International
Argentina launches construction tender phase of mega gas pipeline
AFP
Argentina on Thursday launched the construction tender phase for a gas pipeline megaproject that will eventually extend more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) from the southwest to north of Buenos Aires.
It is the largest natural gas project in Argentina in the last four decades and comes at a time when worldwide energy costs have shot up due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The tender will be launched in May with a decision due in July.
The first stage of the project is due to cost $1.5 billion, beginning in August and ending in 2024.
In an official ceremony near to the Vaca Muerta pipeline project in Neuquen province, President Alberto Fernandez celebrated “the start of work to create the Nestor Kirchner pipeline.”
The aim of the megaproject is to expand Argentina’s fuel transport capacity for both domestic use and exports.
The first section of the pipeline, named after a late former president, will extend 558 kilometers from Neuquen province to Buenos Aires province.
A second section will extend another 467 kilometers northwards, reaching San Jeronimo.
In total, the new pipeline will increase Argentina’s gas supply by more than 40 million cubic meters a day “supplying urban centers and industry in the center and north of the country and giving the opportunity to export to Brazil and Chile,” the presidency said in a statement.
The Vaca Muerta deposit holds unconventional gas which is harder and more expensive to extract than more conventional natural gas.
The site is being exploited by state energy firm YPF and US giant Chevron.
The US Department of Energy rates the Vaca Muerta field, which extends over 30,000 square kilometers in Patagonia, as the world’s second largest shale gas reserve, and fourth in the world for shale oil.
Extraction from this site has slowed down in recent years due to the fall in the price of crude which made it less profitable due to the high costs of hydraulic fracturing to extract unconventional gas.
International
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.
The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.
An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.
The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.
Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.
Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.
Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.
Internacionales
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.
In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.
Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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