New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
State gets $5M for road repairs following quake
The federal transportation department is releasing $5 million in emergency relief funds to help road and bridge repairs in Alaska following Friday's magnitude 7.0 earthquake.
The Federal Highway Commission released the funds Saturday after it said it received a request from Alaska Gov. Bill Walker and the state transportation commissioner, Marc Luiken.
The Glenn Highway received damage in several areas north of Anchorage. The Seward Highway south of Anchorage has seen several rock slides from the quake and aftershocks. An on-ramp to a major Anchorage roadway also was damaged.
The $5 million is essentially seen as a down-payment to help fund short-term repairs while assessments for long-term repairs are made.
At one time, power was out to nearly 50,000 residents because of the quake. But Anchorage Municipal Manager Bill Falsey said at a news conference Saturday that power has been restored to all but about a dozen residents.
Police said there was no looting in the aftermath of the quake. And fire officials warned people to be careful as high winds expected later Saturday could send unsecured debris flying.
Strong aftershocks continued Saturday around Anchorage, jolting people awake and pummeling already frayed nerves.
The U.S. Geological Survey says there have been 545 aftershocks, including a 5.7 magnitude shaker that followed Friday's big quake almost immediately.
ARGENTINA
G-20 agrees on trade, migration, U.S. goes own way on climate
Leaders of the world's top economies agreed Saturday to repair the global trading system as they closed a Group of 20 summit that saw the Trump administration at odds with many allies over the Paris accord on climate change and issues like migration.
The joint statement signed by all 20 member nations said 19 of them reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris climate accord, with the United States, which withdrew from the pact under President Donald Trump, the lone holdout. The official communique acknowledged flaws in global commerce and called for reforming the World Trade Organization, but it didn't mention the word “protectionism” after negotiators said that had met resistance from the United States.
Applause broke out in the convention center hall as the leaders, including Trump, signed off on the statement at the end of the two-day summit in the Argentine capital, the first time it has been held in South America.
The non-binding agreement was reached after marathon talks by diplomats stretched overnight and into daylight, amid deep divisions between member nations. European Union officials said the United States was the main holdout on nearly every issue. Trump has criticized the WTO and taken aggressive trade policies targeting China and the EU.
But China also pushed back in talks on steel, South Africa objected to language on trade, Australia didn't want the statement to be too soft on migration and Turkey worried it would push too far on climate change, according to the officials.
MEXICO
Leftist leader takes office after decades of technocrats
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took the oath of office Saturday as Mexico's first leftist president in over 70 years, marking a turning point in one of the world's most radical experiments in opening markets and privatization.
In his first speech to Congress, Lopez Obrador pledged “a peaceful and orderly transition, but one that is deep and radical … because we will end the corruption and impunity that prevent Mexico's rebirth.”
Mexico long had a closed, state-dominated economy, but since entering the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs in 1986, it has signed more free trade agreements than almost any other country, and privatized almost every corner of the economy except oil and electricity.
Now, though, Lopez Obrador talks a talk not heard in Mexico since the 1960s: He wants to build more state-owned oil refineries and encourages Mexicans to “not to buy abroad, but to produce in Mexico what we consume.
Hearst wire services