#parking shortage truckers

[artisticdivasworld]

Truck Parking Revisited

Every day all over the country, drivers are using their last hour of driving time to try to find a safe place to park their rig.. It’s no secret that the lack of truck parking out there is getting ridiculous. Every day, drivers have to resort to parking in an unsafe place or risk going over their allotted HOS—it’s dangerous for you, your cargo, and other drivers on the road. Some have to park on…

[djuvlipen]

In a new collective complaint to the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) against France, the ERRC and eight French NGOs assert that expedited procedures for the imposition of fixed fines on Travellers in France for "illegal halting in order to set up a home even temporarily" is blatantly discriminatory, further criminalises Travellers, and constitutes a violation of their fundamental human rights. 

This expedited procedure is discriminatory in specifically targeting a minority group, and repressive in allowing no room for discretion, and taking no account of individual circumstances. 

It also ignores the complete failure of national and local authorities since 2000, to provide adequate facilities for accommodation of Travellers, as stipulated in the Besson Act. Under this act, French districts with a population of 5000 or more are required to equip sites for Travellers with a minimum of one toilet and two showers per every five caravans, to assess the needs of Travellers in the areas of education, and social and economic assistance and implement programs as necessary, as well as to provide access to housing to Travellers wishing to stay in one area. 

Twenty-three years on, the French opt instead for more coercion. The collective complaint describes this fixed fine for illegal halting, which represents a further assault on the nomadic way of life, as “completing the legislative arsenal that contributes to the systemic discrimination of Travellers”. 

ECSR 2010: ‘Travellers have been victims of unjustified violence’ 

This new complaint to the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) follows on from an earlier ERRC submission, when France was condemned by the ECSR for its failure to provide effective access to housing for Travellers. In this case, the Committee found that France had violated the Revised Charter because eight years after the introduction of the Besson Law, only a minority of relevant municipalities had implemented it, leaving a shortage of halting spaces for Travellers in the country. 

The Committee also noted that many of the stopping sites did not meet the statutory requirements regarding regarding sanitation and access to water and electricity: 

“The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights observes that in some cases, sites are created outside urban areas or near to facilities which are major sources of nuisance (such as electrical transformers or very busy roads), making them difficult – if not dangerous – to use, particularly for families with young children.”

The Commissioner also observed that evictions are a particularly problematic issue, plunging families into a climate of fear, and often “involve brutal methods, tear gas and the destruction of personal property”. Following some evictions, the National Commission for Police Ethics (CNDS) has found that unjustified and disproportionate acts of violence were committed. The ECSR found that Travellers “have been victims of unjustified violence during these expulsions.”

In its conclusions, the Committee stated that France had not only failed to take account “failed to adopt a coordinated approach to promoting effective access to housing for persons who live or risk living in a situation of social exclusion” 

Gendarme: “There’s a new law, and President Macron has said that there should be fines".

One Traveller whose testimony is included in the submission, explained how gendarmes came one day to the parking lot where their caravans had been pitched for six years to move them on and impose fines. The gendarmes ignored the fact that the owners had given the Travellers verbal permission to be there in return for them keeping the area clean and tidying up truckers’ litter and waste. When they objected, the gendarmes threatened not just to fine two people, but to fine everybody including the children, and stated “There’s a new law, and President Macron has said that there should be fines".

The Travellers had no option but to move to an approved halting site, where he described the conditions as ‘indecent’   “There is no heating in the showers. The electrical outlets don't work. There are rats as big as my little dog. But we don't have a choice because if we move out of this field, we get fined. In the area there are not enough places for Travellers. For example, there is a transit site in a town nearby Fougères, but it is never open because it is always flooded. So maybe on paper everything is OK, but in reality, nothing is OK. 

Above all, we are told ‘why don't you go to such and such a town? You're Travellers, you just have to move!’ My children go to school here … My wife is under medical care here. We've been in the area for over thirty years. We are from this town and we want to stay here.”

Macron deliberately targets Travellers, and “saves a lot of time for many people”

Fixed fines, initially reserved for traffic offences, were created by a 2016 law to modernise justice in the 21st century, which put in place an exceptional procedure Amende Forfaitaire Délictuelle (AFD). That the AFD implemented since 19 October 2021 specifically reinforcing criminal sanctions against Travellers, was made clear by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, during his closing speech at the Beauvau Security Conference on 14 September 2021, where he declared that 

"We will save a lot of time for many people, we will lighten the procedure, but we will also make it possible to respond to unacceptable situations on the ground by having the same approach, by means of lump-sum criminal fines for the illegal occupation of land by Travellers." 

Compounding the racist targeting of Travellers, the complaint maintains that this procedure will affect the most vulnerable:  those who cannot find authorized land to settle on, who cannot buy land or who cannot access the so-called ‘reception areas’ on account of the prohibitive tariffs. Repeated fines and direct seizures of their assets, will consequently lead to further impoverishment and criminalisation. To avoid prison or poverty, those who cannot find a place on authorised land, will be forced to settle. 

These people will see their financial situation deteriorate as a result of fines to be paid and direct seizures on their bank accounts. The consequences will be the criminalization and massive impoverishment of the traveling population. To avoid bankruptcy or imprisonment, the only solution for those who cannot find authorized land will be to stop traveling. This procedure constitutes a direct attack on Travellers’ nomadic way of life, can only serve to increase hostility and oppression against an already stigmatised minority, and as such, is rotten to its core. 

[kaidatheghostdragon]

Do deliveries get treated like the case files? Business meetings? Taxes?

Lets see how much i can flex my knowledge of societal logistics.

America runs on a "just in time" delivery system where long-haul truckers are the backbone. If there are any truckers/postal workers that are from or regularly work with amity, maybe theyre immune, but AP grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, and anything else dependant on out-of-town shipping is gonna notice a sharp decline deliveries as various shipments are increasingly forgotton, and if refunds arent an automated service, they are gonna lose a lot of money as calls and meetings get ignored for being "unimportant, dont look here."

In fact, automation might actually be a saving grace here, as workers are just following shipment orders, which are largely a menial task. However, ANYTHING that falls through the cracks, whether a glitch in the system, a shipping mistake, etc, is gonna be a total loss for Amity as corrections require someone to follow up on a complaint that will be eternally ignored. Grocery stores and gas stations will be hit the hardest, most likely, as large shipments like that aren't automated for financial security reasons - its literally a person's job to manage stock and know what to order and when.

Amity is gonna have to quickly learn how to be self-sustaining, which would throw this idea into a deconstruction au starting at the end of that episode. There is a solution that occurred to me while writing this: a management business slash distribution center with 100% Amity Park employment, but stationed at a nearby town. All shipments, orders, and mail to AP is routed through that business, which falls outside of the perception filter, and they handle complications and shipping mistakes, and all shipping from the distribution center to AP homes and businesses are handled by AP truckers.

The extra hassle is gonna be a big incentive to become self-sustaining. An extra distribution center causes a lot of logistical problems. For one, it adds an extra day or two to shipping times, which decreases fresh food quality - goodbye bananas. (However, I learned recently that the midwest has a native fruit tree that grows something called pawpaw fruits, which allegedly taste like bananas.) Secondly, lots of things are regulated: medications, chemicals, etc, so specialized businesses dependant on specific regulated resources are gonna be a hassle and a half to keep stocked up. Even little things - like co2 canisters for the refillable whipped cream cans that restaurants use - you dont think about until its a problem. Labeling the AP distribution center as, well, a distribution center SHOULD solve most of those problems because its clear that its a transportation service and not like a laundering or trafficking scheme or something.

But building and setting up the distribution center will take months, which means Amity is going to suffer a chronic shortage of a lot of modern conveniences, both big and small, for that long.

And thats just the world of shipping.

Chain businesses that answer to a foreign HQ are gonna go under, as HQ continues to drop the ball on logistical needs of the AP branch.

Banks are gonna lose their federal insurance because someone on the outside keeps forgetting they exist. Their gonna struggle keeping fresh bills in circulation as they aren't receiving replacements.

Non local insurance policies can't be created, ended, or updated, as everyone in AP is left on hold indefinitely. Local insurance policies are the only option, and they are VERY aware of the constant property damage.

In fact, government funding for maintenance, roads, and relief grants are gonna stop coming in, which leaves Vlad, as the only local billionaire invested in Amity, as the only source of maintenance money. That is a massive power-play available for him, OR a great redemption arc if you prefer.

On the plus side, the IRS disappeared basically overnight, so the 20-30% (idk, just a guess) federal/state (does illinois have state tax?) tax revenue that Amity generates is now suddenly free to circulate internally - because whats the point in paying taxes if no one is enforcing it? - which will be a massive relief for all the other financial problems they're now suffering. If Amity doesnt already have a city tax, it would likely be downright necessary to install at this point, taking up the revenue that is no longer going to state/federal, in order to recapture the costs of maintainance which now fall solely on the town itself.

The slow climb of technology will stop as newer models of phones, cars, computers, etc, being brought in are hit or miss. This isn't a big issue if the ambiant ecto was already causing interference here. Between this and the sporadic gas/diesel shipments, the Fentons stand to make a lot of money off of ecto-powered tech to fill the void. An everyone knows au usually implies good Fentons, so they could be relied on to, in turn, use that income to continue to improve Amity and keep it circulating locally.

For utilities, I'm not entirely sure how local or regional they are for Illinois. If Amity is lucky enough to have a power plant, then electricity isn't an issue. The Fentons are also more than capable of busting out solar panels and industrial sized batteries, not to mention generators running on ambient ecto (which is a canon invention) if the city is starting to have brownouts from lack of maintainence/attention.

Water is the same - anything on local wells is safe, but if Amity is watered by the great lakes, there might be maintainence issues again. Again, I dont know illinois well enough to guess which is the case here. The biggest water usage is farmland, which literally measure how much food they can potentially grow by how much water they have access to, so infrastructure to keep the farms closest to Amity running will be the highest priority, especially if Amity has to become self-sustaining.

Internet and cell coverage are utilities, which will now fall on Amity Park to build and maintain locally. Again, the Fentons will probably have this handled. I'm not an expert at how cell towers work, but my understanding is that they're owned by the entity that built them, sometimes a big cell company, sometimes a smaller cell company, sometimes a local infrastructure business, and usage is either leased out to some/all the big companies, which means that the tower counts as part of their network, or they're charged per device that connects, which falls under roaming. Dont quote me on that. I might be entirely wrong! At any rate, AP will likely have cell service, its mostly a question of how expensive it is and whether or not its a money sink because cell companies keep forgetting to pay for using the towers, or at worst, whether or not amity's cell service is isolated from the rest of the world because its a constant hassle to maintain licenses and connection to the global network.

Internet, otoh, is black magic to me and i dont know how it would be affected. If it has to be run locally, maybe Amity decides to be one of those cities that sets itself up to have free wifi available anywhere within city limits, so the City of Amity Park is the only entity that has to deal with the hassle of maintainence with the outside world, and civilians and businesses just piggy back off of it.

I realized I haven't touched on emergency services yet. Amity might already have a local 911 dispatch because of rampant ghost attacks to separate them from nearby towns. If they dont, then 911 isn't gonna work if their phone service doesn't connect globally, and thats gonna have to be rectified quickly. I'd imagine Amity Park is large enough to have a handful of police and firefighter buildings, multiple emergency clinics, and at least one hospital. Local 911 dispatch without access to the outside world means no relying on neighbors when the local response teams are overextended, which is normal protocol. Amity will have to overcompensate with extra cops, firefighters, and emts or settle with having occasional "bad days." Probably the former, considering the constant ghost attacks.

The hospital probably isnt equipped to handle everything, as hospitals tend to specialize in one particular field of long-term recovery and trade patients with nearby hospitals to fit their long-term recovery needs after handling emergency first aid and diagnosis. They have to go a similar route as the dedicated AP distribution center, placing AP employees in the neighboring town hospitals to maintain inter-patient logistics and ordering resources through those hospitals instead of directly. If AP hospital has a specialty, its gonna be liminality care, and most of their resources regarding that can come from the Fentons or the ghost zone directly.

Speaking of the ghost zone, it can potentially provide a great deal of relief. Yes, the portal is what caused all of Amity's problems, but in an everyone knows au, it also represents a potential trade route. Allies like the yetis and dora's kingdom would be more than happy to provide relief, aid, supplies, and even a free workforce if danny just asked while Amity was in a bad way. At that point, Amity might be even more inclined to remained cut off from the rest of the world to protect their allies and trade agreements.

In summary, the reality guantlet episode could be what turns amity into a secret hidden liminal eldritch city.

Why doesn't the justice league know about Amity Park?

Okay so it's been a bit sonce I watched the show but one of the things in DpxDC is the anti-ecto acts, which I love, but correct me if I'm wrong, I THINK ??? they only show up in reality trip? SO: What if Danny, when using the gauntlet to undo everything, also got rid of the Anti-Ecto acts? but this is babys first time editing reality so he uh Fucks Up A Lil'. As a result when Danny used the reality gauntlet to wipe the AEA from existence he accidentally wiped Amity Park from perception. A big 'nothing matters over here' jedi mind trick, and now no ones looking at Amity. So, the Justice League actually WERE looking into and monitoring the situation in Amity, but when the perception filter closed them off, all of that suddenly went ignored.

This is noticed when someone (Alfred, Dick, Tim, literally anyone) realises theres just. A BIG dusty pile of case files semi abandoned somewhere in the cave when going through a (time period)ly cave cleaning.

They put it down because it's Not Important.

They come back to finish the cleaning the next day and do the exact same thing, but there's nothing to actually distract them this time and it pings as weird. Because why would case files be not important? They are by definition important, because only things flagged as important go into case files.

They try to get someone else to read it, because as long as they don't read the information in the file, they don't put it down.

That person goes to read it, gets a line in and then says something like 'that isn't important' and goes to leave. Person A pushes it and person B ALSO catches on.

Que the Batfam trying to figure out hey, what the fuck actually?

Meanwhile, how is Amity fairing? Canon compliant everything's going alright? Or have knock on effects to No One Look Here started to show?

[supplychaintechnology]

Survey: most Americans unaware that truckers face shortage of parking spaces

Research also finds support for government to boost funding to find solutions, CloudTrucks says.

[margindata]

Margin Reward: "Make road travelling more safer"

Start service to provide a range of essential services to motorists and truckers traveling along major highways in the country. Our focus will be on providing a clean, safe, and convenient experience for all travelers, offering amenities such as food, fuel, restrooms, and parking. Our research indicates that there is currently a shortage of high-quality rest area services along major highways,…

[pancakeke]

as industries push to use teenagers to fill gaps due to "labor shortages" (not real btw) please understand that full grown adults have an obscenely difficult time fighting for their legal rights in the workplace. if it's this easy for employers to abuse the people most capable of defending themselves, what do you think is going to happen to teens in the workplace?

I bring this up due to these 2 articles:

Also:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/trucker-pilot-program/2020/12/30/9ea50a18-4099-11eb-8db8-395dedaaa036_story.html

[dejufuniverse]

Macron heeft de oorlog verklaard aan het Franse volk....

YOU NEED TO READ THIS TO PREPARE FOR WHAT'S COMING

From France 🇫🇷 (Copied from a friend)

📢⚠️

UPDATE:

Here in France it has gone to the extreme with the "Health" Pass. Last week on the 21st ALL restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and any leisure activities like sporting events, theaters, cinemas, museums, were closed to anyone without "the pass" and all staff at these places are mandated to get the jab to keep their job.

It is now a 6 Month prison sentence if you are caught inside any of these places without the pass (the man who slapped the president in the face got only 3 months prison time). Business owners will get a fine of 45,000 euros and 1 year prison sentance if they do not comply with the use of "the pass" and force all their employees to get the jab. (If you know France, you can commit murder and have less of a sentence)

So the result? All the low paid employees quit, they can make more on welfare here. (for now) We can still technically "get take out food" but I just tried last night and every restaurant in our town (that is dine in with take out) has closed their doors due to the lack of staff.

As of last week ALL doctors, nurses and health industry workers have been mandated to get the jab or lose their license, practice, job, business etc. (ALL health care here is Govt paid positions and there are no private health care Doctors or Hospitals etc.)

Since the Health care system is state run and funded, it has been run into the ground. All the good doctors left France 5 Years ago, all the hospitals look like they are 3rd world hospitals since there is no money to repair them, half of the equipment doesnt work and not every hospital is stocked with supplies needed for daily needs (masks, gels, disposable gowns etc).

For 5 years Nurses have been understaffed and doing double the work because the Health care system is nearly bankrupt.... So add to this the mandatory jab.

So the result? Well they took to the streets by the millions and now all the hospitals just lost another 50% of staff capacity. My doctor just went into early retirement (a.k.a. he quit) and I have yet to find a replacement.

As of Aug 1st ALL large malls, retail stores and grocery store owners and their staff need to be jabbed and the health pass is required to enter for employees and customers. This would be the equivalent to closing ALL Targets, Walmarts, Costcos, Home Depots, and all major grocery stores. (basically any building over 20,000 squre meters) to those without "the pass".

Result.?? Aug 15th Truckers will be going on strike nation wide; Blocking all access roads in and out of Paris.

Yesterday an entire airport in Northern France closed due to the majority of staff quitting.

As of Sept 15th All public areas and access will be off limits. No farmers markets, no parks, no national parks, lakes, rivers, beaches, recreation areas, campsites etc. and no gathering over 100 people, no churches, no weddings, etc.

As of Oct 1st ALL small vendors such as, delis, pizza trucks, sandwich shops, butchers, bakers, vegatable stands etc.

So as of Oct 1st I will only be able to purchase food by internet and pick up (if allowed).

Food shortages, Truckers strike, hospitals and airports shutting down unemployment going through the roof. Its going to be a bumpy ride folks.

Is it me or does all this seem a bit extreme for a "pass" that isn't exactly working?

America Canada England Australia New Zealand you’d better wake up.

[glofeauto2021]

Top 5 Peeves By Truckers On The Road

Article Source:Trucking has gained a romanticized image in popular media, from Hollywood movies to Youtube videos. Truck drivers are often portrayed as outcasts that are getting paid lots of cash to live a lonely life driving their big rigs across endless stretches of highways. But while this idyllic view of trucking has some grain of truth, the reality is that it is a grueling job that requires lots of teamwork, diligence, and focus.

Because they drive the biggest vehicles on the road and the fact that they are the driving force in a highly competitive freight sector, truckers are always under constant stress from many sources. So it’s no surprise that the trucking industry is chronically short of experienced drivers, who prefer to live a more peaceful life closer to home.

So what are these common peeves that truckers experience? We’ve asked around and listed down these top five most complained about problems in the trucking field:

5. Rude or aggressive drivers

Most motorists don’t know how difficult it is for truckers to maneuver their vehicles through traffic. Given the size and position of the driver on the cab, they have a difficult time adjusting to smaller cars that suddenly appear in front of the vehicle, especially when they start to slow down. Surprise lane changes are also a headache, as drivers have to make an exceptional effort to steer tractor-trailers weighing upwards of 80,000 lbs to avoid an accident.

4. Delays at customer facilities

If you’ve been driving long enough, you’ve probably endured hours of waiting at the shipper or receiver. Some drivers have even reported delays of six hours or more. This, of course, has a serious impact on the driver’s bottom line, using up their service hours waiting at the loading docks. Also, even if the driver is compensated for the time lost due to delays, being held up for a significant amount of time can make it difficult to find parking and allocate time to eat, shower, or rest properly in order to meet their timetable.

3. Lack of parking spots

One daily worry of drivers around the world is finding a safe and secure place to park. It’s an unspoken rule for truckers around the US that if they’re not at the rest area or truck stop by 10 p.m., it would be next to impossible to find a free parking space. Some cities also limit where drivers can park, forcing them to place hazard triangles and park in an undesignated area where they’ll be more vulnerable to crime.

Another downside of the chronic parking shortage around the US is that drivers are forced to allocate time to prepare or even drive earlier in order to beat the rush, eating away at what’s supposed to be their free time. Some truck stops have also begun to offer reservations on parking spots, which, while practical, also means an additional expense, especially for owners/operators.

2. Hours of service

Drivers have also pushed for rescinding the 30-minute mandatory break after their first eight hours of driving. Enforced in 2013 by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the rest break, combined with the split-sleeper berth provision for trucks, is meant to alleviate stress around Hours of Service (HoS) requirements. However, drivers note that because the break is mandatory, there are instances where they will be forced to rest even when they are not tired and still fully capable of driving. Some also point out that 30 minutes is also inadequate to become fully rested to work and that the constant stress of trying to comply with the strict schedule may lead to more health woes than alleviate them.

Thankfully, because of the concerns from the industry, regulators have since made the mandatory break more flexible to the needs of the driver. Originally, drivers were only able to split their time into 8- and 2-hour time periods. Now, they have the option to split their off-duty time into 7 and 3 hours, which in turn do not count against a driver’s 14-hour driving allotment. This allows more leeway for drivers to get enough rest when they need it and avoid congested parking areas to meet their scheduled breaks.

1. ELDs

Arguably the most frequent complaint made by truck drivers is the Electric Logging Devices or ELDs. Introduced in 2015, ELDs have become the mandatory method for drivers and carriers to document compliance with HoS requirements. But while ELDs were designed to streamline HoS compliance, drivers have criticized these devices for supposedly limiting their driving time and cutting their earnings as a result. In addition, because the ELDs are constantly monitoring the truck, concerns have also been brought up. It has even resulted in drivers deciding to shift to other careers rather than comply with the new regulations.

As the list has revealed, the problems truck drivers often face involve road safety, accountability, and compliance with the myriad of regulations governing the industry. While some of these are being addressed and even declining in severity, they remain a concern for both drivers and carriers alike.

Article Source:https://www.glofeauto.com/top-5-peeves-by-truckers-on-the-road/

[artisticdivasworld]

2024 Trucking Year in Review: Challenges, Victories, and the Road Ahead

This past year has been a whirlwind of news in the trucking industry, from regulatory shifts to technological advancements and economic challenges. Let’s take a step back and look at some of the major stories that shaped 2024 for truckers and trucking companies alike. One of the most talked-about developments this year was the ongoing push for stricter emissions regulations. The Environmental…

[newstfionline]

Monday, September 27, 2021

COVID-19 vaccine boosters could mean billions for drugmakers (AP) Billions more in profits are at stake for some vaccine makers as the U.S. moves toward dispensing COVID-19 booster shots to shore up Americans’ protection against the virus. How much the manufacturers stand to gain depends on how big the rollout proves to be. No one knows yet how many people will get the extra shots. But Morningstar analyst Karen Andersen expects boosters alone to bring in about $26 billion in global sales next year for Pfizer and BioNTech and around $14 billion for Moderna if they are endorsed for nearly all Americans.

So close! Iceland almost gets female-majority parliament (AP) Iceland briefly celebrated electing a female-majority parliament Sunday, before a recount produced a result just short of that landmark for gender parity in the North Atlantic island nation. The initial vote count had female candidates winning 33 seats in Iceland’s 63-seat parliament, the Althing. Hours later, a recount in western Iceland changed the outcome, leaving female candidates with 30 seats. Still, at almost 48% of the total, that is the highest percentage for women lawmakers in Europe. Only a handful of countries, none of them in Europe, have a majority of female lawmakers. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Rwanda leads the world with women making up 61% of its Chamber of Deputies, with Cuba, Nicaragua and Mexico narrowly over the 50% mark. Worldwide, the organization says just over a quarter of legislators are women.

Copenhagen’s hippie, psychedelic oasis Christiania turns 50 (AP) After a half-century, the “flower-power” aura of Copenhagen’s semi-autonomous Christiania neighborhood hasn’t yet wilted. “It has become more and more an established part of Copenhagen,” said Ole Lykke, a resident of 42 years at the enclave near downtown Copenhagen. “The philosophy of community and common property still exists. Out here we do things in common.” It all started as a stunt 50 years ago, when a small counterculture newspaper that needed an outrageous story for its front page staged an “invasion” of an abandoned 18-century naval base. Six friends with air rifles and a picnic basket entered the former military facility base, proclaimed it a “free state” on Sept. 26, 1971, took some photos and went home. The paper ran the story, urging young people to take the city bus and squat the barracks. Hippies flocked to what they dubbed Christiania—no one remembers why they picked that name—that evolved into a counterculture, freewheeling oasis with psychedelic-colored buildings, free marijuana, limited government influence, no cars and no police. In 1973, it was recognized as a “social experiment.” After more than four decades of locking horns with authorities, Christiania’s future was secured in 2012 when the state sold the 84-acre (24-hectare) enclave for 85.4 million kroner ($13.5 million) to a foundation owned by its inhabitants. The residents—nearly 700 adults and about 150 children—now rent their homes from the foundation and are financially responsible for all repair and maintenance work to the roughly 240 buildings.

UK gas stations run dry as trucker shortage sparks hoarding (AP) Thousands of British gas stations ran dry Sunday, an industry group said, as motorists scrambled to fill up amid a supply disruption due to a shortage of truck drivers. The Petrol Retailers Association, which represents almost 5,500 independent outlets, said about two-thirds of its members were reporting that they had sold out their fuel, with the rest “partly dry and running out soon.” Association chairman Brian Madderson said the shortages were the result of “panic buying, pure and simple.” “There is plenty of fuel in this country, but it is in the wrong place for the motorists,” he told the BBC. “It is still in the terminals and the refineries.” Long lines of vehicles formed at many gas stations over the weekend, and tempers frayed as some drivers waited for hours.

U.K.’s Migrant Boat Dispute Has Eyes Fixed on the Channel (NYT) Using high-powered binoculars and a telescope, three volunteers from a humanitarian monitoring group stood on the Kent coast, peering across the English Channel. The looming clock tower of the French town of Calais was visible on this clear morning, but so was the distinctive outline of a small rubber dinghy. The volunteer group, Channel Rescue, was set up last year to watch for the boats packed with asylum seekers trying to cross this busy waterway, to offer them humanitarian support—like water and foil blankets—when they land on beaches, or to spot those in distress. But they are also monitoring Britain’s border authority for any possible rights violations as the government takes an increasingly hard line on migration. For much of the year, the numbers of migrants crossing the channel in dinghies has risen, brewing a political storm in London and leading Home Secretary Priti Patel to authorize tough tactics to push boats back toward France. The authorization—not yet put into effect—has stirred anew the national debate over immigration and created a further diplomatic spat between Britain and France, whose relations were already strained after Brexit over issues including both fishing rights and global strategic interests.

German elections (AP) Germany is embarking on a potentially lengthy search for its next government after the center-left Social Democrats narrowly beat outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right bloc in an election that failed to set a clear direction for Europe’s biggest economy under a new leader. Leaders of the parties in the newly elected parliament were meeting Monday to digest a result that saw Merkel’s Union bloc slump to its worst-ever result in a national election, and appeared to put the keys to power in the hands of two opposition parties. Both Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, who pulled his party out of a years-long slump, and Armin Laschet, the candidate of Merkel’s party who saw his party’s fortunes decline in a troubled campaign, laid a claim to leading the next government. Scholz is the outgoing vice chancellor and finance minister and Laschet is the governor of Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia. Whichever of them becomes chancellor will do so with his party having won a smaller share of the vote than any of his predecessors.

Basta! Romans say enough to invasion of wild boars in city (AP) Rome has been invaded by Gauls, Visigoths and vandals over the centuries, but the Eternal City is now grappling with a rampaging force of an entirely different sort: rubbish-seeking wild boars. Entire families of wild boars have become a daily sight in Rome, as groups of 10-30 beasts young and old emerge from the vast parks surrounding the city to trot down traffic-clogged streets in search of food in Rome’s notoriously overflowing rubbish bins. Posting wild boar videos on social media has become something of a sport as exasperated Romans capture the scavengers marching past their stores, strollers or playgrounds. Italy’s main agriculture lobby, Coldiretti, estimates there are over 2 million wild boars in Italy. The region of Lazio surrounding Rome estimates there are 5,000-6,000 of them in city parks, a few hundred of which regularly abandon the trees and green for urban asphalt and trash bins. In Italy’s rural areas, hunting wild boar is a popular sport and most Italians can offer a long list of their favorite wild boar dishes. Those beliefs are not shared by some urban residents.

Taiwan says China is a ‘bully’ after one of the largest PLA warplane incursions yet (CNN) Taiwan on Thursday accused China of “bullying” after Beijing sent a total of 24 warplanes into its air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the third-largest incursion in the past two years of heightened tensions between Beijing and Taipei. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including bombers, fighter jets, anti-submarine planes and airborne early warning and control planes, entered Taiwan’s ADIZ in two groups—one of 19 planes and a second cohort of five jets that came later in the day. The air incursions came a day after Taiwan officially submitted an application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) free-trade pact. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs signaled its strong opposition to Taiwan’s application. “We firmly oppose official exchanges between any country and the Taiwan region, and firmly oppose Taiwan’s accession to any agreement or organization of an official nature,” ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.

Taliban hang body in public; signal return to past tactics (AP) The Taliban hanged a dead body from a crane parked in a city square in Afghanistan on Saturday in a gruesome display that signaled the hard-line movement’s return to some of its brutal tactics of the past. Taliban officials initially brought four bodies to the central square in the western city of Herat, then moved three of them to other parts of the city for public display, said Wazir Ahmad Seddiqi, who runs a pharmacy on the edge of the square. Taliban officials announced that the four were caught taking part in a kidnapping earlier Saturday and were killed by police, Seddiqi said. Since the Taliban overran Kabul on Aug. 15 and seized control of the country, Afghans and the world have been watching to see whether they will re-create their harsh rule of the late 1990s, which included public stonings and limb amputations of alleged criminals, some of which took place in front of large crowds at a stadium.

UN and Afghanistan’s Taliban, figuring out how to interact (AP) It’s been little more than a month since Kalashnikov-toting Taliban fighters in their signature heavy beards, hightop sneakers and shalwar kameezes descended on the Afghan capital and cemented their takeover. Now they’re vying for a seat in the club of nations and seeking what no country has given them as they attempt to govern for a second time: international recognition of their rule. The Taliban wrote to the United Nations requesting to address the U.N. General Assembly meeting of leaders that is underway in New York. They argue they have all the requirements needed for recognition of a government. The U.N. has effectively responded to the Taliban’s request by signaling: Not so fast. Afghanistan, which joined the U.N. in 1946 as an early member state, is scheduled to speak last at the General Assembly leaders’ session on Monday. With no meeting yet held by the U.N. committee that decides challenges to credentials, it appears almost certain that Afghanistan’s current ambassador will give the address this year—or that no one will at all. The U.N. can withhold or bestow formal acknowledgement on the Taliban, and use this as crucial leverage to exact assurances on human rights, girls’ access to education and political concessions.

[wisedreamerobservation]

The History of Truckers Delivering During Hard Times

With the aftermath of Hurricane Ida present in the south and eastern parts of the United States, tractor-trailers full of supplies made the drive all around the country, especially Louisiana, to help out in relief efforts. This was yet another reminder and example of how when times get tough, truckers come through to aid heavily in efforts to stay strong together. It’s the pinnacle of the heart of the American backbone in major events that shaped the country we know today. Our semi-truck repair Michigan professionals discussed times where truckers have shined and why it is important to recognize them next week for National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. 

With COVID-19, truckers were ready at a moment’s notice to complete long trips that provided food, fuel, and medical supplies that kept businesses and citizens protected throughout the peak of the pandemic. As more rollouts of treatments came about, truckers adapted and formulated complex operational changes to allow for everyone to receive these rollouts in a timely manner. 

During war times, America’s truck fleet was completely shifted to carry supplies for our soldiers at home and overseas. Machinery parts, weapons, uniforms, and rations were all able to move freely throughout the country for whoever needed the supplies the most. These kinds of sacrifices and strength exhibited by truckers are seen throughout many parts of the country which makes it so special to the world. 

These examples are not the only examples, but unique ones in the scale and severity of the after-effects. These should remind everyone how grateful we should be for having a strong transportation industry.  There are a lot of industries to be upset with currently which takes away from the ones that should be celebrated. Let this upcoming week be used for that. 

This year’s National Truck Driver Appreciation Week is more important than previous due to the public outcry of our trucking companies regarding retention and resilience. The national driver shortage is putting greater pressure on our current workforce without the support of other entities like policymakers, fellow motorists, shippers, and so forth. Our truckers never backed down from hard times, so we have to be there while they are going through it. 

Rather than just saying thanks, there are things we can do to show thanks as well. As business owners or employees, there are a few ways to show our gratitude towards truckers. First, truckers face the stress of parking the rig if they want to stop somewhere. Many policymakers are trying to flat out outlaw this in certain areas, which adds much more stress to their job. Before receiving a delivery, try to make the process as smooth as possible whether you need to inform them where to park or help guide the trucker into your store. Trucker arrivals and departures should be treated with safety and speed to allow them to get home in a timely manner. Another point is to be mindful of when they come into your place of business. A lot of drivers face long hours which result in very few breaks. It is important to offer your services to them such as bathrooms or rooms without giving them a hard time. These kinds of services are basic needs in some cases or areas where they could really use some slack. 

We hope this helps!

[orbemnews]

Gas prices are at a 7-year high, just in time for Memorial Day This time, the squeeze could be triggered by the lack of tank truck drivers to deliver the fuel, and a repeat of panic buying by travelers topping off their tanks. “I think we have to worry about prices, supply and crowd behavior,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for the Oil Price Information Service, which tracks gas prices for AAA. First the prices: The nationwide average cost for a gallon of regular gas is now $3.04, according to AAA, essentially matching the seven-year high set earlier this month, and up 58% from a year ago. Last year, stay-at-home orders early in the pandemic caused oil and gas prices to crash, taking the average per gallon price below $2. But even when compared to Memorial Day of 2019, prices are still up 7%. Higher oil prices brought on by a pickup in economic activity and subsequent demand for fuel is driving the increase. The start of the summer driving season this weekend will also boost demand and add further pressure to prices, as will the annual requirement that gas stations switch over to the more expensive “summer blend” designed to cut down on seasonal smog. But prices vary greatly at the roughly 150,000 stations nationwide, due in part to varying taxes and fees, and partly due to the supply of fuel from refineries in specific regions. Only one third of US stations are selling gas for more than $3 a gallon, but the areas where prices are even higher are lifting the national average. Even so, the most common price nationwide is just one tenth of a cent below $3. For example: virtually every station in California is selling gas for $3.75 or more, with an average price for regular at a national high of $4.17. Meanwhile Louisiana and Mississippi are at a national-low average of $2.72 a gallon, with almost no stations in either state charging $3. A repeat of shortages? High prices notwithstanding, a potential supply shortage of gas looms as perhaps the more serious problem this summer. A preview of what that could look like came earlier this month when the Colonial Pipeline, a major artery delivering fuel from Gulf Coast refineries to the East Coast, was shutdown for about a week due to a cyber attack, prompting widespread outages at stations in many states. But experts aren’t worried as much about another malicious hack as they are about a critical shortage of truckers qualified to drive the tankers that deliver gas to stations. An estimated 20% to 25% of tanker trucks are currently parked due to a lack of drivers, according to National Tank Truck Carriers, the industry’s trade group. But even before the pandemic, there was a driver shortage as the industry lost a number of them during the economic slowdown that caused the demand for gas to plunge. The supply shortage might initially hit only a few small, independent stations. But the worry is that even a handful of stations running dry could spark panic buying, particularly in beach communities and other vacation hot spots. After all, nervous drivers topping off their tanks was just as significant a cause of the recent shortage as was the Colonial shutdown, Kloza said. And fresh memories of that shortage only make that kind of panic buying more likely, he added. “I think the propensity for panic among the population is much, much higher than it has been,” Kloza said. Source link Orbem News #7year #Business #Day #Gas #Gaspricesareata7-yearhigh #high #justintimeforMemorialDay-CNN #memorial #Prices #Time

[market-research-updates]

Intermodal Freight Transportation Market Report and Future Opportunity Assessment, Size, Share Forecast to 2025

The Intermodal Freight Transportation Market is expected to register a CAGR of 8.27% over the forecast period from 2020 to 2025. As companies evaluate new ways to reduce freight costs and their carbon footprint, alternative transportation mode options should be considered when moving long freight distances. While trucking remains the most dominant mode of shipping products domestically, intermodal freight transport offers freight savings and reduced emissions, especially when transporting products over distances of 500 miles or more. Optimizing each transport method's relative strengths and efficiencies, intermodal can help reduce cargo handling, damage, and loss, enabling freight to be transported more securely and at lower overall costs. - According to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals State of Logistics Report, transportation comprises 66% of total logistics costs. Failing to proactively manage the transportation network can cause these costs to rise as trucking challenges such as driver shortages and productivity-hampering trucking regulations constrict capacity in the years ahead. If the organization seeks to minimize supply chain disruption, mitigate supply risk, and lower transportation costs, intermodal can be a powerful solution. Adding intermodal into the transportation mix delivers tangible cost savings. Incorporating multiple modes of transportation into the carrier base reduces reliance on a single source of capacity. Supply chain leaders who use multimodal freight moves could realize short and long-term benefits by leveraging each mode of transportation's strengths.

Click Here to Download Sample Report >>  https://www.sdki.jp/sample-request-90617 - Moreover, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that using intermodal transport for shipments over 1,000 miles can cut fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 65%, relative to truck transport alone. A truck that can transport 40,000 lbs from Los Angeles to Boston produces approximately 4.35 tons of carbon emissions. The same 40,000 pounds, which could be shipped via intermodal rail, produces 1.75 tons of carbon emissions, significantly less. Intermodal transportation can effectively help reduce a company's carbon footprint. The EPA estimates that every ton-mile of freight moves by rail instead of highway can reduce greenhouse emissions by two-thirds. This is essential as companies are continually working to reduce their carbon footprint to comply with environmental regulations and meet their own corporate sustainability goals. - Extensive intermodal rail facilities are challenged by high truck volume and often serve the trucks in the order they arrive at a crane, which is not optimal. Efficiencies can be gained by calling the trucks to the crane to match the containers' stacking order rather than shuffling boxes to serve the trucks on a first-come, first-served basis. This makes the trucker with transactions to significantly reduce the need to contact the terminal, helping terminals capture billable processes and events. Items such as checking whether a waybill is in place well before a trucker's arrival at the gate could be managed with the help of a mobile software application. This capability could help drivers perform advanced check-in and check-out, complete service requests confirm unit locations, and receive parking location updates from a mobile phone. - The market is witnessing significant mergers and acquisitions by multiple companies to increase their presence. In February 2020, Elemica, a digital supply network provider for various industries, has acquired Eyefreight, a provider of multimodal SaaS Transportation Management Solutions. The combination is expected to create a unified global logistics and supply chain network. Together, the clients could take advantage of Elemica's comprehensive end to end supply chain network while providing it's clients the ability to incorporate transportation management capabilities to their supply chain. These capabilities will leverage a connected network of carriers and logistics service providers for multimodal visibility and business intelligence. - In January 2020, Transplace, a provider of logistics technology solutions and transportation management services, has acquired Lanehub, a cloud-based platform, and community that encourages shipper-carrier collaboration by automatically identifying and connecting companies with parallel freight lanes to save on shipping expenses. The software is capable of matching recurring freight lanes consistently, increasing fleet revenue, reducing transportation costs, and improving overall carrier service and performance. Lanehub's collaboration network currently includes over 150 shipper members, 250 carrier members, 180,000 lanes, and over USD 23 billion in truckload spend. Lanehub customers have over 26 million matches within Lanehub's network.

Key Market Trends Rail and Road Transport is Expected to Hold Significant Share - Intermodal transportation provides predictable and reliable shipment of freight, and it’s available at a compelling price and could be integrated into existing freight transportation systems. The United States rail industry accounts for more than 40 tons of freight per capita, and intermodal shipments usually take place in 53-foot-long containers. One intermodal train can move the same amount of freight as 280 trucks, according to an estimate by railroad CSX. Shippers, in general, are considering multiple factors when looking to use intermodal transportation, such as inefficiencies related to railroad conversions to precision scheduled railroading (PSR), the availability of shipping equipment, load pricing, and the ongoing truck driver shortage. - While demand has increased for a more efficient and faster shipment of goods, the rail industry has worked to improve operations by implementing precision scheduled railroading. PSR regards the shipment of the same amount of freight with fewer railcars and locomotives, using a planned direct line for shipments across a rail network. Conventional trains move freight when full, but under PSR, trains begin to move at a set time whether the freight is there. PSR's goal is to enable faster speeds, longer trains, and less dwell time in terminals. However, as the rail industry has moved to PSR, it’s impacted existing shipping lanes and led to a reduction in equipment and staff. - Rail carriers in the United States and neighboring countries have worked to upgrade equipment, improve shipping schedules, reduce loading and unloading times, and increase the number of lanes to support multiple delivery locations. The United States intermodal rail system extends throughout the United States, touching every major port with some coast-to-coast service offerings faster than the truck. Mexico has an excellent rail system extending across most of the country, with well-established rail connections at the Unites States border. Canada has two major railroads that run coast-to-coast: the Canadian National Railway (CN) and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). - Technology and intermodal rail are helping shippers to meet the challenges of the transportation environment. CSX Transportation operates over a network of over 40 terminals. The intermodal business serves across significant markets east of the Mississippi and the transportation of goods in multiple containers, providing companies with service similar to trucking for shipments moving over 500 miles. CSX CSX Transportation surveyed transportation management system providers to gain insight into transportation through intermodal rail. Intermodal rails are more focused on cost savings and capacity. Adding a transportation management system, beginning a multimodal conversion journey, or gaining the best use of both will advance shipper objectives. - The international and domestic intermodal sector has not entered the restart phase in terms of returning to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, failing to exhibit the same bounce back seen in trucking, and railroads may not see a full recovery until some point in 2021. Shippers will be slower to return to rail because discretionary spending and industrial production will take a while to recover, and truckload rates will be very competitive. Intermodal volume had fallen between 10 and 20% below the five-year average in each week of the second quarter of 2020, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR), reaching its low point in mid-March, when the volume was down 18% from the same week over the last five years. According to AAR, the intermodal volume has declined 15% in the first nine weeks of the second quarter and 11% in 2020 through the end of May. North America is Expected to Hold Significant Share - The intermodal freight transportation market in the North American region is increasingly dependent on the consumer economy's demand. The rail industry in the region is concentrating on creating new intermodal services that can successfully rival the over the road options. In August 2019, Canadian National Railway (CN) and CSX Transportation announced a new intermodal service offering between CN's greater Montreal and Southern Ontario areas, and the CSX-served ports of New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and the New York City metropolitan area. This intermodal offering is expected to convert long-haul trucks to interline various rail services. Trains will be able to run directly into the center of Toronto and Montreal's urban markets via CN intermodal yards, making this partnership a natural opportunity for both railroads. - In North America, total intermodal volumes decreased 7.4% in the last quarter of 2019, comparing year-on-year with 2018, according to the Intermodal Association of North America. Domestic containers decreased by 2.7%, international shipments, and trailers decreased by 9.1% and 21.4%, respectively. The region is also witnessing significant new players entering the market. For instance, in May 2020, The Firmament Group, a provider of tailored debt and equity capital solutions to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), announced the formation and launch of Envase Technologies, a provider of cloud-based transportation management systems and mobile applications for intermodal transportation providers, including third-party logistics companies, drayage carriers, global freight forwarders, and intermodal marketing companies. The company will provide service to 500+ intermodal customers spanning ports and terminals across nearly all 50 states in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. - In February 2019, Wabtec Corporation, a US-based company, has completed its merger with GE Transportation, a former business unit of GE. This merger is expected to establish Wabtec Corporation as a Fortune 500, global transportation and logistics player by combining Wabtec's broad range of freight, transit, and electronics products with GE Transportation's equipment, services, and digital solutions locomotive, mining, marine, stationary power, and drilling industries. The company plans to accelerate lifecycle solutions for the transportation industry and unlock significant productivity for customers by improving interoperability, efficiency, and competitiveness. Wabtec expects to benefit from the cyclical tailwinds the industry witnessed, including volume growth of 38 million carloads and intermodal units. - Intermodal volume has been on a steady decline in the region since mid-February due to COVID-19, an aberration in typical seasonal trends based on the five-year average. In the last week of March 2020, North American intermodal rail volumes fell to the lowest point in nearly a decade, underscoring the dramatic fall-off in containerized imports and slowing growth in the shipment of trailers and domestic containers. According to a JOC.com analysis of data from the Association of American Railroads and BNSF Railway, intermodal volume declined 15% year over year to 339,125 containers and trailers in the week ending March 27, the worst final week of a first-quarter since 2013. The decline in volumes is contributing to a deep financial hit to Class I railroads, a rail industry analyst with Deutsche Bank, reckons will cost the industry some USD 9 billion in revenue, including intermodal and railcar business, and USD 4.7 billion in profits this year. Request For Full Report >> https://www.sdki.jp/sample-request-90617 Competitive Landscape The Intermodal Freight Transportation market is moderately fragmented, as the few players are entering the market to provide various software and services related to support intermodal transportation methods. Moreover, the acquisitions have been a key trend observed across the years in the market. Some of the key players include Oracle Corporation, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp, HighJump (Körber AG), Blue Yonder Group, Inc. (JDA Software), etc. - July 2020 - Transplace has launched its Platform Services, including analytics and benchmarking tools, a command center with real-time visibility and optimization, and network collaboration. Shippers that utilize JDA, Oracle, and other resource planning systems to manage their supply chains can directly feed their data into the Company's Platform Services via standard API connections. - February 2020 - JDA Software, Inc., announced that it would be named Blue Yonder. The name change is part of a company's strategy of a re-branding initiative to better align its name with its cloud transformation and product roadmap, embracing a future full of innovation, continuous improvement, and better customer experience. Reasons to Purchase this report: - The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format - 3 months of analyst support

The dynamic nature of business environment in the current global economy is raising the need amongst business professionals to update themselves with current situations in the market. To cater such needs, Shibuya Data Count provides market research reports to various business professionals across different industry verticals, such as healthcare & pharmaceutical, IT & telecom, chemicals and advanced materials, consumer goods & food, energy & power, manufacturing & construction, industrial automation & equipment and agriculture & allied activities amongst others.

For more information, please contact:

Hina Miyazu

Shibuya Data Count Email: sales@sdki.jp Tel: + 81 3 45720790

Related Links https://www.sdki.jp/

[artisticdivasworld]

ATA Celebrates $200 Million Truck Parking Bill: What This Means for Truckers

Hey there, truckers and industry enthusiasts! We’ve got some fantastic news that’s set to make life on the road a bit more comfortable and a lot safer. The American Trucking Associations (ATA) is celebrating a major victory with the passing of the House Appropriations Bill, which earmarks a whopping $200 million for truck parking. Why This Matters If you’ve ever spent hours searching for a safe…

[clairestroman67]

C.African rebels try to sever capital‘s vital artery

The armoured vehicle stood at Cameroon's Garoua-Boulai border crossing, the barrel of its machine gun pointing unmistakeably towards the Central African Republic.Here, police say they are on maximum alert after rebels attacked a crucial highway in the CAR, blocking hundreds of trucks and prompting an exodus of terrified people into Cameroon.An alliance of armed groups tried to advance on the CAR capital Bangui ahead of presidential elections on December 27.The gunmen were swiftly thwarted by UN peacekeepers, the CAR army and Rwandan and Russian reinforcements.But they then switched tactics, trying to strangle Bangui by launching hit-and-run raids on the RN1 highway, the lifeline linking the city to Cameroon.Garoua-Boulai, You may need: launch scanner review. 725 kilometres (450 miles) west of Bangui, is a border town of 80,000 people where before the crisis around 200 trucks rolled across each day, laden with essentials for the landlocked CAR's capital.The border point has now become a parking lot -- more than 400 trucks are stacked up, waiting to cross. A couple of weeks ago, some truckers ventured over, but swiftly turned back because of the poor security."The border is now closed," a senior police official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.- Troops and police -Soldiers from the elite Rapid Intervention Brigade have taken up position at the edge of the border perimeter to tackle any rebel incursion.In the town, police have stepped up patrols and identity checks in the street, even in hotels and bars, and take away people who are unable to produce an ID.The attacks on CAR's supply backbone are the latest crisis to roil a country that ranks second poorest in the world and has seen little but bloodshed and misery since a coup seven years ago.In 2016, voters selected a technocrat, Faustin Archange Touadera, as their first president following the coup.He was declared victor in the December 27 vote, but in highly disputed circumstances.The result accounts for only half of registered voters. Around two-thirds of the country is in the hands of armed groups that sprang up in the turmoil in 2013, and many citizens were unable or too scared to cast their ballot.So far, there have been no shortages in Bangui, but the impact of a de-facto blockade is starting to be felt in higher prices for certain foods, and supermarkets and wholesalers say that their stores are starting to dwindle.In Garoua-Boulai, hundreds of trucks are parked on the roadside, and hundreds more on land in front of a government building, the sub-prefecture.The night watchman is Oumarou Tougou, who patrols with a torch in his hand. "I go around to prevent theft," he said.Nickson, a young Cameroonian "moto-boy", or driver's mate, was lying on a sheet under his truck, his face barely lit by his mobile phone."I've been sleeping here for 21 days," he said. "it gets cold at night and we don't have much to eat."Gabin, a 22-year-old "moto-boy" from the CAR, blew on a fire to warm up a pot of food. He was cooking for a group of 44 drivers and their assistants.Some of the drivers had come very far. They included 17 truckers hauling fuel from Chad, a thousand kilometres away, and heading for Bangui."It's impossible -- they have to make the road secure," said one of them, Abdel Habid.- Refugee flow -Just a few weeks ago, hundreds of Central Africans in the nearby refugee camp of Gado-Badzere crossed the border post each day to return home.These days, the flow has been reversed, as their compatriots seek the haven of Cameroon. Four thousand have crossed, according to the UN's refugee agency.Hundreds were waiting in front of an old building in Garoua-Boulai to sign up for aid.A 22-year-old woman, Vanessa, tried to calm her four-month-old baby.They had arrived after a 300-km trek by motorbike from the village of Babou."We fled when the rebels attacked," she said.A heavily pregnant woman, Loraine, said she had arrived in Cameroon after trudging through the bush, fear stalking every step -- her father, she said, "works with the customs service," and she was terrified ...

[newstfionline]

Sunday, September 26, 2021

Huawei executive returning as China releases Canadians (AP) China’s government was eagerly anticipating the return of a top executive from global communications giant Huawei Technologies on Saturday following what amounted to a high-stakes prisoner swap with Canada and the U.S. Meng Wanzhou, 49, Huawei’s chief financial officer and the daughter of the company’s founder, reached an agreement with U.S. federal prosecutors that called for fraud charges against her to be dismissed next year. As part of the deal, known as a deferred prosecution agreement, she accepted responsibility for misrepresenting the company’s business dealings in Iran. The same day, two Canadian citizens held by Beijing were freed and flown back to Canada. Meng was expected to arrive late Saturday in the southern technology hub of Shenzhen, where Huawei is based.

US police departments clamoring for de-escalation training (AP) Angry over being fired, a former employee slashed the tires of his boss’ vehicle and still held the knife when police officers arrived. Three officers positioned themselves at a safe distance as the man yelled and ranted. One officer had a stun gun, another a handgun. The third used the most important tool—a willingness to talk. Here in a school parking lot in Maine, the emergency was fake, but the strategies were very real. The officers were going through a training course offered by the Police Executive Research Forum that thousands of police officers around the country are receiving this year. Officers are taught: keep a safe distance, slow things down. Police officers are asked to do a lot. They’re asked to be roadside psychologists, family counselors, mental health workers—and even soldiers in an active-shooter event, said Saco Police Chief Jack Clements, whose agency hosted the event in New England. That’s why it’s important to rehearse.

Texas migrant camp empty (AP) No migrants are left at a Texas border encampment, about a week after nearly 15,000 people—most of them Haitians—huddled in makeshift shelters hoping for the chance to seek asylum. Some will get that chance, while the others will be expelled to their homeland. The Department of Homeland Security planned to continue flights to Haiti throughout the weekend, ignoring criticism from Democratic lawmakers and human rights groups who say Haitian migrants are being sent back to a troubled country that some left more than a decade ago. Meanwhile, Bruno Lozano, the mayor of Del Rio, Texas, where the camp was located, said officials would search the brush along the Rio Grande to ensure nobody was hiding and finish cleaning the site before reopening the international bridge. Lozano said there were no deaths during the time the camp was occupied and that 10 babies were born to migrant mothers, either at the camp or in Del Rio’s hospital.

In South America, the climate future has arrived (Washington Post) Sergio Koci’s sunflower farm in the lowlands of northern Argentina has survived decades of political upheaval, runaway inflation and the coronavirus outbreak. But as a series of historic droughts deadens vast expanses of South America, he fears a worsening water crisis could do what other calamities couldn’t: Bust his third-generation agribusiness. From the frigid peaks of Patagonia to the tropical wetlands of Brazil, worsening droughts this year are slamming farmers, shutting down ski slopes, upending transit and spiking prices for everything from coffee to electricity. So low are levels of the Paraná running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina that some ranchers are herding cattle across dried-up riverbeds typically lined with cargo-toting barges. Raging wildfires in Paraguay have brought acrid smoke to the limits of the capital. Earlier this year, the rushing cascades of Iguazu Falls on the Brazilian-Argentine frontier reduced to a relative drip. The droughts this year are extensions of multiyear water shortages, with causes that vary from country to country. Yet for much of the region, the droughts are moving up the calendar on climate change—offering a taste of the challenges ahead in securing an increasingly precious commodity: water.

UK scrambles for truckers amid supply woe (AP) British energy firms are rationing supplies of gasoline and closing some petrol pumps—the latest in a string of shortages that have seen McDonald’s take milkshakes off the menu, KFC run short of chicken and gaps appear on supermarket shelves. A big factor behind the problems is a lack of truck drivers. The U.K. is short tens of thousands of hauliers, as factors including Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic converge to create a supply-chain crunch. Officials urged motorists not to panic-buy petrol after BP and Esso shut a handful of stations because there were not enough trucks to get gas to the pumps. As concern over the disruption mounts, the haulage industry is pressing the government to loosen immigration rules and recruit more drivers from Europe to avert Christmas shortages. The government is resisting that move, and scrambling to lure more British people into truck driving, long viewed as an underpaid and underappreciated job.

Red hot lava spews from La Palma volcano as eruption intensifies (Reuters) Rivers of lava raced down the volcano and exploded high into the air overnight on the Spanish island of La Palma and the airport was closed as an eruption intensified and entered its most explosive phase so far. Since it began erupting on Sunday on the small island in the Atlantic, the Cumbre Vieja volcano has spewed out thousands of tons of lava, destroyed hundreds of houses and forced the evacuation of nearly 6,000 people. Experts said the volcano had entered a new explosive phase. Videos shared on social media showed a massive shockwave emanating from the eruption site on Friday.

Situation becoming 'dire' at US airbase in Germany housing Afghan refugees (CNN) The task of accommodating 10,000 Afghan refugees, including approximately 2,000 pregnant women, is putting facilities at Ramstein airbase in Germany under tremendous strain as nighttime temperatures drop toward freezing and what was meant to be a 10-day temporary stay is stretching into weeks, with one US source familiar with the situation describing it as becoming "dire." Already 22 babies have been born to Afghan mothers at Ramstein, and that number will rise very soon with roughly two thirds of the 3,000 women being housed there pregnant, requiring the time and effort of medical personnel from Ramstein and other bases, two US sources familiar with the situation at the base told CNN. Even though it's one of the largest US bases in Europe, Ramstein was never designed to handle such a large transient population especially when there are better equipped and larger facilities in the US. One of the sources called the Afghans at Ramstein "the forgotten 10," as the focus has shifted away from the almost 10,000 who remain stuck in limbo in Germany towards some 53,000 Afghan evacuees already housed at eight military bases across the US.

Some in Hungary and Poland talk of EU pullout (AP) When Hungary and Poland joined the European Union in 2004, after decades of Communist domination, their citizens thirsted for Western democratic standards and prosperity. Yet 17 years later, as the EU ramps up efforts to rein in democratic backsliding in both countries, some of the governing right-wing populists in Hungary and Poland are comparing the bloc to their former Soviet oppressors—and flirting with the prospect of exiting the trade bloc. “Brussels sends us overlords who are supposed to bring Poland to order, on our knees,” a leading member of Poland’s governing Law and Justice party, Marek Suski, said this month, adding that Poland “will fight the Brussels occupier” as it fought past Nazi and Soviet occupiers. It’s unclear to what extent this kind of talk represents a real desire to leave the 27-member bloc or a negotiating tactic to counter arm-twisting from Brussels. The two countries are the largest net beneficiaries of EU money, and the vast majority of their citizens want to stay in the bloc.

Refugees in fear as sentiment turns against them in Turkey (AP) Fatima Alzahra Shon thinks neighbors attacked her and her son in their Istanbul apartment building because she is Syrian. The 32-year-old refugee from Aleppo was confronted on Sept. 1 by a Turkish woman who asked her what she was doing in “our” country. Shon replied, “Who are you to say that to me?” The situation quickly escalated. A man came out of the Turkish woman’s apartment half-dressed, threatening to cut Shon and her family “into pieces,” she recalled. Another neighbor, a woman, joined in, shouting and hitting Shon. The group then pushed her down a flight of stairs. Shon said that when her 10-year-old son, Amr, tried to intervene, he was beaten as well. Refugees fleeing the long conflict in Syria once were welcomed in neighboring Turkey with open arms, sympathy and compassion for fellow Muslims. But attitudes gradually hardened as the number of newcomers swelled over the past decade. Anti-immigrant sentiment is now nearing a boiling point, fueled by Turkey’s economic woes. With unemployment high and the prices of food and housing skyrocketing, many Turks have turned their frustration toward the country’s roughly 5 million foreign residents, particularly the 3.7 million who fled the civil war in Syria.

For India’s Military, a Juggling Act on Two Hostile Fronts (NYT) After the deadliest clashes in half a century with China, India’s military has taken emergency measures to reinforce a 500-mile stretch of the border high in the Himalayas. In the past year, it has tripled the number of troops in the contentious eastern Ladakh region to more than 50,000. It has raced to stock up on food and gear for freezing temperatures and 15,000-foot altitudes before the region is largely cut off for much of the winter. It has announced that an entire strike corps, an offensive force of tens of thousands more soldiers, would be reoriented to the increasingly contentious frontier with China from the long, volatile border with Pakistan. India’s military is now grappling with a reality that the country has feared for nearly two decades: It is stuck in a two-front conflict with hostile neighbors—and all three are nuclear armed.

China says all crypto transactions illegal (AP) China’s central bank on Friday declared all transactions involving Bitcoin and other virtual currencies illegal, stepping up a campaign to block use of unofficial digital money. Friday’s notice complained Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital currencies disrupt the financial system and are used in money-laundering and other crimes. The price of Bitcoin fell more than 9%, to $41,085, in the hours after the announcement, as did most other crypto tokens. Promoters of cryptocurrencies say they allow anonymity and flexibility, but Chinese regulators worry they might weaken the ruling Communist Party’s control over the financial system and say they might help to conceal criminal activity. The People’s Bank of China is developing an electronic version of the country’s yuan for cashless transactions that can be tracked and controlled by Beijing.

8 dead as al-Shabab claims blast in Somalia’s capital (AP) A vehicle laden with explosives rammed into cars and trucks at a checkpoint leading to the entrance of the Presidential Palace in Somalia, killing at least eight people, police said Saturday. The checkpoint is the one used by Somalia’s president and prime minister on their way to and from the airport in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. Nine other people were wounded in the bombing, police spokesman Abdifatah Adam Hassan said. The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group has claimed responsibility.