ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max-8 Crash Left No Survivors

An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max-8 crashed shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa, killing all on board.

The airline said 149 passengers and eight crew members were on flight ET302 from the Ethiopian capital to Nairobi in Kenya.

It said 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, eight Americans and seven British nationals were among the passengers.

The crash happened at 08:44 local time, six minutes after the months-old Boeing 737 Max-8 took off.

Another plane of the same model was involved in a crash less than five months ago, when a Lion Air flight crashed into the sea near Indonesia with nearly 190 people on board.

The cause of the disaster is not yet clear. However, the pilot had reported difficulties and had asked to return to Addis Ababa, the airline said.

At this stage, we cannot rule out anything, Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa.

We cannot also attribute the cause to anything because we will have to comply with the international regulation to wait for the investigation.

Visibility was said to be good but air traffic monitor Flightradar24 reported that the plane's vertical speed was unstable after take-off.

An eyewitness at the scene said there was intense fire as the aircraft hit the ground.

The blast and the fire were so strong that we couldn't get near it, he said. Everything is burnt down.

First word of the crash came when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed expressed his deepest condolences on Twitter.

Recovery operations were under way near the crash site around the town of Bishoftu, which is 60km (37 miles) south-east of the capital.

The plane was delivered to Ethiopian Airlines on 15 November last year. It underwent a rigorous first check maintenance on 4 February, the airline tweeted.

Mr Gebremariam told the news conference that passengers from more than 30 countries were on board the flight.

He said they included 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians, eight Italians, eight Chinese, eight Americans, seven Britons, seven French citizens, six Egyptians, five Germans, four Indians and four people from Slovakia.

Slovak MP Anton Hrnko later confirmed via Facebook that his wife and two children were on the plane.

Three Austrians, three Swedes, three Russians, two Moroccans, two Spaniards, two Poles and two Israelis were also on the flight.

There was also one passenger each from Ireland, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Belgium, Indonesia, Somalia, Norway, Serbia, Togo, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and Yemen.

One person held a UN passport, the airline said. It believed some passengers could have been heading to a session of the UN Environment Assembly which begins in Nairobi on Monday.

At least a dozen of the victims were affiliated with the UN, and that this may include freelance translators.

World Food Programme executive director David Beasley said seven members of agency staff had died in the crash.

Among them was engineer Michael Ryan, a father of two, from Cork, Ireland. Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar said Mr Ryan had been carrying out life-changing work in Africa

One of the Canadian victims was named as Prof Pius Adesanmi, an expert in African studies at Carleton University in Ottawa.

The pilot was named as Senior Captain Yared Getachew who had a commendable performance with more than 8,000 hours in the air, the airline said.

The plane's First Officer Ahmed Nur Mohammod Nur had 200 flight hours, it added.

Ethiopia declared Monday a national day of mourning.

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said he was deeply saddened to hear of the crash, continued that: We join the international community in mourning the loss of so many lives.

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed solidarity with the people of Ethiopia and Kenya, tweeting: We share their sorrow.

António Guterres, the UN secretary-general, also tweeted about the crash.

African Union Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed utter shock and immense sadness while Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said he was saddened.

Mahboub Maalim, executive secretary of the East African bloc Igad, said the region was in mourning.

I cannot seem to find words comforting enough to the families and friends of those who might have lost their lives in this tragedy, he said in a statement.

The 737 Max-8 aircraft is relatively new to the skies, having only been in commercial use since 2017.

Boeing said it was deeply saddened by the crash and offered to send a team to provide technical assistance.

Following the Lion Air crash last October, investigators said the pilots had appeared to struggle with an automated system designed to keep the plane from stalling, a new feature of the Boeing 737 Max.

The anti-stalling system repeatedly forced the plane's nose down, despite efforts by pilots to correct this, findings suggest.

There is no suggestion that the Ethiopian Airlines jet suffered similar issues on Sunday.

Ethiopian Airlines flies to many destinations in Africa, making it a popular carrier in a continent where many airlines fly only from their home country to destinations outside Africa.

It has a good reputation for safety, although in 2010 one of the company's aeroplanes crashed in the Mediterranean Sea shortly after leaving Beirut.

The incident killed 90 people on board.

The airline's highest fatalities prior to this came in a November 1996 crash during a hijacking on a flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi.

One of the plane's engines stopped when the fuel ran out and although pilots attempted an emergency water landing, they hit a coral reef in the Indian Ocean and 123 of the 175 people on board were killed.


Tourism Observer

CANADA: Canada Legalizes Recreational Marijuana

Canada is the second country in the world and the first G7 nation to implement legislation to permit a nationwide marijuana market.

In the neighboring US, nine states and the District of Columbia now allow for recreational marijuana use, and 30 allow for medical use.

Recreational marijuana use will soon be legal in Canada after the Senate passed a historic bill on Tuesday with a vote of 52-29.

Bill C-45, otherwise known as the Cannabis Act, stems from a campaign pledge of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to keep marijuana away from underage users and reduce related crime.

The act to legalize the recreational use of weed was first introduced on April 13, 2017, and was later passed at the House of Commons in November.

The Senate passage of the bill was the final hurdle in the process.

Uruguay was the first country to legalize marijuana's production, sale and consumption in December 2013.

Although the Canadian government had initially stated its intent to implement by July 2018, provinces and territories, who will be responsible for drafting their own rules for marijuana sales, have advised that they would need eight to 12 weeks after the Senate approval to transition to the new framework.

The government is expected to choose a date in early or mid September.

On Twitter, Trudeau praised the bill and focused on Canada's youth.

It's been too easy for our kids to get marijuana and for criminals to reap the profits. Today, we change that. Our plan to legalize & regulate marijuana just passed the Senate. #PromiseKept

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) June 20, 2018
"It's been too easy for our kids to get marijuana - and for criminals to reap the profits. Today, we change that. Our plan to legalize & regulate marijuana just passed the Senate," he tweeted.
The justice minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, also applauded the vote.

This is an historic milestone for progressive policy in Canada, she tweeted. This legislation will help protect our youth from the risks of cannabis while keeping profits out of the hands of criminals and organized crime.

#C45 has passed the Senate - this is an historic milestone for progressive policy in Canada as we shift our approach to cannabis.

This legislation will help protect our youth from the risks of cannabis while keeping profits out of the hands of criminals and organized crime. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/guaWrS1kHG

— Jody Wilson-Raybould (@Puglaas) June 19, 2018
What's legal and what's not

Once the bill is formally approved, adults will be able to carry and share up to 30 grams of legal marijuana in public.

They also will be allowed to cultivate up to four plants in their households and prepare products such as edibles for personal use.

However, stringent rules will still govern the purchase and use of marijuana.

Consumers are expected to purchase marijuana from retailers regulated by provinces, territories or when neither of those options are available federally licensed producers.

Marijuana will also not be sold in the same location as alcohol or tobacco.

The Canadian government has also implemented changes to their impaired driving laws, to address repercussions for driving under the influence of cannabis.

The bill set a floor on the minimum age of the consumer at 18 years, and makes the production, distribution, or sale of cannabis products an offense for minors.

While provinces can increase the minimum age, the intent is to continue to discourage Canadian youth from pot use, by establishing many of the same restrictions that exist for cigarettes and other tobacco products.

C-45 is also expected to spark a billion-dollar industry, given total spending on marijuana could surge as high as 58%, especially as users are expected to be willing to pay a premium for legal access to the drug.

In the United States, BDS Analytics estimated that the pot industry took in nearly $9 billion in sales in 2017. The revenue from the sales is equivalent to the entire snack bar industry.

As a result, the attempts to legalize cannibas for recreational use have caused Canadian marijuana companies like Canopy Growth Corp., Aphria Inc., and Aurora Cannabis Inc. to become the center of investor frenzy.

As provinces decide local rules of implementation, marijuana availability will vary across the country.

In Alberta, recreational weed will be widely available at more than 200 private retailers across the province.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, marijuana availability will only be provided in 40 state-run shops in Ontario.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, it will be available in Loblaws grocery stores.


Tourism Observer

MEXICO: More And More Tourists, Feeling Unwanted In U.S. Are Opting For Canada.

Many tourists, feeling undesirable in the U.S., are going elsewhere instead.

Airports in Miami, Orlando, San Antonio and Denver clocked fewer travelers coming from Mexico City and Guadalajara in the first two months of 2017, while Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver saw a surge in traffic from Mexico’s capital.

It’s not hard to see why Mexicans may be choosing to alter their travel plans, what with all those Twitter jabs by U.S. President Donald Trump, his plans for a wall between the two nations and uncertainty over travel restrictions.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on the other hand, announced plans last June to lift a visa requirement for Mexicans that allows them to enter the country with only a passport.

A lot of people have canceled their trips to the U.S. because they don’t understand the new rules or are simply scared of them.

That’s been bad news for airlines focusing on U.S.-Mexico routes. Mexico’s two largest carriers, Grupo Aeromexico SAB and Controladora Vuela Cia. de Aviacion SAB, which operates as Volaris, recently cut their growth estimates on softer-than-expected demand.

Volaris Chief Executive Officer Enrique Beltranena blamed the Trump phenomenon and its effect on international travel as the main reason the carrier pared its second-quarter forecast for capacity growth to as much as 18 percent from as much as 23 percent — the first downward revision since 2014 for the fast-expanding discounter.

The Trump administration has ordered customs officials to enhance visa screening on visitors, including those from Mexico.

And while Mexicans aren’t directly affected by a proposed ban on travel from some countries or restrictions on electronic devices on flights from some airports, the measures add to the confusion.

A decline in tourism from Mexico could hurt American businesses that cater to travelers, including hotels and destinations like theme parks. Mexican visitors spent $19.7 billion in the U.S. in 2015, trailing only Chinese and Canadian travelers, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

U.S.-bound passengers from Mexico City to San Antonio declined 34 percent in January and 37 percent in February, according to data from Mexico’s Communications and Transportation Ministry.

Meanwhile, traffic from Mexico City to Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver surged, with gains of as much as 67 percent in January and 46 percent the following month, depending on the destination.

Aeromexico, with a wider route network than Volaris, can partially offset the decline with its stream of steady business travel. Volaris, which relies heavily on Mexican leisure passengers and customers visiting friends and family in the U.S., started seeing some improvement in March, analyst Duane Pfennigwerth at Evercore ISI wrote in a note Thursday.

It appears demand trends have recovered since February when U.S. travel policy uncertainty was very high. Mexico domestic leisure trends are strong but northbound leisure travel to the U.S. has not fully recovered.

The peso’s 10 percent gain this year and a more moderate tone from the U.S. could help Volaris further, Pfennigwerth said. On the other hand, he said, headline risk remains and the new administration has thus far given leisure travelers from the rest of the world reasons to delay or reconsider travel to the United States.

That’s certainly the case for Mario Hinojosa, a businessman in Monterrey, Mexico.

Hinojosa said he can understand why folks may not want to visit the U.S. after Trump took office. His daughter had been considering a study-abroad program in either New York or Washington when they started noticing a change in sentiment toward Latinos.

I said to her: no. Not this year, he recalled. I will pay for you to go to Italy for the summer if you want, but not the United States.