#Union Railway Minister

[brightpunjabexpress]

Punjab to get Hoshiarpur-Delhi passenger train for Mathura-Vrindavan soon

Chandigarh, December 18: With the sincere efforts of Punjab Revenue Minister Bram Shanker Jimpa, the Hoshiarpur-Delhi passenger train is expected to run up to Mathura-Vrindavan. In this regard, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has sought a detailed report from the concerned authorities. Considering the demands of the people of Doaba region, Punjab Revenue and Water Supply and Sanitation…

[allthecanadianpolitics]

The union representing thousands of railroaders has appealed the moves that ended the rail shutdown last week — a work stoppage that halted freight and commuter traffic across the country. In filings to the Federal Court of Appeal, the Teamsters union challenged directives for binding arbitration issued to a labour board by federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon last week, less than a day after the lockout of 9,300 workers by Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. In response to MacKinnon’s instructions, the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered the country’s two major railways to resume operations and employees to return to their posts until binding arbitration could produce new contracts.

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Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

[girlactionfigure]

Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania who put his family and career at risk by issuing thousands of hand-written transit visas to Jewish refugees fleeing Eastern Europe.

Chiune was born to a middle class family in Mino, Japan on the first day of the 20th century – 1/1/00. In elementary and high school he was a top student, and his father wanted him to become a doctor. Chiune’s own dream was to enter the foreign service, and he deliberately failed the medical school entrance exam by writing only his name on the test. Instead Chiune attended Waseda University and majored in English. He also joined a Christian fraternity to practice his English.

In 1919, Chiune passed the Foreign Ministry Scholarship exam, and served in the Japanese Imperial Army as a 2nd Lieutenant stationed in Korea. He resigned his commission in 1922 and trained for the Foreign Ministry, learning Russian and German in addition to English. He aced the qualifying exam and was sent to work in the foreign office in Harbin, China.

Chiune’s strong moral compass led him to resign his post as Deputy Foreign Minister in Manchuria because of rising Japanese violence against the Chinese (just two years later was the horrific Rape of Nanking by the Japanese Imperial Army.) Chiune returned to Japan, where he married Yukiko Kikuchi. They later had four sons.

Next Chiune went to Helsinki, Finland, where he worked as a translator for the Japanese delegation. In 1939, Chiune became vice-consul of the Japanese embassy in Kauna, Lithuania. Part of his job was to find out if Germany planned to attack the Soviet Union, and to relay any information about this to his bosses in Berlin and Tokyo.

In 1940, the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania. At that time, approximately 1/3 of Lithuanians were Jewish, many of them Torah scholars. The USSR viciously persecuted Jews, especially religious ones, and the Jews of Lithuania were desperate to escape the country – especially because Nazi Germany was occupying more and more of Eastern Europe and would soon be in Lithuania. Hundreds of them, mostly Orthodox, visited the Japanese consulate to beg for exit visas to Japan. The official Japanese policy was that candidates for visas must go through elaborate bureaucratic procedures and pay significant sums of money. Chiune contacted his superiors at the Japanese Foreign minister to ask if the rules could be relaxed to help Jewish refugees. His request was denied, as were his next two requests.

Chiune could have thrown up his hands and told the Jews there was nothing he could do for them, but instead, as he did in China, he was governed by his strong sense of right and wrong, rather than soulless bureaucrats. He ignored his orders and started issuing ten-day visas for Jews to travel through Japan on their way to safe havens like Shanghai, China, where 20,000 Jews rode out the war safely.

As word got out about the Japanese visas, Jews from all over Lithuania as well as Poland began to swarm Chiune’s office. He simply wouldn’t say no to anybody, and spent 18-20 hours a day (!) painstakingly writing visas by hand. He created a month’s supply of visas every single day from August to early September 1940, providing an escape route for thousands of Jews. On September 4, the Japanese consulate in Kauna was closed and Chiune had to leave the country. He was determined to create as many transit visas as possible, and continued doing so up until the last minute. At Kanuas Railway Station, a crowd of Jews gathered to say goodbye. Right before boarding the train, Chiune bowed deeply and cried out, “Please forgive me! I cannot write anymore. I wish you the best!” Someone in the crowd shouted, “Sugihara! We’ll never forget you! I’ll surely see you again!”

Chiune was reassigned to East Prussia, then Prague, and then Bucharest, Romania. When the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania in 1944, Chiune and his family were imprisoned in a POW camp for a year and a half. Finally they were released in 1946 and returned to Japan, but the foreign office had heard about his unauthorized visas, and he was forced to resign. At about this time, the Sugihara’s youngest son died of leukemia at age seven.

Unemployable in Japan, Chiune made use of his excellent Russian language skills and spent the next 16 years working in the Soviet Union while his wife and sons stayed in Japan. Chiune’s exceptional heroism was unknown for many years, until 1968, when he was contacted by Yehoshua Nishri, an attache working at the Israeli consulate in Tokyo. Nishri spent his youth in Poland, and heard stories of the legendary Japanese hero. Nishri made it his mission to publicize Chiune’s heroic acts, and the next year, 1969, Chiune traveled to Israel as an honored guest of the Israeli government. Jews he’d saved lobbied for him to be recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Israeli Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem, and in 1984 he received the honor. At that time he was too sick to travel, so his wife and son Nobuki accepted the award on his behalf.

Chiune was asked why he risked everything to help thousands of strangers. He answered, “You want to know about my motivation, don’t you? Well. It is the kind of sentiments anyone would have when he actually sees refugees face to face, begging with tears in their eyes. He just cannot help but sympathize with them. Among the refugees were the elderly and women. They were so desperate that they went so far as to kiss my shoes. Yes, I actually witnessed such scenes with my own eyes. Also, I felt at that time, that the Japanese government did not have any uniform opinion in Tokyo. Some Japanese military leaders were just scared because of the pressure from the Nazis; while other officials in the Home Ministry were simply ambivalent. People in Tokyo were not united. I felt it silly to deal with them. So, I made up my mind not to wait for their reply. I knew that somebody would surely complain about me in the future. But, I myself thought this would be the right thing to do. There is nothing wrong in saving many people’s lives… The spirit of humanity, philanthropy… neighborly friendship… with this spirit, I ventured to do what I did, confronting this most difficult situation – and because of this reason, I went ahead with redoubled courage.”

Chiune Sugihara died in Japan on July 31, 1986. Despite being a hero in Israel, and among Jews worldwide, he was completely unknown in his own country. Even his own children didn’t know what he had done. A huge delegation from around the world attended Chiune’s funeral, and only then did he become known in Japan.

Chiune received many awards and accolades, most of them posthumous. Among them are Sugihara Streets in Vilna, Lithuania, and Jaffa and Netanya in Israel. There is a Sugihara House Museum in Kaunas, and a park in Vilna where 200 trees were planted on his 100th birthday. There is a life-sized statue of him in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, featuring a plaque with a quotation from the Talmud, “He who saves one life, saves an entire world.” In 1998, Chiune’s widow Yukiko traveled to Israel and was warmly received by survivors who’d been saved by her husband. There is a Sugihara park in Jerusalem, and he was featured on an Israeli postage stamp in 1998. The Lithuanian government declared 2020 “The Year of Chiune Sugihara.” He has been the subject of multiple works of art, including books, films and a play.

It’s estimated that over 100,000 people are alive today because of the brave actions of Chiune Sugihara.

[olympushit]

HELP! EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! PLEASE JUST 5 MINUTES ARE ENOUGH FOR THE BETTER OF MY COUNTRY! SIGN THIS PETITION AND SHARE IT WITH AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN!

Like today, a year ago, in Tempi, nearby where I live, two trains crashed. They were moving in the same road, opposite to one another for 12 minutes and nobody knew about it, until the two trains crashed...

57 people died, most of them being students, around 18-25 years old.

They said it was the station master's fault, he didn't realise that he put the trains in the same rail. But they are hiding the truth...

Our trains were bought from Switzerland, and those trains were used by the Swiss for almost 2 months and they were about to be destroyed, because they were considered to be a danger for everyone.

Our trains, for almost 24 years are moving around the country manually. No train has a GPS system. The systems were bought by the Greek government in 1999 and till today, 2024 they have not been installed....

The railways do not have signal lights, radar, monitoring center and station masters....

We Greeks move like this, for about 20 years....

Until 28 of February 2023, that this terrible train crash happened....

Today, a year later, our politicians lie to us, make empty promises and reassure us that everything is under control. The truth is that nothing is under control. A year later they have done nothing...

The railways are still malfunctioning, no GPS, no monitoring centers and no lights....

And the only one who payed for it was the station master, who did a fatal mistake, but he was just the front person that behind him hid the politicians, that do not take any responsibilities...

The next day after the train crash, the minister of the Ministry of Transportations quit his place! Can you believe it?

The European Union has condemned Greece for ignoring the laws and pointed out the greed of our Prime Minister, which hasn't stated anything of that matter for over a year....

Greeks are devastated! No one hears us, the government is killing us!

Greeks want our politicians to take responsibility. It is in our hands to do it, but we also need help.

Please, spend 5 minutes signing this petition.

Signing this states that you want a constitutional change, which will lift over the political immunity that protect the politicians!

Your help is so much needed. The families of those people suffer and want justice for their children!

PLEASE! WE NEED YOUR HELP, WE CAN'T LIVE LIKE THIS!

Sign this petition please! You can chose to ignore the tiping fees. It is only fair that they pay for what they did!

Pray for those 57 lost souls!

😢🕊️

[zvaigzdelasas]

[Nikkei is Private Japanese Media]

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) came at the "right time" for boosting Africa's development, a top African Union (AU) official told Nikkei Asia, as he played down concerns that it was a debt trap for poor countries. Last week, Beijing said it would ramp up the decade-old infrastructure drive to build ports, roads and railways by pushing into the digital realm, as the multibillion-dollar program becomes China's key foreign policy tool for influence in developing nations. Chinese President Xi Jinping's renewed focus on industrialization, agriculture and talent development was also just what the continent needs, said Albert Muchanga, head of trade and industry for the African Union Commission, the AU's Ethiopia-based secretariat.

"China will continue BRI, at the same time there is a complementary effort to support us in those three areas. ... Both came at the right time," Muchanga said in an interview on the sidelines of last week's Turkey-Africa Business and Economic Forum in Istanbul. "Africa was making massive investments in developing infrastructure, connectivity, telecommunication systems as well as energy facilities [when BRI launched] and that helped quite a lot." "We need to start the process of adding value on the continent to push industrialization," added the former Zambian diplomat.[...]

Asked if Western powers were being drawn to Africa in competition with China, Muchanga replied, "Well, they are reacting to it, which is good." He also questioned growing criticism that the BRI's massive infrastructure loans and an opaque structure have saddled some recipient countries with unsustainable debt. Some $76.8 billion worth of Chinese overseas loans were renegotiated or written off between 2020 and 2022, according to U.S. research firm Rhodium Group, compared to $17 billion in the preceding three years. "When you discuss with the scholars from China and other people, I think there's an acknowledgment that if we demonstrate greater transparency, I think some of the allegations that are made may not be well founded," Muchanga said, without elaborating.

AU member nation ministers will gather in November to adopt a critical minerals strategy, the official said, adding that the commission is working on a document for approving its new leaders at a summit scheduled for February. "We are responding to the issue of green transition by coming up with a critical minerals strategy," he said, "but the message is to come and produce at source to contribute to decarbonization."

16 Oct 23

[scavengedluxury]

The machinery of the British state is now just a hollowed out, privatised shell that fails to provide anything like an acceptable service and just functions as a tool to funnel as much money away to the rich as possible. Robbery.

[sataniccapitalist]

EU S14 E35] Yanis Varoufakis on the Changing World Economy

On this week’s episode of Economic Update, Professor Richard Wolff draws attention to the 10,000 hotel workers who recently conducted a strike impacting major hotels across 19 US cities. We highlight the contested merger of the two largest grocery chains in America. Albertsons and Kroger threaten to become the third largest retail giant after Amazon, and Walmart plus the Canadian government forces 9000 Canadian railway striking workers back to work, with murmurs of a general strike looming. We also give a shout-out to a small Brooklyn pizzeria unionizing with Starbucks workers.

Finally, an exclusive interview with world-renowned economist, politician, author, and the former finance minister of Greece Yanis Varoufakis discusses global economic change and the working class, topics discussed in his latest work "Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism".

If you haven't already, please subscribe to our channel, follow us on social media and of course be sure to sign up on our website:

www.democracyatwork.info

As always, we thank you for your attention, support, and solidarity.

The d@w Team

[nobility-art]

Portrait of Napoleon III

Artist: Franz Xaver Winterhalter  (German, 1805–1873)

Genre: Portrait

Depicted People: Napoleon III

Date: circa 1853

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Napoleonic Museum, Rome, Italy

Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 1808 – 9 January 1873) was the first president of France from 1848 to 1852, and the last monarch of France as the second Emperor of the French from 1852 until he was deposed on 4 September 1870.

Prior to his reign, Napoleon III was known as Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. He was born in Paris as the son of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland (r. 1806–1810), and Hortense de Beauharnais. Napoleon I was Louis Napoleon's paternal uncle, and one of his cousins was the disputed Napoleon II. Louis Napoleon was the first and only president of the French Second Republic, elected in 1848. He seized power by force in 1851 when he could not constitutionally be re-elected. He later proclaimed himself Emperor of the French and founded the Second Empire, reigning until the defeat of the French Army and his capture by Prussia and its allies at the Battle of Sedan in 1870.

Napoleon III was a popular monarch who oversaw the modernization of the French economy and filled Paris with new boulevards and parks. He expanded the French colonial empire, made the French merchant navy the second largest in the world, and personally engaged in two wars. Maintaining leadership for 22 years, he was the longest-reigning French head of state since the fall of the Ancien Régime, although his reign would ultimately end on the battlefield.

Napoleon III commissioned a grand reconstruction of Paris carried out by prefect of the Seine, Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann. He expanded and consolidated the railway system throughout the nation and modernized the banking system. Napoleon promoted the building of the Suez Canal and established modern agriculture, which ended famines in France and made the country an agricultural exporter. He negotiated the 1860 Cobden–Chevalier Free Trade Agreement with Britain and similar agreements with France's other European trading partners. Social reforms included giving French workers the right to strike, the right to organize, and the right for women to be admitted to a French university.

In foreign policy, Napoleon III aimed to reassert French influence in Europe and around the world. In Europe, he allied with Britain and defeated Russia in the Crimean War (1853–1856). His regime assisted Italian unification by defeating the Austrian Empire in the Second Italian War of Independence and later annexed Savoy and Nice through the Treaty of Turin as its deferred reward. At the same time, his forces defended the Papal States against annexation by Italy. He was also favourable towards the 1859 union of the Danubian Principalities, which resulted in the establishment of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. Napoleon doubled the area of the French colonial empire with expansions in Asia, the Pacific, and Africa. On the other hand, the intervention in Mexico, which aimed to create a Second Mexican Empire under French protection, ended in total failure.

From 1866, Napoleon had to face the mounting power of Prussia as its minister president Otto von Bismarck sought German unification under Prussian leadership. In July 1870, Napoleon reluctantly declared war on Prussia after pressure from the general public. The French Army was rapidly defeated, and Napoleon was captured at Sedan. He was swiftly dethroned and the Third Republic was proclaimed in Paris. After he was released from German custody, he went into exile in England, where he died in 1873.

[gaymer-hag-stan]

Update on the train incident I posted about earlier.

In case you don't know what I'm talking about, on the 28th of February, a head-on collision occurred between two trains south of the Tempi Valley, near the village of Evangelismos in Thessaly, Greece. The collision, involving the IC62 passenger train and an intermodal freight train, killed at least 57 people, making it the deadliest rail disaster in Greek history and also the deadliest in Europe since the Santiago de Compostela derailment in 2013.

What's been happening ever since is ridiculous, because the vast majority of news anchors on TV have been trying way too hard to push the trainmaster as the sole person responsible for the incident.

At this point two things should be noted.

A. Said trainmaster was grossly unqualified for the position he was put in, reportedly by a politician friend who is still unknown to the public

B. Greece is the lowest ranking EU country for press freedom

I think you can put two and two together, but while obviously the trainmaster should be held responsible as far as his part is concerned. So should the media who consistently ignored train workers going multiple strikes to complain about the unsafe condition of the railway system and had already warned that it was only a matter of time before a serious accident would happen literally a month ago. So should the former transport minister, Kostas Achilleas Karamanlis, who resigned after the incident but would not hear the various warnings by the train workers and would immediately declare their strikes as illegal. Both he and the prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis kept saying that the way the railroad system was operating during the previous government was unsafe and would eventually cause accidents and were bragging about fixing it yet they knowingly did nothing. There are videos of the prime minister arriving at the site of the incident and a bunch of his yesmen directing him at how to appear to look sad, shouting out to him to lower his head and stuff like that.

GPS tracking technology has been purchased TWENTY THREE years ago and has inexplicably not been installed yet. Meaning that every single person in power since 2000 has purposefully ignored the much needed upgrade. Trains have no way of tracking each other other than radio communication which is ridiculous. The two trains that crashed into each other were allowed to move on the same track because the stationmaster at Larissa, who had only been working for one month there, ordered the train to proceed and pass red signals all the way to Neoi Poroi and ordered his assistant – the switchman – to not "turn the keys" (realign the switches) as a local train would be crossing them. The section where the accident took place, located 27.3 kilometres (17.0 miles) north of Larissa, was double-tracked and equipped with automatic controls, but switching and signalling were still being controlled manually.

The European Union announced that they had allocated tons of funds to upgrade the railway system that were never properly invested and were literally about to take Greece to court for the condition of the railway system being a literal health hazard.

The following video features scenes of police brutality.

On the left you can see Kyriakos Mitsotakis' social media post addressing the situation. I could actually translate for you but it's nothing more than empty words. On the right you can see policemen cracking down on people who gathered outside Hellenic Train's headquarters by firing tear gas and using excessive violence. The man with the blurred face exclaims that he was offering medical assistance when the policemen arrested him. The policeman yelling in his face is screaming "What are you doing here? Are you Albanian? Are you a commie? What are you?" And lastly you can see the prime minister in one of his previous speeches inside the parliament formally apologising for anyone who has been affected by police brutality in the past (at this point it should also be noted that during his reign of terror, police brutality incidents have been an at all time high as far as recent years go. He has also seriously overfunded and overhired the police during the last few years)

It should finally be noted that the Monday before the train crash took place was a national holiday, and many of the train passengers were university students in their 20s who had gone back home for the long weekend and were now returning back to their universities in northern Greece

At least 57 people were killed, and 80 others were injured, with 25 of them suffering serious injuries. Of the injured, 66 were hospitalized, with six being admitted to intensive care units. Identifying some victims was challenging due to the high temperatures reaching up to 1,300 degrees Celsius (2,370 degrees Fahrenheit) inside the first carriage. Six Albanians, two Cypriot students and a citizen of Romania are among the dead.

As a closing statement, I'd like to share a quote that's been flying around social media ever since the above incidents took place.

"The few kids that we didn't chase away abroad, boarded the train to go study.

The ones who survived went to protest for those who died.

We beat up those ones."

[beardedmrbean]

1. Sex and the City? Brussels municipality vows to be first 'single-friendly' local authority

Woluwe-Saint-Pierre in Brussels has become the first municipality in Belgium (and Europe) to commit to taking single people into account in all of its policies, by evaluating the impact they have on one-person households. Read more.

2. 'Nothing changes. Now we block the country': Farmers defiant after EU talks 'failure'

After a week of traffic chaos and more than 1,300 angry farmers in tractors gathering in Brussels as the EU summit took place on Thursday, the protestors were heard by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and the presidents of the European Commission and Parliament. Read more.

3. What to do in Brussels this weekend: 2 - 4 February

Feeling unmotivated to leave the comfort of your sofa this weekend, or are you feeling energised but lacking creativity on what to do? Don't worry – with our wide range of activities in Brussels and beyond this weekend you'll be spoilt for choice! Read more.

4. Empty shelves: Supermarkets hit as farmers target distribution centres

Whilst the tractors that filled Brussels on Thursday have withdrawn from the capital, some groups of Belgian farmers are persisting with more targeted blocks, preventing access to ports and distribution centres, raising fears of empty supermarket shelves. Read more.

5. 'Unsafe': Nearly 2,000 truck drivers stranded in Zeebrugge as farmers block port

While the farmers' protest came to a head in Brussels on Thursday, the tractor blockades have not all disappeared. In addition to the shut-off distribution centres, the continuing blockade at the port of Zeebrugge has left some 2,000 truck drivers stranded in the area. Read more.

6. Students organise party on train to protest SNCB fare hikes

French-speaking students and trade union youth branches partied on-board a train on Thursday in protest of Belgian National Railway Company (SNCB) price hikes. Read more.

7. One in three people in Brussels cannot afford a week's holiday

Taking a short trip or two-week holiday may be commonplace for most. However, almost 2.5 million people in Belgium cannot afford to take time off – even for just one week. In Brussels, one in three people do not go on holiday. Read more.

[mariacallous]

China’s ambitions in Europe suffered a major setback this week when Italy signaled plans to leave Beijing’s flagship foreign-policy program, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), underscoring a broader shift in Europe as governments grow increasingly wary of their economic dependence on Beijing. 

While Beijing has long sought to expand its economic footprint in Europe, including by funneling money into BRI infrastructure projects, the biggest European economies largely refused to sign onto the initiative. That changed in 2019 when Italy diverged from its peers and became the BRI’s first and only G-7 member, a move that enraged Washington and represented a major political victory for China. 

By exiting the BRI, Rome will be dealing an embarrassing blow to Beijing on the initiative’s 10th anniversary. Italy’s planned withdrawal also reflects a broader reckoning overtaking Europe as many leaders turn away from the deep economic integration that has for years defined the Europe-China relationship. For years, Europe has lagged behind Washington’s confrontational approach to China, especially when it comes to economic integration—or decoupling. But that appears to be changing.

“For the Chinese, this is a major humiliation,” said Yun Sun, the director of the China program at the Stimson Center, who noted that Beijing took pride in the fact that Western countries—and particularly European countries—had signed onto the BRI. “For Italy to publicly announce its intent to withdraw from BRI, I think for the Chinese they take great offense in that decision.” 

A cornerstone of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s foreign-policy strategy, the BRI has allowed China to export its industrial overcapacity while expanding its geopolitical influence, although the program now appears to be drawing down. In the decade since its inception, two-thirds of European Union members, mostly in the east, have joined the initiative to harness Chinese investment and jump-start growth—resulting in a slew of railway, port, and highway projects. Many of these countries, like Italy, were grappling with slumping economies and touted the potential economic gains that could come from BRI investment. 

Four years later, those bets have not paid off. When Italy signed onto the initiative, Chinese firms agreed to pour $2.8 billion into infrastructure projects, including for Italian ports—fueling lawmakers’ hopes of sweeping returns. But the economic boom never came.

“Back in 2019, there were irrational expectations about what this deal might bring to Italy,” said Noah Barkin, an expert on Europe-China relations at the Rhodium Group. “This deal has not brought great dividends.” Italian exports to China have remained roughly flat, he said, while Chinese foreign direct investment in Italy has plummeted. 

Rome is now taking a harder line toward China. Former Prime Minister Mario Draghi blocked tech transfers to Beijing and prevented Chinese takeovers of Italian companies. Current Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has gone even further, restricting a Chinese firm’s influence on Italian tiremaker Pirelli and affirming her support for Taiwan. In pointed remarks, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto railed against Italy’s decision to join the BRI on Sunday, labeling it an “improvised and atrocious act.”

“The issue today is: how to walk back [from the BRI] without damaging relations [with Beijing],” he said. “Because it is true that China is a competitor, but it is also a partner.”

The same question has been weighing on the minds of other European leaders who have been reassessing their long-standing economic ties with China amid an intensifying technology trade battle. Last month, China retaliated against Western export controls with its own sweeping restrictions on gallium and germanium, two crucial chipmaking inputs. Fueled by those tensions, Brussels, like Washington, is trying to “de-risk” economic relations.

“Just because everyone agreed on de-risking, it doesn’t mean that everyone agrees what de-risking actually means,” said Liana Fix, a Europe expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. “There is definitely a dividing line that runs between how broad the instruments should be applied.”

Italy’s exit from the BRI would only be the latest in a long string of crumbling partnerships between European countries and China. China’s diplomatic push in Central and Eastern Europe, called the 17+1, has progressively lost members over the years; more recently in April, a key trade and investment agreement between the European Union and China collapsed. 

Beyond unveiling their own BRI counterstrategy in 2021—the Global Gateway—European leaders are now dealing yet another blow to Beijing by spurning its upcoming Belt and Road Forum, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

“Europe is increasingly seeing China as a competitor, as a rival, as a challenge, and less as an economic opportunity, which is how it used to see China,” Barkin said. “It is pushing for diversification away from China; it is trying to become more economically resilient [and] reduce dependencies on China for critical inputs, as the U.S. is doing.”

Italy’s latest moves unsurprisingly angered Beijing, which criticized “some forces” for “hyping up and politicizing” Rome’s membership in the BRI. Earlier this week, Chinese state media also stressed that Italy’s entrance into the BRI has “promoted pragmatic cooperation” and “serves the interests of people from both sides.”

Given how closely intertwined the BRI is with Xi’s political legacy, Sun, the Stimson expert, said that Italy’s decision will undoubtedly rebound in its relationship with China. 

“The Chinese take BRI as a flagship foreign-policy initiative of Xi Jinping; it’s very much closely associated with Xi Jinping’s credibility and his great power leadership,” she said. “I don’t think the Chinese will just lightly let this go.”

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"'LONGSHOREMEN HERE JOIN SHIPPING STRIKE," Toronto Star. September 13, 1943. Page 2. ---- Object to Labor Board Hearing Case Until Third Member Named ---- Montreal, Sept. 13 - (CP) National war labor board hearings of disputes involving "several thousand" freight handlers across Canada will await "the time when the board is fully constituted," F. H. Hall, vice-president of the International Brotherhood of Railway Clerks, so announced today.

He said he had sent a telegram to the labor board "declining to proceed with hearings scheduled for tomorrow and Wednesday and had urged Hon. Humphrey Mitchell, minister of labor, "to take immediate steps to fully constitute the board."

The labor board now has only two members, as the service of J. L. Cohen, K.C., labor representative, was terminated by federal cabinet action.

Meanwhile Mr. Hall gave this picture of the situation as far as A.F.L. freight handlers are concerned:

The strike of 1.800 Canadian Steamship Lines freight handlers and sympathizers from the Clarke Steamship Line in various St. Lawrence waterway ports continues, virtually paralyzing the movement of waterborne freight from the lakehead to Quebec.

Representatives of 3.500 C.P.R. hourly-rated employees from coast to coast, demanding vacations with pay and scheduled to appear before the labor board tomorrow, will not appear.

Representatives of 650 stevedores, employed by the Eastern Canada Stevedoring Co. of Halifax and demanding wage increases, will not appear at a scheduled hearing before the labor board.

Representatives of 500 Canadian Pacific and Canadian National freight handlers of Montreal, demanding wage increases, will not appear at a scheduled hearing before the labor board.

Representatives of 250 Canadian Pacific longshoremen at Saint John. N.B., demanding wage increases, will not appear at a scheduled hearing before the labor board.

Strike Spreads Here One hundred and fifty longshoremen, all C.S.L. employees in Toronto today joined the shipping strike which has involved five Great Lakes and St. Lawrence river ports.

Frank H. Hall, president of the board of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees union. an- nounced: "The national war labor board has set Wednesday for the hearing of the case and the union has declined to proceed until the board is fully constituted.

"By an order-in-council made public last week. J. L. Cohen is no longer a member of the board. The union, on my instructions, has declined to be heard until a labor representative is appointed."

Mr. Hall said that freight at the head of the lakes is "completely tied up" there. He said, longshoremen employed by the Canadian Pacific Steamships and the Canada Steamship lines are on strike. The Montreal strike included employees of the Clarke Steamship Lines Ltd.

A C.S.L. official said that freight loading and unloading "is moving as usual in Toronto. We have a permanent staff here," was his only comment. There are no picket lines, he added.

No lake ships were unloaded at Montreal during the week-end. But at Fort William, white collar workers turned out to move part of the cargo of the passenger and package freight carrier Keewatin. All package freight boats at Fort William are idle, a C.S.L. official said.

The Keewatin cleared Fort William several hours later and with part of her cargo unloaded after all available labor, including office workers, trucked freight from the vessel to the shed for hours. At Sarnia, the C.S.L. steamer Huronic remained unloaded after 75 dock handlers there walked out in sympathy.

[rajuristeels]

We are incredibly pleased, excited, humbled, and honored to share that our facility was inaugurated on 28th April 2023 at Jalna, Maharashtra by Smt. Ruchika Chaudhry Govil, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Steel and Hon’ble MP Raosaheb Patil Danve, Union Minister of State for Railways, Coal and Mines. We were also graced by the presence of Mr. Subhash Kumar (Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel), Mr. R. P. Gupta (Director, Ministry of Mines), Dr. Anupam Agnihotri and Mr. R. N. Chouhan (JNARDDC), and many other prominent personalities.

Here are some glimpses of the inauguration of India's leading TMT Bar Manufacturer Rajuri Steel's state-of-the-art MeltingShop and Rolling Mill facility.

We are extremely grateful for all the support we have received from all our stakeholders and partners. Our ascertained quality, customer relationship, and trust which you all relayed to us over three decades helped us to achieve this milestone.

We thank everyone who supported us in making this world -class facility a reality and look forward to growing together.

#inauguration #steelplant #plantinauguration #rollingmill #openingceremony #growth #jalna #jalnaindustry #MinistryOfSteel #steelindustry #steel #RajuriSteel #TMTsteel #TMTbars #RCC #construction #architecture #building #BindingWire #RingerStirrups #Nails #TMTBar #TMT #Steelbar #TMTSariya #qualitysteel #TMTBarManufacturer #StrengthofTogetherness #InternationalQuality #GermanTechnology #33StrengtheningYears #Rajuri500 #Rajuri500DPlus #Rajuri550 #Rajuri500TMX #Rajuri550✓actual #Rajuri550DPlus #Rajuri550CRS #RajuriRingerStirrups #RajuriBindingWire #RajuriNails

[feckcops]

The Tories know they can’t beat the unions – they just want someone else to blame

“The reason a government would want such a bill is entirely obvious: if strikes are making ministers look bad, why not simply ban the strikes? But the lack of detail of what a ‘minimum service’ actually is, and the sweeping powers the bill offers ministers to amend the law once it has passed, united an unlikely alliance of John McDonnell and Jacob Rees-Mogg in criticism when it passed the Commons last January. This week, peers asked the government to look again.

“There’s another problem with the idea of anti-strike legislation, that’s not so much legal as philosophical: it misunderstands the nature of union power. The miners’ strike was defeated through implacability and brute force, yes, but it also required preparation, such as the stockpiling of coal, and for the NUM to have been in a much weaker position than it had once been. An earlier wave of strikes, a decade beforehand when the industry was stronger and coal a more important part of Britain’s energy mix, had effectively brought down a Conservative government, when Edward Heath called an early election under the campaign slogan ‘Who governs Britain?’ and promptly lost his majority. In the early 1970s, when the miners had the power to bring the country to a standstill by withdrawing their labour, they won; a decade later, it turned out they no longer had the power, so they lost.

“It is very far from obvious that nurses, teachers, rail workers and the others are in the sort of weak position that would mean sheer bloody mindedness on the part of the government would be enough to defeat them: that, of course, is both why the government has been forced to open negotiations, and why it is attempting to make strikes harder. But this doesn’t feel like a problem that can just be legislated away. Even if the bill passes staff may walk out anyway, or withdraw their labour in other ways by quitting or not joining these sectors in the first place. The government can pass as many anti-strike bills as it wants: that won’t be enough to change the fact that the country fundamentally needs nurses and teachers and railway workers a damn sight more than it needs these particular politicians.”

[newnewz]

'Tragic human error' caused Greece's worst train crash: PM

"Everything shows that the drama was, sadly, mainly due to a tragic human error," Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a televised address.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday said a "tragic human error" was likely responsible for a train collision that has left at least 38 dead in the country's worst rail tragedy.

Two carriages were crushed and a third engulfed in fire when a passenger train and a freight train late Tuesday collided near the central city of Larissa, on a route plagued by years of safety warnings.

The fire department had earlier increased the death toll to 38, adding that 57 people were still hospitalised, six of them in intensive care, while several were missing.

"Everything shows that the drama was, sadly, mainly due to a tragic human error," Mitsotakis -- who is seeking re-election this year -- said in a televised address.

He said it was a "terrible train accident without precedent" in Greece which would be "fully" investigated.

"I've never seen anything like this in my entire life," said one rescue worker, emerging from the wreckage. "It's tragic. Five hours later, we are finding bodies."

The accident left a tangled mess of metal and shattered glass in a field.

In some cases, passengers are being identified from body parts, volunteer fireman Vassilis Iliopoulos told Skai TV, warning that the death toll would rise.

Seventeen biological samples have been collected from remains, and from 23 relatives seeking a match, the police said.

"It was the train of terror," Pavlos Aslanidis, whose son is missing along with a friend, told reporters.

Greece's transport minister submitted his resignation just hours after the accident.

"When something so tragic happens, we cannot continue as if nothing had happened," Kostas Karamanlis said in a public statement.

On Wednesday evening, police in the capital Athens fired tear gas at protesters throwing rocks at the offices of the railway's operating company, Hellenic Train.

The passenger train, carrying more than 350 people, had been travelling from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki.

The 59-year-old station master of Larissa was arrested several hours after the accident and charged with negligent homicide.

Government spokesman Yiannis Economou said the two trains were left running on the same track for "several kilometres".

But train unionists said the station master was likely a scapegoat as the safety shortcomings of the Athens-Thessaloniki railway line had been known for years.

In an open letter in February, train staff said track safety systems were incomplete and poorly maintained.

A safety supervisor had resigned last year, warning that infrastructure upgrades pending since 2016 were incomplete and that train speeds of up to 200 kilometres (124 miles) an hour were unsafe.

The president of the train drivers' union Kostas Genidounias told AFP from the scene that the accident "would have been avoided if the safety systems were working".

'Complete panic'

Health Minister Thanos Plevris said most passengers were "young people", with the train carrying many students returning to Thessaloniki after a long holiday weekend.

"It was a nightmare... I'm still shaking," 22-year-old passenger Angelos told AFP.

"Fortunately we were in the penultimate car and we got out alive. There was a fire in the first cars and complete panic.

"The collision was like a huge earthquake."

"I was stained with blood from other people who were injured near me," a passenger named Lazos told the newspaper Proto Thema.

Some 150 firefighters and 40 ambulances were mobilised for the response, according to Greek emergency services.

Crews were still struggling to lift one of the smashed carriages, lying on its side, to enable a search inside, Iliopoulos said.

"My thoughts are with the people in Greece this morning," tweeted the head of the European Council, Charles Michel.

"Shocked by the news and images of the collision of the two trains," he added.

Neighbouring Albania, Italy, Serbia and Turkey were among states to send condolences, as did China, the United States, France, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and the Vatican.

Nicosia said two Cypriots were among the missing.

'Windows exploded'

On the local media site Onlarissa, a young woman said that the train "was stopped for a few minutes when we heard a deafening noise".

Another passenger told Skai TV that "the windows suddenly exploded. People were screaming."

"Fortunately, we were able to open the doors and escape fairly quickly. In other wagons, they did not manage to get out, and one wagon even caught fire," he added.

Authorities have declared three days of national mourning.

[olko71]

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Strikes: Ministers refusing to negotiate on pay, says union body

Getty Images

By Faarea Masud

Business reporter

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has accused the government of refusing to negotiate on public sector pay.

Its new general secretary, Paul Nowak, suggested in a BBC interview that ministers were using pay review bodies “as a human shield” in negotiations.

There has been widespread strike action in recent months as prices have soared.

But the government has said if public sector wages rose in line with the cost of living, it would lead to “worsening debt”, leaving “everyone poorer”.

Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme, Mr Nowak argued that independent pay review bodies were going into negotiations with their “hands tied” by the government.

“The pay review body process itself is in danger of being brought into disrepute because the government is hiding behind the pay review bodies, refusing to negotiate on pay and refusing to reach a reasonable settlement with our public sector unions,” he said.

A government spokesperson said: “We have been reasonable in our approach to agreeing to the independent pay review bodies’ recommendations for public sector pay rises.”

The strikes taking place in December and January

Why are prices rising so much?

Nurses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland held the largest strike in the history of the NHS during December and more action is planned for January.

Meanwhile, train and postal services have been disrupted as rail workers and Royal Mail staff walked out in rows over pay and conditions.

The rate of price rises – or inflation – reached 10.7% in November, the highest in 40 years, stoked by soaring energy bills.

Workers are seeking wage rises in line or above inflation as a result.

On his first day in the job, Mr Nowak also said he was hopeful there was a “landing zone” between the offers on the table from government and the demands of unions on pay.

“What’s crucially important is that government actually sits down and negotiates,” he added.

Mr Nowak has replaced Frances O’Grady as head of the TUC, which represents unions in England and Wales.

PA Media

In an earlier interview with the BBC, he warned that further strike action may be scheduled in the new year without progress on talks.

He said workers “feel that they have no alternative [to strike action]” because of the rising costs they are facing.

“When you think about those energy bills landing, the cost of the weekly shop, filling up your car, rents and mortgages going up – the one thing that isn’t going up is wages.”

Mr Nowak added that the decision to strike was a “really difficult” one for its members, who often lose out on pay during walk outs.

Rail strikes will continue on 29 December as TSSA union members at West Midlands Trains and Great Western Railway walk out in a row over pay as well as terms and conditions.

Border Force staff, including many who check passports, are staging further strikes which will last until 31 December, although disruption at six airports affected has been reported as “minimal”.

Driving examiners who are PCS members are also on strike until 31 December in a row over pay, pensions and redundancy terms, and action will continue throughout January.

The head of the PCS union representing staff has warned that industrial action could last well into 2023.

Rail travel in the first week of January, when many people return to work after Christmas, is expected to be disrupted because of strike action.

Members of the RMT union will walk out on 3 January and 4 January. They will strike again on 6 January and 7 January.

Network Rail, which operates and maintains the UK rail system, has warned people to “only travel if absolutely necessary” on those days.

In addition, members of Aslef will walk out on 5 January. Train operator Southeastern has warned there will be no services on that date and severe disruption on the days before and after due to the strikes and has warned customers to check their website before travelling.

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, said the RMT strikes will mean only around 20% of services will operate and “half of the network will shut down”.

How will strikes affect you? Are you planning to strike? You can share your experience by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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