TOKYO: A powerful earthquake rocked Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido early Thursday, triggering landslides that crushed homes, knocking out power across the island, and forcing a nuclear power plant to switch to a backup generator.
The magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck southern Hokkaido at 3:08 a.m. at the depth of 40 kilometers (24 miles), Japan’s Meteorological Agency said. The epicenter was east of the city of Tomakomai but the shaking also affected Hokkaido’s prefectural capital of Sapporo, with a population of 1.9 million.
The Japanese national broadcaster NHK, citing its own tally, reported that 125 people were injured and about 20 were feared missing. Hokkaido’s local disaster agency put the number of injured at 48.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said a man was found without vital signs in Tomakomai, but his status was unclear. Several people were reported missing in the nearby town of Atsuma, where a massive landslide engulfed homes.
Reconstruction Minister Jiro Akama told reporters that five people were believed to be buried in the town’s Yoshino district. Some of the 40 people stranded there were airlifted to safer grounds, NHK said.
Aerial views showed dozens of landslides in the surrounding area, with practically every mountainside a raw slash of brown amid deep green forest.
Airports and many roads on the island were closed following the early morning quake.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that 25,000 troops and other personnel were being dispatched to the area to help with rescue operations.
National broadcaster NHK showed the moment the quake struck the city of Muroran, with its camera violently shaking and all city lights going black moment later. In Sapporo, a mudslide on a road left several cars half buried.
Power was knocked out for Hokkaido’s 2.9 million households. Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko told reporters that the extensive power outage was caused by an emergency shutdown of the main thermal power plant that supplies half of Hokkaido’s electricity.
Utility officials were starting up hydroelectric plants, Seko said, adding that he hoped to get power back “within a few hours.” In the meantime, authorities sent power-generator vehicles to hospitals so enable them to treat emergency patients, he said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference that the authorities were doing their utmost to rescue and assess damage after receiving hundreds of calls about people missing and buildings collapsing.
The central government set up a crisis management taskforce at the prime minister’s office.
Three reactors at the Tomari nuclear plant were offline for routine safety checks, but they are running on backup generators that kicked in after losing external power because of the island-wide blackouts, Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said. Spent fuel in storage pools was safely cooled on backup power that can last for a week, the agency said.
The powerful earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 that hit northeast Japan destroyed both external and backup power to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, causing meltdowns.
20 feared missing as earthquake in northern Japan causes landslides
20 feared missing as earthquake in northern Japan causes landslides
- The magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck southern Hokkaido at 3:08 a.m.
- 25,000 troops and other personnel were being dispatched to the area to help with rescue operations
Stitching hope: Sindh’s artisan program uplifts rural women through handicrafts
- The Sindh Rural Support Organization has trained over 6,000 women in some of the poorest areas in Pakistan’s south
- Woman artisans in Sindh say the organization has not just brought them financial stability, but dignity and hope as well
KARACHI: Dressed in a vibrant pink embroidered dress with traditional patterns depicting the Sindhi culture, Ponam Shaam Lal proudly displays her handcrafted cushions to visitors at an upscale mall in Karachi. Had it not been for Sindh’s rural artisan programs, Lal, in her late 30s, would have been bereft of skill, and the means to earn her bread and butter.
Lal’s creations were among the 5,800 handicrafts showcased at a four-day exhibition launched by the Sindh Rural Support Organization (SRSO), a not-for-profit organization, in Karachi’s Ocean Mall on Thursday. The event, a collaboration with the Sindh government, featured 3,545 rural woman artisans displaying products ranging from traditional shawls to embroidered accessories.
The SRSO has trained thousands of rural women in different trades from some of the most under-developed regions of Sindh such as Jacobabad, Kandhkot-Kashmore, Shikarpur, Ghotki, Qambar-Shahdadkot and Badin districts in the last 16 years.
Lal, who rarely ventured beyond her remote village near Rohri up until a few years ago, is one of those thousands of artisans at the Karachi event, which aims to help these women sell to high-end customers in Pakistan’s urban cities.
“Before, we never went out; we didn’t know the outside world. Only my husband would earn. We would sit idle, wondering how to make ends meet or pay for our children’s education,” Lal told Arab News, as she showed her handicrafts to a customer.
“We were poor, but when we started doing this work, took on orders, and worked hard, our circumstances improved.”
Lal says the crochet and embroidery work she learned due to the SRSO’s training program has helped her send her children to school, and life is “finally stable.”
Shahida Baloch, an artisan and trainer from Sindh’s Sukkur city, learned embroidery from her mother and grandmother, but she had little formal education or access to markets where she could sell her products.
“I am a rural woman from the village,” Baloch, a mother of seven, told Arab News.
“We learned embroidery and sewing at home from our grandmothers, without attending any institute or training center.”
But things changed for Baloch, when the SRSO reached her village almost a decade ago. She says the organization provided her recognition for her embroidery and sewing skills by showcasing her work at exhibitions across the country.
As one of the few trainers at the SRSO, Baloch now guides woman artists on how to transform traditional craft into marketable products.
“I trained women to make cushions, bags, and pouches from the same art. We also worked on color combinations, blending traditional Sindhi colors — blue, yellow, red, green, all natural colors — with modern preferences. This way, the color became more appealing to urban customers,” she said.
“Similarly, we taught them to create buttons as a supplementary product. For instance, if no one buys large, embroidered fabrics worth fifty thousand or a hundred thousand rupees, they might buy a few buttons to embellish their shirts.”
SRSO CEO Muhammad Dittal Kalhoro said the organization has trained over 6,000 women in Sindh’s poorest areas through 316 Business Development Groups.
“Our aim is to connect these women with high-end markets and ensure better incomes,” he said.
Sindh government spokesperson Sadia Javed said the SRSO, part of a larger poverty-reduction initiative, provides loans and support to woman artisans, and with a 98 percent repayment rate, it has proven highly effective.
“Earlier, this program was limited to a few districts,” Javed said. “Now, it has expanded to urban slums in Karachi and Sukkur.”
For women like Lal and Baloch, the SRSO has brought more than financial stability.
It has brought them dignity and hope.
“I am extremely grateful to Allah for making the SRSO the means through which I was empowered,” said Baloch, who could not study beyond the fifth grade, but has managed to send two of her daughters to university.
“Today, I am successful, and so are my children.”
Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh looks to bolster global links
- Mining leaders from 85 countries gather next week to discuss challenges, outlook
- The event is being organized by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources under the patronage of King Salman
RIYADH: Leading mining representatives from more than 85 countries will meet in Riyadh next week as the Future Minerals Forum discusses challenges and developments in the global mineral industries.
Key stakeholders, including governments, international organizations, business federations, investors, and sector leaders, will take part in the forum from Jan. 14-16 at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center.
The event is being organized by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources under the patronage of King Salman.
According to the ministry, the fourth annual international ministerial meeting of mining ministers, due to take place on Jan. 14 as part of the forum, will feature its largest-ever number of government representatives and topics to be discussed.
Among the 85 countries represented will be 16 nations from the G20. At least 50 ministers and 13 deputy ministers are taking part, the ministry said.
The ministry said that over 50 official and nongovernmental organizations, along with trade unions and leading figures in the global mining industry, will attend the event, reflecting the significance of the gathering as a global platform to discuss mining and mineral industry affairs, ways to meet the growing demand for strategic and critical minerals, and new opportunities for development in mineral-producing and processing countries.
The meeting will focus on several issues, including progress made during the previous year concerning the three ministerial meeting initiatives, which include developing a strategic framework for critical minerals increasing value-added processing in mineral-producing countries, producing green minerals using modern technologies and renewable energy, and ensuring sustainability and transparency in supply chains.
Discussions will also focus on the establishment of centers of excellence in major mining regions to enable investment, build capabilities, and develop human resources.
Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef will chair the meeting and deliver the opening address, highlighting Saudi Arabia’s commitment to sustainable mineral development and emphasizing its leadership role in advancing the sector’s future.
He will also discuss opportunities for global cooperation to face challenges and invest in the vast potential offered by the mineral sector.
Among the ministers attending the meeting are Italian Minister for the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin; UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds; Brazilian Minister of Mines and Energy Alexandre Silveira; Indian Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy; South African Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition Parks Tau; Democratic Republic of Congo Minister of Mines Kizito Pakabomba; Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi; Nigerian Minister of Solid Minerals Development Henry Dele Alake; and Moroccan Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development Leila Benali.
Vice Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources for Mining Affairs Khalid bin Saleh Al-Mudaifer said that the meeting represents an important step toward achieving sustainable development in the global mining and minerals sector.
He said that the international ministerial meeting provides an ideal platform for finding solutions and developing legislation on best practices in sustainable mining, exploring ways to invest in mining projects to achieve economic and social development in producing countries.
Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh looks to bolster global links
- Mining leaders from 85 countries gather next week to discuss challenges, outlook
- The event is being organized by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources under the patronage of King Salman
RIYADH: Leading mining representatives from more than 85 countries will meet in Riyadh next week as the Future Minerals Forum discusses challenges and developments in the global mineral industries.
Key stakeholders, including governments, international organizations, business federations, investors, and sector leaders, will take part in the forum from Jan. 14-16 at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center.
The event is being organized by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources under the patronage of King Salman.
According to the ministry, the fourth annual international ministerial meeting of mining ministers, due to take place on Jan. 14 as part of the forum, will feature its largest-ever number of government representatives and topics to be discussed.
Among the 85 countries represented will be 16 nations from the G20. At least 50 ministers and 13 deputy ministers are taking part, the ministry said.
The ministry said that over 50 official and nongovernmental organizations, along with trade unions and leading figures in the global mining industry, will attend the event, reflecting the significance of the gathering as a global platform to discuss mining and mineral industry affairs, ways to meet the growing demand for strategic and critical minerals, and new opportunities for development in mineral-producing and processing countries.
The meeting will focus on several issues, including progress made during the previous year concerning the three ministerial meeting initiatives, which include developing a strategic framework for critical minerals increasing value-added processing in mineral-producing countries, producing green minerals using modern technologies and renewable energy, and ensuring sustainability and transparency in supply chains.
Discussions will also focus on the establishment of centers of excellence in major mining regions to enable investment, build capabilities, and develop human resources.
Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef will chair the meeting and deliver the opening address, highlighting Saudi Arabia’s commitment to sustainable mineral development and emphasizing its leadership role in advancing the sector’s future.
He will also discuss opportunities for global cooperation to face challenges and invest in the vast potential offered by the mineral sector.
Among the ministers attending the meeting are Italian Minister for the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin; UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds; Brazilian Minister of Mines and Energy Alexandre Silveira; Indian Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy; South African Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition Parks Tau; Democratic Republic of Congo Minister of Mines Kizito Pakabomba; Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi; Nigerian Minister of Solid Minerals Development Henry Dele Alake; and Moroccan Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development Leila Benali.
Vice Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources for Mining Affairs Khalid bin Saleh Al-Mudaifer said that the meeting represents an important step toward achieving sustainable development in the global mining and minerals sector.
He said that the international ministerial meeting provides an ideal platform for finding solutions and developing legislation on best practices in sustainable mining, exploring ways to invest in mining projects to achieve economic and social development in producing countries.
NEXTG3N Hackathon: Shaping future skills through Web3, gaming
- Event gathered international, Saudi innovators in Riyadh
- The event was spearheaded by Princess Nourah Al-Faisal, founder and CEO of Adhlal, in collaboration with W3 ff Venture Builder
RIYADH: As the world rapidly evolves, projections indicate that 65 percent of future jobs are yet to be created. Hence, Saudi Arabia is proactively preparing its youth for this dynamic landscape.
The NEXTG3N Hackathon, which started Jan. 9 and ends Jan. 11 at Princess Nourah University in Riyadh, gathered international innovators alongside Saudi talent to develop groundbreaking solutions at the crossroads of Web3 and gaming.
The event was spearheaded by Princess Nourah Al-Faisal, founder and CEO of Adhlal, in collaboration with W3 ff Venture Builder.
Participants were invited to create practical solutions that addressed critical areas such as education, digital inclusion, and emerging technologies.
This initiative aimed at empowering the next generation with the skills and knowledge necessary to thrive in a world increasingly influenced by technological advances.
The hackathon leveraged Web3’s decentralized framework and gaming’s engaging approach to address the critical challenge of preparing the next generation for an uncertain job market.
Selected innovations from the hackathon will be showcased at the World Economic Forum in Davos, highlighting Saudi Arabia’s growing influence in the global digital and creative landscape.
This initiative aligns with Saudi Vision 2030’s goals, creating a platform from which Saudi youngsters collaborate with global innovators to tackle shared challenges and shape the future of work.
The first day of the event featured an impressive lineup of speakers who are pioneers in their respective fields. Among them were Princess Nourah; Hamad Al-Owaishiq, founder and CEO of the Saudi Youth Society; Tanja Ludwig from W3 ff Venture Builder in Germany; Dalia Samra-Rohte from the Algemeine Handels Kamer; and Xavier Prost from Veridos UAE, one of the event’s sponsors.
Princess Nourah spoke of the importance of creating a safe online environment for children through Web3 technology. She highlighted how blockchain can provide a secure space for young users, fostering their engagement with digital platforms. She introduced Adhlal as a research-based community and design consultancy focused on innovation and creativity in design.
Princess Nourah remarked on the significance of soft skills in preparing the youth for future challenges, and added: “When we think about the evolving landscape over the next few years, we must consider how to foster innovation and creativity among youth.”
Al-Owaishiq said: “Web3 is the focus of the current global discourse, and it’s crucial for young people to be aware of this paradigm shift. They need to develop skills that allow them to engage with Web3 technology creatively and innovatively.”
His emphasis on youth empowerment underscored the hackathon’s goal of equipping participants with the tools to navigate and lead within the new digital landscape.
Sabrina Goerlich, a Web3 consultant, emphasized the vision behind NEXTG3N, saying: “Our objective is to create a safe, hybrid space that utilizes technologies like blockchain and Web3 to empower the younger generation. We aim to cultivate tomorrow’s architects of change.”
She noted that the collaboration with W3 ff Venture Builder brought both technological and business perspectives, enhancing the overall impact of the initiative.
The NEXTG3N Hackathon represented a strategic effort to harness creativity and technology for the betterment of society. By bringing together diverse talents, the event sought to inspire participants to develop solutions that addressed real-world challenges, while fostering a culture of innovation.
As Saudi Arabia continues to invest in the future of its youngsters, events like the NEXTG3N Hackathon highlight the nation’s commitment to preparing its workforce for the jobs of tomorrow.
By focusing on Web3 and gaming, the hackathon aimed to equip participants with essential skills, ensuring they are not only consumers of technology but also innovators and leaders in the digital economy.
Stampede at central Damascus mosque kills three: governor
- The White Helmets rescue group said the crush in the afternoon killed three women
- The Al-Watan newspaper said it happened during the distribution of free meals
DAMASCUS: A stampede at the landmark Umayyad Mosque in Syria’s capital on Friday killed three people, the governor of Damascus said.
The crush “during a civilian event at the mosque... resulted in the death of three people,” Governor Maher Marwan told state news agency SANA.
The White Helmets rescue group said the crush in the afternoon killed three women, adding that five children suffered fractures.
They added that they managed to rescue a girl from the crowd.
The Al-Watan newspaper said it happened during the distribution of free meals by a social media personality.
A YouTuber called Chef Abu Omar, who has a restaurant in Istanbul, had earlier posted a video of preparations for the distribution of free meals at the Ummayyad Mosque.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had visited the mosque in the morning.
