Sunday 25 June 2017

Takata: Airbag-maker files for bankruptcy

A recalled Takata airbagImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionThe faulty devices have been linked to at least 17 deaths globally
Japanese car parts maker Takata has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US and Japan.
It is facing billions of dollars in liabilities over its defective airbags, which have been linked to at least 17 deaths worldwide.
Some of the airbags contained faulty inflators which expanded with too much force, spraying metal shrapnel.
US-based Key Safety Systems (KSS) has bought all of Takata's assets, apart from those relating to the airbags.
The $1.6bn (£1.3bn) deal was announced after the Japanese firm filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, with similar action taken in Japan.
"Although Takata has been impacted by the global airbag recall, the underlying strength of its skilled employee base, geographic reach, and exceptional steering wheels, seat belts and other safety products have not diminished," said KSS chief executive Jason Luo.

Trillion-yen liabilities

More than 100 million cars with Takata airbags, including around 70 million vehicles in the US, have been recalled since concerns first emerged in 2007. It is the biggest safety recall in automotive history.
In January, Takata agreed to pay $1bn (£784m) in penalties in the US for concealing dangerous defects, and pleaded guilty to a single criminal charge.
The firm paid a $25m fine, $125m to people injured by the airbags as well as $850m to carmakers that used them.
But it is facing further legal action in the US and liabilities of 1 trillion yen ($9bn) - including to clients including Honda, BMW and Toyota have been paying recall costs until now.
Trading in Takata shares has been suspended on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and the firm will be delisted late next month.
Small businesses that may be affected by Takata's bankruptcy will get support including loan guarantees says Japanese trade minister Hiroshige Seko.

Six killed as Colombia boat sinks

At least six people died when a passenger boat sank on a reservoir in north-western Colombia, officials say.
They say that 133 people were rescued, but 16 are still missing after the four-deck Almirante went down near the popular resort town of Guatapé.
There were about 170 people aboard. Witness Juan Quiroz told the BBC the boat sank in less than five minutes.
Leisure boats quickly came to the rescue, hauling victims from the water and the top deck of the vessel.
Some survivors complained that they had not been given life jackets.
Army helicopters and divers later joined the search-and-rescue operation.
Survivors from the sunken boatImage copyrightAFP/GETTY IMAGES
Image captionThose rescued were traumatised by the ordeal
Rescue officials gather to take part in a search for survivorsImage copyrightAFP/GETTY IMAGES
Image captionThe search and rescue operation is continuing
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (centre) answers questions from reportersImage copyrightAFP/GETTY IMAGES
Image captionPresident Santos (centre) arrived in Guatapé to personally assess the situation
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who travelled to the scene on Sunday evening, said six people had been killed, revising down an initial death toll of nine given by officials.
More than 20 people have been taken to a hospital in Guatapé.
Eyewitness Louisa Murphy told the BBC: "We saw things flying off the side of the boat. And within, I think, probably about 20 second the boat had sort of sunk with just the top deck visible."
Luis Bernardo Morales, a fire service captain involved in the rescue, said the boat was very close to the port when it sank.
"We do not know whether it was a mechanical failure, an overloading or something to do with the currents that caused it to sink," AFP news agency quoted him as saying.


Guatapé is a popular Andean resort town, known for its water sports and recreational activities.

Saturday 24 June 2017

Watched chimps change their hunting habits

Chimpanzees in Uganda may have changed their hunting strategy in response to being watched by scientists.
While studying the animals, researchers documented very different hunting habits of two closely neighbouring chimp "tribes".
"Sonso" chimps hunt in small groups for colobus monkeys, while those from the "Waibira" troop hunt solo and catch "whatever they can get their hands on".
The findings show how sensitive chimp society is to human presence.
Biologists who have followed and studied these animals for years think that work may have disturbed the group hunting that seems key to chasing and catching colobus monkeys.
Lead researcher Dr Catherine Hobaiter, from the University of St Andrews, said the Waibira group's behaviour might have changed to a more "opportunistic" strategy because those chimps were much less used to the presence of human scientists.
Speaking to BBC News from Budongo Forest, in Uganda, where she studies both of these chimpanzee groups, Dr Hobaiter said Sonso and Waibira chimps "shared territorial borders", so she would expect their food sources and prey to be the same.
"The main thing that's different about them right now is how used to having humans follow them around the forest they are," Dr Hobaiter said.
"For Sonso - most of the current generation of adults were born with us being there, so they're really incredibly relaxed about our presence.
"But [for] Waibira - some of the young ones have started to grow up and become very comfortable with us, but some of the adults would be 30-40 years old when we started, and five years of us following them round is a fraction of their lifetime.
"It just takes time with chimpanzees."
At other sites where researchers had begun a similar habituation and close observation of wild chimp groups, Dr Hobaiter said, a similar "pattern" had emerged.
"They hunt for lots of different species, then later they seem to switch and settle in to hunting colobus."
Key to this could be the natural tendency of chimpanzees' groups to be territorial and wary of newcomers.
"I think that makes it that much harder for them to accept our presence as being a part of their lives," said Dr Hobaiter.

Following our cousins

"Long-term research with wild chimpanzees brings real conservation benefits, but we have to remember that our presence can affect their behaviour."
Dr Hobaiter said that - as well as conserving endangered primates and the forests they lived in - directly observing and recording chimpanzee behaviour was the best way to understand the origins of human language and social structure.
"But we need to ask - should we be going in there [to follow the chimps]?
"We can do amazing things with camera traps, remote microphones and drones - it's getting much easier to get good quality data.
"Part of our work is to understand what our impact is and to try to minimise it."

Armed Forces Day: Liverpool leads events across country

Red Arrows flypast in LondonImage copyrightREUTERS
The UK's annual Armed Forces Day takes place on Saturday, with the national event in Liverpool one of more than a record 300 across the country.
The day is billed as a chance for people to show their support for those connected with the armed forces.
Prime Minister Theresa May said that the armed forces are more relevant than ever after "playing a vital role" after the Manchester attack.
In Liverpool, there will be a parade to the Waterfront from St George's Hall.
As well as those currently serving, the day salutes veterans, reservists, cadets, families and charities.
Mrs May said that armed forces "provided visible reassurance to our communities" when they were deployed on the streets after the terror threat level was raised to critical.
Troops were deployed after 22 people were killed by suicide bomber Salman Abedi at the Manchester Arena on 22 May.
Soldiers in LondonImage copyrightAFP
Image captionSome 984 servicemen and women were deployed across Britain after the Manchester bombing
Mrs May, who will attend the Liverpool event, said it was an opportunity for thousands of people to their "gratitude to the men and women who do so much to preserve our freedom."
The parade comprises about 100 personnel from each of the services, plus bands, veterans, and about 300 cadets.
Other attractions include Typhoon and Red Arrows flypasts, HMS Iron Duke opening to visitors, dragon boat racing, a Royal Navy Wildcat (helicopter) flypast, and finale by the massed bands.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said: "As we celebrate Armed Forces Day there are 10,000 regulars and reserve personnel serving now on Nato operations."
Current deployments include Royal Navy ships serving in the Gulf, and the Royal Air Force patrolling the Black Sea as part of Nato deployments, and the war against so-called Islamic State.

China landslide leaves at least 140 missing in Sichuan

More than 140 people are feared buried in a landslide in Sichuan province in south-western China, state media say.
About 40 homes were destroyed in Xinmo village in Maoxian county, after the side of a mountain collapsed at about 06:00 local time (22:00 GMT Friday).
Rescue teams are frantically searching for survivors trapped beneath rocks.
Pictures posted by the People's Daily newspaper show bulldozers moving earth and large boulders as the rescue effort continues.
A couple and a baby were rescued and taken to hospital after teams of workers used ropes to move large rocks while dozens of others searched the rubble, AFP news agency reports, citing local authorities.
People search for survivors following a landslide in Xinmo Village in Maoxian county, 24 June 2017Image copyrightREUTERS
Image captionRescue workers are frantically searching for survivors feared buried beneath rocks
A huge landslide has buried more than 100 villagers in Sichuan, southwest China, 24 June 2017Image copyrightEPA
Image captionBulldozers were used to help move large boulders after homes were destroyed
Rescue workers and medical staff search for survivors at landslide site in Xinmo village in Sichuan, southwest China, 24 June 2017Image copyrightREUTERS
Image captionMedical staff joined the search in the hope of assisting any survivors
The landslide blocked a two-kilometre (1.2-mile) stretch of a river, Xinhua news agency reports, citing local officials.
Local police told state broadcaster CCTV the landslide had been triggered by recent heavy rains in the region and that the situation was made worse by a lack of vegetation in the area.
"There are several tonnes of rock," police captain Chen Tiebo told the broadcaster, adding: "It's a seismic area here."
Roads in the county were closed on Saturday to all traffic except emergency services, the news agency said.
map
Landslides are a regular danger in mountainous regions of China, especially during heavy rains.
In 2008, 87,000 people were killed when an earthquake struck Wenchuan county in Sichuan province. In Maoxian county, 37 tourists were killed when their coach was buried in a landslide caused by the earthquake.

Friday 23 June 2017

Ebola virus burial teams 'saved thousands of lives'

Ebola burial team in Freetown, Sierra Leone (file picture)Image copyrightMARK GEORGIOU
Image captionThe bodies of Ebola victims were particularly toxic
They were ordinary people doing an extraordinary job in extremely dangerous times.
Now new research suggests Red Cross volunteers who helped bury most of the bodies of Ebola victims in West Africa could have prevented more than 10,000 cases of the deadly disease.
More than 28,000 people were infected with Ebola in 2014-2015. Of those, 11,310 people died.
The worst affected countries were Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
A major part of the response was ensuring the safe burials of people who had died of Ebola. The bodies of victims were particularly toxic.
Community funerals, where people helped wash the bodies of their loved ones, contributed to so many people becoming infected in the earlier stages of the outbreak.
A Liberian health worker in a burial squad drags an Ebola victim's body for cremation in Monrovia (13 October 2014)Image copyrightEPA
Image captionMany Ebola burial workers were ordinary West Africans, such as teachers and college students
Ebola burial team in Freetown, Sierra Leone (file picture)Image copyrightMARK GEORGIOU
Image captionSome Ebola burial workers were stigmatised in their communities because of their work
Within months, the epidemic had become the worst public health emergency of modern times.
The study, published in the PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases journal, used statistical modelling to measure the impact of the Red Cross safe and dignified burial programme.
Researchers focussed on 45 unsafe community burials and the 310 people who were identified as having had contact with the infected bodies. They found, on average, just over two people went on to develop Ebola for every unsafe community burial that took place.
The bigger risk was to those who cared for a loved one with Ebola before their death. Researchers found many more infections could have been prevented if the sick were treated in hospital rather than by their families and communities.
However, using these estimates, the study suggested safe and dignified burials by Red Cross volunteers prevented between 1,411 and 10,452 cases of Ebola.
The authors said these are conservative estimates.
They highlighted a number of limitations in the study, including the challenges of collecting very personal and sensitive information about funerals, and the length of time between when some of the burials took place and when the data was collected.

Ending the war

Hundreds of paid volunteers took on the grim task of collecting bodies from people's homes in full personal protective gear, while also having to manage the grieving families and communities.
A burial team wearing protective clothing remove a body of a person suspected of having died of the Ebola virus in Freetown, Liberia (28 September 2014)Image copyrightREUTERS
Image captionIt is estimated that dignified burials prevented between 1,411 and 10,452 cases of Ebola
Liberian nurses put on protective clothing as preparation to carry the body of an Ebola victim for burial (08 August 2014)Image copyrightEPA
Image captionThe work of the burial teams is thought to have played a major role in reducing the impact of the Ebola virus
They were ordinary West Africans, such as teachers and college students. Many carried out the relentless and dangerous work for months.
Some were stigmatised in their communities, because people became scared they might bring the virus home with them.
In reality, they were helping to stem world's worst ever Ebola outbreak.
"It was very difficult work," said Red Cross volunteer Mohamed Kamara who I spent a day with as he collected bodies in Sierra Leone in 2014.
"It's good news that people realise the impact of what we did to help end the transmission of Ebola," he said while reacting to the findings of the study from the capital Freetown.
"Some people didn't even want to come near us at that time.
"But the team we worked with helped give us the courage to do this important work… and we ended this war."

Qatar row: Arab states send list of steep demands

The Qatari side of the Abu Samrah border crossing between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, 20 June 2017Image copyrightAFP
Image captionSaudi Arabia has closed Qatar's only land border
Four Arab states have sent Qatar a list of 13 demands it must meet if it wants them to lift their sanctions.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are asking the Gulf state to shut down its broadcaster, Al Jazeera.
They are also asking Qatar to reduce ties with Iran and close a Turkish military base - all within 10 days.
Qatar, which sought to raise its profile in recent years, denies funding terrorism and fostering instability.
It has been subjected to more than two weeks of unprecedented diplomatic and economic sanctions, in the worst political crisis among Gulf countries in decades.
The list was announced after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Qatar's neighbours to make their demands "reasonable and actionable".
Correspondents say there has been frustration in Washington, which is seeking to resolve the dispute, over the time taken by the Saudis and others to formalise their demands.
There was no immediate response from Qatar but Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said earlier that it would not negotiate until the punitive measures were lifted.

A murky business: analysis by Lyse Doucet, BBC chief international correspondent

This fight is a murky business in the region.
Money from official and private sources has flowed to armed groups from most Gulf states for years. In Syria's war, it often amounted to sacks of cash dropped at hotels in Turkey. That is where accountability often ended as money moved across the border to messy battlefields.
Qatar repeatedly came under criticism in many capitals for allegedly backing the al Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which was previously known as al-Nusra Front and is one of the most formidable jihadist groups battling President Bashar al-Assad's forces. But other Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, also fund hardline Islamist fighters.

'Unspecified sum'

According to the Associated Press news agency, which obtained a copy of the list, Qatar must also:
  • Sever all ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, which is banned in other Arab states
  • Refuse to naturalise citizens from the four countries and expel those currently on its territory, in what the countries describe as an effort to keep Qatar from meddling in their internal affairs
  • Hand over all individuals who are wanted by the four countries for terrorism
  • Stop funding any extremist entities that are designated as terrorist groups by the US
  • Provide detailed information about opposition figures whom Qatar has funded, ostensibly in Saudi Arabia and the other nations
  • Align itself politically, economically and otherwise with the Gulf Co-operation Council
  • Stop funding other news outlets in addition to Al Jazeera, including Arabi21 and Middle East Eye
  • Pay an unspecified sum in compensation
Map showing Qatar and other Gulf states
An unnamed official from one of the four countries told Reuters news agency that Qatar was also being asked to sever links with so-called Islamic State, al-Qaeda and Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah.
According to the document seen by AP, Qatar is being asked to shut down diplomatic posts in Iran, expel any members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard and only conduct trade with Iran that complies with US sanctions.
The document specifies that both Al Jazeera and all of its affiliates must be shut down. Al Jazeera, which has an English-language branch, is one of the most widely watched Arabic satellite channels.
Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia's close ally, Egypt, have long accused the broadcaster of providing a platform for Islamist movements and encouraging dissent - claims the broadcaster has denied.

Turkish food

Turkey has been supplying Qatar with food and other goods by air since the sanctions started, and dispatched its first ship carrying food this week, Reuters reports.
A man walks on the corniche in Doha, Qatar, 15 JuneImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionThe crisis is the greatest faced by the Gulf region in decades
Turkish exports to the Gulf state have tripled from their normal levels to $32.5m in that period, Turkish Customs and Trade Minister Bulent Tufenkci said on Thursday.
However, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci was quoted as saying that it was not sustainable to maintain supplies through an air lift.
The Turkish military base in Qatar was set up under an agreement signed in 2017.