PRODUCER POWER

Falling sales cause sour grapes for iconic Portugal wine

"If we don't create scarcity, we'll never manage to keep prices under control,"

São João da Pesqueira (Portugal) (AFP) – Jose Manuel Ferreira should have already started harvesting grapes on his century-old vineyard in northern Portugal -- instead he is still looking for a buyer for his crop.


Issued on: 15/10/2024

Roughly 20,000 winegrowers operate along the banks of the River Douro 

© MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP

"I used to sell my grapes to a cooperative, but this year they refused me," the 74-year-old told AFP in Sao Joao da Pesqueira, in the heart of the Douro wine region.

"We feel abandoned. It's revolting," he said.

His plight is repeated across the Douro Valley, known for its endless swathes of vineyards cascading down lush green hills on tiered terraces carved over the centuries.

The cause: sluggish sales of the region's famous sweet port wine and overproduction.

Roughly 20,000 winegrowers operate along the banks of the River Douro, which winds its way across northern Portugal before spilling out into the Atlantic at Porto, the country's second-largest city, where major wineries are based.

Most vineyards in the region belong to several owners, who cultivate small plots averaging just two hectares (five acres) and generally sell their output to groups operating large estates known as "quintas".

Port wine, which is made by adding brandy during fermentation, was invented by the British in the 18th century and went on to become one of Portugal's most famous exports.

'Can't compensate'

The Upper Douro region, which in 2001 was added to the United Nations' cultural heritage list, produces port wine and table wine, with both enjoying a protected designation of origin status.

This means they can be made only in the region according to a set of production specifications.

While sales of Douro table wines are rising, those of port wines -- which are more profitable -- have fallen steadily in recent years because of changing consumer habits.

Wine consumption has decreased globally, and especially so for products like port wine that are traditionally drunk before meals to stimulate the appetite.

Portugal's Douro Valley is known for its endless swathes of vineyards cascading down lush green hills on tiered terraces 

© MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP

The volume of port wine sold annually has fallen over the last 15 years by a quarter to nearly 65 million litres in 2023.

"Douro table wines can't compensate for the fall in port wine sales," said the head of Portuguese wine promotion body ViniPortugal, Frederico Falcao.

"The grapes still to be harvested in the Douro region are being sold at very low prices, often not even enough to cover the cost of picking," he added.

"Unfortunately, this means there is likely to be quite a lot of grapes left uncollected in the vineyards."

Production cut

To tackle the problem of oversupply, the Port and Douro Wines Institute regulatory body has slashed the port wine production quota this year to 90,000 barrels from 104,000 in 2023. Each barrel contains 550 litres (145 gallons).

But industry representatives argue this level of production remains too high given the amount of stocks that have built up in recent years.

These reserves enable major port wine brands, which control almost 90 percent of the market, to limit their losses.

It is small growers like Ferreira, whose modest plot is expected to produce around a tonne of grapes this year, that are being hit hardest.

Oscar Quevedo, a 41-year-old winemaker, believes steeper production cuts are the answer 

© MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP

"The region, which has a unique, world-famous product, generates wealth, but it is not well redistributed," Manuel Cordeiro, the mayor of Sao Joao da Pesqueira, told AFP.

Some are calling for a steeper cut to production that would involve pulling up vines, as is currently being done in the Bordeaux region in southwestern France.

"If we don't create scarcity, we'll never manage to keep prices under control," said Oscar Quevedo, a 41-year-old winemaker who has taken over the family business of around 100 hectares.

Producing wine in the Douro, with its steep slopes and arid climate, "is very expensive" so moving upmarket is necessary to survive and "market a wine that is profitable", he added.

© 2024 AFP

Only one-third of Europe's surface water is in good health, report warns

Only 37 percent of Europe’s surface waters are in good condition, warns the European Environment Agency. Climate change, habitat degradation, freshwater overuse and pollution are key threats. "Our waters face unprecedented challenges," said EEA Executive Director Leena Yla-Mononen, highlighting risks to Europe's water security.


Issued on: 15/10/2024 -

Activists fear time is running out to save what they call Europe's last major "wild river". 

Pollution, habitat degradation, climate change and over-use of freshwater resources are putting a strain on Europe, with only a third of its surface water in good health, the European Environment Agency warned on Tuesday.

"The health of Europe's waters is not good. Our waters face an unprecedented set of challenges that threatens Europe's water security," EEA executive director Leena Yla-Mononen said in a statement.

Only 37 percent of Europe's surface water bodies achieved "good" or "high" ecological status, a measure of aquatic ecosystem health, the EEA report said.

Meanwhile, only 29 percent of surface waters achieved "good" chemical status over the 2015-2021 period, according to data reported by EU member states.

Europe's groundwaters -- the source of most drinking water in the continent -- fared better, with 77 percent enjoying "good" chemical status.

Good chemical status means the water is free of excessive pollution from chemical nutrients and toxic substances like PFAS and microplastics.

Surface water is threatened by air pollution -- such as coal burning and car emissions -- as well as the agriculture industry, whose dumped waste contaminates the soil.

"European agriculture needs to increase its use of more sustainable organic and agroecological practices, accompanied by incentives and a change in our food and dietary habits," the report said.

The European agency analysed 120,000 surface water bodies and 3.8 million square kilometres (1.5 million square miles) of groundwater body areas in 19 EU countries and Norway.

It called on EEA member states to halve their use of pesticides by 2030.

"We need to redouble our efforts to restore the health of our valued rivers, lakes, coastal waters and other water bodies, and to make sure this vital resource is resilient and secure for generations to come," Yla-Mononen said.


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Climate change effects, including extreme droughts and flooding, and the over-use of freshwater resources are putting a strain on Europe's lakes, rivers, coastal waters and groundwaters "like never before", the EEA said.

Governments must prioritise reducing water consumption and restoring ecosystems, it said.

(AFP)

Painkiller sale plan to US gives France major headache


By AFP
October 14, 2024


Copyright AFP Hector RETAMAL
Jurgen HECKER

The planned sale of France’s best-selling medical drug to US investors has caused the government a splitting headache after an outcry against the project from politicians on all sides.

Even President Emmanuel Macron is involved in the debate centred on a perceived “loss of sovereignty” if popular painkiller Doliprane falls into American hands.

Doliprane is the brand under which healthcare giant Sanofi sells paracetamol, a non-opioid analgesic for the alleviation of mild to moderate pain, and of fever.

In French pharmacies, the brand’s colourful boxes often line entire shelf walls, and Doliprane comes in many doses — from 100 mg for newborn babies to 1,000 mg for adults — and in tablet, capsule, suppository and liquid forms.

It is so ubiquitous that French people call any paracetamol product Doliprane, even when it is made by a different manufacturer.

Sanofi, which is France’s biggest healthcare company and among the world’s top 12, has found out over the past few days just how attached the French are to the drug.

Political and trade union reactions came in hard and fast after the company announced last week that it was in talks with New York-based private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) to sell a 50-percent controlling stake in its subsidiary Opella, which makes Doliprane along with other consumer healthcare products.

The planned spinoff, it said, would be part of Sanofi’s strategy to focus less on over-the-counter medication and more on innovative medicines and vaccines, including for polio, the flu and meningitis.

“This is another symbol for the loss of our sovereignty,” thundered Fabien Roussel, France’s Communist party leader, calling the planned sale “shameful”.

At the other end of the political spectrum Jordan Bardella, president of the farright RN party, said that “the piecemeal sale of France carries on”.

– ‘Protect France’ –

Green party deputy Marine Tondelier said the government had “learned nothing” from the Covid pandemic when France suffered from medication bottlenecks blamed mostly on the outsourcing of production to foreign countries.

An adhoc group of centre-right lawmakers — including from Macron’s party — meanwhile stated that the sale represented “a very worrying risk for our national security”.

Boris Vallaud, parliamentary leader for the Socialists, reminded the government of 2022 when a sharp rise in demand for paracetamol caused some shortages in French pharmacies.

“Already some months ago, paracetamol was nowhere to be found,” he said. “And now they want to give it up completely?”

In a message to Finance Minister Antoine Armand — in the job only since last month — the group of deputies said the planned sale went against “the re-establishment of France’s sovereignty in the health sector”.

The government had the legal option, they said, of posing conditions or blocking the sale on the grounds that it concerns a “sensitive” industry.

Macron himself entered the fray Monday, saying that “the government has the instruments needed to protect France” from any unwanted “capital ownership”.

The American investment fund is offering more than 15 billion euros ($16.4 billion) for Opella, according to Les Echos, a French business daily.

Faced with the protests, Armand on Friday told Sanofi and the potential buyer that Opella’s “headquarters and decision-making centres” had to remain in France.

On Monday, Industry Minister Marc Ferracci said that current production also had to stay, “to safeguard employment and to secure supply for French people”.

The same went for research and development facilities, he said.

Speaking to broadcaster France 3, Ferracci said the government would invoke a procedure for the control of foreign investment if the buyers failed to meet the demands.

But he added: “I honestly believe that those commitments will be made.”

burs-jh/as/rl

THREE MILE ISLAND REDUX

Google signs nuclear power deal with startup Kairos


By AFP
October 15, 2024

Google and Kairos have yet to determine how many of the small nuclear reactors being built to meet the AI energy demand will be located near the tech giant's facilities - Copyright AFP Aamir QURESHI

Glenn CHAPMAN

Google on Monday signed a deal to get electricity from small nuclear reactors to help power artificial intelligence.

The agreement to buy energy from reactors built by Kairos Power came just weeks after word that Three Mile Island, the site of America’s worst nuclear accident, will restart operations to provide energy to Microsoft.

“We believe that nuclear energy has a critical role to play in supporting our clean growth and helping to deliver on the progress of AI,” Google senior director of energy and climate said during a briefing.

“The grid needs these kinds of clean, reliable sources of energy that can support the build out of these technologies.”

No financial details were disclosed.

– Insatiable AI –

Tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are rapidly expanding their data center capabilities to meet the AI revolution’s computing needs while also scouring the globe for sources of electricity.

The first of a series of small modular reactors (SMRs) developed by Kairos as a result of its deal with Google is projected to be online by the end of this decade, according to the companies.

Additional small reactors are expected to go online through 2035, generating a combined total of 500 megawatts of power.

SMRs are more compact and potentially easier to deploy — with big investments by Microsoft founder Bill Gates in the sector.

However, the technology is still in its infancy and lacks regulatory approval, leading companies to seek out existing nuclear power options.

“We view this as a really significant partnership,” Kairos co-founder and chief executive Mike Laufer said in the briefing.

The agreement allows SMR technology “to mature and learn along the way,” Laufer added.

The grid needs new, clean, electricity sources to support AI as its capabilities and uses accelerate, Terrell said, saying nuclear power is part of a campaign by the tech giant to have abundant carbon-free energy available around the clock.

“This is an incredibly promising bet,” Terrell said of the deal.

“If we can get these projects to scale and then scale globally, it will deliver enormous benefits to communities and power grids around the world.”

– Is it safe? –

Seen as a more consistent source of power than solar and wind, many tech companies are betting on nuclear energy’s rapid development to meet AI’s electricity demands.

Microsoft use of Three Mile Island’s nuclear energy will bolster a power grid covering 13 states.

This area faces severe strain from data centers’ massive energy consumption, raising concerns about grid stability as AI demands increase.

Amazon’s AWS agreed in March to invest $650 million in a data center campus powered by another Pennsylvania nuclear plant.

Nuclear energy has staunch opponents due to concerns about radioactive waste disposal, the potential for catastrophic accidents, and the high costs associated with plant construction and decommissioning.

The 1979 partial meltdown of Unit 2 at Three Mile Island caused panic in the United States and brought the expansion of nuclear energy to a standstill.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission deemed it the “most serious accident in US commercial nuclear power plant operating history,” though it noted no detectable health effects on workers or the public from the small radioactive releases.

Google and Kairos Power team up for SMR deployments

Tuesday, 15 October 2024

Google has agreed to purchase energy from small modular reactors under a deal that will support the first commercial deployment of Kairos Power's reactor by 2030 and a fleet totalling 500 MW of capacity by 2035.

(Image: Kairos)

The Master Plant Development Agreement signed by the two companies will see Kairos Power develop, construct, and operate a series of advanced reactor plants and sell energy, ancillary services, and environmental attributes to Google under power purchase agreements (PPAs). Plants will be sited in "relevant service territories to supply clean electricity to Google data centres", with the first deployment by 2030 to support Google’s 24/7 carbon-free energy and net zero goals.

This the first corporate agreement for multiple deployments of a single advanced reactor design in the USA, the companies said.

Kairos has adopted a rapid iterative development approach and vertical integration strategy to bring its fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor technology to market. Site work and excavation for a low-power demonstration reactor version, Hermes, began at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, earlier this year after the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a construction permit in 2023, targeted to be operational by 2027. The NRC has also completed the final environmental assessment for the construction of the next iteration - the two-unit power-producing Hermes 2 plant - which is also planned to be built at Oak Ridge.

Kairos said the innovative, multi-plant agreement with Google will support technology development by extending Kairos Power’s iterative demonstration strategy through its first commercial deployments: "Building on progress from the early iterations, each new plant will enable continued learning and optimisation to support accelerated commercialisation. Along the way, milestone-based accountability baked into the agreement will establish confidence in Kairos Power's ability to deliver throughout the long-term partnership."

"Our partnership with Google will enable Kairos Power to quickly advance down the learning curve as we drive toward cost and schedule certainty for our commercial product," Mike Laufer, Kairos Power CEO and co-founder, said. "By coming alongside in the development phase, Google is more than just a customer. They are a partner who deeply understands our innovative approach and the potential it can deliver."

Google is aiming to achieve net-zero emissions across all of its operations and value chain by 2030. Earlier this year, Google - together with Microsoft and steel manufacturer Nucor - announced plans to develop new business models and aggregate their demand for advanced clean electricity technologies, including advanced nuclear, and issued a Request for Information to identify specific projects to engage with.

The additional generation that will be developed under the multi-plant agreement with Kairos will complement its existing use of variable renewables while helping it to reach its 24/7 carbon-free energy and net zero goals, the company said.

"This landmark announcement will accelerate the transition to clean energy as Google and Kairos Power look to add 500 MW of new 24/7 carbon-free power to US electricity grids," Google Senior Director of Energy and Climate Michael Terrell said. "This agreement is a key part of our effort to commercialise and scale the advanced energy technologies we need to reach our net zero and 24/7 carbon-free energy goals and ensure that more communities benefit from clean and affordable power in the future."

Google pioneered the first corporate purchase agreements for renewable electricity more than a decade ago, and since then has played a pivotal role in accelerating clean energy solutions, Terrell said in a blog post. The agreement with Kairos is important because the grid needs new sources of electricity to support AI technologies, and nuclear can help meet those demands reliably with carbon-free energy every hour of every day, he added.

"By procuring electricity from multiple reactors … we will help accelerate the repeated reactor deployments that are needed to lower costs and bring Kairos Power’s technology to market more quickly. This is an important part of our approach to scale the benefits of advanced technologies to more people and communities, and builds on our previous efforts," he said.

"We'll continue working to accelerate a diverse portfolio of advanced clean electricity technologies and bring new 24/7 clean, affordable energy onto every grid where we operate."

Molten salt reactors
 

Molten salt reactors - or MSRs - use molten fluoride salts as primary coolant, at low pressure. Some designs - like Kairos Power's KP-FHR - use solid fuel, while others use fuel salts, in which the nuclear fuel is dissolved in the coolant.

The KP-FHR will use fully ceramic TRISO (tri-structural isotropic) pebble-type fuel. The Hermes and Hermes 2 demonstration plants will feature units with a thermal capacity of 35 MW each. The two 35 MWt units at Hermes 2 are intended to a power a common turbine generator set to produce about 20 MW electric (MWe).

Kairos envisages its commercial KP-FHR offering as dual unit plants, with two 75 MWe units for a total of 150 MWe of power output.

MSRs are one of the four main types of SMR that are currently being developed. SMRs are broadly defined as nuclear reactors with a capacity of up to 300 MWe equivalent, designed with modular technology using module factory fabrication, pursuing economies of series production and short construction times.

East Timor fights new battles 25 years after independence vote

By AFP
October 14, 2024

Since emerging from decades of brutal occupation in 2002, East Timor has made huge strides, but it still faces stubborn problems - Copyright AFP Yasuyoshi CHIBA

Jack MOORE

Along the waterfront of East Timor’s capital, buzzing restaurants sell local dishes and Portuguese colonial fare facing turquoise waters where the Indonesian military launched an invasion nearly half a century before.

Since emerging from decades of brutal occupation in 2002 on the back of an independence vote 25 years ago, Asia’s youngest nation has made remarkable political strides in its short history.

“The most successful? National healing, reconciliation, peace and stability,” President Jose Ramos-Horta told AFP in a recent interview at his home in Dili.

“There has been tremendous progress.”

Independent observers also say the micro-state of 1.3 million stands out as a regional beacon of democracy and press freedom.

“It’s probably the most resilient and strongest democracy in Southeast Asia,” said Joshua Kurlantzick, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

But the country is fighting new battles on various fronts — a poverty rate above 40 percent, crucial energy reserves that experts say will deplete within years, and a balancing act between Western allies and China.



– ‘Doing reasonably well’ –



In 1975 Indonesian forces stormed the capital of the former Portuguese colony, capturing it in hours.

Indonesian occupation followed, along with human rights abuses and the killing of an estimated quarter of the population, before a contentious 1999 referendum helped East Timor achieve independence.

It has since witnessed economic growth thanks to oil and gas profits.

“We are very happy. The progress has been extraordinary,” said teacher Silverio Tilman, 58.

But not everyone has benefited.

“If you go outside of Dili, you’ll see things have not changed economically much in the last 25 years,” said Charles Scheiner, researcher at Dili-based NGO La’o Hamutuk.

“There’s still very high levels of poverty. Child malnutrition is probably one of the worst in the world.”

Ramos-Horta said a deal with Australia on a vast fossil fuel project, crucial to the tiny nation’s economic future, will be struck by November.

“The country’s economic trajectory largely hinges on the successful development of the Greater Sunrise gas field,” said Parker Novak, nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Others warn the project’s development would only delay looming economic problems.

East Timor is still a net food importer and has inadequate tourism infrastructure, making it hard to diversify.

Yet its president was more optimistic.

“Timor-Leste in 2002 had less than 60 years life expectancy. Today, almost 70,” said Ramos-Horta. “We are doing reasonably well.”



– Friends with all –



On his living room table were foreign affairs magazines with China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin leading the front pages.

Adorning his walls were pictures of American icons like Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy and Elvis Presley, next to a large image of Cuban revolution hero Che Guevara.

The juxtaposition is emblematic of East Timor’s position as a small piece in the superpower competition between Washington and Beijing.

Ramos-Horta has pledged to be friends with all despite fears Dili could turn away from traditional Western allies as it seeks more investment.

“It’s the Chinese helping us. We are not helping them,” he said.

But Western partners are watching closely for fear of East Timor falling into a debt trap and becoming in thrall to Beijing.

Asked how he squared his own democracy fight with closer relations with China — accused of indirectly supporting Russia’s Ukraine invasion and conducting aggressive moves around self-ruled Taiwan — Ramos-Horta says Western criticism was steeped in hypocrisy.

“Long before we were born as an independent state, the whole international community recognised Beijing… as the sole China,” he said.

“Why does the West want little Timor-Leste to do the opposite?”



– Generation of ’75 –



Ramos-Horta, 74, is feted at home and says he occasionally drives around safely in his American jeep to holiday in the mountains.

His tireless diplomacy in exile earned him a 1996 Nobel Peace Prize and the popularity to secure his first presidential term between 2007 and 2012, during which he survived an assassination attempt.

Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, 78, is also revered as a liberation hero.

They come from an ageing class known as the “Generation of ’75” who aided the independence battle and have rotated in positions of power.

Ramos-Horta came out of retirement in 2022 to win a second presidential term against former guerrilla fighter Francisco “Lu-Olo” Guterres.

But observers say it’s time for a new class of leaders.

“The country has needed new leadership for the past 15 years,” said Damien Kingsbury, a Deakin University politics professor.

“I expect that will only occur when the Generation of ’75 die or are too sick to continue.”

Ramos-Horta says he won’t run again in 2027, and is scouting for new leaders.

And some young Timorese are ready for that change.

“This country needs a new generation,” said Adao Guterres, a 25-year-old university student.

“A new generation ready to compete and improve this country.”

In the Colombian Pacific, fighting to save sharks


By AFP
October 14, 2024

The bountiful waters around Malpelo Island attract illegal fishing vessels from far and wide, many from neighboring Ecuador, others from Panama and Costa Rica in the Caribbean or even China, where shark fin is a delicacy 

- Copyright AFP CHANDAN KHANNA

David SALAZAR

A lone catamaran named “Silky” patrols waters around the remote island of Malpelo, a refuge that is protected yet full of peril for endangered marine species in the Colombian Pacific.

Its crew of environmentalists is the terror of boats illegally fishing for sharks inside the reserve some 500 kilometers (310 miles) off mainland Colombia — one of the richest countries in terms of marine fauna.

Without weapons or backup, the activists shoo away intruder vessels, threaten to report them to the authorities, even dive under water to cut loose sharks caught in nets or on lines.

Active round-the-clock since 2018, the team of shark-lovers claims to be turning the tide in the Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary, a mecca for divers and the largest no-fishing zone in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.

“The success of the project can be seen in the fact that they (the illegal fishers) do not return,” said Colombian diver Erika Lopez, who created the foundation Biodiversity Conservation Colombia with the help of an Australian philanthropist.

The project was born from what the activists view as a lack of official shark protection, with the navy arresting illegal fishers only if they happen to come across them on routine patrols against drug traffickers and other territorial intruders.

Due to play host of the UN COP16 biodiversity conference starting next Monday, Colombia’s vast Pacific coastline is on a key migratory route for hammerhead sharks, whale sharks and other species, many of them endangered.

But the bountiful waters of the sanctuary attract vessels from far and wide, many from neighboring Ecuador, others from Panama and Costa Rica in the Caribbean or even China, where shark fin is a delicacy.

Lopez’s foundation claims the crew of the Silky — the name of a type of shark — has rescued 508 animals alive since 2018, scared away 302 boats and confiscated more than 70,000 meters of fishing line.

Since last December, the foundation reports it has not spotted any fishing boats near Malpelo island in the reserve of more than 850,000 hectares recognized as a UNESCO heritage site.

“We try as much as possible to take the equipment away from them, to free the species that are trapped, that’s the main mission,” 53-year-old Dario Ortiz, an artisanal fisherman-turned-environmentalist, told AFP on board the “Silky.”

But it is a full-time effort.

“This boat has to be basically 24/7, 365 days a year containing this threat,” said Lopez, 51, who dreams of upscaling the project to a flotilla of vessels dedicated to conservation and science in the Pacific.



– Rich and desirable –



On the high seas, far from Malpelo island, a Colombian navy warship also patrols an area teeming with hammerhead sharks, marlin and other endangered creatures.

On a recent mission with AFP on board, it arrested three Ecuadoran fishermen found with a highly valuable haul of silky, hammerhead and blacktip sharks, sailfish and four blue marlins — all still alive.

“The Colombian Pacific is very rich and it is desirable,” said Admiral Rafael Aranguren.

With “our ships we can reach this part of the territory and exercise controls so that they do not illegally exploit these riches, so that they do not harm the environment.”

In 2020, the government of former president Ivan Duque banned shark fishing, both on an industrial and small-scale, to try to protect marine stocks.

But faced with an outcry from Afro-Caribbean fishing communities on the Pacific coast which rely on shark catches for meat to eat and sell, incumbent President Gustavo Petro in January partly repealed the ban.

The government decreed that small-scale fishermen may keep and consume sharks accidentally caught in nets meant for other, unrestricted, fish species.

The decision caused outrage among conservationists who view it as a license to kill.

The Navy estimates it has arrested 30 people so far this year for illegal fishing in Colombian waters.

Between 2012 and 2022, authorities seized more than 334 tons of fish meat illegally harvested, according to the Ministry of Environment.

The country does not keep a record of sharks that fall victim to illegal fishing

Cars, chlamydia threaten Australian koalas

By AFP
October 14, 2024

Orphaned koala joey Ajooni is fed by wildlife caregiver Emma Meadows in Sydney - Copyright AFP Saeed KHAN

Laura CHUNG

Clinging to a fluffy toy twice her size, orphaned koala joey Ajooni made a snuffling noise as she drank milk from a tiny syringe.

Weighing about the same as a mango, she was found by the side of a Sydney road where her mother was hit by a car and died.

It is a familiar tale for wildlife carer Emma Meadows.

Over the past two years, Meadows and other volunteers have recovered 40 koalas hit by cars in their neighbourhood. The number left for dead is likely much higher.

Koalas are shy and notoriously difficult to count.

There are anywhere between 95,000 and 524,000 left in Australia, possibly down from millions before European settlement.

There is little doubt that expanding cities, land clearance and the spread of chlamydia are devastating the populations of one of Australia’s most iconic animals.

East Coast koalas were officially listed as “endangered” by the Australian government in 2022.

“I actually, truly, believe we’re heading towards extinction,” said Meadows, a volunteer with WIRES.

“I don’t know if there is any coming back from this. I’m scared it’s too late.”

Chlamydia was first observed in koalas about 50 years ago. In the decades since, it has wiped out entire local populations.

The bacteria leads to blindness, bladder infections, infertility, and death.

Although some chlamydia-free koala populations exist –- such as the area where Ajooni was found -– scientists fear these pockets may soon disappear.



– World’s ‘extinction capital’ –



Annabelle Olsson, director of the University of Sydney Wildlife Health and Conservation Hospital, has regularly examined rescued koalas — including seven-month-old Ajooni.

On the day AFP visited the centre, a sedated three-year-old koala lay on an operation table, while Olsson and her team took the marsupial’s blood, did X-rays and examined the koala’s face.

The koala was chlamydia-free but had a head injury that impacted her reflexes and would require further attention.

Olsson said without better koala protections “our grandchildren, or at least their grandchildren, are going to see maybe koalas in a zoo if they’re lucky”.

“Australia is an island nation with an incredibly high biodiversity and incredibly unique wildlife species and floral species that need to be preserved,” she said.

Scientists believe Australia has the highest rate of mammal extinction in the world, with about 100 of the country’s unique flora and fauna species wiped out in the last 123 years.

Environment minister Tanya Plibersek has said Australia is “the mammal extinction capital of the world. ”

While there are some rules and guidelines to protect koala habitats, koala bushland continues to be cleared.



– Vaccine hopes –



Some have instead focused their conservation efforts on quelling the spread of koala chlamydia.

University of the Sunshine Coast researcher Samuel Phillips is part of a team working on a potential vaccine.

They have vaccinated and monitored 165 koalas over 10 years and found inoculated marsupials developed chlamydia later in life and their mortality was reduced by 64 percent.

A Queensland trial of the vaccination, used in conjunction with traffic and predator controls, was so successful that a local koala population doomed for extinction within 10 years rebounded.

Some marsupials will even need to be translocated to stop overpopulation, Phillips said.

“It’s been a really positive story,” he said.

However, Phillips warns that more needs to be done to address the other key drivers of koala decline, particularly the deforestation of their habitats.

“We can keep protecting these small populations, but without increasing the habitat and protecting it, then they won’t be living.”



– ‘Make a difference’ –



Ajooni will remain in Meadow’s care until she is big enough to be released back into the wild.

It will be a “bittersweet” moment for Meadow, but she says seeing any koala successfully released is the best feeling.

That feeling is what keeps her going through the awful parts of her volunteer role: scraping dead koala bodies off the road in the middle of the night, or finding animals that are so severely injured that they need to be put down.

“I continue to do what I do because somebody needs to make a difference, and I feel that this is one way in the world that I can make a difference,” Meadows said.

Can biodiversity credits unlock billions for nature?


By AFP
October 14, 2024


Biodiversity credits will be on the table for discussion at this month's UN biodiversity summit in Colombia - Copyright AFP/File MAURO PIMENTEL

Benjamin LEGENDRE

For supporters, biodiversity credits could unlock billions in much-needed funding for nature, but critics fear a repeat of scandals that have dogged other financial approaches to protecting the environment.

Paying to safeguard tropical rainforests or compensate for habitat destruction is an area of growing interest, and trading credits in conservation will feature at this month’s UN COP16 biodiversity summit in Colombia.

The market in biodiversity credits or certificates — which monetise activities that claim to protect or restore nature — is new, unregulated and stalked by fears of “greenwashing”.

Backers say credits could financially compensate for ecological harm caused by industry, for example when a mine or road project impacts the surrounding environment.

Businesses could, in theory at least, offset damage by purchasing credits from organisations that support nature and biodiversity through wetland conservation or sustainable rubber production, for example.

Ensuring integrity — in short, that credits actually do for the environment what they promise — is an enormous challenge for a sector that has no common international standards to speak of.

The voluntary market in carbon credits stalled after revelations that some of the most widely traded offsets did not reduce heat-warming greenhouse gas emissions as promised.

But at the last biodiversity COP nations agreed to earmark $200 billion a year for nature by 2030, and credits are being seen as one way to raise the cash.



– Gaining traction –



That agreement encouraged nations to promote “innovative schemes” including biodiversity offsets and credits.

Businesses and governments hope that COP16 in Cali — which starts October 21 and is expected to attract 12,000 attendees — can boost confidence in biodiversity credits.

The International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits, an independent body supported by the governments of France and Britain, is to present a “global roadmap” for the sector.

It wants to encourage countries to have strong national credit schemes rather than strive for standard rules for international trade, which many admit could be unfeasible.

The Alliance for Biodiversity Credits, backed by the UN, and the World Economic Forum is also looking to promote initiatives at the Cali meet.

Elsewhere, similar proposals are attracting high-profile support.

In September, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen called for the creation of a “nature credits” market to “reward those who serve our planet”, pointing to farmers involved in sustainable agriculture.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has mooted a global fund for rainforest conservation that considers paying countries for areas of forest that are protected or restored.



– Challenges –



Many environment groups are wary, fearing money generated from biodiversity credits will not benefit conservation or indigenous communities living closely with nature.

The idea of “selling nature to save it” has been around for decades and today, companies everywhere proudly display their sustainability commitments in product advertising or annual reports.

But the idea has not gone global, and creating common international rules for the trade of biodiversity credits could prove insurmountable.

Discussions around international standards for the trade of carbon credits — where companies or countries pay to offset their greenhouse gas emissions — are far more advanced.

But UN efforts to enshrine a globally-accepted framework has not concluded, and the COP28 in the United Arab Emirates last year ended without agreement on the issue.

This bodes ill for biodiversity credits, which have their own set of unique challenges.

Carbon offsets, for example, are at least based on the same, consistent unit — a single credit represents one tonne of carbon dioxide either removed from the atmosphere or prevented from entering it.

“For biodiversity, we don’t really have a metric,” said Alain Karsenty, economist at the French agricultural research organisation CIRAD.

“A credit that would compensate for the destruction of a forest in France with a forest in Gabon would make no sense” because the two are not comparable or interchangeable, he said.

Supporters of ex-Bolivia leader Morales block roads over possible arrest


By AFP
October 14, 2024


Supporters of Bolivia's former president Evo Morales clash with riot police during a road blockade in Parotani, on October 14, 2024, in a picture released by Radio Kawsachun Coca - Copyright AFP CHANDAN KHANNA

Supporters of former Bolivian president Evo Morales blocked two major roads and clashed with police on Monday over the ex-leader’s possible arrest in the coming days over allegations that he raped a teenage girl.

The blockages, which the protesters said would be indefinite, began at dawn and are concentrated on two roads that connect the department of Cochabamba — where Morales spends most of his time — with the cities of Sucre and Santa Cruz.

“This afternoon, tomorrow and into the next few days, the entire country will be blocked,” Ponciano Santos, secretary of a trade union involved in the protest, told the press.

In the town of Parotani on the road leading to La Paz, protesters clashed with police who used tear gas to subdue them. Police confirmed reports that at least six people had been arrested.

Organizers said in a statement that they had mobilized “to protect the freedom, integrity and (prevent) the kidnapping” of Morales.

The 64-year-old is accused of rape, human trafficking and human smuggling over his alleged sexual relationship with a 15-year-old member of his political youth guard in 2015.

In 2016, the girl gave birth to a daughter, whom Morales is accused of fathering.

On Thursday, he failed to comply with a prosecutor’s summons to give a statement, which could lead to an order for his arrest.

The prosecutor in charge of the investigation, Sandra Gutierrez, declined to answer journalists’ questions on Monday as to whether she would ask for Morales’s arrest.

“For reasons of investigative strategy, we will avoid giving further details about the case,” she said.

However the alleged victim’s father was arrested on Friday for similarly failing to comply with a summons and placed in pretrial detention for four months.

The girl’s parents are suspected of having enrolled her in Morales’s youth wing with the aim of political advancement and personal gain in exchange for their daughter.

Elected Bolivia’s first Indigenous president in 2006, Morales claims the allegations against him were fabricated by the government of his arch-rival, current president Luis Arce, to try to discredit him.

Morales’s lawyers meanwhile have said the probe into the matter is “illegal,” arguing that an investigation in 2020 into the same claims was closed for lack of evidence.

The former coca grower, who served as president from 2006 until 2019, was highly popular in the Andean country until he tried to bypass the constitution to seek a fourth term.

He was forced to resign after losing the support of the military following an election marked by allegations of fraud.

Arce served as his finance minister for more than a decade but the pair later fell out.

Morales led several thousand supporters on a march in September, arriving in the capital after violent clashes with opponents and demanding the president’s cabinet be reshuffled.

AMERICAN TORTURES & KILLS CAT

'Doom spiral continues': Report claims new NRA chief involved in 'gruesome' torture of cat

Sarah K. Burris
October 14, 2024

Doug Hamlin NRA/promotional material)

The new president of the National Rifle Association took part in the 'gruesome" torture of a cat while a student, according to legal documents unearthed by the Guardian.

The news outlet reported that Doug Hamlin was charged with animal cruelty and was ultimately forced to plead no contest while an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan.

According to the report, he and his fraternity brothers captured a pet cat and engaged in "gruesome" torture that involved cutting off the animal's paws before stringing the it up and setting it on fire.

All of those involved were expelled from the fraternity, which Hamlin was the president of at the time.

District Court Judge S.J. Elden "singled Hamlin out for criticism, saying he could have prevented it from happening as the leader of the fraternity," the report stated.

“Heartlessness must be in the job description to run the NRA,” Nick Suplina of Everytown for Gun Safety told The Guardian.“This revelation shows that the NRA has failed to turn the page on its scandal-plagued leaders and its doom spiral continues with Hamlin at the helm.”

One of the former fraternity brothers came forward to speak about the event to The Guardian and describe his regret.

The student who reported the incident to the police, Shelagh Abbs Winter, is now an active member of Moms Demand Action, a gun safety group trying to stop school shootings. She said that at the time she remembered feeling threatened.

“Once a creep, always a creep,” she said of Hamlin.

Read the full report here.

PROJECT 2025

Los Angeles mayor warns Trump plans to 'decimate HUD' — and make homelessness 'far worse'

Daniel Hampton
October 14, 2024 4:47PM ET

The mayor of Los Angeles warned Monday that the nation's homelessness crisis would be far worse under a second Trump administration. (Screengrab via CNN)


The mayor of Los Angeles warned Monday that the nation's homelessness crisis would be far worse under a second Trump administration.

Speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper on "The Lead," on Monday afternoon, Karen Bass was asked about homelessness.

"Nearly half of all people experiencing homelessness in the United States are doing so here in California," said Tapper. "You recently announced that more than 1,000 people were able to enter new shelters thanks to a new program in Los Angeles that allows you to slash red tape for the construction. This is through a partnership with [Department of Housing and Urban Development]. The city has seen a 10 percent drop in street homelessness. Is this a model that others should copy?"

Bass said she believes so — and warned "it's also a perfect example" of why the nation needs to elect Vice President Kamala Harris. The Biden administration, she said, has been "incredible" working with HUD.

"They've been willing to slash regulations," she said, pointing to one program for homeless veterans.

"If you were a veteran and you receive benefits, we counted it as income and then said you made too much money to get a housing voucher," said Bass. "So we were able to get waivers on that and we are going to be able to house veterans now. We have over 3,000 vouchers that veterans can now use, but that's an example of the progress that was made during this administration."

Bass added there's "no telling" what Donald Trump would do.

"He would decimate HUD," she said. "If you look at Project 2025 and the chapter that's on HUD, they're basically talking about dismantling it by taking pieces of the entity and distributing them around."

Bass added: "I think homelessness would get far worse under a Trump administration."

Watch the clip below or at this link.

'Armed militia' threatened FEMA recovery workers in North Carolina

Julia Conley, 

Common Dreams
October 14, 2024

Man in camouflage pants holding a gun (Shutterstock)

A progressive policy group in North Carolina was among those expressing alarm on Sunday as news spread that federal emergency workers were forced to evacuate an area hit hard by Hurricane Helene late last month after officials warned that "armed militias" were "hunting" hurricane response teams.

But the news didn't come as a shock to Carolina Forward, an independent think tank, considering that it came after weeks of lies from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump about the Biden administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) response to the hurricane.

"This is what MAGA does," said Carolina Forward on social media. "Eventually, their lies have real world consequences."

As The Washington Post reported Sunday evening, a U.S. Forest Service official sent an urgent message to other federal agencies involved in the recovery on Saturday afternoon, saying FEMA had advised all federal responders in Rutherford County, North Carolina "to stand down and evacuate the county immediately."


National Guard troops in the area, said the official, "had come across x2 trucks of armed militia saying there were out hunting FEMA."

The message was verified by two federal officials.

"It's terrible because a lot of these folks who need assistance are refusing it because they believe the stuff people are saying about FEMA and the government... And it's sad because they are probably the ones who need the help the most."

Emergency responders moved to a "safe area" and paused their work in Rutherford County, where they had been delivering supplies and clearing trees from roads in order to help search-and-rescue crews.

"Let's be clear: Armed militia are terrorizing FEMA rescue workers and causing important work to stop because Donald Trump spread lies and disinformation about the hurricane. This is on the Republican candidate for president with help from Elon Musk," said media critic Jennifer Schulze, referring to the billionaire owner of X who has used the social media platform to amplify Trump's lies. "Shameful and disqualifying."

The forced pause in the work is just the latest example of the measurable impact of statements made by Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), about FEMA in the wake of hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned last Thursday that federal employees, thousands of whom have been deployed to states including North Carolina and Florida to help with the response to the devastating storms, have received threats in recent days. Meteorologists have received angry messages from people convinced that weather experts and government officials "are creating and directing hurricanes," The Guardianreported last week.

"I have had a bunch of people saying I created and steered the hurricane, there are people assuming we control the weather," Katie Nickolaou, a meteorologist in Michigan, toldThe Guardian. "I have had to point out that a hurricane has the energy of 10,000 nuclear bombs and we can't hope to control that. But it's taken a turn to more violent rhetoric, especially with people saying those who created Milton should be killed."

President Joe Biden was driven to address Trump's lies about the hurricane response last week, saying the disinformation was "undermining confidence in the incredible rescue and recovery work that has already been taken and will continue to be taken."

Since Helene swept through a number of states late last month, catching communities in western North Carolina off-guard with devastating flooding, Trump has baselessly claimed that:Biden ignored a call for help from Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who denied Trump's claim;
He received unspecified "reports" that North Carolina officials were "going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas";
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, spent "all her FEMA money" on housing for undocumented immigrants; and
FEMA is providing only $750 to people who lost their homes.
Riva Duncan, a former Forest Service official in hard-hit Asheville, North Carolina, told the Post that locals have told FEMA employees who have arrived with aid to to help with repairs, "We don't want your help here."

"It's terrible because a lot of these folks who need assistance are refusing it because they believe the stuff people are saying about FEMA and the government," Duncan told the newspaper. "And it's sad because they are probably the ones who need the help the most."

In the town of Chimney Rock in Rutherford County, FEMA has shifted to working in secure areas in fixed locations instead of going door to door to assess community needs, the Post reported, "out of an abundance of caution."


Matt Ortega, a web developer in Oakland, California, said the impact of Trump's baseless claims about the hurricane response mirror that of his earlier lies about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, where schools and government business ground to a halt in recent weeks due to bomb threats stemming from claims that Haitian people were stealing neighbors' pets and eating them.


"Trump and Republicans' FEMA lies [incur] a debt, just as they did in Springfield," said Ortega. "The people who pay it are children whose schools are closed due to bomb threats in Springfield and recovery aid workers when militias are 'out hunting FEMA.'"


'America is better than this': Ex-Pence aide hits out as 'armed militias' threaten FEMA

David Edwards
October 14, 2024 

Democratic National Convention/screen grab

Olivia Troye, a former national security adviser to Mike Pence, spoke out about threats against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) by armed militias.

In a social media post on Monday, Troye pointed to reports that FEMA agents were forced to relocate due to threats while providing hurricane relief in North Carolina.

"This is an alarming moment for [the] country," the former Pence adviser wrote. "FEMA's life-saving disaster recovery efforts in North Carolina were disrupted due to threats against federal workers by militias, forcing aid to be paused in hard-hit areas."

"As communities struggle in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, disinformation & intimidation only deepen the crisis, putting both survivors & responders at greater risk," she continued. "We must reject this dangerous behavior, stand by those in need & ensure truth & safety prevail in disaster relief efforts. America is better than this."

The Washington Post reported over the weekend that FEMA crews were forced to "stop working and move to a different area because of concerns over 'armed militia' threatening government workers in the region, according to an email sent to federal agencies helping with response in the state."

Former President Donald Trump and his surrogates have spread misinformation about the agency in the aftermath of two recent hurricanes.

MAGA furious as Kamala Harris agrees to Fox News interview

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

David Badash,

 The New Civil Rights Movement
October 14, 2024 

Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris looks on during her campaign event, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S., September 13, 2024. REUTERS/Quinn Glabicki

The right-wing freakout is in full force after Fox News announced Vice President Kamala Harris will sit down for an interview with the network’s chief political anchor Bret Baier on Wednesday in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania.

It will be the Democratic presidential nominee’s first official Fox News interview since entering the race in July.

“While Trump became the first major presidential nominee to back out of the traditional pre-election ’60 Minutes’ interview, Kamala Harris has agreed to sit down with Fox News for an interview this week,” noted Zeteo News’ Justin Baragona.

“Harris has upped her media appearances recently, having sat down with Stephen Colbert, 60 Minutes‘ Bill Whitaker and Howard Stern, among other personalities,” Deadline reports. “But she’s also been urged by some supporters to make an appearance on Fox News, populated by voices on the right, even though Baier is on the network’s news side. With an average of 2.3 million viewers, Special Report has ranked among the most watched cable news programs.”

Trump recently pulled out of a previously agreed-to interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” and has refused to do any more debates with Harris after the first one on ABC News. Before that debate, Trump had suggested two others. Next week Harris will appear in a CNN town hall, which originally was to be a debate until Trump pulled out.

“As of today, it has been **one month** since Trump’s been interviewed by a mainstream media outlet,” noted Harris campaign spokesperson Ian Sams, “as he has backed out of 60 Minutes and refuses to debate again.”

“Meanwhile Harris is willing to even go on Fox,” he added.

During the 2024 campaign Trump has done virtually no interviews with mainstream media outlets, avoiding The New York Times, ABC News, CBS News, CNN, and MSNBC. He did sit down with NBC News’s “Meet the Press” for Kristen Welker’s first interview as the show’s new moderator last year in September.

The Nation’s John Nichols commented that Trump is “running scared.”

Trump supporters “swarmed all over Fox’s Bret Baier today like he was a Capitol Police Officer on J6 after he posted on Twitter that he will be interviewing Kamala Harris this Wednesday,” MeidasTouch News reports. “Baier received 2,200 comments on his tweet announcing the interview in just the first hour after he posted it.”

“Most of the MAGA comments to Baier follow a consistent theme – that they lost all faith in Baier after his tough interview embarrassed Trump last year, and that they expect him to go into this interview with guns blazing to win back their favor. They also mentioned some of the previous Harris interview conspiracies – that her earrings were airpods where she was getting the answers, that she was given the questions ahead of time, that Baier and Fox called the 2020 election too early for Biden, etc.,” MeidasTouch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski reported.Journalist Mike Rothschild, who has written books on right-wing conspiracy theories, observed: “This is smart from the VP. She has nothing to lose by appearing on the news arm of Fox News (as opposed to the screeching infotainment arm) and if she breaks through to a fraction of their viewership, it’s worth it. It’s almost like the Harris campaign knows what it’s doing.”

'No stipulations': Fox News anchor says Kamala Harris offered 'wide open' interview


David Edwards
October 14, 2024 


Bret Baier (Fox News/screen grab)

Fox News anchor Bret Baier revealed Monday there would be "no stipulations" in his upcoming interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.

During a Monday appearance on Fox News, Baier acknowledged a controversy surrounding an interview with Harris that was allegedly edited by CBS News.

"I thought Bill Whitaker did a good job asking matter-of-fact questions and following up," Baier said. "I think the controversy over the edit was a big, big deal for CBS."

"So that's not going to happen with us," he continued.

Baier then shared some details about the interview.

"It'll be essentially live to tape and no stipulations on the questions, wide open, there's no caveats that are coming to do the interview," he insisted. "So she'll take all and any questions."

Baier's interview with Harris is set to air Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET on Fox News.

Watch the video below from Fox News.

CONSERVATIVE CATHOLIC

Polish democracy leader Lech Walesa says a Trump victory would be a ‘misfortune’ for the world


 Lech Walesa former President of Poland, speaks after being awarded withthe “Golden Medal for services to reconciliation and understanding among peoples” in Berlin, Monday Sept. 26, 2022. (Britta Pedersen/dpa via AP, file)

, October 14, 2024


WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish democracy champion and former President Lech Walesa says a victory by Republican Donald Trump in this year’s U.S. presidential election would bring “misfortune” to the world.

Walesa said in a short entry on Facebook on Sunday that he does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, but that the matter “is too important for the world” for him to withhold his views.

“I deeply believe that Americans will vote responsibly. In my opinion, I am completely convinced that Trump’s election WOULD BE A MISFORTUNE FOR THE U.S. AND THE WORLD,” he wrote, using all capital letters.

He did not explain his thinking further.

Walesa, 81, played a historic role as leader of Solidarity, a labor union that advocated for workers’ rights and greater freedoms during the 1980s, when Poland was still under Soviet-backed communist rule.


He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 for his defense of workers’ rights and universal freedoms more broadly. Solidarity ended up playing a crucial role in the peaceful collapse of communism.

Walesa went on to serve one term as president of Poland.

Planned nuclear plant in a Kenyan top tourist hub and home to endangered species sparks protest

Local residents and environmentalists on Friday rallied in Kilifi in Kenya against a proposal to build the country’s first nuclear power plant near the coastal town. (AP video: Fred Ooko)

Demonstrators hold banners reading in Swahili “Sitaki nuclear” (I don’t want nuclear), during an anti-nuclear protest in Kilifi, Kenya Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Obiero)

Updated 11:26 AM MDT, October 14, 2024Share

KILIFI, Kenya (AP) — Dozens rallied against a proposal to build Kenya’s first nuclear power plant in one of the country’s top coastal tourist hubs which also houses a forest on the tentative list of the UNESCO World Heritage site.

Kilifi County is renowned for its pristine sandy beaches where hotels and beach bars line the 165-mile-long coast and visitors boat and snorkel around coral reefs or bird watch in Arabuko Sokoke forest, a significant natural habitat for the conservation of rare and endangered species, according to the U.N. organization.

The nuclear plant, proposed last year, is set to be built in the town of Kilifi — about 522 kilometers (324 miles) southeast of the capital, Nairobi. Many residents have openly opposed the proposal, worried about what they say are the negative effects of the project on people and the environment, leading to a string of protests which at times turned violent.

The Muslims for Human Rights group (MUHURI) took part in a march Friday in Kilifi to the county governor’s office where protesters handed him a petition opposing the construction of the plant.

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Some chanted anti-nuclear slogans while others carried placards with “Sitaki nuclear”, Swahili for “I don’t want nuclear.”

The construction of the 1,000MW nuclear plant is set to begin in 2027 and be operational by 2034, at a cost of 500 billion Kenyan shillings ($3.8 billion).

Francis Auma, a MUHURI activist, told the Associated Press that the negative effects of the nuclear plant outweigh its benefits.

“We say that this project has a lot of negative effects; there will be malformed children born out of this place, fish will die, and our forest Arabuko Sokoke, known to harbor the birds from abroad, will be lost,” Auma said during Friday’s protests.

Juma Sulubu, a resident who was beaten by the police during a previous demonstration, attended Friday’s march and said: “Even if you kill us, just kill us, but we do not want a nuclear power plant in our Uyombo community.”

Timothy Nyawa, a fisherman, participated in the rally out of fear that a nuclear power plant would kill fish and in turn his source of income. “If they set up a nuclear plant here, the fish breeding sites will all be destroyed.”

Phyllis Omido, the executive director at the Centre for Justice Governance and Environmental Action, which organized the protest, said Kenya’s eastern coastal towns depended on eco-tourism as the main source of income and a nuclear plant would threaten their livelihoods.

“We host the only East African coastal forest, we host the Watamu marine park, we host the largest mangrove plantation in Kenya. We do not want nuclear (energy) to mess up our ecosystem,” she said.

Her center filed a petition in Nov. 2023 in parliament calling for an inquiry and claiming that locals had limited information on the proposed plant and the criteria for selecting preferred sites. It raised concerns over the risks to health, the environment and tourism in the event of a nuclear spill, saying the country was undertaking a “high-risk venture” without proper legal and disaster response measures in place. The petition also expressed unease over security and the handling of radioactive waste in a country prone to floods and drought.

The Senate suspended the inquiry until a lawsuit two lawyers filed in July was heard. The suit is seeking to stop the plant’s construction, claiming public participation meetings were rushed. It urges the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (Nupea) not to start the project.

Nupea said construction would not begin for years and environmental laws were under consideration, adding that adequate public participation was carried out.

The nuclear agency also published an impact assessment report last year that recommended policies be put in place to ensure environmental protections, including detailed plans for the handling of radioactive waste, measures to mitigate environmental harm, such as setting up a nuclear unit in the national environment management authority, and emergency response teams.
___


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SPACE/COSMOS

Starship performs subsonic belly flop into Indian Ocean

Oct. 13, 2024 / UPI

The fifth test flight of SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft successfully ended Sunday with a controlled “subsonic belly flop” into the Indian Ocean after the 20-story-tall Super Heavy booster returned to the launch site where it was “caught” by a special launch tower nicknamed “Mechazilla." Photo courtesy of SpaceX/X


Oct. 13 (UPI) -- The fifth test flight of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft successfully ended Sunday with a controlled "subsonic belly flop" into the Indian Ocean.

The spacecraft was launched just before 8:30 a.m. Sunday after controversial billionaire Elon Musk's space exploration company received regulatory approval.

Shortly afterward, the 20-story-tall Super Heavy booster return to the launch site where it was "caught" by a special launch tower nicknamed "Mechazilla" after the Mechagodzilla robot created by aliens to destroy Godzilla in the famed film franchise.

"This is absolutely insane!" SpaceX engineer Kate Tice said on the live stream.

That maneuver has already been heralded as a breakthrough in sustainability heralding a new future for spaceflight. But the star of the performance was the splashdown procedure for the Starship spacecraft after reaching space during its hourlong flight.

"Starship is in a subsonic belly flop," SpaceX posted on Musk's X platform, formerly Twitter. Later, the company confirmed the splashdown and called the results of the test flight "exciting."

The company previously called Flight 4 a "tremendous success." That launch had included a fully successful ascent followed by the first-ever booster soft-landing in the Gulf of Mexico and Starship making it through a brilliant re-entry.

"Congratulations to @SpaceX on its successful booster catch and fifth Starship flight test today!" NASA administrator Bill Nelson said on X.

"As we prepare to go back to the Moon under #Artemis, continued testing will prepare us for the bold missions that lie ahead -- including to the South Pole region of the Moon and then on to Mars."

In an engineering feat, mechanical SpaceX arms catch Starship rocket booster back at the launch pad

The moon rises over SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship as it is prepares for a test launch Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

BY MARCIA DUNN
October 13, 2024

SpaceX pulled off the boldest test flight yet of its enormous Starship rocket on Sunday, catching the returning booster back at the launch pad with mechanical arms.

A jubilant Elon Musk called it “science fiction without the fiction part.”

Towering almost 400 feet (121 meters), the empty Starship blasted off at sunrise from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border. It arced over the Gulf of Mexico like the four Starships before it that ended up being destroyed, either soon after liftoff or while ditching into the sea. The previous one in June had been the most successful until Sunday’s demo, completing its flight without exploding.

This time, Musk, SpaceX’s CEO and founder, upped the challenge for the rocket that he plans to use to send people back to the moon and on to Mars.

At the flight director’s command, the first-stage booster flew back to the launch pad where it had blasted off seven minutes earlier. The launch tower’s monstrous metal arms, dubbed chopsticks, caught the descending 232-foot (71-meter) stainless steel booster and gripped it tightly, dangling it well above the ground.

“The tower has caught the rocket!!” Musk announced via X. “Big step towards making life multiplanetary was made today.”

Company employees screamed in joy, jumping and pumping their fists into the air. NASA joined in the celebration, with Administrator Bill Nelson sending congratulations.

Continued testing of Starship will prepare the nation for landing astronauts at the moon’s south pole, Nelson noted. NASA’s new Artemis program is the follow-up to Apollo, which put 12 men on the moon more than a half-century ago.

“Folks, this is a day for the engineering history books,” SpaceX engineering manager Kate Tice said from SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

“Even in this day and age, what we just saw is magic,” added company spokesman Dan Huot from near the launch and landing site. “I am shaking right now.”

It was up to the flight director to decide, in real time with a manual control, whether to attempt the landing. SpaceX said both the booster and launch tower had to be in good, stable condition. Otherwise, it was going to end up in the gulf like the previous ones. Everything was judged to be ready for the catch.

The retro-looking spacecraft launched by the booster continued around the world, soaring more than 130 miles (212 kilometers) high. An hour after liftoff, it made a controlled landing in the Indian Ocean, adding to the day’s achievement. Cameras on a nearby buoy showed flames shooting up from the water as the spacecraft impacted precisely at the targeted spot and sank, as planned.

“What a day,” Huot said. “Let’s get ready for the next one.”

The June flight came up short at the end after pieces came off. SpaceX upgraded the software and reworked the heat shield, improving the thermal tiles.

SpaceX has been recovering the first-stage boosters of its smaller Falcon 9 rockets for nine years, after delivering satellites and crews to orbit from Florida or California. But they land on floating ocean platforms or on concrete slabs several miles from their launch pads — not on them.

Recycling Falcon boosters has sped up the launch rate and saved SpaceX millions. Musk intends to do the same for Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built with 33 methane-fuel engines on the booster alone.

Musk said the captured Starship booster looked to be in good shape, with just a little warping of some of the outer engines from all the heat and aerodynamic forces. That can be fixed easily, he noted.

NASA has ordered two Starships to land astronauts on the moon later this decade. SpaceX intends to use Starship to send people and supplies to the moon and, eventually Mars.

The 400ft rocket blasted off at sunrise, completing its fight, and separated its first stage booster, which was caught back on the pad to applause from the team. A jubilant Elon Musk called it “science fiction without the fiction part.”

This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega rocket booster returning to the launch pad to be captured during a test flight Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)

This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket upon its return during a test flight, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, over Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)

SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship lifts off from Starbase for a test flight Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Boca Chica,, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega rocket booster returning to the launch pad to be captured during a test flight Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)

This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega rocket booster returning to the launch pad to be captured during a test flight Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)

People take photos as the sun sets behind SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, over Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)

This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket returning during a test flight, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, over Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)

This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket seconds before landing in the water in the Indian Ocean after returning during a test flight, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (SpaceX via AP)

This image provided by SpaceX shows smoke and fire from SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket after landing in the water in the Indian Ocean after returning during a test flight, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (SpaceX via AP)

This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, over Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)

A Tesla Cybertruck passes as the sun sets behind SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

The sun sets behind SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Noah Jansko watches as the sun sets behind SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

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