Killer students once made Oxford the murder capital of England

Joe Pinkstone
Thu, 28 September 2023 

Students in Oxford would often carry swords and use them - Prisma/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Students at Oxford University turned the city into England’s murder hotspot in medieval times, a study has found.

Analysis of 700-year-old coroner reports by experts at Cambridge University has discovered that around the end of the 13th century, and into the 14th, Oxford had a homicide rate five times higher than London’s.

Three quarters of all murder victims and perpetrators were known as “clericus”, a term covering both staff and students at the university, which had been founded more than a century before.


Oxford University is one of the oldest institutions in the world at nearly 1,000 years old, and in medieval times one of the world’s foremost places of learning. This year it beat Harvard and rival Cambridge to the top of the list of the best universities in the world, according to Times Higher Education.

But Oxford was a very different place seven centuries ago as the young, all-male student body were often carrying swords and prone to beer-induced violence.

Weapons were easy to find and often used in fights seven centuries ago - Mondadori Portfolio/Hulton Fine Art Collection

“A medieval university city such as Oxford had a deadly mix of conditions,” said Prof Manuel Eisner, Director of Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology who has launched a “medieval murder maps” project which includes Oxford, York and London.

“Oxford students were all male and typically aged between 14 and 21, the peak for violence and risk-taking. These were young men freed from tight controls of family, parish or guild, and thrust into an environment full of weapons, with ample access to alehouses and sex workers.

“As well as clashes between town and gown, many students belonged to regional fraternities called ‘nations’, an additional source of conflict within the student body.”

Data from the translated and transcribed reports, originally penned in Latin, suggest around 7,000 people were living in Oxford at the time, and roughly 1,500 are thought to have been students.

It is thought the city had a murder rate of around 75 per 100,000 people, roughly 50 times the UK average in 2023. Some Mexican cities, such as Tijuana and Celaya, are above 100 per 100,000 today, driven mostly by drug-related killings.

The 13th-century Oxford had a worse homicide rate than modern-day Detroit and similar to Cape Town, New Orleans and Kingston.

Oxford’s bloodiest mediaeval cases

Swords and daggers were frequently carried, the scientists say, and fatal melees often were associated with pubs and alcohol.

One incident the scientists uncovered was when an unnamed scholar at the prestigious university employed a sex worker and after the tryst stabbed her to death instead of paying.

Margery de Hereford was murdered in the parish of St Aldate in 1299 and her scholarly killer was never apprehended.

Another sex worker in the city, which now boasts of being part of “the golden triangle”, called Christiana of Worcester, was taken back to lodgings by student David de Trempedhwy in 1298.

However, upon arrival he was set upon by his peers and murdered for his dalliance with the “harlot”.
Quest for justice

Other instances of bloody murder involved a mass brawl in a tavern which saw students engaged in a fracas with swords and axes in 1298.

A man named John Burel was taken to the town jail after curfew and found to be dead in the morning when the coroner saw “a mortal wound on the crown of his head, six inches long and in depth reaching to the brain” inflicted by a battle-axe.

Cambridge historian and co-researcher Dr Stephanie Brown said juries were often making “best guesses” about inquests and often found “two plus two equals five” in their quest for justice.

“Knives were omnipresent in medieval society,” she said. “Axes were commonplace in homes for cutting wood, and many men carried a staff.”

Prof Eisner added: “Circumstances that frequently led to violence will be familiar to us today, such as young men with group affiliations pursuing sex and alcohol during periods of leisure in the weekends. Weapons were never far away, and male honour had to be protected.”

“Life in medieval urban centres could be rough, but it was by no means lawless. The community understood their rights and used the law when conflicts emerged. Each case provides a glimpse of the dynamics that created a burst of violence on a street in England some seven centuries ago.”

Microplastics in clouds may be contributing to climate change, research suggests

Sky News
Updated Thu, 28 September 2023


Researchers have found tiny particles of plastic in clouds, where they may be contributing to climate change.

Scientists collected water from the clouds surrounding Japan's Mount Fuji and Mount Oyama at altitudes between 1,300-3,776m and then applied advanced imaging techniques to determine whether microplastics were present.

Nine different types of polymers and one type of rubber were found in the airborne microplastics, at concentrations between 6.7-13.9 pieces per litre and sizes ranging between 7.1-94.6 micrometres.

They also found an abundance of hydrophilic (or water-loving) polymers, which they said might act as "cloud condensation nuclei" - suggesting they play a key role in rapid cloud formation, which might eventually affect the overall climate.

"Overall, our findings suggest that high-altitude microplastics could influence cloud formation and, in turn, might modify the climate," the scientists wrote in the study, published in the journal Environmental Chemical Letters.

"To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to detect airborne microplastics in cloud water in both the free troposphere and atmospheric boundary layer."

The lead author of the research, Hiroshi Okochi of Waseda University, said: "Microplastics in the free troposphere are transported and contribute to global pollution.

"If the issue of 'plastic air pollution' is not addressed proactively, climate change and ecological risks may become a reality, causing irreversible and serious environmental damage in the future."

Airborne microplastics degrade much faster in the upper atmosphere due to strong ultraviolet radiation, Mr Okochi added, which "releases greenhouse gases and contributes to global warming."

The researchers said to the best of their knowledge it was the first report on airborne microplastics in cloud water.

Microplastics may be 'contaminating nearly everything we eat and drink'

In a statement about the study, Waseda University said research shows "microplastics are ingested or inhaled by humans and animals alike and have been detected in multiple organs such as lung, heart, blood, placenta, and faeces".

"10 million tonnes of these plastic bits end up in the ocean, released with the ocean spray, and find their way into the atmosphere," it said.

"This implies that microplastics may have become an essential component of clouds, contaminating nearly everything we eat and drink via 'plastic rainfall'."

Key details behind Nord Stream pipeline blasts revealed by scientists


Miranda Bryant in Oslo
Tue, 26 September 2023

Scientists investigating the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines have revealed key new details of explosions linked to the event, which remains unsolved on its first anniversary.

Researchers in Norway shared with the Guardian seismic evidence of the four explosions, becoming the first national body to publicly confirm the second two detonations, as well as revealing a detailed timeline of events.

The recently discovered additional explosions took place in an area north-east of the Danish Baltic island of Bornholm about seven seconds and 16 seconds after the two previously known detonations.


Using information from seismic stations in northern Europe and Germany, including the Swedish National Seismic Network and Danish stations on Bornholm, seismologists deployed advanced analysis techniques to observe and pinpoint the blasts.

Seismologists at Norsar, Norway’s national data centre for the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty (CTBT), told the Guardian they had so far found a total of four explosions – one south-east of Bornholm and three north-east of the island.

Two clear seismic events, named Event S and Event N, were identified on 26 September 2022, soon after the attack. The first, on Nord Stream 2, occurred at 02:03:24 (UTC+2), and the second, on Nord Stream 1, at 19:03:50 (UTC+2).

Norsar said there could potentially be further explosions buried in the data.

The explosions made holes in both Nord Stream 1 pipelines and one of the Nord Stream 2 pipelines. By November last year, Swedish investigators had confirmed that the breaches were caused by man-made explosives.

Investigations are continuing, but officials quoted in the US and German press have said the evidence points towards a Ukrainian-backed group, or a pro-Ukrainian group operating without the knowledge of the leadership in Kyiv.

German investigators have focused on a 51ft rental yacht called the Andromeda, which was hired by a mysterious crew of five men and one woman, at least some of whom were travelling on false passports.

Der Spiegel, which recreated the Andromeda’s journey, quoted investigators as saying the evidence all pointed at Kyiv’s involvement. There is debate, however, over whether a small crew of divers operating from a pleasure yacht would have been capable of carrying out the difficult, deep and slow dives necessary to place the explosives.

A leaked US defence document, reported by the Washington Post, showed the CIA had been tipped off by an allied European agency in June 2022, three months before the attack, that six members of Ukraine’s special operations forces were going to rent a boat and use a submersible vehicle to dive to the seabed using oxygen and helium for breathing, in order to sabotage the pipeline. But the leaked US document said the planned operation had been put on hold.

Other reports in the Scandinavian media have pointed to a cluster of Russian ships, with their identifying transponders turned off, in the vicinity of the blast sites in the days before the explosions.

The Nord Stream pipelines are operated by two companies, Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG, both majority-owned by the Russian state energy company Gazprom. Nord Stream 1 and 2 are both twin pipelines, and together they bring up to 110bn cubic metres of gas annually from Russia to Germany.

Nord Stream 1 went into operation in 2012. Nord Stream 2 was completed in September 2021 but has never transported any gas. From the outset it was mired in controversy in the face of adamant opposition from German allies, in particular the US and Poland, who both believed the Germans were making themselves and much of the rest of Europe hostage to Russian energy supplies.

The US made clear that bilateral relations would be badly affected if Nord Stream 2 went into operation. Once the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, all talk of opening the pipeline was shelved.

The newly discovered events, named NB and NC, took place about seven seconds and 16 seconds after the event previously known as Event N, which they now refer to as NA.

Investigations by Denmark, Sweden and Germany are understood to be planned for publication in a joint study with Norsar. Authorities for all three countries declined to comment on the investigations.

In July, the UN security council heard investigators had found traces of undersea explosives in samples from a yacht, but that they were unable to reliably establish the identity or motives of those involved or whether it was the work of a specific country.

Using information from a number of seismic stations in northern Europe and Germany, including the Swedish National Seismic Network and the Danish stations on Bornholm, seismologists used advanced analysis techniques to observe the additional two explosions.

According to their calculations, the second and third explosions (NA and NB) were 220 metres apart from each other (with the third west of the second) and the fourth was several kilometres south-west of the second.

Pipes at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline in Lubmin, Germany, in 2022. Photograph: Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters

Andreas Köhler, a senior seismologist at Norsar, said the distance between NA and NB “fit very well with the distance between both pipelines of Nord Stream 1 at the westernmost gas plume location northeast of Bornholm.” Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 both have two pipelines each.

The location of the final explosion, however, is less clear because there are less station observations. “This best fits an explosion on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, but we cannot exclude a location at Nord Stream 2,” said Kohler.

Analysis of the source mechanism from the signals showed they were generated by explosive devices.

Based in Kjeller, near Oslo, Norsar monitors events across the world including nuclear testing in North Korea, the impact of CO2 storage on the Norwegian continental shelf and conflict zones such as Ukraine.

It takes 10 minutes for shock waves to reach them after a nuclear test in North Korea, with location accuracy of 150-200 metres, leading to the claim that it is “10 minutes from Kjeller to North Korea”.

The war in Ukraine has marked a significant breakthrough for Norsar in terms of the potential use of seismology in conflict monitoring. “The technology that is used to find explosions the other side of the globe can also find explosions closer to home,” said its chief executive, Anne Strømmen Lycke.

It started monitoring Ukraine for the Civil Radiation Authority due to concerns of radioactive landfall over Norway after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. It monitors bombing around the power plant on a continuing basis and has been able to contribute evidence to the UN truth commission.

In June, its scientists were able to confirm the time and location of reports of two explosions at the Kakhovka dam using data from seismic stations in Romania and Ukraine.

“It’s amazing, the accuracy of the observation and the use of it. The UN truth commission for Ukraine has contacted us to ask us to verify some events, among them the Kakhovka dam, so they are interested in having these cold data as basis for their considerations.”

Norsar is also investigating whether its technology could be used in the future to monitor ceasefires.

“We know that we could see, based on frequency content and signal difference, between different helicopter types and likely also different weaponry types,” Strømmen Lycke said.

“And that could be something to verify and then you could actually monitor and trace after unravelling who did what. I suppose that is why the UN truth commission is interested in these things.”

School strikes across much of Scotland continue for a second day

Lauren Gilmour, PA Scotland
Tue, 26 September 2023 

Children across Scotland face a second day of disruption as school support staff take another day of strike action in an ongoing dispute over pay.

Members of Unison working as pupil support assistants, catering staff, cleaners and school janitors will stage the second day of their three-day strike across 24 council areas over a pay deal the union’s Scottish secretary Lilian Macer dubbed “too little, too late and too vague” on Tuesday.

She said: “The offer we’re looking for is significantly above what has been offered. We are seeking the Scottish Government to come round the table with Cosla, with Unison, to negotiate a fair pay settlement for local government workers in Scotland.”


GMB Scotland and Unite have suspended strikes while they consider the latest offer from council umbrella body Cosla.

Unison has a mandate to strike across 24 council areas on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday which will see many schools across the country close to pupils. Schools will be open as usual in the eight other council areas.

Some regions have come up with compromises to allow education to continue despite strikes.

Highland Council said 27 of its schools are expected to remain open while Glasgow City Council said high schools will be open for S4-S6 pupils only.

First Minister Humza Yousaf urged for strikes to be reconsidered and said he believed it “is a very good offer indeed” but Ms Macer called on him to get in touch and warned without a “significantly” improved offer more strikes are on the cards.

Shona Robison said the dispute was a matter for local government employers and unions (Jane Barlow/PA)

Mark Ferguson, chair of Unison Scotland’s local government committee, said: “The offer is still below the rate of inflation meaning that local government workers are being asked to take a real-terms pay cut during a cost-of-living crisis.”

A spokesperson for Cosla said: “This is a very strong offer that equates to 10% or £2,006 for the lowest paid at the request of the trade unions.

“Throughout these negotiations we have met every request of our trade union colleagues.”

Scotland’s Deputy First Minister, Shona Robison, said pay negotiations were a matter for local government employers and unions and that the Scottish Government would “encourage” those involved to continue negotiations in the hope that a resolution could be found.

She said: “We have worked constructively in partnership with Cosla and councils to find a solution, facilitated by an additional £80 million of funding and flexibility from the Scottish Government.

“We have ensured there will be no detrimental impact on jobs or services as a result of this additional funding.

“Despite UK Government cuts, the Scottish Government had already provided £155 million in 2023-24 to support a meaningful pay rise for local government workers, and provided assurances over funding in 2024-25.”

She said affected local authorities will ensure that schools and learning establishments remain open as far as is practical.

Scientists Crack Open Lid of Canister Holding Asteroid Sample

Victor Tangermann
Wed, September 27, 2023 


Asteroid Dust

Earlier this week, a capsule screamed through the Earth's atmosphere at around 27,000 mph, delivering an incredibly rare package: roughly half a pound of material collected from an asteroid tens of millions of miles away.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, which launched seven years ago, was designed to shed new light on our understanding of the earliest stages of our solar system — and scientists are about to finally start analyzing their long-awaited treasure from the asteroid Bennu.

The capsule landed in the Utah desert on Sunday, well within NASA's pre-determined landing strip. It was quickly delivered by air to a special curation facility at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston soon afterward.

And yesterday, scientists finally got to crack open the canister.

"We opened up the canister today, and we did see that there is some black dust-like material that's visible," Dante Lauretta, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona, told Ars Technica.

"We're hoping that's from Bennu," he added. "There's good indication that we might have sample."
Getting Inside

NASA's small spacecraft took specimens from the tiny 1,600-foot asteroid back in 2020 after extending a robotic arm and making brief contact with its dusty surface.

We still don't know how exactly much rock OSIRIS-REx managed to pick up or whether it managed to pick up any larger rocks and not just dust.

That's because scientists have yet to crack open the actual device that took the original samples, called the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM), which is stored inside the canister they opened.

Scientists expect most of the sample to be present inside the sampling mechanism of the TAGSAM device, per NASA, but even just analyzing the dust from the rest of the recovered assembly could give them early glimpses of what's still to come.

Regardless, scientists are eager to pore over the evidence, meaning that we might get some answers soon. In the meantime, Lauretta told Ars that there's a complicated process of distributing samples to international partners and preserving them.

"I'm thrilled here because this is the moment we've been dreaming of," he told the publication. "We can see the thing that touched Bennu is now in our laboratories."

"Of course, we can't wait to get inside," Lauretta added.

NASA picks 3 museums to display OSIRIS-REx asteroid samples

Robert Z. Pearlman
Wed, September 27, 2023

NASA picks 3 museums to display OSIRIS-REx asteroid samples

As NASA saw its first asteroid sample return to Earth this past weekend, three museums took particular notice, knowing that they had been chosen to display small examples of the newly landed space rock material.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., Space Center Houston in Texas and the University of Arizona's Alfie Norville Gem and Mineral Museum in Tucson were quietly selected by NASA to exhibit a piece of the asteroid Bennu as brought back to Earth by the space agency's OSIRIS-REx mission. The probe's sample return capsule touched down in the Utah desert on Sunday morning (Sept. 24).

collectSPACE.com first learned of the chosen locations from sources with knowledge of NASA's plans. The museums then confirmed the details in separate statements.

Related: NASA's OSIRIS-REx lands samples of asteroid Bennu to Earth after historic 4-billion-mile journey

"The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History expects to receive two samples from the asteroid Bennu this fall," said Ryan Lavery, senior press officer with the museum. "The first will serve as a cornerstone of the museum's 'Our Unique Planet' research initiative, which seeks to answer fundamental questions about the origins of life, the ocean and the continents on Earth."

"The second will go on exhibit in our Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals. It will be the first sample of Bennu put on public display in the United States, and we look forward to sharing it with our more than four million annual visitors," Lavery said. "We will announce the unveiling date in the near future."

A spokesperson for the Alfie Norville Gem and Mineral Museum told collectSPACE that a sample is expected to go on display in November and more details would be shared when available.

"As we prepare for the arrival of the OSIRIS-REx sample here at Space Center Houston, we are celebrating a scientific triumph by sharing a piece of the cosmos that reminds us of humanity's boundless curiosity and our relentless quest to unlock the mysteries of the universe," said William Harris, president and chief executive of Space Center Houston, the official visitor center for NASA's Johnson Space Center and a Smithsonian affiliate. "This celestial treasure embodies the spirit of exploration, and its presence here inspires us all to continue pushing the boundaries of human knowledge and space exploration."

While the details of the displays are still being worked out, including the size and nature of the material they will contain, the venues have been told to be ready as early as mid-November for the possible delivery of their Bennu specimen. First, though, scientists need to inspect, categorize and begin studying the contents of the OSIRIS-REx capsule.



Fortunately, there are indications that the spacecraft landed on Earth with more material than the mission was targeted to return. According to NASA, the capsule is estimated to be holding about a half a pound of rocks and soil, or about 8.8 ounces (250 grams).

"We promised the agency we would bring back 2 ounces, or about 60 grams, of material," Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for the OSIRIS-REx (or Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security-Regolith Explorer) mission at the University of Arizona, Tucson, said at a press briefing. "We believe, based on some very clever spacecraft engineering from our partners at Lockheed Martin — measuring the momentum change on the spacecraft as we articulated its robotic arm — that we have at least four times that material."

NASA scientists on Tuesday found black dust and debris on the avionics deck of the OSIRIS-REx science canister, hinting at the material held within.

Most of that is intended for scientific study. From the specially-built curation lab at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, the plan is to distribute portions of asteroid Bennu to a sample analysis team of more than 200 members from more than 35 globally distributed institutions. Approximately six months after the return, a sample catalog will be released, and more of the material from Bennu will be made available for research by scientists around the world for decades to come.

Of the total amount received, 4% will be delivered to the Canadian Space Agency, which contributed the OSIRIS-REx laser altimeter instrument aboard the spacecraft and which supports the Canadian co-investigators on the OSIRIS-REx science team.

An additional 0.5% of the total returned material will be provided to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as part of a partnership between the two space agencies, which included NASA's support for JAXA's Hayabusa2 mission and the exchange of scientists and samples between the two missions.

Japan was the first to collect asteroid samples and return them to Earth with its Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 missions in 2010 and 2020, respectively.

The material retained by NASA will be held at the Johnson Space Center, though a portion will be stored at a secure backup facility in White Sands, New Mexico, similar to the procedures that were followed to protect the Apollo moon rocks from natural disasters and attacks.

Related: The moon on Earth: Where are NASA's Apollo lunar rocks now?

RELATED STORIES:

— 'I literally broke into tears': The scientist leading NASA's epic OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission just had the greatest day ever

— How asteroid Bennu caught NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft by surprise and nearly killed it along the way

— Dramatic sampling shows asteroid Bennu is nothing like scientists expected

NASA placed the first Apollo moon rocks to go on display at the Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 17, 1969, and the American Museum of Natural History in New York City two months later on Nov. 16. Both exhibits drew long lines of spectators, with the latter recording a record crowd of 42,195 people in the four hours the display was open on its first day.

The six Apollo moon landing missions bought back a total of 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of material, much more than OSIRIS-REx is returning, so more exhibits were possible. Today, 135 nations, the 50 U.S. states and U.S. provinces each own gifted samples from the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 missions. NASA has also loaned more than 80 moon rocks and lunar dust samples to museums in 23 U.S. states and 11 foreign nations.

OSIRIS-REx is the third U.S. interplanetary mission to land collected material on Earth. The first, Stardust, brought back samples from Comet Wild 2 and of the interstellar dust. NASA then launched Genesis to bring back a sample of solar wind particles. A parachute failure, though, resulted in its sample return capsule slamming into the Utah desert.

The material collected by Stardust and what could be recovered from Genesis is curated at the Johnson Space Center. The empty Stardust sample return capsule, though, was transferred for display to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. in 2008.

Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. 

Copyright 2023 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.

Webb spots a building block of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa

Ashley Strickland, CNN
Wed, September 27, 2023 

A building block of life may exist inside the global ocean on Europa, one of Jupiter’s icy moons.

Two independent teams of astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to observe the frozen surface of Europa, and each analysis of the space observatory’s detections revealed an abundance of carbon dioxide within a specific region of the frigid terrain. Both studies describing the findings were published September 21 in the journal Science.

“On Earth, life likes chemical diversity — the more diversity, the better. We’re carbon-based life. Understanding the chemistry of Europa’s ocean will help us determine whether it’s hostile to life as we know it, or if it might be a good place for life,” said Geronimo Villanueva, lead author of the first study and planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in a statement.

Europa is one of several ocean worlds in our solar system besides Earth where scientists believe life could exist. Beneath a thick ice shell, Europa harbors a subsurface global ocean that may contain twice as much water as our planet’s oceans.

But environments suitable for life need more than water — they also require a supply of organic molecules and an energy source, according to NASA.

Scientists have long questioned whether Europa’s ocean contained carbon and other chemicals necessary for life

.

Astronomers used the Webb telescope to observe Jupiter's icy moon Europa. - NASA/ESA/CSA

When Webb data revealed the presence of carbon on Europa’s surface, the researchers conducted an analysis to see whether it was delivered by meteorites, or if it originated within the internal ocean.

Carbon dioxide appears to be concentrated in a region of “chaos terrain” on Europa called Tara Regio. The geologically young area contains ice that has been disrupted and resurfaced, suggesting that material has been exchanged between the ocean and the surface.

Carbon dioxide isn’t stable on Europa’s surface, which also led the two teams to the same conclusion that it was supplied by the ocean.

“We now think that we have observational evidence that the carbon we see on Europa’s surface came from the ocean. That’s not a trivial thing. Carbon is a biologically essential element,” said Samantha Trumbo, lead author of the second study and a 51 Pegasi B Fellow at Cornell University, in a statement.

Previously, the Hubble Space Telescope detected ocean-derived salt in the same region.

“We think this implies that the carbon probably has its ultimate origin in the internal ocean,” Trumbo said.

Investigating Europa

Astronomers used data from Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph to identify the signature of carbon dioxide on the moon’s surface.

“Scientists are debating how much Europa’s ocean connects to its surface. I think that question has been a big driver of Europa exploration,” Villanueva said. “This suggests that we may be able to learn some basic things about the ocean’s composition even before we drill through the ice to get the full picture.”

Previously, astronomers made tentative detections of plumes erupting from the surface of Europa using the Hubble Space Telescope. Webb did not detect any plumes during its observations of Europa, but that doesn’t mean they don’t occur, according to the researchers

.

Webb's Near-Infrared Spectrograph identified carbon dioxide on Europa's surface. - NASA/ESA/CSA

“There is always a possibility that these plumes are variable and that you can only see them at certain times. All we can say with 100% confidence is that we did not detect a plume at Europa when we made these observations with Webb,” said Heidi Hammel, a Webb interdisciplinary scientist and vice president for science at the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, in a statement.

Two future missions will be able to take a closer look at Europa in the future, including the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer launched in April and NASA’s Europa Clipper, expected to lift off in October 2024.

Both will investigate Europa’s potential habitability to see whether the icy ocean world could be hospitable to life.

Future observations of Europa with the Webb Telescope could help astronomers determine whether there are other concentrated regions of carbon dioxide on the surface, Trumbo said.

“I am also very interested in whether there is any evidence for organic molecules anywhere on the surface,” she said. “Our upcoming JWST data will help with that as well, but Europa Clipper will be able to get up close and personal and really peer at some of the finer-scale and most promising geologic regions.”

Solomon Islands leader says he skipped Biden summit to avoid 'lecture'

HEGEMONIC HUBRIS AVOIDED

Reuters
Wed, September 27, 2023

78th UNGA General Debate at UN HQ in New York

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manesseh Sogavare said he skipped a Pacific Islands leaders summit at the White House this week to avoid a "lecture" and because he had more pressing issues at home.

Sogavare, who has built close ties with China, held a press conference on Wednesday after arriving back in Solomon Islands from the United States, where he spoke at the United Nations but did not join other Pacific Island Forum leaders in Washington for a two-day summit.

U.S. President Joe Biden met the Pacific island leaders for a second White House summit in just over a year on Monday, part of a charm offensive aimed at curbing inroads by China into a region Washington considers strategically crucial.

Sogavare said he attended the first summit last year and "nothing came out of it".

"They lecture you about how good they are", he said, according to a video of the press conference published by Solomon Islands media company Tavuli News on Wednesday evening.

A Biden Administration official said on Sunday they were "disappointed" Sogavare would not attend.

Sogavare said he returned because there were 10 weeks left of parliament at home in Solomon Islands, which was more important.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said in a statement on Wednesday the summit had seen the U.S. make a significant pledge for infrastructure investment, and the meeting was a "significant step towards making the Pacific more secure and prosperous".

Biden pledged to work with Congress to provide $200 million more in funding for projects in the region aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change, spurring economic growth, countering illegal fishing and improving public health.

At the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sogavare had praised China's development cooperation as "less restrictive".

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

Solomon Islands joins China-backed AIIB days after PM snubs Biden invite for Pacific summit at White House

South China Morning Post
Wed, September 27, 2023

Solomon Islands has joined the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) days after its leader snubbed an invitation to meet US President Joe Biden at a Pacific summit.

Solomon Islands joins the bank alongside the Central American nation of El Salvador, which deepened its relationship with Beijing a few years after switching ties from Taipei.

Tanzania, another key Beijing ally and where China has vast interests, has also been admitted as a prospective member.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.


The new admissions to the AIIB push the total number of countries that have joined to 109. While most are in Asia, the bank also has members outside the region, such as Britain, France and dozens of African countries, including Algeria, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Egypt.

The AIIB's board of governors approved the applications during the bank's eighth annual meeting in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday - its first in-person annual gathering since 2019.

AIIB president and board chairman Jin Liqun said the members now "collectively account for 81 per cent of the world's population and 65 per cent of global gross domestic product".

"The addition of El Salvador, Solomon Islands and Tanzania strengthens the AIIB community and supports our collective mission to finance infrastructure for tomorrow," Jin said.

"Together, we will work on priority projects within our clearly defined thematic priorities to drive long-term sustainable growth."

The three prospective members will officially join the AIIB once they complete required domestic processes and deposit the first capital instalment with the bank.

"Our journey began with 57 founding members," AIIB vice-president and corporate secretary Ludger Schuknecht said.

He said the growth in membership to 109 showed "that many believe in our mission to achieve sustainable infrastructure development and economic growth, as well as our commitment to actively support infrastructure projects that contribute to climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience".

China holds a 30 per cent stake in the bank, which started operating in 2016 as the brainchild of Chinese President Xi Jinping. It was billed as Asia's answer to the World Bank to provide infrastructure finance for its members.

China had expressed frustration at its lack of influence at the World Bank, which is dominated by the United States. The Asian Development Bank is dominated by Japan and the US.

But in June Bob Pickard, a Canadian citizen who resigned as global head of the AIIB's communications, claimed the Beijing-headquartered lender was infiltrated by the Communist Party.

Following the allegations, Canada said it would "immediately halt all government-led activity" with the AIIB.

The bank said Pickard's comments were "baseless and disappointing" while Beijing, through its foreign ministry, said the bank had "acted as a truly international, rule-based and high-standard institution".

David Shinn, a China expert and professor at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, said the three newest members hoped to obtain some of the infrastructure financing offered by the AIIB, which had a wide membership of countries representing various political persuasions.

"There is no significant downside to joining and the motivation is probably more practical than geopolitical," Shinn said.

President and chairman Jin Liqun addresses the opening of the eighth annual meeting of the AIIB in Egypt on Monday. Photo: Xinhua alt=President and chairman Jin Liqun addresses the opening of the eighth annual meeting of the AIIB in Egypt on Monday. Photo: Xinhua>

However, Aly-Khan Satchu, a geoeconomic ­an­­­­­­­­­­a­­­­­­­­­lyst, said Solomon Islands had decisively pivoted towards the East, with Honiara recently describing development cooperation with China as "less restrictive, more responsive and aligned to our national needs".

"Solomon Islands has made the geoeconomic calculation that a singular alignment with China at this time will have potentially an outsize pay-off, versus trying to balance the US and China, or pivoting towards the US. That signal is an overarching one and interesting for that," Satchu said.

Solomon Islands' Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare signalled that shift when he declined to attend the Pacific nations summit at the White House on Monday and Tuesday. Before the snub, he praised China for its development model in his speech at the UN General Assembly last week.

The Solomons' top export to China is timber but it also sells products such as processed fruit and nuts and in return buys mostly iron products from China.

Last year, China signed a security deal with Solomon Islands allowing Sogavare to request China's police and military officers, if required, to protect "Chinese personnel and major projects" in the Pacific nation.

The decision has raised concern in the US and Australia about Beijing's growing interests in the region, where Washington is also making inroads.

In July, Sogavare accused the US of interfering in the Pacific nation's "internal affairs" after Washington raised concerns about Honiara signing a security deal with Beijing.

In Central America, El Salvador, under President Nayib Bukele, has been thumbing its nose at Western financial architecture and probably feels the AIIB will be more receptive to its development needs, according to Satchu.

And Tanzania sought to straddle both sides - the US and China, with whom it has a long-standing relationship - but appeared to be seeking the potential for options.

"What all three countries affirm is China's meaningful pull effect, and that a security partnership [which remains the US' main offering] is one dimensional versus China's more multidimensional offering," Satchu added.

Cumulatively, the AIIB has financed more than 200 projects worth US$44 billion since 2016. It is positioning itself as the key financier of climate-related projects, promising in its newly launched climate action plan to allocate at least half of its annual financing approvals to climate finance.

Sultan Al Jaber, president designate for the UN's coming climate change conference, welcomed the AIIB's pledge on Tuesday, saying "it is a crucial step in the right direction and is in line with the objectives of our COP28 presidency".

"Bigger and better development banks, working together, are critical for closing the financing gap, especially when it comes to adaptation and operationalising the loss and damage fund," Al Jaber said.

However, a report released by civil society groups on Tuesday said that in seven years the AIIB was yet to accept a single complaint from people adversely affected by its investments.

The study released by Recourse, Inclusive Development International and Accountability Counsel, said nearly half of all AIIB projects were found to be ineligible for the accountability mechanism. Of 219 projects funded by the end of June, 46 per cent (101 projects) were not eligible for consideration.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

China-backed AIIB unveils US$50 billion loan plan for climate action

South China Morning Post
Tue, September 26, 2023 

The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is positioning itself as a key financier of climate-related projects, with the unveiling of plans to triple its climate financing over the next seven years.

The multilateral lender - set up as an alternative to the World Bank in 2016 - aims to increase allocation for climate-related funding to at least US$7 billion annually by 2030, roughly a three-fold increase from last year's US$2.6 billion.

Cumulatively, the AIIB says it will advance US$50 billion for climate change mitigation and adaptation by the end of this decade, mobilising capital to support its members' efforts to fight the consequences of global warming.

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The Climate Action Plan (CAP) was released on the sidelines of the bank's board of governors' meeting in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday - its first in-person annual gathering since 2019.

AIIB president Jin Liqun said the plan "outlines our ambition to bring capital, capacity and convening power to help our members in their efforts to address climate change", adding that it "builds on what is already a significant area of focus for our bank".

According to Jin, the CAP will build on the AIIB's 2020 pledge to stop bankrolling coal-powered projects and instead ramp up its investments in environmentally friendly schemes.

The Beijing-based bank - which is 30 per cent owned by the state - had fulfilled its promise to align all new financing with the Paris Agreement, the 2015 international treaty on climate change, he said.

Jin said the AIIB had also met its goal for annual climate financing to account for 50 per cent or more of its total approvals by 2025, with climate financing accounting for 56 per cent last year.

Since the bank was established in 2016, US$11.75 billion of its total financing approvals of US$25.25 billion have gone to climate projects, with US$8.29 billion dedicated to mitigation and the rest for adaptation.

Jin said the AIIB had financed 107 projects with climate components amid an ever-growing need to support members as they grappled with ever more frequent natural disasters, such as the recent tragedies in Morocco and Libya.

He told the meeting that the AIIB was working with other multilateral lenders, such as the World Bank, to co-finance some of the projects.

"The AIIB is working closely with our sister institutions to strengthen the family bonds that bind all multilateral development banks [MDBs] together," Jin said.

A recently announced joint financing arrangement with the World Bank for a US$1 billion guarantee over a selection of sovereign portfolios "is one such example of our quick and collaborative effort to strengthen the performance of the MDB system".

"We are also proud of our co-financing record as the largest co-financing partner of both the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, along with our close co-financing partnerships with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank," Jin said.

The meeting also heard that three weeks earlier the AIIB had achieved early completion of its 2023 funding programme with the issuance of a US$2 billion three-year global bond.

With US$4.8 billion in orders, the bond recorded the largest order book for any bond issued by the AIIB since its inception, Jin said.

In May, the bank also placed Asia's first adaptation bond for US$321 million and is working with international asset managers to develop climate change investment frameworks.

At the opening of the meeting, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged the AIIB and other lenders to help emerging economies, especially in Africa, address the challenging global economic conditions caused by Covid-19 and the Russian war in Ukraine.

The banks "need to provide more low-cost financing", especially in light of the current financial and economic circumstances, he said.

Al-Sisi's plea comes at a time when some African countries have fallen into debt distress, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, along with disruptions to global supply chains and food security.

In 2020, Zambia became the first African country to default on some of its debts during the pandemic, finally striking a precedent-setting deal with China and other foreign creditors in May, after 28 months of negotiation.

Lusaka's US$6.3 billion in loans - of which US$4.1 billion is owed to China - was restructured through the G20 Common Framework, with Beijing, Zambia's largest lender, providing the deepest level of debt relief among the bilateral creditors. Chad and Ethiopia also applied for debt relief under the same scheme.

Egypt, a founding member of the AIIB, has received US$1.3 billion in infrastructure funding, including US$300 million for water management and US$210 million to finance renewable energy.

The bank funded Egypt's Benban Solar Park power station, its first energy project investment outside Asia.

In July, the AIIB agreed to advance US$280 million for a new metro line in Alexandria. Egypt is a key destination for foreign direct investment, especially from China, whose companies have made vast investments in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.

The AIIB has also financed projects in Rwanda, advancing US$200 million through its Crisis Recovery Facility in 2021 for broadband access and an on-lending facility to support small and medium-sized enterprises.

In Ivory Coast, the AIIB recently signed a loan deal worth US$200 million for connectivity and rural infrastructure. The government of Ivory Coast and the World Bank are co-financing the project.

The AIIB, which has 106 members, has channelled US$44.6 billion to 233 projects in 35 countries, mostly in Asia, including India, Indonesia, as well as Oman, and China's own air quality improvement and coal replacement project.

According to the AIIB's action plan, the fight against climate change will be won or lost in Asia, which it described as an engine of global economic growth facing heightened vulnerability to climate hazards.

The bank pointed out that the region contributes more than half of global greenhouse gas emissions. Asia's effectiveness in addressing its unique climate challenges was of "paramount importance" to the sustainability of societies worldwide, it said.

The AIIB has vowed not to finance coal or projects related to the fossil fuel and has excluded oil sector investments, with limited exceptions to ensure basic energy access in remote island communities and hard-to-reach areas.

"The AIIB will only selectively finance natural gas projects that are transitional in nature [and] based on stringent criteria."

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Media: Poll ahead of upcoming Slovak election shows divide on support for Ukraine

Nate Ostiller, The Kyiv Independent news desk
Thu, September 28, 2023 

A poll released ahead of parliamentary elections in Slovakia scheduled for Sept. 30 illustrate the split between the Slovak electorate on support for Ukraine and a slight lead for opposition leader Robert Fico, RF/ERL reported.

The poll, conducted by Ipsos for the Slovak newspaper Dennik N, found that the Direction-Social Democracy party (SMER), led by Fico, received 20.6% of support, compared to 19.8% for Progressive Slovakia (PS), the liberal challenger.

Fico, who previously served as Prime Minister of Slovakia from 2006 to 2010, has previously stated he would end Slovakia’s support of Ukraine if he returns to power.

In an interview with the AP, Fico said that "we won’t send any arms or ammunition to Ukraine anymore,” if SMER forms a government. He also opposes EU sanctions against Russia and wants Slovakia, a NATO member, to block Ukraine from joining the alliance.

Fico has also repeated the myth that the war in Ukraine began as a civil war, a narrative Russia used to try to conceal its involvement in Donbas.

On Aug. 30, he told a crowd of supporters that the war in Ukraine began "when the Ukrainian Nazis and fascists started to murder the Russian citizens in Donbas and Luhansk," repeating an unfounded claim common in Russian propaganda.

After Fico was re-elected as prime minister in 2012, he resigned in 2018 following a political crisis sparked by the murder of the investigative journalist Jan Kuciak.

Before he was killed, Kuciak had investigated corruption scandals in Fico's party and alleged ties between the Italian mafia and figures in Fico's network.

In contrast, Fico’s primary opponent Michal Simecka,who leads PS, has promised to maintain support for Ukraine. He stressed that a reversal of Slovakia’s current position of providing support would put the nation at odds with other EU and NATO countries, and could cause Slovakia to become isolated.

Due to the narrow split between the two parties, it is unlikely that either will gain an overwhelming majority and will have to form a governing coalition.

Opinion

GOP is no longer a political party. The Republican debate marked its soul leaving its body.

Rex Huppke, USA TODAY
Updated Wed, September 27, 2023 

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library – site of Wednesday night’s second GOP presidential primary – was an apropos place for the Republican Party’s soul to leave its body.

It was about time, if we’re being honest. And it happened early, as biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, two people who will never be president, began bickering and babbling over each other while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tried, and failed, to scold them for not talking about “issues.”

Like the party they represent, that moment and much of the debate that followed was chaotic, unintelligible, irrelevant and frustrating.

The stage was clearly the kids’ table, filled with a noisy collection of also-rans spouting hackneyed right-wing nonsense – DEATH PENALTY! BORDER WALL! BURN COAL! – with no real policy prescriptions.
GOP debate also-rans prattle on as Trump stays away, also prattling on

Making the moment more tragic, the candidate leading the pack by about 40 points skipped the debate to give a rambling speech in the Detroit area that would put any sane voter to sleep.

Oh, and that leading candidate, former President Donald Trump, is facing 91 state and federal charges and was just found liable on business fraud in New York this week.

RIP GOP. Don’t worry, you’ll have time to shut the government down before you ascend.

The totality of Wednesday night’s display sparks a simple question: Is this really the best one of America’s two main political parties can offer?

The answer appears to be yes, though if I were a member of that party, I’d demand better.

Bad week for Republicans: The GOP gives America a debate, an impeachment hearing and a government shutdown. Oh my.
Trump makes show of UAW support ... by speaking at non-union plant

Trump, in keeping with his penchant for dishonesty, was in the Detroit area ostensibly to show support for striking United Auto Workers union members. But his speech was at a non-union plant in the suburbs in front of several hundred people who were invited.

NBC News reported that few striking workers were there, with one former autoworker saying, “I don’t know where they’re at. But there are several – a handful.”

It didn’t matter much. Trump prattled on about his various legal woes: “I never head of the word 'indictment,' now I get indicted like every other day.” (Humble brag.)

He talked generically about the president being the worst president in the history of the planet, saying Joe Biden’s “surrounded with radical left Marxists and crazy people, fascists. Bad people.” (Sounds bad.) Trump referenced “Barack Hussein Obama.” (No longer president.) And he expressed concerns about boats with electric motors, asking, “Do you get electrocuted if the boat sinks?” (No, you don’t.)
Why can't Republicans do better than Trump? GOP debate had no answers.

Over at the debate, which started while Trump was still woe-is-me-ing, the candidates were busily failing to convince anyone they have what it takes to overtake Trump’s bizarrely commanding lead.

Former Vice President Mike Pence said he’ll repeal the Green New Deal, which was never passed in the first place. DeSantis continued giving social media users a chance to make his forced, awkward smiles into viral GIFs. The lot of them hammered away cruelly at transgender youth and adults, dehumanizing them.

Can Swifties swing an election? Taylor Swift has power to swing the presidential election. What if nothing else matters?
GOP candidates at the debate should be dominating Trump, but no

Their main opponent is a guy sitting atop a veritable mountain of alleged illegality, and except for a few barbs here and there, the best they can muster is loose bickering, lame insults and rehashed tough-on-immigration, tough-on-crime, back-the-blue lines.

This group of seven candidates – particularly someone like Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor who's also a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the only one grounded in some form of reality – should be grinding Trump into hamburger. He has weakness upon weakness, and he is, as his "union" speech reminded us, a raving nut ball.

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But no. You’ve got the madman and a coalition of cowards, and that fact was on vivid displayed Wednesday night.

The GOP is no longer a political party. It’s a loud, obnoxious mess, buoying a dangerous authoritarian figure who will soon be facing trials in multiple jurisdictions.

Reagan would smartly and undoubtedly avert his eyes.



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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why can't Republicans do better than Trump? GOP debate had no answers

Taiwan reveals first homegrown submarine in defence milestone

Carlos Garcia and Walid Berrazeg and Sarah Wu

Wed, September 27, 2023

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Taiwan unveiled its first domestically developed submarine on Thursday, a major step in a years-long project aimed at strengthening the island's defence and deterrence against the Chinese navy.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has made the indigenous submarine program a key part of an ambitious project to modernise its armed forces as Beijing stages almost daily military exercises to assert its sovereignty.

President Tsai Ing-wen, who initiated the plan when she took office in 2016, showed off the first of eight new submarines on Thursday in the southern city of Kaohsiung.

"In the past, a domestically developed submarine was considered an impossible task. But, today, a submarine designed and manufactured by our country's people sits before our eyes," Tsai said, adding that it would play an important role in strengthening the navy's "asymmetric warfare" capabilities.

"Even if there are risks, and no matter how many challenges there are, Taiwan must take this step and allow the self-reliant national defence policy to grow and flourish on our land," Tsai said, standing in front of the ship, named the Narwhal. Taiwan's red flag, featuring a white sun against a blue sky, was wrapped around the submarine's bow.

The programme has drawn on expertise and technology from several countries - a breakthrough for diplomatically isolated Taiwan.

Taiwan hopes to deploy at least two such domestically developed submarines by 2027, and possibly equip later models with missiles, the head of the program said this month.

The first submarine, with a price tag of T$49.36 billion ($1.53 billion), will use a combat system by Lockheed Martin Corp and carry U.S.-made Mark 48 heavyweight torpedoes. It will enter sea trials next month before delivery to the navy by the end of 2024.

Admiral Huang Shu-kuang, Tsai's security adviser leading the program, has described the submarines as a "strategic deterrent" that can also help maintain the island's "lifeline" to the Pacific by keeping ports along Taiwan's eastern coast open.

(Reporting by Carlos Garcia, Walid Berrazeg and Sarah Wu; Writing by Ben Blanchard)