Monday, October 23, 2023

Ministry wants 8,000 West Bank Palestinians to replace foreign farmhands who fled war

Thousands of Thai laborers have reportedly picked up and left, leaving agricultural facilities hurting for help; plan is opposed by Ben Gvir over security concerns

By CARRIE KELLER-LYNN and TOI STAFF

22 October 2023,

Illustrative: Foreign workers work at an onion farm on August 12, 2016. (Yaniv Nadav/Flash90)The Agriculture Ministry is looking to allow some 8,000 West Bank Palestinians to enter Israel for agricultural work, with many foreign laborers having left the country due to Israel’s war with the Hamas terror group

A ministry proposal revealed during a National Security Council meeting on Friday would limit permits to Palestinian women of all ages, as well as men 60 years of age or older — groups seen as less likely to pose a security threat, amid heightened tensions in the West Bank.

The plan has been met with stiff opposition from National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who claimed Sunday that there was “inherent danger in the introduction of Palestinian workers into [Israeli] towns during war.”

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Thousands of foreigners brought to Israel to work as pickers and in other agricultural jobs are thought to have left the country since October 7, when Hamas terrorists rampaged through southern Israel, killing some 1,400 people and kidnapping at least 212 others.

According to the Government Press Office, some two dozen foreign workers, primarily from Thailand, Nepal and the Philippines, were killed in the onslaught, and several more are thought to have been taken hostage in Gaza.

Since the start of the war, 2,000 Thai workers have left the country, according to Army Radio. Most foreigners working in agriculture come from Thailand.

The exodus has been compounded by many able-bodied Israelis being called up to the army as Israel prepares a likely full-scale incursion into Gaza to uproot the Hamas terror group, which rules the Palestinian enclave.

A Thai worker, evacuated from Israel, gives a victory sign after arriving at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, in Samut Prakarn Province, Thailand, on the first flight of Thai evacuees, October 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

According to the Agriculture Ministry proposal, only agricultural workers already known to the farmers who would employ them will be considered for permits, and they will be subject to security approval.

The proposal will be voted on at an upcoming cabinet meeting.

This proposal is similar to existing arrangements to bring Palestinian workers to bolster the hotel industry, said the ministry. A government spokesperson indicated that Palestinians have continued entering to bolster both hotels and other unnamed industries, despite the heightened security concerns.

Farmers have complained that the war has left them without the necessary manpower to keep their concerns going. Many of Israel’s most productive farmlands are in the western Negev, an area many have left due to the October 7 massacres and persistent rocket attacks from Gaza.

Thai survivors of a deadly Hamas attack on the foreign workers’ living quarters at Gaza border Kibbutz Alumim visit an injured co-worker at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, southern Israel, on October 12, 2023. (Courtesy Gad Shparer)

According to the Agriculture Ministry, there is a shortfall of about 10,000 laborers.

“A week without picking is a loss of 200 pallets [of goods],” produce seller Ofer Djerbi told the Calcalist financial daily last week. “A place that normally has 60 workers is down to three or four.”

Thousands of Palestinians regularly enter Israel for work, where wages are higher than what they can get in the West Bank, but Israel occasionally freezes their permits during times of heightened tensions.

Defense officials who are reluctant to punish wide swaths of Palestinian society generally support the entrance of vetted workers, seen as an important valve to release pressure on economically strained Palestinians.

Illustrative: Palestinian workers wait to cross to Israel at the Qalqiliya checkpoint. October 9, 2012 (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)

Nonetheless, Ben Gvir claimed that police backed his stance opposing the plan.

Neither the police nor the Shin Bet have made a public comment on the proposal.

Aside from looking to allow Palestinian workers to enter, the ministry is also hoping to lure back foreigners who left or keep those who are considering leaving the country, by offering to extend existing five-year residency permits by two years.

It is also working with the Population and Immigration Authority in the Interior Ministry to bring workers from additional countries, and offering bonuses of NIS 2,000 ($490) a month to both Israelis and foreign nationals willing to work on farms.

And it said it has spent NIS 24 million ($5.9 million) to place 430 bomb shelters in open areas.

Belgians blitz field in big solar start

October 23, 2023
Matthew Agius is a science writer for Cosmos Magazine.

Renner Springs, NT | Belgian team Innoptus leads the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge after a chaotic and fast first day of the event in the Australian outback.

Teams dealt with 40-degree heat, bushfires off the road near Katherine and potholes and roadworks on a stretch of the Stuart Highway in the opening 9 hours of the event. All were safely navigated.

It was Innoptus and Dutch rival Brunel that performed best.

They were the only teams to clear the tiny roadside town of Elliot in the Barkly region of the Northern Territory. As a result, both crews are camping tonight on the red dirt of the Stuart Highway, nearly 800 km south of Darwin.

Innoptus Solar Team technicians point their solar array towards the setting sun near Elliott, NT. Credit: Matthew Ward Agius/Cosmos

Innoptus is the most recent winner of the 3,020km event between Darwin and Adelaide and averaged 96km/h on the opening day. That’s a fair clip – at one point the car was cruising at the Stuart Highway speed limit (110-130km/h).

These teams are among the best solar racers in the world and were always expected to be at the front, but both were surprised by just how quickly they were able to reach the lead.

“We wanted to play it safe with the qualification on Saturday, and we ended up second [in the start order] which was, really, much unexpected. It was a good place to be at,” says Innoptus’ former team manager Jarno Van Hemelen, who is providing support to the new crew at the event.

“From 50km out of Darwin, we started just driving our ‘strategy speed’ and that’s how we ended up in this place today.”

Thinking outside the cube: the solar team courting AWS, Audi and TV

Strategy speed, in this case, refers to a fixed pace set by team planners to optimise the solar energy captured and converted in the car’s power unit. Solar efficiency numbers are closely guarded by teams – usually, they’re around 25% of captured light converted to electricity – but even so, the myriad of other factors at play on the road, particularly temperature and wind direction, also play a part in speed calculations.

Innoptus feels its Netherlands-based rivals are pushing to keep pace with them, but Brunel’s team leadership was happy with how the day played out.

“In the end, it was way better for our strategy to keep driving the speed we wanted,” says Lennert Hessells, Brunel’s team manager. “We’re happy we’re at the front, now, with the Belgians in front of us, but we’re exactly where we want to be.”

Brunel and Innoptus expended battery energy to overtake the car of Germany’s Team Sonnenwagen Aachen, but both were comfortable with their decision to get a better road position.

Such is their speed that Innoptus advised event officials that the next control checkpoint in Tennant Creek may need to open earlier than scheduled. Already, teams are operating about 15km/h faster on average than the last event; 4 of the 6 leading teams are using new high-capacity batteries from US manufacturer Amprius.

The Brunel team’s overnight camp setup was hauled in shipping containers. Credit: Matthew Ward Agius/Cosmos

The top 4 cars are separated by 43km. In third place is Solar Team Twente, which improved from 11th at the start of the day, though how much energy was used in the process is unknown. Unlike entrants in the Cruiser class, which are allowed an optional charge in Tennant Creek and Coober Pedy, Challenger cars can only use solar electricity from their own generation.

“I would be lying if I said there was no energy wasted,” admitted Twente’s race lead Kirsten Bouwman.

“Overtaking another team costs some energy, but we planned this well and chose the right spots on the map to do so. I don’t expect we’ll overtake 8 teams again [tomorrow].”

The Sonnenwagen team is 4km further back. It led the field out of Darwin after setting the fastest time in a qualifying session on Saturday and was happy to cruise at a slower pace to force its competitors to overtake early in proceedings.

“It’s kind of what we expected to happen. We expect the other teams to go fast early, and then slow down later,” says Felix Meyer, Sonnenwagen’s driving strategist.

“We wanted to make it out of Darwin and then make them use energy to overtake us. I think this worked out pretty well.”

Teams from Tokai University and Kogakuin University in Tokyo, the University of Michigan (which started last and has leapfrogged 26 competitors) and Top Dutch Racing are currently positioned together in Dunmarra. This group is around 146km behind Innoptus.

Australia’s Sunswift Racing leads the Cruiser competition ahead of the University of Minnesota (USA) and Estonia’s Solaride team.
Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, current distances and speedsInnoptus Solar Team (BEL): 08 hours. 777km from start @ average speed 96km/h.
Brunel Solar Team (NED): 08h. 753km @ 93 km/h.
Solar Team Twente (NED): 08h. 715km @ 89km/h
Team Sonnenwagen Aachen (GER): 08h. 711km @ 89km/h.
Tokai Universirty (JPN): 08h. 634km @ 79 km/h.
University of Michigan (USA): 08h. 634km @ 79 km/h.
Top Dutch Solar Racing (NED): 08h. 634km @ 79 km/h.
Kogakuin University (JPN): 08h. 634km @ 79 km/h.
JU Solar Team (SWE): 08h. 607km @ 76km/h.
Eclipse ÉTS (CAN): 08h. 552km @ 65km/h

Full results at event website.

A dwarf planet close to Mars could have what it takes to sustain life

By Joshua Hawkins
Published Oct 22nd, 2023

Image: NASA

A dwarf planet called Ceres could offer some amazing insights into our quest to discover alien life within our solar system. The small planet is located near Mars, and a new study showcases that the dwarf planet has an extensive amount of organic material present on the planet.

Ceres is located within the asteroid belt that sits between Jupiter and Mars, and while the dwarf planet plays a vital part in various science fiction stories, such as The Expanse, the dwarf planet has also been a target for scientific study because it has an insane amount of organic material on the planet.

The existence of these compounds was first identified in 2017, thanks to the Dawn spacecraft. However, recent research suggests that organic compounds on Ceres might be more widespread than expected, suggesting that Ceres could sustain signs of extraterrestrial life.

Image source: Dmitry / Adobe

The organic material on Ceres, as well as the large amount of water ice content on the dwarf planet, suggests that it could have the essential elements to foster life beyond Earth. Scientists made the discovery by combining two different datasets, allowing the researchers to map potential organic-rich areas on Ceres that could have sustained life.

These kinds of discoveries continue to underline the significant role that organic compounds and materials play in our search for extraterrestrial life, especially as NASA’s rovers continue to find evidence of life’s building blocks on Mars.

This is an extremely exciting clue, especially given how long we have searched for any signs of life out in space. Perhaps future studies of dwarf planets like Ceres, and the life-building blocks and organic material on Mars and other planets could help us better understand how life expanded through our universe.

The new study was first presented at the Geological Society of America’s GSA Connects 2023 meeting this month, and future observations of Ceres could help us uncover more about the potential of life on the dwarf plan

Single dose of psilocybin reduces depression in phase 2 trial

Credit: Cannabis_Pic / Adobe Stock

OCTOBER 22, 2023

Can psilocybin serve as a uniquely powerful and long-lasting treatment for depression? Since the renaissance of psychedelic research emerged in the 2000s, a growing body of studies suggests that psilocybin can reduce symptoms of conditions like major depressive disorder, anxiety, and end-of-life distress.

The most intriguing findings center on dosage: Some studies suggest that a single dose of psilocybin can yield therapeutic benefits that last long after the drug’s hallucinogenic effects wear off, possibly even months after ingesting one dose.

A study recently published in JAMA sheds new light on the therapeutic potential of psilocybin for depression. The randomized, double-blind phase 2 trial, conducted between 2019 and 2022, investigated the effects of a single dose of synthetic psilocybin on people with major depressive disorder.

The researchers found that “a 25-mg dose of psilocybin administered with psychological support was associated with a rapid and sustained antidepressant effect, measured as change in depressive symptom scores, compared with active placebo.”

Here are some of the key takeaways:The recent study featured a sample size of 104 people and a longer follow-up period than many previous studies on psilocybin and depression.
The participants who received psilocybin showed significantly reduced depressive symptoms compared to those who received a placebo, though they also experienced more adverse events.

The improvements in depression were sustained over a six-week follow-up period.

“These findings add to evidence that psilocybin—when administered with psychological support—may hold promise as a novel intervention for [major depressive disorder],” the researchers noted.

The results are promising, though they come with a couple of caveats.
A closer look at psilocybin and depression

For the study, the researchers recruited a total of 104 adult participants with moderate to severe major depressive disorder. After participants were given time, if needed, to stop psychotherapy and taper off any antidepressant medications they were taking, the researchers randomly sorted them into two groups.

One group of 51 people were assigned to get a single dose of psilocybin. The other group of 54 participants were given a placebo: niacin, a B vitamin that causes your face to “flush.” (The idea is that this reaction might make it harder for people to tell whether they got the drug or the placebo.) At the start of the study, neither the researchers nor the participants were told who received the psilocybin. Also, participants were given multiple sessions of psychological support, including during the psilocybin (or niacin) experience.

The main goal of the study was not to see whether depression decreased while people were experiencing the effects of psilocybin but rather to track changes in depressive symptoms in both groups at various timeframes over a six-week follow-up period. To do that, the researchers measured participants’ scores on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), which assesses the severity of depressive episodes. The researchers also had participants complete the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS), which measures how symptoms impair functioning in daily life.

Participants completed both scales before taking either the psilocybin or the placebo, referred to as their baseline score, and also at follow-up periods: 2, 8, 15, 29, and 43 days after dosing.

The results revealed a statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of reduced depressive symptoms over the six-week period. The group that got psilocybin saw their MADRS scores decline by an average of 19.1 points, vs. 6.8 points in the placebo group

A chart from the study showing changes in depression symptoms over time in the psilocybin and placebo groups. Credit: Raison CL, Sanacora G, Woolley J, et al. Single-Dose Psilocybin Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2023;330(9):843–853. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.14530

By day 43, 58% of participants in the psilocybin group demonstrated a sustained response (defined as a 50% reduction from their baseline score), compared to 20% of the placebo group.

Although a sustained response is a good sign that an antidepressant is effective, it’s not the same as sustained remission, where depressive symptoms drop into the “normal” range. (While a greater share of the psilocybin group did go into remission compared to placebo, the difference wasn’t statistically significant.)

When it came to safety and tolerability, the researchers wrote, “Psilocybin was generally well-tolerated, with most AEs [adverse events] being of mild or moderate severity and generally limited to the acute dosing period.” However: “psilocybin treatment was associated with a higher rate of overall AEs and a higher rate of severe AEs compared with niacin, with these severe AEs being known effects of psilocybin.”
Caveats and cautious optimism

It’s worth noting that not all participants stuck with the follow-ups. The placebo group had a higher dropout rate, with 44 of the initial 53 participants ultimately making it to the 43-day check-up. Meanwhile, all but one participant in the psilocybin group completed the study (one withdrew from the study due to a death in their family).

What explains the difference in dropout rates? It’s hard to say for sure, but one possibility is that people in the placebo group became less motivated to participate in the study because they knew they received niacin instead of psilocybin. This underscores what’s arguably the biggest problem with psychedelic research: complications with blinding.

To validate the therapeutic potential of any drug, researchers use randomized placebo-controlled trials, where some participants receive the drug while others receive a placebo. Ideally, this process is double blinded, meaning neither the participants nor the researchers know who received the drug until the study concludes. The goal is to minimize bias and ensure that any recorded effects are likely due to the drug itself and not participants’ or researchers’ expectations.

But psychedelics make blinding nearly impossible: If you take psilocybin — a hallucinogenic drug that radically alters your subjective experience of reality — you’re unlikely to mistake it for a B vitamin.

Expectation biases — whether in the participants, the researchers, or both — can also complicate psychedelic research. For example, people who agree to participate in studies on drugs like psilocybin, MDMA, or LSD might already have a strong belief that psychedelics can effectively treat mental health conditions.

“This is likely to lead to positive expectation (consciously, subconsciously or both) which is in turn likely to lead to improvements in symptoms after enrollment, regardless of the specific effects of the psychedelics,” noted a 2022 paper published in Psychopharmacology. “This effect also works conversely, in that positive expectations can fuel disappointment in trials of novel psychoactive medication when participants believe that they have been allocated to the placebo arm.”

Still, the results of the recent study are promising, and they add to a growing body of research showing that psilocybin and other psychedelics might possess therapeutic effects that can far outlast the trip experience itself. Considering that 29% of U.S. adults report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives, it’s arguably well worth exploring how psychedelics might help ease the burden of mental health problems.

So far, Oregon and Colorado are the only US states that have legalized psychedelic-assisted therapy, though initiatives in a handful of other states — California, Connecticut, and New Jersey — have aimed to pass similar legislation. Earlier in 2023, Australia became the first country to legalize the prescription of psychedelics, including psilocybin, for mental health conditions.

This article was originally published by our sister site, Freethink.

SEE

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for LSD

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PSYCHEDELIC

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PSYCHEDELIC SASKATCHEWAN

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Hurricanes are now twice as likely to zip from minor to whopper than decades ago, study says

by Seth Borenstein

*Rescue workers with Tidewater Disaster Response wade through a tidal surge on a*

With warmer oceans serving as fuel, Atlantic hurricanes are now more than twice as likely as before to rapidly intensify from wimpy minor hurricanes to powerful and catastrophic, a study said Thursday.

Last month Hurricane Lee went from barely a hurricane at 80 mph (129 kph) to the most powerful Category 5 hurricane with 155 mph (249 kph) winds in 24 hours. In 2017, before it devastated Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria went from a Category 1 storm with 90 mph (145 kph) to a top-of-the-chart whopper with 160 mph (257 kph) winds in just 15 hours.

The study looked at 830 Atlantic tropical cyclones since 1971. It found that in the last 20 years, 8.1% of the time storms powered from a Category 1 minor storm to a major hurricane in just 24 hours. That happened only 3.2% of the time from 1971 to 1990, according to a study in the journal Scientific Reports. Category 1 hurricanes top out at 95 mph (153 kph) and a hurricane has to have at least 111 mph (178 kph) winds to become major.

Those are the most extreme cases, but the fact that the rate of such turbocharging has more than doubled is disturbing, said study author Andra Garner, a climate scientist at Rowan University in New Jersey.

When storms rapidly intensify, especially as they near land, it makes it difficult for people in the storm's path to decide on what they should do—evacuate or hunker down. It also makes it harder for meteorologists to predict how bad it will be and for emergency managers to prepare, Garner and other scientists said.

Hurricanes are now twice as likely to zip from minor to whopper than decades ago, study says — *Destroyed communities are seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Toa Alta,*

"We know that our strongest, most damaging storms very often do intensify very quickly at some point in their lifetimes," Garner said, highlighting 2017's Maria, which some researchers said killed nearly 3,000 people directly and indirectly. "We're talking about something that's hard to predict that certainly can lead to a more destructive storm."

And this "has become more common in the last 50 years," Garner said. "This has all happened over a time period when we've seen ocean waters get warmer."

"We've had 90% of the excess warming that humans have caused to the planet going into our oceans," Garner said.

Oceans this year have been setting heat records monthly since April with scientists warning of off-the-charts temperatures.

Garner found the rapid intensification of hurricanes was primarily along the East Coast's Atlantic seaboard, more so than the Gulf of Mexico.

*Jose Trinidad walks on what's left of his home in Montebello, Puerto Rico, in the aftermath*

It's not just the cases of extreme rapid intensification. Garner looked at all storms over different time periods and found that in general they're intensifying faster than they used to.

There have been more Atlantic storms in the last few decades than in the 1970s and 1980s—scientists have several theories for why, from changes in air pollution to natural cycles—but Garner said by looking at percentages she took out the storm frequency factor.

Previous studies had found an increase in rapid intensification. Garner's study was statistically meticulous in confirming what scientists had figured, said Karthik Balaguru, a Pacific Northwest National Lab climate scientist who last year had a paper demonstrating how storms near the Atlantic coast are intensifying faster before landfall than they did in the 1970s and 1980s.

The National Hurricane Center considers a storm to rapidly intensify if it increases wind speed by 35 mph (46 kph) in 24 hours.

*Heavy surf pounds the coastline at Nauset Beach in East Orleans, Mass., ahead of*

In 2020, a record year for hurricanes and the last year of Garner's study, six storms rapidly intensified that much. Hannah, Laura, Sally, Teddy, Gamma and Delta. Since then, there have been several rapid intensifying and deadly storms, including 2021's Ida, 2022's Ian and 2023's Idalia.

"If we don't work to lower our (carbon) emissions, then that's a trend that we likely could expect to see continue to happen in the future" and even get worse, Garner said.

More information: Andra J. Garner, Observed increases in North Atlantic tropical cyclone peak intensification rates, Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-42669-y. www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-42669-y

Journal information: Scientific Reports

© 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Atlantic hurricanes now twice as likely to strengthen from weak to major intensity in 24 hours, researchers suggest

A New Weather Feature was Hiding in JWST’s Picture of Jupiter (Videos)

Image of Jupiter taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) in July 2022 displays striking features of the largest planet in the solar system in infrared light, with brightness indicating high altitudes. One of these features is a jet stream within the large bright band just above Jupiter’s equator, which was the focus of this study.

POSTED ONOCTOBER 20, 2023 BY LAURENCE TOGNETTI

In July 2022, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) used its NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) to capture stunning infrared images of the largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter. Within these striking images, scientists recently discovered a jet stream in the northern latitudes just over Jupiter’s equator and 20-35 kilometers (12-21 miles) above Jupiter’s cloud tops. This jet stream stretches approximately 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles) with speeds of 515 kilometers per hour (320 miles per hour), more than double the speed of a Category 5 hurricane on Earth.

“This is something that totally surprised us,” said Dr. Ricardo Hueso, who is a lecturer at the University of the Basque Country in Spain and lead author of the study published in Nature Astronomy that describes these incredible findings. “What we have always seen as blurred hazes in Jupiter’s atmosphere now appear as crisp features that we can track along with the planet’s fast rotation.”

The reason this jet stream is traveling so fast is due to the Coriolis effect, as all planetary bodies spin faster at their equator to cover the same amount of distance as everything else. However, while the Earth spins on its axis at approximately 1,600 kilometers per hour (1,000 miles per hour) at its equator, the speeds experienced at Jupiter’s equator are a mind-bending 43,000 kilometers per hour (28,273 miles per hour), resulting in not only a rotation at 9 hours and 50 minutes at the equator (9 hours and 56 minutes at the poles), but also result in the extremely fast and powerful wind storms within its massive clouds.

This image of Jupiter from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) in July 2022 shows a narrow jet stream traveling 320 miles per hour (515 kilometers per hour) sitting over Jupiter’s equator above the main cloud decks, which was the focus of this study. Scientists hypothesize the multitude of bright white ‘spots’ and ‘streaks’ are possibly very high-altitude cloud tops of comprised of condensed convective storms.

While JWST made its observations within Jupiter’s high altitudes, the team used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to make observations in lower altitudes just one day later, which helped the team estimate changes in wind speeds with respective to altitude within the clouds, also known as wind shears. While they found the jet stream of 515 kilometers per hour (320 miles per hour) higher in the clouds, these wind speeds decreased as the altitude decreased, with speeds of 362 kilometers per hour (225 miles per hour) and 402 kilometers per hour (250 miles per hour) occurring only a few miles lower in Jupiter’s massive atmosphere. Essentially, the team of astronomers briefly played the role of meteorologists as they analyzed and calculated Jupiter’s weather patterns.

“Jupiter has a complicated but repeatable pattern of winds and temperatures in its equatorial stratosphere, high above the winds in the clouds and hazes measured at these wavelengths,” said Dr. Leigh Fletcher, who is a Professor of Planetary Science at the University of Leicester and one of several co-authors on the study. “If the strength of this new jet is connected to this oscillating stratospheric pattern, we might expect the jet to vary considerably over the next 2 to 4 years – it’ll be really exciting to test this theory in the years to come.”

This is not the first time that scientists have observed jet streams on Jupiter, as NASA’s Cassini spacecraft observed such activity in the early 2010s. These jet streams were also observed just above the gas giant’s equator and estimated to be traveling at 523 kilometers per hour (325 miles per hour).

Along with this jet stream, these incredible images from July 2022 also revealed Jupiter’s faint rings, its northern and southern aurorae, and two of its smaller moons, Amalthea and Adrastea. Jupiter’s rings were discovered by NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1979 as it flew past the gas giant, and scientists hypothesize they were formed from meteoroids striking one of Jupiter’s small moons. Like Earth, Jupiter’s massive aurorae are produced from its even more massive magnetic field, which is 20,000 times stronger than Earth’s magnetic field. The two small moons, Amalthea and Adrastea, were discovered in 1892 and 1979, respectively, with both orbiting within the orbit of Io, the first Galilean Moon of Jupiter.

What new discoveries will JWST continue to make about Jupiter and its amazing features in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!

As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!

PHOTOS Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, R. Hueso (University of the Basque Country), I. de Pater (University of California, Berkeley), T. Fouchet (Observatory of Paris), L. Fletcher (University of Leicester), M. Wong (University of California, Berkeley), J. DePasquale (STScI))

US, UK back Canada in envoy row with India, urges New Delhi to uphold 1961 Vienna Convention

Anita Joshua

New Delhi

Published 22.10.23

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Germany last year.

The US and the UK have backed Canada in its battle with India over New Delhi insisting on 41 Canadian diplomats leaving the country to maintain parity in strength and rank with the Indian diplomatic presence in Canada.

The 41 diplomats left India earlier this week in keeping with the extended deadline of October 20 set by India, resulting in the temporary suspension of in-person operations at the consulates-general in Bombay, Bangalore and Chandigarh.

India had asked Canada to withdraw 41 diplomats in retaliation to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegation of an Indian government hand in the murder of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.

Reacting to the withdrawal of the Canadian diplomats from India, US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a suo motu statement: “We are concerned by the departure of Canadian diplomats from India, in response to the Indian government’s
demand of Canada to significantly reduce its diplomatic presence in India.”

Miller suggested that resolving differences required having diplomats on the ground.

“We have urged the Indian government not to insist upon a reduction in Canada’s diplomatic presence and to cooperate in the ongoing Canadian investigation,” he said.

“We expect India to uphold its obligations under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, including with respect to privileges and immunities enjoyed by accredited members of Canada’s diplomatic mission.”

The British Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) too underscored that resolving differences required communication and the presence of diplomats in each other’s capitals. It disagreed with India’s decision to force the departure of Canadian diplomats.

“We expect all states to uphold their obligations under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The unilateral removal of the privileges and immunities that provide for the safety and security of diplomats is not consistent with the principles or the effective functioning of the Vienna Convention,” an FCDO spokesperson said.

“We continue to encourage India to engage with Canada on its independent investigation into the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.”

India’s external affairs ministry did not respond to queries relating to the statements from Washington and London, but New Delhi has been maintaining that its actions in implementing parity are consistent with Article 11.1 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

The Article states: “In the absence of specific agreement as to the size of the mission, the receiving State may require that the size of a mission be kept within limits considered by it to be reasonable and normal, having regard to circumstances and conditions in the receiving State and to the needs of the particular mission.”

Sources who spoke to this newspaper rejected any attempt to portray the implementation of parity as a violation of international norms.

They underlined that Canada’s domestic legislation itself provided for comparable treatment of foreign diplomats in Canada to what its own diplomats received in a foreign country as well as withdrawal of any of their diplomatic privileges and immunities. The law in question is the Foreign Missions and International Organisations Act, 1991.

Further, the sources said that parity had been sought in the diplomatic representation of the missions in Ottawa and New Delhi, making Canada’s decision to cease the operations of three consulates “unilateral” and unrelated.

ICYMI

Greta Thunberg charged after climate charge protest outside luxury Mayfair hotel

22 October 2023 09:28 (UTC+04:00)

Environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg has been charged with a public order offence after a protest outside a central London hotel on Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police has said, Azernews reports, citing the Standard.

Fossil Free London organised the protest on Tuesday to disrupt the Energy Intelligence Forum, which was meeting at the InterContinental London hotel in Park Lane.

Thunberg faces one count of failing to comply with a condition imposed under Section 14 of the Public Order Act.

The 20-year-old, originally from Sweden, gave her address to officers as in Dorset, she was bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 15 November.

Twenty five others face various charges in connection with the protest.

A Met Police spokesperson said: "We have charged 26 people after a protest outside a hotel in central London.

"Officers responded to the protest on the morning of Tuesday October 17 and imposed conditions to prevent disruption to the public.

"The protestors were asked to move from the road onto the pavement, which would enable them to continue with their demonstration without breaching the conditions."

Thunberg was detained by officers and led to a waiting police van after joining the protest.

In footage shared on social media, officers could be seen taking the campaigner to the van as other protesters were told to stand back.

She had earlier spoken outside the hotel as part of the, urging eco-activists to "reclaim the power" and hitting out at "spineless" politicians for failing to act on global warming.

Football fans are fed up of racism, sexism and homophobia. Here’s how to kick it out for good

Earlier this month, West Ham United received the Premier League’s highest award for its commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. It’s time to change football for the better

CHARLOTTE ELTON
22 Oct 2023

West Ham have been awarded the Premier League’s highest diversity and inclusion award. Credit: West Ham.

Jo Bailey is a born-and-bred West Ham fan. But in the 1990s, she stopped going to football games.

“It was a huge part of our family,” she says. “I was wearing Claret & Blue before I was old enough to know what West Ham was. When I hear Bubbles [The West Ham song] sung, I can almost hear people who aren’t here anymore singing with me.”

Bailey is a lesbian. And as she began to express her identity, she stopped feeling welcome in the stadium environment she loved so much. “I used to go along, and you’d get the extra little nudge, the extra little push,” she recalls. “Someone might say, stop being a snowflake. But if you’re that individual, you know what it is, you feel a threat.”

Football fans have a bit of a reputation. Homophobic chanting has plagued high-profile matches. After the Euro 2020 final, England’s prominent Black players were inundated with racist abuse. And there isn’t a single openly gay footballer in the Premier League.

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But clubs – and the vast majority of fans – are fed up with discrimination.

Earlier this month, West Ham United received the Premier League’s highest award for its commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. It is the second time the Hammers have clinched the award, with the Premier League’s report finding that the club’s “well-communicated, zero-tolerance stance on all forms of abuse and discrimination is undoubtedly achieving demonstrable impact and lasting change”.
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Bailey – now the co-chair of West Ham’s queer supporters group, Pride of Irons – has praised the “dialogue” the club keeps up with their queer and minority ethnic supporter groups.

“We’re working hard to tackle the hate, on and off the pitch,” she says. “But there’s still a way to go”
How can we stamp out abuse in football?

Kick it Out – an organisation dedicated to stamping out discrimination in football – received a record 1,007 reports of discriminatory behaviour in the 2022-23 season.

The figure is troubling. But encouragingly, Kick It Out’s report-per-incident rate has risen for the fourth consecutive season, suggesting that fans are more inclined to report discrimination.

Depending on the severity of the offence, Pride of Irons work with the club to help rehabilitate banned fans

Jo Bailey in the West Ham dressing room. Image: Sophie McCubbin

“We believe in giving people a second chance, we work with the club to do that,” Bailey explains. “I don’t like the word ‘educate’ that much, because it can be a bit patronising. Obviously, education is key, but I prefer ‘awareness’… talking to people gives it a human aspect.”

Engaging with offenders is crucial, explains Fred Harms, a campaign worker for Show Racism The Red Card (SRtRC). SRtRC is the UK’s leading anti-racism educational charity.As the Lionesses played in the World Cup Final, this tournament showed how women’s football tackles homelessness
England legend Fara Williams: ‘Young girls can dream of being a professional footballer now’

“Banning offensive chants is important, of course, but you are never going to ban away a problem,” he says.

According to a 2021 poll, more than 70% of fans across England think professional football in the country has a serious problem with racism. This figure leapt by 17% after the 2020 Euros final, in which Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missed decisive penalties and were deluged with racial abuse. Just 19 years old at the time, Saka said he “knew instantly the kind of hate” he would receive when he switched on his phone.

In 2022, researchers found that more than two-thirds of male football fans harbour hostile, sexist or misogynistic attitudes towards women’s sport.

There’s no denying that fans and players have suffered racist, sexist, and other forms of abuse in football stadiums.

“I think people used to feel it was a place they could express [discriminatory] sentiments,” reflects Harms. But “it’s a societal issue more than a ‘football’ issue”.

“No one becomes a racist once they get to the stadium turnstile and stops being a racist once they leave. People bring their prejudices with them. So if you can connect football to anti-racism, it’s a really powerful tool to fight discrimination.”

SRtRC holds educational events with football clubs and delivers workshops with footballing role models in schools. Clubs like West Ham collaborate with the organisation to host events in stadiums.

Grassroots movements – like Pride of Irons – have helped make stadiums welcoming places for all fans.

“The supportive fan groups nurture these safe spaces,” says Cleo Madeleine, communications co-ordinator for Gendered Intelligence.

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“And to move the focus away from elite sport, we need to expand the participation of people in the game at the grassroots.”

There’s still a long way to go. As long as offensive chants ring out over stadium stands, and players of colour and women are deluged with online hate, clubs and fan groups will have work to do.

“Yes, there’s wrong ’uns out there. If there wasn’t hate, we wouldn’t even have to have this conversation,” Bailey says.

The Stratford local would like to see the club speed up its response to reports of discrimination, and increase visibility for its queer and other marginalised groups.

But the proud Hammer now feels able to support her beloved team without hiding who she is. Every football fan deserves to be themselves, she says.

“For us fans, [the stadium] is a home. I wouldn’t want anyone to feel unwelcome in my home. And it’s the same with my stadium.”

Tory panic mounts as shock poll finds Brits believe LABOUR is more likely to cut taxes - while Rishi Sunak struggles to quell revolt after by-elections with fears dozens of MPs are ready to send no-confidence letters

PROOF!

SIR KEIR'S LABOUR (SIC) PARTY ARE RED TORIES

By JAMES TAPSFIELD, POLITICAL EDITOR FOR MAILONLINE
22 October 2023

A shock poll has found Brits believe Labour is more likely to cut taxes as Rishi Sunak struggles to quell Tory panic over the by-election disasters.

Exclusive research for MailOnline showed Keir's Starmer's party was viewed as a bigger champion of lower taxes than the Conservatives by a margin of 37 per cent to 21 per cent.

The Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey also suggested that 58 per cent want the burden reduced - and a small majority are convinced the government is in a position to do so.

The findings will fuel growing unrest in the PM's ranks over his reluctance to bring forward more traditional Tory policies to woo back disaffected voters.

Mr Sunak suffered two shattering blows last week when Labour seized true-blue strongholds Mid Beds and Tamworth, overturning massive majorities.

Experts said the results put Sir Keir firmly on track for No10 next year. Although by-elections never translate directly, if replicated at a general election the 20-plus percentage point swings seen would see the Conservatives reduced to a rump of just 20 seats.

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Exclusive research for MailOnline found Labour was viewed as more of a champion of lower taxes than the Conservatives by a margin of 37 per cent to 21 per cent

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The poll found income tax was the highest priority, with 49 per cent saying it should be reduced

Labour win Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire by-elections

Amid reports that dozens of MPs are considering putting in no-confidence letters to the powerful 1922 Committee, some Tories have warned Downing Street that only reductions in taxes - heading for a post-war high - can save the party from oblivion.

However, Mr Sunak, who was touring the Middle East as the by-election fallout erupted, has vowed to bring down inflation and get the UK's post-Covid debt burden under control first.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has again rejected calls for significant cuts at the Autumn Statement next month, despite figures on Friday revealing that public sector borrowing was lower than expected in September - and is now £20billion below the OBR's previous forecast.

However, there have been rumblings about the threshold for paying the 40 per cent higher rate of income tax being pushed up in the Spring Budget.

In interviews this morning, Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick conceded the by-elections were 'disappointing'.

But he insisted the Tories would make 'sensible, prudent' decisions on tax.

'We all want to cut taxes. Everyone wants lower taxes, as a conservative it is one of the central tenets of conservatism that we believe in lower taxes,' he told the BBC.

'But you can trust the Conservatives to make sensible, prudent decisions on the future of the economy and to bring down taxes where it is capable to do so.'

Stressing the shift from the brief Liz Truss premiership, Mr Jenrick said: 'Look at the difference that we've seen in the last 12 months under Rishi Sunak, the fact that we have stabilised the economy, that it's growing, that inflation is falling and on critical issues like immigration, were making significant progress for the first time in a long time.'

The Redfield & Wilton Strategies research, carried out on Thursday, asked which of the main two parties voters thought most advocated for lower taxes.

Some 37 per cent said Labour, while just 21 per cent said the Tories. Another 23 per cent said neither, 9 per cent said both and 11 per cent did not know.

Cutting taxes at the next fiscal package was supported or strongly supported by 58 per cent, with just 9 per cent opposed. Brits considered the government is in a position to cut tax by a margin of 42 per cent to 39 per cent.

The poll found income tax was the highest priority, with 49 per cent saying it should be reduced. VAT cuts were supported by 39 per cent, a third wanted national insurance targeted, 35 per cent fuel duty and 30 per cent inheritance tax.

Writing about the by-election defeats for today's Mail on Sunday, former Cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said that current tax levels – the highest for 70 years – meant there had been 'no incentive for Conservatives go out to vote'.

Former trade minister Marcus Fysh added: 'We need some practical growth-boosting and inflation-lowering tax cuts now to demonstrate to people that we are on their side.'

Mr Fysh, MP for Yeovil, also called for the VAT threshold to be raised and for fuel duty to be cut: 'We need to incentivise those sources of growth in incomes by people who are the strivers and drivers of our economy.'

A Treasury source said: 'The PM and Chancellor want to lower the personal tax burden as soon as possible, but our priority has to be inflation reduction. If we cut taxes too early and pump billions of additional demand into the economy when inflation is already too high, we risk even higher prices and higher interest rates.'

There were claims today that the freeze on tax thresholds will raise an extra £75 billion for the Treasury, equivalent to 9p on income tax.

The freeze on personal income tax allowances and thresholds – not raising them in line with inflation – was introduced in the March 2021 Budget by Mr Sunak when he was Chancellor.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt (pictured) has again rejected calls for significant cuts at the Autumn Statement next month, despite figures on Friday revealing that public sector borrowing was lower than expected in September

It was stated to last until the 2025-26 tax year – but was extended by Mr Hunt until 2027-28.

First intended to raise £8billion, the Growth Commission – a group of eminent British and overseas economists established by former PM Liz Truss – has calculated that, due to high inflation and wage rises, the bonus from the 'fiscal drag' will rocket to £75 billion.

Amid fevered plotting at Westminster, the Sunday Times reported that a revolt by right-wingers is already under way.

An MP said they had been told 25 colleagues were ready to file no-confidence letters, although it was not clear whom they wanted to replace Mr Sunak.

'I told them I didn't think the British public would forgive us for changing prime minister again and that it would likely hurt not help our electoral fortunes,' the MP said.

A leadership vote would only be triggered if 53 letters are sent, and the 1922 chairman never reveals how many are lodged until the threshold is met.

The Tories are losing voters who think we need political reform, new poll finds

Chris Jarvis

22 October 2023

Voters who backed the Tories in 2019 but have since said they will not be voting for them at the next general election are more likely to support democratic reform than the party’s current voter base, a new poll has found. The polling suggests that the Tories are losing voters who think Britain needs political reform.

The poll was commissioned by voting reform campaign group Make Votes Matter and conducted by Opinium.

According to the poll, just one in ten voters think parliament is currently in touch with ordinary people. Of those who don’t think it’s in touch, seven in ten think parliament would be more effective in dealing with big issues if votes cast at general elections were reflected in the number of seats each party had. This rises to nine in ten for 2019 Tory voters who have since said they won’t be voting Tory next time.

The survey also found that just 4 per cent of the public think the political system does not need reform at all. It also found that reforming the electoral system is a higher priority among voters than reforming the House of Lords.

According to Make Votes Matter, the survey suggests that among 2019 Tory switchers, a bold offer on political reform could be a vote winner.

Commenting on the survey, Klina Jordan, Chief Executive of Make Votes Matter, said: “The demand for change is deafening. Despite intense political polarisation, the country is united on the need for political reform – even the Prime Minister has admitted that Westminster is not working.2 Based on these results, the public clearly sees our electoral system as a big part of the problem.

“Keir Starmer is right that we need a new way of governing, but it’s not credible to acknowledge the consequences of our flawed electoral system – as party policy now does – without promising to do something about it. These results show clearly that if Labour wants to win over Tory switchers – as well as Lib Dem, Green and other voters – they need to take political reform seriously, especially PR.

“Far more than Lords reform, PR is seen by voters across the spectrum as most likely to tackle the complete loss of faith in a political system that is seen as out of touch with people’s needs and unable to manage the big issues.”

The poll also found that 37 per cent of voters would be more likely to back the Tories or Labour if they supported a move to proportional representation.

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Image credit: Number 10 – Creative Commons