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TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese rail company has defended a safety exercise that requires employees to sit beside tracks in tunnels as bullet trains speed by at 300 kilometres (186 miles) an hour. JR West told AFP it has no plans to alter the exercise despite complaints from some employees. About 190 staff working on safety maintenance for Japan’s famed shinkansen bullet train have undergone the training, a company spokesman said. “The training aims […]
MARACAIBO, Venezuela (AFP)–Venezuelans are concerned over the safety of a “twin” viaduct of the collapsed Morandi bridge in Genoa, Italy, after a fire on the concrete structure caused a major blackout. The 8.6 kilometer (five mile) General Rafael Urdaneta viaduct links second city Maracaibo with the rest of Venezuela. Designed by Italian structural engineer Riccardo Morandi, it predates by five years his 1967 bridge in Genoa that collapsed this week causing the death of 39 […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP)–Over 7,000 New York City car-for-hire license applications were filed between the announcement of a one-year cap on new licenses — a blow to the likes of Uber and Lyft — and the measure coming into force, the city regulator said Thursday. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the bill into effect Tuesday, a first in the United States after a city council vote earlier this month. It stipulates a […]
by Daniel Bosque © Agence France-Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) – Taxi drivers across Spain were set to keep striking on Tuesday against ride hailing competitors such as Uber and Cabify, which they say unfairly threaten their livelihoods after government negotiations ended without a deal. The strike began in Barcelona last week and spread to Madrid at the weekend as drivers blocked main thoroughfares, demanding action from the government. Strikes or partial stoppages were also called […]
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Uber on Monday said it is hitting the brakes on self-driving trucks, shifting gears to focus just on autonomous cars. Uber is among a number of technology and car companies racing toward what some contend is an inevitable future in which vehicles drive themselves. Uber’s aspirations had included self-driving trucks, with the smartphone-summoned-ride service revving that effort with the purchase of startup Otto two years ago. “We’ve decided to […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Warner Bros. has announced plans for a $100 million cable car to take tourists from its studio lot to the iconic Hollywood sign, an area increasingly choked by tourist traffic. The company, one of Tinseltown’s “Big Six” film distributors, told city officials on Monday it would put up the entire funding for the “Hollywood Skyway.” The six-minute ride would extend more than a mile (1.6 kilometers) from Warner’s base […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Uber made a move into electric scooters Monday, as the ride-service giant agreed to a strategic partnership with Lime, one of the major players in the fast-growing segment. Lime announced the new $335 million investment to be led by GV — formerly Google Ventures — with additional funding from Google parent Alphabet and others including Uber. Uber will make “a sizable investment,” according to Lime co-founder and chief executive Toby […]
SIMALUNGUN, Indonesia (AFP) — An Indonesian ferry that capsized and sunk with scores of people aboard has been found by search teams combing the depths of one of the world’s deepest lakes, authorities said Friday. The vessel was believed to be operating illegally with no manifest and an insufficient number of life jackets when it went down on Lake Toba, a picturesque tourist destination in Sumatra. Authorities have struggled to pinpoint the exact number onboard […]
TOKYO, JAPAN (AFP) – Resplendent in shocking pink, a sleek “Hello Kitty” bullet train, complete with special carriages festooned with images of the global icon from Japan, has been unveiled before it chugs into service this week. The special shinkansen or bullet train will run for the next three months between the western cities of Osaka and Fukuoka from Saturday, the West Japan Railway firm said, hoping that one of the country’s most […]
by Edouard GUIHAIRE Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Uber claimed Monday to have mended its ways as the ride-hailing app started its appeal against being stripped of its license to operate in London. Uber agreed that the city’s transport authority was right to block its renewal last September — but said it had since undergone “wholesale change” in response, and the decision should therefore be overturned. Transport for London (TfL) had decided […]
SOUL, South Korea (AFP) – North and South Korea held talks Tuesday on connecting the railways that run across their border, a physical link that would transform the relationship between the two sides of the divided peninsula. The discussions, the first on the issue for 10 years, took place in the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone. A rail line already exists from Seoul to Pyongyang and on to Sinuiju on the Chinese […]
by Lazuardy Fahmi Agence France-Presse SIMALUNGUN, Indonesia (AFP) — As many as 192 passengers could be missing after a ferry sank into the depths of a volcanic lake in Indonesia, the search-and-rescue agency said Wednesday, tripling initial government estimates. But the agency’s head cautioned that it was still unclear how many people were aboard the vessel when it capsized Monday in Lake Toba, a popular tourist destination on Sumatra island. The traditional wooden boat may have […]
