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How citizen scientists are uncovering the secret lives of blue whales

Kelly Ng
BBC News

Drone footage of pygmy blue whales off Timor Leste coast


For about two months each year, fisherman Faustino Mauloko da Cunha and his son Zacarias spend most of their days in a dugout canoe out at sea in the South Pacific Ocean.

Armed with binoculars and a telephoto camera, they watch the cobalt waters for one of its great treasures - pygmy blue whales.

When there is a sighting, it’s all systems go.

A team based in the da Cunha's village - called Subaun - dispatches a drone. Then the team’s leader, Australian marine ecologist Karen Edyvane, guides the drone operator to take the best photographs. When the drone returns, the team reviews the pictures, taking notes on a white board.

It's a small and thrifty operation in Timor-Leste, which is part of an archipelago that lies between South East Asia and the South Pacific. But it has generated a wealth of information about pygmy blue whales - one of the largest animals on earth, whose vast habitats and elusive nature make them challenging to study.

These citizen researchers, all of them locals, have spotted nearly 3,000 pygmy blue whales over the past 10 years - Prof Edyvane considers that a “truly extraordinary” number.

Mario Cabral
Faustino Mauloko da Cunha (left) and his son Zacarias with Professor Karen Edyvane in Subaun


Timor-Leste has one of the world’s highest concentrations of marine mammals.

During the migration season - October and November - hundreds of pygmy blue whales pass through the country’s waters as they make the epic journey spanning thousands of kilometres from southern Australia into the Banda Sea that lies to the north of Timor-Leste.

But the area has been under-researched, says Prof Edyvane, who started the monitoring programme in 2014.

During whale season over the past decade, she has based herself in Subaun, about 50km (31 miles) from the capital Dili, working with fishermen, students and dive tour operators to document the cetaceans.

They have documented "some of the lesser known, intimate reproductive behaviours of blue whales, some for the very first time," says Prof Edyvane, who lectures at the Australian National University and Charles Darwin University.

In July, for instance, the team captured underwater footage of a mother nursing her calf, offering a glimpse into the species’ reproductive behaviours, which have remained largely unknown.

"It’s very, very exciting,” she adds.


Hundreds of pygmy blue whales make an epic annual journey from southern Australia, past Timor-Leste, and into the Banda Sea
Zacarias da Cunha
The citizen researchers, all of them locals, have spotted nearly 3,000 pygmy blue whales over the past 10 years
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The project started as a Facebook group, inviting local volunteers to spot and document the lives of pygmy blue whales.

Prof Edyvane trained them on surveying methods and hired professionals to teach them how to use telephoto cameras and drones so that they could conduct aerial and boat surveys.

“When locals living along the coast see the whales swimming by, they will post pictures on Facebook and WhatsApp. Updates come on a real-time basis and when someone shares something, everyone gets very excited,” Prof Edyvane says.

In 2016, the team worked with a dive tour operator to launch the first whale-watching tour.

It was only last year that they set up a “research station” outside the da Cunha’s village home - photos show a simple hut overlooking the bay. Outside are two tables, plastic chairs and white boards mounted on the hut's walls.
Karen Edyvane
The research station at the da Cunha's village home

During this year's whale season, undergraduates from the National University of East Timor gathered at the research station to help with the sightings.

Even such a basic structure has made the task easier.

“We’re able to monitor all day and all night," Prof Edyvane says. "We’ve also been able to get the most incredible footage. The whales come in so close sometimes we can actually hear their blows."

Citizen researchers like these have become powerful eyes and ears on the ground for marine scientists, says wildlife scientist Vanessa Pirotta.

“The combination of people having access to tools like drones and social media means we have insights into things that are happening while we may be behind the desk writing grants to fund our work,” she said.

The increase in research activity in Subaun has also led to a rise in tourism.

The demand for whale-watching tours has increased, diving instructor Cassio Schumacher tells the BBC, adding that these tours are “booked up years in advance”.

Local non-profits have warned of the risks of unregulated whale tourism and the government has said it intends to use Prof Edyvane's research to “fully protect and conserve" the marine life that pass through Timor-Leste’s waters.

Karen Edyvane
Faustino Mauloko da Cunha spends most of his day out with this camera during whale-spotting season

Prof Edyvane believes that with regulation, whale tourism has the potential to create jobs and grow Timor-Leste’s economy.

The country is one of the poorest in the world, where average annual incomes in cities hover around $1,500, according to the International Monetary Fund. In Subaun, most villagers work as subsistence fishermen and farmers, earning just about $600 to $900 a year.

The da Cunha family has now started preparing meals from local produce and the day’s catch for the students and tourists - an additional source of income.

“We enjoyed having the guests around and will love to do it again," Faustino, 51, tells the BBC on a WhatsApp video call. "We will make it a better experience [next season]."

His son, Zacarias, has also been contracted to provide drone services for the project. Prof Edyvane says she plans to train him to give talks about whales in English.

The 26-year-old says what he appreciates is that the visitors are learning to protect the area: “The university students learn fast and well to defend this area."

As for the tourists, he says the locals are happy to teach them. "We remind tourists not to swim with the whales but instead watch them from a distance."

Children’s rights and climate litigation in 2024

Child Rights International Network (CRIN)
5 December 2024

Climate activists and other young protesters hold placards during a rally before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decides in three separate cases if states are doing enough in the face of climate change, Strasbourg, eastern France, 9 April 2024. Frederick FLORIN / AFP via Getty Images

As we move towards the end of 2024, CRIN looks back at the year in child rights climate litigation, and ahead to what might come next.

This statement was originally published on home.crin.org on 28 November 2024.

As we move towards the end of 2024, CRIN is looking back at the year in child rights climate litigation and looking ahead to what might come next. These reflections include State obligations to prevent harm caused by climate change under the European Court of Human Rights and in the International Court of Justice, growing national litigation related to environmental justice and the challenges children still face.

It has been a busy year for children’s rights climate litigation. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) handed down its first climate crisis decisions, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) started work on their advisory opinions and countless litigators nationally broke new ground in the struggle for climate justice.

There has undeniably been progress, but we have also seen setbacks and new challenges emerging. As we move towards the end of 2024, CRIN is looking back at the year in child rights climate litigation and looking ahead to what might come next.

Breaking new ground at the European Court of Human Rights

At the regional level, we have recently witnessed landmark rulings on environmental rights in Europe, as the ECtHR tackled, for the first time, the obligation of States under the European Convention on Human Rights to prevent harm caused by climate change. In April 2024, the Court ruled that State inaction on climate change is a violation of human rights, meaning that States are obliged to act on climate change and, if they fail to do so, they can be held accountable.

Simultaneously, the court ruled on the case Duarte Agostinho and Ors. v. Portugal and 32 other States, brought by six young people against 32 countries for violating human rights by failing to take sufficient action on climate change and consequently placing a greater burden on younger generations. This case was dismissed because domestic remedies had not been exhausted. However, the Court made it clear that climate change is an intergenerational issue “affecting most vulnerable groups, which need special protection from the authorities”.

This case is an important contribution, paving the way for enforcing children’s environmental rights; it is to be hoped that we will soon hear its repercussions on the resolution of other cases brought by children before the ECtHR (e.g. Engels v. Germany (no. 46906/22) and Soubeste and 4 other applications v. Austria and 11 other States (nos. 31925/22, 31932/22, 31938/22, 31943/22 and 31947/22), which were pending the resolution of the aforementioned cases.

In addition to the above, the environmental rights of children and future generations have been brought before the Court of Justice of the European Union in Armando Ferrão Carvalho and Others v. The European Parliament and the Council (‘People’s Climate Case’), albeit unsuccessfully. The Court considered that the applicants did not have standing since they were not sufficiently and directly affected by the policies enacted by States.

Similarly, children are using the regional mechanisms available to them in other parts of the world to demand the enforcement of their rights. This is the case, for example, with a group of Haitian children and their Petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Seeking to Redress Violations of the Rights of Children in Cité Soleil, Haiti.

Advisory opinions: A new frontier

Advisory opinions are also a new front when it comes to establishing States’ obligations and guaranteeing environmental rights, including those of children. The ICJ has recently been asked to give an advisory opinion on the obligations of States towards present and future generations in this regard, and on the legal consequences for States that have contributed to environmental damage (whether through their acts or omissions).

Another example, at the regional level, is the case of the IACtHR. The IACtHR recognised the right to a healthy environment as a human right, addressing the obligation of States to prevent environmental damages, cooperate and provide information, justice and public participation in this matter, including with regards to children. This year, the court received another request for an advisory opinion, this time with the aim of clarifying the extent of State obligations to address the climate emergency within the framework of the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights. The request focused on the unique effects of this emergency on individuals from various regions and demographic groups, with particular emphasis on children and future generations.

Growing national litigation

Environmental litigation for children’s rights has taken place at the national level in a number of countries. Children and young people have taken the lead in suing their State governments to ensure that States adopt adequate measures to address climate change and environmental harm, and that they enforce existing commitments and targets.

This has been the case, for instance:in Austria (e.g. Children of Austria v. Austria)
in Australia (e.g. Sharma and others v. Minister for the Environment)
in Canada (e.g. Environnement Jeunesse v. Canada, Mathur et al. v. Her Majesty the Queen, La Rose v. Her Majesty the Queen, Raincoast Conservation Foundation v. Canada)
in Colombia (e.g. Future Generations v. Ministry of the Environment and Others)
in Ecuador (e.g. Herrera Carrion et al. v. Ministry of the Environment et al. or Caso Mecheros)
in Germany (e.g. Neubauer v. Germany, Otis Hoffman, et al. v. State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
in India (e.g. Ridhima Pandey v. Union of India
in Indonesia (e.g. Indonesian Youths and others v. Indonesia)
in the Netherlands (e.g. Urgenda v. The State of the Netherlands)
in Pakistan (e.g. Rabab Ali v. Federation of Pakistan)
in the Philippines (e.g. Minors Oposa v. Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources)
in South Korea (e.g. Do-Hyun Kim et al. v. South Korea)
in Sweden (e.g. Anton Foley and others v. Sweden)
and the United States (e.g. Juliana v. United States, Held v. State of Montana, Navahine F. v. Hawai‘i Department of Transportation).

There have been interesting developments at the national level exploring different ways of securing justice. For example, in Navahine F. v. Hawai‘i Department of Transportation, a settlement agreement was reached, confirming that young people have constitutional rights to a clean and healthy environment and that the State of Hawai’i has an obligation to protect young people’s interests. The State pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions from its state transportation system based on the “best current scientific evidence” as determined by experts.

Regardless of their success, these cases have brought a child rights-based approach to the issue of climate change and environmental damage. They have reminded States of their obligations on this issue, particularly towards children, and are paving the way for enforcing children’s environmental rights.

Challenges and setbacks

Despite the growing number of cases, especially at the national level, children still face challenges in accessing justice in most jurisdictions – such as the cost of litigation and lack of access to legal aid, the lack of independence and status, the burden of proof, the deference of courts to the executive and legislative branches of government when ruling, the lack of standing and the lack of access to information in general.

As these court cases are decided, new challenges arise and have to be overcome, including when it comes to the implementation of these decisions. Making allegations of “judicial activism” on the part of the ECtHR in the Verein Klimaseniorinnen Schweiz and Others v Switzerland case, the Swiss Parliament released a statement suggesting that the Court had gone beyond the appropriate bounds of judicial interpretation of the European Convention of Human Rights as a “living instrument”. The Swiss Parliament’s lower house requested that the Federal Council notify the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers that Switzerland deemed its current climate policy enough to satisfy the standards set down in the ECtHR ruling.

What next?

Climate litigation and children’s rights cases are gaining relevance at international, regional and domestic levels, as courts are increasingly recognising the connection between the environment, climate change and human rights (including children’s rights). The need to take immediate action to prevent environmental harm and to address children’s particular vulnerability to the effects of climate change have been brought to the attention of the global community, both through child and youth advocacy and legal action.

While these cases are helping to set legal precedents and build pressure to avert climate catastrophe, however, the courts alone will never be enough. The scale of the climate crisis is too large for any one case or any single campaigning technique. All the same, courts and child rights strategic litigators continue to prove themselves to be a vital part of the struggle for climate justice – whether moving into the next year or in the years to come.

Haitian press face “existential crisis” with no end to gang violence

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
5 December 2024

Reporters watch as a Kenya Airways plane with Kenyan security forces lands at Toussaint Louverture International Airport, in Port-au-Prince, 25 June 2024. Clarens SIFFROY / AFP via Getty Images

The crisis facing media outlets in Haiti is the result of attacks by gangs on journalists and their offices, as well as the economic impact of widespread insecurity.

This statement was originally published on cpj.org on 24 July 2024.

By David C. Adams

Le Nouvelliste, Haiti’s oldest independent daily newspaper, has been around for 126 years, and the outlet’s owners are proud to have maintained its operations through the country’s intensifying challenges — from foreign occupation and devastating earthquakes to coups.But now Le Nouvelliste’s survival — and that of more independent media outlets in the country — may be in grave danger after gang rule has descended the island nation into virtual lawlessness following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.

Besides a handful of major TV, radio and print outlets, Haiti has hundreds of small radio and TV stations, many of them operating on social media platforms with tiny budgets and only a handful of mostly freelance reporters.

Many media outlets have been forced to cut staff due to falling advertising and others say they are close to being forced out of business.

Headquartered in Haiti’s capital, Port au-Prince, Le Nouvelliste has had “difficult situations” before, said publisher Max Chauvet, 73, the grandson of the paper’s founder.

“But never like this,” Chauvet added. “It’s the first time in our history that the paper’s offices were physically taken over.”

On April 25, suspected gang members occupied and looted Le Nouvelliste’s offices. The incident followed a March attack on a prominent broadcaster, Radio Télévision Caraïbes, which was forced to leave its studio in downtown Port-au-Prince. Also in April, the office of the National Press, which prints the Le Moniteur government bulletin, was attacked.

And in March, the main gate and windows of Radio Télévision Caraïbes were hit by stray bullets. No casualties were reported. But the owner decided to move offices as a precaution.

Gang members have spread all over the city since launching a coordinated offensive against the government in February, including an attack on two large prisons which resulted in the escape of more than 4,000 inmates. Several universities and hospitals, as well as the National Library of Haiti, have all been looted.

After Le Nouvelliste’s offices were occupied in April, the paper was forced to stop printing. The paper remains online for its audience of 110,000 free subscribers, as well as its 528,000 followers on X, formerly Twitter, and 590,000 followers on Facebook.

Chauvet said he didn’t believe that the looting of Le Nouvelliste’s offices was in response to its reporting but rather a result of the “absence of the state.” That vacuum “has allowed looters to take advantage of the deterioration of security” across the city, he said.

Chauvet told CPJ he was waiting for a full inventory of the items seized and destroyed but feared the paper may never recover.
Attacks on journalists

The crisis facing media outlets in Haiti is the result of attacks by gangs on journalists and their offices, as well as the economic impact of widespread insecurity.

At least six Haitian journalists have been murdered in direct reprisal for their work since Moïse’s 2021 assassination. Haiti ranked as the world’s third-worst nation in CPJ’s 2023 Global Impunity Index, which measures where killers of journalists are most likely to go unpunished.

CPJ has also documented numerous kidnappings of journalists in recent months and attacks outside the capital, including Radio Antarctique in the town of Liancourt whose studio was burned down by gang members in 2023. Its director Roderson Elias left Haiti and the outlet has ceased operations.

In recent years, several Le Nouvelliste journalists have been attacked. Prominent investigative journalist and editor Roberson Alphonse survived an assassination attempt in 2022 that left him hospitalized for eight days with gunshot wounds to the chest, stomach, and arms. He has since left the country.

Alphonse was the second of the paper’s top reporters to be forced into exile, after the departure of Robenson Geffrard in 2022 due to death threats.
Advertising has dried up

The prolonged insecurity has also hit media owners hard financially as advertising from local businesses has dried up. Chauvet and other media owners worry how much longer they can keep operating, as they also grapple with competition from online news sources and social media influencers.

“There is no revenue to pay staff,” Chauvet said, adding that he had to lay off some staff and wasn’t sure how long the company could meet its payroll and stave off bankruptcy. “It’s an existential crisis.”

Chauvet is considering the option of a paywall, but fears driving away low-income subscribers.

“Countless media outlets have ceased broadcasting, reduced their airtime, dismissed staff, or are surviving hand to mouth,” Frantz Duval, editor of Le Nouvelliste, wrote in an April editorial marking the paper’s anniversary.

“Insecurity has reduced economic activity, and this has had an impact on advertising, the only source of revenue for the vast majority of the press … The few media companies that receive subscriptions are seeing their customer base shrink daily. Families can’t 


People flee their neighborhoods after armed gangs terrorized the Delmas 24 and Solino areas on the previous night, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 2 May 2024. Clarens SIFFROY / AFP via Getty Images
Sleeping on a mattress in the office

After 34 years in business, Radio Télé Galaxie, one of Haiti’s early FM band radio stations, has been on and off the air since April.

“We are trying to stay active but mostly by doing social media,” director Jean Robert Jean-Bart told CPJ. Due to financial challenges, the station was forced to lay off 90% of its 50 staff.

“It’s been 34 years of hard work and investment, but our savings have run out,” said Jean-Bart.

One of his staff, Arnold Junior Pierre, was forced to flee his home in a gang-controlled neighborhood last August and has been sleeping on a mattress in the office ever since.

“I live in my workspace, which makes my situation very difficult. But I’m grateful to have somewhere to sleep,” Pierre told CPJ. “I continue to pursue my profession with passion. But we are all having to beg for survival. It’s a sad reality,” he said.

Chauvet told CPJ he worried that money from organized crime and drug traffickers could be used to influence media coverage. “In the absence of formal financial revenue, there is a lot of dirty money in the country which could find its way into the new online media,” he said.

Last month, a U.N.-backed contingent of 400 police officers from Kenya arrived in Haiti to help restore law and order and pave the way for new elections. But Chauvet worries it may be too late to save many local businesses.

“If there is no economic recovery soon, it will be too late. What Haiti needs is a Marshall Plan,” said Chauvet, referring to the massive economic reconstruction effort in Europe after World War II.

In April, more than 90 Haitian journalists, backed by the press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders, called on Haiti’s new transitional council to protect the media, saying that they live in constant fear of being attacked, kidnapped, or murdered.

“Doing our job has become so dangerous that a daily act of heroism is needed to keep going,” the appeal said.

David C. Adams is a CPJ’s Caribbean correspondent based in Miami where he works as a freelance journalist for several media outlets. He has covered Latin America and the Caribbean for the last 36 years and was previously a senior editor at Univision News and Miami bureau chief for Thomson Reuters. Follow him on LinkedIn.

UK
Man shocked to discover super-rare white blackbird sitting in his garden

SPIRIT ANIMAL

Jasper King
Published December 5, 2024

The bid is stunning (Picture: Andy Turner/BNPS)

Blackbirds are a common sight across many gardens up and down the UK but did you know white ones exist?

One in every 33,000 fly around across the country and one has recently been spotted in a garden in Dorset.

It was all thanks to a kitten called Ozzy who ‘threw himself at the back window’ upon seeing the rare bird.

Andy Turner, 54, who lives in Weymouth, knew he was seeing something rather special as soon as he spotted the white blackbird.

He described to the Dorset Echo how it was blackbird shaped with a blackbird beak but completely white.

Andy said the white blackbird sat there for what felt like ‘seemingly ages’.

The curious little bird then perched itself on a bush for a further five minutes before flying off again never to be seen.

So you might be wondering how on earth white blackbirds can exist?

Seeing a bird like this is incredibly rare (Picture: Andy Turner/BNPS)

Well, it is caused because of a genetic mutation which affects the pigment in the bird’s feathers – turning them white.

White blackbirds are also called leucistic blackbirds and this rare sighting was also confirmed by an expert from Dorset Wildlife Trust.

What’s even more spectacular is that it is even more rare for a blackbird to be completely white.

This is because most blackbirds with the mutation have a few white feathers and occasionally mottled feathers, where there is a mix of black and white.

It loved being in the bushes (Picture: Andy Turner/BNPS)

Seb Elwood from the trust said: ‘This is a lovely leucistic blackbird – caused by a lack of melanin in the feathers.

‘There can be a scale of leucism, with some bird having just white patches, and in rare cases, entirely white plumage.

‘It’s a genetic condition that can be passed down through generations, so there can sometimes be multiple birds in the same area if a whole brood has been affected.

‘The leucistic feathers will be weaker than normal feather, making them more susceptible to wearing down.’

Fracking ban confirmed by Northern Ireland

Louise Cullen
BBC News NI agriculture and environment correspondent

PA Media
Fracking is a process to force gas out of shale rock by injecting water and chemicals into it under pressure


A ban on fracking in Northern Ireland has been approved by the Stormont Executive.

It extends to all other forms of onshore petroleum exploration and production.

The Economy Minister Conor Murphy said legislation for the ban will be introduced in late 2025. He had announced his intention to seek the ban earlier this year.

Fracking involves injecting high-pressure liquid between layers of rock to force open fissures and release any oil and natural gas stored there.
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It is a controversial method and proposals to use it in County Fermanagh faced significant political and community opposition.

There are no active licences for petroleum exploration in place in Northern Ireland but two applications remain on hold following a review of the licensing scheme.

The minister said reducing reliance on fossil fuels was key to helping to meet the 2050 Net Zero goal in climate change legislation.

"This action today takes us a step closer to ending our over reliance on fossil fuels which are at the mercy of unstable global commodity prices.

"It will help my department focus all its efforts on supporting the development and generation of renewable energy," Economy Minister Conor Murphy said.

The move brings Northern Ireland into line with policy elsewhere in the UK and in the Republic of Ireland.

VIEW FROM THE CHICKENHAWK ROOST

The third nuclear age is here – this is how the UK should respond

We must send a signal to Putin and spend a lot more on defence

OPINION
By Hamish de Bretton-Gordon
December 05, 2024 

Keir Starmer walks with Admiral Sir Tony Radakin as he hosts Armed Forces Chiefs at Downing Street (Photo: Ian Vogler – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The acknowledgement by Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, head of the UK Armed Forces, that the Cold War has turned hot, and we are entering the “third nuclear age” is unsurprising, given the proliferation of weaponary by China, Russia and the US.

What makes it all the more stark, however, is the Veterans Minister’s warning this week that our Army would be lucky to last six months on the battlefield. Successive governments seem to have relied on luck for our collective defence and security since the end of the Cold War, rather than hard facts on the threats we face.

Radakin is clear that Vladimir Putin’s regular threats to attack London with nuclear weapons have no substance. Our own nuclear defence is at least fit for purpose and will always prevent a strike on Britain.


However, I don’t think that is enough. Every prime minster since Winston Churchill has stated that the defence of these Isles is their number one priority, but as is evident today, few meant it.

Unfortunately for us, the tyrants around the world know this and are mercilessly exploiting our ambivalence to conventional defence capabilities. With the realisation that our tanks will only survive a few months against Russian armour, you would think that Whitehall would be sprung into action to right this obvious wrong.

However, in true “Yes Prime Minister” fashion, they’ve commissioned a defence study to report next year for a “new model army” ready for the end of the decade.

squareHAMISH DE BRETTON-GORDON
The world is inching ever closer to nuclear warREAD MORE

If the new team in Westminster and Whitehall are as free thinking and innovative as claim, they should focus immediately on the most effective element of the UK’s defence – our nuclear deterrent – and enhance it.

This means gaining battlefield nuclear weapons which we do not currently have. Our only operational nuclear weapons system is Trident, which would be launched from four submarines.

Our strategic nuclear deterrent, which Trident is, has prevented strategic global conflict since the end of the Second World War, but perhaps a tactical or battlefield nuclear capability would prevent the sort of war we are seeing in Ukraine now?

One battlefield nuclear missile would destroy hundreds of Russian tanks at a stroke, and more importantly would probably prevent Putin or one of the other tyrants who are threatening us at the moment actually deploying them in the first place.

Not unsurprisingly, the Government’s focus is on the Russian threat in Europe. But it seems likely that President Donald Trump is going to force some sort of peace on Zelensky and Putin. While this might give us some breathing space for the Defence Review and new model Army to develop, it is unlikely to slow the nuclear proliferation.

We must send a signal to Putin and spend a lot more on defence (ideally 3 per cent of GDP), and at least look at increasing our nuclear deterrent to make up for the shortcomings.

No 10 and 11 need to listen to Radakin’s warning – if we do not have a credible deterrent in place, we are just waving our White Flag.

Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE is a former commander of UK and Nato CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) forces

Senior U.K. commander warns of ‘Third nuclear age’

FILE - Britain’s Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Tony Radakin attends a Ceremonial Welcome for the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his wife Sheikha Jawaher, at Horse Guards Parade in London, on Dec. 3,

By Danica Kirka - Associated Press - Thursday, December 5, 2024


LONDON — The head of Britain’s armed forces has warned that the world stands at the cusp of a “third nuclear age,’’ defined by multiple simultaneous challenges and weakened safeguards that kept previous threats in check.

Admiral Tony Radakin, chief of the defense staff, said Britain needs to recognize the seriousness of the threats it faces, even if there is only a remote chance of Russia launching a direct nuclear attack on the U.K. or its NATO allies.

While the Cold War saw two superpowers held at bay by nuclear deterrence and the past three decades were characterized by international efforts to restrict the spread of nuclear weapons, the current era is “altogether more complex,” Radakin said Wednesday in a speech to the Royal United Services Institute.

“We are at the dawn of a third nuclear age…’’ he said. “It is defined by multiple and concurrent dilemmas, proliferating nuclear and disruptive technologies and the almost total absence of the security architectures that went before.”

Challenges faced by the West include Russia’s threat to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, China’s drive to build up its nuclear stockpiles, Iran’s failure to cooperate with international efforts to limit its nuclear program, and “erratic behavior” by North Korea, Radakin said. All of this comes against a backdrop of increasing cyber-attacks, sabotage and disinformation campaigns aimed at destabilizing Western countries.

He described the deployment of North Korean soldiers alongside Russian forces on Ukraine’s border as the year’s “most extraordinary development,’’ and warned that further deployments were possible.

The annual lecture by the chief of Britain’s defense staff is a tradition at RUSI, one of the country’s foremost think tanks on military and strategic issues.

Radakin used the lecture to make the case for continued reforms in the British military so the U.K. is prepared to respond to the changing international landscape. That includes maintaining Britain’s nuclear deterrent, which is “the one part of our inventory of which Russia is most aware and has more impact on Putin than anything else,” he said.


Britain keeps at least one submarine armed with nuclear missiles at sea at all times so that it can respond in the event of a nuclear attack.

The U.K. government is currently conducting a strategic defense review to determine how its armed forces should be staffed and equipped to confront the new challenges. The results are due to be published in the first half of next year.

Muhammad overtakes Noah as most popular British boy's name

Cachella Smith
BBC News



Muhammad was the top choice for parents naming their baby boys in England and Wales in 2023, with more than 4,600 children registered with the name.

It has been among the top 10 names for baby boys since 2016, but has now overtaken the previous favourite, Noah, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

There is, however, a level of regional variation with Muhammad not appearing in the top 10 for three regions of England.

Other spellings of the name Mohammed and Mohammad also made the top 100 list for England and Wales. The ONS considers each spelling as a separate name, with different variations of Muhammad proving popular in previous years.

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Olivia remains the most popular choice for baby girls, followed by Amelia and Isla. These top three have remained unchanged since 2022.

Hyphenated names jumped in popularity for girls last year, standing at more than 19,140 names, up from around 12,330 the year before.

New entries to the top 100 list for girls include Lilah, Raya and Hazel, while Jax, Enzo and Bodhi made it into the top 100 for boys.

The ONS said on Thursday that pop culture "continues to influence" name choices, citing singers Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey, the Kardashian-Jenner family's children Reign and Saint, and film stars Margot Robbie and Cillian Murphy.

Other music artist names Miley, Rihanna, Kendrick and Elton also saw an increase in 2023. That was likely due to album releases, touring, or high-profile performances by Miley Cyrus, Kendrick Lamar, Elton John, and Rihanna, the ONS said.

Days of the week have been a further source of inspiration for parents, with names such as Sunday and Wednesday rising in popularity last year. The ONS drew a possible link with the Netflix series Wednesday, which was released in late 2022.

As for the seasons, Autumn ranks 96th in the list and Summer 86th, up 10 places from 2022, but 38 places lower than in 2013.

Meanwhile, royal names were less popular in 2023 - a decline that forms part of an ongoing trend.

George, Archie, Harry and Charlotte have all become less popular in recent years, as have Elizabeth and Charles.

Data for 2022's top baby names was released last May amid changes to resources.

Publishing dates for 2024's most popular picks have not yet been confirmed.

Church of England abuse victims 'disgusted' by Welby's speech

Ian Aikman
BBC News
Aleem Maqbool
Religion Editor

UK Parliament/PA

The Archbishop of Canterbury has been condemned by victims of the Church of England abuse scandal for a speech they say made light of serious safeguarding failures.

In his first public speech since announcing his resignation last month, Justin Welby told the House of Lords a head had to roll after a review criticised failings in handling of the scandal.

But abuse victims say they were "dismayed" and "disgusted" by the speech, saying it made no mention of any remorse for survivors and struck too "frivolous" a tone with jokes.

The independent Makin review found Welby "could and should" have reported prolific child abuser John Smyth to the police in 2013.


Speaking in the Lords on Thursday, the archbishop said: "The reality is that there comes a time if you are technically leading a particular institution or area of responsibility where the shame of what has gone wrong, whether one is personally responsible or not, must require a head to roll.

"And there is only, in this case, one head that rolls well enough."

He also referred to a 14th century predecessor who had been beheaded, adding: "I hope not literally."

Mark Stibbe, who has previously told the BBC he was groomed and beaten by Smyth in the 1970s, said: "I object to the use of such a frivolous tone in such a serious matter - a matter that has been, and continues to be, a matter of life and death to some."

He added that talk of only one head rolling over the scandal was "disturbing".

"Smyth survivors want all those responsible to stand down," he said. "If Justin Welby is as serious about safeguarding as he claims, then this must happen."

Another of Smyth's victims, given the pseudonym Graham Jones in the Makin report, said the tone of Mr Welby's speech was "entirely wrong".

"It did not appear to be one of sorrow which is what was required," he told the BBC.

"This would have been an opportunity to look into the camera and say sorry but instead he talked frivolously about a matter that has led to suicide attempts by victims," he added.

"I was disgusted by the speech."


Smyth is believed to have abused more than 100 boys and young men at Christian summer camps in England in the 1970s and 1980s, and later in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

He is thought to have continued his abuse until his 2018 death in Cape Town, aged 75.

The archbishop said in his resignation statement a month ago he "must take personal and institutional responsibility" for how he responded when first told about the abuse.

He said he was "told that police had been notified" in 2013 and that he "believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow".

And he said he resigned "in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse."

Archbishop of Canterbury resigns over Church abuse scandal

Church covered up 'abhorrent' abuse, report finds

On Thursday in the Lords during a debate on homelessness, Mr Welby began on a light-hearted note by saying he pitied his diary secretary who had worked hard on arranging his diary for the year ahead, before the announcement of his resignation.

He continued that safeguarding in the Church of England was "a completely different picture to the past".

"However, when I look back at the last 50 or 60 years, not only through the eyes of the Makin report – however one takes one's view of personal responsibility – it is clear that I had to stand down," he said.

Reacting to his speech, Mr Stibbe said the archbishop appeared to be backing away from what the archbishop had previously said in his resignation speech about being personally responsible for his handling of the Smyth case.

"Yes, he says he is technically and institutionally culpable. But is he now questioning his personal responsibility?," asked Mr Stibbe.

Meanwhile Mr Jones took issue with the archbishop's references to his diary secretary's workload.

"He said he pitied his diary secretary without a word of pity for the victims of abuse," said Mr Jones.

The Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, added her voice of condemnation.

She said she was "deeply disturbed" by some of the archbishop's language.

"To make light of serious matters of safeguarding failures in this way yet again treats victims and survivors of church abuse without proper respect or regard," she said.

She added that she was "disappointed" to see other bishops in the House of Lords laughing at some of the jokes.

Bishop Hartley was the most senior member of the clergy to call for Mr Welby's resignation after the Makin report was published. She has since told the BBC she has been "frozen out" by her Church of England colleagues.

Reuters
Justin Welby presided over several high profile ceremonies during his 11 years as archbishop, including the King's coronation in May 2023.


The archbishop is due to step down on 6 January, with the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, taking charge until a permanent replacement is found.

The search for a successor is expected to take around six months.

An announcement earlier this week confirmed the bishop Jo Bailey Wells, the archbishop's former personal chaplain, had "stepped back from her ministry" following the Makin report.

A Diocese of London spokesperson said a safeguarding risk assessment would take place.

This comes after Lambeth Palace confirmed on Wednesday that the archbishop would not deliver the traditional Christmas Day sermon at Canterbury Cathedral.

After COP29, Can the UK Be a Global Climate Leader?

Daniel Villar

December 5, 2024

Something unusual happened to British people in Baku in November 2024 when asked where they were from. After years of being a little embarrassed by their country, for once, attendees of COP29 from the United Kingdom could feel some pride in answering that question. The UK that had just raised the bar for climate ambition by being the first to release an updated NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution – or, emissions target), to reduce emissions by an ambitious 81% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. A week later, it became the first country to sign the ‘NDC Youth Clause’, committing to include young people in the design and implementation of climate policy, potentially a major win for climate justice.

When Keir Starmer announced the new pledge at COP29 in Baku, in doing so becoming the only G7 leader to make an appearance, he underscored the opportunity for investment in British business and workers, telling the conference hall that the UK could ‘lead the world in the economy of tomorrow’.

This potential leadership was evidenced when the Azerbaijani presidency recruited the UK and Brazil (who are the hosts of COP30 next year) to help break the impasse in negotiations after the first week. After the reluctant agreement of a $300 billion target for climate finance, developed countries faced harsh criticism for their lack of ambition and dereliction of duty in regards to climate finance. But Mukhtar Babayev, the COP29 President, highlighted that that lack of ambition was not universal, stating that the new British government has, ‘reassumed the country’s role in global climate leadership’.

Keir Starmer and Mukhtar Babayev are right, the UK does have the potential to be a global climate leader, and in fact has already made impressive progress in that direction. Earlier this year, the country that first pioneered electricity production from coal became the first in the G7 to entirely phase out coal power. It was made possible by the UK’s pioneering of the wind energy industry, which has enjoyed bipartisan support for more than 15 years.

In the next few years, wind energy production is projected to allow the United Kingdom to become a net-exporter of power for the first time since 1978. The Government’s ‘Clean Power 2030’ plan, whether or not it achieves its intended goal, is expected to further accelerate power sector decarbonisation, facilitating progress in other sectors and attracting investment in the energy intensive industries of the future.

Our potential does not stop there. The UK is still the world’s largest exporter of financial services, with connections to every corner of the global economy – we can pioneer the climate finance innovation that the world needs so urgently. We have two of the top 5 universities in the world, with all the research, expertise, and global soft power that that provides. Heathrow Airport is the world’s 4th busiest airport by passenger traffic, we have the potential to help drive decarbonisation in the aviation sector. The geological potential for carbon storage in the waters off of our island could allow us to spearhead the decarbonisation of the ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors.

Despite the opportunities and progress, we are still lagards in many ways. Our poorly insulated homes mean that we consume gas for domestic heating at twice the EU average; the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, with only 13% forest cover compared to 31% worldwide; outside of London, our public transport and opportunities for active travel are expensive and unreliable. These long standing issues and lack of ambition are holding us back, reducing our quality of life and health, as well as releasing unnecessary emissions. There is a real opportunity to improve lives and fix our broken country, if we are ambitious on climate action.

Decarbonising the UK is an opportunity for progress, but it is also a responsibility. The UK is responsible for 4.4% of all historic emissions of carbon, more than India, a country with 20 times more people. A large chunk of our recent progress on reducing emissions can be attributed to offshoring of carbon intensive industries. As the climate crisis escalates , and the inevitable pain is felt in every region, the world will look to the current and historical polluters. Rather than becoming an international pariah, and falling further behind, the UK should seize this opportunity for economic and diplomatic leadership. It is a chance to write a new chapter in the national story, and to be on the right side of history, and it is a once in a generation to improve lives at home.

If you liked this piece, follow the link here to read Daniel Villar’s piece on modern environmental issues.

Dear Trump Supporters: Is This the America You Wanted?

 by Stephen J. Lyons
12/01/24
GLOBAL POST

Dear Trump supporters: Congrats, your dreams came true. He’s back, almost like he never left.

Will this finally make you happy? Will your constant whining and raging rants about inflation (2 percent) and jobs (unemployment rate of 4.1 percent) end? Will grocery prices now plummet to a level where you can now afford milk, $20 lottery tickets, and a carton of cigs?

Will your kids now rush to fill all those lucrative jobs the illegals are stealing from them, you know, like working 10-hour shifts without disability insurance in an unforgiving slaughterhouse in Dodge City, or picking lettuce in the 100-degree heat in Imperial Valley, or carrying 50 pounds of shingles up a ladder on a Phoenix rooftop when the temps hit 115 degrees? Applications are now open.
Fake News, Real Consequences

You must be filled with MAGA pride when you read these recent headlines from the Washington Post: “Trump Team Weighs Pentagon Pick After Sexual Assault Allegation Surfaces;” “Global Health Experts Sound Alarm Over JFK, Jr., Citing Samoa Outbreak;” “Gaetz Nomination Brings New Focus on Underage Sex Allegations.”

Oops, I forgot, you don’t read the fake news in the Post or the Times, or any newspaper that fact-checks its stories. Facts are just so woke, aren’t they? And books? In your minds, they are dangerous grooming how-to manuals to convert your precious children from turning trans, gay, or simply different, or discovering inconvenient truths about our vicious history of race and genocide. Or perhaps bumping into the literature of Nobel laureates like Toni Morrison.

Instead, your brains are attached like IVs to FOX News and to your social media silos on the Dark Web, or X, where second-in-command, Elon the Great, controls your every keystroke, compiling algorithms to feed your paranoia and quench your insatiable thirst for conspiracies.

“Make America Great Again” is what you red hats have been bellowing for the past four years. Does that mean America was only great when your man occupied the White House from 2016 to 2020? You know, when a million of our neighbors and relatives died needlessly from COVID because your guy dragged his heels, went golfing, and then ignored the science before declaring an emergency? If only they had listened to the president and injected bleach into their sorry asses.

Was America great when migrant children at the border were wrested out of their sobbing mothers’ arms by pumped-up ICE agents to disappear into some holding pen in New Jersey never to be reunited? Those were some great made-for-TV moments, eh?

And so many memories yet to be made when your heavily locked, loaded, and tatted border cops begin to round up all those brown people and stuff them into camps. But no pictures this time. I mean, in your patriotic red, white, and blue minds, those illegals are diluting the purity of the American bloodlines in states like Mississippi and Kentucky, so they deserve whatever punishment they receive.
Border Patrol agent apprehends undocumented immigrants shortly after they crossed the border from Mexico into the United States in 2018. Photo: Loren Elliott, AFP

But you do honor the men in blue, right? Well, not the 150 police who were injured, killed, or took their own lives when you red hats stormed the Capitol because your cowardly leader implored you to take back your country and overturn the will of the people. He was marching alongside you, well, not really, but in spirit, correct?

Heck, you will do anything he tells you to. So when he pardons the brutes who staged that violent coup attempt, even the ones who battered officers and defecated in the Capitol rotunda, and they are released back into your communities, will you salute them with a heroes’ welcome, trot them out at NFL halftimes to sell the show, maybe even hold parades, ignoring the fact that more than a few of them had rap sheets and outstanding warrants before January 6?

Details, facts, truths. Who needs ‘em? After all, your re-elected dude said January 6th was a day of love. Anyway, that was in the ancient past, and history is for the woke mob.
The ‘Great’ America You’re Bringing Back

Next year, because of your anger, the best people will soon be in charge of your health, your environment, your wives’ and daughters’ bodies, your libraries, and your schools. Fluoride in your water? Gone. Contraception? Illegal. Doctors locked up because they dared save a woman’s life who had an ectopic pregnancy? Heck, that’s already happened. Been to Texas or Idaho lately?

Books on the Civil Rights movement or any novel by Margaret Atwood or Kurt Vonnegut? Burn, baby, burn. Required Bible studies in public schools? Why not, as long as they are Trump’s God Bless the USA Bible ($59.99 plus postage. Oklahoma’s education superintendent has already bought 500 for its school indoctrination program called the Department of Religious Freedom and Patriotism.)

Attention to climate change? Drill, drill, drill. And if those libtard, tree-hugger, DEI crackpots dare take to the streets to protest? This time the US military is standing by to bash in their heads. Stand back and stand by!

Please note, all you “Don’t Tread on Me,” “Guns, God, and Trump,” and “Let’s Go Brandon” folks, thanks to you the country’s fate is now in your hands. Well, not really, as you will soon find out. You see, you are simply pawns, electoral cannon fodder for Trump Inc., and the billionaire tech bros that control all of us.

So when the international tariffs take effect and when the cost of your iPhones and Mr. Coffees skyrocket, when the veggies and fruits are rotting in the fields because all the farmworkers are locked up in Stephen Miller’s concentration camps, and prices on your groceries spike, when all those unwanted babies born to underaged girls (more than a few conceived by their closest relatives) apply for welfare that doesn’t exist and instead end up homeless and addicted on the streets, when you become ill from fouled air and poisoned water, when your family doctor and your neighborhood librarian are arrested, or perhaps “disappeared” for “crimes against the state,” when you see the bloated profits Trump and Elon will rake in during the next four years (or longer) as they plunder the US Treasury, I do not want to hear any of your complaints or gripes.

Just keep foundling your ARs, waving your little flags, downloading the latest Kid Rock and Lee Greenwood anthems, keep your tellies tuned 24/7 to Fox or News Nation or Bannon’s War Room, and remind yourself that whatever happens, thank God you didn’t elect that damned woman of color.



Stephen J. Lyons
Author of six books of reportage and essays, most recently “Searching for Home: Misadventures with Misanthropes” (Finishing Line Press)