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In Thailand, crane accident kills 19 and injures 80 after it falls onto a train
Police said that a train derailed on Wednesday in northeastern Thailand after a crane fell?on to three of its carriages. At least 19 people were killed and about 80 injured. The accident occurred on Wednesday morning, in the Sikhio District of Nakhon Ratchasima Province, 230 kilometers (143 miles), northeast of Bangkok. It happened on a train from the capital heading for Ubon Ratchathani. The local police informed? Local police told? The team backed off for safety reasons after discovering that 19 bodies had been recovered. However, there were still some bodies inside the train carriages, which could not be removed because the crane began to move. In a press release, Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said that there were 195 people on board. He also ordered an extensive investigation. He said that the victims were found in two of three carriages struck by the crane. The crane collapsed while working on a high speed rail project, and struck a passing train. This caused it to derail?and briefly catch blaze. The ministry shared images of carriages overturned near shrubland, and firefighters extinguishing an blaze while smoke billowed out. The elevated high-speed railway line is one of many under construction in Thailand. It was built above the existing rail track.
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Officials say that a drone attack in Ukraine has ignited an industrial fire in Rostov-on Don, Russia.
Regional officials reported on Wednesday that a Ukrainian drone attack on Rostov-on-Don overnight resulted in?two fires, four injuries and damage to apartment buildings. Yuri Slyusar is the governor of Russia's Rostov Region. He said that four people were injured, including a child aged four, when debris from?fallen drones damaged their apartment. Rostov-on Don is the administrative centre of Rostov Region. Slyusar, a Telegram user, said that all the injured were hospitalized. He refused to say which industrial facility was on fire, but said that one of the blazes had been extinguished and the other contained by Wednesday morning. Aleksandr Skryabin said that temporary housing was provided for families displaced from damaged apartments. It was not possible to determine the full impact of this attack immediately. Ukraine has not commented on the attack. Ukraine used drones against targets in Russia. They claim that such attacks are meant to weaken Moscow's energy and military infrastructure, and to respond to Russia's ongoing strikes on Ukrainian cities. The war Moscow was launched nearly four years ago. Rostov on Don, a major transport and logistic hub near Ukraine, is home to key military headquarters, and it's also a centre of operations for Moscow. Drones are increasingly targeting this area. (Reporting and editing by Tom Hogue in Melbourne, and Thomas Derpinghaus.)
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US withdraws appeal of order blocking Trump's plan to tie state transport funds to immigration enforcement
The U.S. Justice Department asked on Tuesday a federal appeals?court to dismiss its appeal against a lower court order that blocked President Donald Trump from requiring 20?Democratic?states?to cooperate with immigration enforcement in order to receive billions of dollar's worth of grant funding for transportation. A U.S. Judge in Rhode Island decided that the U.S. Department of Transportation did not have the authority to force the states to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for transportation funding and that the condition was against the U.S. Constitution. California Attorney General Rob Bonta led the legal challenge which included also the District of Columbia. He said that the "Trump Administration tried to use vital transportation funds as a 'bargaining chip' for its political agenda." He pointed out that California receives billions in federal funding for transportation every year. Bonta said he was "pleased" that the Trump Administration had accepted defeat and dropped its appeal. California "is not playing around when it comes vital transportation dollars which support our public infrastructure and we will continue to take the President to court every time he uses federal funding to bully communities." Last year, the judge found that USDOT did not provide any plausible link between cooperating with immigration and the purposes Congress intended for funding highways, bridges, and other transportation projects. USDOT declined to comment immediately on Tuesday. USDOT withheld $160 million from California last week for failing to cancel 17,000 commercial driver's licences issued by non-U.S. nationals. California has said that it fully complies with federal and state regulations. A spokesperson for the state said this. They also strongly disagree with the decision of the 'federal government to withhold funding vital for transportation in California. California filed a lawsuit against USDOT last month for withholding federal funding of more than $33 million dollars because USDOT claimed that the state had not met rules requiring English language proficiency for truckers. California dropped its separate lawsuit in December, which it filed in response to USDOT's revocation of $4 billion in funding for high-speed rail. (Reporting and editing by Tom Hogue, Christopher Cushing, and David Shepardson from Washington)
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Claudette Colvin, a pioneer in civil rights for the United States, has died at 86.
Claudette Colvin died at the age of 86. She was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama at 15 years old for refusing to surrender her seat on a bus to a 'white woman.' This happened nine months before Rosa Parks committed a similar, but arguably more famous act of defiance. Colvin was a relatively unknown figure in the civil right movement, but her act of rebellion in 1955 inspired Parks and other activists and formed the basis of the federal lawsuit which outlawed segregation on U.S. public transport. Ashley Roseboro confirmed her death in hospice care, Texas, as a spokesperson for the Claudette Colvin Foundation and her family. In one of the earliest publicized acts against Jim Crow laws governing city bus seats by race in Montgomery,?Colvin refused her seat to a white woman as ordered by the bus driver and remained seated until she was dragged from the bus by police. Colvin, in her court testimony, recalled that she studied anti-slavery abolitionists in school and felt she had Harriet Tubman on one shoulder and Sojourner Truth the other. "History had me glued on the seat," she said. Parks, a?seamstress older than Parks who was the secretary of the local NAACP, was seen by many as a dignified and sympathetic figure. She was viewed as the ideal person to rally around as civil rights leaders planned what would become the year-long boycott of buses that propelled the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was thrust onto the national stage. Roseboro says that in the months leading up to the boycott which began in December 1955, civil rights leaders were concerned about the "colorism" of Colvin, who was from a lower class background and had lighter skin than Parks. They also feared the teenager would be a bad representative for the movement. Around a year after being arrested, she became pregnant from a man she had met in an encounter she described later as statutory rape. Colvin was one of the plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, a lawsuit that challenged the Jim Crow policies on city buses. The case led to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1956 that declared segregation on public transportation unconstitutional. Colvin lived in obscurity for many decades, as she worked as a nurse's assistant and caregiver, and struggled as a single mother. However, historians have brought to light her pivotal role in the early civil right movement. Fred Gray is the lawyer behind Browder. Gayle credited Colvin for helping ignite the fight against segregation. "I'm not trying to belittle Mrs. Parks but Claudette's courage gave us all the motivation to act as we did, Gray told the Washington Post. Roseboro stated that Colvin has been able to expunge her juvenile arrest record in recent years.
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According to the military, a Russian drone attack caused power cuts in Ukraine's Kryvyi Rih.
Oleksandr vilkul, the head of the military administration, said that Russian drones had struck Kryvyi rih in central Ukraine on Wednesday, forcing power outages for over?45,000 people and disrupting heat supply. If you can, please charge your mobile devices and fill up with water. Vilkul told Telegram users that it was going to be a difficult day. The water pumping stations in the system could have pressure problems. It was not possible to determine the exact scale of 'the attack immediately. Russia has not commented on the?strike. Russia repeatedly attacked Ukraine's power plants, substations, and transmission lines with drones and missiles to disrupt electricity, heating, and industry in the four-year conflict. Kyiv claims that the campaign has caused rolling outages in cities throughout the country. Repair crews are working under fire, and Ukraine is relying on electricity imports and air defences to stabilize the grid. Kryvyi Rih is a steel and mining hub in the Dnipropetrovsk Region and home to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Strikes have repeatedly killed civilians, damaged homes and industries, and caused other damage. It is close enough to the southern frontlines to be within striking distance, and its factories, logistic links, and workforce make it a vital rear-area support centre for Ukraine's war efforts. (Reporting and editing by Stephen Coates in Melbourne, Lidia Kelly from Melbourne)
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UK commits 45 billion pounds rail project in Northern England
Britain committed Tuesday to a new rail-infrastructure programme for the North of England worth up to 60 billion pounds (45 billion pounds), a region that has been held back by a lack of investment. The government pledged that it would deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail over three phases. Then, a new rail line will run between Liverpool and Manchester via Manchester Airport. Finally, improved connections will be made between Manchester and Yorkshire. The OECD has identified outdated and insufficient transport links as a major factor in the productivity gap between British cities outside of the capital. Rail lines in the north of England, which is home to three out of the five largest metropolitan areas, are plagued with bottlenecks that date back to Victorian times. The Labour Government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which is far behind the Reform Party UK on the right in the 'opinion polls', has stated that reducing the regional?inequality? between London and the remainder of the UK, is a priority. Investment and renewal are the answer to the economic growth challenge. "We are reversing decades of chronic underinvestment" in the North, said Finance Minister Rachel Reeves. The majority of the expenditure - which is capped at 45 billion pound in constant price - will occur in 'the 2030s and '2040s. No dates will be set for the opening of the high-speed rail system. This is a lesson learned from the HS2 project, which was cut short due to soaring costs. Rishi Sunak was the Conservative Prime Minister at the time. He canceled the northern leg of the HS2 project in October 2023 because costs were soaring and infrastructure watchdogs warned that Britain had a fundamental issue with its?ability? to manage large projects. The government announced on Tuesday that it 'intended' to build a new rail line between Manchester and Birmingham, the central English city after Northern Powerhouse Rail was completed. However, it would not constitute a reintroduction of previous HS2 plans. It said that it had learned from the failures of HS2, which will now only run between London and slightly to the north of Birmingham, and open some time beyond the original 2033 target date. Reporting by Andy Bruce, Editing by Alison Williams. $1 = 0.7448 pounds
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CANADA-CRUDE-Discount on Western Canada Select widens slightly
The difference between the West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures and North American benchmark West Canada Select crude oil has widened slightly on Tuesday. WCS for Hardisty, Alberta delivery in February settled at $14.40 per barrel below WTI benchmark, according to brokerage firm?CalRock. This compares with $14.35 on Monday. The discount on Canadian Heavy Crude?remains a dollar or more wider than last month. The market is watching for the potential for an increase in Venezuelan heavy oil barrels in the U.S. Gulf Coast to compete against Canadian heavy oil of similar quality over the long term. Some analysts believe the market has overreacted because it will be years before Venezuela can significantly increase its oil production. Oil prices jumped?by over 2% on Tuesday, as the 'prospect of disruptions in Iranian crude exports trumped possible increases from Venezuela. (Reporting from Amanda Stephenson, Calgary; Editing and proofreading by Cynthia Osterman).
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US seeks warrants for the seizure of dozens more Venezuelan-linked oil tanks, sources claim
Four sources said that the U.S. government has filed court warrants for the seizure of dozens of more tankers connected to the Venezuelan trade. Washington is consolidating control over oil shipments into and out of this 'South American country. In recent weeks, the U.S. Coast Guard and military seized five vessels that either carried Venezuelan oil in international waters or had done so previously. The seizure was part of Washington’s campaign to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power, which culminated with U.S. troops capturing him on Jan. 3. The administration of Donald Trump has stated that it intends to continue controlling Venezuela's oil reserves indefinitely, as it attempts to?rebuild the country's dilapidated petroleum industry. In December, Trump implemented a blockade on tankers sanctioned for shipping Venezuelan crude oil. This brought the exports to a near-standstill. This week, under U.S. oversight, shipments resumed. CONFISCATIONS CAN BE GENERATED BY ACTIONS Sources said that the U.S. Government has filed civil forfeiture cases in district courts, mostly in Washington, D.C., which allows the seizure and confiscation oil cargoes, and ships, involved in the trade. The sources declined to identify themselves due to the sensitive nature of the issue. Sources said that it is not possible to know the exact number of seizure orders the U.S. filed and how many they have already received because the legal orders and filings are not public. They added that dozens of seizure warrants had been filed. The Department of Justice didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. The vessels intercepted so far were either subject to U.S. sanction or part of an unregulated "shadow fleet" that hid their origins in order to transport oil from major sanctioned producers such as Iran, Russia and Venezuela. Many tankers are currently at sea, either carrying Venezuelan crude oil to China's top buyer or have done so in the past. The U.S. imposed sanctions against many of these vessels because they facilitate oil trade with Venezuela or Iran. SEIZURES ARE NOW OFFICIALLY SUSPENDED SINCE FRIDAY. SOURCES Sources said that the United States has halted its actions to seize ships since Friday. They said that the United States could resume its action against vessels and cargoes it has not authorized. Sean Parnell, Pentagon?spokesperson, said Friday that the Department of Defense, along with other U.S. government agencies, will "hunt down and intercept ALL dark fleet ships transporting Venezuelan crude oil at a time and place we choose". In recent seizures, the United States targeted both vessels and cargoes. Shipping industry sources say that this is an increase from previous seizures between 2020 and 2023 of Iranian?cargoes. In the earlier cases, U.S. authorities confiscated only the oil cargo and not the vessel. U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi stated on social media that the Department of Justice "monitored several other vessels" for similar enforcement actions. This was after the Bella-1, a tanker seized by the U.S. Military on January 7th. The vessel was empty and had no cargo. It was the first time since recent times that the U.S. Navy has seized an American-flagged ship. Russia, as Venezuela, depends on the shadow fleet for oil that is subject to sanctions. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the U.S. military's action "an illegal use of force," adding that sanctions imposed by the U.S. were "without legal basis." Reporting by Jonathan Saul, Andrew Goudsward and Rod Nickel; Editing by Simon Webb & Rod Nickel
US warns of urgent safety after two fatal crashes involving airbags
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued an urgent alert to used car owners, buyers and repair shops on Tuesday after two more drivers died in crashes caused by unsafe Chinese airbag inflators which were likely illegally imported.
Auto safety agency reported that it knew of 10 accidents involving ruptured replacement inflators manufactured in China by Jilin Province Detiannuo Automobile Safety System Co. Ltd. (also known as DTN) and likely illegally imported to the United States. NHTSA reported that eight drivers were killed in otherwise avoidable accidents, and two others suffered serious injuries after their original airbags had been replaced by substandard ones.
NHTSA stated that the airbag inflators?DTN malfunctioned during crashes, "sending large metallic fragments into driver's chests, necks and eyes."
NHTSA opened an investigation in October into DTN replacement airbags following?eight crashes resulting in six deaths. NHTSA has partnered with law enforcement agencies in order to investigate any illegal activities related to the importation of DTN replacement inflators.
NHTSA could not confirm that the risks are limited to these models or makes, but all of the replacement airbags in fatal crashes were installed on used Chevrolet Malibu and Hyundai Sonata cars. Hyundai Motor expressed concern over reports that counterfeit airbag inflators were installed as replacement parts on three older Sonata cars.
Hyundai said that these 'dangerous' components were not authorized or supplied by the company and were installed on vehicles with salvaged titles or rebuilt titles. "Protecting customers is our number one priority. We 'fully support NHTSA in its ongoing efforts to identify counterfeit inflators." General Motors, the maker of Chevrolets, declined to comment. DTN likewise did not immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison stated that the agency is focused on the industry and the consumers.
The agency issued an alert to auto repair industries to be on the lookout and to notify NHTSA as soon as they have any information regarding these inflators.
As DTN acknowledged on its site, inflators were prohibited in the United States. NHTSA stated that whoever is bringing these inflators into the country and installing then is putting American family members at risk.
If you are buying a used vehicle that was involved in an accident where the airbag deployed, inspect it immediately to make sure the replacement air bag is equivalent to the original. (Reporting and editing by Franklin Paul, Nick Zieminski, and David Shepardson from Washington)
(source: Reuters)