Gravitational Wave Experts Discover 'Remarkable' Ancient Computer's Secrets
Story by Jess Thomson •

Image of the Antikythera Mechanism (main) and gravitational waves (inset). The same statistical analysis used to study gravitational waves was used to predict the number of holes on a broken ring of the mechanism.

© ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS / University of Glasgow

Special techniques used to study ripples in the universe may have helped researchers solve an ancient mystery.

Statistical modeling methods that were developed to study gravitational waves have been used to predict the structure of a broken section of a millennia-old artifact, according to a new paper in The Horological Journal.

These techniques allowed researchers to tell how many holes there were in one of the broken rings of the Antikythera mechanism, the ancient computer featured in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient Greek analog device dating back to between 100 and 200 BC that is considered the world's first known computer. Discovered in 1901 in a shipwreck off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera, the device is thought to have been used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses for calendrical and astrological purposes.

The mechanism is composed of a complex system of bronze gears and dials housed in a wooden case. It has 30 gears, which is an incredibly sophisticated design for its time.

Its complexity suggests that the ancient Greeks had developed advanced knowledge of gear-based technology, far more advanced than previously thought for that era.

Related video: Gravitational Waves Create A 'Cosmic Symphony' That Scientists Are Tuning Into (Space)   Duration 3:41   View on Watch

Modern imaging techniques, such as X-ray computed tomography, have been used to study the internal structure and functions of the mechanism. It has slowly become apparent that it was used to calculate the locations of the planets, predict eclipses, and track the months and years.

Thanks to X-ray imagery in 2020, one of the device's rings was discovered to have regularly spaced holes. Because the ring was broken, it wasn't clear how many rings it had originally, but researchers estimated between 347 and 367.

According to the new paper, the ring is likely to have had 354 holes, corresponding to the moon's cycle. According to their calculations, the ring having 354 holes is hundreds of times more likely than having 360 holes.

"We present a new analysis of the positions of holes beneath the calendar ring of the Antikythera Mechanism," the researchers wrote in the paper. "We significantly refine their estimate for the number of holes that were present in the full ring. Our 68 percent-credible estimate for this number, taking account of all the data, is 355.24 [plus or minus about 1.4].

"If holes adjacent to fractures are removed from the analysis, our estimate becomes 354.08. A ring of 360 holes is strongly disfavoured, and one of 365 holes is not plausible, given our model assumptions."

This mystery was solved using similar statistical modeling techniques as those used to study gravitational waves, which are ripples in the fabric of spacetime created by the movement of massive objects traveling outward from the source.

"Towards the end of last year, a colleague pointed to me to data acquired by YouTuber Chris Budiselic, who was looking to make a replica of the calendar ring and was investigating ways to determine just how many holes it contained," paper co-author Graham Woan, a professor at the University of Glasgow School of Physics & Astronomy, said in a statement.

"It struck me as an interesting problem, and one that I thought I might be able to solve in a different way during the Christmas holidays, so I set about using some statistical techniques to answer the question."

After using this technique, the scientists discovered the number of holes was likely 354 or 355.

"Previous studies had suggested that the calendar ring was likely to have tracked the lunar calendar, but the dual techniques we've applied in this piece of work greatly increase the likelihood that this was the case," co-author Joseph Bayley, also a researcher at the University of Glasgow, said in the statement.

"It's given me a new appreciation for the Antikythera mechanism and the work and care that Greek craftspeople put into making it – the precision of the holes' positioning would have required highly accurate measurement techniques and an incredibly steady hand to punch them."

While we will never truly know how many holes the ring actually had, the analysis gives pretty strong evidence for there having been 354.

"It's a neat symmetry that we've adapted techniques we use to study the universe today to understand more about a mechanism that helped people keep track of the heavens nearly two millennia ago," Woan said.

"We hope that our findings about the Antikythera mechanism, although less supernaturally spectacular than those made by Indiana Jones, will help deepen our understanding of how this remarkable device was made and used by the Greeks."

Under Water Stonehenge Found in Lake Michigan | Secrets of the Underground"

 Provided by Indy 100

There’s much we may never know about our earliest ancestors, like why we started to walk upright and how we managed to create structures that seem to defy the engineering capabilities of the time.

Stonehenge remains one of these great mysteries, with experts around the world divided over why exactly the prehistoric monument was built.

Now, to add to this age-old confusion, it has emerged that a similarly enigmatic stone structure has been found beneath the waters of Lake Michigan in the US.

Not only that, but this underwater creation is around 5,000 years older than its British counterpart.

The site was discovered in 2007 by a team of archaeologists led by Mark Holley, a professor of underwater archaeology at Northwestern Michigan College.

Holley and his colleagues were conducting a survey of the lake bed when they chanced upon a series of large stones, arranged in a circular pattern, just off the coast of Traverse City, Michigan.



Holley and his team uncovered sunken boats, cars and even a Civil War-era pier while surveying Lake Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay, ((Mark Holley via Archaeology World))© Provided by Indy 100

Holley later admitted that the discovery, made at a depth of about 40 feet (12.1m), was completely unexpected, and that he and his team were initially unsure of what they’d found.

However, analysis soon suggested that the stones – some of which weighed up to 3,000lbs (around 1,360kg) – had deliberately been arranged in a circular pattern by humans, Medium reports.

This pattern is about 40 feet in diameter and features an inner circle of stones measuring around 20 feet in diameter.

The stones, which are all made of granite – found locally in the area – are estimated to be around 10,000 years old, thereby making the formation one of the oldest ever discovered in North America.

And yet, whilst the Lake Michigan stones are relatively similar in size and shape to the monoliths of Stonehenge, their origins are a lot murkier.

“Whilst they do seem to form a perfect geometric shape, they aren't stacked or connected in the same way,” scientist Rob Nelson explained in an episode titled ‘American Stonehenge’ for Discovery UK.

“And while there is evidence that prehistoric tribes roam to the Great Lakes for thousands of years, very little is known about them,” he added, stressing that he hasn’t seen anything “remotely resembling this formation in the archaeological record”.


Under Water Stonehenge Found in Lake Michigan | Secrets of the Underground www.youtube.com

Nelson spoke to a man called Hank, whose ancestors, the Anishinaabe people, were among the first to inhabit the region.

Hank believes that his tribe’s prehistoric, hunter-gatherer forefathers – who settled in the area following the last Ice Age – placed the stones there for a sacred purpose.

“[In Anishabe culture], we refer to stones as animate objects because they come from the mother, the Earth, who is alive,” he explained, adding that the monument’s presence in the lake is proof that his people have been there a long time.

Meanwhile, Holley pointed out that the area was not underwater 10,000 years ago, and that communities had, indeed, settled on the exact spot where the stones had been laid.

“It would've been a wonderful place for people to live – near the coastline, close to resources, transportation's easy,” the archaeologist told Nelson.

However, he went on, 5,000 years later, the water levels rose, flooding the Lake Michigan basin.

Thanks to advanced technology called stereo photogrammetry, Nelson was able to stitch together photographs of the rocks to create an accurate 3D rendering of them, which he was then able to analyse in detail.

These revealed carvings and engravings on some of the stones, including an image of what appears to be a Mastodon.



Nelson's jaw dropped when he realised there was a carving of a Mastodon on one of the rocks ((Discovery UK))© Provided by Indy 100

Mastodons are extinct ancestors to elephants and woolly mammoths that were once one of the largest land animals ever to roam North America.

They stood up to 10 feet tall (3.1m), weighed upwards of 5,440kg (six tons) and lived during the Pleistocene Epoch, which lasted from about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago.

The carvings suggest that the humans who built the site must have had some knowledge of these mammals, and maybe even hunted them.

Dr John O’Shea, Curator of Great Lakes Archaeology at the University of Michigan, noted this allusion to Mastodons, combined with the configuration of the formation – which includes a long line of rocks leading directly towards it – suggests that it could have been an ancient hunting structure known as a drive lane.

Dr O’Shea told Nelson that humans have used drive lanes for thousands of years to herd large groups of animals along a set path towards a kill zone, where the hunters lie in wait.

If this is the case, the site challenges the conventional belief that early humans weren’t capable of creating such sophisticated structures.

Nevertheless, the precise purpose of the structure and the identity of its architects remain a mystery – much like its much younger cousin all the way over in Salisbury.

UK

Starmer has no option but to reduce prisoner sentences or risk justice system collapse, unions warn

Exclusive: Anything less than freeing up thousands of spaces ‘would be complete waste of time’, union chief warns

Andy Gregory
THE INDEPENDENT

JULY 11,2024

Sir Keir Starmer’s new government has “no other alternative” but to release prisoners 40 per cent of the way into their sentence to ease the overcrowding crisis behind bars and avert the collapse of the criminal justice system, unions have warned.

The new justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, is expected to announce such measures on Friday, with exemptions for more serious offenders, after Sir Keir described his shock at the extent of the mess he has inherited from the Conservative government.


Rishi Sunak’s administration is understood to have drawn up similar plans before abandoning them prior to calling the general election in June. He had already been forced to release prisoners progressively earlier since October, reaching up to 70 days early in May.

Describing the bringing forward individual prisoners’ release dates as having caused “absolute mayhem” for the probation service, Napo union chief Ian Lawrence said he hopes the new move of a more blanket recalculation of sentences will ease some of the pressure.

Sir Keir Starmer described his shock at the state of the nation’s prisons (HMIP)

“We’re not opposed to the early release of prisoners to free up capacity for those who deserve to be behind bars, but you have to do it in an orderly way and the current scheme does not do that – it’s not giving enough time for assessment to be made about the risks of a particular individual,” he told The Independent.

“That’s caused absolute mayhem for probation staff because we’re trying to deal with people at short notice. If they’re not in place with a rehabilitation plan, the chances are they’ll be recalled (to prison) in a week or two, so it’s a revolving door scenario.”

The probation union chief called for a “properly monitored scheme” which gives probation staff sufficient time to assess each individual prisoner, adding: “None of that was part of last government thinking. They just wanted to clear the cells, come what may, and not listen to the experts.”

He added: “That will give us more time to play with, but it’s the volume that still concerns me. How are we going to deal with this with the limited capacity we have?”

Warning that the probation service is in desperate need of a major financial rescue package, Mr Lawrence said: “You’ve got to pay staff sufficiently to recruit, retain and motivate.”

Demanding that the new government look at reopening pay negotiations immediately, he warned that the £150m a year touted by the previous administration “hasn’t produced the results we need”.

Indicating that the prospect of strike action remains on the table, he said: “Napo have taken a decision to postpone the prospect of immediate industrial action while we await engagement with the minister.”

And as Sir Keir touts the idea of private help for the public sector, Mr Lawrence warned Napo “will be utterly opposed to any concept of private sector involvement into the work of probation”, saying: “Any government ought to have learnt their lesson by now that that was a disaster for the taxpayer and the service.”

The new justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood (REUTERS)

With probation officer caseloads already well over capacity, Mr Lawrence expressed hopes for a review of the service itself and a “root-and-branch” review to establish “whether our sentencing policies are fit for purpose and meet the need of the times”.

Suggesting that there was “much to be learned” from the “courageous” attempts of Tory ministers Rory Stewart and David Gauke to end the use of short sentences in order to reduce reoffending, he added: “Unless you do that, the cycle will continue and prisons will become full again very quickly.

“Is this government going to take the brave steps to really have a look at short-term sentencing?”

In the short term, Carl Davies of the Prison Governors Association warned that Sir Keir has “no other alternative” than to release most prisoners 40 per cent of the way into their sentence, as opposed to halfway through.

“Prisons are all but full” and “to some degree, we’re in a ‘one in, one out’ scenario in some parts of the country” already, he said.

Warning that the previous government’s early release scheme had seen probation’s limited resources “channeled into managing a capacity crisis in prisons, and that’s a waste of their skilled and valued resource”, he added: “Having an automatic 40 per cent mark does away with that additional workload.”

Steve Gillan, head of the Prison Officer Association, also told The Independent that it is “inevitable” that Sir Keir would have to strategically release prisoners “otherwise the criminal justice system would have collapsed”.

“The reality is that this is going to have be done and done quickly to relieve the pressure on system”, and the new scheme must free up between three and five thousand spaces, said the union chief, warning that “anything less than that would be a complete waste of time”.

Warning that more long-term solutions are needed, Mr Gillan insisted you “can’t build your way out of a crisis”, as he suggested spending the £4bn earmarked for new prisons internally instead to immediately improve conditions while planning “a proper sentencing policy that actually reduces the population”.

Keir Starmer promises to send fewer people to prison as he prepares to release offenders early

The prime minister has hit out at the inheritance left for him by the Conservatives and branded Britain’s prison system “broken”, speaking of his shock at discovering the scale of the crisis

Archie Mitchell,Andy Gregory,David Maddox

THE INDEPENDENT

JULY 11,2024

Sir Keir Starmer has promised to send fewer people to jail in the long term while he prepares to oversee the mass early release of prisoners to ease the overcrowding crisis facing the UK’s jails.

The prime minister hit out at the inheritance left for him by the Conservatives and branded Britain’s prison system “broken”, speaking of his shock at discovering the scale of the crisis.

And Sir Keir warned he cannot build new prisons in just seven days.

It has led to widespread expectations that the new justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, will use a major speech on Friday to unveil measures aimed at easing the crisis.

The prime minister said he was “pretty shocked” at the scale of the situation (PA Wire)

The spate of emergency measures is set to include automatically releasing prisoners on standard determinate sentences after they have served just 40 per cent of their time. The current threshold is 50 per cent, and exemptions for serious violent and sexual offenders are expected.

Former justice secretary Alex Chalk told the BBC on Thursday that the last government had planned to release some prisoners after serving 40 per cent of their time, with an aim to jail fewer people altogether.

The plans were not implemented for fears it would damage the Tories’ electoral chances and face a lack of support in parliament, he said.

Speaking to Channel 4 while attending the Nato summit in Washington, DC, Sir Keir said: “I’m shocked to be in this position, particularly having worked in criminal justice. It is a basic function of government that there should be enough prison places for the number of people that courts are sending to prison. That basic premise broke down under the last government, that is beyond irresponsible, and we’re going to have to pick up that mess and they ignored it.

“I can’t build a prison in seven days with the best will in the world. It is clearly a problem left by the last government. We cannot be in this terrible state and they ignored the problem, didn’t fix the problem, we are going to have to fix it.

Former justice secretary Alex Chalk said there were plans in place to ease the crisis but they were dropped for political reasons (Getty Images)

“We have to make short-term measures that we will announce in due course and then of course we’ll have to do even further measures. I simply can’t build a prison in seven days.

“This is a terrible failure of the last government.”

The PM indicated in the interview that longer term he would aim to send fewer people to prison in the first place.

It follows the appointment of James Timpson as prisons minister, with the businessman having previously said only a third of those in jail should be there.

He has also said Britain is “addicted to sentencing and punishment”, and spoken of the need to reduce reoffending rates.

Sir Keir said: “I spent five years of my life as the chief prosecutor, bringing cases which led to serious criminals going to prison for very long periods of time. In relation to the work that could be done to prevent people going to prison, I have always believed that there are cases which didn’t need to have got to court.”

He cited a promise during the general election campaign to prevent young people from falling into knife crime by setting up youth hubs as “an opportunity to pull people out”.

And on those who may be released under the emergency measures to relieve overcrowding, Sir Keir made clear that “there will be exclusions”.

But, in another interview, he told ITV: “Of course I can’t tell you how frustrated I am to be put in this position by the previous government. It’s worse than we thought… It is a catastrophic failure. It’s reckless to have allowed this to have happened, we’ll have to take the necessary action.”

Sir Keir’s predecessor as director of public prosecutions said the prime minister faces a “huge political risk” releasing prisoners early, as some will go on to re-offend.

Lord Macdonald told Times Radio: “If you release a big batch of prisoners, some of them will go on to offend... We have the worst recidivism rates in western Europe.

“People come out of prison, they offend... So, yes, of course, there’s a huge political risk here. I think what’s depressing about this is that the only reason we’re really confronting this problem now is because the government has no choice. It literally has no choice because it’s got no cells to put prisoners in."

UK

‘Lib-Lab cooperation can’t wait till 2029. It should start with social care reform’

Nick Pearce  

11th July, 2024  

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It is tempting to regard last week’s general election result as a belated tribute to the late David Marquand, the influential public intellectual who coined the term the ‘progressive dilemma’.

Marquand, who sadly died earlier this year, famously diagnosed the dilemma as the split between liberalism and the Labour tradition in British politics, an historic fissure that prevented the formation of a centre-left coalition sufficiently broad to defeat the Conservatives.  In stunning fashion, British voters overcame this fissure last Thursday. Highly efficient tactical voting between Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters effected an electoral union of the centre-left, while the Conservative vote collapsed.

This can be clearly seen in the following graph from JLP pollsters. The Liberal Democrat vote share rises sharply when the Labour vote share falls below 25%, but dips when it is above it. Labour lent votes to the Liberal Democrats where it couldn’t beat the Tories and the favour was returned. The Liberal Democrat vote share fell where Labour was best placed to win.

The progressive alliance delivered disproportionate seat gains to both Labour and the Liberal Democrats, but it did not embrace the Greens or the SNP, the two other parties often considered part of an anti-Tory bloc.

The Greens took vote share from both Labour and the Liberal Democrats amongst younger voters and competed directly with Labour in much of urban Britain, coming second to Labour in 39 seats.  Meanwhile, Labour annihilated the SNP across the Central Belt of Scotland and on the far right, Reform took chunks out of the Conservative vote, bringing swathes of seats within Labour’s reach and raising the prospect of a ‘regressive dilemma’, as the Economist dubbed it.

Labour’s electoral coalition

Labour strategists are already turning their attention to how to hold together their new, widely spread but shallow electoral coalition. In this finely observed piece by Keir Starmer’s biographer, Tom Baldwin, there is an intriguing reference to the party’s recognition of the importance of cooperation with the Liberal Democrats:‘There are hints, too, that even with his vast parliamentary majority, Starmer may have to consider a closer working or even electoral relationship with other centrist parties such as the Liberal Democrats if he is to build a stable coalition from a volatile electorate.’

For Marquand, the progressive dilemma spanned ideas and worldviews, as much as electoral strategy. One of his key questions was how progressives could construct ‘a broad-based and enduring social coalition that was capable not just of giving a temporary majority in the House of Commons, but of sustaining a reforming Government thereafter.’

This required what he called a ‘marriage of Tom Paine and William Morris’, a union of the ‘communitarian, participatory and decentralist strands’ of both liberalism and socialism.

READ MORE: Starmer at NATO summit: ‘What will be the UK’s global role under Labour?’

Marquand’s thesis had an important influence on New Labour, although he was to come to renounce any allegiance to the party and shifted increasingly towards civic republican concerns in the Blair-Brown years. After Labour’s 1992 General Election defeat, Marquand’s arguments appeared more prescient and compelling than ever, and helped ferment the dialogue between the Liberal Democrats and Labour on democratic and constitutional reform that took place in the 1990s.

The size of Labour’s majority in 1997 rendered these talks otiose – or rather, gave the conservative, Labourist tradition an excuse to sideline any talk of cooperation. Only towards the end of the New Labour government did such dialogue return, by which time it was too late. British liberalism had taken its fateful Orange Book turn, one which delivered it into coalition with the Centre-Right, followed by an electoral oblivion from which it has only now recovered.

The 2024 platform

The Labour Manifesto of 2024 contained little of the reforming ambition that animated the radical proposals of its 1997 programme on devolution, the Human Rights Act, Freedom of Information and other measures.

It largely reverted to constitutional conservatism. Unsurprisingly after the sleaze of the Johnson era, the manifesto had strong commitments to ethics and integrity in public office. In other areas, such as House of Lords reform, its proposed reforms were modest. But on constitutional and democratic reform, the door could open to wider change in the second term of Labour’s mooted ‘decade of national renewal’, in which case some of the foundations for cooperation with the Liberal Democrats would need to be laid now.

One the key lessons of the New Labour period is that political and intellectual dialogue between liberalism and social democracy will not succeed if it is left until late in a term of office, driven largely by the imperative of electoral survival. Moreover, for Marquand, the marriage of Paine and Morris did not need ‘official blessing’. Wider movements in civil society, think-tanks and the press need to undertake the spade work of ‘sustaining a reforming Government’, just as Charter 88, the Scottish Constitutional Convention and others prefigured the 1990s reforms.

Despite their distinctive social class and geographical bases, Labour and Liberal Democrat voters have much in common on policy, as polling from YouGov published during the general election campaign showed. One area of shared concern is reform of social care, where successive governments have failed to achieve even partial, let alone politically stable reform.

Social care reform is primarily a political-economic, not policy challenge, and the scope for lasting change in this area depends heavily on whether an electoral coalition of support can be marshalled for a model of care based on collective insurance, funded by progressive wealth, property or inheritance taxation.

If reform is resisted by middle aged and older voters in the asset-rich South of England, it will fail. That is a reason why the task cannot fall to Labour alone. The Liberal Democrats promised cross-party talks on care in their manifesto; the Labour government should take them at their word.

This article was first publised on the University of Bath Institte for Policy Research site and has been republished on LabourList at the permission of the author.

UK

Reed vows to ‘clean up’ water industry as Ofwat backs 21% price hikes

Daniel Green   

11th July, 2024

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Environment Secretary Steve Reed has committed to “clean up” the water industry to cut sewage pollution as regulator Ofwat announced prices are set to rise by an average of £94 over the next five years.

The increase, which will see average bills rise by around £19 a year, is a third less than requested by water firms and will go towards funding improvements including reducing sewage discharges.

Reed is set to meet with water company chief executives later this afternoon to outline plans to work in partnership with the sector to attract investment, jobs and clean up the nation’s polluted waterways.

He has also written to Ofwat to ask them to make sure funding for vital infrastructure is ringfenced and can only be spent on upgrades benefitting customers and the environment.

Reed also announced that customers will gain new powers to hold water company bosses to account with new customer panels. The panels will allow water users to summon board members and hold water executives to account.

Subject to consultation, the amount of compensation customers are legally entitled to when key standards are not met will more than double, Reed said.

Reed said: “We will never look the other way while water companies pump sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.

“This unacceptable destruction of our waterways should never have been allowed, but change has now begun so it can never happen again.

“Today I have announced significant steps to clean up the water industry to cut sewage pollution, protect customers and attract investment to upgrade its crumbling infrastructure.

“That change will take time. Over the coming weeks and months, this Government will outline further steps to reform the water sector and restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health.”

UK

Lisa Nandy on being the new Minister of Fun

EXCLUSIVE: In her first interview as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Wigan MP Lisa Nandy talks to the Manchester Evening News about protecting football clubs, breaking down barriers in arts and Euro 2024

By Joseph Timan

Politics writer

Manchester Evening News

11 JUL 2024

(Image: Kenny Brown)

Lisa Nandy has set out her top priorities in government as the new 'minister of fun'.

In her first interview as the Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, the Wigan MP told the Manchester Evening News that she wants to put football fans 'at the centre of the game'. Returning from Germany where, alongside pop star Ed Sheeran, she watched England beat the Netherlands to secure a spot in the Euros final, she visited Gigg Lane.

At the home of Bury FC, she spoke about plans to protect football clubs from going under, telling fans 'never again'. Speaking to the M.E.N. during her first ministerial visit, she promised to get the new football regulator up and running 'without delay'.

She also spoke about how she wants to open up opportunities for working class kids in media, film, dance and drama. And she committed to reviewing how public funding for the arts is spent to make sure that the north of England gets its fair share.

The newly-appointed Labour minister addressed officials at her new department in London this week, with staff from its Manchester headquarters watching online. But she told the M.E.N. that she plans to spend much of her time as secretary of state up in the north.

She also spoke of the importance of her role on the international stage and her pride in watching England win the Euros semi-final in Dortmund this week. But whether a win in the final on Sunday (July 14) means we get a bank holiday to celebrate, she would not say.

Here is the Manchester Evening News's interview with Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy in full...

LISA NANDY ON PROTECTING FOOTBALL CLUBS AND BEING 'MINISTER OF FUN'

Q: Hi Lisa. How are you doing?

A: Well it's been a bit of a whirlwind, to be honest, the last few days. This time last week I was over in Wigan, banging on doors in the rain and now I'm back here at Gigg Lane talking to football fans about how we're going to make sure that we put fans at the centre of the game again. So it's been a pretty amazing week, but really exciting.

Q: So how does it feel? You've been on the sidelines for 14 years and now you're in power.

A: It's amazing, actually. But it also feels like a very heavy responsibility. Across our arts, culture and sporting sectors there are lots of challenges. Obviously the pandemic had a major impact, but also the inaction that we've seen on issues like football sustainability and regulation for a long time.

We'd almost got there before the general election and then we didn't. And I know better than anyone what that inaction means for clubs, not just like Bury, but for Wigan Athletic as well, my own club that went into administration. We nearly lost it twice. And so, I'm here with one message and one message alone for people in this country.

If it matters to you. It matters to our Labour government and we're going to stand with you and support you to protect the things that matter in your communities.

Q: As you'll know from the work you've done as a local MP, loads of our clubs in Greater Manchester have been at risk. You have committed to backing the football regulator, but I think what fans really want to know is, when is it going to happen? Because the longer we wait the more likely it is that we'll lose a club forever.

A: Absolutely and obviously we've got the King's Speech coming up next week and I obviously won't pre-empt what the King has to announce, but I'm here as a statement of intent as my first visit to show that this is a top priority for me in this job. And it's personal for me. Not only was my club Wigan Athletic at risk twice, but my step-dad was a season ticket holder here, a lifelong season ticket holder at Gigg Lane. We couldn't care more, in my family, about this. Just as all of the families that I've just met, all of the fans, care as well.

So it's going to be a top priority for us. I don't want to pre-empt the King's Speech, but it was a central part of our manifesto and it will be an essential part of my job to deliver on that and to deliver on it without delay.

Bury North MP James Frith with Lisa Nandy at Gigg Lane (Image: Kenny Brown)

Q: Does that mean by the end of the year? Within a year? What were we talking about? What kind of timescale?

A: You're gonna have to wait a few more days, I'm afraid, to find out exactly what it is that we're announcing as our legislative programme. But Stephanie Peacock is our newly appointed Sports Minister, and I can't wait to get started.

Q: You've got a big department here, the second headquarters of DCMS is in Manchester. Does that mean you're going to spend more time here as a Secretary of State?

A: Very much so. And, in fact, I had the great privilege of addressing the staff in London with the Manchester staff beaming down the line, and I looked over onto the screen and said to them all, it makes me feel homesick, especially the rain falling outside the window! But they are an essential part of what we're trying to do. Because the mission of our department is to put people back at the centre of their own story again.

For too long, too many people in many parts of the UK have not seen their lives, their families, or their communities reflected in the story that we tell ourselves as a nation about ourselves and that I think has fed this real sense of alienation from governments, this sense of anger and division.

We found multiple ways to divide ourselves from one another in recent decades and it's been bad for our country, bad for our communities. So whether it's through investing in grassroots sport, whether it's through opening up opportunities in media, film, dance, drama to working class kids in communities like Bolton and Bury, that is going to be the mission and the work of our government.

So, having a headquarters outside of London, where people are rooted in different communities and can provide that level of challenge and that link to other communities, is going to be absolutely essential to us, and I'll be working out of there quite often, especially this summer.

Q: When it comes to arts funding, there's been a push in recent years for more arts funding to go to the north. Last year, we had the announcement that the English National Opera are going to be making Greater Manchester their main home, but it was only after they had threats of their funding being cut. We had Aviva Studios open last year as well, which came from public money. At the same time, Oldham Coliseum got its money cut. Thankfully, we learnt recently it's been saved. But what's your approach going to be? How are we going to make sure that money is spread across the country and there isn't that sort of London bias?

A: First of all, I think, right on our doorstep here, we've got one of the best examples of levelling up that this country has ever seen, before levelling up as a slogan even existed and that's Media City over in Salford. You'll remember as well as I do, the furious row about whether the BBC and other media institutions could possibly move outside of London, but that has been a stunning success. It's been an economic success story.

It's opened up opportunities to kids from across our region. But more than that, what it's done is enable a different range of voices to be heard and different stories to be told than the ones that were being told by a very narrow group of people in one part of the country.

And that's been absolutely essential to us. So, it's my belief that some of the work that the government - the previous government - started to do to try and move some of those big institutions, to try and open up that conversation, was a very important part of the picture.

But there's another part of the picture too that the funding that exists for the arts, the public funding that exists has been cut significantly over the last decade and a half. And what that's meant is that private philanthropy has had to come in to fill the gap. But much of that private money goes to the big institutions in the capital, whereas the public money was usually channelled through councils to local institutions, like the Oldham Coliseum and the Bolton Octagon and other institutions all over the country. Now, that collapse in council funding has been a real problem. So we're determined that we're going to look at funding in the round. We're committed in our manifesto to looking at a review of Arts Council England and the way that that works, but we don't want to do that in isolation because if all you do is ask for private funders to come in and fill the gap, what you could very quickly find is that you increase regional inequality rather than break down those barriers everywhere, which is our intention.

'The mission of our department is to put people back at the centre of their own story again' (Image: Kenny Brown)

Q: And what about the ticket levy on arena and stadium concerts that's been talked about? The culture, media and sport committee recommended it in May. Is that something that Labour would look at doing?

A: Well, we haven't got any plans to do that at this stage. We want to support the work that is going on around the country through a thorough review of where funding is currently going, how people are able to access it and how much impact it's making, not just economically, although economics is very important to us, but also, for the communities that they serve to make sure that those stories are told.

Our number one priority though is to grow the economy. That means supporting businesses to be able to thrive in a very difficult environment. I see the creative economies as an absolutely essential part of that. You talk to any mayor - metro mayor - around the country, they'll talk to you about the possibilities of clean energy and they'll talk to you about the possibilities about arts and culture.

Tracy Brabin for example, the mayor over in Yorkshire, is doing a great piece of work on a cultural corridor that runs right up the north of England, all the way up to Sunderland where the film industry is thriving. These are things that we want to put up front and centre as part of our priorities. Because if we can create those good jobs and parts of the country, they're not just jobs. They're high-wage jobs that enable more people to participate in our national story. So that's the emphasis. I suppose it's a much bigger ambition than just looking at individual measures. We want to make sure that we're supporting creative industries and business to thrive in every part of the UK.

Q: I just wanted to finish by asking you about last night. So you just got back from Germany. What was it like?

A: It was a very hard job for me, but someone had to do it!

Q: You must have the funniest job in government.

A: I am definitely the minister for fun, but there's a serious side to it as well, you know, for Britain, for England in particular, but for the whole of the United Kingdom, that was a really important moment. We're there, we're out in front of the world. Our football, just like arts, film, many of the areas in my brief, music, dance, drama, we're world leaders in. And it's a great source of our soft power and influence around the world as well. And so it's fantastic to be there watching everyone.

All eyes on us, on the world stage, knowing that in a few years' time, the United Kingdom will be hosting Euros 2028. And we've got stadiums up here, in the north west of England, as well as right around the country, in every part of the United Kingdom, that will be hosting and playing their full part in those games and will feel the benefit from them as well.

Whole pod of 77 whales die in mass stranding on Scottish island

James Walker
Thu, 11 July 2024 

The stranded whales were spotted on Thursday on Sanday, Orkney (British Divers Marine Life Rescue/PA Wire).

A whole pod of 77 whales have died in a mass stranding on a Scottish island.

British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) received a report of a mass stranding of up to 100 long-finned pilot whales on Sanday, Orkney, just before 11am on Thursday.

Of the 77 whales which were on the beach, none have survived after medics were mobilised from around the islands and further afield in Scotland in a bid to save them.

A similar incident occurred on July 16 2023 on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, when 55 pilot whales were stranded, with only one surviving.

READ MORE: 'It's not a good start': Jeremy Corbyn on Keir Starmer as PM

Molly Brown, who works for BDMLR, said although the cause of the stranding was unknown, the whales are sociable and may have followed one of the group who became stranded.

Brown said: “Pilot whales are incredibly sociable and so its possible that one of them stranded and the rest followed.

“It’s the largest one in a long time. We did have a mass stranding of 55 around this time last year on the Isle of Lewis.

“It’s a different part of Scotland – I don’t know if it’s just coincidence. There’s a lot of disturbance.”

Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme intend to begin post-mortem investigations.

Dozens of whales die in one of largest mass strandings in Britain in recent times


At least 65 long-finned pilot whales died after 77 were washed ashore on Scottish island in Orkney

Tara Cobham

The stranded whales were spotted on Thursday on Sanday, Orkney (British Divers Marine Life Rescue/PA Wire)

Dozens of whales have died in one of the largest mass strandings in Britain in recent times, with experts striving to save the few survivors.

At least 65 long-finned pilot whales died after 77 were washed ashore on an island off the north coast of Scotland, a rescue charity said on Thursday, warning that many of the remaining will not survive.

The British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) said it had been alerted to the “horrible” and “hugely emotional” stranding of up to 100 animals just before 11am, sending medics to Tresness Beach on Sanday, a Scottish island in the Orkney archipelago.

“On arrival, the medics found there to be about 77 animals high up the beach, having evidently been stranded for several hours already. Sadly, only 12 of them [were] still alive at this point,” the charity said in a statement, adding that first aid has been given to the surviving animals as the incoming tide approaches them. “Our team continues to work hard to manage this incredibly difficult situation.”

It comes almost a year after a similar incident occurred in Scotland when 55 pilot whales were stranded on 16 July 2023 on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, with only one surviving.

On 16 July last year, 55 pilot whales were stranded on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, with only one surviving

Describing the latest stranding as a “big, big incident”, “really quite horrible” and “hugely emotional”, Emma Neave-Webb, from BDMLR, told BBC Scotland News: “There are whales everywhere. There’s a long line of them, some of them are still alive.


“I know from experience how difficult these incidents are and I think we need to be realistic.”

She warned it is unlikely the rescue teams will be able to save many of the surviving whales.

"We will do our utmost best obviously, but they have been here for quite some time, so I think we have to be slightly pragmatic about it," she said.

Molly Brown, who works for BDMLR, said although the cause of the stranding was unknown, the whales are sociable and may have followed one of the group who became stranded.

Dozens of whales have died in one of the largest mass strandings in Britain in recent times, with experts ongoingly striving to save the few survivors (BBC)

Describing the stranding as “the largest one in a long time”, Ms Brown said: “We have 77 animals stranded and only 12 are alive at the moment, the tide is on its way in. The whales are hopefully going to be refloated on the tide.


“We are just getting all our medics there at the moment, we have got medics heading from elsewhere on Orkney and other areas of Scotland. We will do our best to save the remaining live ones.

“Pilot whales are incredibly sociable and so it’s possible that one of them stranded and the rest followed.

“It's the largest one in a long time. We did have a mass stranding of 55 around this time last year on the Isle of Lewis. It's a different part of Scotland – I don't know if it's just a coincidence. There's a lot of disturbance.”

At least 65 long-finned pilot whales died after 77 were washed ashore on an island off the north coast of Scotland, a rescue charity says (BBC)

Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme intends to begin post-mortem investigations.

Whales can get stranded on shore for a range of reasons, such as when they lose their way or get trapped by tides, but scientists say there is no single definitive reason behind the phenomenon, which has been recorded throughout history.

Pilot whales, in particular, have close social bonds, and when one member of a pod gets into difficulties, others often follow them, resulting in mass strandings.

A mass stranding also occurred in Western Australia earlier this year.

Baltimore bridge collapse survivor recounts fighting for his life in NBC interview

The only person who survived falling from Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge during its catastrophic collapse says he watched in horror as his coworkers, friends and relatives plunged to their deaths

Via AP news wire
JULY 111,2024



The only person who survived falling from Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge during its catastrophic collapse says he watched in horror as his coworkers, friends and relatives plunged to their deaths.

In an exclusive interview with NBC News that aired Wednesday evening, Julio Cervantes Suarez described fighting for his life after his truck tumbled into the Patapsco River. He was part of a roadwork crew filling potholes on the bridge when a massive cargo ship lost power and crashed into one of its supporting columns on March 26.

Six people died in the collapse, including Cervantes Suarez’s nephew and brother-in-law. An inspector working alongside the crew was able to run to safety and declined medical treatment.

Cervantes Suarez, 37, who hadn’t previously spoken publicly about his experience, said the men were sitting in their construction vehicles during a break when the bridge suddenly started crumbling beneath them. A last-minute mayday call from the ship’s pilot had allowed nearby police officers to stop traffic to the bridge just moments earlier, but they didn’t have enough time to alert the construction workers.

Faced with almost certain death, Cervantes Suarez said he thanked God for his family.

Miraculously, he was able to manually roll down the window of his rapidly sinking truck and climb out into the frigid water.

“That’s when I realized what happened," he told NBC News in Spanish. “I looked at the bridge, and it was no longer there.”

He said he called out to his companions by name, but no one answered him. Unable to swim, he clung to a piece of floating concrete until he was rescued by first responders. He was hospitalized for treatment of a chest wound.

Cervantes Suarez said he’s haunted by the fall and grieving an unimaginable loss.

All the victims were Latino immigrants who moved to the U.S. for work opportunities.

In the immediate aftermath of the collapse, Baltimore County’s close-knit Latino community constructed an elaborate memorial where loved ones gathered often while salvage divers continued searching the wreckage for human remains. It took six weeks before all the bodies were recovered.

“They were good people, good workers and had good values,” Cervantes Suarez said.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigation found that the wayward cargo ship Dali experienced power outages before starting its voyage from Baltimore to Sri Lanka, but the exact causes of the electrical issues have yet to be determined. The FBI is also conducting a criminal investigation into the circumstances leading up to the disaster.

The ship’s owner and manager, both Singapore-based companies, filed a court petition soon after the collapse seeking to limit their legal liability. The City of Baltimore, among other entities, have challenged that claim and accused the companies of negligence. Lawyers representing victims of the collapse and their families, including Cervantes Suarez, have also pledged to hold the companies accountable.

A federal court in Maryland will ultimately decide who’s responsible and how much they owe in what could become one of the most expensive maritime disasters in history.

Officials have pledged to rebuild the bridge, which could cost at least $1.7 billion and take several years.

During a Senate committee hearing Wednesday morning, Maryland senators reiterated calls for Congress to approve a spending measure that would allow the federal government to cover 100% of the rebuild effort.

The sections of the bridge that remain standing will be demolished in the coming months to make way for the new structure, local media reported earlier this week.

Russia bans Moscow Times newspaper

Russia has declared the English-language newspaper The Moscow Times an "undesirable organization." Cooperating with the outlet can entail sentences of up to five years in prison.

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office on Wednesday banned the online newspaper The Moscow Times.

The website was blocked in Russia for allegedly discrediting the country's military shortly after the start of Kremlin-backed invasion of Ukraine.

What do we know about the Moscow Times ban?

The Prosecutor General's Office classified the newspaper as an "undesirable organization," saying it was undermining Russia's leadership.

The designation means that any cooperation with or payments to the outlet are now considered a criminal offense carrying sentences of up to five years in prison.

"The work of the publishing house is aimed at discrediting the decisions of the Russian leadership in both domestic and foreign policy," the statement said.

In November 2023, The Moscow Times was added to a list of "foreign agents."

Other Russian outlets such as Novaya Gazeta, Meduza, The Insider and Istories have also been classified as "undesirable" and banned.

The Prosecutor General's Office said Wednesday's ban was necessary as The Moscow Times cooperated with such media.

The Moscow Times said the designation came "as no surprise" and vowed to continue operating.

"Our jobs are going to become more difficult. Anyone in Russia who interacts with us in any way will now be at risk of criminal prosecution. But we refuse to be silenced," the website said.

What is The Moscow Times?

The Moscow Times was founded in 1992 as an English-language daily newspaper in Moscow by a Dutch publisher.

Its print edition was discontinued in 2017.

The website opened a Russian language service in 2020.

The Moscow Times relocated to the Netherlands after Russia cracked down on independent media in early 2022.

Former staff include prominent journalists, including Evan Gershkovich, who is currently standing trial in Russia on spying charges.

Last month, Russia banned access to over 80 Western media outlets.

sdi/wd (dpa, Reuters, AP)

WWIII
Japan navy destroyer enters China waters near Taiwan, sparking Beijing concerns, says Japanese media


JUL 11, 2024, 

TOKYO - A Japanese navy destroyer made a rare entry into China's territorial waters near Taiwan earlier this month without notifying China and sparking "serious concerns" from Beijing, Japanese media outlets reported late on Wednesday.

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's destroyer Suzutsuki sailed into China's waters off Zhejiang province on July 4, where China had announced it would conduct naval drills, Kyodo news agency said citing diplomatic sources.

Suzutsuki, tasked to monitor Chinese missile exercises in the East China Sea north of Taiwan, entered the waters without notifying China, broadcaster NTV reported citing sources in Japan's defence ministry.

The destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometres) of the Zhejiang coast for about 20 minutes despite warnings by Chinese vessels, and Beijing expressed "serious concerns" to Tokyo, Kyodo said.

Japan's defence ministry has launched an investigation questioning the captain of Suzutsuki and the crew's intention remains unclear, Kyodo said.

China's coast guard and naval vessels have entered Japan's territorial waters, including June last year when Tokyo lodged a protest against Beijing after the Chinese navy sailed into Japanese waters near Yakushima island.


In December, the Chinese military said a U.S. Navy ship "illegally" entered waters adjacent to a disputed South China Sea atoll that has recently seen several maritime confrontations with neighbours including the Philippines. 

REUTERS