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At least 42 killed in powerful Indonesia earthquake

A strong, shallow earthquake shook Indonesia's Sulawesi island just after midnight Friday, toppling homes and buildings, triggering landslides and killing at least 42 people.

More than 600 people were injured during the magnitude 6.2 quake, which sent people fleeing their homes in the darkness. Authorities were still collecting information about the full scale of casualties and damage in the affected areas.

There were reports of many people trapped in the rubble of collapsed homes and buildings.

In a video released by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, a girl stuck in the wreckage of a house cried out for help and said she heard the sound of other family members also trapped. "Please help me, it hurts," the girl told rescuers, who replied that they desperately wanted to help her.

The rescuers said an excavator was needed to save the girl and others trapped in collapsed buildings. Other images showed a severed bridge and damaged and flattened houses.

The earthquake damaged part of a hospital and patients were moved to an emergency tent outside. Rescuers struggled to extract seven patients and staff who were trapped under tons of rubble. After several hours, an excavator came to help and the rescuers eventually retrieved four survivors and three bodies.

Another video showed a father crying, asking for help to save his children buried under their toppled house. "They are trapped inside, please help," he cried.

Thousands of displaced people were evacuated to temporary shelters.

The quake was centred 36 kilometres south of West Sulawesi province's Mamuju district, at a depth of 18 kilometres, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The Indonesian disaster agency said the death toll climbed to 34 as rescuers in Mamuju retrieved 26 bodies trapped in the rubble of collapsed homes and buildings.

The agency said in a statement that eight people were killed and 637 others were injured in Mamuju's neighboring district of Majene.

It said at least 300 houses and a health clinic were damaged and about 15,000 people were being housed in temporary shelters in the district. Power and phones were down in many areas.

West Sulawesi Administration Secretary Muhammad Idris told TVOne that the governor's office building was among those that collapsed in Mamuju, the provincial capital, and many people there remain trapped.

Rescuer Saidar Rahmanjaya said a lack of heavy equipment was hampering the operation to clear the rubble from collapsed houses and buildings. He said his team was working to save 20 people trapped in eight buildings, including in the governor's office, a hospital and hotels.

https://twitter.com/USGS_Quakes/status/1349908547497168899?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"We are racing against time to rescue them," Rahmanjaya said.

Relatives wailed as they watched rescuers pull a body of a loved one from a damaged home in devastated Mamuju. It was placed in an orange body bag and taken away for burial.

"Oh my God, why did we have to go through this?" cried Rina, who uses one name. "I can't save my dear sister … forgive me, sister, forgive us, God!"

President Joko Widodo said in a televised address that he had ordered his social minister and the chiefs of the military, police and disaster agency to carry out emergency response measures and search and rescue operations as quickly as possible.

"I, on behalf of the Government and all Indonesian people, would like to express my deep condolences to families of the victims," Widodo said.

Two ships were heading to the affected areas from Makassar and Balikpapan carrying rescuers and search and rescue equipment, while a Hercules plane carrying supplies was on its way from Jakarta.

Among dead in Majene were three people killed when their homes were flattened by the quake while they were sleeping, said Sirajuddin, the district's disaster agency chief.

Sirajuddin, who goes by one name, said although the inland earthquake did not have the potential to cause a tsunami, people along coastal areas ran to higher ground in fear one might occur.

Landslides were set off in three locations and blocked a main road connecting Mamuju to the Majene district, said Raditya Jati, the disaster agency's spokesperson.

On Thursday, a magnitude 5.9 undersea quake hit the same region, damaging several homes but causing no apparent casualties.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 260 million people, is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

In 2018, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Palu on Sulawesi island set off a tsunami and caused soil to collapse in a phenomenon called liquefaction. More than 4,000 people died, many of the victims buried when whole neighborhoods were swallowed in the falling ground.

A powerful Indian Ocean quake and tsunami in 2004 killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia.

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Dutch government quits over welfare scandal

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his entire Cabinet resigned Friday to take political responsibility for a scandal involving investigations into child welfare payments that wrongly labelled thousands of parents as fraudsters.

In a nationally televised speech, Rutte said he had informed King Willem-Alexander of his decision and pledged that his government would continue work to compensate affected parents as quickly as possible and to battle the coronavirus.

"We are of one mind that if the whole system has failed, we all must take responsibility, and that has led to the conclusion that I have just offered the king, the resignation of the entire Cabinet," Rutte said.

Prime Minister Mark Rute, centre left, and Dutch King Willem-Alexander, centre, pose with the ministers for the official photo of the new Dutch government on the steps of Royal Palace Noordeinde in The Hague, Netherlands (Photo: October 2017)

Not long after delivering his statement, Rutte got on his bicycle and rode to the king's palace in a forest in The Hague to formally inform the king. Dutch television showed him parking his bike at the bottom of steps leading into the palace and walking inside.

The move was seen as largely symbolic; Rutte's government will remain in office in a caretaker mode until a new coalition is formed after a March 17 election in the Netherlands.

The resignation brings to an end a decade in office for Rutte, although his party is expected to win the election, putting him first in line to begin talks to form the next government. If he succeeds in forming a new coalition, Rutte would most likely again become prime minister.

Geert Wilders, leader of the largest opposition party in the Dutch parliament said it was the right decision for the government to quit.

"Innocent people have been criminalised, their lives destroyed and parliament was informed about it inaccurately and incompletely," he tweeted.

View of Binnenhof, the seat of the Dutch government in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021

The Netherlands is the third European country thrown into political uncertainty this week in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. In Estonia, the government resigned over a corruption scandal, while Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte's governing coalition is at risk of collapse after a small partner party withdrew its support.

Rutte said earlier this week that his government would be able to keep taking tough policy decisions in the battle against the coronavirus even if it were in caretaker mode.

The Netherlands is in a tough lockdown until at least February 9, and the government is considering imposing an overnight curfew amid fears about new, more contagious variants of the virus.

"To the Netherlands I say: Our struggle against the coronavirus will continue," Rutte said.

Jesse Klaver, the leader of one opposition party, told national broadcaster NOS he would continue to support the government in its coronavirus campaign.

On Thursday, the leader of the opposition Labor Party stepped down because he was minister of social affairs in a coalition led by Rutte when the country's tax office implemented a tough policy of tracking down fraud with child welfare.

A sitting minister, Eric Wiebes, who also was linked to the scandal, said Friday he was resigning with immediate effect and would not be part of the caretaker administration.

At Friday's Cabinet meeting, ministers decided their reaction to a scathing parliamentary report issued last month, titled "Unprecedented Injustice," that said the tax office policies violated "fundamental principles of the rule of law." The report also criticised the government for the way it provided information to parliament about the scandal.

Many wrongfully accused parents were plunged into debt when tax officials demanded repayment of payments. The government has in the past apologised for the tax office's methods and in March earmarked €500 million ($784 million) to compensate more than 20,000 parents.

In a written reaction, the government pledged to reform the welfare system as a result of the scandal and to quickly pay affected parents €30,000 ($47K) and expand existing compensation schemes.

"Everything is aimed at offering the parents and their children a new start in life," the government said.

One of the parents waited near parliament as the Cabinet met and said she wanted it to resign.

"It's important for me because it is the government acknowledging, 'We have made a mistake and we are taking responsibility,' because it's quite something what happened to us," Janet Ramesar told The Associated Press.

Rutte plans to lead his conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy into the March election, and polls suggest it will win the most seats. That would put Rutte, who has been in office for a decade at the head of three different coalitions, first in line to attempt to form the next ruling coalition.

But he said that it was up to voters at the election to decide on his future, noting that he took ultimate responsibility for failings within his government.

"The buck stops here," he said.

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Report US Capitol Rioters Wanted to Kill Members of Congress

Federal prosecutors offered the most chilling description yet of rioters who seized the Capitol last week, writing in a new court filing that the intention was “to capture and assassinate elected officials.”

The view was included in a memo seeking to keep Jacob Anthony Chansley, who rallied people inside the Capitol using a bullhorn, in detention. According to Capitol Police information included in the filing, Chansley was notable for his headdress, face paint and carrying of a six-foot spear.

Members of Congress fear for their lives and security after deadly riot, sources say

“Strong evidence, including Chansley’s own words and actions at the Capitol, supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States government,” government prosecutors wrote.

The allegations, written by Justice Department lawyers in Arizona, come as the government have begun describing in more alarming terms what transpired.

RELATED: Key arrests so far from the Capitol riot

In a separate case, prosecutors in Texas court alleged that a retired Air Force reservist who carried plastic zip tie-like restraints on the Senate floor may have intended to restrain lawmakers.

Chansley is due in federal court in Arizona on Friday for a detention hearing.

“He loved Trump, every word. He listened to him. He felt like he was answering the call of our president,” Chansley’s attorney Al Watkins, appearing on CNN Thursday night, said. ” My client wasn’t violent. He didn’t cross over any police lines. He didn’t assault anyone.” Watkins said Chansley also hopes for a presidential pardon.

Prosecutors describe those who took over the Capitol as “insurrectionists” and offer new details about Chansley’s role in the violent siege last week, including that after standing at the dais where Vice President Mike Pence had stood that morning, Chansley wrote a note saying “it’s only a matter of time, justice is coming.”

Chansley later told the FBI he did not mean the note as a threat but said the Vice President was a “child-trafficking traitor” and went on a long diatribe about Pence, Biden and other politicians as traitors.

Before he was arrested, Chansley told the FBI he wanted to return to Washington for the inauguration to protest.

Prosecutors accuse Chansley of being a flight risk who can quickly raise money through non-traditional means as “one of the leaders and mascots of QAnon, a group commonly referred to as a cult (which preaches debunked and fictitious anti-government conspiracy theory).”

They also said Chansley suffers from mental illness and is a regular drug user, according to prosecutors’ detention memo.

The post Report US Capitol Rioters Wanted to Kill Members of Congress appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

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Emirates suspends Australia flights

Emirates have confirmed the suspension of many of their international flights into and out of Australia.

The Dubai-based carrier announced flights to and from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne will stop "until further notice" citing "operational reasons".

Although, their twice-a-week services to Perth will remain in operation.

The airline has advised their last flights in and out of each city are as follows:

  • Dubai-Brisbane (EK430), January 16
  • Brisbane-Dubai (EK431), January 17
  • Dubai-Sydney (EK414), January 18
  • Sydney-Dubai (EK415), January 19
  • Dubai-Melbourne (EK408), January 19
  • Melbourne-Dubai (EK409), January 20

Emirates advises those with tickets to the affected destinations contact their travel agent or the airline.

"Customers holding tickets with final destinations Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will not be accepted for travel at their point of origin after the completion of the above flights," the airline said in a statement on their website.

"Emirates regrets any inconvenience caused. Affected customers should contact their travel agent or Emirates contact centre for rebooking options."

"Australia remains an important market for Emirates," a spokesperson for the airline told Executive Traveller.

"We continue to serve Perth with twice-weekly flights and we are working hard to prepare for resumption of services to our other points."

It adds further stress on the 37,000 Aussies stranded overseas and desperate to get home.

The Australian High Commission in the UK told followers on Twitter: "We are aware @emirates will, due to operational reasons, suspend flights to/from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne until further notice by Tuesday 19 January.

"We appreciate the disruption this will cause, further updates to follow as we have them."

https://twitter.com/AusHouseLondon/status/1350056381634629636?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

It comes as Australia's international arrival caps are slashed by almost half from today.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the changes following last week's National Cabinet meeting.

Mr Morrison said there will be reduced caps on international travellers entering Australia.These are as follows:

  • NSW – 1505 travellers a week
  • Western Australia – 512 travellers a week
  • Queensland – 500 travellers a week
  • Victoria – no change
  • South Australia – no change (currently 490)

"That will be reviewed now by 15 February, not under the arrangement we previously had, which was at the end of this month," the prime minister said.

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Passengers and crews are also now required to wear masks throughout all domestic flights and inside airports.

And from January 22, travellers will be required to show a negative COVID-19 test from no-more than the 72 hours prior to boarding.

While international air crews must undergo a COVID-19 test in Australia every seven days, and will have their own specialist quarantine location, and are not allowed to move around.