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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40016788

Amid a recent string of mass shootings in the United States, the City of Miami in collaboration with the Miami-Dade Police Department held a gun buyback event Saturday.

Earlier in the week, District 2 Commissioner, Ken Russell announced the program with a tweet describing the buyback event to “support Ukraine and take guns off the streets.”

As gates opened on this warm Saturday morning, three cars lined up. One of the first donations was delivered in a blue plastic bag and appeared to be a hand-made weapon of pipe and tape.

The “no questions asked” aspect of the event is meant to encourage getting weapons off the streets, according to Commissioner Russell. “No guns will be sent to Ukraine that are not appropriate or not wanted or not useful in their efforts against defending against Russia,” says Russell. He has partnered with the State Department and an exporter to be able to ship the approved firearms to the Ukraine.

The buyback program has its skeptics among gun enthusiasts in Florida. Leadership at Florida Carry Inc, a non-profit organization that promotes gun rights, believe the practice is deceptive.

“I think it’s a bait and switch. What the Miami Police Department is not telling people is they have four options that they can do with firearms that are turned in,” said Florida Carry board member, Kevin Sona, “they can keep them, they can destroy them, they can lend them to another department or they can sell them and any sales, the funds from those sales have to go back into the Florida school funding.”

Sona and another program skeptic carefully documented the event with photos and video. “Glory for Ukraine” one man yelled, while claiming the department and the city officials were dishonest in saying they will ship the weapons to Ukraine. Commissioner Russell spoke to the group in an effort to assure them officials are trying to contribute to defense efforts in Ukraine and keep guns off the streets in Miami.

The Miami-Dade Police Department told Reuters via email, that a resolution from the City of Miami passed on June 9 directs officials to “take any and all action to work with federal authorities to ship any functional weapon received through the city’s Gun Buyback program to Ukraine for use in the conflict against the Russian invasion.” While the police department does not possess a license to export firearms, the city’s resolution says it may include procurement of an export license in order to stay within Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) along with the Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls in regards to any and all exports of firearms. Commissioner Russell confirmed to Reuters the exporter with which they are partnering possesses those necessary licenses to comply with federal laws.

Those who chose to give away their guns said they want a safe way to get rid of them.

“My brother in law passed away and I thought that this was the safest way to get rid of guns because I don’t do guns,” said Anna, who preferred not to share her last name. “I’ve been storing them in a safe place until the gun buyback program surfaced again.”

Published : June 19, 2022

By : Reuters

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40016779

Nepal is considering relocating the base camp of Mt. Qomolangma, possibly a little below its current location at 5,364m, as human activity accelerates the melting of glaciers.

Nepal’s government is considering relocating the base camp of Mt. Qomolangma, the world’s highest mountain, as increasing human activities in the area have contributed to a rapid melt of ice, officials said on Friday.

“The discussions regarding shifting the base camp have started,” Surya Prasad Upadhyay, information officer at the Department of Tourism, told Xinhua. “No decision on moving the base camp has been taken yet.”

Every year, hundreds of climbers from around the world assemble at the base camp, located at 5,364m on the Khumbu Glacier, with a view to standing on top of the world.

The climbers have experienced growing changes around the base camp, since they have been able to collect water directly in recent years, instead of collecting ice to boil in huge pots to make water.

Officials at the Tourism Department said that internal discussions have been ongoing after a task force was formed to explore better ways of organizing the expeditions. A member of the task force told Xinhua that they have submitted a draft of recommendations to the department suggesting moving the base camp a little below its current location.

Tourists walk along a trekking route near Namche Bazar, known as the gateway to Mount Qomolangma, in Solukhumbu District, Nepal, Nov. 9, 2019. (Xinhua/Shristi Kafle)

Bhisma Raj Bhattarai, a section officer at the department, said growing human activities, including cooking at the base camp, have contributed to a warming environment on the 8848.86-meter-high Mt. Qomolangma that straddles Nepal and China.

“Melting snow has also put human lives at more risk,” he added.

Khim Lal Gautam, member secretary of the task force, said they also suggested moving the base camp to another location to avoid direct contact between humans and the Khumbu Glacier.

Gautam, who ascended Mt. Qomolangma in 2011 and 2019 as a surveyor to measure the height of the peak, said climate change is remaking the entire landscape of the region.

Published : June 18, 2022

By : Xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40016733

Tens of migrants stranded at the border state of Nuevo Leon, in Mexico, sewed their mouths shut on Wednesday in protest against state government hurdles to let them move to the United States border.

Despite having a visa that allows them to transit throughout Mexico, migrants haven’t been able to get bus tickets to travel to the Mexico-U.S. border.

Protesters arrived at the Government Palace of Nuevo Leon, in the capital city of Monterrey, weaving their country’s flags and chanting “we want to go”. Some protesters symbolically sewed their mouths shut in an attempt to get someone to listen.

A migrant from Venezuela told Reuters he would rather die in Mexico than be deported to his country.

The protest comes on the heels of the U.S.-hosted Summit of the Americas, where a series of migrant programs supported by various countries across the hemisphere and Spain were disclosed.

Those programs include the United States and Canada committing to taking more guest labourers, providing legal pathways for people to come work, and other countries agreeing to greater protections for migrants.

Published : June 17, 2022

By : Reuters

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40016732

The United States said on Thursday it has not asked Russia about two U.S. citizens reported missing after travelling to Ukraine to fight against Russian forces and said there are reports of a third missing American.

“As of today, we have not raised this yet with the Russian Federation … (We) haven’t seen anything from the Russians indicating that two such individuals are in their custody,” U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters, describing reports about the two men as unconfirmed.

Alexander Drueke, 39, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Andy Huynh, 27, of Hartselle, Alabama, went to Ukraine as volunteer fighters against Russian forces, have been missing for a week, and are feared captured, family members have said.

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, saying it was engaged in a “special military operation” to disarm and “denazify” its neighbour. Ukraine and its allies say Moscow has launched an unprovoked war of aggression, killing thousands of civilians.

Reports that the two had been taken as prisoners of war by Russia are unconfirmed, the families and U.S. officials have said.

“There are reports of one additional American whose whereabouts are unknown… Our understanding was that this individual had travelled to Ukraine,” Price added, saying the third American was identified as missing in recent weeks.

Earlier, the White House said that it’s “working very hard to learn more” about two U.S. citizens who are missing in Ukraine and feared being captured.

Published : June 17, 2022

By : Reuters

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40016731

A group of SpaceX employees derided flamboyant billionaire Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk as a “distraction and embarrassment” in an internal letter to executives on Thursday.

Musk, also head of electric automaker Tesla Inc, has been in headlines and late-night comedy monologues in recent months for a tumultuous quest to buy social media giant Twitter, a reported allegation of sexual harassment that Musk has denied as well as crude comments online and a foray into political discourse.

“Elon’s behaviour in the public sphere is a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks,” read the letter, which does not single out any controversy in particular. 

“As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX – every tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company,” the letter added.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The open letter, earlier reported by The Verge, was drafted by SpaceX employees in recent weeks and shared as an attachment in an internal “Morale Boosters” group chat, which contains thousands of employees, according to a person familiar with the matter.

It was not clear who authored the letter or how many employees were involved in its drafting.

Published : June 17, 2022

By : Reuters

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40016729

Uber is turning to sidewalk robots to deliver meals in California. The ride-sharing service’s food division, Uber Eats, is using a network of autonomous vehicles to drop orders off to customers in a pilot in and around Hollywood.

“It basically is like a self-driving car. If you’ve seen any of them kind of in various cities being tested, it’s the same set of sensors, LIDAR, cameras, you know, GPS, but in a smaller form factor in a way that actually works today”, explains Ali Kashani, CEO of Serve Robotics which makes the units.

Orders are placed by customers using the Uber Eats app which then randomly assigns them a robot or a human-based on factors like proximity and whether the user has opted to meet their driver outside.

The robots, which resemble shopping carts, are given human names like Zoe and Quinn, and human traits like light-up eyes to make them seem more relatable and less intimidating to passers-by as they trundle along the sidewalk. They even utter greetings like ‘Excuse me’ as they pass each other in the street.

“If you look at the robots, they blink. That little blinking behaviour is actually really important for conveying that this has an internal life. It’s a thing that kind of makes decisions and lives”, says Kashani, adding: “We wanted something that belongs on the sidewalk, but something that’s familiar and not frightening, but also kind of fresh and fun. So if people see these robots, they see the eyes, they see the personality, it actually, you know, it adds something to your day.”

Local restauranteurs tell Reuters that the robots are fast becoming local celebrities. “Every time the robot drives by, like.. all the customers just get really excited. You know, people who are just walking by will come out and take a photo” laughs Maximiliano Weschler who runs LALA’s Argentine Grill in Hollywood. The restaurant has been involved in the pilot since the start.

“From day one, I was a big advocate for it. I saw the potential in it. And I still see the potential and I see that this is the direction that we’re heading for the future. So, you know, it’s for me, it’s exciting. I think that it’s going to be way more efficient in the future, but it’s not there just yet. I think that we know, our managers having to package the bag and physically take it out themselves to the robot… That’s a little.. that takes us a little bit longer than, you know, if an Uber eats driver, Postmates driver comes in and picks up the bag from inside themselves”, Weschler adds.

Serve Robotics has been trialling the robots for two years but only recently integrated with Uber Eats. Originally a division of rival delivery service Postmates, which was acquired by Uber in 2020, it’s now spun off into a separate organization, allowing it to also explore other delivery opportunities outside of food:

“If you fast forward a few years, they’re going to move a lot of other things. And if you need groceries or alcohol or pharmacy or basically anything else, in fact. I think it’s a bit of an iPhone moment where we may not know what people are going to move with these once they become so readily available”, Kashani tells Reuters.

“People are still excited about it. They’ll still get close to them. They see them, they try to interact with them. So this is the type of interaction that we’ve had so far. As we start to grow and people get more accustomed to this, this will be just like seeing a regular car anywhere so people get more accustomed to it and we’ll continue to expand”, adds Eduardo Rojas, Manager of Autonomous Mobility & Delivery at Uber Eats.

Although the vehicles are fully autonomous, they’re monitored by human ‘pilots’ at a nearby base in case of any issues.

“I make sure that the robot doesn’t go off course, isn’t going to crash into anything or if there’s anything in its way, I kind of move it out of its way and help the robot” explains pilot, Sarahi Pelayo from behind her desk in the control centre.

Uber’s also working on a second, separate pilot using autonomous cars to deliver food in nearby Santa Monica. That scheme launched last month and is in collaboration with Motional – a partnership between Hyundai and Aptiv. A human is present in the car at all times as a precaution due to regulatory issues, but Uber says the whole interaction is carried out as if they weren’t there.

“We believe that there’s space for human drivers and there’s a space for autonomous vehicles. They coexist very well together, they’re complementary to each other. And together they create what we talk about as the hybrid network. So this hybrid network that has humans and autonomous vehicles in it, we believe is very powerful for the whole marketplace”, says Rojas.m

Published : June 17, 2022

By : Reuters

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40016722

Foreign ministers from the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) met in New Delhi on Thursday for talks about regional stability

In opening remarks during the Ministerial Session, Singapore foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan warned of a growing U.S.-China rivalry that could “threaten” regional stability.

India foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who also attended the dialogue, reiterated India’s support for a unified Asean, and called for a strengthening of ties between India and Asean.

Published : June 16, 2022

By : Reuters

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40016721

The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, and Romania walked amid the ruined buildings of the Ukrainian town of Irpin on Thursday in a show of support which the Kyiv government hopes will be followed by concrete action to help it in the war with Russia.

They were shown around by Ukraine’s Minister for Communities and Territories Development, Oleksiy Chernyshov.

Irpin, which had a pre-war population of about 62,000, was one of the main hotspots of fighting with Russian troops before they pulled back from Ukraine’s northern regions to intensify their offensive in the east.

Standing by gutted, burnt-out buildings, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Olaf Scholz, Italy’s Mario Draghi, and Romania’s Klaus Iohannis, looked stern as they listened to a Ukrainian official explaining what had happened there.

Ukraine says Russia committed large-scale atrocities in Irpin. Russia denies the allegations.

The leaders, dressed in suits but not wearing any visible protective equipment, were surrounded by heavily armed soldiers.

Kyiv has accused France, Germany, and, to a lesser extent, Italy, of foot-dragging in their support for Ukraine, saying they have been slow to deliver weapons and have put their prosperity ahead of Ukraine’s freedom and security.

Ukraine’s bid to join the 27-nation European Union, and its demand for more weapons to fight off Russia, are expected to be two main themes of the EU leaders’ talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later in the day. Zelensky did not accompany them to Irpin.

The EU executive is expected to propose on Friday (June 17) that Ukraine become a formal candidate for membership, diplomats and officials say. That would be a significant political gesture to the country as it resists Russia’s invasion but is also something EU leaders are very divided on.

Macron, who had been criticized at home and abroad for not traveling to Ukraine earlier, had repeatedly said he would only go if and when the visit could be “useful” and not be just a symbolic show of support.

Zelenskiy is expected to push his visitors to send more arms to help his hard-pressed army withstand the Russian invaders.

Published : June 16, 2022

By : Reuters

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40016689

The Federal Reserve raised its target interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday to stem a disruptive surge in inflation and projected a slowing economy and rising unemployment in the months to come.

The rate hike was the biggest announced by the U.S. central bank since 1994 and was delivered after recent data showed little progress in its battle to control a sharp spike in prices.

U.S. central bank officials flagged a faster path of rate hikes to come as well, more closely aligning monetary policy with a rapid shift this week in financial market views of what it will take to bring price pressures under control.

“Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher energy prices and broader price pressures,” the central bank’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement at the end of its latest two-day meeting in Washington. “The committee is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2% objective.”

The statement continued to cite the Ukraine war and China lockdown policies as sources of additional inflation pressures.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, speaking to reporters at a press conference after the decision, said policymakers “came to the view” that they needed to do more front loading to get rates to a more neutral range more quickly. “Seventy-five basis points seemed like the right thing to do at this meeting, and that’s what we did.”

Moreover, Powell said an increase of either three-quarter of a point or a half point would “most likely” be the appropriate outcome of the central bank’s next meeting in late July. Still, Powell said he did not expect increases in the size of Wednesday’s 75-basis-point hike to “be common.”

The action raised the short-term federal funds rate to a range of 1.50% to 1.75%, and Fed officials at the median projected it would increase to 3.4% by the end of this year and to 3.8% in 2023 – a substantial shift from projections in March that saw the rate rising to 1.9% this year.

The tightening of monetary policy was accompanied by a downgrade to the Fed’s economic outlook, with the economy now seen slowing to a below-trend 1.7% rate of growth this year, unemployment rising to 3.7% by the end of this year, and continuing to rise to 4.1% through 2024.

While no Fed policymaker projected an outright recession, the range of economic growth forecasts edged toward zero in 2023 and the federal funds rate was seen falling in 2024.

U.S. stocks pared gains immediately following the release of the statement and economic projections in choppy trading. U.S. Treasury yields rose while the U.S. dollar gained against a basket of currencies.

Interest rate futures markets also reflected about an 85% probability that the Fed will match Wednesday’s 75-basis-point increase at its next policy meeting in July. For September’s meeting, however, the greater probability – at more than 50% – was for a 50-basis-point increase.

The new Fed projections are a break with recent central bank efforts to cast tighter monetary policy and inflation control as consistent with steady and low unemployment. The 4.1% jobless rate seen in 2024 is now slightly above the level Fed officials generally see as consistent with full employment.

Since March, when Fed officials projected they could raise rates and control inflation with the unemployment rate remaining around 3.5%, inflation has stubbornly remained at a 40-year high, with no sign of it reaching the peak Fed policymakers hoped would arrive this spring.

Even with the more aggressive interest rate measures taken on Wednesday, policymakers nevertheless see inflation as measured by the personal consumption expenditures price index at 5.2% through this year and slowing only gradually to 2.2% in 2024.

Inflation has become the most pressing economic issue for the Fed and has begun to shape the political landscape as well, with household sentiment worsening amid rising food and gasoline prices.

Kansas City Fed President Esther George was the only policymaker to dissent in Wednesday’s decision in preference for a half-percentage-point hike.

Published : June 16, 2022

By : Reuters

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40016672

Clashes broke out in several cities in Ecuador on Tuesday, after police detained the leader of the country’s largest indigenous organization, Leonidas Iza after he led blockades on several highways in protest against the government’s economic policies.

Indigenous groups began on Monday what they said will be an ongoing protest to demand President Guillermo Lasso freeze the price of gasoline, declare a moratorium on small farmers’ bank debts and limit oil and mining expansion in the country. Read full story

On Monday night protesters burned a patrol car and attacked police officers, extinguished a pressure pump in an oil field and damaged infrastructure in some flower farms, the government said.

Iza’s arrest on Tuesday prompted further protests, while violence rose in some parts of the country.

Hundreds of indigenous people arrived in Latacunga, south of the capital city Quito, to support Iza on Tuesday afternoon. Other marches were reported in small towns with indigenous populations.

Ecuador’s police said officers had been assaulted and several of them detained by protesters in Latacunga.

Community and student groups were also protesting against Lasso’s economic reforms in Quito in the afternoon, culminating in an attack on a police car.

Lasso has said he will not allow protests to affect economic recovery and will punish any vandalism during protests.

Ecuadorean oil company PetroOriental said it was losing production of some 1,400 barrels per day and had shuttered eight wells in Orellana province after a small group from the Yawepare community occupied its installations, blocked access roads and damaged the tires of military vehicles with spears.

Published : June 15, 2022

By : Reuters