MEXICO CITY, Oct 29 (Reuters) – A wooden canoe used by the ancient Maya and believed to be over 1,000 years old has turned up in southern Mexico, officials said on Friday, part of archeological work accompanying the construction of a major new tourist train.
The extremely rare canoe was found almost completely intact, submerged in a fresh-water pool known as a cenote, thousands of which dot Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, near the ruins of Chichen Itza, once a major Maya city featuring elaborately carved temples and towering pyramids.
Measuring a little over 5 feet (1.6 meters) in length and 2-1/2 feet (80 cm) wide, the canoe was possibly used to transport water from the cenote or deposit ritual offerings, according to a statement from Mexican antiquities institute INAH.
The institute described the extraordinary find as “the first complete canoe like this in the Maya area,” adding that experts from Paris’ Sorbonne University will help with an analysis of the well-preserved wood to pin-point its age and type.
A three-dimensional model of the canoe will also be commissioned, the statement added, to facilitate further study and allow for replicas to be made.
The canoe is tentatively dated to between 830-950 AD, near the end of the Maya civilization’s classical zenith, when dozens of cities across present-day southern Mexico and Central America thrived amid major human achievements in math, writing and art.
It was found while workers building a tourist rail project championed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador were inspecting the area surrounding the cenote which is near a section of the project that will connect with Cancun, Mexico’s top beach resort.
Lopez Obrador has pitched the so-called Maya Train as tourist-friendly infrastructure that will help alleviate poverty in Mexico’s poorer southern states, while critics argue it risks damaging the region’s delicate ecosystems.
Reporting by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Sandra Maler
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Any closure could lead to imports with higher carbon costs
‘Carbon leakage’ an issue for leaders at COP26 in Glasgow
Local green goals may be at odds with global targets
STOCKHOLM, Oct 18 (Reuters) – When a Swedish court ordered the country’s biggest cement maker to stop mining limestone by its huge factory on the windswept island of Gotland to prevent pollution, ecologists cheered.
Besides protecting wildlife and water supplies, the ruling could force the plant that makes 75% of Sweden’s cement and is the country’s second biggest carbon emitter to slash output while it finds raw materials elsewhere, or even shut altogether.
That might be good for Sweden’s emissions targets, but not such good news for the rest of the planet.
A government-commissioned report seen by Reuters said it could force Sweden to import cement from countries that pump out more emissions in the overall manufacturing process – or risk massive job losses in the construction industry at home.
“Imports from countries outside the EU would probably lead to larger environmental impacts as a result of lower standards related to CO2 emissions and lower standards in land use,” the report, obtained via a freedom of information request, said.
Sweden’s dilemma encapsulates one the challenges facing nations meeting in Glasgow for the U.N. COP26 climate talks: how to show they are not cutting emissions by simply exporting the problem elsewhere – a phenomenon known as “carbon leakage”.
A rich, stable Nordic democracy, Sweden has long topped international environmental rankings and has managed to cut back on greenhouse gases for years while preserving economic growth on a path towards its target of net zero emissions by 2045.
It has the world’s highest carbon tax at $137 per tonne and is a leader in the use of renewable energy. In 2018, its carbon emissions per head stood at 3.5 tonnes, well below the European Union average of 6.4 tonnes, according to World Bank data.
But the stand-off over the Slite cement plant epitomises the growing tension between local environment goals and the 2015 Paris Agreement signed by nearly 200 countries to try to limit global warming to 1.5 Celsius.
“We have to weigh up the global focus – doing the most for the climate – but also maintain our high ambitions when it comes to our local environmental problems,” Sweden’s Minster for Environment and Climate Per Bolund told Reuters. “These two things can be balanced.”
ALTERNATIVE FUELS
Much of Europe’s imported cement comes from Turkey, Russia, Belarus and countries in North Africa.
They don’t have anything like the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), the world’s largest carbon market and one that sets the price of carbon permits for energy-intensive sectors, including cement, within the 27-nation bloc.
The World Bank says only 22% of global emissions were covered by pricing mechanisms last year and the International Monetary Fund put the average global price of carbon at $3 a tonne – a tiny fraction of Sweden’s carbon tax. read more
While the Swedish court’s decision was not linked to Slite’s carbon footprint, but rather the risks its quarry poses to local groundwater, the impact from an emissions point of view depends on the efficiency and energy mix of the producers likely to supply Sweden with cement to plug any shortfalls.
Slite’s owner, Germany’s HeidelbergCement (HEIG.DE), also plans to make it the world’s first carbon neutral cement factory by 2030, but the uncertainty over its future following the court ruling may delay or even scupper the project.
“We need a decision soon on the long-term basis for these operations if that is not to be delayed,” Magnus Ohlsson, chief executive of HeidelbergCement’s Swedish subsidiary Cementa, said last month.
Koen Coppenholle, head of European cement lobby group Cembureau, said he was confident European plants were “cleaner” overall because high EU carbon charges on producers had encouraged them to invest in reducing their emissions.
“In Europe, right now, we are replacing 50% of our primary fuel needs by alternative fuels,” he said
Reuters Graphics
According to Cembureau data, however, imports of cement from outside the EU have jumped by about 160% in the last five years, even though total volumes remain relatively small.
But carbon leakage, where emissions are shifted from countries with tight environmental rules to ones with laxer and cheaper regimes, is an issue for dozens of industries and policymakers are trying to tackle it.
In July, the EU unveiled plans for the world’s first carbon border tax to protect European industries, including cement, from competitors abroad whose manufacturers produce at lower cost because they are not charged for their carbon output.
Europe’s cement industry supports the move, but warns it is fraught with difficulties, such as how to measure emissions in different countries given varying processes and fuels.
“If you impose strict requirements on CO2 and emissions, you have to make sure you do that in a way that you don’t push companies outside the EU,” said Coppenholle. “That’s the whole discussion on carbon leakage.”
For a country such as Sweden, which has cut its emissions by 29% over the last three decades, the issue of domestic action versus global impact goes beyond cement.
The country’s already low, and declining, emissions from domestic production dropped to just under 60 million tonnes of carbon equivalent in 2018.
But if you measure what Swedes consume, including goods and services produced abroad, the figure is about a third higher, according to Statistics Sweden, which put so-called consumption-based emissions at 82 million tonnes that year.
CLIMATE IS GLOBAL
The local versus global perspective also raises questions about which type of industrial policy is ultimately greener.
Sweden’s leading steel firm SSAB (SSABa.ST), state-owned miner LKAB and utility Vattenfall, for example, have invested heavily in developing a process to produce steel without using fossil fuels. read more
They say switching to so-called green hydrogen power would reduce Sweden’s emissions by about 10%, a big step towards reaching the country’s 2045 net zero emission goal.
But for researchers Magnus Henrekson at the Research Institute for Industrial Economics, Christian Sandstrom at Jonkoping International Business School and Carl Alm at the Ratio Institute, this is an example of the “environmental nationalism” that benefits one country, but not the world.
They estimate that if Sweden exported the renewable energy it would use to make hydrogen to Poland and Germany instead – so they could cut back on coal-fired power – overall CO2 emissions would fall by 10 to 12 times more than by making “green” steel.
The EU’s carbon border levy, meanwhile, is only due to be phased in from 2026, potentially too late to have a bearing on the fate of Cementa’s Slite limestone quarry.
Sweden’s parliament has agreed to a government proposal to tweak the country’s environmental laws to give Cementa a stay of execution, but no long-term solution is in sight.
Environmentalists such as David Kihlberg, climate head at the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, say easing regulations gives industries an excuse to put off changes that need to happen now.
“It would be incredibly destructive for climate diplomacy if Sweden came to the top climate meeting in Glasgow and said our climate policy is to increase emissions and the local environmental impact in order to pull the rug from under Chinese cement producers,” he said, referring to a hypothetical scenario that is not Swedish policy.
“The climate question is global and has to be solved by cooperation between countries.”
Editing by Mark John and David Clarke
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SHENYANG, China, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Small firms caught in China’s prolonged energy crunch are turning to diesel generators, or simply shutting shop, as coal industry officials voiced fears about stockpiles ahead of winter and manufacturing shrank in the world’s no. 2 economy.
Beijing is scrambling to deliver more coal to utilities to restore supply as the northeast grapples with its worst power outages in years, particularly the three provinces of Liaoning, Heilongjiang and Jilin, home to nearly 100 million people.
Gao Lai, who runs an industrial laundry service in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning, said he was losing money after the power crunch forced him to hire a diesel generator.
“We can afford it for just four days, but if it’s for longer, then the costs are too much, so we can’t survive,” he told Reuters.
“We are willing to make it work because the country needs it, but if (power curbs continue) in the long run, we have to think of a way out.”
The curbs were triggered by shortages of coal, which fuels about two-thirds of China’s power generation.
Thermal coal futures closed Thursday up 4.2% on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange after hitting an all-time high of 1,408 yuan ($218) per tonne.
The contract surged 96% in the July to September period on tight supplies and strong demand, its biggest quarterly jump since the first quarter of 2017, spurring the exchange to adopt trading limits.
Official data separately showed China’s factory activity contracted in September for the first time since February 2020. read more
Since last week, more than 100 companies from electronic component manufacturers to gold miners have notified stock markets of production suspensions. Some have said they resumed production in the last two days, however.
The strain comes as the China Coal Industry Association warned it was “not optimistic” about supplies ahead of winter, the peak season for demand, and added that power plant inventories were now “obviously low”.
It urged companies to “spare no effort” to boost supply and focus on sales to smaller, high-energy consumers who have not signed long-term supply contracts.
Although coal production hit a record in August, analysts with Chinese investment bank CICC said a recent spate of mine accidents had made regulators more cautious about approving expansions in output.
They said imports, down 10.3% on the year in the January to August period, were unlikely to rise significantly over the rest of 2021 and more local production had to be “freed”.
SWITCH TO DIESEL
In Shenyang, staff at a steel parts factory that has been shut for the last few days said they had not yet rented a generator but might do so if rationing continued.
Zhai Junwang, manager of a company that rents standalone diesel-fired generators, said brisk business in recent days had led to a doubling in rates.
“There’s very limited stock,” he said, but added that he did not expect the situation to last, as most small factories using his generators were losing money.
The government has said its priority will be to guarantee household power and heating supplies over the winter, as state-run energy firm Sinopec pledged to boost imports of liquefied natural gas. read more
But Citi analysts said in a note they expected power shortages to persist in the peak winter season for heating, most of it coal-fired.
Experts are pressing for fundamental reforms to China’s energy system.
The crisis was caused not by supply shortages but an inflexible grid system, said Zhang Boting of industry research group the China Society for Hydropower Engineering.
“The solution … isn’t simply relying on increasing power generating capacity, but boosting the ability of the grid to adjust peaks and solve the serious mismatches between energy loads and energy supplies,” he said on the group’s website.
($1=6.46107 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Reporting by Gabriel Crossley in Shenyang and Shivani Singh in Beijing; Additional reporting by Min Zhang in Beijing, Brenda Goh and David Stanway in Shanghai, Aizhu Chen in Singapore and Tom Daly; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
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A coal-fired heating complex is seen behind the ground covered by snow in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China November 15, 2019. Picture taken November 15, 2019. REUTERS/Muyu Xu//File Photo
State planner orders rail firms, local govts to ensure coal supplies
‘With kid, elderly person at home, no heat is a problem’ -Shenyang resident
China thermal coal prices hit lifetime high amid tight supplies
Beijing reassures on power, coal ahead of winter heating season
Considering raising industrial power prices -media report
SHENYANG, China, Sept 29 (Reuters) – China on Wednesday demanded railway companies and local authorities raise their game in shipping vital coal supplies to utilities, as regions key to the world’s no. 2 economy grapple with power cuts that have crippled industrial output.
The order, handed down from China’s powerful state planner, comes after a collision of tight coal supplies, tougher emissions standards and strong manufacturing demand has pushed the price of coal, the biggest source of China’s electricity, to eye-watering records – just as winter approaches. read more
Thermal coal futures in China hit an all-time high of 1,376.8 yuan ($212.92) per tonne earlier on Wednesday – adding yet more pressure on power utilities unable to recoup added fuel costs. Curbs have been imposed on power use in large swathes of the country, especially three northeastern provinces that are home to nearly 100 million people.
“If there’s a power cut in the winter then the heat stops too,” said Fang Xuedong, 32, a delivery driver in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning province, about a 90-minute flight northeast of Beijing.
“I have a kid and an elderly person at home, if there’s no heat then that’s a problem.”
Growing alarm among residents at the power crunch, now in its second week, comes as the state planner – the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) – formally urged local economic planners, energy administrations and railway companies to beef up coal transportation to meet citizens’ heating demand during the winter season.
“Each railway company should strengthen coal transportation to power houses (utilities) with inventory of less than seven days and launch the emergency supply mechanism in a timely manner,” said the NDRC. read more
Officials this week have repeatedly sought to assure residents that there will be power for household use and for heating as winter approaches. China is considering hiking industrial power prices to ease the supply crunch, Bloomberg news reported on Wednesday, citing unidentified sources. nL1N2QU0P1][
But power rationing has been implemented during peak hours in many parts of northeastern China since last week, with news reports and social media posts signalling outages of traffic lights and 3G communications networks in the region.
China provinces power rationing map
On Wednesday, the official People’s Daily reported that coal for heating and power in the northeastern provinces of Jilin, Heilongjiang and Liaoning had been ensured as some suppliers and producers signed medium and long-term coal contracts recently.
China has called for ramping up domestic production of coal and the governor of Jilin province this week proposed an increase in coal imports. Top coal producing province Shanxi, located in the north, has signed medium and long-term coal supply contracts with 14 provinces, the official news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday. read more
China, the world’s top coal consumer imported a total of 197.69 million tonnes of coal in the first eight months of the year, down 10% year-on-year. But August coal imports rose by more than a third on tight domestic supplies.
Li Shuo, a senior policy adviser for Greenpeace East Asia, called on China to reform its power sector to help it absorb price fluctuations and ensure stability.
“This power shortage will carry huge economic and political implications. But let’s set the record straight, the root cause is high coal price, NOT climate policies,” Li wrote in a Twitter post this week.
“If anything, the power shortage demonstrates the importance of moving away from coal, that a fuel that has been code word for energy security is not secure at all.”
($1 = 6.4662 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Reporting by Gabriel Crossley in Shenyang and Shivani Singh in Beijing; Additional reporting by Min Zhang in Beijing, David Stanway in Shanghai and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell
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SHANGHAI, Sept 27 (Reuters) – Beijing’s new blanket ban on all cryptocurrency trading and mining – the broadest yet by a major economy – has sent crypto exchanges and service providers scrambling to sever business ties with mainland Chinese clients.
Shares in a range of Chinese crypto-related firms plunged on the ban which closes off loopholes left in previous regulatory crackdowns on the sector. Industry executives noted, however, that many companies had already shifted key portions of their business outside China.
Ten powerful Chinese government bodies said in a joint statement on Friday that overseas exchanges were barred from providing services to mainland investors via the internet – a previously grey area – and vowed to jointly root out “illegal” cryptocurrency activities.
In response, Huobi Global and Binance, two of the largest exchanges globally and popular with Chinese users, stopped new registrations of accounts by mainland customers. Huobi also said it would clean up existing ones by the end of the year.
“On the very day we saw the notice, we started to take corrective measures,” Du Jun, Huobi Group co-founder said in a statement to Reuters.
Du did not give an estimate of how many of its users would be affected, saying only that Huobi had embarked on a global expansion strategy many years ago and seen steady growth in Southeast Asia and Europe.
TokenPocket, a popular service provider of crypto wallets, also said in a notice to clients that it would terminate services to mainland Chinese clients that risk violating Chinese policies and would “actively embrace” regulation.
Some of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges originated in China but Chinese authorities have come to see cryptocurrencies as speculative instruments lacking in intrinsic value, prone to acute price moves and a means to circumvent capital controls. Chinese authorities have instead thrown their weight behind the development of an official digital currency.
The ban, which comes amid a swath of regulatory actions that have hit a range of sectors from gaming to tech to for profit-tutoring, makes it very hard for Chinese mainland investors to buy or sell the assets unless they leave the country. It does not, however, go so far as to declare ownership of cryptocurrencies as illegal.
In contrast, while elsewhere in the world cryptocurrency firms are facing increased oversight, outright bans are rare.
“I don’t believe China’s approach will set a standard for how other countries approach regulating this space,” said John Wu, president of Ava Labs, a blockchain company.
Shares that took a beating include Huobi Global affiliate Huobi Tech (1611.HK), which plunged 22% and OKG Technology Holdings Ltd (1499.HK), a fintech company majority-owned by Xu Mingxing, the founder of cryptoexchange OKcoin, which lost 19%.
On Friday, Nasdaq-listed Chinese cryptomining machine makers Canaan Inc (CAN.O) and Ebang International (EBON.O) tumbled 21% and 7% respectively.
Many Chinese crypto exchanges shut down or moved offshore in 2017, after China, once the world’s biggest bitcoin trading and mining centre, banned such platforms from converting legal tender into cryptocurrencies and vice versa. Then in May this year, China’s State Council vowed to ban bitcoin trading and mining.
Amid the crackdown, other types of Chinese crypto companies have been moving out of China over the past few months, said Flex Yang, founder and CEO of Babel Finance, adding that the impact from the latest policy would be “limited”.
The Chinese crypto financial services provider this month opened new business headquarters in Singapore. Cobo, a crypto asset management and custodian platform, also recently moved its headquarters from Beijing to Singapore.
Earlier crackdowns appeared to have led to capital outflows for many Chinese exchanges. Some $28.3 billion worth of capital flowed out from crypto exchanges of Chinese origin such as OKEx, Huobi and Binance to foreign exchanges in the first half of 2021, a jump of 62% compared to outflows for all of 2020, according to consultancy PeckShield.
Reporting by Samuel Shen and Andrew Galbraith; Additional reporting by Alun John in Hong Kong; Editing by Edwina Gibbs
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ACCRA, Sept 16 (Reuters) – West Africa’s main regional bloc on Thursday imposed sanctions against the junta in Guinea and those slowing Mali’s post-coup transition – its toughest response yet to a run of military takeovers.
The move was agreed at an emergency summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Accra to respond to last week’s putsch in Guinea and perceived slow progress towards constitutional rule in Mali following a coup last year. read more
Regional heads of state decided to freeze the financial assets and impose travel bans on Guinea’s junta members and their relatives, insisting on the release of President Alpha Conde and a short transition.
“In six months elections should be held,” said ECOWAS Commission President Jean-Claude Kassi Brou at a briefing.
The bloc also piled more pressure on Mali’s transitional government, demanding they stick to an agreement to organise elections for February 2022 and present an electoral roadmap by next month, according to the post-summit communique.
Anyone in Mali hindering preparations for the elections faces the same sanctions as those imposed in Guinea, it said.
Leaders who took part in the summit hailed this more hardline stance. West and Central Africa has seen four coups since last year – political upheaval that has intensified concerns about a backslide towards military rule in a resource-rich but poverty-stricken region.
Special forces commander Mamady Doumbouya, who ousted President Alpha Conde, walks out after meeting the envoys from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to discuss ways to steer Guinea back toward a constitutional regime, in Conakry, Guinea September 10, 2021. REUTERS/Saliou Samb
Read More
“I welcome the strong actions of the summit to safeguard democracy, peace, security and stability in the subregion,” Senegalese President Macky Sall tweeted.
Coup leaders in Guinea are holding consultations this week with various public figures, groups and business leaders in the country to map a framework for the transition.
Late on Thursday they said they were also expecting a delegation of regional heads of state to visit Conakry for talks on Friday.
Soldiers behind the Sept. 5 coup have said they ousted Conde because of concerns about poverty and corruption, and because he was serving a third term only after altering the constitution to permit it.
Meanwhile the putsch in Mali was largely precipitated by a security crisis, which has seen militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State extend their influence across the north and centre of the country.
The new Malian authorities’ pledge to hold presidential and legislative elections early next year has been undermined by their failure to meet various deadlines, including the start of voter roll updates and the presentation of a new constitution.
The transition was dealt a further setback in May when the colonel who led the initial coup, Assimi Goita, ordered the arrest of the interim president and then took over the role himself. read more
Additional reporting by Saliou Samb in Conakry and Bate Felix in Dakar; Writing by Cooper Inveen, Bate Felix and Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Marguerita Choy and Grant McCool
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BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON, Sept 13 (Reuters) – The United States and the European Union have agreed to aim to cut emissions of the planet-warming gas methane by around a third by the end of this decade and are pushing other major economies to join them, according to documents seen by Reuters.
Their pact comes as Washington and Brussels seek to galvanize other major economies ahead of a world summit to address climate change in Glasgow, Scotland, in November, and could have a significant impact on the energy, agriculture and waste industries responsible for the bulk of methane emissions.
The greenhouse gas methane, the biggest cause of climate change after carbon dioxide (CO2), is facing more scrutiny as governments seek solutions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, a goal of the Paris climate agreement.
In an attempt to jumpstart the action, the United States and the EU later this week will make a joint pledge to reduce human-caused methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030, compared with 2020 levels, according to a draft of the Global Methane Pledge seen by Reuters.
“The short atmospheric lifetime of methane means that taking action now can rapidly reduce the rate of global warming,” the draft said.
A separate document listed over two dozen countries that the United States and the EU will target to join the pledge. They include major emitters such as China, Russia, India, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, as well as others including Norway, Qatar, Britain, New Zealand and South Africa.
The U.S. State Department and the European Commission both declined to comment.
“The Pledge would represent a very encouraging sign that the world is finally waking up to the urgent need to rein in methane pollution,” said Sarah Smith, program director for super pollutants at the non-profit Clean Air Task Force.
PRESSURE
The agreement would likely be unveiled on Friday at a meeting of major emitting economies intended to rally support ahead of the COP26 Glasgow summit.
World leaders are under pressure from scientists, environmental advocates and growing popular sentiment to commit to more ambitious action to curb climate change in Glasgow.
Methane has a higher heat-trapping potential than CO2 but it breaks down in the atmosphere faster, so “strong, rapid and sustained reductions” in methane emissions in addition to slashing CO2 emissions can have a climate impact quickly, a fact emphasized by a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last month.
Experts say the fossil fuel sector has the biggest potential to cut methane emissions this decade by mending leaky pipelines or gas storage facilities, and many of those fixes can be done at a low cost.
Yet satellite images and infrared footage have in recent years revealed methane emissions spewing out of oil and gas sites in countries including the EU, Mexico and the United States. read more
The United States and EU are both due to propose laws this year to restrict methane emissions.
The U.S.-EU pledge would cover key sources of methane emissions, including leaky oil and gas infrastructure, old coal mines, agriculture and waste such as landfills, the draft said.
Countries that join the pledge would commit to take domestic action to collectively achieve the target methane cut, “focusing on standards to achieve all feasible reductions in the energy and waste sectors” and reducing agricultural emissions through “technology innovation as well as incentives and partnerships with farmers,” it said.
Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Leslie Adler and Sonya Hepinstall
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BEIJING, July 20 (Reuters) – China unveiled a maglev train capable of a top speed of 600 kph on Tuesday, state media said.
The maximum speed would make the train, self-developed by China and manufactured in the coastal city of Qingdao, the fastest ground vehicle globally.
Using electro-magnetic force, the maglev train “levitates” above the track with no contact between body and rail.
China has been using the technology for almost two decades on a very limited scale. Shanghai has a short maglev line running from one of its airports to town.
A high-speed maglev train, capable of a top speed of 600 kph, is pictured in Qingdao, Shandong province, China July 20, 2021. cnsphoto via REUTERS
While there are no inter-city or inter-province maglev lines yet in China that could make good use of the higher speeds, some cities including Shanghai and Chengdu have started to conduct research.
At 600 kph, it would only take 2.5 hours to travel from Beijing to Shanghai by train – a journey of more than 1,000 km (620 miles).
By comparison, the journey would take 3 hours by plane and 5.5 hours by high-speed rail.
Countries from Japan to Germany are also looking to build maglev networks, although high costs and incompatibility with current track infrastructure remain hurdles to rapid development.
Reporting by Ryan Woo;
Editing by Alison Williams
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Members of Japanese Self-Defence Forces conduct rescue and search operartion at a mudslide site caused by heavy rain at Izusan district in Atami, west of Tokyo, Japan July 5, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Kyodo/via REUTERS
TOKYO, July 5 (Reuters) – More than a thousand Japanese rescuers combed through crumbled houses and buried roads on Monday two days after landslides tore through a seaside city, fighting time and poor weather to search for some 80 people believed missing.
At least three people have been killed in Atami after torrential rain at the weekend – more than a usual July’s worth in 24 hours some areas – touched off a succession of landslides, sending torrents of mud and rock ripping through streets.
The landslides are a reminder of the natural disasters – including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunami – that haunt Japan, where the capital Tokyo is to host the summer Olympics beginning this month.
“My mother is still missing,” one man told NHK public television. “I never imagined something like this could happen here.”
One 75-year-old evacuee said the house across from his had been swept away and the couple that lived there was unaccounted for.
“This is hell,” he said.
By Monday, the number of rescuers at the site had risen to 1,500, officials said, and could increase.
“We want to rescue as many victims … buried in the rubble as soon as possible,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters, adding that police, firefighters and members of the military were doing all they could to aid the search.
There are 113 people believed missing in Atami, a city of almost 36,000 people situated 90 km (60 miles) southwest of Tokyo, spokesperson Hiroki Onuma told Reuters, confirming the third death. That fatality was a woman, Japanese media said
By noon, though, that number of missing had dropped to around 80, Kyodo said.
“We’re in touch with various groups and pushing forward with the searches,” Onuma said.
Over the weekend some 20 people were said to be unaccounted for, but the number rose sharply on Monday as officials began working from residential registers rather than phone calls from people unable to reach family and friends, he said.
Around 130 buildings were affected on Saturday morning when landslides ripped through Atami, a hot springs resort set on a steep slope that leads down to a bay.
The water, mud and debris are thought to have flowed along a river for about 2 km (1.2 miles) to the sea, local media said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato called on residents to remain vigilant, noting that the saturated earth has been weakened and even light rain could prove dangerous.
Though Onuma said rain had stopped in Atami for now, more is forecast, raising the possibility of further landslides.
“The situation is unpredictable,” he said.
Stocks in some engineering firms rose on Monday.
Raito Kogyo Co Ltd (1926.T), an expert in slope and foundation improvement, rose 1.5%, while CE Management Integrated Laboratory Co Ltd (6171.T), which offers geological survey and disaster prevention systems, gained 3.7%.
Reporting by Daniel Leussink and Elaine Lies; Additional reporting by Hideyuki Sano; Writing by Elaine Lies; Editing by Kim Coghill and Christopher Cushing
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CAIRO, June 29 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced plans on Tuesday to launch a second national airline as part of a broader strategy to turn the kingdom into a global logistics hub as it seeks to diversify from oil.
The creation of another flag carrier would catapult Saudi Arabia into the 5th rank globally in terms of air transit traffic, official state media reported, without giving details on when and how the airline would be created.
Prince Mohammad has been spearheading a push for Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy and the largest country in the Gulf geographically, to boost non-oil revenues to about 45 billion riyals ($12.00 billion) by 2030.
Making the kingdom a global logistics hub, which includes the development of ports, rail and road networks, would increase the transport and logistics sector’s contribution to gross domestic product to 10% from 6%, state news agency SPA said.
“The comprehensive strategy aims to position Saudi Arabia as a global logistics hub connecting the three continents,” Prince Mohammed was quoted as saying in the SPA report.
“This will help other sectors like tourism, haj and umrah to achieve their national targets.”
The addition of another airline would increase the number of international destinations from Saudi Arabia to more than 250 and double air cargo capacity to more than 4.5 million tonnes, the SPA report said.
With current flag bearer Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia), the kingdom has one of the smallest airline networks in the region relative to its size. Saudia has struggled with losses for years and like global peers, has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
Local media reported earlier this year that the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, (PIF), planned to build a new airport in Riyadh as part of the new airline launch, without giving further details.
The fund is the main vehicle for boosting Saudi Arabian investments at home and abroad as the young prince, known in the West as MbS, seeks to diversify the kingdom’s oil-heavy economy through his Vision 2030 strategy.
($1 = 3.7503 riyals)
Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Alaa Swilam; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous and Marwa Rashad; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall, Marguerita Choy and Jane Wardell
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