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A28 world news
Diabierna 23 September 2022

6.8 magnitude earthquake shakes Mexico, 2 dead

least two deaths, damag- Michoacan's state govern- stairs of her home and a man
ing buildings and setting ment said the quake was felt who had a heart attack. Resi-
off landslides. throughout the state. It re- dents huddled in streets as
ported damage to a building seismic alarms blared.
The earthquake struck at 1:19 in the city of Uruapan and
a.m. near the epicenter of a some landslides on highways. The earthquake rattled an
magnitude 7.6 quake that hit already jittery country. Mon-
three days earlier in the west- President Andrés Manuel day's more powerful quake
ern state of Michoacan. It was López Obrador said via Twit- was the third major earth-
also blamed for two deaths. ter that it was an aftershock quake to strike on Sept. 19 —
from Monday's quake and in 1985, 2017 and now 2022.
The U.S. Geological Survey was also felt in the states of The 2017 and 2022 Sept. 19
said Thursday's earthquake Colima, Jalisco and Guer- quakes came very shortly af-
was centered 31 miles (50 rero. ter the annual earthquake
kilometers) south-southwest drill conducted every Sept.
of Aguililla, Michoacan, at a Mexico City Mayor Claudia 19 to commemorate the dev-
depth of 15 miles (24.1 kilo- Sheinbaum said via Twit- astating 1985 temblor that
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A earthquake struck Mexico meters). ter that two people died — a killed some 9,500 people.
powerful magnitude 6.8 early Thursday, causing at woman who fell down the

Saudi Arabia plans to send female astronaut to space in 2023

DUBAI, United Arab women into the workforce The first Arab or Muslim
Emirates (AP) — Saudi of the conservative Muslim to travel to space was Saudi
Arabia said Thursday it country. Saudi Arabia lifted a Arabia's Prince Sultan bin
will launch a training long-standing ban on women Salman, a half-brother of the
program with the goal driving in 2018. crown prince and an air force
of sending its own astro- pilot who was part of the sev-
nauts, including a woman, "The Saudi Astronaut Pro- en-member crew of NASA's
into space next year. gram, which is an integral Discovery mission in 1985.
part of the Kingdom's ambi- He later served as head of
The kingdom is actively pro- tious Vision 2030, will send the Saudi Space Commis-
moting science and technolo- Saudi astronauts into space to sion from 2018 until last year,
gy as part of its wide-ranging help better serve humanity," when he was appointed an
Vision 2030 plan to overhaul the Saudi Space Commission adviser to King Salman.
its economy and reduce its said in a statement.
dependency on oil. The neighboring United
"One of the astronauts will be Arab Emirates has the Arab
The plan, championed by a Saudi woman, whose mis- world's leading space pro-
Saudi Arabia's powerful sion to space will represent a gram, having launched a in November. If the moon ranks of only the U.S., Rus-
Crown Prince Moham- historical first for the King- probe into Mars' orbit in Feb- mission succeeds, the UAE sia and China as nations that
med bin Salman, also calls dom." ruary 2021. The UAE plans and Japan, which is provid- have put a spacecraft on the
for greater integration of to launch its first lunar rover ing the lander, would join the lunar surface.

Japan central bank acts to stem yen's decline against dollar

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's cen- nearly 146 yen — a 24-year low — The dollar later fell sharply to about yen and buy the greenback.
tral bank took the unusual step after the Bank of Japan left its key 142 yen. It was trading at 143.05 yen
Thursday of intervening in the lending rate unchanged following early Thursday morning U.S. time, The Japanese central bank has main-
market to stem the yen's decline the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision and it was unclear if the BOJ's ac- tained ultra-low interest rates for
against the U.S. dollar. to raise its benchmark rate by three- tion would suffice to keep the yen at years in hopes of stimulating business
quarters of a percentage point. a stable level. activity and fighting deflation. It is in
Earlier in the day, the dollar rose to a quandary since regulators want to
Masato Kanda, the vice minister of maintain that easy money policy but
finance for international affairs, con- also to keep the yen's value relatively
firmed the dollar selling and yen buy- stable.
ing intervention to local reporters,
saying the central bank had made a Generally, a weaker yen is an advan-
"bold move." The BOJ does not usu- tage for automakers and other ex-
ally announce such measures itself. port manufacturers, since it makes
their products more price competi-
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki tive overseas. But sudden fluctua-
said in televised remarks that the gov- tions complicate corporate planning.
ernment and central bank had agreed And the yen's weakness also adds to
that recent volatility in the currency costs for imports of raw materials and
market was undesirable. He would components.
not give the scale of the intervention.
The cheap yen has made higher
Earlier Thursday, the BOJ left its priced oil, gas and coal imports still
benchmark lending rate at minus more expensive for businesses, farm-
0.1% and its ultra-loose monetary ers and consumers. It also has inflated
policy unchanged, underscoring the costs for food and other essentials in
divergence between its stance and the an extra burden for households that
U.S. strategy of raising interest rates have not seen wages rise much in the
to fight inflation. The higher returns past two decades.
on the dollar have led investors to sell