Last letters from young kamikaze pilots provide rare insights into Japan’s feared special attack unit

Brad Lendon, CNN
Sun, January 14, 2024

Think of a kamikaze pilot and the image that comes to mind is probably a screaming face obscured by goggles embarking on a death plunge.

Or perhaps no face at all and just a fighter plane plowing into a warship.

It’s probably not a teenager weeping in a dank, half-underground bunker with his bedsheets pulled up over his head.


And surely not high schoolers cheerfully petting a puppy just hours before they were expected to turn themselves into ash while sinking a US aircraft carrier.

But these are some of the real faces of the kamikaze that line the walls of the Kanoya Air Base museum and the Chiran Peace Museum, both located on Japan’s Kyushu island.

There are hundreds of them.

In many of the images, you can see their last words, often in letters to their mothers, apologizing for their youthful indiscretions and pledging to make them proud.

Three women look at photos of Japanese kamikaze pilots, who gave their lives in WWII suicide attacks against US forces, hanging on a wall at the Chiran Peace Museum. - David Guttenfelder/AP

The youngest kamikaze pilot was Yasuo Tanaka, just 16. He flew an Okha – essentially a bomb with wings but no wheels dropped from a mother aircraft. He died on May 11, 1945. You can see his photograph at the Kanoya museum, on the grounds of a current Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force base.

A museum official said they didn’t have the teenager’s last letter, but the letters of other young kamikaze show the bravado of youth.

Torao Kato, an 18-year-old second lieutenant, wrote in Japanese in bold brush strokes:
“Dearest mother, please live a long life full of vigor. I will try to destroy a big one.”

The oldest kamikaze – at age 32 – was Army Lt. Col. Yoshio Itsui, a unit commander who led the first flights from the Chiran air base on April 1, 1945.

Itsui left behind a wife and three small children, including an infant son. A book from the Chiran museum, “The Mind of the Kamikaze,” includes Itsui’s last letter to the infant, which is on display at the museum.

“Work hard and please grow up to be an excellent Japanese man and son of the Emperor,” Itsui wrote.

His son would never read the letter, according to the book. When the pilot’s wife learned of his death, she could no longer produce milk for the boy, who died of malnutrition four months later.
‘They did not hesitate to accept their duty’

In an auditorium at the Chiran museum on a sunny October morning, stories like Itsui’s bring tears to almost everyone in the audience of 30 or so people listening to a presentation on the history of the kamikaze. Even for a non-Japanese speaker, the pictures on the screen and the emotions of others in the theater are enough to produce watery eyes.

Among the pictures in the presentation is one of a young kamikaze petting a puppy, an image many consider the most striking ever made of the suicide units.

The fliers ranged in age from 17 to 19 and all were so-called Young Boy Pilots, youth who joined the air force training corps at the age of 14, before the kamikaze units were even established.

“Most likely they did not know that they were going to be kamikaze pilots,” according to “The Mind of the Kamikaze.”

“However, once they knew their fate they did not hesitate to accept their duty,” the book says, adding, “they believed it would be worth dying for their country and for their parents.”

The five youths in that puppy photo died on May 27, 1945, among the 335 Young Boy Pilots who gave their lives as kamikaze.

A re-creation of a bunker where kamikaze pilots spent their last night before their missions on the grounds of the Chiran Peace Museum. As the room was cleaned after the pilots left, workers reported that the bedding was soaked with tears. - Brad Lendon/CNN

Also among the pictures on the walls of the Chiran museum is one of an American, Capt. Masaji Takano.

He was born in Hawaii, married a Japanese woman, went to Japan for college, and was recruited for the kamikaze ranks, the museum book says.

His last letter includes a drawing of a diving plane with the words, “I will surely send an enemy warship to the bottom.”

Takano had three brothers, one other who fought for Japan and two who fought for the US Army in Europe, the book says.
US Navy’s deadliest foes

Kamikaze combines two Japanese words: “kami” means “divine” and “kaze” means “wind.” The term came into the lexicon in 1281, when a large typhoon sank a Mongol invasion fleet headed for a poorly defended Japan, sparing the Japanese from likely devastating combat.

In Japan, the World War II kamikaze are also known as “tokko,” meaning “special attack” pilots. As the tide war in the Pacific turned against Japanese forces in 1944, the tactic of crashing bomb-laden planes into US warships was instituted by Adm. Takijiro Onishi as a last-ditch effort to protect the Japanese homeland from a US invasion fleet, according to US military archives.

In total, 1,036 boys and men who were part of the army died on kamikaze missions, according to the figures provided by the museum.

Visitors to the museum at Kanoya Air Base, Japan, can get a look inside the cockpit of a fighter plane similar to ones flown by the kamikaze. - Brad Lendon/CNN

Another 1,584 flying for naval units were also killed in action.

Between the two branches, they flew more than 1,730 combat missions.

And the toll they took on the US Navy was brutal.

The US Naval History and Heritage Command calls the Battle of Okinawa, fought from April 1 to June 22, 1945, the deadliest ever for the US Navy.

Some 40% of the 12,000 US troops killed in the battle were aboard the 26 US ships sunk and 168 damaged by kamikaze attacks off Okinawa, according to the US Defense Department.

By 1945 US forces were all too aware of that they faced brutal suicide missions from the Imperial Japanese forces who, fueled by an intense militarism and loyalty to their Emperor, brutally treated those they had conquered across East and Southeast Asia.

Perhaps the most infamous mass suicide attack occurred a year earlier on the Pacific island of Saipan, when, knowing a battlefield victory was impossible, nearly 4,000 Japanese troops staged a suicidal assault against a superior American force.

“They were following the last orders of their commander, Lieutenant General Yoshisugu Saito, who had called for this all-out surprise attack in the honor of the Emperor before committing ritual suicide,” according to a 2016 website posting from the Atomic Heritage Foundation.

The land battle on Okinawa saw similar suicide charges on a smaller scale, but one Japanese survivor of the Okinawa remembers what fostered that mentality.

“Back in those days of 100 million Japanese citizens supposedly being prepared to fight to the very last man, everybody was prepared for death,” surivior Kinjo Shigeaki is quoted as saying. “The doctrine of total obedience to the Emperor emphasized death and made light of life. The willingness to die for the Emperor on a faraway island resulted in a whole new sense of identity.”
Confidant of the kamikaze

Fliers at the Chiran base often spent their final night at the Tomiya Inn in Chiran, where proprietor Tome Torihama became a trusted confidant for many of them. Some entrusted her to get last words not subject to military censors to their families.

Her family has preserved some of that correspondence and other artifacts at a separate small museum in Chiran town a short drive from the peace museum and a worthwhile stop to get further perspective on the samurai.

But first, stop by the restaurant Torihama’s great-grandson, Kenta Torihama, now runs near the main museum. He happily chats with visitors about his great-grandmother and the kamikaze.

It’s important that the stories of the kamikaze and his grandmother are not forgotten, he tells visitors.

Kenta Torihama, great-grandson of Tome Torihama, a confidant of the kamikaze pilots, outside his restaurant near the Chiran Peace Museum. - Brad Lendon/CNN

But he wishes more foreigners would come, saying only about 5% of those who pass through are from outside Japan and even fewer are from other Asian countries.

“Japanese view the kamikaze as protectors, outsiders view them as enemies,” he says.

But he says the kamikaze’s last letters are full of lessons, especially showing the folly and tragedy of war.

“If we could all learn from that, today’s world would be a more peaceful place,” he says.
The last samurai

The Kanoya and Chiran museums are near Kagoshima on the southern end of Kyushu island.

The World War II airfields from which the kamikaze flew were located there so the planes could make the trip to Okinawa as quickly and with as little fuel as possible. Kamikaze attacks also emanated from Japanese bases in Taiwan and the Philippines.

But it’s also fitting that Kagoshima is considered to be the last stand of Japan’s samurai warrior class.

The samurai’s Satsuma Rebellion against the imperial government ended with the death of legendary samurai Saigo Takamori on Shiroyama mountain in Kagoshima in September 1877.

Though it held the heights, the Saigo-led force of about 400 men fell to an imperial army almost 1,000 times larger.

For a history travel enthusiast, visiting the site of the samurai’s last stand is another worthwhile way to spend a few hours in the area.

A Japanese military aircraft is seen outside the Chiran Peace Museum in Kagoshima prefecture, Japan. - World Discovery/Alamy Stock Photo

Getting there

The Chiran and Kanoya museums sit on two separate peninsulas on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu. Both are best accessed by car, which can easily be rented in Kagoshima city on the western of the two peninsulas.

Kagoshima has a small commercial airport, but it may be easier to fly into the larger international airport in Fukuoka and take the 90-minute bullet train ride to Kagoshima.

Shell Investors Unite With Activist Group Urging Greater Carbon Emissions Cut

Laura Hurst
Mon, January 15, 2024


(Bloomberg) -- Funds managing more than $4 trillion of assets have joined forces with climate activist Follow This to intensify the pressure on Shell Plc to slash its greenhouse gas emissions.

The group, which includes Europe’s largest asset manager Amundi SA, will co-file a shareholders’ resolutions pushing Shell to align itself with the Paris Climate Agreement, according to a statement on Monday. This is a step further than the investors have gone in previous years, when they voted in support of resolutions filed by Follow This.

“This escalation of 27 leading investors puts the call for emissions reductions by energy companies front and center,” Follow This founder Mark van Baal said in the statement.

The resolution focuses on so-called Scope 3 emissions — those generated when customers use oil companies’ products that make up the bulk of their greenhouse gases. It asks Shell to align its medium-term Scope 3 reduction target with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement to limit global warming to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels.

“We remain committed to constructive engagement with our shareholders, and we believe our climate targets are aligned with the more ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement,” a Shell spokesperson said. “The 2024 resolution from Follow This is broadly unchanged from their 2023 submission, which was rejected by shareholders.”

As well as Amundi, the group of co-filing investors includes pension provider Scottish Widows, Candriam, Rathbones Group, and Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management. The 27 investors collectively own around 5% of Shell stock, according to Follow This.

Their direct involvement in the filing is a coup for the activist group after support for its shareholder resolutions at oil majors has fallen from a peak reached in 2021.

“Escalation is necessary if investors want to urge major CO2 emitters to review their business model in order to reach global climate targets,” Vincent Kaufmann, chief executive officer of the Ethos Foundation, which represents five Swiss investors, said in a statement.

The group understands the need for fossil fuels in the short-term but “we see the need for open communication and a clear strategy” on the transition away from hydrocarbons, Jan Peterson, a senior portfolio manager at Swedish pension fund AP4, said in the statement.

Shell has come under increased scrutiny from environmentalists and climate-conscious investors after it raised the proportion of annual investments that go into fossil fuels last year. Each year, the company seeks an advisory vote on the progress of its energy transition strategy, which will be updated before the annual general meeting in May.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Shell to exit Nigeria's troubled onshore oil after nearly a century

Ron Bousso
Tue, January 16, 2024 


LONDON (Reuters) -Shell is set to conclude nearly a century of operations in Nigerian onshore oil and gas after agreeing to sell its subsidiary there to a consortium of five mostly local companies for up to $2.4 billion.

The British energy giant pioneered Nigeria's oil and gas business beginning in the 1930s. It has struggled for years with hundreds of onshore oil spills as a result of theft, sabotage and operational issues that led to costly repairs and high-profile lawsuits.

Since 2021, Shell has sought to sell its Nigerian oil and gas business, but will remain active in Nigeria's more lucrative and less problematic offshore sector.

Shell's exit is part of a broader retreat by western energy companies from Nigeria as they focus on newer, more profitable operations. Exxon Mobil, Italy's Eni and Norway's Equinor have struck deals to sell assets in the country in recent years.

The British major will sell The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) for a consideration of $1.3 billion, it said in a statement, while the buyers will make an additional payment of up to $1.1 billion relating to prior receivables at completion.

"This agreement marks an important milestone for Shell in Nigeria, aligning with our previously announced intent to exit onshore oil production in the Niger Delta, simplifying our portfolio and focusing future disciplined investment in Nigeria on our Deepwater and Integrated Gas positions," Shell head of upstream Zoë Yujnovich said.

The buyer, the Renaissance consortium comprises ND Western, Aradel Energy, First E&P, Waltersmith, all local oil exploration and production companies, and Petrolin, a Swiss-based trading and investment company.

The sale, which Renaissance confirmed, requires the approval of the Nigerian government.

SPILLS AND LAWSUITS

Renaissance will take over the responsibility for dealing with spills, theft and sabotage, said Shell, which has faced in recent years multiple lawsuits for compensation over damage caused as a result of spills in the Niger delta.

Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of Nigerian advocacy group Health of Mother Earth Foundation said: "Shell must own up to its responsibility."

"This means full payment for the remediation and restoration of the polluted areas as well as reparations to the host communities. They cannot walk away from the virtually irreparable harm they have caused," Bassey said in a statement.

Shell's SPDC Limited operates and has a 30% stake in the SPDC joint venture that holds 18 onshore and shallow water mining leases. Shell's resources in SPDC reached around 458 million barrels of oil equivalent by the end of 2022.

Other partners in the joint venture are the state's Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which holds 55%, TotalEnergies, with 10% and Italy's Eni with 5%.

Apart from its operations and stakes in several fields deep offshore, Shell still has a liquefied natural gas plant and other assets in Nigeria.

SPDC, which remains the operator, was formed in 1979, incorporating assets of the older Shell-BP consortium, with its current partners entering at later stages.

(Reporting by Ron Bousso; additional reporting by Tife Owolabi in Yenegoa and Camillus Eboh in Abuja; editing by Louise Heavens, Jason Neely and Barbara Lewis)

Shell to Sell Nigeria Onshore Oil Business for $1.3 Billion

Laura Hurst
Tue, January 16, 2024

(Bloomberg) -- Shell Plc agreed to sell its Nigerian onshore oil business to a consortium of local companies for more than $1.3 billion, a historic shift in a crucial yet controversial part of the energy giant’s global operations.

If approved by the government, the deal would fulfill Shell’s long-term goal of extracting itself from a challenging operating environment in the Niger Delta. For decades, the company has been at odds with local communities over oil spills and accusations of human rights violations, something that increasingly clashed with its broader efforts to become cleaner and greener.

Even so, Shell will retain many connections to Nigeria through its natural gas business and deep-water oil fields. It will also provide the buyers of the business with $1.2 billion in loans, and receive additional cash payments of as much as $1.1 billion on completion of the deal.

“This agreement marks an important milestone for Shell in Nigeria,” Zoe Yujnovich, integrated gas and upstream director, said in a statement on Tuesday. The deal is “simplifying our portfolio and focusing future disciplined investment in Nigeria on our deepwater and integrated gas positions”

The buyer of the business, known as Renaissance, is formed of exploration and production companies ND Western, Aradel Energy, First E&P, Waltersmith and Petrolin, all of which are based in Nigeria, according to the statement. Renaissance’s chief executive officer and managing director is Tony Attah, a former Shell employee with 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry.

The gradual departure of the international oil majors from the West African country has tended to boost the presence of local companies, but is by no means a guarantee that a deal will get approval from the Nigerian authorities. Exxon Mobil Corp. agreed to sell its shallow-water oil assets to Seplat Energy Plc almost two years ago, but the transaction has yet to complete amid objections from state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Co. Eni SpA and Equinor ASA are also waiting for regulatory approval to finalize the sale of Nigerian assets.

President Bola Tinubu’s arrival in office in May has made companies more optimistic that they will be able to complete these deals, although progress has been slow since the new head of state took power.

“These divestment processes can be protracted and complex affairs,” said Clementine Wallop, a senior adviser at political-risk consultant Horizon Engage. “Given their recent pro-business rhetoric, there is pressure on President Tinubu and on upstream regulator chief Gbenga Komolafe to show that they can manage this process smoothly.”

Labored Process

Shell has pumped oil in Nigeria for more than half a century, but almost three years ago then-Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden signaled the company’s intention to exit its onshore oil positions. These operations have become increasingly difficult, with local communities accusing Shell of being responsible for oil spills that have polluted their environment. The company has blamed many of these incidents on damage to infrastructure caused by oil theft.

Tuesday’s announcement comes after a labored sales process that had to be halted in 2022 after a court ordered Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. to pause its divestment plans pending the outcome of a separate case related to allegations of pollution. Earlier this month, Nigeria’s Supreme Court upheld Shell’s appeal against this ruling.

The same lawyers that Shell faced in Nigeria’s Supreme Court are also representing about 1,200 plaintiffs in the southwestern city of Akure, who allege they were affected by an oil spill in 2011. That court also placed a freezing order on SPDC for the sale of any assets in Nigeria.

“SPDC has confirmed that their ability to comply with this order is unaffected. The proposed sale keeps SPDC whole and does not reduce its business,” a spokesperson for Shell said. “SPDC have a strong case and will continue to defend this claim vigorously.”

Shell will provide the buyers with secured term loans of as much as $1.2 billion “to cover a variety of funding requirements”. The London-based major will also give additional financing of as much as $1.3 billion over “future years” to fund SPDC’s share of the development of joint-venture gas resources, decommissioning and restoration costs. The company expects to take an impairment to the $2.8 billion net book value of the unit upon completion of the deal.

Following the sale, Shell will continue operating in Nigeria through its deep-water oil, natural gas and solar businesses.

--With assistance from William Clowes.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Africa’s biggest oil refinery begins production in Nigeria with the aim of reducing need for imports

CHINEDU ASADU
Mon, January 15, 2024 

 A view of oil installations at the Dangote refinery during the opening ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria, Monday, May 22, 2023. Nigeria’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which is Africa’s biggest, says it has begun production, starting with diesel and aviation fuel. This brings to an end a yearslong wait for a plant that analysts said Monday, Jan. 15, 2024 could boost local and regional refining capacity in a region heavily reliant on imported refined products.

 (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, File) 


ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Africa’s biggest oil refinery has begun production in Nigeria, the company has said, ending a yearslong wait for a plant that analysts said Monday could boost refining capacity in a region heavily reliant on imported petroleum products.

The $19 billion facility, which has a capacity to produce 650,000 barrels per day, has started to produce diesel and aviation fuel, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery company reported Saturday. As Nigeria’s first privately owned oil refinery, the project "is a game-changer for our country,” it added.

Nigeria is one of Africa’s top oil producers but imports refined petroleum products for its own use. The nation's oil and natural gas sector has struggled for many years, and most of its state-run refineries operate far below capacity because of the poor maintenance.

The Dangote refinery is “not a silver bullet” for Nigeria's energy crisis, according to Olufola Wusu, an oil and gas expert who was part of a team that helped review Nigeria’s national gas policy. “But it is a great way to revive the sector … and will help move Nigeria from being a major importer of refined petroleum products to being self-reliant in domestic refining capacity.”

Described by the company as the world’s largest single-train refinery, the private refinery is owned by Africa’s richest man, Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote. It is located on the outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub, where it operates alongside a fertilizer plant.

The plant is expected to meet 100% of Nigeria’s needs for gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and aviation jet fuel at full production capacity, Dangote said last year when the facility was opened. At least 40% of the oil products made there also would be available for export, the company said,.

The plant received about 6 million barrels of crude so far from Nigeria’s state oil firm, NNPC Limited, to kickstart its operation, although it could take months before the refinery reaches full capacity, according to analysts.

Some citizens have expressed hope that the new plant would soon help reduce consumer gas prices, which have tripled from a year ago after the government stopped decadeslong subsidies,

Analysts have said any impact on prices would still depend on industry trends such as the cost of crude, government interventions such as subsidies, and the local currency’s exchange rate to the dollar.

Biden Urged to Use Obscure Law to Thwart Pacific Northwest Pipeline Expansion

Jennifer A. Dlouhy
Tue, January 16, 2024 

(Bloomberg) -- Environmentalists are urging the White House to use an obscure legal tool to thwart TC Energy Corp.’s planned expansion of a natural gas pipeline in the Pacific Northwest that they say would stoke climate change.

The GTN XPress Project — which would boost capacity on TC Energy’s existing Gas Transmission Northwest pipeline by roughly 6% — won approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in October.

But now scores of green and grassroots groups are lobbying the Biden administration to intervene, exploiting a little-known provision in the Clean Air Act that empowers a White House council to do a fresh review of the project. Nearly 150 organizations outlined their strategy in a letter Tuesday to the head of the Environmental Protection Agency and other top administration officials.

The gambit presents a fresh test of President Joe Biden’s climate commitments — and another chance for him to bolster his green bonafides with voters before November’s election. Biden is under pressure to quash fossil-fuel ventures, including new liquefied natural gas exports, after alienating some supporters by authorizing a mammoth ConocoPhillips oil development in Alaska last year.

FERC has drawn special scrutiny from activists who fault it for approving nearly all gas pipeline proposals before the commission in the past two decades.

“There needs to be a change of course if the administration is actually going to make progress toward reducing our greenhouse gas emissions,” said Audrey Leonard, a staff attorney with Columbia Riverkeeper, which is part of the push. “This is a fantastic opportunity for the EPA to show its commitment to addressing the climate crisis and environmental justice issues.”

If pipeline opponents prevail, the White House Council on Environmental Quality could broker a compromise over EPA claims FERC ignored how much the project would boost natural gas production and resulting greenhouse gas emissions. That could prompt fresh scrutiny and even a potential project rejection.

Though federal agencies have referred 28 disputes to the council since 1974, most were in the 1970s and 80s. Only two happened this century.

Obscure laws can be powerful options: Environmentalists persuaded former President Barack Obama to block new oil development in US Arctic waters by invoking a once little-known 1953 statute weeks before leaving the White House.

Growing Urgency

Activists make the case that this is a way for Biden to ensure his climate commitments aren’t undermined by fossil-fuel project approvals from independent agencies such as FERC. They’ve encouraged the president to get more aggressive on climate by employing every legal weapon he has to halt crude exports and thwart new drilling.

There’s “a growing sense of urgency” around climate change and FERC’s approval of fossil-fuel infrastructure, said Kenny Stancil, a senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project that led the push. “The Biden administration has neglected to use this authority to date, but if there were a successful example of it being used, then maybe we could pull that lever more frequently and on different projects.”

TC Energy’s plan involves upgrades to compression stations in Idaho, Washington and Oregon that would allow more Canadian natural gas to flow through a pipeline system that supplies consumers along the West Coast.

Read More: Pacific Northwest Gas Proposal Highlights FERC Balancing Act

Supporters say the venture is needed to provide reliable, affordable energy for California, following gas price spikes, and that it can be done with minimal disruption. TC Energy says the project “will enhance market access and reliability” for growing supplies of Canadian gas.

However, US senators and state attorneys general from the region condemned the expansion, joining environmental groups who say it would boost pollution in neighboring communities, threaten public safety and undermine decarbonization commitments of Oregon, Washington and California.

EPA Misgivings

The EPA already raised misgivings, telling FERC at least twice the commission hadn’t sufficiently assessed a range of emissions associated with the expansion.

But now the agency can go further, the groups urge, by asking the White House council to wade into the fight — an intervention they say is essential to ensure public health and welfare take precedence over corporate goals. Otherwise, they say, FERC flouted federal environmental law by only considering alternatives that would meet the developer’s objectives.

The law “does not ask federal agencies to be the stewards of corporate developers’ wishes,” the groups say, but instead “asks every federal agency to ensure that it is acting as a trustee of the environment for the American public.”

The tactic takes advantage of the EPA’s unique legal authority to ask the White House council to step into disputes that imperil environmental quality or public health and welfare. Where federal agencies generally have 25 days after publication of environmental assessments to seek the council’s involvement, the Clean Air Act sets no time limit on the EPA, which can raise issues even after project approval.

The last similar intervention was in 2017, when the council effectively blocked plans for a levee in Missouri over concerns it would drain a Mississippi River floodplain and harm fish, wildlife and wetlands.

 Bloomberg Businessweek

Mahindra calls for EV level playing field amid Tesla's India entry plans

una galani
Tue, January 16, 2024

Shah, CEO of India's Mahindra Group poses for a picture after an interview with Reuters in Davos

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra has told the government there must be a level playing field between domestic and foreign players and local manufacturing must be promoted, a top executive said, as New Delhi seeks to lure carmakers such as Tesla.

Mahindra and Tata Motors have pressed Indian officials privately not to lower import taxes of 100% on electric vehicles and protect domestic firms and their foreign investors as the government reviews Tesla's plans to enter the market, Reuters reported last month.

Asked about Tesla's entry and New Delhi's planned policy to lower import taxes, Mahindra Managing Director Anish Shah said his company had made representations to Indian officials saying global EV makers must be nudged to invest in India.

"It should be a level playing field and investing in India is important," Shah told Reuters in an interview at the World Economic Forum annual meeting, without referring to Tesla by name.

"Our approach is essentially to create a stronger industry in India, and not to be in a situation where manufacturing is done outside India, and India just becomes an importer of products," he added.

India sold 4 million cars last year and just 82,000 of those were EVs, but the nascent segment clocked sales growth of 115% versus the previous year.

Mahindra has raised around $400 million from Singapore's Temasek and British International Investment, while private equity firm TPG and Abu Dhabi state holding company ADQ invested $1 billion in 2021 in Tata.

Shah said Mahindra has plans to list its EV unit, but not before 2029 "because we need to be able to show significant success in that business."

"For us, electric is the future," he said.

Tesla has proposed setting up an Indian factory but also demanded lower import taxes for electric cars. India is working on a new policy to cut import taxes on EVs to as low as 15% for companies committing to some local manufacturing, Reuters has reported.

But that has worried the Indian industry with sources saying Tesla's entry could risk future fundraising of Indian EV companies as they need a stable and favourable import tax regime.

(This story has been corrected to change the picture)

(Reporting by Una Galani in Davos; Writing by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

Norway’s Crown LNG to Spend $1 Billion on India Regas Terminal Counting on Mounting Demand

Rakesh Sharma
Mon, January 15, 2024 


(Bloomberg) -- Crown LNG will invest more than $1 billion in an Indian liquefied natural gas import terminal that it aims to open in 2028, the Norwegian company’s chief executive officer said.

Indian gas demand is strong and likely to keep growing, but it is currently limited by the need for affordable supplies, Swapan Kataria said in an interview in New Delhi. LNG is likely to become cheaper due to increases in global capacity through the end of the decade, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a goal of raising the share of gas in India’s energy mix to 15% by 2030 from 6%, which has led to a frenzy of investments in infrastructure. Six out of the seven operational LNG import terminals currently running at less than half of their capacity, however, casting doubts on the viability of future projects.

Crown’s planned 7.2 million tons LNG import terminal to be built in Kakinada, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, will be India’s second largest, according to government data.

The firm is set to go public in the US via a merger with publicly traded Catcha Investment Corp., which will help it raise funds for its anchor projects in Kakinada and Grangemouth, in Scotland, Kataria said.

India’s LNG demand will hit 72.9 million tons a year by the end of the decade from an estimated 20.2 million tons last year, according to Bernstein analysts.

 Bloomberg Businessweek

Explainer-Western Canada's dry winter heralds worsening drought for 2024


Canola crops stunted by the recent drought near Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan

By Nia Williams and Rod Nickel

Tue, January 16, 2024 

(Reuters) - Canada's abnormally dry winter is worsening drought conditions across the western provinces, where most of the country's oil, gas, forest products and grain are produced.

Western Canada is slowly emerging from a blast of arctic temperatures over the weekend, but the winter had otherwise been unusually mild.

Many cities experienced their warmest December ever recorded and British Columbia's snowpack is on average 44% below normal, according to provincial data. The dry winter follows Canada's hottest summer on record, partly due to the El Nino weather phenomenon, and is raising concerns that 2024 could be another record-breaking wildfire year.

Despite plunging temperatures in recent days, the winter overall is likely to stick to a milder, drier pattern, said Weather Network meteorologist Doug Gillham.

AGRICULTURE

As of Dec. 31, 70% of the country was abnormally dry or in drought, according to Agriculture Canada, with the worst conditions in southern Alberta, western Saskatchewan and north-central British Columbia.

Virtually all of the Prairies have received less precipitation than normal during the past 60 days as of Jan. 8, with large stretches of each province collecting less than 40% of usual precipitation.

In Alberta, three years of drought have raised the cost of feeding cattle and drained dugouts that the cattle drink from. This has forced some farmers to reduce their herds. Canada's cattle inventory hit its lowest level on record in 2022, according to Statistics Canada.

Farms in southern Alberta depend on irrigated river water to sustain crops of potato and sugar beet. Non-irrigated Prairie farms produce most of Canada's wheat and canola, much of which are exported.

OIL AND GAS

Regulators in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada's main oil and gas-producing provinces, have urged companies to cut back on water use because of drought. In December the Alberta Energy Regulator said it may restrict access to water due to extremely low levels in many parts of the province, especially the South Saskatchewan river basin.

Firms are taking steps to manage potential shortages although companies are not changing development plans yet, said Tristan Goodman, CEO of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada.

Companies that usually take their water from tributaries are looking for larger sources within the same basin, while others are building more permanent and temporary water storage facilities or planning drilling programs to coincide with the peak of the spring snowmelt, Goodman added.

HYDROPOWER

BC Hydro's largest water reservoirs in British Columbia's north and southeast are below normal levels, a spokesperson for the province's electric utility said. BC Hydro imported 10,000 gigawatt hours of electricity in 2023, about one-fifth of its total energy needs, the spokesperson said.

FORESTRY AND WILDFIRES

Alberta still has 60 active wildfires burning and British Columbia more than 100, illustrating the dry and mild state of conditions.

Reduced snowpack means snow will likely melt faster in the spring, prolonging fire season and stretching firefighting resources, said Mike Flannigan, a professor of wildfire science at Thompson Rivers University.

Widespread wildfires could reduce the areas forestry companies are allowed to harvest, while prolonged drought weakens trees by making them more susceptible to disease, he added.

WINTER SPORTS

Western Canada's 92 ski areas typically receive around 9 million skier visits every year, according to the Canada West Ski Areas Association (CWSAA), and the sport contributes C$2 billion ($1.49 billion) a year to British Columbia's economy.

This year a number of ski hills including Red Mountain in Rossland and Big White near Kelowna delayed their opening dates due to warm temperatures and lack of snow.

Conditions are improving but CWSAA CEO Christopher Nicolson said reports from a number of ski hills suggested visitor numbers were lower than usual over the Christmas period.

($1 = 1.3379 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

British Medical Association sparks backlash over call for Gaza ceasefire

The British Medical Association (BMA) has been criticised by some of its members over a letter it wrote calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East.

Ross McGuinness
Updated Tue, January 16, 2024

The British Medical Association has written a letter to the foreign secretary calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East. (Alamy)


A number of healthcare professionals have condemned the British Medical Association (BMA) after it issued a letter calling for government action to stop the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

In the letter, addressed to foreign secretary Lord Cameron, the BMA said "it is vital that the UK stands up for human rights and medical neutrality during this crucial period if, for no other reason, than it is the right thing to do".

However, the organisation was criticised by a number of its own members for what they called the lack of neutrality in the letter, which made no reference to the 130 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas or the militants' attack on 7 October which claimed the lives of about 1,200 people.

Monday marked 100 days since those attacks, which were followed by Israeli air strikes that Hamas says have killed more than 23,000 people in Gaza.

The BMA trade union represents about 190,000 doctors, and its 12 January letter was signed by Professor Philip Banfield, BMA Council chair, and Dr Latifa Patel, representative body chair and equality lead at the BMA.


Addressing Cameron, the letter read: "We are writing to you, on behalf of the BMA, to express our grave concern about the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

"Normal medical services have been suspended; supplies including water, fuel and medicines are highly limited or unavailable entirely; the majority of hospitals have been forced to close.

"The Israeli blockade of Gaza has led to an inexcusable shortage of basic necessities to all civilians including, but not limited to, water, food and fuel.
Recommended reading

BMA allows one junior doctor to cross picket line after hospital request (The Telegraph)

"There has been damage to hundreds of medical facilities. According to the World Health Organization, there were 427 attacks on healthcare by the end of November. Hundreds of medical personnel have lost their lives.

"This represents a clear breach of international humanitarian law. The impact on healthcare and health workers is indicative of a violation of medical neutrality."

The letter urged the government to work with others to call for an immediate ceasefire.

The BMA's letter has divided opinion among its members, with some welcoming its response while others were angry it made no reference to Israeli hostages.

Liz Lightstone, professor of renal medicine at Imperial College London, accused the BMA letter of being "antisemitic"

She wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "Ashamed to be a member of the BMA after all these years. This letter is as far from a statement of neutrality as can be imagined.

"No mention of hostages which include children and women who have been held for over 100 days. No mention of the genocidal attacks on 7 Oct. No mention of the need for the safety of Israeli citizens."

Jon Goldin, consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, posted: "I resigned from the BMA today after over 30 years as a member. This letter is very far from ‘medical neutrality’.

"The war is a tragedy with innocent people getting killed on both sides and I sincerely hope it ends asap."

Paul Pfeffer, a consultant respiratory physician at Barts Health NHS Trust in London, said: "A truly neutral statement would acknowledge the horrors being felt by people on both sides of the conflict.

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (Reuters)

Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip on Monday. (Reuters)

Smoke billowing over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip during Israeli bombardment on Tuesday. (AFP via Getty Images)

"So shame on you the BMA for a statement that is far from neutral. No mention of the horrors perpetrated by Hamas. No plea for release of hostages."

Daniel Sugarman, director of public affairs for the Board of Deputies of British Jews, pointed out that the letter did not include the BMA's previous request for "the immediate release of all hostages", as detailed in a post on its website on 22 November 2023.

He wrote on X: "What I'd quite like to know is why one of the points mentioned in the BMA position on the Israel-Gaza conflict - as per its website - somehow fails to make it into this letter. Was there not room?"

However, there was praise for the BMA's stance from some doctors in the UK.

Huda Mahmoud, a nephrologist, wrote: "Thank you BMA for a measured, humanitarian response. The atrocities befalling Gaza are not complex or complicated.

"Never again, means we can't turn a blind eye to the suffering of the Gazans or any other ethnicity ever again."

And Anisur Rahman, professor of Rheumatology at University College London, said: "Well done to the BMA. Healthcare for innocent civilians including thousands of children has been rendered impossible by incessant attacks on healthcare in Gaza. It has to stop."

A BMA spokesperson told Yahoo News UK: “The BMA absolutely wants to see the release of all hostages unharmed, and has consistently called for this, including in our comprehensive position statement that is referenced in this letter, and in our initial response to the situation in October that condemned the Hamas attack.

“This letter focuses specifically on the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the unique and severe impact this is having on the health of civilians, healthcare services and healthcare staff working there.

“It also clearly calls for an immediate ceasefire and respect for international law, which applies to both parties in the conflict. The taking of hostages is in direct contravention of the Geneva Conventions, and therefore we continue to call for their release.”


Watch live as David Cameron questioned on Gaza ceasefire in House of Lords

Oliver Browning
Tue, January 16, 2024

Watch live as David Cameron takes questions in the House of Lords on Tuesday 16 January.

The foreign secretary will be questioned on a range of topics, including how a lasting ceasefire arrangement between Israel and Gaza can be secured.

Lord Cameron will be speaking in parliament after Rishi Sunak warned yesterday that the government remains “prepared to back our words with actions”, as missile attacks continued in the Red Sea despite last week’s air strikes against Houthi rebels.

“The threats to shipping must cease. Illegally detained vessels and crews must be released. And we remain prepared to back our words with actions,” the prime minister told the House of Commons.

The UK joined the US in targeting Houthi locations in Yemen last week as part of efforts to ensure international cargo vessels can travel through the vital shipping route after assaults by the Iran-backed militants.

It is the latest clash during trouble sparked by the Israel-Hamas conflict.


Australian foreign minister Wong calls for permanent Gaza ceasefire

DPA
Sun, January 14, 2024 

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong departing from Adelaide Airport. Wong will travel to the Middle East as the Hamas-Israel war continues. -/DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE/dpa

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has spoken out in favour of a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza war.

"Our position is that we want to see a sustainable ceasefire and that we see an international humanitarian, immediate humanitarian ceasefire as a step towards that," Wong said on Monday before departing on a trip to Israel and Jordan, the West Bank and the United Arab Emirates.

But, she added, "No ceasefire can be one sided and no ceasefire can be unconditional."

Wong also called for safe, unhindered and permanent access for humanitarian aid and better protection for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. She also wants to use her trip to the region to campaign for a way out of the current conflict and a lasting peace in the form of a two-state solution.

During her visit to Israel, Wong also wants to meet relatives of the hostages and survivors of the massacre committed by terrorists from the the Islamist militant organization Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7 last year.

Australian foreign minister calls for 'sustainable ceasefire' at start of Middle East tour

Sun, January 14, 2024 

FILE PHOTO: Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong visits Philippines

By Lewis Jackson

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's foreign minister called on Monday for a "sustainable ceasefire" in Gaza as she left for a Middle East tour that includes a visit to the occupied West Bank and meetings with the families of Israeli hostages.

Penny Wong said she would use the visits to Jordan, Israel, the West Bank and the United Arab Emirates to advocate for a pathway out of the current conflict and a lasting peace in the form of a two-state solution.

Australia would also use its voice to push for more humanitarian assistance, greater protection of civilians and a de-escalation of regional tensions, she added.

"Our position is that we want to see a sustainable ceasefire and that we see an international humanitarian, immediate humanitarian ceasefire as a step towards that," Wong said at a news conference ahead of her departure.

"No ceasefire can be one sided and no ceasefire can be unconditional."

Australia backed a UN resolution for a Gaza ceasefire in December in a rare split with its ally, the U.S..

During her first stop in Israel, Wong will meet with government officials and families of hostages and survivors of the October 7 attack, which Israel said killed more than 1,200 people.

Australia supported Israel's right to defend itself in response to "terrorism" but "the way it does so, matters," Wong said in a statement that also called for the unconditional release of all hostages.

Wong will then travel to Jordan before visiting the West Bank, where she will meet representatives of communities affected by violence from Israeli settlers. Australia considers settlements illegal under international law.

"I will make clear Australia’s support for Palestinians’ right to self-determination and commitment to meeting humanitarian needs in Gaza and the West Bank," she said.

"I will also emphasise Australia’s opposition to the forcible displacement of Palestinians and our view that Gaza must no longer be used as a platform for terrorism."

(Reporting by Lewis Jackson: Editing by Neil Fullick)

New Poll Reveals What Terrifies Canadians About Trump 2.0

Lee Moran
Tue, January 16, 2024 

The majority of Canadians fear a Donald Trump return to the White House, a new poll has suggested.

In an Angus Reid Institute survey of 1,510 adults, almost two-thirds (64%) agreed or strongly agreed that U.S. democracy may not survive a second Trump presidency.

Almost half (49%) of the respondents worried the U.S. is “on the way to becoming an authoritarian state.”

Some 62% said the U.S. would be “much worse” under Trump again.

Regarding relations between the U.S. and Canada, 64% thought Biden was a more stable POTUS.

More than 50% said Biden is better for Canada’s economy, with 29% saying it didn’t matter, economically speaking for Canada, who was the occupant of the Oval Office.

Despite being indicted in four criminal cases, Trump remains the clear Republican 2024 front-runner and on Monday cruised to victory in the Iowa caucuses, meaning a replay of the 2020 election between himself and Biden remains on the cards.

Canadians worry US democracy cannot survive Trump's return to White House, poll finds

Mon, January 15, 2024 


Canadians worry US democracy cannot survive Trump's return to White House, poll finds
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump campaigns, in Indianola

By Steve Scherer

OTTAWA (Reuters) - About two-thirds of Canadians surveyed this month said American democracy cannot survive another four years of Donald Trump in the White House, and about half said the United States is on the way to becoming an authoritarian state, a poll released on Monday said.

The November U.S. election is likely to pit President Joe Biden against Trump, who is the clear frontrunner to win the Republican nomination as voting in the presidential primary race kicks off in Iowa on Monday.


Sixty-four percent of respondents in the Angus Reid Institute poll of 1,510 Canadians said they agreed with the statement: "U.S. democracy cannot survive another four years of Donald Trump." Twenty-eight percent disagreed.

The Jan. 6, 2021 attack on Capitol Hill by Trump supporters seeking to block certification of Biden's 2020 election win shocked many Canadians, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly blamed Trump for inciting the mob.

Trump has vowed if elected again to punish his political enemies, and he has drawn criticism for using increasingly authoritarian language.

Three times as many Canadians say a Biden victory would be better for Canada's economy (53%) than a Trump win (18%), according to the poll which was seen exclusively by Reuters. The poll, taken between Jan. 9-11, had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points

Forty-nine percent of people said the United States is on the way to becoming an authoritarian state and 71% of Canadians say the concept that the rule of law applies equally to everyone is weakening in the United States.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment

about the poll.

"What we're seeing is people quite alarmed about the prospect of a return of Donald Trump," said Shachi Kurl, president of Angus Reid Institute.

The polling is also "an indictment" of "how poorly Canadians now view the democratic institutions and the checks and balances that in the past people on both sides of the border took for granted," she added.

American allies around the world and financial markets are watching the election with unease given the isolationism and the protectionist trade policies of Trump's presidency. Because of their proximity and economic ties, Canadians have more at stake than most countries.

Two-thirds of Canada's 40 million people live within 100 km (62 miles) of the U.S. border, and the trade relationship with the United States is of existential importance to Canada.

Three-quarters of all exports go to the southern neighbor, and half of its imports come from the United States, including 60% of all imported fresh vegetables.

"One can make the argument that there's no country that would be more negatively affected by a Trump win than Canada," said Kim Nossal, a professor of political studies at Queen's University in Kingston and author of "Canada Alone: Navigating the Post-American World".

In his first term, Trump forced the renegotiation of the North American trade pact and clashed with Trudeau, who he once called "very dishonest and weak".

Trump's "mercantilist view involves thinking of Canada and every other so-called friend of the United States as no friend at all, but just a bunch of free-riders sucking off the wealth of the United States," Nossal said. "He is the ultimate protectionist."

There is a provision in the new North American trade pact that requires it to be reviewed for renewal after six years, or during the next American president's term in 2026.

(Reporting by Steve Scherer; Editing by Alistair Bell)