Two flagship events will draw the Wellington Pride Festival to a close this weekend, but organisers hope it’s started a conversation around diversity in the queer community. On Saturday the annual youth-led Pride Hīkoi will…
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Wellington's CubaDupa back to its full glory after three years
It has been three years since the CubaDupa festival could take to the street in its full glory.Over the course of this weekend, 1750 artists will participate in its biggest programme yet across 46 different stages and creative zones….
Herald morning quiz: March 26
Test your brains with the Herald’s morning quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz at 3pm for the afternoon quiz. To challenge yourself with more quizzes, CLICK HERE.
Touching tribute to 'gentle giant' lost overboard from tinnie in WA
The three loves of Ralph Jongedyk's life: his family, his dog and fishing. The 68-year-old spent his final hours on his fishing boat, with his beloved dog Cassie before something went wrong, breaking the hearts of his family.
Concerns were first raised when the former anaesthetic technician's tinnie was found on Wednesday, turning in circles off the Western Australian coast, with no one but the dog onboard.
A frantic search ensued before his body was found on a beach in Yanchep, north of Perth, on Thursday morning.
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Police had to collide with the small boat in order to take control of it.
WA Police Senior Sergeant Martin Hopkins said he believed Mr Jongedyk had been wearing a lifejacket did not know why the tinnie appeared to be damaged.
"We can't confirm if that's pre-existing or that's part of the water police vessel coming in to contact," he told reporters.
"I can't give you any circumstances or theories as to why he ended up in the water."
Senior Sargent Hopkins said the discovery was a "huge shock" to the experienced fisherman's family, who are "very upset".
Australian Medical Association WA Andrew Miller described his former colleague as a "gentle giant".
"He was able to put patients at ease and able to teach others how to do things the right way," he said.
"His love of the great outdoors was certainly a constant topic."
Cassie the dog has been returned to her family as police investigate what went wrong.
Ship stuck in Suez Canal overshadows excavator working to free it
Dredgers, tugboats and even an excavator failed to free a giant cargo ship wedged in Egypt's Suez Canal on Thursday as the number of stacked-up vessels unable to pass through the vital waterway climbed to 150 and losses to global shipping mounted.
The skyscraper-sized Ever Given, carrying cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground Tuesday in the narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula. Even with the aid of high tides, authorities have been unable to push the Panama-flagged container vessel aside, and they are looking for new ideas to free it.
In a sign of the turmoil the blockage has caused, the ship's Japanese owner even offered a written apology.
READ MORE: Massive container ship stuck still stuck in Suez Canal
"We are determined to keep on working hard to resolve this situation as soon as possible," Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. said.
"We would like to apologise to all parties affected by this incident, including the ships travelling and planning to travel through Suez Canal."
As efforts to free it resumed at daylight on Thursday, an Egyptian canal authority official said workers hoped to avoid offloading containers from the vessel as it would take days to do so and extend the closure.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorised to talk to journalists.
So far, dredgers have tried to clear silt around the massive ship. Tug boats nudged the vessel alongside it, trying to gain momentum.
From the shore, at least one excavator dug into the canal's sandy banks, suggesting the bow of the ship had ploughed into it.
However, satellite photos taken Thursday by Planet Labs and analysed by The Associated Press showed the vessel still stuck in the same location.
Lieutenant General Osama Rabei, the head of the canal authority, said navigation through the waterway would remain halted until the Ever Given was refloated.
A team from Boskalis, a Dutch firm specialized in salvaging, arrived at the canal on Thursday, although one of its top officials warned removing the vessel could take "days to weeks."
A team from the Boskalis subsidiary SMIT "spent the day doing inspections and doing calculations to assess the state of the vessel and a plan on how to refloat the vessel," spokesman Martijn Schuttevaer told the AP. He did not offer a time frame.
The Suez Canal Authority said one idea the team discussed was scraping the bottom of the canal around the ship.
Boskalis chairman Peter Berdowski on Wednesday described the ship as "a very heavy whale on the beach."
"The ship, with the weight it now has, can't really be pulled free. You can forget it," he told the Dutch current affairs program Nieuwsuur.
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the company that manages the Ever Given, said its 25-member crew was safe and accounted for. Shoei Kisen Kaisha said all the crew came from India.
The ship had two pilots from Egypt's canal authority aboard the vessel to guide it when the grounding happened about 7.45am on Tuesday, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement said.
Canal service provider Leth Agencies said at least 150 ships were waiting for the Ever Given to be cleared, including vessels near Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea, Port Suez on the Red Sea and those already stuck in the canal system on Egypt's Great Bitter Lake.
Cargo ships already behind the Ever Given in the canal would be reversed south back to Port Suez to free the channel, Leth Agencies said. Authorities hope to do the same to the Ever Given when they can free it.
Evergreen Marine Corp, a major Taiwfbaan-based shipping company that operates the ship, said the Ever Given had been overcome by strong winds as it entered the canal, something Egyptian officials earlier said as well.
High winds and a sandstorm plagued the area on Tuesday, gusting to 50 km/h.
READ MORE: Jammed container ship causes costly traffic jam in Suez Canal
An initial report suggested the ship suffered a power blackout before the incident, something Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement denied.
"Initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding," the company said.
In Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters the Suez Canal was part of a crucial international sea lane and the Japanese government was gathering information and working with local authorities.
The closure could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East, which rely on the canal to avoid sailing around Africa. The price of international benchmark Brent crude stood at more than $63 a barrel on Thursday.
Famed shipping journal Lloyd's List estimates each day the Suez Canal is closed disrupts over $9 billion worth of goods that should be passing through the waterway.
A quarter of all Suez Canal traffic a day came from container ships like the Ever Given, the journal said.
"Blocking something like the Suez Canal really sets in motion a number of dominos toppling each other over," said Lars Jensen, chief executive of Denmark-based SeaIntelligence Consulting.
"The effect is not only going to be the simple, immediate one with cargo being delayed over the next few weeks but will actually have repercussions several months down the line for the supply chain."
The Ever Given, built in 2018 with a length of nearly 400 metres and a width of 59 metres, is among the largest cargo ships in the world. It can carry some 20,000 containers at a time.
It previously had been at ports in China before heading toward Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Opened in 1869, the Suez Canal provides a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo. It also remains one of Egypt's top foreign currency earners.
In 2015, the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi completed a major expansion of the canal, allowing it to accommodate the world's largest vessels. However, the Ever Given ran aground south of that new portion of the canal.
The stranding on Tuesday marks just the latest to affect mariners amid the pandemic. Hundreds of thousands have been stuck aboard vessels due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, demands on shipping have increased, adding to the pressure on tired sailors.
'This man needs to stop': Coalition MP apologises after online abuse allegations
A Queensland Coalition MP has issued a shock public apology after being hauled before the Prime Minister over accusations of online abuse of two of his own constituents.
Member for Bowman Andrew Laming issued a pre-emptive apology in the House of Representatives just an hour before a major 9News investigation revealed the complaints from Alix Russo and Sheena Hewlett, both residents of his electorate on Brisbane's bayside.
"Today I was informed of the significant distress experienced by two of my constituents as a result of my online commentary with them," he said.
READ MORE: 'How did you not know?': Grimshaw grills Scott Morrison over claims he's 'doing everything I can'
"They are both highly regarded individuals within our Redland community.
" … I express my regret and deep apologies for the hurt and distress that that communication may have caused.
"Today in this House I want to retract those comments and issue an unreserved public apology."
It's understood Prime Minister Scott Morrison, prompted by questions from 9News, had hauled Mr Laming into his office and demanded he put an end to the behaviour.
Single mother Alix Russo accused Mr Lambing of slander and false allegations, including untrue claims she had misappropriated funds at a homeless charity she works for called Night Ninjas.
"You can't be trusted with other people's' (sic) money. That's why your organisation is drying up," he wrote on Facebook.
On another occasion: "Thankfully, they all left you and set up an alternative charity. Unfortunately for you, I make the rules and you follow them."
The charity, whose records are available on the charity regulator's website, prepares hampers for the homeless and less fortunate in the Redlands and has never been investigated for wrongdoing.
Ms Russo said the pressure and anxiety had left her contemplating suicide.
"I want to be alive. And I don't want to be attacked anymore," she told 9News.
Another constituent, Sheena Hewlett says she and her husband Lance, a local councillor, are living their lives in fear.
In addition to Facebook comments she objected to, Ms Hewlett told 9News Mr Laming rang her school and asked for her timetable.
On another occasion, she said he hid in bushes and took photos of her in the park, which she reported to police.
"This man needs to stop," she said.
"He cannot continue abusing his community like this."
Ms Hewlett said she had written to both Mr Morrison and former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull about her allegations but had not heard back.
But 9News understands questions put to Mr Morrison's office on Thursday had an immediate impact.
"I have made a concerted effort to understand the impact of these responses on others and to demonstrate a clear change in the way I communicate," Mr Laming said, in Parliament.
"I want to say to any person who has received correspondence from me which fell short of what they expect from an MP that I intend to own that failure and apologise without hesitation."
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.
Egypt: Giant Grounded Container Ship Keeps Canal Closed
ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) – A container ship blocking the Suez Canal like a “beached whale” sent new shockwaves through global trade on Thursday as officials stopped all ships entering the channel and the salvage company said it may take weeks to free.
The 400 m (430 yard) Ever Given, almost as long as the Empire State Building is high, is blocking transit in both directions through one of the world’s busiest shipping channels for oil and grain and other trade linking Asia and Europe.
The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said eight tugs were working to move the vessel, which got stuck diagonally across the single-lane southern stretch of the canal on Tuesday morning amid high winds and a dust storm.
“We can’t exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation,” Peter Berdowski, CEO of Dutch company Boskalis which is trying to free the ship, told the Dutch television programme “Nieuwsuur”.
Several dozen vessels, including other large container ships, tankers carrying oil and gas, and bulk vessels hauling grain have backed up at either end of the canal to create one of the worst shipping jams seen for years.
The SCA, which had allowed some vessels to enter the canal in the hope the blockage could be cleared, said it had temporarily suspended all traffic on Thursday.
Thirteen vessels that sailed south from Port Said in a convoy on Wednesday had dropped anchor in the Bitter Lakes waiting area until navigation could be resumed, it said.
Berdowski said the ship’s bow and stern had been lifted up against either side of the canal.
“It is like an enormous beached whale. It’s an enormous weight on the sand. We might have to work with a combination of reducing the weight by removing containers, oil and water from the ship, tug boats and dredging of sand.”
Ship-tracking data reveals a huge traffic jam of ships building on either side of the Ever Given: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ce/azgvodygepd/ShippingJamMarch25.png
Roughly 30% of the world’s shipping container volume transits through the 193 km (120 miles) Suez Canal daily, and about 12% of total global trade of all goods.
Shipping experts say that if the blockage is unlikely to be cleared in the coming days, some shipping firms may re-route vessels around the southern tip of Africa, which would add roughly a week to the journey.
Consultancy Wood Mackenzie said the biggest impact was on container shipping, but there were also a total of 16 laden crude and product oil tankers due to sail through the canal and now delayed by the incident.
The load of the tankers amounted to 870,000 tonnes of crude and 670,000 tonnes of clean oil products such as gasoline, naphtha and diesel, it said.
According to oil analytics firm Vortexa, Russia and Saudi Arabia are the top two exporters of oil through the canal, while India and China are the main importers.
Top importers of crude and products via Suez Canal: https://graphics.reuters.com/GLOBAL-OIL/nmovarbyopa/chart.png
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), the technical manager of Ever Given, said dredgers were working to clear sand and mud from around the blocked vessel while tugboats in conjunction with Ever Given’s winches work to shift it.
Marine services firm GAC issued a note to clients overnight saying efforts to free the vessel using tug boats continued, but that wind conditions and the sheer size of the vessel “were hindering the operation”.
Japanese shipowner Shoei Kisen apologised for the incident and said work on freeing the ship, which was heading to Europe from China, “has been extremely difficult” and it was not clear when the vessel would float again.
The ship’s GPS signal shows only minor changes to its position over the past 24 hours.
(Reporting by Yusri Mohamed in Isamilia, Gavin Maguire and Florence Tan in Singapore; additional reporting by Bart Meijer in Amsterdam and Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo; editing by Robert Birsel, Aidan Lewis and Philippa Fletcher)
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New EC$5 Polymer Banknotes Now in Federation
The new note will be issued to other banks operating in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union on a needs basis.
The ECCB launched its family of polymer notes in May 2019, with the new $50 note which features former Governor of the ECCB, the late Sir K Dwight Venner. The $100, $20 and $10 were issued subsequently based on stock levels at the commercial banks in the ECCB member countries.
The EC polymer notes are made from a thin, flexible and transparent plastic film. The notes are cleaner as they are more resistant to dirt and moisture; more secure as they are more difficult to counterfeit because polymer allows for the inclusion of advanced security features.
The notes are also stronger because they are much more durable than paper and are difficult to tear.
The EC polymer and paper notes are co-circulating. Therefore, in conducting business, persons may receive both the EC polymer and paper banknotes.
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TRAVEL ADVISORY EXTENDED FOR TRAVELLERS FROM BRAZIL, THE UNITED KINGDOM AND SOUTH AFRICA
Acting upon the advice of the Federal Ministry of Health, the Government of
St. Kitts and Nevis – through the National Covid-19 Task Force – hereby
advises that the travel advisory originally issued on February 7, 2021 has been
extended for an additional 30 days, and has been effective as of March 8, 2021.
This advisory is intended for travellers from Brazil, the United Kingdom (UK)
and South Africa.
The decision to extend the travel advisory comes as a result of the
Government’s interest in continuing to protect our borders and the health and
wellness of our citizens and residents in response to the three new variants of
the Covid-19 virus that have originated in Brazil, South Africa and the UK. The
UK variant of the virus had been identified in a number of CARICOM territories
by early February. This is continuing cause for concern for the Government of
St. Kitts and Nevis, particularly as this UK mutation of the original virus is
deemed to be far more transmissible and has a higher likelihood of death from
the symptoms of Covid-19.
In light of these developments the Federal Government of St. Kitts and Nevis
announces the following:
1) Travel advisories have now been extended for the United Kingdom (UK),
South Africa and Brazil.
2) Persons intending to travel from these aforementioned destinations are
again advised not to travel to St. Kitts and Nevis at this time. Moreover,
such persons are reminded that travel into the Federation is controlled
by the National Covid-19 Task Force and must be approved by the
Ministry of National Security, following the process stipulated on the
online platform www.knatravelform.kn.
3) The Federal Government again advises all citizens and legal residents
returning from any of the aforementioned countries will not be denied reentry into the Country but must also process their travel requests
through the online platform www.knatravelform.kn.
4) The travel advisories for the United Kingdom (UK), Brazil and South
Africa remain in effect for an additional 30 days, and commenced on
Monday, March 8, 2021.
The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is committed to keeping its citizens and
residents safe and well-informed as it continues to manage this ongoing global
public health emergency and minimize its impact on our people.
NATIONAL COVID-19 TASK FORCE
March 19th, 2021
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US: More Haitians Deported in Past 2 Months than All Last Year
There have been more ‘Title 42’ expulsions in the space of a few weeks than during an entire year of Trump’s administration, report says
Julian Borger in Washington
Guardian (UK) The Biden administration has so far deported more Haitians in a few weeks than the Trump administration did in a whole year, with the use of a highly controversial Trump-era public health order denying asylum seekers basic legal rights, according to a new report.
The report, The Invisible Wall, due to be published on Thursday by a coalition of immigrant rights groups, focuses on Title 42, part of the 1944 Public Health Service Act invoked a year ago by the Trump administration as grounds for summary expulsion of migrants because of the supposed health risk they posed during the Covid pandemic.
The Biden team has sought to place a moratorium on deportations of immigrants already in the country (though that moratorium has been blocked by a court order), but it has not stopped Title 42 expulsions of newly arrived migrants. The report found the pace of deportation flights to Haiti in particular had increased dramatically.
Biden charges Harris with stemming migrant numbers at US-Mexico border
“More Haitians have been removed to Haiti in the weeks since President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office than during all of fiscal year 2020,” according to the Invisible Wall report, published by the Haitian Bridge Alliance, the Quixote Center, and the UndocuBlack Network.
In part at least, the rise in expulsions mirrors an increase in arrivals of Haitians at the border, misled by rumours and deliberate disinformation from people smugglers, that the Biden administration had relaxed the regime at the border. Most of the new arrivals have been waiting in Mexico for months hoping for a change in the rules affecting Haitians. Some of the deportees may also have been held in detention centres in the US.
The department of homeland security did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. The new administration has said it will take time to repair the Trump-era degradation of infrastructure for holding immigrants pending asylum requests.
It has ended Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, (known formally as the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP) which required asylum seekers to stay south of the border while their cases were processed. The change applies to Latin American migrants, but reports from the border suggest that Haitian asylum seekers in Mexico heard about the change and hoped it would make it easier for them to ask for asylum.
“[T]he partial opening of the border has caused confusion and misinformation in Haitian communities stuck in Mexico under the Title 42 policy,” the report said.
“Marginalized and isolated in Mexico by race, culture and language, Haitian migrants generally do not understand that MPP does not apply to them. Often misled by misinformation within the community or false rumors from ‘coyotes’ [smugglers or guides], Haitian migrants optimistically hope with MPP they can now seek protection if they enter the United States outside of a port of entry.”
The new administration has sought to combat those perceptions in the hope of forestalling a wave of new immigration from Haiti. On Wednesday the US embassy in Port-au-Prince put out a message from Biden in Creole on its Twitter account, saying “Mwen ka di sa byen klé: pa vini” (“I can say quite clearly, don’t come over.”)
The report points out that the Title 42 policy was forced on a reluctant Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by the Trump White House, ordered by Vice President Mike Pence and driven by the hardline anti-immigrant presidential adviser at the time, Stephen Miller.
As the policy requires the deportees to be crammed together in detention centres and then deported on flights, the public health justification for Title 42 rings hollow, the report argues.
“As ICE’s [Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency] detention system became a massive Covid-19 hotspot in 2020, removals posed a significant danger due to the potential spread of the virus both within immigration detention facilities and to receiving countries like Haiti,” the Invisible Wall report states.
“Despite the danger, Ice failed to take adequate steps to prevent, treat or test for Covid-19,” it added.
In June 2020, Ice reported that only 30% of detainees had been tested for Covid-19, and, of those tested, about 30% tested positive for the virus.
Furthermore, even refugees who have been in quarantine and tested negative for Covid have still been expelled on the same health pretext.
Migrant advocacy groups argue Title 42 is a violation of US obligations under international law to offer asylum seekers due process. Those expelled under the policy are routinely denied access to a lawyer or the opportunity to claim a “credible fear” of what would happen to them in Haiti.
In theory they can request a screening under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), and make a credible fear claim to an immigration official. But unlike asylum seekers, they cannot have an attorney present, or appeal against the decision of the official.
“The CAT screenings appear to be a mere formality,” the report states. “In conversations with multiple attorneys, no one had heard of a single person detained under the Title 42 policy who had passed the CAT screening.”
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