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South Korea blames deadly battery plant fire on safety failures

South Korea blames deadly battery plant fire on safety failures

Aricell also accused of manipulating test samples from previous inspections and for hiring unskilled labourers. A deadly fire at a South Korean lithium battery factory in June broke out as the company raced to meet a deadline without taking action to address signs of dangerous quality failures, police said. At least 23 people were killed at the Aricell lithium battery plant during the massive blaze, in one of the country’s worst industrial disasters in years. Manufacture Aricell, which also produces batteries for South Korea’s military, had failed a quality inspection in April and subsequently increased production to make up the backlog, police official Kim Jong-min said on Friday. It hired temporary and unskilled workers, contributing to a jump in product defect rates, including overheating of finished batteries, but did not take action to contain safety risks, Kim said. The company was trying to produce 5,000 batteries a day and “started excessive manufacturing”, police added. Further investigations showed that Aricell had passed previous quality inspections by manipulating test samples since it started supplying battery products to the military in 2021, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. The Ministry of Employment and Labor and police asked for an arrest warrant for three officials of Aricell, including CEO Park Soon-kwan. Gross deficiencies “The accident occurred as the company pushed ahead without taking measures despite problems in various steps in the production process,” Kim added. Police further said that the company did not comply with factory safety laws, including a lack of emergency exits and inadequate safety education for employees who did not speak Korean. Security camera footage showed the fire sparking from a stack of batteries and quickly engulfing the factory where 35,000 lithium batteries were stored. The spread of toxic smoke probably rendered workers unconscious within seconds, fire officials have said. Seventeen of those who died were Chinese, and one was Laotian. The rest were South Koreans. “Because of gross deficiencies, the majority of workers were found on the other side of the emergency exit – even though there were 37 seconds in which they could have evacuated after the initial explosion on June 24,” said Kim. South Korea has faced a number of deadly incidents in recent years, including the Halloween stampede, which have been blamed on the failure to implement safety rules. On Thursday, a short circuit or other electrical causes was believed to have sparked a fire at a hotel in Bucheon, west of the capital, Seoul, leaving seven dead and a dozen of others injured. Adblock test (Why?)

India’s Modi arrives in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy

India’s Modi arrives in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy

Indian prime minister expected to push settlement on ending Ukraine war, even if seen as being too close to Russia. India’s Narendra Modi has arrived in Kyiv, where he will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, marking the first time an Indian prime minister has visited the country since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Modi is expected to discuss economic ties and cooperation in defence, science and technology, while also broaching the contentious subject of a settlement to end the war with Russia. “No problem can be resolved on a battlefield,” Modi said ahead of his visit, adding that India supports “dialogue and diplomacy for restoration of peace and stability as soon as possible”. It is unclear whether the Indian leader could be an effective dealmaker, seen by many in Ukraine as being too close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Alex Gatopoulos said India would have to “perform this tightrope act” between the West and Russia. “It is a Russian client state. The vast majority of its military equipment is Russian-made, so India cannot afford to alienate Russia either,” he said. India is the world’s largest buyer of Russian arms, and has sought to capitalise on cheaper Russian oil as the United States and European countries seek to limit the Russian energy sector’s access to the global marketplace via sanctions. Modi’s meeting with Zelenskyy comes a month and a half after he was in Moscow for talks with Putin, a visit that coincided with Russian missile strikes on Ukraine that hit a children’s hospital, which the Indian leader implicitly criticised during the bilateral summit. Modi and Putin agreed to increase bilateral trade to $100bn by 2030, increasing investments, eliminating nontariff trade barriers and using national currencies to circumvent sanctions. The meeting elicited fierce criticism from Zelenskyy, who said it was a “huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day”. Al Jazeera’s Gatopoulos said Modi’s visit to Moscow was intended to put himself forward as a mediator. “Whether that’s going to be successful or not, we will tell in the coming days,” he said. ‘A certain influence’ The visit comes at a crucial juncture in the war, after Ukrainian forces mounted a lightning offensive on Russia’s Kursk region on August 6 while Russian troops continue to make advances in Ukraine’s east. On Friday, the Ukrainian Air Force said 14 of 16 Russian attack drones had been destroyed overnight. Meanwhile, Russia accused Ukraine of trying to attack the Kursk nuclear power station in what it called an act of “nuclear terrorism”. India has avoided explicit condemnation of Russia’s 2022 invasion and has abstained on United Nations resolutions that criticise Russia, instead urging both sides to resolve their differences through direct dialogue. Still, India has good relations with both Russia and the West, Ukraine’s principal backer, and some analysts believe Modi could play a role in pushing the two sides towards talks. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Modi’s visit to Kyiv was significant because India “really has a certain influence” over Russia. Peace summit Ukraine has said it hopes to bring together a second international summit later this year to advance its vision of peace and involve representatives from Russia. The first summit in Switzerland that excluded Russia in June attracted many delegations, including one from India, but not from China. Volodymyr Fesenko, a Kyiv-based political analyst, said he expected no breakthrough proposals to be made to end the war during the trip by Modi, who visited Poland on Thursday. For there to be an attempt to negotiate, the military situation has to stabilise and the presidential election must be held in the United States, a close ally of Ukraine, he said. He said the visit was important for India to demonstrate it was “not on Russia’s side” and that Kyiv wanted to normalise relations after Modi’s Moscow trip. Adblock test (Why?)

Will Robert F Kennedy’s likely exit from 2024 race boost Trump over Harris?

Will Robert F Kennedy’s likely exit from 2024 race boost Trump over Harris?

The political spotlight will be on Democrat turned independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday, in what many expect will be an announcement that he is ending his White House bid. Kennedy’s campaign says their candidate “will address the nation live on Friday about the present historical moment and his path forward.” On the eve of his event in Arizona, Kennedy moved to withdraw his name from the state’s ballot – which appeared to be another signal of his intent to drop out of the race. However, the biggest question surrounding Kennedy’s anticipated exit from the 2024 race is whether it will give former President Donald Trump a small but potentially significant boost in his showdown against Vice President Kamala Harris. Pointing back to the previous two presidential elections, veteran Republican strategist and Fox News contributor Karl Rove spotlighted the influential role third party candidates played. RFK JR.’S RUNNING MATE CHARGES DEMOCRATS ‘OBSTRUCTED A FAIR ELECTION,’ ‘FULLY SUPPORTS’ WORKING WITH TRUMP  ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR. TO ADDRESS AMERICA ON FRIDAY ABOUT THE ‘PRESENT HISTORICAL MOMENT AND HIS PATH FORWARD’ “[Green Party candidate} Jill Stein got more votes in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania than Hillary Clinton lost those states by,” Rove noted as he pointed to Trump’s victory over the Democrats’ 2016 presidential nominee.  Rove added that “in 2020, Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian candidate, got more votes in Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin than Donald Trump lost those states by. And in each instance, that was the difference between winning and losing.” Kennedy, the longtime environmental activist and high-profile vaccine skeptic, who is the scion of the nation’s most storied political dynasty, launched his long-shot campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in April of last year. However, last October, the 70-year-old candidate switched to an independent run for the White House. While Kennedy had long identified as a Democrat and repeatedly invoked his late father – Sen. Robert F. Kennedy – and his uncle – former President John F. Kennedy – who were both assassinated in the 1960s – Kennedy in recent years built relationships with far-right leaders. President Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee for months repeatedly slammed Kennedy as a potential spoiler whose supporters could hand Trump a presidential election victory in November. However, Kennedy remained a thorn in Biden’s side from last year through the president’s announcement last month that he was ending his re-election bid and endorsing Harris. The Trump campaign also started taking aim at Kennedy after he switched to an independent run, labeling him a member of the “radical left,” and criticizing him for his environmental activism. However, the relationship between Kennedy and Trump started warming earlier this year, and the two spoke last month after the assassination attempt against Trump and met in person the following day.  Earlier this week, Kennedy running mate Nicole Shanahan sparked headlines by saying in a podcast interview that the campaign was considering whether to “join forces” with Trump to prevent the possibility of Harris winning the 2024 election. “If he endorsed me, I would be honored by it. I would be very honored by it. He really has his heart in the right place,” Trump said on Thursday in an interview on “Fox and Friends.” Kennedy’s event is being held in Phoenix a couple of hours before Trump holds a rally in nearby Glendale. “President Trump will be joined by a special guest as he delivers remarks about his America First policies and his vision to lower inflation and the cost of living, secure the border, and make our cities safe again,” a release from the former president’s campaign announced on Thursday, which sparked more speculation about a potential Kennedy endorsement. Trump called in to Fox News following Vice President Kamala Harris’ nominating acceptance speech on Thursday night. Noting that Trump and Kennedy would be in the same state, Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha McCallum asked Trump if Kennedy would endorse him on Friday, and the former President replied coyly, “It’s possible we will be meeting tomorrow, and we’ll be discussing it.” Kennedy’s campaign has been cratering in recent months. The last public event put on by Kennedy’s campaign came on July 9, in Freeport, Maine. However, even before that, his poll numbers – which once stood in the teens – had faded. The most recent Fox News national poll, conducted Aug. 9-12, indicated Kennedy at 6% support.  His fundraising was also sinking, with campaign finance reports indicating he had just $3.9 million cash on hand as of the start of July, with nearly $3.5 million in debt. Well-known non-partisan political handicapper Larry Sabato argued in a social media post that “Kennedy is barely relevant.” “He can’t transfer much support, esp. to Trump. His backers will splinter,” Sabato predicted. Rove, the mastermind behind former President George W. Bush’s two White House election victories, said that if Kennedy “does endorse Trump, my sense is the people who were supporting him because he was a Kennedy, and they didn’t like Biden, have dissipated over the last four to five weeks and his supporters are probably people more inclined to vote for Trump than Harris.” Alex Castellanos, the veteran Republican consultant who served in leading positions on the campaigns of four GOP presidential nominees, said that if Kennedy drops out and backs Trump, “it could help in two ways. “One is he’s an outsider and Trump’s an outsider. RFK got drop-kicked out of the Democratic establishment, so the anti-Washington message that Trump has is amplified,” Castellanos argued. He added that “more importantly, RFK is the K in Kennedy and that brand still has magic. That brand is Camelot. It’s what could have been and was interrupted. It’s a promise about the future, and you need know who needs optimism and someone to help him get to the future is Donald Trump. I think the brand is more important than the one or two percent he might bring to the Trump campaign.” Democratic strategist Marie Harf, a

Harris tries to thread Israel, Gaza needle with anti-Israel agitators a constant presence at DNC

Harris tries to thread Israel, Gaza needle with anti-Israel agitators a constant presence at DNC

CHICAGO — As anti-Israel agitators have protested outside the Democratic National Convention (DNC) for the last four days, Vice President Kamala Harris finally addressed the Israel-Palestinian conflict during her speech on the convention’s final night. “With respect to the war in Gaza, President Biden and I are working around the clock because now is the time to get a hostage deal and a cease-fire deal done,” Harris said Thursday night in Chicago’s United Center. “And let me be clear – I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on Oct. 7.” At the same time, Harris said, “what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating,” referring to the war casualties of innocent Palestinian people. “So many innocent lives lost over and over again,” Harris said. “The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.” Harris stated that her and President Biden are striving to bring an end to the conflict while ensuring Israel’s security as well as that the “Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.” In July, Harris met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reiterate the administration’s support for Israel, while also expressing her “serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there.” There was an apparent cease-fire deal also discussed at the time.  ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS PROTEST VP HARRIS NOMINATION NEAR DNC, HAND OUT FLYERS FOR GLOBAL ‘INTIFADA’ On Monday, speaking to reporters from Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the proposal put forward last week by the Biden administration in coordination with leaders from Qatar and Egypt looked to “bridge the gaps” between the warring parties and has been “accepted” by Netanyahu.  “He supports it,” Blinken said. “It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same.” Blinken did not give specifics on what was included in the proposal and Netanyahu has not yet formally agreed to any cease-fire at this time.  HAMAS LEADER SINWAR REPORTEDLY WANTS GUARANTEE OF SURVIVAL AS GAZA CEASE-FIRE TALKS SAID TO BE FALTERING Meanwhile, anti-Israel demonstrators have expressed their discontent with Harris’ campaign this week during the DNC. Protesters on Thursday called the Democratic nominee, “Killer Kamala,” and some protesters spoke with Fox News Digital about where they stand with the presidential candidates.  Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.