At least 40 killed in east China scaffolding collapse

 

At least 40 people were killed in a scaffolding collapse Thursday morning at a construction site in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangxi, state media reported.

A work platform at a power plant cooling tower being built in the city of Fengcheng came tumbling down at about 7:30 a.m., an official with the local Work Safety Administration said by telephone.

He put the confirmed death toll at 22 but the official Xinhua News Agency said that figure had risen to at least 40 by midday. Xinhua did not cite its source for the information and calls to local government information offices rang unanswered.

Xinhua said an unknown number of others were still trapped in the debris.

Television footage and photographs from the site showed iron pipes and wooden planks strewn across the floor of the massive concrete cooling tower.

China has suffered a series of major industrial accidents over recent months blamed on corruption, disregard for safety and pressure to boost production amid a slowing economy.

Trump to Accept Inauguration Funds From Corporations and Big Donors

 President-elect Donald J. Trump will allow corporations and wealthy individuals to make large donations to fund the activities surrounding his inauguration, complicating his promise to eliminate special interests from influencing his government.

Mr. Trump plans to ban money from registered lobbyists, whom he has purged from his transition team and barred from working for his administration. But the restrictions will be lighter on corporations and individuals — the groups that have traditionally provided a vast majority of funding for the festivities surrounding the transfer of power.

The restrictions, which members of the Presidential Inaugural Committee cautioned have yet to be finalized, represent a continued march back from standards set in 2009, when President-elect Barack Obama banned gifts from lobbyists, political action committees and corporations, and put a cap of $50,000 on individuals.

Science says these 7 tactics will help you win any argument

You don't have to resort to yelling.

Skye Gould/Business Insider

After a highly controversial US election, you're likely to come in contact with someone you don't share the same views with.

It's easy for these calm discussions to turn ugly. If they involve family members, it can make the holidays especially stressful.

These are the most successful tactics to help you get your point across in a courteous and educated way.

Drake Baer contributed to an earlier version of this story.

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Skye Gould/Business Insider

Attacking someone's ideas puts them into fight-or-flight mode. Once they're on edge, there will be no getting through to them.

So if you want to be convincing, practice "extreme agreement": Take your conversational partner's views and advance them to their logical - and perhaps absurd - conclusion.

AKON Worried About Kanye ... KEEPING MY EYE ON 'KARDASHIAN KURSE

Kanye West was bound to end up in a hospital ... IF you buy into the long rumored Kardashian curse supposedly haunting all the men in that family, and Akon might be a believer.

Akon was talking about Kanye's breakdown when our photog jokingly asked him if he puts any stock in the alleged curse. Akon's take is very interesting, complete with African proverbs.

Take a look ... especially if your name is Tyga.

Trump reportedly attended only 2 of his daily intelligence briefings since the election

President-elect Donald Trump reportedly turned away the intelligence officials responsible for getting him up to speed on US national security concerns and world affairs, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday night.

Trump, who has been meeting with domestic and international dignitaries in the two weeks since he won the election, has only received two classified intelligence briefings according to the Post, while Vice President-elect Mike Pence reportedly participated in the meetings almost every day.

Post reporters Greg Miller and Adam Entous wrote that Trump got his first classified briefing days after the election, and a second one on Tuesday, before heading to Florida for Thanksgiving.

The intelligence briefing is a summary of feedback from the 16 US intelligence agencies and a roundup of the CIA's secret international operations.

Sources within Trump's transition team who were cited by the Post suggested that, separate from the daily briefings, Trump deems choosing people for national security positions within his administration a priority.

The report follows concerns from within Washington that the president-elect — who has never held public office before — is unprepared for the gravity of daily Oval Office duties.

Lagos cancels monthly environmental sanitation day

The Lagos State Government on Wednesday terminated the monthly environmental sanitation exercise which hitherto held for three hours on the last Saturday of every month.

The State Government, in a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, said the decision to cancel the monthly exercise followed a resolution arrived at Wednesday’s Executive Council meeting which approved the need for a robust review of the environmental laws and procedures in the state in order to meet the present day challenges and to promote a clean and healthy environment.

The Government noted that considering the present economic situation in the country, it was no longer appropriate to restrict movement of people for three hours in a mega city like Lagos at a time they should be pursuing commercial and entrepreneurial activities.

According to government, in the last two decades, Lagos has grown exponentially into a mega city with the attendant huge environmental problems associated with managing a population of over twenty million people.

S. Korea, Japan sign intelligence deal despite China criticism

South Korean Defence Minister Han Min-Koo (R) and Japanese Ambassador to Seoul Yasumasa Nagamine sign the General Security of Military Information Agreement in Seoul

South Korean Defence Minister Han Min-Koo (R) and Japanese Ambassador to Seoul Yasumasa Nagamine sign the General Security of Military Information Agreement in Seoul (AFP Photo/)

Japan and South Korea on Wednesday signed an agreement to share defence intelligence about North Korea, despite protests from opposition parties and activists in Seoul and strong criticism from China.

South Korea's defence ministry said the accord was necessary in the face of growing military threats from Pyongyang, which has conducted two nuclear tests and more than 20 missile launches this year.

"It is ready to conduct additional nuclear tests and missile launches at any time," the ministry said in a statement.

"Since we can now utilise Japan's intelligence capability to effectively deal with North Korea's escalating nuclear and missile threats, it will enhance our security interests."

Japan's foreign ministry said in a statement the military agreement would allow the two governments to "share information even more smoothly and swiftly".