[1/5]Union members with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU) remove strike signs from a picket line outside the despatch hall in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada July 13, 2023. REUTERS/Chris Helgren
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 13 (Reuters) – Dock workers at ports along Canada’s Pacific coast and their employers accepted a tentative wage deal on Thursday, ending a 13-day strike that disrupted trade at the country’s busiest ports and risked worsening inflation.
“The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) and International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada are pleased to advise that the parties have reached a tentative agreement on a new 4-year deal,” the BCMEA said in a statement.
The ILWU also said there was an agreement, which must now be ratified by both sides. The union had made demands including wage increases and expansion of their jurisdiction to regular maintenance work on terminals.
Some 7,500 dock workers represented by the ILWU walked off the job on July 1 after failing to reach a new work contract with the BCMEA representing the companies involved.
The strike upended operations at two of Canada’s three busiest ports, the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Prince Rupert – key gateways for exporting the country’s natural resources and commodities and bringing in raw materials.
Economists have warned that the strike could trigger more supply-chain disruptions and fuel inflation while the Bank of Canada tries to cool the economy.
“The scale of the disruption has been significant,” Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said in a joint statement.
“We do not want to be back here again. Deals like this, made between parties at the collective bargaining table, are the best way to prevent that.”
On Tuesday, O’Regan said the differences between the parties were not sufficient to justify a continued work stoppage.
He offered terms drafted by a federal mediator and gave the union and employers 24 hours to decide if they were satisfied. The deal was reached at 10:20 am PT (1720 GMT), 10 minutes before the deadline, the ILWU said.
The parties, with help from federal mediators, had been negotiating a new contract since late April.
More than half of Canadian small business owners in a survey released on Tuesday said the strike at the Port of Vancouver will affect their operations, according to preliminary results from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
The strike is estimated to have disrupted C$6.5 billion of cargo movement at the ports, based on the industry body Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters’ calculation of about C$500 million in disrupted trade each day.
Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Steve Scherer in Ottawa, editing by Deepa Babington, Alexandra Hudson
July 13 (Reuters) – A threatened U.S. strike at United Parcel Service (UPS.N) could be “one of the costliest in at least a century,” topping $7 billion for a 10-day work stoppage, a think tank specializing in the economic impact of labor actions said on Thursday.
That estimate from Michigan-based Anderson Economic Group (AEG) includes UPS customer losses of $4 billion and lost direct wages of more than $1 billion. A 15-day UPS strike in 1997 disrupted the supply of goods, cost the world’s biggest parcel delivery firm $850 million and sent some customers to rivals like FedEx (FDX.N).
Roughly 340,000 union-represented UPS workers handle about a quarter of U.S. parcel deliveries and serve virtually every city and town in the nation. A strike could delay millions of daily deliveries, including Amazon.com (AMZN.O) orders, electronic components and lifesaving prescription drugs, shipping experts warned. They added this also could reignite supply-chain snarls that stoke inflation.
A strike by roughly 340,000 U.S. workers at the world’s biggest package delivery firm threatens to delay millions of shipments, snarl supply chains and send shipping costs higher.
Talks are deadlocked between UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union.
The Teamsters have vowed to strike if a deal is not ratified before the current contract expires at midnight on July 31.
“Consumers are going to feel this within days,” AEG CEO Patrick Anderson said of a potential strike, adding his analysis does not include the human cost of disruption to shipments of critical and perishable medicines to treat cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.
A sticking point in negotiations is pay increases for part-time workers who account for roughly half the UPS workforce. Tenured part-timers are particularly frustrated because they make just slightly more than new hires whose wages have jumped in a tight labor market.
Anderson said a UPS employee walkout would be a bigger risk to the U.S. economy than a work stoppage by UAW workers at the “Detroit Three” automakers, who started contract talks on Thursday.
He noted that the automaker talks cover fewer workers and have a limited geographic impact. In fiscal 2019, GM’s (GM.N) fourth-quarter profit took a $3.6 billion hit from a 40-day UAW strike that shut down its profitable U.S. operations.
UPS is urging Teamster negotiators to return to the bargaining table, but union officials say UPS needs to sweeten its offer for workers who risked their lives during the pandemic to help the company generate outsized profits.
UPS faces two unappealing choices, Stifel analyst Bruce Chan said in a recent note: Risk a strike and resulting customer losses or acquiesce to Teamster demands that could worsen the company’s labor cost disadvantage versus nonunion rivals in an inflationary environment.
“Both situations would create pain for UPS, so it could just be a question of when and how the company wants to take its medicine,” Chan said.
Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles, additional reporting by Priyamvada C in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai, Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio
Lisa Baertlein covers the movement of goods around the world, with emphasis on ocean transport and last-mile delivery. In her free time, you’ll find her sailing, painting or exploring state and national parks.
TORNIO, Finland/KARLSKRONA, Sweden, July 3 (Reuters) – High above a railway bridge spanning a foaming river just outside the Arctic Circle, Finnish construction workers hammer away at a project that will smooth the connections from NATO’s Atlantic coastline in Norway to its new border with Russia.
“We will be removing some 1,200 of these one by one,” says site manager Mika Hakkarainen, holding up a rivet.
Until February 2022, the 37-million euro ($41 million) electrification of this short stretch of rail – the only rail link between Sweden and Finland – simply promised locals a chance to catch a night train down to the bright lights of Stockholm.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, that changed.
Now Finland is part of NATO, and Sweden hopes to join soon.
As the alliance reshapes its strategy in response to Russia’s campaign, access to these new territories and their infrastructure opens ways for allies to watch and contain Moscow, and an unprecedented chance to treat the whole of northwest Europe as one bloc, nearly two dozen diplomats and military and security experts told Reuters.
“PUT RUSSIA AT RISK”
The Finnish rail improvements around Tornio on the Swedish border are one example. Due for completion next year, they will make it easier for allies to send reinforcements and equipment from across the Atlantic to Kemijarvi, an hour’s drive from the Russian border and seven hours from Russia’s nuclear bastion and military bases near Murmansk in the Kola peninsula.
Among forces based there, Russia’s Northern Fleet includes 27 submarines, more than 40 warships, around 80 fighter planes and stocks of nuclear warheads and missiles, data collected by the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) shows.
In a military conflict with NATO, the Fleet’s main task would be to secure control of the Barents Sea and stop ships bringing reinforcements from North America to Europe through the waters between Greenland, Iceland and the UK.
That’s something Finland can help NATO resist.
“It’s all about containing those kinds of capabilities from the north,” retired U.S. Major General Gordon B. Davis Jr. told Reuters.
Maps showing marine traffic through the Baltic
Besides opening its territory, Helsinki is buying the right assets, particularly fighter jets, “to add value to (the) northeastern defence and, frankly, in a conflict put Russia at risk,” he said.
Sweden’s contribution will, by 2028, include a new generation of submarines in the Baltic Sea that Fredrik Linden, Commander of Sweden’s First Submarine Flotilla, says will make a big difference in protecting vulnerable seabed infrastructure and preserving access – currently major security headaches, as the September 2022 destruction of the Nord Stream gas pipelines read more showed.
“With five submarines we can close the Baltic Sea,” Linden told Reuters. “We will cover the parts that are interesting with our sensors and with our weapons.”
Analysts say the change is not before time. Russia has been actively developing its military and hybrid capabilities in the Arctic against the West, partly under the cover of international environmental and economic cooperation, the FIIA’s Deputy Director Samu Paukkunen told Reuters. Russia’s defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Paukkunen’s institute estimates Western armed forces are militarily about 10 years behind Russia in the Arctic.
Even with the losses that Russia has sustained in Ukraine, the naval component of the Northern Fleet and the strategic bombers remain intact, Paukkunen said.
NATO-member Denmark phased out its submarine fleet in 2004, part of a move to scale back its military capabilities after the end of the Cold War, and it has yet to decide on future investments. Norway is also ordering four new submarines, with delivery of the first due in 2029.
“It seems to me that we have some catching up to do, because we haven’t done it properly for the last 25 years,” said Sebastian Bruns, a senior researcher into maritime security at Kiel University’s Institute for Security Policy.
Maps showing marine traffic through the Baltic
“A WHOLE PIECE”
Both developments show how the expanded alliance will reshape Europe’s security map. The region from the Baltic in the south to the high north may become almost an integrated operating area for NATO.
“For NATO it’s quite important to have now the whole northern part, to see it as a whole piece,” Lieutenant Colonel Michael Maus from NATO’s Allied Command Transformation told Reuters. He chaired the working group which led Finland’s military integration into NATO.
“With (existing) NATO nations Norway and Denmark, now we have a whole bloc. And thinking about potential defence plans, it’s for us a huge step forward, to consider it as a whole area now.”
This became clear in May, when Finland hosted its first Arctic military exercise as a NATO member at one of Europe’s largest artillery training grounds 25 km above the Arctic Circle.
The nearby town of Rovaniemi, known to tourists as the home of Santa Claus, is also the base of Finland’s Arctic air force and would serve as a military hub for the region in case of a conflict. Finland is investing some 150 million euros to renew the base to be able to host half a new fleet of 64 F-35 fighter jets, due to arrive from 2026.
An undated artist’s rendition depicts divers and an unmanned vehicle exiting the A26 submarine. Saab AB/Handout via REUTERS
For the May manoeuvres, nearly 1,000 allied forces from the United States, Britain, Norway and Sweden filled the sparse motorways as they joined some 6,500 Finnish troops and 1,000 vehicles.
Captain Kurt Rossi, Field Artillery Officer of the U.S. Army, led a battery bringing in an M270 multiple rocket launcher.
It was first shipped from Germany across the Baltic Sea, then trucked nearly 900 km to the north.
“We haven’t been this close (to Russia) and been able to train up in Finland before,” Rossi said.
If there was a conflict with Russia in the Baltic Sea area – where Russia has significant military capabilities at St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad – the shipping lane NATO used for that exercise would be vulnerable. Finland relies heavily on maritime freight for all its supplies – customs data shows almost 96% of its foreign trade is carried across the Baltic.
The east-west railway link across the high north will open up an alternative, which could prove crucial.
“I think the Russians can quite easily interrupt the cargo transportation by sea so basically this northern route is the only accessible route after that,” said Tuomo Lamberg, manager for cross border operations at Sweco, the Swedish company designing the electrification.
Maps showing marine traffic through the Baltic
“NOTHING BEATS THEM”
But that risk, too, may recede when Sweden joins NATO.
Down beneath the Baltic Sea waterline, the submarine commander Linden shows a reporter the captain’s quarters of the Gotland, one of four submarines currently in Sweden’s fleet, which will bring NATO’s total in the Baltic countries to 12 by 2028.
The Kiel institute expects Russia to add one to three submarines in the coming years, to bring its Baltic submarine total to four, along with its fleet of around six modern warships. Its capabilities at Kaliningrad also include medium-range ballistic missiles.
“This can be the loneliest place in the world,” says Linden, who captained the vessel for many years. On a typical mission, which lasts two to three weeks, there is no communication with headquarters, he said.
The Gotlands, like Germany’s modern Type 212 submarines, will be among NATO’s most advanced non-nuclear submarines and can stay out of port for significantly longer than most other conventional models, the researcher Bruns said read more .
“I would say, without a doubt, that the Gotland-class and the German Type 212 are the most capable non-nuclear submarines in the world,” said Bruns.
“There is nothing that beats them, quite literally. In terms of how quiet they are, the engines they use, they are particularly quiet and very maneuverable.”
In submarine warfare, Linden said, the primary question is where the adversary is. A careless crew member dropping a wrench or slamming a cupboard door can lead to detection.
“We talk quietly on board,” Linden said. “You shouldn’t believe … films where orders are shouted.”
The Gotland is based at Karlskrona, about 350 km across the Baltic from Kaliningrad. With an average of 1,500 vessels per day trafficking the Baltic according to the Commission on Security and Cooperation In Europe, it is one of the world’s busiest seaways – and there is really only one way out, the Kattegatt Sea between Denmark and Sweden.
The shallow and crowded seaway can only be accessed through three narrow straits that submarines can’t pass through without being detected.
LISTENING POWERS
If any of the straits were to be closed, the sea freight traffic to Sweden and Finland would be hit hard and the Baltic states completely cut off. But with Sweden in the alliance, that becomes more preventable, because Sweden’s submarines will add to NATO’s listening powers.
Linden says the Gotland’s crew can sometimes hear Russia’s vessels. The range of sound travel varies partly depending on the seasons. In winter, he said, you can hear as far as the island of Oeland – just a bit further than the distance between London and Birmingham in the UK.
“You can lie outside Stockholm and hear the chain rattling on Oeland’s northern buoy,” Linden said. “In the summer you can hear maybe 3,000 meters.”
By 2028, once Sweden takes delivery of a new design of vessel, this capacity will increase. The new design, known as A26, will allow submarine crews to deploy remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), combat divers or autonomous systems of some sort without putting the submarine or crew at risk, Bruns said.
“Depending on the mission it could be an ROV that safeguards a pipeline or data cable, it could be combat divers that go ashore in the cover of darkness, it could be almost anything.”
That capacity will increase Sweden’s scope to control comings and goings through the Baltic.
“If you count all the forces, with Germany in the lead and Sweden and Finland coming on board, all those have really shifted the balance in the Baltic Sea quite significantly,” said Nick Childs, Senior Fellow for Naval Forces and Maritime Security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
“It would make it very difficult for the Russian Baltic Sea fleet to operate in a free way,” he said. “But it could … still pose challenges for NATO.”
Anne Kauranen reported from Tornio, Johan Ahlander from Karlskrona; additional reporting from Gwladys Fouche in Oslo, Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen in Copenhagen and Sabine Siebold in Brussels; Edited by Sara Ledwith
WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with U.S. and Indian technology executives in Washington on Friday, the final day of a state visit where he agreed new defense and technology cooperation and addressed challenges posed by China.
U.S. President Joe Biden rolled out the red carpet for Modi on Thursday, declaring after about 2-1/2 hours of talks that their countries’ economic relationship was “booming.” Trade has more than doubled over the past decade.
Biden and Modi gathered with CEOs including Apple’s (AAPL.O) Tim Cook, Google’s (GOOGL.O) Sundar Pichai and Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) Satya Nadella.
Also present were Sam Altman of OpenAI, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, and Indian tech leaders including Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group, and Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, the White House said.
“Our partnership between India and the United States will go a long way, in my view, to define what the 21st century looks like,” Biden told the group, adding that technological cooperation would be a big part of that partnership.
Observing that there were a variety of tech companies represented at the meeting from startups to well established firms, Modi said: “Both of them are working together to create a new world.”
Modi, who has appealed to global companies to “Make in India,” will also address business leaders at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.
The CEOs of top American companies, including FedEx (FDX.N), MasterCard (MA.N) and Adobe (ADBE.O), are expected to be among the 1,200 participants.
NOT ‘ABOUT CHINA’
The backdrop to Modi’s visit is the Biden administration’s attempts to draw India, the world’s most populous country at 1.4 billion and its fifth-largest economy, closer amid its growing geopolitical rivalry with Beijing.
Modi did not address China directly during the visit, and Biden only mentioned China in response to a reporter’s question, but a joint statement included a pointed reference to the East and South China Seas, where China has territorial disputes with its neighbors.
Farwa Aamer, director for South Asia at the Asia Society Policy Institute, in an analysis note described that as “a clear signal of unity and determination to preserve stability and peace in the region.”
Alongside agreements to sell weapons to India and share with it sensitive military technology, announcements this week included several investments from U.S.-firms aimed at spurring semiconductor manufacturing in India and lowering its dependence on China for electronics.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the challenges presented by China to both Washington and New Delhi were on the agenda, but insisted the visit “wasn’t about China.”
“This wasn’t about leveraging India to be some sort of counterweight. India is a sovereign, independent state,” Kirby said at a news briefing, adding that Washington welcomes India becoming “an increasing exporter of security” in the Indo-Pacific.
“There’s a lot we can do in the security front together. And that’s really what we’re focused on,” Kirby said.
Some political analysts question India’s willingness to stand up to Beijing over Taiwan and other issues, however. Washington has also been frustrated by India’s close ties with Russia while Moscow wages war in Ukraine.
DIASPORA TIES
Modi attended a lunch on Friday at the State Department with Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Asian American to hold the No. 2 position in the White House, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In a toast, Harris spoke of her Indian-born late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, who came to the United States at age 19 and became a leading breast cancer researcher.
“I think about it in the context of the millions of Indian students who have come to the United States since, to collaborate with American researchers to solve the challenges of our time and to reach new frontiers,” Harris said.
Modi praised Gopalan for keeping India “close to her heart” despite the distance to her new home, and called Harris “really inspiring.”
On Friday evening, Modi will address members of the Indian diaspora, many of whom have turned out at events during the visit to enthusiastically fete him, at times chanting “Modi! Modi! Modi!” despite protests from others.
Activists said Biden had failed to strongly call out what they describe as India’s deteriorating human rights record under Modi, citing allegations of abuse of Indian dissidents and minorities, especially Muslims. Modi leads the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has held power since 2014.
Biden said he had a “straightforward” discussion with Modi about issues including human rights, but U.S. officials emphasize that it is vital for Washington’s national security and economic prosperity to engage with a rising India.
Asked on Thursday what he would do to improve the rights of minorities including Muslims, Modi insisted “there is no space for any discrimination” in his government.
“There is no end to data that shows Modi is lying about minority abuse in India, and much of it can be found in the State Department’s own India country reports, which are scathing on human rights,” said Sunita Viswanath, co-founder Hindus for Human Rights, an advocacy group.
Reporting by Steve Holland, Simon Lewis and Jeff Mason; additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Doina Chiacu, David Brunnstrom and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Don Durfee and Grant McCool
Jeff Mason is a White House Correspondent for Reuters. He has covered the presidencies of Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden and the presidential campaigns of Biden, Trump, Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain. He served as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association in 2016-2017, leading the press corps in advocating for press freedom in the early days of the Trump administration. His and the WHCA’s work was recognized with Deutsche Welle’s “Freedom of Speech Award.” Jeff has asked pointed questions of domestic and foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. He is a winner of the WHCA’s “Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure” award and co-winner of the Association for Business Journalists’ “Breaking News” award. Jeff began his career in Frankfurt, Germany as a business reporter before being posted to Brussels, Belgium, where he covered the European Union. Jeff appears regularly on television and radio and teaches political journalism at Georgetown University. He is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and a former Fulbright scholar.
Experts say focus on safety has not kept pace with expansion
Government says data shows no major accident for years
NEW DELHI, June 3 (Reuters) – India’s vast rail network is undergoing a $30 billion transformation with gleaming new trains and modern stations but Friday’s deadly train accident shows more attention should be paid to safety, industry analysts said.
At least 288 people were killed in the country’s worst rail accident in over two decades after a passenger train went off the tracks and hit another in the eastern state of Odisha.
State monopoly Indian Railways runs the fourth largest train network in the world. It transports 13 million people every day and moved nearly 1.5 billion tonnes of freight in 2022.
Long considered the lifeline of the world’s most populous country, the 170-year-old system has seen rapid expansion and modernisation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to boost infrastructure and connectivity in the fast-growing economy.
This year, the government made a record 2.4-trillion-rupee ($30 billion) capital outlay for the railways, a 50% increase over the previous fiscal year, to upgrade tracks, ease congestion and add new trains.
A new, semi-high-speed train built in India and called the “Vande Bharat Express”, or “Salute to India Express”, is showcased as evidence of this modernisation, with Modi himself flagging off the first journeys of many of the trains around the country.
But Friday’s crash has come as a jolt to this makeover, experts said.
“The safety record has been improving over the years but there is more work to do,” said Prakash Kumar Sen, head of the department of mechanical engineering at Kirodimal Institute of Technology in central India and lead author of a 2020 study on “Causes of Rail Derailment in India and Corrective Measures”.
“Human error or poor track maintenance are generally to blame in such crashes,” Sen said.
The railways have been introducing more and more trains to cope with soaring demand but the workforce to maintain them has not kept pace, he said.
Workers are not trained adequately or their workload is too high, and they don’t get enough rest, Sen said.
The east coast route on which Friday’s crash occurred, is one of the country’s oldest and busiest, as it also carries much of India’s coal and oil freight, he said.
“These tracks are very old … the load on them is very high, if maintenance is not good, failures will happen,” Sen said.
‘GOOD SAFETY RECORD’
Indian Railways maintains that safety has always been a key focus, and points to its low accident rate over the years.
“This question (on safety) is arising because there has been one incident now. But if you see the data, you will see that there have been no major accidents for years,” a railways ministry spokesperson said.
The number of accidents per million train kilometres, a gauge of safety, had fallen to 0.03 in fiscal 2021-22 from 0.10 in 2013-14, the spokesperson said.
A 1-trillion-rupee, five-year safety fund created in 2017-18 has been extended for another five years from 2022-23, with a further 450 billion rupees of funding, after the first plan led to an “overall improvement in safety indicators”, he added.
“Some malfunction has happened and that the inquiry will reveal,” he said, referring to Friday’s crash. “We will find out why it happened and how it happened.”
Srinand Jha, an independent transport expert and author at the International Railway Journal, said the railways have been working on safety mechanisms such as anti-collision devices and emergency warning systems but have been slow to install them across the network.
“They will always tell you that accidents are at a very manageable level because they talk about them in terms of percentages,” Jha said, adding that in recent years the focus has been more on new trains and modern stations and not as much on tracks, signalling systems and asset management.
“This accident brings out the need to focus more on these aspects,” he said.
BAHANAGA, India, June 3 (Reuters) – At least 288 people have died in India’s worst rail crash in over two decades, officials said on Saturday, after a passenger train went off the tracks and hit another one in an accident a preliminary report blamed on signal failure.
One train in Friday’s accident also hit a freight train parked nearby in the district of Balasore in Odisha state in the east of the country, leaving a tangled mess of smashed rail cars and injuring 803.
The death toll has reached 288, said K. S. Anand, chief public relations officer of the South Eastern Railway.
Dead bodies are still trapped in the mangled coaches and the rescue operation is continuing, a Reuters witness said, while the death toll is expected to rise.
A preliminary report indicates that the accident was the result of signal failure, Anand said.
“The Coromandel Express was supposed to travel on the main line, but a signal was given for the loop line instead, and the train rammed into a goods train already parked over there. Its coaches then fell onto the tracks on either side, also derailing the Howrah Superfast Express,” he said.
Surviving passenger Anubha Das said he would never forget the scene. “Families crushed away, limbless bodies and a bloodbath on the tracks,” he said.
Video footage showed derailed train coaches and damaged tracks, with rescue teams searching the mangled carriages to pull the survivors out and rush them to hospital.
Dead bodies were lying on the bloodstained floor of a school used as a makeshift morgue, and police helped relatives identify the bodies, covered with white cloths and placed inside chained bags.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the scene, talked to rescue workers and inspected the wreckage. He also met the survivors at hospitals.
“(I) took stock of the situation at the site of the tragedy in Odisha. Words can’t capture my deep sorrow. We stand committed to providing all possible assistance to those affected,” Modi said.
A witness involved in rescue operations said the screams and cries of the injured and the relatives of those killed were chilling. “It was horrific and heart-wrenching,” he said.
Families of the dead will receive 1 million rupees ($12,000), while the seriously injured will get 200,000 rupees, with 50,000 rupees for minor injuries, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. Some state governments have also announced compensation.
[1/20] Rescue workers search for survivors at the site of a train collision after the accident in Balasore district in the eastern state of Odisha, India, June 3, 2023. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
“It’s a big, tragic accident,” Vaishnaw told reporters after inspecting the accident site. “Our complete focus is on the rescue and relief operation, and we are trying to ensure that those injured get the best possible treatment.”
At least 261 people died in an accident involving two long-distance passenger trains in eastern Indian state of Odisha on June 2.
DISMEMBERED BODIES
“I was asleep,” an unidentified male survivor told NDTV news. “I was woken up by the noise of the train derailing. Suddenly I saw 10-15 people dead. I managed to come out of the coach, and then I saw a lot of dismembered bodies.”
Video footage from Friday showed rescuers climbing on one of the mangled trains to find survivors, while passengers called for help and sobbed next to the wreckage.
“We rescued at least 30 people, and some of them managed to survive, but three or four of them died,” said Sanjeev Rout, an electrician. A few metres away, rescue workers tried to cut their way into a damaged red-coloured coach.
The collision occurred at around 7 p.m. (1330 GMT) on Friday when the Howrah Superfast Express from Bengaluru to Howrah in West Bengal collided with the Coromandel Express from Kolkata to Chennai.
Indian Railways says it transports more than 13 million people every day. But the state-run monopoly has had a patchy safety record because of ageing infrastructure.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik described the crash as “extremely tragic”.
Opposition Congress party leader Jairam Ramesh said the accident reinforced why safety should always be the foremost priority of the rail network.
Modi’s administration has launched high-speed trains as part of plans to modernise the network, but critics say it has not focused enough on safety and upgrading ageing infrastructure.
Experts said Friday’s train accident came as a blow to Modi’s makeover plans for railways.
India’s deadliest railway accident was in 1981 when a train plunged off a bridge into a river in Bihar state, killing an estimated 800 people.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed condolences over the accident.
($1 = 82.40 rupees)
Additional reporting by Akriti Sharma, Subrata Nag Choudhury, Mayank Bhardwaj, Sakshi Dayal, Anirudh Saligrama, Baranjot Kaur, Nandini S, Adnan Abidi and Sunil Kataria; Editing by Edwina Gibbs, William Mallard, Mark Potter and Giles Elgood
PUNTO FIJO, May 4 (Reuters) – More than half of the 22 oil tankers in Venezuela’s fleet are so run down that they should be immediately repaired or taken out of service, according to an internal report from state-run oil company PDVSA that was shared exclusively with Reuters.
The report by PDVSA’s maritime branch, entitled “Critical deficiencies and risks of PDV Marina’s tanker fleet,” said years of deferred maintenance had left the entire fleet with “low levels of reliability,” at risk of spills, sinking, fires, collisions or flooding.
“The ships currently lack seaworthiness classification and certifications by flag nations,” the report said.
PDVSA and PDV Marina did not respond to requests for comment.
The report, dated March 2023, was among eight documents shared with Reuters describing the state of PDVSA’s tanker fleet from the oil company’s corporate office, trading division and maritime branch, as well as Venezuela’s maritime authority. The existence of the documents has not been previously reported.
Dated from Jan. 2022 to March this year, the documents detail the condition of the company’s tankers; the costs of chartering third-party vessels and the status of shipbuilding contracts with companies in Argentina and Iran.
The deterioration of the fleet has forced PDVSA to charter tankers to move its oil, which provides the bulk of Venezuela’s hard currency, the analysis by PDVSA’s trade division said.
PDVSA and the oil ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
The reports were prepared amid a wide-ranging anti-corruption probe ordered by Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro last October after the discovery of billions of dollars in missing payments for petroleum exports. More than 60 people have been arrested and PDVSA’s chief executive and the nation’s oil minister have been replaced.
The report from PDV Marina recommended withdrawing five tankers from active use; sending seven to shipyards for major repairs and installing transponders, fire extinguishers and communication equipment in others. No actions have been taken as the audit on the company’s operations continues.
Five of PDVSA’s tankers are at least 30 years old, past their recommended lifespan, according to the PDV Marina report. The last major maintenance work on the fleet was five years ago, the report said.
“The tanker fleet is showing a decline in the quality of its operations due to advanced physical deterioration, which implies higher maintenance and repair costs. Planning for sending the tankers to dry docks has been very affected by lack of payment to shipyards and providers,” the PDV Marina report said.
Reuters has previously reported on an increase in tanker collisions, spill risks and fires in Venezuela.
PDVSA leased 41 vessels last year, the documents said, paying about double the market rate, between $14,000 and $36,500 per day, to tanker owners willing to work with Venezuela despite U.S. sanctions imposed in 2019.
DELAYED SHIPS
At least four tankers ordered from foreign shipyards have been held up because of payment delays, cost increases and sanctions, according to the documents reviewed by Reuters.
The audits ordered by PDVSA’s new CEO Pedro Tellechea as part of Maduro’s anti-corruption probe could bring further delays, a PDVSA executive said.
“All contracts are frozen,” the executive said on condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation. PDVSA’s legal and supply and trade departments are asking PDV Marina for documentation on the contracts, he added.
Venezuela has paid shipyards in Iran and Argentina at least $300 million for six new vessels ordered as far back as 2005.
It has taken delivery of only two of them, according to the documents.
PDVSA has paid almost 80% of the $160 million due for two tankers from Rio Santiago shipyard in Argentina, the documents showed.
Rio Santiago said it was not authorized to give information about that particular contract.
In addition, PDVSA paid almost 157 million euros (about $173 million), or 63% of a 248 million euros contract (about $272 million) to U.S.-sanctioned Iran Marine Industrial Company (Sadra) for four tankers, according to the documents.
Two of the four vessels were delivered after payment delays, difficulties with parts supplies and problems with insurance and certifications, according to the documents.
The payment delays generated extra costs for demurrage, the documents said.
Sadra did not reply to a request for comment.
Reporting by Mircely Guanipa; Additional reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston, Eliana Raszewski in Buenos Aires and Parisa Hafezi in Dubai; Editing by Gary McWilliams and Suzanne Goldenberg
March 4 (Reuters) – A Norfolk Southern (NSC.N) train derailed in Ohio on Saturday, the second such incident involving the railroad in that state in about a month, prompting local officials to order residents living near the site of the accident to shelter in place.
Norfolk Southern said the train that derailed near Springfield was not carrying any hazardous materials and that no one was hurt. Local authorities said first responders on the scene were working to confirm that no toxins were involved.
The accident follows the Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio, 180 miles (290 km)northeast of Springfield. The East Palestine derailment sent millions of pounds of toxic chemicals into the environment and forced thousands of people to evacuate.
Norfolk Southern said in an emailed statement that Saturday’s derailment of about 20 cars of a 212-car train happened as it was traveling southbound near Springfield. The statement did not give any cause for the derailment.
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“No hazardous materials are involved and there have been no reported injuries,” Norfolk Southern said. “Our teams are en route to the site to begin cleanup operations.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Twitter he had been briefed by the Federal Railroad Administration on the latest derailment and that they would closely monitor the situation.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said President Joe Biden and Buttigieg had called him to offer any assistance needed with the latest accident. “We don’t believe hazardous materials were involved,” he said.
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday morning that he was not satisfied with the company’s response to the latest derailment and questioned if communities in Clark County could have been affected by any potential contaminants left in the mostly empty cars.
Ohio has seen four derailments in the past five months, he noted.
“The railroads got a lot of questions they’ve got to answer, and they really haven’t done it very well, yet,” Brown said.
Clark County officials asked residents living within 1,000 feet (300 meters) of Saturday’s derailment to “shelter-in-place out of an abundance of caution,” according to a statement on the county’s Facebook page.
It said there were power outages in the area due to downed power lines resulting from the accident and that it was not clear how long it would take to restore electricity.
Reporting by Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas; Editing by Paul Simao, William Mallard and Marguerita Choy
India’s Adani reopens two cement plants after freight dispute
Truckers believe Hindenburg report was answer to their prayers
Adani says amicable resolution reached after negotiations
DARLAGHAT, India Feb 23 (Reuters) – For truckers transporting cement from Adani’s factories in a hilly north Indian state, a U.S. short-seller’s critical research report on the giant conglomerate was a godsend they say helped them save their livelihoods.
For weeks, around 7,000 truck owners and drivers in India’s Himachal Pradesh resorted to protest rallies against Adani’s Dec. 15 decision to shut two cement plants over a dispute on freight rates. Adani argued the plants were “unviable” at the trucking rates it wanted to slash by around half.
On Monday, the Gautam Adani-led group said it had “amicably resolved” the issue with a 10-12% reduction in rates. Truckers rejoiced, with a union leader in a street address labelling it as a victory after late-night talks with Adani.
The settlement comes four weeks after U.S.-based Hindenburg Research accused Adani of stock manipulation and improper use of tax havens, allegations the group called baseless.
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The Jan. 24 report triggered a $140 billion rout in group’s stocks, sparked regulatory investigations and saw the billionaire Adani slip to 26 on the Forbes global rich list, from third.
While the truckers’ settlement will have only a small impact on the overall Adani empire, it was a big win for the drivers and owners in a state were most people live on around $7 a day.
The report “played a crucial role in our battle against India’s biggest business group, helped mobilize truckers and gain political support,” said Ram Krishan Sharma, one of the lead negotiators for protesting truckers.
Adani negotiators had refused to budge for weeks. So Hindenburg’s report, some truckers believe, was godsent.
Just a day before it was published, many truckers visited a small, revered Hindu temple in Darlaghat which overlooks one of Adani’s cement plants, and offered a traditional semolina sweet offering to a deity as they sought to resolve the dispute.
Bantu Shukla, a protest leader, showed Reuters a photo and video of truckers that day offering prayers inside the temple. Some stood with folded hands, while a person rang a temple bell in a typical Hindu worship ritual.
‘AMICABLE RESOLUTION’
Adani Group did not answer Reuters questions on whether the Hindenburg report’s fallout contributed to its decision in Himachal.
Adani Cements in a statement said it was “grateful” to all stakeholders including the unions, the local state chief minister and other departments, adding the “amicable resolution” was in interest of everyone including the state.
A source familiar with Adani’s negotiation said the group had been under pressure following what it thinks was a “negative campaign” by Adani’s opponents after the Hindenburg report, and the settlement to reopen plants is a relief.
Himachal is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s staunch rival, the Congress party. After the Hindenburg report, Congress has renewed its claims that Modi for years has unduly favoured Adani. Both Adani and India’s government deny that.
The source added the move will also help Adani signal it can resolve commercial matters in states ruled by Modi’s rivals.
Without citing Hindenburg, the Himachal chief minister’s office on Monday said “we have been successful in resolving the issues” to end the 67-day dispute.
WHATSAPP CHATS, PRAYERS AT TEMPLE
Adani became India’s second largest cement manufacturer when it acquired ACC (ACC.NS) and Ambuja Cements (ABUJ.NS) in a $10.5 billion deal with Swiss giant Holcim (HOLN.S) last year.
In December, it shut plants in the villages of Gagal and Darlaghat in Himachal, saying truckers were charging too much.
The Adani group wanted freight rates to be lowered to around 6 rupees ($0.0725) per tonne per km, from around 11 rupees. Many truckers told Reuters they struggled to make their loan repayments as their incomes shrank after the shutdowns.
As a stalemate worsened, truckers formed WhatsApp groups to coordinate efforts, vent frustration and later share Hindenburg’s impact on Adani companies and stock prices to further drum up support.
One such WhatsApp group chat of around 1,000 truckers, reviewed by Reuters, showed sharing of a local reporter’s video discussing the sharp fall in Adani’s shares and his alleged close ties to Modi.
Although they accepted a small cut in freight rates when Adani agreed to pay 9.3-10.58 rupees per km per tonne, truckers felt they saved their jobs, and prayers at the Hindu temple were organised again this week.
“We felt our deity had accepted our prayers when we saw the fall in the share prices of Adani companies,” protest leader Shukla said. “The Hindenburg report was a gift that saved our businesses.”
(This story has been refiled to remove extraneous word in paragraph 20)
Reporting by Manoj Kumar, Aditya Kalra and Anushree Fadnavis; Editing by Lincoln Feast.
Market rout deepens in Indian tycoon Adani’s shares
Adani Enterprises loses $26 bln in value since report
Falls after Adani pulled share sale, investors spooked
Analysts say signals confidence crisis in Indian market
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Adani’s market losses swelled above $100 billion on Thursday, sparking worries about a potential systemic impact a day after the Indian group’s flagship firm abandoned its $2.5 billion stock offering.
Another challenge for Adani on Thursday came when S&P Dow Jones Indices said it would remove Adani Enterprises from widely used sustainability indices, effective Feb. 7, which would make the shares less appealing to sustainability-minded funds.
In addition, India’s National Stock Exchange said it has placed on additional surveillance shares of Adani Enterprises <ADEL.NS>, Adani Ports <APSE.NS> and Ambuja Cements <ABUJ.NS>. read more
However, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani is in talks with lenders to prepay and release pledged shares as he seeks to restore confidence in the financial health of his conglomerate, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. read more
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The shock withdrawal of Adani Enterprises’ share sale marks a dramatic setback for founder Adani, the school dropout-turned-billionaire whose fortunes rose rapidly in recent years but have plunged in just a week after a critical research report by U.S.-based short-seller Hindenburg Research.
Aborting the share sale sent shockwaves across markets, politics and business. Adani stocks plunged, opposition lawmakers called for a wider probe and India’s central bank sprang into action to check on the exposure of banks to the group. Meanwhile, Citigroup’s (C.N) wealth unit stopped making margin loans to clients against Adani Group securities.
The crisis marks an dramatic turn of fortune for Adani, who has in recent years forged partnerships with foreign giants such as France’s TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) and attracted investors such as Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company as he pursues a global expansion stretching from ports to the power sector.
In a shock move late on Wednesday, Adani called off the share sale as a stocks rout sparked by Hindenburg’s criticisms intensified, despite it being fully subscribed a day earlier.
“Adani may have started a confidence crisis in Indian shares and that could have broader market implications,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at Swissquote Bank.
Adani Enterprises shares tumbled 27% on Thursday, closing at their lowest level since March 2022.
Other group companies also lost further ground, with 10% losses at Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS), Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS) and Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS), while Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone shed nearly 7%.
Since Hindenburg’s report on Jan. 24, group companies have lost nearly half their combined market value. Adani Enterprises – described as an incubator of Adani’s businesses – has lost $26 billion in market capitalisation.
Adani is also no longer Asia’s richest person, having slid to 16th in the Forbes rankings of the world’s wealthiest people, with his net worth almost halved to $64.6 billion in a week.
The 60-year-old had been third on the list, behind billionaires Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault.
His rival Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) is now Asia’s richest person.
[1/4] Indian billionaire Gautam Adani addresses delegates during the Bengal Global Business Summit in Kolkata, India April 20, 2022. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri
Reuters Graphics
BROADER CONCERNS
Adani’s plummeting stock and bond prices have raised concerns about the likelihood of a wider impact on India’s financial system.
India’s central bank has asked local banks for details of their exposure to the Adani Group, government and banking sources told Reuters on Thursday.
CLSA estimates that Indian banks were exposed to about 40% of the $24.5 billion of Adani Group debt in the fiscal year to March 2022.
Dollar bonds issued by entities of Adani Group extended losses on Thursday, with notes of Adani Green Energy crashing to a record low. Adani Group entities made scheduled coupon payments on outstanding U.S. dollar-denominated bonds on Thursday, Reuters reported citing sources.
“We see the market is losing confidence on how to gauge where the bottom can be and although there will be short-covering rebounds, we expect more fundamental downside risks given more private banks (are) likely to cut or reduce margin,” said Monica Hsiao, chief investment officer of Hong Kong-based credit fund Triada Capital.
In New Delhi, opposition lawmakers submitted notices in parliament demanding discussion of the short-seller’s report.
The Congress Party called for a Joint Parliamentary Committee be set up or a Supreme Court monitored investigation, while some lawmakers shouted anti-Adani slogans inside parliament, which was adjourned for the day.
ADANI VS HINDENBURG
Adani made acquisitions worth $13.8 billion in 2022, Dealogic data showed, its highest ever and more than double the previous year.
The cancelled fundraising was critical for Adani, which had said it would use $1.33 billion to fund green hydrogen projects, airports facilities and greenfield expressways, and $508 million to repay debt at some units.
Hindenburg’s report alleged an improper use of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation by the Adani Group. It also raised concerns about high debt and the valuations of seven listed Adani companies.
The Adani Group has denied the accusations, saying the allegation of stock manipulation had “no basis” and stemmed from an ignorance of Indian law. It said it has always made the necessary regulatory disclosures.
Adani had managed to secure share sale subscriptions on Tuesday even though the stock’s market price was below the issue’s offer price. Maybank Securities and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority had bid for the anchor portion of the issue, investments which will now be reimbursed by Adani.
Late on Wednesday, the group’s founder said he was withdrawing the sale given the share price fall, adding his board felt going ahead with it “will not be morally correct”.
Reporting by Chris Thomas, Nallur Sethuraman, Tanvi Mehta, Ira Dugal, Aftab Ahmed, Sumeet Chatterjee, Anshuman Daga, Summer Zhen, Ross Kerber and Bansari Mayur Kamdar; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Jason Neely and Alexander Smith
Moody’s warns will find it harder to raise capital
NEW DELHI, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Financial contagion fears spread in India on Friday as the Adani Group’s crisis worsened, with ratings agency Moody’s warning the conglomerate may struggle to raise capital and S&P cutting the outlook on two of its businesses.
Chaotic scenes in both houses of India’s parliament led to their adjournment on Friday as some lawmakers demanded an inquiry after a dramatic meltdown in the stock market values of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s companies.
The crisis was triggered by a Hindenburg Research report last week in which the U.S.-based short-seller accused the Adani Group of stock manipulation and unsustainable debt.
Adani Group, one of India’s top conglomerates, has rejected the criticism and denied wrongdoing in detailed rebuttals, but that has failed to arrest the unabated fall in its shares.
In the latest sign of the crisis widening, India’s ministry of corporate affairs has begun a preliminary review of Adani Group’s financial statements and other regulatory submissions made over the years, two government officials told Reuters.
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Although shares in Adani companies recovered after sharp falls earlier on Friday, the seven listed firms have still lost about half their market value, totalling more than $100 billion since Hindenburg published its report on Jan. 24.
Moody’s warned the share plunge could hit the Adani Group’s ability to raise capital, although fellow credit ratings agency Fitch saw no immediate impact on its ratings.
“These adverse developments are likely to reduce the group’s ability to raise capital to fund committed capex or refinance maturing debt over the next 1-2 years. We recognise that a portion of the capex is deferrable,” Moody’s said.
For Adani, a former school drop-out from Gujarat, the western home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the crisis presents the biggest reputational and business challenge of his life, as his firm struggles to assuage investor concerns.
Amid fears the turmoil could spill over into the broader financial system, some Indian politicians have called for a wider investigation, and sources have told Reuters the central bank has asked lenders for details of exposure to the group.
“Contagion concerns are widening, but still limited to the banking sector,” Charu Chanana, a market strategist with Saxo Markets in Singapore, said on Friday.
The Reserve Bank of India said the country’s banking system remains resilient and stable. State Bank of India said it was not concerned about the exposure to Adani Group, but further financing to its projects would be “evaluated on its own merit”.
Adani Enterprises shares closed 1.4% higher, after earlier slumping 35% to hit their lowest since March 2021. That low took its losses to nearly $33.6 billion since last week, a 70% fall.
Shares fell 5% in Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS), a joint venture with France’s TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), which said its exposure to Adani companies was limited.
Traffic moves past the logo of the Adani Group installed at a roundabout on the ring road in Ahmedabad, India, Feb. 2, 2023. REUTERS/Amit Dave
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS) was up 8%, while Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS) and Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS) were both down 10%.
“There is a risk that investor concerns about the group’s governance and disclosures are larger than we have currently factored into our ratings,” S&P said, as it cut its outlook on Adani Ports and Adani Electricity to negative from stable.
India’s divestment secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey told Reuters that Life Insurance Corp (LIC) shareholders and customers should not be concerned about its exposure to the Adani Group.
State-run LIC (LIFI.NS) has a 4.23% stake in the flagship Adani Enterprises, while its other exposures include a 9.14% stake in Adani Ports.
Reuters Graphics
‘ONE INSTANCE’
Adani, 60, has in recent years forged partnerships with, and attracted investment from, foreign giants as he pursued global expansion in industries from ports to power.
The market and financial crisis means foreign investors, many already underweight on India as they consider its stock market overpriced, are reducing exposure.
“One instance, however much talked about globally it may be … is not going to be indicative of how well Indian financial markets are governed,” Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Network18 when asked about the market weakness.
Reuters Graphics
Hindenburg’s report said key listed Adani companies had “substantial debt” and shares in the seven listed firms had a downside of 85% due to what it called sky-high valuations.
The Adani Group has called the report baseless and said over the past decade, its companies have “consistently de-levered”.
The listed Adani firms now have a combined market value of $107.5 billion, versus $218 billion before the report.
That has forced Adani to cede the crown of Asia’s richest person to Indian rival Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.NS), and he has slid to 17th in Forbes’ list of the world’s wealthiest people.
He had ranked third, behind Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault.
Reporting by Aditya Kalra, Chris Thomas, Ankur Banerjee, Bansari Mayur Kamdar, Shivam Patel, Tanvi Mehta and Rae Wee in Singapore; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Mark Potter and Alexander Smith
Feb 3 (Reuters) – U.S. officials said on Thursday that a Chinese “surveillance balloon” has been flying over the United States for several days.
Using high-altitude balloons for spying and other military missions is a practice that dates to the middle of the last century. Here is what is known about how they operate and what they can be used for:
* During World War 2, the Japanese military tried to loft incendiary bombs into U.S. territory using balloons designed to float in jet stream air currents. No military targets were damaged, but several civilians were killed when one of the balloons crashed in an Oregon forest.
* Just after World War 2, the U.S. military started exploring the use of high-altitude spy balloons, which led to a large-scale series of missions called Project Genetrix. The project flew photographic balloons over Soviet bloc territory in the 1950s, according to government documents.
A balloon flies in the sky over Billings, Montana, U.S. February 1, 2023 in this picture obtained from social media. Chase Doak/via REUTERS
* Such balloons typically operate at 80,000-120,000 feet (24,000-37,000m), well above where commercial air traffic flies – airliners almost never fly higher than 40,000 feet. The highest-performing fighter aircraft typically do not operate above 65,000 feet, although spy planes such as the U-2 have a service ceiling of 80,000 feet or more.
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* The advantages of balloons over satellites include the ability to scan wide swathes of territory from closer in, and to be able to spend more time over a target area, according to a 2009 report to the U.S. Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College.
* Unlike satellites, which require space launchers that cost hundreds of millions of dollars, balloons can be launched cheaply.
* The balloons are not directly steered, but can be roughly guided to a target area by changing altitudes to catch different wind currents, according to a 2005 study for the Air Force’s Airpower Research Institute.
* The U.S. military has tracked other spy balloons in recent years, including before President Joe Biden’s administration, according to a senior U.S. defense official.
Reporting by Gerry Doyle;
Editing by Don Durfee and Stephen Coates
MONTEREY PARK, Calif., Jan 23 (Reuters) – Investigators collected 42 bullet casings from the scene of one of California’s bloodiest mass shootings as they sought clues on Monday to what drove an elderly gunman to open fire in a dance hall he had frequented, killing 11 people, before taking his own life.
Police identified Huu Can Tran, 72, as the lone suspect in a massacre that unfolded Saturday night in the midst of a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration in the town of Monterey Park, a hub of the Asian-American community just east of downtown Los Angeles.
Authorities said he drove to another dance hall where a second, would-be attack was thwarted and later shot himself to death in his parked getaway vehicle as police closed in to make an arrest on Sunday, ending an intense manhunt some 12 hours after the rampage.
Ten people were killed and 10 others wounded when Tran opened fire at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, a venue popular with older patrons of Asian descent, then drove off. One of the victims hospitalized in critical condition died of his wounds on Monday, Monterey Park Police Chief Scott Wiese told reporters.
All of the dead, six women and five men, were in their 50s, 60s and 70s, the coroner’s office said.
Even as Los Angeles-area police worked through a second full day of their investigation, seven people were reported slain in a separate, mass shooting in the northern California coastal town of Half Moon May on Monday. read more
In another incident, one person died and seven were injured in Oakland, near San Francisco, in a shooting between several individuals, Oakland Police Department reported.
At a news briefing on Monday, Hilda Solis, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, called Saturday’s Monterey Park gun violence the deadliest mass shooting on record in Los Angeles County, the most populous in the United States and home to some 10 million residents.
About 20 minutes after the attack, Tran barged into a second dance club, the Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio in the neighboring community of Alhambra, where an employee wrestled away the intruder’s semi-automatic assault-style pistol before any shots could be fired, officials said.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna credited Brandon Tsay, the operator of the family-owned club, as a “hero” for single-handedly disarming the gunman and preventing further bloodshed.
“That moment, it was primal instinct,” Tsay recounted in a New York Times interview, saying that the gunman fled the scene after a 90-second struggle. “Something happened there. I don’t know what came over me.”
Tran was not seen again until Sunday morning, when he had shot himself behind the wheel of his van, found parked in the city of Torrance, south of Los Angeles, as police surrounded his vehicle.
Luna said investigators, assisted by the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), had recovered 42 spent shell casings and a large-capacity ammunition magazine from the Star studio.
[1/17] People mourn outside the entrance of the Star Ballroom Dance Studio after a mass shooting during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Monterey Park, California, U.S. January 23, 2023. REUTERS/David Swanson
GUNS AND AMMO SEIZED
He said the search of the suspect’s mobile home in a gated senior-living community in the town of Hemet, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles, turned up a rifle, various electronic devices and items “that lead us to believe the suspect was manufacturing homemade” weapons silencers.
Police also seized hundreds of rounds of ammunition from the dwelling, and a handgun was recovered from the white cargo van where the suspect took his own life, Luna said.
Authorities on Monday said a motive for the shooting remained a mystery.
Wiese said authorities were aware of unconfirmed reports that the violence may have been precipitated by jealousy or relationship issues, adding, “it’s part of what our investigators are diligently looking into.”
The sheriff said there was no immediate evidence that the gunman was related to any of his victims. Luna told reporters Tran had a “limited” past criminal history, including a 1990 arrest for unlawful possession of a firearm.
Hemet police said in a statement on Monday that Tran had come to the department twice in early January alleging “past fraud, theft and poisoning allegations involving his family” dating back 10 to 20 years, and had promised to return with documentation of his claims but never did.
Tran had an active trucking license and had owned a company called Tran’s Trucking Inc with a post office box address in Monterey Park, according to online records.
He had lived in the Los Angeles area since at least the 1990s and moved to the mobile home in Hemet in 2020, address records showed. A neighbor in his gated community described him as “meek” in an interview Monday.
But Adam Hood, who rented a home from Tran in the Los Angeles area, told Reuters he knew his landlord to be an aggressive, suspicious person with few friends.
But Hood said Tran, with whom he often conversed in Mandarin, enjoyed ballroom dancing, and was a longtime patron of the Star Ballroom, though he complained that others there were talking behind his back.
“He was a good dancer in my opinion,” Hood said. “But he was distrustful of the people at the studio, angry and distrustful. I think he just had enough.”
The coroner’s office on Monday confirmed the names of four victims, Valentino Alvero, 68 and three women – My Nhan, 65, Lilan Li, 63, and Xiujuan Yu, 57.
Reporting by Tim Reid in Monterey Park; Writing by Gabriella Borter; Additional reporting by Rich McKay, Brendan O’Brien, Brad Brooks, Jonathan Allen, Joseph Ax, Dan Whitcomb, Gabriella Borter and Timothy Gardner; Editing by Stephen Coates, Nick Zieminski and David Gregorio
NEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) – Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) has been sued by a passenger who said it failed to provide refunds to passengers left stranded when an operational meltdown led the carrier to cancel more than 15,000 flights late last month.
In a proposed class action filed on Dec. 30 in New Orleans federal court, Eric Capdeville accused Southwest of breach of contract after a fierce winter storm that swept across the United States shortly before Christmas upended the carrier’s schedule.
Though Southwest has promised to reimburse passengers for expenses, Capdeville said it offered only a credit to him and his daughter after scrapping their Dec. 27 flight to Portland, Oregon from New Orleans and being unable to book alternative travel.
Affected passengers “cannot use their airline tickets through no fault of their own and they are not getting the benefit of their bargain with defendant,” the complaint said.
Capdeville, a Marrero, Louisiana resident, is seeking damages for passengers on Southwest flights canceled since Dec. 24, and who did not receive refunds or expense reimbursements.
In a statement on Tuesday, Southwest had no comment on the lawsuit, but said it had “several high priority efforts underway to do right by our customers, including processing refunds from canceled flights, and reimbursing customers for expenses incurred as a result of the irregular operations.”
Capdeville’s lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment.
The meltdown at Dallas-based Southwest has been blamed on staffing shortages and outdated flight scheduling software.
Southwest has said it would reimburse affected passengers for reasonable expenses such as last-minute hotel, rental car and dining costs, but it might take several weeks.
The carrier largely restored normal operations on Dec. 30, several days after other airlines had recovered from the storm.
In a Dec. 29 letter to Southwest Chief Executive Bob Jordan, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called the disruptions “unacceptable” and said the law requires refunds when carriers cancel flights unless passengers accept rebooking.
The case is Capdeville v Southwest Airlines Co, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, No. 22-05590.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Nick Zieminski
DENVER, Dec 24 (Reuters) – U.S. military officials have assured anxious children the arctic blast and snowstorm that wreaked havoc on U.S. airline traffic this week will not prevent Santa Claus from making his annual Christmas Eve flight.
“We have to deal with a polar vortex once in a while, but Santa lives year-round in one at the North Pole, so he’s used to this weather,” deadpanned U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Ben Wiseman, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, which tracks the yuletide flight.
For 67 years, NORAD, a joint U.S.-Canadian military command based at Peterson Air Force base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has provided images and updates on the legendary figure’s worldwide journey along with its main task of monitoring air defenses and issuing aerospace and maritime warnings.
The Santa tracker tradition originated from a 1955 misprint in a Colorado Springs newspaper of the telephone number of a department store for children to call and speak with Santa. The listed number went to what was then known as the Continental Air Defense Command.
An understanding officer took the youngsters’ calls and assured them that Santa, also known as Father Christmas or Saint Nick, was airborne and on schedule to deliver presents to good girls and boys, flying aboard his reindeer-powered sleigh.
Santa does not file a formal flight plan, so the military is never quite sure exactly when he will take off, nor his exact route, NORAD’s Wiseman said, although the Santa tracker goes live at 4 a.m. EST (0900 GMT) on Friday on the NORAD website.
Once the jolly old elf’s lead reindeer, Rudolph, switches on his shiny red nose, military personnel can zero in on his location using infrared sensors, Wiseman said.
U.S. and Canadian fighter jet pilots provide a courtesy escort for him over North America, and Santa slows down to wave to them, he added.
Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Steve Gorman and Philippa Fletcher
RABAT, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Morocco’s national airline said it was cancelling all flights it had scheduled for Wednesday to carry fans to Doha for the World Cup semi-final, citing what it said was a decision by Qatari authorities.
“Following the latest restrictions imposed by the Qatari authorities, Royal Air Maroc regrets to inform customers of the cancellation of their flights operated by Qatar Airways,” the airline said in an emailed statement.
The Qatari government’s international media office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Royal Air Maroc had previously said it would lay on 30 additional flights to help fans get to Qatar for Wednesday night’s semi-final game against France but on Tuesday a source at a RAM travel agency said only 14 flights had been scheduled.
The cancellation of Wednesday’s seven scheduled flights means RAM was only able to fly the seven flights on Tuesday, leaving fans who had already booked match tickets or hotel rooms unable to travel.
RAM said it would reimburse air tickets and apologised to customers.
The RAM spokesperson did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. Qatar Airways did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.
Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; Additional reporting by Andrew Mills; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Andrew Heavens
WASHINGTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) – A push in the U.S. Congress to make daylight-saving time permanent, which was unanimously passed by the Senate earlier this year, has stalled in the House, with a key lawmaker telling Reuters they have been unable to reach consensus.
In March, the Senate voted to put a stop next year to the twice-annual changing of clocks, which supporters say will lead to brighter afternoons and more economic activity.
U.S. Representative Frank Pallone, who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee that has jurisdiction over the issue, said in a statement to Reuters the House is still trying to figure out how to move forward.
“We haven’t been able to find consensus in the House on this yet. There are a broad variety of opinions about whether to keep the status quo, to move to a permanent time, and if so, what time that should be,” Pallone, a Democrat, said, adding that opinions break down by region, not by party.
Legislative aides told Reuters they do not expect Congress to reach agreement before the end of the year. Supporters in the Senate would need to reintroduce the bill next year if it is not approved by the end of the year.
Daylight-saving time has been in place in nearly all of the United States since the 1960s. Year-round daylight-saving time was used during World War Two and adopted again in 1973 in a bid to reduce energy use because of an oil embargo and repealed a year later.
“We don’t want to make a hasty change and then have it reversed several years later after public opinion turns against it — which is exactly what happened in the early 1970s,” Pallone said.
On Sunday, Nov. 6 at 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT), the United States will resume standard time.
Pallone previously said he backs ending the clock-switching but has not decided whether to support daylight or standard time as the permanent choice.
Supporters also argue that if approved, the so-called Sunshine Protection Act would allow children to play outdoors later, and reduce seasonal depression. It would also prevent a slight uptick in car crashes that typically occurs around time changes — notably crashes with deer.
They also point to studies suggesting a small increase in heart attacks and strokes soon after the time change and argue the measure could help businesses like golf courses draw more customers into the evening.
Critics, including the National Association of Convenience Stores, say it will force many children to walk to school in darkness during the winter, since the measure would delay sunrise by an hour in some places.
On Sunday, Mexico rolled back its clocks one last time after the passage of a law last week to abolish daylight-saving time. Some northern towns will continue to practice the time change come spring, however, likely due to their ties with U.S. cities across the border.
The move, long sought by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, was based on backing by voters as well as negligible energy savings and negative health effects from the time change, officials said.
The White House declined to say earlier this year if Biden supports making daylight-saving time permanent.
Since 2015, about 30 states have introduced or passed legislation to end the twice-yearly changing of clocks, with some states proposing to do it only if neighboring states do the same.
The bill would allow Arizona and Hawaii, which do not observe daylight-saving time, to remain on standard time as well as American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; additional reporting by Kylie Madry in Mexico City; editing by Diane Craft
WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden does not have any new deadlines as the administration continues to negotiate with Democratic lawmakers on the framework of a massive spending bill aimed at social programs and tackling climate change, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday.
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