Month: November 2021

A wooden canoe used by the ancient Maya and believed to be more than 1,000 years old has turned up in southern Mexico, officials said on Friday, part of archeological work accompanying the construction of a major new tourist train.

The extremely rare canoe was found almost completely intact, submerged in a freshwater pool known as a cenote, thousands of which dot Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, near the ruins of Chichen Itza, once a major Maya city featuring elaborately carved temples and towering pyramids.

Measuring a little over 1.6 meters in length and 80 centimeters wide, the canoe was possibly used to transport water from the cenote or deposit ritual offerings, according to a statement from Mexican antiquities institute INAH.

The institute described the extraordinary find as “the first complete canoe like this in the Maya area,” adding that experts from Paris’ Sorbonne University will help with an analysis of the well-preserved wood to pinpoint its age and type.

A three-dimensional model of the canoe will also be commissioned, the statement added, to facilitate further study and allow for replicas to be made.

The canoe is tentatively dated to between 830-950 AD, near the end of the Maya civilization’s classical zenith, when dozens of cities across present-day southern Mexico and Central America thrived amid major human achievements in math, writing and art.

It was found while workers building a tourist rail project championed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador were inspecting the area surrounding the cenote which is near a section of the project that will connect with Cancun, Mexico’s top beach resort.

Lopez Obrador has pitched the so-called Maya Train as tourist-friendly infrastructure that will help alleviate poverty in Mexico’s poorer southern states, while critics argue it risks damaging the region’s delicate ecosystems.

Source: Voice of America

Australians are being allowed to travel overseas without COVID-19 restrictions for the first time in almost 600 days. Previously they needed government permission to go overseas under strict measures designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

After more than 18 months, Australia is reconnecting with the world as vaccination rates increase. There were tearful reunions at Sydney Airport as the first overseas passengers landed after restrictions came to an end.

Australians can now travel freely overseas without needing official permission.

Returning travelers flying home into the states of New South Wales and Victoria no longer face mandatory hotel quarantine.

They must, however, be double vaccinated and only Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate families can return home at this stage. Australia will reopen quarantine-free entry to fully vaccinated Singaporeans from Nov. 21, but it is unclear when other foreign nationals, who have been mostly banned since March 2020, will be permitted to enter.

Thousands of Australians have been stranded overseas during the pandemic by some of the world’s toughest border controls. Authorities placed limits on the number of travelers allowed back because of constraints on the quarantine system.

Melbourne Airport has also been preparing for the resumption of large-scale passenger numbers.

Chief executive Lyell Strambi said pandemic border closures have been hard on staff.

“We have not really stopped flying, so we have been able to keep things working and making sure that everything is in great shape,” Strambi said. “But the stop-start nature of the whole episode we have been through has been really tough. In particular for the employees of the airport. We would normally have 20,000 people working at the airport. I think a few times there we were down to as low as 500 people. So, it has been really hard on those individuals in particular.”

Internal border controls remain in parts of Australia. Residents in Sydney and Melbourne, for example, can now fly freely to Paris, France but not to Perth in Western Australia.

Travelers from New South Wales and Victoria, which have been at the center of delta variant outbreaks this year, can only enter Western Australia with an approved exemption permit and must be double vaccinated. Queensland state authorities plan to ease their internal border restrictions on Dec. 17.

Australia has diagnosed 170,000 coronavirus cases during the pandemic, and 1,700 people have died. More than 77% of eligible Australians have been fully vaccinated.

Source: Voice of America

TOKYO, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, invigorated by a surprisingly strong election victory, signalled on Monday he would pursue defence policies aimed at deterring China, address climate change and accelerate recovery from the pandemic.

Kishida’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) defied predictions and held onto its single party majority in a Sunday election, solidifying his position as head of the fractious party and giving him a freer hand in parliament, with recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – including an extra budget – taking priority.

Some had feared that Kishida, only in power for a month, could become another one of Japan’s short-term prime ministers, but the election results – which set stocks surging in relief – will allow him to put his own stamp on policies ahead of an upper house election next summer.

The LDP’s solid victory in Japan’s parliamentary election also eased bond market fears of massive bond issuance because it will likely take pressure off Kishida to inflate the size of a pandemic-relief stimulus package. read more

“We will speedily implement policies to respond to the voices of the people we have received nationwide that strongly desire political stability and policy implementation,” the prime minister said at a news conference on Monday.

Key among those will be recovery from the pandemic, with Kishida pledging to work for an extra budget by the end of the year, look into restarting a travel subsidy programme to revive domestic tourism and compile a “large-scale” stimulus package around mid-November.

But he also placed emphasis on defence in a nod to the more hawkish views of backers in the LDP who supported him in his run for leader, the pursuit of which could become trickier given the electoral gains made by the dovish junior coalition partner Komeito.

The LDP included the unprecedented pledge to double defence spending to 2% of GDP in its party platform, a nod to its haste to acquire weapons to deter China’s military in the disputed East China Sea.

“When we think about protecting people’s lives and livelihood, a budget should not come first,” Kishida said.

“We need to think about what is really needed for that end. I’d like to proceed with this debate carefully so that I can gain Komeito’s understanding.”

DIPLOMACY, CLEAN ENERGY

Kishida added that Japan needed to consider the capability to strike enemy bases as an option to counter growing defence technology in other nations.

“What’s important is making checks constantly if a system is in place to protect people’s lives and livelihood amid a changing international situation and advancing technologies,” he said.

The prime minister, who spoke of “personal diplomacy” during the campaign, wasted no time kicking that off by announcing he would leave for Glasgow and the COP26 climate summit on Tuesday for his face-to-face debut at an international conference.

Saying his stimulus package would include investment on clean energy and funding aid to Asia, he also said he hoped Japan would take a leadership role on zero emissions in Asia.

Japan has set a target of 2050 for becoming carbon-neutral, and Kishida believes – in the face of considerable public opposition – that nuclear energy should remain an option.

While initial exit polls on Sunday suggested the LDP would have to rely on its junior coalition partner, Komeito, to keep a majority, the conservative party – in power for all but a few years since its founding in 1955 – instead won a solid majority of 261 seats on its own.

The party did take some notable hits, including the loss by LDP secretary-general Akira Amari, in his single-seat district. Though media reports said Amari would resign, Kishida said he would decide his future after the two had “thorough discussions”.

Public broadcaster NHK said Kishida has firmed up an intention to replace Amari with Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

Voters took the results in their stride.

“This is pretty much as I expected, though I thought there might be a bit more of an impact from their handling of the coronavirus pandemic,” said Satoshi Tsujimoto, 53 and an office worker. He did not vote for the LDP.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – A Centre for Forensic Analysis and Conservation of Bones of the Victims of Political Conflicts is due to be launched in the country this year, the commission responsible for the project said in a statement Monday.

It is the Commission for the Implementation of the Reconciliation Plan in Memory of the Victims of the Political Conflicts (CIVICOP), coordinated by the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Francisco Queiroz.

The statement of the assessment meeting held today in Luanda, said that in the meeting information was shared on location and delivery of the bones of the victims of the conflicts that took place in the country between 1975 and 2002.

At the meeting, the coordinators of the speciality sub-groups (Health, Justice and Human Rights, Interior and Media) and their holders also received information about the work of the Commission of Ascertainment and Certification of Bodies of the Victims of the Political Conflicts.

They were also informed about the continuation of the process of issuing death certificates.

The Angolan Government began, last May, to formally deliver the first death certificates to the families of victims of the armed conflicts, whose symbolic delivery covered three relatives of people who died on 27 May 1977.

At the time, the process started in the province of Luanda with a ceremony under the slogan “Embrace and Forgive,” and should be extended to the whole country, free of charge.

During Monday’s meeting, the commission members noted the “great technical complexity” of the process of locating and identifying the victims, as well as the slowness due to issues of land occupation and population density in the identified geographical areas.

CIVICOP functions as a platform through which the country deals with episodes of physical or spiritual violence, as well as mechanisms that provide for convergent dialogue.

These are mechanisms to avoid factors that could weaken the basis for peace building and national reconciliation.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – National citizens over 18 years old must present, as of this Monday, 1, the digital certificate of vaccination against Covid-19 to have access to public and private places.

The measure is included in the new Presidential Decree on Public Disaster Situation, updated Friday, as part of the prevention and fight against Covid-19 in Angola.

The measure of presenting the vaccination certificate is also valid to apply for public tenders in Education, Health and defence forces.

In the event of non-compliance, those in charge of the institutions covered will be penalised, in an amount ranging from 100,000 to 300,000 kwanzas.

In terms of trading activities, the opening hours of 7am to 10pm will be maintained, while public and private, urban and inter-provincial transport must be 75 percent full.

Although it is not mandatory, the authorities recommend, however, the testing due to the long hours of travel and the proximity between passengers.

Access to beaches, swimming pools and spas remains prohibited and their lifting is subject to the evaluation of the epidemiological situation in the country.

Angola also keeps suspended the entry into the country of citizens coming from the Republic of India, by any means, and for citizens who have transited through that country.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The Joint Angola-Namibia Defence and Security Commission is due to start this Tuesday in the Namibian city of Swakopmund the meeting of experts, in preparation for the ministerial session set for next Thursday.

The Angolan Ministry of Interior said in a statement that the experts’ meeting would run until Wednesday and was expected to prepare documents relating to migration, prison, customs and refugee issues, without neglecting the issue of the Covid-19 pandemic along the border.

The agenda to be discussed by the experts from both countries includes issues related to geodesy, cartography, environment and wildlife.

The document, to which ANGOP had access, indicates that the said session aims to strengthen bilateral relations and review the issues addressed at the previous session of the Commission, held from 10 to 13 September 2018, in the Angolan city of Lubango, Huila province.

For the meeting in Namibia, the Angolan delegation is led by Interior minister Eugénio César Laborinho, who arrived this Monday in the city of Swakopmund.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The Angolan President, João Lourenço, is speaking Tuesday in Glasgow (Scotland), at the 24th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), to present the country’s vision and ongoing actions in the environmental field.

João Lourenço will intervene in the morning session, a day in which other 57 speeches by Heads of State and/or Government and their representatives are scheduled.

At COP26, it is highlighted the presence of Joe Biden, President of the United States of America, Emmanuel Macron, of France, Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, as well as the Prince of Monaco, Albert II.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and other world leaders are also taking part.

At the opening session, held this Monday, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, said it is time to say enough is enough, as the last six years have been the hottest ever recorded and the “addiction to fossil fuels” is pushing humanity towards the abyss.

He recalled that the sea level rise has doubled in the last 30 years, the oceans are warmer than ever and areas of the Amazon forest are already emitting more carbon than they absorb.

For his part, British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said that humanity has set the clock back a long time in relation to climate change, “and if we don’t take action now, it will be too late”.

He added that “the Paris Agreement represented a lifeboat for the world’s climate future”, hence the need to “do what is needed to save the planet”, as humanity has everything it needs, from technology, investors and the international community, so the meeting in Glasgow needs to be the time to start the fight, in fact, for climate change.

The conference, which will run until 12 November, is addressing issues of finance, energy, nature, as well as youth and public empowerment, as well as gender, transport, science and innovation, adaptation, loss and gain, cities, regions and the built environment.

COP26, the Conference of the Parties on Climate Change, takes place a year late due to the Covid-19 pandemic and aims to reflect and alert Nations to the impact of global warming.

During the Summit, special attention will be paid to the outcomes of COP21, which took place in France in 2015, where for the first time all countries agreed to work together to curb global warming.

This gave rise to the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit the increase in the planet’s temperature to 1.5 ºC by 2050, as well as providing money to meet this target.

In order to achieve these goals, countries committed themselves to present national plans, defining the targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, aiming to reach zero emissions in 2050.

Source: Angola Press News Agency