World
Syria says Israeli airstrikes in an eastern province wounded 2 soldiers
Syrian state media said Tuesday that the Israeli military carried out airstrikes in a strategic eastern province wounding two soldiers and causing material damage. There was no comment from Israel on the reported strikes.
Syria’s state news agency, SANA, quoted an unnamed military official as saying the airstrikes late Monday targeted military positions in Deir el-Zour.
The eastern Deir el-Zour province that borders Iraq contains oil fields and has been a strategic province throughout Syria’s conflict, now in its 13th year. Iran-backed militia groups and Syrian forces control the area and have often been the target of Israeli war planes in previous strikes.
Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and activist collective Deir Ezzor 24 said the airstrike targeted positions in the Boukamal region along the Iraqi border, a stronghold for Iran-backed militia groups. Both said they could not identify the source of the airstrike.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years, including attacks on the airports in the capital of Damascus, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations. The strikes often target Syrian forces or Iranian-backed groups.
More than 100 dolphins found dead in Brazilian Amazon as water temperatures soar
More than 100 dolphins have died in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest in the past week as the region grapples with a severe drought, and many more could die soon if water temperatures remain high, experts say.
The Mamiraua Institute, a research group of Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, said two more dead dolphins were found Monday in the region around Tefe Lake, which is key for mammals and fish in the area. Video provided by the institute showed vultures picking at the dolphin carcasses beached on the lakeside. Thousands of fish have also died, local media reported.
Experts believe high water temperatures are the most likely cause of the deaths in the lakes in the region. Temperatures since last week have exceeded 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Tefe Lake region.
The Brazilian government’s Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, which manages conservation areas, said last week it had sent teams of veterinarians and aquatic mammal experts to investigate the deaths.
There had been some 1,400 river dolphins in Tefe Lake, said Miriam Marmontel, a researcher from the Mamiraua Institute.
“In one week we have already lost around 120 animals between the two of them, which could represent 5% to 10% of the population,” said Marmontel.
Workers have recovered carcasses of dolphins since last week in a region where dry rivers have impacted impoverished riverside communities and stuck their boats in the sand. Amazonas Gov. Wilson Lima on Friday declared a state of emergency due to the drought.
Nicson Marreira, mayor of Tefe, a city of 60,000 residents. said his government was unable to deliver food directly to some isolated communities because the rivers are dry.
Ayan Fleischmann, the Geospatial coordinator at the Mamirauá Institute, said the drought has had a major impact on the riverside communities in the Amazon region.
“Many communities are becoming isolated, without access to good quality water, without access to the river, which is their main means of transportation,” he said.
Fleischmann said water temperatures rose from 32 C (89 F) on Friday to almost 38 C (100 F) on Sunday.
He said they are still determining the cause of the dolphin deaths but that the high temperature remains the main candidate.
Generations of students remember 1968 massacre in march through Mexico City
Chanting in unison, students marched through downtown Mexico City on Monday evening, marking 55 years since the military massacred hundreds of students in Tlatelolco plaza.
Enrique Treviño Taudres survived the massacre and now marches every year with the Pro Democratic Freedoms 68 Committee. “People know a lot and forget easily,” he said, adding that the memory of Tlatelolco holds important lessons for modern Mexico.
As many as 300 people were massacred at a student protest in Tlatelolco plaza on Oct. 2, 1968, in what the Mexican government initially reported as the lawful suppression of a violent riot just 10 days before the Summer Olympics’ Opening Ceremony in Mexico City.
Since then military reports have revealed at least 360 government snipers were stationed on rooftops around the square. They opened fire and, in the ensuing chaos, the military members posted round the square began shooting peaceful protesters and students.
“Look, it’s a commemoration of that day but it is also a call to the current students, the current young people to be aware of the reality,” said Treviño. “The best example that we grandparents can give young people is that we were conscientious and committed young people. We took to the streets.”
Adolfo Cruz, a tourism student in the city, marched on Monday for the first time. “Part of this is remembering all our deceased companions because it’s thanks to them we have the right to march today,” Cruz said. “We also want to change things."
Mexican students today still find themselves the victims of violence and organized crime. In 2018 three university students in the western city of Guadalajara were killed by a gang and their bodies dissolved in acid. Infamously, 43 students were abducted and murdered in southern Mexico in 2014, the victims of an attack which implicated municipal, state and national authorities.
October 2nd, said Cruz, “is a commemoration, but it’s also for the rights of all students,” in a country where there are still “many difficulties” across the education system.
After the massacre in 1968, 25 people were officially reported dead, but later investigations identified 44 remains. Successive government inquiries have never shown exactly how many died, but eyewitnesses claimed bodies were carted away from the square and estimates range that over 300 were killed.
The Mexican government acknowledged the massacre was a “state crime”on its 50th anniversary in 2018.
Earlier on Monday, interim head of Mexico City’s government Martí Bartes spoke about the historical ramifications of the tragedy.
“'68 is so strong because it transformed political culture from below,” he said from the Plaza of the Three Cultures, where the protest began in 1968. “'68 transformed universities, massively expanded higher education, incorporated new critical thinking into the social sciences, generated activists, opened the doors to new ideas such as feminism or sexual diversity.”
A rainy Monday night marked the end of a run of protests in Mexico’s capital: from the anniversary of the 43 abducted students in southern Mexico last Tuesday, to a march for abortion rights Thursday. Since last week, monuments have been hiding behind blue barricades across the city and the Marabunta Brigade, a group trained to keep protestors safe, has been busy.
Monday evening was Mario Romero’s 20th protest as a member of the brigade but, he said, he was not tired, or afraid.
“I like to come out because things need to change, but nothing changes," he said.
Bangladeshi student in UK says ‘had to share a 2-bed flat with 20 men’
Nazmush Shahadat had nowhere to stay in London when he arrived from Bangladesh.He had been accepted to study law, but university housing was costly, and he could not find a place to live, he told BBC.
Also read: High Commission in London awards Bangladeshi-British studentsHe said things "turned dark really soon" and he found himself sharing a two-bedroom home with 20 other men."I never expected to live in a place like that — I still have my scars," he said.He stated it was hard to sleep with many bunk beds crowded into a room with shift workers coming and leaving, and he got bitten by bed bugs.
Also read: UK accepting applications for GREAT Scholarships"The first couple of months, I couldn't video call my family because I didn't want them to see how I am living," Shahadat said.Shahadat currently lives in a shared house and has his own room, but he says finding a reasonably priced property in London is exceedingly difficult since international students lack the necessary references and pay stubs.Many have also used their family's money to finance tuition, with his totaling £39,000 for a three-year program."I've spent my family's savings to come here to fulfill my and my parents' dreams," he said.The UK government has sought in recent years to boost the number of overseas students at higher education institutions.
Also read: High Commission in London awards Bangladeshi-British studentsThere were 113,015 international students in London during the 2015/16 academic year. According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), this figure has risen by 59 percent to 179,425 for 2020/21, said the BBC report.Some London institutions now have more international students than UK students."Universities are trying to recruit more and more international students partly because they pay a lot higher fees, but it means that some universities are expanding at a rate much higher than the local housing stock can deal with,” said Nehaal Bajwa, from the National Union of Students (NUS).The NUS has advocated for rent limits for students, claiming that international students are especially vulnerable to financial hardship."You're kind of open to exploitation because you don't know your rights," Bajwa said.
She went on to say that international students in were more likely to accept a house without a contract, pay huge sums of money upfront, or be compelled to accept inappropriate circumstances. "You might be more tempted, because otherwise where are you going to live? So homelessness is a real threat," she said.
Donald Trump arrives in court for a New York trial scrutinizing his business practices
Former President Donald Trump showed up on Monday for a trial in a lawsuit that could cost him control of Trump Tower and other prized properties, after vowing to defend his reputation in a case he calls "a sham."
Trump, who built his political career on his fame as a billionaire real estate ace and master of "The Art of the Deal," appeared voluntarily for a trial that has high stakes for him.
New York Attorney General Letitia James' suit accuses Trump and his company of deceiving banks, insurers and others by habitually lying about his wealth in financial statements.
Judge Arthur Engoron already has ruled that Trump committed fraud in his business dealings. It is a non-jury trial, so Engoron will decide on six other claims in the lawsuit.
Also read: Biden warns US democracy in peril from 'extremist' Trump
James, a Democrat, is seeking $250 million in penalties and a ban on Trump doing business in New York. The judge's ruling last week, if upheld on appeal, could force Trump to give up New York properties including Trump Tower, a Wall Street office building, golf courses and a suburban estate.
Trump, the Republican front-runner in the 2024 presidential race, has denied wrongdoing. He says that James and the judge are undervaluing such assets as Mar-a-Lago, and that it didn't matter what he put on his financial statements because they have a disclaimer that says they shouldn't be trusted.
In posts overnight on his Truth Social site, he said he was going to court "to fight for my name and reputation," denounced the case as "A SHAM," and called on the attorney general and judge to resign.
Also read: Trump campaign reports raising more than $7 million after Georgia booking
Before the trial Monday, James reiterated her position that Trump for years engaged in "persistent and repeated fraud."
"No matter how powerful you are, and no matter how much money you think you have, no one is above the law," she said on her way into the courthouse.
The Republican former president and a who's who of people in his orbit — his two eldest sons, Trump Organization executives and former lawyer-turned-foe Michael Cohen are all listed among dozens of potential witnesses.
Trump isn't expected to testify for several weeks. His trip to court Monday will mark a remarkable departure from his past practice.
Trump didn't go to court as either a witness or a spectator when his company and one of its top executives was convicted of tax fraud last year. He didn't show, either, for a trial earlier this year in which a jury found him liable for sexually assaulting the writer E. Jean Carroll in a department store dressing room.
Also read: One image, one face, one American moment: The Donald Trump mug shot
In some ways, though, this new trial comes with higher stakes.
James, a Democrat, is seeking $250 million in penalties and a ban on doing business in New York.
Engoron's ruling of last week, if upheld on appeal, would also shift control of some of his companies to a court-appointed receiver and could force him to give up prized New York properties such as Trump Tower, a Wall Street office building, golf courses and a suburban estate.
Trump called it a "a corporate death penalty."
"I have a Deranged, Trump Hating Judge, who RAILROADED this FAKE CASE through a NYS Court at a speed never before seen," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
In his post Sunday night, Trump wrote that Engoron is "unfair, unhinged, and vicious in his PURSUIT of me."
Engoron will decide on six remaining claims in James' lawsuit, including allegations of conspiracy, falsifying business records and insurance fraud.
James' lawsuit accused Trump and his company of a long list of falsehoods in the financial statements he gave to banks. In a recent court filing, James' office alleged Trump exaggerated his wealth by as much as $3.6 billion.
Among the allegations were that Trump claimed his Trump Tower apartment in Manhattan — a three-story penthouse replete with gold-plated fixtures — was nearly three times its actual size and worth an astounding $327 million. No apartment in New York City has ever sold for close to that amount, James said.
Trump valued Mar-a-Lago as high as $739 million — more than 10 times a more reasonable estimate of its worth, James claimed. Trump's figure for the Palm Beach, Florida, private club was based on the idea that the property could be developed for residential use. While Trump lives there, deed terms prohibit further residential development on the property, James said.
Trump has denied wrongdoing, arguing in sworn testimony for the case that it didn't matter what he put on his financial statements because they have a disclaimer that says they shouldn't be trusted.
He and his lawyers have also argued that no one was harmed by anything in the financial statements. Banks he borrowed money from were fully repaid. Business partners made money. And Trump's own company flourished.
James' lawsuit is one of several legal headaches for Trump as he campaigns for a return to the White House in next year's election. He has been indicted four times since March, accused of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss, hoarding classified documents and falsifying business records related to hush money paid on his behalf.
The trial could last into December, Engoron said.
Facing increasing pressure from customers, some miners are switching to renewable energy
Red hot sparks fly through the air as a worker in a heat-resistant suit pokes a long metal rod into a nickel smelter, coaxing the molten metal from a crucible at a processing facility on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
The smelter run by global mining firm Vale and powered by electricity from three dams churns out 75,000 tons of nickel a year for use in batteries, electric vehicles, appliances and many other products.
While the smelting creates heavy emissions of greenhouse gases, the power used is relatively clean. Such possible reductions in emissions come as demand for critical minerals like nickel and cobalt is surging as climate change hastens a transition to renewable energy.
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Mining operations account for some 4%-7% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to global consulting firm McKinsey & Company. But some miners are moving to reduce use of fossil fuels in extracting and refining, partly due to pressure from downstream customers that want more sustainable supply chains.
Located beside a crystal-blue lake in the lush jungle of Sorowako, South Sulawesi, Vale Indonesia — a subsidiary of Vale international — runs its smelters entirely from hydroelectricity. Vale says that can reduce its emissions by over 1.115 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year, compared to using diesel. Vale claims it has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions nearly a fifth since 2017.
As demand for materials needed for batteries, solar panels and other components vital for cutting global emissions rises, carbon emissions by miners and refiners will likewise rise unless companies actively work to decarbonize.
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Experts say improved technology, pressure from customers and enforcement of clean energy policies all are needed to keep moving toward more sustainable mining and refining practices while raising output to keep pace with global needs for pivoting away from reliance on polluting fossil fuels.
Other companies and countries around the world also are reducing use of fossil fuels in their mining operations. Solar plants in Chile help power the mining sector, which consumes much of the country's electricity demand to produce copper, lithium and other materials. In recent years, wind power has helped electrify the Raglan Mine in Canada.
Companies are learning from past mistakes of the industrial revolution, where reliance on fossil fuels was paramount for development, said Michael Goodsite, a pro vice chancellor and professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Adelaide in Australia.
Norway keen to invest in Bangladesh’s renewable energy sector
"I think as you see the future of certain operations, you'll see them transitioning," he said. "The way that they transition and how they move from fossil fuel operations to other energy sources can and should be learned from by others."
Indonesia is the world's largest nickel producer and Indonesian President Joko Widodo has promoted the country developing its own industries.
The push to cut emissions and use cleaner energy has been helped by investment and interest from governments and multinational companies. Volvo, Mercedes, Hyundai, Apple and other manufacturers need materials made in a more sustainable way to meet their own environmental, social and governance, or ESG, commitments.
China eager to boost cooperation with Bangladesh in renewable energy: Chinese vice-minister
Widodo visited Vale Indonesia's Sorowako facilities in March, the same month a deal was signed for a $4.5 billion nickel procession plant to be built by Vale Indonesia with investment by Ford Motor Co.
"Ford can help ensure that the nickel that we use in electric vehicle batteries is mined, produced within the same ESG standards as ... our business around the world," Christopher Smith, Ford's chief government affairs officer, said at a signing ceremony for a new $4.5 billion nickel processing plant in Indonesia with Vale Indonesia in March this year.
Even companies already taking steps to decarbonize are still reliant on at least some fossil fuels.
G7 countries should end supporting fossil fuels, accelerating transition to renewable energy: CPD
At Vale Indonesia in Sorowako, coal is still used to power drying and reduction kilns. The company's CEO, Febriany Eddy, said she plans to switch such operations to liquefied natural gas — cleaner but still another fossil fuel.
It's the best option available given current technology, she said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"I have two options in front of me: I continue to say that there is no viable option, that we will wait until that perfect solution is to come, which (could take) 15 or 20 years to come. Or I work with LNG first, knowing it is not a perfect solution, knowing it is a transition only," Eddy said. "But with conversion to LNG, I can reduce 40% of my emissions."
The use as LNG as a "bridge fuel" has been contested by climate experts, as the fuel releases climate-warming methane and carbon dioxide when it's produced, transported and burned.
Initial costs for switching to, expanding and building new renewable infrastructure are another steep barrier.
It took decades to recoup costs from building the three hydropower dams in the remote, sparsely populated area, that are used to power Vale's Sorowako facilities. But now, having that infrastructure means big savings at a time when global energy prices are high.
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"Hydropower isn't just reducing our carbon emissions, but also reducing our costs today because we are no longer that (vulnerable) to fuel and coal costs— because we have hydropower," Eddy said.
Having mining operations powered by renewable sources instead of fossil fuels could also help unlock green financing and attract future investors, said Aimee Boulanger, executive director of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance.
"The finance and investment sector is more tuned in than it ever has before to the environmental and social responsibility of supply chains and their investments in them. And they're looking at greenhouse gas emissions," she said. "When the world is recovering from a global pandemic and facing the global crisis of climate change, there's never been a time when they've been more interested in these issues."
Bangladesh needs $26.5 billion to generate 40 percent of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2041
While many companies are stepping up efforts to decarbonize their supply chains, others — such as many of those making green energy materials in China, have less stringent requirements for their materials.
"We can find jurisdictions around the world that — if they're able to do things cheaply because they have access to fossil fuels and they already have the capital assets and the capital expenditures— they're going to continue doing that," Goodsite said when asked about Chinese businesses.
Ultimately, investors and consumers play a vital role in getting companies to clean up their operations, he said.
But phasing out the mining industry's reliance on fossil fuels will be costly, especially as the United States and other countries build up the capacity to bring production of critical materials onshore.
"If the end users care about them coming from ...a green energy based process... then we all need to be prepared to pay a significant premium for that," Goodsite said.
Karikó, Weissman win Nobel in medicine for enabling development of vaccines against COVID-19
Two scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discoveries that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
Katalin Karikó is a professor at Sagan’s University in Hungary and an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Drew Weissman performed his prizewinning research together with Karikó at the University of Pennsylvania.
Thomas Perlmann, secretary of the Nobel Assembly, announced the award Monday in Stockholm.
Read: Things to know about the Nobel Prizes
The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was won last year by Swedish scientist Svante Paabo for discoveries in human evolution that unlocked secrets of Neanderthal DNA which provided key insights into our immune system, including our vulnerability to severe COVID-19.
The award was the second in the family. Paabo’s father, Sune Bergstrom, won the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1982.
Nobel announcements continue with the physics prize on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday and the economics award on Oct. 9.
Read: 'PM Hasina should get Nobel prize for hosting Rohingyas'
The prizes carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million). The money comes from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1896.
The prize money was raised by 1 million kronor this year because of the plunging value of the Swedish currency.
The laureates are invited to receive their awards at ceremonies on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death. The prestigious peace prize is handed out in Oslo, according to his wishes, while the other award ceremony is held in Stockholm.
Read more: Recap of the 2022 Nobel Prizes awarded so far
Biden says there’s ‘not much time’ to keep aid flowing to Ukraine and Congress must ‘stop the games’
President Joe Biden said Sunday that American aid to Ukraine will keep flowing for now as he sought to reassure allies of continued U.S. financial support for the war effort. But time is running out, the president said in a warning to Congress.
"We cannot under any circumstances allow America's support for Ukraine to be interrupted," Biden said in remarks from the Roosevelt Room after Congress averted a government shutdown by passing a short-term funding package late Saturday that dropped assistance for Ukraine in the battle against Russia.
"We have time, not much time, and there's an overwhelming sense of urgency," he said, noting that the funding bill lasts only until mid-November. Biden urged Congress to negotiate an aid package as soon as possible.
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"The vast majority of both parties — Democrats and Republicans, Senate and House — support helping Ukraine and the brutal aggression that is being thrust upon them by Russia," Biden said. "Stop playing games, get this done.''
But many lawmakers acknowledge that winning approval for Ukraine assistance in Congress is growing more difficult as the war grinds on. Republican resistance to the aid has been gaining momentum and the next steps are ahead, given the resistance from the hard-right flank.
While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has begun a process to potentially consider legislation providing additional Ukraine aid, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., faces a more difficult task in keeping the commitment he made over the objections of nearly half of his GOP majority.
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He told CBS' "Face on the Nation" that he supported "being able to make sure Ukraine has the weapons that they need," but that his priority was security at the U.S.-Mexico border.
"I firmly support the border first," he said. "So we've got to find a way that we can do this together."
By omitting additional Ukraine aid from the measure to keep the government running, McCarthy closed the door on a Senate package that would have funneled $6 billion to Ukraine, roughly one-third of what has been requested by the White House. Both the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved the stopgap measure, with members of both parties abandoning the increased aid in favor of avoiding a costly government shutdown.
Now Biden is working to reassure U.S. allies that more money will be there for Ukraine.
"Look at me," he said turning his face to the cameras at the White House. "We're going to get it done. I can't believe those who voted for supporting Ukraine -- overwhelming majority in the House and Senate, Democrat and Republican -- will for pure political reasons let more people die needlessly in Ukraine."
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Foreign allies, though, were concerned. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Sunday from Kyiv that he believed it wouldn't be the last word, but he noted the EU's continued substantial financial support for Ukraine and a new proposal on the table.
"I have a hope that this will not be definitive decision and Ukraine will continue having the support of the U.S.," he said.
The latest actions in Congress signal a gradual shift in the unwavering support that the United States has so far pledged Ukraine in its fight against Russia, and it is one of the clearest examples yet of the Republican Party's movement toward a more isolationist stance. The exclusion of the money for Ukraine came little more than a week after lawmakers met in the Capitol with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He sought to assure them that his military was winning the war, but stressed that additional assistance would be crucial.
After that visit, Schumer said that one sentence summed up Zelenskyy's message in his meeting with the Senate: "'If we don't get the aid, we will lose the war," Schumer said.
McCarthy, pressured by his right flank, has gone from saying "no blank checks" for Ukraine, with the focus being on accountability, to describing the Senate's approach as putting "Ukraine in front of America."
The next funding deadline, which comes during the U.S.-hosted meeting in San Francisco of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders, is likely to become a debate over border funding in exchange for additional Ukraine aid.
This was the scenario that Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader who has championed Ukraine aid, was trying to avoid back in summer when he urged the White House team not to tangle the issue in the government shutdown debate, according to people familiar with his previously undisclosed conversations with the administration who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks. Now, all sides are blaming the other for the failure, straining to devise a path forward.
Voting in the House this past week pointed to the potential trouble ahead. Nearly half of House Republicans voted to strip $300 million from a defense spending bill to train Ukrainian soldiers and purchase weapons. The money later was approved separately, but opponents of Ukraine support celebrated their growing numbers.
The U.S. has approved four rounds of aid to Ukraine in response to Russia's invasion, totaling about $113 billion, with some of that money going toward replenishment of U.S. military equipment that was sent to the front lines. In August, Biden called on Congress to provide for an additional $24 billion.
Indonesia launches Southeast Asia's first high-speed train, funded by China
Indonesian President Joko Widodo inaugurated Southeast Asia’s first high-speed railway on Monday as it was set to begin commercial operations, a key project under China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative that will drastically reduce the travel time between two key cities.
The project has been beset with delays and increasing costs, and some observers doubt its commercial benefits. But Widodo has championed the 142-kilometer (88-mile) railway, which was issued its official operating license from the Transportation Ministry on Sunday.
The $7.3 billion project, largely funded by China, was constructed by PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China, known as PT KCIC, a joint venture between an Indonesian consortium of four state-owned companies and China Railway International Co. Ltd.
The railway connects Jakarta with Bandung, the heavily populated capital of West Java province, and will cut travel time between the cities from the current three hours to about 40 minutes.
Its use of electrical energy is expected to reduce carbon emissions.
Widodo in his opening remarks officially named Indonesia's first high-speed railway — the fastest in Southeast Asia, with speeds of up to 350 kph (217 mph) — as “Whoosh,” from “Waktu Hemat, Operasi Optimal, Sistem Handal,” which means “timesaving, optimal operation, reliable system” in Indonesian language.
“The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train marks the modernization of our mass transportation, which is efficient and environmentally friendly,” Widodo said.
“Our courage to try new things gives us confidence and the opportunity to learn and will be very useful for the future, making our human resources more advanced and our nation more independent,” he added.
Widodo, along with other high-ranking officials, rode Whoosh from its first station, Halim in eastern Jakarta, to Bandung’s Padalarang station, one of the line’s four stations, located about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the central area of Bandung.
He took a 25-minute test ride on the train on Sept. 13 and told reporters that he felt comfortable sitting or walking inside the bullet train even at its top speeds.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang took a test ride early last month while visiting Jakarta for three days of talks with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations and other countries.
Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the coordinating minister for maritime and investment, said China Railway has agreed to transfer its technology to Indonesia so that in the future the country’s high-speed trains can be made domestically.
For two weeks leading up to the inauguration, PT KCIC has been running a free-of-charge public trial.
Indonesia broke ground on the project in 2016. The line was originally expected to begin operations in 2019, but was delayed by disputes over land acquisition, environmental issues and the COVID-19 pandemic. It was planned to cost 66.7 trillion rupiah ($4.3 billion), but the amount ballooned to 113 trillion rupiah ($7.3 billion).
The trains have been modified for Indonesia’s tropical climate and are equipped with a safety system that can respond to earthquakes, floods and other emergency conditions. The 209-meter (685-foot) train has a capacity of 601 passengers.
Ticket prices had not been finalized as of Monday, but PT KCIC estimated one-way prices per passenger would range from 250,000 rupiah ($16) for second class to 350,000 rupiah ($22.60) for VIP seats.
Passengers going to downtown Bandung need to take a feeder train from the Padalarang station that will add a further 20 minutes, with an estimated cost about 50,000 rupiah ($3.20).
The rail deal was signed in October 2015 after Indonesia selected China over Japan in fierce bidding. It was financed with a loan from the China Development Bank for 75% of the cost. The remaining 25% came from the consortium’s own funds.
The project is part of a planned 750-kilometer (466-mile) high-speed train line that would cut across four provinces on Indonesia’s main island of Java and end in the country’s second-largest city, Surabaya.
As a global economic giant, China is one of the largest sources of foreign direct investment in Southeast Asia, a region home to more than 675 million people. Amid crackdowns by the United States and its allies, China is expanding trade with ASEAN countries and infrastructure projects are playing key roles.
A semi-high-speed railway — with speeds up to 160 kph (99 mph) — linking China with Laos was inaugurated in December 2021. The $6 billion infrastructure was financed mostly by China under the Belt and Road policy. The 1,035-kilometer (643-mile) route runs through Laos' mountain ranges to connect the southeastern Chinese city of Kunming with Vientiane, the capital of Laos. There are plans for a high-speed train down through Thailand and Malaysia to Singapore.
At least 13 people were killed at a nightclub fire in Spain’s southeastern city of Murcia
A fire broke out in a nightclub in the southeastern Spanish city of Murcia on Sunday, killing 13 people and injuring several others, authorities said.
The fire started around 6 a.m. in the popular Teatre nightclub and quickly tore through the venue, according to Spain's state news agency EFE.
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It was not immediately clear what caused the fire.
A video shared by Murcia’s fire service showed firefighters trying to control flames inside the nightclub. Police and emergency services worked to secure the interior of the club to avoid a possible collapse and were trying to locate and identify the bodies.
Read: A fire at a wedding hall in northern Iraq kills at least 114 people and injures 150, authorities say
Officials said the death toll could increase.
The city council declared three days of mourning with flags flown at half-staff on public buildings throughout the region of Murcia.