DHL Targets 10-day China – Europe Transit Time
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
A few points from the article.
- The route is 9,400 km long.
- The train goes through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Lithuania and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave.
- Entry to the EU is at Braniewo in Poland.
- The current terminals are Xi’an in China and Hamburg and Neuss in Germany.
- Other proposed terminals include Budapest and Milan.
- Estimated transit time is 10-12 days, as opposed to the current 15-plus days.
I’ve actually been to the area around Braniewo, which before the Second World War was partly in Germany. I wrote Railways In North East Poland about my trip, which was mainly to see wildlife.
We also got to see the Russian border.
The tag Poland In Winter shows all the posts from that trip.
Global Oil Storage Close To Being ‘Overwhelmed’
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Ships, pipelines and storage tanks holding surplus oil could be “overwhelmed” within weeks as the coronavirus pandemic causes unprecedented drops in fuel usage, the International Energy Agency warned yesterday.
So what are we going to do?
I can’t see Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States cutting oil production.
But that is what must happen!
President Putin To Set Up Russian Web Encyclopaedia To Rival ‘Unreliable’ Wikipedia
An article with this title, was published in yesterday’s Times.
The title is a very good summary.
Kremlin Lets Women Drive The Trains
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in The Times on Friday.
This was the first two paragraphs.
For decades, Russian girls who have dreamt of becoming train drivers or mechanics or captaining a ship have been forced to abandon their ambitions.
Laws prohibiting women from physically demanding employment, or jobs that could harm their chances of bearing children, were introduced by the Soviet Union in 1974, and updated by President Putin in 2000.
No wonder Russia a basket case, as they are not making best use of their resources. As do countries like Iran, Iraq and Syria!
Remember, that during the Second World War, the Nazis didn’t let women work in the war effort.
I seem to remember they lost!
Russia: Fire Kills 14 Sailors Aboard Navy Research Submersible
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is yet another major accident involving Russian submarines.
- Kursk submarine disaster
- K-152 Nerpa accident
- Soviet submarine K-19
- Soviet submarine K-129 (1960)
- Russian deep submergence rescue vehicle AS-28
- Russian submarine Ekaterinburg (K-84)
The Russian submarine safety record doesn’t appear to be good.
Doping Bans For 12 Russian Athletes Including 2012 Olympic Champion Ivan Ukhov
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the first two paragraphs.
London 2012 Olympic high jump champion Ivan Ukhov is among 12 Russian track and field athletes banned for doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Three years of Ukhov’s results, including the 2012 Olympics, have been disqualified, meaning Britain’s Robert Grabarz could be upgraded to silver.
I grew up in the 1960s, where Russian and East German athletes used every trick in the book to win.
Many clean athletes like the incomparable Kathy Cook, never won the medals they deserved, competing against athletes cheating like mad.
Let’s hope the Russians aren’t returning to the bad old days.
Putin’s Only Aircraft Carrier Out Of Action
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in today’s copy of The Times.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Russia could lose its only aircraft carrier after an accident left a five-metre hole in the flight deck.
Admiral Kuznetsov was in the Arctic for repairs when the floating dock underneath it sank, causing a 70-tonne crane to crash on to the carrier killing one person and injuring two.
Enough said!
Has The World Cup Draw Been Kind To England?
When the draw was made for the World Cup, I didn’t pay much attention.
Perhaps, I should because England and Belgium were drawn in one the last two groups, they are playing virtually last in every round of matches.
So they are getting a good look at those they might meet in the future.
I don’t know how much of an advantage it is! But we shall see!
England In Kaliningrad
There is a good chance, that my great-great-great-grandfather; Robert Muller, came from East Prussia, the capital of which was Konigsberg East Prussia was annexed by the Soviet Union after the Second World |War and Konigsberg was renamed Kaliningrad.
My father was about fourteen, when his grandfather died and my father once told me, that his grandfather had told him, about meeting Robert, who would have been his grandfather’s grandfather.
Apparently, the elderly man didn’t speak any English and only spoke German. Knowing that my male line is Jewish, I wonder if it wasn’t German but Yiddish.
Konigsberg was an important city and the Prussian
Wikipedia has a section about the Jews in Konigsberg, where this is said.
The Jewish population of Königsberg in the 18th century was fairly low, although this changed as restrictions became relaxed over the course of the 19th century. In 1756 there were 29 families of “protected Jews” in Königsberg, which increased to 57 by 1789. The total number of Jewish inhabitants was less than 500 in the middle of the 18th century, and around 800 by the end of it, out of a total population of almost 60,000 people.
Speaking to someone at the German History Museum, a lot of Jewish men had to leave East Prussia, when they became adults, unless they were protected.
As Robert would have been a young adult,, when he turned up in Bexley, I suspect that soon after he qualified as a tailor, he left the area.
This keeping out of the way of trouble, is very much a family trait.
Konigsberg was at that time a port city and there was quite a lot of trade with London. So I suspect getting to London was not that great a problem.
I very much regret not asking my father for more details.
Like me my father was an atheist, although with a Jewish philosophy of life. He was also very much against fascists, communists and dictators of both the left and right. He was proud to have been at the Battle of Cable Street, when the East End of London stopped Oswald Mosley and his Blackshirts.
In some ways, I regret not being at the match tonight. But then I was advised that there would be trouble.
I have been to the Polish border with the Russian enclave. I wrote about it in At Poland’s Border With Russia.
The Anonymous Widower 