Tuesday, December 31, 2024
Six In The Morning Tuesday 31 December 2024
Pre-flight checks found 'no issues' before S Korea air crash
A pre-flight inspection of a Jeju Air passenger plane hours before it crashed in South Korea, killing 179 people, found "no issues", the airline has said.
"Nothing abnormal was noted with the landing gear," the airline's CEO Kim Yi-bae told a news conference in Seoul, as investigations continue into why the wheels were not down when it performed an emergency landing.
The plane was travelling from Bangkok when it crash-landed at Muan International Airport on Sunday, bursting into flames and killing everyone onboard, save for two crew members, after skidding into a wall.
Israel’s hospital attacks have put Gaza healthcare on brink of collapse, says UN
Tue 31 Dec 2024 15.39 GMT
Israel’s pattern of sustained attacks on Gaza’s hospitals and medical workers has brought the coastal strip’s healthcare system to the brink of “total collapse”, according to a report by the UN’s human rights office.
The report, which catalogues the besieging and targeting of hospitals and their immediate grounds with explosive weapons, the killing of hundreds of medical workers, and the destruction of critical life-saving equipment, said that in certain circumstances the attacks could “amount to war crimes”. Israel has consistently denied committing war crimes in Gaza.
The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, said the report’s findings pointed to “blatant disregard for international humanitarian and human rights law”.
Trinidad and Tobago declares gang crime state of emergency
Trinidad and Tobago's government empowered its police to conduct searches and arrests without a warrant for 48 hours, citing the heightened danger of gang violence.
"The circumstances warranting the declaration of the public emergency are based on the advice of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service to the National Security Council of heightened criminal activity which endangers the public safety," Prime Minister Keith Rowley's office said in a statement issued on Monday.
Year of deadly weather: Climate change added 41 extra heat days and supercharged disasters
Scientists say 26 of 29 most severe disasters this year were intensified by climate crisis
The world suffered an extra 41 days of dangerous heat in 2024 which fueled catastrophic disasters that scientists say would have been virtually impossible without the climate crisis.
Scientists also say that 26 of the 29 most severe disasters this year were intensified by the climate crisis driven by the use of fossil fuels.
The disasters, which included hurricanes, floods, wildfires and droughts, mark a dangerous “new normal” driven by rising global temperatures, according to a new report published by World Weather Attribution, or WWA, and Climate Central late last week.
Improved way to gauge radiation doses developed for Fukushima
By KEITARO FUKUCHI/ Staff Writer
December 31, 2024 at 07:00 JST
The Japan Atomic Energy Agency said it has developed a more accurate method to estimate radiation exposure doses among people who spend time around the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
The JAEA has adapted the method, based on daily life patterns, into program format and is offering it for free on a municipal government website and elsewhere.
When the central government designated evacuation zones following the 2011 triple meltdown at the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., it estimated radiation doses among residents using a simple evaluation method that assumed they spent eight hours outdoors and 16 hours indoors a day.
Israel continues to block Gaza aid
- The United Nations has accused Israel of continuing to “systematically” hinder aid to Gaza as local authorities say a seventh forcibly displaced Palestinian has died of hypothermia amid plummeting temperatures.
- The US army says it carried out a number of strikes on Yemeni territory, hitting targets belonging to the Houthis, who have launched several attacks on US military ships and on Israeli territory in recent days.
- The family of Dr Hussam Abu Safia, the detained director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, has pleaded for his release as Palestinian authorities announce that five more detainees from Gaza have died in Israeli custody.
- Israeli forces have killed four Palestinians in an attack on besieged Jabalia in north Gaza after a day of bombings that killed at least 27 people across the Strip.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 45,541 Palestinians and wounded 108,338 since October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day, and more than 200 were taken captive.
Monday, December 30, 2024
Six In The Morning Monday 30 December 2024
South Korea launches safety inspection of all airline operations after Jeju Air crash
Authorities announce investigation as shocked citizens enter second day of official mourning
Mon 30 Dec 2024 15.52 GMT
South Korea has launched an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operations, and a separate check of all Boeing 737-800s, after 179 people died in a Jeju Air crash involving the aircraft on Sunday.
As shocked citizens began a second day of official mourning and flags flew at half-mast, the government said it would carry out the audit of all 101 of the aircraft in domestic operation, with US investigators, possibly including Boeing, joining the inspection.
Choi Sang-mok, who was appointed South Korea’s president two days before the disaster, said an exhaustive inspection was essential to overhaul the aviation safety system and “move toward a safer Republic of Korea”.
Africa seeks to address its acute surgical care crisis
Faced with a severe shortage of reconstructive surgeons, African nations are striving to meet the growing demand for critical surgical interventions.
Africa has millions of people who lack access to essential surgical care. From children born with cleft lips to burn victims left untreated, these scars tell stories of a health care system stretched to its limits.
Sub-Saharan Africa bears the weight of an acute surgical care crisis, with 93% of the population unable to access the reconstructive procedures they desperately need.
In a region where burns, congenital deformities, and trauma-related injuries are common, the shortage of skilled surgeons and medical infrastructure compounds the suffering, leaving a vast majority without hope for healing.
Iran confirms arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Tehran
Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was arrested on December 19 after travelling to Tehran to report on Iranian society. Iranian state media on Monday confirmed her detention and said Sala had "violated the law" while on the ground. Italy said efforts to free her were "complicated".
Iran confirmed on Monday that it had arrested Italian journalist Cecilia Sala for "violating the law", state media reported, a move that has been decried by Italy as "unacceptable".
"Cecilia Sala, an Italian citizen, travelled to Iran on December 13, 2024 with a journalist's visa and was arrested on December 19, 2024 for violating the law of the Islamic Republic of Iran," the official IRNA news agency said, citing a statement by the culture ministry without elaborating.
"Her case is currently under investigation," added the ministry, which oversees and accredits foreign journalists in Iran.
Skilled foreign workers a key, growing part of Japan workforce
By MAKOTO ODA/ Staff Writer
December 30, 2024 at 15:37 JST
The number of foreigners working in Japan with the “specified skilled worker” visa has sharply increased since its creation five years ago to address labor shortages.
Unlike conditions under the technical intern training program, the visa allows for working conditions that can benefit both workers and short-handed employers.
For example, visa holders can work longer overtime hours, including night shifts, and in a broader range of industries than those in the technical intern training program.
Another big attraction of the visa is that holders can change jobs after working for one to two years.
The end of fear in Syria
Al Jazeera’s Justin Salhani recounts his experiences in the first days after al-Assad.
Until the fall of the al-Assad regime, the word “dollar” was forbidden in public. Instead, people used anything green – my favourite substitute was “molokhiyeh”, the green leaf eaten in a stew in Arab countries.
This was a story I heard many times from Syrians when reporting from Aleppo and Damascus in the days following the regime’s overthrow. Under the former regime, the walls had ears and anyone could be listening on a street corner or the other end of the phone line.
The driver who 'jumped' his bus over the Tower Bridge gap
On 30 December 1952, a double-decker bus drove on to Tower Bridge on its usual route between Shoreditch and Dulwich.
It was late in the evening, dark and the temperature had dipped below freezing.
It was a couple of weeks after the great smog had brought London to a standstill, and although that particularly foul miasma had dispersed, smog still regularly reduced visibility.
The traffic lights were green, there was no ringing of a warning hand-bell.
Albert Gunter, the driver, travelling at a steady 12mph (19km/h), proceeded on to the bridge.
Sunday, December 29, 2024
Starlink is revolutionary tech, but there are red flags | The Listening Post
Six In The Morning Sunday 29 December 2024
'My heart aches so much': Families grieve at airport after South Korea plane crash kills 179
What we know so far
It's now just past 23:30 in Korea. Here's what we know so far about what could be the country's worst aviation accident:
- A plane crash at Muan International Airport in South Korea has left 179 people dead
- Four crew members and all 175 passengers were killed
- There are two survivors, both members of the flight crew. One of them has been talking to doctors, according to Yonhap news agency
- The Boeing 737-800, operated by Korean airline Jeju Air, was arriving from Bangkok, Thailand, when it crashed at about 09:00 local time (00:00 GMT)
- Most passengers were South Koreans, apart from two Thai nationals
Georgia’s pro-west president says she remains ‘only legitimate president’ as new leader sworn in
Salome Zourabichvili tells protesters she will leave presidential palace as far-right successor Mikheil Kavelashvili takes power
Sun 29 Dec 2024 12.52 GMT
Georgia’s pro-western president, Salome Zourabichvili, has said she will leave the palace but remain the country’s legitimate officeholder, after refusing to hand over the keys to her successor in the wake of a controversial general election.
Zourabichvili spoke as thousands of protesters gathered in the capital, Tblisi, to demonstrate against the inauguration of Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former football player turned far-right politician backed by the ruling pro-Moscow and increasingly authoritarian Georgian Dream (GD) party, who was sworn in as president at a parliamentary ceremony.
Chad goes to polls amid opposition boycott
The opposition boycotting the elections has left the field open to candidates aligned with incumbent Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno. The vote is being held amid security challenges due to Boko Haram.
Chad is voting in legislative, provincial, and local elections on Sunday, despite an opposition boycott, as the country moves toward a political transition after three years of military rule.
Voting booths will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (0500 to 1700 GMT) for the approximately eight million registered voters, overseen by a hundred foreign observers and representatives of different political parties.
Soldiers, members of the police forces and nomadic people began voting on Saturday.
Ishiba hints at possible double Diet elections next summer
By DONI TANI/ Staff Writer
December 29, 2024 at 14:20 JST
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba hinted he is prepared to hold simultaneous elections for both Diet chambers next year in an attempt to keep the opposition in check and close ruling party ranks.
Ishiba, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, answered in the affirmative when he was asked on a television program Dec. 28 whether there is a possibility of double elections.
He indicated that if the Lower House passes a no-confidence motion against his Cabinet, he will dissolve the chamber for a snap election, instead of his Cabinet resigning en masse, in accordance with Article 69 of the Constitution.
How ‘scientist’ whales are helping uncover the secrets of climate change
Southern right whales in South Africa are bouncing back. But now they’re facing their biggest threat yet – the Anthropocene era — and letting us know why.
I arrive in Hermanus, a picturesque South African coastal village an hour-and-a-half from Cape Town, at about 11am on a sunny October morning. Ignoring the restaurants and art galleries on the main drag and the throngs of tourists watching southern right whales from the cliff path, I drive straight to the harbour to meet Els Vermeulen, the Belgium-born scientist who heads up the whale unit for the University of Pretoria’s Mammal Research Institute.
She is waiting for her colleagues to return from the last whale-tagging sortie of the 2024 season. “I would normally be out on the boat with the team,” says Vermeulen, who is dressed in a bold geometric print dress and a denim jacket. “But I had to drop my kids at school and couldn’t get down here early enough.” The water next to the concrete pier is so clear that I can see a giant orange starfish inching its way along the rocky seabed.
Azerbaijan’s president accuses Russia of downing airliner in Christmas Day crash and covering up cause
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has accused Russia of accidentally downing an airliner on Christmas Day in a disaster that killed 38 people, and covering up the cause.
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane was traveling to Grozny in Chechnya before it made an emergency landing near Aktau, the airline said on Wednesday.
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency first said the plane crashed after colliding with birds, though it later said Ukrainian combat drones and dense fog forced the plane out of Russian airspace.