Monday, June 13, 2022





Nutrien will boost fertilizer production capacity as prices soar
Bloomberg News | June 9, 2022 | 


Storage facility at Nutrien’s Rocanville, one of Canada’s lowest-cost potash mines. (Image courtesy of Nutrien (Former Potash Corp.)

The world’s largest fertilizer company will increase production after months of supply disruptions and skyrocketing commodity and food prices.


Nutrien Ltd. will ramp up potash production capability to 18 million tons by 2025, a 40% increase compared to 2020, the company said in a Thursday statement, citing “structural changes in global energy, agriculture and fertilizer markets.”

“The challenge of feeding a growing world has never been clearer as global supply constraints have contributed to higher commodity prices and escalated concerns for global food security,” said Ken Seitz, Nutrien’s interim president and CEO. “There is no simple or fast solution to overcome this challenge and we see potential for multi-year strength in agriculture and crop input market fundamentals.”

The announcement comes as fertilizer prices have been soaring after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia is an important exporter of every major kind of crop nutrient. Market players have been concerned about how much supply will make it out of the country and how global supply chains might change in the aftermath. Some prices have dropped off of records, but they’re still high.



Nutrien will be well-positioned to fill supply gaps, Seitz said.

“Financial sanctions and other restrictions on Russia and Belarus will create more lasting changes to global trade patterns as customers prioritize reliability of supply,” Seitz said on an investor call Thursday.

The Canadian company also says there’s a potential for delays in new potash capacity coming online from the region, which was supposed to account for 60% of new supply in next five years, he said.

Canada is the world’s largest potash producer, followed by Russia and then Belarus. Belarus accounts for about a fifth of global supply, but in January, Lithuania cut off a key transit route for the nutrients amid US sanctions imposed on the country in 2021. That’s tightened the market.

Nutrien’s move could help serve a growing deficit as high commodity prices encourage farmers to purchase fertilizer to grow more crops and conflict in Europe threatens supply, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jason Miner said in a note.

“The key is remaining a low-cost producer,” Miner said. “Nutrien held potash cost per metric ton to $94 in 2021, yet construction and wage inflation are increasingly challenges to expansion projects across chemicals.”

(By Elizabeth Elkin and Jen Skerritt)
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WHATEVER HAPPENED TO; 'POLLUTER PAYES'

Canadian government pledges up to $100M to help reduce emissions at future BHP potash mine in Sask.

Feds offer funding for BHP Jansen mine

CBC News · 
The Canadian government is partnering with mining giant BHP to make the Jansen potash mine in Saskatchewan more sustainable. (Submitted by BHP)

The Canadian government has offered up to $100 million to help global Australian mining giant BHP create the "world's most sustainable potash mine" in rural Saskatchewan. 

​BHP's Jansen mine project, located ​about 140 kilometres east of Saskatoo​n, is currently in development and is expected to be operational by 2027. It's planned to be the largest potash producing mine in the world,.

Canadian officials are putting the money forward to help the company reduce the mine's carbon footprint and invest in more environmentally friendly technology. 

The company said it is committed to reducing emissions. 

"You will see 50 per cent less carbon dioxide coming out of this mine than a traditional potash mine. We're committed to responsible use of water, we will use 60 per cent less water than your average mine in terms of production of potash on a tonne-per-tonne basis," Ragnar Udd, president for minerals America with BHP, said while speaking at the federal funding announcement in Saskatoon on Monday morning.

"We expect that Jansen will generate the lowest direct onsite emissions intensity of any potash mine in North America." 

Udd said BHP expects to use 60 per cent less equipment underground​ for the Jansen mine, while being 2.5 times more productive. 

It will also introduce electric vehicles for underground work, reducing diesel exhaust. Funding will help the mine be more technically advanced, embracing "state of the art" integrated mining systems for boring and bringing the minerals to the surface, Udd said. 

Potash is a potassium-rich salt used mainly as fertilizer by farmers. 

Federal officials said on Monday that the partnership between the government and BHP is expected to benefit the environment and the economy, while addressing growing global food security concerns and shortages. 

Mike Henry, BHP's CEO, noted Russia's invasion of Ukraine has disrupted the global potash supply and emphasized the need for a more stable provider. 

Both Russia and Ukraine are major fertilizer-producing countries. Henry said Canada is seen as a stable jurisdiction that can meet the growing global demand for years to come. 

"We think the need for potash is going to be driven by global population growth, the move to improve diets, and the need for more sustainable agriculture," he said.

BHP committed to the Jansen Stage 1 project last year with a $7.5-billion investment — a decision Henry said was a decade in the making. He said the company's commitment to potash mining in Canada is a vote of confidence for the country. 

The company anticipates its initial production capacity will be 4.3 to 4.5 million tonnes of potash per year, increasing Canada's production of the mineral by nearly 22 per cent. 

Federal Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Canada exported 22 million tonnes of potash last year, and like Henry, he believes the demand will only grow. 

In addition to its green ambitions, officials note that the project is expected to create hundreds of local jobs. BHP has also signed opportunities agreements with six First Nations in southern Saskatchewan in an effort to further economic opportunity and partnership. 

Henry said BHP is accelerating the work on Phase One and launching studies for Phase Two.

BHP open to potash partner, but plans to

enter fertilizer business alone

UNTRUE CANADIAN TAXPAYERS ARE YOUR PARTNERS

Reuters | June 13, 2022 |

BHP to start potash production at Jansen a year earlier than planned. 

(Image courtesy of BHP.)

BHP Group is open to taking on a partner as it builds its first potash mine in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, but can also go it alone and is not currently involved in discussions with rival Nutrien Ltd, a senior BHP executive said on Monday.


“We are more than happy and willing to work with partners. We don’t need a partner though,” Ragnar Udd, BHP president of Minerals Americas, said in an interview with Reuters. “So it has to be really about what’s that partner actually going to be contributing to the mix.”

BHP last month said it was looking at accelerating the Jansen, Saskatchewan project by a year amid tight global potash supplies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prices of the crop nutrient have soared since Western sanctions were imposed against Russia over the invasion.

Nutrien, the world’s biggest potash producer and based in Saskatchewan, last week said it plans to boost capacity by 20% by 2025.

Nutrien interim CEO Ken Seitz told Reuters that he has had no discussions with BHP since taking that job in January.

Russia and Belarus, which also faces sanctions, are the world’s second- and third-largest potash producers, while Canada is No. 1.

Prior to the sanctions, some analysts said potash output looked well-supplied. But Udd said steady global demand growth for potash appeals to BHP, and planned expansions of eastern European mines now look to be in jeopardy.

Jansen’s first phase is estimated to cost up to $5.7 billion with annual capacity to produce 4.4 million tonnes, starting as soon as late 2026.

“Are we contributing to a glut? That remains to be seen,” Udd said, adding that BHP eventually wants to be the market leader.

Jansen’s mine shafts are designed for capacity of 16 million tonnes annually, Udd said.

Canada will invest up to C$100 million ($77.83 million) in Jansen’s development as a low-emissions mine, Canadian Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said earlier on Monday.

“We know how critical potash is for our country when it comes to food security,” Champagne said.

BHP, in a partnership with Sandvik AB, is planning to install new mining systems at the mine that are expected to reduce environmental impact by using 60% less equipment underground than traditional potash mines, Udd said.

Reuters, citing a source, has reported that the investment will allow BHP to use electric vehicles and equipment.

($1 = 1.2844 Canadian dollars)

(By Ismail Shakil; Editing by Chris Reese, Will Dunham and Mark Porter)
Sask. potash mine gets $100M boost from feds to cut carbon emissions

05:42
Jansen could start potash production in late 2026: BHP executive Ragnar Udd

 CTV News Saskatoon
Updated June 13, 2022

The Government of Canada and mining giant BHP have committed to making the potash mine outside Jansen, Sask. the world’s largest and greenest.

“We want to be the green supplier of choice to the world,” Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne said.

The federal government will spend $100 million on what it calls state-of-the-art mining systems. The Jansen project is estimated to cost up to $5.7 billion in the first phase, which is expected to take five years and have an annual capacity to produce around 4.4 million tonnes of potash.

The federal deal covers a $400 million component of that project, said Ragnar Udd, president of BHP's Minerals Americas division.

The systems use 60 per cent less equipment underground than traditional potash mines while being two-and-a-half times more productive. 

“We're committed to emissions reductions, you will see 50 per cent less carbon dioxide coming out of this mine than a traditional potash mine,” Udd said.

“We're committed to the responsible use of water. We will use 60 per cent less water than your average mine, in terms of production of potash on a ton-per-ton basis, and we expect that Jansen will generate the lowest direct on-site emissions intensity of any potash mine in North America.”

Udd says 3,500 jobs will be created at peak construction, while 600 employees will work at the mine long-term.

“We will have a gender-balanced workforce from day one, and 20 per cent of our workforce will be an Indigenous workforce, as well partnering with our local Indigenous groups and tribes that actually work closely together.”

Champagne says the future is bright when it comes to greening the supply chain in Canada.

“We've been transforming the steel industry to produce green steel which we're going to be one of the first producers in the world,” he said. “We're going to be the first producer of green aluminum, we're looking at green batteries, now we're going to be producing green potash.”

“My message when I was at the Economic Forum in Europe, and when I'm going to be in Japan and Korea later on this month, is that we can be part of the solution. We could be the green supplier of choice for the number of critical minerals you need, and parts and equipment.”

BHP says as the world population continues to grow, growing crops with less arable soil through improved agricultural practices and fertilizers will be a must.

“If you're a world agricultural producer going forward and looking at options around secure supply chains, Canada's going to be front and centre,” said BHP CEO Mike Henry.

- With Reuters files

RELATED IMAGES

Pieces of potash at a surplus pile at the Mosaic potash mine in 
Esterhazy, Sask. on Wednesday, May 3, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards
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This Alberta town named one of the top 10 best places to live in Canada

Laine Mitchell
|DH
Jun 10 2022

Instagram A post shared by Town of High River (@townofhighriver)

A town in southern Alberta has been named one of the best places to live in the country and it’s the sole spot to make the cut in western Canada.

The list, from Moving Waldo, focuses on three main criteria for determining the rankings. First up is safety (based on the crime rate), then there’s affordability, and finally, access to recreational facilities and parks.

High River was ranked #10 on the list, being awarded for its tranquillity and outdoorsy culture.

The town also found itself on the list thanks to it being one of the cheapest places to live in Alberta and also having a low crime rate. Lethbridge needs to take some notes when it comes to the crime department. Lethbridge outranks Atlanta, Baghdad for cities on the global crime index



Moving Waldo

Moving Waldo also pointed to High River hosting annual events all year round, but it is particularly known for its old-fashioned outdoor parade during Christmas festivities as the entire town lights up. The city has many craft fairs, art studios, and galleries.

Here’s the full ranking of the best places to live in Canada right now:
Deep River, Ontario
Levis, Quebec
Trenton, Nova Scotia
Wellington County, Ontario
Quebec City, Quebec
Saguenay, Ontario
Barrie, Ontario
Thetford Mines, Quebec
Edmundston, New Brunswick
High River, Alberta

High River, Alberta Flood 2013

The flood imagery is 16 cm resolution.
 Web Map by corppub

Created: Jul 18, 2013 Updated: Feb 12, 2016 
Description
This swipe map displays the imagery before the flood and the flooding impact in High River, AB. The town was evacuated after flooding of the Highwood River caused water to rise over the top of vehicles in the town's main streets and necessitated the rescue of over 150 people from the rooftops of their homes.

BUILT ON A FLOOD PLAIN

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/high-river-flood-alberta-uncertain-future-1.4710837

High River has moved on 5 years after devastating flood, but some ... 

Jun 19, 2018 ... Mention the flood to people in High River and most will tell you they are included on a floodplain map from the early 1990s.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Alberta_floods

2013 Alberta floods - Wikipedia 

Abandoned homes - due to 2013 flood - in High River, ... demolish most of them and return the area to its natural state as a floodplain.


ALSO HOME TO CARGILL AND FEED LOTS

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2021/11/cargill-serves-lockout-notice-on-high.html


https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/cargill-meat-plant-linked-to-44-covid-19-cases-in-latest-outbreak-union

Cargill meat plant linked to 44 COVID cases in latest outbreak: Union 

Jan 8, 2022 ... The Cargill meatpacking plant in High River has been linked to 44 cases of COVID-19 in latest outbreak at the site, according to the union.

https://www.okotokstoday.ca/local-news/covid-19-cases-climb-in-high-river-cargill-plant-4953197

COVID-19 cases climb in High River Cargill plant - OkotoksToday.ca 

Jan 13, 2022 ... In 2020, Cargill closed its doors temporarily after more than 484 cases of COVID-19 and one death were linked to the plant. By fall, union ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb5a9Lparwo

Police investigating COVID-19 death at Cargill meat plant - YouTube 

... COVID-19 on the job. Police are now investigating the death of a man who worked at the Cargill meat processing plant in High River, ...

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/workers-canadian-beef-plant-vote-cargill-offer-ahead-strike-date-2021-12-01

Workers at Canadian beef plant to vote on Cargill offer ahead of ... 

Dec 1, 2021 ... Workers at Cargill Inc's beef-processing plant in High River, ... COVID-19 hit the High River plant hard in 2020, sickening more than 900 ...


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All Recent Russian Crises have had Same Impact on Class Relationships, Mikhaylichenko Says

Paul Goble  Monday, June 13, 2022


  Staunton – “Every crisis in Russia – the Crimean, covid pandemic, and special operation – hits the middle class and poor most of all, Dmitry Mikhaylichenko says. “At the first stage of the crisis, the country’s rich and super rich suffer huge losses but then more than make up for their losses as the crisis continues.”

            As a result, in recent decades, the poor have gotten relatively poorer, the middle class has been squeezed and reduced in size, and the rich have become richer regardless of the crisis one considers, the Ufa economist says (newizv.ru/comment/dmitriy-mihaylichenko/27-05-2022/chislennost-srednego-klassa-v-rossii-prodolzhit-sokraschatsya).

            Because the Russian economy is all about access to power which acts as a redistributor, those with access benefit and those without lose, Mikhaylichenko continues; and that has not changed fundamentally since tsarist times, although the specific features of those at the top have changed enormously.

            And that has one tragic consequence that few are focusing on, he says. “The ruling class, which is based on rent and has political leverage is a priori less interested in modernization” than the country needs it to be. And “now, under conditions of sanctions, its main mission to defend its ‘right’ to rents and resources” rather than to develop the country.

            In this new reality, the Ufa economist argues, conditions have been created for reversing modernity, and with its reversal, for the elimination of the middle class which is the product of modern societies. As a result, “in Russia, that class will continue to shrink and become part of the new poor, however much official data outlets seek to hide that fact.”

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ZIONIST TRADE UNIONIST
UK Trade union backs calls for antisemites to face ‘full force of the law’

GMB leader Gary Smith supports motion calling for tough action, including against GMB members posting anti-Jewish hatred online

By LEE HARPIN June 13, 2022, 

The GMB congress is taking place this week (Photo: GMB/YouTube)

One of Britain’s biggest trade unions has unanimously passed a motion calling for antisemites, including those found guilty amongst its own membership, to “face the full force of the law.”

In a move backed by the GMB’s General Secretary Gary Smith, the union, which has 600, 000 members across nearly all industrial sectors, committed itself to a zero-tolerance policy on anti-Jewish racism.

Motion 213 was backed by the union’s leadership across the country during GMB Congress in Harrogate, Yorkshire, on Monday.

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It stated: “This congress strongly challenges the disturbing rise in antisemitism across the UK.

“This unacceptable behaviour and the perpetrators should be subjected to the full force of the law.

“Where such behaviour may be present from any member of GMB Union, including social media posts, our Union should take immediate action to investigate and apply appropriate measures to address this within rule.”

GMB leader Smith, who has been deeply critical of Jeremy Corbyn’s failure on antisemitism, and made a point of reaching out to Jewish Labour activists, said after the motion was passed: “Antisemitism is a scourge in our society, and the GMB is clear that we won’t tolerate it.

“We stand firm against antisemitism in this union. There is no room for hatred in our union. Those who commit it should face the full force of the law.”

In an op-ed for Jewish News, he detailed the proud history of Jewish involvement with the union.

But he also wrote: “We have to recognise antisemitism within our own ranks, and not be afraid to call it what it is. It flies in the face of our historic ties to the Jewish community – and in the face of what is right.”

Speakers in favour of the motion were applauded by delegates, including GMB Redbridge’s Stephen Jones, who warned that on occasion “anti-Zionist motivations” could stray into anti-Jewish racism.

Another speaker Unmesh Desai, a London Assembly member, warned that what started with hatred of Jewish people had historically turned into wider racist hate.

Speaker for the union’s executive committee Margaret Gregg spoke of the horror of seeing Jewish members afraid in the Labour Party under its previous leadership.

The motion on antisemitism, which was submitted by the GMB’s Redbridge branch, called for a review of current GMB policies for the handling of hate crimes and all forms of discrimination to ensure they are fit for purpose.

A motion calling for similar focus on rising Islamophobia was also passed by delegates on Monday.

On Tuesday, the Jewish Labour Movement will stage antisemitism training for union to understand the issues around rising anti-Jewish hatred.

Both Mike Katz, JLM’s national chair, and Rebecca Filer, its national organiser, will be attending the conference to conduct the training session, which is the first time the organisation have been invited into a trade union conference.

Katz told Jewish News: “The GMB have been strong allies of the JLM and Jewish Labour members in our fight against antisemitism in the party.

“Under Gary Smith’s strong, principled leadership, they are clear that their union won’t tolerate anti-Jewish racism – this is underlined by their invitation for us to come to their Congress to deliver our antisemitism training for their members.”
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Sky News Australia is a global hub for climate misinformation, report says

Murdoch-owned channel creates and distributes content promoting climate scepticism across the world, analysis finds

The report looked at how views antagonistic to climate change action are spread and and who is influential in spreading those views. Photograph: David Moir/REUTERS


Graham Readfearn
THE GUARDIAN
Mon 13 Jun 2022

Australia’s Sky News channel has become a central source for climate science misinformation around the world, gaining high traction among conservative social media influencers and networks, according to a report.

An analysis of a global network of climate science deniers and “delayers” and the content they shared found the News Corp Australia-owned channel was a key “content hub” for “influencers, sceptics and outlets”.

The analysis, published by UK thinktank the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, said the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sky News Australia consistently ranked highly for traction, pushing the partisan views of its hosts and guests to a global audience through social media networks.
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Sky News Australia said it rejected the findings of the report, saying it would “continue to encourage debate” on climate change in its programs.


Climate policy dragged into culture wars as a ‘delay’ tactic, finds study

The report looked at how views antagonistic to climate change action are spread around the world, how the content is created, and who is influential in spreading those views.

The report said: “Our analysis has shown how a small but dedicated community of actors boast disproportionate reach and engagement across social media, reaching millions of people worldwide and bolstered by legacy print, broadcast and radio outlets.”

A failure to stem “mis- and disinformation online” had allowed junk science, climate delayism and attacks on high-profile individuals working on the climate crisis to become mainstreamed,” the report said.

It said Sky News Australia and contributors from News Corp’s stable of newspaper columnists had formed a “system of content production and distribution” that promoted “scepticism of climate science and fear or confusion around mitigation efforts”.

Chris Cooper, a director at Purpose, an Australia-based consultancy that works with organisations to understand their impact and which helped carry out analysis for the report, said: “Australia seems to have two significant export industries. One is emissions through fossil fuel exports and the other comes in content from these prolific media outlets.”

He said Sky News Australia was now having a “disproportionate contribution to global climate misinformation”. “We see the content shared through denier networks across the globe.”

Social media outlets were monetised through algorithms that prioritised “anything that’s outrageous and engaging”, Cooper said, and this meant climate misinformation was “reaching millions more people than it otherwise would”.

The report claims Sky News Australia produced its own partisan content through the views of its hosts, and also provides a platform for influential individuals from around the world who undermine the need to act on the climate crisis


In one example, a tweet from Canadian climate science denier Patrick Moore – retweeted 16,000 times – promoted a Sky News Australia segment where former host Alan Jones described youth climate activists as “selfish, badly educated virtue-signalling little turds”.

Most segments, which are routinely edited into shareable videos, stem from Sky News Australia’s “after dark” shows.

Rita Panahi, a Sky News Australia host, is identified in the report as a “key amplifier” alongside other figures from around the world.

The analysis showed that before 2017, Sky News Australia posted an average 25 tweets a month on climate-related issues. But they now publish an average of more than 100 posts a month, with peaks of up to 300 a month.

Cooper said the aim of the report was to raise awareness of the scale of climate misinformation and disinformation worldwide, as well as the “actors behind it”.

Another aim, he said, was to detail to advocates for action on climate change how disinformation travels around the world.


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UK judges clear way for migrant deportations as UN agency slams ‘catastrophic’ plan

Issued on: 13/06/2022 -










A protest against the deportation flights outside the High Court in London on June 13, 2022. © Alastair Grant, AP

Judges in London have thrown out last-ditch bids by human rights groups and campaigners to stop Britain sending its first flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda on Tuesday, a plan the United Nations' refugee chief described as "catastrophic".

As part of an initial 120-million-pound ($148 million) deal with Rwanda, Britain will send some migrants who arrived illegally by crossing the Channel in small boats from Europe.

Britain's Conservative government says the deportation strategy will undermine people-smuggling networks and stem the flow of migrants risking their lives in Channel crossings.

Amid legal challenges, the number of people scheduled to leave on Tuesday's plane, which charities said originally included people fleeing Afghanistan and Syria as well as Iran and Iraq, had now fallen to less than a dozen.

A High Court judge refused on Friday to grant a temporary injunction to block the flight, and on Monday three justices on the Court of Appeal upheld that decision.

Judge Rabinder Singh said they could not interfere with the original "clear and detailed" judgement, and refused permission for further appeal. A full hearing to determine the legality of the policy as a whole is due in July.

A second legal challenge at the High Court was also later rejected, with judge Jonathan Swift saying everyone on the flight had been given access to a lawyer to challenge their deportation.

Human rights groups say the policy is inhumane and will put migrants at risk. The UNHCR has said Rwanda, whose own human rights record is under scrutiny, does not have the capacity to process the claims, and there is a risk some migrants could be returned to countries from which they had fled.

"We believe that this is all wrong...for so many different reasons," UN High Commissioner For Refugees Filippo Grandi told reporters. "The precedent that this creates is catastrophic for a concept that needs to be shared like asylum."

Initially, some 37 individuals were scheduled to be removed on the first flight, but the charity Care4Calais said that number has dwindled to just eight. Three more individuals will have their cases heard at the High Court on Tuesday morning.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had earlier said the government was determined to press ahead with the policy despite the legal challenges and opposition, reportedly including from Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne.

"It's very important that the criminal gangs who are putting people's lives at risk in the Channel understand that their business model is going to be broken and is being broken by this government," Johnson told LBC radio.

"They are selling people false hope and luring them into something that is extremely risky and criminal."

The government said the deportation plan would deter the Channel crossings, although more than 3,500 people have reached Britain in small boats since the middle of April when the Rwanda scheme was unveiled, according to government figures.

As the court hearings were taking place, about 35 migrants arrived in Dover, some carrying their possessions in black bags, where they were taken away by British border forces.

(REUTERS)
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Experts Find Another Dinosaur That Lived in Sahara Desert 100 Million Years Ago
ON 6/13/22 

A team of Egyptian and American researchers has discovered yet another kind of meat-eating dinosaur that was one of many that lived in what is now the Sahara Desert nearly 100 million years ago.

The new discovery of Abelisauridae, which some experts have said could have been up to 11 meters (36 feet) long and weighed up to 3 tons (6,613 pounds), adds yet another fearsome predator to the list of those known to have co-existed in the same region, with experts predicting they may have survived alongside each other by specializing in eating different prey.

Ohio University said in a statement June 8: "The fossil of a still-unnamed species provides the first known record of the abelisaurid group of theropods from a middle Cretaceous-aged (approximately 98 million years old) rock unit known as the Bahariya Formation, which is exposed in the Bahariya Oasis of the Western Desert of Egypt."

This reconstruction of the ecosystem of the Bahariya Oasis in the Sahara Desert of Egypt approximately 98 million years ago shows the diversity of large theropods (predatory dinosaurs).
ANDREW MCAFEE, CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY/ZENGER

The university said that the area in Central Egypt was famous in the early 20th century for having yielded specimens from a wide range of dinosaurs and that this fossil appeared to belong to a whole new kind of dinosaur.

It is also the first time that an Abelisaurid fossil has been discovered at the Bahariya Formation.

The Abelisaurid dinosaur fossil is believed to date back to the middle Cretaceous era, making it approximately 98 million years old, according to experts.

The university explained in its statement: "Abelisaurid fossils had previously been found in Europe and in many of today's Southern Hemisphere continents, but never before from the Bahariya Formation."

Ohio University graduate student Belal Salem carried out the study, based on work he initiated while a member of the Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center (MUVP) in Mansoura, Egypt.

Study leader Belal Salem of Ohio University and the Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center (MUVP) examines the roughly 98-million-year-old abelisaurid therood neck vertebra discovered from the Bahariya Oasis that forms the basis of the new study.
HESHAM SALLAM, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO/MUVP/ZENGER

The fossil was reportedly recovered during an expedition to the Bahariya Oasis in 2016, but it has only been identified as a new species recently, with the study being published this month.

Salem said: "During the mid-Cretaceous, the Bahariya Oasis would've been one of the most terrifying places on the planet."

He added: "How all these huge predators managed to coexist remains a mystery, though it's probably related to their having eaten different things, their having adapted to hunt different prey."

The university added: "The new vertebra holds implications for the biodiversity of Cretaceous dinosaurs in Egypt and the entire northern region of Africa. It is the oldest known fossil of Abelisauridae from northeastern Africa, and shows that, during the mid-Cretaceous, these carnivorous dinosaurs ranged across much of the northern part of the continent, east to west from present-day Egypt to Morocco, to as far south as Niger and potentially beyond.

"Spinosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus are also known from Niger and Morocco, and a close relative of Bahariasaurus has been found in the latter nation as well, suggesting that this fauna of large to gigantic theropods coexisted throughout much of northern Africa at this time."
The abelisaurid neck vertebra constitutes the first record of this dinosaur group from that classic fossil locality. The bone is shown in anterior view.
BELAL SALEM, OHIO UNIVERSITY/MANSOURA UNIVERSITY VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY CENTER/ZENGER

The Bahariya Oasis is renowned among paleontologists as the location where several extraordinary dinosaurs were first discovered during the early 20th century. But all Bahariya dinosaur fossils collected prior to World War II were destroyed during the Allied bombing of Munich in 1944.

The study, published in Royal Society Open Science, is titled "First definitive record of Abelisauridae (Theropoda: Ceratosauria) from the Cretaceous Bahariya Formation, Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt."

It was authored by Belal S. Salem, Matthew C. Lamanna, Patrick M. O'Connor, Gamal M. El-Qot, Fatma Shaker, Wael A. Thabet, Sanaa El-Sayed, and Hesham M. Sallam.

Other experts who worked on the study also included Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine professor of biomedical sciences Patrick O'Connor; Matt Lamanna, associate curator of vertebrate paleontology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History; Sanaa El-Sayed, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan and the MUVP's former vice director; Hesham Sallam, a professor at the American University in Cairo (AUC) and Mansoura University and the founding director of the MUVP; and additional colleagues from Benha University and the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency.

This story was provided to Newsweek by Zenger News.
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UK
Fury as government waters down post-Brexit food standards

Strategy described as ‘missed opportunity’ as final wording merely commits to ‘considering’ animal welfare
Animal welfare campaigners have criticised the government’s new food strategy proposals. 
Photograph: Dylan Garcia Travel Images/Alamy


Helena Horton 
THE GUARDIAN
Environment reporter
Mon 13 Jun 2022 

Animal welfare campaigners, food policy experts and farmers have reacted with fury after the government watered down post-Brexit trade deal standards in its food strategy, released on Monday.

In a version of the strategy leaked to the Guardian on Friday, the government committed to making it easier for countries to import goods if they have high animal welfare standards.

The draft reads: “We will seek animal welfare-linked liberalisation in our [free trade agreements], allowing us to offer more generous liberalisation for products certified as meeting certain key animal welfare criteria specified in the agreement.”

But the final version is stripped of this and merely commits to “considering” animal welfare and the environment when it comes to free trade agreements.

Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton said: “This looks like yet another shamefully squandered opportunity to cement stringent animal welfare protection into our free trade agreements.

“We need a full explanation from government as to why this element was removed, and on whose demands.”

The government’s white paper, billed as the first such strategy in 75 years, rejected most of the food tsar Henry Dimbleby’s ambitious policies, which he outlined in a report released last year.

Dimbleby made a number of high-profile suggestions, including a significant expansion to free school meals, greater environment and welfare standards in farming, and a 30% reduction in meat and dairy consumption. None of these have made it into the final strategy.


Food plan for England condemned by its own lead adviser

Rob Percival, head of food policy at the Soil Association, said: “It’s notable that the approach to trade in the final strategy appears to be different to the approach outlined in the draft which was leaked to the Guardian on Friday.

“Why has the strategy been watered down? Is this evidence of a rift in government, Defra [the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] trumped by DIT [the Department for International Trade]? Farmers will need more than positive rhetoric if they are to continue to raise welfare and environmental standards. Government should develop core trade standards as a matter of urgency.”

Claire Bass, executive director of Humane Society International, said: “This smoke-and-mirrors approach to safeguarding animal welfare in imported products just won’t wash. Instead of adopting a rulebook of animal welfare core standards to govern trade, we are now waiting for a ‘statement’ on animal health that will ‘inform negotiations’.

“This soft policy approach will make the UK a doormat in negotiations with major trading partners like the US, and in practice UK animal welfare trade barriers will be junked at the first sign of any objection.”

Farmers have said they are disappointed with the watering-down of the trade section and that it puts English producers at a disadvantage.

Patrick Holden, a dairy farmer and director of the Sustainable Food Trust, said the removal of the animal welfare commitment was indefensible, adding: “Unfortunately, I am not surprised to see that section was taken out. Farmers in this country are worried about being let down by lower standard imports – and they are not wrong.

“Britain had such an opportunity to show leadership in that area – this was the opportunity missed, now we are signing these grubby trade deals, and it’s continuing to water down what was already a very dilute package on trade.”

Defra has declined to comment.
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Majority Of Northern Ireland Politicians Reject UK's Protocol Plan "In Strongest Possible Terms"



Adam Payne@adampayne26

A majority of Northern Ireland's assembly members (MLAs) have strongly criticised the government's plan to unilaterally override the Northern Ireland Protocol in a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The letter is signed by 52 of Stormont's 90 MLAs and comes as the government prepares to publish legislation seeking to scrap large parts of the post-Brexit treaty.

All MLAs in Sinn Fein, Alliance, and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) added their signatures to Monday's letter. No politician from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), or any other unionist party, have done so, however.

It reads: "We reject in the strongest possible terms your Gov’s reckless new Protocol legislation, which flies in the face of the expressed wishes of not just most businesses, but most people in Northern Ireland."

The government argues the plan will protect the Good Friday peace deal and help get the government in Belfast up and running. The DUP is currently blocking the formation of an Executive over their opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Speaking on Monday, Johnson said the Northern Ireland Protocol in its current form was upsetting "the balance and the symmetry" of the peace agreement and needed fixing.

"We have to understand there are two traditions in Northern Ireland, broadly two ways of looking at the border issues, and one community at the moment feels very, very estranged from the way things are operating and very alienated," he told reporters.

The letter urges ministers to abandon their plan to act unilaterally and instead up efforts to negotiate a deal with Brussels. "While we share a desire to see the arrangements work as smoothly as possible, the way to achieve that is through engagement with the European Union," it says.

It also rejects the government's argument that it is protecting the Good Friday Agreement by legislation to override the agreement with the EU.

"To complain the Protocol lacks cross-community consent, while ignoring the fact that Brexit itself – let alone hard Brexit – lacks even basic majority consent here, is a grotesque act of political distortion. Your claims to be acting to protect our institutions is as much a fabrication as the Brexit campaign claims you made in 2016," it says.



The Alliance party, led by Naomi Long MLA, has separately accused the government of sidelining Northern Irish parties which oppose their plan in the process of putting together the legislation.

In an email to government on Friday, and leaked to PoliticsHome, Long complained that "only one" political party in Stormont – the DUP – had been "central to the preparation of this legislation".

Long declined the offer of a technical briefing on the bill, arguing that the government had treated Northern Ireland's political parties in a "differential manner" in its approach.

She said: "We are, therefore, not interested in offering the government's approach any veneer of credibility, given the fact that it has been treating NI parties in a differential manner and ignoring the expressed views of a majority of NI elected representatives, businesses and civil society on this matter".

A government source hit back at the email, telling PoliticsHome that Long's characterisation of the government's engagement with Northern Ireland political parties was "inaccurate".

"It is disappointing that Naomi Long is the only party leader to reject the offer of a technical briefing on the Government’s Protocol legislation. It is designed in the best interests of all the people and businesses in Northern Ireland.

"We have engaged with all the parties throughout this process, to suggest otherwise is inaccurate".

The Northern Ireland Protocol, agreed as part of Brexit negotiations, was designed to avoid a contentious hard border on the island of Ireland, but resulted in new barriers to trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The UK and EU are committed to reducing these barriers, but have failed to agree changes after eighteen of negotiations.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is today expected to unveil legislation that will give ministers the power to drop large parts of the treaty. The plan is set to face fierce opposition in the House of Lords and prompt legal action from the EU, as well as possible trade retaliation.

A Tory who opposes the plan said the letter to Johnson showed that the government was "showing complete and utter contempt for the people of Northern Ireland" and "a stark reminder that the government is not only lying to its own MPs and the media about the illegal focus of this bill".

https://www.politicshome.com/


Sinn Féin, SDLP and Alliance jointly write to Boris Johnson to condemn 'reckless' Protocol bill

The letter represents a majority of MLAs in Stormont but no unionists signed it.


(L to R) Naomi Long, Colm Eastwood and Michelle O'Neill. (File)
Image: Niall Carson

https://www.thejournal.ie/

STORMONT MLAS from Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Alliance Party have joined together to write to Boris Johnson expressing their opposition to his government’s “reckless” Protocol bill.

The bill is set to be tabled by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss later today and will outline plans to to override parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol that was agreed between the UK and the EU.

Unionists politicians are seeking changes to the arrangement, with the DUP blocking the operation of the Stormont Assembly as part of its opposition to the Protocol as its currently instituted.

A majority of MLAs elected to Assembly last month are in favour of the Protocol and in their letter today said that it “offers clear economic advantages to our region”.

The letter has been signed by 52 of the 90 MLAs, including all nationalist members of the Assembly and all Alliance Party members, who designate as ‘other’. No unionist MLAs signed the letter.

The letter to Johnson states that the signatories “reject in the strongest possible terms your government’s reckless new protocol legislation, which flies in the face of the expressed wishes of not just most businesses, but most people in Northern Ireland”.

It continues that “whilst not ideal, the protocol currently represents the only available”.
While we share a desire to see the arrangements work as smoothly as possible, the way to achieve this is through engagement with the European Union. It is clear that solutions are available and deliverable – as have already been delivered in the area of medicines – but this must be on the basis of trust and the rule of law rather than law breaking and unilateral abrogation of treaty obligations.

“It is also deeply frustrating that you and your ministers continue to misrepresent our desire to see smooth implementation as an endorsement of your Government’s reckless actions on the Protocol – it is categorically not.”

In response to the letter DUP MP Sammy Wilson tweeted:

Not one Unionist MLA supports the Northern Ireland Protocol. Power sharing will not be restored until decisive action is taken to remove the Irish Sea Border. There will be no return to the status quo.


The Northern Ireland Protocol was agreed as part of the Withdrawal Agreement between the EU and UK following Brexit and was designed as a way of preventing the need for a hard border on the island of Ireland.

The Protocol effectively keeps Northern Ireland in the EU Single Market for goods but also keeps Northern Ireland in the UK’s Customs territory.

While the unique arrangement offers potential advantages for NI businesses to operate in both territories, unionists have criticised it because it has required some checks to be carried out on goods travelling from Britain to Northern Ireland


Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, the Northern Ireland institutions will be periodically asked to consent on the continuation of the Protocol, with the first such vote due to take place in December 2024.

Government Sets Out Powers To Override Most Of The Northern Ireland Protocol


Adam Payne@adampayne26

The government has published legislation that aims to hand ministers the power to scrap large parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol despite significant opposition from the European Union and numerous Conservative MPs.

The bill, which Foreign Secretary Liz Truss unveiled on Monday afternoon, also faces pushback from the House of Lords, amid criticism that if implemented it would break international law. Truss's counterpart in the Republic of Ireland described UK plans to override the protocol as a "particular low point" in post-Brexit relations.

The government insists that the plan acts within international law and published a summary of its legal position to accompany the legislation. Its position is that the "genuinely exceptional situation" justifies the "nonperformance" of oglibations it signed up when the protocol was agreed.

The government did not, however, go as far as critics have demanded by publishing all the legal advice it had received on the matter.

PoliticsHome last week revealed that First Treasury Counsel, James Eadie QC, was not asked to provide his view on whether the plan breached international law, and that in his opinion it would be "very difficult" for the government to "credibly" argue that it did not. Eadie is most senior independent lawyer advising the government.

Truss said the bill would protect the Good Friday peace deal and "support political stability" in Northern Ireland. The region currently doesn't have a functioning government, with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) blocking the formation of an Executive over its opposition to the protocol.

"It will end the untenable situation where people in Northern Ireland are treated differently to the rest of the United Kingdom, protect the supremacy of our courts and our territorial integrity," Truss said.

Speaking to Sky News after the bill was published, the Foreign Secretary said the government had made it "very clear" that it was "acting in line with the law".

The government argues that it has no choice but to take unilateral action after failing to reach a negotiated settlement with the EU after 18 months of talks.

The protocol, agreed by the UK and EU in 2019, was designed to avoid a contentious hard border on the island of Ireland, but resulted in new barriers to trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Both sides are committed to reducing these barriers, but have failed to agree on how.

The bill will give ministers the power to unilaterally make sweeping changes to the treaty, which Truss described as a "reasonable, practical" measure to address "the problems facing Northern Ireland".




The government plans to significantly reduce the amount of checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea by creating a "green lane" for goods that are staying in Northern Ireland. These goods will be "freed of unnecessary paperwork, checks and duties", the government says in a paper setting out the proposed new regime. Additionally, it plans to establish a "dual-regulatory regime" allowing goods that enter the Northern Irish market to adhere to either UK or EU rules.

If implemented, the bill would also remove the role of the European Court of Justice in overseeing Northern Ireland's post-Brexit arrangements, and overhaul how the protocol impacts tax policy so that there is no difference between the region and the rest of the UK when it comes to VAT.

It is likely to be a number of months before the legislation becomes law, however, and the UK and EU are expected to continue negotiating in the meantime. Truss stressed that the government's preferred way of solving the Northern Ireland Protocol remained an agreement with the EU.

It is also understood that the changes would not come into effect immediately after the bill receives parliamentary approval. Government officials indicated that ministers would use the powers handed them to action the changes once the systems required to deliver them are ready.

The measures set out by Truss this afternoon amount to major changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol and are expected to prompt legal action from Brussels, and possibly trade retaliation.

Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission Vice President, said the bloc noted the publication of the bill with "significant concern" and would consider how to respond. He said Brussels could take legal action against the UK and hinted at possible trade retaliation. Sefvoci said the EU was ready to find an agreement with the UK and that the bloc would soon present its proposals in "greater details".

Prime Minister Boris Johnson this morning said trade retaliation would "be a gross, gross overreaction" by the European Commission, and insisted that the changes set out in today's legisaltion were "relatively trivial set of adjustments in the grand scheme of things".

Simon Coveney, Ireland's foreign minister, in a phone call with Truss this morning said the UK's plan to act unilaterally represented a "particular low point" in its approach to Brexit.

An Irish readout of their call said: "Minister Coveney repeated that the protocol is the negotiated solution, ratified by Westminster, to the hard Brexit pursued by the U.K. government.

"The UK’s unilateral approach is not in the best interest of Northern Ireland and does not have the consent or support of the majority of people or business in Northern Ireland. Far from fixing problems, this legislation will create a whole new set of uncertainties and damage relationships".


A majority of politicians in the Northern Irish assembly wrote to Johnson prior to the publication of the bill, saying: "We reject in the strongest possible terms your Gov’s reckless new Protocol legislation". The ketter was not signed by a unionist MLA, however.

The bill is set to face opposition from numerous Tory MPs who are urging the government to scrap its plan to act unilaterally and instead up its efforts to negotiate a deal with the EU.

In a briefing note leaked to PoliticsHome on Sunday, Conservative MPs who intend to vote against the legislation say it "is damaging to everything the UK and Conservatives stand for" and ignores warnings from senior legal figures that it would break international law.

"A Bill with ‘notwithstanding’ clauses disapplying our own ratification legislation breaks international law: no amount of shopping around for rent-a-quote lawyers can hide that Labour’s decision to do this over Iraq was damagingly exposed and should be a cautionary tale," it reads.

David Lammy, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, said the legislation was "a desperate attempt by Boris Johnson to distract from the drama of his leadership crisis".

"Britain should be a country that keeps its word. By tearing up the Protocol it negotiated just a couple of years ago, the Government will damage Britain’s reputation and make finding a lasting solution more difficult," he said.

He called on the government to publish the legal advice it had received in full, not just a summary of its position.

Claire Hanna, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) MP for South Belfast, expressed frustration that Truss did not make a House of Commons statement about the legislation.

"The UK government's contempt for the people of Northern Ireland is underlined by the foreign Secretary failing to come to parliament to explain such a substantial and destructive move".

A government source stressed to PoliticsHome that ministers do not usually make statements at the first reading of legislation. Second reading, at which point Truss is expected to address MPs, is expected to take place before parliament breaks up for its summer recess next month.

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