Op-Ed: 

How not to manage public science – Deep and angry multigenerational groans as Australia’s CSIRO faces job cuts


ByPaul Wallis
EDITOR AT LARGE

DIGITAL JOURNAL
November 19, 2025


CSIRO Hobart -Awaiting call up....these Argo robots or floats ready for deployment around Australia are the new kids on the ocean observing block 

- photo by Bruce Miller 4/2008. Source - Bruce Miller, CSIRO. CC SA 3.0.

You need to be Australian to understand the depth of the furious response to job cuts at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, aka CSIRO.

It’s a unique organization and also a government agency. It’s publicly funded specifically because Australian science always has been chronically underfunded. The country simply didn’t have the capital back when. Now, funding core business seems to be being undercut by “budgetary housekeeping” that shouldn’t even be an issue.

CSIRO partners with private enterprise on a broad bandwidth of science and technology programs. The organization is famous for doing a lot with stingy acknowledgment.

The chronic undervaluation of Australian science is a much-unappreciated fact. The decades of systemic undervaluation are truly despised and very much resented. In terms of achievements, CSIRO punches far above its weight.

The recent announcement of job cuts at CSIRO has gone down very badly. These cuts aren’t even based on some primitive Trumpian anti-scientific pseudo-ideology.

The supposed reason, so far extremely badly articulated, is the “need to manage costs of the property portfolio”.

The sheer mediocrity of the cuts has pushed a lot of buttons. Absolutely nobody likes this scenario, and the gut-level reaction is making its views clear.

The cuts look far more like some petty spreadsheet formula getting too big for its ballet slippers.

Let’s pussyfoot around this a bit. You can’t cost basic property management? There are supposed to be provisions for that in any competent management budget. Why is this even an issue?

Most people understand that properties don’t manage themselves.

Even first-year accountants know what “depreciation” means.

This can’t possibly be the whole story or anything like it. Somebody’s managed to bury big-ticket basic costs in the backyard for years. How? Doesn’t seem likely, does it?

How long has this pitiful rationale for mismanagement been allowed to fester on the balance sheets? If this really is the case, there’s no doubt where and with whom any cuts should start. The CSIRO budget clearly needs to be idiot-proofed for the future.

We’ve heard it all before, and we still don’t believe it. It’s the same logic that values universities the same as office block buildings. It’s as though the buildings were worth as much as the training that generates billions of dollars,

Science valuations also apply elsewhere in this long, turgid parade of mindless penny-pinching. Salaries for Australian researchers are also pretty anaemic. I’m still wincing at comparative numbers I saw over a decade ago.

Where do you think all these trillion-dollar high-tech companies are coming from? We are pricing ourselves out of the big money of the future with this cheapskate approach to our own high-value tech and research.

The core problem seems to be a total lack of clear and trustworthy funding provisions for CSIRO. “A handout here and a handout there” doesn’t work.

A few suggestions:

IP royalties for CSIRO are built into research and development. That’s huge money even at relatively low percentages.

Licensing agreements, like every other semi-rational commercial venture on Earth. More big money.

Integration of cross-disciplinary research to maximize innovation opportunities. This is just common sense, and we have plenty of people who can benefit and contribute to it and from it.

Home-based R&D is bread and butter for CSIRO. This approach has generated a lot of business and innovation since day one. Costing is not exactly mysterious. All researchers know how to cost their work down to the last cent.

International research partnerships work well and can generate significant revenue.

Funding CSIRO is literally funding the future. Make it happen.

____________________________________________________________

Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.

US presses Ukraine to cede land as Russian strikes kill 26


By AFP

November 19, 2025

The surprise peace proposal comes as Russian missiles hit the western city of Ternopil - Copyright AFP YURIY DYACHYSHYN

Yuriy DYACHYSHYN with Burcin GERCEK in Ankara

A new US peace proposal for Ukraine would see Kyiv ceding land and more than halving its army, a source told AFP Wednesday, as a Russian strike in the west of the country killed 26 people, including three children.

The proposal appears to repeat Russia’s maximalist terms to end the war — demands consistently rejected by Ukraine as tantamount to capitulation.

The surprise initiative comes as Russian missiles hit the western city of Ternopil, far from the front line, in one of the deadliest attacks on western Ukraine since the invasion began in 2022.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s efforts to re-engage US President Donald Trump’s administration in the peace process during a surprise visit to Turkey fell flat after an American envoy thought to be joining him did not make the trip.

The draft US peace proposal provides for “recognition of Crimea and other regions that the Russians have taken” and “reduction of the army to 400,000 personnel”, a source familiar with it, who did not wish to be identified, told AFP.

It would also see Ukraine giving up all long-range weapons.

“An important nuance is that we don’t understand whether this is really Trump’s story” or “his entourage’s”, the official added.

It was “unclear” what Russia was supposed to do in return, according to the source.

At the same time, US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll arrived in Kyiv, leading a high-profile Pentagon delegation to meet Ukrainian officials and find ways to settle the conflict, US broadcaster CBS News said, citing the US military. Driscoll met with Ukrainian Defence Minister Denys Shmygal on Wednesday.

American media outlet Axios earlier reported Moscow and Washington had been working on a secret plan to end the almost four-year war.

The Kremlin had declined to comment on the report, later saying there was nothing new in the peace settlement progress. AFP has contacted the White House for comment.

Russia now occupies around a fifth of Ukrainian territory, much of it ravaged by fighting.



– ‘Too late’ –



In Ternopil, AFP saw dozens of rescuers searching through rubble after cruise missiles slammed into apartment blocks, using cranes to reach the destroyed building. Thick grey smoke engulfed the streets just after explosions were heard at 7:00 am (0500 GMT).

City officials reported the fires had caused chlorine levels in the air to spike to six times the norm, and called on Ternopil’s 200,000 residents to stay home and close their windows.

Rescuers dangled on cabins hanging from cranes trying to reach the top of the stricken Soviet-era apartment building.

Wrapped in a pink blanket, 46-year-old Oksana waited for news of her 20-year-old son, Bohdan.

“I went to work, and my son stayed at home. I called him from the minibus and said ‘Bohdan, get dressed and come out’,” she said. “He said: ‘Mum, don’t worry, everything will be fine.’ But it was too late. That’s it,” she told AFP.

Her sister, Natalia Bachinska, said the family lived on the ninth floor.

“Their apartment is completely gone… He still has not been found.”

The state emergency service said 26 people, including three children, were killed, and another 92 people, including 18 children, wounded.

“These were people who were simply at home, peacefully sleeping,” Zelensky said, warning that rescuers were still searching for people trapped in the rubble.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said he was “appalled” by the number of civilian casualties in the attack.

“The horror of powerful long-range missiles combined with waves of drones increasingly being used by Russian forces was again painfully laid bare in Ukraine this morning,” Turk said in a statement.

“This is how Russia’s ‘peace plans’ look in reality,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga.


– Winter looming –


The strike came as Russia batters Ukraine’s energy grid ahead of the winter, and with Ukraine’s stretched troops under pressure on the front line.

Kyiv had pitched Zelensky’s unexpected visit to Turkey as part of efforts to re-engage the US in trying to end the war.

But Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff did not travel after Ukraine had said he was expected to join the talks.

And there were no Russian officials present.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the warring sides to join talks in Istanbul, where three rounds of negotiations this year have yielded only prisoner exchanges and the repatriation of killed soldiers’ bodies.

Zelensky said he wanted to resume POW swaps with Russia by the end of the year.

But Ukraine’s main hope is that Washington can push Russia to the negotiating table, including by imposing sanctions.

On the battlefield, Russian troops are making slow but steady advances, and Moscow insists it will carry on fighting if Ukraine does not cave to its demands.

“The war must end, there is no alternative to peace,” Zelensky said in Ankara.

'This sounds ominous': Foreign ally told to 'buckle up' for new peace deal being imposed

Travis Gettys
November 19, 2025

ALTERNET


FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky meet at Trump Tower in New York City, U.S., September 27, 2024. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo


New details have emerged about a Ukraine peace plan secretly worked up between the U.S. and Russia – and how Trump administration officials intend to impose its conditions.

President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff has been drafting the 28-point plan with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, according to reporting from Tuesday night, and Politico Playbook reported Wednesday the White House will soon unveil the agreement to end the three-and-a-half year war to an end.

"So this is one way to distract from the Epstein files," Playbook reported. "A senior White House official [says] they expect a framework for ending the conflict to be agreed by all parties by the end of this month — and possibly 'as soon as this week.'"

"Buckle up," the report added.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, along with a pair of four-star general and other senior U.S. military officials, made a highly unusual trip to Kyiv on Wednesday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of his talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Trump administration officials said a plan was on the table to end the Russian invasion.

"But here’s the thing: This new peace plan has seemingly had no direct input from Ukraine, nor from America’s allies in Europe," Playbook reported. "And we have no sense yet of the details, of what’s been hammered out on the thorniest questions around Russia’s seizure of vast swathes of Ukrainian territory, the kidnapping of tens of thousands of Ukrainian children or the security guarantees being offered to Ukraine in the aftermath."

The White House feels confident an agreement will be reached because, as administration officials said, Zelenskyy is under too much pressure to turn it down.

"What we are going to present is reasonable," a senior White House official said.

Russian officials apparently agree, and Playbook noted "this sounds ominous."

“We feel the Russian position is really being heard," Dmitriev, the Russian envoy. "[This is a proposal] to address the Ukraine conflict, but also how to restore U.S.-Russia ties [and] address Russia's security concerns. It's actually a much broader framework, basically saying, 'How do we really bring, finally, lasting security to Europe, not just Ukraine.'"

A senior White House official was asked to comment on Europe's possible input on the agreement and dismissed the issue entirely.

“We don't really care about the Europeans,” the official told Playbook. “It's about Ukraine accepting.”

Education for girls hit hard by India’s drying wells

By AFP
November 17, 2025


In drought-hit villages in India, wells are drying up, forcing families to adapt to harsher conditions - Copyright AFP Shefali RAFIQ

Shefali Rafiq

Each morning, 17-year-old Ramati Mangla sets off barefoot with a steel pot in hand, walking several kilometres to fetch water from a distant spring in India’s Maharashtra state.

By the time she returns, school has already started.

“I have kept my books,” she said. “But what if I never get a chance to go back?”

In the drought-hit villages of Maharashtra’s Nashik and Nandurbar districts, wells are drying up and rainfall has become increasingly erratic — forcing families to adapt to harsher living conditions.

As men migrate to nearby cities in search of work, girls like Mangla are left to take on the responsibility of collecting water.

It’s a chore that can take hours each day and leaves little time for school.

Local officials estimate that nearly two million people in these regions face daily water shortages.

A 2021 UNESCO report warned that climate-related disruptions could push millions of girls worldwide out of classrooms.

It is a pattern already visible across India’s rural heartlands.

Teachers say attendance among girls has sharply dropped in recent years, particularly during the dry months.

Many families, struggling to survive, see no option but to keep their daughters home or marry them early.

“Children living in drought prone areas, with family responsibilities for fetching water, struggle with attending school regularly — as collecting water now takes a longer time due to water scarcity and pollution,” the UN children’s fund wrote in a report.

For Mangla, and many other girls across India, climate change is turning the simple act of fetching water into a choice between survival and education.

Mangla’s story has been spotlighted alongside a photography series shot by Shefali Rafiq for the 2025 Marai Photo Grant, an award open to photographers from South Asia aged 25 or under.

The theme for 2025 was “climate change” and its impact on daily life and the community of the photographers who enter.

The award is organised by Agence France-Presse in honour of Shah Marai, the former photo chief at AFP’s Kabul bureau.

Shah Marai, who was an inspiration for Afghan photographers throughout his career, was killed in the line of duty at the age of 41 in a suicide attack on April 30, 2018, in Kabul.

China passes US to return as Germany’s top trade partner


By AFP
November 19, 2025


A container ship at the German port of Bremerhaven - Copyright AFP JOHN THYS

China has reclaimed its title as Germany’s top trading partner, dethroning the United States after President Donald Trump launched his tariff onslaught, official data showed Wednesday.

Total trade between Europe’s biggest economy and China from January to September this year grew slightly to nearly 186 billion euros ($215 billion), according to federal statistics agency Destatis.

In the same period, the figure for trade between Germany and the United States slowed by almost four percent to just under 185 billion euros, it said.

China had already been Germany’s top trading partner from 2016 to 2023 but the United States jumped into the top spot in 2024, as Berlin sought to reduce a long-standing economic reliance on China.

On the one hand the development “reflects the negative impact that US tariffs are having on German exports to the US,” ING economist Carsten Brzeski told AFP.

Under a deal struck in July, EU exports to the United States face a baseline levy of 15 percent — far higher than before Trump’s return to office.

The tariffs are a heavy burden for the already struggling German economy.

The US remains Germany’s top export market, for goods ranging from cars to pharmaceuticals, and Germany runs a hefty trade surplus with the United States.

The news also illustrated the challenge for Germany in trying to loosen deep economic ties with China, said Brzeski.

“It shows the ongoing dependence of the German economy and particularly industry on rare earths, semiconductors and other input goods from China,” he said.

Germany runs a substantial trade deficit with China.

This continued reliance is particularly difficult for Germany as “China is now perceived more as a competitor than as a trading partner,” LBBW bank analyst Jens-Oliver Niklasch told AFP.

China is no longer seen just as a key market for German exports, with many Chinese firms having emerged in recent years as competitors to top German companies.

The news comes as Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil is on a trip to China this week, the first representative of Germany’s ruling coalition, which took power in May, to visit the world’s number two economy.

Problems in traditional trading relationships are among the many problems facing Germany, which is expected to eke out just meagre growth this year after two years of recession.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to revive the economy, including through a debt-fuelled spending blitz on defence and infrastructure.

Netherlands halts Nexperia takeover in gesture to China: minister


By AFP
November 19, 2025


The dispute erupted in September when the Dutch government effectively took control of Nexperia, based in the Netherlands but whose parent company is China's Wingtech - Copyright AFP JOHN THYS

The Netherlands has suspended its proposed takeover of Chinese-owned chip maker Nexperia in a sign of “good will” towards Beijing, Dutch Economy Minister Vincent Karremans said Wednesday.

The dispute erupted in September when the Dutch government effectively took control of Nexperia, which is based in the Netherlands but whose parent company is China’s Wingtech.

China responded by banning re-exports of the firm’s chips, triggering warnings from automakers of production problems as the components are critical to onboard electronics.

But Beijing announced over the weekend it would exempt some chips from the export ban, reportedly part of a trade deal agreed by President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, Karremans said that “in light of recent developments, I consider it the right moment to take a constructive step by suspending my order under the Goods Availability Act regarding Nexperia”.

“We are positive about the measures already taken by the Chinese authorities to ensure the supply of chips to Europe and the rest of the world,” he said.

The takeover has been suspended rather than cancelled, and the minister can reinstate the measure later.



– National security –



Karremans said the decision had been made “in close consultation with our European and international partners” and in the wake of “constructive meetings with the Chinese authorities”.

“We see this as a show of good will. We will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with the Chinese authorities in the period ahead,” he said.

The Netherlands cited national security concerns and poor management when it moved to take control of Nexperia, which was once part of Dutch electronics giant Philips but bought out by Wingtech in 2018.

The Nexperia case was the first time the Dutch had invoked the Goods Availability Act, with the stated reason being that poor management could jeopardise the chip supply chain in Europe.

An Amsterdam corporate court subsequently ordered the suspension of Nexperia’s chief executive Zhang Xuezheng, citing poor leadership and poor preparation for incoming US trade restrictions.

Nexperia is no stranger to regulatory concerns in the west.

Three years ago, Britain blocked the company from buying its main semiconductor manufacturer, Newport Wafer Fab, following a “detailed national security assessment”.

And the United States put Wingtech on one of its “entity lists” last December, meaning the government believed it was acting against US national security and foreign policy interests.





China, Netherlands move to resolve Nexperia chip row

By AFP
November 19, 2025
Charlotte VAN OUWERKERK

The Netherlands said Wednesday it had suspended its proposed takeover of Chinese-owned chip maker Nexperia in a sign of “good will”, a move China welcomed as a positive “first step”.

The two sides are moving to resolve a dispute that erupted in September when the Dutch government effectively took control of Nexperia, which is based in the Netherlands but whose parent company is China’s Wingtech.

China responded by banning re-exports of the firm’s chips, triggering warnings from carmakers that their factories could grind to a halt without the components Nexperia supplies, which are critical to onboard electronics.

The Netherlands stepped back from its position after Beijing announced over the weekend it would exempt some chips from the export ban — reportedly part of a trade deal agreed by President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump.

Dutch Economy Minister Vincent Karremans said Wednesday that “in light of recent developments” he considered it “the right moment to take a constructive step by suspending my order under the Goods Availability Law regarding Nexperia”.

It was the first time the Dutch had invoked the Goods Availability Law — a Cold War-era law designed to keep vital supplies flowing during wartime.

“China welcomes the Dutch side’s initiative to suspend the administrative order, considering it the first step in the right direction towards properly resolving the issue,” a commerce ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

The takeover has been suspended rather than cancelled, and the minister can reinstate the measure later.



– National security –



The dispute between China and the Netherlands is part of a wider global battle for control of the supply of semiconductors, the tiny components used across many industries and electronic products.

Karremans said the Netherlands was “positive” about China’s recent moves to ensure chip supply to Europe and the rest of the world.

“We see this as a show of good will,” he said of his move to suspend the takeover, vowing to continue talking to Chinese officials.

The move was welcomed around Europe, with EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic saying it was “another key step in stabilising our strategic chip supply chains”.

Germany, a global centre for car making, also approved, with an economy ministry spokeswoman telling reporters in Berlin that “the situation is easing”.

However, China’s commerce ministry spokesperson warned there was “still a gap in addressing the root cause of the turbulence and chaos in the global semiconductor supply chain”.

The Netherlands had argued that poor management at Nexperia, which was once part of Dutch electronics giant Philips but bought out by Wingtech in 2018, risked jeopardising the chip supply chain in Europe.

An Amsterdam corporate court subsequently ordered the suspension of Nexperia’s chief executive Zhang Xuezheng, citing poor leadership and poor preparation for incoming US trade restrictions.

The decision drew Beijing’s wrath and Wingtech stressed that Wednesday’s move had not fully restored the Chinese firm’s control over Nexperia.

The firm is no stranger to regulatory concerns in the West.

The United States put Wingtech on one of its “entity lists” last December, meaning the government believed it was acting against US national security and foreign policy interests.

Christie’s suspends Paris sale of world’s ‘first calculator’


By AFP
November 19, 2025


The sale was suspended afer a last minute court ruling

 - Copyright AFP/File STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN

Christie’s said Wednesday it was suspending the Paris auction of one of just a handful of examples of the world’s first calculating machine, developed by French mathematician and inventor Blaise Pascal in 1642.

The auction of “La Pascaline” had been scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, but late on Tuesday a Paris court suspended authorisation for export — meaning buyers would not be able to take it abroad.

This example is one of only nine still existing and the only one believed to be in private hands — others are held in museums.

Christie’s had dubbed the box, decorated with ebony, as “the most important scientific instrument ever offered at auction” and it had been expected to fetch 2-3 million euros.

The auction house had described the machine as “nothing less than the first attempt in history to substitute the work of a machine for that of the human mind”.

It said it had halted the sale at the instructions of the piece’s owner, after the Paris administrative court suspended an export authorisation in a provisional ruling.

The sale, part of an auction of the library of late collector Leon Parce, would be suspended pending the final decision by the court, Christie’s said.

“Pending the final judgment, given the provisional nature of this decision and in accordance with the instructions of its client, Christie’s is suspending the sale of La Pascaline,” it told AFP.

Scientists and researchers had urgently appealed to the administrative court to block the potential export of the machine.

They want the instrument to be classified as a “national treasure”.

The culture ministry said an export certificate had been issued in May following standard procedures.

Two experts — one from the National Centre of Arts and Crafts (CNAM) and the other from the Louvre Museum — approved the decision, the ministry said.

Blaise Pascal was only 19 when he developed the machine to help his father, who was in charge of a court that was tasked with restoring order to tax revenue collections in northern France, Christie’s said.

“To simplify these tasks, Blaise Pascal designed calculating machines that, for the first time in history, allowed for the mechanisation of mental calculation,” it said.

The final court decision could take several months.

Auction of famed CIA cipher shaken after archive reveals code


By AFP
November 18, 2025


The S-shaped copper sculpture "Kryptos" has baffled cryptography enthusiasts since its 1990 installation on the grounds of the CIA headquarters in Virginia - 

Copyright AFP/File Indranil MUKHERJEE

Victoria LAVELLE

It is one of the world’s most famous unsolved codes whose answer could sell for a fortune — but two US friends say they have already found the secret hidden by “Kryptos.”

The S-shaped copper sculpture has baffled cryptography enthusiasts since its 1990 installation on the grounds of the CIA headquarters in Virginia, with three of its four messages deciphered so far.

Yet K4, the final passage, has kept codebreakers scratching their heads. The sculptor Jim Sanborn, 80, has been so overwhelmed by guesses that he started charging $50 for each response.

In August, Sanborn announced he would auction the 97-character solution to K4 as he no longer had the “physical, mental or financial resources” to maintain the code.

In a sign of wide interest in Kryptos, which has inspired cultural figures including “The Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown, the code’s solution is on course to fetch more than $240,000 in a sale due to end this Thursday.

So when two friends announced in October they had uncovered the last message held by Kryptos (“hidden” in ancient Greek), it invoked fury and concern from the auction house and Sanborn.

Jarett Kobek, a writer from Los Angeles, told AFP how the pair came across the code after he noticed a reference to Washington’s Smithsonian Institution, where Sanborn held his archives, in the auction catalog.

He asked his friend Richard Byrne, who is based in the US capital, to take a look through the files.

“I took images of all the coding stuff in the files,” said Richard Byrne, a journalist and playwright.

A few hours later, Kobek called him and said “Hey, you might have found something interesting,” he recalled.

Using Byrne’s photos and clues previously shared by Sanborn, Kobek unraveled the K4 message.



– Legal threats –



The two men decided to write to Sanborn to share their discovery — but instead of congratulations, they were met by alarm.

Sanborn, the pair said, asked them to sign non-disclosure agreements in exchange for a share of the money raised in the auction.

“The NDA is a total non-starter,” Kobek said. “You are running an auction where what you are selling is intellectual property exclusivity.”

“If I take money from that sale, I feel like this would almost certainly make me party to fraud.”

They later went public with their discovery in a New York Times piece in October.

Sanborn, explaining his communication with the men, wrote in a public letter: “I was trying to save K4 from disclosure by any means possible. I had succeeded for 35 years after all.”

Kobek said the pair were keen to avoid disrupting the K4 auction.

“The last thing anyone wants to do is take money from an 80-year-old artist,” he said.

Even if they have no intention of revealing the code’s solution, the two men say the auction house has sent them cease-and-desist letters.

Sanborn has acknowledged his error in archiving the crucial information — but he downplayed the discovery.

He said the pair had “found and photographed five pieces of scrambled texts that I had accidentally placed in the archive boxes all those years ago.”

“The scrambled plain text was found, but without the coding method or the key. This is a very important distinction,” he separately told a news conference in November.

And, he added, the discovery does not end the mystery of Kryptos.

K5, with a “similar but not identical” coding system to K4, is also to be released after the current auction sale

French court says Perrier can keep marketing as ‘natural mineral water’


By AFP
November 18, 2025


The Perrier brand is iconic - Copyright AFP/File JOEL SAGET

A French court on Tuesday said Perrier can keep selling its famed sparkling beverage as “natural mineral water”, rejecting a case brought by a consumer rights group that said the label was misleading and urged the suspension of sales.

UFC-Que Choisir, which lodged its request with a court in Nanterre near Paris, had argued that the company’s microfiltration process meant Perrier could no longer claim the “natural mineral water” designation.

“The existence of a health risk to consumers linked to Perrier waters labelled ‘natural mineral waters’ has not been established,” said the Nanterre court on Tuesday.

Marie-Amandine Stevenin, the head of the consumer rights group, said they were “angry” at the ruling.

“We believe that this decision does not live up to the issues we were denouncing, namely misleading commercial practices.”

The association was ordered to pay 5,000 euros ($5,790) to the Nestle Waters group.

For its part, Nestle Waters welcomed the ruling, saying it confirmed that “the food safety of Source Perrier natural mineral waters has always been guaranteed”.

In early 2024, media reported that Nestle Waters, which also owns the Vittel and Contrex brands, had used banned processes to improve its quality, including ultraviolet treatment and activated carbon filters.

Such treatment is contrary to French and European law that states natural mineral water cannot undergo any processes that change its original state.

UFC had argued that the alteration of the water carried health risks.

Perrier is obtained from a spring in southern France.

Contamination by bacteria from fecal matter has been found on several occasions in the wells supplying Perrier, especially after heavy rainfall.

Nestle Waters has argued that such incidents have been rare, and that it was no longer using the affected wells.

The Swiss conglomerate had already been under pressure over Perrier and its other brands as EU regulations strictly limit what treatments are allowed for any product marketed as natural mineral water.

In 2024, Nestle Waters admitted using banned filters and ultra-violet treatment on mineral waters.

The company paid a two-million-euro ($2.2-million) fine to avoid legal action over the use of illegal water sources and filtering.

In June of this year, Nestle Waters was fined more than $610,000 in Switzerland for having used activated carbon filters on its Henniez bottled mineral water.

Swiss queasy over chlorinated chicken fears in US tariff deal


By AFP
November 19, 2025


The agreement with the US has sparked fears in Switzerland that the country's proud farmers will be forced to accept American hormone-pumped beef - Copyright AFP Jim WATSON

Nathalie OLOF-ORS

Relief has given way to anxiety in Switzerland over the concessions made to spare the small Alpine nation from US President Donald Trump’s threat of a stark 39 percent tariff.

Many details of the agreement Bern struck last week to slash the levy to 15 percent, on par with the surrounding European Union, have yet to see the light of day.

Businesses hailed the deal as averting potential disaster for the export-driven Swiss economy.

But others fear the fine print will include relaxing rules on the import of American food, including hormone-fed cattle and the chlorinated chicken which has become a bete noire of European critics of US big agriculture.

Switzerland’s powerful farming lobby has waded into the debate, with farmers’ union Uniterre rejecting any imports of chlorinated chicken and concessions likely to harm the country’s proud milk and dairy industry.

Unusually for a party usually at loggerheads with Swiss agriculture, the left-wing Greens agreed, criticising the prospect of “American beef pumped full of hormones and cut-price chlorinated chicken” appearing on supermarket shelves.

Economy Minister Guy Parmelin, who travelled to Washington thrice for negotiations on the deal, was forced to clarify to public broadcaster RTS that Swiss consumers were not necessarily being expected to put swimming pool-chemical poultry on their plates.

“We have not talked, at this stage — and I have to be very clear on this — of the manner in which these chickens are produced,” said Parmelin, adding that the chlorinated chicken affair was still up for discussion — as with many other issues.



– Cybertrucks, web tax –



In a bid to end the government’s “silence on key points concerning the agreement with Trump”, the Swiss Socialist Party (PS) launched a petition on Monday demanding an explanation.

Besides the chlorine-bath birds, the petition also cites US weaponry and Tesla’s electric Cybertrucks.

Though touted by Elon Musk, the futuristic stainless steel vehicle is currently banned in Switzerland because of safety concerns, while a California family has sued Tesla alleging their daughter died as a result of being trapped in the vehicle due to its door design.

A factsheet published by the White House revealed that Switzerland agreed to recognise US vehicle safety norms, raising questions over whether the polarising cars will soon be a fixture of the country’s alpine roads.

The document equally mentions that Switzerland has committed to “refraining from harmful digital services taxes”, without offering further details.

The economy ministry confirmed to AFP that Bern intended to drop a proposed tax on American Big Tech, while the car question will be a feature of upcoming negotiations.

Parmelin has also pointed to other products on which talks were ongoing, including industrial machines, steel, aluminium, coffee — and the Alpine nation’s world-leading cheese and watches.

“No agreement is ever perfect,” economist Stephane Garelli, professor at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) and the University of Lausanne, conceded to AFP.

Yet he argued that “we had to make concessions because the damage to Swiss industry and employment was far too great”.

When contacted by AFP, Migros, Switzerland’s largest supermarket chain, said it “has no plans to stock chlorinated or chemically treated chicken on its shelves” as those birds did not meet Swiss “consumer expectations”.

EU states back new delay to anti-deforestation rules


By AFP
November 19, 2025


Adopted in 2023, the EU's deforestation law was hailed by green groups as a major breakthrough in the fight to protect nature and combat climate change - Copyright POOL/AFP Sina Schuldt

Adrien DE CALAN

EU member states Wednesday backed a new one-year delay to landmark anti-deforestation rules that have hit a wall of opposition from businesses and trading partners, diplomats told AFP.

Already delayed by a year, the rollout of the law banning imports of products driving deforestation would be pushed back to the end of 2026 under plans backed by a majority of member states. These still need approval by the EU parliament.

Led by Germany and Austria, EU capitals also backed holding a review of the sweeping legislation in April next year — before it even comes into force.

The new delay goes further than a six-month grace period for large firms already proposed by the European Commission, while backing a push to cut back reporting requirements including for small companies.

Pierre-Jean Sol Brasier of the Fern environmental group said the move sent a “disastrous signal at every level,” calling the back and forth on the law “a caricature of incompetent EU policymaking”.

“We are creating instability for companies that have invested millions” towards compliance, warned Sol Brasier, who said the door was now open “for EU lawmakers to eviscerate” the text.



– ‘Reward inaction –



Adopted in 2023, the deforestation law, known as EUDR, was hailed by green groups as a major breakthrough in the fight to protect nature and combat climate change.

But the law has faced stiff opposition from trading partners including Brazil and the United States, as well as some EU capitals, who argue businesses will suffer from red tape and increased costs.

The law bans goods produced using land deforested after December 2020, with at-risk items including anything from coffee to cocoa, soy, timber, palm oil, cattle, printing paper and rubber.

Firms importing such merchandise to the 27-nation European Union will need to provide a statement alongside geolocation and satellite data to show the goods did not originate from deforested zones.

Under the original plan, such papers had to be submitted also by companies who then purchase, process and sell the items — for example, sweet makers who buy cocoa to make chocolates.

But the commission later decided the extra layer of checks risked overloading the IT system designed to support the rules — and called for axing the requirement for all but first importers.

Beyond environmental advocates, the flip-flopping over the rules has also rankled firms that have already invested large sums to comply.

Italian chocolate-maker Ferrero and Swiss food giant Nestle are among two dozen businesses that warned this week a further one-year delay would “prolong legal and market uncertainty, penalise first movers, and reward inaction.”

“We’ve done this investment in good faith because we thought there was a sense of direction — and now it’s being questioned,” Francesco Tramontin, a senior executive with Nutella-maker Ferrero, told a news conference Monday.

Central Park to Central America: How conservation can save North America’s migratory birds


ByDr. Tim Sandle
SCIENCE EDITOR

DIGITAL JOURNAL
November 19, 2025


Bird conservation. Image by Tim Sandle

Their stunning flashes of bright color and uniquely beautiful songs have made many migratory birds that visit the New York metro area beloved to millions. Yet these birds face growing threats in the forests where they winter.

A new study in the journal Biological Conservation highlights the connection between the landscapes growing numbers of birders in the U.S. encounter migratory birds and the forests where those birds winter that have become increasingly threatened by deforestation.

This tallies with findings that one in four species listed under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species are now facing extinction from habitat loss and degradation, pollution, and climate change.

This study by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is the first to connect Central American forests to “sister landscapes” in the north using the crowdsourced eBird app. This means that the major forests of the south are tightly linked to forested areas of the Appalachians, the Mississippi Delta, the Great Lakes, New England, and around New York City. These are places connected by the same bird species at different times of year.


The study documents the critical need to protect Central America’s forests by leveraging digital information across the Americas derived from migratory bird concentrations.

eBird is among the world’s largest biodiversity-related science projects, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed annually by users (‘eBirders’) around the world and an average participation growth rate of approximately 20% year over year.

By using information on where bird populations concentrate week by week each year—made possible by millions of observations around the world from birdwatchers on the Cornell Lab’s eBird platform—scientists found that these five forests collectively support between one-tenth and nearly one-half of the global populations of 40 migratory bird species, including some of North America’s most rapidly declining birds.

Key finding include:More than one-third of the world’s Kentucky Warblers and nearly one-quarter of all Wood Thrushes and Golden-winged Warblers spend the winter within these forests.
Over 40 percent of the global Cerulean Warbler population, a species that has declined by more than 70 percent since 1970, funnels through these forests during spring migration.
The Selva Maya (spanning Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala) and the Moskitia (in Honduras and Nicaragua) are the most critical forests for these birds—yet also the most threatened, having lost a quarter of their area in just 15 years, primarily to illegal cattle ranching.

The research paper finds that actions are being taken, however, these are not enough and financial aid from high income countries is required, especially to boost conservation efforts. As proactive example, across the region, Indigenous and local communities are leading efforts to restore degraded land, fight forest fires, and revive bird-friendly livelihoods such as sustainable cacao and allspice production.

Yet to truly deliver change conservation is essential. This is not only with conserving the major forests of Central America (Selva Maya, Moskitia, Indio Maíz-Tortuguero, La Amistad, and Darién) but focusing on the U.S. too.

In the past, joint conservation efforts across borders have been limited by a lack of understanding of how birds connect habitats and people across seasons. To guide international collaboration, the study applied a framework to trace “stewardship connections” in terms of the regions of North America where species that depend on the great forests concentrate to breed. Protecting and restoring these vital migratory stopovers and wintering habitats is key to ensuring that eastern forest birds keep coming back to North America.

The research, published in Biological Conservation, is titled “Leveraging participatory science data to guide cross-border conservation of migratory birds: A case study from Mesoamerica’s Five Great Forests.”

Vietnam flooding submerges homes, kills 16, after relentless rain


By AFP
November 20, 2025


In coastal Nha Trang, whole city blocks were inundated and hundreds of cars were underwater - Copyright AFP Omar AL-QATTAA

Rescuers plucked stranded people from the rooftops of submerged homes as widespread flooding inundated central Vietnam, where authorities said on Thursday at least 16 people were killed.

Relentless rain has lashed south-central Vietnam since late October, and popular coastal holiday destinations have been hit by several rounds of flooding.

Whole city blocks were inundated in coastal Nha Trang, a popular tourist locale known for its pristine beaches, and hundreds of cars were underwater on Thursday, AFP photos showed.

Business owner Bui Quoc Vinh, 45, said he was safe in his 24th-floor apartment in Nha Trang but his restaurants and shops on the ground floor were under about a metre of water. His employees were even worse off.

“I am worried about our furniture in my restaurants and shops, but of course I cannot do anything now,” he told AFP.

“My staff have to take care of their flooded homes,” which he said were under two metres (six feet) of water. “I don’t think the water is going to recede soon as the rain has not stopped.”

Rescuers using boats in central Gia Lai and Dak Lak provinces pried open windows and broke through roofs to assist residents stranded by high water on Wednesday, according to state media.

At least 16 people have been killed since the weekend, while the search was continuing for five others, the environment ministry said on Thursday.

More than 43,000 houses were submerged, while several major roads remained blocked due to landslides.



– Cancelled tours –



There were also deadly landslides in highland passes around the Da Lat tourist hub, with some areas recording up to 600 millimetres (two feet) of rain since the weekend, according to the national weather bureau.

Hotel owner Vu Huu Son, 56, said landslides had blocked all but one road to the city.

“I don’t think we have tourists now as they all left at the weekend before the rain and also cancelled their tours here,” he told AFP.

The government-run Hanoi railway corporation announced the suspension of several train lines linking the north and south due to the flooding, state media said.

Emergency hotlines recorded unusually heavy call volumes on Wednesday night as water levels across the region rose, state media said.

The defence ministry also deployed helicopters to search for stranded people.

Water levels in the Ba River in Dak Lak surpassed a 1993 record in two places early on Thursday, while the Cai River in Khanh Hoa province also surged to a new high, according to the weather bureau.

The floods occurred as heavy rains added to already high water levels, Hoang Phuc Lam, deputy head of the National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting, said on state television.

Natural disasters have left 279 people dead or missing and caused more than $2 billion in damage between January and October, according to Vietnam’s national statistics office.

The Southeast Asian nation is prone to heavy rain between June and September, but scientific evidence has identified a pattern of human-driven climate change making extreme weather more frequent and destructive.