MELBOURNE, Jan 31 (Reuters) – Australia’s nuclear safety agency said on Tuesday it had joined the hunt for a tiny radioactive capsule missing somewhere in the outback, sending a team with specialised car-mounted and portable detection equipment.
Authorities have now been on a week-long search for the capsule which is believed to have fallen from a truck that made a 1,400 km (870 mile) journey in Western Australia. The loss has triggered a radiation alert for large parts of the vast state.
The capsule, part of a gauge used to measure the density of iron ore feed, had been entrusted by Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AX) to a specialist contractor to transport. Rio apologised on Monday for the loss, which happened sometime in the past two weeks.
The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency said it was working with the Western Australian government to locate the capsule. It added that the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation has also sent radiation services specialists as well as detection and imaging equipment.
The truck travelled from Rio’s Gudai-Darri mine, north of Newman, a small town in the remote Kimberley region, to a storage facility in the suburbs of Perth – a distance longer than the length of Great Britain.
State emergency officials on Tuesday issued a fresh alert to motorists along Australia’s longest highway to take care when approaching the search parties, as vehicles carrying the radiation detectors are travelling at slow speeds.
“It will take approximately five days to travel the original route, an estimated 1400kms, with crews travelling north and south along Great Northern Highway,” Department of Fire and Emergency Services Incident Controller Darryl Ray said in a statement late on Monday.
The gauge was picked up from the mine site on Jan. 12. When it was unpacked for inspection on Jan. 25, the gauge was found broken apart, with one of four mounting bolts missing and screws from the gauge also gone.
Authorities suspect vibrations from the truck caused the screws and the bolt to come loose, and the capsule fell out of the package and then out of a gap in the truck.
The silver capsule, 6 mm in diameter and 8 mm long, contains Caesium-137 which emits radiation equal to 10 X-rays per hour.
People have been told to stay at least five metres (16.5 feet) away as exposure could cause radiation burns or radiation sickness, though driving past the capsule is believed to be relatively low risk, akin to taking an X-ray.
Reporting by Melanie Burton in Melbourne; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Edwina Gibbs
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
LONDON, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Stock markets worldwide halted their January rally on Monday, pausing for breath at the start of an agenda-setting week of central bank rate hikes and data releases that will clarify if progress has been made in the battle against inflation.
Investors expect the Federal Reserve will raise rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, followed the day after by half-point hikes from the Bank of England and European Central Bank, and any deviation from that script would be a real shock.
Europe’s benchmark STOXX index fell 0.8% on Monday morning, echoing a slight dip in MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), which has surged 11% in January so far as China’s reopening bolsters sentiment.
The U.S. Nasdaq index is likewise on course for its best January since 2001, a rally that will be tested by earnings updates from tech giants this week.
U.S. stocks were set to follow the nervous Monday mood with S&P 500 futures down 1% and Nasdaq futures falling 1.3%, as investors await guidance later in the week on the Federal Reserve’s policy.
Analysts expect a hawkish tone suggesting that more needs to be done to tame inflation. read more
“With U.S. labour markets still tight, core inflation elevated and financial conditions easing, Fed Chair Powell’s tone will be hawkish, stressing that a downshifting to a 25bp hike doesn’t mean a pause is coming,” said Bruce Kasman, chief economist at JPMorgan, who expects another rise in March.
“We also look for him to continue to push back against market pricing of rate cuts later this year.”
There is a lot of pushing to do given futures currently expect rates to peak at 5% in March and to fall back to 4.5% by year end.
Europe offered a brisk reminder that the fight against rising prices is far from over, as bond yields in the region rose sharply on Monday in the wake of stronger-than-expected Spanish inflation data.
The data showing inflation rose 5.8% year-on-year in January, against expectations of 4.7%, pushed up the zone’s benchmark German 10-year government bond yield 7 basis points (bps) to 2.3190%, its highest since Jan. 10.
Italian and Spanish yields also inched up.
The dollar index was flat ahead of the week’s key data, on course for a fourth straight monthly loss of more than 1.5% on growing expectations that the Fed is nearing the end of its rate-hike cycle.
APPLE’S CORE
Yields on 10-year notes have fallen 33 basis points so far this month to 3.50%, essentially due to easing financial conditions even as the Fed talks tough on tightening.
That dovish outlook will also be tested by data on U.S. payrolls, the employment cost index and various ISM surveys.
Reading on EU inflation could be important for whether the ECB signals a half-point rate rise for March, or opens the door to a slowdown in the pace of tightening. read more
As for Wall Street’s recent rally, much will depend on earnings from Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Amazon.com (AMZN.O), Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Meta Platforms (META.O), among many others.
“Apple will give a glimpse into the overall demand story for consumers globally and a snapshot of the China supply chain issues starting to slowly abate,” wrote analysts at Wedbush.
“Based on our recent Asia supply chain checks we believe iPhone 14 Pro demand is holding up firmer than expected,” they added. “Apple will likely cut some costs around the edges, but we do not expect mass layoffs.”
Market pricing of early Fed easing has been a burden for the dollar, which has lost 1.6% so far this month to stand at 101.85 against a basket of major currencies.
The euro is up 1.5% for January at $1.0878 and just off a nine-month top. The dollar has even lost 1.3% on the yen to 129.27 despite the Bank of Japan’s dogged defence of its ultra-easy policies.
The drop in the dollar and yields has been a boon for gold, which is up 5.8% for the month so far at $1,930 an ounce .
The precious metal was flat on Monday ahead of the slew of key central bank moves and data releases.
China’s rapid reopening is seen as a windfall for commodities in general, supporting everything from copper to iron ore to oil prices.
Oil steadied on Monday after earlier losses, with prices bolstered by rising Middle East tension over a drone attack in Iran and hopes of higher Chinese demand.
Brent crude rose 10 cents, or 0.12%, to $86.76 a barrel by 1200 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude added 4 cents, or 0.05%, to $79.72.
Reporting Lawrence White and Wayne Cole; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Arun Koyyur and Christina Fincher
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
MELBOURNE, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AX) apologised on Monday for the loss of a tiny radioactive capsule that has sparked a radiation alert across parts of the vast state of Western Australia.
The radioactive capsule, believed to have fallen from a truck, was part of a gauge used to measure the density of iron ore feed which had been entrusted to a specialist contractor to transport. The loss may have occurred up to two weeks ago.
Authorities are now grappling with the daunting task of searching along the truck’s 1,400 kilometre (870 mile) journey from north of Newman – a small town in the remote Kimberley region – to a storage facility in the northeast suburbs of Perth – a distance longer than the length of Great Britain.
The task, while akin to finding the proverbial needle in a haystack, is “not impossible” as searchers are equipped with radiation detectors, said Andrew Stuchbery who runs the department of Nuclear Physics & Accelerator Applications at the Australian National University.
“That’s like if you dangled a magnet over a haystack, it’s going to give you more of a chance,” he said.
“If the source just happened to be lying in the middle of the road you might get lucky…It’s quite radioactive so if you get close to it, it will stick out,” he said.
The gauge was picked up from Rio’s Gudai-Darri mine site on Jan. 12. When it was unpacked for inspection on Jan. 25, the gauge was found broken apart, with one of four mounting bolts missing and screws from the gauge also gone.
Authorities suspect vibrations from the truck caused the screws and the bolt to come loose, and the radioactive capsule from the gauge fell out of the package and then out of a gap in the truck.
“We are taking this incident very seriously. We recognise this is clearly very concerning and are sorry for the alarm it has caused in the Western Australian community,” Simon Trott, Rio’s iron ore division chief, said in a statement.
The silver capsule, 6 millimetres (mm) in diameter and 8 mm long, contains Caesium-137 which emits radiation equal to 10 X-rays per hour.
Authorities have recommended people stay at least five metres (16.5 feet) away as exposure could cause radiation burns or radiation sickness, though they add that the risk to the general community is relatively low.
“From what I have read, if you drive past it, the risk is equivalent to an X-ray. But if you stand next to it or you handle it, it could be very dangerous,” said Stuchbery.
The state’s emergency services department has established a hazard management team and has brought in specialised equipment that includes portable radiation survey meters to detect radiation levels across a 20-metre radius and which can be used from moving vehicles.
Trott said Rio had engaged a third-party contractor, with appropriate expertise and certification, to safely package and transport the gauge.
“We have completed radiological surveys of all areas on site where the device had been, and surveyed roads within the mine site as well as the access road leading away from the Gudai-Darri mine site,” he said, adding that Rio was also conducting its own investigation into how the loss occurred.
Analysts said that the transport of dangerous goods to and from mine sites was routine, adding that such incidents have been extremely rare and did not reflect poor safety standards on Rio’s part.
The incident is another headache for the mining giant following its 2020 destruction of two ancient and sacred rock shelters in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for an iron ore mine.
Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Edwina Gibbs
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
WELLINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Flood-ravaged Auckland is forecast to receive further heavy rain in the coming days, authorities in New Zealand’s largest city said on Monday, as insurers counted the costs of what looks likely to be the country’s most expensive weather event ever.
Four people lost their lives in flash floods and landslides that hit Auckland over the last three days amid record downpours. A state of emergency remains in place in Auckland. A state of emergency in the Waitomo region south of Auckland was lifted.
Flights in and out of Auckland Airport are still experiencing delays and cancellations, beaches around the city of 1.6 million are closed and all Auckland schools will remain closed until Feb. 7.
“There has been very significant damage across Auckland,” New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told state-owned television station TVNZ on Monday. “Obviously there were a number of homes damaged by flooding but also extensive earth movements.”
Currently, around 350 people were in need of emergency accommodation, he added.
LOOMING CLOUDS
Metservice is forecasting further heavy rains to hit the already sodden city late on Tuesday.
“We have more adverse weather coming and we need to prepare for that,” Auckland Emergency Management duty controller Rachel Kelleher told a media conference.
Fire and Emergency services received 30 callouts overnight Monday, including responding to a landslide when a carport slid down a hill.
The council has designated 69 houses as uninhabitable and has prevented people from entering them. A further 300 properties were deemed at risk, with access restricted to certain areas for short periods.
The north of New Zealand’s North Island is receiving more rain than normal due to the La Nina weather event.
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said Auckland has already recorded more than eight times its average January rainfall and 40% of its annual average rainfall.
INSURERS FACE HEFTY BILL
The cost of the clean up is expected to top the NZ$97 million ($63 million) bill for flooding on the West Coast in 2021 but will not be anywhere near as expensive as the estimated NZ$31 billion insured costs of two major earthquakes in Christchurch in 2010-2011, said Insurance Council of New Zealand spokesperson Christian Judge.
Insurance Australia Group’s (IAG.AX) New Zealand divisions have received over 5,000 claims so far and Suncorp Group (SUN.AX) said it received around 3,000 claims across the Vero and AA Insurance Brands. New Zealand’s Tower (TWR.NZ) said it had received around 1,900 claims.
“The number of claims is expected to rise further over the coming days, with the event still unfolding and as customers identify damage to their property,” IAG said in a statement.
Economists say the recovery and rebuild could add to inflationary pressures in New Zealand as vehicles and household goods need to be replaced and there is an increase in construction work needed to repair or rebuild houses and infrastructure damaged by the flooding.
($1 = 1.5385 New Zealand dollars)
Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Aurora Ellis and Lincoln Feast
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
SYDNEY, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Thousands of Australians marked the country’s national day celebrations on Thursday with rallies in support of Indigenous people, many of whom describe the anniversary of the day a British fleet sailed into Sydney Harbour as “Invasion Day”.
In Sydney, the capital of New South Wales – Australia’s most populous state – social media showed a large crowd gathered at an “Invasion Day” rally in the central business district, where some people carried Aboriginal flags and an Indigenous smoking ceremony took place.
Similar protests took place in other Australian state capitals, including in South Australia’s Adelaide where around 2,000 people attended, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Speaking at a flag-raising and citizenship ceremony in Australia’s capital, Canberra, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese honoured the nation’s Indigenous people, who have occupied the land for at least 65,000 years.
“Let us all recognise the unique privilege that we have to share this continent with the world’s oldest continuous culture,” Albanese said.
While it was a “difficult day” for Indigenous Australians, there were no plans to change the holiday’s date, he said.
An annual poll by market research company Roy Morgan released this week showed nearly two-thirds of Australians say Jan. 26 should be considered “Australia Day”, largely unchanged from a year ago. The rest believe it should be “Invasion Day”.
Amid the debate, some companies have adopted flexibility around observance of the holiday. Australia’s largest telecoms company, Telstra Corp Ltd (TLS.AX), this year gave its staff the option to work on Jan. 26 and take another day off instead.
[1/8] People participate in the ‘Invasion Day’ rally in Melbourne, January 26, 2023. AAP Image/Diego Fedele via REUTERS
“For many First Nations peoples, Australia Day … marks a turning point that saw lives lost, culture devalued, and connections between people and places destroyed,” Telstra chief executive officer Vicki Brady wrote on LinkedIn.
Many of Australia’s 880,000 or so Indigenous people out of a population of 25 million lag behind others on economic and social indicators in what the government calls “entrenched inequality”.
This year’s holiday comes as Albanese’s centre-left Labor Party government plans a referendum on recognising Indigenous people in the constitution, and requiring consultation with them on decisions that affect their lives.
The government plans to introduce legislation in March to set up the referendum that will take place later this year, as the Indigenous voice shapes as a key federal political issue.
The constitution, which came into effect in January 1901 and can’t be amended without a referendum, does not refer to the country’s Indigenous people.
One of the people at Sydney’s protest, Abi George, said it was not a happy day for all Australians, especially Indigenous people.
“Nobody’s got the right to celebrate genocide,” she said.
Another protester, Vivian Macjohn, said the rally against the national day was a show of support for Indigenous people.
“I think it’s important that we show up and we mourn with them and stand in solidarity,” she said.
Reporting by Sam McKeith and Cordelia Hsu; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Raju Gopalakrishnan
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
WELLINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Chris Hipkins, who played a significant role in New Zealand’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is set to replace Jacinda Ardern as prime minister after emerging on Saturday as the only candidate to lead the ruling Labour Party.
Hipkins, 44, is expected to be confirmed as the new leader at a meeting of Labour’s 64 lawmakers, or Caucus, on Sunday.
“I think we’re an incredibly strong team,” Hipkins told a news conference after the party announced him as the sole candidate.
“We’ve gone through this process with unity and we’ll continue to do that. I’m feeling really fortunate to be working with such an amazing group of people who have a real commitment to the service of the people of New Zealand.”
Known as “Chippy”, Hipkins built a reputation for competence in tackling COVID-19 and was a troubleshooter for Ardern when other cabinet ministers were struggling.
He would not be drawn on his policy plans. A cabinet reshuffle proposed by Ardern would go ahead, but he said he planned to keep Grant Robertson as finance minister.
He said he had spoken to Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who tweeted the two had had “a warm discussion”.
TOUGH FIGHT
In a surprise announcement on Thursday, Ardern said she had “no more in the tank” to lead the country and would step down.
First elected to parliament for the Labour Party in 2008, Hipkins became a household name fronting the government’s response to the pandemic. He was appointed health minister in July 2020 before becoming the COVID response minister at the end of the year.
He is now minister for police, education and public service, as well as leader of the House.
A Horizon Research snap poll obtained by local media organization Stuff on Friday showed that Hipkins was the most popular potential candidate among voters, with the backing of 26% of those surveyed.
He has a big challenge before him, said New Zealander Eva Murphy in Auckland.
“He won’t ever fill the shoes that Jacinda has and it will be interesting to see what Labour come out with in terms of the election campaign over the next year and we’re looking forward to seeing what happens,” she said.
Hipkins’ confirmation by Labour lawmakers on Sunday afternoon is expected to be a formality. Ardern will then tender her resignation to New Zealand’s governor general before Hipkins is appointed.
If confirmed, Hipkins will be prime minister until the party’s term ends.
A general election will be held on Oct. 14, with some opinion polls showing Labour trailing the opposition New Zealand National Party.
A Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll released on Friday, based on data from before Ardern’s resignation announcement, showed Labour’s popularity falling to 31.7%, behind the Nationals at 37.2%.
New Zealand Green Party, Labour’s traditional coalition partner, said in a statement they were looking forward to working with Hipkins.
“Chris will make an excellent Prime Minister and we look forward to continuing our work together, for the rest of this term and the next,” said Green Party co-leader James Shaw.
Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Additional reporting by Jill Gralow in Auckland; Editing by Deepa Babington, Rosalba O’Brien and William Mallard
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Jan 20 (Reuters) – The lending unit of crypto firm Genesis filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection on Thursday, owing creditors at least $3.4 billion, after being toppled by a market rout along with the likes of exchange FTX and lender BlockFi.
Genesis Global Capital, one of the largest crypto lenders, froze customer redemptions on Nov. 16 after the collapse of major exchange FTX sent shockwaves through the crypto asset industry, fuelling concern that other companies could implode.
Genesis is owned by venture capital firm Digital Currency Group (DCG).
Its bankruptcy filing is the latest in a string of crypto failures triggered by a market collapse that wiped about $1.3 trillion off the value of crypto tokens last year. While bitcoin has rallied so far in 2023, the impact of the market collapse has continued to hit companies in the highly interconnected sector.
The bankruptcy “doesn’t come as a shock to the markets,” said Ivan Kachkovski, currency and crypto strategist at UBS. “It remains to be seen if the chain effect would go on.”
“However, given that the funds have already been frozen for over two months and no other large crypto company reported an associated weakness, it’s likely that the contagion would be limited.”
Genesis’ lending unit said it had both assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion, and estimated it had more than 100,000 creditors in its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
Genesis Global Holdco, the parent group of Genesis Global Capital, also filed for bankruptcy protection, along with another lending unit Genesis Asia Pacific.
Genesis Global Holdco said in a statement that it would contemplate a potential sale, or a stock-related transaction, to pay creditors, and that it had $150 million in cash to support the restructuring.
It added that Genesis’ derivatives and spot trading, broker dealer and custody businesses were not part of the bankruptcy process, and would continue their client trading operations.
CREDITORS’ CLAIMS
Genesis owes its 50 biggest creditors $3.4 billion, according to Reuters’ calculations from the bankruptcy filing. Its largest creditor is crypto exchange Gemini, which it owes $765.9 million. Gemini was founded by the identical twin cryptocurrency pioneers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
Genesis was already locked in a dispute with Gemini over a crypto lending product called Earn that the two firms jointly offered to Gemini customers.
The Winklevoss twins have said Genesis owed more than $900 million to some 340,000 Earn investors. On Jan. 10, Cameron Winklevoss called for the removal of Barry Silbert as the chief executive of Digital Currency Group.
Representations of cryptocurrencies are seen in front of displayed decreasing stock graph in this illustration taken November 10, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
About an hour after the bankruptcy filing, Cameron Winklevoss tweeted that Silbert and Digital Currency Group continued to deny creditors a fair deal.
“Unless Barry (Silbert) and DCG come to their senses and make a fair offer to creditors, we will be filing a lawsuit against Barry and DCG imminently,” Winklevoss said in his tweet thread.
DCG did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the tweets.
Amsterdam-based crypto exchange Bitvavo, said in December it was trying to recover 280 million euros ($302.93 million) which it had lent to Genesis.
Bitvavo said in a blog post on Friday that talks on the repayment “have not yet led to an overall agreement that works for all parties concerned” and that it would continue to negotiate.
The bankruptcy filing “brings the process of negotiations to calmer waters,” Bitvavo said.
LENDING BUSINESS
Genesis brokered digital assets for financial institutions such as hedge funds and asset managers and had almost $3 billion in total active loans at the end of the third quarter, down from $11.1 billion a year earlier, according to its website.
Last year, Genesis extended $130.6 billion in crypto loans and traded $116.5 billion in assets, according to its website.
Its two biggest borrowers were Three Arrows Capital, a Singapore-based crypto hedge fund, and Alameda Research, a trading company closely affiliated with FTX, a source told Reuters. Both are in bankruptcy proceedings.
Three Arrows debt to Genesis was assumed by its parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG), which then filed a claim against Three Arrows. DCG’s portfolio companies also include crypto asset manager Grayscale and news service CoinDesk.
Crypto lenders, which acted as the de facto banks, boomed during the pandemic. But unlike traditional banks, they are not required to hold capital cushions. Earlier this year, a shortfall of collateral forced some lenders – and their customers – to shoulder large losses.
($1 = 0.9243 euros)
Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware, Akanksha Khushi, and Elizabeth Howcroft in London; Editing by Lananh Nguyen, Clarence Fernandez, Kim Coghill, Ira Iosebashvili and Sharon Singleton
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Searchers find bodies of two of four missing passengers
Rescue efforts paused after poor weather hampers operation
Cockpit voice, flight data recorders found in good shape
Nepal observes day of national mourning, launches probe
KATHMANDU, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Searchers found the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder on Monday from a passenger flight that crashed, killing at least 70 people in Nepal’s worst plane accident for 30 years, officials said.
The data on the recorders may help investigators determine what caused the Yeti Airlines ATR 72 aircraft, carrying 72 people, to go down in clear weather on Sunday just before landing in the tourist city of Pokhara.
Reuters Graphics
Both recorders were in good shape and will be sent for analysis based on the recommendation of the manufacturer, Teknath Sitaula, a Kathmandu airport official, told Reuters.
Under international aviation rules, the crash investigation agency of the country where the plane was designed and built is automatically part of the inquiry.
ATR is based in France and the plane’s engines were manufactured in Canada by Pratt & Whitney Canada (RTX.N).
Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority has inspected all ATR 72 and ATR 42 aircraft operating in the country since the crash and found no technical faults in them, it said in a statement on Monday.
There are currently 16 ATR 72 aircraft and three ATR 42s with multiple airlines in the country, an aviation authority official said.
Rescuers battled cloudy weather and poor visibility on Monday as they scoured a river gorge for passengers who are unaccounted for, more than 24 hours after the crash.
Two more bodies were recovered on Monday, taking the death toll to 70, said Navin Acharya, an official at the rescue coordination centre at Kathmandu airport. The search was called off for the remaining two missing people as darkness descended and will resume on Tuesday, he said.
Pokhara police official Ajay K.C. said all bodies had been sent to a hospital.
In the capital Kathmandu around 100 people lit candles at a gathering in memory of the crash victims and called on the government to ensure proper safety standards, witnesses said.
Condolences poured in from around the world, including the Vatican.
“His Holiness Pope Francis sends his condolences to you and to all affected by this tragedy, together with his prayers for those involved in the recovery efforts,” Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said in a message to Nepal’s president.
[1/7] A rescue team recovers the body of a victim from the site of the plane crash of a Yeti Airlines operated aircraft, in Pokhara, Nepal January 16, 2023. REUTERS/Rohit Giri
Reuters footage from the crash site showed rescuers looking at the charred remains of the plane near a mountain gorge.
The plane, on a scheduled flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara, gateway to the scenic Annapurna mountain range, was carrying 57 Nepalis, five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, and one person each from Argentina, Ireland, Australia and France.
The aircraft had flown more than 1,700 times in the past one year.
Minutes before the aircraft was to land on Sunday, the pilot asked for a change of runway, a spokesperson for Pokhara airport said on Monday. “The permission was granted. “We don’t ask (why), whenever a pilot asks we give permission to change approach,” spokesperson Anup Joshi said.
Sunday’s crash underlined the need for the government to break up the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), which both regulates airlines and manages airports, experts said.
“The government must immediately separate the regulatory body and service provider by splitting the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) which is doing both works now,” K.B. Limbu, an aviation expert and a retired pilot, told Reuters.
“This leads to a conflict of interests.”
Asked for comment, Sitaula, the Kathmandu airport official, denied there was any such conflict in the functioning of CAAN.
“The regulatory and service provider (airport management) officials are separate and there is no cross-movement between the two bodies operating under the same organisation,” he said, referring to the CAAN.
There are nine domestic airlines in Nepal, including Yeti Airlines and its unit Tara Air. Yeti and Tara plane crashes have killed at least 165 people in Nepal since 2000 out of a total of 359 dead from aviation accidents, according to data from CAAN.
Reuters Graphics
An additional 75 people have died in helicopter crashes this century in Nepal, which is home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Everest, and where sudden weather changes can make for hazardous conditions.
Experts say air accidents are usually caused by a combination of factors, and investigations can take months or longer.
Anju Khatiwada, the co-pilot of Sunday’s ill-fated aircraft, lost her husband Dipak Pokhrel in a similar crash in 2006. Khatiwada’s remains have not been identified but she is feared dead.
Nepal observed a day of national mourning on Monday and set up a panel to investigate the disaster and suggest measures to avoid such incidents in future.
Reporting by Gopal Sharma, writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar and Shivam Patel; Editing by Gerry Doyle, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Mark Heinrich
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
BOJ under intense pressure as it defends yield policy
Yen hits 7-mth high, yuan climbs as dollar eases
More earnings ahead, many central bank speakers
Britain’s FTSE flirts with record high
SYDNEY/LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Shares firmed on Monday as optimism over corporate earnings and China’s reopening offset concerns the Bank of Japan (BOJ) might temper its super-sized stimulus policy at a pivotal meeting this week, while a holiday in U.S. markets made for thin trading.
The yen climbed to its highest since May after rumours swirled the BOJ might hold an emergency meeting on Monday as it struggles to defend its new yield ceiling in the face of massive selling. read more
That had local markets in an anxious mood, and Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) slipped 1.3% to a two-week low.
Yet MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) added 0.27%, with hopes for a speedy Chinese reopening giving it a gain of 4.2% last week.
And European shares opened positively with the STOXX 600 (.STOXX) up 0.1% by 0850 GMT driven by healthcare stocks (.SXDP) which gained 0.6%.
Britain’s benchmark FTSE index (.FTSE) edged close to the record high of 7903.50 it hit in 2018, with banks and life insurance companies among the top gainers.
Earnings season gathers steam this week with Goldman Sachs (GS.N), Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Netflix (NFLX.O) among those reporting.
World leaders, policy makers and top corporate chiefs will be attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, and there are a host of central bankers speaking, including no fewer than nine members of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The BOJ’s official two-day meeting ends on Wednesday and speculation is rife it will make changes to its yield curve control (YCC) policy given the market has pushed 10-year yields above its new ceiling of 0.5%. read more
The BOJ bought almost 5 trillion yen ($39.12 billion) of bonds on Friday in its largest daily operation on record, yet 10-year yields still ended the session up at 0.51%.
Early on Monday, the bank offered to buy another 1.3 trillion yen of JGBs, but the yield stuck at 0.51%.
“There is still some possibility that market pressure will force the BOJ to further adjust or exit the YCC,” JPMorgan analysts said in a note. “We can’t ignore this possibility, but at this stage we do not consider it a main scenario.”
“Although domestic demand has started to recover and inflation continues to rise, the economy is not heating up to the extent that a sharp rise in interest rates and potential risk of large yen appreciation can be tolerated,” they added.
THE YEN UN-ANCHORED
The BOJ’s uber-easy policy has acted as a sort of anchor for yields globally, while dragging down the yen. Were it to abandon the policy, it would put upward pressure on yields across developed markets and most likely see the yen surge.
The dollar has been undermined by falling U.S. bond yields as investors wager the Federal Reserve can be less aggressive in raising rates given inflation has clearly turned the corner.
The Japanese yen rose to a more than seven-month peak against the dollar on Monday, as market sentiment was dominated by expectations that the BOJ would make further tweaks to, or fully abandon, its yield control policy.
The yen jumped roughly 0.5% to a high of 127.215 per dollar, before easing to 128.6 by 0915 GMT.
The dollar index, which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of major currencies, recovered from a 7-month low touched earlier in the session to be at 102.6 .
Futures now imply almost no chance the Fed will raise rates by half a point in February, with a quarter-point move seen as a 94% probability.
Yields on 10-year Treasuries are down at 3.498%, having fallen 6 basis points last week, close to its December trough, and major chart target of 3.402%.
Alan Ruskin, global head of G10 FX Strategy at Deutsche Securities, said the loosening of global supply bottlenecks in recent months was proving to be a disinflationary shock, which increases the chance of a soft landing for the U.S. economy.
“The lower inflation itself encourages a soft landing through real wage gains, by allowing the Fed to more readily pause and encouraging a better behaved bond market, with favourable spillovers to financial conditions,” Ruskin said.
“A soft landing also reduces the tail risk of much higher U.S. rates, and this reduced risk premia helps global risk appetite,” Ruskin added.
Commodities prices which had rallied last week, dipped on Monday.
The drop in yields and the dollar had benefited the gold price, which jumped 2.9% last week, but the precious metal slipped 0.4% to $1,911 an ounce in early trading on Monday .
Oil prices slid as a rise in COVID cases clouded the prospects for a surge in demand as China reopens its economy.
Brent crude fell 73 cents, or 0.83%, to $84.57 a barrel by 0857 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was down 61 cents, or 0.6%, at $79.24 a barrel.
($1 = 127.8000 yen)
Reporting by Wayne Cole and Lawrence White;
Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Emelia Sithole-Matarise
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Jan 15 (Reuters) – One year on from the massive eruption of an underwater volcano in the South Pacific, the island nation of Tonga is still dealing with the damage to its coastal waters.
When Hunga-Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai went off, it sent a shockwave around the world, produced a plume of water and ash that soared higher into the atmosphere than any other on record, and triggered tsunami waves that ricocheted across the region – slamming into the archipelago which lies southeast of Fiji.
Coral reefs were turned to rubble and many fish perished or migrated away.
The result has Tongans struggling, with more than 80% of Tongan families relying on subsistence reef fishing, according 2019 data from the World Bank. Following the eruption, the Tongan government said it would seek $240 million for recovery, including improving food security. In the immediate aftermath, the World Bank provided $8 million.
“In terms of recovery plan … we are awaiting for funds to cover expenditure associated with small-scale fisheries along coastal communities,” said Poasi Ngaluafe, head of the science division of Tonga’s Ministry of Fisheries.
SILENT REEFS
The vast majority of Tongan territory is ocean, with its exclusive economic zone extending across nearly 700,000 square kilometres (270,271 square miles) of water. While commercial fisheries contribute only 2.3% to the national economy, subsistence fishing is considered crucial in making up a staple of the Tongan diet.
The U.N.’s Food and Agricultural Organization estimated in a November report that the eruption cost the country’s fisheries and aquaculture sector some $7.4 million – a significant number for Tonga’s roughly $500 million economy. The losses were largely due to damaged fishing vessels, with nearly half of that damage in the small-scale fisheries sector, though some commercial vessels were also affected.
Because the Tongan government does not closely track subsistence fishing, it is difficult to estimate the eruption’s impact on fish harvests.
But scientists say that, apart from some fish stocks likely being depleted, there are other troubling signs that suggest it could take a long time for fisheries to recover.
Young corals are failing to mature in the coastal waters around the eruption site, and many areas once home to healthy and abundant reefs are now barren, according to the government’s August survey.
It is likely volcanic ash smothered many reefs, depriving fish of feeding areas and spawning beds. The survey found that no marine life had survived near the volcano.
Meanwhile, the tsunami that swelled in the waters around the archipelago knocked over large boulder corals, creating fields of coral rubble. And while some reefs survived, the crackling, snapping and popping noises of foraging shrimp and fish, a sign of a healthy environment, were gone.
“The reefs in Tonga were silent,” the survey report found.
FARMING REPRIEVE
Agriculture has proved a lifeline to Tongans facing empty waters and damaged boats. Despite concerns that the volcanic ash, which blanketed 99% of the country, would make soils too toxic to grow crops, “food production has resumed with little impacts,” said Siosiua Halavatu, a soil scientist speaking on behalf of the Tongan government.
Soil tests revealed that the fallen ash was not harmful for humans. And while yam and sweet potato plants perished during the eruption, and fruit trees were burned by falling ash, they began to recover once the ash was washed away.
“We have supported recovery works through land preparation, and planting backyard gardening and roots crops in the farms, as well as export crops like watermelon and squash,” Halavatu told Reuters.
But long-term monitoring will be critical, he said, and Tonga hopes to develop a national soil strategy and upgrade their soil testing laboratory to help farmers.
SKY WATER
Scientists are also now taking stock of the eruption’s impact on the atmosphere. While volcanic eruptions on land eject mostly ash and sulfur dioxide, underwater volcanos jettison far more water.
Tonga’s eruption was no different, with the blast’s white-grayish plume reaching 57 kilometers (35.4 miles) and injecting 146 million tonnes of water into the atmosphere.
Water vapor can linger in the atmosphere for up to a decade, trapping heat on Earth’s surface and leading to more overall warming. More atmospheric water vapor can also help deplete ozone, which shields the planet from harmful UV radiation.
“That one volcano increased the total amount of global water in the stratosphere by 10 percent,” said Paul Newman, chief scientist for earth sciences at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “We’re only now beginning to see the impact of that.”
Reporting by Gloria Dickie in London; Additional reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Katy Daigle and Tomasz Janowski
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
