The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Japan's ANA replaced 10 Dreamliner batteries before emergency landing
- Brazilian cities crack down on nightclubs after deadly fire
- Australian PM surprises with September election call
| Japan's ANA replaced 10 Dreamliner batteries before emergency landing Posted: 29 Jan 2013 08:35 PM PST [unable to retrieve full-text content]TOKYO (Reuters) - All Nippon Airways said it had replaced 10 below-par lithium-ion batteries on its Boeing Co 787 Dreamliners in the months before one of the passenger jets was forced to make an emergency landing due to an overheated battery triggering smoke alarms. 
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| Brazilian cities crack down on nightclubs after deadly fire Posted: 29 Jan 2013 07:24 PM PST SANTA MARIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Cities across Brazil are cracking down on nightclubs to ensure that they comply with fire regulations after a weekend blaze destroyed a club in the southern university town of Santa Maria, killing 235 people.
The fire was Brazil's deadliest in half a century and the tragedy resonated across the country, with many people demanding those responsible be prosecuted and that the government tighten up on safety. Police said a flare that ignited the fire and was used by the band for visual effects was meant for outdoor use, the club's emergency exit signs were not working and the only available exit was too small. Outraged Brazilians blame what they see as lax regulation and corrupt officials for the tragedy. There are fears that similar fires could break out at other clubs and public venues, especially as the country gears up to host the soccer World Cup next year and the Olympic Games in 2016. Sensitivity is also growing in the run-up to next month's Carnival celebrations, which feature throngs of unruly revellers in parades and street parties in cities across the country. As funerals and an official investigation proceeded, government officials and lawmakers pressed for tougher laws. President Dilma Rousseff, who visited Santa Maria over the weekend, urged local officials on Monday for more rigor in enforcing safety regulations. Cities across the country quickly responded. "We were all evidently shocked by the Santa Maria tragedy," Bosco Saraiva, the acting mayor of Manaus, a city of 2 million people in the Amazon region, told Reuters. "Yesterday we started a total cleanup." The campaign featured club inspections and city authorities closed 17 because of fire hazards and expired permits. Americana, a city in the southeastern state of Sao Paulo, issued a blanket order for all nightclubs to shut down temporarily while new safety standards are discussed. Brasilia and other cities including Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have also deployed inspectors. In Salvador, Brazil's third-biggest city, the mayor ordered inspections of all entertainment venues, including Carnival installations now being erected. Safety experts have criticized carnival floats and decorations in the past because they are often made with paper, plastics and other highly flammable materials. 'SOMEBODY HAS TO BE RESPONSIBLE' Cries of "Justice!" rose from a crowd of 15,000 people who marched through the centre of Santa Maria on Monday night. Marchers carried flowers to a local gym that has served as a morgue and funeral parlour since the fire early on Sunday. The death of a 21-year-old man at a hospital in nearby Porto Alegre raised the death toll to 235, authorities said on Tuesday. An additional 121 people were still hospitalized, 83 of whom were in critical condition. Most of the dead were students suffocated by toxic fumes that rapidly filled the club after the flare set fire to soundproofing material on the ceiling. Others were trampled as they stampeded toward the sole exit of the "Kiss" nightclub, whose permits were under review. Witnesses said club bouncers initially blocked the exit because they thought fleeing customers were trying to leave without paying for their drinks. Families of the victims demanded explanations. "Somebody has to be responsible," said Elaine Marques Gonçalves, who lost one son in the fire and has another critically injured. "I will not get my son's life back, but I want the authorities to investigate and act, for the sake of other young people," she said in a video interview on the website of the O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper. Police have detained the two owners of the club and two members of the band whose performance led to the blaze. No charges have been filed against them, and prosecutors said they could be held for up to five days for questioning. The popular club was authorized to hold 690 people and was believed to have been packed with about 1,000 revellers at the time of the fire, police said. Santa Maria's police chief, Marcelo Arigony, said the band had bought a $1.25 (80 pence) outdoor flare at a local shop instead of spending $35 on a flare for indoor use. He said the club's fire extinguisher tags were either expired or falsified. "Any child could tell the place wasn't safe," Arigony told a news conference. Experts say Brazilian safety laws seem sufficient on paper but that enforcement is weak and codes can vary from state to state. The Kiss nightclub appeared to have no fire escape, no alarm and no sprinklers. Experts said the soundproofing material that caught fire was banned. "Inspection in this country is a joke. It's time for that to change," said the owner of several nightclubs in Sao Paulo, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of his position. (Additional reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello and Peter Murphy in Brasilia, and Eduardo Simões and Asher Levine in Sao Paulo; Writing by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Kieran Murray, Christopher Wilson and Mohammad Zargham) Copyright © 2013 Reuters | ||
| Australian PM surprises with September election call Posted: 29 Jan 2013 07:13 PM PST CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard stunned voters on Wednesday by setting a national election for September 14, eight months away, in her first major political speech for 2013.
Elections must be held in Australia by the end of the year, but Gillard said she wanted to end political uncertainty by setting the date now. "It is not right for Australians to be forced into a guessing game, and it's not right for Australians to not face this year with certainty and stability," Gillard said. "So in the interests of certainty, in the interest of transparency, in the interest of good governance, I have made the date clear today." Gillard's minority Labour government holds a one seat majority with support from a group of independents and the Greens, and polls suggest the Liberal opposition would easily win office if an election were held now. The election will decide whether Australia keeps its controversial carbon tax, and a 30 percent tax on coal and iron ore mining profits, which the conservative opposition has promised to scrap it if wins power. But apart from these two policy differences, the government and opposition differ little on domestic issues, and both firmly support greater involvement with China, the country's biggest trade partner. Gillard said the governor-general would dissolve the current parliament on August 12, giving the government two more sessions of parliament to pass laws and deliver its May budget. Gillard used the speech to the National Press Club to lay the groundwork for an election year battle focused on the economy, arguing that a strong economy is necessary to ensure fairness in education and disability services -- two key election policies aimed at Labour heartland voters. Australia's resource economy is expected to slow this year as a stubbornly high currency crimps export earnings and a boom in mining investment plateaus. Australia's A$1.5 trillion (970.7 billion pounds) economy has grown for the past 22 years and has overtaken Spain as the world's 12th largest economy. "We just don't have the sense that the economy will go into hibernation just because an election is coming in eight months time," said Michael Turner, a strategist at RBC Capital Markets. There was no discernible reaction in financial markets on Wednesday. The Australian dollar remained firm, hitting its highest level against the Japanese yen in over four years. The share market reached a fresh 21-month high and government bonds were steady. Though the government has dropped its pledge to reach a budget surplus for 2012/13, any deficit is still likely to be a fraction of the economy's A$1.5 trillion in annual economic output and no worry to investors. Under Australian laws, governments serve for three-year terms and the prime minister has the right to decide the election date. By calling a September election, Gillard's government will have served a full term. Gillard said she did not want her announcement to mark the start of an eight-month election campaign. "I do so not to start the nation's longest election campaign - quite the opposite," she told the National Press Club. "It should be clear to all which are the days of governing and which are the days of campaigning. Announcing the election date now enables individuals and business, investors and consumers to plan their year." (Additional reporting by Wayne Cole in Sydney; Editing by Michael Perry) Copyright © 2013 Reuters |
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