Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks could be cancelled due to train strike

The fate of Sydney’s world-famous New Year’s Eve fireworks display hangs in the balance this year, police say, due to industrial action by rail unions.

The New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb on Friday said she was considering a formal recommendation to cancel the fireworks, expressing “grave concerns” over the safety of 250,000 commuters due to the ongoing industrial action by rail unions.

Union officials accused the police commissioner of scaremongering for threatening to cancel the iconic event.

Train workers across the city are set to hold industrial action called by the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, after a federal court rejected the state government’s plea to block the walkout.

“Each year, we police New Year’s Eve on the basis that 250,000 people can come into the city and then safely leave the city,” Ms Webb said.

“Leaving the city is based on access to transport, including trains. And if trains aren’t available, and people can’t leave the city, I have very large concerns of the risk that will create to the public because families won’t be able to get home and they’ll be trapped in the city with no way out.

“I haven’t ruled out that I will recommend to the government that we cancel the fireworks. It’s that serious.”

RTBU state secretary Toby Warnes called the threat to cancel the fireworks a “tactic” and said police had an “ulterior motive”.

“Instead of attempting to resolve the dispute the government is resorting to hysteria and scaring the public of NSW,” he said.

The union said 25 partial work bans are now in place, as well as a walkout on part of the signalling system, and a limit has been imposed on the number of kilometres the remaining workers will travel.

He claimed the strike would have “minimal impact” on services as staffing levels for train guards and drivers on 31 December had already been boosted by 40 per cent.

“At most it would have minimal impact … yes crew can work less kilometres but with 40 per cent extra staff on, the impact would be absolutely nowhere near … visible to the public,” Mr Warnes said.

“There will absolutely still be trains running on New Year’s Eve,” Mr Warnes told ABC Radio.

Commuters in Sydney faced significant disruption on Thursday after some services were cancelled or delayed.

Passengers have been asked to delay non-essential travel or consider alternate transport options.

In preparations for New Year’s Eve, an additional 1,000 train services have been scheduled for what is supposed to be the busiest night of the year for Sydney Trains, according to Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland.

Over the past several months, negotiations between RTBU and the state government have continued as RTBU has taken a firm and uncompromising stance regarding its demands, refusing to back down.

The RTBU, representing Sydney Trains employees, is seeking a 32 per cent pay increase over four years – equivalent to an 8 per cent annual raise – and a 35-hour work week without any reduction in pay.

Union members are advocating for an extra 1 per cent employer contribution to their superannuation, along with the inclusion of superannuation payments for all hours worked and during parental leave.

A spokesperson for Transport and Acting Night-time Economy and Tourism Minister Jo Haylen acknowledged that the government and the union remain “a long way apart” in their discussions.

The NSW government has promised to take “very possible measures” so that Sydney’s train network is not disrupted for commuters over Christmas and New Year’s. It has lodged a request for the Fair Work Commission to terminate industrial action “to protect New Year’s Eve and stop rail disruption”.

North Korean hackers account for 60% of cryptocurrency stolen in 2024

North Korean hackers have stolen $1.34bn (£1bn) in cryptocurrency in 2024, accounting for nearly 60 per cent of the total amount stolen across the world, according to a new study.

A total of $2.2bn (£1.76bn) has been stolen from crypto platforms this year, marking a rise of 21 per cent, with crypto hacks by North Korean affiliates “becoming more frequent”, a study by blockchain analysis company Chainalysis said.

The amount stolen by North Korea-affiliated saw a 102 per cent increase in value from 2023, when an estimated $660.50m was stolen.

Isolated in the global market and reeling under international sanctions, the government in North Korea is accused of turning to crypto theft to fund state-sponsored operations and support its booming nuclear arsenal.

The report said that the US and international experts have assessed that Pyongyang uses the stolen crypto money to “finance its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles programs”.

“Hackers linked to North Korea have become notorious for their sophisticated and relentless tradecraft, often employing advanced malware, social engineering, and cryptocurrency theft to fund state-sponsored operations and circumvent international sanctions,” the report said.

Some of these attacks appeared to be linked to North Korean IT workers who have been able to infiltrate crypto and other technology firms, the report added.

“These workers often use sophisticated Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs), such as false identities, third-party hiring intermediaries, and manipulating remote work opportunities to gain access,” it said.

The research comes at a time when the value of bitcoin, the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, has rallied to record levels ahead of US president-elect Donald Trump‘s second administration. This week Mr Trump reiterated that he plans to create a US strategic reserve of bitcoin similar to its strategic oil reserve, stoking the enthusiasm of crypto bulls.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has launched a crackdown on North Korean hackers engaged in crypto theft in recent years. It indicted 14 North Korean nationals who obtained employment as remote IT workers at US companies and were accused of generating more than $88m by stealing proprietary information and extorting their employers.

In one of the most significant incidents of crypto theft, a North Korea-affiliated hack targeted the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange DMM Bitcoin. The attack led to the theft of around 4,502.9 Bitcoin, worth $305m at the time.

Japanese city to publicly shame people who break bin separation rules

Residents of a Japanese city may have to endure being publicly named and shamed if they do not follow the rules around bin separation.

Japan’s strict waste disposal regulations can sometimes seem confusing, but those in Fukushima have been told they must work harder to ensure they do not make mistakes.

Under the current system, rubbish collectors place yellow “violation stickers” on bin bags that don’t have properly segregated waste. Residents whose bags contain the warning sticker have to bring them back inside their homes and sort them again before the next collection date.

However, under the new rules set to commence in March, the Fukushima Municipal Government will place a red sticker to mark improperly sorted rubbish. If it remains unaddressed for a week, city officials will be authorised to inspect the bags to identify the culprits using their mail and other items. Offenders will be given verbal instructions to correct their mistake, followed by a written notice – and if both fail, the violators will have their names published on the official municipal government website.

While some cities in Japan, including Kyoto and Sasebo in the Nagasaki Prefecture, conduct inspections of rubbish bags and disclose the names of offending businesses, Fukushima is the first to do the same to individual residents.

To address concerns about the government invading citizens’ privacy, city officials have said the inspections will take place in a private space with no third party presence, and that “there is nothing illegal about publicising malicious waste generators who do not abide by the rules and do not follow the city’s guidance and advisory,” reported The Mainichi.

Fukushima mayor Hiroshi Kohata said: “Through this initiative, we hope to somehow correct the current situation of improper garbage disposal. We will work to promote thorough separation of garbage and reduction of waste.”

Japan is known for its meticulous garbage disposal system, which mandates different days of the week for different types of waste to be taken to a designated collection site, with the rubbish all separated into categories like burnable, non-burnable, recyclable, and organic waste. Items like electronic appliances and/or furniture have separate rules, which require citizens to make appointments so they can be collected separately.

Japan’s rigorous waste disposal system can be traced back to 1900, when the first laws came into place to improve public sanitation. After World War II, rapid urbanisation saw industrial pollution in addition to regular household trash, leading to the government being forced to enact stricter legislation to focus on waste reduction and recycling.

The notable scarcity of rubbish bins in public can add to the difficulty of trash disposal for residents. After the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack, most trash cans were removed from public spaces due to security concerns. Residents are now used to carrying their waste until they can dispose of it in an appropriate location, reinforcing the country’s emphasis on being responsible for their own waste.

The rules, while stringent, are aimed at facilitating easier recycling and minimising waste in landfills.

“The rules for separating garbage are set by each municipality and there are about 1,700 municipalities across Japan so there are about the same number of sets or regulations for the separation of waste,” Seiichiro Fujii, an associate professor at Daito Bunka University told The South China Morning Post earlier this year.

Fukushima’s new ordinance, passed on 17 December, is hoping to reduce the volume of garbage its residents produce, which in 2022 was 1.08 kg per person daily, higher than the national average of 880 gms. The city also saw approximately 9,000 cases of garbage that did not comply with the existing regulations.

The Fukushima Waste Reduction Promotion Division said that improper waste disposal previously not only led to garbage scattered all over, but also an increase in scavenging crows.

“The improper disposal of waste is a major concern as it deteriorates the living environment of local residents,” the department said in a statement to the BBC.

Improperly sorted waste adds to the existing landfill, which “imposes a burden on future generations”.

“Therefore, we consider waste sorting to be very important.”

Japan has also turned waste collection into a sport, with the annual Spogomi World Cup, which takes its name from the words “sport” and “gomi” – Japanese for rubbish. In 2023, the UK earned the top spot for collecting a total of 57.27kg of rubbish.

Ferry disaster passenger accuses Indian navy vessel of ‘showing off’ before deadly crash

A video has captured the moment a speeding Indian navy boat rammed into a passenger ferry off the Mumbai coast, killing 13 people.

Ten civilians and three navy personnel were killed when the speedboat lost control and hit the ferry on Wednesday, Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of the western state of Maharashtra, said.

The ferry, called Neel Kamal, was carrying 1116 people for a sightseeing trip from the Gateway of India to the Elephanta Caves, a Unesco world heritage site when the accident happened.

At least two of the passengers were still missing, state officials said on Thursday. Four of those rescued were in critical condition while 97 were stable, the municipal corporation said.

The video, shot by a passenger named Natharam Chaudhary, shows the speedboat zigzagging around in the sea at a distance from the passenger ferry.

It then makes a sharp turn towards the ferry, losing control and ramming into it. As it hits, passengers can be heard screaming.

As the video circulated around social media, commentators asked why the speedboat came near the ferry, calling it “reckless” behaviour.

Ferries ply daily around the Mumbai coast and have fixed routes.

A man from Nala Sopara town near Mumbai who was on the ferry with two family members for a merry ride said he lost his aunt, 55, in the accident.

He told local broadcaster Mirror Now the navy boat driver was “showing off his actions to us” and approached the ferry from the front.

“The ferry was 30-40 minutes into its journey when a speedboat was taking rounds in the distance,” he said. “Nothing happened when he took the first round but when he tried to show off his actions to us he slammed us and some of those on the boat came into the ferry.”

He claimed that no passenger was given a lifejacket at the start of the journey.

The navy said the speedboat suffered engine failure and lost control during a test ride.

“Today afternoon, an Indian navy craft lost control while undertaking engine trials in Mumbai harbour due to engine malfunction,” it said. “As a result the boat collided with a passenger ferry which subsequently capsized.

“Survivors rescued from the incident site are being shifted to nearby hospitals. Search and rescue efforts have been immediately launched wherein 4 naval helicopters, 11 naval crafts, one Coast Guard boat and three marine police crafts have been pressed in action for recovering the survivors.”

Mr Natharam Chaudhary, who shot the video, later filed a police complaint against the speedboat driver and other navy personnel responsible for the mishap.

The navy said it had launched an investigation to determine the exact cause of the accident.

Commentators on social media lashed out at the navy over the “lapses” and asked why the boat was travelling at such a high speed.

“It is the height of irresponsibility and professional failure that a navy boat hits a passenger ferry killing 13 persons off Mumbai. Is navy chief sleeping over such lapses? At least Rajnath should order a probe and take swift action against negligent personnel,” one user named S Vasudeva Rao posted on X, asking defence minister Rajnath Singh to take action.

Sharing the “shocking video” of the incident, another user Anand Sarkar said: “From the video it looks like extremely reckless stuff by the navy boat.”

Arif Bamane, driver of a Mumbai Port Trust pilot boat, told the PTI news agency that it was the most horrific accident he had seen in his 18-year career.

“When we reached there, the situation was tragic and completely chaotic. People were screaming for help, and some were crying,” he said. “This is the biggest rescue operation that I have seen so far.”

Japanese media mogul and baseball visionary Tsuneo Watanabe dies at 98

Tsuneo Watanabe, the influential Japanese media mogul and baseball visionary, has died aged 98.

Watanabe, editor of The Yomiuri Shimbun daily and chief of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team, died of pneumonia on Thursday.

He played a significant role in Japanese media and politics, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper said in an obituary of the news baron.

As The Yomiuri Shimbun editor, Watanabe fostered relationships with top politicians and published a controversial proposal to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution in 1994.

The Yomiuri Shimbun under Watanabe’s leadership exceeded 10 million in daily circulation. The paper was recognised by the Guinness World Records in 2010 as having the highest daily circulation in the world, and for being the only newspaper with a morning circulation surpassing 10 million copies, according to Kyodo News.

Watanabe, a University of Tokyo graduate, joined The Yomiuri Shimbun in 1950 and rose through the ranks as political reporter and editor. He was made president of the newspaper in 1991 and later of Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, which publishes the paper and controls the country’s largest commercial television network Nippon.

He chaired the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association from 1999 to 2003 and received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun in 2008, one of Japan’s most prestigious national honours.

Japan’s political leaders expressed condolences on Watanabe’s death with prime minister Shigeru Ishiba calling him a “great journalist”, and chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi referring to him as “a witness of postwar politics who knew many politicians”.

“I wish he would have taught me how Japan should be in the years to come,” Mr Ishiba said.

Watanabe served in the Japanese army during World War II and reportedly endured daily beatings during his service. He joined the Japanese Communist Party after the war but left due to its rigid discipline.

As The Yomiuri Shimbun’s chief editorial writer from 1979, he shifted the paper towards conservatism but opposed prime ministerial visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, condemning military leaders as criminals for wartime decisions like kamikaze attacks.

Former prime minister Fumio Kishida said Watanabe’s death felt like “the end of an era”.

In addition to the media, Watanabe played a key role in Japanese baseball as the owner of the Yomiuri Giants from 1996. In spite of resigning twice due to scandals — in 2004 over a scouting money issue and in 2016 after a gambling scandal involving the team’s pitchers — he significantly shaped the sport in the country. He introduced major changes, such as the free agent and the reverse draft systems.

He was instrumental in bringing baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima back to the team as manager.

“You cannot change the world if you don’t have power,” Watanabe said in an interview with Kyodo News in the 1990s. “Fortunately or unfortunately, I have the 10 million circulation. I can move the prime minister with that. Political parties are in my hands and the reductions in income and corporate taxes were carried out as the Yomiuri reported. Nothing is more delightful than that.”

Suspect arrested for arson after karaoke bar fire in Vietnam kills 11

A devastating fire at a cafe and karaoke bar in Hanoi has left 11 people dead and two others injured, Vietnamese authorities confirmed on Thursday.

The blaze broke out on the ground floor of the three-storey building late on Wednesday night, trapping patrons inside as flames quickly spread through the structure.

The Ministry of Public Security announced the arrest of a man in his early 50s, saying he had confessed to starting the fire following an argument with staff.

According to a police statement, the suspect used petrol to ignite the ground floor of the establishment, where patrons were gathered for karaoke-style singing.

The fire was reported shortly after 11pm local time and rapidly engulfed the building, cutting off all exits and leaving those inside with no means of escape. Rescue teams rushed to the scene, managing to pull seven people from the flames, two of whom were immediately hospitalised with injuries.

Eyewitness accounts described a scene of chaos and helplessness. “At that time, we saw many people screaming for help but could not approach because the fire spread very quickly, and even with a ladder, we could not climb up,” a witness told the Lao Dong newspaper.

Another witness quoted by the Tien Phong newspaper reported hearing an explosion and detecting a strong smell of petrol as the fire raged. “The fire blocked all the exits,” the witness said. “The smell of gasoline was strong.”

CCTV footage obtained by VnExpress showed a man carrying a bucket towards the building moments before the blaze erupted. Local media reported that the fire was brought under control after 40 minutes, but by then it had already caused extensive damage and claimed several lives.

Images from the scene showed firefighters working tirelessly to extinguish the flames while the bodies of victims were carried out of the smouldering wreckage. “I noticed a column of smoke from afar,” a witness told VnExpress. “I was so frightened that I had to urge my grandchild to go downstairs. The flames were so fierce. We saw the fire but there was nothing else we could do.”

The tragedy has prompted Vietnam’s prime minister Pham Minh Chinh to order a thorough investigation and to call for strict penalties for anyone found to have violated safety regulations.

Fires remain a persistent hazard in Vietnam’s densely packed urban centres, where high population density and lax safety standards can combine with devastating consequences. Between 2017 and 2022, some 17,000 fires were reported – most of them in urban areas – resulting in 433 deaths, according to government statistics.

This incident follows a series of deadly fires in Vietnam that have raised questions about fire safety standards. In September 2023, a fire at a Hanoi apartment block killed 56 people, including four children. In 2022, a fire at a karaoke complex in Binh Duong province claimed 32 lives. In that case, six individuals, including four police officers, were sentenced to prison for negligence.

Additional reporting by agencies

Train crushes cycling YouTuber to death in Thailand

A YouTuber was fatally struck by a train while filming content on a bridge in Thailand on Wednesday.

Wirot Arayankeht, 53, known for promoting cycling through his channel “Pai Nai Pai Kun Nam Mun Mai Tong Sai”, which means “Go Anywhere Without Petrol”, was filming near the Chulalongkorn bridge in Ratchaburi when the train struck him.

His body was reportedly crushed and mutilated.

The train driver reportedly honked as a warning to the content creator, but could not stop in time. His body was dragged several metres and his vlogging equipment was later found scattered at the scene.

Phusanika Chantharat, an inspector at the Ratchaburi Muang police station, said the accident occurred at around 8.20am on the bridge over the Mae Klong river in the Muang district.

Wirot shared videos promoting cycling on Facebook and YouTube. His Facebook page boasts 2,700 followers, while his YouTube channel has 140 subscribers.

CCTV footage of the accident shows Wirot placing his cycle on the tracks at 7.39am local time. His wife said they had dropped their daughter off at school that morning. Her husband mentioned he planned to film a video for social media before returning home, The Bangkok Post reported.

Police found a video on Wirote’s phone showing him speaking to the camera near the railway tracks.

The train driver told police he saw Wirote sitting on the tracks and filming his video. The driver said he sounded the horn as a warning, but Wirote couldn’t move out of the way in time and the driver was unable to stop the train quickly enough. The train struck Wirote and dragged his body for 50 metres, The Nation Thailand reported.

The driver said he exited the train and found Wirote crushed to death. He promptly called his supervisor and the local police.

Condolences started pouring in on his Facebook page as soon as the news of Wirote’s death was made public. “I would like to express my condolences, brother,” one user said.

Kim Jong Un ‘personally overseeing’ North Korean training for Ukraine

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is personally overseeing training of soldiers to be sent to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to South Korean intelligence reports, after Pyongyang’s inexperienced forces were said to have suffered a high number of casualties.

South Korean MP Lee Seong-kweun claimed at least 100 North Korean soldiers had been killed in the war, citing a briefing to parliament by the National Intelligence Service.

“There was a report that there have been at least 100 deaths and the injured are approaching 1,000,” he said.

MPs were told that the North may be preparing for more deployments to Russia, Lee said, as well as about intelligence that the country’s leader Kim Jong Un is overseeing training.

Ukraine and its allies estimate that North Korea has deployed between 10,000 and 12,000 troops so far to aid Russia’s war effort. The Pentagon said the soldiers were largely deployed to Russia’s Kursk region, where Moscow’s forces were battling a Ukrainian ground incursion since August.

They also accused North Korea of shipping artillery systems, ballistic missiles and other weapons to replenish Russia’s armouries. Russia and North Korea neither confirmed nor denied the accusations.

The US and nine other countries condemned Pyongyang’s alleged export of ballistic missiles and other military equipment to Russia for use in the Ukraine war in a joint statement on Monday. The North’s direct support for the Russian war effort, they said, marked a “dangerous expansion of the conflict”.

On Thursday North Korea’s foreign ministry said its relationship with Russia was being “distorted” by the West, calling its alliance with Moscow “normal” and “very effective”.

The statement made no mention of Pyongyang’s involvement in the Ukraine war or the casualties its troops allegedly suffered in Kursk.

The North blamed Washington and its allies for prolonging the Ukraine war and destabilising the security situation in Europe and the Asia-Pacific.

The “madness” on display in response to the North’s relationship with Russia “goes to prove that the strengthened cooperative relations between independent sovereign states are very effective in deterring the US and the West’s ill-intended extension of influence”, it added.

Washington and Kyiv recently claimed that North Korean soldiers took heavy casualties while fighting Ukrainian forces in the Russian border region. The Ukrainian military intelligence agency said at least 30 North Korean troops were killed or wounded, while a US official suggested the figure for North Korean casualties was in the “several hundreds”.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky posted drone footage on Telegram claiming that it showed North Korean soldiers fighting in the war.

“Ukraine’s defence forces and intelligence are working to determine the full extent of the actual losses suffered by Russian units that include North Koreans,” he said.

The Russian military was taking drastic measures to conceal the identity of North Koreans by burning the faces of those killed in battle, Mr Zelensky claimed.