosecutors said the defendants worked with black market dealers and corrupt Cambodian government officials to obtain wild-caught macaques and “launder them” through Cambodian breeding facilities. The laundering process concealed that the monkeys were taken from national parks and protected areas; The monkeys were destined for a broker in Miami.

“The macaque is already recognized as an endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature,” Juan Antonio Gonzalez, US attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said in a statement. “The practice of illegally taking them from their habitat to end up in a lab is something we need to stop. Greed should never come before responsible conservation.”

One of the ring leaders, Masphal Kry, 46, of Phnom Penh, Cambodia was arrested Wednesday at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City. Kry was Deputy Director of the Department of Wildlife and Biodiversity for the Cambodian Forestry Administration.

Investigators said Kry personally transported the monkeys to Cambodian facilities and received payments from the other members of the smuggling ring between December 2017 and September 2022.

The other Cambodian government official, Omaliss Keo, 58, was Director General of the Cambodian Forestry Administration.

The eight foreign nationals were prosecuted under the Endangered Species Act "to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals ... does not threaten the survival of the species.”

“The allegations are alarming — the plundering of wild populations of long-tailed macaques and falsely labeling them as captive-bred in order to bypass regulations,” said Sarah Kite, co-founder of the animal rights group Action for Primates. “The plight of the long-tailed macaque — the most heavily traded primate species, and the most widely used in research and toxicity (poisoning) testing — has never been more desperate.”

The US imported nearly 32,000 monkeys for use in biomedical and pharmaceutical research last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

U.S. charges Cambodian officials in monkey smuggling ring

The Cambodian agency responsible for protecting wildlife denied the allegations.

By Jack Adamović Davies
2022.11.17

A long-tailed macaque feeds a juvenile in Lopburi, Thailand, in this file photo. Only long-tailed macaques bred in captivity are allowed to be exported and used for experiments.

 Credit: Reuters

Kry Masphal, the deputy director of the Cambodian agency responsible for protecting wildlife, was arrested on Wednesday in New York for his alleged involvement in a multimillion-dollar smuggling ring to export a species of endangered monkeys to the U.S. for use in medical research.

Kry was one of eight people charged earlier this year in a sealed indictment for illegally selling long-tailed macaques, which have been protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) since 1977. Only monkeys bred in captivity are allowed to be exported and used for experiments. The U.S. Justice Department alleges Kry and his co-defendants schemed to sell wild macaques poached from national parks and other protected places. 

Kry, who works in Cambodia's Department of Wildlife and Biodiversity within its Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), was on his way to CITES’ annual conference in Panama when he was arrested at the Kennedy International Airport. Also charged in the indictment was Kry’s boss, Forestry Administration Director General Keo Omaliss, who did not respond to a request for comment.

The MAFF said in a statement that it was “surprised and saddened” by Kry’s arrest. “We uphold CITES convention principles and laws,” it said.

Speaking from the conference in Panama, Nao Thuok, the head of Cambodia’s CITES Management Authority, told RFA his colleague’s arrest had come as a shock.

“It was a surprise, if he knew then he would not have come,” Nao told RFA, saying that he learned of Kry’s arrest from a colleague who had been traveling with him.

Nao added that he did not believe the accusations, which he said are out of character for Kry.

Catch and launder

Prosecutors allege Keo ordered the illegal capture of wild macaques on behalf of Vanny Bio Research (Cambodia) Corp. Ltd., which runs two macaque breeding farms in Phnom Penh and Pursat. 

The breeder is accused of laundering the wild monkeys through the farms and passing them off as captive-bred specimens prior to shipping them to buyers in Florida and Texas. According to the indictment, Keo and his colleagues provided the company with permits falsely attesting to the macaques’ purported captive-bred status.

In total, the indictment alleges that 2,634 wild-caught macaques with a declared value of $9.3 million were illegally brought into the U.S. 

Nao told RFA that only he had the authority to sign CITES export permits. He said that while he has signed permits for Vanny Bio Research, he only ever did so for monkeys bred in captivity.

Also charged were Vanny Bio Research President James Man Sang Lau and five of his employees. The indictment alleges that Lau and staff at the company made payments totaling tens of thousands of dollars to both the MAFF and the Cambodian People’s Party in return for Kry, Keo and other unnamed officials’ assistance in securing long-tailed macaques for export to the U.S.

An election pause

The relationship between Vanny Bio Research and MAFF allegedly began with a December 2017 meeting between Keo and the company’s head of public relations, Raphael Cheung Man, who has also been charged. 

Following the meeting, prosecutors claim that Man emailed Lau and two other colleagues to say that in return for a “royalty tax” Keo would arrange for MAFF staff to collect approximately 2,000 monkeys for the company, adding that Keo “will instruct the director of the National Park to work out a survey report of the animal population,” according to the indictment.

The following May, Man sent another email to colleagues reporting that Keo had been informed that the company needed an additional 300 to 500 monkeys to fulfill an order for that July and that “Keo would try to persuade his superior to allow collection of the needed monkeys.”

Man is alleged to have added that any further collection of wild monkeys by ministry employees would have to take place after the upcoming national Cambodian elections scheduled for July 29 “to avoid unnecessary attention from the public and non-governmental organizations.” The email is also said to have requested a $40,000 payment be made to MAFF.

Payment plan

The following month, Man is alleged to have sought the payment.

Prosecutors quote a remittance document sent from the company’s headquarters in Hong Kong suggesting the $40,000 arrived in Vanny Bio Research’s Cambodian bank account on June 25. 

The following day, Man allegedly received another email from headquarters with a “Purchase Application Form” dated June 18 for a “Donation for CPP Party (Request for Mr. Omaliss)” in the amount of $10,000.

The indictment describes similar conduct playing out until January.

In one instance during 2019, after delivering 24 macaques to Vanny Bio Research’s farm in Pursat with the assistance of two other MAFF employees, Kry is alleged to have recommended that the company should buy more land around its facility to allow the construction of a road that would be “more safe for the smuggling.”

Vanny Bio Research President Lau did not respond to repeated requests for comment on Thursday.

‘An extremely cruel trade’

The illegal export of wild-caught macaques is “an extremely cruel trade,” according to Nick Marx, director of wildlife rescue at the Wildlife Alliance, which frequently collaborates with the Forestry Administration.

“We know throughout the world that long-tailed macaques have been listed as endangered because of this trade, not just in Cambodia but throughout their range,” Marx told RFA.

Macaques only give birth once every two years, he added, meaning that legal captive breeding struggles to meet demand. The flourishing illegal trade creates a surplus of test monkeys that makes them “expendable” and weakens incentives for pharmaceutical companies to treat them with care.

“If countries just abided by the laws that they themselves had drafted, there would be millions less [test monkeys], they would be more valuable and better treated,” he said. 

Joint investigation

In June, U.S. prosecutors filed a sealed indictment against Keo, Lau and five of his employees, but made no mention of Kry. Kry’s name was added to a superseding indictment filed on Nov. 3, less than two weeks prior to his arrest in New York.

His arrest was the culmination of a joint investigation between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Homeland Security’s investigative arm.

“Masphal Kry, a government official for the Cambodian Forestry Administration, will face justice in America as he was arrested today for his role in an alleged conspiracy to unlawfully import contrary to United States law,” Homeland Security Investigations special agent Ricky J. Patel said on Wednesday.

Turtles as long as 3.74m swam European seas up to 72 million years ago

The Leviathanochelys seems to represent a new group of ancient marine turtles

An artist's impression of Leviathanochelys aenigmatica. PA

Simon RushtonNov 17, 2022

A newly-discovered species of ancient turtle is thought to be the largest marine turtle ever discovered in Europe.

Named Leviathanochelys aenigmatica and measuring 3.74 metres in length, it is also one of the largest ever to have roamed the seas, scientists say.

Fossilised remains of the turtle were discovered in the Cal Torrades locality in north-eastern Spain.

READ MORE

Meteorite that landed in UK 'holds clues to how life began on Earth’

The Leviathanochelys also seems to represent a new taxon, or group, of ancient marine turtles, the study published in the journal Scientific Reports said.

No known European marine turtle — extinct or living — has exceeded 1.5m in shell-length, the researchers said.

The largest ever known sea turtle is the Archelon, which lived in the seas surrounding the North American continent between 66 and 100 million years ago.

The Archelon was 4.6 metres long and weighed up to 3.2 tonnes.

The excavation site in the Cal Torrades region of north-eastern 

Spain where the new species of ancient turtle was found. PA

The Leviathanochelys remains, excavated between 2016 and 2021, were analysed by a team of scientists led by Angel Lujan from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

They found a fragmented but almost complete pelvis and parts of the upper shell, which date to the Campanian Age — between 83.6 and 72.1 million years ago.

One key feature they identified was a distinctive bone that protrudes forwards from the front of the pelvis — something not seen in other marine turtles.

Researchers believe the protrusion may have been related to the reptile’s respiratory system.

Based on the size of the pelvis, the scientists calculated that the Leviathanochelys could have reached a body length of up to 3.74 metres.

They estimate the maximum width of Leviathanochelys’ pelvis was 88.9cm, making it slightly larger than the biggest estimate for Archelon’s best-known specimen of 81cm.

The findings indicate that gigantism in marine turtles developed independently in different lineages in both North America and Europe, the researchers said.

Updated: November 17, 2022, 11:45 a.m.

Japan reactivating nuclear power plants

Following post-Fukushima nuclear phase-out since 2011, Japan moves to switch reactors back on

Fuat Kabakci |17.11.2022


ANKARA

After the 2011 Fukushima disaster prompted Japan to reduce its nuclear power generation to as low as 1% of total output, the country is now gearing up to bring more of its reactors back online.

Japan currently has 54 reactors and 17 nuclear power plants, with an installed nuclear power capacity of 48.8 gigawatts.

However, it gradually shut down reactors after Fukushima, with the share of nuclear in total power generation falling to as low as 1% in 2015 from about 30% before the incident.

As reactors were later switched back on, this rate increased to 4% in 2020 and 6% in 2021, with plans to make it 22% by 2030.

As of this year, 10 reactors are actively producing electricity, with plans to raise this number to 17 by summer 2023.

A new 1.2-gigawatt advanced light water reactor, called SRZ-1200, is scheduled to be commissioned in the mid-2030s.

Fossil fuel-based electricity

Japan generated a total 1,019.7 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2021.

Of this, 326.1 terawatt-hours came from coal, while 301.9 terawatt-hours were from natural gas. Renewables generated some 207.9 terawatt-hours, with oil providing 31.3 terawatt-hours and other sources 91.3 terawatt-hours. Nuclear energy generated 61.2 terawatt-hours.

In its 2021 national strategic energy plan, Japan projects that nuclear and renewable energy in 2030 will generate a greater share of its electricity, while fossil fuels will produce less.

Besides its 22% target for nuclear power, the country aims to expand the share of its renewables to 38%, while shrinking that of LNG to 20%, coal to 19%, and oil to 2%.

Among renewables, the target for solar is to provide 15% of total generation, hydropower 11%, wind and biomass 5% each, and geothermal 1%.

Growing dependence on Australia

Due to the Fukushima disaster and subsequent problems in energy supply, Japan began to meet a large part of its LNG and coal needs from Australia as it turned back to fossil resources.

Imported coal and LNG today make up most of the electricity the Asian industrial giant generates.

Last year, Australia exported the most LNG to Japan, providing roughly 40% of its total imports -- 101.3 billion cubic meters -- from just 24% over the past decade.

In coal, Australia provided 65% of Japan's 186 million tons of imports. This share is expected to rise further as Australia replaces the coal Japan imports from Russia, which Tokyo announced it plans to gradually reduce amid the war in Ukraine.

*Writing by Merve Berker

 

Perilous journey of US-bound Ecuador migrants exacts toll on families at home

Online News EditorNovember 17, 2022

By Fernando Gimeno

Cuenca, Ecuador, Nov 17 (EFE).- Adrian Tacuri’s mother has not heard from her son since July 9, when he tried to cross the border into Fronton, Texas, via an irregular route.

Every day she looks at a photo of him and disconsolately wonders where he might be – an anguishing ordeal well known to the loved ones of many other Ecuadorian undocumented migrants.

“I told him not to go, but he told me he’d already made up his mind,” the mother of that 23-year-old man, who set off on a two-month journey from the southern highland Ecuadorian city of Cuenca, said with resignation in her voice.

The people smugglers “told us that (the border patrol) had … caught them and that we should wait 15 days … but no one called us. Later we found out that he had passed out and convulsed, and they’d left him there stranded with just a bottle of water,” the woman said.

The family subsequently was a victim of extortion by criminals falsely promising to free their son in exchange for money.

Tacuri paid a total of $15,000 to a people-smuggling gang prior to the journey, the going rate those outfits charge for guiding migrants along the dangerous route from Ecuador to the US.

He had left his homeland in search of a job that would enable him to send remittances back to Ecuador and support his family, joining a massive wave of migration that has been increasing dramatically in recent months.

In 2021, 81,000 Ecuadorians left the country via regular border crossings, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC), while 97,000 were detained while trying to enter the US illegally, the US Customs and Border Protection agency says. The vast majority of those individuals were expelled or deported.

The family of another Ecuadorian migrant, Luis Raul Maniato, has not heard from him since Feb. 19, 2021, when he was traveling toward the US-Mexico border in Piedras Negras, a municipality in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila.

“The coyote was in contact with us until the following day, but when we insisted that he tell us what had happened, he got angry and stopped answering (the phone),” Maniato’s sister told Efe.

The 23-year set off for the US from the southern Ecuadorian province of Canar when pandemic-related economic woes made it impossible for his father to continue paying his university bills.

“We tried to stop him, but it was his decision,” his sister said.

The people smugglers charged him $16,000. Of that total, $7,000 was paid at the start of the trip and the remainder was due upon arrival at the final destination.

Andres Marquez (the name assumed by Yolanda Topon, who identified as a male) also was a part of the recent migratory wave.

A 20-year-old who suffered from a kidney disease and had little hope of finding work, he was hoping to forge a new life in the US and escape the discrimination he felt in Ecuador because of his gender identity.

Now his mother is waiting for his body to be repatriated from the northern Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez after the Chihuahua state attorney general’s office confirmed his death following a 14-month wait.

“We spent all our money ($17,500), and my daughter is gone,” the grieving mother told Efe amid tears.

“I’m very indebted, paying the bank. This house is being mortgaged. I’m working and asking for help, not money but (assistance in) bringing the body back” to Cuenca, she said while holding the last photo Andres sent her on Aug. 25, 2021.

The mother said the coyote claimed the money had been paid to someone else. “I think they took everything she had, even the cellphone.” EFE

Eminent Indian-origin academician named as next president of Tufts University

I would like even more people to have the same opportunity, says Sunil Kumar

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Yoshita Singh   |   New York   |   Published 18.11.22, 

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Eminent Indian-origin academician Sunil Kumar has been named as the next president of Massachusetts-based private research institution Tufts University.

Kumar, Provost and Senior Vice president for Academic Affairs at Johns Hopkins University has been named the next president of Tufts University by the Board of Trustees and will succeed president Anthony Monaco as Tufts’ 14th president on July 1, 2023, a statement from the university said on Thursday, adding that he will be first person of colour to occupy the position.

Chair of the Board of Trustees and chair of the presidential search committee Peter Dolan said in the statement that Kumar brings to Tufts a "lifelong commitment to excellence in higher education and an exceptionally strong record as a leader, teacher, and colleague.” An “outstanding successor” to Monaco, Kumar’s commitment to research and learning, along with civic engagement and innovation, will help bolster Tufts’ mission to improve the world, Dolan said in the statement. Indian-born Kumar, who is a son of a police officer, was previously dean of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Mangalore University and a master’s degree in computer science and automation from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.

He received his PhD from the University of Illinois in 1996.

Kumar’s academic career commenced at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he taught for about 12 years and was later the Fred H. Merrill Professor of Operations, Information and Technology.

Among Kumar’s priorities as president will be to develop ways “to ensure that we have even more resources to make Tufts as affordable as we possibly can,” he said in the statement.

In a video posted on the Tufts website, Kumar said he would not have achieved this position in life if it were not for the full financial support he received when he was a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

"It would not have been possible for me as a son of a police officer to do anything else. And therefore, affordability is not a theoretical concept for me. I hope I represent an example of somebody who benefited from an institution opening its doors wide.

“And I would like even more people to have the same opportunity. Diversity and inclusion are indispensable values. It is not enough to talk the talk,” Kumar said, adding that it must be ensured that “we operationalise our values, sufficiently resource them so that we can execute on those values, and make sure that Tufts is indeed as inclusive as it can be.” The statement quoted Kumar as saying that he was attracted to Tufts because of its mission to serve “not only the people within its confines—its students, faculty, and staff—but society at large.”

While interviewing with the presidential search committee, Kumar noticed that they “had a quiet confidence about them. They wanted Tufts to genuinely be the light on the hill, and somehow it felt like a perfect fit.”

The statement added that as president, Kumar said he will be focused on “how to make the Tufts experience available to more people, and how to make sure the experience is even better.” It said he also “wants to increase the impact of research done at the university and ensure that it helps society even more “in the here and now”.”

Johns Hopkins president Ron Daniels said that Kumar “has been an extraordinary partner to me and the entire Johns Hopkins community as provost, bringing an ethos of collaborative leadership and an uncompromising commitment to excellence in everything he pursues.

In Sunil, Tufts gains a seasoned academic leader devoted to enhancing the research enterprise, building an exceptional student experience, and ensuring that every member of the community has the opportunity and the supports they need to pursue their aspirations,” Daniels said.
PTI

Almost twice as many Republicans than Democrats died of Covid, study says

Graig Graziosi
Thu, November 17, 2022

Virus Outbreak From This Day Forward

 (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Nearly twice as many Republicans died from Covid-19 than Democrats did, a new study has found.

Excess Death Rates for Republicans and Democrats During the Covid-19 Pandemic, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, used death records and voter registration records to determine the political breakdown of those who died during the pandemic.

The initial takeaway is that nearly double the number of Republicans died than Democrats did during the pandemic, and the evidence suggests that vaccine adoption was a key contributing factor to those deaths.

In the early stages of the pandemic, the “excess deaths” between Republicans and Democrats were largely in line. The first major spike appears to have occurred in the winter of 2020, during which time excess deaths between the parties were generally equal.

According to the US Centre for Diesease Control and Prevention, “excess deaths are typically defined as the difference between the observed numbers of deaths in specific time periods and expected numbers of deaths in the same time periods.”

The Covid-19 vaccines became available around the turn of the year, and took several months to widely distribute. By summer 2021, the study finds that Republican excess deaths had nearly doubled those of Democrats. The disparity in deaths became even more stark during the winter of 2021.

“The gap in excess death rates between Republicans and Democrats is concentrated in counties with low vaccination rates and only materializes after vaccines became widely available,” the study says.

Despite the fact that the initial runs of Covid-19 vaccines were developed during Donald Trump’s administration, many Republicans and conservatives refused innoculation. Response to the coronavirus pandemic was politicised, resulting in many Republicans refusing to take the vaccine, either as a result of misinformation spread by conspiracy communities and right-wing media figures and lawmakers, or simply due to a lack of trust in the Biden administration.

Motherboard spoke with one of the authors of the study, Jason Schwartz, and asked if the disparity in deaths could have impacted the outcome of the 2022 midterms.

“If Republicans are dying in increased numbers relative to their Democratic colleagues in a political climate where there are so many close electoral contests, could that have been the decider in a particular particular race?” he said. “Our study can’t answer that. But it certainly seems plausible given just how stark the differences in vaccination rates have been, among Democrats and Republicans.”

While the researchers can’t make any conclusive remarks about the elections, Mr Schwartz said the link between party and vaccine uptake is much more clear.

“So far, it looks like there really is a signal here, particularly linked to the availability of vaccines,” he said.