All-night streetlights make leaves inedible to insects, study finds

Helena Horton Environment reporter

THE GUARDIAN
Sun, 4 August 2024 

Research into tree leaves in urban environments found they were much tougher than rural equivalents.Photograph: David J. Green/Alamy


Streetlights left on all night cause leaves to become so tough that insects cannot eat them, threatening the food chain, a study has found.

Scientists noticed that trees in urban ecosystems showed far less damage than those in more rural areas. Their research, published in Frontiers in Plant Science, has shed light on a potential reason.

“We noticed that, compared with natural ecosystems, tree leaves in most urban ecosystems generally show little sign of insect damage. We were curious as to why,” said the study’s author, Dr Shuang Zhang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. “In two of the most common tree species in Beijing, artificial light at night led to increased leaf toughness and decreased levels of leaf herbivory.”

Related: Where have all Britain’s garden butterflies gone?

Artificial light from streetlights had a surprising effect on the leaves of trees surveyed. The scientists tested two common species of street tree in Beijing: Japanese pagoda and green ash trees. The pagoda trees have smaller, softer leaves that insects prefer to munch on. Researchers thought plants in areas with high levels of artificial light may focus on defence rather than growth, which would mean their leaves would be tougher, with more chemical defence compounds.

To test the trees they found 30 sampling sites on main roads that are usually lit by streetlights all night. They measured the amount of light – illuminance – at each site and then tested the leaves of the trees for toughness. They tested almost 5,500 leaves for properties including size, toughness, water content, and levels of nutrients and chemical defences.

If the leaves were larger, this would indicate that plants directed their energy to growth of leaves, but if they were tough and contained tannins or other chemical defences this would indicate that they had allocated their energy to defend themselves.

They found that the more illuminance there was, the tougher the leaves. In the areas lit the brightest at night, the leaves were extremely tough and showed no sign of insects munching on them.

Researchers said that while they did not completely understand why this happened, they suggested trees exposed to artificial light could extend their photosynthesis duration.

Though a tree with pristine leaves may be more enjoyable for some people to look at, it could be a bad sign for the ecosystem.

“Leaves that are free of insect damage may bring comfort to people, but not insects,” said Zhang. “Herbivory is a natural ecological process that maintains the biodiversity of insects.”

Zhang added: “Decreased herbivory can lead to trophic cascading effects in ecology. Lower levels of herbivory imply lower abundances of herbivorous insects, which could in turn result in lower abundances of predatory insects, insect-eating birds, and so on. The decline of insects is a global pattern observed over recent decades. We should pay more attention to this trend.”

A wolf’s killing shocked Canada. Then his image appeared on a hunting site

Leyland Cecco in Toronto

THE GUARDIAN
Sun, 4 August 2024


Takaya, the Canadian sea wolf, left behind a legacy reflecting the complex relationship between humans and wildlife.Photograph: Cheryl Alexander/Wild Awake Images


Ever since he was killed by a hunter in 2020, the Canadian sea wolf Takaya has appeared all over the world.

Paintings, poems, sculptures and statues – including a 150lb (68kg) mixture of driftwood, sea shells and dried kelp – have memorialized a wolf whose legacy reflects the complex relationship between humans and wildlife.

But photographer Cheryl Alexander, a relentless advocate against government-sanctioned wolf culls, was shocked to see her most famous image used to advertise a big game hunting company.

Related: Canada mourns Takaya – the lone sea wolf whose spirit captured the world

“I shocked and a bit horrified. And it really pissed me off that company was using Takaya as an advertisement to come up to Canada and kill a wolf,” she told the Guardian. “It hurt too because Takaya has become, in many ways, an international image for positive coexistence with humans.”

The unlikely story of the wolf’s years of self-imposed isolation captivated residents of Vancouver Island, some of whom would paddle by the rocky outcrops and windswept trees hoping to glimpse the animal. But one day in late March, a hunter’s rifle brought an untimely end to the wolf.

Alexander recently found British Columbia-based Terminus Mountain Outfitters was using her photo to advertise its wolf hunting package. She soon posted to her Instagram page, appealing to her 33,000 followers to share news of the company’s decision to use the photo.

The owner of Terminus said in a statement he didn’t mean to “offend” anyone with the image.

“[A web design company] chose some live wildlife photos to use on the [website]. July 27th I was contacted by a disgruntled person upset about a wolf picture that they recognized as a wolf named Takaya. I had no idea of the story behind this wolf or even which of the three pictures on my website was of Takaya. I asked my web developer … to simply remove all three of the photos. July 29th they were removed. Neither I nor my web developer meant to offend anyone,” he said. “Unfortunately, because of the media attention we are now getting emails that are threatening and quite angry when we had nothing to do with the live pictures chosen. We are a legal family-run business.”

Both the image, and the page on wolf hunting, have since been taken down.

In British Columbia, hundreds of wolves – which are seen as vermin that must be eradicated – are killed for sport each year. Hunters usually only take the pelts, discarding the remains. Channelling growing outrage – and changing perceptions – Alexander and local conservation groups have started a petition calling for a moratorium on wolf hunting in British Columbia that has so far received more than 65,000 signatures. Alexander has also founded the non-profit Takaya’s Legacy which works to support wolf protection initiatives.

While Takaya’s legacy has aligned with the aims of conservation groups, his curiosity – or lack of fear – also raised difficult questions about the relationship locals had fostered with the wolf that led to his demise.

“I was angry about the photo, but there’s a silver lining, because it actually allows word to get out there about what’s happening in Canada regarding trophy hunting – the whole range of wild animals that are hunted in Canada is quite disgusting,” said Alexander. “We’re grappling with loss of biodiversity. That trophy hunters are continuing to hunt them just for fun and for recreation is not acceptable.”

Rare sighting of Britain's loudest bird at County Durham nature reserve

Tom Burgess
Sun, 4 August 2024 


Bittern sighting at Rainton Meadows (Image: Brian Howes)


An amateur photographer has captured the moment a rare Bittern appeared at a County Durham nature reserve.

Brian Howes, 75, heard that there had been glimpses of the elusive booming bird at Rainton Meadows.

After a fruitless morning on Monday and a second attempt in the afternoon that day he went home to Great Lumley disappointed.


Mr Howes caught a glimpse of the bittern on Wednesday, but it was not until Friday morning that he got a full look at the majestic booming bird in flight.

(Image: Brian Howes)

He said: "It was first spotted in Rainton Meadows on Monday, it's been in the reeds all week.

"I went down this morning and it poked its head up before taking flight and going back into the reeds.

"It was beautiful. Someone was saying it has been 10 or 15 years since we had one hanging around for a few days.

"It is especially rare to see one in Rainton Meadows.

(Image: Brian Howes)

"We have seen them flying past overhead but not sticking around.

"It was just nice to see it and with the sun shining too. That made the pictures even nicer."

Bitterns are Britain's loudest birds and they were nearly driven to extinction in the 1870s because of over hunting.

Their numbers are still low but conservation efforts are working and the occasional sighting of them is made in the North East.

In 2012, a male bittern was heard booming for the very first time at RSPB Saltholme, in Stockton, in an attempt to attract a female but was sadly unsuccessful.

Then in 2022 a male Bittern was once again heard booming and this time sightings of regular feeding flights to a nest indicated a successful breeding pai



One of Australia’s most elusive birds, a 2,200km journey and a mid-winter mystery solved

Andrew Stafford

THE GUARDIAN
Sat, 3 August 2024 


A 2020 survey estimated there may be as few as 340 Australian painted-snipe remaining in the wild.Photograph: Peter Stevens


It had been three months without a peep, and the ecologist Matt Herring thought Gloria had perished. He had captured the elusive bird on 22 October 2023, on a property north of Balranald in New South Wales – the first Australian painted-snipe to be fitted with a satellite tracker.

But contact had been lost, and there was a sticky complication: Gloria’s tracker had been financed by a successful crowdfunding campaign. Herring started preparing an obituary for the avian pioneer for her species.

And then she reappeared – more than 1,000km north of where she was first captured, near Birdsville in outback Queensland. Herring guesses the tiny solar panel on the two-gram tracker may have been obscured by one of the bird’s feathers, causing the outage.

The second painted-snipe he’d caught, Marcelina, had made an even more epic journey from the same Balranald property. Captured on 3 January this year, she is now in Daly Waters in the Top End – a journey of more than 2,200km, as the painted-snipe flies.

The Australian painted-snipe is an enigmatic waterbird, most active from dusk to dawn. They hide in vegetation during the day, camouflaged by intricately patterned plumage. Almost all sightings are in summer, suggesting the species is at least partially migratory or nomadic.

Herring’s project, Australian Painted-snipe Tracking, aims to uncover where the birds go during winter. It’s becoming clear why, until now, no one knew. “When you look at where these two birds have gone, they’re some of the most remote parts of the country,” he said.

By tracing its movements, Herring hopes to help save one of our least-known and rarest species. The 2020 Action Plan for Australian Birds – which summarises the conservation status of all Australian avifauna – estimated there may be as few as 340 remaining in the wild.

However, Herring said that figure is likely to be underestimated. Consecutive La Nina years since the report was published have gone some way to replenishing water flows in the Murray-Darling basin, where the bird breeds.

But Herring cautioned that while overall numbers had probably been boosted, there had not been the dramatic jump in sightings recorded in 2011–2012, after the breaking of the millennium drought.

About 400 Australian painted-snipe were logged during that period. In the two years before the black summer bushfires, however, the species was recorded from just half a dozen locations, raising grave fears for their survival.

By comparison, between July and December last year, 61 birds were recorded from 25 sites, suggesting only a partial recovery. This was during a period Herring said “more people were out looking than ever”, after a post-Covid boom in birdwatching.

It’s great to figure out their movement patterns, but the key is actually having sites to organise conservation

Matt Herring

Herring said satellite-tracking the birds was the most efficient way of monitoring the specie’s movements. This in turn was helping to identify the painted-snipe’s habitat requirements, and where conservation efforts needed to be targeted.

The first six months of data provided by the movements of Gloria and Marcelina had pinpointed the locations of over a dozen individual wetlands used by the species across three states, plus the Northern Territory.

“That gives us the opportunity to work with those wetland managers, be they farmers or traditional owners or national park rangers,” Herring said. “It’s great to figure out their movement patterns, but the key is actually having sites to organise conservation for them.”

Remarkably, surveys conducted over summer showed Australian painted-snipe making extensive use of human-modified habitat, with a gathering of about 25 birds feeding in flooded wheat stubble on the property where Marcelina and Gloria were tagged.

The landowners, Peter and Sue Morton, are making dedicated changes of their own to benefit the birds, using designated environmental flows to help create a mixture of shallow water, mudflats and low cover the painted-snipe naturally favour.

“I do a lot of bird photography, so I had cameras everywhere set up,” Morton said. “I pumped a bit of water [into the channel] out of the firefighting unit and you wouldn’t believe it, the footage came back and there were 10 painted-snipe there, including Gloria.”

He said he was now working on fencing off the woodland. “I’m on a Cat loader now and I’ve got four blokes putting up an exclusion fence,” he said. “We’re putting the exclusion fence up to keep the stock out.”

Related: Leonardo DiCaprio calls on Australia to save critically endangered swift parrot

The New South Wales Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water recently announced it had partnered with the Commonwealth environmental water holder to manage the area specifically for Australian painted-snipe.

Herring said it was the first government-sponsored, targeted conservation initiative for the Australian painted-snipe. He said that it would also benefit other threatened species, including fish such as the southern pygmy perch, and frogs like the southern bell frog.

He said that crowdfunding for conservation work was a good way to engage people directly in species’ recovery – though he agreed it was a poor precedent, since the protection of nationally threatened species is a federal government responsibility.

But, he said, the plight of the Australian painted-snipe was too urgent to wait. “A lot of large-scale conservation and academic research funds can take six months or a year,” he said. “What are we going to do, just sit around and wait for new funding streams to be announced?”

This article was amended on 4 August 2024. An earlier version stated Australian painted-snipes were fitted with radio transmitters; the birds were fitted with satellite trackers.

Trump calls union leader who endorsed Kamala Harris ‘a stupid person’

Maya Yang
Sun, 4 August 2024 

The United Auto Workers’ decision to endorse Kamala Harris’s presidential run has apparently gotten under the skin of Donald Trump, who has responded by insulting the union’s leader as “a stupid person”.

In a new interview with Fox News on Sunday, as reported by the Hill, the former president said of union chief Shawn Fain: “Look, the United Auto Workers I know very well – they vote for me. They have a stupid person leading them, but they vote for me. They’re going to love Donald Trump more than ever before.”

Trump’s remarks allude to the harsh 100% tariff he has proposed on imported cars. Economists have warned that such a tariff would raise product costs for Americans, but Trump has insisted on it, saying it reflects how he would prioritize the auto industry if returned to White House in November’s election.

“We’re going to take in a fortune but we’re going to tariff those jobs,” Trump said.

“We’re bringing back the automobile industry and we’re going to do that with tariffs,” Trump said.

Fain and the UAW – one of the US’s largest and most diverse labor unions – nonetheless gave their coveted endorsement to the vice-president, saying in a statement that Harris had a “proven track record of delivering for the working class”.

Trump’s comments about Fain and the UAW come just days after Fain announced that the union – one of the country’s largest and most diverse – is endorsing Harris for president.

Related: United Auto Workers union endorses Kamala Harris for president

“We can put a billionaire back in office who stands against everything our union stands for, or we can elect Kamala Harris who will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed,” said the statement announcing the UAW’s endorsement for November’s White House election.

Trump and the UAW have frequently traded barbs, with Trump calling for Fain to be “fired immediately” during his speech at the Republican national convention in July.

In response, the UAW called Trump a “scab” – a derogatory term for someone who abandons or refuses to join a labor union – as well as a corporate businessman whose main interest is protecting the wealthy.

When the UAW endorsed Joe Biden before the president quit his re-election campaign in July, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to attack Fain, calling him a “dope” and urging autoworkers to defy the union’s endorsement by voting for him instead.

On Sunday, Fain appeared on CBS News’s Face the Nation and elaborated on his union’s decision to endorse Harris.

“When you put Kamala Harris and Donald Trump side-by-side, there’s a very telling difference in who stands with working-class people and who left working-class people behind,” Fain said.

He continued: “Trump’s been all talk for working-class people.

“One of the biggest issues facing this country is inflation. It’s not policy-driven. It’s driven by corporate greed and consumer price gouging and that’s what Donald Trump stands for. The rich get richer and the working class gets left behind.”

Horror at deaths of 12 children unites Druze across borders. But Mideast's wars tear at their bonds

KAREEM CHEHAYEB and MELANIE LIDMAN
Sat, August 3, 2024 













Alma's father, Ayman Fakhr al-Din, shows one her favourite soccer jerseys, as he stands in his daughter's room at the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

FARDIS, Lebanon (AP) — Alma Ayman Fakhr al-Din, a lively 11-year-old who loved basketball and learning languages, was playing on a soccer field a week ago in Majdal Shams, a Druze town in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, when the rocket hit.

Running to the site, her father Ayman pleaded with emergency workers for information about his daughter. “Suddenly I went to the corner, I saw such a tiny girl in a bag,” he said. He recognized her shoes, her hand. “I understood that that’s it, nothing is left, she’s gone.” She was among 12 children and teens killed.

The shocking bloodshed unified the Druze across the region in grief – and laid bare the complex identity of the small, insular religious minority, whose members are spread across Israel, the Golan Heights, Lebanon and Syria.


Who are the Druze?

The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. Outsiders are not allowed to convert, and most religious practices are shrouded in secrecy. There are just one million Druze – more than half of them in Syria, around 250,000 in Lebanon, 115,000 in Israel and 25,000 in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.

Separated by borders, each part of the Druze community has taken different paths, always with an eye on preserving their existence among larger powers. Druze in Lebanon and Syria adopted Arab nationalism, including support for the Palestinian cause. In Israel, Druze are highly regarded for their loyalty to the state and their military service, with many entering elite combat units, including fighting in Gaza. In the Golan, the Druze navigate their historically Syrian identity while living under Israeli occupation.

The communities have always kept up connections and tried to maintain civility over their differences. That, however, has been strained by 10 months of war in Gaza. Now after the Majdal Shams strike, many Druze fear even worse divisions if the region tips into all-out regional war.

“Our children”

After the attack, a string of Israeli politicians rushed to Majdal Shams to show solidarity with the grieving families and emphasize the strong connection between Israel and the Druze.

“These children are our children, they are the children of all of us,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, visiting the soccer field.

Netanyahu’s presence also sparked angry protests by some residents who accused officials of exploiting the tragedy for political purposes.

Many Druze in the Israeli-held part of the Golan have kept their allegiance to Syria. About 20% have taken Israeli citizenship, said Yusri Hazran of Jerusalem's Hebrew University, who is Druze and researches minorities in the Middle East.

In the past 15 years, that trend has increased, said Hazran, as Israel has more strongly integrated the Golan, whose 1981 annexation is not widely recognized.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Druze community, centered in the north of the country, tends to tout with pride their Israeli identity. Around 80% of the male Druze population enlists in the military, higher than the around 70% of Israeli Jews, according to official statistics. Ten Druze soldiers have been killed in the war in the Gaza Strip, a large proportion given their community’s size.

Sheikh Moafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of the Druze in Israel, said he wasn’t surprised by the wave of national compassion. “During the time of mourning, everyone is talking about support,” he said.

He hoped support would continue after the tragedy has faded from headlines.

“There’s so much that’s needed to fix here.” He pointed to the significant discrimination Druze faced in Israel. A third of Druze homes are not connected to electricity, he said. The community was furious over a 2018 Israeli law that defined the country as a Jewish state and made no mention of its minorities.

In the Golan, some still see their bond lying with neighboring Arab countries.

Hail Abu Jabal, an 84-year-old Druze activist in Majdal Shams, was detained by Israel in the past over his opposition to its rule.

Before European powers divided up the Mideast in the early 20th century, “this region was one region. The Druze were spread out in one country,” he said. “There is a kinship relationship, there is a marriage relationship, and there is a relationship of belonging."

Divided by borders

In the southern Lebanese village of Fardis, near the Israeli border, rocket fire echoed, part of the nearly daily exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah going on for months. From the home of Wissam Sliqa, charred trees were visible on the otherwise verdant mountains, signs of recent Israeli strikes.

Israel is “once again trying to plant the seeds of discord,” said Sliqa, the religious affairs adviser for Lebanon’s top Druze religious leader.

He urged Israeli Druze not to join the war in Gaza or the increasingly volatile confrontation across the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Druze of Syria and Lebanon tend to avoid criticizing their brethren in Israel. Though more are publicly encouraging Druze to refuse to serve in the Israeli military, they withhold judgment on those who do.

“They are behaving how they see is suitable to them,” Sliqa acknowledged. “We don’t dictate to them, and they don’t dictate to us.”

While most of Lebanon’s Druze live in the country's central mountains, Druze-majority villages are also scattered around the south next to Muslim and Christian neighbors.

Lebanese and Syrian Druze have historically been drawn to Arab nationalist movements. Many point to their role in Arab resistance to European colonial rule a century ago and their strong support for Palestinians today.

“The Druze never considered themselves an ethnic minority at all, but a part of the Arab and Islamic majority in the region,” said Lebanese Druze legislator Wael Abou Faour.

Walid Jumblatt, arguably the region's most powerful Druze figure, once led forces fighting alongside Palestinian factions against Israeli troops and their allies in Lebanon. He now leads the Druze in Lebanon’s volatile sectarian power-sharing politics, where his community’s power goes well beyond its size.

Last month, he and Tarif, Israel's Druze leader, engaged in a startlingly scathing exchange of open letters, airing differences over the Israel-Hamas war.

Jumblatt criticized Druze soldiers fighting in Gaza. Tarif in turn said his community was happy having the rights and duties of “citizens of a democratic state.” Jumblatt shot back denouncing Tarif for meeting with Netanyahu, calling the Israeli military offensive in Gaza “an aggression against humanity.”

“He lives in Lebanon, and he’s saying his opinion,” Tarif told The Associated Press. “We are Israelis, and we are proud.”

Despite differences, the various Druze communities maintain close ties and support each other on humanitarian issues, he said.

In the southern Lebanese town of Hasbaya, Sheikh Amin Khair, a Druze farmer, pointed to a cluster of trees and shrubs by his pear and pomegranate groves. In 1982, Druze fighters fired rockets at Israel from there, he said proudly. That year was the start of Israel's 18-year occupation of south Lebanon.

But rather than criticizing Druze in the Israeli army, Khair said he would rather speak positively of voices among Israeli Druze that have backed the Palestinian cause.

He recited a verse by writer Samih al-Qassam, an Israeli Druze and an Arab nationalist: “And until my last heartbeat … I will resist.”

Small white coffins

After the Majdal Shams strike, the Druze community’s tensions risk being pulled even more tightly if a full-fledged war erupts.

Israel accused Hezbollah of being behind the strike, saying the rocket type and trajectory point clearly to the Iranian-backed group. The Lebanese militant group offered a rare denial.

Lebanon’s Jumblatt is often politically at odds with Hezbollah, but this week he echoed its denial and accused Israel of fueling divisions by accusing the group.

On Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike killed a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut in retaliation. The next day, a blast in the Iranian capital killed Hamas' political chief Ismail Haniyeh. Iran has accused Israel of being behind the attack and vowed retaliation.

As the region awaits Hezbollah and Iran’s response, many Druze are pleading to stop the bloodshed.

“We reject shedding even a single drop of blood under the pretext of avenging our children,” the Golan Heights Druze religious committee said in a statement on Monday.

Hundreds of Syrian Druze who gathered in the nearby Syrian town of Quneitra to hold a memorial service for the children blamed Israel for the deaths.

Across Majdal Shams, there was raw pain as the community buried 12 small white coffins in the span of 24 hours.

“No one wins in war, there’s only losing,” said Majdal Shams resident Bhaa Brik.

___

Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press reporters Alon Bernstein and Leo Correa contributed to this report from Majdal Shams, Golan Heights.

Chinese scientists claim Star Wars-like laser submarines can blast US satellites

Michael Peck
Sat, August 3, 2024 


Chinese researchers believe submarine-fired lasers could destroy satellites.


A laser could target more of the growing satellite networks essential to military operations.


But US experts are skeptical a scheme like this would work.

Chinese scientists claim that it's possible to destroy satellites — including SpaceX's Starlink system — using lasers mounted on submarines.

American experts question the feasibility of mounting a power-hungry energy weapon on a sub. But China and other potential American adversaries are looking for ways to destroy or degrade the satellite-based communications and targeting that has given the US military an edge, and researchers at the Chinese navy's Submarine Academy are confident that the submarines are the answer.

"A submarine with a megawatt-class, solid-state, laser weapon installed in its midsection could stay submerged while it raised a retractable, 'optoelectronic mast' to fire at satellites, before diving back down to depth," according to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, citing the study, which was published in the Chinese defense magazine "Command Control & Simulation."


The Chinese researchers contrasted this approach with current anti-satellite weapons, which use ground-fired rockets to launch what is essentially a killer satellite that destroys its prey with an explosive warhead or projectile. The US government recently warned that Russia is also developing an anti-satellite with a nuclear warhead. A laser, by contrast, offers the potential to fire at many space targets but also comes with the many complexities of submarine operations.

These technologies, which began in the 1950s, were conceived for an era when satellites were big, expensive and few in number. They remain a threat to sophisticated spy and communications satellites, but the advent of cheap, expendable swarms of communications satellites, such as the Starlink commercial network, has vastly complicated anti-satellite efforts.

"Taking the satellites launched by the Starlink program as an example, they are numerous, densely packed and small in size, making the satellite network extremely resilient," the study noted. "Even if a significant number of satellites are destroyed, there are redundancies to replace them. Therefore, using missiles to attack such satellites is highly inefficient."

Satellite swarms are becoming a crucial part of warfare. They have enabled Ukraine, for example, to provide connectivity for its forces when existing Internet and satellite communications facilities were destroyed. Thus, there's a need for destroying or disabling many small satellites in low-Earth orbit.

Chinese researchers envision the solution as flotillas of mass-produced laser subs that could be dispatched to oceans around the world. They would wait for tracking data from other non-submarine platforms to determine when a target satellite is overhead.

"When the satellite enters the attackable range, the laser weapon is raised. Due to the limitations of the submarine's detection equipment, other forces are required to provide satellite position guidance for the submarine to attack the satellite. After the attack is completed, the submarine can submerge and wait for the next mission or return to the home port."

In addition to destroying satellites, these subs could also blast aircraft or land targets such as radars and oil refineries. The Chinese researchers estimated that "a modest 150-kilowatt laser weapon on a submarine can damage the photoelectric detection equipment on an anti-submarine aircraft in one-fifth of a second, with an effective range of more than 20 kilometers [12 miles]," the Post said. "Continuous firing could also penetrate the aircraft's fuselage."

Laser subs could also shield China's ballistic missile submarines from detection. "The escorting submarine can first use the laser weapon to interfere with or destroy overhead satellites in the sea area, making it difficult for the enemy's space-based surveillance system to function, thereby achieving the concealment of missile launches."

In 2019, the US Navy put out a research solicitation for electrical connectors that would allow submarines to transmit power — through the sub's hull — to an externally mounted laser. American submarines needed a towed power source to accomplish this, the Navy said at the time.

Still, the idea of a sub-mounted anti-satellite laser leaves American experts cold. "The submarine would have to be designed from the ground up to generate the many, many megawatts of electricity to power a laser shooting at an object 200-300 miles up, and that delivers about 10 kilowatts on target," Chris Carlson, a former Defense Intelligence Agency naval analyst, told Business Insider. "That would require an incredibly huge amount of volume."

Submarines would also have trouble aiming lasers. "A submarine at periscope depth is anything but a stable firing platform," Carlson said. "Just a little wiggle in pitch, roll, or yaw will yank the beam off target." In addition, targeting data would have to be transmitted to the sub so that it can assume a firing position when the satellite is overhead.

"Communications with a submerged submarine are difficult," said Carlson. "And after alerting the sub, it would still have to raise a mast with a data link to the tracking sensor before a separate tracking laser on the sub itself could acquire the target and point the laser weapon in the right direction."

"There are lots of ways for this to go wrong," Carlson said.

Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds an MA in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Use of Russian software on UK nuclear submarines sparks call for defence review

Camilla Turner
Sat, August 3, 2024 

The Vanguard-class nuclear submarine HMS Vengeance at Clyde, Faslane - Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Ministers have been urged to carry out an urgent review of defence supply chains in the wake of The Telegraph’s revelations about Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet.

The Telegraph disclosed that Britain’s nuclear submarine engineers are using software that was designed in Russia and Belarus.

The software should have been created by UK-based staff with security clearance, but the work was partially outsourced to developers in Siberia and Minsk, the capital of Belarus.


There are fears that further defence capabilities could have been compromised because it has emerged that a previous project was also outsourced to developers in Minsk.

Experts have warned that the UK’s national security risked being jeopardised if personal details of those with classified knowledge of Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet fell into the wrong hands, leaving them exposed to blackmail or targeted attacks.

The Telegraph understands that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) considered the security breach a serious threat to UK defence and launched an investigation.

The inquiry discovered that the firm that outsourced the work – on a staff intranet for nuclear submarine engineers – to Russia and Belarus initially kept it secret and discussed whether it could disguise where the workers were based by giving them fake names of dead British people.


Admiral Lord West, the former head of the Royal Navy said he was “shocked” to read about these “extraordinary” revelations, and urged the MoD to carry out a review into supply chains to ensure they are secure.

“This whole area is an area that has been worrying me more and more. If you go back years ago there wasn’t the same reliance on coding and software and these sorts of things,” he said.

Lord West, who served as the First Sea Lord from 2002 to 2006, added that it can be “highly dangerous” now that everything was so reliant on software.

“This is a world where software can make such a difference. We have to have mechanisms where we can absolutely be certain that no one has broken into the supply chain, even at the lowest level, and that there is no one who hasn’t got the clearance to do the work,” he said.

“I think certainly the Ministry of Defence needs to look very, very closely at this and to make sure that [their supply chains] are absolutely secure. They need to make absolutely sure that every single supplier is secure and has signed the Official Secrets Act.”

The Telegraph revealed how Rolls-Royce Submarines, which designs and runs the UK’s nuclear submarine fleet on behalf of the Royal Navy, wanted to upgrade its staff intranet and had subcontracted the work to WM Reply, a digital consultancy firm.

WM Reply then used developers based in Belarus – Russia’s closest ally – one of whom was actually working from home in Tomsk, Siberia, according to documents submitted to the MoD’s inquiry.

The intranet system included personal details of all Rolls-Royce Submarines employees, as well as the organisational structure of those at the company working on the UK’s submarine fleet.



Ben Wallace, former defence secretary, said there must be “punitive action” for subcontractors who breach the terms of their contracts.

“There doesn’t seem to be a clear enough policy of penalties or punitive action should you not comply,” he said. “If a company realised they would be stuck off working from government contracts or named and shamed, I suspect they wouldn’t do it.”

Tom Tugendhat, a former security minister who is a Tory leadership contender, said that securing supply chains was important for “boosting our resilience and protecting our national security” and said the Government “must safeguard the defence sector skills, jobs, and capabilities” in the UK.

A Rolls-Royce spokesman said: “We can categorically state that at no point was there any risk of data, classified or otherwise, being accessed or made available to non-security cleared individuals. It is not possible for non-security cleared individuals to access any sensitive data via our company intranet.

“All our suppliers comply with strict security requirements. Once we were made aware of these allegations that clearly breached these requirements, and following a rigorous internal investigation that concluded in 2021, Rolls-Royce Submarines ceased working with WM Reply. We have not awarded them any further contracts.”

A spokesman for WM Reply denied the claim that its actions could have endangered national security.

“WM Reply regularly reviews its delivery processes and procedures, respects the needs and processes of its customers and enjoys transparent and long-standing relationships with those customers,” they said.

Ukraine says it sank a $300 million Russian submarine in what could be another big blow to Putin's Black Sea Fleet


Cameron Manley
Updated Sun, August 4, 2024




• Ukraine says it sank a Russian Black Sea Fleet submarine n Crimea.

• The Kilo-class submarine Rostov-on-Don was hit in Sevastopol, Ukraine's military said.

• Ukraine has relentlessly targeted Russia's Black Sea Fleet since the war began.

Ukraine says it struck and sank a Russian Black Sea Fleet submarine and damaged a number of prized S-400 air defense systems in Crimea.

In a statement on Telegram, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said the Kilo-class submarine Rostov-on-Don was hit in the port of Sevastopol.

"The boat sank on the spot," the General Staff said.

"The destruction of the Rostov-on-Don proves once again that there is no safe place for the Russian fleet in the Ukrainian territorial waters of the Black Sea," it added.

Business Insider was unable to independently verify the claim. The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet commented.

The Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, posted on Telegram on Sunday morning but did not reference Ukraine's announcement.

"Everything is quiet in the city," he wrote, while also warning of an upcoming training exercise.

Ukraine's military said the B-237 Rostov-on-Don "is one of four Kilo-class submarines capable of using 'Kalibr' missiles."

It is not the first time that sub, which Ukraine says cost Russia $300 million, has been targeted in the conflict.

The UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in September that the submarine had "likely suffered catastrophic damage" following a missile strike on a shipyard in Sevastopol.

"Any effort to return the submarine to service is likely to take many years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars," the MoD said at the time.

Despite having no traditional navy of its own, Ukraine has had huge success battling the Black Sea Fleet.

Many of the fleet's ships have been forced to relocate eastward from the naval base in Sevastopol to Novorossiysk, and it has also lost a number of key warships, including its flagship, the Moskva.

In addition to striking the submarine, the General Staff said Ukrainian forces had also severely damaged four S-400 antiaircraft missile launchers.

Frederik Mertens, a former strategic analyst at the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, previously told BI that by targeting Crimea and defense systems such as the S-400, Ukraine was likely "preparing the ground" for the use of F-16 fighter jets, which arrived in Ukraine earlier this week.

AUSTRALIA

EPA deals ‘major blow’ to Woodside’s multibillion-dollar gas drilling plan at Browse basin

Adam Morton Climate and environment editor

THE GUARDIAN  AUS
Mon, 5 August 2024 

An aerial view of Scott Reef, which sits over the underwater Browse gas basin.Photograph: Greenpeace


A multibillion-dollar Woodside Energy gas export development off Western Australia’s north-west has been deemed “unacceptable” by the state’s Environment Protection Authority due to its impact on marine life at Scott Reef.

The EPA’s assessment of Woodside’s Browse liquefied natural gas (LNG) proposal was revealed in response to a freedom of information request by WAToday.

It follows scientists raising concerns that extraction at the Browse basin, about 300km off the Kimberley coast, could damage a coral reef ecosystem that is home to more than 1,500 species, many unique to the area. They identified risks to migrating whale species, the possible sinking of a beach used for nesting by endangered turtles and the potential of an oil spill in a pristine environment.


Related: Australia’s north-west reefs teem with life – but they are also at the centre of a massive fossil fuel expansion

The EPA refused WAToday’s request for information but said in its response it had told Woodside in February that its preliminary view was that “the proposal was unacceptable”.

Browse is Australia’s largest untapped conventional gas field. Woodside’s proposal involves drilling wells within about 3km of the reef and piping gas 900km for processing at the North West Shelf LNG processing plant at Karratha, on the Indigenous-heritage rich Burrup peninsula. It expects it to deliver 11.4m tonnes of LNG a year.

It is part of a proposed gas expansion that analysts say could be Australia’s greatest contribution to global heating if fully developed. Woodside’s “Burrup Hub vision” also includes the Scarborough gas field, the expansion of the Pluto LNG processing facility and extending the life of the North West Shelf plant by 50 years.

The plans have been broadly backed by senior members of the state and federal Labor governments, including the premier, Roger Cook, and the federal resources minister, Madeleine King, but some stages are yet to be approved under state and national environment law.

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The EPA position is not final; Woodside has an opportunity to provide more information. The authority will then make a recommendation to the state’s environment minister, Reece Whitby. The minister does not have to follow the EPA’s advice.

But the Conservation Council of Western Australia said even a preliminary view by the EPA that Browse should be rejected was a “significant and historic finding”. It said the authority had recommended against only two of 100 oil and gas proposals since the mid-1980s.

The council’s executive director, Jess Beckerling, said the revelation was “a major blow” to Woodside’s plan.

“The EPA has now said what we knew all along – the Browse project would be devastating for WA’s environment, and no government should let it proceed,” she said. “It is now incumbent on the WA and federal governments to respect this independent scientific advice and expert opinion, and refuse Woodside’s application to develop Browse.”

Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s chief, David Ritter, said the Burrup Hub was “an irredeemably bad project” and called on Plibersek to “put this project out of its misery, for once and for all”.

“This singular decision will come to define Labor’s legacy on environmental protection,” he said. “We urge Minister Plibersek to do the right thing and to choose a safe and sustainable future for our children over Woodside’s nature-wrecking pursuit of profit.”

Cook said the government wanted the Browse development to go ahead. He said it was a “difficult and complex” project and that conversations between Woodside and the EPA about addressing “issues of concern” were continuing.

“The EPA are there to assess these projects and make sure that we can mitigate against any negative impacts on the environment, and that’s why they are obviously in deep discussions with the government in relation to that project,” he said, according to the West Australian.

Cook said Browse would be “an important part of not only Western Australia’s gas supply, but making sure that we can assist our south-east Asian and north Asian partners to decarbonise their economies”.

A spokesperson for the federal environment department said it had paused assessment of the Browse project and the North West Shelf gas plant’s life extension until it received further information from the WA government and Woodside.

A Woodside spokesperson said Browse was “an important resource that could help address the shortfall of domestic gas in Western Australia forecast from the early 2030s and support energy security in Asia”.

“We continue to work with relevant regulators to progress environmental approvals for Browse,” they said.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis challenged the suggestion by Australian and Japanese leaders that the Asian country needed Australian gas to maintain its energy supply. The thinktank’s analysis found demand for gas had fallen in Japan over the past decade and the country was selling more LNG overseas than it bought from Australia.

ALL VIOLENCE IS STATE VIOLENCE

At least 91 killed as clashes rock Bangladesh, curfew imposed

PROPERTY DAMAGE IS NOT 'VIOLENCE'

Updated Sun, 4 August 2024

By Ruma Paul

DHAKA (Reuters) -At least 91 people were killed and hundreds injured in clashes in Bangladesh on Sunday as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse tens of thousands of protesters calling for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign.

The death toll, which includes at least 13 policemen, was the highest for a single day from any protests in Bangladesh's recent history, surpassing the 67 deaths reported on July 19 when students took to the streets to demand the scrapping of quotas for government jobs.

The government declared an indefinite nationwide curfew starting at 6 p.m. (1200 GMT) on Sunday, the first time it has taken such a step during the current protests that began last month. It also announced a three-day general holiday starting from Monday.

The unrest, which has prompted the government to shut down internet services, is Hasina's biggest test in her 20-year regime after she won a fourth straight term in elections that were boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Critics of Hasina, along with human rights groups, have accused her government of using excessive force against protesters, a charge she and her ministers deny.

Demonstrators blocked major highways on Sunday as student protesters launched a non-cooperation program to press for the government's resignation, and violence spread nationwide.

"Those who are carrying out violence are not students but terrorists who are out to destabilize the nation," Hasina said after a national security panel meeting, attended by the chiefs of the army, navy, air force, police and other agencies.

"I appeal to our countrymen to suppress these terrorists with a strong hand."

Police stations and ruling party offices were targeted as violence rocked the country of 170 million people.

Thirteen policemen were beaten to death in the north-western district of Sirajganj, police said. Nine others were killed in the district, where two lawmakers' homes were set on fire.

At least 11 people, including two students and a ruling party leader, were killed and dozens injured amid fierce clashes in several places in the capital, Dhaka, police and witnesses said.

India's foreign ministry urged its nationals not to travel to Bangladesh until further notice.

BULLET WOUNDS

Two construction workers were killed on their way to work and 30 injured in the central district of Munsiganj, during a three-way clash of protesters, police and ruling party activists, witnesses said.

"They were brought dead to the hospital with bullet wounds," said Abu Hena Mohammad Jamal, the superintendent of the district hospital.

Police said they had not fired any live bullets.

In the northeastern district of Pabna, at least three people were killed and 50 injured during a clash between protesters and activists of Hasina's ruling Awami League party, witnesses said.

Eight each in Feni and Lakshmipur, six in Narsingdi, five in Rangpur, four in Magura and the rest in several other districts, hospital officials said.

"An attack on a hospital is unacceptable," said Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen after a group vandalised a medical college hospital and set fire to vehicles, including an ambulance, in Dhaka.

At least four garment factories were set on fire in Ashulia, on the outskirts of Dhaka, police said.

For the second time during the recent protests, the government shut down high-speed internet services, mobile operators said. Social media platforms Facebook and WhatsApp were not available, even via broadband connections.

Bangladesh authorities instructed the country’s telecoms providers on Sunday to shut down 4G, effectively disabling internet services, according to a confidential government memo seen by Reuters.

GOVERNMENT ORDERS

“You are requested to shut down all your 4G services until further notice, only 2G will be effective,” said the document issued by the National Telecommunication Monitoring Center, a government intelligence agency.

Telecoms companies were previously told their licences would be cancelled if they did not comply with government orders, a person with direct knowledge told Reuters.

The telecom regulatory body did not respond to Reuters' calls.

Last month, at least 150 people were killed and thousands injured in violence touched off by student groups protesting against quotas for government jobs.

The protests paused after the Supreme Court scrapped most quotas, but students returned to the streets in sporadic protests last week, demanding justice for the families of those killed.

"I think the genie is out of the bottle and Hasina may not put it back in the bottle again," said Shakil Ahmed, associate professor for government and politics at Jahangirnagar University.

Chief of Army Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman on Saturday directed his officers to ensure the security of people's lives, properties, and important state installations under all circumstances, a statement said.

"(The) Bangladesh Army is a symbol of the people's trust. The army is always there and will always be there for the people's interests and for any needs of the state," the statement quoted him as saying.

Zaman will brief the media on Monday, an army spokesman said.

(Reporting by Ruma Paul; Additional reporting by Fanny Potkin; Editing by Christina Fincher and David Holmes)

At least 27 people killed in fresh violence in Bangladesh as protesters demand PM Hasina’s resignation

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Sun, 4 August 2024 

At least 27 people have been killed in Bangladesh over the weekend as anti-government protesters clashed with the police during fresh demonstrations.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters returned to the streets of the South Asian nation demanding the resignation of prime minister Sheikh Hasina after 200 people were killed earlier this month during anti-quota demonstrations that turned violent.

The government in July shut schools and universities across the country, blocked internet access, restricted social media platforms and imposed a shoot-on-sight curfew. The protests subdued for a few days after the Supreme Court scaled back the quota of government jobs reserved for families of the 1971 war heroes.

Buses are seen on fire at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University premises (Getty)

Since then at least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks.

The protesters this week called for “non-cooperation”, urging people not to pay taxes and utility bills and not show up for work on Sunday, a working day in Bangladesh. Offices, banks and factories opened, but commuters in Dhaka and other cities faced challenges getting to work.

The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, a major public hospital in Dhaka’s Shahbagh area, was set on fire along with an ambulance and several vehicles.

Protesters wave national flags as they stand over the Anti Terrorism Raju Memorial Sculpture in capital Dhaka, Bangladesh (Getty)

The police have used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters across the country, leaving dozens of people injured in hospitals.

“An attack on a hospital is unacceptable,” said health minister Samanta Lal Senm adding that everyone “should refrain from this”.

Mobile internet services have been shut down in the country but broadband services remained active, according to reports.

The interior ministry declared an indefinite nationwide curfew starting at 6pm on Sunday, the first time it has taken such a step during the current protests that began last month.

Thousands pour onto the streets of Bangladesh in protest (Getty)

Critics of Ms Hasina, along with human rights groups, have accused her government of using excessive force to throttle dissent during the first phase of the anti-quota movement. She has denied the allegations.

Ms Hasina doubled down on her claims that her political opponents, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party were behind the protests that were the sternest challenge to her 15 years in power.

Two construction workers were killed on their way to work and 30 injured in the central district of Munsiganj, during a three-way clash of protesters, police and ruling party activists, witnesses said.

“They were brought dead to the hospital with bullet wounds,” said Abu Hena Mohammad Jamal, the superintendent of the district hospital, told Reuters.

Anti-discrimination student movement holds a rally at Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka (Getty)

However, police have denied firing bullets at the protesters.

In the northeastern district of Pabna, at least three people were killed and 50 injured during a clash between protesters and activists of Ms Hasina’s ruling Awami League.

Two more were killed in violence in the northern district of Bogura, and 20 were killed in nine other districts, hospital officials said.

“Those who are protesting on the streets right now are not students, but terrorists who are out to destabilise the nation,” Ms Hasina said after a national security panel meeting. “I appeal to our countrymen to suppress these terrorists with a strong hand.”

The protests began last month as students demanded an end to a quota system that reserved 30 per cent of government jobs for the families of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence against Pakistan in 1971.

As violence crested, the country’s Supreme Court scaled back the quota system to 5 per cent of jobs, with 3 per cent for relatives of veterans.


Bangladesh protesters demand PM resign as death toll mounts

Shafiqul ALAM
Sun, 4 August 2024


Chart showing selected jurisdictions on the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2023


Hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi protesters demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resign clashed with government supporters Sunday, with scores killed in one of the deadliest days since demonstrations began.

Rallies that began last month against civil service job quotas have escalated into some of the worst unrest of Hasina's 15-year rule and shifted into wider calls for the 76-year-old to step down.

At least 77 people were killed on Sunday alone, including 14 police officers, with the rival sides battling with sticks and knives and security forces firing rifles, taking the total killed since protests began in July to at least 283.

Local media reports citing law enforcement officials suggested Sunday's toll may have surpassed 90 deaths.

Police said protesters attacked their officers, including storming a station in the northeastern town of Enayetpur.

"The terrorists attacked the police station and killed 11 policemen," said Bijoy Basak, a deputy inspector general.

AFP journalists in Dhaka reported hearing sustained crackles of gunfire after dark on Sunday, with protesters defying a nationwide curfew.

At least 12 people were killed in the capital, police and doctors at hospitals said, with several of the victims suffering bullet wounds, while 18 died in Bangladesh's northern district of Sirajganj.

Mobile internet was tightly restricted countrywide.

"The shocking violence in Bangladesh must stop," United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement, emphasizing his concerns about further deaths ahead of a mass march on Dhaka planned for Monday.

- 'Final protest' -

In several cases, soldiers and police did not intervene to stem the protests, unlike the past month of rallies that repeatedly ended in deadly crackdowns.

In a hugely symbolic rebuke of Hasina, a respected former army chief demanded the government withdraw troops and allow protests.

Demonstrators in Dhaka, surrounded by a tightly packed and cheering crowd, waved a Bangladeshi flag on top of an armoured car as soldiers watched, according to videos on social media verified by AFP.

Asif Mahmud, one of the key leaders in the nationwide civil disobedience campaign, called on supporters to march on the capital Monday.

"The time has come for the final protest", he said.

Troops briefly imposed order after violence erupted in July, but protesters returned to the streets in huge numbers this month in a non-cooperation movement aimed at paralysing the government.

- 'Brought to justice' -

Vast crowds of protesters, many wielding sticks, packed into Dhaka's central Shahbagh Square on Sunday, with street battles in multiple sites, police said.

"There were clashes between students and the ruling party men," police inspector Al Helal told AFP, saying two young men were killed in Dhaka's Munshiganj district.

"One of the dead was hacked in his head and another had gunshot injuries."

Another policeman, who asked not to be identified, said the city had "turned into a battleground".

Police and doctors also reported deaths in districts in the north, west, south and centre of the country.

On Sunday, India's foreign ministry said it "strongly advised" its nationals not to travel to neighboring Bangladesh until further notice.

Some former military officers have joined the student movement and ex-army chief General Ikbal Karim Bhuiyan turned his Facebook profile picture red in a show of support.

"We call on the incumbent government to withdraw the armed forces from the street immediately," Bhuiyan told reporters Sunday in a joint statement alongside other senior ex-officers, condemning "egregious killings, torture, disappearances and mass arrests".

"Those who are responsible for pushing people of this country to a state of such an extreme misery will have to be brought to justice", he said.

- 'No longer about job quotas' -

Current army chief Waker-uz-Zaman told officers at military headquarters in Dhaka on Saturday the "Bangladesh Army is the symbol of trust of the people".

"It always stood by the people and will do so for the sake of people and in any need of the state," he said, according to an army statement, which gave no further details and did not say explicitly whether the army backed the protests.

The demonstrations have grown into a wider anti-government movement across the South Asian nation of about 170 million people.

It has attracted people from all strata of Bangladesh society, including film stars, musicians and singers. Rap songs calling for people's support have spread widely on social media.

A group of 47 manufacturers in the economically vital garment sector said Sunday they stood in "solidarity" with the protesters.

Hasina has ruled Bangladesh since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposi
Her government is accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including through the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.

Demonstrations began over the reintroduction of the quota scheme, which reserved more than half of all government jobs for certain groups. It has since been scaled back by Bangladesh's top court.

sa/pjm/bjt/mlm

Welsh Labour meets with union on Tata Steel's future

Elizabeth Birt
Fri, 2 August 2024 


The First Minister met with union officials at Tata Steel (Image: Nathan Roach)


New Welsh Labour leader, Eluned Morgan, recently met with union officials at Tata Steel.

The meeting, held at the steelworks site in Port Talbot was aimed at discussing the future of thousands of workers.

Ms Morgan was joined by Welsh secretary Jo Stevens MP and Huw Irranca-Davies MS as well as representatives from GMB, Unite and Community.

The meeting came on the heels of the recent shutdown of one of Tata's two coal-fired blast furnaces at the plant.

This is a move towards embracing greener manufacturing as the company plans to transition to electric arc steelmaking, with the second coal-fired blast furnace to be switched off by September.

The shift, though beneficial in terms of decarbonisation, threatens to see up to 3,000 jobs lost across Tata's UK operations.

Ms Morgan said: "It was really important to me that one of the first meetings I had as Welsh Labour leader was with unions about the ongoing situation at Tata Steel.

"As First Minister, I will stand alongside workers to save as many steel jobs as we can, and to ensure that the transition to decarbonisation doesn't leave workers behind."

Mr Irranca-Davies added: "I know the workforce at Tata is facing a lot of uncertainty.

"Eluned and I are here to say the Welsh Government has your back."

Ms Stevens also spoke out saying: "Labour is committed to protecting and growing our steel communities in Wales.

"Eluned and I are clear that we will need more steel, not less, to achieve our ambitions for Wales and Britain.

"Both Labour governments will continue to listen to, engage and work with businesses and unions to forge a new partnership that kickstarts our national renewal."

This visit forms part of Ms Morgan's 'summer of listening' as she plans to venture across Wales to understand people’s priorities for the country.

World’s largest iceberg spins in the ocean, refusing to melt

Louise Watt
Sun, 4 August 2024


A23a is the world's largest iceberg, twice the size of Greater London - Chris Walton/BAS


The world’s oldest and largest iceberg is refusing to melt, say scientists.

A few months ago, the 1,500-square-mile floating mass of ice known as A23a was expected to drift to warmer waters and eventually dissolve.

But the trillion-ton iceberg, twice the size of Greater London and three times that of New York City, is instead stuck in an ocean vortex that could keep it in the same spot for years.


A23a, which once hosted a Soviet research station, broke away from the Antarctic coast in 1986. Almost immediately, it grounded on the seabed and was stuck for more than three decades. In 2020, it refloated.

A23a is trapped in a vortex created by ocean currents - Derren Fox/BAS

Late last year, it began migrating, exciting scientists who said it was rare to see an iceberg of such size on the move. Helped by strong winds and currents, it moved out of the Weddell Sea into the Southern Ocean, drifting – around walking pace – towards warmer waters.

In April, it entered a powerful ocean current, predicted to funnel it into the South Atlantic where it would break up. But, unexpectedly, it has stopped.

“Usually you think of icebergs as being transient things; they fragment and melt away. But not this one,” Prof Mark Brandon, a polar expert, told BBC News. “A23a is the iceberg that just refuses to die.”


The huge berg is now slowly spinning just north of the South Orkney Islands, a barren part of the British Antarctic Territory uninhabited except for an Antarctic exploration base.

The iceberg has stopped not because it has hit the seafloor, but because it is trapped in a vortex caused by the Pirie Bank, a bump on the ocean floor. As the current meets that obstruction, it separates into two flows, producing a rotating swirl of water in between.

“The ocean is full of surprises, and this dynamical feature is one of the cutest you’ll ever see,” Prof Mike Meredith from the British Antarctic Survey told BBC News.

A23a, which weighs nearly one trillion metric tons, could be stuck for years, scientists say.


An annotated aerial photograph shows A23a's position off the South Orkney islands


A map showing A23a's location

The iceberg’s continued survival comes as Antarctica loses ice, adding to rising global sea levels.

Last year, winter Antarctic sea ice fell to its lowest level on record. There were more than two million square kilometres (800,000 square miles) less ice than usual, an area ten times the size of the UK, according to the British Antarctic Survey.

It said such a low level of ice was “extremely unlikely to happen without the influence of climate change”. Persistent low sea ice could have profound impacts on weather systems and Southern Ocean ecosystems, including whales and penguins.