Trump turns to 'Game of Thrones' to push for border wall

WASHINGTON, United States — US President Donald Trump turned Thursday to "Game of Thrones" -- a hit TV show that features a massive ice wall -- to push for his controversial barrier on the Mexican border.

"THE WALL IS COMING," Trump wrote in a post on Instagram that featured the font from the show's title and his picture with a border barrier at the bottom.

"Winter is coming" is an iconic phrase from the show that has been fodder for a slew of memes, which Trump previously referenced in a tweet about impending sanctions on Iran.

HBO, which airs "Game of Thrones," was unamused by the president's first nod to the program, saying in a statement carried by US media that it "would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes."

The wall in "Game of Thrones" was built to protects the land of Westeros from an army of undead foot soldiers led by villainous "White Walkers" intent on wiping out the humans living to its south.

Trump's wall -- a dispute over funding for which has led to a protracted shutdown of the US government -- is aimed at keeping out Central American migrants fleeing poverty and rampant violence in their home countries.

The wall in the show -- which has played a central if silent role in its eight-season run -- ultimately fails when confronted by an undead dragon.

source: philstar.com

Trump home alone for Christmas

WASHINGTON – An angry US President Donald Trump complained on Monday that he was “all alone” in the White House as the US government shutdown hit a third day, even plunging the nation’s main Christmas tree into darkness.

With Congress out of town and the debate over Trump’s demand for a $5-billion US-Mexico border wall at an impasse, the president sat holed up, tweeting no less than 10 times by early afternoon to lash out at opponents and reject responsibility for a plummeting stock market.

“I am all alone (poor me) in the White House,” tweeted Trump, who had to delay his annual Christmas holiday in Florida because of the crisis in Washington.


Trump said he was “waiting for the Democrats to come back and make a deal on desperately needed Border Security.”

However, the Democrats – and some Republicans – have made clear they will not vote for Trump’s cherished border wall. In retaliation, Trump is refusing to sign a broader spending bill, triggering a standoff that has left swathes of the US government temporarily without funding.

Outside the White House, Washington’s National Christmas Tree became a forlorn symbol of the dysfunction gripping Trump’s presidency two years after his surprise election.

The National Park Service tweeted that the tree would remain unlit and closed to the public “until further notice,” with checks being made for damage following an attempt by an intruder on Friday to climb the tree.

The parks service is one of the many federal institutions suffering from the funding suspension.

The budget standoff could drag on into January, when the new Congress is seated, including a House controlled by Democrats. Negotiations, however, were planned for Thursday, offering a glimmer of hope of resolution.

Trump made a Mexico border wall one of his main campaign promises and the idea is popular with many Republicans backing the president’s message that illegal immigration is out of control.

Democrats and some Republicans in Congress oppose the plans as impractical, unnecessary and fuelling xenophobia against Central Americans.

The government shutdown adds to uncertainties spooking global stock markets after a tumultuous week in which respected Defense Secretary James Mattis resigned and the president stepped up attacks on the supposedly independent chairman of the Federal Reserve.

On Monday, in a session shortened for Christmas Eve, the Dow Jones dropped more than 650 points, or 2.9 percent.

But Trump, who has repeatedly taken credit for good days on the markets, blamed the Fed for the growing sense of disarray.

Last week, the central bank hiked rates, infuriating Trump, who has ignored a traditional respect for the Fed’s independence, calling it “crazy,” “out of control” and a greater economic threat than China.

In a tweet Monday, Trump compared the Fed to a blundering golfer “who can’t score because he has no touch – he can’t putt!”

In other tweets, Trump praised Saudi Arabia for pledging money to rebuild Syria (“Thanks to Saudi A!”), denied lashing out at acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker (“This is a made up story, one of many, by the Fake News Media!”), and took another swipe at his newly departed defense secretary James Mattis for failing to worry about the financial cost of maintaining military alliances (“We are substantially subsidizing the Militaries of many VERY rich countries all over the world”).

Believing in Santa at 7 is ‘marginal’

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump on Christmas Eve took calls from children anxious to find out where Santa was on his gift-giving journey.

In one conversation, Trump asked a 7-year-old named Coleman, “Are you still a believer in Santa?” He listened for a moment before adding, “Because at 7, it’s marginal, right?” Trump listened again and chuckled before saying, “Well, you just enjoy yourself.”

Mrs. Trump told a caller that Santa was in the Sahara. Several minutes later, she reported that Santa was far away in Morocco but would be at the caller’s home on Christmas morning.

Mrs. Trump later tweeted that helping children track Santa “is becoming one of my favorite traditions!”

The NORAD Tracks Santa program became a Christmas Eve tradition after a child mistakenly called the forerunner to the North American Aerospace Defense Command in 1955 and asked to speak to Santa.

The program wasn’t affected by the government shutdown. It’s run by volunteers at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado using pre-approved funding.

The Trumps later traveled to Washington National Cathedral to attend the Solemn Holy Eucharist of Christmas Eve. The cathedral’s website said the program included readings from Holy Scripture, favorite congregational hymns and seasonal choral and instrumental music as well as Holy Communion. Passes were required.

Trump most likely would have been attending Christmas services at a church near his estate in Palm Beach, Florida. But he scrapped plans to head to Florida for the holidays after parts of the government were forced to shut down indefinitely in a budget stalemate with Congress.

source: philstar.com

Trump: Mexico will hold US-bound refugees while claims processed

WASHINGTON, United States — Asylum seekers hoping to enter the US via its southern border will have to wait in Mexico while they are assessed, President Donald Trump announced Saturday, appearing to confirm a report about a bilateral deal published by The Washington Post.

The move was cautiously welcomed by some refugees currently at the border, even as Mexico's incoming interior minister Olga Sanchez Cordero, who was quoted by the Post as confirming the agreement, later issued a denial.

"Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court," Trump wrote on Twitter.

He added that the US "will allow those who come into our Country legally" and emphasized: "All will stay in Mexico."

The deal, which would overhaul US border policy, comes with Trump outraged over the presence of thousands of Central American migrants who marched to Mexico's border city of Tijuana hoping to enter the US for a better life free from the poverty and gang violence in their homelands.

"For now, we have agreed to this policy of Remain in Mexico," the Post quoted Sanchez Cordero as saying. The government of new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will enter office on December 1.

But her office later issued a statement saying: "There is no agreement of any type between the future federal government of Mexico and that of the United States of America."

Trump has sent almost 6,000 soldiers to the Mexican border in support of Customs and Border Protection agents and National Guard troops already there, to forestall what Trump has called an "invasion" by "very bad people."

After a trek of more than a month from Honduras, nearly 5,000 migrants -- including women and children -- are now in Tijuana living in a makeshift shelter.

A potential breakthrough

Trump "is within his right. He is in his government," but he is not like other presidents in his views of migrants, said a resident of the shelter, Carolina Flores, 38, of Honduras.

"He sees us as a bug that is going to eat there," she added. "We come for an opportunity!"

Another Honduran in the shelter, Orlinda Morales, 31, a housewife, said the reported new asylum rules seem "very good" because migrants will not be in limbo. "We will get work here," she said.

Hundreds of the migrants lined up this week at a special jobs fair set up for them in the manufacturing city, but others remain determined to reach the US.

No formal agreement has been signed, the Post said, but US officials view the deal, which would see would-be refugees' cases heard by US courts in Mexico, as a potential breakthrough in deterring migration.

US asylum officers will begin implementing the new procedures in coming days or weeks, Homeland Security officials cited by the Post said.

Asylum seekers will be given an initial screening to determine whether they face imminent danger by staying in Mexico, where violence is widespread.

Deportation to the homeland

American officials will be able to process at least twice as many asylum claims under the new system because they would not be limited by detention space at US ports of entry, the Post report said.

It added that under the new rules, an applicant whose asylum claim is denied would not be allowed to return to Mexico but would remain in US custody pending immediate deportation to his or her home country.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made no mention of a deal but said that he and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen had "a constructive meeting" with Mexico's future foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard over the caravans.

"We have affirmed our shared commitment to addressing the current challenge. The caravans will not be permitted to enter the United States. There are real dangers to the safety and human rights of migrants from those who would prey on them," Pompeo said.

He added that he was looking forward to working with Mexico's new government, including on ways to spur job creation "to benefit the government and people of Mexico."

In 2018, border patrols registered more than 400,000 illegal crossers, according to Homeland Security, and in the last five years, the number of those requesting asylum has increased by 2,000 percent.

Less than 10 percent of cases result in asylum being granted, the government says.

Last week, a US federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from denying asylum to people who enter the country illegally.

The president issued a proclamation earlier this month saying that only people who enter the US at official checkpoints -- as opposed to sneaking across the border -- can apply for asylum.

source: philstar.com

US-Mexico trade talks progressing but no breakthrough with China

WASHINGTON — Negotiations between the United States and Mexico to revise the nearly 25-year-old North American Free Trade agreement are making progress but will not wrap up this week, Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said Thursday.

But a Chinese delegation, in Washington for talks aimed at defusing the spiraling US trade war with Beijing, left without any breakthrough.

NAFTA and China have been two key targets of US President Donald Trump's aggressive trade strategy and he has largely brushed off concerns from the business community about the harm done to the US economy.

With NAFTA at least, there has apparently been progress.

The negotiations "are well advanced," Guajardo told reporters, but "we are not there yet."


Canada needs to re-engage in the talks before the NAFTA rewrite can be completed and "the only way that can happen is if we continue through the weekend and into next week," he added.

Guajardo and Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray have been shuttling back and forth to Washington for more than a month for meetings with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to try to iron out the bilateral issues, such as rules for the auto market, before the end of August.

Officials last week indicated they expected a breakthrough this week but "negotiations are highly complex," Guajardo said on his way into yet another meeting.

He has cautioned that some of the hardest issues were still on the table, including the US demand for a five-year "sunset clause," which would oblige the three countries to renew the pact regularly.

"There's been no indication of flexibility from the US on this issue," a senior Canadian official told AFP.

Nevertheless, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that he was "encouraged by the optimism expressed by the US and Mexico."

"We're ready to sit down and continue the hard work of modernizing and negotiating a better deal for all of us," he said, but stressed Canada would "only sign a good deal for Canadians."

Canada's top diplomat and chief NAFTA negotiator, Chrystia Freeland, said Wednesday she would rejoin the talks once Washington and Mexico City finish their bilateral discussions.

The three countries have been negotiating for a year to salvage the trade pact Trump says has been a "disaster" for the United States.

No breakthrough with China

As part of Trump's aggressive trade stance, Washington hit China with 25 percent punitive duties on another $16 billion in goods starting Thursday, triggering a swift tit-for-tat retaliation from Beijing.

China filed a complaint against the latest tariffs at the World Trade Organization the same day, the commerce ministry said.

Adding to the $34 billion targeted in July, that brings the total two-way trade weighed down by the steep tariffs to $100 billion, and the United States currently is considering hitting another $200 billion -- a move Trump indicated could come very soon.

"We've put a $50 billion number out there. Now, the total number is $250 billion," Trump said at the White House on Thursday. "And there's a 25-percent tax on that, now, coming in.... Some of it starts in a week."

Washington is accepting public comments on the $200 billion tariff tranche until September 6 -- but they could take effect soon after.

That is on top of US tariffs on Chinese appliances and solar panels, as well as steel and aluminum from around the world -- a total of 10,000 products.

China's Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen and Vice Finance Minister Liao Min concluded two days of talks with a US team lead by David Malpass, US Treasury under secretary for international affairs -- their first trade discussions since June.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters said the talks concluded after officials "exchanged views on how to achieve fairness, balance and reciprocity in the economic relationship."

Economic damage

US businesses have become increasingly concerned about the exchange of tariffs, which are raising prices for manufacturers and hurting US consumers and farmers.

But Trump has been unapologetic, insisting that his tough tactics will work.

Federal Reserve officials warn escalating trade disputes are "a potentially consequential downside risk" for the economy, possibly fueling inflation and impeding investment.

S&P Global Ratings on Thursday downgraded motorcycle maker Harley Davidson's debt rating, citing retaliatory tariffs among other "headwinds" facing the company.

And National Retail Federation Vice President Jonathan Gold said the tariffs "threaten to increase costs for American families and destroy the livelihoods of US workers."

China's commerce ministry said Thursday the country "firmly opposes the tariffs and has no choice but to continue to make the necessary counter-attacks."

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Beijing would not be able to continue to retaliate at the same pace as Washington, noting: "We have many more bullets than they do."

However, Beijing also could target the local operations of US corporations with inspections and boycotts, as it has done in past disputes with South Korea and Japan.

source: philstar.com

Boracay named top winter escape destination

MANILA, Philippines — Boracay continues to gain global recognition as it was named the top winter escape destination in the world by an international travel magazine.

Conde Nast Traveler recently ranked the 30 “Most Beautiful Winter Escapes in the World,” which included Boracay.

“Voted the world’s top island in our 2017 Reader’s Choice Awards, this itty-bitty speck (just under four square miles) in the western Philippines is as close to a tropical idyll as you’ll find in Southeast Asia, with gentle coastlines and Instagram-worthy sunsets,” Conde Nast Traveler said.

The international travel magazine also lauded Boracay for its thriving night scene, making it another attraction for tourists.

Among the other world destinations joining Boracay in the top 30 list are Baja California Sur in Mexico, Cape Town in South Africa and Hawaii.

Last October, Boracay, along with Cebu and Palawan, were voted as the top three best islands in the world outside of the United States by readers of Conde Nast Traveler.

Boracay’s powdery white sand and shallow azure water ideal for swimming and snorkeling were identified as among the main draws of the island.

Meanwhile, Cebu and the Visayan islands were recognized for the more personal vibe they gives off and the many up-and-coming restaurants and shopping options.

In contrast, the magazine highlighted that Palawan is home to the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

“Palawan’s natural wonder is one of the longest underground rivers in the world, traveling five miles through a subterranean cave system. Guided boat tours take visitors down a portion of the waterway, where karsts, natural rock formations created by dissolving limestone loom in every direction,” the magazine said.

Last July, Boracay and Palawan were voted by readers of the international Travel+Leisure magazine as the third and first best island in the world, respectively.

Palawan received a score of 93.15, while Boracay scored 89.67.

source: beta.philstar.com

Mexican quake death toll rises to 90 as Oaxaca reports more fatalities

MEXICO CITY – The death toll from the massive earthquake that struck Mexico on Thursday night has risen to at least 90 after emergency services in the southern state of Oaxaca said late on Saturday there had been 71 confirmed fatalities in the state alone.

“It’s 71 (dead). Just for Oaxaca,” said Jesus Gonzalez, a spokesman for the state civil protection authority.

At least 15 people died in the neighboring state of Chiapas, according to local authorities, while another four deaths have also been confirmed in the state of Tabasco to the north.

The 8.1 magnitude quake that struck off the coast of Chiapas on Thursday was stronger than a devastating 1985 temblor that flattened swathes of Mexico City and killed thousands.

Relief efforts in the south continued through Saturday, with many of the people worst affected still wary of returning indoors to weakened buildings, fearing they could be brought down by ongoing aftershocks.

source: interaksyon.com

Stinking mats of seaweed piling up on Caribbean beaches

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The picture-perfect beaches and turquoise waters that people expect on their visits to the Caribbean are increasingly being fouled by mats of decaying seaweed that attract biting sand fleas and smell like rotten eggs.

Clumps of the brownish seaweed known as sargassum have long washed up on Caribbean coastlines, but researchers say the algae blooms have exploded in extent and frequency in recent years. The 2015 seaweed invasion appears to be a bumper crop, with a number of shorelines so severely hit that some tourists have canceled summer trips and lawmakers on Tobago have termed it a "natural disaster."

From the Dominican Republic in the north, to Barbados in the east, and Mexico's Caribbean resorts to the west, officials are authorizing emergency money to fund cleanup efforts and clear stinking mounds of seaweed that in some cases have piled up nearly 10 feet high on beaches, choked scenic coves and cut off moored boats.

With the start of the region's high tourism season a few months away, some officials are calling for an emergency meeting of the 15-nation Caribbean Community, worried that the worsening seaweed influx could become a chronic dilemma for the globe's most tourism-dependent region.

"This has been the worst year we've seen so far. We really need to have a regional effort on this because this unsightly seaweed could end up affecting the image of the Caribbean," said Christopher James, chairman of the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association.

There are various ideas about what is causing the seaweed boom that scientists say started in 2011, including warming ocean temperatures and changes in the ocean currents due to climate change. Some researchers believe it is primarily due to increased land-based nutrients and pollutants washing into the water, including nitrogen-heavy fertilizers and sewage waste that fuel the blooms.


Brian Lapointe, a sargassum expert at Florida Atlantic University, says that while the sargassum washing up in normal amounts has long been good for the Caribbean, severe influxes like those seen lately are "harmful algal blooms" because they can cause fish kills, beach fouling, tourism losses and even coastal dead zones.

"Considering that these events have been happening since 2011, this could be the 'new normal.' Time will tell," Lapointe said by email.

The mats of drifting sargassum covered with berry-like sacs have become so numerous in the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean they are even drifting as far away as to West Africa, where they've been piling up fast in Sierre Leone and Ghana.

Sargassum, which gets its name from the Portuguese word for grape, is a floating brownish algae that generally blooms in the Sargasso Sea, a 2 million-square-mile (3 million-square-kilometer) body of warm water in the North Atlantic that is a major habitat and nursery for numerous marine species. Like coral reefs, the algae mats are critical habitats and mahi-mahi, tuna, billfish, eels, shrimp, crabs and sea turtles all use the algae to spawn, feed or hide from predators.

But some scientists believe the sargassum besieging a growing number of beaches may actually be due to blooms in the Atlantic's equatorial region, perhaps because of a high flow of nutrients from South America's Amazon and Orinoco Rivers mixing with warmer ocean temperatures.

"We think this is an ongoing equatorial regional event and our research has found no direct connection with the Sargasso Sea," said Jim Franks, senior research scientist at the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast Research Laboratory.

Whatever the reason, the massive sargassum flow is becoming a major challenge for tourism-dependent countries. In large doses, the algae harms coastal environments, even causing the deaths of endangered sea turtle hatchlings after they wriggle out of the sand where their eggs were buried. Cleanup efforts by work crews may also worsen beach erosion.

"We have heard reports of recently hatched sea turtles getting caught in the seaweed. If removal of seaweed involves large machinery that will also obviously cause impacts to the beaches and the ecosystems there," said Faith Bulger, program officer at the Washington-based Sargasso Sea Commission.

Mexican authorities recently said they will spend about $9.1 million and hire 4,600 temporary workers to clean up seaweed mounds accumulating along that country's Caribbean coast. Part of the money will be used to test whether the sargassum can be collected at sea before it reaches shore.

Some tourists in hard-hit areas are trying to prevent their summer vacations from being ruined by the stinking algae.

"The smell of seaweed is terrible, but I'm enjoying the sun," German tourist Oliver Pahlke said during a visit to Cancun, Mexico.

Sitting at a picnic table on the south coast of Barbados, Canadian vacationer Anne Alma said reports of the rotting seaweed mounds she'd heard from friends did not dissuade her from visiting the Eastern Caribbean island.

"I just wonder where the seaweed is going to go," the Toronto resident said one recent morning, watching more of mats drift to shore even after crews had already trucked away big piles to use as mulch and fertilizers.

source: philstar.com

Mexico struggles to clean seaweed surge from Cancun beaches

MEXICO CITY  — Authorities on Mexico's Caribbean coast said Monday they are redoubling efforts to remove tons of sargassum seaweed that has been washing ashore in recent weeks.

The state government of Quintana Roo, where the resort of Cancun is located, said there have been no reports of tourists cancelling visits because of the problem.

Gov. Roberto Borge said the seaweed removal efforts will focus on much of the coast, from Holbox in the north down past Tulum to the south.

Photos issued by the Cancun city government show piles of brown seaweed on some normally pristine white beaches. By last week, the city said it had raked or shoveled up 500 cubic meters of sargassum.

Borge said the cause of the invasion is still unknown, though it could be due to high levels of nutrients in ocean water or changes in ocean temperatures, currents or wind patterns.

Authorities have to be careful, because there are two groups of visitors they don't want to disturb with overly aggressive removal efforts: nesting sea turtles that return to the Caribbean beaches to lay their eggs, and tourists.

Borge said the effort would take care not to cause erosion on the beaches, which has been a problem in Cancun in the past.

The government announced the formation of a task force of naval and environmental authorities to study the problem. Authorities are also researching ways to use or dispose of the seaweed mounds.

Sargassum is an algae that grows in the Sargasso Sea, a large body of warm water in the mid-Atlantic.

Officials in the Caribbean island of Barbados have also struggled with seaweed washing ashore, and large piles of sargassum washed up on the shore in Galveston, Texas, in 2014 after drifting into the Gulf of Mexico.

source: philstar.com

One dead in Central America quake

SAN SALVADOR - Aftershocks rattled Central America on Tuesday after a powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck offshore, killing one person, damaging homes and scaring people into spending the night outside.

The rumble was felt from southern Mexico to Panama when the quake shook the region late Monday, briefly triggering a tsunami alert.

El Salvador was hardest hit, with officials reporting 14 wrecked homes, damage to a hospital and power outages.

"It was strong when it started to rumble, and it would not stop. My family just prayed and asked God for it to stop," Maria Etelvina Deras, a resident of Usulutan, 110 kilometers (68 miles) southeast of San Salvador, told YSKL radio.

In San Miguel, 135 kilometers (84 miles) east of San Salvador, a man was killed when an electrical pylon fell on him, the city's mayor Wilfredo Salgado told the radio station.

Jorge Melendez, El Salvador's civil protection chief, said the damage was still being assessed nationwide.

People slept outdoors in the most affected areas as 11 aftershocks rattled nerves, including a 4.1-magnitude temblor, according to Salvadoran authorities.

"All I could see was that things in the house were moving, and my wife grabbed me and took me out to the courtyard of the house and we waited for it to stop. It was ugly," said Ruben Aguirre in Zacatecoluca, another town southeast of the capital.

At least 17 aftershocks shook Nicaragua, including a 5.0-magnitude earthquake, according to the Nicaraguan Territorial Studies Institute.

In Nicaragua, minor damage was reported in some 2,000 homes made of adobe or wood, while some hospitals were evacuated as a precaution.

The quake hit in the Pacific Ocean, 170 kilometers (105 miles) southeast of the capital San Salvador, at a depth of 70 kilometers (44 miles), the US Geological Survey said.

'Like a rocking boat'
The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center quickly issued a warning for coastal areas located within 300 kilometers (190 miles) of the epicenter, but lifted the alert minutes later.

The tremor was felt in the Nicaraguan capital Managua and other cities, prompting people to flee into the street and onto patios while electricity went out momentarily.

"It was like being rocked in a boat," said Lorena Galo, who lives in Managua.

Coastal residents fled their homes but began to return after the danger subsided on Tuesday.

Still, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega declared a preventive state of alert along the coast due to aftershocks and schools were closed nationwide.

Electricity and phone service in some areas of Nicaragua were cut off.

In the port city of Corinto, people fled inland in cars or on foot, Radio Ya reported.

The quake was also felt strongly in Honduras and Guatemala, but there were no reports of casualties or major damage.

A 5.3 magnitude aftershock was felt in Costa Rica.

source: interaksyon.com

After 75 years, Mexico reopens oil industry to foreign investors

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto signed a controversial law Friday opening the country's oil industry to foreign investment for the first time since it was nationalized in 1938.

Pena Nieto approved the bill after it passed Congress and a majority of Mexican states voted to ratify it.

He called the measure "one of the most transcendent bills in the past half-century," arguing that it has the potential to radically and quickly improve Mexico's economic fortunes.

The reform aims to attract foreign investment with profit and production sharing contracts that would break a 75-year-old monopoly held by state oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos or Pemex.

Oil output has dropped from 3.4 million barrels per day in 2004 to 2.5 million today because of what the bill's supporters say is underinvestment and Mexico imports half the gasoline it consumes.

The government hopes to use foreign and local investment to reverse that trend, increase production, expand refining capacity and drill for shale gas and deep-water oil deposits.

The reforms met few obstacles in the Congress and state legislature because it had the support of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party and the conservative National Action Party.

But they sparked virulent protests on the left, led by the Democratic Revolution Party, which called the legislation a national betrayal.

Many in Mexico look back with pride at the expulsions of foreign companies by president Lazaro Cardenas in 1938.

The left says that rather than letting foreign companies drill its most precious national resource, the country would be better off cracking down on the rampant and costly corruption and waste at Pemex.

But even though opening the oil and gas industry to private investment is a highly sensitive issue in Mexico, backers of energy reform say it is necessary to save the state-run industry.

They point to aging refineries, lack of deep-water drilling technology and dwindling oil production.

But analysts say it will likely take years before international oil giants such as Exxon Mobil or Shell make a foray into the Mexico.

The left hopes to organize a referendum in 2015 to repeal the legislation.

The "production-sharing" agreement envisioned in the reforms will allow allow private firms to take a cut of the crude they find.

The law also aims to modernize the highly inefficient state electricity sector and make Pemex a more viable and competitive entity.

Supporters argue that without the technical knowhow from foreign energy firms, Mexico will probably be unable to exploit hard-to-reach deep-water oil reserves and shale rock gas deposits.

As oil production declines and shallow-water wells dry up, some experts had predicted the country could become a net importer of oil by 2020 were the measure not enacted.

source: interaksyon.com

Floods, landslides kill more than 100 in Mexico

More than 100 people have been killed and scores are missing in landslides and flooding caused by heavy rain in Mexico, a senior government official said late Friday.

Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong delivered the grim news from the resort town of Acapulco, in one of the worst affected regions, with President Enrique Pena Nieto by his side.

The death toll stood at 101, with 68 people missing following a massive mudslide that swallowed half of the village of La Pintada, in Guerrero state, Osorio Chong said.

Mexico was hammered by the one-two punch of tropical storms Ingrid and Manuel, which left a trail of destruction that damaged tens of thousands of homes, flooded cities and washed out roads.

After regenerating into a hurricane and hitting the northwestern state of Sinaloa late Thursday, affecting 100,000 people and killing three, Manuel finally dissipated over the mountains.

The state of Guerrero was the hardest hit, with at least 65 deaths and its Pacific resort of Acapulco left isolated after the two roads to Mexico City were covered in landslides on Sunday.

Osorio Chong also said that authorities are searching for a police helicopter that had been evacuating people from La Pintada when it disappeared Thursday. Only crewmembers were apparently missing.

Rescuers have abandoned the search by air because of heavy fog, but have continued to search by land, Osorio Chong said.

"We are really worried," the minister earlier told Radio Formula. "They risked their lives all the time, because it was important to evacuate people."

'Thank God we're leaving'

Thousands of tourists trapped in flood-stricken Acapulco for almost a week packed into cars and buses on Friday after authorities reopened the road link to Mexico City following the storms.

Traffic piled up as police allowed cars to leave in groups of 50 to avoid huge backups on the "Sun Highway."

The highway department warned travelers that the trip north, which usually takes around four hours, would last nine to 10 hours, with only a single lane open in some stretches and a diversion to another road.

"Thank God we're leaving, even if there is traffic," said Imelda Cuellar Ramirez, a Mexican holidaymaker who was driving out with eight relatives.

More than 40,000 tourists, mostly Mexicans seeking sun during a three-day holiday weekend, were left stranded when the storms struck five days ago.

Half the city was flooded, while rising waters brought out crocodiles. Looters ransacked stores.

Around 24,000 tourists left in airlifts organized by the military and commercial carriers, but tempers flared as they stood in long lines to get one of the precious seats.

Thousands of frustrated tourists sheltered at the convention center blocked an avenue for half an hour late Thursday in protest against the slow pace of the airlift.

Waiting to board a bus, Alejandro Tubias, a Mexico City resident, said it was high time to leave after his wife contracted a stomach bug that they blamed on the lack of drinking water.

"We are more than happy. We are in a hurry to go because my wife is sick and because we don't have any money to pay the hotel room," he said.

More than 4,000 tourists left on 105 buses on Friday, officials said.

Many dead

While tourists drove out of Acapulco, hundreds of troops and civil protection workers dug with shovels and pickaxes in La Pintada, the coffee-growing village west of Acapulco swamped by a massive mudslide.

Officially, 68 people are missing in the village and two people were killed -- their bodies were pulled out of the debris -- but villagers fear that scores have perished.

"I think there's a lot of dead. A lot of my relatives died, they're buried and we can't do anything," said farmer Diego Zeron.

The mud collapsed on the village of 400 people during independence day celebrations last Monday, swallowing homes, a school and church before crashing into the river.

The soldiers and civil protection workers, many wearing surgical masks, removed pieces of broken homes and chopped up fallen trees with machetes.

Helicopters evacuated more than 330 villagers to Acapulco, but a few families decided to stay back, waiting for news on the missing.

source: interaksyon.com

Death toll nears 100 as new hurricane hits northwest Mexico

ATOYAC DE ALVAREZ, Mexico - Deaths from floods and landslides battering Mexico neared 100 on Thursday as a fresh hurricane hit the northwest and rescuers faced a risky mission in a village buried in mud.

Hurricane Manuel, the same weather system that pummeled the Pacific coast earlier this week, made landfall on the state of Sinaloa, prompting the evacuation of a small fishing town before weakening back to tropical storm force.

Luis Felipe Puente, the national civil protection coordinator, said the death toll rose to 97 from 81, with 65 of them registered in the southwestern state of Guerrero.

Guerrero was the hardest-hit state from the dual onslaught of Manuel and sister storm Ingrid on the east coast this week, which drenched most of the country, damaging bridges, roads and tens of thousands of homes.

The disaster left the Pacific coast resort of Acapulco cut off from the world, marooning tourists and residents, while a massive mudslide swamped a mountain hamlet of 400 people west of the city.

Ediberto Tabarez, the mayor of Atoyac de Alvarez, a municipality that oversees La Pintada, told AFP that at least 15 bodies have been found after more than 20 homes were crushed.

The threat of a new landslide in the coffee-growing village of La Pintada delayed a mission to seek 58 missing people.

But the federal government said it had yet to confirm any deaths and that so far survivors testified that they had removed five bodies from the site.

Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said rescue teams were unable to start the search because water was gushing from the hill, threatening to send more rock and mud over the village.

Police helicopters had rescued 334 women, children and senior citizens on Wednesday and were supposed to return on Thursday to pick up 45 men and a few officers who were left behind overnight.

"These 45 people are in a dangerous situation," Osorio Chong told MVS radio, adding that homes are barely visible. "The rest of the hill could fall."

The mobile phones of AFP journalists heading to the village had no reception. An aerial video showed a river of mud that had slid down a hill, covering a huge chunk of the village.

From Atoyac, it normally takes two hours by car in winding mountain roads to reach La Pintada, but the road may be damaged by the storms, which could make the trek much lengthier.

‘Ugly noise, worse than a bomb’

Survivors of the disaster who were evacuated to Acapulco recalled hearing a rumble before the earth came crashing down on houses, the church and the school as people were having independence day lunch last Monday.

"It was an ugly noise, worse than a bomb," said Ana Clara Catalan, 17, who was preparing corn tortillas when the earth collapsed.

News of the disaster only emerged two days later after a survivor was able to radio someone in a neighboring village.

"More than half of La Pintada was demolished, few homes were left," said Maria del Carmen Catalan, a 27-year-old mother of three.

The storms that swept across the nation have damaged 35,000 homes and forced the evacuation of 50,000 people, officials said.

More than half of Acapulco was flooded, stranding 40,000 tourists who sought airlifts while looters ransacked stores.

The civilian airport's terminal was flooded in knee-high dark water, but commercial carriers Aeromexico and Interjet have flown special flights since Tuesday.

Osorio Chong said almost 12,000 tourists had been flown to Mexico City in special military and commercial flights while authorities hoped to re-open the road out of Acapulco on Friday.

A human rights group accused the authorities of neglecting mountain communities.

The minister said "we do care about the lives of people in the mountains" but "we can't enter some communities by air or land."

As the cost of the flooding continued to mount, the finance ministry said it had around 12 billion pesos ($925.60 million) available in emergency funding.

While all but two of Mexico's ports remained open to large ships, including its three main oil export hubs along the Gulf, nearly 40 ports along both the Gulf and Pacific coasts were closed on Thursday morning to smaller boats, the transport ministry said.

State oil monopoly Pemex said it had dispatched technicians to fix a ruptured 12-inch oil pipeline between the Gulf port of Madero inland to Cadereyta, which connects two refineries.

The pipeline was damaged when the Pablillo River burst its banks due to heavy rains.

While Manuel churned in the west, a new tropical cyclone threatened to form in the east and cause more misery. (With additional Reuters reports from Miguel Gutierrez, Gabriel Stargardter and David Alire Garcia)

source: interaksyon.com

Chrysler recalls newer Jeeps; stands firm on older models

NEW YORK — Two days after rejecting a push to recall old model Jeeps over a potential fire hazard, Chrysler on Thursday issued a recall for 630,000 newer models for power steering and airbag problems.

Chrysler, a unit of Italy’s Fiat, will call back for repairs 221,000 2012-2013 3.6 liter Jeep Wranglers with automatic transmissions to fix a problem with the power steering system that can damage the transmission cooler line and cause a transmission fluid leak.

Most of the cars are in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

In addition, the automaker said it will recall 409,000 2010-2012 Jeep Compasses and Patriots, three-quarters of them in the United States and the rest in other countries, because of a software problem that could delay or prevent the deployment of a side curtain airbag in a crash, leaving occupants of the car at higher risk of injury.

Chrysler told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration it will repair the problems free of charge.

The move came after Chrysler on Tuesday rejected the NHTSA’s recommendation that it recall 2.7 million Jeep sport utility vehicles built in the 1990s and 2000s to fix a risk of engine fires that have left dozens dead.

But “the company does not agree with NHTSA’s conclusions and does not intend to recall the vehicles cited in the investigation. The subject vehicles are safe and are not defective,” Chrysler said in a statement.

The rare move to publicly reject a recall recommended by the agency did not put an end to the issue.

The NHTSA said in a statement late Tuesday that it still hopes Chrysler will reconsider “and take action to protect its customers and the driving public.”

“Our data shows that these vehicles may contain a defect that presents an unreasonable risk to safety, which is why we took the next step of writing Chrysler,” it said.

Chrysler said Thursday that it was still preparing its formal response to the NHTSA, which still has the option of ordering the recall.

source: interaksyon.com