Analysis-Brazil heading to rare sequence of rising coffee crops


The robusta coffee fruits are seen in Sao Gabriel da Palha, Espirito Santo state, Brazil 

REUTERS/Jose Roberto Gomes/File Photo© Thomson Reuters

By Roberto Samora

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil is expected to post its third annual increase in coffee production this year, a rare sequence seen only seven times in 144 years of coffee history in the world's largest grower and exporter of the beans, according to data compiled by Reuters.

The positive sequence is likely to be extended for another year in 2025, experts say, mainly due to rising production of robusta beans in a country that has historically been a producer of the milder arabica coffee preferred by high-end cafes. Robusta coffee is widely used to make instant coffee.


A harvesting machine harvests coffee in a plantation in the town of Sao Joao da Boa Vista, Brazil  

Amanda Perobelli/File Photo© Thomson Reuters

Brazilian coffee production usually alternates years of high and low production, in the arabica biennial cycle. Arabica coffee trees tend to produce less in a year following a good crop, or the other way around.

That cycle, experts say, was broken after extreme weather: a harsh drought and then freak frosts that hit Brazilian coffee fields around 2020 and 2021.

Related video: Inside Nestle's instant coffee business (CNBC)

Duration 7:34  View on Watch

Since then, the country has been producing larger crops every year. The improvement is due to some post-frost farming techniques, such as pruning and expanded use of irrigation, particularly in robusta fields, to better cope with dry weather.

"The growth is a reality. ... No doubt next year's crop will be larger as well, taking this sequence of increases to four years," said Marcio Ferreira, chair of exporting group Cecafe.

The growing robusta production in Brazil is seen by analysts as a major contributor to more stable, rising overall coffee production. Robusta trees do not experience the biennial production variation of arabica.

"There are no frosts as well in the robusta production areas," said Celso Vegro, a coffee researcher at Instituto de Economia Agricola (IEA), referring to the states of Espirito Santo, Bahia and Rondonia, which are located more to the north, while arabica trees are mostly in Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo states in the Southeast.

The average yield of robusta fields in the country increased around 50% in 10 years to 44.2 bags (60 kg) per hectare, according to Brazil's food supply agency Conab. In contrast, yields on arabica fields increased 24% in the same period to 26.7 bags per hectare.

The possibility of four years of production increases would match something that happened only once in history, during 1989 to 1992, according to data from the International Coffee Organization, Conab and the book "150 Years of Coffee."

Conab estimates the 2024 crop at 58 million bags, up 5% from last year. Considering its data and projections, Brazil's production would reach 164 million bags in the three years from and including 2022.

The robusta expansion in Brazil happens at a time when the variety's main producer, Vietnam, faces difficulties related to adverse weather, which drove prices to their highest in at least 16 years.

"At some point, Brazil will likely produce more robusta beans than Vietnam," said Fernando Maximiliano, a coffee analyst at broker StoneX.

The harvest in Brazil starts around April for robusta trees, and around May or June for arabica fields.

(Reporting by Roberto Samora; writing by Marcelo Teixeira in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Electric tops 10 per cent of vehicle sales in Canada for first time

SO DANIELLE SMITH DECIDED TO TAX THEM

Alberta budget 2024: Tax cut delayed, EV levy added
1:38

Story by Dave Waddell

 • Windsor Star

Electric future. Lido Zuccato, dean, schools of engineering, apprenticeships & skilled trades at St. Clair College, is shown Feb. 15, 2023, next to a Nissan Leaf, a battery electric vehicle, as he talks about the college's new EV technician program. Ten per cent of Canadian vehicle registrations in 2023 were for electric and hybrids.

© Provided by Windsor Star

Annual registrations of zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) surpassed the 10-per-cent mark of total new registrations in Canada for the first time in 2023.

That milestone announcement comes at a time when recent reports point to more conservative future sales forecasts, as well as downward production adjustments by automakers.

Statistics Canada data released this month show ZEVs represented 10.8 per cent of the 1,714,356 new motor vehicles registered last year. That represents an increase of 49 per cent over 2022 and 115 per cent over 2021.

“Getting the first 10 per cent of the electric vehicle market is relatively easy with a good product and a market that wants the product,” said Sam Fiorani, AutoForecast Solutions’ vice-president of global vehicle forecasting.

“The next 90 per cent will be much harder to convert.

“What we’ve seen in the last few years is the tech savvy and green buyers come aboard willing to pay high prices. That market is now saturated and it’s the everyday buyer, who isn’t willing to spend the extra money, that automakers have to convince.”

Fiorani told The Windsor Star he expects several years of gradual, steady growth of EV sales until the end of the decade when the new products should have a firmer footing in the market.

The U.S. market is seeing a similar retrenching, but it also passed the 10-per-cent mark of all new vehicle sales — and one million vehicles — for the first time last year.

Zero-emission vehicles, which include battery electric, plug-in hybrids and hybrid models, continue to nibble away at the market share of internal-combustion engines.

Gas-powered vehicle registrations dipped 4.5 per cent last year to 77 per cent of overall market share in Canada. That’s down 13.6 per cent since 2021.

“We’re not going to see as dramatic numbers in EV sales as we’ve seen in the last few years,” Fiorani said.

“The industry, the buyers and the charging structure is just not ready for faster growth. It’s going to take five to 10 years to get there.”

The fastest growth of the EV market is taking place in the three most populated and urbanized provinces — Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.

ZEVs represented 20 per cent of all new registrations in B.C. while it was 19 per cent in Quebec and seven per cent in Ontario.

Among the ZEV mix of options, plug-in hybrids (81 per cent) and hybrids (67 per cent) showed the fastest growth year over year. Full-battery electric sales rose 42 per cent.

Internal-combustion engine registrations increased by seven per cent.

“Manufacturers need more hybridization in their vehicle offerings,” Fiorani said. “I expect hybrids to continue to increase their share of the market.”

Fiorani said AutoForecast Solutions has always been very conservative on predicting the pace and directness of what is the most radical transformation of the auto industry in over a century.

“They should have seen that hybrids would be the intermediate step,” said Fiorani, who added gas-powered engines will continue to be a key component of the industry for likely another 20 years.

“Now they’re going back and hybridizing more of their internal combustion products on the market.”

Related

• Automakers having to adjust to slowing demand for electric vehicles
• Enwin says Windsor boasts ample capacity for electric vehicle expansion

Fiorani said 2024 will be a pivotal year for automakers, especially with so many new electric vehicles hitting the market. However, that will be good news for consumers from the standpoints of choice and pricing.

“With all the new products coming on the market, there’ll be real downward pressure on pricing,” Fiorani said. “It’s fair to say, there’ll be too many models for too few buyers and that will equate to lower prices.

“The competition will be intense in 2024 and 2025 and we could see a weeding out of some of the new players. It’s going to take to the end of the decade for the market to normalize and prices and inventory to balance out.”

Dwaddell@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/windstarwaddell

Poilievre motion fails on carbon price increase; confidence threat remains

Story by David Baxter

 • GLOBAL NEWS

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre addresses his caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa

 on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.© Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press

Global News  ‘Carbon tax election’: Poilievre gives Trudeau ultimatum 

to stop price on pollution hike   Duration 0:50  View on Watch

A Conservative motion to “spike the hike” and stop the April 1 carbon price increase was defeated in House of Commons on Wednesday as the environment minister says, "We can't put climate change on pause."

Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre introduced a motion earlier this week to stop the annual carbon price increase, which is set to rise to $80 per tonne on April 1 from the current $65 per tonne.

Increases are scheduled to take place annually until 2030 when the pollution levy is set to reach $170 per tonne.

The motion was ultimately defeated, with the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois voting against.

Now, it appears Poilievre will introduce a non-confidence motion in the government over the increase.

"Today I'm announcing that if [Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau does not declare today an end to his forthcoming tax increases on food, gas and heat that we will introduce a motion of non-confidence in the prime minister," Poilievre said at an address to his caucus Wednesday morning.

Video: Poilievre calls Trudeau ‘a fake and a phony’ as Conservatives threaten ‘carbon tax election’

"And call for the House to be dissolved so that Canadians can vote in a carbon tax election."

Even if the motion is introduced, it likely will not be successful, due to the NDP having an agreement with the Liberals to support them on confidence matters in exchange for pushing legislative priorities like pharmacare.

When asked about the carbon price hike previously, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he wants to see the GST removed from home heating as he says it is an essential service.

This is the final sitting week for MPs before April 1, and the Conservatives signalled plans to use a variety of legislative tools to stop the increase.

Video: Question period sees heated debate on carbon pricing increase

On Tuesday, Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault said that the government will not pause the increase, despite receiving a request from the Liberal premier of Newfoundland and Labrador and growing concerns from Ontario Liberals about the policy, saying climate change isn't stopping.

“The cost of climate change are also going up. And we can't put climate change on pause. We can't put climate impacts on pause,” Guilbeault said.

“And if Canada doesn't do its fair share when it comes to fighting climate change, how can I go and talk to China or India or other countries in the world and say, ‘Hey, let's work together on finding a solution to climate change’? Because there's only one way that we solve this and it's together.”

On Monday, Poilievre pushed for an emergency debate in the House of Commons.

Ultimately, Speaker Greg Fergus denied the request, saying the request did not meet the requirements under the standing orders of the House.

Video: Poilievre’s ‘axe the tax’ strategy faces skepticism

Poilievre has put a second motion on notice, asking the House to express confidence in Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux’s report that “confirms the carbon tax costs Canadians more than they get back in rebates.”

The March 30, 2023, PBO report is often pointed to by the Liberals in saying that eight out of 10 Canadian households get more back in rebates than they pay in the federal fuel charge.

However, the PBO says that most Canadians beyond the lowest 20 per cent of incomes see a greater net cost in the carbon price due to broader economic factors like lost investment and employment income.

Guilbeault criticizes premiers pushing to end carbon pricing in Canada: ‘not the solution’View on WatchDuration 3:03

Yves Giroux, the PBO, previously said he’s “troubled” by the “selective use of facts” in this analysis, adding there will be costs, no matter what action the government takes to address climate change.

— with files from The Canadian Press.

Newfoundland and Labrador

Police don riot gear as Furey's Liberals make 2nd attempt at budget amid protests

Story by Ryan Cooke

 • CBC

It's deja vu at Confederation Building in St. John's on Thursday morning, as police and protesters have shown up in large numbers ahead of the Newfoundland and Labrador government's plans to introduce the 2024 budget.

By 6 a.m. NT, dozens of Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officers — some in riot gear — were standing guard in front of the main entrances to the building and a growing number of fish harvesters were arriving on scene.

There were no flare-ups in the first few hours of the protest, leading a government announcement just after 8 a.m. that it is moving ahead with the budget. Members of the media were told to be inside the building by 9:30 a.m.

Earlier in the morning, police were seen having a cordial conversation with protest leaders, urging them to avoid a repeat of Wednesday's raucous events — particularly with a court-ordered injunction now in place that prohibits protesters from blocking safe access to Confederation Building, which is both home to the legislature and the main government complex.

Protest leader John Efford Jr. addressed the crowd a few minutes later.

"We're just going to make our presence known to the people that are going to work this morning. But we are going to be peaceful," he said over a megaphone. "Do not, do not get caught up in cat-calling. Do not get caught up in incitement. If anybody says anything to you today, say have a nice day."

Related video: Police officers and protesters clash outside Confederation Building (cbc.ca)
Duration 1:04   View on Watch

The group of mostly fish harvesters have been protesting since early March on a number of conditions. For one, they want to be allowed to sell their catch to buyers outside the province.

They also want processing limits lifted on fish plants, so they can catch their quotas in fewer trips.


John Efford Jr. spoke to a crowd of protesters on Thursday morning, telling them to not incite others. (Terry Roberts/CBC)© Provided by cbc.ca

While the provincial government has committed to acting on both of these demands for the crab fishery — a lucrative but time-limited season that opens in the spring — the protesters say they want these concessions for all species.

The police are now tasked with enforcing an injunction that a Supreme Court of Newfoundland justice handed down during Wednesday's chaos and commotion.

The injunction prevents anyone from blocking access to the building, or interfering with public servants.

Things got ugly on Wednesday morning when government workers tried to enter the building and were turned back by a throng of protesters. They clashed with police officers and horses, with one protester and one officer being sent to hospital to be treated for injuries. The RNC said it will be pursuing charges against protesters who struck police horses during the melee.
Will a budget be introduced?

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey was adamant on Wednesday that a budget would be introduced, it's just a matter of when.

Furey said he was disappointed by the actions of "some" protesters, but said his government won't be stopped from proceeding with important business for the citizens of the province.

"There will be a budget for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, full stop. That is the intent," he said. "When it is safe to do so, people can enter the building, and we will do it."


Police in riot gear guard an entrance to Confederation Building on Thursday morning in St. John's, as the provincial government makes a second attempt to introduce a budget. (Dan Arsenault/CBC)© Provided by cbc.ca

Police donned riot gear on Thursday morning, a step up from their response the previous day. About two dozen officers were guarding the rear entrance of the building as of 6:30 a.m., which is most commonly used by government officials to access their offices.

CBC News will be following the story throughout the day, and will provide regular updates.

Newfoundland and Labrador government to seek an injunction against Fisher protesters

Premier Andrew Furey hopes the provincial budget will be unveiled on Thursday "if it is safe to do so," after protests shut down Confederation Building on Wednesday.

At a 1:30 p.m. NT news conference, Furey and members of his cabinet addressed questions on the government's decision to seek an injunction against the protesters in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The injunction was granted by Justice Robert Stack on Wednesday morning, ordering protesters to provide safe access to the building.

"No one wants 500 people to be arrested tomorrow morning," Furey warned. "What we do want is to have continued dialogue with the leadership of the FFAW."

Prior to the injunction being granted, one of the lead protesters said they'll be back at Confederation Building on Thursday morning and prepared to delay the provincial budget again.

"I have a feeling it may be cancelled again tomorrow, the next business day and the next business day until we get what? Free enterprise," said John Efford Jr.

The order also prevents protesters from causing a nuisance by intimidating, threatening or assaulting public employees.

Furey said he heard from many public servants who were upset or scared after encountering the protesters while trying to go to work on Wednesday morning.

Related video: Police officers and protesters clash outside Confederation Building (cbc.ca)

Duration 1:04  View on Watch

cbc.caPolice officers on foot and horseback push back fish harvesters at Confederation Building

2:41

cbc.caPremier’s communications director pushed away by protesting fish harvesters at Confederation Building

1:04

cbc.caPolice officer and protester taken away from Confederation Building in ambulance

1:48

"I am profoundly disappointed today that the behaviour of a few could take over and jeopardize a budget that is for the entire province," Furey said.
What happens Thursday?

Harvester Jason Sullivan told CBC News he isn't sure if the injunction will stop them from showing up Thursday.

"Unifor has a ton of money so I know the government's in the hole but I guess if they matches up against one another, see who's gonna come out on top."

The government announced the budget's postponement earlier Wednesday after protesters blocked entrances to the building, refused to let government workers inside and had physical confrontations with police officers and horses. A protester complaining of leg pain and a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer have been taken from the scene in an ambulance.

Efford Jr., meanwhile, said he was surprised by the injunction.

"I'm a little bit taken aback that there's an injunction against the protest. I thought that was everyone's right to have a peaceful protest."


Before the injunction was granted, Efford had called the budget cancellation historic.

"And I have a feeling it may be cancelled again tomorrow, the next business day and the next business day until we get what? Free enterprise," he said. If fishermen don't get their wish, Efford, warned there would be more harvesters on the steps of the Confederation Building on Thursday.

In a press release issued shortly after 11 a.m., provincial government spokesperson Victoria Barbour announced the budget's postponement, until further notice, "due to an unsafe environment in which fish harvesters are preventing public service employees from entering the Confederation Building complex."

"Presently, the conditions are unsafe for employees and visitors to the complex, and there is a threat of violence," says the statement.

CBC News reporters at the scene witnessed an intense exchange between a group of protesters and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary around 8:30 a.m. NT, with officers pushing them back from an entrance at the rear of the building.


Video from the scene shows public servants struggling to get through the melee and get to work. At one point, Meghan McCabe, director of communications for Premier Andrew Furey, tried to get through the crowd but was pushed back by a pair of irate protesters hurling expletives.

"Get back. Don't be stupid," one yelled as McCabe walked backward away from them.

Asked about the confrontation with McCabe, Efford said, "You'll always find someone to incite a person and cause something to try and damage their cause."

Efford defended the conduct of protesters and said the weeks of demonstration have been nothing put peaceful.

"We've been at this now for three weeks. We've had no issues with security, we've had no issues with police, we've even, when we leave at the end of the day, we make sure we pick up our garbage."


A police officer on horseback attempts to disperse a crowd outside Confederation Building in St. John's on Wednesday morning. (Ted Dillon/CBC)© Ted Dillon/CBC

Protesters pleaded with police to not let the public servants inside.

"If you're going to let them in, you're only going to cause trouble for yourselves. And that we will guarantee," said one protester to an officer.

Jason Spingle, secretary-treasurer of the FFAW, said members of the union want to be able to go to work the same as employees at Confederation Building. He said it was regrettable that an RNC officer and a protester, who Spingle said broke his hip, were hurt.


"They are working like all of you folks here, and it was unfortunate that someone took too much of a situation there."

RNC spokesperson Danielle Barron confirmed to CBC News one officer was injured at the protest and has been taken to hospital for treatment of undisclosed injuries. "Our priority remains the safety of all present," said Cadigan.

Spingle said public servants were trying to push their way into work.

"[One] said, 'Where do you think your EI comes from?' in a vindictive way. I mean, shame, it's disgraceful that we got someone working in this building that would make that comment. It's a shame."

The fishery generates a lot of money for the province, said Spingle.

"We need to make sure the balance of that wealth is shared fairly and what we put forward to the ministers yesterday, what John [Efford] put forward to the ministers yesterday was more than fair."

In an earlier statement, Barbour said they are "respectfully" asking the fish harvesters to allow employees, media and guests into the building "so budget 2024 can be delivered as planned."

The hundreds of protesters are fish harvesters and supporters, who have been lobbying government to open markets to outside buyers since early March.

As it stands, they can sell their catches only to buyers inside the province at a price agreed upon by the FFAW and the Association of Seafood Producers.

The chaotic scene began before sunrise, when Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officers on horseback pushed back protesters as they moved toward the building around 6:30 a.m. NT.

"Stay back!" police yelled at the group.

"Is this a public building?" one responded. "Don't we pay for this building?"
'We're tired of being kept down'

Protesters vowed to stay there all day.

"We just want the right to sell our product where we can," sad Alfred Fitzpatrick, a fisherman from the Burin Peninsula. "They never go to Nova Scotia and tell the crowd up to the Annapolis Valley you can only sell apples in Nova Scotia. Why are they telling us we can only sell fish here in Newfoundland?"


Meghan McCabe, communications director for the premier's office, comes face to face with protesters outside Confederation Building. (Terry Roberts/CBC)© Provided by cbc.ca

Fisheries Minister Elvis Loveless says he's willing to meet some of the demands tabled by harvesters and his department has issued an expression of interest for outside buyers for the 2024 snow crab fishery.

But harvesters say their protest is not just about crab — they want similar restrictions lifted on the sale of all species they catch.

Fitzpatrick said he felt Loveless's statements were a "stall tactic" as crab season approaches.

"We're tired of being kept down," he said. "We've got a government that's sitting by and letting it happen and a union that's been too complacent over the years. And this is why we're in the state we're in. But we're here and we ain't going nowhere."

The protests have also caused commotion inside the House of Assembly during the current legislative session, as harvesters have taken to the public gallery and refused to heed warnings to sit down and be quiet, leading to Speaker Derek Bennett removing them from the chambers.

They've also blocked off a provincial fisheries building in St. John's, preventing employees from going inside.

Chaotic fishers protest blocks entrance to Newfoundland legislature, halts budget

© Provided by The Canadian Press

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A protest Wednesday that descended into a chaotic confrontation between mounted police officers and fishers outside the Newfoundland and Labrador legislature halted the provincial government's plans to present its latest budget.

Premier Andrew Furey said he hopes the budget will instead be tabled Thursday, and his government secured an injunction against the protesters on Wednesday afternoon to help realize that goal — though protesters say they have no plans to let up.

"The budget was cancelled," John Efford, a harvester from Port de Grave, N.L., bellowed into a microphone Wednesday afternoon, prompting a sustained roar from the massive crowd before him. "And I got a funny feeling that it may be cancelled again tomorrow."

The protesters began gathering at the legislature before dawn on Wednesday. By the time they blocked government officials from entering the building to deliver the provincial budget, there were more than 100 people in the crowd.

Two Royal Newfoundland Constabulary members on horses pushed their way into the mass in an effort to disperse them. But the fishers piled into a line and pushed back, and the officers ultimately steered their animals away.

A protester and a police officer were taken away from the scene on stretchers. 

The fish harvesters say they're fighting for free market conditions in their industry, which they claim is monopolized by a small "cartel" of companies that have too much power.

Furey told reporters that while he realizes emotions about the fishery run high, and there’s a right to protest peacefully, "what is unacceptable is violent protests. Some of the behaviour will not be tolerated by me and my government.”

"Officials felt threatened and intimated today, and let me say, first and foremost, that that's unacceptable," he said. "I am profoundly disappointed today that the behaviour of a few could take over, and jeopardize a budget that is for the entire province."

Wednesday's protest caps off days of other demonstrations at the legislature, primarily led by Efford. Jason Spingle, secretary-treasurer of the province's inshore fishers' union, called the Fish Food and Allied Workers Union, said the group supports Efford's efforts and stands with him.

Spingle said the fish harvester injured when the horses arrived was believed to have broken his hip. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary said one of its officers was taken to hospital for treatment, and that it intends to pursue criminal charges against demonstrators who allegedly struck the police horses.

Turmoil in Newfoundland and Labrador's fishery is perhaps as old as the fishery itself. Last year, harvesters refused to fish crab for the first several weeks of the season, saying the price they were paid for their catch was not enough to live on.

In an interview after his speech, Efford said he wants more processing companies operating in the province. Smaller, independent processors are often hit with caps affecting how much they can buy from fishers. Those caps, he added, sometimes force fishers to bring their catch to the larger processors, who don’t have these limits.

Efford said fishers also want to be allowed to sell to buyers outside the province. "The first thing we need is more competition. So, we need more plants here," he said.

Elvis Loveless, provincial minister of fisheries, said during the government news conference that the province has started seeking applications for more buyers. As well, he said the government will increase processing capacity in the snow crab industry before the start of the 2024 season.

"We've had very good discussions. We've met, I'd say, all of their (the union's) requests," he said.

Doug Trainor, a fisherman from Fermeuse, N.L., was covered in dirt after the scuffle with officers. He said a horse stepped on his foot but didn't seriously injure him.

“I felt afraid. I got down on the ground and I couldn’t get up,” said Trainor, who fishes for crab, capelin and cod from the small town 90 kilometres south of St. John’s.

He said he was protesting because he feels overly restricted in whom he can sell his catch to. “The cartels own us. I’m supposed to be an independent fisherman. That’s what I tried to do all my life, and now I’m not anymore.” 

Fisheries are a crucial sector of Newfoundland and Labrador's economy, with the province estimating there are 17,000 seafood workers and 400 communities that rely on the fishery for their livelihood.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2024.

— With files from Michael Tutton in Halifax.

Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press

'Ghost shark' with enormous head and giant iridescent eyes discovered off Thailand

"There were only 53 known species of chimaera in the world; this makes 54," 

Story by Elise Poore

 • LIVE SCIENCE

Scientists have discovered a never-before-seen species of "ghost shark" with a massive head, giant, iridescent eyes and feathery fins in the depths of the Andaman Sea off the coast of Thailand.

The elusive deep-sea creature, named Chimaera supapae, is a cartilaginous fish in the order of the oldest fishes alive today, Chimaeriformes. These ancient fish are distant relatives of sharks and rays.

Scientists described the discovery in a paper published March 6 in the journal Raffles Bulletin of Zoology.

"Chimaera are rare in this region of the world," David Ebert, lead author of the study and program director of the Pacific Shark Research Center at San Jose State University in California, told Live Science in an email.

Chimaeras inhabit the continental slopes and ocean ridges of the deep sea. Found at depths below 1,640 feet (500 meters), these ghostly individuals lurk in dark waters, feeding on bottom-dwelling animals such as crustaceans, mollusks and worms. 

Found at depths below 1,640 feet (500 meters), these ghostly figures lurk in dark waters of the deep-sea. (Image credit: David A. Ebert)© Provided by Live Science

"There were only 53 known species of chimaera in the world; this makes 54," Ebert said. Their deep-sea nature makes them difficult to find, especially in the Andaman Sea, where depths in some areas exceed 14,500 feet (4,400 m).

 The common names of chimaera—  ghost shark and ratfish — come from their big, reflective eyes and rat-like, tapered bodies. Some species can grow up to 6.6 feet (2 m) long. 

The dead immature male specimen was discovered as part of a deep-sea survey project carried out in 2018. The scientists collected it during a bottom trawl in the Andaman Sea between 2,533 and 2543 feet (772 to 775 m) below the surface. Researchers recognized it as a newfound species by its "massive head with short snout" and its large, oval eyes that are over 32% of its total head length. 

The newly described species is a type of shortnose chimaera, measuring 20 inches (51 centimeters) long with broad pectoral fins. Ebert suspects the creature's feather-like frills have to do with "their ability to maneuver over rocky bottoms of high relief."

C. supapae's big, iridescent, green eyes help the animal see in the pitch-black waters. Its dark-brown skin showed no noticeable lines or patterns, and the fish has a dorsal spine on the top of its head.

The species was named supapae after the late Supap Monkolprasit, a scientist from Thailand who spent her life studying cartilaginous fishes. The genus name Chimaera comes from the Greek mythological fire-breathing creature that has three heads — the head of a lion at the front, a goat's head that extends from its back and a serpent tail that ends with the head of a snake.

"Evolutionarily, these chimaeras are among some of the oldest lineages of fishes with the lineage going back 300-400 million years," Ebert said. "The discovery of new species like this chimaera tells us how little we know about the marine environment and how much is still to be explored."

Susie Wolff files criminal complaint against Formula One’s governing body

Story by Giles Richards • THE GUARDIAN

Susie Wolff has taken legal action against the FIA following its inquiry into her last year. Photograph: Antonin Vincent/DPPI/Shutterstock

Susie Wolff, the managing director of the all-female series the F1 Academy, has filed a criminal complaint against Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, over allegations made last year against her and her husband, the Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, which were found to be unsubstantiated.

Wolff and her husband were the subject of a conflict of interest investigation brought by the FIA in December 2023, after an allegation that confidential information was being passed between a team member and a member of the sport’s owners Formula One Management (FOM). It was centred on Toto Wolff and his wife, who is in charge of the F1 Academy, the series which is owned and run by FOM.

Both parties strongly denied the allegation and within 48 hours of it beginning the investigation, the FIA concluded neither party had a case to answer.

Related: Red Bull tries to project harmony but Horner F1 saga will not go away | Giles Richards

Wolff was unequivocal at the time that she felt she and her husband had suffered huge reputational damage as a result of the FIA instigating the investigation and making it public. On Wednesday she made it clear she would be taking the matter further in a post on social media.

“I can confirm that I have personally filed a criminal complaint in the French courts on the 4 March in relation to the statements made about me by the FIA last December,” she wrote. “There has still not been any transparency or accountability in relation to the conduct of the FIA and its personnel in this matter.

“I feel more than ever it is important to stand up, call out improper behaviour and make sure people are held to account. Whilst some may think silence absolves them from responsibility – it does not.”

After the investigation was announced there was an almost immediate backlash from across F1. The following day, in what must be considered an almost unprecedented move, every one of the other nine F1 teams issued a near identical statement confirming they had made no complaints about information being passed and expressing unanimous support for the F1 Academy.

The incident and the FIA’s subsequent climbdown was humiliating for the governing body, especially given it did not explain the rationale behind its actions.

The decision to investigate appears to have been prompted by one, unsubstantiated media report alleging Wolff had made a comment that could only have been informed by information from a member of FOM personnel. The FIA cited “media speculation” over the issue as part of its reasoning to investigate but there was little beyond that single source.

The reaction to it was swift. Mercedes resolutely condemned the investigation as did Wolff, who called it “insulting” and rooted “in intimidatory and misogynistic behaviour”. FOM were similarly robust, warning caution against “making imprudent and serious allegations without substance”.

Since the incident the FIA has not issued any apology or any further explanation of their actions, citing its policy not to reveal the details of complaints or the assessment of them publicly.

With the case Wolff is bringing, the embattled body is set to face intense scrutiny of its policies and practices. Earlier on Wednesday it announced it had concluded its own investigation into allegations of complaints of interference into races by its president Mohammed ben Sulayem and cleared him entirely but once more without revealing any details of the process or the complaints.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may reach a plea deal with the US government, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Archive photo: Julian Assange (flickr.com)© RBC-Ukraine (CA)

The US Department of Justice is considering whether to allow Julian Assange to plead guilty to reduced charges of mishandling classified information.

WSJ writes 
Assange is embroiled in a protracted legal battle with the British government to avoid extradition to the US for future trial over the publication of thousands of confidential US military reports and diplomatic cables in 2010.

Currently, a British court is considering whether to allow the founder of WikiLeaks a last chance for appeal. After the US prosecutors charged him in 2019, he was arrested by UK law enforcement officials and has since been held in a London prison.

WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks is an international non-profit organization that publishes secret information obtained from anonymous sources or through leaks of such information.

Founded in 2006 by the Sunshine Press organization, the founders claimed to possess a database of 1.2 million ocuments collected within the first year of the site's existence.

The organization has released a series of significant documents, resulting in widespread coverage in newspapers. Early publications included documents such as war expenditures in Afghanistan and a report on corruption in Kenya.

In April 2010, WikiLeaks published footage taken during the Baghdad airstrike on July 12, 2007, shog journalists from Reuters among others being killed in an attack by an AH-64 Apache helicopter.

Julian Assange's persecution by the US

The United States accuses Julian Assange on 18 counts, including theft of classified information, espionage, and conspiracy to hack computer networks. If convicted, he could face up to 175 years in prison.

For seven years, from 2012 to 2019, the WikiLeaks founder sought refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in the UK, which granted him asylum. This allowed him to evade extradition to Sweden, where he faced allegations of sexual assault.

In April 2019, a British court found Assange guilty of failing to appear in court in 2012. Ecuadorian authorities permitted British police to enter the embassy and arrest Assange.

In May 2019 and June 2020, the US government announced new charges against Assange, accusing him of violating the 1917 Espionage Act and alleging that he conspired with hackers.

What preceded

Recently, a former CIA employee Joshua Schulte, who several years ago leaked a large volume of classified documents about the Central Intelligence Agency's tools to WikiLeaks, was sentenced to 40 years in prison in the United States.

Last September, a court near Paris rejected a request from an association seeking to allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to seek political asylum in the country.

EU's radical left targets social problems to beat the far right

Story by DPA International

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Walter Baier attends AFCO committee meeting in the European Union. The president of Europe's largest coalition of far-left parties Walter Baier has told the European Newsroom (enr) that fighting the far right will be a priority in the forthcoming European Parliament elections. 

Francois WALSCHAERTS/European Parliament/dpa© DPA International

The president of Europe's largest coalition of far-left parties has told the European Newsroom (enr) that fighting the far right will be a priority in the forthcoming European Parliament elections.

“Fighting the far-right is a moral and a cultural obligation," Walter Baier told the enr in an interview this week. "There can be no compromises with the agenda of hatred, of anti-Semitism, of scapegoating the migrants," he said.

The 70-year-old Austrian has been president of the European Parliament's Party of the European Left (PEL) since December 2022. The PEL is the largest faction of the 37-member far-left bloc in the European Parliament, where pollsters predict a far-right surge in the elections to be held in June.

According to Baier, fighting the European far right requires strong social politics, respect for the interests of employees, the liberation of young people from economic insecurity and guaranteed access to decent housing.

The PEL's manifesto “is written from the perspective of the working class and young people,” said Baier, the former head of Austria’s communist party.

”It cannot be that large parts of our societies are worried about heating their homes during the winter or that they are afraid of the necessary ecological transformation,” he added.

Baier said that to combat the extreme right, it is essential to address the ”social interests of the working classes."

Climate change must also not be forgotten in the fight for social justice, he said. “Ecological reorganization must go hand in hand with the reduction of social inequalities,” Baier said.

Last month, the PEL chose Baier to be its so-called lead candidate in the elections. He will visit around ten EU member states to campaign, he said.

In principle, that makes him the faction's choice for president of the European Commission, an office currently held by German conservative Ursula von der Leyen.

But in practice, the elections won't decide who gets the top job.

Instead, the leaders of the EU's 27 member states will meet behind closed doors to choose a sole candidate - most likely von der Leyen - and then ask the parliament to confirm the appointment.

Last time, von der Leyen - who was no group's lead candidate in the 2019 elections - was confirmed by only the slimmest of margins.

This time, she is the lead candidate of the centre-right European People's Party, but she appears unlikely to win support from PEL representatives. Baier said “she is not the right person” to implement the social policies his group wants to see.

A RIGHT TO DECENT HOUSING

Baier wants to establish decent housing as "a fundamental right in the primary law of the European Union."

He said fulfilling that right means imposing limits on rents and creating a European fund to help municipalities and cooperatives build houses.

“We would like the European Union to invest in the housing sector." The PEL also wants "strict and rigid regulation" of platforms like Airbnb, Baier said.

In addition, the group wants an EU directive “that obliges member states to introduce legal limits on rents and to ban fixed-term tenancies and forced evictions from primary residences.”

TIME FOR UKRAINE TO NEGOTIATE

Baier echoed Pope Francis' call for Ukraine to negotiate an end to the war with Russia, which launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“I believe helping the Ukrainian people means now making attempts to end the war,” said Baier.

Baier underlined that his faction – whose 26 members include Germany’s Die Linke, France’s Communists and Greece’s Syriza – “absolutely condemned the Russian aggression” in its manifesto.

He wants the EU "to take diplomatic efforts to start negotiations to achieve a ceasefire and to achieve the withdrawal of the Russian troops,” Baier said.

“In this regard, I fully support what Pope Francis was saying. Now it’s the time to end the war, and now it’s the time to negotiate and stop killing,” he said.

In an interview broadcast earlier this month, the Argentine pontiff urged Kiev to “raise the white flag and negotiate.”

The Ukrainian government reacted with fury. The Vatican insisted the words “white flag” were intended to mean a cessation of hostilities, not a surrender.

LEFTISTS CAN BRING WESTERN BALKANS INTO THE EU

Baier also said leftists in the EU can help Western Balkan countries that want to join the bloc to meet the membership criteria.

He recalled the Copenhagen criteria, which were set in 1993 as basic conditions for EU accession, emphasizing the importance of respect for human rights and the rule of law.

“I would also add respect for trade union rights and labour rights. I think that the European Left Party, which is in contact with left forces in different countries of the Western Balkans, can play a constructive role in creating these conditions, which are laid down in the Copenhagen criteria,” Baier pointed out.