🗺️ Picks of the Week — April 16
🗺️ Picks of the Week — April 16
France to Ban Short Domestic Flights, Japan to Release Nuclear Water into Ocean, Peru and Ecuador Election Results, Tribal Violence Erupts in Papua New Guinea, Rare Meteor Seen in Florida
Hello folks! Happy Friday and welcome to another edition of Picks of the Week, where we dissect the most important and interesting news from around the world.
Today we’ll visit France who is set to ban short-haul domestic flights in a bid to fight the climate emergency; Japan who announced it will release nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean from its Fukushima power plant; Peru and Ecuador who each held elections over the weekend; Papua New Guinea whose tribal conflict threatens to break out into all-out war; and Florida where a rare meteor sighting took place.
Jobs and data below, let’s do this thing!
Job Corner ✍️
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Data Corner 🧮
A few datasets referenced in today’s edition…
Nuclear Reactors: Data on the world’s nuclear reactors, from the World Nuclear Association
Eco Passenger: Compare the energy consumption, the CO2 emissions and other environmental impacts for planes, cars and trains in passenger transport
Fireballs: Historical reports of fireballs around the world, from the American Meteor Society
Peru Election: Historical election data, from the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
Japan to Release Contaminated Water into Ocean
We’ll start this week in Japan, who is facing major backlash over its decision to release more than a million tonnes of contaminated water from its Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean. The process is set to begin in two years and is expected to last a number of decades.
Though the volume of harmful radioactive material in the water will be filtered to comply with strict regulatory standards, Japan’s decision was criticized by China, who told one Japanese official to drink the radioactive water if it was indeed safe enough, as well as environmental groups which claimed the government had failed its people. The U.S., meanwhile, thanked Japan for its “transparency.”
The Fukushima nuclear disaster, which recently had its 10-year anniversary, killed 18,000 people, displaced 150,000 and wiped entire towns off the map. The radioactive water is being stored in a number of tanks and increases by about 140 tonnes per day. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga claims that depositing the water is “unavoidable” and the “most realistic” route toward Fukushima’s recovery, which residents say is far off. Local fishermen also worry the release will destroy the public’s confidence in seafood they spent years restoring after the disaster.
France to Ban Short Domestic Flights
To France next, where lawmakers have approved a groundbreaking bill to ban short domestic flights in a bid to reduce carbon emissions. The proposal will ban flights where an equivalent train journey could be made in less than two and a half hours, though exceptions will be made for connecting flights. The Senate must now approve the bill for it to become law.
Short-haul flights emit by far the most CO2 emissions, and the likes of Greta Thunberg have boycotted air travel in favor of boat or train journeys. While the aviation industry is unhappy about the potential changes and claim the pandemic has made it hard enough for airlines to recover, the measures could go a long way in reducing greenhouse gases. France is set to follow in Austria’s footsteps, where trains replaced a short-haul flight route between Vienna and Salzburg last year as part of emission cuts required to meet the terms of a government bailout for Austrian Airlines.
Previous Picks of the Week 👀
🔎 Picks of the Week — April 12
🔎 Picks of the Week — March 19
🔎 Picks of the Week — March 12
🔎 Picks of the Week — March 5
Peru Election Heads to Runoff
Election news next, where voters in Peru sent the country’s presidential election to a runoff, scheduled for June, in the fifth presidential election in five years. Far-left candidate and teachers’ union leader Pedro Castillo won 19 percent of the vote, and will face Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of imprisoned former right-wing president Alberto Fujimori, who finished with 13 percent and has herself spent time in prison.
Castillo gained popularity amid rising anti-government sentiment over their handling of the pandemic, currently led by interim President Francisco Sagasti. Ahead of election day, the country recorded its highest single-day total of Covid-related deaths, which now stands at more than 55,000 cumulatively. Its economy has also been crushed, with GDP declining by more than 11 percent in 2020. Voters also remain skeptical of corruption allegations last year that led to the impeachment of former President Martín Vizcarra, and saw his successor, interim president Manuel Merino, resign a week later.
Conservative Banker Wins Ecuadorian Election
More election news from Latin America, this time in Ecuador who elected new president Guillermo Lasso, the former banker who vowed to break from the leftist policies of past governments. Lasso won on his third attempt in a surprise to many, as he narrowly defeated former front-runner and left-wing economist Andrés Arauz in a runoff. A total of 1.6 million null votes were registered after indigenous advocacy groups called on voters to spoil their ballots to protest former candidate Yaku Perez being denied a recount in the first-round.
Lasso has promised a move away from Ecuador’s socialist past, looking to increase oil production, create new jobs, and introduce cuts to clear the fiscal deficit without raising taxes. He’ll take over an economy ravaged by Covid-19, where debt accounts for almost 60 percent of GDP with rising levels of poverty and unemployment. He’ll also be expected to regain control of a vaccination rollout rocked by accusations of nepotism and queue-jumping, which led to the health minister’s resignation.
Tribal Violence Erupts in Papua New Guinea
We head to Papua New Guinea now, where tribal violence in the country’s Eastern Highlands is spiralling out of control. Local police have warned of all-out war between the Agarabi and Tapo tribes, who dispute land control, which in Papua New Guinea is almost all customary, meaning it’s owned and administered by indigenous groups. In a recent spurt of violence, 19 people were killed and many more unaccounted for.
Conflict has existed in the highlands since the country gained independence from Australia in 1975, but loyalty to tribe still trumps loyalty to country. While the international community has tried to intervene and assuage the tension, thousands of refugees continue to flee the region each year. In PNG, just less than 40 percent of the population of almost nine million live below the poverty line and police corruption is rampant, creating a culture of impunity and lawlessness that allows violence to perpetuate.
Video: How guns and Hollywood changed tribal disputes in Papua New Guinea
Rare Meteor Seen in Florida
We’ll finish this week in Florida, where hundreds of residents along the state’s Atlantic coast reported a rare meteor sighting. On Monday at approximately 10 p.m. local time, a fireball — another term for a very bright meteor — lit up the sky and was captured by surveillance cameras and reporters live recording. The American Meteor Society later confirmed the fireball travelled from Florida’s east coast to the tip of Grand Bahama Island’s west coast, where residents reported a sonic boom.
A meteor exists when a meteoroid — a small piece of rock that breaks off an asteroid and floats in outer space — enters the Earth’s atmosphere. It then vaporizes and converts into a meteor, or a streak of light, which can be seen in the sky. There are more than one million known asteroids, according to NASA.
Some astronomers disagreed over whether the meteor was the threatening GW4 meteor, predicted to pass through far closer to earth than normal on April 12, the day of the sighting. The news also comes after NASA recently issued a 100-year all clear from another particularly dangerous asteroid, Apophis, which is predicted to get frighteningly close and personal with Earth at several points over the coming century.
That’s all for today. See you Monday for another job board update! 👋