LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: 01/04/24

Thursday, January 04, 2024

SpaceX accused of unlawfully firing staff critical of Elon Musk

3rd January 2024
By Mariko Oi

Business reporter

BBC

SpaceX has been accused of unlawfully firing eight workers who were critical of its multi-billionaire chief executive Elon Musk.

A complaint by a US labour agency says the employees sent an open letter to the firm's executives in 2022, detailing workplace concerns.

The letter called him a "distraction and embarrassment", according to Reuters news agency.

The BBC has approached the rocket and satellite firm for comment.

The complaint by a regional official at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) accused SpaceX of violating the workers' rights under federal labour law which allows co-workers to jointly advocate for better working conditions.

The complaint also said those involved in the open letter were interrogated before being discharged.

Lawyers for one of the former employees, Deborah Lawrence, have reportedly accused SpaceX of having a "toxic culture", where harassment is tolerated.

In a statement, seen by Reuters, Ms Lawrence said: "We wrote the open letter to leadership not out of malice, but because we cared about the mission and the people around us".

The NLRB's general counsel acts like a prosecutor and brings cases to the five-member board appointed by the organisation's president.

If SpaceX does not settle, the case will be heard by an administrative judge, whose decision can be appealed to the board and then to a federal appeals court. A hearing is scheduled for 5 March.

If the NLRB finds that the firings violated labour law, it can order that workers be reinstated and given back pay.

Mr Musk's companies have been accused of violating employees' rights before.

In October, the NLRB accused X, formerly known as Twitter, of illegally firing an employee over tweets challenging the company's return-to-office policy. X denied wrongdoing.

Electric car maker Tesla has also faced several NLRB complaints, which included allegations of race discrimination at its factories. Tesla has said it does not tolerate discrimination.

In August, the US Department of Justice sued SpaceX, alleging it discriminated against refugees and asylum seekers in its hiring practices.

At the time, Mr Musk posted on X: "US law requires at least a green card to be hired at SpaceX, as rockets are considered advanced weapons technology".

Strikes shut doors at world-renowned French monuments

Tourists travelling to visit historic French landmarks the Eiffel Tower and Normandy's Mont Saint Michel have found their doors closed for part of the past two weeks, as striking workers complain of underinvestment and too many visitors.

Issued on: 04/01/2024

A board warns about a strike at the Eiffel Tower, Wednesday, December 27, 2023, Paris, France.

© Lewis Joly, AP

Investment in Mont Saint Michel, a fortified tidal island topped by an abbey, is "not at an appropriate level for this fantastic monument", one staff representative said.

And an Eiffel Tower unionist last week warned that the cost of "major maintenance, renovation and conservation work" is being "underestimated" at the 125-year-old iron structure.

In Normandy, Herminia Amador Chacon of the CGT union said Mont Saint Michel workers "all have joint problems in the knees or the ankles" from staffing and guiding visitors around the site, which is accessible only by climbing 350 stairs.

Others are posted out in the wet, rainy Channel weather for hours on end, with one reception worker calling the spot "marvellous but badly heated".

Only around 15 of the Mont Saint Michel's 55 workers have walked out since the open-ended strike began on December 26.

But that has been enough to shut the gates of the abbey -- one of France's most visited monuments, with around 1.5 million tourists per year -- many days since.

Lise, 25, and Thomas, 24, had travelled the 70 kilometres (43 miles) from Norman town Flers to visit on Wednesday, only to find a sign saying the abbey was only open between 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm.

While "a little disappointed", the pair judged the staff could not "be on strike over nothing".

Worker representatives at Mont Saint Michel are asking for more staff, extra pay for those with foreign language skills and compensation for the physically demanding parts of the job, as well as better facilities on site.

Abbey general secretary Arnaud Noblet said extra staff were already on hand during the busy summer season and a small number of new jobs were being created.

He dismissed the idea that spending on the abbey was not in line with revenues.

Pooling of resources among landmarks managed by the Centre for National Monuments (CMN) authority means "major monuments like the abbey keep the small ones alive", Noblet said.

Eiffel Tower 'heading for disaster'

In Paris, strikers among the Eiffel Tower's 360-strong workforce said they had walked out for one day on December 27 to protest against "unrealistic management" with "over-ambitious, impossible-to-achieve" business goals.

"The Eiffel Tower is an old lady. It's 130 years old. Some of the lifts date back to 1899. There's a lot of work (to be done)," the workers said.

They added that managers' projections of 7.4 million visitors per year were unrealistic -- the tower hosted 5.9 million in 2022 -- leaving a funding gap that workers believe has management firm SETE "heading for disaster".

But SETE boss Jean-Francois Martins said the Eiffel Tower was "in good economic shape", even after the Covid-19 pandemic and inflation hit renovation costs.

He said he believed workers fear jobs could be cut to make up for pandemic-era losses.

Italian tourist Alessandro Monaco, 40, was disappointed.

"We were quite stunned to see there was a strike. It's a real shame not to be able to visit today," he told AFP on the day of the stoppage last week.

Others were more sanguine.

"The important thing is to see it, strike or no strike," said 40-year-old French visitor Marie-Christine Riviere.

While the Eiffel Tower strike on December 27 lasted for just one day, "if the situation continues... the Eiffel Tower will be closed during the Olympic Games period" in July-August, worker representatives warned.

(AFP)

Japan quake death toll rises to 92, missing 242

Anamizu (Japan) (AFP) – The death toll from a devastating earthquake in central Japan rose to 92 on Friday, regional authorities said, with the number of missing jumping to 242.

Issued on: 05/01/2024 -

People walk past fallen utility poles and damaged buildings in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture

Two elderly women were pulled from the rubble, but hopes of finding other survivors faded as thousands of rescuers raced against the clock four days after the 7.5-magnitude quake on New Year's Day.

Thousands of rescuers from all over Japan have been battling aftershocks and roads littered with gaping holes and blocked by frequent landslides in the Ishikawa region to reach hundreds of people in stranded communities.

On Thursday afternoon, 72 hours after the quake, the two older women were miraculously pulled alive from the remains of their homes in Wajima, one of them thanks to a sniffer dog called Jennifer.

People walk in front of a collapsed building in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture © Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP

The port city of Wajima on the Noto Peninsula was one of the worst hit, with a pungent smell of soot still in the air and faint columns of smoke visible from a huge fire that destroyed hundreds of structures on the first day.

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"I was relaxing on New Year's Day when the quake happened. My relatives were all there and we were having fun," Hiroyuki Hamatani, 53, told AFP amid the burnt-out cars, wrecked buildings and fallen telegraph poles.

Collapsed buildings in the town of Monzen in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture on January 5, 2024 © Toshifumi KITAMURA / AFP

"The house itself is standing but it's far from livable now... I don't have the space in my mind to think about the future," he told AFP.
Grief

The powerful main tremor, followed by hundreds of aftershocks, injured at least 330 people, local authorities said.

Around 30,000 households were without electricity in the Ishikawa region, and 89,800 homes there and in two neighbouring regions had no water.

Hundreds of people were in government shelters.

The Suzu area was also devastated, with fishing boats sunk or lifted like toys onto the shore by tsunami waves that also reportedly swept one person away.

A huge crack is pictured in a road in the town of Monzen in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture © Toshifumi KITAMURA / AFP

Noriaki Yachi, 79, fought back tears after his wife was pulled from the rubble there and confirmed dead, the Asahi Shimbun daily reported.

"My life with her was a happy one," Yachi said.

Earthquakes have hit the Noto region with intensifying strength and frequency over the past five years.

The country is haunted by a massive 9.0-magnitude undersea quake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that left around 18,500 people dead or missing.

It also swamped the Fukushima atomic plant, causing one of the worst nuclear disasters in history

burs-stu/cwl

© 2024 AFP

Ruin and rescue dogs in quake-ravaged Wajima

Wajima (Japan) (AFP) – Joining soldiers and firefighters in the desperate search for survivors after a huge earthquake in central Japan was rescue dog Elsa, described by her trainer as "the best of the best".

Issued on: 05/01/2024 -

Elsa the rescue dog helps firefighters search for people in quake-hit Wajima

© Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP

Nimbly crossing loose roof tiles and splintered wooden beams, she sniffed through the wreckage of a destroyed wooden house in Wajima, one of the cities worst hit by the 7.5-magnitude earthquake on New Year's Day.

Along with rescuers including Japanese troops, the large black dog with pointed ears was searching for an elderly woman possibly buried under the rubble of her home.

"Please Elsa, please find her," came a voice from a crowd of neighbours and other relief workers watching their efforts, three days after the disaster struck.

The dog was brought to the coastal city by Yasuhiro Morita from his rescue dog training centre around 500 kilometres (300 miles) away in western Tottori region.

"She reacts to dead bodies when searching the rubble -- she is trained to always bark when she finds a body," Morita told AFP.

Strong aftershocks have shaken the region since Monday's terrifying main tremor

© Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP

"But today, she just wandered off towards the bystanders instead, which likely means there was no body inside," he said.

Morita described Elsa as "the best of the best in western Japan", but she wasn't the only mutt on the job -- the defence minister announced Thursday that a rescue dog named Jennifer had found an elderly woman under the rubble who was pulled out and saved.

The ravaged house was just one of the devastating scenes in Wajima and other parts of Ishikawa on the Sea of Japan coast.

Strong aftershocks have shaken the region since Monday's terrifying main tremor, which triggered landslides, a major fire and a tsunami more than a metre high.

So far 92 people have been confirmed dead in the disaster

© STR / JIJI Press/AFP

As of Friday, 92 people had been confirmed dead in the disaster, with 242 others reported missing.

Wajima resident Hiroyuki Hamatani, 53, had been relaxing with his relatives when the quake struck.

"Things fell over and walls crumbled, and the entrance door also collapsed. The house itself is standing, but it's far from liveable now," he told AFP.

Water and food are scarce, as "supplies have hardly arrived yet, but I guess they're on their way now", he said.

"I don't have the space in my mind to think about the future. Things are all scattered inside my house. More aftershocks could make it collapse, so I can't go back just yet."

On the approach to Wajima, fallen boulders partially blocked roads © Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP

On the approach to Wajima -- a city of around 23,000 residents, known for its artisan lacquerware -- tunnels were partially blocked by fallen boulders, and mountain surfaces had been left barren by landslides.

Flattened houses lined the route, with debris and snow dotting the sides of the road.
'No trace left'

Even more shocking sights awaited those who made it into the city.

An imposing seven-storey building lay on its side, while fallen utility poles blocked a path surrounded by twisted wreckage.

An imposing seven-storey building lay on its side © Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP

"Is someone there? Answer us please!" a soldier was heard shouting while his team searched the ruins of a home for another missing resident, entering through broken windows.

The quake sparked a blaze that laid waste to an entire market area where 200 structures reportedly burned down.

There, the ground was blanketed in charred building materials, with burned-out cars sitting in front of a topsy-turvy backdrop of houses dislodged from their foundations.

Fallen utility poles block a path surrounded by twisted wreckage © Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP

Standing looking at the ruins was Shinichi Hirano, 47.

"This is where my grandma's house used to be, but it's all burned down," he told AFP.

"She passed away a while ago, so her house has long been vacant, but still, this area is full of fond memories," he said, reminiscing about a cake store and a barbershop he used to frequent as a child.

"But they're all gone. I only see burned ruins now," he said, with a sad smile on his face.

"It pains me" to see these familiar places decimated, Hirano said, adding: "I'm just speechless."

The quake sparked a blaze that laid waste to an entire market area © Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP

An 80-year-old man, who declined to give his name, gazed on woefully as the pungent smell of soot wafted through the air.

Even three days after the earthquake, faint columns of smoke were still billowing here and there in the desolate city.

"I came to check on my relatives. I haven't been able to see them yet," the elderly man said.

"This is just terrible. There is no trace left," he said.

"Terrible," he repeated, sighing heavily at the sight. "It's just like war."

© 2024 AFP

Plane wreckage being cleared from Tokyo airport after collision

Tokyo (AFP) – Japanese workers began clearing the burnt wreckage of a passenger jet on Friday, three days after a near-catastrophic collision with a coast guard plane at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

Issued on: 05/01/2024

All 367 passengers and 12 crew on board the Japan Airlines plane escaped down emergency slides

© Richard A. BROOKS / AFP

Five of the six crew on the smaller aircraft died in the incident on Tuesday but all 379 people on the Japan Airlines Airbus were evacuated just before it was engulfed in flames.

TV footage from Haneda, one of the world's busiest airports, showed diggers with cutting equipment sawing up the wings and the charred fuselage as planes took off and landed on adjacent runways.

A Japan Coast Guard spokeswoman said clearance work was also underway to remove the mangled remains of its plane, which had been heading to deliver aid to earthquake-hit central Japan.

The evening collision saw a ball of fire and black smoke erupt underneath the JAL airliner as it sped down the runway after hitting the coast guard plane on the tarmac.

Videos shot by passengers showed bright orange flames seen from the plane windows as babies cried and people shouted for the doors to be opened.

In one clip, a young voice can be heard shouting: "Please let us out. Please. Please open it. Just open it. Oh, god."

All 367 passengers and 12 crew escaped down emergency slides and were all off within 20 minutes, with only two suffering minor physical injuries, JAL said.

Soon afterwards, the entire aircraft was an inferno and dozens of fire engines were trying to put out the blaze.

No 'visual contact'

The cause of the accident is being investigated, with specialist teams travelling from France, Britain and Canada to help with the probe.

The flight recorder and voice recorder from the coast guard plane have been found, as has the flight recorder from the passenger jet.

According to a communications transcript released by the Japanese government, the Japan Airlines flight JAL-516 was cleared at 5:44 pm by air traffic control to land.

On the tarmac, the coast guard plane was instructed 15 seconds later to "taxi to holding point C5" near the edge of the runway.

The pilot acknowledged the order immediately afterwards, the transcript showed.

Roughly two minutes later, the Japan Airlines plane landed and slammed into the coast guard's DHC-8, suggesting that the latter had proceeded onto the actual runway.

Broadcaster NHK said Friday that one of its cameras at Haneda had recorded the coast guard plane entering the runway from a taxiway, and stopping for about 40 seconds before the crash.

The coast guard plane's captain Genki Miyamoto, its only survivor, said immediately after the accident that he had permission to take off, NHK reported.

The JAL flight crew had no "visual contact" of the other plane, although one of them spotted "an object" just before impact, an airline spokesman told AFP on Thursday.

"After the plane landed and around the time when the front wheels touched or were about to touch the ground -- during those few seconds, they said they felt an impact," the spokesman said.

Experts said it was remarkable that the passengers appeared to have left their belongings behind on the plane, including at least one pet dog and one cat.

"Passengers seemed to have followed instructions in a textbook manner," Terence Fan, an airline industry expert from Singapore Management University, told AFP.

"This is exactly what evacuation policies are designed for -- the airframe itself is not meant to survive the blaze, ultimately."

© 2024 AFP

A jet’s carbon-composite fiber fuselage burned on a Tokyo runway. Is the material safe?

A passenger plane burst into flames on the runway of Tokyo’s Haneda airport on Tuesday, with news reports saying it hit another aircraft after landing.

BY DAVID KOENIG
Updated January 3, 2024

The fuselage of the jetliner involved in a collision on a Tokyo runway was made from carbon-composite fibers, and the incident is renewing concern about the challenges of putting out fires involving the material.

The fire is shaping up as a key test of the safety of composite materials compared with conventional airplane fuselages made of aluminum.

A Japan Airlines plane is on fire on the runway of Haneda airport on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan.

(Kyodo News via AP)

Investigators appear to be focusing immediately on communication between the pilots of both planes and air traffic controllers at Haneda Airport. A transcript released Wednesday indicated that the landing Japan Airlines A350 had permission to use the runway but the Japanese coast guard plane did not.

Safety experts are praising the airline’s crew after everybody was able to escape the burning jetliner. Five people on the coast guard plane were killed.

Composites have been used for many years inside commercial planes, such as the floorboards and other structures.

Investigators focus on air traffic communication after a fatal Tokyo runway crash

Planes collide and catch fire at Japan’s busy Haneda airport, killing 5. Hundreds evacuated safely

Watch: The moment a passenger plane caught fire as it landed at Tokyo’s Haneda airport

Boeing built the first commercial plane with a fuselage and wings made from composites reinforced with carbon fibers, the 787. The plane went into airline service in 2011, and about 1,100 have been produced.

Airbus followed in 2018 with the A350 — like the two-year-old plane involved in Tuesday’s collision — and has sold about 570 of them.

WHAT IS THE MATERIAL?

In airplanes, composite materials contain carbon fiber to give more strength to plastic and other materials. According to Boeing, they produce weight savings of about 20% compared with aluminum — a significant amount, considering how much less fuel a lighter plane will burn.

ARE THERE CONCERNS?

The strength of composites was tested during certification by regulators including the Federal Aviation Administration, and Boeing said it made changes in the 787 as a result, but experts say there are limits to our understanding of the material’s performance.

“There has always been a concern about composites if they catch fire because the fumes are toxic,” said John Goglia, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates accidents in the United States. “That threat continues as long as the airplane burns — actually after, because those little fibers might be floating around in the smoke.”

DID IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

While the Japan Airlines plane caught fire, filling the cabin with smoke, all 379 passengers and crew members were able to escape.

“That fuselage protected them from a really horrific fire — it did not burn through for some period of time and let everybody get out,” said safety consultant John Cox. “That is a positive sign.”

Goglia said there is no real-world evidence on whether composite skins are any better or worse than aluminum at resisting fire and heat long enough to give passengers a chance to escape.

Aircraft manufacturers are supposed to show that their planes can be evacuated in 90 seconds with half the exits blocked, although skeptics question the accuracy of U.S. government-run tests.

On Tuesday night, video captured a fireball on the JAL plane as it continued down the runway after the crash.

“The flammability issue is something they have to look at, but obviously nobody (on the jetliner) burned to death,” said aviation attorney Justin Green. “It seems the fuselage and the seats (made of fire-retardant material) and everything else protected the flight crew and the passengers.”

IS THE SMOKE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS?

Passengers on the Japan Airlines plane said the cabin filled with thick smoke within minutes. Videos posted by passengers showed people using handkerchiefs to cover their mouths and ducking low as they moved toward the exits.

There has long been concern about toxic smoke released when carbon-reinforced composites burn.

As far back as the 1990s, the Federal Aviation Administration said the main health hazards from composites present in plane crashes and fires were sharp splinters from exposed material, fibrous dust, and toxic gases generated from burning resins.

“From early reports, it appears that there was a significant amount of smoke in the cabin, and it is not yet clear if any of the smoke was from burning composites,” said Todd Curtis, a former Boeing engineer who is now a safety consultant.

Curtis said a key follow-up for investigators and regulators will be monitoring whether passengers or firefighters were injured by exposure to toxic smoke from the burning composite.

Those injuries could take a long time to show up, said Steven Marks, an aviation attorney. He said passengers involved in accidents are usually in shock and often don’t immediately recognize the severity of their injuries.

This aerial photo show the burn-out Japan Airlines plane at Haneda airport on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, in Tokyo, Japan.

(Kyodo News via AP)

WAS THE FIRE HARDER TO PUT OUT?

Another concern, experts said, was the amount of time it took firefighters at Haneda to extinguish the blaze, and the risk to the first responders.

Curtis, the former Boeing engineer, said both in the Haneda crash and a 2013 fire on an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 that was parked at London’s Heathrow Airport, “putting out the fire took much more effort than with a typical airliner fire.”

The official report said the fire at Heathrow started with crossed wires in the plane’s emergency locator transmitter, but added, “The resin in the composite material provided fuel for the fire, allowing a slow-burning fire to become established in the fuselage crown.”

Curtis said that incident made him worry about fuselage fires on the ground and in the air back in 2013, “and these concerns have not gone away.”

Mystery how 2 planes ended up on same runway

Officials investigate a burnt Japan Airlines (JAL) Airbus A350 plane after a collision with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Japan Jan 3, 2024.
PHOTO: Reuters

PUBLISHED JANUARY 03, 2024

TOKYO — Japanese authorities said on Wednesday (Jan 3) a passenger jet that collided with a Coast Guard turboprop at a Tokyo airport had been given permission to land, but the smaller plane had not been cleared for take-off, based on control tower transcripts.

All 379 people aboard the Japan Airlines (JAL) Airbus A350 managed to evacuate after it erupted in flames following Tuesday's crash with a De Havilland Dash-8 Coast Guard turboprop shortly after landing at Haneda airport.

But five died among the six Coast Guard crew who were due to depart on a flight responding to a major earthquake on Japan's west coast, while the captain, who escaped the wreckage, was badly injured.

Authorities have only just begun their investigations and there remains uncertainty over the circumstances surrounding the crash, including how the two aircraft ended up on the same runway. Experts stress it usually takes the failure of multiple safety guardrails for an airplane accident to happen.

But transcripts of traffic control instructions released by authorities appeared to show the Japan Airlines jet had been given permission to land while the Coast Guard aircraft had been told to taxi to a holding point near the runway.

Officials investigate a burnt Japan Coast Guard aircraft after a collision with Japan Airlines' (JAL) Airbus A350 plane at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Japan Jan 3, 2024.
PHOTO: Reuters

An official from Japan's civil aviation bureau told reporters there was no indication in those transcripts that the Coast Guard aircraft had been granted permission to take off.

The captain of the turboprop plane said he had entered the runway after receiving permission, a Coast Guard official said, while acknowledging that there was no indication in the transcripts that he had been cleared to do so.

"The transport ministry is submitting objective material and will fully co-operate with the... investigation to ensure we work together to take all possible safety measures to prevent a recurrence," Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito told reporters.

The Japan Safety Transport Board (JTSB) is investigating the accident, with participation by agencies in France, where the Airbus jet was designed, and Britain, where its two Rolls-Royce engines were manufactured. In Canada, where the Coast Guard Dash-8 was originally built by Bombardier, the TSB safety agency said it would also take part.

The JTSB has recovered the voice recorder from the coast guard aircraft, authorities said.
Police enquiry

Meanwhile, Tokyo police are investigating whether possible professional negligence led to deaths and injuries, several media outlets, including Kyodo and the Nikkei business newspaper, said.

Police have set up an investigation unit at the airport and plan to interview those involved, a spokesperson said, declining to say whether they were examining any suggestions of negligence.

Parallel air crash investigations have raised concerns in the past over tensions between civil safety investigations, which rely on open discussion of errors to help improve safety, and police-led enquiries, which are designed to apportion blame.

n aerial view shows burnt Japan Coast Guard aircraft after a collision with Japan Airlines' (JAL) Airbus A350 plane at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Japan Jan 3, 2024, in this photo taken by Kyodo.
PHOTO: Kyodo/via Reuters

"There's a strong possibility there was a human error," said aviation analyst Hiroyuki Kobayashi, who is a former JAL pilot.

"Aircraft accidents very rarely occur due to a single problem, so I think that this time too there were two or three issues that led to the accident."

A notice to pilots in force before the accident suggested that a strip of stop lights embedded in the tarmac as an extra safety measure to prevent wrong turns, was out of service, according to a copy of the bulletin posted by US regulators.

"This is something the investigators will look at," said US aviation safety consultant John Cox.

In a statement on Wednesday, JAL said the aircraft recognised and repeated the landing permission from air traffic control before approaching and touching down.

Firefighters work on a burning Japan Airlines' A350 airplane at Haneda International Airport, in Tokyo, Japan Jan 2, 2024.
PHOTO: Reuters

All passengers and crew were evacuated within 20 minutes of the crash, but the aircraft, engulfed in flames, burned for more than six hours, the airline said.

The Coast Guard aircraft, one of six based at the airport, had been due to transport aid to regions hit by Monday's earthquake of magnitude 7.6 that has killed 64 people, with survivors facing freezing temperatures and prospects of heavy rain.

The accident forced the cancellation of 137 domestic, and four international flights on Wednesday, the government said

A view of a flight arrival information board at Haneda International Airport, as operations are suspended due to a Japan Airlines' A350 airplane and a Coast Guard aircraft collision, in Tokyo, Japan Jan 2, 2024.
PHOTO: Reuters

But emergency flights and high-speed rail services were requested to ease the congestion, Transport Minister Saito said.

Michael Daniel, a former US accident investigator, said investigators will be looking to make recommendations.

"The main thing is the situational awareness: what is it they would have told the pilot holding short of getting on a runway... And then what was air traffic's understanding. Did the controller give them clearance to take off?... A lot of that information will come out when they start reviewing the cockpit voice recorder as well as the air traffic tapes."

ALSO READ: How Japan Airlines crew led 367 passengers to safety from a burning plane

Source: Reuters

U.S. insurer AIG leads policy for Japan Airlines plane -sources

Story by Reuters •

Firefighters work on a burning Japan Airlines' A350 airplane at Haneda International Airport, in Tokyo, Japan January 2, 2024.

REUTERS/Issei Kato© Thomson Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) -U.S. insurer AIG was the lead insurer on a $130 million "all-risks" policy for the Japan Airlines airplane which collided with another plane at Tokyo's Haneda airport, two insurance industry sources said on Wednesday.

AIG declined to comment.

All 379 people aboard the Japan Airlines Airbus A350 escaped after a collision with a De Havilland Dash-8 Coast Guard turboprop that killed five of six crew on the smaller aircraft.

Trade magazine The Insurer previously reported the AIG insurance news.

The Japan Airlines policy mainly covers damage to the hull, one of the sources said.

Large commercial insurance deals are typically split among a number of insurers.

Willis Towers Watson was the main broker on the deal, the second source told Reuters. Willis Towers Watson declined to comment.

Last year was challenging for the aviation insurance market, insurance broker Gallagher said in a report on Wednesday, given the Ukraine and Israel-Gaza conflicts.

Aviation reinsurance rates rose by as much as 25% at the key Jan. 1, 2024 reinsurance renewal date, Gallagher's reinsurance unit said in a report this week.

(Reporting by Carolyn CohnEditing by Tomasz Janowski and Louise Heavens)

Aviation expert says Japan airline had top safety features | Watch (msn.com)

Op-Ed: Noise pollution — A deafening killer, getting worse?

ByPaul Wallis
DIGITAL JOURNAL
January 3, 2024

Residents of the area around Schiphol, a densely populated zone, have regularly complained about the airport's noise nuisance

- Copyright ANP/AFP ARTHUR VAN DER KOOIJ

Noise is an accepted part of human existence to the point that it’s getting dangerous. Statistics from the World Economic Forum from 2017 were bad enough. Six years later, the science is better, but the news is worse.

What’s really odd about noise pollution is the very vague, nebulous information in circulation.

There’s an understated flow of hard information about different types of noise pollution and a continuous feed of pretty grim if also rather generalized predictions. One of the issues here is that specific health risks usually aren’t explored in any degree of depth.

The health risks of noise pollution are more serious than anyone would expect from the muted information available. Harvard Medicine has a useful article about noise pollution that spells out the health issues.

Nor has there been much movement on noise pollution since. Harvard points out that the EPA started making noises about health risks 50 years ago. Like most information about any kind of pollution, it is prioritized downward.

This culture of selective deafness has added to the mix of problems with ignoring the obvious. New noise sources include industrial noise, overpowered woofers, ear pods, and overuse of headphones. When you’re hit with a loud noise, that sound is a physical force transferred as vibrations.

(For the record – Louder isn’t better and tends to distort sound quality. You don’t need high volumes at all.)

Unhealthy levels of noise start at 70 decibels according to the CDC. The CDC includes a helpful list of sources of possibly unhealthy sounds starting with common domestic appliances.

These technologies include: Higher cycle frequency noises which can affect the upper register of hearing,
Anything blocking ear passages and generating noise could affect internal ear stresses and pressures.
Lower wave near-infrasound noises that can resonate with delicate ear tissues.

The scale and range of devices and uses which make noises is also expanding. Leaf blowers and other high-cycle atrocities without mufflers are used regardless that people don’t normally wear sound protection. The user may be protected, but nobody else is.

The effectiveness of sound insulation is also highly dubious. Some residential buildings are good at blocking out external noise. Most aren’t. Some are echo chambers, amplifying sound. Any enclosed space with a hard reflective surface will do.

A New York state law aims to penalize helicopter companies that make too much noise. — © AFP

Health risks

Hearing loss – “Attrition by noise” isn’t quite as simple as it sounds, pun intended. Some level of hearing loss is “natural”, according to someone. In practice, the physiological type of hearing loss is the primary issue. Hearing loss may be caused by neurological issues, for example.

However – High levels of additional external stress don’t help any type of medical condition. There’s no doubt that intrusive levels of sound are physically as well as psychologically irritating. Noise is more stressful in an already stress-saturated world.

The WHO predicts that 2.5 billion people will have some form of hearing loss by 2050. That’s about 1 in 4 people worldwide.

Interestingly, the WHO doesn’t directly address noise pollution as such on that link above. It refers to OHS and “safe listening”, but not the wider practical issues regarding sources.

The overall picture is of a total lack of enforced policies. Nothing needs to be noisy. Sound insulation technologies have progressed a lot since 50 years ago.

The cost and health risks of managing 2.5 billion people with hearing loss in a deafening world are entirely avoidable.

Solution; stop the noise before it starts.

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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.

WRITTEN BY Paul Wallis
Editor-at-Large based in Sydney, Australia.

Record-breaking strike piles pressure on England’s health service Agencies

Published January 4, 2024

DOCTORS hold placards calling for better pay, as they stand on a picket line outside London’s St Thomas Hospital on the first day of strike action.—AFP

LONDON: Junior doctors in England started a six-day walkout over pay on Wednesday, the longest strike in the 75-year history of the state-run National Health Service (NHS), which will hit patient care during a seasonal winter peak in demand.

As in other key sectors over the past year, junior doctors represented by the British Medical Association (BMA) have staged a series of walkouts to demand better pay in the face of soaring inflation

Junior doctors in England on Wednesday defended a decision to start their longest consecutive strike in the seven-decade history of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS). They said their wages have gone down by around a quarter in real terms under the current government, which has been in power since 2010.

“I’m here because we deserve better as doctors,” Callum Parr, an accident and emergency doctor from London, said from a picket line outside St Thomas’ Hospital in the British capital. The 25-year-old medic said he was $150,000 in debt after six years at university, and facing increasing costs including rapidly rising rental prices in the city.

“Our job is hard, we knew it would be hard, we went to medical school which is also hard, and we want to help patients,” he said. “But you also have to be able to pay your bills.”

Doctors defend six-day strike as 7.7m patients on waiting list seek treatment

In a statement, the union urged the government to make a “credible” pay offer to end the strikes, which threaten to increase the pressure on the health service, where more than 7.7 million on waiting lists seek treatment.

“Morale across the health service is at an all-time low … Many will be wondering if their chosen career is still worth pursuing the government has the chance to show those doctors they still have a future working in this country,” the BMA said.

Cumulatively, the NHS, which has provided healthcare free at the point of use since it was founded in 1948, cancelled 1.2 million appointments since strikes began in 2023.

The government, which has agreed new pay deals with other healthcare workers, including nurses and senior doctors in recent months, has resisted hikes it says would worsen inflation.

The BMA abandoned talks with the government after being offered a pay rise of eight per cent to 10pc, and held strikes from Dec 20 to 23. The union is seeking a 35pc improvement, which it says is needed to cover the impact of inflation over several years.

Junior doctors are qualified physicians, often with several years of experience, who work under the guidance of senior doctors and make up a large share of the medical community.

“This January could be one of the most difficult starts to the year the NHS has ever faced,” Stephen Powis, its national medical director, said on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2024

Uruguay bill stirs debate about dictatorship-era crimes

Relatives of the disappeared have been demanding that the military provide information about what happened to them

Military officers who committed human rights abuses during Uruguay's dictatorship from 1973 to 1985 could soon be allowed to serve out their sentences at home.

3rd January 2024
By Grace Livingstone

BBC

Montevideo, Uruguay

Senators passed the legislation which - if approved by the lower house of congress - will allow criminals over the age of 65 to be released from prison into house arrest. Organisations representing victims of the dictatorship describe the bill as "a big step backwards".

Patricia López of the Association of Mothers and Relatives of Uruguayan Disappeared Persons calls it "morally unacceptable". "We have seen so little justice for victims of the dictatorship, and this law is a big setback," she says.

Supporters of the law say the "humanitarian measure" will benefit not just those over the age of 65, but also mothers and pregnant women who are currently in jail.

Carmen Asiaín is one of the senators who voted in favour of the bill. She says lawmakers were "careful to abide by international human rights conventions and not to create situations of impunity".

Under the proposed law, the senator from the governing National Party notes, convicts over the age of 65 may only serve out their sentence under house arrest if a judge agrees that their physical or mental health is so poor that staying in prison would affect their "human dignity".

While those found guilty of crimes against humanity are excluded from the measure, human rights activists point out that most convicted Uruguayan officers were found guilty of lesser offences such as homicide or personal injury, and therefore could be released from jail if the bill is passed.

Thousands of people were tortured and 197 people were forcibly disappeared under Uruguay's military regime, according to Uruguayan government figures. A further 202 were victims of extra-judicial killings between 1968 and 1985.

Human rights NGO Observatorio Luz Ibarburu and Francesca Lessa, an academic at University College London, have spent years collecting data on the crimes committed during Uruguay's 12-year dictatorship and followed attempts to bring those responsible to justice.

Uruguay returned to democracy in 1985, but an immunity law granting amnesties to members of the armed forces accused of human rights violations was in force until 2011.

To date, only 28 people have been convicted of dictatorship-era abuses.

Pablo Chargoñia of Observatorio Luz Ibarburu says that the proposed legislation could lead to the few officers that have been convicted being sent home.

Time is also against those trying to investigate the dictatorship-era crimes. The coup that ushered in the military regime took place 50 years ago and many of those involved died before they could be prosecuted, explains Mr Chargoñia.

Besides trying to prosecute perpetrators, rights groups are trying to find out what happened to the "disappeared", people who were kidnapped by the military regime.

They have called on the Uruguayan armed forces to release information about their whereabouts. But so far, of the 197 Uruguayans who were forcibly disappeared, the remains of only 31 have been found.

The search is complicated by the fact that many were victims of a secret plan called Operation Condor, in which the dictatorships of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay worked together to track down their opponents across borders.

Twenty-five of the 31 bodies were found in Argentina, showing the extent to which the two neighbouring countries' dictatorships collaborated.

While most of those disappeared by the military decades ago are presumed dead, survivors of Operation Condor have been able to provide information about how the military regimes operated.

Sara Méndez is one of them. In the 1970s, the Uruguayan left-wing activist and teacher was living in exile in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires.

On 13 July 1976, she was kidnapped in a joint operation by the Uruguayan and Argentine armed forces. As armed men hustled her blindfolded into a car, they left her three-week old baby behind, sleeping in a wicker basket.

Sara was taken to a secret torture house in Buenos Aires, before being sent back to Uruguay where she was imprisoned for five years.

She spent the next 25 years searching for her son, Aníbal Mendez, before finally finding him in 2002 in Argentina. Aníbal had been adopted by a police commander in Buenos Aires and knew nothing of this sinister past.

níbal was 25 years old, the man he thought was his father told him he was adopted: "He said that a baby had been abandoned at a local clinic. His wife thought the baby was so beautiful, they decided to adopt him."

"I listened to his version, but I didn't believe it," the now-47-year-old Aníbal says.

Aníbal agreed to take a DNA test, which confirmed he was Sara's son. He and Sara have spent the last 20 years building a relationship.

"At the beginning it was very difficult. Imagine, a person that didn't raise you, that you've only just met, but you know she is your biological mother, this was something we had to overcome," he explains.

Aníbal has also had to grapple with his conflicting feelings for the couple who raised him: "I am very clear that these two people who brought me up committed this terrible crime of taking a baby and changing its identity. But I grew up with their love and I am not going to erase this love they gave me or the love I also felt for them."

Sara says that reconnecting with her son "took many years of work".

Of the estimated 500 babies taken in Argentina from women political detainees like Sara during the dictatorship, 133 children have been reunited with their birth families.

But the baby thefts have left a legacy of complex trauma.

'I think that the stealing of babies was one of the cruellest things these dictatorships did - the taking of a child by people who formed part of a repressive apparatus that persecuted, tortured and killed their parents," Sara says.

She is concerned that the proposed law currently winding its way through Congress "doesn't distinguish between common crimes and crimes committed by the state".

She also thinks the bill "does not consider the victim's opinion when it comes to deciding any modification of the prison regime for convicted officers".

Three retired military officers and one policeman are currently serving sentences in Uruguay in connection with the kidnap and torture of Sara Méndez.

One of them has already been released into house arrest. If this bill is passed the others could also serve out their sentences at home.

Luke Littler’s run at World Darts Championship is over, but the buzz is just beginning

PAUL WALDIE

EUROPE CORRESPONDENT
LONDON

Luke Littler of England celebrates with the runner-up trophy after the World Darts Championship Final between Littler and Luke Humphries, both of England, at Alexandra Palace in London, on Jan. 3.T

OM DULAT/GETTY IMAGES

The dream run of Luke “the Nuke” Littler finally came to an end on Wednesday, but even in losing the 16-year-old has left his mark on the game of darts and created a buzz that will likely last for a long while yet.

Mr. Littler came up short in the final of the PDC World Darts Championship in London, falling to “Cool Hand” Luke Humphries seven sets to four in a best of 13 format.

Mr. Humphries, ranked No. 1 in the world, came out strong and won the first set comfortably. Mr. Littler kept his focus and went up four sets to two. But Mr. Humphries, 28, regained his composure and won five straight sets en route to his first title.

He also racked up 23 scores of 180, the highest possible point total with three darts. That was just off the tournament record of 25. By contrast, Mr. Littler hit 13 180s.

“I honestly can’t put into words how great this feels,” Mr. Humphries said after the victory. “It makes it more incredible for myself mentally because there was a time in my life when I was really depressed. I couldn’t do it on the big stage and went through a lot of problems.”

In a nod to Mr. Littler he added: “All day, in the back of my mind, I’ve been thinking, ‘Get this won now because he’s going to dominate world darts soon.’ He’s an incredible player, he’s relentless.”

Despite the loss, Mr. Littler has been the clear star of the tournament. He’s the youngest player ever to make it to the final, not to mention the youngest to win a match at this level.

“It’s been unbelievable,” he said after Wednesday’s match. “I might not get to a final for another five to 10 years, we don’t know. But I can say I’m a runner-up. Now I want to go and win it.”

The hype surrounding the youngster isn’t likely to fade. It has been building ever since he took his opening match at the championship on Dec. 20. Back then the rowdy crowd at London’s Alexandra Palace, also known as the Ally Pally, mocked him by singing “You’ve got school in the morning.”

But as his wins rolled on, the tune became something of an anthem as darts fans, and the country, embraced the kid from Warrington, west of Manchester, and his historic quest for the title.

Luke Littler of England in action during the semifinal match against Scott Williams at the World Darts Championship, on Jan. 2.

KIN CHEUNG/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Soon Mr. Littler was being courted by soccer stars and featured on the front pages of nearly every British newspaper. His remarkable run at the tournament – which included six straight wins – broke viewership records for Sky Sports and had commentators at a loss for words.

“I know bugger all about darts but Luke Littler might have a future. I mean, WOW!” soccer broadcaster Gary Lineker said on X.

Losing to Mr. Humphries was nothing to be ashamed of. He’s been among the best players on the tour over the last few months, winning four major titles including the PDC championship. Wednesday’s win – worth £500,000 ($846,000) in prize money – was his 19th in a row.

He’s also come back from a long battle with anxiety that nearly forced him to quit darts after his first year as a pro in 2017. “I was almost ready to give the game up because I didn’t know if I could do it, but I have worked out ways to control it,” he told Sky Sports last month.

He went back home to Thatcham, west of London, and took up roofing with his father and brothers. He slowly returned to darts in 2018 and had a breakout year in 2023.

But it’s Mr. Littler who will be talked about for years to come.

Some have compared his accomplishment to a young Tiger Woods, soccer great Pelé, tennis ace Boris Becker and Emma Raducanu’s improbable win at the U.S. Open in 2021 as an 18-year-old.

Those comparison are overblown. But like the others, he has managed to transcend his sport and make darts part of everyday conversation. How else to explain BBC Radio 4′s flagship news program, Today, featuring a lengthy report about Mr. Littler’s exploits during its Wednesday broadcast?

A more apt parallel might be the groundbreaking run Fallon Sherrock had in 2020 when she became the first woman to make it to the quarter-finals of the PDC championship. “I’d say it’s kind of a heightened version of Fallon to a point,” said Samuel Gill, editor of Darts News. “Both of them were kind of known before it happened, but nobody kind of expected them to do what they’ve done so quickly.”

Ironically, Mr. Littler’s age could work against him in the short run, at least financially. Betting companies are major sponsors in darts but Mr. Littler can’t be associated with any bookies because he’s under 18. He also can’t be a spokesman for a beer brand or any alcoholic beverage company until he reaches the legal drinking age of 18.

Mr. Littler’s down-to-earth manner and stunning success could translate into a comfortable lifestyle in years to come.

He’s certainly not getting carried away with all the attention. When asked what he planned to do with his £200,000 winnings from the tournament, Mr. Littler spoke about heading to a pair of traditional English resort towns.

“All my friends are watching at home,” he said. “We’ve always said we need to go Blackpool or Alton Towers so I think they will be looking at me like ‘You’re paying, Luke’ and I’ll be like ‘Yeah, okay.’”

Deforestation report: UK's 'unsustainable' consumption putting 'enormous pressure' on world's forests, MPs warn

A committee of MPs claims the intensity of the country's consumption, when measured by its footprint per tonne of product consumed, is higher than that of China and should "serve as a wake-up call to the government".

Thursday 4 January 2024

Sky News

A deforested area during an operation to combat deforestation near Uruara, Para state, Brazil, in January 2023

The world's forests - the lungs of the planet - are being put under "enormous pressure" by the UK's appetite for commodities like soy, cocoa, palm oil, beef and leather, MPs have warned.

The intensity of the country's consumption, when measured by its footprint per tonne of product consumed, is higher than that of China, according to the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) report.

This should "serve as a wake-up call to the government", said EAC chair Philip Dunne, who added that the UK's use is having an "unsustainable impact on the planet".

The committee has now released a 66-page report on Britain's contribution to tackling global deforestation, which is the clearing or cutting down of forests, as it made a series of recommendations.

It comes after ministers announced that four commodities - cattle products (excluding dairy), cocoa, palm oil and soy - will have to be certified as "sustainable" if they are to be sold into UK markets.

The government, which plans to gradually include more products over time, has not yet said when the legislation will be introduced.

And the committee said it is concerned that the phased approach and lack of a timeline does not reflect the necessity of tackling deforestation urgently.

The report said: "The failure to include commodities such as maize, rubber and coffee within this scope does not demonstrate the level of urgency required to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030."

5:27 Destruction of the Amazon rainforest

The EAC called on the government to address these gaps and strengthen the existing legislative framework so businesses are banned from trading or using commodities linked to deforestation.

The committee also said: "Forests host 80% of the world's terrestrial biodiversity, support the livelihoods of 1.6 billion people and provide vital ecosystem services to support local and global economies.

"Deforestation threatens irreplaceable biodiverse habitats and contributes 11% of global carbon emissions."

It urged ministers to create a global footprint indicator so the public can see the UK's deforestation impact and a target can be set to cut it.

The committee said there are concerns over how planned investments in nature and climate programmes - including £1.5bn earmarked for deforestation - will be spent and called for more clarity from ministers.

'Government needs to act now'

Alexandria Reid, from the non-governmental organisation Global Witness, said: "The findings are clear, the UK will not reach net zero while British banks continue to fuel, and profit from, rampant deforestation of our climate-critical forests overseas.

"The government will miss the global deadline to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030 unless it acts now."

Clare Oxborrow, from Friends of the Earth, said: "The committee is right to highlight the many flaws in the government's plans to curb deforestation.

"Not least, the failure to include all high-risk commodities as part of its proposed new deforestation law, as well as the fact that it will only apply to illegal logging, which is notoriously difficult to determine."

The government's response

A government spokesperson said: "The UK is leading the way globally with new legislation to tackle illegal deforestation to make sure we rid UK supply chains of products contributing to the destruction of these vital habitats.

"This legislation has already been introduced through the Environment Act and is just one of many measures to halt and reverse global forest loss.

"We are also investing in significant international programmes to restore forests, which have avoided over 410,000 hectares of deforestation to date alongside supporting new green finance streams."

This is why it's so important to protect the Amazon

UK use of fossil fuels for electricity falls to lowest level since 1957

2023 was second-warmest year on record in UK