Mexico's President Imitates Trump in 'Art of the Deal'

Former U.S. President Donald Trump cast himself as a master of “The Art of the Deal,” but his old buddy, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, may be taking over that title.

By Associated Press
April 27, 2022,

Mexican President Andres Manuel Obrador smiles as people applaud after the playing of the national anthem at the end of an event where he delivered a speech on economic figures, in Mexico City, Tuesday, April 12, 2022. On the third week of April, Lopez Obrador strong-armed a U.S. gravel company into agreeing to operate a tourist resort and cruise ship dock at rock quarries it owns on the Caribbean coast.
(AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

For a leader once depicted as a leftist, López Obrador is in fact more of a populist and nationalist, and is quite conservative on some social issues. And he and Trump share an essentially transactional view of politics: two old-style bosses who like making deals.

On Monday, López Obrador became one of the few foreign leaders to say he genuinely liked Trump.

“We understood each other, and it was good for both countries,” López Obrador said of Trump’s time in office.

The examples of López Obrador’s pressure are many.

In 2020, he called a referendum that stopped a partly built, $1.5 billion U.S.-owned brewery in the border city of Mexicali, which had received all the needed permits but brought complaints from some residents that it would use too much water.

The Victor, N.Y.-based Constellation Brands, the company that brews Corona beer, wanted to be on the border in order to export Corona to the U.S. market. But López Obrador has a long-range goal of promoting investment in southern Mexico. That’s the region where he grew up, and where poverty is greater and water is more plentiful.

So last week, López Obrador said the governor of the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, who belongs to the president’s Morena party, smoothed the way with all necessary permits for Constellation to build a brewery there.

Some say the president may be scaring off foreign investment with such heavy-handed tactics.

“The critics and the pundits are complaining ... because he chases away investments. He doesn’t give a damn,” said Federico Estevez, a political science professor at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico. “That’s what they haven’t understood. He’s not after growth. He’s not after investment. He’s not a normal politician.”

In March, López Obrador issued an ultimatum to the U.S. energy company Sempra saying it had one month to sign an agreement to build a liquified natural gas export terminal in the Pacific coast port of Salina Cruz. Industry insiders say the project isn’t attractive for foreign investors, since it involves building pipelines to the port.

López Obrador has renovated the port as part of a plan to revive a 150-year-old dream of a rail line linking ports on the Pacific to the Gulf over Mexico’s narrow Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and he desperately needs commercial customers for the ports. Sempra hasn't yet responded to the demand.

Similar thinking — and practices — went into the president’s most surprising deal yet, the tentative agreement with Vulcan Materials to run a resort and port.

Vulcan wound up with a series of crushed-limestone quarries on Mexico’s Caribbean coast near the resort of Playa del Carmen in the 1990s, when the area wasn’t as popular as it now.

Vulcan would like to keep exporting gravel, but its export permits have been blocked since late 2018, leading the company to file a trade dispute arbitration case under NAFTA, which has yet to be resolved.

The quarries are near XCaret, a lagoon that private investors turned into a high-end theme park that charges $100 a day in admission. The Mexican president loves state-owned businesses and hates pricey private ones.

One of Vulcan’s gravel quarries was dug out to below the water table, and it filled with turquoise water. López Obrador wants to turn it into an artificial swimming and snorkeling lagoon.

His other pet project in the area is the Maya Train, a 950-mile (1,500- kilometer) rail line that will run in a rough loop around the Yucatan peninsula, connecting Caribbean coast resorts with archaeological sites inland.

Controversially, and with no environmental studies, the president decided to cut down a swath of low jungle between Cancun and Tulum, near the quarries, to build the train line.

The project needs huge amounts of gravel spread between rail ties to stabilize them, and it needs a seaport to get rails, cars and other train-building materials into the jungle.

Vulcan Materials has crushed limestone and it has a deep-water port, Punta Venado, that it uses to export shiploads of gravel to Florida for road projects. López Obrador also wants Vulcan to operate a cruise ship dock just across from Cozumel — the world’s busiest port of call for cruise ships.

So the president offered “a deal” to the company — run a water park and a cruise ship dock, or the government will shut down the quarries. And he threatened further action.

“I am waiting for an answer to the offer we made to them, because otherwise, we will take legal action,” Lopez Obrador said April 19, sounding a lot like Trump.

On Monday, Vulcan Materials issued a statement saying it had told Mexican officials "of its openness to supply construction materials needed for the construction of the Maya Train and other infrastructure projects and to make port capacity available for transfer of train-related construction materials.”

The company said it also told the government it was open to developing “a large-scale ecotourism project — suggested by the Government of Mexico — on land owned by the Company, as long as the Company can continue supplying its customers.”

Vulcan added that it is "also prepared to explore an expansion of the Punta Venado maritime terminal to receive passenger, freight and naval vessels in the coming years.”

A person privy to disputes with private firms during this administration, but not authorized to be quoted by name, said López Obrador often seeks to pile rhetorical pressure on companies, but doesn’t really appear to step over the line.

“You get the rhetoric, but you don’t get the strongarm,” said the insider. “It’s a lot more bark than bite.”

“One company was asked to do something they didn’t want to do, and they started getting calls from government agencies, saying we’ve been asked to review every contract we have with you … but nothing was cancelled,” he said. “Is that pressure? Sure, but is it illegal?”

SINGAPORE

First batch of prison inmates graduates with precision engineering skills to boost job prospects

All 17 who enrolled in the programme have graduated and will be employed, after their release, by members of the Singapore Precision Engineering and Technology Association. 

PHOTO: SINGAPORE PRISON SERVICE

Samuel Devaraj

SINGAPORE - He was a construction coordinator who lost his job after he was sentenced to three years' jail for unlicensed money lending.

With a criminal record, Amir (not his real name), 30, was concerned that it would be tough to find work after his release from prison later this year. But a programme he joined while serving time in prison has substantially eased his concerns.

On Wednesday (April 27), the first-time offender was part of the inaugural batch of 17 inmates who graduated from a precision engineering training programme under the TAP (Train And Place) and Grow initiative in a ceremony at the Changi Prison Complex.

The event was attended by Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim.

Through this initiative launched in 2020, Yellow Ribbon Singapore (YRSG) works with employers across various industries, training institutions and community partners to set up training academies in prison to help the inmates with employment assistance.

All 17 who enrolled in the programme have graduated and will be employed, after their release, in such roles as quality assurance technicians or machinists by members of the Singapore Precision Engineering and Technology Association.

Speaking to the media in a virtual interview on Tuesday, Amir, who hopes to eventually pursue a career in 3D modelling design, said: "I committed my offences because I was greedy and quite immature then. When the opportunity for easy money was in front of me, I didn't hesitate, I just took it.

"I never thought I would I get caught. But once I did, everything fell apart. I lost my full-time job, time I could spend with my family and even lost my partner... I feel blessed that I could get my life back on track."

Like the other inmates in the programme, Amir did not have direct experience in precision engineering but joined the programme to make the most of his time in prison and also because he felt it followed on from his experience in the construction sector.

The four-month programme contained more than 300 hours of training and included coding, data analytics and engineering mathematics modules.

In his opening speech at Wednesday's ceremony, Associate Professor Faishal said there were many opportunities in the precision engineering industry.

He said: "Precision engineering is a critical enabler for the manufacturing industry. It supplies crucial products and expertise to manufacture complex components and equipment for industries such as semiconductors, medical technology and aerospace.

"So, it is a very important industry, and you are very fortunate to be able to learn and go into this part of the industry."

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The graduates, who were awarded the Workforce Skills Qualifications advanced certificate in precision engineering, can also apply to enrol in a part-time diploma programme in this field with Nanyang Polytechnicafter their release.

Another graduate, Xavier (not his real name), said he struggled with certain modules at the start but eventually managed to cope.

The 53-year-old, who was serving a 12-year jail sentence for drug-related offences, said: "I struggled with mathematics as it's been over 30 years since I last studied it... but some of the other inmates who are good in maths helped me and I was able to cope. Also, the lecturers were patient and good."

Xavier, who will be released later this year, hopes to become a machinist, as he is interested in machines and how they turn raw materials into finished products.

Mr Tan Yick Loong, assistant director at Partnership@YR in YRSG, said the programme participants gave feedback that the course had been an eye-opener.

Explaining the criteria for selection, Mr Tan said those who express interest must attain a certain grade in a literacy and numeracy assessment. Those who fall slightly short may be sent for a refresher course before attempting the test again.

Apart from precision engineering, the TAP and Grow initiative also works with partners from the media and logistics sectors. Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam told Parliament in March that the initiative will be expanded to the food services sector.

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Turning over a new leaf: 253 ex-offenders commended at Yellow Ribbon Awards

Reoffending by recently released inmates in S'pore at lowest point in 30 years

Mr Tan said the food services industry provides an opportunity to upskill inmates to above entry-level jobs and that the sectors are chosen for TAP and Grow based on several factors, including how they fit with the profile of inmates, most of whom lack paper qualifications.

He added: "We are seeing the world moving from a more knowledge-based economy to a skills-based economy. So in that regard, we are looking out for industries that offer career and skills pathways that are suitable for our profile of ex-offenders.

"If you look at precision engineering as an example, you do not need to have diploma-level qualifications to enrol for this course. All you need is to be proficient up to a certain level in mathematics and English... to transit into this industry."

Thousands of shocking reports reveal extent of Australian aged care residents’ suffering due to understaffing

More than 6,500 reports of distressed and neglected residents and unsafe conditions the ‘tip of the iceberg’, union says

More than 6,500 reports of understaffing and unsafe conditions in the aged care sector are to be delivered to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on Wednesday. 

Photograph: Richard Pasley - Doctor Stock/Getty Images/Science Faction


Caitlin Cassidy

Wed 27 Apr 2022 

More than 6,500 reports of understaffing and unsafe conditions in Australia’s aged care sector, including hundreds of reports of resident injuries, will be handed to the regulator on Wednesday.

The reports, from United Workers Union (UWU) whistleblower site Aged Care Watch, identified thousands of instances of aged care residents’ safety suffering due to unfilled shifts and understaffing.

Some 2,300 reports named a “distressed resident”, while 1,900 named a resident left soiled for an “extended period” and 600 said a resident was injured due to lack of care.

The findings will be delivered to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on Wednesday.


Too little, too late: who will fix the home care crisis for Australia’s ageing population?

UWU aged care director Carolyn Smith said the findings, gathered from workers, family members and care residents, were only the “tip of the iceberg”.

“These reports come from every state of Australia and show the inside story of the aged care crisis that continues to impact the care of aged care residents,” she said.

“It’s a sad fact that even before Covid aged care was a shambles and now it’s even worse.

“The accounts from inside aged care facilities are horrifying.”

Aged care workers describe instances of incontinence pads unchanged for 16 hours, wounds left untreated and weight loss due to residents not being helped with their food.

Some 2,900 reports named a “stressed staff member” due to understaffing, with almost 10,000 unfilled shifts and more than 800 personal accounts of unsafe incidents resulting from lack of care time.

“These firsthand accounts from aged care workers provide extensive further evidence of the massive failure of the federal government in residential aged care,” Smith said.

“The failures … also show why thousands of aged care workers feel they have no option but to go on strike and hold their employers accountable.”

Aged care workers across Australia voted last week to take industrial action over acute staff shortages and continuing low rates of pay hitting the sector.

Members at five aged care providers collectively employing 7,000 workers voted overwhelmingly in favour of the industrial action, likely to take place prior to the 21 May election.

One aged care worker in the hospitality sector, based in Western Australia, said in the report they spent a large percentage of their shift running from the kitchen to answer cries for help from residents.

“There might be two to three [carers] on one wing for up to 48 residents,” they said. “I have found residents on the floor and no one about to come help them.”

Another aged care worker based in South Australia said they were suffering burnout, stress and anxiety due to the uncertainty of staffing.

“Many hospitality shifts are unfilled, training is absolutely minimal for new staff, agency is regularly unavailable,” they said.

“My colleague recently was hurt due to working above and beyond an acceptable workload to compensate.

“My mental health has suffered terribly and I’m now at breaking point.”

Both major parties have made major election pledges to better fund the sector including to uphold any pay rise awarded by the Fair Work Commission, which is currently hearing a claim to lift the pay of aged care workers 25% above the award.

Labor has promised to spend $2.5bn on aged care including a 24-hour registered onsite nurse in every facility. In response to the aged care royal commission, the Coalition vowed to boost the number of home care packages and deliver aged care workers an $800 bonus.

UKRAINE

‘Two months of terrorism’ A dispatch from Kherson, where Russian occupiers are poised to conduct a sham referendum

April 26, 2022
Source: Meduza

After the war in Ukraine began, the Russian army captured Kherson within days. Kherson residents were defiant; they continued flying the Ukrainian flag on the city council building and have held multiple protest rallies against Russian occupation. Meanwhile, the local media, now under Russian control, regularly reports that residents of the entire Kherson region will soon decide via referendum whether to create a Kherson “People’s Republic” (KNR) analogous to the Russian-backed puppet states in Donetsk and Luhansk. A journalist living in Kherson, who chose to remain anonymous, spoke to Meduza about what life is like there.

Kherson has been under Russian occupation for almost two months. That's been enough time for us to go through all of the stages of grief, from denial to acceptance. At first, we held out hope that the Ukrainian army would protect us. But that didn’t work out, and the Russian army now controls Kherson.

On March 2, the day after the Russian military arrived, the entire city began living on the hope that someone would come to our defense. But the battles near Kyiv, Mariupol, and Izyum needed reinforcements, and doing everything necessary to defend Kherson would have meant withdrawing troops from the capital, which nobody was going to do. That’s what happens to border towns: they’re the first to take a hit and the first to get occupied.

It took some time to get used to the idea that the city had fallen. We had to adapt to the new realities of life: constant explosions (fighting continues around the city); long lines in stores; the word “shortage,” which we thought we'd left behind long ago. Once we adapted, the agonizing period of waiting for “liberation” began.

A few days after the occupation, Russian soldiers came to Kherson’s mayor, Ihor Kolykhaiev, with a list of demands. For example, they put limits on how people could move through the city: no more than two people together at once, and a curfew was established. But nobody claimed to have any rights to the city; nobody was talking about setting up a military government. The city was still run by a Ukrainian administration under the Ukrainian flag. But it was effectively being blockaded.

Meanwhile, the media began to report on what would happen next. Some reports said they would create a KNR; others talked about a “Crimean scenario” — incorporation into Russia. All of the options entailed separation from Ukraine. It was like they were testing the waters to see how the city’s residents would react.

Despite the city’s pro-Russian reputation, thousands of people gathered in the city center for a rally they called “Kherson is Ukraine” after what was literally the first report suggesting they might create a Kherson People’s Republic. Residents expressed their opposition to any kind of referendum or incorporation into Russia at all. The city didn’t have any Ukrainian soldiers — there was no way to fight — but the population still wanted to send the message to Russian soldiers that they aren’t welcome here and nobody needs their “liberation.”

They started holding these rallies regularly. But when the SOBR [Special Rapid Response Units] and Rosgvardiya [Russian National Guard] units appeared in the city, the protests became dangerous. They started breaking protests up with batons and firing tear gas on the protesters. Anyone they managed to detain was herded away on mini-buses they stole from local businesses.

Russian soldiers figured out where protesters lived and started coming to them at night and in the morning — and taking them away. We still don’t know what happened to many of the victims. Overall, according to the Ukrainian Armed Forces' General Staff, around 400 residents of the Kherson region have been detained. Those who have been released have been reluctant to talk about their experiences and have stopped attending protests.

Local journalist Oleg Baturin was one of the people captured. After his release, he said his captors had beaten, tortured, and abused him; he’s been diagnosed with rib fractions. On March 30, Ukrainian Orthodox priest Serhii Chudynovych was taken directly from his church. During his one day in captivity, he was beaten.

Every few days, new rumors spread on the city’s Telegram channels that Kherson will become the next Mariupol or Bucha. In the last couple of weeks, reports have spread about men from nearby villages being forced to dig trenches for Russian military equipment, disguise the equipment, and load shells.

As a result, most of the city’s population started leaving in a panic — the city is almost empty. The occupying forces don’t usually prevent anyone from leaving, but they do check people’s documents, compare them to a list, and force them to strip down to their underwear to get checked for [nationalist] tattoos.

The streets became deserted; most of the cars disappeared. Soon, the only people left in Kherson were the ones who couldn’t leave for whatever reason or who stubbornly refused to leave their hometown.

After two months of this terrorism, it’s become clear that most of the people left in the city are so frightened that when they see a car marked with the “Z” symbol, they immediately try to hide so as not to be seen by a Russian soldier.

On the other hand, if you don’t go outside or go on the Internet, and just watch TV, which only shows Russian channels now, you’ll get a fairly positive impression of what’s going on in Kherson. It basically goes like this: “Russian soldiers came to the Kherson region and de-Nazified it; peace and order ensued. Russian soldiers are giving food to the starving people, and it’s arriving in humanitarian convoys from the caring Crimeans. Meanwhile, the fact that Kherson’s newfound freedom has angered the Ukrainian authorities, and they’ve started shelling the city, but Russian air defense is protecting the liberated, primordially Russian Kherson.”

On April 25, Russian soldiers took control of the city council building, which until then had still been run by a Ukrainian mayor under a Ukrainian flag. All of the Ukrainian symbols and flags were removed (though no Russian flag has been put up yet) and new Russian administrators moved in.

According to recent media reports, a “referendum” is planned for April 27. Kherson residents fear this means Kherson will follow the model of the LNR and DNR.

Their fears are not unfounded. A week ago, three dozen or so people carrying Russian flags gathered in the town of Kakhovka, not far from Kherson. The town is small enough that everyone knows each other, but nobody recognized these newcomers. Presumably, they were Russian soldiers dressed in civilian clothes.

Kherson residents have been planning to take to the streets again on April 27 to protest against the creation of a KNR and the region’s incorporation into Russia, but given how few people are left in the city, the protest could easily turn into a massacre. Everyone knows that perfectly well.

China's Henan reports first Human case of H3N8 bird flu; 4-year-old found infected 

By Simran Kashyap 

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Beijing, April 27: China has recorded the first human infection with the H3N8 strain of Bird Flu in the country's Henan province, media reports said on Tuesday. China's National Health Commission (NHC) announced the case in a statement but said the risk of it spreading among people was low. 

A four-year-old boy was found to have been infected with the virus after developing several symptoms including fever. According to NHC, no close contacts were infected with the virus. 

The child had been in contact with chickens and crows raised at his home, it added. 

Beijing orders COVID-19 tests for its 21 million people; Shanghai reports 52 more deaths The health commission said the H3N8 variant has previously been detected elsewhere in the world in horses, dogs, birds and seals. However, added that no human cases of H3N8 have been reported. 

An initial assessment determined the variant did not yet have the ability to effectively infect humans, and the risk of a large-scale epidemic was low, it added. H3N8 is a subtype of the species Influenza A virus that is endemic in birds, horses and dogs. 

H3N8 avian influenza virus is of avian origin, and did not yet have the ability to effectively infect humans.

 The virus H3N8 is known to have been circulating since 2002 after first emerging in North American waterfowl. It has been detected in horses, dogs, birds and seals worldwide, but no human cases of H3N8 were reported before April 26, 2022.

Read more at: https://www.oneindia.com/international/china-s-henan-reports-first-human-case-of-h3n8-bird-flu-4-year-old-found-infected-3400958.html

Scientists: Japan’s plan to dump nuclear waste into the Pacific Ocean may not be safe


Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

27 April 2022 

A panel of scientists has not found conclusive evidence that the discharge of Fukushima wastewater into the Pacific ocean would be entirely safe

Independent scientists are questioning Japan’s plans to dump just over one million tonnes of nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, following a review of the available evidence.

The panel of multi-disciplinary scientists, hired by the intergovernmental Pacific Islands Forum, has not found conclusive evidence that the discharge would be entirely safe, and one marine biologist fears contamination could affect the food system.

Last year Japan announced that wastewater from the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, destroyed in March 2011 following the Tohoku Earthquake and tsunami, would be dropped into the Pacific in 2023.

The announcement triggered immediate concern from nations and territories in the Asia-Pacific region and led the Pacific Islands Forum to hire a panel of five independent experts to review the plan.

An International Atomic Energy Agency fact-finding team member examines a reactor unit at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in May 2011.

Previously, it was broadly believed that dropping the wastewater into the ocean would be safe, given it had been treated with “advanced liquid processing system” technology, which removes radioactive materials from contaminated water.

But panel scientist Robert Richmond, director of the University of Hawaii Kewalo Marine Laboratory, says the panel unanimously believes that critical gaps in information remain.

Previous discussions over the safety of Japan’s plans emphasised the chemistry of the discharge, but not how it could interact with marine life, he said.

“If the ocean were a sterile glass vessel, that would be one thing,” Richmond said. “But it’s not, you know, there’s lots of biology involved.”

University of Hawaii Kewalo Marine Lab Director Robert Richmond is worried about the wastewater discharge on marine life.

Richmond has been particularly concerned about the potential for tritium – a key compound of concern – being absorbed into the food system because the radioactive isotope can bind to phytoplankton.

Through phytoplankton, Richmond says, the radioactive element could then find its way into the greater food system as the microscopic plants are consumed by mollusks and small fish, which are later consumed by other fish and eventually humans.

“Things like mercury in fish are now of an international concern. Radionuclides will be the same,” Richmond said.

The situation is dynamic too, as climate change affects the temperature of waters and weather patterns change.

“As temperatures go up, many chemicals become more interactive, they become a little bit different in terms of break down,” he said. “So these are all the things we need to consider.”

The Pacific Islands Forum convened its panel of experts – specialising in policy and different scientific disciplines – because of the highly technical nature of Japan’s plan.

The PIF did not respond to a request for an interview for this story.

But Forum Secretary General Henry Puna has said that while Japan was open and frank in several information sessions held with the Forum, it wanted to bring on its own group of experts to look at the data and advise them.

“I just want to note that, for us, the issue is very urgent but also requires very careful thinking,” Puna said in September.

A team in Fukushima was part of a 2015 IAEA mission to review Japan’s plans and work to decommission the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

Since Japan announced it would release the treated water into the Pacific, it has been working with the International Atomic Energy Association to ensure its plans are safe. In February the IAEA made its first assessment and recently completed a second assessment at the end of March.

The IAEA is expected to deliver reports from its site visits in the next two months, according to its website, and would release a fully comprehensive report before any water is released.

Richmond said the panel wants to work with Japan and the IAEA to ensure the best outcome.

Nonetheless, the information seen by the panel showed less than one percent of the tanks of wastewater had been treated and less than 20 percent had been adequately sampled, Richmond says.

“Based on those numbers alone, we’re uncomfortable in making predictions of where things are going to end up,” Richmond said.

Community groups and environmental organisations were quick to respond to the news last year, raising concerns about the longterm effects to their region, with its legacy of nuclear testing and the fallout. And coastal communities and fishermen in Japan have also raised concerns.

The U.S expressed its support for the plan in April last year, which has since been criticised by U.S territories and affiliated states.

Representative Sheila Babauta of the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands introduced a resolution to CNMI’s House of Representatives opposing any nuclear testing, storage or waste disposal in the Pacific.

Commonwealth of Northern Marianas Islands Rep. Sheila Babauta opposes testing, storage or disposal of nuclear waste in the Pacific.

It was passed in December, months after the U.S stated its position and after other Pacific groups and governments condemned the move.

“I’m really disappointed in the lack of engagement, the lack of information and the lack of free, prior and informed consent,” Babauta, who chairs the Natural Resources Committee, said.

The mistrust that is harboured by many in the Pacific stems back to U.S nuclear testing in the Republic of Marshall Islands following World War II, British testing in Kiribati and the French in French Polynesia, which had flow-on effects to the environment and long term health of Pacific people. And in 1979, Japan provoked backlash when it revealed plans to dump 10,000 drums of nuclear waste in the Marianas Trench.

Babauta says she introduced the resolution as a show of solidarity for the rest of the Pacific.

“The ocean is our oldest ancestor. The ocean is our legacy,” Babauta said. “It’s what we’re going to leave for our children,” said Babauta.

Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced at the Fourth Asia-Pacific Water Summit that Japan would help to solve water-related issues that blight the region. However, the same Kishida is fine with releasing radioactive water from the stricken nuclear plant in Fukushima.

China, South Korea, and other nations have raised concerns about releasing contaminated water from the stricken Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima. This is scheduled to start next year. Therefore, for Kishida to announce 500 billion yen (US$3.9 billion) in helping to solve water-related issues in the Pacific is ironic.

The local fishing trade in Fukushima is also opposed to Kishida’s plan. Hiroshi Kishi, the leader of Japan’s national fisheries cooperatives, notified Kishida that he opposes the plan to release contaminated water into the sea.

Kishi said, “I told (Prime Minister Fumio) Kishida our position to oppose the discharge remains exactly the same… We just hope people in the fisheries industry will be able to continue fishing with peace of mind.”.

Last year, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of China, uttered, “The ocean is not Japan’s trash can. The Pacific is not Japan’s sewer.”

Nations welcome Japan’s support for water concerns that persist in the Pacific Ocean – so it is good that economic support is forthcoming.

“This is a good opportunity to take a major step toward solving global water problems by bringing together the wisdom and determination of the Asia-Pacific region,” Kishida said.

This story was written by Thomas Heaton, originally published at Honolulu Civil Beat on 25 April 2022, reposted via PACNEWS.

'Situation is still not stable': Russia risked accident with 'dangerous' Chernobyl seizure, says nuclear chief

"Nuclear authorities have to keep on alert," he said

Web Desk Updated: April 27, 2022

A file picture of the dome built over the sarcophagus covering the destroyed fourth reactor of the Chernobyl plant | AFP

In the ongoing Ukraine war, one region that the Russians captured early was Chernobyl, the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster 36 years before. The plant was damaged in the battle that ensued in the region. Now, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has stated that the Russian troops risked causing an accident with their "very, very dangerous seizure" of the Chernobyl. IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said that while radiation levels are normal, "the situation is still not stable". "Nuclear authorities have to keep on alert," he said.

Russian troops moved into the radiation-contaminated Chernobyl exclusion zone in February on their way toward the Ukrainian capital. They withdrew late last month as Russia pulled its forces from areas near Kyiv and switched its focus to fighting in eastern Ukraine.

New satellite images indicate that Russian troops were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation during their stay for over five weeks at the contaminated area of ​​the Chernobyl nuclear site. Although the levels are insufficient to cause sudden radiation poisoning, experts say they can increase the long-term risk of cancer.

Ukraine's state energy company Energoatom said that Russian troops who had occupied the nuclear station at Chernobyl may have been exposed to "significant doses" of radiation. The Chernobyl disaster of 1986 caused radioactive material to spread throughout the region. After the accident, people are not allowed to live or grow crops at the Red Forest, which is the most contaminated part of the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Even Chernobyl staff are banned from entering this area. A 30km area surrounding the nuclear plant is considered dangerous.

After the Russian forces left Chernobyl on March 31, there were reports on social media that its troops at Chernobyl had fallen ill when they stayed at the place and digging trenches on the site. The top layers of soil were removed as the Russian soldiers dug their trenches. and thus they came in contact with soil containing radioactive waste.

"The invaders did not dig anything on the territory of the plant itself, but the thick dust raised by equipment in transit, and the radiation particles in it, may very well have entered the bodies of Russian occupiers through the lungs," Valerіy Seyda, director of the nuclear power plant, said in a statement.

-Inputs from agencies

Major Japan railway now on renewable energy

A Japanese railway company, Tokyu, says it now uses just solar and other renewable energy to power its sprawling train service. That means the emissions of carbon dioxide for its network of seven train lines and one tram service, plus all its stations, stand at zero as of April 1. (April 27)

Thank scientists by waiving IP rights on vaccines, paper says

By Jenny Sinclair in Melbourne

Researchers call for Australian vaccine manufacturing reform to deal with issues exposed by the pandemic

Australia should “honour” the work of scientists during the Covid-19 pandemic by reforming and improving its drug manufacturing scene, including supporting intellectual property changes, an article in the Medical Journal of Australia has said.

The opinion piece, published on 24 April, was written by Martin Hensher, a research fellow at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research, and Sithara Wanni Arachchige Dona, a researcher at Deakin University.

It urges Australia to support the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights waiver, known as Trips, in order to release intellectual property rights to vaccines. The authors say the waiver movement has “stalled”.

“A sufficient mass of countries need to identify options for collective action to change, bypass or neutralise these frameworks in the short run, while a wholesale institutional redesign for international handling of intellectual property and trade in healthcare and other essential sectors is undertaken for the longer term,” they say. The Trips proposal was first made internationally in 2020, but Australia is yet to declare its support.

Vaccine ‘oligopolies’

The authors call for “urgent [Australian] government financing and infrastructure support for new vaccine development by not-for-profit operations, and the establishment or expansion of more publicly owned, not-for-profit manufacturers, such as mRNA Victoria”.

“Australia and other high- and middle-income nations are currently at grave risk of remaining hostage to a market captured by a small number of manufacturers.”

Vaccine mandates and the need for repeated boosters make supply a serious issue, causing a risk of what the authors call “vaccine oligopolies”.

“Australia should lead a coalition of high- and lower-income governments to create an environment in which manufacturers must increasingly choose between working as partners in jointly owned public and private missions or as monopolistic adversaries bearing consequential risks.”

The pharmaceutical industry body Medicines Australia has urged caution on Trips, saying that it risks “weakening the ecosystem of R&D partnerships underpinned by the current intellectual property protections that brought them to communities around the world”.

AUSTRALIA

Clive Palmer’s proposed open-cut mine could have ‘far-reaching impact’ on Great Barrier Reef, study finds


Study finds tidal currents could introduce pollution from coalmine into seagrass meadows and dugong sanctuary in marine park

Scientists attempted to model the dispersal of sediment and the potential impact on the world heritage area, including sensitive marine ecosystems. 

Photograph: Reuters


Ben Smee
THE GUARDIAN. AU
Wed 27 Apr 2022 

Billionaire Clive Palmer’s proposal to build an open-cut coalmine 10km from the coast of the Great Barrier Reef would have a “far-reaching impact” on the world heritage area, say scientists, whose modelling shows concentrated pollution from the mine could reach sensitive marine ecosystems within weeks.

The Queensland government last year deemed the Central Queensland coal proposal by a subsidiary company of Palmer’s flagship entity, Mineralogy, “not suitable” and said it posed “a number of unacceptable risks” due to its location, the prospect of polluted water discharge and a lack of effective mitigation measures.

Despite the state government’s rejection, the project remains viable and is on the desk of the federal environment minister, Sussan Ley, awaiting a determination.


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A new study, published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin by scientists at the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium and James Cook University in Townsville, sought to model the dispersal of sediment and derive their potential impact on marine ecosystems.

The study found that, within a few weeks, intense tidal currents could transport finer sediments more than 35km from the Styx River and into areas of the marine park, including dense seagrass meadows and a dugong sanctuary.

“Our study suggests that the proposed … open-cut coalmine could have a profound and far-reaching impact on some iconic species and ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area,” the study found.

“We also showed that sediment transport and dispersion in Broad Sound is not an isotropic process that would uniformly spread sediments throughout the bay and hence quickly reduce their concentration.

“Instead, sediments are mostly transported in the western part of the bay, where they overlapped with ecologically sensitive regions such as areas of a high predicted probability of seagrass, the Clairview dugong sanctuary, and turtle nesting beaches on Avoid Island.”

The study said the loss of seagrass meadows had already been observed around Australia and that species like dugongs and turtles were already threatened as a result.

The study follows a 2020 report from the national Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development (IESC) had raised “extreme concern” about the potential for ecological damage from the project in particular the release of “mine-affected water”.

The extent of the risk posed by the potential discharges, however, has not previously been revealed. The authors of the report have called for the mine’s environmental impact assessment – currently being assessed by Ley – to include downstream and “broader cumulative” impacts.

Attempts have been made to contact the proponent for comment.


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Dr Lissa Schindler, the Great Barrier Reef campaign manager for the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said the research provides evidence that approving the mine would post too much risk to the world heritage area.

“This research confirms that the Queensland Government’s EIS assessment released in late April 2021 was correct in saying the mine is ‘not suitable to proceed’ on environmental grounds,” Schindler said.

“It also backs the conclusions of expert scientists appointed by the federal Government who warned in early 2021 they could not envisage any mitigation measures by that could safeguard nearby environments.”

Schindler said Ley should have rejected the application 12 months ago.

“As we near the election, we call on all parties to follow the scientific advice, including from the federal government’s own independent scientific expert panel, and reject this mine.

“Approving a mine that will only add to the heating stress and water pollution on our reef would be an astonishingly bad decision for any government which wants to protect our global icon.”