Jangan Permisi

Kamis, 30 Mei 2019

Tourist Boats Crash In Hungary's Danube River; At Least 7 Dead, 21 Missing - NPR

The river cruise ship Viking Sigyn collided with a tourist boat carrying 33 South Koreans on the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary, leaving at least seven people dead. Bernadett Szabo/Reuters hide caption

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Bernadett Szabo/Reuters

Divers and rescue workers are trying to find 21 people in the Danube River in Budapest, after their sightseeing boat collided with a river cruise ship Wednesday night, capsized and sank. At least seven people are dead, and seven more were rescued. The craft had been carrying a South Korean tour group.

The smaller boat had 35 people aboard — 33 tourists and a Hungarian crew of two. All seven of the dead are South Korean, Budapest police say.

The tourists' boat, called the Mermaid, capsized within seconds of colliding with the long and low Viking Sigyn cruise ship. The first emergency call didn't reach police until 10 minutes later, officials said at a news conference Thursday.

The Viking Sigyn is a four-deck ship with 95 staterooms, according to Viking River Cruises. Video from the scene shows the two vessels drew near each other as they approached the Margaret Bridge — and that the long ship's bow comes into contact with the smaller boat's rear quarter, sending it sideways.

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Police in Budapest say they're investigating the incident in the context of a criminal proceeding, adding that they will rely on experts to determine whether any wrongdoing or error played a role in the catastrophe.

The collision took place on a scenic, busy stretch of the Danube near the Hungarian Parliament Building and the Margaret Bridge. While some of the smaller boat's passengers were rescued, attempts to find more survivors or victims have been complicated by darkness, rain and strong currents.

Any survivors also would have to endure the river's cool water (currently around 60 degrees). The search for anyone who had been on the boat has now been extended far south of Budapest, officials said.

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The incident has left families in South Korea anxiously awaiting word about loved ones who were on the river trip. A six-old-girl who was traveling with her mother and grandparents is believed to be the youngest victim, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. In another case, a 31-year-old woman survived but her younger brother is missing, the agency says.

As the magnitude of the catastrophe reached South Korea, officials there mobilized to send help to Hungary.

"At an emergency meeting, President Moon Jae-in told officials to use all available diplomatic resources to expedite search and rescue efforts," NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Seoul. "Foreign minister Kang Kyung-hwa will head an interagency task force and travel to Hungary."

Budapest police say the sunken ship has been found and that they plan to raise it from the riverbed.

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2019-05-30 13:19:00Z
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South Korean tourists were not wearing life jackets in fatal boat collision that left 7 dead, 21 missing: o... - Fox News

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry office said Friday that none of the passengers involved in the deadly sightseeing boat accident in Hungary that left at least seven dead were wearing life jackets when their boat capsized.

Officials are still searching for 21 more people that vanished after a Hungarian tour boat was struck by a Viking cruise ship after returning from an hourlong night tour on the Danube River in Budapest Wednesday night.

South Korean diplomats sent to investigate the crash informed the Foreign Ministry that none of the 33 tourists aboard the boat were wearing life jackets at the time of the collision, adding that it was “customary” for tourists on this particular tour not to wear them.

South Korean Embassy personnel help identifying the victims of an accident during a search operation for survivors on the River Danube in downtown Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, May 30, 2019. (Zsolt Szigetvary/MTI via AP)

SIGHTSEEING BOAT SINKS IN BUDAPEST DANUBE RIVER; AT LEAST 7 CONFIRMED DEAD

The boat was identified as the Hableany belonging to the Panorama Deck Boating company. It consisted of two decks and had a capacity of 60 people, or 45 for sightseeing cruises.

The victims were a group of tourists that left South Korea on May 25 as part of a group touring Europe, a South Korean travel agency, Very Good Tour, said. They were set to return on June 1.

National disaster management rescue staff participate in a search operation for survivors on the River Danube in downtown Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, May 30, 2019, following a collision of a hotel ship and a smaller tourist cruise ship on the previous evening. (Peter Lakatos/MTI via AP)

BOAT SINKS ON CONGO LAKE LEAVING AT LEAST 30 DEAD, 200 MISSING

The party consisted of 30 tourists, two guides and a photographer. There were also two Hungarians on the boat that operated the vessel.

Senior agency official Lee Sang-moo disclosed the identities of the rescued — six women and one man, aged between 31 and 66. The company is arranging for family members of the tourists to travel to Hungary as soon as possible. A six-year-old girl was among one of the passengers still missing.

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Hungarian police have expanded their search as heavy downpours on Thursday increased the river’s flow. One person was found two miles from the original crash site. Officials are looking further downstream into Serbia.

The Associated Press contributed to this story

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2019-05-30 12:17:34Z
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Rescuers scour waters for survivors after Danube boat disaster leaves 7 dead, 21 missing - The Washington Post

BUDAPEST — Rescue divers and boats using spotlights and radar scanners made a last-ditch attempt to find survivors on Thursday after a sightseeing boat sank on the River Danube in the Hungarian capital during an evening downpour, leaving seven people confirmed dead and 21 missing.

The dead and 19 of the missing were South Korean tourists who were not wearing life jackets, officials said. The boat collided with a larger cruise ship during a rainstorm, before overturning and sinking, police reported.

A video presented by police showed the Hableany (Mermaid), a 89-foot double-decker cruise boat, heading north next to the much larger Sigyn, from cruise line operator Viking, when the two collided Wednesday night.

Police said the smaller vessel swerved into the larger one, was struck, turned on its side and then sank in seconds. They have opened a criminal investigation into the incident, which took place just after 9 p.m.

Viking said no one aboard its ship was injured and that it is cooperating with authorities. The company, with offices in Switzerland and California, provided no further details.

The ship is now anchored nearby. The collision took place in the heart of Budapest near the ornate parliament building.

The company operating the Hableany, Panorama Deck, expressed its condolences and said it had offered financial aid to all those involved in the accident, adding that the boat and been in its service since 2003 and its 58-year-old captain was an experienced sailor.

Officials in Seoul confirmed that seven South Korean tourists are dead and 19 others are missing. Two Hungarian crew members are also listed as missing.

South Korea’s government said it was sending a team of 33 emergency rescue workers, military experts and officials to Hungary to help with the rescue effort.

“What’s most important is speed,” President Moon Jae-in said at an emergency government meeting. He instructed officials to use “all available resources to help.”

Seoul’s Foreign Ministry and the Very Good Tour Agency, which organized the trip, said 30 South Korean tourists, two tour guides and a photographer, as well two Hungarian crew members, were aboard the boat when it sank.

Seven people were rescued from the water and have been hospitalized, said Pal Gyorfi, a spokesman for Hungary’s National Ambulance Service, according to the Associated Press. They were suffering from hypothermia but stable. Four have since been released and returned to their hotels. Gyorfi expressed doubt that many more survivors would be found.

Water temperatures were between 50 and 54 degrees Fahrenheit (10 and 12 Celsius).

Most of the tourists were traveling with their families, and the group included a 6-year-old girl whose name did not appear on the list of survivors provided by the tour agency, the AP reported. The survivors included six women and one man between the ages of 31 and 66, the news agency said.

With rain continuing, currents swirling and the river flowing fast, rescuers were searching several miles downstream from the accident.

The National Directorate General for Disaster Management said it will be a complex operation to raise the stricken boat from where it sank near the Margit Bridge that connects the two halves of the capital — the twin cities of Buda and Pest — and will likely involve the construction of a pontoon bridge.

The popularity of cruises through the historic heart of Budapest in recent years has resulted in increasing numbers of boats clogging the Danube, raising concerns over possible collisions.

Budapest mayor, Istavan Tarlos, who is seeking reelection in the fall, told the Index online news portal that he was in talks with the relevant ministry about the rules governing these boats and whether they should be allowed into the downtown area.

Denyer reported from Tokyo.

South Korea starts lifting Sewol ferry, almost three years after disaster

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2019-05-30 12:10:20Z
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Rescuers scour waters for survivors after Danube boat disaster leaves seven dead, 21 missing - The Washington Post

BUDAPEST — Rescue divers and boats using spotlights and radar scanners made a last-ditch attempt to find survivors on Thursday after a sightseeing boat sank on the River Danube in Budapest during an evening downpour, leaving seven people confirmed dead and a further 21 missing.

A video presented by police shows the Hableany (Mermaid), a 89-ft double-decker cruise boat, heading north next to the much larger Sigyn, from cruise line operator Viking, when the two collided.

Police said the smaller one swerved into the larger one, was struck, turned on its side and then sank in seconds. They have opened a criminal investigation into the incident which took place just after 9 p.m.

Viking said no one aboard the its ship was injured, and that it is cooperating with the authorities. The company, with offices in Switzerland and California, provided no further details.

The ship is now anchored nearby. The collision took place in the heart of Budapest near the ornate parliament building.

Officials in Seoul confirmed that seven South Korean tourists are dead and 19 others are missing as well as with two Hungarian crew members.

South Korea’s government said it was sending a team of 33 emergency rescue workers, military experts and officials to Hungary to help with the rescue effort.

“What’s most important is speed,” President Moon Jae-in said at an emergency government meeting, instructing officials to use “all available resources to help.”

Seven people were rescued from the water and have been hospitalized, said Pal Gyorfi, spokesman for Hungary’s National Ambulance Service, according to the Associated Press. They were suffering from hypothermia but stable. Four have since been released and returned to their hotels. He expressed doubt that many more survivors would be found.

Water temperatures were between 50-54 degrees Fahrenheit (10-12 Celsius).

Most of the tourists were traveling with their families and the group included a six-year-old girl whose name did not appear on the list of survivors provided by the tour agency, which included six women and one man aged between 31 and 66, AP reported.

With rain continuing, currents swirling and the river flowing fast, rescuers were searching several miles downstream of the accident.

The National Directorate General for Disaster Managment said it will be a complex operation to raise the stricken boat from where it sank near the Margit bridge that connects the two halves of the twin cities of Buda and Pest and will likely involved the construction of a pontoon bridge.

Denyer reported from Tokyo.

South Korea starts lifting Sewol ferry, almost three years after disaster

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White House Military Office, Navy officials emailed about moving USS John McCain before Trump Japan visit - CNN

"There were emails between lower-level officers, but once leadership heard about it, they said knock it off," a senior Navy official tells CNN. The White House Military Office provides military support for White House functions, including food service, presidential transportation, medical support and emergency medical services and hospitality services.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Wednesday the conversations about moving the ship, which was first named for the late US senator's father and grandfather. Trump spoke to troops at a Memorial Day event aboard the USS Wasp in Yokosuka, Japan.

Trump said he had not been made aware of any plans concerning the ship, tweeting Wednesday night: "I was not informed about anything having to do with the Navy Ship USS John S. McCain during my recent visit to Japan. Nevertheless, @FLOTUS and I loved being with our great Military Men and Women - what a spectacular job they do!"

Navy Cmdr. Clay Doss, a US Seventh Fleet spokesman, told CNN that "all ships remained in normal configuration during POTUS' visit."

Trump and McCain, who was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, were frequently at odds before and during Trump's presidency, up to McCain's death. In 2015, Trump attacked McCain -- who had been a prisoner of war in Vietnam -- as "not a war hero" and again criticized the senator from Arizona after he died of brain cancer last August.

The Journal reported Wednesday that a tarp was put in place to cover the ship's name since it could not be moved due to repairs. Three Navy officials pushed back on this claim and told CNN there was no tarp covering the ship's name when Trump was there.

"We didn't do anything to obstruct the name of the ship. The Wall Street Journal piece refers to a photo of a tarp covering the ship, that photo was taken Friday, May 24, the tarp was removed the following day," a third US Navy official told CNN.

The official said they had not seen the emails in question, but was adamant nothing had been done to obscure the ship.

Doss told CNN that he could confirm "that the picture of the Tarp is from Friday and it was taken down on Saturday. Paint barge was also removed ahead of the visit." And Joe Buccino, a spokesman for acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, told CNN that the secretary "was not aware of the directive to move the USS John S McCain nor was he aware of the concern precipitating the directive."

Officials pushed back on the Journal's reporting that a barge had been moved so as to obscure the name of the ship. One official said "the barge had been there regularly. At one angle, you might not have seen the ship's name, but the name was visible at all times."

The US Navy's chief of information, Rear Adm. Charlie Brown, also tweeted Wednesday night that the name had been visible.

"The name of USS John S. McCain was not obscured during the POTUS visit to Yokosuka on Memorial Day," Brown said in a tweet. "The Navy is proud of that ship, its crew, its namesake and its heritage."

Officials also told CNN sailors from both the USS McCain and the USS Stethem had all been given four-day Memorial Day weekend passes. Not everyone was invited to participate in the reception on the USS Wasp with Trump because there wasn't enough room.

Despite the President's tweet that he "was not informed about anything having to do with the Navy Ship USS John S. McCain," McCain's daughter Meghan McCain reacted on Twitter Wednesday to the Journal's reporting, calling Trump "a child who will always be deeply threatened by the greatness of my dads incredible life."

"There is a lot of criticism of how much I speak about my dad, but nine months since he passed, Trump won't let him RIP. So I have to stand up for him. It makes my grief unbearable," she wrote.

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2019-05-30 09:07:00Z
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Opinion | Netanyahu Won the Election. Why Is Israel Doing It Over? - The New York Times

TEL AVIV — In early April, Benjamin Netanyahu won an election that was supposed to send him to an unprecedented 11th consecutive year as Israel’s prime minister. There was only one small obstacle in his way: forming a government.

The day after the election I predicted that “the coalition that he forms will probably have little more than the minimum 61 seats behind it.” I was wrong by one. Mr. Netanyahu was able to bring together 60 seats out of the Knesset’s 120 — and not a single one more.

At midnight on Wednesday, his deadline to form a government expired. He has only one, costly option now: sending Israeli voters back to the polls and starting over. It looks as if we’ll be voting again in mid-September.

How did this happen?

To really understand it, you have to go back many decades.

In Israel, all citizens are supposed to serve in the military or perform another type of national service. But one group has been relieved of this duty since the state was established: the ultra-Orthodox, known here as Haredim, who make up about 10 percent of the population. Thanks to their high birthrate, the Haredim double in number every 10 to 15 years. When deferment began in 1948 there were about 400 Haredim eligible for it. Today there are more than 50,000. According to Israel’s bureau of statistics, as much as a third of Israel’s population will be Haredi by 2065.

Young Haredi men study the Torah instead of wearing a uniform. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a vast majority of Israelis believe this is unfair.

The Supreme Court doesn’t like the arrangement either. In 2017, the court declared it unconstitutional and demanded new legislation that could withstand judicial review. Since then, the court agreed to grant the government a few postponements, but now the deadline is near. The new government, when formed, must pass a new law to continue the Haredim’s national service exemption. If it fails to do so, the court could decide that the arrangement is void, and prompt a political and social crisis by in essence ordering the state to draft many thousands of reluctant, disobedient, Haredim.

And here’s the problem. The political parties representing the ultra-Orthodox in the Knesset (currently, with 16 seats) have a lot of clout because they have been crucial in propping up coalitions like Mr. Netanyahu’s. In return for their support, the governments — in recent decades most of them have been right-wing — have put aside the issue of Haredi military service. That was the plan, once again, for the next Knesset.

Then one person decided to ruin the plan. Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, represents mostly voters of Russian and Eastern European origin. His voters, like him, are on the right. They are also secular and don’t have much love for the ultra-Orthodox parties and their political power to institute religiously coercive policies.

For years, Yisrael Beiteinu and the Haredi parties were in an uneasy alliance, along with the Likud party. No longer. During the last few weeks of negotiation over forming the new government, Mr. Lieberman has decided to insist on passing a version of a bill on military service that the Haredi parties oppose.

Mr. Lieberman is known to be cunning, so many Israelis suspect that his real motivations are hidden — maybe a personal vendetta against Mr. Netanyahu or a cynical ploy to gain more seats in the Knesset in a new election. But sometimes it is useful to take politicians at face value: Mr. Lieberman, who was defense minister when that bill was written, is committed to passing it and sees no reason make it acceptable to Haredi parties.

But why he is doing this now, rather than during the last government, may have to do with larger changes to Israel’s political landscape, in particular the opportunity to redraw the map of political rivalries.

For many years, the left has been the usual punching bag for right-wing politicians who wanted to galvanize their base. The truth is that leftists, known in Hebrew as smolanim, are disliked by most of the Israeli public. They are associated with a failed peace process, with weaker security policies, with naïveté. In Israeli politics, “smolani” is often synonymous with untrustworthy and unpatriotic.

That trick is getting old. The Israeli left is defeated and marginalized. The public long ago moved rightward. The last election was predominantly fought between Likud and an upstart center-center-right party called Blue and White. The old parties of the left collectively took only 10 seats. Yes, “smolani” is still hurled as an insult at potential rivals, but with less passion. The right dislikes leftists — but there is not much left to dislike.

Maybe this is why Mr. Lieberman has decided to shift gears and go after the Haredi parties.

In fact, the Haredim are even more disliked than leftists: According to polling from the Jewish People Policy Institute, where I work, just 20 percent of Jewish Israelis say that they make a “very positive contribution” to Israel, while almost half say their contribution to Israel is “negative.”

Haredim are disliked not only because they don’t serve in the military and because their politicians hold the government coalition hostage, but also because their participation in the work force is low and they pay less in taxes than other communities. And, of course, because they are different. They wear black hats and live in segregated neighborhoods, and seem radical, outdated and sometimes just plain weird.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mr. Lieberman said: “I am not against the ultra-Orthodox public. I am for the State of Israel.” He added, “I am for a Jewish state but against a religiously coercive state.” As he tries to convince voters that he has stymied coalition talks out of principle, not self-interest, he is now bringing up other issues that relate to the ultra-Orthodox beyond military service: closing stores on the Sabbath, Haredi boycotts of factories that operate on the Sabbath and the rabbinical use of DNA tests to verify the Jewishness of Russian immigrants, and more. These are precisely the policy areas where the Haredim have exercised their political power — and where they are unpopular with much of the public.

By sabotaging a right-Haredi coalition and prompting a new election, Mr. Lieberman is presenting voters on the right with a question: Whom do they dislike more, the smolanim or the Haredim? Mr. Netanyahu’s bet is on the old fight, against the left; Mr. Lieberman decided to bet on a political fight against the ultra-Orthodox.

He might be on to something. There’s no reason for Israelis to worry about the left anymore. But there is good reason to be concerned about how the ultra-Orthodox can misuse their power. The time has come for someone with political clout to make that point and to try to rein in the ultra-Orthodox pull on Israeli public life and politics. It remains to be seen if it’s a winning political strategy.

Shmuel Rosner is the political editor at The Jewish Journal, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute and a contributing opinion writer. @rosnersdomain

In Defeat for Netanyahu, Israel Moves to Hold New Election

May 29, 2019

Opinion | Shmuel Rosner

Why Israel Still Loves Netanyahu

April 10, 2019

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/opinion/israel-election-coalition-lieberman.html

2019-05-30 08:15:26Z
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Opinion | Why Is Israel Going to Have Another Election? - The New York Times

How did this happen?

To really understand it, you have to go back many decades.

Young Haredi men study the Torah instead of wearing a uniform. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a vast majority of Israelis believe this is unfair.

Maybe this is why Mr. Lieberman has decided to shift gears and go after the Haredi parties.

Shmuel Rosner is the political editor at The Jewish Journal, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute and a contributing opinion writer. @rosnersdomain

In Defeat for Netanyahu, Israel Moves to Hold New Election

May 29, 2019

Opinion | Shmuel Rosner

Why Israel Still Loves Netanyahu

April 10, 2019

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/opinion/israel-election-coalition-lieberman.html

2019-05-30 08:08:23Z
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